ALBUMBLE

Hello and welcome back to ALBUMBLE and as you might hear we may be sounding a *little* different to normal!

In this pod we look at a very recent UK number one album - but by a band very few people may have actually heard of! This northern band seems to have a dedicated and stalwart fan base which was able to vote with their feet - or should that be purchase with a few clicks - enough copies of this album to make it top the charts.

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Hello and welcome back to ALBUMBLE! Apologies for the wait for this episode to come out but we do profusely apologise and go through why we waited before doing the podcast properly!

In this pod we turn back the clock to a time - before both of us were actually born - where musical tastes and technology we in flux. Although the EPs run was extremely finite, it has been re-released on a couple of occasions to celebrate this records s...

In a strange turn of events, Andy - not Ann - chose an album with Eurovision connotations, furthermore with Liverpool Eurovision connections. Stef Caers AKA Gustaph could well be described as the Nico Hulkenberg of Belgian pop: almost 20 years after their first foray into showbusiness they finally got the success they deserved.

The album uses the catapult of the Eurovision hit to explore the wider corners of the dance/pop genre wit...

It was Ann's choice of album this time and we delve into the back catalogue of a band that was lightly weaved into the fabric of 80s - and 70s and 90s - music but has never truly received the plaudits they deserve. In this iteration we see the band evolve from communist punkers to slick funk samplers.

During the episode we talk (not in much detail as we would be here for weeks) about how, on the surface...

Welcome back to a more modern episode of ALBUMBLE.

We look back to the late 2000's and a bit of American indie pop rock with more than a shake of Britishness on the top. Black Kids hailed from Jacksonville, Florida and the band's multi-ethnic and mixed-gender make up seemed to give their music a unique edge and viewpoint culminating in this album which was the band's second release.

The album has a definite sound, without feeling t...

We are back!!!!

After our short yet slightly stressful Eurovision break we look back over the last few weeks and have a quick round up of news regarding some of our past ALBUMBLE alumni. On the subject of this podcast, we delve into the 60's with an album by The Monkees. "Headquarters" was the band's third album - and the third that reached number 1 on the Billboard album chart - although it contained a lot of firsts for the band a...

Welcome back to the final Shite Or Alright for 2025! We start off this last - and hopefully exciting - episode by noticing if the similarity between seemingly disparate jingles may actually be by design. Ann also dumps the idea of Eurovision Tariffs because the EBU might be able to get some extra funding and expertise by appearing on a certain BBC business show...

Once we have our final show winner we look at all six heat winners ...

Welcome back to episode 5 of Shite Or Alright 2025! Andy starts the podcast by revealing he has some kind of Eurovision malaise but don’t worry he has a belated Belgium-related fix to relieve it. We swiftly begin the judging with a lot of explaining to do as it has ended up being a rather loaded episode!!!! 

So here we go!

SHOW 5 - THE YEAR OF THE PLINTH

Albania, France, Lithuania, Malta, Netherlands & Serbia

He does all the f...

Welcome back to Shite Or Alright for 2025! We start the podcast by considering how good Gilles de Coster, the Belgian host of “De Mol”, is at keeping secrets and a convincing straight face but that is all after relating the Monty Hall problem to why USB ports are so random… We eventually get onto the job at hand and judge some Eurovision songs… with some rather surprising results!!!! 

So here we go!

SHOW 4 - DANCERS AND CYCLISTS C...

Welcome back to Shite Or Alright for 2025! We start by wondering of the recent rise in talk about 'tariffs' could be leveraged in Eurovision and think about the categories of Eurovision tropes that could be incentivised and sanctioned so the entrance fee for the contest could be slightly negotiated. After that we judge 6 of this year's crop from 0 to 5 and find a show winner!

So here we go!

SHOW 3 - AN EXPLANATION OF URINAL CAKES

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Welcome back to Shite Or Alright for 2025! We talk about why we didn't really see Nemo coming for the win last year (I blame trains) but that 's after we start with a brief sojourn into reaction videos - and not just Eurovision ones - before Andy and Ann give their views on each song & performance giving them a score from 0 to 5.

So here we go!

SHOW 2 - SWEEP FOR ESC 2026

Armenia, Finland, Iceland, Italy, Latvia & Norway

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Shite Or Alright is back for another year! On our return to review the 2025 Eurovision songs, we have a brief moment to recall the (mostly not so nice) events of ESC 2024 and frame the themes and memes we have in store in 2025. We begin with why there are 37 songs on the menu and not the expected 38, why we're only reviewing 35 of them and why some countries are on a final warning.... After each clip Andy and Ann give their views ...

In this last episode before a Eurovision break we review a brand new album!!! This is Antony Szmierek's second album although it has been four years since their debut effort. He has been on the scene making waves not in the form of releases but more in the form of live shows and tours.

Former teacher Szmierek takes us for a ride (not like that!) to the world of the service station and is able to pull apart, visualise, imagine and d...

In this episode we 'celebrate' the 40th anniversary of The Smiths only chart-topping number 1, Meat Is Murder. Known, but not as well known as some of their other releases, this album has a slightly unusual collection of songs in terms of song style, song meaning, song tempo and song length but is possibly more known for the 'political' nature of the lead song and the album artwork.

This was their second studio album and spawned a ...

This episode sees us return to albums and back to the 90s, although for both of us, this wasn't something either of us had on our discmans (discmen?!?!) at the time of release

Sleeper got swept in with the cool kids of Britpop and their debut album has lyrics that are very of their time but, as we discuss, there is a little more too it than that. Smart was certified gold and spawned 4 singles although many of these went under the r...

This EP, of sorts, has an amazing back story - a story I felt needed to be shared on the podcast. Boys Wonder was a short lived band during the late 80s but their music wasn't really the expected 80s fayre which probably led to the band's downfall.

The London band released a small handful of songs during their tenure and although an album was mooted, it never materialised. But 35 years after their 'heyday' the band seemed to come b...

The run of EPs continue but this time a much more modern affair with the newcomers Adult DVD. This six-piece combo, who are originally from Leeds, have an abrupt and in-your-face (or should that be in-your-ears?) sound which embraces a realm of modern, quirky and retro edges. 

The band were formed in Leeds at the turn of the 2020s and have a small but perfectly formed back catalogue of individual song releases and bulkier EP offeri...

Happy New Year to you all!

We start of this busy time of year by indulging in another EP this time by lesser known North-West indie band Mansun. The band were seemingly a fan of the EP format as they released a slew of them during their tenure; sequentially and numerically named all the way from 1 to 14!!!!

Although they were around as a band for a fair while before and after the height of the fame in the latter part of the 1990's,...

Instead of albums, starting with this unpigeonhole-able release from the front man of Foals,  we are going to be whipping out a range of EPs for us to peruse over. It is a busy time for us (and most of you!) at this time of year and this allows everyone a break from without stopping the podcast.

Yannis Phillippakis is joined on this recording by the drummer from the very first Afrobeat combo - Africa 70 - the late Tony Allen who ha...