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James Poole recommendations

2016: Top ten albums

First of all, well done. If you’re reading this, you made it through 2016 alive. That in itself is an achievement. Much has been written, including here, about the losses we suffered last year. Prince. Bowie. Sharon Jones. A rationale electorate. A relatively stable World Order. But, I’ll keep this focused on the good stuff […]

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James Poole reflection

Prince

I can’t believe that I’m sitting here, writing a post about the passing of Prince. That’s like losing a limb. A really funky limb. Let me try to tackle this by taking a major detour to earlier in the week. To a time when Planet Earth was still graced by His Royal Purpleness. I shared […]

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James Poole recommendations

Of Radiohead, Prince and Roman GianArthur

OK, while we’re all sitting around waiting for Radiohead to release their new music, already, let’s talk Prince and let’s talk Roman GianArthur. Covering Radiohead is a dangerous game. Unless you’re Prince. If you’re Prince, covering Radiohead is not dangerous at all. For evidence, just watch him covering ‘Creep’ at Coachella. Prince can literally do […]

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James Poole reflection

Sir Terry, and Kate

Sir Terry Wogan may not be the immediate jumping-off point for a post on this site. But, on the day where the news of his passing is shared, I’ll be honest – there was a pang of real sadness for me. Sir Terry was my breakfast radio DJ as a kid. I remember sitting at […]

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James Poole reflection

Bowie.

It’s all been said. He was a genius. A real genius. He didn’t just break the rules, he ignored them. He refused to stand still. He stayed relevant. He turned death into performance art. There will never be another David Bowie. Yesterday was hard. It felt like an entire day spent in an out-of-body haze. […]

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James Poole reflection

North American Scum, Slight Return

As LCD Soundsystem downed tools in early 2011, I shared some thoughts on how, as a band, they captured New York City. To me, they were as much New York as were Blondie, the Beastie Boys or The Strokes. I shared my thoughts on how they “left us an almost perfect body of work”. I […]

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James Poole recommendations

2015: Top ten albums

It’s been a quiet year for the freethinking movement; relocating from the US to the UK has knocked the arse out of any free time, and has put a serious dent in my ability to sit and write. It’s a shame, as 2015 has been jammed with outstanding music. This, the sixth compilation of my […]

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James Poole recommendations

2014: Top ten albums

I’ve been posting an annual ‘best of’ list for a few years now – this is the fifth run through. I can honestly say that this is the easiest year by far. That isn’t a reflection on the scarcity of good material. Rather, the ten albums listed below stand head and shoulders out there as […]

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James Poole recommendations reflection

Vote ACR for Brazil 2014!

In these days of global warming, political and economic turmoil, Orwellian government surveillance and the very real threat of a new Coldplay album, there’s one issue that has crept onto my radar today, and which stands head and shoulders above all else in terms of importance. Let me explain… The World Cup is drawing closer. […]

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James Poole reflection

The only band that really counts

It was 50 years ago today. The world changed. Just as Kubrick represented the evolution of man in 2001: A Space Odyssey, I can only assume that a black monolith was present in Liverpool at the dawn of our new musical age, with four lads caressing its veneer; four lads who would change simply everything. […]

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events freethinking bklyn James Poole

freethinking bklyn 140201

There have been a few phases for freethinking nights. I think it’s fair to say that freethinking bklyn is finding a groove. It’s a place where the classic soul of Aretha Franklin sits alongside Chaka Khan’s disco anthems. Where the Northern Soul of Dobie Gray is matched with an entirely different type of northern soul […]

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defining freethinking James Poole

The Police: a perfect fit for freethinking

I was born in 1975. This puts me at 11 years old when just about the most exciting news came my way. When the music video for a track that I didn’t know was incoming burst onto my TV set, I was jumping for joy, and reaching for the [record] button on my VCR. Looking […]