Popular Music

When music could make the future: The legacy of Brian Wilson and Paul McCartney Gerry Hassan Scottish Review, June 17th 2020 Music is pivotal to what it is to be human. It is part of our universal language and connected to how we live, breathe and at a fundamental level the rhythm of the human heart. A world without music would seem to be missing part of the human spirit – and to an extent the current COVID-19 pandemic seemed like the day the music stopped. Concerts big and small, festivals corporate and local, records shops and many new

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The Beatles, the Sixties and what happens to music after the virus? Gerry Hassan Sunday National, April 5th 2020 Next Thursday one of the landmark anniversaries of popular music and culture occurs: the 50^th anniversary of the public break-up of the Beatles when Paul McCartney broke the unexpected news. The dreams and hopes of a huge swathe of young people and generation who had grown up with the Beatles as the world around them dramatically changed would never be the same again. Leaving aside that the Beatles had to all intents already broken up before McCartney’s announcement, but not made

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Gerry’s Favourite Music of the Decade Gerry Hassan January 3rd 2020 My countdown of the grooves I was listening to over the past decade. First, this is my chart so the criterion is mine alone! It is dominated by new things from the last ten years, but includes compilations, reissues and even a few albums from previous decades. Second, nearly as important as what is in a looking back exercise such as this is what is missing. Thus, even though this is a fairly eclectic list it consciously has no Beyonce, Kayne West (his early promise degenerating into celebrity Trump

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My Favourite Music of 2019 Gerry Hassan December 23rd 2019 This is the fifth time that I have compiled a list of music that I have bought, listened to, and that came my way in the past year. This has been an even more varied, diverse and fantastic year of music listening and experiences this year, aided by a number of factors. One was obviously just becoming aware of more great releases, and a number of artists being brave enough to follow their muse and not the mainstream. Another was upgrading my hi-fi streaming to Qobuz along with using

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My Favourite Books of 2019 Gerry Hassan December 22^nd 2019 This is a list of my favourite books of the year. It is the fifth year in a row I have done this – and undertaken separate book and music lists – the latter coming in the next day. It is a totally subjective and idiosyncratic list: made up things I have read, come across, been involved in or inspired by and which have stopped me and made me think. The biggest reason I do these lists is for my own enjoyment: looking back and reflecting on reading and listening,

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Who postponed the future? Why the power of nostalgia can hurt us all Gerry Hassan Scottish Review, April 30th 2019 Last week I attended a talk about one of the seminal bands of late 1970s Britain - Joy Division - where the author and cultural commentator Jon Savage discussed at an event run by Monorail, a wonderful independent record shop in the centre of Glasgow, the band, their music, originality and enduring influence. It was a mesmerising talk about the power of music, importance of place and of Britain - both in the late 1970s and now. In one observation,

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My Favourite Music of the Year: 2018 December 21^st 2018 Gerry Hassan This is my fourth year of doing a comprehensive music list of things I have bought, been listening to, and had come my way in the past year. It has been as usual an eclectic year musically but highlights include the Southside Record Club (meeting at Some Great Reward record shop) and listening to some great sounds through that, some stellar live gigs – with often the smaller the better (and a big hat tip to the Bungalow in Paisley), and some fantastic bootleg recordings. But as with

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The Future has been Postponed: Making Sense of the Age of Nostalgia Gerry Hassan Scottish Review, May 9th 2018 Nostalgia is everywhere. The past seems all around us – alive, noisy, ever-present, and more relevant and dynamic than the voices of today and the concerns of tomorrow. Take a couple of examples. The British Labour Party under Jeremy Corbyn seems to define its moral compass through a host of reference points from its past - from Keir Hardie to 1945. Then there is the regressive radicalism and conservatism of Brexit. And less seriously, there is how popular culture increasingly re-presents

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My Favourite Music of the Year: 2017 December 19th 2017 NEW ALBUMS

12. The Visitor – Neil Young and Promise of the Real

Neil Young’s roving and rocking spirit look at the America of today. Hit and miss in places - but some hard rock and roll such as opener ‘Already Great’.

11. Dark Matter – Randy Newman

Newman in typical sardonic form with his first album in nearly a decade and trademark laidback musical style and acerbic lyrics, ‘Putin’ being one of the best.

10. Damn – Kendrick Lamar

Not as stellar and

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Michael Marra: The Bard of Dundee and Modern Scotland Gerry Hassan Scottish Review, December 13th 2017 Michael Marra – musician, artist and force for good – was a precious Scottish gem. He was unique in his art but also in his delivery and style; singularly understated, modest and often humble to the extent that at times he hugely underpromoted himself and his work. It is worthwhile celebrating that the writer James Robertson has contributed his time and intelligence to produce a biography of Marra - ‘Michael Marra: Arrest This Moment’. This is a fascinating book, and important beyond the subject

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