WHAT IS THE EUROVISION SONG CONTEST? Started way back in 1956 as a way to draw a fractured Europe back together with the healing power of music, the Eurovision Song Contest, or Concours Eurovision de la Chanson – the contest is telecast in both English and French – is open Continue Reading
Music
Everybody listen to the music, yeah: Review of Deluxe Edition of ABBA’s Waterloo album
It was 1975, and just a year after ABBA had won the Eurovision Song Contest on 6 April 1974 in spectacularly convincing fashion, opening the way for their now legendary international career as pop superstars, I had discovered the music of Björn & Benny, Agnetha and Anni-Frid as they were Continue Reading
Now this is music #27: Figgy, TĀLĀ , Racing Glaciers, Bagheera, Bayou
So life huh? We expect it to be filled with premiere parties, champagne and organic entrees, mingling with stars and staying over for the weekend at Sandra Bullock’s place in Austin, Texas … … but instead we somehow end up, well, doing the ironing on a Saturday night while Continue Reading
Road to Eurovision 2014: Week 4 – Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Moldova, Montenegro, Norway
WHAT IS THE EUROVISION SONG CONTEST? Started way back in 1956 as a way to draw a fractured Europe back together with the healing power of music, the Eurovision Song Contest, or Concours Eurovision de la Chanson – the contest is telecast in both English and French – is open Continue Reading
Road to Eurovision 2014: Week 3 – Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Israel, Italy
WHAT IS THE EUROVISION SONG CONTEST? Started way back in 1956 as a way to draw a fractured Europe back together with the healing power of music, the Eurovision Song Contest, or Concours Eurovision de la Chanson – the contest is telecast in both English and French – is open Continue Reading
The history book on the shelf: 40 years since ABBA’s historic Eurovision win
When ABBA, Sweden’s youthful and highly unorthodox entry for 1974’s the Eurovision Song Contest in Brighton, England, walked on stage in all their extraordinarily tight glam pop glory, it was clear that the staid world of Europe’s post World War Two musical experiment in good neighbourliness, was in for Continue Reading
Now this is music #26: Talos, Lucy Mason, Sleep Thieves, Porter Robinson, Zella Day
Ah the sweet, sweet sound of new music on my ears! While it is always good to treasure the old songs that have got us through breakups, celebrated new love or simply helped us to dance and celebrate a joyously good mood, trying on some tunes for size is Continue Reading
Road to Eurovision 2014: Week 2 – Denmark, Estonia, FYR Macedonia, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany
WHAT IS THE EUROVISION SONG CONTEST? Started way back in 1956 as a way to draw a fractured Europe back together with the healing power of music, the Eurovision Song Contest, or Concours Eurovision de la Chanson – the contest is telecast in both English and French – is open Continue Reading
Weekend Pop Art: Famous bands and their Lego doppelgängers
Lego are quite the flavour of the month at the moment, thanks largely to the incalculable charms of the recently released The LEGO Movie. The movie, about which barely a bad review has been penned, imagines a world where everyone and everything is made up of the wonderful Danish blocks, Continue Reading
Music review: The Take Off and Landing of Everything by Elbow
There is a world weary beauty, both musical and lyrical, to Elbow’s The Takeoff and Landing of Everything that captivates the troubled soul, and soothes the ear dulled by the cacophony of life’s trials and tribulations, from the first delicate opening notes. Never afraid to tackle the weightier issues Continue Reading