Friday, January 31, 2025

Music

Five Hip-Hop Gems You Missed in 2024

A year dominated by the Kendrick Lamar-Drake beef, 2024 made it all too easy to let underground hip-hop slip through the cracks into obscurity. Whilst many alumni of the...

Hot springs: why Iceland is a breeding ground for musicians

Whilst for many, Iceland is associated with plane-grounding volcanic eruptions and sweeping landscapes, it...

Back to the Future: Are 2010 Throwbacks the Soundtrack of 2025?

The early 2010’s occupy a curious space in cultural memory, neither distant enough to...

Oxford’s first Hip-Hop Society breaks it down

As Oxford's newest musical society explores ways to facilitate a much-needed space for hip-hop music, only one question springs to mind; where have they been all this time?

“Look what you made me do”: Taylor Swift’s reinvention

The reinvention of her ‘reputation’ is not a change of character nor a sudden shift in her attitude to the spotlight. The Reputation era was simply a rebranding of sound, lyricism, production and image which worked to provoke her audience and, ironically, sustain her reputation.

Review: The 1975’s latest album falls short

Some robotic pretentious waffle. Some cynical love songs. Some good hooks, a few nice bridges. Rinse and repeat for an album for an identikit album, with a dozen else out there the same.

John Frusciante: Water under the bridge

A profile of the reclusive virtuoso

What’s on: Txking Oxford by Storm

TxkeOff and Land’s visit to Oxford will no doubt bring a new energy to the city, offering an elite clubbing experience to all its attendees with live artists performing

‘Say we want a revolution’: Music, politics, and protest songs

While some may hold the view of music as an absolute art form, the fact is that music is an integral part of human culture, society and our passion for protest

The desire to be elsewhere: a look back at some of 2018’s musical highlights

The opening track of George Ezra’s album Staying at Tamara’s moans ‘Why, why, what a terrible time to be alive’, and in 2018 this...

Is West Side Story still relevant today?

West Side Story has stood the test of time not just because of its artistic mastery, but because of its universal message. As the show’s choreographer Jerome Robbins once said, the show is about intolerance all over the world, not just in 1950s New York. In many ways, the show is more relevant today than it ever has been.

Review: Sweetener by Ariana Grande

Ariana Grande finds produces some intermittent bangers while caught in the changing tides of contemporary pop

Sufjan Stevens: Saying is believing

Everything about Stevens’ work is an attempt to love right, and to believe right

Feeling comfort while in the uncomfortable

Why are we so drawn to music that puts us on edge?

Music, Magic, and Bridging the Gap

The presence of magic in music has shifted and evolved over the years

The infamous melodramatics of Kanye West: Ye or nay?

Kanye has had a career riddled with dramatic events – what has this done to his legacy?

Living in a material world

Why the 80s and 90s have made a comeback

Lessons From Tranquility Base Hotel and Casino

A retrospective look at this controversial project reminds us of the danger and importance of risk-taking in music.

Phenomenally Intricate: Iglooghost

With his recent releases, Iglooghost takes experimental electronic music to the next level

Brockhampton: The Internet’s First Boyband

‘Met all my friends through Kanye West and I ain’t met him yet’.

Taking Oxford by storm: the Magic Gang sells out the O2

The Magic Gang aren't just another band - they're something much more unique

Coming to Oxford: Shy FX

“I got fired because they wanted me to clean the toilets and I weren’t really on that.”

Which TV show has the best intro music?

You shouldn't judge a book by its cover, but what about a show by its intro?

Review: Floating Features by La Luz

Surf-rockers’ psychedelic third album is the perfect soundtrack for your scorched summer.

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