I truly can’t hear much difference. (“Throwaway” and “instantly forgettable” describe both to me. I’d put Bieber in the same group too)

But it’s a serious question, motivated by genuine curiosity. What makes her better than Jedward (aside from marketing)?

I truly can’t see the appeal of this woman’s music at all. Inane lyrics, inane tunes. Why is she considered any better than, say, Jedward? To my ears there’s very little difference in the qulity of talent displayed.

I think part of the appeal was that after the dazzling brilliance of Reservoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction everyone expected him to attempt something equally groundbreaking (and probably fail). The fact that he didn’t, […]

I agree with above. Craig is the best Bond, Casino Royale the only really good film.
A town near me called Matera is one of the locations in the new film. It’s an amazing place, quite unlike any other town in […]

A reminder of previous years:

2018
1. Working at the jobcentre has to be a tense job – knowing that if you get fired, you still have to come in the next day. Adam Rowe

2. I had a job drilling holes for water – […]

If you’re as keen as I am on David Sylvian’s Blemish and Manafon (of course you’re not) the remix albums The Good Son Vs The Only Daughter and Died In The Wool are essential.

Were they? In Ang Lee’s ‘Taking Woodstock’ they’re portrayed as rich hippies.

It’s been an interesting discussion. I see that “#NoDealLibDems” has been trending at no. 1 on Twitter for a while, the vast majority of commentators agreeing with you Tahir.

“I haven’t really enjoyed anything much that he’s done since Jackie Brown”. Exactamundo same here. I watched Reservoir Dogs t’other night (it’s on YouTube) and thought how it knocks the spots off any of the pos […]

Is it that of a bedraggled herring?

Well fie upon thee, bold-faced jig! A couple of recommendations for Shakey fans: I enjoyed Bill Bryson’s biography of Shakespeare. A short, witty, very easy read. I also enjoyed a recent film, All Is True, […]

Multi-talented Jacob Collier does a nice version of Flinstones.

For anyone who hasn’t seen it, this TED talk, ‘This is what happens when you reply to spam email’ by James Veitch, is really funny:

“He’s destined for a very good career though.” But is he? As someone said “It’s never been so easy to make music, never been so difficult to make money from it”. I have two friends in the UK whose sons are e […]

I’ll check them out, thanks.

I love that album and play it often, but I’m afraid nothing else I’ve heard comes close (except the title track of Time Passages). I should explore more though. What other album would you particularly recommend?

This is a really fun song. ‘Banana’ by the very excellent Vieux Diop:

I didn’t really get the second series of Killing Eve either. One minute the cops were hunting down a psycho, next minute they were happy to collaborate with her to track down someone else (while seemingly turning […]

As much as I love that, the version with Weller singing is better.