Introduction

The aim of this website is to treat today's music with as much intelligence and analysis as the sounds of the past deserve without becoming a History Today-style fanzine or its opposite, a cool Indie site. Our primary concern isn't the drugs, bust-ups, unit sales in Nova Scotia, or what's hot and what's not. We are neither nostalgists nor would-be trend-setters. We are not a consumer guide. This website was inspired, among other things too numerous and varied to mention, by three brilliant but very different books on music: Simon Reynolds' masterly and pin sharp 'Rip It Up and Start Again 1978-1984' which showed important music didn't end with those twin classic eras of rock - the 1960s and 70s. Paul Williams How Deep Is The Ocean, illuminating  and passionate discussions on the creation of Brian Wilson and The Beach Boys' Smile masterpiece which burrowed deep inside the music to uncover as many meanings as a post-graduate course in classical music. Finally, 'Rebel Worker', an incendiary and wild-eyed journal of free revolutionary research and experiment written by young radicals in Chicago between 1964-1966 which attempted to show that thought can be as revolutionary as action, culture as influential as politics. Modern Music Review hopes our writing will inspire you as much as modern music continues to inspire us.

Graham Chalmers

© Modern Music Review (2009)