I’ve loved Karen Carpenter for a long time, but stumbled upon this book in the library by complete accident - I didn’t realise there was a biography of the soulful but troubled singer. This is written by a superfan and comes at it entirely from the point of view of Karen, telling the story of her early life, how she and her brother became famous, the tensions that were created around the family dynamic and of course the eating disorder that eventually claimed her life. It’s heartbreaking of course, but a really great read.

If I hadn’t just watched Domhnall Gleeson in The Paper, I think the new Taylor Swift music video would have passed me by. But I spotted Gleeson standing next to Swift in a promo shot from the video, and was instantly intrigued. The six minute video was released on Apple Music and Spotify only, so my searching endlessly on YouTube wasn’t a good start, but once I found it, I was entranced.

This is a fantastic short book documenting the year that saw Alex James reform with Blur for some huge gigs and a global tour, alongside putting on the annual Feastival at his farm, running said farm, and looking after a sizable family. It’s told so well, entirely engagingly, with great humour but also a knack for bringing you into the situation - whether that is euphoria, or exhaustion, or quite a lot of hangovers, it sounds like. I really enjoyed reading this and actually learnt quite a lot about James and Blur despite how short it is.

2025 was the 10th year of On the Record, my album adventure that involves listening to a variety of albums throughout the year to widen my musical taste and knowledge. It’s amazing to look back and think about how this little project started and what it has turned into, a pillar of my weekly routine with many highs and lows and the occasional unlistenable record.

Another year of listening to old and new albums is complete and I’ve loved the adventure this year. It felt like things got off to a bit of a slow start but gradually things picked up and I ended up with a short list for best albums of the year of 13. The worst part of the year is having to narrow that down to five, but the debate has been lively this year and I think I’ve come to a good conclusion. Interestingly, these five were all listened to in the last couple of months, so things really did pick up in the latter half of 2025.

It’s become a bit of a tradition now that each Christmas I set about working on a music playlist to replace some of the more traditional ones on radio and streaming services. I get slightly annoyed with them because they either feature songs that are clearly not Christmassy (slowed down pop tunes for festive adverts should not be there!) or they repeat the same classic tunes over and over.

We’ve been waiting for this film for a long time and finally discovered it available for a watch. It’s not an area of history I know a lot about - although Tony Robinson’s Forgotten Wars series gave me some good background. This was a great documentary, well pieced together and focusing on the civilians on the ground, showing how culture and specifically music helped them keep going and stay sane.

I love James Acaster, his four-part Netflix special (which is mentioned in this book) was a masterclass in intricately connected, bizarre but hilarious comedy. I’ve read his book about getting into a lot of scrapes so was interested in this new project dedicated to the music of just one year. Having come out the other side, I’m not sure how I feel about it. James writes very well and the memoir sections were great, but I’m not sure if the music obsession and recommendation really works as a book. Is it interesting to read story after story of how a random album you’ve never heard of came to being? Is it more of a reference work than a book? I don’t know.

I love a music quiz and The Hit List provides a lively boost of music and energy on a Saturday night. The scheduling of this show confuses me but every now and then a celebrity special pops up, and this past weekend was exactly that. Harry from McFly, some people from morning TV and yay, two Gladiators. Now, there were plenty of questions raised by this appearance - why those two Gladiators in particular? How much music are they going to know? And more than anything, why did they come in their Gladiator outfits??

I finally got around to watching Boybands Forever, a three part documentary on the BBC that aired late last year. I had planned to watch it over Christmas but a few scenes into the first episode, I thought it might be a bit depressing - turns out these boybands haven’t all had the best of experiences. So I waited until January, when we’re all experiencing the blues anyway, so why not share the pain.

My album adventure for 2025 got off to a roaring start last week, although it’s not until week two that I’ve managed to nab an album actually released this year. The rules of the game (for those who haven’t been paying attention) are that the ’new’ album is from this year or the last, whilst the ‘old’ album has the rest of human history to be selected from. Two albums a week for 50 weeks of the year, hooray!

I stumbled across this little gem on TV over the weekend - 60 Songs: BBC Two at 60 - which is a lengthy compilation of random songs from the archives of the channel, in celebration of their anniversary. It’s a real mixed bag of stuff, a surprising jukebox containing performances from the likes of Beyoncé, Alicia Keys, The Kinks, Blur, Sam Smith, and so many more. Lots of genres from pop to rock, to jazz and country, if you don’t like a song, it won’t be long before another one pops up that you do like.

I always find it slightly surprising that I’ve been doing this album thing for such a long time, next year will be the tenth year of this adventure. Two albums a week, 100 albums a year, and we’re closing in on the big 1000! The worst part of the year is having to narrow down the list to the top five, but actually this year it wasn’t too hard - there were only six on the shortlist. Hopefully next year will be better.

In my grumpier Grinch moments over Christmas, I get annoyed at the playlists and festive collections of songs that feature ‘Christmas’ songs that I don’t think count. Those songs that are slowed down versions of absolute tunes for festive adverts, but otherwise have no connection to December. To rectify the situation, I set about creating a proper playlist, and in 2017 released the first volume.

Wham! Last Christmas Unwrapped is an unwieldy title for a one-off TV episode that was mesmerising, surprising and joyful from start to finish. The hour long show manages to pack in a brief history of Wham the band, before and after, as well as the history of the song Last Christmas, the rivalry with Band Aid, and remembering George after his death in 2016. A lot, you might think, but somehow it never felt rushed or missing a beat, it was almost perfect.

There’s been a lot of furore around recently over the new version of Do They Know It’s Christmas, featuring a megamix of all the previous artists combined together. It seemed an odd idea, and it’s not really gone over very well, and barely made an impact on the music charts. So why not go back to the original and best version of the song and revisit how it all came together?

I love this recent article on the BBC about a guy called Rob Johnson who has been getting niche and forgotten songs put on the streaming services - just by asking them to upload them! No matter how many tracks a streaming service claims to have, there’s always going to be something missing, and this is all about a mission to try and right that wrong. Most of the time it’s not a malicious or contractual act on the record companies part, they’ve just got a lot going on and it’s easy to miss something along the way.

The 90s repeats of Top of the Pops on BBC Four have had a bit of a break recently (Proms and the Olympics will do that to your channels) but came back with a bang with this amazing episode. It kicked off with the Backstreet Boys which was such a surprise to me that I almost choked on my drink, and aside from the next song, continued to astound and surprise.

It won’t be news to learn that I love a good quiz, and what’s even better than general quizzing? Music quizzes! I love The Hit List when it comes round but a new contender to the quiz throne has arrived in the form of Popmaster TV. Turning a beloved ten minute radio quiz into a successful hour long TV show isn’t an easy task but they’ve done a fantastic job.

I thought this BBC post about the future of the album was interesting, considering that I spend more time than I’d like trying to decide what counts as an album for my music listening project. The article is pondering the past and future of the album, given how much focus there has been on singles of late, with Taylor Swift leading the charge in a celebration of all things long play.

I’ve done it, I’ve decided, phew. It’s taken my a week or two longer than it usually does to decide my top five albums of the year just gone but finally I’m ready to put pen to paper, or pixel to screen, and talk about my finalists. There were only eight albums in the shortlist anyway, which somehow made it harder. I narrowed it down to six but then deciding who to drop and what the order should be… oof! But here goes nothing!

There have been a lot of changes to Apple products and softwares around my house recently and I have barely scratched the surface of any of them. I mean, let’s be fair, I barely ever manage to scratch the surface of updates before the next lot come out but I’m always determined to try and I think that counts for something.

I just wanted to celebrate the fact that the Top of the Pops replays have started again on BBC Four, after taking an extended break to make way for the Proms. We’d just dipped our toes into the start of 1995 when the classical stuff took over but now we’re back, and it’s brilliant! Britpop is starting to emerge and breakthrough the dance numbers, we’re still seeing warblers like Celine Dion rule the roost, but also the oddities are cropping up like Cotton Eye Joe.

I’ve been meaning to write this post all week and I admit it feels a bit late to be talking about Glastonbury Festival a full week on from when it ended. But then again, I still watch old sets from past Glasto festivals, so potentially it’s a timeless thing and it doesn’t matter how long it takes me to get these thoughts down.

I recently finished watching the mini series Daisy Jones & The Six on Amazon Prime and what a journey that was! The show documents the rise and fall of a new band in the 1970s who gain popularity very quickly but find that drugs, rock and roll, and the intricacies of managing relationships on the road can be a downfall just as fast.

So sad that Mark Sheehan has died. The Script were one of the last shows we went to before the pandemic and had hoped to see them a lot more times in the future.

Apple launched a separate music app for Classical music this week, dedicated to the classical music genre, whilst continuing to work with your existing Apple Music subscription. I think this is an interesting idea, and if I hadn’t been taking a pause from monthly challenges then 30 days of classical music could very much have been on the cards.

If you’ve been following along my musical album odyssey over the past few months, you’ll have noticed that a lot of inspiration for the choices recently has come from the time shifted repeats of Top of the Pops that are available via the BBC. Currently they’re airing episodes from 1994, and I’m loving (almost) every minute of it.

P!nk recently appeared on the Graham Norton Show on the BBC to sing her latest release TRUSTFALL and promote her new album of the same name. It was an incredible live performance. You can rely on P!nk to add a bit of gymnastics or circus skills to her sets and this time it was all about the trampoline. P!nk was focused on vocals rather than bouncing off the mat, but it’s all the better for it.

In my recent round up of movies to look forward to, I didn’t notice or consider 80 for Brady, which is a film about a group of older friends travelling together to see their idol Tom Brady do what he does best on the football field. It’s got a great cast and is bound to be one of those charming movies where a handful of brilliant female actresses gel together and have a bit of a riot.

It’s no secret how much I love Kellyoke - the moment on Kelly Clarkson’s talk show where she covers a popular song, usually doing a much better job than the original! Another thing I love is behind the scenes info about music, tv and production, which makes this set of videos absolutely perfect. Called the Kellyoke Afterparty, this series of three videos features music director Jason Halbert and guitarist Jaco Caraco sharing a drink and some gossip after the live show.

Apple have released a comprehensive round up of their 2022 entertainment and services - inevitably happy about how successful they have been - with wisdom from VP of the sector, Eddy Cue. There are lots of facts and figures, as you might imagine, but I do like the summary from Mr Cue:

I was so busy watching Sam Ryder do his thing on New Year’s Eve for the BBC that I totally missed what was happening in other corners of the world - in particular Miley Cyrus pulling out all the stops and performing with a variety of guests for NBC. Dolly Parton was one of the featured friends, and the pair cruised through Wrecking Ball and Jolene and a few other hits. But it was I Will Always Love You that really made me sit up and take notice.

There was no Christmas Day edition of Top of the Pops this year, which was both completely understandable and also a real shock. The show has been drifting further and further from the TV schedules and therefore the public consciousness that it was inevitable it would one day drop off the festive TV guides. But it was still a shame to see it was missing. However, BBC Four is still dedicated to showing old episodes of the music show and the 1998 Christmas Day special has been available for a while. It’s a great show, stacked with 90s pop hits and some surprises along the way, all capably helmed by Jamie Theakston, Kate Thornton and Jayne Middlemiss. SO NINETIES!

My seventh year of listening to albums has drawn to a close and it’s that agonising time where I need to decide on a top five. Each year I listen to 100 albums, one new and one old each week for fifty weeks, and they each get two listens to make sure I really get a feel for the sound. Then, at the end of the year, I pull together my top five from the new albums. It’s always a hideous choice and this year’s shortlist of ten albums made it really difficult to decide on the final five. But I’ve done it, so here goes!

Thirty days of guitar completed and I’m a pro now! Just kidding, I can play some of the easier chords and attempt to play some of the other easy ones and pick the occasional note from a string. There’s a long, long way to go. One of the things I was really worried about with this challenge was that I knew how much playing guitar can take a toll on the fingertips - and playing every day might not be the wisest idea. I think I survived, although having taken two days off at the end of the challenge, my fingers are still tingly!

I had planned to do a quick update halfway through my 30 days of guitar challenge, I’m a couple of days late but let’s do it anyway. It’s really just to note down a few of the things I’ve found over the first half of the month: I was really worried about the tips of my fingers being painful and potentially prohibitive to playing every single day, but the good news is I’m trying to be quite strict on the time I play each day which helps make it more manageable. They do hurt though, don’t get me wrong. Tingly fingertips. I’ve been working through the Yousician lesson plan which is really brilliant. It’s an expensive subscription (Although they have an amazing Black Friday deal on at the mo that I’m gutted to have missed out on but is worth a look if you’re tempted!). The course is so well laid out - chords and fingerpicking, plenty of songs to play within the course or as and when you want to, and… drum roll please… certificates!!

November has arrived and with it comes the dark nights, cold weather and general feeling that hibernation would be the right choice for any sensible person. Unfortunately, that’s not really an option, so instead, it’s time to come up with another 30 day challenge to get me through the month. This time? Guitar! Hooray! This has been on the list since I first started thinking about doing many thirty day challenges, but there was a small problem - up until recently, I didn’t have access to a guitar. But now I do! It’s not super fancy or anything, but a basic acoustic guitar and a Yousician subscription should get me through the next thirty days.

Apple released a press release announcing they have hit 100 million songs on their Apple Music streaming service yesterday, which, by my calculations, is quite a lot. The release is your traditional back-patting piece but there are some interesting little nuggets in there that caught my attention. The first is about the history of music and how it’s possible we even have this many songs to play with in the first place.

Last year, the American country music singer Eric Church released a triple part album, entitled Heart & Soul. Each of those three words was the title of one part of the album, and they were released over the course of about a week. At the time, I listened to the albums a little bit reluctantly. Heart came first, and then & was released only as a vinyl release, so I said: “Already I’m on the back foot as I’m not going to be able to hear the middle part of this trilogy… nevertheless, I figured it couldn’t hurt to give the first part a go, and I’m glad I did.”

The level of curated content available on Apple Music is so good that it’s overwhelming - partly because there’s so much of it and partly because, despite repeated upgrades and efforts, navigating around the Music app is still really difficult. However, it’s super easy just to pop on one of the three radio channels and listen to whatever’s being played and my one favourite find at the moment is Rock Classics with Jenn, on the Apple Hits station. The premise is simple, Jenn guides us through brilliant rock classics from throughout music history based around a theme… and it’s the themes where the fun starts.

I saw this clip on YouTube recently of Olivia Rodrigo on tour in London, bringing out Natalie Imbruglia to sing the Australian’s big hit Torn. It’s fun and frothy and, of course, an excellent song. Unfortunately, the video isn’t available to embed but it’s worth going over to YouTube to watch it for the frankly incredible quality.

Glastonbury returned in triumphant fashion this past weekend and it’s the first time I feel like I’ve been really properly involved - to the extent of even checking through the lineups and making a list of what I wanted to track down if possible. It wasn’t all available to watch from the comfort of my sofa, but I think I did the best job I could and caught much of the fun from the weekend. Here are a handful of my favourite moments, starting with the first and most important.

I’ve mentioned before that I’m completely into the Top of the Pops replays on BBC Four at the moment, as they have reached the early nineties and I’m loving this era of music… we’re heading rapidly towards Backstreet Boys and Spice Girls and so much more goodness. They recently rounded out the year 1992 with the Christmas special, and at this moment in time, Whitney Houston had her vice-like grip on the number one spot with I Will Always Love You. This, of course, from the movie The Bodyguard featuring Kevin Costner.

Often, if I have a spare minute to fill and I’m near an Apple TV, I’ll pop up YouTube and have a riffle through what the US chat shows have been up to. I’ve often posted here about Jimmy Fallon and James Cordon and the silly antics they get up to, but I’ve got a new go-to that I tend to check first - Kelly Clarkson. If you’d have asked me three years ago who could take up a new chat show and make it not only work but be amazing, I don’t know that Kelly would have been my first pick but she’s brilliant. Bubbly and obviously awesome, but also with a self-confessed over-competitiveness in the games, alongside a keen willingness to bond with her guests… it’s pure and frothy and I love the clips I find.

The US chat shows did their best to struggle through the two-ish years of lockdown but now guests are appearing regularly in person again (questionable as that is), the entertainment value has shot right back up. This video absolutely brightened my day, with Kelly Clarkson hosting Anne Hathaway on her show and getting seriously competitive in a singing contest. The job? Identify a song from the opening beats the band play and start singing it as soon as you recognise the tune. There are three reasons to love this video.

Somehow another year of music has flown by, I’ve banked another 100 albums, both new and old, and now I have to decide which were the cream of the crop and which weren’t worth the download speeds. Each week, for fifty weeks, I’ve listened to one new album (usually from this year, or 2020 at a push), and one older album (any time before that), and have listened to each twice because I’ve found just one listen through isn’t always enough to full appreciate what’s going on.

Four years ago (!) I published a Christmas playlist, having taken offence at some of the collections various streaming services had pulled together. Their festive mixes included party songs that really had no business being on a Christmas-related playlist, other than being good for the office get-together. They got you in an uplifted spirit but were they really true to the name? No. Since then, it seems like Christmas has been a growing trend for everyone, more films, more TV, and definitely more songs, as I’ve had to put together a second volume of the playlist, cleverly titled: How a Christmas playlist should be done Vol. 2.

Coldplay have always been a divisive band, one of those who for some reason it’s cool to dislike them. I’m not sure if I’ve fallen either side of the debate, although their debut album Parachutes got me through some difficult times, so does have my esteem. I haven’t really thought about Coldplay for a while, but two things in the news recently have made me think about what this band is doing and where they’re headed.

Hooray for the dreaded time of year where I pick out the top five albums I’ve listened to over the past twelve months. Each week for 50 weeks, I listen to two albums. One is a new one (this year or the previous year) and one is an older one (from any time previous to that). So I can’t promise to have listened to every album that was released last year but of those I did, I’ve managed to narrow down five of the best.