Music

Death of the Album, rise of the playlist

The album, once the definitive artistic statement in music, is being increasingly overshadowed by the rise of the playlist. Streaming platforms such as Spotify and Apple Music have reshaped...
Culture Gabriella Ofo -

Mac Miller grapples with mortality on ‘Balloonerism’

When the 'D' rings out from the organ on the dream-like second track of...
Culture Ferdy Al-Qassab -

Five Hip-Hop Gems You Missed in 2024

A year dominated by the Kendrick Lamar-Drake beef, 2024 made it all too easy...
Culture Ferdy Al-Qassab -

Hot springs: why Iceland is a breeding ground for musicians

Whilst for many, Iceland is associated with plane-grounding volcanic eruptions and sweeping landscapes, it...
Music Sarah Beard -
Latest

Back to the Future: Are 2010 Throwbacks the Soundtrack of 2025?

The early 2010’s occupy a curious space in cultural memory, neither distant enough to be considered history, nor recent enough to feel like the...

Oxford’s first Hip-Hop Society breaks it down

As Oxford's newest musical society explores ways to facilitate a much-needed space for hip-hop music, only one question springs to mind; where have they been all this time?

The sounds of student protest

Their monopoly on the sonic space means that they are in charge of disseminating information to the public. In other words, they were not walled off. 

Ticketmaster hurts student concert culture

Competitive, difficult, and opaque. All words associated with the Oxbridge admissions process. More recently, however, they have been used by disappointed Oasis and Coldplay fans in relation to Ticketmaster.

2024 was for the girls: The rapid success of female artists

The last nine months of pop can perhaps be summed up in one word: ‘Femininomenon’. The title of Chappell Roan’s 2023 hit, a portmanteau...

How Sabrina Carpenter Won the Summer (With Just Two Songs)

The people called for a shot of espresso and Sabrina Carpenter answered. 

Soundtrack to my degree

When I first came to Oxford, my Dad sent me the playlists he listened to for each year at university. His second-year playlist in...

Blue Monday: Forever a New Order

Everybody knows Joy Division, everybody knows New Order. If the former’s post-punk gloom is the gateway drug for 80s bands like Bauhaus and The...

Mitski’s The Land is Inhospitable tour review: The artist by herself

The original title I had for this article was ‘Retired from Sad, New Business in Camp’. This was weeks before the actual concert itself, where...

The Drake and Kendrick Lamar saga

Since the rise of hip-hop in the 1990s, diss tracks (short for disrespect or disparage) have been a staple of the genre. These tracks...

Cherwell Introduces: Tongue

Joining me this week are the up-and-coming Oxford rock band, Tongue. After a gorgeously hot and sunny day, I had the pleasure of watching...

Taylor Swift’s The Tortured Poet’s Department: Who tortures the poet?

The most tortured love affair on Taylor Swift’s new album is her relationship with her audience. Following its release on April 19th, the album’s...

Cherwell Introducing: Phoebe Blue

Joining me this week is the radiant Phoebe Blue, a 2nd year classicist at Balliol, singer-songwriter, and bassist. Meeting me on a blustery Saturday...

Men used to go to war – now they DJ

Why are so many people becoming DJs? This recent obsession has taken the world – and now Oxford – by storm. Love it or...

The rise of genre fluidity: Is this the death of genre as we know it?

My favourite genre of music: a question I’ve found becoming increasingly difficult to answer over the years, and it’s only now that I’m discovering...

Cherwell Introduces: Menu3

Joining me this week, are four members of Menu3: Nicole 2nd year biochemist/lead singer, Jude 2nd year chemist/bass player, Dan music student/drummer, and Marcus...

American Odyssey- The world building of Lana del Rey’s music

"The past decade of Lana del Rey’s music has ventured  from the deserts and neon-lights of Las Vegas to the streets of New York, Hollywood, and eventually rural California."

OUO at the Sheldonian review: ‘Spectacular throughout’

"The Sheldonian Theatre was treated on Saturday of 4th week to a display by some of the University’s best musical talent."

Five Songs for the Fifth Week Blues

"I believe that music makes a lot of things in life better. Fifth week at Oxford is no exception."

Forget Her Not: Rediscovering Women in Music- Week 1

At fifteen, I was fully and completely obsessed with the Californian soul/alternative R&B/jazz/funk band The Internet. It is for this reason that I can...
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