Dorian Lynskey
Dorian Lynskey is a regular contributor to The Guardian. He was The Big Issue's music critic for three years and has freelanced for a host of titles, including Q, Word, Spin, Empire, Blender and the Observer. He is the author of The Guardian Book of Playlists (Aurum, 2008), 33 Revolutions Per Minute: A History of Protest Songs (Faber, 2012) and The Ministry of Truth: A Biography of George Orwell's 1984 (Picador, 2019).
Dorian Lynskey on the RBP podcast
207 articles
List of articles in the library
Interview by Dorian Lynskey, Mixmag, October 1997
Arriving in the UK, via the QEII, after a six year break, rap legend KRS-One certainly put the cat amongst the pigeons. If appearing on ...
Spring Heel Jack: Why Does Everybody Hate Spring Heel Jack?
Interview by Dorian Lynskey, Mixmag, October 1997
Is it because they produced for Everything But The Girl? Toured with ambient rockers Spiritualized rather than Goldie? Or because they're seen as the epitome ...
Interview by Dorian Lynskey, The Face, November 1998
You know him as That Bloke From The Fugees. The one who mutters "One time... two time" on 'Ready Or Not'. The one who isn't Lauryn Hill. ...
Interview by Dorian Lynskey, Q, March 1999
This Houston teen foursome are produced by Timbaland for Missy Misdemeanour's label but it's not going to their heads. ...
The Dixie Chicks: Dixie Chicks
Interview by Dorian Lynskey, Q, July 1999
Good heavens! It's the bottle-blonde, country Corrs. ...
Paul van Dyk: Follow The Leader
Interview by Dorian Lynskey, Muzik, September 1999
On a mission to the Love Parade with two million German ravers and the biggest trance DJ in the world. Paul van Dyk on Berlin, ...
Report and Interview by Dorian Lynskey, Q, October 1999
Music invented by Jean Michel Jarre and already declared passé twice in the last 10 years is all over the charts, packing out clubs and ...
Review by Dorian Lynskey, Q, 2000
Ron Isley, Ginuwine and Mobb Deep assist Queensbridge rapper's fourth outing. ...
Primal Scream: "I Am A Drug Addict"
Profile and Interview by Dorian Lynskey, Select, February 2000
Primal Scream are off the smack (but not the speed, coke and E) and on a mission – kill Sporty Spice, kick the shit out ...
Profile and Interview by Dorian Lynskey, Q, March 2000
She reckons she's no saner than Ol' Dirty Bastard. God help us. ...
Review by Dorian Lynskey, Q, March 2000
Debut from 20-year-old New Yorker Kelis ("kay leese") Rogers, the female voice on Puff Daddy's 'PC 2000' and 0l' Dirty Bastard's 'Got Your Money'. ...
Review by Dorian Lynskey, Select, April 2000
DEBUT FROM 20-year-old New Yorker Kelis ("kayleese") Rogers, the female voice on Puff Daddy's 'PE 2000' and Old Dirty Bastard's 'Got Your Money'. ...
Badly Drawn Boy: This Charming Man
Interview by Dorian Lynskey, Select, July 2000
Floral tributes please for Badly Drawn Boy: incurable romantic, nicotine addict and, quite probably, the best songwriter in the world... ...
David Holmes: Bow Down To The Exit Sign
Review by Dorian Lynskey, Q, July 2000
Belfast-born, New-York-based DJ-producer joined by Bobby Gillespie, Jon Spencer etc. ...
Eminem: The Marshall Mathers LP (Aftermath/Interscope) *****
Review by Dorian Lynskey, Select, August 2000
Liberal-baiting rap superstar returns with autobiographical outing, officially the second fastest-selling album ever. ...
Placebo: Fitter. Happier. More Productive
Interview by Dorian Lynskey, Select, August 2000
THEY USED TO BADMOUTH everyone and flash their nipples in photographs. Now they've got politics, listen to Primal Scream and always sleep with the same ...
Brothers in Sound: Are We Slack Enough For You?
Interview by Dorian Lynskey, Select, October 2000
"YES, WE ARE as slack as we appear," confesses Brothers In Sound's Paul Hanford with a you've-rumbled-us-guv shrug. "We need people to organise us getting ...
Interview by Dorian Lynskey, Select, October 2000
Soup Is Blood! Tony Blair's Baby Was Born At Sea! Finley Ouaye Is Reborn As A Manic Street Preacher And He'll Smack You If You ...
Interview by Dorian Lynskey, Select, November 2000
Inclement weather. Iffy gig. Coldplay's sojourn to Portugal's Paredes De Coura Festival was no holiday in the sun ...
Interview by Dorian Lynskey, Select, November 2000
MUSE'S MATT BELLAMY, what's with the blue hair? ...
Interview by Dorian Lynskey, Select, January 2001
...or alternatively, look the other way, mumble about how no-one really likes you and worry about losing your hair. Coldplay are Britain's biggest new band ...
Kelis: Seeking Tuneage Kicks With... Kelis
Interview by Dorian Lynskey, Select, January 2001
Space-age R&8 queen Kelis laughs long and loud about organ donation, Muse and why Tom Jones ruins her day. But what's her... ...
Review by Dorian Lynskey, The Guardian, 14 January 2001
WHEN YOU'RE born with a name as memorable as Usher or Aaliyah, there's no need to rack your brains for a zappy alter ego. If, ...
Outkast: Pretty In Pink: OutKast: Hammerstein Ballroom, New York *****
Live Review by Dorian Lynskey, Q, July 2001
The future of hip hop looks rosy ...
Spiritualized: Academy, Manchester
Live Review by Dorian Lynskey, The Guardian, 3 October 2001
THE LIVE ALBUM is traditionally the wooden spoon of rock releases, dumped on the public either to fulfil a contract or bide time until the ...
Eminem: Trailer Made: Eminem B-Side Buyer's Guide
Guide by Dorian Lynskey, Mojo Collections, Summer 2001
Eminem was just another basement hip hop hopeful, then he had an exceedingly profitable trip to the loo. Dorian Lynskey plots a wax history. ...
OutKast: Southern Gents: OutKast: Big Boi And Dre Present... OutKast (LaFace/Arista) ****
Review by Dorian Lynskey, Q, February 2002
Yee-haw! Technicolour hip hop rises again ...
Kylie Minogue: Attack of the 5ft Woman!
Interview by Dorian Lynskey, Q, June 2002
AAARG! In 1998, one time pop robot and po-mo pin-up Kylie Minogue was on a commercial cold slab. Now scarily re-animated, she's an irony-free megastar ...
Tatu: We Have Seen The Future of Rock & Roll (and Gulp! It's Two Teenage "Lesbians" From Moscow)
Interview by Dorian Lynskey, Blender, June 2002
Two underage ambisexuals known as Tatu have turned the Russian pop world upside down. Now, led by their ex-psychiatrist manager, they've set their sights squarely ...
The Strokes: Très Chic! Très Bon!: The Strokes: La Mutualité, Paris ****
Live Review by Dorian Lynskey, Blender, June 2002
The Strokes heat up the world's coolest city ...
Coldplay: A Rush Of Blood To The Head (Parlophone) ****
Review by Dorian Lynskey, Q, September 2002
Former "bedwetters" make emotional bid for U2's throne. ...
Avril Lavigne, Pink: Riot Girls
Report and Interview by Dorian Lynskey, The Guardian, 9 December 2002
Goodbye cheerleaders, hello snarling, smoking punks. Dorian Lynskey on how Pink! made teen pop grow up ...
Missy Elliott: Built To Last: Missy Elliott: Under Construction (East West) ****
Review by Dorian Lynskey, Q, January 2003
Saluting hip hop's past while embracing the future. ...
The Libertines: 'We Believe In Melody, Hearts And Minds': The Libertines
Profile and Interview by Dorian Lynskey, The Guardian, 10 January 2003
PETE DOHERTY and Carl Barat – joint singers, guitarists, songwriters and ideologues of east London-based quartet the Libertines – are having an argument about an ...
Live Review by Dorian Lynskey, The Guardian, 3 February 2003
AT FIRST it's hard to know how seriously to take The Faint. They look like they are re-enacting an episode of The Tube from 1981 ...
Live Review by Dorian Lynskey, The Guardian, 13 March 2003
PREACHING TO THE CONVERTED: Placebo's set at the Astoria was underpinned by the buzz of low-level hysteria. ...
Live Review by Dorian Lynskey, The Guardian, 26 March 2003
IT SEEMS ALMOST QUAINT these days to protest that a band is derivative. Not so long ago bands would talk themselves hoarse in defence of ...
Linkin Park: Are We Having Fun Yet?
Interview by Dorian Lynskey, Q, April 2003
Of course not. Back off groupies and drug dealers: this is Linkin Park, the world's most sensible multi-millionaire metal stars. ...
Interview by Dorian Lynskey, The Word, July 2003
Success came swiftly for Röyksopp, their smart, guileless electronic pop becoming ubiquitous on high-earning TV soundtracks. But this doesn't sit comfortably with a complex Norwegian morality. "We're ...
Terry Hall: Fun Boy Free: Terry Hall
Interview by Dorian Lynskey, The Guardian, 22 July 2003
TERRY HALL asks if we can delay the first question until he's had a cigarette. He's not a big small talker, so there's an awkward ...
Review by Dorian Lynskey, The Guardian, 1 August 2003
JUST BECAUSE So Solid Crew are paranoid, it doesn't mean someone isn't after them. Since the 30-odd-strong UK garage cartel emerged from Battersea in south ...
Dashboard Confessional: A Mark, a Mission, a Brand, a Scar
Review by Dorian Lynskey, The Guardian, 8 August 2003
EMO IS THE VARIANT of punk-pop that favours sensitivity and intelligence over beer and boobies, and Dashboard Confessional are its leading lights. ...
Live Review by Dorian Lynskey, The Guardian, 11 August 2003
IT'S A GOOD TIME TO BE ASH. After the failure of 1998's leathery, unconvincing Nu-Clear Sounds, they were facing bankruptcy, destined to be remembered as ...
Eva Cassidy: The Afterlife Of Eva Cassidy
Retrospective by Dorian Lynskey, The Word, September 2003
Dorian Lynskey meets Eva Cassidy's lover and producer, family and friends and the key figures in a uniquely sad story to discover exactly why the ...
Damon Albarn, Blur, Graham Coxon: Blur: The Great Escape?
Profile and Interview by Dorian Lynskey, Bang, December 2003
Blur are no longer the centre of Damon Albarn's world and he says he finds the idea of turning into a career band like U2 ...
Saint Etienne: Palladium, London
Live Review by Dorian Lynskey, The Guardian, 16 December 2003
IN ANOTHER LIFE, Saint Etienne are pop royalty. In this one they practice a kind of pop-not-pop: exquisitely crafted and arranged songs that are always ...
Elliott Smith: Bottle Up And Explode
Retrospective by Dorian Lynskey, The Word, January 2004
Elliott Smith never managed to get past Step One of any 12-step recovery programme, yet he made quixotic music that lifted the lonely and the ...
Live Review by Dorian Lynskey, The Guardian, 16 January 2004
BY THE STANDARDS of British hip-hop, Blak Twang (aka Tony Olabode) is a crusty old veteran. It's hard work playing the Americans at their own ...
Review by Dorian Lynskey, The Guardian, 16 January 2004
THERE'S NO MISSING the thrill of novelty that runs through recent coverage of Joss Stone. See! a white Devon teenager become America's newest soul sensation. ...
Bees, The (Isle of Wight): The Bees: ULU, London
Live Review by Dorian Lynskey, The Guardian, 24 February 2004
YOU'D THINK THAT A STRANGER emerging from a backstage area with four of the headlining band's guitars would look suspicious, but evidently not suspicious enough. ...
David Axelrod: Royal Festival Hall, London
Live Review by Dorian Lynskey, The Guardian, 19 March 2004
THE SNOWY-HAIRED, bespectacled 67-year-old on stage makes an unlikely hip-hop hero — but David Axelrod's funky, filmic back catalogue has provided rich pickings for producers ...
Morrissey: "Somebody Has To Be Me": Morrissey
Interview by Dorian Lynskey, The Guardian, 9 April 2004
NOW 44, STEVEN Patrick Morrissey is, to quote one of his songs, a handsome devil. ...
N.E.R.D.: Dweebs In Pepperland: N*E*R*D: Fly Or Die (Virgin)
Review by Dorian Lynskey, The Word, May 2004
As producers, the Neptunes rule the world. But as N*E*R*D they're losing their way — by Dorian Lynskey ...
Live Review by Dorian Lynskey, The Guardian, 20 May 2004
A PROTEGE OF Jay-Z and Damon Dash, Kanye West is not one to hide his light under a bushel. ...
The Killers: Hot Fuss (Lizard King)
Review by Dorian Lynskey, The Word, July 2004
MANY PERFORMERS see out their careers with a lucrative stint in Las Vegas but few actually hail from the city beyond the pleasure palace walls. ...
Review by Dorian Lynskey, The Guardian, 30 July 2004
THIS GENERATION-crossing family outfit's second album was originally recorded for Nick Drake producer Joe Boyd's Hannibal label, but not released. It emerged in America two ...
Sean Rowley: Post-cool is the rule
Comment by Dorian Lynskey, The Word, October 2004
Sean Rowley's Guilty Pleasures compilation invites you to revel in the musical sins of the 1970s. ...
Manic Street Preachers: Not So Manic Now: Manic Street Preachers
Interview by Dorian Lynskey, The Guardian, 1 October 2004
TOP OF THE POPS audience members are nothing if not versatile. Five minutes ago, on the last Friday evening in September, they were directing their ...
Handsome Boy Modeling School — Cartoon capers
Profile and Interview by Dorian Lynskey, The Guardian, 4 November 2004
They found fame with Gorillaz and De La Soul. Now Handsome Boy Modeling School are taking inspiration from Batman to make surreal hip-hop. They talk ...
Review by Dorian Lynskey, The Guardian, 14 January 2005
ANTHONY GONZALEZ'S LAST ALBUM, Dead Cities, Red Seas and Lost Ghosts, triggered pages of prose purpler than Prince's wardrobe. Nobody actually used the phrase "sonic ...
Review by Dorian Lynskey, The Guardian, 4 March 2005
LAST WEEK, Radio 4's Front Row applied itself to the thorny question of what label to slap on the current crop of young British guitar ...
Review by Dorian Lynskey, The Guardian, 8 April 2005
CASEY SPOONER and Warren Fischer's first album met a sobering fate: their much-ballyhooed £1m deal was followed by commercial oblivion, which helped drive Ministry of ...
Johnathan Rice: "I fought for this"
Interview by Dorian Lynskey, The Guardian, 25 April 2005
When Johnathan Rice got his record deal, he was too poor to eat. Now, along with his pop-star girlfriend, he's the toast of the US ...
Review by Dorian Lynskey, The Guardian, 27 May 2005
LAST YEAR was the year grime failed to break big, and nobody failed to break big quite like Wiley. His excellent solo debut was festooned ...
Live Review by Dorian Lynskey, The Guardian, 10 June 2005
THE STAGE RESEMBLES THE TOMORROW'S WORLD studio circa 1980: you imagine Judith Hann appearing to introduce pop music of the future. Instead of glowing laptop ...
Buck 65: Secret House Against the World
Review by Dorian Lynskey, The Guardian, 29 July 2005
Over the past decade, Rich Terfry, a former baseball player from Nova Scotia, has built an impressive cult following with his unique amalgam of hip-hop, ...
Ciara: Goodies (LaFace/Zomba) **
Review by Dorian Lynskey, The Guardian, 5 August 2005
WHY DO R&B divas keep losing their nerve? Destiny's Child's last album saw them regress from unstoppable robo-Amazons into simpering wifeys, and Atlanta newcomer Ciara ...
Kanye West: Natural Born Show-off: Kanye West
Report and Interview by Dorian Lynskey, The Guardian, 5 August 2005
PRESS PLAYBACKS tend to be uncomfortable affairs. A record label, eager to unveil its latest prestige release but terrified of a stray copy leaking on ...
Orange Juice: The Glasgow School
Review by Dorian Lynskey, Blender, 9 August 2005
The godfathers of Scottish indie music get their due ...
Review by Dorian Lynskey, The Guardian, 12 August 2005
LAST WEEK, Gyles Brandreth gave an entertaining account of his first attempt to become a Conservative MP. Fresh out of university and bursting with his ...
Arctic Monkeys: Fast and Furious: Arctic Monkeys
Report and Interview by Dorian Lynskey, The Guardian, 30 September 2005
IT'S A RADIANT late September day outside a recording studio in rural Lincolnshire. Summer is still clinging on by its fingertips, a lawnmower purrs in ...
Review by Dorian Lynskey, The Guardian, 24 March 2006
ONE THEORY explaining the decline in dance music's capacity to shock and amaze points the finger at the DJ jetset's culture of professional good-blokery, which ...
Imogen Heap: "It's just a magic thing"
Interview by Dorian Lynskey, The Guardian, 28 March 2006
After being dumped by her label, singer Imogen Heap was broke and despondent. Then a surveyor, a TV soap and a lion came to her ...
Pet Shop Boys: Jewel in the Crown: Pet Shop Boys
Interview by Dorian Lynskey, The Guardian, 14 July 2006
ON A BALMY summer's evening, the grounds of the Tower of London shudder to the art-disco thunder of the Pet Shop Boys' 1988 hit 'Left ...
Interview by Dorian Lynskey, The Guardian, 21 July 2006
He sharpened his teeth battling it out as an MC against Eminem. Now Rhymefest is taking on his toughest opponent yet: rap itself. Dorian Lynskey ...
Michael Franti: "The troops thought: this guy's got balls"
Interview by Dorian Lynskey, The Guardian, 26 July 2006
IT'S ALL VERY well to sing anti-war songs in California — but in Baghdad? To American soldiers? Michael Franti tells Dorian Lynskey why he took ...
Michael Jackson: Called To Account
Report by Dorian Lynskey, The Word, October 2006
If Michael Jackson had put his money in a Post Office account he could have bought a small country, but his legendary spending has left ...
Review by Dorian Lynskey, The Guardian, 22 December 2006
YOU DON'T NEED to know a thing about London's dubstep scene to find this cryptic debut the most mesmerising electronic album of the year. ...
Lady Sovereign: Public Warning (Def Jam/Casual)
Review by Dorian Lynskey, The Word, February 2007
Public Warning by "white midget" Lady Sovereign — a few years too long in the oven, but funny in parts. ...
Bloc Party: A Weekend in the City
Review by Dorian Lynskey, The Guardian, 2 February 2007
BLOC PARTY'S second album begins like an episode of Panorama, full of frowning portent and ambition to say something about The State of Britain Today. ...
LCD Soundsystem: Sound of Silver
Review by Dorian Lynskey, The Guardian, 9 March 2007
LCD SOUNDSYSTEM'S James Murphy is chiefly regarded as a man with a gargantuan record collection. ...
Von Südenfed: Tromatic Reflexxions
Review by Dorian Lynskey, The Guardian, 18 May 2007
Mark E Smith recently described his first encounter with LCD Soundsystem's Fall-influenced 'Losing My Edge'. "This sounds exactly like me," he told a hapless shop ...
Roky Erickson: The Man Who Went Too High: Roky Erickson
Retrospective and Interview by Dorian Lynskey, The Guardian, 8 June 2007
THE MOST IMPROBABLE of rock comebacks began on the night of March 19, 2005 at an Austin, Texas restaurant called Threadgill's. Every year, the eatery ...
John Cale, LCD Soundsystem: John Cale meets LCD Soundsystem
Interview by Dorian Lynskey, The Guardian, 15 June 2007
They are both stars of New York's music scene – pioneers of the coolest pop, separated by 30 years. James Murphy and John Cale get ...
Profile and Interview by Dorian Lynskey, The Guardian, 31 August 2007
Confusing, tough and above all, exciting — that's how Go! Team want to sound. Dorian Lynskey puts the masters of sass to the test. ...
Kanye West: Graduation (Def Jam/Mercury) ****
Review by Dorian Lynskey, The Guardian, 7 September 2007
WHATEVER YOU THINK of Kanye West — genius, prat, prattish genius — chances are he has thought it first. ...
Interview by Dorian Lynskey, Q, October 2007
Devendra Banheart was born in Texas, raised in Caracas, then fetched up in Paris and San Francisco and currently lives in a world of his ...
Babyshambles: Shotter's Nation (Parlophone) ***
Review by Dorian Lynskey, Q, November 2007
It is, at least, far better than their tragic debut. Pete Doherty's promise, however, remains unfulfilled. ...
Jay Z: Jay-Z: American Gangster (Roc-A-Fella) ****
Review by Dorian Lynskey, Q, January 2008
Four years and two albums into his "retirement", hip hop's chief tycoon relocates his mojo. ...
Interview by Dorian Lynskey, Q, February 2008
Eels frontman Mark "E" Everett discovered his father's dead body, watched his mother die of cancer and failed to save his sister from suicide. "You've ...
Hot Chip: The League of Very Ordinary Gentlemen
Profile and Interview by Dorian Lynskey, Spin, February 2008
Everybody seems to love Hot Chip's catchy, endearing dance pop. But are these bookish Brits ready to love everybody back? ...
The Zombies: Album of the Living Dead: How the Zombies made Odessey & Oracle
Retrospective and Interview by Dorian Lynskey, The Guardian, 22 February 2008
The Zombies recorded their last album in 1967, released it with a spelling mistake on the cover, then split up. But Odessey & Oracle has ...
R Kelly: Trapped In The Closet, Chapters 1-22 ***
Film/DVD/TV Review by Dorian Lynskey, Q, April 2008
Some people thought the R&B man had gone mad. He has now. ...
Rihanna: Sweetness and Steel: Rihanna
Profile and Interview by Dorian Lynskey, The Guardian, 23 May 2008
ON A HOT spring day, inside a large, airy studio in the town of Castaic, California, a group of men and women are watching paint ...
Coldplay: Viva La Vida Or Death And All His Friends ****
Review by Dorian Lynskey, Q, July 2008
THE POINT AT WHICH CHAPTER TWO OF THEIR STORY BEGINS. ...
Katy Perry: One Of The Boys ** (Capitol)
Review by Dorian Lynskey, The Guardian, 19 September 2008
IS THERE NOTHING lipstick lesbianism can't do for a 23-year-old former gospel singer? ...
Kaiser Chiefs: Off With Their Heads
Review by Dorian Lynskey, Q, October 2008
IT MAY NOT be the kind of cause that inspires students to don fluorescent vests and coerce passers-by into signing direct debit forms, but it's ...
The Temptations: The Band That Took Motown Higher
Retrospective and Interview by Dorian Lynskey, The Guardian, 31 October 2008
FORTY YEARS ago this month, the Temptations released a single that would change the face of Motown. Martin Luther King Jr had been gunned down ...
New Order: Movement/Power, Corruption & Lies/Low-Life/Brotherhood/Technique (Rhino)
Review by Dorian Lynskey, Q, November 2008
From the ashes of Joy Division rose a phoenix fusing indie rock and dance music to create the perfect soundtrack for a decade striped by ...
The Killers: Day & Age (Vertigo) ***
Review by Dorian Lynskey, Q, December 2008
For his latest role, rock's great drama queen Brandon Flowers wisely packs away the facial hair and sombre poses of Sam's Town and pulls on ...
Review by Dorian Lynskey, Q, January 2009
AT THE END of August, Rilo Kiley's Jenny Lewis was waiting for her flight to the Democratic National Convention in Denver when a fellow passenger ...
Review by Dorian Lynskey, The Guardian, 18 January 2009
ON THEIR eponymous 2004 outing, Franz knew exactly what they wanted to do and they executed it to perfection. They conjured something fresh from Orange ...
All Bands on Deck: Pirate Radio and The Boat That Rocked
Report and Interview by Dorian Lynskey, The Guardian, 27 March 2009
FOR A FEW WEEKS last spring, a corner of Shepperton Studios became the nerve centre of the fictional pirate station, Radio Rock. Mounted on a ...
Elbow: The Q Interview: Guy Garvey
Interview by Dorian Lynskey, Q, April 2009
People's poet, shambling everyman, leader of 18-year overnight sensations Elbow — Guy Garvey is the world's most unlikely rock star. But scratch the surface and ...
Depeche Mode: Sounds Of The Universe
Review by Dorian Lynskey, Q, May 2009
AT THE 12th time of asking, to play the fan-pleasing goth-pop card, or to attempt something more testing? Alas, once again, it's the former. ...
The Yeah Yeah Yeahs: Yeah Yeah Yeahs: It's Blitz! (Polydor) *****
Review by Dorian Lynskey, Q, May 2009
They started out as antagonistic New York art-rockers. Six years later, they've finally hit their mark as the world's greatest electro-pop group. ...
The Horrors: Primary Colours (XL)
Review by Dorian Lynskey, The Guardian, 1 May 2009
THEY LIVE! Left for dead after a hype overdose two years ago, Southend's ghost-train garage-rockers have risen again with a second album so daring and ...
U2: Ego Warriors: U2 Speak Out On Rock-Star Hypocrisy
Interview by Dorian Lynskey, The Guardian, 30 July 2009
Over the years, U2 have taken many a kicking. But the band believe they're unjustly maligned for their unique brand of "stadium activism" ...
Public Image Ltd: John Lydon: 'PiL lets me express proper emotions'
Retrospective and Interview by Dorian Lynskey, The Observer, 6 September 2009
ON CHRISTMAS DAY 1978, almost exactly a year after the implosion of the Sex Pistols while on tour in San Francisco, the artist formerly known ...
Joanna Newsom: Have One On Me (Drag City)
Review by Dorian Lynskey, Q, April 2010
Avant-garde American folkstress's triple album. Not understated. ...
Everything But The Girl: Tracey Thorn and Ben Watt: Everything But The Grief
Profile and Interview by Dorian Lynskey, The Guardian, 26 May 2010
They wrote sad songs, survived serious illness and fell out of love with pop. Now Tracey Thorn and Ben Watt are back. ...
Interview by Dorian Lynskey, Q, June 2010
They're the button-pushing psychedelic pranksters who count Paul McCartney and Jay-Z among their admirers. Step into the weird, wired world of MGMT. ...
Lady Gaga and the New World Order
Comment by Dorian Lynskey, The Guardian, 1 July 2010
Lady Gaga's music videos are undoubtedly elaborate — but is there any truth to one blogger's claims that they are loaded with occult references and ...
M.I.A.: M.I.A: /\/\/\Y/\ (XL) ***
Review by Dorian Lynskey, Q, August 2010
Embattled hip-pop star returns, guns blazing. Misses target. ...
Janelle Monáe: Sister From Another Planet
Interview by Dorian Lynskey, The Guardian, 26 August 2010
Inspired by sci-fi novels and Afro-futurists, Janelle Monáe is a cyber diva taking R&B into far-out places. Dorian Lynskey meets the most compelling new character ...
Arcade Fire: The Arcade Fire: The Suburbs
Review by Dorian Lynskey, Q, September 2010
IN MAY, WHEN news broke that Arcade Fire's third album would be called The Suburbs, one online fan posted a joke tracklisting featuring such numbers ...
The Last Poets: After The Party: Music and the Black Panthers
Retrospective and Interview by Dorian Lynskey, The Guardian, 2 September 2010
ONE DAY LAST DECEMBER, Umar Bin Hassan of the Last Poets attended a gathering in Chicago to commemorate local Black Panther Party leader Fred Hampton, ...
These New Puritans: A Band Like No Other
Report and Interview by Dorian Lynskey, The Guardian, 7 October 2010
Part high-concept innovators, part wannabe pop moguls, These New Puritans are a band entirely apart from their peers. Dorian Lynskey asks what makes the difference. ...
Tony Wilson: A Fitting Headstone For Tony Wilson's Grave
Comment by Dorian Lynskey, The Guardian, 26 October 2010
A memorial headstone for Factory Records founder Tony Wilson has been unveiled in a Manchester cemetery this week. ...
Overview by Dorian Lynskey, The Guardian, 18 November 2010
Ostentatiously intellectual and scornful of rock'n'roll cliche, the likes of OMD and Heaven 17 briefly set 80s pop alight – and now they're back in favour. ...
Israel Kamakawiwo'ole: Somewhere Over the Rainbow… lies a crock of gold
Profile and Interview by Dorian Lynskey, The Guardian, 5 December 2010
A cover version of 'Somewhere Over the Rainbow', by a ukulele-playing, morbidly obese Hawaiian called Israel Kamakawiwo'ole, has become an unlikely multimillion-seller hit. ...
Wyclef Jean: "Fans are calling me the new Dylan"
Interview by Dorian Lynskey, The Guardian, 5 December 2010
WHAT SCUPPERED Wyclef Jean's bid to be president of Haiti? Well, it wasn't modesty. On the eve of the election result, the rapper talks death ...
Gang of Four: Old punks, new Content
Profile and Interview by Dorian Lynskey, The Guardian, 20 January 2011
Post-punk masterminds Gang of Four are back with their first new recorded material since their 2004 return to action. But why does it come packaged ...
Review by Dorian Lynskey, The Word, February 2011
The splintered psychology of Jacko is laid bare in a "final" album, recorded over 25 years and finished after his death. ...
Arcade Fire: "It's a lot easier to get smaller"
Interview by Dorian Lynskey, The Guardian, 10 February 2011
WITH A No. 1 album on both sides of the Atlantic, Arcade Fire are on the verge of U2-scale stardom. But, ever the provocateurs, they ...
Kyuss: Kings of the Stoner Age
Retrospective and Interview by Dorian Lynskey, The Guardian, 25 March 2011
"I DIDN'T THINK THAT at 40 years of age I would still be talking about generator parties," Kyuss frontman John Garcia says with a puzzled ...
Live Review by Dorian Lynskey, The Guardian, 31 March 2011
ONE NIGHT in London, even a night at the O2, is small beer compared to Taylor Swift's record-breaking success back home in the US. ...
Katy B, Jamie Woon: Jamie Woon: Mirrorwriting, Katy B: On A Mission
Review by Dorian Lynskey, The Word, April 2011
TWO GRADUATES from the school of dubstep — a brooding introvert and a Saturday-night extrovert— bypass the awkward stage. ...
PJ Harvey: "I feel things deeply. I get angry, I shout at the TV, I feel sick."
Profile and Interview by Dorian Lynskey, The Observer, 24 April 2011
Polly Harvey opens up to Dorian Lynskey about 20 years in music and the emotions behind her latest dark masterpiece. ...
Katy Perry: Max-Schmeling-Halle, Berlin ****
Review and Interview by Dorian Lynskey, Q, May 2011
Pop's newest extravaganza. Includes a vision of "whipped cream tits"… ...
Snoop (Doggy) Dogg: Snoop Dogg: Forum, London
Live Review by Dorian Lynskey, The Guardian, 18 May 2011
LIKE LAW & ORDER stalwart Ice-T and Are We There Yet? star Ice Cube, Snoop Dogg is proof that one generation's corrupter of morals is ...
The Fugs — Suppose They Gave A War And Nobody Came?
Interview by Dorian Lynskey, The Word, June 2011
"KILL FOR PEACE" ironists The Fugs have reunited after 27 years and are "preparing to go out in a blaze of leaflets". ...
Prince: "I'm a musician. And I am music"
Interview by Dorian Lynskey, The Guardian, 23 June 2011
RINGTONES ARE EVIL. Islamic countries are fun. The internet is like "a carjacking", where there are no boundaries. Prince on being pop's "loving tyrant" ...
Report by Dorian Lynskey, The Guardian, 30 June 2011
Gone are the days when bands would be scorned for getting into bed with corporate sponsors and brands, so what ever happened to "selling out"? ...
Arctic Monkeys: Surfeit Safari: Arctic Monkeys: Suck It And See (Domino)
Review by Dorian Lynskey, The Word, July 2011
Arctic Monkeys latest adventure — an overload of hyper-chiselled lyricism and a touch too much of yer manly riff-rock ...
Frankie Knuckles: The House That Frankie Knuckles Built
Profile and Interview by Dorian Lynskey, The Guardian, 13 October 2011
Frankie Knuckles is back, minus a foot but loaded with plaudits including a street named after him in Chicago ...
The Stone Roses' reunion: What's the worst that can happen?
Comment by Dorian Lynskey, The Guardian, 22 October 2011
The Stone Roses are the latest in a long line of bands to get back together. Shameless profiteering? Or the chance to heal old rifts ...
Justice: Audio, Video, Disco (Ed Banger) ***
Review and Interview by Dorian Lynskey, Q, November 2011
Pioneering electro-punk duo make nostalgic rock trip on LP2 ...
Book Review by Dorian Lynskey, The Word, November 2011
For ten solid, supercharged years Bowie was always one step ahead. Peter Doggett considers a decade of "magical thinking" ...
Chic, Nile Rodgers: Nile Rodgers: The Winter Of Our Discotheque
Interview by Dorian Lynskey, The Word, November 2011
Chic's Nile Rodgers recalls the chilling dance-music backlash of 1979 — "the more dominant tribe basically saying, It's time to thin out the herd" ...
Interview by Dorian Lynskey, The Word, December 2011
A Kate Bush song can be a game, a riddle, a library, a plane ticket, a night at the movies, a love affair, an hallucination, ...
Amy Winehouse: Lioness: Hidden Treasures (Island)
Review by Dorian Lynskey, The Word, January 2012
Danse Macabre: Subdued cover versions and a posthumous "duet" — the final album from Amy Winehouse is an unsettling experience ...
Coldplay: "We're the best fucking band in the world…"
Interview by Dorian Lynskey, Q, January 2012
Chris Martin may suffer from anxiety nightmares nine nights out of ten, but he knows the value of Coldplay. Join him as he hangs with ...
Indie Rock's Slow and Painful Death
Report by Dorian Lynskey, The Guardian, 16 January 2012
Sales figures suggest alternative rock is in a dismal place right now. Will it ever recover? And should we care? ...
Review by Dorian Lynskey, The Word, February 2012
Laughing Len's new outing seems to imply it could be his last. But then again, he's done that before... ...
Martina Topley-Bird, Tricky: Tricky
Interview by Dorian Lynskey, The Guardian, 18 April 2012
Seventeen years ago, Maxinquaye made Tricky an unlikely pop star, and made him angry and unhappy. Now, though, he and Martina Topley-Bird are ready to ...
Jack White: Exit Wounds: Jack White: Blunderbuss (XL)
Review by Dorian Lynskey, The Word, May 2012
Jack White certainly isn't gunning for his ex, but their split seems to have fired some of his most riveting work yet ...
Interview by Dorian Lynskey, Q, May 2012
Tyler, The Creator breaks new ground with every release, jokes about rape and "faggots", and runs LA rap crew Odd Future the way he wants. ...
Beach House, Niki & the Dove: Beach House: Bloom/Niki & The Dove: Instinct
Review by Dorian Lynskey, The Word, June 2012
ONE OF THE most underrated qualities in music is doing one thing very well. We instinctively cherish the wayward souls, the confounders of expectation, the ...
A$AP Rocky: Electric Ballroom, London
Live Review by Dorian Lynskey, The Guardian, 7 June 2012
"I WANT EVERYONE TO GET THEIR MONEY'S WORTH," says A$AP Rocky, the self-described "pretty motherfucker from Harlem". "I want someone to leave here passed out." ...
Frank Ocean Comes Out: A Brave Move In The Exaggeratedly Heterosexual World Of Hip Hop
Comment by Dorian Lynskey, New Statesman, 4 July 2012
What it means to be the first out gay star in urban music. ...
Mick Jagger: Christopher Andersen: Mick – The Wild Life and Mad Genius of Jagger
Book Review by Dorian Lynskey, The Guardian, 17 August 2012
Christopher Andersen's biography of Mick Jagger is little more than an anthology of juicy gossip. ...
Amanda Palmer: "Thank God my best friend's a therapist"
Interview by Dorian Lynskey, The Guardian, 19 August 2012
She lets fans scrawl on her naked body and she crowd-funded her new LP to the tune of a record-breaking $1.2m. Is Amanda Palmer the ...
Robyn: Brixton Academy, London
Live Review by Dorian Lynskey, The Guardian, 2 November 2012
LENA DUNHAM KNEW WHAT SHE WAS DOING when she deployed Robyn Carlsson's peerless 'Dancing on My Own' during an emotionally conflicted sequence in Girls. Like ...
Live Review by Dorian Lynskey, The Guardian, 26 November 2012
YOU WAIT YEARS for a Bobby Womack show, and two turn up at once. Unfortunately, that is not as good as it sounds. The 68-year-old ...
Calvin Harris: My Single Friend: Calvin Harris: 18 Months (Columbia) **
Review by Dorian Lynskey, Q, December 2012
Dumfries pop Midas toils to connect the hits on disappointing third. ...
Pussy Riot: Activists, not Pin-ups
Comment by Dorian Lynskey, The Guardian, 20 December 2012
Clever, committed and courageous, Pussy Riot are the only band that mattered in 2012. They have used their year in the spotlight to expose injustice. ...
Kendrick Lamar: Hammersmith Apollo, London
Live Review by Dorian Lynskey, The Guardian, 21 January 2013
ON A snowy night in London, Compton seems as distant as Mars. Twenty-five years ago the Los Angeles suburb was the epicentre of a hip-hop ...
Steve Mason: "I don't think rioting is the answer any more"
Profile and Interview by Dorian Lynskey, The Observer, 10 March 2013
Former Beta Band frontman Steve Mason explains why not everything on his new solo album is political. ...
Van Dyke Parks: "I was victimised by Brian Wilson's buffoonery"
Retrospective and Interview by Dorian Lynskey, The Guardian, 9 May 2013
He co-wrote the Beach Boys' Smile and now works with everyone from Rufus Wainwright to Skrillex. But don't dare to call him quirky, says Van ...
Live Review by Dorian Lynskey, The Guardian, 10 May 2013
IF THE KNIFE'S CURRENT MISSION, advertised in the title of the Swedish duo's new album Shaking the Habitual, is to disrupt assumptions, then their first ...
Profile and Interview by Dorian Lynskey, The Guardian, 19 May 2013
IT IS A PECULIAR experience meeting the most famous faceless musicians in the world. Daft Punk are certainly well known. Eight years after their last ...
Jay Z, Justin Timberlake: Jay-Z/Justin Timberlake: Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, London *****
Live Review by Dorian Lynskey, The Guardian, 15 July 2013
HAS LONDON ever had a more dystopian venue than the Olympic Park? Compared to Wireless's old home of Hyde Park this partially astroturfed gravel car ...
Elvis Costello, The Roots: Elvis Costello and Questlove
Interview by Dorian Lynskey, MOJO, September 2013
Forged in the unlikely surroundings of an American late-night TV show, the transatlantic union between Elvis Costello and The Roots' drummer and co-frontman Questlove has ...
Review by Dorian Lynskey, Q, September 2013
WHAT HAPPENS WHEN the world's two most famous rappers start to lose their grip on the mic? ...
Arctic Monkeys: iTunes festival, Roundhouse, London
Live Review by Dorian Lynskey, The Guardian, 10 September 2013
From lithe, lusty rock to R&B and menacing theatricality, the Artic Monkeys were on form with impressive versatility ...
Mazzy Star: "We weren't really in the mood to release music"
Profile and Interview by Dorian Lynskey, The Guardian, 19 September 2013
YOU MIGHT THINK that a band letting 17 years elapse between their third and fourth albums was unusual. You might therefore assume that there was ...
The rise, fall and rise again of Rough Trade
Report and Interview by Dorian Lynskey, The Observer, 23 November 2013
Vinyl sales are up and many music fans want an experience that click and buy can't match. As London's pioneering shop opens in New York, ...
Retrospective by Dorian Lynskey, The Guardian, 28 November 2013
Best known for reviving Nancy Sinatra's career with 'These Boots Are Made for Walkin'', Lee Hazlewood was a highly unorthodox record producer. An epic box ...
Dr. Feelgood, Wilko Johnson: Caught in the glare: Wilko Johnson has no regrets
Profile and Interview by Dorian Lynskey, GQ, December 2013
Dr Feelgood's electric axeman refashioned R&B and cleared a path for punk during a life less ordinary. ...
Beyoncé, Miley Cyrus, Katy Perry: New Skin
Comment by Dorian Lynskey, GQ, January 2014
Reinvention can make or break our pop princesses ...
Kim Gordon, Sonic Youth: Kim Gordon: Life after Sonic Youth
Profile and Interview by Dorian Lynskey, The Observer, 16 February 2014
Artist, musician and style icon, Kim Gordon has been at the cutting edge of culture for more than 30 years. Dorian Lynskey meets the singer ...
Ann Peebles: The Girl with the Big Voice
Retrospective and Interview by Dorian Lynskey, The Guardian, 20 February 2014
THERE'S A COMMON cliché in music biopics that you might call the eureka fallacy. Our hero is having a conversation or strumming a guitar when ...
Dr. Dre: Dr Dre: The hip-hop head with a business brain
Guide by Dorian Lynskey, The Observer, 10 May 2014
The man cited by his peers as the most significant force in hip-hop is set to become its richest operator. But what does his $3.2bn ...
Live Review by Dorian Lynskey, The Guardian, 1 June 2014
IT'S UNFORTUNATE for Katy Perry that her Prismatic tour is rolling into town just three weeks after Miley Cyrus's Bangerz. ...
Underworld's Dubnobass... 20 years on
Retrospective and Interview by Dorian Lynskey, The Guardian, 9 October 2014
THE PLAN, in the beginning, was that there was no plan. No album, no record label, no tours. Karl Hyde and Rick Smith of Underworld ...
The Jesus & Mary Chain: The Jesus and Mary Chain on Psychocandy: "It was a little miracle"
Retrospective and Interview by Dorian Lynskey, The Observer, 26 October 2014
How did two dreamy, painfully shy brothers from suburban Scotland create one of the most remarkable albums of the '80s? As the Reids prepare to ...
Report and Interview by Dorian Lynskey, The Guardian, 21 January 2015
Forget moon in June. Today's pop lyrics are written by Pulitzer-winning novelists. We talk to the writers muscling into pop – and the musicians flirting ...
Giorgio Moroder: Dr. Love Machine
Retrospective and Interview by Dorian Lynskey, MOJO, May 2015
BETWEEN 1974 AND 1986 GIORGIO MORODER TRANSFORMED POP AND DISCO WITH A NEW KIND OF EUPHORIC MACHINE MUSIC. NOW, AFTER HIS 2013 SPOT ON DAFT ...
How the compact disc lost its shine
Report and Interview by Dorian Lynskey, The Guardian, 28 May 2015
It's 30 years since Dire Straits' Brothers in Arms began the CD boom. How did the revolution in music formats come about and what killed ...
Report by Dorian Lynskey, The Guardian, 8 June 2015
The festival market grows ever more crowded, but east London's clued-up shindig keeps getting it right, with FKA twigs, Patti Smith, Ride and many more ...
Kendrick Lamar: "I am Trayvon Martin. I'm all of these kids."
Profile and Interview by Dorian Lynskey, The Observer, 21 June 2015
LAST YEAR, the director of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention presented research demonstrating that "youth living in inner cities show a higher ...
Nina Simone: "Are you ready to burn buildings?"
Retrospective by Dorian Lynskey, The Guardian, 22 June 2015
From singing the soundtrack to the civil rights movement to living in self-imposed exile in Liberia, Nina Simone never chose the easy path. As a ...
Review by Dorian Lynskey, The Guardian, 20 August 2015
Dan Bejar found unexpected late-career success with 2011's Kaputt, and seems uncomfortable with the high expectations for its follow-up — but it turns out to ...
Beyoncé's Lemonade is an object lesson in collaboration
Comment by Dorian Lynskey, The Guardian, 28 April 2016
She's the centripetal force that marshals the likes of Robert Plant, Jack White, Kendrick Lamar and MNEK to craft exquisite pop music that transcends boundaries ...
James Blake: "I'm the opposite of punk – I've subdued a generation"
Profile and Interview by Dorian Lynskey, The Guardian, 5 May 2016
Kanye, Beyoncé, Drake and Frank Ocean have all been inspired by the unassuming Londoner's sound. Now he's coming of age with his new album, The ...
PJ Harvey et al: Field Day, Victoria Park, London
Live Review by Dorian Lynskey, The Guardian, 13 June 2016
A lineup including Skepta, Deerhunter, James Blake and PJ Harvey prove more than able to banish wet weather blues with warm and powerful performances. ...
Bastille: Dan Smith of Bastille: "I sound like a nervous wreck who hates doing this"
Profile and Interview by Dorian Lynskey, The Guardian, 25 August 2016
DAN SMITH AND I have been talking in the corner of a hotel bar for ten minutes when a middle-aged man walks over and asks: ...
"Landmark clubs are evidence of creativity and energy in a city": why Fabric's closure matters
Report and Interview by Dorian Lynskey, The Guardian, 8 September 2016
Britain's clubland is shrinking but the world-famous London venue had survived the trend – until now. What does its loss mean for the capital's cultural ...
Thundercat: Gorilla, Manchester
Live Review by Dorian Lynskey, The Guardian, 26 March 2017
The gifted bassist and Kendrick Lamar sidekick twists fusion, soul and hip-hop into magical shapes. ...
Father John Misty: "I get sick pleasure out of reading about how much people hate me"
Interview by Dorian Lynskey, The Guardian, 30 March 2017
JOSH TILLMAN says he has given himself permission to self-destruct again. He talks about turning his latest album, Pure Comedy, into an 'insane' musical — ...
Benjamin Booker: How I turned my personal meltdown into a rallying cry for black America
Profile and Interview by Dorian Lynskey, The Guardian, 21 June 2017
He was overweight, abusing drugs and fleeing from his self-harming past. So he took all his problems – and turned them into the sensational new ...
Morrissey: When did charming become cranky? Why a middle-aged Morrissey is so hard to love
Comment by Dorian Lynskey, The Observer, 23 July 2017
As a new biopic England is Mine charts the Smiths singer's early life, fans speak of their disillusion at his increasingly outspoken views. ...
Live Review by Dorian Lynskey, The Observer, 20 August 2017
The London rockers debut a big-time second album with the sort of frenzied, intimate show that built their success ...
Kendrick Lamar: From street kid to Pulitzer: why Kendrick Lamar deserves the prize
Profile by Dorian Lynskey, The Guardian, 22 April 2018
The clarity, complexity and honesty of his lyrics alone merit the highest award for the hip-hop star and "greatest rapper alive". The first Pulitzer prize for ...
Anderson .Paak: "People are like – Damn! How are you not on crack cocaine right now?"
Profile and Interview by Dorian Lynskey, The Guardian, 13 April 2019
The soul and funk innovator on his turbulent childhood, subverting "morose" hip-hop and why he's pro-Kanye. ...
Live Review by Dorian Lynskey, The Guardian, 13 April 2019
Dazzling visuals have no story to tell in a disjointed set with killer hits – and money – to burn. ...
Lewis Capaldi: Princes Street Gardens, Edinburgh
Live Review by Dorian Lynskey, The Observer, 17 August 2019
With his self-deprecating wit and blue-eyed soul, the young Scots chart-topper delights with a celebratory show mined from undiluted misery ...
Lewis Capaldi: Princes Street Gardens, Edinburgh
Live Review by Dorian Lynskey, The Guardian, 26 March 2020
With his self-deprecating wit and blue-eyed soul, the young Scots chart-topper delights with a celebratory show mined from undiluted misery. ...
Fontaines DC: A Night at Montrose, Dublin
Live Review by Dorian Lynskey, The Guardian, 8 August 2020
The Dublin five-piece launch their brilliant second album with an intense, pre-recorded livestream event and bonus commentary. ...
Demi Lovato has made the most damning protest song of the Trump era
Review by Dorian Lynskey, The Guardian, 15 October 2020
HOW DO YOU SOLVE a problem like Donald? Like Nixon, Reagan and Thatcher before him, President Trump has been a great catalyst for protest in ...
Enemies of the sheeple: why do pop stars fall for conspiracy theories?
Comment by Dorian Lynskey, The Guardian, 30 November 2020
From Madonna to Ian Brown, musicians seem to be drawn to wild theories about JFK and 5G. There's a reason for that… ...
Idles: O2 Brixton Academy, London
Live Review by Dorian Lynskey, The Guardian, 22 January 2022
Galvanised by newly sober-sharp Joe Talbot, the impassioned Bristol band aim wider, higher and louder in a thrilling showcase of their latest album, Crawler. ...
The Libertines: Wembley Arena, London
Live Review by Dorian Lynskey, The Guardian, 24 July 2022
Carl Barât and Pete Doherty produce some strong moments but without their youthful excitement it’s a rickety affair that wasn’t built for a huge venue. ...
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