Cultural Capital: music

This is obviously not a complete or definitive list -- comment below with your suggestions for what I should have included!

Low - "Long Way Around the Sea" (1999)

The slowcore pioneers Low issued the album Christmas in 1999 with little fanfare; the collection has since become a minor classic. Eschewing irony, it's a gentle celebration of the Christmas story -- the band members are Mormons, after all -- and "Long Way ... read more

"Dealers keep dealin', thieves keep thievin', whores keep whorin', junkies keep scorin'." Not exactly the musical accompaniment you'd expect Home Secretary Theresa May to choose to soundtrack her speech at the Conservative Party Conference.

And it wasn't.

As much as Primal Scream frontman Bobby Gillespie, allegedly a card-carrying member of the Socialist Workers Party, might want to give the Tories a kicking, it was actually Dandy Warhols' ... read more

Amy Winehouse has died aged 27, police have confirmed.

The singer was found by paramedics at her home in Camden, north London. The cause of death is as yet unexplained.

Winehouse had a short but acclaimed musical career. She dropped out of school aged 16 and signed with Island Records within two years. Her first album, 2003's Frank, was nominated for the Mercury Music prize, and her second, Back to Black, won ... read more

Two things this week that have nothing in common, other than that I love them and that you should at least learn to like them.

They are peeved New Yorkers White Hills and the exceptionally pretty Malian singer Fatoumata Diawara. We'll start with the angry ones. White Hills have a new album out this month which is called Hp-1, which according to band member Ego, is symbolic of the simplification of ... read more

I have managed to get myself stuck in a dreamy, haunted but strangely comforting alternative world and it is going to take something rather epic to persuade me to leave.

This happened the last time The Caretaker released an album - Persistent Repetition Of Phrases - two years ago. If I remember rightly my mum ended up having to get the train to London to shake me back into reality so ... read more

This week some old(ish) favourites have returned with either a new album or a new band. It's a nervous time: what if I don't like them? Will it affect the things of theirs I once believed to be great and reduce them to rubbish?

Each piece of music should surely stand on its own. I like it when a band I don't like make a record I do, even be it ... read more

The Netaudio London festival, which runs from 13-15 May, showcases the work of artists who use digital technologies to explore new areas in music and sonic art. The programme encourages participation in all forms: interactive sound art installations, conferences, workshops, collaborative online broadcasting and live music shows.

Netaudio London has posted a series of thought provoking pieces from its conference speakers ... read more

I've always taken issue with being told to be quiet. This is perhaps because it's something I'm not all that good at.

I take even greater issue with been shushed when it happens at gigs. I can understand it when someone's gob is louder than the music but I go to gigs with friends and I'd occasionally like to whisper something to them. The Barbican is an easy place to get ... read more

The punk icon Poly Styrene, the former singer of X-Ray Spex, died yesterday after battling cancer. She released her third solo album, Generation Indigo, last month.

Poly Styrene, whose real name was Marion Elliot-Said, emerged on the punk scene in 1978 fronting the band X-Ray Spex. Their acclaimed debut album Germ Free Adolescents included the hits "The Day the World Turned Dayglo", "Identity", and "Germ Free Adolescents" (below).

In an interview with ... read more

Here is all you need this week: http://songbytoadrecords.bandcamp.com. It's a sampler album from a record label called, as you might guess, Song, By Toad.

On an average week I need to find around 32 mega new records to delight my ever-so fussy listeners with and these guys have kindly done half of this week's job for me.

For those of you that are lazy, the best of ... read more

I'm back from a fantastically undeserved holiday to a slightly underserved -- but very much welcome -- sack of unheard records.

The problem is, I have no idea how I am going to get through them all. I have people emailing me to ask if have listened to the records they sent and the truth is it would take me twice as long to find it as it would to listen ... read more

Reggae Britannia, BBC Four's latest archive-heavy trawl through music history is notable for the absence of concrete setting. There are ironic settings: Tony Blackburn -- not a DJ known to covet dubplates -- strutting outside Broadcasting House in period attire and the leafy suburb of John Hassel (whose Hassel Recordings pressed much independent British reggae vinyl), complemented by Good Life-type footage of neurotic neighbours mowing ... read more