Saw Gloria promoting the musical about her life and realised I haven’t listened to any of her stuff, although I know some of the songs, obviously. I quite liked this album, although at this point in my musical journey it felt a little cheesy. She’s got such a good voice and a personality that comes across in every song, so it’s a lot of fun.

I really loved this, which was a surprise as CHVRCHES have only really appeared on my radar recently. But it’s a really strong album, all the songs are solid rock although it’s worth mentioning that they all get quite samey towards the end. Love their work though.

Credit: Kathy Hutchins/Shutterstock.com I’m pretty in love with Tina Fey as it goes, but watching her episode of the David Letterman Netflix interview show only served to make me love her more. She talks sense, she’s eloquent, confident but modest and a bit of a comedy genius, what’s not to like? Two highlights from the show, but make sure you watch the whole thing if you can.

The BBC hosted their replacement for the absent Glastonbury festival this weekend, putting on four huge shows across the UK and welcoming the great and the good of the music world to play at them. There was far too much content to enjoy in one weekend, so I’ll be perusing the iPlayer for at least the rest of this week and maybe longer.

I was kinda expecting it to be pretty rubbish, and it really only popped up on our radar because of the Adam Devine/Netflix combination that worked so well with When We First Met. There were some moments that were good, and somehow it managed to be funnier than I thought, but also a lot worse than I thought as well.

Ah, great times with Robbie. He’s hit and miss and has a career as varied as you could ask for, but this was early solo Robbie and probably when he was at his best. Some strong hits in here, mixed in with other good songs, there’s no real dip in quality and there’s a variety of tempos and sentiments to enjoy. Top work.

I really enjoyed the previous album by James Bay so was looking forward to this - it’s a good follow-up, although I don’t think it quite lives up to the great poppy-folky standards of the last. The intro and interludes don’t really seem to add anything to the story, but the songs stand up and it’s an easy-listening endeavour.

There was quite a lot of excitement surrounding the recent release of a new Harry Potter game on iOS. It was your chance to attend Hogwarts, learn lessons, immerse yourself in the magical world that we’ve grown to love. It was even touted as Harry Potter meets The Sims, which, as you can imagine, immediately got my attention. Early reviews of the game weren’t so positive though, suggesting that whilst the story is interesting enough, it’s really just one of those ‘gouge-as-much-money-from-the-user-as-possible’ games which is free to play but perhaps not so free to fully indulge in.

I did not enjoy this. I’ve enjoyed some of Miranda’s other songs, but this one was back to the roots country, with slide guitar and crazy Southern accent and all. Not only that but it’s a double album, so lasts about 90 minutes. It was a bit of a slog to get through it twice, I’ll be honest.

I’ve been looking forward to this one and was disappointed when Charlie pushed the album back to make sure it was finished to his own high standards. Eventually got to listen though, and enjoyed it. I’m not sure it’s better than the last album, and the Boyz II Men song, whilst good, brings the mood right down in the middle where it would be better at the end. But otherwise, a good solid set of songs.

Here’s a piece of advice for anyone starting a new project or challenge or adventure that requires a little bit of structure: DON’T FOLLOW THE ALPHABET. It seems like such an obvious and fun choice. I’m going to set myself a baking challenge, why not a cake for every letter of the alphabet? I’m going to write a book of short stories, why not start each title with the next letter in the alphabet? I’m going to visit various attractions around the UK, why not do it in alphabetical order?

All Saints was my first ever album purchases, and so I know it quite well. I really like the funky nature of it, the kick-ass attitude of these girls who were trying to be the antithesis to the squeaky clean pop acts out there. It seems a lot safer compared to more recent artists but it still holds a fond place in my heart.

Having recently discovered a love of synth it was brilliant to find that Blossoms are basically a modern synth band. I really enjoyed the album, although I’m not sure it’s quite as strong as the first one - I’m going to have to listen to that one again now!

It is inconceivable to me that we haven’t already film-watched this movie, and Mr C spent a good portion of the first half trying to remember when we last watched it and why it hadn’t appeared on this site (turns out it was because we just caught the end.)

Last weekend, my good friend Lukeh ran his first marathon, completing the incredible 26 miles in the first event held in Newport city centre. He was raising money for a mental health charity and was aiming to complete the marathon in about 4 and a half hours. I’d been watching his progress as he shared training updates on Twitter, and reading along as the nerves kicked in once the marathon was only just around the corner.

I’ve been wanting to write about Masterclass for a while but didn’t really want to shout its praises until I had sampled some of the merchandise. Unfortunately, time has not been my friend but now there are two developments with the online learning provider that I have to talk about. Firstly, if you’re not familiar with Masterclass, they offer exceptionally high quality courses from incredibly big names with ridiculous amounts of wisdom and experience to share. The courses are delivered online, they come in a variety of subjects and are expensive but not prohibitive.

Well this was a revelation to me. I loved the album, and the band that I am now calling The ‘Mode, much to Mr C’s disapproval. I’d never realised it before but am suddenly growing to understand that synth music is right up my street and Depeche Mode are one of the key bands in this genre. Good stuff.

I’ve loved pretty much all of Anne-Marie’s singles, so this album was a long time coming and delivered exactly what you want - more of the same! Fun pop with the occasional serious edge, but lots of catchy choruses that draw you in from the start of the album to the very end.

Huge fans of the Pitch Perfect series, it seemed inevitable that this would be another brilliant outing to finish off the trilogy nicely. And it does that. There are a few gripes, of course, but overall it was almost as perfect as the title suggests.

I’m due an album update on the site but in the meantime, let’s just say I’ve been totally loving George Ezra’s Staying at Tamara’s. It’s unfortunately timed, really, because it would work so much better in glorious sunny weather and we’ve only been lucky enough to have a day or two of that. In a couple of months though, I’m hoping this album will totally come into its own because it’s sunny and peppy and cheery and I really love it.

I know what you’re thinking. Bletchley Park doesn’t begin with an X. Thankfully, it’s a destination that is also known as Station X so I can sort of get away with it (mostly because it’s my challenge and I make up the rules). Turns out it’s quite hard to find places to go that begin with an X, but thankfully I’ve been wanting to go to Bletchley for a while anyway.

I only know the song Kayleigh from this, played as the last song of series two of Car Share, but I can’t say I particularly liked this album. It’s okay as music goes but I really don’t like the way the tracks all blend into each other and nothing particularly stood out for me even after two listens.

You would never put these two together, would you? What a weird partnership but it totally, totally works. This is such a gentle but good album to listen to. It’s clear and open, honest and simple. From the UK to Jamaica, criss-crossing styles all the way. Nice and relaxing and probably perfect for summer.

I should have trusted Mr Johnson because this was a fantastic two hours of fun, drama, over-acting and generally good vibes. I loved the story - it was a great way of updating the old story without rewriting history or sacrificing any of the past. The characters were good, both young and old. At one point, Mr C said he wanted to watch the film about the high school kids rather than have them get sucked into the game, but once that did happen, it was even more fun.

I was quite excited to listen to this but actually it didn’t quite live up to my expectations. Solid hip hop and the singles are good but it didn’t blow me away. A bit too much Eminem, as well.

My first pass through this album left me thinking ‘pretty good, sounds just like what you’d expect from the Manics.’ Apparently that hasn’t always been the case for the last few albums, so that’s a start. On the second pass through, it all started growing on me. The first three songs are brilliant, and the rest stacks up pretty well too. Definitely one to re-listen to a few more times yet.

There was something different about it compared to the other films, in that there wasn’t such a clear distinction between good and bad. It wasn’t just ‘believe us, there’s still some good in him’ like it was with Darth Vader. In Ben/Kylo, we’ve seen it with our own eyes and that makes a difference. And Luke’s moment of madness shows that even good people can do/consider doing bad things.

I only know a couple of Neil Diamond songs, and so for my first album of his, it was lucky that it had one song on it that I knew. The album reminded me quite a lot of Johnny Cash - not in terms of sound, but just the sort of genre. Shorter songs, quite odd topics (the horseflies round your face thing really confused me, I think he thinks it’s a compliment). I quite liked it but I’m not sure I’d particularly seek it out again.

This was recommended by a friend of a friend and whilst I wouldn’t normally stumble across Italian pop, I really loved it and I’m glad I got to listen to it. It’s just pure, catchy pop music, and even though I don’t speak Italian it doesn’t matter at all, you still get the same good pop vibes. Annalisa has a great voice too.

I’m completely conflicted on this because I tend to think I like this better than the first, but Mr C totally disagrees and looking back to the Film Watch for the original, I think I disagree with myself as well! So who knows? I do love this though, perhaps because I have seen it more often than the first. Heather Graham is better than Liz, Scott has some great lines, and there’s moments of pure genius in there. Of course it has it’s downsides, any scene that contains Fat Bastard should be struck from the record completely, but I still love it.

I do so love Jason and his witty words, fast-paced songs and interesting subject matter. I learnt a lot of these songs listening over and over again to a live version so hearing them in their studio format was a bit odd, but it still works. Lots of craft has gone into these and that shines through. They’re intensely catchy tunes and I’ll listen over and over again once more!

This album has gained a lot of supporters in the short time it’s been out, and I have to be honest, I’m not 100% sure I get what the fuss is about. It’s a good album, and stands apart from the more traditional country and from the more pop-orientated modern stuff, but it’s darker more downbeat tone didn’t quite do it for me. Good songs, great voice, but as a whole it didn’t quite work.

This is the sort of story that you’re aware of - man versus woman on the tennis court - but you don’t really know the details that went on behind the glitz and glamour of a show match. Of course there’s Hollywood sensationalism in places, but the stakes are true: women’s equality and the battle against an entrenched view that men’s tennis is just better, versus a reputation and livelihood that’s in danger of being gambled away completely.

I thought this would be your run of the mill pop album but it’s more eclectic than that. The singles are the normal saccharine denim-laden pop that we know, but the rest is all a bit of an oddity. It kicks off with some bizarre folk-violin-drum-and-bass dance mix, and indulges in some feisty female rock as well as super slow ballads along the way. Weird.

Really loved this from George. I was a fan of Budapest but wasn’t really sure I’d manage to sustain interest over a full album. Couldn’t have been more wrong! It’s fun and quite preppy, sweeps you up in its summer holiday, leave all your cares behind, kind of way. A new favourite.

This is one of those albums where I know a lot of the songs but have somehow never actually listened to the whole thing. I really liked it. Lily is one of those artists that you either love or hate, and thankfully I love her. Don’t always agree with her and think some of the songs push it a bit, but ultimately they’re catchy and meaningful, clever and fun, so why not?

I was dubious about this one - a glimpse at the craziness on TV had made me wary, but then I heard Everybody Wants to Be Famous a billion times on Beats 1 and fell in love with it. Actually, the album is great. It is crazy, sure, but it also has that glorious lazy summer vibe so you just kind of chill and go with it.

2018 is all about self-improvement (and waiting for the weather to sort itself out for further adventures), and this month I wrapped up a new qualification that encompassed several exams and a lot of time staring at Microsoft applications. Is it wrong that I have mostly put in the time and effort for this award just because it makes me a master? Mastermind. The Master. Jedi Master. Take your pick, I’m it!

This was an exciting film to watch mostly because it was released on the Monday and my review is going up less than a week later - hooray for Netflix! I know that a film being released on Netflix as an alternative to the usual methods means it’s probably had some issues or not been considered good enough, but I actually thought this one stood up really well.

Lovely Stevie’s first solo album is a really great listen. I can’t lie and say it stood out as separate to the work that Fleetwood Mac do, it had all those influences and more, but it was still great to listen to - particularly Edge of Seventeen with it’s Destiny’s Child bounce.

I was curious about this one because Jack Antonoff writes so many good songs, it’s a wonder he has anything left for his own outlets. I wasn’t sure about this album for the first listen through, but second time round it started to come together for me. I liked how the songs linked together and there were little callbacks throughout making it one whole piece of art.

After loving the first film, I was eagerly anticipating the return of Ben Whishaw’s soft-spoken but impactful bear, and I wasn’t disappointed. Somehow, this film seemed even better than the first - perhaps because we got to dive right into the adventures with Paddington, and also perhaps because the villain in this instance wasn’t quite so intent on a murderous spree and was more about greed than anything.

What a classic album this is. I was, obviously, a huge fan in the 90s, and so this was like diving into a wonderful world of pop-soaked nostalgia. It’s short and sweet, this album, with female-power lyrics, bopping tracks and ultimately just some fab pop. There’s also some dodgy rapping but that just adds to the enjoyment, really.

Embrace do one thing and they do it really well - the songs that start slowly and softly, have a bit of piano come in, and gradually build to a big, soaring, string-enhanced ending. Much of the album follows this pattern which is nice for a while but perhaps doesn’t sustain a whole record. Still good though.

I was quite looking forward to this one, mostly caught up in they hype of so many famous faces, but in the end I think it was a bit disappointing. It’s beautifully made and Kenneth Branagh actually does an impressive job in a role that has been made so famous by someone else. That moustache is crazy but about halfway through, you sort of forget about it.

I can’t quite believe this is Whitney’s debut album, it’s got such incredible songs on it and of course her powerful voice just blows everything out the water. Such a strength shines through the album even in her first recording, and it almost feels like a privilege to listen to.

Incredible debut, really. I love Young Dumb and Broke, which is why I chose this album to listen to in a very quiet week of music. The rest of the album is filled with more of the same, which makes it both really good listening but also perhaps just marginally too long. Great work though, refreshing soulful sound.