Its been a while since i did any single reviews. Have we seen a new dawn of brilliant music? What do you think....?
Alexis Jordan - Good Girl
Deep joy. Another bland American songstrel has come along and seems prepared to build a career on making the same song over and over. This sounds practically identical to her previous portion of dripping Happiness.
Avril Lavigne - What The Hell
My thoughts exactly. What the hell is a woman in her late twenties doing making teenage angst music and dressing in a similar manner? Horribly predictable and sounds like every other Avril Lavigne record.
Dr Dre featuring Eminem and Skylar Gray - I Need A Doctor
Its the comeback we've all been waiting for! Dre is back and he's made his first record for a decade.... Or has he? Most of the record is given over the Eminem for one of his current trademark whiny, self pitying raps, most of what is left is the tedious and highly repetitious chorus and finally we have one short rap from Dre. Its a very weak comeback.
Jessie J - Price Tag
Even if it was free, i wouldn't.
Lady Gaga - Born This Way
Ignoring the obvious comparisons to Madonna's Express Yourself for a moment, this isn't a disaster by any means. Gaga seems to have (probably only temporarily) weened herself off the stupid earworms that blighted Telephone and Bad Romance in favour of recording a straightforward modern disco floorfiller. Surprisingly gimmick free.
Rihanna - S&M
Oh deep joy. Rihanna has released another record about Making Sexys With Boys and this time she's decided to sing about how whips and chains excite her. Except she doesn't most of the time because most radio stations are playing a heavily butchered version of the song, which is endlessly looped and repeated throughout in order to appeal to eight year olds, because ultimately every parent wants their eight year old singing "Sex in the air, you know i love the smell of it". Unlike Gaga's latest offering, there is no way of interpreting this in an innocent manner. Vile and despicable.
Take That - Kidz
Oooooh! Aren't they hardcore?!? Putting a "z" on the end?!? Actually, this upbeat protest warning themed tune is Take That's most interesting single since Shine and it comes from an album which is quite short of TT's now trademark epic anthems. Far more appealing than it deserves to be.
Breakage & Jess Mills - Fighting Fire
I'll probably end up loving this, but at the moment i simply can't decide on a conclusion about it. It feels like it should be a slow burning, crescendo building electro dance track, but never quite gets anywhere beyond its opening pace. If it does achieve anything, it is the sense of menace which runs all the way through it. Its certainly interesting and i find it confusing whilst familiar, which has to be a good thing.
The Strokes - Under Cover of Darkness
Lead vocalist Julian Casablancas has lost his vocal distortion effects machine and there are one too many flat notes in this. For a band making so much noise about how creative they are since they've reformed it sounds like old Strokes by numbers to me, except without the massive riffs of songs like Reptillia and Last Night.
Clare Maguire - The Last Dance
I don't get it. Clare Maguire is supposed to be one of the big new things of 2011, but this dull pop dance record could have been released any time in the past fifteen years and nobody would have cared.
Friday, 25 February 2011
Sunday, 13 February 2011
The Circus comes to town
Every so often, something breaks in the media which is so calculated in order to cause outrage and anger that i can't believe there is so much in depth analysis of the happening because it is so damn obvious that the whole incident is a gratuitous show to sell newspapers, promote a person or event or just generally make money.
The recent Top Gear "incident" where Jeremy Clarkson and Richard Hammond roundly laid in to the Mexicans as a race was clearly the "moment" for this series which was engineered to get massive press and wider media coverage and thus higher ratings and raised profiles for the personnel involved. There is a moment like this in every series of Top Gear, perhaps it'll be Jeremy Clarkson saying that all murders are committed by truck drivers or alledging an electric car has broken down when it in fact didn't. You know the sort of thing - it'll wind up the left wing press something rotten and spark the sort of outrage that is normally reserved for pension mismanagement. The right wing red top press will have a field day as it is precisely the sort of thing their readership will love because they are the people to whom Jeremy Clarkson is the holiest cow.
Now lets take a moment to look at the evidence to this theory: Richard Hammond is normally the giggling child in the background of all the dumb schemes come up with by ringleader Clarkson and rarely has anything deeply offensive the say, yet in this particular segment of the programme he went completely overboard and crucially out of character. He simply doesn't do rants of that length in the previous episodes, which leads me to believe the whole thing was closely scripted, if not word for word.
What amazes me is the sheer level of gullible idiots who are taken in by the circus coming to town and will head out into their newspapers casting utter damnation upon the perpetrators of the controversy. Steve Coogan wrong a long diatribe in the Observer about how offensive his chums at Top Gear are to ultimately gain nothing except people all over the country reading about how he had written a long diatribe in the Observer. It barely added anything to Coogan's fairly low profile, but it did keep Clarkson et al in the media spotlight for another couple of days.
The incident and associated playground chattering also found comment from other lazy journalists such as the awful Julie Burchill in the Independent (and offshoot i), who managed to turn it all around to how its fine to make jokes about women and the disabled.
It wouldn't surprise me if the Coogan article had been organised by Clarkson and Top Gear producer Andy Milman to gain some media coverage for the both of them.
So in summary, look forward to the next controversy next time Top Gear is on. It'll be a couple or three episodes into the series and it'll gain coverage in every newspaper because ultimately it benefits everyone - the newspapers will sell more copies with "CLARKSON'S NEW CONTROVERSY" teased on the front and Top Gear will get more viewers. Everyones a winner, eh?
The recent Top Gear "incident" where Jeremy Clarkson and Richard Hammond roundly laid in to the Mexicans as a race was clearly the "moment" for this series which was engineered to get massive press and wider media coverage and thus higher ratings and raised profiles for the personnel involved. There is a moment like this in every series of Top Gear, perhaps it'll be Jeremy Clarkson saying that all murders are committed by truck drivers or alledging an electric car has broken down when it in fact didn't. You know the sort of thing - it'll wind up the left wing press something rotten and spark the sort of outrage that is normally reserved for pension mismanagement. The right wing red top press will have a field day as it is precisely the sort of thing their readership will love because they are the people to whom Jeremy Clarkson is the holiest cow.
Now lets take a moment to look at the evidence to this theory: Richard Hammond is normally the giggling child in the background of all the dumb schemes come up with by ringleader Clarkson and rarely has anything deeply offensive the say, yet in this particular segment of the programme he went completely overboard and crucially out of character. He simply doesn't do rants of that length in the previous episodes, which leads me to believe the whole thing was closely scripted, if not word for word.
What amazes me is the sheer level of gullible idiots who are taken in by the circus coming to town and will head out into their newspapers casting utter damnation upon the perpetrators of the controversy. Steve Coogan wrong a long diatribe in the Observer about how offensive his chums at Top Gear are to ultimately gain nothing except people all over the country reading about how he had written a long diatribe in the Observer. It barely added anything to Coogan's fairly low profile, but it did keep Clarkson et al in the media spotlight for another couple of days.
The incident and associated playground chattering also found comment from other lazy journalists such as the awful Julie Burchill in the Independent (and offshoot i), who managed to turn it all around to how its fine to make jokes about women and the disabled.
It wouldn't surprise me if the Coogan article had been organised by Clarkson and Top Gear producer Andy Milman to gain some media coverage for the both of them.
So in summary, look forward to the next controversy next time Top Gear is on. It'll be a couple or three episodes into the series and it'll gain coverage in every newspaper because ultimately it benefits everyone - the newspapers will sell more copies with "CLARKSON'S NEW CONTROVERSY" teased on the front and Top Gear will get more viewers. Everyones a winner, eh?
Wednesday, 9 February 2011
One product, many different flavours
Now i don't travel around the country as much as i'd like, but this past weekend @forkinabucket and myself travelled up to Liverpool for a long weekend. Out of interest, we spent the trip up listening to BBC local radio stations, retuning when we lost contact with each frequency.
We left home listening to...
BBC Somerset, Emma Britton (0900-1200)
Now i'm already familiar with the Emma Britton show, often tuning to BBC Bristol or Somerset in advance of the brilliant Steve Yabsley show at midday. There isn't a marked contrast between Bristol's Graham Torrington and Somerset's Emma Britton; Torrington is a traditional laid-back local radio jock (he even does a Saturday night Late Night Love show just to complete the cliche), whilst Britton is a rather parochial, but enthusiastic broadcaster who is able to demonstrate interest in the tedious, compassion to the dramatic and a smile to the foibles of county life. If i'm being totally honest, i was of the opinion that because the differences between Bristol and Somerset were so slight that the rest of the country would follow the same template of gentle, easy-listening and often twee programming.
BBC Hereford & Worcestershire, Andrew Easton (1200-1600)
New Zealander Andrew Easton carries the mammoth four hour afternoon shift on BBC Hereford and Worcestershire. The stretch of the show we listened to felt like a bit of a timewarp to Radio 2 in the 90s with a fairly standard guess the year quiz featuring music and reminiscences of the 1960s. After that, the show continued on in a fairly lighthearted and irreverent manner with good humoured wit and lively presentation. Overall, a well recommended and entertaining show.
Somewhere around Birmingham, we started losing H&W and i did a quick scan up the airwaves to find not the expected BBC Birmingham, but...
BBC Leicester, Jonathon Lampon (1200-1500)
Despite not really being anywhere near Leicester, we came up with the BBC service from the city and decided to stick with it. Lampon's show contains a fairly well balanced current affairs discussion (today concerning standards of language), introduced with a well thought out collection of potential avenues of continuation. The depth of the material varies considerably throughout the show, but Lampon manages to deliver it consistently throughout. Imagine the Jeremy Vine show without the anger and bitterness and you're pretty much on the level of where this show sits. It serves a worthwhile purpose, i found it very informative and interesting.
We lost contact with Leicester as we were approaching the Potteries and after a couple of ILRs, we unsurprisingly came in to reach of...
BBC Stoke, Paula White (The Afternoon Show, 1300-1600)
The first show we had heard which includes a catchphrase ("Hiya Duck"), which is used at the beginning of every message or conversation and becomes somewhat irritating after a while. We know you're a local radio station broadcaster, you don't need to ram it down our throats. To my ears, Paula White doesn't sound like a natural radio host and her delivery is a bit stop-start a lot of the time and she can get a bit whoopy whilst laughing at her own jokes. Her show is very conversational, which might stand a better chance of working if she had somebody else in the studio to bounce off because there are far too many awkward silences. On the whole she is overdoing the "local lass" thing a bit too much and the result feels very contrived.
BBC Merseyside, Billy Butler (1400-1700)
I'll admit an interest here, as i've heard several previous Billy Butler shows (including his legendary Scouse quiz spoof Hold Your Plums) and always found him to be an affable and likeable character. BBC Radio Merseyside is a station which very much caters to its audience and feels very much more cosmopolitan than anything else we'd been listening to on the way up. After being subjected to Radio Stoke, Billy Butler's show is remarkably slick and well put together.
More on the Mersey...
Over the rest of the long weekend we listened to Radio Merseyside a lot and found the output at times to be quite challenging. I don't think i've heard radio output with such a high level of genuine interest in the fundamentals of politics and policy outside of the likes of Radio 4 and the contributors to the phone-ins and open forum style shows (particularly 1200-1400) seem far better informed than the average joe calling in to most programmes.
On Saturday night, Linda McDermott hosted a well-promoted event "Come Dine at Mine", which encouraged listeners to hold simultaneous dinner parties as part of a fundraising mission for Clatterbridge Cancer Centre. Considering it was a one-off, the show was an absolute delight with plenty of guests in the studio, good humour and an entertaining food quiz. The whole programme captured the convivial dinner party style atmosphere perfectly and demonstrated remarkably good planning and preparation.
We left home listening to...
BBC Somerset, Emma Britton (0900-1200)
Now i'm already familiar with the Emma Britton show, often tuning to BBC Bristol or Somerset in advance of the brilliant Steve Yabsley show at midday. There isn't a marked contrast between Bristol's Graham Torrington and Somerset's Emma Britton; Torrington is a traditional laid-back local radio jock (he even does a Saturday night Late Night Love show just to complete the cliche), whilst Britton is a rather parochial, but enthusiastic broadcaster who is able to demonstrate interest in the tedious, compassion to the dramatic and a smile to the foibles of county life. If i'm being totally honest, i was of the opinion that because the differences between Bristol and Somerset were so slight that the rest of the country would follow the same template of gentle, easy-listening and often twee programming.
BBC Hereford & Worcestershire, Andrew Easton (1200-1600)
New Zealander Andrew Easton carries the mammoth four hour afternoon shift on BBC Hereford and Worcestershire. The stretch of the show we listened to felt like a bit of a timewarp to Radio 2 in the 90s with a fairly standard guess the year quiz featuring music and reminiscences of the 1960s. After that, the show continued on in a fairly lighthearted and irreverent manner with good humoured wit and lively presentation. Overall, a well recommended and entertaining show.
Somewhere around Birmingham, we started losing H&W and i did a quick scan up the airwaves to find not the expected BBC Birmingham, but...
BBC Leicester, Jonathon Lampon (1200-1500)
Despite not really being anywhere near Leicester, we came up with the BBC service from the city and decided to stick with it. Lampon's show contains a fairly well balanced current affairs discussion (today concerning standards of language), introduced with a well thought out collection of potential avenues of continuation. The depth of the material varies considerably throughout the show, but Lampon manages to deliver it consistently throughout. Imagine the Jeremy Vine show without the anger and bitterness and you're pretty much on the level of where this show sits. It serves a worthwhile purpose, i found it very informative and interesting.
We lost contact with Leicester as we were approaching the Potteries and after a couple of ILRs, we unsurprisingly came in to reach of...
BBC Stoke, Paula White (The Afternoon Show, 1300-1600)
The first show we had heard which includes a catchphrase ("Hiya Duck"), which is used at the beginning of every message or conversation and becomes somewhat irritating after a while. We know you're a local radio station broadcaster, you don't need to ram it down our throats. To my ears, Paula White doesn't sound like a natural radio host and her delivery is a bit stop-start a lot of the time and she can get a bit whoopy whilst laughing at her own jokes. Her show is very conversational, which might stand a better chance of working if she had somebody else in the studio to bounce off because there are far too many awkward silences. On the whole she is overdoing the "local lass" thing a bit too much and the result feels very contrived.
On to the content of the programme. A lot of it was fairly inane local radio call-in fare (how to get children off to sleep) and weak competitions (one line of a film - name the movie) without a great deal of material appearing to be particularly planned. In contrast to the formatted layout of some of my local programmes, one topic seems to suffice for at least half an hour with minimal effort to build anything else around it. Perhaps listening to Steve Yabsley has left me with high expectations of how much effort people should put in to their programmes.
But anyway, the most disturbing aspect of the show was a short segment at around 1310 where the host followed on from the sleeping children phone-in and was left to read out (apparently almost word for word) some knee-jerk story from a right-wing daily newspaper in the same tone as had been used for the rest of the show. It all felt incredibly judgemental and wrong in the context of the otherwise light and fluffy programme, especially as she immediately snapped back out of it and in to a delightfully unoriginal whinge about a chatty woman on the bus.
On the day we were travelling, Comic Relief was launching all over the country and various comedians and comic actors were giving interviews to practically every outlet of the BBC all over the country. Stoke's guest was Stephen Mangan, who proved that Paula is far more at ease when she has somebody else to bounce off of.
Now if i'm being totally honest, we hadn't fully lost contact with Stoke, but i could feel myself getting irritated by the stilted presentation of Ms White and the erratic nature of the show, so we scanned again and found...
BBC Merseyside, Billy Butler (1400-1700)
I'll admit an interest here, as i've heard several previous Billy Butler shows (including his legendary Scouse quiz spoof Hold Your Plums) and always found him to be an affable and likeable character. BBC Radio Merseyside is a station which very much caters to its audience and feels very much more cosmopolitan than anything else we'd been listening to on the way up. After being subjected to Radio Stoke, Billy Butler's show is remarkably slick and well put together.
More on the Mersey...
Over the rest of the long weekend we listened to Radio Merseyside a lot and found the output at times to be quite challenging. I don't think i've heard radio output with such a high level of genuine interest in the fundamentals of politics and policy outside of the likes of Radio 4 and the contributors to the phone-ins and open forum style shows (particularly 1200-1400) seem far better informed than the average joe calling in to most programmes.
On Saturday night, Linda McDermott hosted a well-promoted event "Come Dine at Mine", which encouraged listeners to hold simultaneous dinner parties as part of a fundraising mission for Clatterbridge Cancer Centre. Considering it was a one-off, the show was an absolute delight with plenty of guests in the studio, good humour and an entertaining food quiz. The whole programme captured the convivial dinner party style atmosphere perfectly and demonstrated remarkably good planning and preparation.
And while we're on the subject...
For some time now i've been listening to the Toby Foster: Bigger at Breakfast podcasts of BBC Radio Sheffield and it seems only fair to add a brief comment on this as i'm doing the other local radio i've been listening to. There was comment passed on the Radio 1 Breakfast Show when the last set of listening figures came out that they struggled for popularity in South Yorkshire and i think this show is the reason why - Toby Foster and his accomplices are delivering a product similar to that of the Radio 1 show with plenty of irreverent chat and comic diversions, yet tailored to the local audience. Its a no-brainer that Foster's show will attract a higher number of local listeners than a national show fronted by a man from the home of the arch rivals of South Ridingites, Leeds.
But what about ILR?
Most of it is crap, which is a shame because it never used to be. Star Bristol has just been dispensed with in favour of "Breeze 107.2", which has been advertised on billboards all over the city by a pair of legs. Quite how a pair of legs is supposed to signify a radio station, i don't know. Breeze effectively takes over the format of the failed Original 106.5, which was owned by the same group. All they have done is swap around the frequencies of the two stations and rebranded them, which is ultimately costly and pointless.
Tuesday, 25 January 2011
EXCLUSIVE: NEW ALBUM LEAKS!
TOP STARS (or STARZ as the kids would say) have carelessly left their lists around after brainstorming ideas for their new albums....
Tinie Tempah's brainstorming session: Subjects to write tracks about for my new album.
1. How brilliant Tinie Tempah is.
2. How fantastic Tinie Tempah is.
3. How shizzle all the haters is.
4. How being Tinie Tempah is like da bomb.
5. How much cash i has got because i is Tinie Tempah.
6. How easy it is to get pussy cos i is Tinie Tempah.
7. How many clothes i has got.
8. How many cars i has got.
9. How much money i made from idiots who bought the first album.
10. How nobody used to like Tinie Tempah but everybody does now.
IMPORTENT: And don't forget to mention that "I'm in charge", "brrraaap!" and HOW BRILLIANT TINIE TEMPAH IS on EVERY TRACK.
Rihanna's list of ideas to get people to write songs about for me:
1. Sex.
2. Being sexed.
3. Giving sexys to boys.
4. Not wanting sex.
5. Big willies and sex with them.
6. Shouting during sex.
7. More sex.
8. Mouth sex.
9. Bedroom sexy times.
10. CHRIS BROWN BEAT ME UP!!! WAAAAH!! WAH!!! WAH!!!!1111one111
Scouting for Girls' new album song subjects brainstorm:
1. Postboxes.
2. Baked beans.
3. London taxis.
4. Routemaster buses.
5. Fish and chips.
6. Roses.
7. Castles.
8. The Union Flag.
9. Michaela Strachan. Again. Nobody'll notice.
10. The Queen.
11. Bonus Track: Full English Breakfast.
Tinie Tempah's brainstorming session: Subjects to write tracks about for my new album.
1. How brilliant Tinie Tempah is.
2. How fantastic Tinie Tempah is.
3. How shizzle all the haters is.
4. How being Tinie Tempah is like da bomb.
5. How much cash i has got because i is Tinie Tempah.
6. How easy it is to get pussy cos i is Tinie Tempah.
7. How many clothes i has got.
8. How many cars i has got.
9. How much money i made from idiots who bought the first album.
10. How nobody used to like Tinie Tempah but everybody does now.
IMPORTENT: And don't forget to mention that "I'm in charge", "brrraaap!" and HOW BRILLIANT TINIE TEMPAH IS on EVERY TRACK.
Rihanna's list of ideas to get people to write songs about for me:
1. Sex.
2. Being sexed.
3. Giving sexys to boys.
4. Not wanting sex.
5. Big willies and sex with them.
6. Shouting during sex.
7. More sex.
8. Mouth sex.
9. Bedroom sexy times.
10. CHRIS BROWN BEAT ME UP!!! WAAAAH!! WAH!!! WAH!!!!1111one111
Scouting for Girls' new album song subjects brainstorm:
1. Postboxes.
2. Baked beans.
3. London taxis.
4. Routemaster buses.
5. Fish and chips.
6. Roses.
7. Castles.
8. The Union Flag.
9. Michaela Strachan. Again. Nobody'll notice.
10. The Queen.
11. Bonus Track: Full English Breakfast.
Monday, 10 January 2011
THE TURDS ON A STICK for 2010
WORST RECORD OF THE YEAR: Jessie J - Do It Like A Dude
Cringeworthy, crass, white girl rap. Apparently Jessie J is the "Sound of 2011". If thats the case, then i want to go deaf before the end of January. This record is a true abomination of simple human decency because it celebrates all the traditional traits of male aggression by saying its fine as long as its women being aggressive. The painful truth is that is a sad indictment of British society however you look at it, whether its males being cock-driven morons or women trying to ape them. Having a record to celebrate this does nothing that should be commended.
Runner Up: Ellie Goulding - Your Song
This is a perfect example of how to resurrect a dying career. Eight months after all the hype surrounding Ellie Goulding being the Sound of 2010 has died off, she was left staring at obscurity until some bright spark at the record company had an idea - why not record a predictable swoopy acoustic cover of an Elton John song? The bundle it on the flopped Lights album to try and boost the sales of that? This is despite the fact that this couldn't be further from the music which got her all the critical attention in the first place. In terms of selling out, you couldn't get any more sold. Then of course, we'll get the song used on a Christmas advert and laugh all the way to the bank....
HEARTSINK ARTIST OF THE YEAR: Rihanna
I honestly thought the British public had got over the Rihanna craze once the hype eventually died down from the Good Girl Gone Bad album, but after the relative failure of Rated R, she has returned with a new album which seems to be entirely made of radio-friendly songs about sex, which is truly dispicable. The lyrical content of tracks like Rudeboy, Hard and Whats My Name are just vile. There have been artists who have recorded songs with thinly veiled meanings in the past, but none are as blatantly crass as a single verse of Rudeboy. If Britain wants to be outraged about children being exposed to explicit sexual material, then Rihanna should be held up as the worst offender. Perhaps her earnings should be offset against the cost of catering to the social needs of Britains teenage parents.
WORST BROADCASTER OF THE YEAR: Steve Wright (BBC Radio 2)
Also a frontrunner in the Biggest Head category, Radio 2's lumbering dinosaur and his "Big Show" are becoming an embarassment. Nobody can deny the fact that Wright is still doing the same show he was doing on Radio 1 in the early 90s, just with the characters replaced by the Factoids. Ahh yes, the Craptoids. The raison d'etre for a feature like this should be that it runs for a minute or so before the audience gets bored and preferably it should have some entertainment value. Steve Wright's version has neither of these aspects - the feature feels like it goes on for hours and is painfully dull.
MOST STUPID EARWORM OF THE YEAR: Cheryl Cole - Promise This
I've never really understood the appeal of Cheryl Cole's brand of tedium-pop, and this vaguely half-decent song was totally ruined by the tribal styled chanting of "Alouetta-etta-etta" which was only included to make the song appeal to three year olds and their mental equivalents. 2010 was hopefully the year at which this earworm mania reached its peak, what with Taio Cruz (ai-o-galileo on Dynamite), Katy Perry (the California Girls lyric replacement programme for when you're bored of writing proper words) and the utterly vile Willow Smith (Whipping her hair back and forth and back and forth and back and forth and back and forth).
THE APPLE AWARD FOR SERVICES TO KILL THE MUSIC INDUSTRY: Jay-Z
If there is one person who seems to be completely creatively spent, it is Jay-Z. None of his output as an artist, producer or puppet master in the past eighteen months has shown any spark of inspiration, just a lame retreading of previous works. We can only take so much lazy, repetitive lyrical work about how fantastic it is to be Jay-Z and as rich as Bill Gates. In signing "artists" like Willow Smith and recording heavily autotune-laden tracks with choruses made from a single line repeated over and over and over and over and over until they stick in your brain like a crack addict's craving.
Cringeworthy, crass, white girl rap. Apparently Jessie J is the "Sound of 2011". If thats the case, then i want to go deaf before the end of January. This record is a true abomination of simple human decency because it celebrates all the traditional traits of male aggression by saying its fine as long as its women being aggressive. The painful truth is that is a sad indictment of British society however you look at it, whether its males being cock-driven morons or women trying to ape them. Having a record to celebrate this does nothing that should be commended.
Runner Up: Ellie Goulding - Your Song
This is a perfect example of how to resurrect a dying career. Eight months after all the hype surrounding Ellie Goulding being the Sound of 2010 has died off, she was left staring at obscurity until some bright spark at the record company had an idea - why not record a predictable swoopy acoustic cover of an Elton John song? The bundle it on the flopped Lights album to try and boost the sales of that? This is despite the fact that this couldn't be further from the music which got her all the critical attention in the first place. In terms of selling out, you couldn't get any more sold. Then of course, we'll get the song used on a Christmas advert and laugh all the way to the bank....
HEARTSINK ARTIST OF THE YEAR: Rihanna
I honestly thought the British public had got over the Rihanna craze once the hype eventually died down from the Good Girl Gone Bad album, but after the relative failure of Rated R, she has returned with a new album which seems to be entirely made of radio-friendly songs about sex, which is truly dispicable. The lyrical content of tracks like Rudeboy, Hard and Whats My Name are just vile. There have been artists who have recorded songs with thinly veiled meanings in the past, but none are as blatantly crass as a single verse of Rudeboy. If Britain wants to be outraged about children being exposed to explicit sexual material, then Rihanna should be held up as the worst offender. Perhaps her earnings should be offset against the cost of catering to the social needs of Britains teenage parents.
WORST BROADCASTER OF THE YEAR: Steve Wright (BBC Radio 2)
Also a frontrunner in the Biggest Head category, Radio 2's lumbering dinosaur and his "Big Show" are becoming an embarassment. Nobody can deny the fact that Wright is still doing the same show he was doing on Radio 1 in the early 90s, just with the characters replaced by the Factoids. Ahh yes, the Craptoids. The raison d'etre for a feature like this should be that it runs for a minute or so before the audience gets bored and preferably it should have some entertainment value. Steve Wright's version has neither of these aspects - the feature feels like it goes on for hours and is painfully dull.
MOST STUPID EARWORM OF THE YEAR: Cheryl Cole - Promise This
I've never really understood the appeal of Cheryl Cole's brand of tedium-pop, and this vaguely half-decent song was totally ruined by the tribal styled chanting of "Alouetta-etta-etta" which was only included to make the song appeal to three year olds and their mental equivalents. 2010 was hopefully the year at which this earworm mania reached its peak, what with Taio Cruz (ai-o-galileo on Dynamite), Katy Perry (the California Girls lyric replacement programme for when you're bored of writing proper words) and the utterly vile Willow Smith (Whipping her hair back and forth and back and forth and back and forth and back and forth).
THE APPLE AWARD FOR SERVICES TO KILL THE MUSIC INDUSTRY: Jay-Z
If there is one person who seems to be completely creatively spent, it is Jay-Z. None of his output as an artist, producer or puppet master in the past eighteen months has shown any spark of inspiration, just a lame retreading of previous works. We can only take so much lazy, repetitive lyrical work about how fantastic it is to be Jay-Z and as rich as Bill Gates. In signing "artists" like Willow Smith and recording heavily autotune-laden tracks with choruses made from a single line repeated over and over and over and over and over until they stick in your brain like a crack addict's craving.
Thursday, 6 January 2011
THE JOPI AWARDS for 2010
Lets see how many paragraphs of positivity i can manage...
SONG OF THE YEAR: DJ Rebel & FTW - You Can Call Me Al (FTW Radio Edit / Extended Versions)
As with 2009, this is awarded to the record which most made me sit up and take notice in 2010. This was a record i obtained in the traditional way, from the bargain bin of a branch of Free Record Shop (i think in Geel) for the huge sum of €0,20. The lead track mixed by DJ Rebel is useless - the awful synth brass ruins it. The second, mixed by Frank T Wallace (FTW) completely supercedes it in every way being the epitome of everything a proper cover version should be, offering something new and fresh to the original. From the opening menacing chord, the tone is set for something far more dramatic than you'd expect on a throwaway dance single. The vocals are subtley different to Paul Simon's originals without tons of processing or overproduction. Then we get to the main instrumental hook of the song which is just phenomenal and blows me away every time. In a year where dance music in the mainstream media has died on its arse, this was one of a very small number of highlights.
Worthwhile mentions: Das Pop - Wings is just beautiful. The Bloody Beetroots - Warp 1977 was the year's most brilliantly stark assault on the ears.
SINGLE OF THE YEAR: Manic Street Preachers - Its Not War (Just The End of Love)
Single of the Year is awarded to a brilliant song which arrived as part of a proper CD single EP, offering four different and interesting tracks. The sheer variety of the tracks on the single was impressive, ranging from the expansive lead track to the skiffle-stomp of I'm Leaving You for Solitude, the political indie of Distractions and an accomplished instrumental in Ostpolitik. This was the lead single from their album Postcards from a Young Man, but the song attracted a relatively small level of airplay considering how good it was.
Worthwhile mentions: Barely any this year. I've ordered the follow-up MSP single (Some Kind of Nothingness) on the strength of this one, but most of the physical format singles i bought during 2010 were bargain bin wonders. No music retailer seems to show any interest any more.
ALBUM OF THE YEAR: Das Pop - Das Pop
Although it wasn't released during 2010, i discovered this album during the year hence why it makes this list. Das Pop's 2009 album is a work of straightforward pop with dark edges and occasional irregular patterns that make it work on daytime radio or as something to provoke thought. The album is packed with hooks and ideas which leave most artists (particularly those in the British mainstream) standing. Of course, as it can't be pidgeonholed as Dubstep, Radio 1 aren't interested. Sadly, even 6Music seems determined to ignore a band which should be spot on for their remit. The good news is that they spent most of 2010 working on a new album which should hopefully see the light during 2011, so perhaps they'll retain this accolade?
RADIO STATION OF THE YEAR: Studio Brussel (Belgium)
It really is difficult to fault Belgium's Studio Brussel who take this award for the second year. The problem i have is that no British broadcaster delivers a consisitently good product in the same way as StuBru. It is extrememely rare that i have a "Quick! Turn it off!" moment with Studio Brussel in the way that i do with the likes of Fearne Cotton, Steve Wright, Nick Grimshaw, Heart or Chris Evans. They also seem to adhere to their remit a lot better than most British broadcasters, a massively diverse playlist of new and old music without the boundaries of cool or demographics which seem to blight output from these shores. If you want a quick window on the StuBru world, a good place to start is their weekly listener vote show De Afrekening, which is helpfully available in its entirety as a podcast.
MUSIC RADIO SHOW OF THE YEAR: Ken Bruce on Radio 2
This is a bit of a curved ball. Ken Bruce is quietly making himself indispensable on Radio 2 amidst the myriad of shite that the station is putting out otherwise during daytimes. Chris Evans is busy growing his ego again (i give him six months at the most before he implodes again), Jeremy Vine simply regurgitates the Daily Mail for two hours and Steve Wright is patronising and delivering a stale, lame donkey of a show. Between all of this, Ken Bruce is doing a fine job on the morning show without shouting about it. From the PopMaster quiz where music anoraks join together each morning to shout at the radio, we get cast into the mysterious 10:30 to 11am slot where any playlist seems to get cast aside and it quite often features long unheard ten or twelve minute tracks in their entirety. Its a fascinating show which can easily pass you by if you're not thinking about it.
Worthwhile mentions: Straight to the other end of the musical spectrum, Kutski's show on Radio 1 is brilliant with a mix of new and old energised dance (i don't like using the phrase Hard Dance as it makes people think of talentless one note wonders like Lisa Lashes). Likewise, Rob da Bank makes the most consistent delivery of excellent new leftfield music every week on Radio 1's Saturday morning paperboy slot.
FACTUAL RADIO SHOW OF THE YEAR: The Ghost Trains of Old England (Ian Marchant, BBC Radio 4)
I've long been a fan of Ian Marchant's writing and this one-off programme on Parliamentary Trains and railway stations served once a week was the most blissful half hour of speech radio all year. Put together in the way the only Radio 4 can manage, this gently tells a story which would otherwise never been known by most people and Ian Marchant's offbeat presentation fits his subject matter perfectly. I just wish it had been extended to run as a two or three part series as it felt like there was plenty of material to justify it.
SPORT RADIO SHOW OF THE YEAR: Danny Baker (BBC Five Live)
Radio Five Live is at its best when it isn't taking itself too seriously. There are far too many opportunities for people to phone up broadcasters and complain about things, but not enough for them to call in and be daft. Danny Baker's Saturday show is one of the places where such irreverency is not only allowed, but positively encouraged. Until his illness enforced sabbatical from the programme in the autumn Baker had been on fine form, never running short of the eclectic barrage of superb quality ideas that fill the programme each week. The only problem was really that there were too many to keep track of. Aside from a few weeks after Danny went public with his cacner treatment, Alan Davies and Ian Stone have been sitting in for the show and doing a sterling job keeping the Pirate Ship afloat in the manner to which the regular listeners have become accusomed. Nevertheless, i hope Danny makes a swift and strong recovery.
Worthwhile mention: Chappers and Dave have reunited to host the erratically scheduled Soccer Express on some Monday evenings. Being only a half hour slot, the show tends to feel like it is just getting in to its stride as it finishes.
COMEDY RADIO SHOW OF THE YEAR: Mark Steel's In Town (Radio 4)
On paper, this should be merely average. The premise is that Mark Steel visits a town usually considered something of a backwater and does a stand up show, which would be fairly lame if it weren't for Steel's meticulous research. It must be a very daunting prospect coming to a town as an outsider and presenting a stand up routine on local history, events and politics, but Mark Steel not only pulls it off, but does so with massive success.
Worthwhile mentions: It had to happen eventually, 2010 was the year i finally started getting my head around Bleak Expectations. Lucy Montgomery's Variety Pack was on the verge of brilliant, but let down by a couple of duff sketches.
BROADCASTER OF THE YEAR: Richard Allinson (BBC Radio 2 / Cumbria)
Richard Allinson is a remarkably talented man. He can make Steve Wright's show listenable. This is mainly because he dispenses with all the fluff, cheering, Craptoids and general ego stroking and just gets on with playing some decent music with intelligent chatter in between. Its just a shame he was only doing it as an interim measure. I suppose its enough to make do with having his early breakfast show on weekends, plus my recent discovery of his "Allinson's Albums" show on BBC Cumbria which deserves promotion to national coverage because there aren't enough programmes where the presenters can talk in an erudite manner about the music without talking all over it. Some of on the Albums show is refreshingly edgy for BBC Local Radio too. Richard Allinson is consistently one of the best voices to listen to on radio.
LIVE ACT OF THE YEAR: Dan le Sac vs Scroobius Pip
Dan and Pip are one of the most entertaining live acts you'll see. So few British hip-hop acts have anything even approaching a personality, and those that do let their ego get away with themselves. Despite the fact that they've been touring and working for several years now, Pip still has a considerable fire in his belly and numerous messages to spur his creativity into action. Their second album was a bit patchy and lacked the overall flow and consistency of the first, but when performed live each track feels much punchier.
MUSIC RETAILER OF THE YEAR: Free Record Shop
If a trio of countries without a musical heritage as rich as Britain can sustain a chain of the quality of Free Record Shop, then why is HMV closing stores and looking to be on the verge of giving up high street retail entirely? I know that the market for physical format music and multimedia is falling and what there is stands dominated by the supermarkets, but the Benelux chain seems to keep its market position whilst providing a better range of music in a small town store than HMV can manage in their larger stores.
HOPE FOR 2011...
I'd like to think that people would finally realise that Dubstep is brainless dreck devoid of any emotion, but given that most of the population seem to be happy to love whatever is foist upon them by a desperate music industry on the brink of oblivion, then perhaps i should just let them get on with it. Perhaps i should have a more realistic hope, such as the realisation by Radio 1's playlist morons that the entire populous doesn't see more traditional guitar based indie bands as uncool. But i won't hold my breath.
SONG OF THE YEAR: DJ Rebel & FTW - You Can Call Me Al (FTW Radio Edit / Extended Versions)
As with 2009, this is awarded to the record which most made me sit up and take notice in 2010. This was a record i obtained in the traditional way, from the bargain bin of a branch of Free Record Shop (i think in Geel) for the huge sum of €0,20. The lead track mixed by DJ Rebel is useless - the awful synth brass ruins it. The second, mixed by Frank T Wallace (FTW) completely supercedes it in every way being the epitome of everything a proper cover version should be, offering something new and fresh to the original. From the opening menacing chord, the tone is set for something far more dramatic than you'd expect on a throwaway dance single. The vocals are subtley different to Paul Simon's originals without tons of processing or overproduction. Then we get to the main instrumental hook of the song which is just phenomenal and blows me away every time. In a year where dance music in the mainstream media has died on its arse, this was one of a very small number of highlights.
Worthwhile mentions: Das Pop - Wings is just beautiful. The Bloody Beetroots - Warp 1977 was the year's most brilliantly stark assault on the ears.
SINGLE OF THE YEAR: Manic Street Preachers - Its Not War (Just The End of Love)
Single of the Year is awarded to a brilliant song which arrived as part of a proper CD single EP, offering four different and interesting tracks. The sheer variety of the tracks on the single was impressive, ranging from the expansive lead track to the skiffle-stomp of I'm Leaving You for Solitude, the political indie of Distractions and an accomplished instrumental in Ostpolitik. This was the lead single from their album Postcards from a Young Man, but the song attracted a relatively small level of airplay considering how good it was.
Worthwhile mentions: Barely any this year. I've ordered the follow-up MSP single (Some Kind of Nothingness) on the strength of this one, but most of the physical format singles i bought during 2010 were bargain bin wonders. No music retailer seems to show any interest any more.
ALBUM OF THE YEAR: Das Pop - Das Pop
Although it wasn't released during 2010, i discovered this album during the year hence why it makes this list. Das Pop's 2009 album is a work of straightforward pop with dark edges and occasional irregular patterns that make it work on daytime radio or as something to provoke thought. The album is packed with hooks and ideas which leave most artists (particularly those in the British mainstream) standing. Of course, as it can't be pidgeonholed as Dubstep, Radio 1 aren't interested. Sadly, even 6Music seems determined to ignore a band which should be spot on for their remit. The good news is that they spent most of 2010 working on a new album which should hopefully see the light during 2011, so perhaps they'll retain this accolade?
RADIO STATION OF THE YEAR: Studio Brussel (Belgium)
It really is difficult to fault Belgium's Studio Brussel who take this award for the second year. The problem i have is that no British broadcaster delivers a consisitently good product in the same way as StuBru. It is extrememely rare that i have a "Quick! Turn it off!" moment with Studio Brussel in the way that i do with the likes of Fearne Cotton, Steve Wright, Nick Grimshaw, Heart or Chris Evans. They also seem to adhere to their remit a lot better than most British broadcasters, a massively diverse playlist of new and old music without the boundaries of cool or demographics which seem to blight output from these shores. If you want a quick window on the StuBru world, a good place to start is their weekly listener vote show De Afrekening, which is helpfully available in its entirety as a podcast.
MUSIC RADIO SHOW OF THE YEAR: Ken Bruce on Radio 2
This is a bit of a curved ball. Ken Bruce is quietly making himself indispensable on Radio 2 amidst the myriad of shite that the station is putting out otherwise during daytimes. Chris Evans is busy growing his ego again (i give him six months at the most before he implodes again), Jeremy Vine simply regurgitates the Daily Mail for two hours and Steve Wright is patronising and delivering a stale, lame donkey of a show. Between all of this, Ken Bruce is doing a fine job on the morning show without shouting about it. From the PopMaster quiz where music anoraks join together each morning to shout at the radio, we get cast into the mysterious 10:30 to 11am slot where any playlist seems to get cast aside and it quite often features long unheard ten or twelve minute tracks in their entirety. Its a fascinating show which can easily pass you by if you're not thinking about it.
Worthwhile mentions: Straight to the other end of the musical spectrum, Kutski's show on Radio 1 is brilliant with a mix of new and old energised dance (i don't like using the phrase Hard Dance as it makes people think of talentless one note wonders like Lisa Lashes). Likewise, Rob da Bank makes the most consistent delivery of excellent new leftfield music every week on Radio 1's Saturday morning paperboy slot.
FACTUAL RADIO SHOW OF THE YEAR: The Ghost Trains of Old England (Ian Marchant, BBC Radio 4)
I've long been a fan of Ian Marchant's writing and this one-off programme on Parliamentary Trains and railway stations served once a week was the most blissful half hour of speech radio all year. Put together in the way the only Radio 4 can manage, this gently tells a story which would otherwise never been known by most people and Ian Marchant's offbeat presentation fits his subject matter perfectly. I just wish it had been extended to run as a two or three part series as it felt like there was plenty of material to justify it.
SPORT RADIO SHOW OF THE YEAR: Danny Baker (BBC Five Live)
Radio Five Live is at its best when it isn't taking itself too seriously. There are far too many opportunities for people to phone up broadcasters and complain about things, but not enough for them to call in and be daft. Danny Baker's Saturday show is one of the places where such irreverency is not only allowed, but positively encouraged. Until his illness enforced sabbatical from the programme in the autumn Baker had been on fine form, never running short of the eclectic barrage of superb quality ideas that fill the programme each week. The only problem was really that there were too many to keep track of. Aside from a few weeks after Danny went public with his cacner treatment, Alan Davies and Ian Stone have been sitting in for the show and doing a sterling job keeping the Pirate Ship afloat in the manner to which the regular listeners have become accusomed. Nevertheless, i hope Danny makes a swift and strong recovery.
Worthwhile mention: Chappers and Dave have reunited to host the erratically scheduled Soccer Express on some Monday evenings. Being only a half hour slot, the show tends to feel like it is just getting in to its stride as it finishes.
COMEDY RADIO SHOW OF THE YEAR: Mark Steel's In Town (Radio 4)
On paper, this should be merely average. The premise is that Mark Steel visits a town usually considered something of a backwater and does a stand up show, which would be fairly lame if it weren't for Steel's meticulous research. It must be a very daunting prospect coming to a town as an outsider and presenting a stand up routine on local history, events and politics, but Mark Steel not only pulls it off, but does so with massive success.
Worthwhile mentions: It had to happen eventually, 2010 was the year i finally started getting my head around Bleak Expectations. Lucy Montgomery's Variety Pack was on the verge of brilliant, but let down by a couple of duff sketches.
BROADCASTER OF THE YEAR: Richard Allinson (BBC Radio 2 / Cumbria)
Richard Allinson is a remarkably talented man. He can make Steve Wright's show listenable. This is mainly because he dispenses with all the fluff, cheering, Craptoids and general ego stroking and just gets on with playing some decent music with intelligent chatter in between. Its just a shame he was only doing it as an interim measure. I suppose its enough to make do with having his early breakfast show on weekends, plus my recent discovery of his "Allinson's Albums" show on BBC Cumbria which deserves promotion to national coverage because there aren't enough programmes where the presenters can talk in an erudite manner about the music without talking all over it. Some of on the Albums show is refreshingly edgy for BBC Local Radio too. Richard Allinson is consistently one of the best voices to listen to on radio.
LIVE ACT OF THE YEAR: Dan le Sac vs Scroobius Pip
Dan and Pip are one of the most entertaining live acts you'll see. So few British hip-hop acts have anything even approaching a personality, and those that do let their ego get away with themselves. Despite the fact that they've been touring and working for several years now, Pip still has a considerable fire in his belly and numerous messages to spur his creativity into action. Their second album was a bit patchy and lacked the overall flow and consistency of the first, but when performed live each track feels much punchier.
MUSIC RETAILER OF THE YEAR: Free Record Shop
If a trio of countries without a musical heritage as rich as Britain can sustain a chain of the quality of Free Record Shop, then why is HMV closing stores and looking to be on the verge of giving up high street retail entirely? I know that the market for physical format music and multimedia is falling and what there is stands dominated by the supermarkets, but the Benelux chain seems to keep its market position whilst providing a better range of music in a small town store than HMV can manage in their larger stores.
HOPE FOR 2011...
I'd like to think that people would finally realise that Dubstep is brainless dreck devoid of any emotion, but given that most of the population seem to be happy to love whatever is foist upon them by a desperate music industry on the brink of oblivion, then perhaps i should just let them get on with it. Perhaps i should have a more realistic hope, such as the realisation by Radio 1's playlist morons that the entire populous doesn't see more traditional guitar based indie bands as uncool. But i won't hold my breath.
Tuesday, 28 December 2010
Wireless Class: End of Term Report
I feel like i should do some sort of end of year retrospective on the year's radio output before i do the Jopi Awards in the new year. This is going to start off taking the form of an end of term report, but will probably lose that structure and disappear up its own backside before i finish.
Form: The British Broadcasting Corporation's Radio One service
Programme: Dev, early breakfast Mon-Fri
I didn't warm to Dev when he first started on Radio 1. I found his output very weak local commerial radio fodder and his attitude to the content of the show very passive. Sixteen months on and i'm still not a big fan, but he has clearly progressed on from his shaky beginnings. The problem remains that he is trying to come out of the shadow of the current golden child of Radio 1 namely Greg James, whose transition from the early breakfast slot to afternoons has been thoroughly solid. It has felt that Dev has spent a lot of the time trying to ape the antics and style of Greg James instead of trying to find his own voice.
Overall, B+ for effort and C for overall product.
Programme: The Christopher Moyles Show, breakfast Mon-Fri
Chris Moyles is becoming somewhat enigmatic to me. I've listened to a good number of his pre-Breakfast programmes over the year and been astounded at how edgy, fresh and exciting they are. Obviously it is easier to be anti-establishment when you're not on one of the most listened to programmes on the wireless, but it is starting to feel like Chris and the team are resting on their laurels a little. There is no doubt that the programme is incredibly well prepared and that Chris is still passionate about it, but the team on the whole are now family-orientated rather than being the collection of hungover party animals they were seven or eight years ago. The shows in the run up to Christmas were bordering on the irritating with the number of off-mic jokes that were spilling over into airtime without any explaination being given, or where there were giggles for the next quarter of an hour. Listeners don't mind that sort of thing every so often, but when it starts happening after every record and news bulletin, it starts to get infuriating.
2011 will be a challenging year for the Moyles show. Chris has already shown signs of becoming a little too much of a celebrity luvvy and with Comedy Dave taking part in celebrity backslapping exercise Dancing on Ice, the show could be pushed over the edge. The show needs to come back from its Christmas break on absolutely stellar form to avoid falling further into the mire.
I'll offer a B for both effort and overall product.
Programme: Fearne Cotton, mornings Mon-Fri
Where do i start? Fearne Cotton is still the most annoying of the mainstream presenters on Radio 1. Her banal obsessions with things that only pubescent teenagers should be concerned with (such as Twilight, Glee and the like) are pure radio pain. It doesn't help when she then buggers off for several weeks because she gets a better offer from the TV. I've got to admit, the continued existence of this programme has been the main reason i've been listening to Ken Bruce so much in the mornings.
Effort: D-, Overall G.
Programme: Gregory James, afternoons Mon-Fri
Greg James has settled in to afternoons in terrific style. It feels like the show is brimming over with ideas (Feet-up Friday, The Square, Ten Minute Takeover, The Alphabet Game) and the whole thing is executed in style. Radio 1 desperately needs more people with this sort of level of invention and they need more presenters who don't just make listeners turn off immediately (see Fearne Cotton, above). If this means not just putting people on the air because they're "him/her off the telly", then that can only be a good thing.
Effort: B, Overall A.
Programme: Scott Mills, drivetime Mon-Fri
Scott Mills' programme has been spending most of 2010 turning into three hours of oestrogen. Whilst i don't find sidekick Becky Huxtable particularly annoying, the two of them together can start to sound like they're texting each other using their mouths when they get excited. The show desperately needs the Chappers-style figure to keep some grumpy sense amongst the madness when they start to get carried away with being teenagers.
The structure of the show also feels like it has struggled since the guessing game quiz "Oh, Whats Occurring?" in the summer. It has gone a bit freeform since then and whilst a lot of the same content appears in the show as used to in OWO?, it no longer appears to have any point other than being a bit of fluff to be played with by a kitten.
Effort grade: C. Overall output: B-.
Programme: Zane Lowe, Mon-Thur evenings.
Zane Lowe's energy appears to be still as high as ever and his enthusiasm for music is permanently set to 11. Of course, he doesn't always have music good enough to match his level of enthusiasm, but that doesn't ever seem to worry him and he'll do the best with whatever he's got to work with. His voice stands as being unique amongst the daily presenters as actually holding some gravitas when talking about music.
Effort grade: A-, overall product: B+.
Radio 1 specialist shows:
Alex Metric.
Alex Metric deserves a mention here, despite the fact that he has now left the fold at Radio 1. His superb monthly show in the In New DJs We Trust strand has featured a superb collection of dance and electronica based music which should be part of the main Radio 1 playlist instead of the acres of American dreck it overheavily features. Alex Metric also has a stylish flair for on air presentation which i will miss.
Rob da Bank
Rob da Bank's Saturday morning chillout show is still fantastic. He has an ear for the off-beat which is unmatched on British radio and the show is superbly put together. Add Rob's chilled tones to the mix and you have an ideal show for the early morning shift.
Kutski
I'm something of a newcomer to Kutski's show after discovering it a month or so back. Its a terrific mix of energised hardcore dance and it has become a staple requirement of my weekly radio diet.
See? I got through the whole of the Radio 1 form report without mentioning how shit Sara Cox still is.
Form: The British Broadcasting Corporation's Radio Two service
Programme: Ken Bruce, Mon-Fri mornings
For those who simply cannot cope with Fearne Cotton (and there have got to be millions of you out there), Ken Bruce has what sounds like the most effortless programme on radio. The truth is probably that a mixture of 18 years of experience and a lot of background work make the show sound that brilliant. The focus of the show has shifted over recent years to offer a more eclectic mix of music, particularly in the slot after the Popmaster quiz from 10:30 to 11am.
I've got to be honest, i barely listen to anything else on Radio 2, except when Richard Allinson is covering for the dork of the people Steve Wright. Mention should also go to Alex Lester, who is still doing good work despite being pushed even further back in to the middle of the night since the departure of That Bloody Woman.
Form: The British Broadcasting Corporation's Six-Music digital audio service
Programme: Jon Holmes, Saturday Drivetime (Its a day when nobody is driving home from work on a station you mostly can't get in your car)
I rather like 6Music on a Saturday. Collins & Herring are good fun on the morning show and Richard Bacon's afternoon show is far better than it is given credit for being. The jewel in the crown is the organised weekly lunatic festival of Jon Holmes' show. Despite being on at a dreadful time of the week, it is well worth catching on Listen Again for not only Holmes' brilliant sense of humour but also the randomly superb 6Music playlist.
By far the edgiest daytime radio programme i've listened to all year, the only improvement it needs is for Jon to take fewer holidays...
Right, now i probably should mention these before i go to bed...
BBC Radio Bristol - Steve Yabsley: Still brilliantly funny and the new interview strand can be very informative.
Absolute Radio - Dave Gorman: The best 6Music show that isn't on 6Music and possibly the only reason to listen to Absolute Radio.
That'll have to do for now...
Form: The British Broadcasting Corporation's Radio One service
Programme: Dev, early breakfast Mon-Fri
I didn't warm to Dev when he first started on Radio 1. I found his output very weak local commerial radio fodder and his attitude to the content of the show very passive. Sixteen months on and i'm still not a big fan, but he has clearly progressed on from his shaky beginnings. The problem remains that he is trying to come out of the shadow of the current golden child of Radio 1 namely Greg James, whose transition from the early breakfast slot to afternoons has been thoroughly solid. It has felt that Dev has spent a lot of the time trying to ape the antics and style of Greg James instead of trying to find his own voice.
Overall, B+ for effort and C for overall product.
Programme: The Christopher Moyles Show, breakfast Mon-Fri
Chris Moyles is becoming somewhat enigmatic to me. I've listened to a good number of his pre-Breakfast programmes over the year and been astounded at how edgy, fresh and exciting they are. Obviously it is easier to be anti-establishment when you're not on one of the most listened to programmes on the wireless, but it is starting to feel like Chris and the team are resting on their laurels a little. There is no doubt that the programme is incredibly well prepared and that Chris is still passionate about it, but the team on the whole are now family-orientated rather than being the collection of hungover party animals they were seven or eight years ago. The shows in the run up to Christmas were bordering on the irritating with the number of off-mic jokes that were spilling over into airtime without any explaination being given, or where there were giggles for the next quarter of an hour. Listeners don't mind that sort of thing every so often, but when it starts happening after every record and news bulletin, it starts to get infuriating.
2011 will be a challenging year for the Moyles show. Chris has already shown signs of becoming a little too much of a celebrity luvvy and with Comedy Dave taking part in celebrity backslapping exercise Dancing on Ice, the show could be pushed over the edge. The show needs to come back from its Christmas break on absolutely stellar form to avoid falling further into the mire.
I'll offer a B for both effort and overall product.
Programme: Fearne Cotton, mornings Mon-Fri
Where do i start? Fearne Cotton is still the most annoying of the mainstream presenters on Radio 1. Her banal obsessions with things that only pubescent teenagers should be concerned with (such as Twilight, Glee and the like) are pure radio pain. It doesn't help when she then buggers off for several weeks because she gets a better offer from the TV. I've got to admit, the continued existence of this programme has been the main reason i've been listening to Ken Bruce so much in the mornings.
Effort: D-, Overall G.
Programme: Gregory James, afternoons Mon-Fri
Greg James has settled in to afternoons in terrific style. It feels like the show is brimming over with ideas (Feet-up Friday, The Square, Ten Minute Takeover, The Alphabet Game) and the whole thing is executed in style. Radio 1 desperately needs more people with this sort of level of invention and they need more presenters who don't just make listeners turn off immediately (see Fearne Cotton, above). If this means not just putting people on the air because they're "him/her off the telly", then that can only be a good thing.
Effort: B, Overall A.
Programme: Scott Mills, drivetime Mon-Fri
Scott Mills' programme has been spending most of 2010 turning into three hours of oestrogen. Whilst i don't find sidekick Becky Huxtable particularly annoying, the two of them together can start to sound like they're texting each other using their mouths when they get excited. The show desperately needs the Chappers-style figure to keep some grumpy sense amongst the madness when they start to get carried away with being teenagers.
The structure of the show also feels like it has struggled since the guessing game quiz "Oh, Whats Occurring?" in the summer. It has gone a bit freeform since then and whilst a lot of the same content appears in the show as used to in OWO?, it no longer appears to have any point other than being a bit of fluff to be played with by a kitten.
Effort grade: C. Overall output: B-.
Programme: Zane Lowe, Mon-Thur evenings.
Zane Lowe's energy appears to be still as high as ever and his enthusiasm for music is permanently set to 11. Of course, he doesn't always have music good enough to match his level of enthusiasm, but that doesn't ever seem to worry him and he'll do the best with whatever he's got to work with. His voice stands as being unique amongst the daily presenters as actually holding some gravitas when talking about music.
Effort grade: A-, overall product: B+.
Radio 1 specialist shows:
Alex Metric.
Alex Metric deserves a mention here, despite the fact that he has now left the fold at Radio 1. His superb monthly show in the In New DJs We Trust strand has featured a superb collection of dance and electronica based music which should be part of the main Radio 1 playlist instead of the acres of American dreck it overheavily features. Alex Metric also has a stylish flair for on air presentation which i will miss.
Rob da Bank
Rob da Bank's Saturday morning chillout show is still fantastic. He has an ear for the off-beat which is unmatched on British radio and the show is superbly put together. Add Rob's chilled tones to the mix and you have an ideal show for the early morning shift.
Kutski
I'm something of a newcomer to Kutski's show after discovering it a month or so back. Its a terrific mix of energised hardcore dance and it has become a staple requirement of my weekly radio diet.
See? I got through the whole of the Radio 1 form report without mentioning how shit Sara Cox still is.
Form: The British Broadcasting Corporation's Radio Two service
Programme: Ken Bruce, Mon-Fri mornings
For those who simply cannot cope with Fearne Cotton (and there have got to be millions of you out there), Ken Bruce has what sounds like the most effortless programme on radio. The truth is probably that a mixture of 18 years of experience and a lot of background work make the show sound that brilliant. The focus of the show has shifted over recent years to offer a more eclectic mix of music, particularly in the slot after the Popmaster quiz from 10:30 to 11am.
I've got to be honest, i barely listen to anything else on Radio 2, except when Richard Allinson is covering for the dork of the people Steve Wright. Mention should also go to Alex Lester, who is still doing good work despite being pushed even further back in to the middle of the night since the departure of That Bloody Woman.
Form: The British Broadcasting Corporation's Six-Music digital audio service
Programme: Jon Holmes, Saturday Drivetime (Its a day when nobody is driving home from work on a station you mostly can't get in your car)
I rather like 6Music on a Saturday. Collins & Herring are good fun on the morning show and Richard Bacon's afternoon show is far better than it is given credit for being. The jewel in the crown is the organised weekly lunatic festival of Jon Holmes' show. Despite being on at a dreadful time of the week, it is well worth catching on Listen Again for not only Holmes' brilliant sense of humour but also the randomly superb 6Music playlist.
By far the edgiest daytime radio programme i've listened to all year, the only improvement it needs is for Jon to take fewer holidays...
Right, now i probably should mention these before i go to bed...
BBC Radio Bristol - Steve Yabsley: Still brilliantly funny and the new interview strand can be very informative.
Absolute Radio - Dave Gorman: The best 6Music show that isn't on 6Music and possibly the only reason to listen to Absolute Radio.
That'll have to do for now...
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