Simon Reynolds (born 19 June 1963) is an English

music journalist Music journalism (or music criticism) is media criticism and reporting about music topics, including popular music, classical music, and traditional music. Journalists began writing about music in the eighteenth century, providing commentary on ...

and author who began his career at the ''

Melody Maker ''Melody Maker'' was a British weekly music magazine, one of the world's earliest music weeklies; according to its publisher, IPC Media, the earliest. It was founded in 1926, largely as a magazine for dance band musicians, by Leicester-born ...

'' in the mid-1980s. He subsequently worked as a freelancer and published a number of books on music and popular culture. He has contributed to ''

Spin Spin or spinning most often refers to: * Spinning (textiles), the creation of yarn or thread by twisting fibers together, traditionally by hand spinning * Spin, the rotation of an object around a central axis * Spin (propaganda), an intentionally b ...

'', ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first known for its co ...

'', ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'', ''

The Village Voice ''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture paper, known for being the country's first alternative newspaper, alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf (publisher), Dan Wolf, Ed Fancher, John Wilcock, and Norman Mailer, th ...

'', ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper A newspaper is a periodical publication containing written information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide ...

'', ''

The Wire ''The Wire'' is an American crime drama television series created and primarily written by author and former police reporter David Simon. The series was broadcast by the cable network HBO in the United States. ''The Wire'' premiered on June 2, ...

'', ''

Pitchfork A pitchfork (also a hay fork) is an agricultural tool with a long handle and two to five tines used to lift and pitch or throw loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves. The term is also applied colloquially, but inaccurately, to ...

'' and others.

Biography

Early life and ''Blissed Out'' (1990)

Reynolds was born in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

in 1963Rock's Backpages - Simon Reynolds
/ref> and grew up in

Berkhamsted Berkhamsted ( ) is a historic market town in Hertfordshire, England, in the Bulbourne valley, north-west of London. The town is a civil parish with a town council within the borough of Dacorum which is based in the neighbouring large new tow ...

. Inspired by his younger brother Tim, he became interested in rock and specifically punk in 1978. In the early 1980s, he attended

Brasenose College, Oxford Brasenose College (BNC) is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. It began as Brasenose Hall in the 13th century, before being founded as a college in 1509. The library and chapel were added in the m ...

University A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase ''universitas magistrorum et scholarium'', which ...

. After graduating, in 1984 he co-founded the Oxford-based pop culture journal ''Monitor'' with his friends and future ''Melody Maker'' colleagues Paul Oldfield and

David Stubbs David Stubbs (born 13 September 1962 in London) is a British music journalist. He grew up in Leeds and in the early Eighties was a student at the University of Oxford where he was a close friend of Simon Reynolds. The two were part of the Oxford ...

along with Hilary Little and Chris Scott. In 1986, Reynolds joined the staff of ''

'', where his writing was marked by enthusiasm for a wave of

neo-psychedelic rock Neo-psychedelia is a diverse genre of psychedelic music that draws inspiration from the sounds of 1960s psychedelia, either updating or copying the approaches from that era. Originating in the 1970s, it has occasionally seen mainstream pop succ ...

and hip hop artists that emerged in the mid-1980s (including

A.R. Kane A.R. Kane (sometimes AR Kane or A.R.Kane) was a British musical duo formed in 1986 by Alex Ayuli and Rudy Tambala. After releasing two early EPs to critical acclaim, the group topped the UK Independent Chart with their debut album '' 69'' (1988 ...

, My Bloody Valentine,

Public Enemy "Public enemy" is a term which was first widely used in the United States in the 1930s to describe individuals whose activities were seen as criminal and extremely damaging to society, though the phrase had been used for centuries to describe ...

Throwing Muses Throwing Muses are an American alternative rock band formed in 1981 in Newport, Rhode Island, United States, that toured and recorded extensively until 1997, when its members began concentrating more on other projects. The group was originall ...

and

The Young Gods The Young Gods are a Swiss industrial rock band from Fribourg, formed in 1985. The original lineup of the band featured singer Franz Treichler, sampler player Cesare Pizzi and drummer Frank Bagnoud. For most of their history, the band maintain ...

). During this period, Reynolds and his ''Melody Maker'' colleagues set themselves in opposition to what they characterized as the conservative

humanism Humanism is a philosophical stance that emphasizes the individual and social potential and agency of human beings. It considers human beings the starting point for serious moral and philosophical inquiry. The meaning of the term "human ...

of the era's

indie rock Indie rock is a Music subgenre, subgenre of rock music that originated in the United States, United Kingdom and New Zealand from the 1970s to the 1980s. Originally used to describe independent record labels, the term became associated with the mu ...

soul In many religious and philosophical traditions, there is a belief that a soul is "the immaterial aspect or essence of a human being". Etymology The Modern English noun '':wikt:soul, soul'' is derived from Old English ''sāwol, sāwel''. The ea ...

, and

pop music Pop music is a genre of popular music that originated in its modern form during the mid-1950s in the United States and the United Kingdom. The terms ''popular music'' and ''pop music'' are often used interchangeably, although the former describ ...

, as well as the unadventurous style and approach of most music criticism. Pieces from this late Eighties era would form the remixed collection ''Blissed Out: The Raptures of Rock'', published in 1990.ReadySteadyBook - Simon Reynolds Interview
/ref>

Freelance and ''Energy Flash'' (1998)

In 1990, Reynolds left the staff of ''Melody Maker'' (although he would continue to contribute to the magazine until 1996) and became a

freelance ''Freelance'' (sometimes spelled ''free-lance'' or ''free lance''), ''freelancer'', or ''freelance worker'', are terms commonly used for a person who is self-employed and not necessarily committed to a particular employer long-term. Freelance ...

writer, splitting his time between London and New York. In the early 1990s, he became involved in rave culture and the electronic dance music scene, particularly that of the UK, and became a

writer A writer is a person who uses written words in different writing styles and techniques to communicate ideas. Writers produce different forms of literary art and creative writing such as novels, short stories, books, poetry, travelogues, pla ...

on the development of what he would later conceptualise as the "

hardcore Hardcore, hard core or hard-core may refer to: Arts and media Film * ''Hardcore'' (1977 film), a British comedy film * ''Hardcore'' (1979 film), an American crime drama film starring George C Scott * ''Hardcore'' (2001 film), a British documen ...

continuum" along with its surrounding culture such as pirate radio. Much of this writing was later published in '' Energy Flash: a Journey Through Rave Music and Dance Culture'' (1998), a history of the

breakbeat Breakbeat is a broad type of electronic music that tends to use drum breaks sampled from early recordings of funk, jazz, and R&B. Breakbeats have been used in styles such as hip hop, jungle, drum and bass, big beat, breakbeat hardcore, and ...

house A house is a single-unit residential building. It may range in complexity from a rudimentary hut to a complex structure of wood, masonry, concrete or other material, outfitted with plumbing, electrical, and heating, ventilation, and air ...

techno Techno is a Music genre, genre of electronic dance music (EDM) which is generally music production, produced for use in a continuous DJ set, with tempo often varying between 120 and 150 beats per minute (bpm). The central Drum beat, rhythm is typ ...

and later rave genres like

jungle music Jungle is a music genre, genre of dance music that developed out of the UK rave scene and sound system (Jamaican), sound system culture in the 1990s. Emerging from breakbeat hardcore, the style is characterised by rapid breakbeats, heavily syncopa ...

and

gabber Gabber (; ) is a style of electronic dance music and a subgenre of hardcore techno, as well as the surrounding subculture. The music is more commonly referred to as Hardcore, which is characterised by fast beats, distorted & heavier kickdrums, ...

. The book was published that same year in America in abridged form, with the title ''Generation Ecstasy: Into the World of Techno and Rave Culture''. During this time, he also theorized the concept of "

post-rock Post-rock is a form of experimental rock characterized by a focus on exploring textures and timbre over traditional rock song structures, chords, or riffs. Post-rock artists are often instrumental, typically combining rock instrumentation ...

", using the term first in a ''Melody Maker'' 1993 feature about Insides and then in a more developed form in a May 1994 thinkpiece for

and in a review of

Bark Psychosis Bark Psychosis are an English post-rock band/musical project from east London formed in 1986. They were one of the bands that Simon Reynolds cited when coining "post-rock" as a musical style in 1994, and are thus considered one of the key bands ...

' album ''

Hex Hex or HEX may refer to: Magic * Hex, a curse or supposed real and potentially supernaturally realized malicious wish * Hex sign, a barn decoration originating in Pennsylvania Dutch regions of the United States * Hex work, a Pennsylvania Dutch ...

'', published in the March 1994 issue of ''

Mojo Mojo may refer to: *Mojo (African-American culture), a magical charm bag used in voodoo Arts, entertainment and media Film and television * MOJO HD, an American television network * ''Mojo'' (play), by Jez Butterworth, made into a 1997 film * '' ...

'' magazine. In late 1994, Reynolds moved to the East Village in

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five Boroughs of New York City, boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the List of co ...

. In 1995, with his wife,

Joy Press Joy Press (born 1966) is an American writer and editor. In the 1980s she was a music critic for American magazines and for the English weekly music paper ''Melody Maker''. In 1996 she became the editor of the ''Village Voice'' literary supplement, ...

, Reynolds co-authored ''The Sex Revolts: Gender, Rebellion and Rock 'n' Roll'', a critical analysis of gender in rock. In 1998 Reynolds became a senior editor at ''

'' magazine in the US. In 1999, he returned to freelance work. In 2013, a second expanded update of ''Energy Flash'' was published, with new material on the rise of

dubstep Dubstep is a genre of electronic dance music that originated in South London in the early 2000s. The style emerged as a UK garage offshoot that blended 2-step rhythms and sparse dub production, as well as incorporating elements of broken be ...

to worldwide popularity and the EDM or Electronic Dance Music explosion in America.

''Rip It Up and Start Again'' (2005) and ''Retromania'' (2011)

In 2005, Reynolds released '' Rip It Up and Start Again: Postpunk 1978–1984'', a history of the

post-punk Post-punk (originally called new musick) is a broad genre of punk music that emerged in the late 1970s as musicians departed from punk's traditional elements and raw simplicity, instead adopting a variety of avant-garde sensibilities and non-r ...

era. In 2007, Reynolds published ''Bring the Noise: 20 Years of Writing about Hip Rock and Hip Hop'' in the UK, a collection of his writing themed around the relationship between white bohemian rock and black street music. In 2008, an updated edition of ''Energy Flash'' was published, with new chapters on the decade of dance music following the appearance of the first edition. In 2009, a companion volume to ''Rip It Up and Start Again'' was published, ''Totally Wired: Postpunk Interviews and Overviews'', containing interview transcripts and new essays. In 2011, Reynolds published ''Retromania: Pop Culture's Addiction to Its Own Past'', a critical investigation into what he perceives as the current situation of chronic retrogression in pop music, with a focus on the effects of the internet and digital culture on music consumption and musical creativity.

''Shock and Awe'' (2016) to present

Reynolds's eighth book, a history of the

glam rock Glam rock is a style of rock music that developed in the United Kingdom in the early 1970s and was performed by musicians who wore outrageous costumes, makeup, and hairstyles, particularly platform shoes and glitter. Glam artists drew on div ...

era, ''Shock and Awe: Glam Rock and Its Legacy'', was published in October 2016. In addition to writing books, Reynolds has continued freelancing for magazines, giving lectures, writing liner notes, and appearing in music documentaries. He resides in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the wor ...

Critical style

Reynolds' writing has blended

cultural criticism Culture () is an umbrella term which encompasses the social behavior, institutions, and norms found in human societies, as well as the knowledge, beliefs, arts, laws, customs, capabilities, and habits of the individuals in these groups ...

with music journalism. He has written extensively on

gender Gender is the range of characteristics pertaining to femininity and masculinity and differentiating between them. Depending on the context, this may include sex-based social structures (i.e. gender roles) and gender identity. Most cultures us ...

class Class or The Class may refer to: Common uses not otherwise categorized * Class (biology), a taxonomic rank * Class (knowledge representation), a collection of individuals or objects * Class (philosophy), an analytical concept used differently ...

race Race, RACE or "The Race" may refer to: * Race (biology), an informal taxonomic classification within a species, generally within a sub-species * Race (human categorization), classification of humans into groups based on physical traits, and/or s ...

, and

sexuality Human sexuality is the way people experience and express themselves sexually. This involves biological, psychological, physical, erotic, emotional, social, or spiritual feelings and behaviors. Because it is a broad term, which has varied wi ...

in relation to music and culture. Early in his career, Reynolds often made use of

critical theory A critical theory is any approach to social philosophy that focuses on society and culture to reveal, critique and challenge power structures. With roots in sociology and literary criticism, it argues that social problems stem more from s ...

and philosophy in his analysis of music, deriving particular influence from thinkers such as

Roland Barthes Roland Gérard Barthes (; ; 12 November 1915 – 26 March 1980) was a French literary theorist, essayist, philosopher, critic, and semiotician. His work engaged in the analysis of a variety of sign systems, mainly derived from Western popul ...

, Georges Bataille,

Julia Kristeva Julia Kristeva (; born Yuliya Stoyanova Krasteva, bg, Юлия Стоянова Кръстева; on 24 June 1941) is a Bulgarian-French philosopher, literary critic, semiotician, psychoanalyst, feminist, and, most recently, novelist, who ha ...

Michel Foucault Paul-Michel Foucault (, ; ; 15 October 192625 June 1984) was a French philosopher, historian of ideas, writer, political activist, and literary critic. Foucault's theories primarily address the relationship between power and knowledge, and ho ...

, and Gilles Deleuze and

Félix Guattari Pierre-Félix Guattari ( , ; 30 April 1930 – 29 August 1992) was a French psychoanalyst, political philosopher, semiotician, social activist, and screenwriter. He co-founded schizoanalysis with Gilles Deleuze, and ecosophy with Arne Næs ...

. He has on occasion used the Marxist concepts of

commodity fetishism In Marxist philosophy, the term commodity fetishism describes the economic relationships of production and exchange as being social relationships that exist among things (money and merchandise) and not as relationships that exist among people ...

and

false consciousness In Marxist theory, false consciousness is a term describing the ways in which material, ideological, and institutional processes are said to mislead members of the proletariat and other class actors within capitalist societies, concealing the ...

to describe attitudes prevalent in hip hop music. In discussing the relationship between class and music, Reynolds coined the term ''liminal class'', defined as the upper-

working class The working class (or labouring class) comprises those engaged in manual-labour occupations or industrial work, who are remunerated via waged or salaried contracts. Working-class occupations (see also " Designation of workers by collar colo ...

and lower- middle-class, a group he credits with "a lot of music energy". Reynolds has also written about

drug culture Drug cultures are examples of countercultures that are primarily defined by spiritual, medical, and recreational drug use. They may be focused on a single drug, or endorse polydrug use. They sometimes eagerly or reluctantly initiate newcomers, ...

and its relationship to various musical developments and movements. In the 2000s, in tandem with fellow critic and blogger

Mark Fisher Mark Fisher (11 July 1968 – 13 January 2017), also known under his blogging alias k-punk, was an English writer, music critic, political and cultural theorist, philosopher, and teacher based in the Department of Visual Cultures at Gold ...

, Reynolds made use of Jacques Derrida's concept of

hauntology Hauntology (a portmanteau A portmanteau word, or portmanteau (, ) is a blend of words

to describe a strain of music and popular art preoccupied with the disjointed temporality and "lost futures" of contemporary culture.

Year-end critics' polls

Reynolds has voted in a number of year-end critics' polls, most often for ''

''s

Rewind Rewind may refer to: General uses * Rewind, the process of winding magnetic tape inside a cassette or a microform, microfilm reel backwards to a previous point on the reel ** Rewind symbol, a media control symbol indicating tape rewind or analogou ...

and for ''

''s

Pazz & Jop Pazz & Jop was an annual poll of top musical releases, compiled by American newspaper ''The Village Voice'' and created by music critic Robert Christgau. It published lists of the year's top releases for 1971 and, after Christgau's two-year abse ...

. Since 2011, when ''The Wire'' renamed its year-end poll from Records of the Year to Releases of the Year, Reynolds has cast several votes for songs rather than album-length releases. Reynold's full voting ballots and year-end commentaries for a variety of magazines, going back to the late 1980s, can be found at Reynolds's Faves/Unfaves blog.

Selected publications

Books

* ''Blissed Out: The Raptures of Rock''. London:

Serpent's Tail Serpent's Tail is London-based independent publishing firm founded in 1986 by Pete Ayrton. It specialises in publishing work in translation, particularly European crime fiction. In January 2007, it was bought by a British publisher Profile Book ...

(Aug. 1990). . * ''The Sex Revolts: Gender, Rebellion and Rock 'N' Roll'', with Joy Press. London:

(Jan. 1995). . * '' Energy Flash: A Journey Through Rave Music and Dance Culture''. United Kingdom:

Palgrave Macmillan Palgrave Macmillan is a British academic and trade publishing company headquartered in the London Borough of Camden. Its programme includes textbooks, journals, monographs, professional and reference works in print and online. It maintains off ...

(2008). . ** Hardcover ed. (abridged). ''Generation Ecstasy: Into the World of Techno and Rave Culture''. Boston:

Little, Brown Little, Brown and Company is an American publishing company founded in 1837 by Charles Coffin Little and James Brown in Boston. For close to two centuries it has published fiction and nonfiction by American authors. Early lists featured Emil ...

(1998). . ** Softcover ed.: London:

Routledge Routledge () is a British multinational publisher. It was founded in 1836 by George Routledge, and specialises in providing academic books, journals and online resources in the fields of the humanities, behavioural science, education, law, ...

(1999). . * '' Rip It Up and Start Again: Postpunk 1978–1984''. London:

Faber & Faber Faber and Faber Limited, usually abbreviated to Faber, is an independent publishing house in London. Published authors and poets include T. S. Eliot (an early Faber editor and director), W. H. Auden, Margaret Storey, William Golding, Samuel B ...

(Apr. 2005). . ** U.S. ed.:

Penguin Penguins ( order Sphenisciformes , family Spheniscidae ) are a group of aquatic flightless birds. They live almost exclusively in the Southern Hemisphere: only one species, the Galápagos penguin, is found north of the Equator. Highly adapt ...

(Feb 2006). . Full text. * ''Bring The Noise: 20 Years of Writing About Hip Rock and Hip-Hop''. London:

(May 2007). . * ''Totally Wired: Post-Punk Interviews and Overviews''. London:

(Feb 2009). . ** U.S. ed.:

Soft Skull Press Counterpoint LLC was a publishing company distributed by Perseus Books Group launched in 2007. It was formed from the consolidation of three presses: Perseus Book Group, Perseus' Counterpoint Press, Avalon Publishing Group's Shoemaker & Hoard an ...

(Sep 2010). . * ''Retromania: Pop Culture's Addiction to Its Own Past''. London:

(Jun. 2011). . * ''Shock and Awe: Glam Rock and Its Legacy, from the Seventies to the Twenty-First Century''. London:

(Oct. 2016). . * ''k-punk: The Collected and Unpublished Writings of Mark Fisher''. Edited, with a foreword, by Darren Ambrose.

Repeater Books Repeater Books is a publishing imprint based in London, founded in 2014 by Tariq Goddard and Mark Fisher, formerly the founders of radical publishers Zero Books, along with Etan Ilfeld, Tamar Shlaim, Alex Niven and Matteo Mandarini. Formation ...

(Nov. 2018). . * ''Futuromania: Electronic Dreams from Moroder to Migos''.

Minimum fax minimum fax is an independent publishing house based in Rome. It was founded by Daniele di Gennaro and Marco Cassini in 1994 and it publishes books of Italian and foreign fiction, and popular non-fiction. Among other foreign authors, it publish ...

(Nov. 2020). . Book contributions * "Ecstasy is a Science: Techno-romanticism." In: ''Stars Don't Stand Still in the Sky: Music and Myth''. Edited by Karen Kelly and Evelyn McDonnell.

New York University Press New York University Press (or NYU Press) is a university press that is part of New York University. History NYU Press was founded in 1916 by the then chancellor of NYU, Elmer Ellsworth Brown. Directors * Arthur Huntington Nason, 1916–19 ...

in collaboration with Dia Center for the Arts (1999). .

Music compilations

* ''Energy Flash'' (1998) * ''Rip It Up and Start Again'' (2006)''Rip It Up and Start Again (Post Punk 1978-1984)''
(November 17, 2006). Compiled by Simon Reynolds.

V2 Music V2 Records (or V2 Music; V2 being an abbreviation for Virgin 2) is a record label that was purchased by Universal Music Group in 2007 and sold to IASin 2013. In the Benelux, V2 operates separately from PIAS, as the label bought itself out from ...

VR1040352

Sources

External links

''Blissblog''
- Reynolds' main blog

– biography and list of articles by Reynolds {{DEFAULTSORT:Reynolds, Simon Living people English music critics Rock critics English music journalists Melody Maker writers The Wire (magazine) writers English bloggers Alumni of Brasenose College, Oxford California Institute of the Arts faculty Journalists from London People from Berkhamsted English expatriates in the United States 1963 births The Village Voice people Rolling Stone people People from the East Village, Manhattan British male bloggers