E230: Simon Reynolds on shoegaze + dream pop + Jay-Z audio

In this episode, we invite the marvellous Brian Cullman to join us onscreen from a French farmhouse in the Dordogne. The author of How to Prepare for the Past talks us through his fascinating "travels in music and time" from New York City to North Africa via his writing for Crawdaddy, Musician and The Paris Review. Beginning with his boyhood in midtown Manhattan, Brian recalls his ecstatic discovery of pop radio and WBAI's Bob Fass; his befriending of the late Lillian Roxon; and his teenage immersion in the Max's Kansas City scene. The core of our conversation concerns the period our guest spent in early '70s London, where he fell in with rising folk-rock luminaries Sandy Denny and John & Beverley Martyn and hung out with an all-but-unknown Nick Drake. We hear clips from a 1982 audio interview with Martyn by Brian's Musician colleague John Hutchinson. We jump to the end of the decade as our guest recalls his friendship with R&B legend Big Joe Turner and discusses his dual experience of being a music writer and a performing singer-songwriter. After William quotes from newly-added library pieces by Derek Taylor (1968) and about Amy Winehouse (2004), Barney harks back to a Village Voice report on "Papa John" Phillips on Broadway (1975) and a Madonna profile by recent RBP recruit Barry Walters (2017).How to Prepare For The Past: Travels In Music and Time is published by ZE Books and available now. Pieces discussed: Derek & the Dominos: Marquee Club, London, The Amazing James Booker, Emerald Sapphire and Gold, John Martyn audio, Top Tunes: Martha and the Vandellas, Martha Reeves Goes Solo, Martha Reeves: Martha's Happier Than Ever Before, L.A.: Where It's At, Amy Winehouse: Hip Hop's Jane Austen?, John Phillips on the Great White Way and Madonna's Erotica, Sex: Why Musical Masterpiece, Defiant Book Still Matter.

In this episode we're joined by special guest Tim Page to trace the arc of his career from reviewing James Chance & the Contortions to winning the Pulitzer Prize. In a conversation that's as entertaining as it is erudite, Tim recalls his teenage discovery of Rolling Stone and the subsequent influence of rock criticism on his singular brand of classical music reviewing. After touching on the 1967 documentary A Day with Timmy Page, we hear about his journey as a critic from New York Rocker to the Washington Post via the New York Times. With reference to the 2002 collection Tim Page on Music, our guest reflects on his affection for Sean O'Hagan's High Llamas and Stephin Merritt's Magnetic Fields. Merritt and his electro-pop offshoot Future Bible Heroes are then heard in clips from an audio interview by the late Andy Gill. From there we turn to another of Tim's great passions – the tragic and long-neglected Judee Sill – and pay collective tribute to what he calls her "extraordinary gifts". After William quotes from newly-added library interviews with Janis Joplin (1970) and Ozzy Osbourne (2001), Jasper talks us out with his thoughts on pieces about country singer Tom T. Hall (1973) and Dallas Austin's Highland Place Mobsters (2014). Many thanks to special guest Tim Page. Pieces discussed: The Contortions + James White & the Blacks, Minimalism: Hey, DJ, The Everlasting Forever Of Arthur Lee, Future Bible Heroes audio (2002), Judee Sill: Lunch And Judee, Judee Sill: Heart Food, Judee Sill: A Brief Life, an Enduring Musical Impression, Miss Janis — Texas White Queen Of Rock, Ozzy Osbourne, Tom T. Hall and Make It Funky: The Rise & Fall of the Highland Place Mobsters.

In this episode we invite the pioneering Geoffrey Cannon to reminisce about his stint as The Guardian's rock critic between 1968 and 1972. Commencing with the pop baptism of his first hearing Frankie Lymon & the Teenagers in a Horsham record booth in 1956, our guest talks us through his early work for New Society and The Listener — including his prescient reviews of albums by the Velvet Underground and the Mothers of Invention. He also explains how the 1969 Granada film Johnny Cash at San Quentin came about. Geoffrey then recounts how he pitched a weekly rock column to Guardian editor Peter Preston, and how he sustained it from late 1968 until 1972 while simultaneously editing the Radio Times. Clips from the late Pete Makowski's 2008 audio interview with Jack Bruce give us a chance to discuss the origins of Cream, and how the relative innocence of the '60s collapsed into the druggy decadence of the '70s. The conversation with Geoffrey concludes with our guest's post-rock adventures in writing about health and nutrition, plus his 2000 uprooting to Brazil and subsequent love of singers such as Belchior and Caetano Veloso. Finally, William and Jasper talk us out with their thoughts on articles about Ornette Coleman (1969), Plastic Bertrand (1978), Jools Holland (2004) and James Blake (2025). Many thanks to special guest Geoffrey Cannon. Pieces discussed: Pop Music Democratised, Mother's Rites: Freak Out/Absolutely Free, Aesthetics of Outrage, Johnny Cash at San Quentin was my idea, Jack Bruce audio, Plastic Bertrand, Jools Holland, Second opinion: Ornette Coleman and James Blake is taking on TikTok, Live Nation and 'Free Music'.

In this episode we welcome Lloyd Bradley back to Hammersmith to discuss his monumental new tome Funk Is Its Own Reward. We ask our guest about what he describes as "Black America's second great cultural revolution" before learning of his own first awareness of funk as a new musical form. After we consider the parts played in the movement's evolution by James Brown, Earth Wind & Fire and Kool & the Gang, we get to George Clinton's Parliament-Funkadelic, whose mind-blowing  "P-Funk Earth Tour" of America celebrates its 50th anniversary this year. Clips from a rare audio interview with Betty Davis prompt our combined thoughts on the cult funk-rock queen who married Miles Davis and helped him fly his freak flag by turning him on to Sly Stone and Jimi Hendrix. After William discusses newly-added library pieces about the Beatles (1962) and a Marc Almond convention at London's Heaven (1986), Jasper revisits a live review of Bruno ('Uptown Funk') Mars from 2017. Many thanks to special guest Lloyd Bradley. Funk Is Its Own Reward is published by Constable and available now from all good bookshops. Visit his website at lloydbradley.net for more details. Pieces discussed: James Brown: Twilight Of The Godfather, Countdown on Parliament, from launchpad to mothership connection... We have lift-off!, A Journey to the Center of Parliament/Funkadelic, The Bizarre World of George Clinton (Parliament/Funkadelic Drop The Funk-Bomb On America), Betty Davis audio, Marc Almond Convention: Heaven Sent, Local Group: The Beatles and Bruno Mars live.

In this episode we're joined by a legend of '60s pop journalism to discuss her days at Rave magazine and her friendships with the stars of that swinging decade. Maureen O'Grady talks about the lucky break that brought her to Boyfriend magazine and her long friendship with the great Penny Valentine. She recalls her early interviews with the Beatles and the Rolling Stones before we digress into the role the UK played in hailing the Beach Boys' Pet Sounds as a game-changing masterpiece. Plus we ask our guest about Rave and its groundbreaking 1967 issue featuring Jimi Hendrix on its over. The conversation concludes with Maureen's reminiscences of the '70s, a decade in which she worked as a publicist for — among many other artists — Gladys Knight, Glen Campbell and, erm, Gary Glitter. We then celebrate Miles Davis' 100th birthday by listening to clips from the late Richard Cook's 1985 audio interview with that dark magus of avant-garde jazz. Jasper and William talk us out with their thoughts on pieces about the importance (or otherwise) of pop lyrics (2001) and the abuse meted out to female partners — from Yoko Ono to Courtney Love — of male rock stars (2025). Many thanks to special guest Maureen O'Grady. Pieces discussed: The Who did you say?, The Flower Game, The Beach Boys Visit the Animals, The Beach Boys: Complex and Intricate, Brian Wilson Remembers Pet Sounds on the Album's 50th Anniversary, Miles Davis audio, No Language, Just Sound — Looking Well Beyond the Lyric Sheet and Yoko Ono is now getting acclaim, but why do rock stars' female partners get so much abuse?.