Faux-nostalgia is all the rage. Chief current exponents are Brother, the new band who, against the explicit wishes of nearly everyone, have managed to discover musical potential in Menswe@r’s most quickly cast-off B-sides.

If their attempts at rekindling the not-so-golden days of the 90′s is destined for defeat, or at least mass mockery, then what of more measured stabs at reliving the past?

K-X-P yearn for the glory days of 1950′s USA, when the future seemed a bright, nuclear-driven frenzy of convenience. They have found the wafer-thin line between the past and the past’s vision of the …

Hey, remember the fuss about the proposed closure of BBC 6Music? No, neither do I.

But plenty were enraged at the time. A fuss was splurged all over Twitter; tiny, ironically hi-topped, feet were stamped; and online petitions – the world’s least-regarded form of complaint – were clicked.

I am pleased at this volte-face, not least because it makes BBC grand fromage Tim Davie look just like the hopeless cretin that one 6Music DJ memorably described him as to me.

Moreover, it presents me with a readily-seized opportunity for smugness, as my wildly hopeful 6 Music Conspiracy Theory turns …

In the end, it’s about sheer numbers. And now I’ve written about so many bands I can’t even begin to count them.

Well, I can – it’s probably around the 500 mark – but some facts are best left unknown, especially ones that make you reconsider your sanity. Still, one of the fun side effects is that I have no idea if I’ve done today’s band before or not.

It would just be safer to blame Finland, because Kaskas are what seems like the thousandth precise, charming and jaunty poppy rock band to come out of Finland this month.…

The Mixtape in which ANBAD is Back, Wack and the Axis Of Mack…

Well, that was an extended break wasn’t it? ‘On holiday’,said the tab on the logo, but blistered fingers, aching back and a fried mind bely a misnomer of epic proportions.

In reality, ANBAD was moving flat – which, as, any morono-pop psychologist will tell you, is the second most stressful event in life, after being trapped in a lift with a hungover Mark E. Smith.

So here’s a Midweek Mixtape to soothe a troubled soul. The donkey picture returns, but this time googly eyes are tastefully …

I do sometimes worry that anyone browsing through the ANBAD archives (which you can do just over there, on the right) will get the impression that the new bands are merely a cover story, and that in reality the site is a sneaky subsidiary of the Scandinavian Tourist Board.

It seems that every other post blathers, semi-coherently and effusing, about the wonderful bands’ ceaseless streaming out of that part of the world. But the thing is that it’s true – our blonde northern Euro cousins are producing a glut of vibrant, clever, simple and self effacingly fabulous bands, and I’m …

Women in pop ‘n’ rock: are they as pigeonholed as in ‘normal’ life? Well, duh. Female pop stars have a choice, of course: either tempting, teen-moppets/quasi-sluts (hi, Britney) or Professionally Kooky Kate Bush-a-likes (Hi, Bat For Lashes). On rare occasions they’re allowed to be non-glam, songs-first-looks-last actual singers (hi, PJ Harvey).

Sadly, the true individuals – the Bjorks – of this world are few and far between. And when was the last time you saw women rock stars behaving with equality to their male counterparts – trashing hotel rooms and seducing teenage boys?

Perhaps the last bit …

’This is it,’ he kept repeating in his child-like voice, ‘this is really it.’ And so with that, Michael Jackson resorted to the oldest trick in the rock book – the LAST EVER TOUR. He’s playing at the Millennium Dome in London for what seems like eternity, milking ever drop of cash from his demented devoted fans. Here’s a video of some of those fans, by the way. See if you can spot the chubby man nearly wetting himself on the front row.

Inevitably, he’ll then do the same thing in every big city worldwide, for …

Winter has well and truly arrived here in Manchester. Initially, it came in fits and starts, drunkenly staggering frostily here and there, but now it’s running its icy fingers up and down all our spines, and my extremities are in a constant state of chilly anxiety.

Manchester is renowned for its dreadful weather. Pewter-grey skies are the norm, usually accompanied by a constant fine drizzle which, helpfully, saps one’s will to live within days. Look at this webcam, and I’m willing to gamble the image you’ll see will be 50% fuzzy grey. Living in Manchester is like living …

I gave myself an alibi once, when officers from Operation Ore came knocking at my door*. However, with that minor discretion now behind me, I can fully turn my attention to the quirky electro-pop of The Alibies.

They’re a bit like a fey version of fellow Scandinavian mentallists The Knife, but The Alibiesare slightly camper and exhibit slightly more unusual humour. This is a good thing. Their tunes sound like they were made in a bedroom by two friends brought together by a dislike of normality. This is also a good thing. Frighteningly, they are unsigned as of …