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Michael Hann

Michael Hann

The Guardian

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Kneecap are basic but thrilling

It was Irish week in London, with one group from the north and one from the south. Guinness was sold in unusual amounts; green football shirts were...

28.11.2024 10

The Spectator

Michael Hann

Perfectly imperfect: Evan Dando, at Islington Assembly Hall, reviewed

‘Can I have a photo with you, please?’ It’s the most embarrassing question you can ask of someone you’re interviewing. But I had to. Not only...

14.11.2024 10

The Spectator

Michael Hann

The joy of Chris Stapleton

Chris Stapleton is a barrel-chested man of 46, who hides his face beneath a beard that must have taken years to grow, hair that tumbles down past his...

31.10.2024 10

The Spectator

Michael Hann

An uncompromising master: David Gilmour, at the Royal Albert Hall, reviewed

It doesn’t matter which dictionary you consult, they all agree on what a song is: words, set to music, that are sung. Yet it’s also an entirely...

17.10.2024 10

The Spectator

Michael Hann

The world is on fire – yet navel-gazing still reigns in pop

There is no better cultural weather vane than pop. It’s not that pop singers possess incredible analytical skills – they don’t. It’s more that...

03.10.2024 20

The Spectator

Michael Hann

How some of the most derided bands of all time are making a comeback

The fate of the pop musician – at least the pop musician below the top tier of stardom – has historically been to fall from fashion. At some point...

26.09.2024 10

The Spectator

Michael Hann

My night with the worst kind of nostalgia 

American Football are a band whose legend was formed by the internet: some Illinois college kids who made an album for a little label in 1999, went...

19.09.2024 10

The Spectator

Michael Hann

Triumphant: Big Thief, at Green Man, reviewed

One of the first things I learned after seeing Big Thief triumph at Green Man is that some long-time fans are worried about them. There’s an extra...

22.08.2024 10

The Spectator

Michael Hann

Fantastic – and genuinely indie: Personal Trainer, at the Shacklewell Arms, reviewed

Remember when we all knew what indie meant? Indie was what John Peel played. It was music that was recorded, manufactured and distributed independent...

08.08.2024 10

The Spectator

Michael Hann

Charismatic, powerful and raw: Patti Smith, at Somerset House, reviewed

There are certain long-established rules for describing Patti Smith. Google her name and the words ‘shaman’ and ‘priestess’ and you’ll see...

25.07.2024 10

The Spectator

Michael Hann

Teenage Swifties restored my faith in strangers

Taylor Swift is the last of the monocultural pop icons. Put it this way: I bet you’ve heard of her. Your parents have heard of her. Your children...

27.06.2024 10

The Spectator

Michael Hann

‘Psychedelic folk that twists and leaps’: Beth Gibbons, at the Barbican, reviewed

A decade ago, a group of people who owned small music venues came to the conclusion that the kinds of places they ran were teetering on the brink of a...

13.06.2024 10

The Spectator

Michael Hann

Nickelback may not be cool but they are very good at what they do

In May 2013, Rolling Stone polled its readers in an attempt to discover which band might be crowned the worst of the 1990s. The winners – or losers,...

30.05.2024 20

The Spectator

Michael Hann

The unstoppable rise of country music

When a major artist releases a new album, the first thing to follow is the onslaught of think pieces. And when Beyoncé released Cowboy Carter earlier...

23.05.2024 30

The Spectator

Michael Hann

Adrianne Lenker is a treasure for the ages 

You could very well sum up their differing approaches to American roots music from how they were dressed. Both wore cowboy hats and both wore...

02.05.2024 20

The Spectator

Michael Hann

Why garage punk is plainly the apogee of human achievement

How is it that a group that sounds like the Hives are selling out the Apollo? In a world configured according to expectation, the highlight of their...

18.04.2024 10

The Spectator

Michael Hann

Never admit that your band is prog – it’s the kiss of death

Sensible prog-rock bands try to ensure no one ever realises they play prog. What happens when you are deemed a prog band is that you are condemned to...

04.04.2024 7

The Spectator

Michael Hann

Pop / The horror of London’s music venues

There were headlines last month about the plight of live music in Britain. More than a third of grassroots venues are making a loss; more than 100 of...

22.03.2024 10

The Spectator

Michael Hann

The joy of meat-and-potatoes rock

‘Meat-and-potatoes rock’ is the pejorative term critics use when describing groups of white men with guitars who play loud, uncomplicated music....

07.03.2024 6

The Spectator

Michael Hann

He barely knows what he’s doing: Oliver Anthony, at the O2 Shepherd’s Bush Empire, reviewed

What does a chubby, bearded American feller wearing a plaid shirt and singing about his dog and truck have in common with a chic, sonically...

22.02.2024 10

The Spectator

Michael Hann

Monumentally good: John Francis Flynn, at the Dome, reviewed

John Francis Flynn is monumentally good. He’s kick-yourself-for-missing-him good. He’s so good that when he spoke between songs in the upstairs...

08.02.2024 40

The Spectator

Michael Hann

Without Pitchfork, bands like the Clientele would never have attracted any attention

The whole world might have been different had Alasdair MacLean, singer and guitarist of the delicate, pastoral, slightly psychedelic band the...

25.01.2024 8

The Spectator

Michael Hann

The confusing, overwhelming, exhilarating music of Jockstrap

Shall we get the pop predictions for this year out of the way first? Taylor Swift will continue to conquer the world; the charts will continue their...

11.01.2024 10

The Spectator

Michael Hann

Why I love the Hold Steady

Live music is thriving right now. According to the US trade magazine Billboard, Taylor Swift’s Eras tour has so far grossed an estimated $838m, and...

12.12.2023 7

The Spectator

Michael Hann

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