Crimbo Limbo, part Two: Radio and Podcasts

I'm thinking that people might be a bit over the more sentimental aspects of Christmas by this point in crimbo limbo. So, if this is you, the most recent episode of Tim Harford's Cautionary Tales podcast may be of interest. It concerns itself with the collapse of the Christmas savings club Farepak. It's a bleak listen, but it is also a remorselessly forensic dissection of the economics of Christmas, and the consequences of the pressure to spend, spend, spend. As such, it is thought provoking as well as merely tragic.

Many, many, many podcasts and current affairs radio shows have done some kind of look back over the tumultuous, often farcical, frequently exasperating year that was 2022. As such, I'm deliberately omitting most of them as you will have your own preferences. One that I will mention is the Private Eye podcast, Page 94, and its annual Live at the National episode. Well, I say annual, but the last one was in 2019. You can hear this years episode, which is a kind of Best of Private Eye 2022 Live, here. 

Another one worth mentioning is the comparatively early 19th December episode of The New Statesman podcast, if only because it features Jonn Elledge talking about goats. If you subscribe to Jonn's newsletter, you'll appreciate the festive significance of... goats. Said newsletter is also worth bigging up if only because of this years elegant festive salute to the true spirit of Christmas via the figure of George Michael.

Jonn's tribute to George Michael also leads very nicely to the final episode of the current season of John O'Farrell and Angela Barnes' irreverent history podcast, We Are History, which deals with the history of the Christmas Number One. It's about as raucous and riveting as regular listeners have come to expect.

I've been listening to a lot of Radio 4 and Radio 4Extra over Christmas, starting with a festive episode of Soul Music on Christmas Eve that did a thoughtful deep dive on Greg Lake's 'I Believe In Father Christmas'. A song that I was aware of but wasn't particularly attached to. The beauty of Soul Music is that it can take a song that you're basically ambivalent about and bring it's origin story, influence and impact into such strong focus that you can't help but be utterly absorbed.

There was also what has been the standout of festive drama's for me this year: Neil Gaiman's The Sleeper and the Spindle, which takes the fairytale Sleeping Beauty and runs with it. The result is all absorbing, subtle, full of in jokes and fairytale subtext and subversion, and... just weird in a very charming and unexpected way. The Christmas Eve episode of You're Dead to Me, which did a deep, and unsentimental, dive into Charles Dickens' literary connections with Christmas, is also worth a listen.

Obituary shows are particularly big at this time of year and it's worth giving a salute to one of the more unusual ones: Toby Haydock's annual Absent Friends: the 7th Dimension for 4Extra. Split into two 15 minute episodes (the first was on Christmas Day), it simply and effectively pays tribute to all of those connected to the worlds of Sci Fi, Fantasy and Horror who have passed this year.

By contrast, Radio 4 repeated the BBC New Comedy Awards finalists show on the 28th December, and the sheer energy coming off the contestants during their sets makes for a really inspiring listen. 

An inspiring listen in a different way was the episode of The Untold that told the story of five year old Imogen the Chef from Leeds. 

And finally, on the 28th December, the excellent Best Pick podcast released their take on the 2021 Oscar winner CODA. Not only is this the last episode that the Best Pick gang will do on an Oscar winner for some time, it's also their last episode for some time in the more general sense. As such, it is worth savouring.

Image one by Pavel Anoshin on Unsplash

Image two by Eric Krull on Unsplash

Image three by Matt Seymour on Unsplash

Crimbo Limbo, part One: TV, Streaming and DVD's

Writing as someone who doesn't watch TV all year but who then gorges senselessly over the festive period when I'm at my mum and dad's house... now seems a good moment to write a slightly bemused take on the festive TV schedules.

Every year the critical reception that greets the festive TV announcements feels more and more brutal. I wonder sometimes if it's a two headed problem: On one hand, people want the opportunity to watch all of their personal checklist of festive favourites, from It's A Wonderful Life to The Muppet's Christmas Carol (and all points in-between...) but, on the other hand... They also want the opportunity to devour some new programmes and films that they can then add to that list. A few years ago we successfully added the DVD of Terry Pratchett's Hogfather to our personal family list but, having watched it to death for at least 4 years consecutively, we're currently having a break from it.

Regular, and increasingly desperate, daily study of the bumper edition Radio Times between Christmas Eve and the 28th December failed to turn up much that any of us felt like watching. It seemed like some channels were trying harder than others to be honest. BBC2 on (I think) Boxing Day had an afternoon/evening schedule which consisted entirely of Marilyn Monroe films and Tina Turner related programming. I mean, great if you like Monroe and Turner, but... weirdly un-festive.

As things turned out, we spent the evening of Christmas Eve (after much thought and deliberation) binge watching Belgravia on DVD, and stayed largely in period drama territory for much of the festive period. 

Belgravia is the sumptuous BBC adaptation of Julian Fellowes novel of the same name. Following the huge success of Downton Abbey, it's highly likely that Fellowes was basically given carte blanche to do whatever he wanted next, and that Belgravia was the result. 

This makes it sound like I didn't enjoy Belgravia, but I really did.

Never trust a man in a fancy waistcoat

Set in the aftermath of the battle of Waterloo and the end of the Peninsula Wars, Belgravia shares with its Edwardian/inter war period sibling the same servant/master/upstairs/downstairs structure and interest in the British class structure. In Belgravia, it would be fair to surmise that London gentrification is also a theme. In common with much 19th Century literature/TV dramas set in that period, there are certain character motifs that help it to feel comforting in a way it perhaps shouldn't be: The cad can be easily spotted by his elaborately embroidered waistcoats, for example. We also have two refreshingly independent spirited heroines, a number of conniving anti heroines, and a commanding but spiky duchess. Not to mention a graciously underplayed mother courtesy of Tamsin Greig and a man on the rise played by Phillip Glennister. 

After finishing Belgravia on Christmas Day, we found ourselves turning to Netflix and the second of the Enola Holmes films. Maybe it's the success of Sherlock that's done it, but there seems to have been a massive surge in new takes on Holmes in recent years, including new books and, now, these two films for Netflix. Who, if the runaway success of Wednesday is anything to go by, seem to be the streaming service for excellent teenage girl heroine's at the moment. Entirely concerned with the story of Sherlock and Mycroft's previously unmentioned younger sister, Enola, (played with irresistible charm by Millie Bobbie Brown) the films can't be regarded as canon, but that should in no way put anyone off watching them. Similarly, I haven't actually seen the first of the two films, but that didn't prevent me from enjoying the second one. 

The series is clearly aimed at a teenage/young adult audience, but it's sophisticated enough to work for adults as well. Marked by engaging central performances, particularly from Brown, Helena Bonham Carter (as Enola's eccentric suffragette mother) and Louis Partridge as Enola's friend and potential love interest, Tewkesbury. Threading historical fact with fiction, it's fast paced, with regular breaking of the fourth wall, and has ferociously energetic charm that makes it quite an exciting TV proposition. It's to be hoped that there will be further films.

Boxing Day had us tuning into BBC1 for The Repair Shop and Death In Paradise, both festive themed episodes of long running series. I have been sceptical about Death In Paradise for a while because - at face value - it always felt too much like a Midsummer Murders/Rosemary and Thyme/Bergerac type show. Having actually watched it now, I can see that I was largely wrong: It is at the quirkier end of crime drama, but it probably has more in common with a show like The Number 1 Ladies Detective Agency than with Midsummer Murders. There's humour there, but it's balanced well with the crime elements and never feels ridiculous or inappropriate.  The Repair Shop, meanwhile, was gentle feel good TV at it's best.

On the 27th I figured out how to use iplayer on the smart TV and watched Matthew Bourne's Nutcracker from a few days earlier. It had a very 1950s fun aesthetic that gave the ballet a different kind of energy and vitality, meaning it bounced along quite nicely. The costumes were fantastic, as was the dancing and characterisation. There wasn't really any pointe work but I think it's part of Bourne's style to make things look effortless and easy, rather than laboured and difficult so that might have been why.

We watched The African Queen on DVD after that, which I could write about, but which I'd need to write a highly defensive and carefully phrased essay about purely on the basis that it's set in the colonial era in East Africa, which was then part of the German empire, at the start of World War I. And the film was made in 1951. Personally, I will watch and often take a lot from old films that were made in very different eras than today, but I can't always be bothered to do a full on dissection of the pros and cons. 

In-keeping with the World War I theme, we then finished off the 27th with the film 1917 on BBC1, which is probably about as un-festive as you can get really. It's an incredibly tense, riveting, and above all necessary watch. One that contrasted sharply with The African Queen, not only in pace but in terms of how far filming techniques and storytelling techniques have travelled since 1951. It has the same relentless, unforgiving, visceral quality to that Dunkirk did. Which we watched last Christmas.

Having also watched (the original) All Quiet On The Western Front and re-watched The Wipers Times this year, maybe it's time to compile a film guide to World War I? (Before anyone points it out, I know Dunkirk is set during World War II. The other films I've mentioned are all set in World War I though) Or does one already exist?

On which un-festive note, I shall end for now.

Tomorrow I intend to take a look at radio and podcasts over the festive period.

First image by Bryony Elena on Unsplash

Second image screen grab of Belgravia

Third image publicity still for Enola Holmes 2

Fourth image by Illiya Vjestica on Unsplash

Songs of the year, Number 1: Florence + The Machine - King

The first of the five singles released from the Dance Fever album, 'King' was released in February and quickly established itself as both a calling card for the upcoming album, and a statement of intent. 

It opens with the lines

We argue in the kitchen about whether to have children

About the world ending and

The scale of my ambition

And how much is art really worth

In the press release to accompany the song, Welch spoke of finding herself at a kind of personal crossroads. Of having to reconcile her career as a musician with her life as a 35 year old woman who would like to have children one day. 

That to be a performer, but also to want a family might not be as simple for me as it is for my male counterparts. I had modelled myself almost exclusively on male performers, and for the first time I felt a wall come down between me and my idols as I have to make decisions they did not.

There is a real sense of anger when she sings:

I am no mother

I am no bride

I am King

The song also works on another - possibly unintended - level in that it provides a swaggering salute to other unmarried childless/child free women: A constituency rarely acknowledged by popular music, and one that tends only to be acknowledged in the negative sense. 

The ferocity of 'King' contrasts with the vulnerability of 'Morning Elvis', Dance Fever's closing song, but what both songs share is Welch's eye for detail and ability to laugh at herself. There's a wry honesty in both cases that is as revealing as it is liberating.

The usually indestructible and (on stage) inexhaustibly energetic Welch is emphatically off stage at the moment, having broken her foot (for the second time) on the opening night of Florence + The Machine's UK tour at London's O2 Arena. But 'King' serves as a reminder of her steely determination as a performer. That sense of rage wrapped in humour coupled with a persistent kind of stubbornness and will to succeed.

She will be back in late January for her second date at London's O2 Arena, and the rest of the UK tour.

Songs of the year, Number 2: Zola Jesus - Lost

In composing her sixth album as Zola Jesus, Nika Danilova did something she hadn't done before: She chose to work with collaborators, specifically from the ranks of Sun O))), Cloud Nothings and Perfume Genius. Apparently inspired by Danilova's increasingly socialist political views, and her desire for a more collectivist, collaborative society, this decision to collaborate musically has had a dramatic sonic impact on the album. The overall sound is more experimental and varied but it's still unmistakably a Zola Jesus record. 

'Lost' is an eerie, unsettlingly, echoing song that makes use of glitchy sampled breathing alongside the traditional dark synths and Danilova's hugely powerful, operatically trained voice. A brutal description of burnout, it's been suggested that the song relates to her distrust of the increased role of big tech within the music industry. 

"Everyone I know is lost" she sings, "Flare gone missing, turning dark" 

That the song feels so hopeful has a lot to do with the power of Danilova's vocal and the anthemic feel of the song. It's a real lament for a lost generation, as well as - presumably - a nod to any artist who's ever been leaned on to become their own social media manager alongside touring, performing and recording. 

In darkness there can also be strength, not to mention inspiration. 

Songs of the year, Number 3: The Regrettes - Anxieties (Out Of Time) [Official Music Video]

With their third album, Further Joy, LA punk band The Regrettes have taken their sound in an increasingly pop direction, leading to an album that feels more like Parallel Lines than Vacation and which has been very well received. 

The video to 'Anxieties (Out Of Time)' looks and feels like an homage to Atlanta, Georgia's finest the B52's, adding a sense of kitsch cheer that contrasts with the sense of awkwardness and tensions displayed by the band members throughout. For the band have created an incredibly catchy paen to the terrors of anxiety, imposter syndrome and self doubt.

"I can hear the sirens, and my visions blurry" begins Lydia Night against a background of almost harpsichord esque keyboard riffs. "Knock me down; I won't back down. Knock me down; I won't back down" she sings, mantra like, in the chorus against a rolling march of strident drums. 

The breathless style of singing Night deploys in the bridge evokes the physical sensation of anxiety equally as much as the lyrics do, and there is a constant plea to "Just. Let. Me. Breathe." With 'Anxieties (Out of Time)' the band are conveying a sense of strength through candid honesty and vulnerability, creating a powerful message wrapped up in an irresistibly catchy brightly coloured package. More power to their elbow. 

Songs of the year, Number 4: Harkin - Body Clock (Official Video)

The first single released from Harkin's second album, Honeymoon Suite, 'Body Clock' was a marked sonic departure from her self titled debut. Entirely self recorded and self produced at home during lockdown, the album relied on electronic instrumentation equally as much as, if not more than, guitars. The result was a series of intricate and precise songs that mixed electronic soundscape with the rigours and surging guitars of indie rock. 

In the case of 'Body Clock', the result is a layered soundscape with a real sense of surging urgency that not only reflects the realities of lockdown in the UK but also the sense of determination felt by Harkin to continue working and recording, despite limitations and restrictions. The accompanying video, by Pastel Castle, is soothingly idyllic and pastoral on one hand while also feeling like an immersive video game. A tour de force of ingenuity, creativity and talent.  

Songs of the year, Number 5: Aubrey Haddard - Green As Ever [Official Video]

Brooklyn singer/songwriter Aubrey Haddard released her second album, Awake And Talking, back in August. A dreamy folk pop soundscape with crystalline vocals and gorgeous harmonies, Haddard was drawing on ideas around mythology and "intangible thoughts" rather than singing directly about relationships and personal feelings. Which is not to say that she's working entirely in the abstract - the song 'Someone's Daughter' being fairly furious - but things are less direct in the main. The imagery is slightly blurred and understated.  

The standout track was the single 'Green As Ever', a gorgeous but slightly pensive piece with burnished guitars, sweet but slightly world weary vocals and great hooks. It is highly evocative of long summer days spent in wistful introspection and wanderings. "Don't tell me when the summer ends" she sings, her vocal soaring as she adds "I'll be gone."

There's a charmingly pastoral aspect to the song that evokes everything from Now the light is fading era Maggie Rogers to July Flame era Laura Veirs, early Belle and Sebastian and Camera Obscura, and 1960s US West Coast folk rock acts. The song is sweet and sad at the same time, and it doesn't overstay its welcome. It is the spirit of summer distilled into four minutes. 

Songs of the year, Number 6: Ellur - Close To You (Official Video)

Halifax singer/songwriter Ellur released 'Close To You' in the summer, and it's seaside themed video (filmed in Bridlington) coupled with a ferociously self recriminating take on infatuation made it the perfect wistful heatwave soundtrack. 

The doleful vocals contrast well with the intricate but subtle guitar work, urgent pounding drums and catchy but clever lyrics. There are echoes of nineties grunge and more recent indie singer/songwriters such as Ailbhe Reddy, but Ellur's more recent output suggests that 'Close To You' was unusual in its use of guitar and that synth driven pop might be closer to her usual sound. 

Whichever direction she goes in, 'Close To You' is still a sun soaked summer banger and future tracks are awaited with keen anticipation. 

Songs of the year, Number 7: Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Burning (Official Video)

Taken from the indie rock legends fifth studio album (and their first in almost ten years), 'Burning' harks back to everything that was ever good about the Yeah Yeah Yeah's while also signalling where they might go next.

It's a taut, stylish slice of soul tinged rock that opens with hazy strings and increasingly dominant piano chords. Karen O is in soul girl punk preacher mode here and the track has a passing resemblance to the Dusty Springfield favourite 'I Close My Eyes And Count To Ten', at least initially. An abrupt shift in mood and sonic atmospherics gives it a cinematic feel to rival any of the John Barry songs for the James Bond franchise. There's also echoes of Standing In The Way of Control era Gossip. The result is a giddyingly intense white knuckle ride which sweeps the listener along in its wake.

It feels like the song at the end of the world in many ways, such is the overwhelming nature of the piece. Almost apocalyptic. Brace yourselves. 

Songs of the year, Number 8: Ibeyi - Lavender and Red Roses feat. Jorja Smith (Official Music Video)

Afro-French-Cuban twin sister duo Ibeyi released their third album Spell 31 back in May. The title is a reference to a passage in the Egyptian Book of the Dead, which is quoted within the album's soundscape. 

On 'Lavender and Red Roses' they perform three part harmonies with Walsall superstar Jorja Smith and the effect is stunningly good. Minimal beats and subtle instrumentation serve to provide a bed for the vocals, which are very much the star of the show here. Lyrically, it seems to be about the anguish and powerlessness that comes from trying (and failing) to save a loved one from an indeterminate darkness while knowing that, sooner or later, you will have to cut the chord. 

That Smith's vocals blend and weave so seamlessly with those of Lisa-Kaindé Diaz and Naomi Diaz is at the heart of the tracks success. It would be nice to hear future collaborations between the three of them in the future, either as an Ibeyi release or as a Jorja Smith release, but independently and together, all three artists are always worth a listen. 

Songs of the year, Number 9: TWICE - Gone

Premier K Pop band TWICE formed in 2015 and quickly built up stratospheric sales and giddying levels of fame in both South Korea and Japan. In recent years, they've begun to look towards the international market but have yet to reach the giddying levels of international stardom achieved by the boyband BTS.

'Gone' is taken from their 2022 EP, Between 1&2 and it begins dramatically with atmospheric strings that signal the brooding nature of the song, which appears to be about an unhappy relationship. The band are multilingual, and this is reflected in the ease with which they switch languages. The killer hook ("I see the lies on the tip of your tongue") begins in English before switching back and forth between languages. There's also an immaculate rapid fire rap, which adds additional attitude and dimension to the track, increasing its level of pure pop irresistibility. 

Fellow K Pop girl band BLACKPINK have built similar levels of global recognition to TWICE but there seems to be a preference for the boys over the girls which I don't entirely understand. Someone who knows more about K Pop than me will no doubt be able to explain it to me but, for now, I remain bemused.

Songs of the year, Number 10: Sampa The Great - Never Forget ft. Chef 187, Tio Nason, Mwanjé (Official...

An ambitious salute to Zamrock, 'Never Forget' sees Zambian born Sampa return to her roots literally and figuratively (she left Australia for Zambia at the start of the pandemic) with a fiercely proud sprawling, collaborative track that mixes hip hop with the sounds of Zambia, past and present. 

A collaboration between Sampa, her sister and singer Mwanjé, their cousin singer/songwriter, designer and director Tio Nason and Zambian hip hop artist Chef 187, the result is an incredibly moving and powerful track than transcends genre and instead becomes a cross between a tribute and a statement of intent. It has an incredibly moving sense of dignity and power that is only enhanced by its evocative and atmospheric video. 

Songs of the year, Number 11: Lucky Iris - [i'm not good at writing] love songs

A particularly irresistible ear worm courtesy of the Leeds synth pop duo, who describe themselves on their Facebook profile as making "Passive aggressive pop bops for the faint hearted". They also have a good line in charmingly self depreciating tweets.

'[I'm not good at writing] love songs' maintains the bands refreshingly candid lyrics but marries them to a strong hook and memorable chorus, guaranteeing that the resulting track will be stuck in your head for days. 

"How does one go through so much pain? Cos I'm not used to it" singer Maeve tentatively asks, adding later "Give me a break, I think I need it. I'm hard enough on myself - I don't need any feedback".

If Portland's electro dream pop band Wild Ones were still going, I'd be fantasising about a joint tour. As it is, Lucky Iris are slowly but surely building up their repertoire and their following and I look forward to whatever they decide to do next.

Songs of the year, Number 12: Nova Twins - Cleopatra (Lyric Video)

Metal queens Nova Twins scored the unlikely double whammy of both Mercury and Hercury nominations this year with their second album Supernova. It's easy to see why their modern metal sound, fuelled as it is by a combination of musical innovation, enthusiastic freshness and attitude would chime so well.

In 'Cleopatra' they swagger and boss their way through a taut three and a half minutes of riff driven rock with lyrics that embody empowerment while also taking swipes are racist stereotypes and hypocrisies. "I'm a boss bitch" snarls Amy Love, "I'm Cleopatra" and the listener can only agree.

Tremendous. 

Songs of the year, Number 13: IVVVO - Bleached Butterfly feat. Abyss X

This one off collaboration between Portuguese musician, artist and curator IVVVO and Cretan multidisciplinary artist Abyss X was keenly championed by 6Music's Maryanne Hobbs earlier this year, and received enthusiastic feedback from listeners.

The unforgiving sonic assault and stream of consciousness rapid fire lyrical delivery both hark back to No Wave artists like Lydia Lunch or the similarly uncompromising X. The result is a raw, layered and darkly sexy track which is unforgiving and unrelenting. Once heard, never forgotten. 

Songs of the year, Number 14: Kelly Lee Owens - Sonic 8

Taken from Owens' third album LP.8, 'Sonic 8' is a brooding, uncompromising, nay apocalyptic slice of sparse electro. As with Helen McCookerybook's 'Wake Up', there is a sense of something coming to the boil in this spoken word piece.

"This is an emergency" she states "This is a wake up call". Before asking "What are you gonna do about it?". 

There are references to divide and conquer and to feeling tired while wanting to be free together but she's deliberately opaque in her targets, meaning the track can be taken as a general statement about the world rather than aimed at a specific wrong or issue. As such, it's both statement and work of art.

Songs of the year, Number 15: Lynks - Hey Joe (Relax) [Music Video]

Bristol based, never-knowingly-understated 'drag monster' Lynks has been enthusiastically promoted by 6Music's Lauren Laverne in recent years. The biting satire of 'Hey Joe (Relax)' earned the self proclaimed "Best musician in the entire world" a playlist slot on the station early on in 2022. Needless to say, the sweary bits were cut or bleeped out.

By turns rude and hilarious, this enthusiastic and highly infectious slice of electro pop takes a series of clawed swipes at the wellness industry while also delivering a particularly robust 'fuck off' to an especially obnoxious ex. "Feeling are like arseholes - I don't want yours" they sing emphatically at one point. If Frankie Goes To Hollywood had not been introduced to Trevor Horn, it might have sounded like this.

Songs of the year, Number 16: Helen McCookerybook - Wake Up (and Smell the Coffee)

Helen McCookerybook's post lockdown album Drawing on my Dreams was released in October, and 'Wake Up (and Smell the Coffee)' has been a favourite of mine ever since I first heard it. 

It contains a central allegory towards societal dissatisfaction that, like the coffee, is coming to the boil. The core message is wrapped up in a very stylish slice of sophisticated anthemic acoustic pop which is powered by McCookerybook's choppy guitar work and Anne Wood's beguiling violin. 

It's not so much a song of anger as a subtle call to arms, one that's sung with understated charm. It also feels like a song that has the potential to travel far and wide, being heard and perhaps covered by other artists from a variety of different places. Only time will tell.

Songs of the year, Number 17: Hatchie - Giving The World Away (Official Video)

'Giving The World Away', as the title track of Hatchie's second album, serves to demonstrate the extent to which the Australian artist has moved away from the sunny jangly indie pop (or, as Pitchfork put it, "sparkly shoegaze") of her debut and towards a darker, more complex indie rock that owes more to early nineties baggy, indie dance and the bleaker end of shoegaze. The video for the track only echoes this so it's safe to assume that it's a conscious move, one that leads us to speculate as to what would happen if you mated early nineties Saint Etienne with similar period My Bloody Valentine, released it on Sarah records and then let Northern Picture Library loose on it. 

The muscular, layered and complex 'Giving The World Away' rises above its various influences and incorporates its different elements well. There is plenty of flange and distortion, echoes and fades, piano riffs and solid beats here but there's also Hariette Pilbeams still-charming vocals and a solid chorus that will stay in your head for days. 

A class act.

Songs of the year, Number 18: John Cale - NIGHT CRAWLING (Official Video)

When John Cale released 'Night Crawling' back in the summer he said that its inspiration was 1970's New York and David Bowie, which does come across in this somewhat singular loping slice of textured electro.  It also sounds an awful lot like the more recent works of John Grant and, as such, can be seen to be straddling both the past and the present without any obvious sonic discomfort. 

Deantoni Parks provides extra drums, and Dustin Boyer backing vocals but Cale played all the instruments and it seems to have been something of a labour of love for him. Given the shut-in nature of the past two years, it's understandable that Cale, like so many of us, would become nostalgic for a past when we could roam the streets at night, going from club to club, gig to gig. 

Cale toured in October and as such 'Night Crawling' served to act as something of a calling card and promise of what was to come.

Songs of the year, Number 19: PIT PONY - Supermarket (Official Video)

This tight-as-fuck Tyneside punk band combine attitude and competence with commanding vocals. No one has actually compared Jackie Purver to Pauline Murray yet, but she certainly has a similarly powerful voice. 

Pit Pony's debut album World To Me was released in July and the highly atmospheric 'Supermarket' was one of the standout tracks. There is a palpable sense of tension and of being haunted in the lyrics that only enhances the Stooges-meets-Joy-Division brooding guitars and urgent drums within the track. 

Despite being championed by 6Music's Maryanne Hobbs, it feels as though Pit Pony haven't yet received the attention and praise that they fully deserve. Some of that is bad luck and it will be interesting to see if touring and (we can only hope) festival bookings go some way towards redressing the balance. They definitely feel like a band who would be astonishingly good live. 

Songs of the year, Number 20: The Linda Lindas - Talking To Myself

The Linda Linda's first came to public attention back in 2021 when they played a gig at LA Public Library that included the very timely track 'Racist Sexist Boy'. Footage of the song went viral online and led directly to Epitaph signing the band.

It could have been easy for cynical journalists to write off this group of teen and pre-teen punk girls as a fad, but it quickly became apparent that the band - despite their youth - were relatively seasoned performers who had been quietly honing their songwriting and performance skills for a number of years.

Kathleen Hanna praised their cover of Bikini Kill's 'Rebel Girl' (used in the 2021 film adaptation of teen novel Moxie, itself heavily Riot Grrrl inspired) and their debut album, Growing Up, was released this year. 

'Talking To Myself', a jaunty punk pop ear worm of a song, was one of the singles and it has an exuberant charm that is reminiscent of another LA punk pop band: The Go-Go's. It came as no surprise then when The Linda Lindas released a cover of 'Tonite' which - as with 'Rebel Girl' - certainly matched the original.

Songs of the year, Number 21: whenyoung - A Little Piece Of Heaven (Official Video)

whenyoung began life as Sisters in West Ireland back in 2016 and already have one album under their belts.

'A Little Piece Of Heaven', which was released back in September, is a slice of uplifting indie synth driven pop with vocals reminiscent of both The Sundays and Chvrches. It's subtly anthemic and should play as well live as it does through speakers and headphones. 

There's a lot of musical and lyrical layers to the song and, as such, it is one of those that you get different things from with repeated listens.

Songs of the year, Number 22: Princess Chelsea - The Forest

Taken from Princess Chelsea's debut solo album, the reassuringly titled Everything Is Going To Be Alright, 'The Forest' is a strutting, self confident, expansive slice of guitar driven indie rock. On one level, it feels as though it might comfortably share sonic space with the more garage rock driven tracks from Angel Olsen's My Woman album, but there's a darker, slightly gothic aspect to the track that suggests discontent bubbling below the surface. 

This might feel out of character when set against Chelsea's musical past in Auckland bands such as Teenwolf and twee pop outfit The Brunettes, but the whole context of Everything Is Going To Be Alright is of a sort of musical comfort blanket being created from a state of darkness so maybe it's not so unexpected after all. 

Sit back and enjoy this sprawling slice of indie rock, let it take you by the hand and lead you through the big scary woods, and back out again. 

The big end of year roundup post

Welcome to my annual round up of all things great, funny, thought provoking and generally excellent!

It's fair to say that 2022 has been a bloody weird, frequently sad, often farcical kind of a year. Who knows what future historians and cultural critics will make of this peculiar omnishambles.  

That said, there have definitely been many memorable moments, at least some of which will no doubt last the test of time. So, without further ado...

Albums of the year 

12) Raveena, Asha's Awakening

11) Hatchie, Giving The World Away

10) The Regrettes, Further Joy

9) Wet Leg, Wet Leg

8) Helen McCookerybook, Drawing on my dreams

7) Ibeyi, Spell 31

6) Hinako Omori, a journey...

5) The Linda Linda's, Growing Up

4) Zola Jesus, Arkhon

3) Aubrey Haddard, Awake And Talking

2) Harkin, Honeymoon Suite

1) Florence + The Machine, Dance Fever

Photo by Matt Seymour on Unsplash

12 books I've read and loved this year

(For reasons of space, I haven't included the two books I've reviewed this year. You can read about them here though)

Viv Albertine, To throw away unopened

Tracey Thorn, My rock'n'roll friend

Ellis Peters, Brother Cadfael's penance

Lemn Sissay, My name is why: a memoir

Neil Gaiman, The ocean at the end of the lane

Mercedes Lackey, Take a Thief

Phillip Pullman, The Secret Commonwealth

Ottessa Moshfegh, My year of rest and relaxation

Nicola Upson, Two for Sorrow

Vikas Swarup, The accidental apprentice

Kate Adie, Fighting on the Home Front: the legacy of women in World War I

Eliot Higgins, We Are Bellingcat: an intelligence agency for the people 

Podcasts and radio from 2022

I've probably listened to more radio than podcasts this year and would like to give a special mention to Radio 4's serial/podcast The Boy In The Woods, which proved to be a more hard hitting and sensitive take on the True Crime oevre than is often the case. The follow up discussion programme was an often uncomfortable, but very necessary, listen.

An equally necessary, but also often uncomfortable listen was Andrey Kurkov's Letter from Ukraine which took a very simple programme idea (we can safely assume the inspiration came from Alistair Cooke's Letter From America) and used it to great effect.

The return of Alfie Moore's It's A Fair Cop has also been a highlight, as has Natalie Haynes Stands Up For The Classics and Marian Keyes and Tara Flynn's gentle, thought provoking, often hilarious Now You're Asking. The much needed More Or Less meanwhile has really been earning its keep over the past two or three years. Also worth a listen would be the dramatisation of a very unusual lightly satirical historical novel, Three Fires, which has a lot to tell us about the world today and the Florence Pugh episode of the always great This Cultural Life. A much more poignant radio moment was Roger Bolton's final show presenting Radio 4's Feedback programme.

In a similar vein, the big radio news this year for me has been the BBC's baffling decision to bin Radio 4Extra at some point in the next three years. Jake Yap did a particularly excoriating rant on the station about this decision a few months ago, complete with War Of The Worlds style sound bed, and while I'd very much like to hear it again internet searches have not turned it up. In recent months, it's begun to feel like the long term strategy is to spend even less money on this cheap as chips station than usual in the hope that all the listeners will gradually switch off, thus justifying the original binning off of the station. The recent scrapping of Podcast Radio Hour confirms this, and you can listen to their final episode here. For a station that began as BBC7 and which provided us with Ben Moor's Undone, this is a tragedy. 

In podcast land, Private Eye's Page 94 very much continues to deliver and I fully intend to catch up on We Are History and Best Pick over Christmas.

Photo by Enis Yavuz on Unsplash

7 articles I've found interesting/enjoyable this year (Quirky)

Crossrail: High risk security breach as first 'customer' rides train (Ian Weinfass, Construction News)

Man 'reunited with false teeth... 11 YEARS after vomiting them into a bin in Benidorm' (Thomas George, Manchester Evening News)

Train hits trampoline after Storm Dudley blows it onto tracks (John Jones, Wales Online)

'Free Creme Eggs' and the smell of McVities: Why the 192 Bus is a Greater Manchester adventure (Saffron Otter, Manchester Evening News)

The etiquette of returning Tupperware: 'It always comes back with something in it' (Jennifer Curcio, The Guardian)

'My childhood dream to become a bus driver came true' says drag queen (Ruth Mosalski and Kirstie McCrum, Hull Daily Mail)

The wet lettuce that lasted longer than Liz Truss (Ethan Davies, Manchester Evening News)

Photo by Magnet.me on Unsplash

12 articles I've found interesting/enjoyable this year (Not so quirky)

"Adults are banning books, but they're not asking our opinions" meet the teens of Banned Book Club (Adam Gabbatt, Hannah Yoon, The Guardian)

How residential developers are quietening culture (Lily Gordon Brown, Salt)

ImillaSkate: An indigenous Bolivian skateboard collective - photo essay (Luisa Dörr, The Guardian)

Musicians Are Begging Fans to Mask Up at Concerts. Here's Why (Nina Corcoran, Pitchfork)

Among Europe's Ex Royals (Helen Lewis, Jelka von Langen, The Atlantic) 

How to Win the Abortion Argument (Helen Lewis, The Atlantic)

Florence Welch: 'Who am I kidding? I'm a showboat!' (Kate Mossman, The Guardian)

David Oliver: My personal pandemic experience is just one of many (David Oliver, British Medical Journal)

The perfectionism trap (Josh Cohen, 1843)

WFH 101: Tips For Navigating The Future Of Remote Working (Hannah Bradfield, Journo Resources)

What Working at a Used Book Store Taught Me About Literary Rejection (Carl Lavigne, LitHub)

The Winners of China's Housing Bust: Burnouts and Beach Bums (Jiang Xinyi and Fan Yiyang, Sixth Tone)

Photo by Daria Volkova on Unsplash

6 articles I've found interesting/enjoyable this year (Ukraine)

Ukrainian artists on the Russian crisis: "Now is the time to push for change" (Andrew Trendell, NME)

Ukraine's tech community rallies to support refugees and battle misinformation (Masha Borak, Rest Of World)

Shopping lists from Ukraine's frontlines: Manchester's response to Putin's war - video (Maeve Shearlaw, Alex Healey and Katie Lamborn, The Guardian)

Pasha Lee went from Ukrainian screen idol to volunteer (The Economist)

In the war room with Volodymyr Zelensky (Oliver Carroll, 1843)

Fleeing Putin, Russian tech workers find a home in Armenia (Masha Borak, Anush Babajanyan, Rest Of World)

Songs of the year

The countdown of my favourite songs of the year will begin on this blog from Saturday 3rd December. You can also find the playlist, which will be updated in real (ish) time, over on Spotify.