Wednesday, February 5, 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?

Cherwell Introducing: Zahra

In our Introducing series, Cherwell will be bringing you the best up and coming artists in Oxford. This week, Joseph interviewed Zahra.

Forget her not: Rediscovering women in music: Week 0

"Stumbling upon Fiona Apple’s 1999 album When The Pawn… actually inspired the concept of this column."

Bands to Watch Out For in 2024

"As the new year unfolds there is no better time to expand your music taste and explore genres and artists that you may not otherwise have chosen to listen to"

The Queer Pop Perfection of Chappell Roan 

"Chappell Roan is the newest pop star who is quickly rising through the ranks, and charts; she is confident, queer, and bold."

Why Don’t We Have Any ‘Mega Popstars’ Anymore? 

This August, Billboard released an article asking the question: where have all our mega popstars from the 2000s and early 2010s gone? It was...

Noah Kahan: Music Sensation or One-Album Wonder?

I know very little about music. A vast amount of my Spotify wrapped includes Taylor Swift (about whom I know a lot), and what...

Loyle Carner: A new poignant, personal, and political voice of rap

Loyle Carner’s 2022 album Hugo openly grapples with his heritage and identity, his performances openly discuss climate change and racism, and he even samples...

Manele: the controversy around Romani music in Romania

Manele is a modern form of Romani (or Roma) music in Romania. Using traditional Romani instruments and sounds, it also fuses other genres from...

Olivia Rodrigo’s ‘Guts’: A Lament on Girlhood

In light of the immense success of her debut album Sour, Rodrigo's latest project, Guts, emerges as a compelling narrative continuation. This sophomore release...

‘He eagerly played the lead guitar whilst simultaneously thrashing a piano chord with his foot’ – A review of Jacob Collier’s Bristol concert

'With at least 12 different musical instruments on stage, Collier tirelessly leapt from one instrument to another across the stage'

Kesha ‘Gag Order’: A review

'The album is all Kesha, a meticulously crafted and finely tuned testament to her prowess as a songwriter.'

Between Love and Hate: The Strokes’ Guide to Staying Together

'US-based pop-rock band The Strokes have encountered just about all of rock’s common killers. And yet, 22 years on from their first album, they are still here – and reportedly working on a seventh.'

‘Ornamented choral what?’ – your favourite early sacred music like you’ve never heard it before

'What is ‘polyphony’? I hear you cry. Why is it ‘choral’ and what makes it ‘ornamented’?'

Is That an Angel? No, it’s Maisie Peters – Tour Review

'The Good Witch, embarking upon her first headlining tour, has brewed up a concoction of heartbreak and hope, insecurity and exuberance'

Daft Punk’s ‘Random Access Memories’: A Tenth Anniversary Retrospective

'What is there in our current pop landscape that could possibly have its roots in Daft Punk’s Random Access Memories?'

Ready For Takeoff: My Little Airport and the Hong Kong Indie Scene

Hong Kong indie, like the city, has plenty of gas left in the tank.

The Paradise Bangkok Molam International Band – Planet Lam review

"An exemplary of the international force of genre-bending, experimental music, this album represents a kind of music in which boundaries are transgressed and influences intermingled, creating an intensely enjoyable, diverse listening experience."

Sam Smith’s Gloria is Queer, Controversial Perfection

"For the queer community as a whole, this album is a welcome addition to queer culture"

Florence and The Machine: Dance Fever Tour Review

"It takes a powerful vulnerability to shoulder the burdens and joys of helping others, through art or any other means. Welch does it beautifully"

Jockstrap Live at The Bullingdon

"I’m convinced they have one true goal... to ensure that you have an obscene amount of fun"

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