"If the pandemic gave the general public an insight into touring life minus the hour onstage – ie, drinking earlier and earlier in the day to alleviate the tedium of being stuck in cramped, largely identical rooms with the same three or four people for months on end – for many musicians it had the opposite effect. By removing the social gigging element of their lives and careers, lockdown starkly exposed dependencies they’d previously been able to disguise as a typical rock’n’roll lifestyle" - music journalist Mark Beaumont wrote in the Independent introducing his piece about musicians who stopped drinking in the pandemic: members of Royal Blood, Deadletter, You Me At Six, Wu LYF and others.

"Such high-profile homages to a band long under-appreciated beyond these shores... cut far deeper than any barbs in the script. They don’t just lift The Smiths into the revered echelons of your Beatles, Rolling Stones, Whos and U2s; they remind us how special a band we’ve come to define by their differences really were as a unit" - NME's Mark Beaumont writes about a recent 'The Simpsons' episode (as well as the recent movie 'Shoplifters of The World'), and what it means for the band (Morrissey didn't like The Simpsons, said he would sue, if it weren't so costly). The columnist believes "here’s our chance to rescue The Smiths from the pyre, unshackle them from the conversation around them and let their music settle back into its rightful place, just below the heart of the human condition".

"But frankly, the whole list made me wonder what the hell the Hall Of Fame has been doing all these years, getting a bowling alley fitted? I mean, Iron Maiden? Chaka Khan? Todd Rundgren? Fela Kuti? All still in the queue? What is this, The Great Escape for pop legends?" - NME columnist Mark Beaumont comments on this year's Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductees. How it's set-up now - "it’s just making successful rock’n’roll look like a thing of the increasingly distant past".

"By trying to tell the entire life story of a rock legend in less time than they would’ve spent onstage most nights, they inevitably come across like facile ‘Greatest Hits’ tributes" - NME's Mark Beaumont argues in favor of music biopics without any of the subject's music, because - "Cinema rarely turns out convincing biopic performances, so why not cut the cringe, ditch the hits and concentrate on the stories instead? ... In fact, I’m all for more musical biopics without any music. After all, why limit cinema to the biopics of listenable bands?".

Inspired by the stealth approach of the Mercury Prize ceremony last week, NME's Mark Beaumont writes today that all the awards ceremonies should be conducted that way - "Most of music’s award ceremonies have become so formulaic, dreary and smugly ‘establishment’ that the ninja approach necessitated by corona might well be the shake-up they desperately need". There's several benefits, one of which is - stars caught off guard: "At a stealth award ceremony, you’d really get an insight into the true natures of the stars... The cult rock band, with no time to rehearse their snarled acceptance shrug, might break down and weep like Paltrow in an Oscar factory at the unexpected honour".

"Conspiratorially-minded pop stars have always been the best to hang out with. Every quote is paranoid gold, every story full of mystery and intrigue and, Jesus, have they got the best drugs" - NME's Mark Beaumont wrote in response to Ian Brown's tweet-trum “NO LOCKDOWN NO TESTS! NO TRACKS! NO MASKS NO VAX!”.

NME's columnist wrote, as usual, a warm and funny text, this time about music docus: "One of the main reasons we can watch documentaries about hugely successful bands without seething with envy is the knowledge that, had we followed that career path ourselves, our odds weren’t too great of living to be in the documentary"!!! The last one he liked is the one about The Band - "a rare example of bit players striking it big on their own terms, then watching on helplessly as success tugged at their stray flaws until the whole thing unravelled".

"The Band’s story seems perfectly concise and contained, ideal celluloid fare, and 'Once Were Brothers' director Daniel Roher does a fabulous job of scooping it up in one piece and placing it neatly on film" - Mark Beaumont writes in the review of the new documentary about the Americana godfathers. "Everything about The Band feels so steeped in dust and mythology that the entire film feels like a window into something strangely arcane".

NME's Mark Beaumont is pissed with VICE's article 50 Greatest Landfill Indie Songs, because, well, they're utterly wrong: "The ‘00s UK rock scene was as exciting, energised and unpredictable as Britpop or punk, and far more varied than both. It was a golden age for indie rock as bright as any before or since and you were lucky to be there for it, not least because the shadow of ‘landfill’ has since crushed the opportunities and exposure granted to alternative rock, to the point where current generations are rationed to one or two new breakthrough guitar bands every couple of years".

NME's columnist put it clear and simple: "Give us escapism; take us out of our misery just like your music does. Transform your front room into a scale facsimile of the bridge of the Nostromo, mash every loose food item into a ceiling high sculpture of Apollo, put psychedelic stardust filters on your next colonoscopy. Just take us anywhere that isn’t here".

"Gone are the days when a musician could afford to take all the time they need to carve and craft the next ‘Loveless’ or ‘OK Computer’" - NME's Mark Beaumont writes, looking back in anger to Spotify’s CEO Daniel Ek words that “you can’t record music once every three to four years and think that’s going to be enough". But, there is a solution - streaming platforms like Spotify should "work with the labels to reconfigure their increasing profits to ensure that all artists get the fair share they deserve from their streams and can continue making and releasing music as and when they want".

NME's writer Mark Beaumont looks back on "cancel culture" debate, and the shift in "Twitterworld" discourse: "You defeat a virus – and bigotry and racism are viruses; festering and dormant, largely unseen – by studying it, understanding its transmission methods, its cellular make-up and how it multiplies, and then developing antidotes designed to cure, not kill, the host. But that takes skill, composure, thoughtfulness and – y’know what? – a tiny amount of respect for your opponent".

Guardian's Mark Beaumont made a collection of strange band names, that have not really much in common with how those bands sound. So, there's Skullcrusher with a perfect name for thrash metal band, whereas in fact, the nice girl plays alt-folk. On the other side there's Candy, seemingly a teen-pop band, but actually, they're a skate-core quartet. Kiss the Anus of a Black Cat do have a horrible name, but the music is actually quite nice, Belgium dark-folk.

"The UK government’s idea of gigging in the age of coronavirus is an unworkable shambles. And no wonder. It’s an experience and an industry of which they have as much first-hand knowledge as a maggot does of mountain biking... Have you seen a Conservative attempting to enjoy music? It’s like watching a drunk goose try to water-ski" - NME's Mark Beaumont writes about his government's plan to save live music venues. There's a real solution - "Luckily the Music Venues Trust, backed by 500 grassroots venues across the country, have come up with their own roadmap to reopening. It’s a far simpler affair, consisting essentially of just two steps. Step one, the Government provides a £50 million fund to ensure all venues can survive until October, the earliest many envision being able to put on viable gigs. Step two, they fuck off out of it".

NME's blogger sees the '90s revival happening, but it just won't work, he's convinced: "In these months of lockdown misery, Covid paranoia, dislocation and hardship, many are looking to the pre-Starsailor age for comfort. The 'Friends' are reuniting. Illegal raves are back. Early 'Resident Evil' games have been remade... The time is ripe then, you might think, for the long-awaited ‘90s revival... Yet new acts simply aren’t emulating their mockney joie de vivre, their suburban sauciness and surly swagger, their gleeful worship of ‘the chooon’... If the ‘90s seem like an unrepeatably idyllic moment in time, it’s because they were... How could we ever recapture such a world of possibility, and the musical exuberance that came with it?".

"Just last week Billie Eilish told an interviewer: 'sometimes I feel trapped by this persona that I have created'" - NME's Mark, My Words writes, and offers her advice - "History tells her that she’d best change it sharpish, or she’s liable to get lumbered with it for good". The power of an image is paramount in music, Mark says - "If Slipknot drummer Jay Weinberg suddenly developed a debilitating allergy to gimp gear and nail wigs, they wouldn’t ditch the masks in solidarity – they’d be taking forehead measurements for a new drummer".

"We daydreamed a lot; we were trying to escape what was around us and were listening to much more immersive music, music that had lefts and rights and corners and different streets" - Dublin noir-rock champions Fontaines D.C. tell NME's Mark Beaumont about their new album 'A Hero's Death' (out July 31). The primary influence on the new album - “It’s inspired by the stillness of the sea. Kinda like later Beach Boys".

Acts wishing to play in the UK post-Brexit must pay £240 for visas for each member and prove they have savings of around £1000... Where will that leave us? Just another medium-sized European market with its own internal favourites, little more important to conquer than Hungary or Montenegro but, for many foreign acts, impossible to even have a crack at. Once a world-leading hub and haven for pioneers and visionaries, reduced to an unwelcoming island of shrinking relevance - Mark, My Words predicts the future of the UK live music scene.

There will be four stages in corona-influenced albums, Mark, My Words argues: Insanity and bewilderment of the isolation nation; calming records about the routine, zen-like serenity of home quarantine; Coronapunk stage demanding the heads of the political class; Pub. But, what is it that we really need" - "Albums about the crisis will get tired very quickly; albums designed to help us through it, on the other hand, will remain encased in the generational amber. It’s time, already, to start singing for when we’re winning".

"Denmark has already begun putting on drive-in gigs. In Spain, they hope to introduce seated outdoor shows of up to 200 and 30-capacity indoor shows. Arena bands are considering 10-day residencies at club venues, playing multiple shows throughout the afternoon and evening to revolving maximum quarantine capacity crowds. There’s even talk of running limited capacity festivals in the not-too-distant future... Coronavirus gigs sound like ‘VIP experience’... Every gig will be one big golden circle, with added table service. So bring on music’s new normal – I’m ready for the best of times in the worst of times" - NME's Mark, My Words is looking forward to the new live music normal.

The cold sobriety of lockdown has a way of sucking the colour and joy from the jetstream of youthful abandon. Did I really waste my life in the hands of crap rock’n’roll bands? No, I refuse to be pandemoralised. If I’m forced to assess my musical life and loves thus far just because the world pressed pause, I’m going to replay the biggest hooks proudly, be they by Foals or The Farm, by REM or, yes, Razorlight - Mark, My Words brings the light into the time of greyness...

This month saw the streaming site introduced a function that allows listeners to tip specific artists they like, much as you might once have dropped a pound coin into a busker’s guitar case or compensated a starving bassist with van-based sexual favours... Should musicians depend on charity and goodwill to survive, making them ever more reliant on a platform making vast sums from their efforts alone and paying them a pittance? Now they’re posting monster multi-million-dollar profits, Spotify need to be rapidly increasing their payments until their suppliers – the musicians – can make a fair living off of significant streams - Mark, My Words takes a clear stand in his latest blog post.

"The Beatles began their career emulating and covering their classic rock’n’roll heroes but quickly set about exploring all the possibilities of sound, technology, broad-reaching historical revivalism and mad drug music that success made available to them. As a direct result, they invented pretty much every modern pop genre from EDM to metal and might’ve got the full house if they’d ever let Ringo rap... The Stones, on the other hand... popularised blues rock and, um, that’s it" - Mark, My Words argues in his latest column, wrote after Paul McCartney told Howard Stern his band was better. The other reason NME's blogger wrote about it - there aren't any good feuds anymore.

NME's blogger really appreciates 'The New Abnormal', the album, not the world's settings: "The Strokes’ comeback couldn’t have been better timed. I can’t be the only one for whom it’s provided a welcome distraction from all the hypocritical government briefings and fighting in supermarkets... From the record, title-down, you might even conclude that they saw all this coming".

On the occasion of the 50th anniversary of Paul McCartney's saying goodbye to the Beatles, NME's Mark Beaumont made a list of 20 best songs from the fab four's solo careers. Number 1? Not the one we'd expected - "a perfect crystallisation of the psychedelic hypno-state" of the '#9 Dream' by John Lennon.

Guardian's Mark Beaumont shared some advice on how to make a good live stream. First, there are some "dos": finish your songs (unlike Chris Martin who slaughtered his nice songs to just a few seconds of duration); put on a show; have an enthusiastic spouse (like Nicole Kidman, and unlike Chrissy Teigen); think big (like Willie Nelson who seriously upped the game with his ’Til Further Notice). There are, of course, some "don'ts": use Facebook (they cut Frant Turner's show for “violating community standards”); hold your own camera (Bono mistake); let quality control slip (like with John Lennon's 'Imagine' rendition); give up now.

"The likes of Biffy Clyro, Haim, Lady Gaga and Kehlani have postponed their album releases, presumably because they won’t be able to tour in support of them as planned... ‘It doesn’t seem appropriate,’ goes the standard delay line, but nothing could be more appropriate right now than giving music fans a brilliant, time-guzzling distraction from the world" - NME's blogger Mark, My Words writes longing for new music - "We’re losing a year of our lives, but we don’t have to lose a year of our music too".

"Once it's established that a patio big enough to hold a laptop podium is all that most modern acts need to deliver their unexpurgated festival set to iPhone, a livestreamed Glastonbury is entirely possible" - Mark, My Words predicts the future of online concerts. It looks bright, at least to the NME columnist, who wants major acts to "blow their cancelled tour budget on 360-degree cameras and stage virtual gigs that’ll be almost impossible to distinguish from the real thing – only with much, much better wine".

Of course there's light at the end of corona-tunnel, and Mark, My Words sees it: "Personally, I’m not dreading the lockdown. I’m lucky that I can do most of my job from the comfort of my own bed mess. I’ve got a novel to finish, a million records to listen to, a virulent online poker habit to feed and Dry Januarys backdated to 2005 to catch up on. I’m actually looking forward to the convenience of watching major bands livestreaming their gigs rather than trudging to an ice cavern in North London to watch them from half a mile away with a 12 quid Coke".

"If public gatherings are limited to the size of the average cheese rolling contest and all big shows are banned – suddenly the nation will have to flock to their local pubs and independent venues for their monster weekenders, exposing themselves to a whole new strain of underground brilliance" - Mark, My Words sees a light at the end of the corona-tunnel. Actually, two lights: "With an unexpected year off touring and every album-then-tour cycle in the world broken, we’ll see every single major act confined to their home studios meaning a culture-wide torrent of high profile new albums".