Christmas is supposed to be a happy time, the most wonderful time of the year in fact if you are to believe the song’s creators, Edward Pola and George Wyle. But even times as wonderful as this can become harried and busy and your mood may take a dive as people Continue Reading
Music
Now this is music festive fun: 5 Christmas tunes to put a smile on your face
On 11th day of Christmas… I listened to Christmas Party by The Monkees
For a band formed in 1965 for a TV series that ran from 1966 to 1968, The Monkees, comprised of Micky Dolenz, Michael Nesmith, Peter Tork and the late Davy Jones, have certainly proved they have some pretty serious musical endurance. Just how enduring their appeal and success is was affirmed Continue Reading
The 12 Days of Christmas – A Tale of Avian Misery
This is the smartest, funniest deconstruction of the song “The 12 Days of Christmas” that I have ever seen. Narrated by Phoebe Waller-Bridge, who possesses a voice so mellifluous and wry with inflection that she must be mandated by law, to narrate everything, and I mean everything, the short film Continue Reading
On 5th day of Christmas … I listened to A Legendary Christmas by John Legend
There is a lush musicality to pretty much everything that John Legend creates and performs. It comes from an innate understanding of the smoothness and richness of his music, a sense of how it and his voice work together, all of it coming perfectly together to lend his songs an Continue Reading
On 2nd day of Christmas … I listened to Songs for the Season by Ingrid Michaelson
It’s a reasonably safe bet that anyone who records a Christmas album is in love with the festive season and all its multitudinous warm-and-fuzzy trappings. That’s certainly the case with indie pop artist Ingrid Michaelson whose holiday album Songs for the Season released on 26 October. In a recent Continue Reading
Now this is music #120: Millie Turner, Shoffy, More Giraffes, Dominic Fike, MØ
Life is, by pretty much every estimation, a serious affair. Hearts break, love dies and the worst of humanity visits itself upon us … and yet for all that potential and actual misery, it is possible to push back against that tide of trauma with defiance, cheekiness and yes, Continue Reading
Our Last Summer: The emotionally-evocative geography of ABBA’s songs
ABBA is the great musical love of my life. Every single last one of their songs summon up some kind of powerful memory, including as a man in his ’50s a joyous/melancholic recalling of past memories, a theme that is common to many of the group’s epically-good songs. One Continue Reading
Now this is music #119: Farao, DYAN, Mija, Madge, Brynn Elliott + festive Lindsey Stirling
Standing out from the crowd can be tough. It’s often not enough to look the part, especially these days; you also have to sound the part, live the part, and have something fresh and interesting to say. These five artists most definitely do, taking life events and observances about Continue Reading
Can you tell me how to sing … 5 favourite Sesame Street musical moments
Sesame Street does so many things right. From its brilliantly-imaginative teaching of the ABCs and 123s to its hilarious parodies of pop culture touchstones through to its life lessons, it is the gold standard in education for kids (and more than a few adults too). To that illustrious list. Continue Reading