Fans and figures from show business pay tribute to pop star who was diagnosed in August 2020 and wrote memoir during her illnessThe pop singer and TV personality Sarah Harding, who had 21 UK Top 10 singles as a member of Girls Aloud, has died aged 39 f…
Little Simz: “It’s nice to see my peers win. When they win, I win”
Simbiatu Ajikawo’s (aka Little Simz) fourth album, ‘Sometimes I Might Be Introvert’ , is a stunning, sprawling, ambitious ode to family – both the one you’re born into, and the one you choose. [NME]
Afghan musicians silently await their fate as Taliban’s ban looms
Amid upheaval across the country, it remains unclear whether a new government will forbid music as it did 25 years agoThe shutters have been down all along Kharabat Street, the storied heart of Afghan musical life, since the Taliban swept into Kabul in…
Miriam Margolyes: It was my duty to tell truth about Du Pré’s death
Veteran actor has no regrets about controversial claims that tragic cellist died from lethal injection in assisted suicideMiriam Margolyes has defended her controversial decision to reveal what she believes is the truth about the early death of the gre…
A lust for life … my years backstage with the giants of punk
From Ramones to Iggy Pop, photographer Michael Grecco met them all. An exhibition of his work recreates the movement’s glory daysMichael Grecco had low expectations the night he walked into a Boston dive bar known as The Rat. A local punk band was on s…
Jailhouse rock: how history’s crimes live on in music
From Maggie May to Ronnie Kray, crooks have long inspired songs, as a new book provesIn the 1960s when Sir Stephen Sedley, the former appeal court judge, was a young barrister, he successfully defended a number of Travellers in Kent who had been charge…
A case of the Palestinian blues
Recording under quarantine, a musical trio gives a classic blues song an Arabic twist, exploring new depths for Black-Palestinian solidarity. [+972 Magazine] For Kareem Samara, a British-Palestinian multi-instrumentalist, composer, and sound artist, it…
On my radar: Alexis Taylor’s cultural highlights
The Hot Chip frontman on a Factory Records exhibition, Brooklyn Nine-Nine and his favourite vegan ramenBorn in 1980, Alexis Taylor is the lead vocalist and keyboardist/guitarist of synthpop band Hot Chip. He formed the group with Joe Goddard while at s…
Original Observer Photography
Michael Rosen, Paloma Faith, St Etienne and ‘champing’ holidays – the best photography commissioned by the Observer in August 2021 Continue reading…
Qualcomm Debuts Lossless Bluetooth Audio Streaming With aptX Lossless
Qualcomm says it’s figured out a way to deliver lossless audio over Bluetooth, yielding quality that should be indistinguishable from uncompressed sources. And it’s calling it aptX Lossless, the next generation of Qualcomm’s proprietary audio format. F…