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writing

Selected writing: 2021 - present

 

Music

 

- Rough Trade at 50 for Hyper Culture. 
The Best of Hip-Hop's Daisy Age for Discogs.
Why 1985 Was A Landmark Year For Reggae for the GRAMMY Awards website.
- The Albums That Shaped Dubstep's First Decade for Discogs.

- The Ska Albums That Defined Jamaica's Music Revolution (1963-1970) for Discogs.

- Essential Industrial Records: 1979-1993 for Discogs.

- The History of the Motorik Beat in 10 Records for Discogs. 

- The Essential Albums That Defined 4AD's First Decade for Discogs.
- Essential African Albums That Redefined the Electric Guitar for Discogs.
- Essential Dub Records: 1973 - 1985 for Discogs. 

- Essential Dancehall DJ Albums 1973 -1985 for Discogs. 

- Essential Roots Reggae Albums from the 1970s to '80s for Discogs. 

- Jordan Adetunji interview for the GRAMMY Awards website. 

- 15 Essential IDM Albums for Discogs.

- Essential Japanese Jazz Records: 1953 - Present for Discogs.
- 30 Years of Metalheadz: A Drum’n’bass Legacy for Discogs.

- Beirut album review for Paste magazine.

- Vagabon album review for Paste magazine.
- naafi interview for The National newspaper. 
- The Delgados and the Chemikal Underground record label feature for The National newspaper.
- Silver Moth album preview for The National newspaper.
- The Return of Belle and Sebastian feature for The National newspaper.
- Gentle Sinners interview for The National newspaper. 
- Clare Grogan: The Return of the Queen of Pop interview for The National newspaper. 
- Singing Wells - East African music article for Songlines magazine.
- Is the Protest Song Dead? feature for The New European magazine.

Culture

 

- The Cult of Cute for City AM.
- The Southbank Centre's Legendary Skate Park for City AM.
- Global Ear: Dhaka article for The Wire magazine.
- Sadler's Wells East and the YFX Youth Festival for the New York Observer.

- Who Killed the GIF? article for City A.M. magazine.
- Global Ear: Manila article for The Wire magazine.

- Global Para Athletes for Service95.

- Why Salman Rushdie Is Still One of Literature's Important Figures for Service95.

- What is the Metaverse, Exactly? for Service95.
- Callas and Pasolini: The Diva and the Director for The New European magazine.
- Final Girls for Service95.
- Mark Jenkin interview for The New European magazine.
- Meltdown: The Festival of Ideas feature for Rock & Art
Amit Lahav, Gecko and ‘The Wedding’ for Rock & Art 
- Belarus Free Theatre: Exiles Theatre of War for The New European magazine. 

- Tulips, NFTs and Natural Exuberance for Lay It Out magazine.
- Mumufication: The KLF and Being In With the Bricks feature for The National newspaper. 
- Ivo von Hove interview for The New European.
- Experimental Words: Where Poetry Meets Science feature for the CLOT website.

- What's It Like To Own a Bansky? feature for The New European magazine.


Art

David Cleaton-Roberts On Editions, Authenticity and Printmaking’s Place for the New York Observer.
Meet the Collector: Marques Redd On Stewardship, Memory and Collecting Beyond Value for the New York Observer.
John Costi’s Somerset House Studios Installation for Broadsheet London.
Wright of Derby exhibition review for the New York Observer.
Emily Kam Kngwarray exhibition review for the New York Observer. 
- London Art+Climate Week interview for Broadsheet London.
- Secret Maps / British Library group exhibition review for the Trebuscet magazine. 
- Art Nouveau in the UK for Art UK.
Jane and Louise Wilson interview for The New World magazine. 

- Edward Burra and Ithell Colquhoun solo exhibitions review for the New York Observer.
- Connecting Thin Black Lines exhibition review for the New York Observer.
- Abstract Erotic exhibition review for the New York Observer.
- Living In Squares and Loving In Triangles: Drawing Portraits of the Bloomsbury Group for Art UK.

- Preserving the Power of Drawing: 25 Years of the Royal Drawing School for Art UK.

- José María Velasco A View of Mexico exhibition review for the New York Observer.

- 25 Years of Tate Turbine Hall Commissions for the New York Observer.

- Drawing St Ives: Modernism and French Rot in 20th Century Cornwall for Art UK.

- Noah Davis exhibition review for the New York Observer. 
- Linder: Danger Came Smiling exhibition review for the New York Observer.

- Brasil! Brasil! The Birth of Modernism exhibition review for the New York Observer.
- Takashi Murakami Japanese Art History à la Takashi Murakami exhibition review for the New York Observer.
- The Great Mughals exhibition review for the New York Observer.
- Electric Dreams exhibition review for the New York Observer.
- Hew Locke: What Have We Here? exhibition review for the New York Observer.
- The National Gallery: NG Stories exhibition review for the New York Observer.

- MARY MARY exhibition review for the New York Observer.
- Ian Davenport: Playful Experiments With Paint for Art UK

- Francis Bacon: Human Presence exhibition review for the New York Observer.
- Hard Graft at the Wellcome Collection for exhibition review for the New York Observer.

- DOMINION at Damien Hirst's London Gallery exhibition review for the New York Observer.
- Colour and Memory In the Work of Howard Hodgkin for Art UK.

- Why London's Fourth Plinth Is Worth a Visit for the New York Observer.

- Leon Kossoff: London, Figuration and the Old Masters for Art UK.
- Frank Auerbach Charcoal Heads exhibition review for the New York Observer.
- Barbara Kruger Thinking of You. I Mean Me. I Mean You exhibition review for the New York Observer.

- Who Was Jan Toorop, the Artist Who Inspired Gustav Klimt? for the New York Observer. 

- Wols and the Tachisme Art Movement for Whitehot magazine.

- Artist George Wyllie feature for The National newspaper.
- Federico García Lorca, Flamenco And The Spirit Of Duende for The New Voice website.
- The Accursed Share exhibition preview / curator interview for The National newspaper.
- Tiffany Boyle curator interview for The National newspaper.
- Zen and the Art of Antoni Tàpies for The New European magazine.

- William Kentridge: SYBIL feature for The New Voice website.
- Louise Bourgeois: The Woven Child for The New Voice website.
- NFTs, Post-internet Art, and Why Constant Dullaart Buys Fake Social Media Followers feature for the CLOT website.
- Lucian Freud's Male Gaze for the Reaction website.

- Caravaggio: The Man Who Invented Cinema for The New European magazine. 
- Jan Švankmajer: The Czech Curiosity Shop for The New European magazine.
- Matthew Arthur Williams interview for The National newspaper.
- Surrealism Beyond Borders exhibition review for The New Voice website.
- Hogarth & Europe - Tate exhibition curator interview for The New European magazine.
- Shilpa Gupta In Conversation interview for the FLUX website.
 

Human rights and activism
 

- The Untold Story of Afghanistan's Medical Warriors for Service95. 
- South Korea's Feminist 4B Movement for Service95.
- Kneecap at Rock en Seine review for The New World magazine.
- The Devastating Effects of the War in Sudan for Service95.
- State Feminism and Arab Women for Service95.
- Sonita Alizadeh interview for Service95. 

- Anti-LGBTQ+ Legislation in the UAE for The New Internationalist magazine.

- Embroidered Tales: The Women Voicing Resistance Through Craftivism for Service95.

- The Ongoing Fight For Inclusivity in Esports for Service95.
- The Rise of Literary Censorship for Service95. 
- Ukrainian Artists Find Haven in Scotland for The National newspaper. 
- The Love Jihad Conspiracy Theory for Service95.
- Moving Images: The Human Rights Watch Film Festivals for Lay It Out magazine.
- Soheila Sokhanvari & Women's Rights in Iran for Service95.
- Drawing as Disruption: twentieth-century artists who used drawing as a protest for Art UK



Before

2018

- guest editor for the month of April for The Sampler (UK Arts Council-backed new music website). 

2016
 

​- Bringing the Noise: The Early Days of Sound Art in the UAE article for Contemporary Practices magazine.
- A Tale of Two Cities: The Dubai and Abu Dhabi Art Scenes article for Contemporary Practices magazine.
- Sara Al Haddad artist interview/profile for Harpers Bazaar Art Arabia magazine.
 

2015
 

- Edward Sutcliffe artist interview/profile for Harper’s Bazaar Art Arabia magazine.
- UAE: Unlimited Arab Exploration: group art exhibition in Dubai curated by Mohammed Kazem and Cristiani de Marchi - Forward Voice and the Potency of Art: exhibition catalogue essay. 
 

2014
 

- Giorgio Moroder’s Pyramid: group art exhibition in Dubai - exhibition catalogue essay.
- Artist profile: Cristiana de Marchi - Contemporary Practices magazine.
- peace in an open space: group art exhibition in Dubai - exhibition catalogue essay.
 

2013
 

- Sound art article (Vipralambha: Union Through Separation) for the Guernica website. 
- Arcadia Blank artist interview/profile for Harper’s Bazaar Art Arabia magazine.
- Tectonic: The Moving Museum Dubai group exhibition review for Harper’s Bazaar Art Arabia magazine.
- Sara Al Haddad artist interview/profile for Harper’s Bazaar Art Arabia magazine.
 

​2012
 

​- Renegade Soundwaves: Sound art in the UAE article for Harper’s Bazaar Art Arabia magazine.

​1995 – 2010

plus articles and reviews for bbc.co.uk, and The Face, TOUCH and Blues & Soul magazines. 

© Simon Coates 2026

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