Oxford's biggest student newspaper, produced by and for members of the University of Oxford, since 1991.
So, you were at the Brits last night – how were they? You took along a listener, can you tell us more about how that came about? Yeah, so we went with Katie. We do a thing called Bleak Mornings at around half past six to get the show going; we have people who share […]
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What do you think should be done about the cuts in music education? Should we let music as a discipline die out? What did you enjoy about music classes at school? Did you find them valuable? In truth, I am writing this because in the pitch for this article a particular question angered me: Should […]
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Like all the coolest students at Oxford University (myself sheepishly included), Gaby Elise-Monaghan studies Classics. What is even cooler is how, during the three and a half years she has spent here, she has become a regular feature on the city’s music scene, first as a member of two piece-band Coldredlight, then as front-person for […]
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What got you together as a band? So weirdly, James the singer, he and I met at a live band karaoke night. So I play in a live karaoke thing which is quite fun where you have a song book of sort of two hundred tunes from like Dancing Queen to like I Believe in […]
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On first listen, the soft-spoken melodies created by Australian rapper Genesis Owusu (born Kofi Owusu-Ansah) don’t immediately ring as political. Yet, his creative pursuits in both music and fashion speak out against racial inequalities and misguided preconceptions of his culture, with his lyrics consciously stemming from his own upbringing as a black person in the […]
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“What was wonderful about going through some dark times,” confesses Katie Monks, lead singer and guitarist of rock band Dilly Dally, “was the fact that I had to turn inward”. Dilly Dally’s latest album, Heaven, might be read as a rallying, fiery expression of self-love and inclusivity. The record functioned as the band’s auditory toolkit […]
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A couple of weeks ago I had the absolute pleasure of headlining Mansfield Ball: it was a well-organised event, the crowds were insane and I was up on stage with some of my best friends in the world playing music that I love. It would be misleading to pretend that playing at balls isn’t a […]
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David Pickard: choir schoolboy, Cambridge graduate, Britain’s leading classical music executive. For anyone interested in classical music, David Pickard is the man of the hour. He’s been at the forefront of the classical music scene for some time, leading notable organisations such as Glyndebourne, and has had stints with the European Arts Festival, the Orchestra […]
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A campaign has been launched to advocate for an Oxford Musicians’ Minimum Wage. The campaign aims to bring the reimbursement of student musicians at college balls more in line with the Musicians’ Union National Rate for functions, to £162.00 per player; currently, student bands are sometimes expected to work for as little as £25 per player, […]
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Ahead of their recently-announced headline gig at the glamorous Freud bar on the 20th of February, I caught up with the student band Still Pigeon, who reveal the stories behind their latest lyrics and enigmatic band name. Their glistening and fresh take on R&B opened some big doors for them last year. With two Spotify […]
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Deftly hushed, confessional and yet timid, Cavernzz’ woozy bedroom pop sits on the fringes of collective security—drawn from the quiet, empty hours of the night, where shapes and shadows exist in ways you’ve never noticed before, in a unique and sometimes eerie strain of vulnerability. Sitting down to chat song-writing, Luke Bolitho seems conscious of […]
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James Blake’s mainstream popularity has always seemed odd. His naturally melancholic vocals, bleak and abstract lyrics, grating synths, jerky beats and overwhelming bass lines intertwine to create somber soundscapes that are often difficult to listen to. Assume Form doesn’t deviate too much from this surprisingly successful – if well-worn – rubric. But what is noticeably […]
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With the corporate hollowing out of the media now commonplace, music journalism is fighting back. The battle against commercialism, clickbait headlines and contemporary trends is well and truly alive and kicking. Online hoaxes, shoddy reporting and all things ‘fake news’, 2018 has truly made its mark as a media meltdown. In Britain, reached journalistic rock […]
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John Joubert, one of the most celebrated British composers of our time, died on 7 January at the age of 91. Born in South Africa, Joubert lived in England for most of his life, residing for nearly half a century in the city of Birmingham. He held professorships at the University of Hull and the […]
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Sunflower Bean arrived in Oxford following the release of their second full length album Twenty-Two in Blue. Hailing from Brooklyn NY they brought effortless cool to the Bullingdon stage, with glam rock and punk décor. I arrived post-Christmas Gaudy, jumping from a very different mood of carol singers to the pumped-up energy of their first […]
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Every now and again we stumble upon an album that quietly evolves as it’s absorbed—its images, chord changes and melodies, gradually weaving themselves into the fabric of our own makeup until it exists, uniquely, for us. Adrianne Lenker’s album abysskiss enacts this very journey, a quiet display of subtle beauty blossoming from its brutal, emotional […]
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In 2018, there was one album I’d been waiting for: Anderson .Paak’s Oxnard. Dre was producing, “Tints” had the funky verve I’d been praying for. His live performance on SNL exuded polished and restrained swagger. Clearly he was someone who knew they were about to serve a rare and bloody steak to a blindfolded lion. […]
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Cellar, one of Oxford’s most popular music venues, has taken an important step to securing its future. The venue won permission from Oxford County Council to build a new fire escape further along Cornmarket Street, thereby meeting all the its legal obligations. The club had previously been under threat as safety inspectors found its fire […]
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Image credit: Bill Ebbeson. Description: Damon Albarn performing in 2010. Japanese culture considers it rude for someone to greet the day’s weather with impractical choices of clothing. Who knows if Damon Albarn is comfortable offensively sweating it out in a long-sleeve omelette yellow sweater and jeans on a sluggish, sultry evening in the Tuscan city […]
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