Later back to bring you musical joy!

OK OtB  is a bit slow off the mark, Later… actually came back two weeks ago, but better late then never eh?

The one television show that costs me money to watch is Later… with Jools Holland,it seems every time I watch I discover some artist or band that impress me so much I have to run out and buy their album. The first episode of the current series introduced me to the musical stylings of Nicole Atkins, which cost me £8.99 to put her wonderful Neptune City  disc into my collection. This week it was Katy Perry who has rocked and impressed me enough to get her CD.

This week the show features the Kaiser Chiefs, Seasick Steve, and errr Boy George.

Last weeks episode is still available to view on the BBC iPlayer.

BBC4 Sessions and other Friday Night Music

BBC4 continues to bring us quality music for a Friday night, and this week it is an evening with Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds.

• 9.30pm BBC4 Sessions - recorded at St. Luke’s church in London’s east end.
• 10.30 Songwriters Circle  with Nick Cave.
• 11.20 Later… highlights of Nick Cave’s past performances on the popular BBC2 show.

However if Nick Cave is not your cup of tea… and let’s face it he doesn’t appeal to everyone, then don’t fear there are some more musical goodies on More4. Live from Abbey Road, More4’s answer to Later… has Sheryl Crow, Hard-Fi and Diana Krall.

Van Morrison invades the BBC

What is with the Beeb lately, every week they seem to feature a new artist across their network of television and radio stations. A couple of weeks ago it was Radiohead, then REM had a turn, and last night Van Morrison took over BBC TV for a couple of hours. First there was a fantastic Van Morrison concert, filmed exclusively for BBC4, and then right afterwards he appeared on Later… with Jools Holland.

If you missed these shows and like me you are a fan of Van, don’t fret (if you live in the UK) both shows are still available for viewing via the BBC iPlayer…

Another Musical Friday on the Beeb

Wow it is another night of great music on the BBC network tonight. BBC4 have what looks to be two promising musical documentaries showing tonight. At 9:00pm it is What’s Going On: The Life and Death of Marvin Gaye, then at 10:00pm a very promising looking documentary, Motor City’s Burning: Detroit from Motown to the Stooges. Both of these shows are part of the Detroit Music night on BBC4.

Following on from these two documentaries there is some live music (of the recorded kind) on Later… with Jools Holland, which is a clip show tonight, made up of the artists making their television debuts.

So all in all it looks like another quality evening of music courtesy of the good people at the BBC.

Friday night is music night!

Wow Friday night on the BBC is music night lately… and I am not talking about the shit Radio 2 music show either. I’m talking about the BBC Televison network of channels. Tonight we had a wonderful selection of music across the Beeb, starting on BBC 4, a channel which has really grown on me over the last year. Tonight there was another BBC4 Sessions, from St. Luke’s in London with the wonderful singer/songwriter from my homeland of Canada, k.d Lang. What a wonderful performance from such a wonderful singer, in a magical venue, and the stuff from her new CD sounds great!

Then at 11:35 tonight there was another wonderful show of Later… with Jools Holland. This week we were treated to the wonderful Sheryl Crow, who has fallen off my musical radar lately, but thanks to her performance tonight, I feel Sheryl will go back into heavy rotation on my cd player. There is something just wonderful about Sheryl and her Rock n Roll stylings.

Also on the show tonight was England’s most over-hyped band of the moment Hot Chip, who I wasn’t really looking forward to but they were ok. There is just something about their over-use of keyboards that throws me off their music. There was a wonderful musical surprise on the show though, an English Folk band called The Imagined Village, which combined traditional English Folk music with the mystical musical stylings of India in a wonderful way.

So once again the Beeb have brightened up my Friday Night and got my foot-tapping to some wonderful musical treats…. which if you missed them can be watched on BBC’s wonderful iPlayer on their website; www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer.

Thanks for reading!

Jools 200

The best music show on telly, Later… with Jools Holland, returned yesterday after a short break in January, and us here in the UK get another six episodes of eclectic music on Friday Nights. Last night’s show was the 200th time Jools Holland and the fine people at the BBC invited a group of musicians to play in a studio for the pleasure of us the television audience, and as usual there were a host of bands and artists to keep me happy. Last night alone I got the privledge of watching Radiohead, Cat Power, and Feist. Mary J Blige and Robyn Hitchcock were both on the show as well, but they are not really my cup of tea.

For us here in the UK who were busy thanks to the fabulous BBC iPlayer, you can catch up with show for the next seven days if you missed it… for those unfortunate enough not to be in the UK you will just have to hope that BBC America gives this wonderful show a whirl on your telly box.