The enduring legacy of Tracy Chapman
As the Soviet Union was about to collapse, Gorbachev’s glasnost gave my mother Tracy Chapman. So too did she gift her to me, tucked in CD collections stacked high in…
James Bond and the Dangers of Literary Censorship
We live in an era of literary rewriting. Following the news that Roald Dahl’s works are being rewritten to remove offensive language (which we covered in The Student), James Bond…
Kendrick Lamar’s ‘Auntie Diaries’ and LGBTQ+ conversations in hip hop
Rap aside, Kendrick Lamar and Macklemore don’t have much in common. The only time they’ve come together have the Grammys to thank, where a record with ‘Thrift Shop’ as its…
Florence & The Machine graces the Glasgow stage in a ‘resurrection of dance’
Florence Welch possesses an ethereal quality that renders her live performances unforgettable. Some might even say indescribable. As the lights dim and a collection of white chandeliers descend from the…
Cult Column: Under the Silver Lake
This article contains film spoilers. CW: suicide, rape I am not entirely sure what I watched when I watched Under the Silver Lake, but one thing I can say for…
The War in Ukraine: One Year One
On the 24th of February 2022 belligerent Russian forces advanced towards Kyiv in an attempt to seize Ukraine. The US offered Volodymyr Zelensky a plane out of the country. However,…
Chavela Vargas: redefining representations of gender in Ranchera music
Chavela Vargas, with her deeply emotional, harrowingly heartfelt voice, is famous for her canciones rancheras, challenging conventions and her famed love affairs with powerful women, including a rumoured night with…
Wendy Carlos: Trans Trailblazer
Content Warning: Transphobia The landscape of electronic music is a constantly shifting molten earth that is terraformed by those who push the needle forward, whether that is done through conjuring innovative…