Ten years after David Bowie’s death, Blackstar remains one of the most haunting and deliberate final works in modern music.
Often framed as a farewell album, Blackstar feels closer to something far more intentional: an artist confronting not just mortality, but the loss of authorship over his own legacy.
In this episode of The Last Mixed Tape, Stephen White explores how Bowie used Blackstar to design his own disappearance, refusing nostalgia, embracing abstraction, and choosing new musical languages at the very end.
Placing Bowie alongside artists like Leonard Cohen, Sylvia Plath, and Francis Bacon, this episode examines how creators across music, poetry, and art have turned toward death not as an ending, but as material.
Phil Lynott didn’t just write one of Dublin’s most beautiful songs, he revealed something deeper about identity, belonging, and culture.
In this episode of The Last Mixed Tape, Stephen White explores Old Town, Phil Lynott’s tender 1982 solo track, and why it remains one of the most intimate love letters ever written to Dublin.
Moving through Lynott’s life, his work with Thin Lizzy, Irish mythology, and his legacy as a Black Irish icon, this episode reflects on what it means to truly belong to a place not through bloodlines or permission, but through presence, love, and lived experience.
Forty years after his death, Phil Lynott’s music still speaks to modern Ireland, offering a quiet but powerful counterpoint to rigid ideas of identity.
This is a story about a song, a city, and a way of being Irish that is felt, lived, and heard.
Happy Xmas (War Is Over) doesn’t sound like a protest song and that’s exactly the point.
In this episode of The Last Mixed Tape, we explore how John Lennon used Christmas, tradition, and familiarity to deliver one of the most quietly radical political messages in popular music.
Set against the backdrop of the Vietnam War, this episode traces Lennon’s shift from confrontation to persuasion — from the bed-ins for peace and Give Peace a Chance, to Imagine, Yoko Ono’s influence, and the belief that political ideas endure best when they’re delivered “with a little honey.”
More than a seasonal standard, Happy Xmas (War Is Over) is a protest song designed to be lived with — not argued against — and its legacy reveals how music can change culture without raising its voice.
CMAT’s Euro Country is the standout Irish album of 2025 and a cultural moment.
In this episode of The Last Mixed Tape, Stephen explores how CMAT’s songwriting, humour, and hyperreal pop persona captured the realities of modern Ireland: the housing crisis, post–Celtic Tiger disillusionment, political theatre, and the strange mix of chaos and hope that defines life in 2025.
We unpack the album’s themes of escapism, rural identity, emotional honesty, and ambition, and examine why Euro Country resonated so deeply with a generation navigating uncertainty.
This album is a portrait of Ireland right now, seen through one of its most important artists.
In 2025, Irish musicians stepped into the political frontline. From Fontaines D.C. and Kneecap tartists across Ireland and the UK are taking a stand against the rise of far-right extremism, violence, and organised disinformation.
With the launch of the TOGETHER Against The Far Right Alliance, more than 50 civil-society groups and hundreds of cultural workers are uniting to push back and 2026 could become the most important year yet.
Syd Barrett was the genius who founded Pink Floyd… and the friend they lost long before he was gone.Fifty years after Wish You Were Here, the album still feels like a monument to grief, guilt, and a band trying to understand the collapse of someone they loved.
This is the story of Syd, Pink Floyd, and the masterpiece shaped by trauma.In this episode of The Last Mixed Tape, we dive into how the loss of their original songwriter haunted the band, from The Piper at the Gates of Dawn, to the breakdown that shook the group, to the themes of madness explored on The Dark Side of the Moon, and finally to the emotional creation of Wish You Were Here.
Kneecap have returned with “No Comment” their latest music statement since the terrorism charge against Mo Chara was thrown out earlier this year.
This episode breaks down why this song is hitting so hard, how it ties back to the case, and why “no comment” has become a form of cultural defiance.
In this show, I explore:
• how Kneecap use satire and Irish identity as political resistance
• how the legal case collided with their art
• why “No Comment” is more than a song — it’s a repossession
• Mo Chara’s courtroom words and how they echo through the track
• why younger audiences in Ireland and the UK are responding so strongly
This is the final word on the case, the song, and the cultural moment Kneecap just created.
Charli XCX has entered her darkest era yet. With “House,” her new collaboration with The Velvet Underground legend John Cale for Emerald Fennell’s upcoming Wuthering Heights (2026), Charli steps into a world of gothic romance, decaying architecture, and emotional brutality, a complete reinvention from her Brat era.
In this deep-dive, The Last Mixed Tape explores Charli’s career-defining pivot after Brat to the haunting production choices and Cale’s iconic narration, this episode unpacks why “House” is quickly becoming one of the most important songs of her career.
Four decades after The Specials captured Britain’s collapse, Irish folk collective Lankum have reimagined Ghost Town transforming it into a haunting reflection of modern Ireland.In this episode of The Last Mixed Tape, we trace Ghost Town’s journey from 1981’s Two-Tone rebellion to today’s Dublin exploring how music becomes a document of its time, from racial tension and working-class despair in Thatcher’s Britain to housing crises and far-right unrest in Ireland today.
In Berghain, Rosalía turns heartbreak into ritual. Set against the cultural backdrop of Berlin’s legendary club and her Catalan roots, this episode of The Last Mixed Tape examines how she translates loss into performance using sound, body, and movement to reclaim freedom.
We look at how Berghain continues the evolution of Motomami, blending vulnerability with power, and how collaborators like Björk and Yves Tumor expand its emotional and symbolic depth. Through grief, Rosalía reinvents herself and in doing so, redefines what pop music can be.
Róisín Murphy was once celebrated as a queer icon, a voice that echoed through the very clubs and communities that made her career. But her recent comments, and past posts, about trans people have shaken that bond to its core.
In this episode of The Last Mixed Tape, Stephen White explores how an artist so deeply embraced by queer culture could turn against it, what that says about allyship, and why this moment matters far beyond one tweet.
The announcement of Bad Bunny’s Super Bowl Halftime Show sparked a wave of backlash from ICE threats to pundits questioning whether he’s even “American.”
But this isn’t just about one artist or one performance. It’s about who gets to define America’s culture and who’s allowed to stand on its biggest stage.
In this episode of The Last Mixed Tape, we explore how Bad Bunny and Chappell Roan have become symbols in a new cultural resistance one where language, identity, and freedom of expression collide with a politics of fear.
AI music is about control. From record labels chasing profit to right-wing culture warriors pushing “neutral” art, this is the plan to replace real artists with machines.
In this episode of The Last Mixed Tape, Stephen White explores how the rise of AI in music is being weaponised by both corporate and political forces. Why are record labels and conservative commentators so interested in a world without artists? And what does that mean for creativity, culture, and control?
Netflix’s new series House of Guinness has been slammed by Irish critics for its stereotypes and shallow storytelling. But there’s one part of the show that works the soundtrack. Featuring artists like Fontaines D.C., Kneecap, Lankum, Lisa O’Neill, and The Mary Wallopers, the music captures the rebellious poetry of Ireland far better than the drama itself.
In this episode of The Last Mixed Tape, Stephen explores how the soundtrack dismantles the very caricatures the show indulges in, and why modern Irish music has become a cultural reclamation in its own right.
Mo Chara (real name Liam Óg Ó hAnnaid , a member of Belfast rap group Kneecap, has had terrorism charges against him thrown out at Woolwich Crown Court. The case, which alleged that Mo Chara displayed a Hezbollah flag during a London performance, collapsed when the judge ruled the prosecution was unlawful because the Attorney General’s consent had not been sought.
This verdict means no conviction but it raises urgent questions about free speech, censorship, and the growing pressure on artists who speak out on political issues, particularly around Palestine and Gaza. This week we explore what the trial of Mo Chara means for the future.
00:00 Intro00:30 Mo Chara 01:02 Kneecap Win, Why It Matters01:38 Kneecap Vs The UK Government 06:53 What We’ve Lost15:09 Gaza, Palestine17:34 What Do You Think?18:05 Liam Óg
Fascists can’t create. They can only silence, steal, and twist music into something hollow.
From Nazi Germany banning jazz, to the Catholic Church blacklisting artists in Ireland, to punk, disco, and hip-hop being targeted, authoritarian regimes have always feared music. Because music is messy, imperfect, alive… everything fascism can’t stand.
In this video, I explore how fascists try to erase or hijack culture, from Pink Floyd’s The Wall to Ireland’s recent “Míse Éire Festival.” And why, no matter how many times they raid the dancefloor or burn the records, music always slips free.
If you enjoyed this, don’t forget to like, subscribe, and join me every week on The Last Mixed Tape for more deep dives into music, culture, and resistance.
00:00 Intro00:28 Frank Zappa 01:13 Fascists Can’t Dance01;42 A Brief History of Authoritarianist Oppression05:52 Because of Woke!06:03 Why Fascists Hate Music13:25 Why this matters16:21 Zappa
Emerald Fennell’s new Wuthering Heights film has already stirred controversy, but I want to make the case that the best adaptation of Emily Brontë’s gothic masterpiece already exists and it isn’t on screen. In 1978, an 18-year-old Kate Bush captured the wild, haunting atmosphere of the novel in just four minutes of music, creating a version of Wuthering Heights that has outlived almost every film and TV attempt.
In this episode of The Last Mixed Tape, I explore why Kate Bush’s Wuthering Heights is the definitive adaptation: from its ghostly perspective and groundbreaking composition to its cultural afterlife in flash mobs, memes, and even later adaptations. I also share my personal story of hearing the song for the first time as a child and how it revealed music as something magical and otherworldly.
00:00 Intro
00:30 Kate Bush
01:01 Why Kate Bush’s Wuthering Heights?
01:53 Brief History of Emily Brontë’s Wuthering Heights
02:38 Emerald Fennell, Olivier, & Ian McShane
04:16 Kate finds Cathy
05:45 The Definitive Adaptation of Wuthering Heights
17:14 Kate’s Cultural Impact
18:59 What do you think?
19:45 Heathcliff…
Kneecap’s brand new single “Sayōnara” is a cultural moment. In this video, Stephen White of The Last Mixed Tape breaks down why Kneecap are in their imperial phase, how their defiance on global stages like Glastonbury has made them cultural icons, and what Sayōnara tells us about Irish music and identity in 2025.
From their stance on Gaza to the “Free Mo Chara” campaign, Kneecap’s mix of politics, satire, and rave-driven hip-hop has made them one of the most important acts in Ireland today. Featuring Jamie Lee O’Donnell in the official music video, Sayōnara is both a festival anthem and a statement of resistance. But what does it mean for Irish culture now and what does it say to the wider world?
00:00 Intro
00:28 Kneecap
01:31 Why Sayōnara?
01:59 The Imperial Phase
02:45 The Rise of Kneecap
04:36 Free Mo Chara
05:40 Kneecap Sayōnara Review and Reaction
12:26 The Future
14:41 What do you think?
15:18 The Irish Language
CMAT’s Euro-Country is a generational reckoning. In this review, I explore why only CMAT could have made this record, and why it could only have been made now.From the scars of the Celtic Tiger to the contradictions of modern Europe, Euro-Country is witty, heartbreaking, and politically sharp, a pop record that laughs, cries, and critiques all at once. In this episode of The Last Mixed Tape, I dive deep into the album’s themes, CMAT’s artistic evolution, and why she’s the right artist at the right time.00:00 Intro00:28 CMAT 00:56 Why Euro-Country?01:25 CMAT: The Right Artist at the Right Time04:12 Euro-Country Album Review15:50 Where Does This Leave Us…?17:27 What About You?18:02 Euro-Country
Florence + The Machine is back with Everybody Scream the first single from their upcoming album, Everybody Scream, set for release this Halloween. In this video, I dive into the song’s gothic sound, its themes of witchcraft and ritual, and how Florence continues to reclaim mystical imagery in her music.From Stevie Nicks to Kate Bush, from Irish folklore the witch has always been a powerful figure in music a symbol of independence, transformation, and rebellion. Florence now carries that tradition forward, turning performance into ritual and music into magic.
00:00 Intro 00:30 Florence Welch 01:11 Why Everybody Scream?01:49 Witchcraft & Ritual in Music04:24 Florence + the Machine Return06:00 Everybody Scream Reaction10:03 Everybody Scream Video Discussion 12:57 Florence in the Future13:58 What do you think?14:38 Useless Magic