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Jude Rogers

Jude Rogers

Jude Rogers began writing about music in the summer of 1994, when she would pick up the top 40 from her local Woolworths every Saturday, and type it up for the entertainment pages of the Llanelli Star. Then after a long hiatus – two universities, sundry jobs that involved no writing whatsoever – she founded Smoke: A London Peculiar in 2003, a quarterly fanzine-shaped love-letter to the city, with Matt Haynes, formerly of Sarah Records and Shinkansen. Jude began freelancing for The Word soon after, writing about music, films and books.

By Autumn 2003, she was on staff as Reviews Assistant to Paul Du Noyer; when he moved on to pastures new in late 2004, she became the magazine's Reviews Editor. She also began freelancing for The Guardian, The Observer and the New Statesman in 2005, and became a Mercury Music Prize judge in 2007 (she has been on the panel since then). Leaving The Word to freelance full-time in December 2007, she still writes and reviews regularly for her alma mater, and presides over the monthly "Word To The Wise" slot.

In 2008, she ran the daily women's pop culture website, The Lipster, and was columnist for The Guardian's Film and Music section for the next two years. Subsequently, she has also freelanced for the Times Saturday Review, NME, Wire, The Quietus, Sound And Music and the BBC Music site, broadcast for Radio 2, 5 Live and 6 Music, and contributed to documentaries on BBC2 and BBC4. She has also interviewed musicians and written features for Elle, Red and In-Style, and writes about walking and nature for Caught By The River.

Jude lives in Wales with her husband, Dan, far too many dusty pop cassettes, broken CD jewel cases, and scratched records.

Jude Rogers online

Jude on the RBP podcast

207 articles

List of articles in the library

By date | By artist | Most recently added

Kylie Minogue: Body Language

Review by Jude Rogers, The Word, January 2004

TAKING THE ZEITGEIST by its shirt tails used to be Madonna's job — having hunches about cutting-edge producers and trends, placing a jazzily-painted nail on ...

Scissor Sisters: Scissor Sisters

Review by Jude Rogers, The Word, March 2004

IF FIRST IMPRESSIONS were king, I would hate the Scissor Sisters. ...

The Von Bondies: Pawn Shoppe Heart

Review by Jude Rogers, The Word, March 2004

THERE'S SOMETIHG CLOYING about The Von Bondies' style-over-substance approach to garage. ...

Jim White: Drill A Hole In That Substrate And Tell Me What You See

Review by Jude Rogers, The Word, May 2004

Pumped full of drive — Jim White's off-kilter alt.country ...

Björk: Medúlla (One Little Indian)

Review by Jude Rogers, The Word, October 2004

Stark spirituals, tortured hymns and schizophrenic requiems: Medúlla sees our favourite Icelander at her most ethereally eccentric ...

Elliott Smith: From A Basement On The Hill (Domino)

Review by Jude Rogers, The Word, November 2004

The posthumous album from the quiet American idol, written From A Basement On The Hill ...

Nancy Sinatra: Nancy Sinatra (Sanctuary)

Review by Jude Rogers, The Word, November 2004

Nancy Sinatra: our seasoned muse comes good, courtesy of Morrissey, Cocker and Bono ...

Plush: 12 Bar, London

Live Review by Jude Rogers, The Guardian, 14 January 2005

PLUSH'S LIAM HAYES isn't a man who does things easily. He released his first single in 1994, his first woozy LP in 1998, and didn't ...

Low: Royal Festival Hall, London

Live Review by Jude Rogers, The Guardian, 22 February 2005

FOR THE DEVOTED fan, watching Low rock out must be like watching Bob Dylan switch on the amplifiers at the Manchester Free Trade Hall. ...

Bloc Party: Silent Alarm

Review by Jude Rogers, The Word, March 2005

Silent Alarm is a promising debut from this year's Franz Ferdinand ...

Françoise Hardy: Melancholy Bébé: Françoise Hardy: Tant De Belles Choses

Review by Jude Rogers, The Word, March 2005

Forty years on a new album reveals the mature mettle of the great Yé-Yé girl ...

Bob Mould: Bob's Their Uncle: Bob Mould, Mean Fiddler, London

Live Review by Jude Rogers, The Observer, 11 September 2005

THE MEAN FIDDLER is thick with black T-shirts, shaven heads and heavy spirals of smoke — from onstage behind Bob Mould and the cigarettes being ...

The Futureheads: Grump Up The Volume

Interview by Jude Rogers, The Guardian, 12 May 2006

The Futureheads have grown up and discovered how to write "classic tunes". But don't expect any airs and graces, says Jude Rogers ...

Lily Allen: The Sound Of The (Garden) Suburbs

Interview by Jude Rogers, The Word, July 2006

Lily Allen makes urban music with a difference — she's had a life she can't complain about. And via MySpace and a daily blog she's built ...

Evan Dando: Keep Off The Grass

Interview by Jude Rogers, The Word, September 2006

...unless you're Evan Dando, in which case the sex/drugs/rock & roll cocktail appears to be your ticket to eternal youth. He's done Bad Things, he ...

Stockholm Syndrome

Report and Interview by Jude Rogers, The Guardian, 15 September 2006

SWEDEN'S INDIE BANDS are invading the UK, armed only with talent, style, ambition and government grants. Time to surrender, says Jude Rogers ...

Joanna Newsom: The New Kate Bush?

Profile and Interview by Jude Rogers, The Word, November 2006

Angelic voice, radiant songs about "flickering wastelands" and childhood trips to Folk Summer Camp. Meet Joanna Newsom. ...

King Creosote: It's the Wee Folk Hobbit!

Profile and Interview by Jude Rogers, The Word, December 2006

After 20 years, King Creosote — humble cottage-industry troubadour — has reached the Rivendell of a major label and a signing to Elton John's management. ...

Lily Allen, Joanna Newsom, Amy Winehouse: Year Of The Woman

Overview by Jude Rogers, New Statesman, 11 December 2006

At the beginning of 2006, the prospects looked bleak for strong, idiosyncratic female pop acts. Jude Rogers meets three remarkable artists who changed all that ...

The Shins: Transgressive

Review by Jude Rogers, New Statesman, 22 January 2007

THE SHINS – four men in their mid-thirties from New Mexico who style themselves as "an American pop combo" – are the literate, intelligent music ...

The Killers, Oasis, Corinne Bailey Rae , Joss Stone, Take That, Amy Winehouse: The Brits 2007: Live and Everything

Report by Jude Rogers, Guardian Unlimited, 14 February 2007

LADIES AND gentlemen! Boys and girls! Pop spods and car crash-telly fans! The hour is at hand! Welcome, one and all, to the Brits blog! ...

Arcade Fire: Why the Arcade Fire are molten hot

Comment by Jude Rogers, The Guardian, 20 February 2007

Two weeks until Neon Bible hits the shops and the hype has hit Arctic Monkeys levels. But where are the sceptical critics to keep the ...

Midlake: Melody makers

Profile and Interview by Jude Rogers, The Guardian, 23 February 2007

Deep in Texas lies a town where everyone is a musician. So what's its secret? Jude Rogers tours Denton with its hottest property, Midlake, and ...

Arcade Fire: Neon Bible

Review by Jude Rogers, New Statesman, 19 March 2007

MONTREAL'S ARCADE FIRE are the band of the moment. To the critical mob and clued-up music fans, they are the fresh-faced heirs to the epic-pop ...

Mark Ronson: Version

Review by Jude Rogers, New Statesman, 9 April 2007

POP MUSIC in 2007 is glorious – energetic, intelligent and glowing with life. Its master of ceremonies is Mark Ronson, a charismatic London-born New Yorker ...

Chapterhouse, Moose, My Bloody Valentine, Ride, Slowdive: Diamond Gazers: Shoegaze

Retrospective and Interview by Jude Rogers, The Guardian, 27 July 2007

AT THE START of summer 2007 a supple, shimmery thread started darning itself through a long line of euphoric-sounding albums. From Maps to Blonde Redhead, ...

Ayo: She shall overcome

Interview by Jude Rogers, The Guardian, 8 August 2007

Her mum was a heroin addict. Her dad kidnapped her from a foster home. But she conquered the chaos — and is now hitting the ...

Dizzee Rascal, The Klaxons, Amy Winehouse: The Mercury Prize: The agony and the ecstasy

Report by Jude Rogers, The Guardian, 6 September 2007

How can you possibly choose just one winner from 233 albums? Mercury prize panellist Jude Rogers lifts the lid on the judging for the music ...

PJ Harvey's White Chalk Is Genius With A Dark Heart

Review by Jude Rogers, Guardian Unlimited, 21 September 2007

As the tracks unfold, Jude Rogers finds herself acting as Polly Jean's agony aunt while listening to her wailing like a Kate Bush from hell ...

Joanna Newsom/Roy Harper/The Moore Brothers: Royal Albert Hall, London

Live Review by Jude Rogers, The Guardian, 1 October 2007

"CAN I GET the house lights on for a second?" Joanna Newsom rocks her harp on her heels, peers through her cameraphone at the raucous ...

Super Furry Animals: Roundhouse, London

Live Review by Jude Rogers, The Guardian, 6 November 2007

THERE IS A theory tumbling around that the Super Furry Animals are the Welsh Beatles. ...

Burial: Untrue (Hyperdub)

Review by Jude Rogers, New Statesman, 15 November 2007

To a different beat: With jagged, fragile soundscapes, the mysterious Burial has created a modern classic, writes Jude Rogers ...

Susan Christie, Wendy Flower, Heather Jones, Selda: Lie back and think of ukuleles: Lost Ladies of Folk

Retrospective and Interview by Jude Rogers, The Guardian, 2 January 2008

SOMETHING PECULIAR happened at the dawn of the 21st century: eccentric folk music of the late 1960s became covetable again. ...

Spice Girls: The Spice Girls: Never Mind The Bum Notes

Live Review by Jude Rogers, New Statesman, 3 January 2008

The Spice Girls: O2 Arena, London ...

Goldfrapp: Manure Rather Than Manicure

Interview by Jude Rogers, The Guardian, 25 January 2008

After past glam excesses, Goldfrapp are turning to nature for inspiration. Jude Rogers heads for their country retreat and hears why they are English eccentrics ...

Laura Marling: "My songs are not pretty"

Interview by Jude Rogers, The Guardian, 4 February 2008

IN A RECENT POSTING on a music website, one of Laura Marling's growing army of fans described her output as "pretty folk songs about boys". ...

Björk Week on The Lipster

Interview by Jude Rogers, The Lipster, March 2008

BACK IN OCTOBER last year, in the misty early days of The Lipster, I e-mailed Björk's publicist, telling him about the plans for our website, ...

The Hot 8 Brass Band: Basin Street Boogie

Profile and Interview by Jude Rogers, The Word, March 2008

The Hot 8 Brass Band are the missing link between traditional New Orleans jazz and hip hop. But three members have been shot dead along ...

MGMT: Oracular Spectacular (Sony BMG)

Review by Jude Rogers, The Guardian, 7 March 2008

THIS IS THE first great pop record of the year, a fizzing cherry-bomb that sparkles with energy, ideas and a huge love for music in ...

Björk: Independence Day

Interview by Jude Rogers, New Statesman, 27 March 2008

Independence Day: Björk's cry of "Tibet, Tibet" at a recent concert in Shanghai pre-empted the riots in Lhasa and outraged the Chinese authorities. It was ...

The Black Keys: Attack and Release

Review by Jude Rogers, The Guardian, 28 March 2008

IN THE SHADOW cast by the mighty White Stripes, blues-rock often lumbers between despair and excess. ...

R.E.M.: Shiny, Happy People: R.E.M.: Royal Albert Hall, London

Live Review by Jude Rogers, New Statesman, 10 April 2008

The veteran rock band have regained the passion that made them great ...

Portishead: Third

Review by Jude Rogers, The Guardian, 25 April 2008

PORTISHEAD'S THIRD album is initially more a record to admire than to love, its muscular synthesisers, drum breaks and abrupt endings keeping the tension high.  ...

Bon Iver: For Emma, Forever Ago

Review by Jude Rogers, The Guardian, 23 May 2008

HEARTBREAK OFTEN buckles sad records, turning sentimental confessions into whiny navel-gazing exercises. So thank heaven for Bon Iver's Justin Vernon, who avoids this problem beautifully. ...

Animal Collective, The Beach Boys, Fleet Foxes, Grizzly Bear: The Lure Of The Beach

Report and Interview by Jude Rogers, New Statesman, 12 June 2008

A new generation of US bands cites the Beach Boys as a huge inspiration. Why now? ...

The Zutons: You Can Do Anything

Review by Jude Rogers, The Word, July 2008

Epic yet humble, the third Zutons album shows the cosmic Scousers can do grandeur with a human face. ...

Dolly Parton: Warmth, Wonder and Wisdom: Dolly Parton, O2 Arena, London

Live Review by Jude Rogers, New Statesman, 17 July 2008

The superstar country singer proves her worth as a feminist icon. ...

My Morning Jacket: The Forum, London

Live Review by Jude Rogers, The Guardian, 19 July 2008

KENTUCKY'S MY MORNING JACKET used to be the adventurous alt.country cousins of Flaming Lips and Wilco, making music as dusty and wild as their beards. ...

BBC Radiophonic Workshop, Delia Derbyshire: In Praise of Delia Derbyshire

Profile by Jude Rogers, Guardian Unlimited, 20 July 2008

Last week's news that lots of Derbyshire tapes had been found and digitised marked the latest stage in her recovery as a musical, and feminist, ...

Katy Perry: On Music: Katy Perry — Voice of No Angel

Comment by Jude Rogers, The Guardian, 8 August 2008

IT'S BEEN quite a week for sex, music and me. Take last weekend. There I was at the Big Chill festival, hot-browed and clammy-palmed, watching ...

Keane: On Music: Keane – A Successful Turnaround

Comment by Jude Rogers, The Guardian, 5 September 2008

Keane are no longer soundtrack material for middle-class tantrums. They now have the sound of a band turning their frowns upside down ...

Glasvegas: Fat Sams, Dundee

Live Review by Jude Rogers, The Observer, 7 September 2008

Glasvegas are being touted as the new Oasis... with a twist. They're very polite to their fans ...

Madonna: Seen It All Before: Madonna, Millennium Stadium, Cardiff

Live Review by Jude Rogers, New Statesman, 11 September 2008

After 25 years of pop hits, Madonna's shock tactics are just embarrassing  ...

Mercury Rev: Snowflake Midnight

Review by Jude Rogers, The Guardian, 26 September 2008

TEN YEARS after Deserter's Songs became a gorgeous Americana classic, Mercury Rev have made another masterpiece. ...

Saint Etienne: London Conversations (Heavenly/Universal)

Review by Jude Rogers, The Word, October 2008

IT'S ONE OF life's lovely ironies that Saint Etienne, an English group named after a French football team, tell us everything there is to know ...

Kaiser Chiefs: Off With Their Heads

Review by Jude Rogers, The Guardian, 17 October 2008

THIS SUMMER, Mark Ronson brightly told us that Kaiser Chiefs' new album, their third in four years and the first on his watch, sounded like ...

Estelle, John Legend: John Legend: Why His Name Is Legend

Interview by Jude Rogers, The Observer, 19 October 2008

Barack Obama is a fan of soul star John Legend, and Estelle was his protégée. Jude Rogers speaks to him in the UK for the ...

Glen Campbell, Tom Jones, Tony Christie: Crooners: The Second Coming

Overview by Jude Rogers, New Statesman, 23 October 2008

Inspired by Johnny Cash with his ring of fire, a slew of ageing crooners are pursuing their desires ...

A Different Kind Of Organ

Comment by Jude Rogers, New Statesman, 13 November 2008

Radio 2, beset by scandal, is still the home of gloriously odd programming ...

The Killers: Razorlight: Slipway Fires (Mercury); The Killers: Day And Age (Mercury)

Review by Jude Rogers, The Word, December 2008

Young Men In A Hurry: What's the verdict on those tricky third albums from Razorlight and the Killers? It's all a bit forced. ...

Odetta: Grit, Guts and Glory

Profile by Jude Rogers, The Observer, 4 December 2008

She inspired Dylan, was pals with Ella, and was due to play at Obama's inauguration: Jude Rogers on Odetta Holmes. ...

Mary Margaret O'Hara: Christmas wishes from Canada's psychic singer-songwriter

Interview by Jude Rogers, The Guardian, 5 December 2008

DOWN THE WIRES from Canada comes Mary Margaret O'Hara, her voice as devastatingly delicate as shattering glass. ...

Florence and the Machine, Lady Gaga: On Music: Lady GaGa and Florence Welch

Comment by Jude Rogers, The Guardian, 16 January 2009

Lady GaGa and Florence Welch have been hailed as the new queens of pop. But why pretend they're anything more than cheap imitations? ...

R.E.M.: Murmur (Deluxe Edition)

Review by Jude Rogers, The Word, March 2009

IT CAME FROM the South, as all the best American myths do: a strange collection of songs by a group named after a stage in ...

Pet Shop Boys: Yes

Review by Jude Rogers, New Statesman, 26 March 2009

NEARLY 30 YEARS ON, the Gilbert and George of pop are still charmers. Like two Planet Pop missionaries sent to cheer us up in the ...

Jackie DeShannon: Return Of The Starry-Eyed Girl

Interview by Jude Rogers, The Guardian, 1 May 2009

IT'S LUNCHTIME at Claridge's, and a glamorous blonde in sparkling stilettos shimmers out of the lift. No one bats an eyelid, but then she starts ...

Robyn, Röyksopp: "There's This Idea That You're An Oddball, Far Up At The Top Of The World"

Profile and Interview by Jude Rogers, The Guardian, 5 June 2009

Love songs to robots, cement-mixer music, trios with houses on their shoulders… No wonder Scandinavian artists get noticed. Jude Rogers kicks off our Scandipop special ...

Bruce Springsteen: Why Indie Nerds Love The Boss

Report and Interview by Jude Rogers, The Guardian, 26 June 2009

Springsteen, a tweepop hero? ...

Joy Division: The Right Way To Remember Joy Division

Essay by Jude Rogers, The Quietus, 9 July 2009

As Unknown Pleasures reaches its 30th anniversary, Jude Rogers looks behind the commercialisation and Paul Morley's jowls at Joy Division's eternal truth ...

Shakira: On Music: Shakira – The She Wolf Bites

Comment by Jude Rogers, The Guardian, 17 July 2009

Shakira's howling alter ego is properly, wonderfully strange, going back to the old rules of pop star alternate personas ...

Speech Debelle : Is Speech Debelle Really "Not Black Enough"?

Comment by Jude Rogers, The Guardian, 31 July 2009

Speech Debelle seems to be yearning for another vision of blackness, rather than settling for being "urban" and making race redundant ...

Blur, Oasis: Look Back In Anger: Britpop

Retrospective by Jude Rogers, New Statesman, 13 August 2009

Fifteen years ago, a teenage Jude Rogers was enchanted by a new pop sound and a new politics, both of which promised to change the ...

The xx: xx — A Teen Band With A Difference

Interview by Jude Rogers, The Guardian, 13 August 2009

The minimalist four-piece band from a Notting Hill garage are equally awed by Pixies and Aaliyah ...

Ellie Greenwich: Remembering Songwriting Legend Ellie Greenwich

Retrospective by Jude Rogers, The Guardian, 27 August 2009

SHE CHANGED the shape of 60s pop by writing some extraordinary songs, including 'Be My Baby' and 'Da Doo Ron Ron' ...

Muse Make Space for the Music

Review by Jude Rogers, The Guardian, 28 August 2009

WHEN IS MUSIC too much? I'm not talking about the torrent of songs that surround us every day – I've argued how we should work ...

Euros Childs: Son of Euro Child

Review by Jude Rogers, bbc.co.uk, 7 September 2009

Childs' fifth album finds the ex-Gorky's man falling short of his best. ...

The Beatles: You Never Give Me Your Money: The Battle For The Soul Of The Beatles by Peter Doggett

Book Review by Jude Rogers, New Statesman, 8 October 2009

BY NOW all of us should have recovered from our latest dose of Beatlemania, occasioned by the release of the Beatles' remastered back catalogue on ...

The Instrumental Touch

Comment by Jude Rogers, The Guardian, 8 October 2009

INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC is the neglected child of rock and pop — but it's the absence of a human presence that can make it so interesting. ...

Robbie Williams: Writing Off Robbie Williams Is Unfair And Premature

Comment by Jude Rogers, The Guardian, 22 October 2009

Expectations of immediate success are threatening to strangle Robbie Williams's comeback at birth, even when his single is selling well and the new album is ...

Rihanna: Rated R

Review by Jude Rogers, bbc.co.uk, November 2009

She's transformed into a revenge-hunting, firebrand diva — and it suits her. ...

Ellie Goulding: First Sight: Ellie Goulding

Guide by Jude Rogers, The Guardian, 5 November 2009

WHO IS SHE? The 21-year-old future of pop, if you believe the hype. Born in Hereford and brought up in rural Wales, she now makes ...

Journey: Why is Journey's 'Don't Stop Believin'' Back in the Charts?

Comment by Jude Rogers, The Guardian, 5 November 2009

The 17th bestselling track in the country is the power ballad 'Don't Stop Believin'' from 1981. How did Journey get so popular? ...

Gil Scott-Heron: I'm New Here

Review by Jude Rogers, The Guardian, 19 November 2009

Rather than treating them like national treasures, let's hope musicians stretch their prejudices about what older artists can do ...

They've Got The X Factor

Profile and Interview by Jude Rogers, The Guardian, 3 December 2009

In the last 10 years, The X Factor and its ilk have bucked record-buying trends and breathed new life into a dying industry. We talk ...

Top Of Their Voices

Overview by Jude Rogers, New Statesman, 10 December 2009

From accents to Auto-Tune, singers fought to stand out from the pack ...

Kathryn Williams: The Quickening

Review by Jude Rogers, bbc.co.uk, 22 February 2010

A soft soul with hard edges, who shows us how quietness can resound so loudly. ...

Lonelady: Nerve Up

Review by Jude Rogers, The Quietus, 22 February 2010

IT'S TIME we forgot about the myth of Manchester. ...

From Mod to Emo: Why Pop Tribes Are Still Making a Scene

Overview by Jude Rogers, The Guardian, 25 February 2010

Like-minded music fans have been herding together for half a century — but are die-hard pop tribes now a thing of the past? Do today's ...

BBC 6 Music: The Beauties and the Beast

Comment by Jude Rogers, The Guardian, 27 February 2010

Passion, intelligence and wonderful tunes — 6 Music has it all, and found many fans despite its tiny budget. So why on earth is it ...

Frightened Rabbit in the headlights

Interview by Jude Rogers, The Guardian, 11 March 2010

Frightened Rabbit's Scott Hutchison was so shy he was kept back a year at nursery — but now fame in American beckons, writes Jude Rogers. ...

Joan Jett, Kristin Hersh, Le Tigre, Throwing Muses: What Happened To Angry Female Music Stars?

Comment by Jude Rogers, The Guardian, 25 March 2010

Are there any angry women left in rock and pop? Joan Jett, riot grrrl figurehead Kathleen Hanna and others talk about where it went wrong ...

Shakespears Sister: Songs From The Red Room

Review by Jude Rogers, The Quietus, 30 March 2010

WHY IS POP history always rewritten blandly, its quirkier corners streamlined into slick, glossy smoothness? ...

Arctic Monkeys, Leona Lewis, Muse, Joanna Newsom, The xx: Schoolteachers of Rock

Interview by Jude Rogers, The Observer, 25 April 2010

What's it like to have taught someone who went on to be a pop star? The teachers of Alex Turner, Leona Lewis, the xx and ...

Joanna Newsom: "Is It Time For A Glass Of Wine?"

Interview by Jude Rogers, The Guardian, 9 May 2010

She models for Armani, enjoys a game of baseball and likes to stay out drinking cocktails. Jude Rogers meets Joanna Newsom, the outspoken singer making ...

Grizzly Bear: Freed From Captivity

Interview by Jude Rogers, The Guardian, 27 May 2010

Grizzly Bear are the cult indie group that suddenly got rather big. Jude Rogers talks to their frontmen. ...

Robert Wyatt: His Greatest Misses

Review by Jude Rogers, bbc.co.uk, June 2010

A reminder of the palpable greatness of this Great British Eccentric ...

Black Box Recorder: Uncovering the Ballardian Universe of Black Box Recorder 


Retrospective by Jude Rogers, The Quietus, 1 June 2010

Danger, death and British humour: it's all in a day's work for Black Box Recorder, says Jude Rogers, as she sifts through their back catalogue ...

Jane Weaver — Bring Down The Stepford Wives!

Interview by Jude Rogers, The Quietus, 10 June 2010

MY FAVOURITE ALBUM of this summer so far is an intoxicating, peculiar, heady, balmy thing. Full of eerie vocals, woozy synthesisers, urgent rhythms and drones, ...

LCD Soundsystem, The Pixies, The Zombies: Why Your Favourite Band Should Split Up

Overview by Jude Rogers, The Guardian, 19 August 2010

From the Pixies to the Zombies, Jude Rogers talks to the bands who chose to burn out, not fade away ...

Nadine Coyle, Girls Aloud: Girls Aloud's Nadine Coyle On Her Solo Debut

Interview by Jude Rogers, The Guardian, 14 October 2010

Often hailed as the best singer in Girls Aloud, now Nadine Coyle is going solo — with a little help from Tesco's. So is this ...

Suede: Suede Brush Up

Interview by Jude Rogers, The Guardian, 21 October 2010

Drugs, M.E. and despair sent the poor urchins of Britpop their separate ways in 2003. Now Suede have come roaring back to life. ...

Shirley Collins/Alasdair Roberts/Trembling Bells: Cecil Sharp House, London

Live Review by Jude Rogers, The Guardian, 1 November 2010

IT'S HALLOWEEN weekend in Camden, north London, and ghosts are rising at Cecil Sharp House. ...

Stars and Girls

Comment by Jude Rogers, House, Spring 2010

They may be sneered at by serious music fans, but boy bands have provided a gateway into womanhood for generations of young females… ...

Pet Shop Boys: Neil Tennant: "Twitter Is Sickly"

Interview by Jude Rogers, The Word, January 2011

Social-network agnostic, high-church robe-fancier; supreme pop strategist — Neil Tennant casts a weather eye over the wind-lashed landscape of learning. ...

Lady Gaga, Muse: Spectacles: Muse and Lady Gaga

Report and Interview by Jude Rogers, The Word, January 2011

Muse pushed the envelope of live spectacle, while Lady Gaga was oddly intimate. Who won? ...

Cristina, Peggy Lee, Leiber and Stoller: Cristina's 'Is That All There Is?'

Retrospective by Jude Rogers, The Word, February 2011

HERE ARE TWO gutsy blondes, a million miles apart musically, turning people's heads with the same Leiber and Stoller song. ...

Elbow: International Arena, Cardiff

Live Review by Jude Rogers, The Observer, 27 March 2011

TONIGHT, CARDIFF'S premier gig-shed has turned into a family parlour. Five picture frames hang from the stage, gold and old-fashioned, each of them holding a ...

The Strokes, The Vaccines: The Strokes: Angles/The Vaccines: What Did You Expect From The Vaccines?

Review by Jude Rogers, The Word, April 2011

Every few months, along comes another band ready to "save rock and roll". Who'll take care of it this time: the Strokes, back after six ...

Loudon Wainwright III: "Don't be an actor"

Interview by Jude Rogers, The Word, June 2011

Bounder, famously fallible patriarch, six-stringed self-analyst and chronicler — consider the dust-caked dictums of Loudon Wainwright III ...

Arctic Monkeys Make The Fastest-selling Debut Ever

Report by Jude Rogers, The Guardian, 14 June 2011

23 January 2006: Number 48 in our series of the 50 key events in the history of indie music ...

Fountains of Wayne: Sky Full Of Holes

Review by Jude Rogers, The Word, August 2011

Lost souls and unsung heroes still stalk the landscape for Fountains Of Wayne — but has the well of compassion run dry? ...

Suzi Quatro: Things I Like

Interview by Jude Rogers, The Word, August 2011

Leather-clad pop cat, amateur Soviet historian and Tony Hancock aficionado. Do not disturb between 4 and 6pm.                                                  *   ...

King Creosote and Jon Hopkins: Diamond Geezers: King Creosote and Jon Hopkins

Report and Interview by Jude Rogers, The Guardian, 30 August 2011

POP IS FULL of odd couples, but this year's Mercury prize shortlist contains a particularly compelling one. Jon Hopkins, 31, is baby-faced and fashionably dressed, the image ...

Dolly Parton: The Liberty Belle: Dolly Parton Speaks

Interview by Jude Rogers, The Quietus, 30 August 2011

Ever the showbiz professional, Dolly Parton leads Jude Rogers a merry dance during her allotted 20 minutes of chat about partners, Gaga, sexuality, The Lord ...

Mary Anne Hobbs: Things I Like

Interview by Jude Rogers, The Word, September 2011

Music-deprived teenager turned DJ, bikini motorcyclist, Raymond Carver fan. Reads Stuart Maconie on repeat. ...

Tony Bennett: "Legalise drugs!"

Interview by Jude Rogers, The Word, September 2011

Reformed doper, WW2 footsoldier, gilt-tonsilled balladeer — Tony Bennett takes a cable car to the top of Mount Wisdom ...

Peter Gabriel: "Don't try to be liked"

Interview by Jude Rogers, The Word, October 2011

Sage, musicologist, digital pathfinder, born-again dad — Peter Gabriel offloads his recyclable bag of wisdom ...

Tony Bennett: Palladium, London *****

Live Review by Jude Rogers, The Guardian, 4 October 2011

THIS IS HOW to do it. At 85, Tony Bennett scampers on to the Palladium stage in a perfectly pressed suit, a folded red hankie ...

Kate Bush: 50 Words for Snow

Review by Jude Rogers, bbc.co.uk, November 2011

The sublime and the ridiculous: this is classic Kate. ...

R.E.M.: Michael Stipe's Last Stand — An R.E.M. Exit Interview

Interview by Jude Rogers, The Quietus, 12 November 2011

Michael Stipe wants to retire. Trouble is, Jude Rogers won't let him until he's been suitably debriefed… ...

Kylie Minogue: The Abbey Road Sessions

Review by Jude Rogers, The Quietus, 30 November 2011

IN 2006, while in recovery from cancer, Kylie Minogue talked to Another Magazine about her love of Grey Gardens.  ...

Florence and the Machine: Florence + The Machine Ceremonials (Island)

Review by Jude Rogers, The Word, December 2011

Fabulous theatre, preposterous lyrics, tribal rhythms — has Florence made the most overblown female solo album in years? ...

BBC Radiophonic Workshop, Daphne Oram, Delia Derbyshire, John Baker: The BBC Radiophonic Workshop: Back To The Future

Profile by Jude Rogers, The Daily Note, 6 December 2011

A group of outsiders left to their own devices, the BBC's Radiophonic Workshop took avant-garde electronics and strange new sounds into the nation's living rooms ...

Adele

Profile and Interview by Jude Rogers, The Gentlewoman, Spring 2011

2011 saw a perfect start for Adele Adkins, a British singer with incredible international appeal. When her second album was released in January, it went ...

Adele: Why Adele Is The Pop Star We Need

Comment by Jude Rogers, The Quietus, 23 February 2012

Adele is a one woman cash vache! Get off her back losers, says Jude Rogers ...

Henry Rollins: "Playing your hits is living a lie"

Interview by Jude Rogers, The Word, March 2012

Punk pugilist turned spoken-word turbo-philosopher, Henry Rollins puts the wanting world in a headlock ...

Pet Shop Boys: Format 1995-2009

Review by Jude Rogers, The Word, March 2012

Pet Shop Boys' later B-sides — now compiled into a titillating album — offer an alternative narrative to the last two decades. ...

Paul Weller: Sonik Kicks

Review by Jude Rogers, bbc.co.uk, 19 March 2012

An emotional, experimental ride, Weller’s 11th solo LP is brilliant stuff. ...

Paul Weller: "Be Mutton Dressed As Ram!"

Interview by Jude Rogers, The Word, April 2012

Curmudgeonly theorist, phone-hacked serial dad, raffish poster-boy for inquisitive middle age — Paul Weller gives himself a good talking-to ...

Denim, Felt, Go-Kart Mozart: "I Want Lou Reed To Kick Me Down The Stairs" — Lawrence Interviewed

Interview by Jude Rogers, The Quietus, 6 April 2012

Indie-pop outsider extraordinaire Lawrence — the Felt/Denim/Go-Kart-Mozart frontman who turned 51 last month — talks to Jude Rogers about sounding like Nicki Minaj and his ...

Skrillex: 02 Academy, Glasgow

Live Review by Jude Rogers, The Observer, 22 April 2012

HERE THEY come — the tiger-print leggings, the vest tops, the T-shirts soon to be removed. It is 8.40pm. This 80-year-old art deco venue in ...

Joan Baez: "Don't re-live the sixties"

Interview by Jude Rogers, The Word, May 2012

Martin Luther King support act, first folk superstar, Downton Abbey obsessive — Joan Baez offers a little steely-voice sagacity ...

The Stone Roses: Hultsfred festival, Sweden

Live Review by Jude Rogers, The Guardian, 15 June 2012

SO THIS is the Third Coming. Their first was at the much-mythologised tail-end of the 80s, when indie and dance music swaggered together, and the ...

Chic, Friendly Fires, Grace Jones, Kelis, Lana Del Rey, Stooshe: Kelis, Grace Jones, Lana Del Rey, Chic, Friendly Fires et al: Lovebox Festival, Victoria Park, London

Live Review by Jude Rogers, The Guardian, 18 June 2012

...

Justin Bieber: Cash For Questions

Interview by Jude Rogers, Q, August 2012

Lock up your nieces, the Canadian teen-pop behemoth is over here and gagging to answer your questions on scary fans, fighting One Direction and whether ...

Blur: Maida Vale Studios, London

Live Review by Jude Rogers, The Observer, 5 August 2012

AFTER BLUR'S 6 Music gig – the first of two shows they're playing for BBC radio tonight, to begin what they have suggested may be ...

Tulisa: How Did A Nice Girl Like This Become Britain's Most Ambitious Pop Star?

Interview by Jude Rogers, Q, October 2012

Tulisa Contostavlos is a new kind of pop star for whom success is measured by the volume of column inches and by brand positioning. Jude ...

Peter Gabriel: So – 25th Anniversary Edition

Review by Jude Rogers, bbc.co.uk, 22 October 2012

An innovative album that slipped comfortably inside the '80s mainstream. ...

Luke Haines: 'I've Been Lucky All The Way Through'

Interview by Jude Rogers, The Observer, 18 November 2012

Former 'saviour of UK rock' Luke Haines has never followed the unwritten rules of pop, as a surreal concept album proves ...

ABBA: ABBA – Deluxe Edition

Review by Jude Rogers, bbc.co.uk, 19 November 2012

IN APRIL 1975, ABBA were worried that the heady days were over. 'Waterloo', their song about one girl's surrender in the battle of love, had ...

Rihanna: A Sorry State — Pop Marketing & Rihanna's Unapologetic

Comment by Jude Rogers, The Quietus, 20 November 2012

Provocation for Profit? Assault as a Marketing Accessory? Why the Rihanna PR Machine show sad signs of our times ...

Bobby Womack: The Soundtrack of My Life

Interview by Jude Rogers, The Observer, 25 November 2012

BOBBY WOMACK'S career began in his teens in Cleveland, Ohio, when Sam Cooke mentored his family band, the Valentinos. In 1964 he wrote 'It's All ...

Florence and the Machine: The Q&A: Florence Welch

Interview by Jude Rogers, Q, December 2012

HELLO, Florence. Hello [trills gaily above extreme background noise] I am heeeeeeere! I am all yours. [Pause] Actually, who is this? ...

Gary Barlow: Philharmonic Hall, Liverpool

Live Review by Jude Rogers, The Observer, 6 January 2013

"Everything changes but him": Gary Barlow, in a curious performance that included a duet with Peter Kay on the theme to Home and Away. ...

Talk Talk: Natural Order

Review by Jude Rogers, bbc.co.uk, 14 January 2013

If magic in music exists, it is here, and never-ending. ...

Kraftwerk: Why Kraftwerk Are Still The World's Most Influential Band

Retrospective by Jude Rogers, The Observer, 27 January 2013

Kraftwerk's fusion of art, beats and electronics has become a template copied by musicians everywhere. Now they plan to take London's Tate Modern by storm ...

Lianne La Havas: Effenaar, Eindhoven, The Netherlands

Live Review by Jude Rogers, Q, February 2013

YOU'RE 23 AND released your first single a year ago. ...

Suede: The Wild Ones

Retrospective and Interview by Jude Rogers, Q, August 2013

Suede kick-started Britpop 20 years ago, but their arty glam-indie rock was soon overtaken by the more laddish likes of Oasis and Blur. Today, singer ...

Girls Allowed? The Women On Top In The Music Industry

Report and Interview by Jude Rogers, The Guardian, 26 October 2013

After Sinead O'Connor's open letter of concern to Miley Cyrus, sexism in the music business has never been more discussed. But what do the women ...

Lorde: Pure Heroine (Universal)

Review by Jude Rogers, New Statesman, 21 November 2013

THE BILLBOARDS glower on high streets in black and white, their closest visual neighbour in music being the artwork for Joy Division's final album, Closer. ...

Katy B: 'Success Wasn't Even On My Radar'

Interview by Jude Rogers, The Observer, 26 January 2014

She's the Peckham girl who won't dance to anyone else's tune: interviewed back on her old manor, Katy B proves the perfect modern British pop ...

Shirley Collins: Five of her best songs

Guide by Jude Rogers, The Guardian, 11 February 2014

One of England's greatest folk singers has performed live for the first time in over three decades. To mark her return, here are some of ...

Kylie Minogue: "It's not right if you're a woman who enjoys expressing her sexuality pretending you're not sexual"

Interview by Jude Rogers, New Statesman, 27 March 2014

Jude Rogers talks to the pop princess about gay best friends, life after breast cancer and why she spent New Year alone. ...

Beyoncé: Knowles' House Party: Beyoncé: The O2, London ****

Live Review by Jude Rogers, Q, May 2014

Pop superstar takes her Mrs Carter tour to the next level in London ...

Robert Wyatt: Soundtrack of my life: Robert Wyatt

Interview by Jude Rogers, The Observer, 26 October 2014

The prog-rock pioneer on his love of jazz, falsetto singing, the thrill of meeting Bulgarian folk singers and why Pharrell Williams is as good as ...

The Beatles, Joy Division, The Smiths, Jack White: Manna for Fans: The history of the hidden track in music

Retrospective by Jude Rogers, The Guardian, 25 January 2015

From inner groove loops to absurd backmasking, artists have long found ways to embed secret songs, cryptic writings and coded messages in their albums. ...

Noel Gallagher: The Apolitical Party: Noel Gallagher Interviewed

Interview by Jude Rogers, The Quietus, 16 February 2015

The always quotable High Flying Birds frontman on politics in music, Sleaford Mods and getting pissed with Morrissey. ...

Tracey Thorn: "I'd kill to be able to sing like Adele"

Interview by Jude Rogers, The Guardian, 12 April 2015

The Everything But the Girl frontwoman, whose book about the art of singing is out this month, on Twitter, The X Factor – and why ...

Blur: Who On Earth Are Blur? An Interview

Interview by Jude Rogers, The Quietus, 27 April 2015

Will the real Blur please step forward, asks Jude Rogers after speaking to them (individually) recently. ...

Sarah Cracknell: 'I Like Being in a Gang. I'm in Safe Hands'

Interview by Jude Rogers, The Observer, 24 May 2015

Saint Etienne singer Sarah Cracknell on her new solo album and the pleasure of recording it with close friends ...

Shirley Collins: "When I sing I feel past generations standing behind me"

Retrospective and Interview by Jude Rogers, The Observer, 31 May 2015

LEWES, EAST SUSSEX, is a lovely, slyly rebellious town. Pretty shopfronts and streets mask its political history: Thomas Paine wrote his first pamphlet here demanding ...

Kathryn Williams: "Sylvia was a big shadow over my writing"

Interview by Jude Rogers, The Guardian, 14 June 2015

Singer-songwriter Kathryn Williams talks about how Sylvia Plath inspired her new album, and why she is determined to rescue the poet from the 'sexy, depressing ...

Mercury Rev: Oval Space, London

Live Review by Jude Rogers, The Guardian, 28 November 2015

A COUPLE ARE slow-dancing next to the ladies' loos, moony smiles on their faces. Three similarly-minded women float out of the bathroom, swaying their hands ...

Teenage Fanclub: "We were never famous, so we're still getting old"

Profile and Interview by Jude Rogers, The Observer, 4 September 2016

Indie survivors Teenage Fanclub and their sweet, sunny, smart songs still have a fervent following. So what has prompted the sadness on their new – ...

Björk: Royal Albert Hall, London

Live Review by Jude Rogers, The Guardian, 22 September 2016

The Icelandic star's electrifying voice and sense of fun transcend the conventional setting. ...

Marc Almond: "I've had the chance to be subversive in the mainstream"

Profile and Interview by Jude Rogers, The Observer, 23 October 2016

With a career-spanning 10-album box set coming out, the Soft Cell star reflects on the '80s, Brexit and his fading love affair with London. ...

Shirley Collins: With a guitar and a lipstick

Review by Jude Rogers, The Sunday Times, 6 November 2016

The radical folk pioneer has cut a bold new album – her first for 38 years. ...

Johnny Marr, The Sex Pistols: Steve Jones – Lonely Boy; Johnny Marr – Set The Boy Free

Book Review by Jude Rogers, The Observer, 20 November 2016

Contrasting memoirs of life in the Sex Pistols and the Smiths from two charismatic working-class guitarists. ...

Harry Styles: teen star turned serious player?

Profile by Jude Rogers, The Observer, 14 May 2017

He was boyband One Direction's most high-profile pin-up. But as his debut solo album proves, behind the marketing lies a smart young man ...

Saint Etienne: 10 of the best

Retrospective by Jude Rogers, The Guardian, 7 June 2017

In the early 90s, a trio from south-east England set out to fulfil pop's potential. Nearly 30 years later, they're still making bold, inventive music. ...

Public Service Broadcasting

Report and Interview by Jude Rogers, The Guardian, 17 June 2017

The band's new album, Every Valley, chronicles the destruction of the Welsh coal industry and how its legacy still resonates in these uncertain times. ...

Offa Rex: The Queen of Hearts

Review by Jude Rogers, The Guardian, 13 July 2017

AS BAND-BUILDING chat-up lines go, "We'll be your Albion Dance Band" is certainly niche. ...

Judy Dyble and Andy Lewis: Summer Dancing

Review by Jude Rogers, The Guardian, 24 August 2017

BURROW THROUGH folk-rock's foundations, and you'll find Judy Dyble, an early singer in Fairport Convention, with the Incredible String Band, and the group that burst, ...

Robert Plant on Led Zeppelin, Alison Krauss and his endless wanderlust

Interview by Jude Rogers, The Guardian, 2 November 2017

IN OUR SERIES where great musicians tell the stories behind memorable records from their back catalogue, the Led Zep frontman discusses his enduring love for ...

Alice Coltrane: "It's like you're on top of the Alps": Alice Coltrane's spiritual jazz rediscovered

Retrospective by Jude Rogers, The Guardian, 17 November 2017

This weekend sees a host of London jazz festival events revisit the work of Alice Coltrane, who broke the rules of jazz to blaze a ...

Noel Gallagher: Who Built the Moon?

Review by Jude Rogers, GQ, 28 November 2017

AS ROCK AND ROLL'S elderly hounds go, few are as fun to kick as Noel Gallagher. Bend the leg and let's go: he's the ultimate ...

Slade: Dave Hill: So Here It Is (Unbound)

Book Review by Jude Rogers, New Statesman, 22 December 2017

THE EXCLAMATION mark in biography is a peculiar thing. It leaps from the page like a spark from a bomb, but it is jollier, perkier, ...

Gruff Rhys and the BBC National Orchestra of Wales: Wales Millennium Centre, Cardiff

Live Review by Jude Rogers, The Guardian, 12 June 2018

New album Babelsberg was well-suited to the grand occasion, with flavours of Glen Campbell among spacious melodies. ...

Moloko, Roisin Murphy: Róisín Murphy: "Pop's about putting across the primitive parts of yourself"

Retrospective and Interview by Jude Rogers, The Guardian, 21 June 2018

The former Moloko singer on the freedom and heartbreak that inspired her favourite tracks from her back catalogue ...

Olivia Chaney: Shelter (Nonesuch)

Review by Jude Rogers, The Guardian, 6 July 2018

FOLK ARTISTS stepping into singer-songwriter territory are often treated with suspicion, as if their egos must be propelling them beyond the small stories of smaller ...

Electronic shock treatment: how dance music was born

Retrospective by Jude Rogers, New Statesman, 11 July 2018

30 years on from 1988's Second Summer of Love, a flurry of eye-witness accounts of the rise of electronic dance music are hitting shelves. ...

Richard Thompson: Gawsworth Hall, Cheshire

Live Review by Jude Rogers, The Observer, 12 August 2018

Half a century after his first gig with Fairport Convention, folk-rocker Richard Thompson is as cool and contemporary as ever. ...

John Lennon, Yoko Ono: Not the only one: how Yoko Ono helped create John Lennon's Imagine

Retrospective and Interview by Jude Rogers, The Observer, 6 October 2018

A new book about the making of his 1971 solo album restores his artist wife to her crucial role in his musical life. She looks ...

Kacey Musgraves: Bristol Hippodrome

Live Review by Jude Rogers, The Guardian, 24 October 2018

Despite a fantastic sound from her band, the Grammy-winning star is awkward on stage as her lyrics are lost in the dry ice. ...

Kate Bush, Leonard Cohen, Pet Shop Boys: When song lyrics become literature

Essay by Jude Rogers, New Statesman, 2 January 2019

From Pet Shop Boys to Kate Bush, pop stars are publishing their songs as books. What do their words reveal about them? ...

Rhiannon Giddens: "I see this album as part of a movement to reclaim black female history."

Review and Interview by Jude Rogers, The Guardian, 24 February 2019

The Grammy-winning artist's collaborative project Songs of Our Native Daughters puts poems and narratives about slavery to music. ...

Rhiannon Giddens With Francesco Turrisi: There Is No Other

Review by Jude Rogers, The Guardian, 3 May 2019

FOLK MUSIC SHOULDN'T HAVE STARS, but Rhiannon Giddens' illuminating charge is hard to ignore. This February, she led the brilliant Our Native Daughters project, collaborating ...

Black Midi: One to Watch: Black Midi

Profile by Jude Rogers, The Guardian, 22 June 2019

This enigmatic young London four-piece are the most exciting new guitar band in Britain. ...

The golden age of the pop PR

Retrospective and Interview by Jude Rogers, New Statesman, 4 July 2019

How mythmakers shaped the music scene. ...

Richard Dawson: Anthems for a blighted nation

Interview by Jude Rogers, The Observer, 26 October 2019

Celebrated for his incredible voice and outsider-folk charm, the musician is stepping out of the shadows with his new album, 2020, a one-of-a-kind opus that ...

Richard Dawson: Anthems for a blighted nation

Interview by Jude Rogers, The Observer, 27 October 2019

Celebrated for his incredible voice and outsider-folk charm, the musician is stepping out of the shadows with his new album, 2020, a one-of-a-kind opus that ...

Patrick Cowley's pioneering electronica

Retrospective by Jude Rogers, New Statesman, 30 October 2019

Today, Patrick Cowley is barely known outside record-collecting circles: but his ecstatic electronic disco left an indelible mark on the music scene. ...

Aldous Harding: The strange world of Aldous Harding

Interview by Jude Rogers, The Guardian, 17 November 2019

THE NEW ZEALANDER can be an unnerving presence. She's also one of the most original songwriters around. She talks about Meat Loaf, Apocalypse Now … and ...

Mark Lanegan: "Heroin stopped me dying of alcoholism"

Interview by Jude Rogers, The Guardian, 30 April 2020

His guilt over Kurt Cobain's death, his scrap with Liam Gallagher, his year getting clean ... the former Screaming Trees frontman reveals why writing his ...

Nadine Shah

Interview by Jude Rogers, The Guardian, 23 July 2020

The musician talks about missing Glastonbury, being inspired by Abigail's Party and turning the tables on music critics. ...

Jónsi: Shiver (Krunk)

Review by Jude Rogers, The Observer, 4 October 2020

Co-producer AG Cook strips back Jónsi's first album in a decade to a clever mix of crunchy electronica and floating vocals. ...

Oneohtrix Point Never: the warped genius behind Uncut Gems's spine-chilling score

Interview by Jude Rogers, The Guardian, 27 October 2020

His soundtrack shredded audiences' nerves. Now producer Daniel Lopatin is using radio to bring Trump's America together. ...

Gary Numan with James Hogg: (R)evolution (Little, Brown)

Book Review by Jude Rogers, The Observer, 15 November 2020

IN DYLAN JONES'S recent oral history of the New Romantic movement, Sweet Dreams, Gary Numan stands out like a sore pale thumb. He fell into ...

Gillian Welch and David Rawlings: All the Good Times

Review by Jude Rogers, The Guardian, 19 February 2021

THE PANDEMIC HANGS HEAVY in the long-term duo's first album to share joint billing, and thrives when Welch leads. ...

Mogwai's As the Love Continues: A playback at Glasgow's Tramway

Review by Jude Rogers, The Observer, 20 February 2021

Glasgow's post-rock giants launch their 10th album with a thunderous filmed playback that cries out to be heard live. ...

Rhiannon Giddens and Francesco Turrisi: They're Calling Me Home

Review by Jude Rogers, The Guardian, 16 April 2021

RHIANNON GIDDENS' NEW ALBUM with Francesco Turrisi, her partner in life as well as music, explores two subjects that occupied them (and, frankly, the rest ...

Saint Etienne: "The 90s seem like yesterday": Saint Etienne on 30 years as pop auteurs

Interview by Jude Rogers, The Observer, 5 September 2021

SARAH, BOB AND PETE talk about recording their mesmeric new album via Zoom, the reality of the 90s and the oddness of pop parenthood. ...

Billy Bragg: "Boris was trolling me the whole time. We've got a wind-up merchant as PM."

Interview by Jude Rogers, The Guardian, 29 October 2021

As the bard of Barking tours a new album, he reflects on modern politics, his scraps with the Daily Mail and why he could do ...

Billie Eilish: "I've gotten a lot more proud of who I am"

Interview by Jude Rogers, The Guardian, 4 December 2021

The pop superstar on her extraordinary year — the Bond theme, that Vogue cover, the success of her second album — and hosting Saturday Night ...

Cornershop's Tjinder Singh: "My dad said, 'They'll not always want you here'. That stuck."

Profile and Interview by Jude Rogers, The Observer, 2022

Three decades since the band formed, Cornershop's genre-defying political music is still making a stand. Ahead of a new album, we join them on a ...

Vashti Bunyan: "My voice made me think of sorrow. I didn't even sing to my children"

Retrospective and Interview by Jude Rogers, The Guardian, 18 March 2022

GROOMED TO BE A 60S POP STAR, the singer instead headed for the Hebrides in a horse-drawn cart and then withdrew from music for 30 ...

Bob Dylan: The Philosophy of Modern Song

Book Review by Jude Rogers, New Statesman, 1 November 2022

In The Philosophy of Modern Song, 62 of the 66 featured songs are performed by men. Is the 81-year-old songwriter still intent on provocation? ...

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