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Continuing my trip down The Guardian's  Top 50 TV Shows of 2021 .   #12 :  Uprising Following his Small Axe anthology series last year, Steve McQueen returned with a documentary that dug much deeper into a subject that underpinned many episodes. Uprising told the story of the 1981 New Cross fire, carefully setting it in political context, then unleashing the horror of a crime that took 13 Black lives, then refusing to back down from its consequences. Unbelievably powerful. Steve McQueen making a documentary on black issues - I think we're probably in safe hands here and I can expect to be educated through some stark, horrific facts which very much reflect the time.  To my shame, I don't remember the fire but I suspect a lot of the imagery on display will be familiar (from the news, if not necessarily from my life experiences). And we start with a brief statement of facts about the fire, before being introduced to a load of people who I suspect we're going to be ...

  So, we've made it though 2021 - was it a classic year at the top of the charts? Overall, I'd say "No" - pretty average at best.  The overriding take-away for me was the number of albums which came straight in at #1 and then (mostly) disappeared from view in a couple of weeks.  All in all, there were 42 albums that "debuted atop the charts" (as Wikipedia loves to put it for no obvious reason) - the days of such things being rare are long gone and it appears to be the norm these days.  I'm guessing it's a combination of loyal fanbases (often buying physical albums, which count for more) and "new release" playlists.  Of the weeks that weren't a new entry at the top, the vast majority were either Adele or Olivia - nice to see the ladies doing well. Looking at the top albums on the year-end chart Adele, Ed , Abba and Olivia are the obvious winners from this year (#1-4 respectively) - surprisingly, Olivia's offering was far and away ...

Continuing my trip back in time through the album charts 01/01/21 :  Christmas - Michael Bublé Ah - a bit of Bublé!  I won't hear a word against the man or the album - yes, it's cheese but it's cheese of the highest quality.  If you don't know the album, then you ruddy well should (do people still say ruddy?) - but it's not one to play in March, I'd suggest. We're at #1 this week - the fourth week it's spent there, but the first since almost exactly nine years ago (when it was first released).  It generally gets a run of 8-10 weeks in the chart every year - you can probably guess which months this happens in.  I'm guessing Xmas week isn't the most popular time to release an album with no new entries in the top ten and only two in the top 100 with Playboi Carti at #17 and Lil Durk at #26 (and I don't feel the need to listen to either of them).  17 re-entries in the top 100 though as everyone takes the opportunity to listen to greatest hits alb...

Continuing my trip back in time through the album charts 08/01/21 :  Evermore - Taylor Swift Taylor who?  Never heard of her.  Oh - that Taylor!  This is the fifth of her albums I've had the pleasure of listening to and was one of two that she unexpectedly dropped in 2020 and I quite liked Folklore when I met it, so I have reasonable hopes for this one. And well, it's perfectly fine but nothing more than that on first listen.  It's a collection of "nice" songs that I have no objection to, but can't really remember a thing about them - I think I liked one of them more than the others, but I couldn't tell you which one it was.  Which ain't all that useful now, is it? For a change, we're not at #1 with a new entry - we're still at #1 though!  This is her second time at the top - she dipped down to #2 over Xmas and the New Year and has managed 66 weeks on the charts in total so far.  There were no new entries in the top ten this week - amazingly, t...

Continuing my trip forward in time through the album charts. 25/03/22 :  Crash - Charli XCX I'm a bit of a fan of the female singer/songwriter, dance-y thang and I'm aware of Charli and like her stuff without thinking it's top of that musical genre (personally, I would go for La Roux, Little Boots or Marina before her), but I really can't help but admire the confidence shown by a 29 year old (who signed her first record deal 12 years ago!).  I'm expecting more of the same from this... ...and it pretty much delivers - as long as you play it loud enough!  "Good Ones" and "Beg For You" are both very fine tracks indeed - and the rest of the album is perfectly acceptable as well.  It's not exactly breaking new ground, but it's an enjoyable enough listen if you like this sort of thing (which I do!).  I'm not convinced the album cover is looking to make me go "ewww - that fingernail" though... We're straight in at #1 this week ...

Continuing my trip back in time through the album charts 15/01/21 :  Greenfields: The Gibb Brothers Songbook (Vol 1) - Barry Gibb I'm aware of who Barry is, so I was assuming this was him recording some Bee Gee songs - can't say I was expecting too much from it... ...and well, there's a bit more to it than that, I can tell you.  He's recorded Bee Gee songs with country artists giving them a decidedly countryish/soft rock spin.  It's an interesting exercise which generally works surprisingly well although obviously it works better in some places than in others.  I can't say it's exactly my sort of thing but I did like "Too Much Heaven" with Alison Krauss and "To Love Somebody" with Jay Buchanan.  I can't say I'm a huge fan of Barry's voice, but it's not at all bad for a 75 year old.  I'll also say that the album made me want to listen to the original versions as well, so I guess it works doubly well for everyone. We...

Continuing my trip back in time through the album charts 22/01/21 :  SUCKAPUNCH - You Me At Six I seem to recall You Me At Six are a bit like Bring Me The Horizon, but either a bit more or a bit less rocky.   But I couldn't be sure enough to tell you which... ...ah, yes - less rocky, but still pretty rocky.  In theory, this is more the sort of thing I like and I did find myself toe-tapping along at times.  But after a few songs, I did find it all blending together and, whilst I still liked it, I couldn't say I'd recognise any of it ever again.  Except for "Beautiful Way" with its amusingly child-unfriendly singalong chorus, which I liked a lot. We're at #1 in the chart this week with one of those amusing albums that spends one week at the top and then completely disappears from view.  Other new entries in the top ten are Sleaford Mods (#4 - glad I didn't have to suffer that one), Why Don't We (#5 - never heard of them) and Shame (#8 - I think I've ...

Continuing my trip down The Guardian's  Top 50 TV Shows of 2021 .   #4 :  Succession For half a season, the third outing of this captivating drama about a dysfunctional media dynasty took things slowly. Then it went supernova, finding a gear that, even by the show’s own impossible standards, it had never found before. It’s not overstating it to say that this was the show’s best ever run of episodes. So - I've wanted to watch Succession for ages but never even started it, so this is a good thing right?  Well, yes - except that I had to watch seasons 1 and 2 before I could watch season 3, so it was a bit of undertaking which I started on 21st January and finished on 26th March - 29 episodes in 64 days (whilst watching a load of other stuff as well) And since I had to watch all the seasons, I'm going to briefly write them up - Season 1 introduces us to the Roy family and a right family of unlovable monsters they are too.  But they're a very well written and ac...

Continuing my trip back in time through the album charts 29/01/21 :  POST HUMAN: SURVIVAL HORROR - Bring Me The Horizon I'm aware of BMTH and somewhat surprised they never popped up on my run through #AOTD.  They're not really my cup of tea - I don't mind the music but the "singing" tend to annoy me (yeah, yeah - OK grandad.  Go back to your gramophone). Either way, there's not really anything on here to convince me otherwise - although I did enjoy spotting the sample from Le Mystere Des Voix Bulgares (which is an album I'll write up about some day, because it really was most peculiar purchase by a teenage me - but one I still love).  The BMTH album is fine when he's not shouty-growling at me (and I'd go as far as saying I liked "Obey"), but there's little danger of me revisiting it, I'm afraid.  I appreciated the tight 32 minute runtime though and "One Day The Only Butterflies Left Will Be In Your Chest As You March Towards ...

Continuing my trip back in time through the album charts 05/02/21 :  Not Your Muse - Celeste I'm aware of Celeste and like her voice, but feel most of the tracks I've heard her on just seem to involve somewhat pointless warbling so I've struggled to engage.  So I'm pretty much expecting the same... ...but actually I quite liked it.  There's still a reasonable amount of pointless warbling on there but she does pick it up and run with it on some tracks.  She's certainly got a lovely voice, but nearly everyone does in this area - I can't help but feel her lovely hair helps her stand out from the crowd (but I'm not sure that comes across whilst listening to the album though).  If you like Arlo Parks, Corinne Bailey Rae and that kind of thing (which I do when I'm in the mood) then check this out - you're probably going to like it.  All you metalheads out there can probably give this one a swerve though... We're straight in at #1 this week - she ma...

Continuing my trip back in time through the album charts 12/02/21 :  The Highlights - The Weeknd A greatest hits package - I'm expecting to recognise the big hits and find the rest of it bearable, but probably not interesting enough that I'll feel the need for 18 tracks over 76 minutes. And yeah, that's pretty much where we are although I was surprised at how quickly I grew bored of the whole thing.  The album is very front loaded with his recognisable (by me, at least) hits - after that it all gets very samey (and ruder!).  If you like The Weeknd, then I'm sure you'll like this but I don't think it feels very likely to create too many new fans. We're at #2 in the charts this week and the boy has been in the charts ever since - 58 weeks so far.  Which I suspect even Mr Weeknd would struggle to claim is particularly justified - I think there's some jiggery-pokery around "best of" albums and streaming playlists which means this happens, so I susp...

Continuing my trip forward in time through the album charts. 18/03/22 :  Who Cares? - Rex Orange County I'm often out and about on taxi duty in the early evenings and Radio 1 often plays music at this time of day claiming "it's the next big thing and you really have to listen to it".  Generally, it's particularly average nonsense (at best) which they've obviously been paid to be excited about, but every so often something pops up which is at least a bit interesting - and recently Rex Orange County has been mentioned more often than not around such things.  And that's pretty much all I can tell you about them (pronouns carefully chosen at this point in time to hide my ignorance rather than for any particular preference on their part). And having listened to it, I can tell you they're a he - but that's pretty much all I can tell you.  I liked it, but I'd struggle to describe exactly what I heard or why I liked it.  I was left feeling intrigued an...

Continuing my trip back in time through the album charts 19/02/21 :  TYRON - Slowthai A couple of years back, everyone went mad for Slowthai.  Everyone except for me, that is, because I was somewhat baffled by his popularity - I found it all just a bit of a shouty sonic mess.  So imagine my joy at finding this next in line - I was so happy that I chose to listen to Marillion first instead.  However, there's no avoiding my duty, so here we go... Yeah - my opinion has not changed.  I just don't understand the appeal, I'm afraid - whereas Ghetts seems to have something to say and thinks about how he wants to say it, Slowthai just sounds like he's doing some shouting about nothing over some random noises.  Some of the noises are slightly interesting, but as a total package it's just not for me.  No sir-ree!  I do like the album cover though. Straight in at #1, he managed four weeks on the chart before disappearing.  Other new entries in the top ...

Continuing my trip back in time through the album charts 26/02/21 :  Conflict Of Interest - Ghetts I can't say I'm familiar with Ghetts' work, but I was intrigued to listen to this because it was one of the few albums that appeared on a lot of "best of 2021" lists without making it on to The Guardian list, so I haven't been made to listen to it yet (and yes, I could have just listened to the damn thing - but I think we know it doesn't work that way, don't we?). And yeah, it's an impressive piece of work - it reminds me of Dave or J Hus, but a bit more stripped back.  I suspect I only understood 10% of what I heard - if I'd paid attention I feel I might have upped that to at least 20%, but it's not really speaking to me about my lifestyle (and let's face it that would not make for an entertaining album).  But it flows along nicely with some impressive vocal work - very fast at times, but still expressive and it all sounds great over head...

Continuing my trip up The Guardian's   Top 50 Films of 2021   #34 :   The Velvet Underground Todd Haynes’ documentary about the celebrated art-rockers, with insights from former members and friends, takes its job seriously and gets under the band’s skin. Now - this is an interesting one.  As part of the Rolling Stone exercise, I had to listen to four Velvet Underground albums and, whilst some parts were certainly interesting, for the most part I hated them.  So I can't say I'm looking forward to any archive footage.  But - there's no doubt that everyone in and close to the group has lived fascinating lives and their influence has ranged far and wide - not so much during the group's existence, but everyone claims to be fans now (except me!).  And Todd Haynes is no slouch when it comes to making films (I particularly liked Carol ), so I'm intrigued as to what I'm going to think about it all.  Not sure I was going to find it a particularly fun-packed...