Pieces and Quietus

When IDLES' Joe Talbot mentioned "pseudo-intellectual rags" in a recent interview with Vice, it was hard not to conclude (as many did) that he was referring at least in part to the Quietus - not least because of contributor J R Moores' evisceration of new album Ultra Mono and the band in general. However, even the most cursory of surveys of the site's high-quality features over the last few weeks makes Talbot's sneery swipe look misguided.

Sure, in a superb Baker's Dozen article, writer Paul Mendez earnestly and unhesitatingly described his debut (and semi-autobiographical) novel Rainbow Milk as "a book about Black intersectionality", but he went on to tell Paul Flynn about some of the records - by Beyonce, Aaliyah, Missy Elliot, Mary J Blige, Marvin Gaye, Joy Division and more - that have helped him to find his own identity and/or feature in the pages of a book that is evidently steeped in music.

Another Baker's Dozen piece found Melanie C of that obscure, esoteric collective The Spice Girls talking to Emma Garland about her favourite albums with all the infectious enthusiasm of a full-on vinyl nerd appearing in an episode of Amoeba's What's In My Bag? Her picks include bona fide pop royalty (Madonna, Wham!, Eurythmics) and some unexpected surprises (The Beatles' Revolver, records by Fiona Apple and System Of A Down). The article is an effervescent, gossipy delight - who knew that she and Geri once egged each other on to invade the stage at the Astoria when Blur launched into 'Girls & Boys'? There can't be too many people whose first glimpse of The Prodigy was at an under-18s night at a very dubious-sounding nightclub called Mr Smith's in Warrington.

Meanwhile, Quietus head honcho John Doran has hardly been idle, interviewing Chino Moreno about Deftones' new album Ohms (and producer Terry Date's disgust at their early attempts to cover The Smiths' 'Please, Please, Please Let Me Get What I Want') and inviting Cronos of black metal pioneers Venom to talk about his youth, his band's formative years on Tyneside (take note Thurston Moore) and their legacy. The article includes the best rejection letter I've ever come across, from an EMI employee with too much time on their hands.

By contrast, the often thrilling, always combustible Eighties Matchbox B-Line Disaster were a band who never really got their dues. Bassist Sym Gharial has a new project and album (called Primitive Ignorant and Sikh Punk respectively) and spoke to Jeremy Allen about the experience of growing up as the son of immigrants and how, as for Mendez, music has figured heavily in his protracted struggle to come to terms with who he is.

Best of all, though, was Lucy O'Brien's interview with Roisin Murphy. While she's barely featured on my radar other than as the vocalist for Moloko, whose slinky ubiquitous singles I deeply disliked, she turned out to be a fantastic interviewee. In the course of their conversation, she talked about the influence of her Irish identity, revealed how she was inspired by seeing Kim Gordon on Sonic Youth's Daydream Nation tour, described herself as "a J G Ballard sexpot" and spoke in fascinating terms about why she's happier to be a woman and a solo artist: "the choices are so multiple and complex and interesting and have so many threads through politics and eco-politics and socio-economics and culture and family, and sexuality, power and submission. I'm trying to hold all them sometimes in one song. It's a juggling act." Probably wise to check out new album Roisin Machine to find out more, then.