Retromania - review

Retromania
by Simon Reynolds
(Faber, £10.99)

For a long time, Simon Reynolds has been pretty much the most intelligent and thoughtful commentator on pop music around.

Here, with rare brilliance, he investigates why, as a culture, pop is becoming so obsessed with the past. Think, he says, of Lady Gaga, the White Stripes and Amy Winehouse.

The past is somehow cutting-edge. But why? Because of digital culture, of course. The past used to be out of reach; now it's there, at the click of a mouse.

And, he says, it's changing the way we understand the present. An excellent book, and not just about pop music.