The Bells of London
The church bells that once connected the old City of London to itself like a nervous system have fallen silent, bell by bell. Yet still they ring in…
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Nick Coleman
“A really, really good read about a forgotten era, by a provincial”
He’s back. Semantic Origami, the music critic who sounds as if he is thick as two short planks but is actually so, so often right. Today he is reviewing…
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Nick Coleman
2
The heart is a lonely hunter: how women's football stole mine
Fasten your seatbelt, pin back your ears. You're about to go into Leah Jet Overdrive
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Nick Coleman

May 2025

Music was my first love and it will be my last: music of the future, music of the past…
An interview with the deaf yet highly influential music writer, theorist and critic, Semantic Origami. It is a rare privilege
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Nick Coleman
The death of rock: and it was on my watch!
As ever, the ghastly Semantic Origami is putting himself front and centre in one of the great dramas in our cultural history. How does he do it? Why oh…
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Nick Coleman
2
Semantic Origami, part the second: a true Historie of Musicke in the 1980s (pt 1)
He was there, you can be sure of that. If ever a crusty old sea-dog knew the ropes, this was the one. As music critics go, he was a one-man boarding…
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Nick Coleman
Semantic origami: a trulie true Historie of post-war popular Musicke (from 1974)
As told to a young sailor by an old sea dog — one hard of hearing, warm of heart and not terribly bright
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Nick Coleman
2

April 2025

The lost chord: not exactly where I expected it to show up
It's one of the strangest feelings you can ever have: being handed a photograph which is also a historical document — and then, after a few seconds…
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Nick Coleman
Scratch’s kickdrum: thoughts touching on the Upsetter’s special sense of things
I have in my possession a stupid quantity of music by the Jamaican record producer, Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry. Look at it. There is a hefty sofa under that…
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Nick Coleman
The destruction of the soul — and why you should consider not letting it happen
A man with no viable hearing has an enlightening encounter with some music
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Nick Coleman
4
Songs I used to like #4: ecstasy, horns, more ecstacy, more horns…!
Earth Wind & Fire: “Getaway” from Spirit (CBS), 1976
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Nick Coleman

March 2025

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