Song Networks

In this week’s Chart Show, Fearne and Reggie got to spend a little telephonic quality time with James Morrison, he of the gravelly voice and songs about jigsaws. During their chat, it emerged that he’s a whizz at changing nappies, that he is currently on holiday in Cornwall, and that he is the only person [...]

It is SO tempting to try and eke this ‘exclusive’ thing out over several pages of teasing text. Stuff about the band, stuff about the new single ‘Breakeven’ (it’s out on November 10th, it’s the third single from their debut album, that sort of thing), stuff about ANYTHING which will keep people reading and clicking [...]

[Oh blimey, Hazel and Steve have gone feral... - Fraser]
Readers, it saddens me to have to inform you of a grave matter. Very occasionally it is necessary for two ChartBloggers to tag team a review for a specific song, for various reasons. On this occasion, Hazel and I have come to the conclusion that the [...]

There’s one thing that bothers me about Boyzone reforming. Assuming that the UK’s most successful boybands of the 1990s are set to reform in something vaguely resembling chronological order, since Take That and Boyzone have already done it, that means Westlife are next. And they haven’t even split up yet. At this [...]

Well, not ALL teenagers, sadly. Just the ones of you who are aged between 14 and 17. The rest of you can just sit quietly for a second, I’ll get to you at the end.Fingers on lips!
OK, so, you’re 14, 15, 16 or 17, and you like music. And the music you like the best [...]

I know this is something that he likes to claim often, but have you ever considered that Kanye West might actually BE the genius he always says he is? There are clearly two kinds of rappers who release songs which only feature singing on them. The first are the deluded egomaniacs who assume that their [...]

This little interview here was probably the most enjoyable one I’ve ever done. It was with Fyfe and Aristazabal from Guillemots, and it took place in a tiny cottage in the grounds of the Eden project, when the band were supporting KT Tunstall, back in July. I say ‘tiny cottage’ out of politeness, when what [...]

In the midst of all the experimental methodical techniques found in contemporary electronic music, there is one ideology that tends to occasionally go overlooked: the importance of melody. Atmospheric perception is a vital quality of all music that musicians value for all the right reasons, but I have found too many artists who overvalue the [...]

While it may be overly restrictive of most French radio stations to only allow songs containing at least 40% of the French language in their lyrical content to be permitted on air, I also suppose that individualizing yourself within a market full of national competition is also vital for keeping the diminishing business of non-satellite [...]

It speaks to the confidence of a band when the name of one of their first singles is “Hitten”, a title that translates to “The Hit” in English. The native language, of course, should be no surprise; Swedish pop music has been invading US shores for decades in the most complementary form possible, and to [...]

When I read that the material of The Gentle Guest consisted of “hobo tales”, I had no clue what to think. Would I be entertained with ballads about scrounging for food or jams highlighting the intricate art of begging? As entertaining as that may have been (in small doses), The Gentle Guest’s formula is more [...]