Has the Isle of Man solved the problem of the illegal music download?

In the past, hearing a government official from the Isle of Man say “We are not going to stop piracy, so let’s embrace it” would be very strange. But the self-governing island in the Irish Sea is not encouraging the lawless ways of some band of Jack Sparrow types. Well, not quite.
What the principality is [...]

A list of bands, musicians, pop stars and rappers on Twitter

Remember a few years ago when every cultural commentator and his uncle was heralding a new age of direct communication between artist and fan via the wonder of MySpace? Well Twitter takes this trend to its ultimate conclusion, so now we know exactly when Nick Cave is “drinking my eleventh strawberry daiquiri and talking to [...]

Poll of polls, or, Best of the best-of-2008 album countdowns

Confession: I’ve had some free time lately.
I had to use up the rest of my holiday entitlement before 2008 was out, so I now find myself with nine days of welcome but unproductive home-time in mid-December.
My internet browsing is on the high end of the scale at the busiest of times, so inevitably my modem [...]

The ongoing genius of The Onion

The Onion is probably the only website that can be consistently relied on to make me laugh. Others, such as The Daily Mash, have made a valiant effort at importing its news satire to a British audience, but The Onion is the original and best – and has perfected the art of turning mundane reality [...]