As you may have guessed from all my recent posts related to BBC 6 Music, I got a digital radio for Christmas. It’s one with a built-in battery, so now I can take it anywhere in the house: no longer is my devotion to radio tied to my computer. I’ve always been a fan of terrestrial radio – Radio 4 in the morning is bordering on an obsession – but I’m quite new to the plethora of stations offered by this digital malarkey. Foremost amongst these new pretenders is the aforementioned 6 Music.
Ever since its inception I’m been hankering to hear it; terrestrial radio is frankly useless when it comes to music. Bob Harris’ show was pretty much the only program I could bear to listen to, but that was always in the wee-small-hours when I should have been out at a disco (or whatever it is us kids are supposed to be doing nowadays), and there’s only so much Americana any one brain can absorb. It also had the added danger that at any moment someone could discover you actively listening to Radio 2. A heinous crime that no friendship is likely to survive… Don’t even get me started about Radio 1, and local radio is hardly any better. Plus, XFM seems to have killed off its old image of being, you know, good and is now all nu-rave dancy tripe. 6 Music (at least from a distance) stood alone as the last bastion of good taste and intelligent playlisting.
The biggest suprise was the quaility of Guy Garvey’s Finest Hour. The airwaves are littered with ex- (and ocassionally current) musicians who’ve blagged themselves an hour or so on the radio, and they’re more-often-than-not pretty atrocious, so it was a marked shock to discover that the Elbow frontman makes for a top-notch presenter. It’s perfect listening for a Sunday evening (which is convenient, as that’s when it’s broadcast) and, as ever, it can be found on the stupendous iPlayer so there’s no excuse for missing it.
Elbow – The Bones of You
Eaten by Monsters 