The news that the BBC is considering reversing its decision to close down the Asian Network marks the corporation’s second major U-turn on a digital radio service closure. The first was the more high-profile threat to close 6 Music. The dithering indecisiveness is enough. But what really annoys me about these decisions is the underlying […]
BBC 6 Music should be enhanced, not killed
If the reports that the BBC will close down 6 Music are true, it is a great shame. Of course, this could be seen coming. The BBC has been utterly weak in almost every respect for the past few years, and it is difficult to escape the notion that it is too big, with too […]
Going radio gaga
The country lurches back into its usual routine this week. But with the new year comes changes, and a vital part of everyone’s daily life — the radio — will seem very different. My parents are concerned about what will happen to Radio 2 after the departure of Terry Wogan from breakfast. They were not […]
20 Warp albums — part 2
Continuing my look at 20 Warp albums from Warp’s 20 years. For other articles in this series, please see the table of contents to the right. Albums are presented in randomised order. Broadcast — The Noise Made by People This was the first Warp album I ever bought, and it remains a favourite of mine […]
Thoughts on the BBC’s music podcasts
A couple of months ago the BBC announced that it had reached an agreement that allowed them to use commercial music on their podcasts. This meant that, at last, the BBC could produce music podcasts. The only problem was that music could only be included in the form of clips a maximum of 30 seconds […]
The axing of Mixing It
Tomorrow is a sad day for fans of experimental music, and it is a particularly poor one for the reputation of the BBC in certain circles. Probably the best music programme on radio, Mixing It, has been axed. The final programme will be tomorrow at 2215 on Radio 3. Mixing It was probably the only […]
Music of 2006 — #20–#11: All right I suppose
Over the next four days I’m going to do what every other bore worth his salt does at this time of year, and that’s writing a big list showing off all the records I bought this year. I list them in reverse order of preference. Or I just put them all in a hat and […]
Pulp — The Peel Sessions
For a band that’s been on ‘hiatus’ for the past five years, there has been a remarkable amount of activity on the Pulp front. Jarvis Cocker’s solo album is due to be released very soon. Pulp’s three most popular albums — His ’n’ Hers, Different Class and This is Hardcore — have recently been re-released, […]
A leap into the dark in the right direction?
Radio 1’s revamp Radio 1 have announced changes to their specialist schedule. But we don’t really have a full picture of what their plans are; just a few little headline-grabbing snippets. As far as I can tell it is a refinement of the current system which sees a different genre assigned to each day (rock […]
BBC Radio on Last.fm
This guy who worked at the BBC decided to experiment with Last.fm and created an account for 6Music (via plasticbag.org). So we have a true picture of what 6Music sounds like: 6Music’s favourite artists, favourite tracks and so on, broken down by week as well! The Last.fm account kind of sums up why I don’t […]