We must stop treating world-class artists with such routine contempt
Published in The Observer (July 10th, 2011) Idrissa Soumaoro should have been rehearsing with the celebrated Malian musicians Amadou &... Read Full Article
It’s a fiasco, says our man in Kabul
Published in the Daily Mail (July 1st, 2011) Cables from Kabul: The Inside story of the West’s Afghanistan campaign by... Read Full Article
The corrosive legacy of Live Aid
Published in the Daily Mail (June 4th, 2011) Like most people of my generation, I can still recall with utmost... Read Full Article
Spotify Sunday: Shuffle…
Published on The Spectator website (April 16th, 2011) Like many music fans, I could spend months pondering a playlist and... Read Full Article
British music can still star as rock finds a new role
Published in the London Evening Standard (February 15th, 2011) Let’s get the party started. Tonight it is the Brits, that... Read Full Article
Hell or high water
Published in The Spectator (January 24th, 2011) Unbroken: An extraordinary true story of courage and survival by air, sea and... Read Full Article
The making of the coalition
Published in The Spectator (December 4th, 2010) 22 Days in May by David Laws/5 Days to Power by Rob Wilson... Read Full Article
That turbulent decade
Published in The Spectator (October 23rd, 2010) No such thing as society: a history of Britain in the 1980’s by... Read Full Article
Record sales plummet but the music plays on
Published in The Times (October 22nd, 2010) The deeply wonderful Elvis Costello has a new record out. It is available... Read Full Article
Caught in the crossfire
Published in The Spectator (July 24th, 2010) Curfewed Night by Basharat Peer (Harper Press) Maqbool Sheikh dreaded hearing a knock... Read Full Article