Category: Opinion

Why Kacey Musgraves is a Perfect Headliner for C2C’s Fabulous Festival of Female Talent

This weekend the lineup for the Country to Country Festival 2018 was announced and the acts playing include Kacey Musgraves, Little Big Town, Faith Hill, Emmylou Harris, Margo Price, Kelsea Ballerini and other fabulous females. Yes, you read that right – a music festival with actual female representation on the bill. Let’s not underplay how significant it is that all three nights of C2C will end with a woman on the stage – there is no other major three day British musical festival this year where women are represented in all the headline acts (in fact when I wrote about this earlier in the year few even had ONE female headliner). C2C has not just broken the mould for women they’ve smashed the glass ceiling right through. So you’d think the country music world and their fans would be delighted, celebrating this moment of equality and revolution. Alas, as ever, the negative online response is depressingly familiar.  Continue reading “Why Kacey Musgraves is a Perfect Headliner for C2C’s Fabulous Festival of Female Talent” →

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2017’s Most Unlikely Chart Battle: Shania Twain vs Wolf Alice

For this week’s UK album chart battle we had two unlikely competitors: Shania Twain and English indie band Wolf Alice, fronted by Ellie Rowsell. It seems odd to think these two could become adversaries, the divide between them is so vast as to usually make such people invisible to each other. This wasn’t David vs Goliath or Blur vs Oasis this was more like someone’s mother versus the emo kids who stand at the side of the playground smoking.  Continue reading “2017’s Most Unlikely Chart Battle: Shania Twain vs Wolf Alice” →

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Dolly & Miley’s New Albums Are A Double Rainbow of Delight 

So the autumn leaves are beginning to fall, it’s getting dark earlier, and the world is about to end any day now. Enter Dolly Parton and her goddaughter Miley Cyrus, on a mission to spread love, light and colour in these end times. Miley’s new album Younger Now and Dolly’s children’s album I Believe in You are lollipops of sweetness and joy enough to make even the worst cynic smile. Continue reading “Dolly & Miley’s New Albums Are A Double Rainbow of Delight “ →

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Why You Have To See Brandy Clark Live On Her UK Tour

Brandy Clark has just released Live From Los Angeles, a new album of her 2016 show at the Hotel Cafe in Hollywood and it’s one of the most joyful things I’ve heard this year. All I could think about when listening to this was: life would be better for everyone if they just quit what they were doing right now and booked a ticket for Brandy’s upcoming UK tour dates. Here are the reasons why buying a ticket for these shows is the best gift you could give yourself in 2017… Continue reading “Why You Have To See Brandy Clark Live On Her UK Tour” →

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Are Stories with Soundtracks the Future of Reading? 

Unlike most things in today’s fast moving world the written word remains resolutely still, existing always at the same silent volume. Many find reading relaxing because they can switch off and head into the silence of their mind. With the advent of the Internet reading a traditional book really is going off the grid, with no hyperlinks or flashing videos to distract from the narrative. Such comfort is why reading real books will never die. Our brains understand that total escape into an unreal world makes the real one bearable.  Continue reading “Are Stories with Soundtracks the Future of Reading? “ →

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An Open Apology Letter to Kesha

Dear Kesha,

I need to apologise to you. Firstly I was never a fan of your old music. To be honest I hated it, I despised the whole thing you had going on from the dollar sign to the obnoxious party tunes. Everything about your image and music seemed utterly hellish to me. Of course it was hellish to you too but I didn’t know that then. How could anyone? We see pop stars and we think we know them. We are cowards writing nasty things from behind screens and thinking it means nothing. What fools we are.  Continue reading “An Open Apology Letter to Kesha” →

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I’ll Always Love You, iPod Nano

And so it goes that the iPod Nano and Shuffle are no more. With a name that means very small and minute it feels somewhat poetic that few people seem to care about the fate of the Nano, beyond the sites who covered the story there are only a few real lovers out there bemoaning its death. The Shuffle even less so. So allow me not to write the obituary, but instead to explain why I love my Nano and will only be parted with it on pain of death. Continue reading “I’ll Always Love You, iPod Nano” →

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Feelin’ Empty: Ten Saddest Miranda Lambert Songs

Summertime sadness is the sweetest kind. It’s that feeling you get when it’s too hot outside and you just want to sit in a dark room and wallow in depressing music until autumn comes and you can breathe again. Miranda Lambert knows the power of the heartbreaker and how listening to sad music can actually make you feel better. So here’s a list of her ten most tearjerking songs – I recommend you drink some wine and hug a dog while you read/listen. Continue reading “Feelin’ Empty: Ten Saddest Miranda Lambert Songs” →

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