Was that the one on this week n which the Royal College of Music students got more and more embarrassed as they failed to answer ANY of the music questions correctly?

Good to see Only Connect back as well.

I didn’t think the strings arrangements were particularly good or added anything to that concert. The album has a lot more colour and interest in the arrangements and the best songs are typically superb – a […]

Well the first one is out and available to a world agog with anticipation (you have to sign in to YouTube to view it). Taken out of context it’s actually a pretty anodyne pop at over zealous totalitarian g […]

‘the reedy pathetic whimsical wailing, the trite overblown yet understated pathos’.

You make that sound like a bad thing.

And John Fogerty. One of the great rock and roll voices for me

Great record and a worthy winner. Number three in our AOTY poll last year and the top British record so The Afterword has it’s finger on the pulse as, er, hardly ever.

I’ve only heard two of the others nom […]

Fabulous review. This sounds great; will check it out for sure.

Oh yes, Nick Cave. I feel exactly the same. Every time yet another critically lauded album comes out I give it a try, but, no. Just not enough range and variety for me.

I’m in awe. As someone who’s never learned to play an instrument I can only imagine the satisfaction there must be in being able to make some thing like this. Hearty congratulations – it sounds terrific.

Richard Thompson is an interesting one. I love Richard and Linda, I love his guitar playing, his best songs are magnificent, I’ve seen him many times in concert, I own loads of his records. I’m a fan. And yet, I d […]

Congratulations Colin – how brilliant to open a venue in these times. More power to your elbow – hope the venture goes from strength to strength. Have you booked Van yet?

Doesn’t feel like it’s weakening at the moment. We’re back in local restrictions and feels like it’s going to be a long hard autumn and winter.

Indeed. Maybe he’s a lurker here.

As Mike Scott has just tweeted:

To be fair to Van, nobody should be surprised. He’s been writing songs complaining about the music business, journalists, fans and other musicians for decades. He’s just switched targets.

The BBC reporter has had a bit of fun with this.

‘Sir Van’s three new songs sit in a familiar vein of jazz and bluesy R and B’. So we know exactly what these sound like and how long Van took to write them. […]

Oh God.

His real beef, I suspect, is the government restricting his freedom to earn his usual concert fees. So, in fact, still moaning about being ripped off.

I’m fascinated to know what kind of audience numbers this sort of thing is getting. Anyone here pay to watch the first one?

Does KJT, the pride of Liverpool, count? I mean I don’t know what she’s like on keyboard or guitar, but she can run pretty fast and in a parallel, happier universe, might just have won a gold medal at Tokyo.

Applause; sky black with Balmorals….

I think only some of it is on Spotify – Shoot Out the Lights isn’t there for some reason and I don’t think all the extras are (though I stand to be corrected).