The Tepid Take

Toothless is a small band. They play small venues, they’re down the bottom of the festival line-up, and - however millennial this might sound - their Instagram garners only minor attention. Despite a cohesive and wide advertising campaign for their debut, The Pace of the Passing, Toothless appears to be performing poorly (pun somewhat intended) when compared to the solo project of Bombay Bicycle Club’s hesitant frontman, Jack Steadman. His alias, Mr Jukes, enjoys a much higher number of listens if one examines Spotify alone. The story is much the same on iTunes. The fact of the matter is that Steadman has enjoyed a greater degree of success following Bombay Bicycle Club than Ed Nash, perhaps because he is a more recognised figure, or perhaps because his musical panache (sorry) is simply greater. Regardless, this difference in the success of the two solo projects is a comparison that ought to be made; not least because it helps us to analyse what each member contributed to Bombay, b

In Beauty Matters , Roger Scruton argues modern art is in general inferior, on the basis that art is based, at its deepest roots, in beauty, and that the inclusion of what he considers “ugliness” paints modern art in an inferior light.  In response to the claim that modern art is beautiful because of its meaning and symbolism, rather than its aesthetic beauty, Scruton replies that this claim relies on a utilitarian worldview, that art must have a use in order to be of value. He quotes Oscar Wilde as stating “all art is useless” as a compliment to the art of the times; it did not require a 'use', because it was beautiful enough already. This feeds into Scruton's vision of modern architecture as a blight that too often prioritises function over form. Scruton believes that modern architecture exemplifies this utilitarian view of art, leading to buildings that are less desirable because they lack form. Scruton is, in part, correct; some buildings are indeed left abandoned an

This piece was originally published in CityMetric in 2017. Connectors on the Tube Map are so often the unsung heroes of London’s transport network. Because of its advanced age, many of the lines in the capital snake around each other and interchange in ways that a modern transport system built from scratch would never even consider. This means some stations are linked to each other, necessitating a ‘connector’ on the Tube Map, like the big one between Bank and Monument. However, the sheer number of situations in which these humble connectors are applied means they often fall victim to problems. Case in point: Camden. In TfL’s recent public consultation into their upgrade of Camden Town Station, it was noted that the new station, moved up onto Buck Street, will ease interchange with Camden Road Overground station, an option opened up by the new station’s increased capacity. This is already an official “out-of-station interchange” (OSI), which means you can change from one station t