Simon Reynolds (born 19 June 1963) is an English music journalist, critic, and author.

Reynolds began his professional career on the staff of Melody Maker in the mid-1980s, and has since gone on to freelance and publish a number of full-length books on music and culture, ranging from historical tomes on rave music and the post-punk era to critical works such as Retromania and Blissed Out. Over the course of his career, he has contributed to Spin Magazine, Rolling Stone, Melody Maker, The New York Times, The Village Voice, The Guardian, The Wire, and others.

Biography and career

Reynolds was born in London in 1963. Inspired by an older brother, he became interested in music in the late 1970s shortly after the dissipation of the punk rock movement. In the mid 1980s, he attended the University of Oxford, where he co-founded the music journal Moniter with friend and future Melody Maker colleague David Stubbs. In 1986, Reynolds joined the staff of Melody Maker, where his writing was marked by enthusiasm for a wave of experimental rock and hip hop artists that emerged in the mid-1980s (including A.R. Kane, My Bloody Valentine, Public Enemy, and The Young Gods). During this period, Reynolds and his colleagues set themselves in opposition to what they characterized as the traditionalism and humanism of the indie rock, soul, and pop music of the era, as well as conservative standards of surrounding pop music discourse. Many pieces from this era would later constitute the retrospective collection Blissed Out: The Raptures of Rock, published in 1990.