O'Dair works as both a music lecturer and journalist. He is also the author of
Different Every Time: the Authorised Biography of Robert Wyatt, which was published by Serpent's Tail and features a foreword by
Jonathan Coe. The book was described by
The Guardian as "exhaustive and affectionate", and as a "meticulous and vivid account". As a writer, he has written for publications including
The Guardian and the
Financial Times. O'Dair is a regular studio guest on The Freakzone (BBC 6 Music) with
Stuart Maconie, and in 2015 recorded an essay about swimming in the Lake District for
BBC Radio 3. Along with the songwriter Andrew Phillips, O'Dair is one half of
Grasscut, who have previously released two albums on
Ninja Tune (
1 Inch: 1/2 Mile and
Unearth) and a third on Lo Recordings, 2015's
Everyone Was A Bird. The band have been described as building their reputation on "writing about situations and places, rather than standard pop songs", with
The Quietus reviewing
Everyone Was A Bird as "that rare slab of post-rock that uses the genre's textures and general ethos of exploration to create new sounds instead of rehashing old ones". In 2016 O'Dair co-authored a report on the use of blockchain technology within the music industry titled
Music On The Blockchain. In 2025, O'Dair joined
Kingston University as a Director for one of the four University's newly created Knowledge and Research Institutes (KERIs) — taking charge of the Design, Arts and Creative Practice Knowledge Exchange and Research Institute. O'Dair also works as Professor of Innovation and Creativity at the university. == References ==