Van Morrison has slammed music publications in a rare interview on BBC Radio 4 today (March 10).

Speaking to ‘The Today Programme’ Morrison was commenting on the subjects that have inspired his first studio album in nine years ‘Keep It Simple’.

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The album, nearly his 40th release is set for release next Monday (March 17) and Morrison said in the broadcast this morning: “Basically, I’m a simple guy in a complicated business. I’ve never been comfortable with fame, so that’s what a lot of this material is about.”

He also added that he thinks: “There’s an obsession at the moment with what some people call the comics and what I call the propaganda magazines, Mojo, Q Magazine, The Word…there’s this obsession with the past. It’s like no one has moved on. The marketplace is going backwards.”

A follow-up programme will air on ‘The Today Programme’ later this week, with a panel debating Morrison’s criticsms.