(Domino)Chan Marshall’s third outing deconstructing the songs of others, from Nick Cave and Frank Ocean to Lana Del Rey and the Pogues, is her best yetDancing, ceremony, aural wallpaper: the uses of music are legion. Often, though, succour is key, a ki…
New year arts: Observer critics pick the culture to get us through to spring
From live music to glass sculpture, game-changing performances to fitness podcasts… our writers on cultural treats to light up the months aheadKathryn Hunter appears in The Chairs, Eugène Ionesco’s absurdist apocalypse drama, translated, adapted and di…
LadBaby equal Beatles record with fourth Christmas No 1
Food bank campaigners joined forces with Ed Sheeran and Elton John’s rival festive song, while expletive-strewn protest against Boris Johnson goes top fiveLadBaby have scored their fourth consecutive UK Christmas No 1, making them the first artist to e…
Eric Clapton to waive legal costs against woman who attempted to sell single bootlegged CD
The artist’s management have issued a clarifying statement after the singer attracted criticism over the David v Goliath winEric Clapton has waived the legal costs that a German court ordered a 55-year-old woman to pay, over a single CD containing a bo…
Harmony in your head: the five best podcasts for music obsessives
If you want to hear critics debate the issues, make a case for lost classics, or give you a deeper understanding of great artists– there’s a podcast for thatWhen Switched on Pop began back in 2014, it helped to cement and spread the “poptimism” movemen…
George Michael’s 30 greatest songs – ranked!
With Last Christmas sailing up the singles charts again, now’s the time to reappraise Michael’s best tracks, from sublime pop to haunting elegiesTucked away on the B-side of The Edge of Heaven, Battlestations is a fascinating anomaly in the Wham! catal…
Paul Weller’s 30 greatest songs – ranked!
Drawn from the Jam, the Style Council and his solo work, all of it powered by romance, storytelling and political vim, here is the best of a British songwriter unbounded by genreOn the B-side of A Solid Bond in Your Heart lurks Weller’s mea culpa take …
Brit awards 2022 to remove gendered categories
British and international male and female artist categories condensed into two non-gendered awards, as four new genre categories added and Mo Gilligan announced as presenterThe Brit awards have become the latest award ceremony to do away with gendered …
‘Everyone’s laughing at it!’ – how we made Release Me by Engelbert Humperdinck
‘I sang it live on TV and it sold 80,000 copies the next day – keeping the Beatles’ Penny Lane/Strawberry Fields Forever off the No 1 slot’I started off working in clubs under my real name, Gerry Dorsey. Then I got tuberculosis and nobody in showbusine…
‘The song I secretly like? Agadoo by Black Lace’: Estelle’s honest playlist
The singer, songwriter and producer on De La Soul, Stevie Wonder and the song that will make everyone dance at a partyThe first song I remember hearingI remember hearing Sweet Mother by Prince Nico Mbarga at a family christening when I was about two or…