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Music

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?
Culture Honor Thompson -

The sounds of student protest

Their monopoly on the sonic space means that they are in charge of disseminating information to the public. In other words, they were not walled off. 
Culture Sara Lee -

Ticketmaster hurts student concert culture

Competitive, difficult, and opaque. All words associated with the Oxbridge admissions process. More recently, however, they have been used by disappointed Oasis and Coldplay fans in relation to Ticketmaster.
Culture Sara Lee -

2024 was for the girls: The rapid success of female artists

The last nine months of pop can perhaps be summed up in one word:...
Culture Olivia Sloan -
Latest

Sound And Vision: Better Call Saul’s Perfect Montage

"The perfect song choice is instrumental in creating the perfect montage".

The Most Anticipated Albums of 2023

Maeve Hagerty looks to some of the most anticipated albums of 2023, from artists like Samia to A$AP Rocky.

The joy of Spotify’s Discover Weekly

Thomas Bristow talks through the beauty of Spotify's Discover Weekly interface, and how it has changed his music tastes.

Christine McVie: Fleetwood Mac’s rock ‘n’ roll romantic

"Charged with hope and joy, aching with romantic wisdom, [McVie's songs] are the songs of a woman who has lived and loved."

A rogue Vogue cover: Drake and 21 Savage’s IP gamble

What appears to have happened here is a calculated risk – a legal roll-of-the-dice for a (potentially larger) commercial gain.

I Hope You Fall In Love And I Hope It Breaks Your Heart

"Pasoori is more than just a catchy hit which broke out of Pakistan; it’s a beautiful and progressive statement of social and cultural values."

Muse ‘Will of The People’ Review : My expectations were low, and yet…

"Well done to the boys for trying to write about such a serious subject. I just wish the music didn’t sound like it belongs on Scooby Doo."

Copyright or copywrong: the Shape of You case and its implications

We can only hope the decision results in a further backlash against the culture fostered by the Blurred Lines decision and a reduction in the number of frivolous lawsuits against musicians. They are bad for artists, bad for all genres of music, and fundamentally, bad for creativity.

In Harry’s House, there’s room for the romantic

‘Harry’s House’ is a house of several rooms. Of screaming elation, beautiful minutia, and doomed love, all of which make for a complex and emotive listen.

The Smile’s “slightly crazed and uncertain landscape”

The Smile is not Radiohead; they have a new name, a new line-up, and appear to see themselves to be doing something artistically different

Music beyond the M6

In a recent interview with the Sunday Times, musician Sam Fender discussed the importance of singing in a Geordie accent for his latest album...

‘Irishness existing in England’: the brilliance of Skinty Fia

I first came across Irish post-punk band Fontaines D.C. when my brother brought me their debut album on vinyl for Christmas, back in 2019....

Oxford’s rock and roll: a very short introduction

"Rock and roll and academia has never been the most compatible pairing."

Music for the end of the world: a Plastic Beach retrospective

"Plastic Beach serves as a poetic, wonderfully produced and musically brilliant reminder that the world is slowly ending, everything is artificial and no one seems to be doing very much about it at all."

Following the money: the meaning of “selling out”

‘I love selling out’ declared Charli XCX when speaking to NPR about Crash, released in March, a project which sees her lean into mainstream pop, ironically playing the part of an industry ‘sell-out’.

Defying Gravity: In conversation with Stephen Schwartz

“I tend to be attracted to stories about outsiders,” Schwartz tells me at the beginning of our call, “about people who feel themselves not part of the culture or not part of the mainstream if you will, and are trying to figure out how to fit in, and what the cost is of doing so.”

Father John Misty’s “new world of old characters”

"In Chloë and the Next 20th Century, Tillman succeeds spectacularly at creating a new world out of old characters."

‘Stirred to breathless heights’:  Wolf Alice Concert Review 

"This was the second of three successive sold-out nights for the four-piece at the London venue, and it proved one for us and the remaining five thousand people in attendance to remember."

Remembering SOPHIE

"SOHPIE’s tragically early passing froze music in time. What stands, crowned by Oil of Every Pearl’s Un-Insides, is an impressive but truncated body of work. While we lament SOPHIE’s untimely death, we can also enjoy the music and celebrate the legacy left behind. SOPHIE continues to inspire – both as a person and as a musician – and stands as someone we all can look up to."

‘Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe in You’, Big Thief Album Review

In the midst of the pandemic, Adrianne Lenker (Big Thief’s lead singer) ventured into the wilderness, fresh from heartbreak, and released two new solo...
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