Low-Noise

Low Noise

Low Noise is a weekly podcast, which provides a (fairly) in-depth analysis of popular music and culture in (approximately) fifteen minutes. These episodes have been recorded ‘on the spot’ using the Low Noise Mobile Recording Studio (my iPad) at various locations throughout the UK. All broadcasts are recorded with passion, enthusiasm and substance. Low noise - high output. Thank you for listening!

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21 episodes
weekly
Avg 23 min
English

Episodes 21

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S5 · E32
Monday · 23 min
Eagles – Hotel California | What Was the American Dream Turning Into?
How did Hotel California become one of the defining albums of the 1970s? Released in 1976, Hotel California found the Eagles at a remarkable creative peak. Beautifully produced and meticulously arranged, it combines soaring harmonies, memorable...
S5 · E31
August 17 · 28 min
Talk Talk | What Can In Another World Tell Us About Talk Talk?
What does In Another World reveal about one of the most intriguing bands of the last forty years? In this episode of Low Noise, we discuss Graeme Thomson’s In Another World: The Four Seasons of Talk Talk, a book that traces the remarkable evolution...
S5 · E30
August 10 · 17 min
Patrice Rushen | Forget Me Nots: The Song That Refused to Be Forgotten
What does it mean to be remembered—not loudly, not dramatically—but in a way that quietly refuses to fade? Forget Me Nots is a song by American R&B musician Patrice Rushen, released in 1982 by Elektra Records as the first single from her seventh...
S5 · E29
August 3 · 22 min
Keith Jarrett | The Köln Concert: How a Broken Piano Created a Masterpiece
What does it sound like when a musician commits fully to a moment that won’t come again? The Köln Concert is a live solo double album by pianist Keith Jarrett recorded at the Opera House in Köln, West Germany, on 24 January 1975. It unfolds without...
S5 · E28
July 27 · 26 min
OMD | Britain's Greatest Synth Pop Band?
What happens when electronic music chooses restraint over excess, when it speaks softly, but still leaves a mark? Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark, often shortened to OMD, formed in Merseyside in 1978 by Andy McCluskey and Paul Humphreys. Their...
S5 · E27
July 20 · 35 min
Siouxsie and the Banshees – The Scream | Before Goth Had a Name?
What happens when punk stops trying to shock and starts trying to haunt? In this episode, we revisit The Scream, the extraordinary debut album by Siouxsie & the Banshees. Nearly fifty years on, it still feels unlike anything else released during...
S5 · E26
July 13 · 29 min
The Delines | The Set Up: Their Finest Album Yet?
The Set Up is the 6th album by The Delines, the American group formed in the early 2010s. Known for their understated arrangements and deeply human storytelling, the band blends elements of soul, country, and Americana into a sound that feels both...
S5 · E25
July 6 · 29 min
Dionne Warwick | An Icon at the Royal Albert Hall
What happens when one of the greatest voices in popular music takes to the stage at the age of 85? In this episode, I look back on an unforgettable evening at the Royal Albert Hall, where I had the privilege of seeing the legendary Dionne Warwick...
S5 · E24
June 29 · 13 min
Quantum Jump | More Than Just The Lone Ranger?
Did one hit hide a truly remarkable band? For many people, Quantum Jump begin and end with The Lone Ranger—a quirky hit that briefly lit up the charts in the late 1970s. But behind that unlikely success was a group of exceptional musicians whose...
S5 · E23
June 21 · 23 min
Furniture | Pop Visionaries or Lost Classics?
Furniture were one of the most distinctive British bands of the 1980s, combining literate songwriting, sophisticated arrangements and an unmistakable sense of style. Despite critical acclaim and a loyal following, mainstream success largely eluded...
S5 · E22
June 15 · 21 min
Scritti Politti | Was Green Gartside Pop's Great Outsider?
Was Green Gartside Pop's Great Outsider? In this episode of Low Noise, we explore the remarkable story of Scritti Politti and their elusive frontman Green Gartside. Emerging from the politically charged post-punk scene of the late 1970s, Scritti...
S5 · E21
June 8 · 37 min
Hendrix at Woodstock | Was This His Defining Moment?
What makes a performance become more than just a concert? In August 1969, as the Woodstock festival drew to a close, Jimi Hendrix stepped onto the stage in front of a much smaller crowd than the one that had gathered over the previous three days. Yet...
S5 · E20
June 1 · 17 min
Rickie Lee Jones at the Barbican | Is the Duchess of Coolsville Still Cool?
This week I went to see Rickie Lee Jones at the Barbican in London. It wasn’t a concert in the usual sense. It felt more like being invited into somebody’s world for a couple of hours, a world built from jazz clubs, late-night conversations, drifting...
S5 · E19
May 25 · 15 min
Electronic – Getting Away With It | Melancholy in Designer Clothes
Why does Getting Away With It still sound so impossibly sophisticated? In this episode of Low Noise, we explore the debut single by Electronic, the collaboration between Bernard Sumner, Johnny Marr (and Neil Tennant) that briefly united two of the...
S5 · E18
May 18 · 25 min
Baz Luhrmann – EPiC | Elvis in Hypercolour
What keeps Elvis Presley alive in the cultural imagination decades after his death? In this episode we explore EPiC, Baz Luhrmann’s visually dense documentary meditation on Elvis Presley and the machinery of myth-making that surrounds him....
S5 · E17
May 11 · 24 min
The Shadows | Britain’s Most Influential Forgotten Band
How can one of the most successful bands in British history become almost invisible? In this episode, I explore the story of The Shadows, a group whose distinctive sound helped shape British popular music long before the arrival of the Merseybeat...
S5 · E16
May 4 · 21 min
Edie Brickell & the New Bohemians | The Art of Casual Precision
What does it mean for an album to sound effortless? Released in 1988, Shooting Rubberbands at the Stars by Edie Brickell & the New Bohemians arrived at a moment when polish often equalled intent. And yet, this record seems to resist that logic,...
S5 · E15
April 27 · 21 min
Fill Your Head with Rock | The Album That Captured Rock in Transition
What happens when a record label tries to map the sound of a moment? Originally released in 1970, Fill Your Head With Rock is a double LP sampler that captures a shifting musical landscape, where folk, rock, jazz and experimentation begin to overlap....
S5 · E14
April 20 · 20 min
Jonathan Wilson | Sound, Space and Craft
What does it mean to make music that feels both rooted in the past and quietly expansive at the same time? In this episode, we step into the world of Jonathan Wilson, a songwriter, producer, and sonic architect whose work draws from Laurel Canyon...
S5 · E13
April 13 · 23 min
Jóhann Jóhannsson | Systems, Memory and Decay
What does it mean to compose music that feels both ancient and futuristic at the same time? In this episode, we drift into the haunting, textural world of Jóhann Jóhannsson, a composer whose work dissolves the boundaries between classical form,...

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