Dave Simpson
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davesimps0n.bsky.social
Dave Simpson
@davesimps0n.bsky.social
Guardian music critic. https://www.theguardian.com/profile/davesimpson Author of The Fallen - Life In And Out Of Britain's Most Insane Group and The Last Champions. Yorkshire.
MBV in MCR: a full on assault and caress of all the senses, complete with rattling ribcage and gusts of sonic wind flapping at my clothes. www.theguardian.com/music/2025/n...
My Bloody Valentine review – shoegaze pioneers find prettiness in pulverising noise
Earplugs safely distributed, the band proceed to rattle ribcages with a two-hour show that showcases their unique ability to mesh the dreamlike with the apocalyptic
www.theguardian.com
November 25, 2025 at 5:35 PM
Reposted by Dave Simpson
‘The Ziggy Stardust suit sparked my adolescent awakening’: Moby, Goldie, Natalie Merchant and more delve inside Bowie’s archives
‘The Ziggy Stardust suit sparked my adolescent awakening’: Moby, Goldie, Natalie Merchant and more delve inside Bowie’s archives
As a huge new public collection opens this weekend, famous fans pick out their touchstones – from the game-changing wardrobe that gave birth to glam to the synthesiser that drove his Berlin years
www.theguardian.com
September 14, 2025 at 12:47 PM
Reposted by Dave Simpson
Anyone going to @deershed.bsky.social at the weekend? I'll be in conversation with the great @davesimps0n.bsky.social on Sunday at 1.10pm in the Buckendz stage, talking about my new book Maybe I'm Amazed, music, neurodivergence & more
July 23, 2025 at 7:29 PM
I saw Broooooooooooooce @springsteen turn rage against events in America into an unforgettable arena-sized protest music masterclass. www.uncut.co.uk/reviews/bruc...
Bruce Springsteen And The E Street Band, Co-Op Live, Manchester, May 14, 2025
Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band reviewed in concert at the Co-Op Live in Manchester on May 14, 2025
www.uncut.co.uk
May 15, 2025 at 12:56 PM
In tribute to Pere Ubu's great and now sadly late David Thomas, a true one-off. www.theguardian.com/music/2025/a...
Harnessing chaos and charm, Pere Ubu’s David Thomas rewrote rock’n’roll
The bandleader, who has died aged 71, created a vast body of work that influenced everyone from Ramones to REM, thanks to his absurdist energy
www.theguardian.com
April 25, 2025 at 6:21 AM
Meta are using three of my books to train AI, without permission/recompense. I support the
@societyofauthors.bsky.social
protest today and demand that Meta #DoTheWriteThing and compensate authors for the work they stole. #MakeItFair #MetaBookThieves
April 3, 2025 at 12:18 PM
I really enjoyed meeting Barry Hyde: Futurehead, publican, music teacher, musical social historian and top chap. www.theguardian.com/music/2025/m...
‘They’re still under there, they never got out’: the Futureheads’ Barry Hyde commemorates his mining heritage
The musician was commissioned to create an album inspired by the north-east’s mining history – and then discovered his ancestors died in a local disaster
www.theguardian.com
March 25, 2025 at 8:00 AM
The great Steel Pulse spoke to me about punk, Bob Marley, wearing KKK hoods onstage and how it all started with drumming on the sofa :-) www.theguardian.com/music/2025/m...
UK reggae pioneers Steel Pulse: ‘We told punk fans – you can pogo, but please don’t spit at us’
They won a Grammy, risked being shot in the US and were adored by Bob Marley. As they go on tour, the band look back on half a century of being a voice for the voiceless
www.theguardian.com
March 12, 2025 at 7:58 AM
"Suddenly New Rose was 'the first British punk single. Everything happened very quickly after that." RIP the great Brian James. www.theguardian.com/music/2018/m....
The Damned: how we made New Rose
‘Audiences hated us, motorcycle gangs chased us’ … fuelled by amphetamine and cider, this bunch of former toilet-cleaners and gravediggers made Britain’s first punk single
www.theguardian.com
March 7, 2025 at 8:20 AM
An interview I did a few years back with Marianne Faithfull who, along with everything else, was an absolute hoot. www.theguardian.com/culture/2013...
Marianne Faithfull: 'I don't think I had any choice but to be decadent'
The star of pop and film talks to Dave Simpson about being cast as a sex kitten of the 60s, drugs, homelessness, and why she will never sell Mick Jagger's love letters
www.theguardian.com
January 30, 2025 at 7:10 PM
I had a cup of tea and a natter with Clive Langer, brilliantly storied producer of so many pop classics and now back with his fab band the Clang Group
www.theguardian.com/music/2025/j...
‘My job was making hits’: Clive Langer on taking Bowie, Dexys and Madness to No 1 – and why he turned Madonna down
He skied with Bowie, boozed with Madness and recorded the Teardrop Explodes on acid. But does he regret blowing it with Dave Grohl? The great producer relives his smashes, parties and 11am vodkas
www.theguardian.com
January 30, 2025 at 6:25 AM
Reposted by Dave Simpson
‘It was carnage – in the best way!’ Manic Street Preachers, Sleaford Mods, KT Tunstall and more pick their favourite small gig venues
‘It was carnage – in the best way!’ Manic Street Preachers, Sleaford Mods, KT Tunstall and more pick their favourite small gig venues
The drinks are thrown, the crowds are feral – and the bands are right in your face. On independent venue week, musicians talk about their most cherished concert sweatboxes I love the bit in John Niven’s book O Brother where he goes back to where he saw…
www.theguardian.com
January 28, 2025 at 4:36 PM
10cc/Strawberry Studios pop colossus Graham Gouldman told me about some of the most famous - and not so famous - moments of his much-storied career.
January 23, 2025 at 7:24 PM
Incredible near three hours with Macca, 82, who does it all again this evening. www.theguardian.com/music/2024/d...
Paul McCartney review – extraordinarily sublime and humblingly beautiful
Stretching an almost three-hour set from the Quarrymen through to the ‘final Beatles single’ this is like an arena-sized Last Night at the Proms, with Beatlemania
www.theguardian.com
December 15, 2024 at 5:49 PM