Who is popular today?

To celebrate the release of his new album, By the Fire, Moore joins us for a virtual webchat at 12.30pm BST
1.11pm BST
chaoticink asks:
Did you ever want to be a full time, revolving, Fall member? And what is your favourite Fall track? Ta, and keep safe
My favourite Fall track is difficult because there's quite a few – I'm going to say Psycho Mafia. Sonic Youth covered it on a Peel Session, and we did an entire Peel Session in the 1980s where we covered all Fall songs – Psycho Mafia, My New House, we ever did a cover of Victoria as covered by the Fall. I never really fancied myself being in the Fall because I never really wanted to be in a band where there was one leader – that's all there is to it. But as far as leaders go, Mark E Smith is one of the most legendary, by far. A remarkable individual and lyricist and frontman and singer and character and raconteur. Sonic Youth played some shows with the Fall early on, I remember flying from the US to Iceland and then to Europe to play shows with the Fall in 1983 or 1982. And becoming friendly with some of the Fall people – certainly Brix is a good friend. Mark would always make disparaging comments about Sonic Youth and myself in the press, as he was wont to do, but that was part of his modus operandi. By far one of the most significant bands coming out of the late 1970s, is the Fall. Undeniable. I'd play with them now, maybe. I loved both books by the Hanley brothers, their memoirs about the Fall, they're both fantastic. Highly recommended.
1.08pm BST
WarringtonBomble asks:
Can you name an album you love that people maybe wouldn’t expect you to love?
There's a record from the late 70s, early 80s, the first album by Dr Buzzard's Original Savannah Band. It was the group where a lot of recognised important African-American contemporary funk and pop artists came out of, particularly August Darnell. They were a bit of a disco band who came out of the Bronx in New York, they had a very urban vibe which I liked, living in New York. They had a dance hit, Cherchez La Femme. I bought that record because it was this cool, Bronx, New York record and they were playing the same venues downtown as No Wave bands like DNA – I remember talking to Arto Lindsay about them, and he agreed: "yeah that's a critical record". I think people would be surprised a stone classic disco album is one of my favourite records of all time.
But I was always pro disco. Punk rock had this anti disco sentiment being expressed quite a bit, and I understood why that was because disco referenced an embrace of wealth and glamour at a time when punk was about kicking against that and extolling the glory of its poverty and its resistance to monied allusions. But disco to me was community oriented, and brought together a lot of energy from not only the African-American communities of America but also the gay communities of America. The fact that music went global, and was from a gay aesthetic, I thought that was fantastic. I think that is reason alone for the music's significance. Disco, like punk rock, continues to be an ongoing source of inspiration for so much of popular music, so I find it fairly eternal. Can you be fairly eternal?! Continue reading...