Kate Allen
Kate Allen is a former editorial assistant at Rock's Backpages.
34 articles
List of articles in the library
The Libertines: There Are No Innocent Bystanders
Film/DVD/TV Review by Kate Allen, unpublished, May 2011
THE glittering embers of hope for a Libertines reunion were simultaneously stoked and dashed last week at the premier screening of The Libertines — There ...
The Thrills: 2002-2007 (EMI Catalogue)
Review by Kate Allen, Uncut, October 2011
Going back to Big Sur with Dublin's lost psych-poppers ...
Florence and the Machine: Ceremonials
Review by Kate Allen, idolmag.co.uk, November 2011
BROKEN-HEARTED women have made the three biggest pop albums, of the 21st century: Back To Black, Lungs and 21. And so it falls to Florence ...
Florence and the Machine, Queens of Noize: Mairead Nash
Interview by Kate Allen, IDOL, February 2012
DJ, presenter, model and manager Mairead Nash is an unquestionable and enduring insider of the music industry. As we discuss the many facets of her ...
Nicki Minaj: Pink Friday – Roman Reloaded
Review by Kate Allen, idolmag.co.uk, April 2012
Tenacious, amusing and, above all, "the best — make no mistake, with Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded, Nicki Minaj is here to reaffirm her rap territory ...
Nicki Minaj: Hammersmith Apollo, London
Live Review by Kate Allen, The Fly, August 2012
THREE HOURS before Nicki Minaj is due onstage, there are miles of fans queuing outside the Apollo. Many have camped out overnight, sleeping in bin ...
Michael Jackson: When Michael Was Bad: Michael Jackson: Bad 25
Review by Kate Allen, Rock's Backpages, 24 September 2012
MONDAY 18TH SEPTEMBER marked the 25th anniversary of the release of Michael Jackson's Bad. ...
Sky Ferreira: Ghost EP (Capitol)
Review by Kate Allen, Planet Notion, October 2012
IT FEELS LIKE Sky Ferreira has been around for, like, ever. ...
Royal Trux: Accelerator Re-issue (Domino)
Review by Kate Allen, idolmag.co.uk, November 2012
The next in a long line of re-issues from the back catalogue of Chicago grimy rock duo Royal Trux, 1998's Accelerator is back in print ...
Bruno Mars: Unorthodox Jukebox
Review by Kate Allen, Planet Notion, December 2012
JUST two worthwhile things have come out of the last two series of The X Factor. Last year, it was Bruno Mars performing 'Runaway Baby'. ...
David Bowie: Highlights of David Bowie Is: V&A, London
Review by Kate Allen, Rock's Backpages, 25 March 2013
I'VE NEVER been a Bowie-phile, but after visiting the David Bowie is exhibition at the V&A last week, it's difficult not to feel as though such ...
Live Review by Kate Allen, Classic Pop, June 2013
The Mrs Carter Show rolls into town, but does the queen of pop justify the hype? The answer is yes and no. ...
Review by Kate Allen, Planet Notion, September 2013
IN A post Kanye-West-interview-with-Zane-Lowe world, Drake is looking like an average Joe. He's a heavyweight big-name, big-bucks star, yet he registers nowhere on the insanity ...
Lil Wayne, Nicki Minaj: Nicki Minaj and Lil Wayne: The Blueprint Group
Profile and Interview by Kate Allen, IDOL, September 2013
"The Blueprint Group makes brands out of rappers and turns their dreams of success into a reality." ...
Retrospective by Kate Allen, Classic Pop, October 2013
Looking like a gothic kewpie doll and sounding like an operatic vocal virtuoso, Klaus Nomi was an unlikely New Wave icon. Thirty years after his ...
Lady Gaga: ARTPOP (Interscope)
Review by Kate Allen, Rock's Backpages, November 2013
LIKE THE REST of the world, I too have an opinion on Lady Gaga and her latest album/app/manifesto — ARTPOP. ...
Live Review by Kate Allen, Classic Pop, January 2014
WITH BRUNO MARS having released two, noticeably short albums (both clock in at around 35 minutes each), I go into to tonight's gig worrying how ...
Robbie Williams: Swings Both Ways (Island) ****
Review by Kate Allen, Classic Pop, January 2014
BELIEVE IT OR NOT, 2001's Swing When You're Winning is Robbie Williams' best-selling album to date. Who knew? So with actually quite a lot to ...
Justin Bieber and the Boy Wonder Tragedy
Comment by Kate Allen, Planet Notion, February 2014
THE TERM "tragedy" is so over and incorrectly used by red top tabloids that we may not be aware of the fact that we are ...
Lady Gaga: Behind The Aura: The Risky Business of Lady Gaga
Comment by Kate Allen, Planet Notion, March 2014
WHY did the world come to a shuddering halt a couple of weeks ago to watch and condemn Lady Gaga having paint spit up on ...
Interview by Kate Allen, Disorder, May 2014
YOU'VE HEARD AND SEEN The Orwells. You'll know their pop punk guitar riffs and confrontational, disillusioned lyrics from their unforgettable performance on The Late Show ...
Lana Del Rey: Ultraviolence (Polydor)
Review by Kate Allen, Disorder, June 2014
THE TITLE of Lana Del Rey's debut album — 2012's Born To Die — was apt. ...
The Libertines: Hyde Park, London
Live Review by Kate Allen, Disorder, July 2014
Don't look back into the sun... ...
Michael Jackson: Xscape (Epic) ***
Review by Kate Allen, Classic Pop, August 2014
FIVE YEARS after his passing, Michael Jackson already has his name to posthumous album #2. ...
Kate Bush: Before The Dawn: Hammersmith Apollo, London
Live Review by Kate Allen, Disorder, September 2014
THERE'S NO NEED to explain this phenomenon in detail. Kate Bush breaking her 35 years of being conspicuous by absence from the stage is a ...
Britney Spears: Piece Of Me: The AXIS, Las Vegas
Live Review by Kate Allen, Classic Pop, October 2014
SEEING BRITNEY SPEARS LIVE holds every possibility of being an ugly affair. But seeing her play show number 32 as part of her Las Vegas ...
Lady Gaga: ArtRave, O2 Arena, London
Live Review by Kate Allen, Rock's Backpages, October 2014
THE PAST YEAR or so has not been kind to Lady Gaga. Broken bones, cancelled tours, major management fall outs and furiously scrutinised falling music ...
Pharrell Williams: O2 Arena, London
Live Review by Kate Allen, Rock's Backpages, October 2014
AT THE AGE OF 41 and with an estimated net worth of $80 million, why would Pharrell Williams bother submitting himself to the rigours of ...
Live Review by Kate Allen, FMS, 30 March 2015
IT'S SAD but it's edifying: whilst one rap pretender, who shalt remain nameless, postpones an entire tour due to "production delays", Nicki Minaj presses on ...
Britney Spears: Why Did Britney Spears Quietly Drop an Album then Take it Down?
Report by Kate Allen, Rock's Backpages, April 2015
ARE WE ALL sick of "surprise" music releases yet? Are we supposed to feign excitement over Beyoncé serenading Jay Z via a Tidal-exclusive video (the ...
Brandon Flowers: Brixton Academy, London
Live Review by Kate Allen, FMS, 20 May 2015
LIKE ANY really good album, Brandon Flowers' latest solo release, The Desired Effect, is too short. Ten supreme tracks that flash by and leave you ...
Bebe Rexha: Concrete, Shoreditch
Live Review by Kate Allen, FMS, 22 May 2015
WEDNESDAY NIGHT saw the debut London show of – we're saying it – our (and by extension, your) favourite new pop star, Bebe Rexha. ...
Miley Cyrus: Miley Cyrus & Her Dead Petz
Review by Kate Allen, Fashion Music Style, 2 September 2015
HOW MUCH of a surprise release is this, really? After a disappointingly unremarkable turn as the host of the MTV Video Music Awards – which ...
Morrissey: Eventim Apollo, Hammersmith
Live Review by Kate Allen, Fashion Music Style, 21 September 2015
"THIS IS MY LIFE," are the words Morrissey welcomes the crowd with. And what a life it is at the moment: playing a large number ...
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