Oxford's biggest student newspaper, produced by and for members of the University of Oxford, since 1991.
We can skip the back story, as we all know who Kanye West is by now. Whether you have sung along to ‘Gold Digger’ at a bop, watched the debate about him at the Union last year or sported the finest shutter shades Claire’s Accessories had to offer in 2007 (guilty) – Kanye West is […]
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Sitting in the middle of a field in London, pint in hand, listening to some of the most exciting bands of our time as the sun set, I felt like I had potentially taken escaping the ‘Oxford bubble’ a little too far. Though it was winding to the end of a long sixth week, the […]
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Richard Melville Hall is a man of modest means. Even when he gained a huge amount of critical acclaim for Play, his fifth studio album, the New Yorker remained grounded. In a personally memorable episode of the MTV series ‘Cribs’ around 15 years ago, his humble personality and modest abode provided a remarkably refreshing view […]
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For those unfamiliar with the concept, concert films are film screenings with live orchestral accompaniment. Though the popularity of concert film has rocketed in recent years, they are by no means a recent development. The earliest known concert film was Concert Magic which premiered at the Charlie Chaplin Studios in 1947. Featuring the renowned violinist […]
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I cannot be the only person who greets yet another music plagiarism case with a sigh of frustration. This time it is the turn of James Arthur to be sued by The Script over his single ‘Say You Won’t Let Go’. For anyone who listens to the openings of these songs the similarities in […]
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The first moments of Courtney Barnett’s latest album, Tell Me How You Really Feel, sound reminiscent of those of ‘Kim’s Caravan’ from her 2015 debut, Sometimes I Sit and Think, and Sometimes I Just Sit. However, unlike the earlier track, which sees the brooding opening guitars become a howling penultimate song, ‘Hopefulessness’ slowly assembles itself […]
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The humble music video is an integral part of the entertainment industry today. Whether it’s watching ‘OK Go’ dancing on treadmills, or a-ha performing in a comic-book world, it’s fair to say that they’ll be around for a while yet. But given the amount of people involved in the production, from directors to makeup and […]
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Photocredit: Joe Mabel Janelle Monáe’s most recent album, ‘Dirty Computer’, released in late April, is a 48 minute extravaganza of queerness. Her album works as an ode to queerness and fluidity in terms of both gender and sexuality. Whilst Monáe isn’t the first singer to write and perform about being LGBT+ or LGBT+ experience, her […]
Continue ReadingBoasting seven Brit awards, three Grammy nominations and two Glasto headline slots, Arctic Monkeys have accumulated a pretty impressive CV over the years. Following the huge success of ‘AM’ (2013), their latest release ‘Tranquility Base Hotel and Casino’ has been hotly awaited. If poncey lyrics and shoddy attempts at hazy pop fusions floats your indie-rockin’ […]
Continue ReadingDonald Glover, (aka Childish Gambino) has achieved astonishing success both as an actor and musician. This year alone he has won two Emmys, a Grammy and a feature role in Star Wars spin-off ‘Solo’. But it is his latest musical release, ‘This Is America’, which has really got people talking. Gambino uses his platform […]
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After the success of last year’s very enjoyable run of ‘Merrily We Roll Along’, I arrived at this year’s Eglesfield Music Society production of Stephen Sondheim’s ‘Company’ expecting great things – and I was not disappointed. In the sparse but pretty setting of the Nun’s Garden at The Queen’s College, a sense of excitement was […]
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Despite my mum singing the hits of ABBA to me from an early age I am still not a fan (actually the singing might have something to do with this, sorry mum). Yet I couldn’t help be excited at Abba’s latest announcement. This wasn’t because they are reuniting, or even because they are releasing two […]
Continue ReadingWalking into the O2 Academy, it was hard to pinpoint an age demographic for the audience, but there was a uniting element. It has become a cliché to describe the DMAs as a brit pop band, but the crowd of bucket hats and slouched hoodies has made the hark back to the 90s almost unavoidable. […]
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2018 has already brought us some fine soundtracks from Annihilation and Black Panther to You Were Never Really Here, but do these soundtracks deserve to rank amongst the greatest of all time? Of course, music, like film, is a subjective business, but from a personal point of view, here are ten soundtracks that can be […]
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‘Combat Sports’, the fourth album from indie rockers the Vaccines, showcases a promising future for the band after a somewhat troubling couple of years. Following the departure of drummer Pete Robinson in 2015, ‘Combat Sports’ is an exciting step in the right musical direction after a rocky few years. The 11 tracks on the […]
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8 am Saturday morning I arrived at Truck record store in Cowley. A queue outside stretched all the way down the street and was composed of people of all ages. Record Store Day is an international event promoting independent record stores where special edition records, and a few cassettes if vinyl is now too mainstream […]
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I was eleven years old, having treatment for a brain tumour and mildly obsessed with the Tennessee band Kings of Leon. Each radiotherapy patient could listen to an album of their choosing. There were few audacious music choices. One daring eight year old had asked for a Queen album, but according to the Radiotherapists, the […]
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Blossoms are a five-piece from Stockport, Manchester. To lesser-known fans, they have the presumed airs and graces of predecessor-Mancunian musicians. Since forming in 2013, they are five young guys enjoying life and music, with a bonus well-curated style and dress sense. However, unlike their forefathers, they are unabashed embracers of a radio-friendly sheen, thanks to […]
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As Trinity term gets under way the novelty of coming back after Easter begins to wear off and the burden of prelims, finals, or, in my case as a second year with no exams, sheer boredom, begins to weigh heavily. It is at this point where I like to look beyond the rigidity of an […]
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