This is part of a hopefully ongoing series in which I dissect the previous decade using media as a lens. As a first installment this is old, written about a year ago, and was published elsewhere on a website now defunct. I hereby resurrect it here, warts and all. Next installment: how The National Fucked Us Over. Cheers. Shaka.

Those of a conspiratorially-minded constitution will probably already be aware of this, but a particularly bizarre one – as with all the good ones, it doesn’t have so much of an urtext but is rendered in variations the lucidity of which depends on your interlocuters sobriety or lack thereof, or how frequently they starting gumming themselves – involves the C.I.A. using what we now term “identity politics” to stifle proliferating socialist movements in 1970’s America. As with all good conspiracy theories, there’s more than a kernel of truth to it. Declassified documents reveal a sinister level of adroit manoeuvring by intelligence agencies on this front: when Black rights, Queer rights and Women’s rights movements throughout America were reaching peak agitation levels, Intelligence agencies didn’t stoke the fire exactly – but they did see a way it could be weaponised against the most unholy of Evils, Communism. It wasn’t as simple as sending a conventionally beautiful woman with a mission of collapsing socialist rhetoric to a women’s rally, although there was that. They augmented this predictable approach by bringing out the agent provocateurs. To those galvanised by the prospect of much-needed equality…

One decade down, another on deck.

It’s almost surreal to remember reading this site’s 2000-2009 decade list like it was yesterday, and now be a part of the new one that’s on-deck. And just as clearly, I remember turning the page to the 2010s, with the likes of Titus Andronicus’ The Monitor, The Tallest Man on Earth’s The Wild Hunt, Kanye West’s My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, and Deftones’ Diamond Eyes all – among others – making early splashes. It’s weird to think that we’re all on the precipice of repeating that. What will 2020 bring? Surely at least a few releases that we’ll still be talking about in December 2029.

Decade milestones are huge, especially for time spent on a website. I’ve been here going on 12 years and there are others who have been here even longer. It’s caused some reflecting on my part, and I’ve put some serious thought into how I want to approach the next decade. As such, I’m going to put out a few “new decade resolutions”:

-> Stricter Rating: I’ve had as much fun as anyone handing out 4.5’s and 5’s to everything I enjoy, but the time to put things in perspective is long overdue. I’m not sure how this will impact my historical ratings and reviews, but moving forward I plan to reestablish some credibility to my assessments.  I take pride in my writing and now I want my scores to reflect that. Expect future reviews/ratings to adhere much more closely…

George Michael – Songs From The Last Century

Monday December 6^th, 1999. This day marks the release of George Michael’s surprising left-field covers album, Songs From the Last Century. As if there wasn’t enough evidence to support George’s case already, Songs From the Last Century marks as yet another clear-cut example of an artist being driven by their love of music – devoted to the craft – and not money. There was always a sense of satisfaction when George plotted his next move, as it always seemed to go against the grain on what people thought he should do next. You have to remember that Songs From the Last Century was a relatively ballsy move for George at the time, as it was succeeding his magnum opus, Older: a timeless classic that displayed a sophisticated new sound and image – a smooth, soulful and jazzy sound palette that was underpinned by macabre themes and a setup for his rawest personal-healing-lyric-writing to date. The thing is, while Songs From the Last Century sounds like an arbitrary left-turn on paper, the execution isn’t that far removed from its predecessor; the LP works as an extremely organic continuation on from Older, with the twist being that George is giving out renditions to some of his favourite songs. This project was clearly a “hobby album” – a reactionary response to getting over his 1996 classic, by making something that was fun and full of positivity. Older’s blueprint is…