Articles by Alexis Petridis

Entertainment

‘I almost always play it in hiding, alone’: can anyone get into free jazz, history’s most maligned music?

Even though he’s partial to hideous noise, free jazz is mostly unknown to the Guardian’s pop critic. A new guidebook from Sonic Youth’s Thurston Moore may change his mind

3 hours ago

Technology

The Durutti Column: The Return of the Durutti Column review – fragile classic that echoes far beyond its time

The delicate experimentation of the band’s debut may not have chimed with the post-punk 1980s, but its durability makes this deluxe reissue thoroughly deserved

20 hours ago

Entertainment

Mani’s writhing, relentless bass was the Stone Roses’ secret sauce – it taught indie kids how to dance | Alexis Petridis

His love of ‘good northern soul and funk’ was always in evidence and had a lasting impact on alternative music

Nov 20, 2025

Entertainment

Brat pack: Charli xcx’s 20 best songs – ranked!

As she releases music from her upcoming soundtrack to Wuthering Heights, we count down the best of her frank, futurist tracks

Nov 20, 2025

Entertainment

Oneohtrix Point Never: Tranquilizer review | Alexis Petridis's album of the week

Made using a cache of Y2K sample CDs that Daniel Lopatin salvaged from the internet’s fringes, the kaleidoscopic result speaks to contemporary information overload

Nov 20, 2025

Entertainment

Robyn: Dopamine review – complex emotions, instant euphoria: no wonder pop’s A-list love her

After 2018’s mellow Honey, the beloved Swede’s heady comeback pairs production worthy of Daft Punk and Moroder with deep romantic realism

Nov 13, 2025

Entertainment

Charli xcx: House ft John Cale review – haunt me, then! An elegant, brutal taste of the Wuthering Heights OST

Featuring a lugubrious monologue from the Velvet Underground legend, its jagged strings are more reminiscent of that band than anything on Brat

Nov 11, 2025

World

A voice that still carries: Aimee Mann’s greatest songs – ranked!

Thirty years on from the release of her acclaimed album I’m With Stupid, we count down the sucker-punching best tracks by the US singer-songwriter

Nov 6, 2025

World

Danny Brown: Stardust review – hyperpop-rap powered up with post-rehab positivity

The Detroit rapper feared his music would get dull after he went sober, but no-one could be bored by this guest-stuffed, chaotically swaggering new album

Nov 6, 2025

Florence + the Machine: Everybody Scream review – alt-rock survivor surveys her kingdom with swagger

On her self-deprecating, viscera-flecked sixth record, Florence Welch picks apart the compulsions and contradictions of fame

Oct 31, 2025

Dave: The Boy Who Played the Harp review – ​it’s clearer than ever what a stunningly skilled rapper he is

Returning with his first album in four years, the arena-filling UK rapper is still such a smart, sharp lyricist as he explores a series of existential crises

Oct 24, 2025

Experimental, sensual and political, D’Angelo radically redrew the boundaries of soul music

The late singer may have suffered from setbacks and only released three studio albums, but the range he displayed in this perfect catalogue was astonishing

Oct 14, 2025

‘Are the neighbours’ curtains twitching? Good!’ Avril A, the 80s housewife who became a star of Manchester’s gay scene

She sang out of tune, her choreography was bizarre – and everyone who saw her loved her. As her superb music is rereleased, her family and fans recall a subcultural great

Oct 7, 2025

Taylor Swift: The Life of a Showgirl review – dull razzle-dazzle from a star who seems frazzled

Far from the Max Martin-assisted pop juggernaut fans expected, this soft-rock paean to domestic bliss is slight on tunes and still seethes with grievance. And the less said about her fiance’s ‘magic wand’, the better

Oct 3, 2025

Bossing it! The makers of Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere on turning Jeremy Allen White into the rock icon

Springsteen’s 1982 lo-fi album Nebraska was recorded when the singer was battling with depression – but about to become a superstar. Now that pivotal period has been brought to the screen – with The Boss’s approval

Oct 3, 2025