Vinyl Maelstrom Ian Forth

Short stories in songs and music in stories. An episode of two halves, which coincidentally is the name of one of the tracks mentioned.In the first half, I choose ten of my favourite "short story songs" - tracks which form a more or less complete narrative. To give you a flavour, I also read out some sample lyrics from each. Those songs (in chronological order) are:1. Ode to Billie Joe, Bobbie Gentry2. Cat's in the cradle, Harry Chapin3. Up the Junction, Squeeze4. Winter, The Fall5. Regulate,...

"Why don't young people write protest songs any more? It's not like the 1960s when we cared about the world and weren't glued to a screen."You might have heard this argument. Protest songs are usually thought to have disappeared or at the very least dwindled in their power and influence. But is that true?A careful examination reveals a quite different story, of an art form that not only never went away but evolved into something less visible to many but still vibrant and compelling.And ...

Tim Sommer in LA Weekly sums up the debate: “It is not just that Kraftwerk invented the future of music; it is that a startling amount of the music you hear today, from the most obscure indie rock to the most mainstream pop to literally everything in between, bears the impression of their invention.Until the moment “Autobahn” hit the airwaves in the autumn of 1974, nothing like it had ever existed. Kraftwerk placed cheerfully familiar pop modes within an entirely synthetic and rhythmic f...

Film aficionado James Hillhouse takes us through his choice of the ten maverick soundtracks which changed the movie rules for good. Here are some clips from them:1. King Kong (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MMNICLfHE3M)2. Alexander Nevsky (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IcPixaWL2Pg)3. The Adventures of Robin Hood (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5UJ6g2Zhwgg)4. Citizen Kane (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sdrzbpnls6g&list=PLh3-icSKvfhm4ggXDrKqyuafvfZdW_wed)5. Forbidden Planet (https://w...

Spotify. All the music, all of the time. That's got to be a good thing, right? Not everyone agrees. In this episode, we'll take a look at:- Does Spotify pay artists fairly?- Does it provide access to bands that didn't exist before?- Has it encouraged disposability in music listening?- Has it created a musical echo chamber for listeners?- Has it created a new world of haves and have-nots in music?Join us for a discussion on the rights and wrongs of the world's most popular streaming platform.&...

Back in 1985 Band Aid and Live Aid raised over 100 million pounds for famine relief in Ethiopia. Few question that it saved many thousands of lives. So, job done, case closed?The reality is more nuanced.In this episode we ask the questions:- What are the problems with the song "Do they know it's Christmas?" (the clue is in the title)- Where were the African artists at Live Aid? Was "fame" really the only thing that mattered in choosing the performers?- Did all the aid go where it should or di...