PODCAST · music
Vinyl Maelstrom
by Ian Forth
Weekly podcasts providing an expert briefing on a wide range of intriguing musical themes.
Episodes
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Understanding the K Pop Phenomenon
It would have taken a particularly gifted Nostradamus in the 1990s to predict both the demise of the traditional western rock band and the rise and rise of their South Korean replacements. yet that's what happened? But how did it happen? Join me as we take a medium-sized dive into what K Pop is…
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What is this obsession with ranking records?
The best and worst double albums ever. The 50 greatest cover versions of all time. The 100 greatest British albums of all time. The greatest indie anthems ever. The 100 greatest albums you've never heard. The 50 darkest albums of all time. The 101 albums to hear before you die. Why must we always...
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Why did everyone watch Top of the Pops?
The terminally uncool "pop" programme from the terminally uncool state TV station, BBC1. A recipe for failure, surely. And yet, everyone watched Top of the Pops. Why was that? Take a trip back in time to the culturally hegemonic imperial phase of the programme; to a time when it was great act of...
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"Disco Sucks!" Could a "Disco Demolition Night" now happen again?
In July 1979 Steve Dahl organised a Disco Demolition Night at a baseball game in Comiskey Park, Chicago. Infuriated by disco music and its chart dominance it was the latest in a growing nationwide "Disco Sucks!" campaign. That night ended in a riot. But some have argued it also ended disco as a...
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Do Lyrics Matter?
Sure, we've all got a favourite carol or maybe anthem and words matter with them. Hard to imagine a hymn with la-la-las instead of lyrics halfway through. But you know how people say "I never forget a face, but I'm no good with names." It seems to be a badge of honour for some people to say they...
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Nigel Marsh with Musical Highlights from the 5 Of My Life podcast
Nigel Marsh has been hosting the 5 Of My Life podcast for many years now and in that time has interviewed all the great and the good, from prime ministers to rock stars, comedians to novelists, community workers to poets. https://open.spotify.com/show/0SwVzJ5JWezUpuJoKUA1OU?si=af32aa090fd64575…
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Does music work in political campaigns?
La jour de gloire est arrivée. Things can only get better. It's time. Born in the USA. Keep on rockin' in the free world. Can music change anything when it is used in political campaigns? Come with us now as we travel through various countries and multiple songs and anthems which have been…
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Where have all the bands gone?
A few weeks ago Richard Osman on the Rest Is Entertainment podcast pointed out that only 3 bands had had #1s this decade. This was in contrast to the end of the previous century when bands dominated the charts. Why is this? Have all bands disappeared? (Spoiler alert: no.). Why have pop bands…
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Michael Mulcahy unpacks Aussie Pub Rock
If you're not an Australian it can be hard to identify a distinctive Australian sound or movement. One candidate is the Aussie Pub Rock phenomenon which flourished in the 70s and 80s and out of which bands like AC/DC emerged. One of Australia's leading copywriters joins me in the studio to…
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Does "Guilty pleasure" music exist?
Some people say there's no such thing as guilty pleasures in music. You either like it or you don't. So, own it. Still, would it have a name if it didn't exist? (Well, yes, it might. There are no unicorns, after all.) This episode seeks to understand why some people do feel a sense of guilt when...
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The Ten Rules Guaranteeing Musical Success
Some academic bod has analysed every US presidential election and worked out the Keys To Success. He claims to correctly predict every populist vote. Can we do the same for musical success? We can have a go. This is my equivalent - The Ten Keys To Music Success. It's obligatory to say "You won't...
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Steve Pringle Pt 2: How To Get Into The Fall
This episode is the the second of a double header. Steve Pringle, author of the classic Fall analysis "You Must Get Them All", gave us his thoughts on why the group resonate so strongly for so many in Part One. Here, he suggests to a nominal newcomer to the group's work where to get started on…
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The man who wrote the book on The Fall: Steve Pringle
If an author writes a book analysing every single, every album, every phase and every lineup change of a band, it might be a decent-sized tome. In the case of The Fall, there's over 50 members, over 30 albums, over 500 songs and over 40 years to process. That is exactly what Steve Pringle…
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Oasis and the 90s Nostalgia Delusion
Oasis are reforming for a reunion tour. Have you heard? What marks out Oasis as so different from their contemporaries? It's hard to believe it's their musical sophistication or their profound lyrics. But something makes them incredibly popular. We also take a look more broadly at why people get…
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Why Punk Mattered
On our previous show, Paul Burke proposed that punk was unimportant at the time, left no lasting musical legacy and the reason people still bang on about it is because the middle classes act as its gatekeeper in the media that we all read and watch. In this riposte, while not dismissing all of...
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Columnist Paul Burke - "Why punk was fake news"
Contrariness - we've got it. "If you were born after 1970 and don’t remember punk, you’ve almost certainly been misled by people who do. You’ve probably been told – through countless paean-to-punk retrospectives, documentaries and newspaper culture pages – that it was a glorious, anarchic...
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From cool to wet to everywhere: A Short History of Indie
What even defines indie? It used to mean something way back when. Groups that were on independent labels with a DIY approach and a different take on the world. But in a world where Lana Del Rey and Billie Eilish with their billions of listens are indie - even Taylor Swift - does indie mean…
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What you should know about BRAT
That lime green colour. That blurry font. And now BRAT has been picked up by the Kamala Harris campaign (this is August 2024). Is this something worth finding more about or will it all blow over by the autumn, like Gangnam Style and Barbie did? Almost certainly yes. But, it is intriguing and is…
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Why does "4 time" dominate modern western music?
Turn on commercial radio and what time signature are you 95% likely to hear in the first song? 4 beats to the bar, that's what. Is that just the natural pace of music or is something else going on? In fact, if you went to a dance in the nineteenth century, it would most likely be in 3 time, or a...
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Why do sports fans chant?
Why do sports fans chant? Is it just to support their team or is there more to it than that? (Spoiler alert: there is more to it than that.) Join me, Ian Forth, in a spirited discussion which will take in the Chip Butty Song, organic living folk traditions, secular rituals, the Maori hakka, Sufi...
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Growing up with the Beatles, by author Paul Feldwick
Poet and author Paul Feldwick arrived for the first day of school in 1963 just as it The Beatles were starting their domination of the decade. As Paul made the journey from awkward 11 year-old to a sixth-former on the cusp of entering the adult world, The Beatles embarked on a journey of their…
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How to explain the Taylor Swift Phenomenon
By the end of her 131 date worldwide Eras tour, Taylor Swift will have generated an additional $5 billion for the economy. Other artists have been phenomena before, but surely never before have we seen an artist have this sort of effect. No artist, let alone a female country singer, has ever been...
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Why do non-Americans sing in an American accent?
The American accent in pop and rock music is ubiquitous. It has become the default accent for any aspiring artist to sing in, to the extent that it's virtually taken for granted and no one finds it odd. But it is a bit odd. This episode attempts to unravel the question as to whether singing this...
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Music and Storytelling featuring crime novelist, Sarah Bailey
Short stories in songs and music in stories. An episode of two halves, which coincidentally is the name of one of the tracks mentioned. In the first half, I choose ten of my favourite "short story songs" - tracks which form a more or less complete narrative. To give you a flavour, I also read out...
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Where have all the protest songs gone?
"Why don't young people write protest songs any more? It's not like the 1960s when we cared about the world and weren't glued to a screen." You might have heard this argument. Protest songs are usually thought to have disappeared or at the very least dwindled in their power and influence. But is...
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"Kraftwerk are more influential than The Beatles." But is that true?
Tim Sommer in LA Weekly sums up the debate: “It is not just that Kraftwerk invented the future of music; it is that a startling amount of the music you hear today, from the most obscure indie rock to the most mainstream pop to literally everything in between, bears the impression of their...
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The Ten Game Changing Movie Soundtracks with James Hillhouse
Film aficionado James Hillhouse takes us through his choice of the ten maverick soundtracks which changed the movie rules for good. Here are some clips from them: 1. King Kong (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MMNICLfHE3M) 2. Alexander Nevsky (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IcPixaWL2Pg) 3. The...
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Is Spotify a force for good?
Spotify. All the music, all of the time. That's got to be a good thing, right? Not everyone agrees. In this episode, we'll take a look at: - Does Spotify pay artists fairly? - Does it provide access to bands that didn't exist before? - Has it encouraged disposability in music listening? - Has it...
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Did Live Aid do more harm than good?
Back in 1985 Band Aid and Live Aid raised over 100 million pounds for famine relief in Ethiopia. Few question that it saved many thousands of lives. So, job done, case closed? The reality is more nuanced. In this episode we ask the questions: - What are the problems with the song "Do they know…
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VM Enthusiasts: Jazz and Blues with Tony Bishop
Curious about jazz and blues but don't know where to begin? Join aficionado Tony Bishop, legendary jazz and blues singer and harmonica player on the London circuit, who will give you a whirlwind expert briefing to hold down your end of the coffee machine conversation with the annoying boffin from...
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The Unique and Remarkable Legacy of The Kinks
What did The Kinks ever do for us? The Beatles invented pop music as we know it and The Stones were the bad boys. But, like a middle child in the family struggling to fill a role, where does that leave The Kinks? Arguably with the richest legacy of all. Go with us on the journey and start to...
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Why do older people hate new music?
Comments under Youtube videos of songs from the 70s and 80s have a grim consistency. "Back when music was music" is the gist. But I can remember older people saying the same about those songs when they first came out. Why do many - not all - of us - come to be so distrustful of new music?...
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Is Unknown Pleasures any more than just a t-shirt
Walk down any high street in the world and you'll see someone wearing that t-shirt. The one with the wavy lines. Yet many people wearing it may never have listened to the album whose cover hosts the artwork. Cool design, but why does it resonate? And if you wear the t-shirt, should you bother...
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Why are there so many female bands now?
50 years ago the NME ran a Best Albums Of All Time poll. There were 3 female artists on it and zero female-only bands. Glance through any poll from the last few years and it's essentially a 50:50 male:female split. So, what exactly happened? Join Ian Forth on this week's podcast to trace the...
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Vinyl Maelstrom Trailer
If you want to be expertly briefed next time you're chatting away round the famous water cooler, Vinyl Maelstrom is here to help. Why not join Ian Forth, host of the internationally successful podcast Sombrero Fallout, and his guests to listen in on a wide variety of intriguing musical topics. Be...
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ABOUT THIS SHOW
Weekly podcasts providing an expert briefing on a wide range of intriguing musical themes.
HOSTED BY
Ian Forth
CATEGORIES
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Frequently Asked Questions
How many episodes does Vinyl Maelstrom have?
Vinyl Maelstrom currently has 35 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.
What is Vinyl Maelstrom about?
Weekly podcasts providing an expert briefing on a wide range of intriguing musical themes.
How often does Vinyl Maelstrom release new episodes?
Vinyl Maelstrom has 35 episodes. Check the episode list to see recent publication dates and frequency.
Where can I listen to Vinyl Maelstrom?
You can listen to Vinyl Maelstrom on PodParley by clicking any episode. We provide an embedded audio player for direct listening, and you can also subscribe via your preferred podcast app using the RSS feed.
Who hosts Vinyl Maelstrom?
Vinyl Maelstrom is created and hosted by Ian Forth.
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