Music Television 2.5

Glastonbury 2019: Neneh Cherry / Foals
The former, now effectively working as Mabel's Mum, did a good mix of classics and beyond. The latter, working as mystery special guests, also worked well to blend their favourites with their new material.

Glastonbury 2019: Courteeners / Liam Gallagher
The former are a band from Manchester whose songs are OK without ever causing any waves. The latter is the guy who killed Oasis, who has a 2nd solo album due in September, and did a good few Oasis numbers here.

Glastonbury 2019: Kylie Minogue
The Aussie popstress finally, after 14 years, made it to the Sunday afternoon legends spot. She managed to get her most downer number, Where The Wild Roses Grow, in with Nick Cave duetting. So she could do no wrong. The show was followed by part of Miley Cyrus' turn, including bringing out her dad and Lil Nas X to do the unfathomably popular Old Town Road.

Liam vs Noel - Brothers at War
Another new look at the lifelong musical feud. They didn't always get on in Oasis, but 10 years ago they finally split after Liam went too far and Noel decided to do something else with his life. All agree that if Noel had stuck out the last 2 gigs on that tour, Oasis would have stayed together. But they didn't, and despite Liam's eagerness to reform, the ball's in Noel's court where it will remain.

Glastonbury 2019: The Chemical Brothers / Wu-Tang Clan
More Saturday night headlining, the former have a long career to work with and a new album. They were I think booked after original choice The Prodigy were sadly deprived of Keith Flint. They did well. WTC did their thing, and fans would have enjoyed it. It compared better to that Jacksons turn from the other year.

Sputnik - Brian Travers
Longstanding member of UB40 who's recently had chemotherapy for 2 tumours, but clearly on the mend. He painted some of their album artwork, and loved Jamaican reggae. The band were still on tour without him, he couldn't travel on planes with his condition.

Glastonbury 2019: Billie Eilish / The Good, The Bad & The Queen
Will she be this year's model, or a flash in the pan? A next album may tell. As for the latter, a supergroup reformed after a long hiatus, but enjoying their current run of creativity.

Lle Aeth Pawb? Merched Pop '65-'75
Sain Records have put together a compilation of female singers from days of yore, some of whom had remained in singing after their fame faded, but most hadn't. There were bands like Y Pelydrau and Y Diliau, and solo acts like Evelyn Bridger, Mari Griffith and Eleri Llwyd.

Glastonbury 2019: The Cure
Sunday night headliners at the Pyramid Stage, first time since 1995. They had a 40 year back catalogue to play with, so the show ran a good 2 hours. Suggesting that audiences can get Friday I'm In Love or The Love Cats but not both, on this night they did the former. They closed on Boys Don't Cry. Also lumped in to fill out the running time were acts including the Streets, Little Simz and Fantastic Negrito.

Gilvve Gollat - Mari Boine
The inclusion of the Norwegian Radio Orchestra seems a pointer here, but they were a band/duo rather than a solo act. Pleasant tunes, words that could have meant anything.

The Payback: Hip-Hop
The usual kind of story, covering 30 years or so of this music, with Grand Master Caz somewhat disaffected by the modern scene, Ice T showing how the acts expanded what was possible because they had to, Roxanne Shante had been left a bit of a bystander, and Young Thug spoke for the up-to-date crew.

I Can Go For That - The Smooth World of Yacht Rock
Somewhat spurious 2-parter fronted by Katie Puckrik, looking at the years 1976-86, and how acts like the Doobie Brothers and Toto tapped into a sound and a mood that sold big, whether in the somewhat wayward latter years of the 70s, or the forthright early years of the 80s. She considered big obvious names like Hall & Oates, but also lesser lights like Jeffrey Osbourne and Ned Doheny. She even considered Michael Jackson's Thriller, given the Toto connection on tracks like Human Nature.

Short Rides with John Adams
He was a composer-in-residence with the Berlin Philharmonic, which inevitably led to Simon Rattle and various orchestra members talking fondly of his works with them.

Glastonbury 2019: Janelle Monae / Christine and the Queens
Two more headliners from the final night, tapping into similar & different markets. Monae has had the longer career, and put on a spirited show, bringing on members of the audience, and going walkabout in the crowd herself. Christine had dance steps aplenty, and fitted in a cover of Bowie's "Heroes" too.

Best of Glastonbury 2019
Obligatory 2 hour round-up show, many of which acts were already featured prominently during the actual broadcasts. But it was a better year than some have been.

TOTP2: 2001 - Space Oddity
Short compilation originally from 2001, repeated as part of the 50th anniversary of the Moon landing, and comprising performances of space related tracks from the obvious (Starman and Sleeping Satellite) to the somewhat vaguer (Simply Red's Stars and Dollar's Shooting Star). Any excuse for Clouds Across The Moon though.

Sommernachtskonzert
The annual summer concert at the Schonbrunn Palace. Whether it still gets shown in the UK if we leave the EU is anyone's guess. The program had a somewhat American tangent, whether Gershwin, Copland, Bernstein and Sousa, and some Dvorak added in.

Classic Albums: The "Chirping" Crickets
Could have sworn I'd done a Buddy Holly thread by now. Anyway, the few surviving band members were well complemented by contemporaries like Cliff Richard and later fans like Richard Thompson and Peter Frampton. The double-edged sword of Norman Petty taking extra credit which he didn't deserve, especially from Jerry Allison who actually did co-write with Buddy, was the sourest note. Against that, Cliff told how Hank Marvin's famous red Fender Strat came because they ordered one just like Buddy Holly's, but got one delivered that was pink. A happy accident.

Matangi / Maya / M.I.A.
Sri Lankan born, London raised female rapper, whose father helped found the Tamil Tigers, and who in her own musical way, has tried to be as revolutionary and defending of peace. Naturally, she has been labelled a terrorist as a result, usually by people with a shaky grasp of what it means. Paper Planes will always be an epic choon. This doc includes her Superbowl appearance backing Madonna, where she got slagged for flipping the bird on camera. Madonna's backing her up was not included, if indeed it happened.

First Night of the Proms 2019
The 8 week celebration of classical music kicked off with the BBC Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Karina Canellakis, the first female conductor to ever get to handle the prestigious First Night. Works by Dvorak and Janacek filled the bill.

A Night In With Bros
Following their big success over the festive period, this was part of a set of repeats to capitalise. Luke & Matt paid tribute to formative musical influences, duetted with KT Tunstall on a version of I Quit, they performed When Will I Be Famous?, Sister and finished with a cover of Stevie Wonder's Superstition, and Matt got his own talk show, where he chatted one-on-one with the likes of Mo Farah and Frank Bruno. It's nice they're belatedly getting some positive recognition.

TUNE: The Vaccines
The Scottish show is headlined by the Vaccines playing Motherwell, and includes features on happy hardcore nostalgia, performances from Zoe Graham and Paque, and a chat to Vukovi who have new music out and were between tours at time of filming.

The Godfathers of Hardcore
The story of Agnostic Front, a New York hardcore punk band, chiefly Vinnie Stigma and Roger Miret, plus various band members past and present. Miret seemed to be considering his future, his family and his health. Stigma meanwhile will have to be dragged off stage when the time comes. They were likeable guys, the music wasn't wholly to my taste, but it was an informative show.

BBC Proms 2019: Joshua Bell plays Dvorak
The Bamberg Symphony Orchestra were conducted by Jakub Hresa and they did a piece by Dvorak and Smetana's famous Ma Vlast. Hresa is the only Czech member of the orchestra.

TUNE: Honeyblood
They played the Stag & Dagger festival in Glasgow (there seems no end to these festivals). Elsewhere on the show was Callum Easter, a piece on Glasgow's New Punks (Baby Strange, The Lapelles, Rascalton and The Dunts for example), a tune from Oakzy B, another from Angie McMahon, and a bit about DJs and their craft (with Ida, Nightmare, Slam and others).

MTV: Live from Plymouth
A selection show, with performances and chatter from Pale Waves, The Amazons, Yungblud and headliners The Vaccines.

Gerry Cinnamon @ TRSNMT 2019
He scored well previously, and got better billing this time around. An appreciative crowd suggested he might do well in future too.

noisey: Atlanta
The story of Trap music, with Zach meeting 21 Savage, Quavo & Offset, Lil Yachty, Jeezy and Young Thug, among others. Whether their analysis is correct is a matter of time, I suppose. I'm not sure I was all that enlightened about this sound.

Loud Krazy Love
The story of KoRn, especially Brian Welch's decision to leave the band in order to try and raise his daughter properly despite a world of drugs and his wife leaving him. After eight years, he rejoins the band, an older & wiser man. His daughter seemed to have coped with her dad's whirlwind world.

BBC Proms 2019: Public Service Broadcasting
The band combine with the Multi-Storey Orchestra, conducted by Christopher Stack, to perform a long piece about the Race for Space, chiming in with the 50th anniversary of the Moon landings. Pleasant stuff.

Hollywood In Vienna: The World of Hans Zimmer
Back to the Vienna Konzerthaus to see the ORF Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra doing bits and bobs from various films that Zimmer has worked on, from The Da Vinci Code to The Lion King to Kung Fu Panda.

BBC Proms 2019: Nicola Benedetti with the NYO
The National Youth Orchestra take their turn with works by Auerbach, Tchaikowsky (helped out by the violin whizz), Marsalis and Prokofiev.

Belladrum 2019: Elbow
The first night of three, as the Scottish festival was on at a time when I could get the most out of it. Stone Broken, 90s legends Dodgy, Tom Odell and finally headliners Elbow did their stuff. Dodgy are marking 25 years since their apex album Homegrown. Odell is doing well with his 3rd album, and Elbow have a new album coming; they did a track from it, Empires, here, before finishing with One Day Like This and Grounds For Divorce.

Hayley Kiyoko's Mixtape
Never heard of her, but she's the "lesbian Jesus" apparently. She's performed with Taylor Swift, toured with Panic at the Disco. met Katy Perry at some awards in 2015, likes Bruno Mars, directs all her own videos, likes Twenty One Pilots, and met Shawn Mendes.

BBC Proms 2019: Britten and Mahler
This time it was Edward Gardner conducting the BBC Symphony Orchestra through a Piano Concerto, with Leif Ove Andsnes as soloist, and Das Lied von der Erde afterwards.

Belladrum 2019: Churches
The second night, with Elephant Sessions, Royal Sounds (a UK reggae family act), Dodie (rising Scots star), Johnny Marr (Smiths/Electronic/etc legend) and headliners Churches (they're Scottish, you see). There were chats to some of these (Marr mentioned the chance of a new Electronic album, Churches spoke of getting their 1st headline spot in Scotland).

Ibiza: The Silent Movie
Fatboy Slim helps frequent director Julien Temple with his latest effort, a history of Ibiza, how it became the way it is, and the problems it now faces.

Belladrum 2019: Friday highlights
For those missed the first two nights, an extra hour round-up with extra performances from Elbow, Dodie, Johnny Marr and Churches not seen in the other shows.

Everybody In The Place - An Incomplete History of Britain 1984-1992
An intriguing presentation from Jeremy Deller, lecturing a room of college kids, about changes in music and life between the Miner's Strike and the Criminal Justice Act, the ruse of clubs and raves, warehouse parties and drugs, threats to changing the social order, and how it all came to an end.

The Railway People
Raymond Mead visited Auschwitz and was inspired to make a musical tribute to it. He got vocal help from a survivor, Eva Moses Kor. This 2017 film was appended by a message that Eva died in 2019.

Belladrum 2019: Lewis Capaldi
The third and final night saw turns from Skerryvore, the Selecter, man of the moment Lewis Capaldi, and headliner Jess Glynne, who bothered to turn up this time.

BBC Proms 2019: Rachmaninov and Shostakovich
John Storgards conducted the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra through works by the above as well as Finnish composer Outi Tarkiainen, who was present in the crowd.

Belladrum 2019: Saturday highlights
The final hour of coverage, adding Maisie Peters to extra clips of Selecter, Skerryvore, Lewis Capaldi and Jess Glynne.

BBC Proms 2019: Angelique Kidjo
The African veteran has a new album which is a tribute to Celia Cruz, and she did material reflecting that and the rest of her career. One of her quirkier recent projects involved covering an entire Talking Heads album, and she certainly had the talent to do it well.

noisey: London
Zach tried to see what the old country had to say, with the grime scene. He talked to Kano, Ghetts, Skepta (and his brother JME), Giggs and Big Narstie. So, some of the right names, but many notable omissions.

Rhys a Meinir
How Super Furry Animals' Cian Ciaran heard a short fable and turned it into a piece of classical music, performed by the BBC National Orchestra of Wales at its premiere in Cardiff.

BBC Proms 2019: John Wilson Orchestra
10 years ago, the JWO made an impact by performing music from films. Here they did a selection specifically from Warner Brothers, which meant The Music Man, A Star Is Born, Now Voyager and Days Of Wine And Roses. An enjoyable night.

BBC Proms 2019: The Sound of Space
Robert Ames conducts the London Contemporary Orchestra through music from space-related films, like Tron, Moon, Arrival and Forbidden Planet.

The Quay Sessions: The Twilight Sad
A pleasant half hour for a lively crowd at St Lukes, Glasgow.

BBC Proms 2019: Pappano and the National Youth Orchestra
A busy blend of music from Beckman, Berlioz, Richard Strauss and a little Elgar.

Bad Reputation
Joan Jett gets her due, with dozens of contributors paying respects to the former Runaway and leader of the Blackhearts. Even Michael J Fox got in since they appeared together in one of his films. Otherwise it was Iggy Pop, Debbie Harry, Kathleen Hanna, Miley Cyrus, Pete Townshend and more. Her entry to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame came in 2015, possibly helped because a year or two before, she helped Nirvana's entrance by singing Smells Like Teen Spirit with Dave and Krist. Record company apathy seemed to dog her in the 80s, but she never stopped fighting back.

Woodstock - Three Days That Defined A Generation
One of two new docs that marked the 50th anniversary of the epoch-shaking three-day event. This used the trick of audio covering different visuals. This covered for people, such as Joe Cocker, no longer with us, but did prompt the curiosity how many of those featured were not still around. A moving account of something that almost shouldn't have happened, but did.

BBC Proms 2019: Queen Victoria's Playlist
Curious tribute night as Adam Fisher conducted the OTT-named Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment as they did works by Mendelssohn, Sullivan, Chopin, and even Prince Albert himself. One centre-piece was a special royal piano, which was Victoria's own, making its debut at the Royal Albert Hall. Hmm...

The Festival That Rocked The World
The other new piece on Woodstock, this had its interviewees in vision, most of whom seemed to have viewed attendance as a chance to test new film/cine cameras. Remarkably one of them was Clarke Peters, who went on to be a famous writer and performer himself (cf. Five Guys Named Moe). Maybe it was obligatory that someone from the crowd would have become famous for good reason later.

Cher: Do You Believe?
A lengthy plod through her story, using the drama-doc format. Her Armenian dad was an intriguing angle, and a lifelong need for acceptance led to her being able to use Sonny Bono as a stepping stone. She was reluctant to make Believe, but did it anyway. She's got a new tour coming soon too.

Snow Patrol: Ward Park 3
The Northern Irish band marked 25 years as a concern with a homecoming gig, which included most of their important hits, plus a cover of One, for which Bono himself turned up to lend a hand.

BBC Proms 2019: Rattle conducts Belshazzar's Feast
The LSO also did works by Koechlin and Varese before the titular main event.

Witness: Ghana Controversial
Another look into a part of the Afrobeats scene, with the lines of Mutombo da Poet, and the team who call themselves Fokn Bois. And the distaff view from Adomaa too.

Blue Suede Shoes: A Rockabilly Session
Carl Perkins is the anchor and focus of this 1985 special, backed up firstly by Dave Edmunds and his band, and then helped by special guests like Eric Clapton, George Harrison, Ringo Starr and Roseanne Cash. There's an intro with Johnny Cash, Roy Orbison and Jerry Lee Lewis singing his praises, but they're not in the actual show. An entertaining curio, and nice to see musicians clearly paying respect to someone they look up to (literally, too, at times).

BBC Proms 2019: Sheku Plays Elgar
Star prodigy Sheku Kanneh-Mason was playing with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, under the conducting of Mirga Grazinytle-Tyla. Besides his turn, the band did some Howell, Knussen and some Weinberg (Sheku did a little Weinberg for an encore too).

Foo Fighters at Reading 2019
Headlining on Sunday night, a whimsical contrast with the saturation coverage of other festivals. I'm not a Foos fan, but Dave's clearly a sound guy, and among banter to the crowd about past associations with Reading (going back to Nirvana days), he brought out none other than 80s legend Rick Astley for a surprise version of Never Gonna Give You Up. I can't see Dave getting to reciprocate but good stuff all the same.

Loop: Growing from the Grassroots
Scottish band Mogwai used some of their money to start a record label of their own, Rock Action Records. The band were formed in 1985, with the label in 1986. There's a good culture of such labels in Glasgow. They look after acts like The Twilight Sad. They also have their own clothing stuff. It can be done.

BBC Proms 2019: Strauss, Sibelius and Prokofiev
Yannick Nezet-Seguin conducted the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra through a programme with the titular composers, plus some Bach and Richard Strauss too.

MTV World Stage: Migos
From the Wireless Festival last summer, a short set which neither inspired me nor irritated me.

Music Icons: Diana Ross and the Supremes
She's 75. Berry Gordy turned down her band at first, but she was persistent and it paid off. Gordy ended up pushing her to the exclusion of the rest of Motown. Then she went solo and left the Supremes behind to their fates. She tried films, including The Wiz and Lady Sings The Blues. She left Motown for a while, but returned later.

BBC Proms 2019: Happy Birthday, Henry Wood
Not only have they been celebrating the 150th birthday of the conductor through the season through 33 "novelties" which he first introduced to the Proms, he even got his own special Prom, with Bramwell Tovey conducting the BBC Concert Orchestra through works by Ravel, Schumann, Tabakova, Debussy, Wagner and Grainger among others. The Tabakova piece was brand new, a tribute to Wood experiencing its own world premiere.

Music Icons: Chicago
They started out as rock n roll, but slowly Peter Cetera gained in influence until he outgrew the rest of the band, having led them to huge hits like If You Leave Me Now. They had line-up troubles and money mismanagements. They made it to the R&R HoF in 2016.

MTV World Stage: The 1975
They played Lollapalooza in Paris in July, and this short show displayed how their acclaim continues to grow.

Rock N Roll Cars
A 2017 series in which various musicians told tales of car ownership and mishaps. Gary Numan, John Otway, Hue & Cry, Paul Hardcastle, Tony Hadley and Alan Whitehead were just a few of the names (each show tended to look at 2 at a time - also looked at classic cars too). Whitehead did the voiceovers, as well.

Music Icons: Journey
They seemed to form from ex-members of Santana, but they lacked success until they added singer Steve Perry. They improved from their 4th album onwards up to a peak with their 7th, Escape, which had the hit Don't Stop Believin'. They went towards a hiatus because of solo projects for Perry and others. They had line-up changes and other issues. They eventually replaced Perry through a talent search and it worked out. They made the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2017.

Celtic Woman: Ancient Land
The Irish vocal harmony group had a new member in the band, and were mourning the guy who put the band together in the first place. Otherwise it was an unremarkable show in Ireland.

MTV World Stage: Twenty One Pilots
They seem to have got the cred, and are building a good reputation too.

BBC Proms 2019: Elgar's Enigma
Martyn Brabbins conducted the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra through a Prom marking Brabbins' 60th birthday. Any excuse. First was a new version of the Enigma Variations, done by 14 different composers in tribute to Brabbins. Then after a little bit of Vaughn Williams and a little Brahms, they did the proper Enigma Variations as done by Elgar.

A Cross The Universe
Film covering 3 weeks in the life of French electro-poppers Justice while on tour in the US in the Spring of 2008. They have good times and look at guns. Anthony Kiedis makes an amusing brief cameo.

Craig David: Ibiza Hangout
AJ Odudu meets the resurgent R&B legend, now in a happier place with his TS5 shows, and his own gigs. He enjoyed the old times around 20 years ago, and has got his life in balance.

BBC Proms 2019: Berlioz' Symphonie Fantastique
Nicholas Collon conducts the Aurora Orchestra, and actor Matthew Baynton contributes by acting out some of the story as Berlioz himself. Quirky.

Music Icons: Pat Benatar
Surprising inclusion in this series, and even after it didn't feel justified. Even Joan Jett would be a more convincing choice. Love is a Battlefield and Hit Me With Your Best Shot are her big hits. She did some political songs, but then who doesn't?

BBC Proms 2019: Jonny Greenwood Curates
The Radiohead guitarist puts together a selection for the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, including Penderecki, Steve Reich and Greenwood himself, including the premiere of a new work called Horror Vacui. Impressive.