Journeys to the past when the future was the destination

I suppose, to be fair, the C86 movement were never likely to be confused with the Futurists, but even Bobby Gillespie in his most Byrds-drenched, pre-Bourbon incarnation would have raised a surprised eyebrow at the idea that C86 would get a three CD expanded reissue in 2014.

The extra tracks include some interesting stuff, including a supposedly never-previously-released North of Cornwallis track, but it seems to have stretched the defintion of C86.

But wouldn't you rather all this effort was put into making a C2014?

Roll forward a few years, or perhaps just don't roll back as far, and we find ourselves at a week-long return of The Evening Session, a show which has been revived more often than Beau Geste. This time (probably every time) it's to celebrate Britpop.

Oh, Britpop. It's like Jeremy Bentham's corpse - now that all the life has gone, you're just left with a weird artefact that serves little purpose other than to be occasionally kidnapped and paraded up and down the street, missing the vital pulse that interested everyone in the first place.

Lamacq added: For me, this is the week 20 years ago that the musical tectonic plates shifted. On the Tuesday, Oasis played live on Radio 1 for the first time and on the Friday morning we heard the news of Kurt Cobain's death. It was as if one scene had announced it had arrived, as another began to lose its way."

Steve, you're better than that. I don't think a single person, on hearing the news of Kurt's suicide, thought "that's kind of epochal, what with Oasis having been on the wireless a few days back."

Jo is actually more honest:

Jo Whiley said: "I will always jump at the chance to work with Steve. He is my radio 'other half' and we did fight the Britpop wars together after all. It was a great time to be a DJ on UK radio but, as ever, when you're in the eye of the storm, you are blissfully unaware. It's only in hindsight that you appreciate what a privilege it was to live and work through such an exciting time for British music."

Who'd have thought it was the more excitable one of the pair who remembered that a lot of Britpop shibboleths are coloured by red, white and blue tinted hindsight?

Steve and Jo will be trotting the 'half a pint of cider before the show' anecdote for the 1,000th time as part of a big Britpop disinterment across the BBC.

The Evening Session: It's back, back, back

Well, it's back for one night. Jo Whiley and Steve Lamacq are reuniting for a one-off revival of The Evening Session. On 6Music rather than Radio One, but in the old time slot.

If this is a success, 6Music promises that there are no plans at all to ask Goodier to do a similar exercise. (Although, in all seriousness, it'd be nice to have a week with Kid Jensen, Janice Long, Simon Mayo and Richard Skinner getting to revive Night-Time Radio One.)

The revived Evening Session must, by law, contain some or all of the following:

- Jo Whiley discovering an indie band likes Massive Attack and responding 'I'm really amazed at a band like you liking something like that'
- Pretending Oasis are still somehow important
- A track by The Wonderstuff
- Steve Lamacq smelling of a half of cider
- Tour dates for Five Thirty, including visits to Roadmenders, The Rathole and TJs.
- The last ten minutes being annexed for some well-meaning but ultimately ineffective factucation feature
- A trail for a Chris Evans breakfast show that encourages you to sleep in until ten
- The ghost of Simon Bates
- That song that goes "going down, down, down, DOWN like a Divebomb"
- Sugar in session

Steve Lammo to go

Steve Lamacq's last fingerhold on the Radio One schedule has been pried away, as his In New Music We Trust slot has been axed as part of an overhaul of specialist music programming on the network.

Because these things are always circular, his programme is going in order to make room for hour-long music documentaries. The same hour-long music documentaries which were originally dropped when Lamacq Live was brought in a few years back.

There's also another returning format, as a new version of Roundtable comes to Tuesdays:

Tuesdays (9.00-10.00pm) sees Nihal hosting a four-way battle of wits and fury as a journalist, a musician and a DJ discuss the qualities (or lack of) of the biggest records, films and games released that week in Radio 1's new review programme.

This back-to-the-Bannister era of programming - Huw Stephens is even turning up with something that's a bit like Out On Blue Six - is being pitched as a way of connecting with the yoof (and, presumably, trying to head off the calls for privatisation):

Andy Parfitt, Controller, Radio 1, adds: "Taken together with our recent revamp of the core daytime schedule, this represents one of the most significant shake-ups of the whole schedule in recent times and will help us focus on a new generation of Radio 1 listeners."

Hmm. It all sounds a little hotch-potchy, and swapping Annie Mac with Pete Tong and giving Tim Westwood his own programme again hardly seems to be quite as earth-shattering as Parfitt would suggest.

Those other new programmes in full:

* Annie Nightingale moves from Saturdays (5.00-7.00am) to Fridays (2.00-4.00am)
* Rob da Bank moves from Mondays (2.00-4.00am) to Saturdays (5.00-7.00am)
* Mary-Anne Hobbs moves from Tuesdays (2.00-4.00am) to Thursdays (2.00-4.00am)
* Gilles Peterson moves from Thursdays (2.00-4.00am) to Tuesdays (2.00-4.00am)
* 1Xtra's Mixtape on Sunday from 3.00-5.00am will be presented by Seani B (as a result of Mistajam moving to the new 11.00pm-1.00am show)

Rob DaBank's excellenty programme now effectively filling in the early breakfast slot on a Saturday? Is that going to work?

Maconie is the new Lard

Big news from Radio 2: Next month there's going to be a late-night reshuffle, with Mark Radcliffe moving forward from 10.30 to 8pm. And, in a bemusing move, being teamed-up with Stuart Maconie, presumably in case the extra two hours a week proves a little much for him.

MediaGuardian suggest this is a "move into primetime" - although being set up to compete with evening telly makes the eight o'clock slot seem less Prime time; indeed, defending the knock-on move of specialist musical shows into the later slots, Radio 2 points out the audience is larger at 10.30 than at 8.00.

Janice Long is a loser in the new schedule, with her midnight slot turning into a midnight-thirty slot (give it a few years, and she'll be back on in daylight.)

Steve Lamacq is also getting a regular slot on the station - we think this will make him the first person to have a regular show on Radio 2 and Radio 1 at the same time, and certainly the first person to be on 6,2 and 1.

Evening Shuffle

In a slightly odd decision, Radio one have announced their choice of replacement for Steve Lamacq.

Because they want Zane Lowe to do the show, and he's not available until springtime, for a couple of months the show is going to be in the hands of Colin Murray.

Now, while we've nothing against Murray, we can't work out why Lamacq couldn't have been allowed to carry on until Lowe's XFM contract finished - after all, its not like Steve wanted to leave, and he's not even going from the station anyway. It smacks a little of botch-up to us.

What The Pop Papers Say: The Blackburn and Lamacq edition

It's perhaps not surprising that virtually every general magazine has chosen as a subject for its cover this week that milestone, with the exception of the Radio Times which has gone for quite a different milestone, marking the 2000th edition of Top of the Pops (although, actually, TV Cream seems convinced the 'notable' episode passed some weeks back); they have a fold out cover of some past presenters. It's perhaps unsurprising that the current team of nomarks are banished to the bit that you can't see, and the team that people have heard of - Saville, Mike Read - are given the shelf space. I mean - Richard Blackwood? Lisa Snowdon? Wisely, the innards of the magazine have been handed to Stuart Maconie, a man who is able to write with genuine affection about the show. Holly Johnson credits David Bowie hugging Mick Ronson on the pops as being the first show of genuine affection between men on proper telly, you know...

Talking of the Pops, how bad is Amanda Platell? For some reason, the pointless woman has decided to turn from a subject she knows little about to a topic she knows nothing about, as her gaze turns from politics to celebrity in her frequently embarrassing new Statesman column. She condemns the people partaking in I'm A Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here as people who have "dreamed of, or slept with" celebrity. Amanda, here's half a clue for you: It's called Google. Type in a name and you might find out that Tony Blackburn is, in some sense, an uber-celeb. Leaving aside the fact he's the highest rated AM music show presenter, Tony created the Radio One Breakfast Show format that's still in place today (modernised, but basically unchanged otherwise). He presented Top of the Pops for years (that, and not 'get me out...', is why he's on the Radio Times cover this week - at a time when the show was a mighty force on British TV rather than a quaking brand buried against Corrie. More crucially, his very public breakdown following Tessa Wyatt dumping him, and the fall-out and following interviews, was the event which set the template for the celeb-goes-nuts/celeb-gets-rehabilitated cycle that drives the tabloids today. Someone who comes from a tabloid background should know that...

Following the Blackburn celeb crack-up route, a sad piece in the Observer OM follows Adam Ant on his downward spiral. All a bit upsetting, really, as Adam frets that "I know its going to be Rock Star Goes Nuts." Which is, of course, part of the deal you make when you seek fame - people will embrace every new nuance of your painted face and hang on your opinions; but they'll also stare at every unpaid bar tab and piece of misbehaviour. When you live your life as theatre, you can never go and hide in the wings...

Music Week reports that a "bewildered dance music industry" are embracing cheesey-dance as their only hope of avoiding wipe-out as the market for beats falls away. This means more songs about rubber ducks, less Moby. There's no way to slice that so it sounds bad, so to make clearer: the future is Scooter singing Supertramp in Minnie Mouse voices. Forever...

the nme has black rebel motorcycle club on the front - "drugs! death! paranoia!" - yeah, but what *new* have you got for us?...

there's five pages about the blur split - headlined 'blur in crisis', like they were the Middle East; but it all hangs on the non-appearance of the Graham on the Webcam, really. Mozzer denies he's ever had an offer to reform the Smiths - ten quid and a box of new energy Boost bars, then, Moz?; Marquee reopens (or rather, old sign hung up outside new club); police deny last week's stories about police brutality during the leeds riots (and, so far, no formal complaints have been made); stars are flocking to record at Toe Rag studios, apparently; Pete Libertine's ex-girlfriend is threatening to sue the band for using a line from her dear john note as a lyric; JJ72 have had their album date pushed back to make way for Suede - in all, there's news right up to Page 24 this week; curious since its actually rather a quiet week...

There's a rundown on The New Lamacq betting - Colin Murray, Zane Lowe and Mike Davies out front; there's also some weasling from the Radio One head of Specialist, Live Music and Speech Ian Parkinson, which is interesting. They say the show is being axed because "it's Steve's show, and to simply put in a new presenter would be wrong" - curious that, since the Evening Session has been presented by Goodier and Wylie as well, and on thursdays it's done by about five different people - why would the regional editions be possible if it was Lammo's show? The big hint here is that they wanted rid of the ridiculously gaunt one, a feeling confirmed by the 'managers vote of confidence' that follows. ("Steve remains a key presenter at Radio 1, fronting one of our flagship specialist shows" - yeah, we'll give that until Easter). "There's nothing wrong with the Evening session, but we feel that a new show and a new presenter will give us more freedom to approach the alternative music scene in a new and exciting way. We want to take the championing of new music to the next level." Now, since it's hard to imagine anyone more passionate about their music than Steve, this can clearly only mean: we want to play stuff Steve doesn't like, so he's out. I mean, how can you approach the music scene in "new ways" other than playing the records, giving out sessions and talking to the bands anyway? "You have to remember that the Evening Session has hugely widened its musical remit over the years" - no it hasn't; and I'd challenge Radio One to demonstrate that it has. It's always been mainly guitar based with occassional forays into dance. Sure, there might be more punky/nu-rock nowadays, but that's because there's a lot more raw material around right now. Besides, if the show *has* adapted over the years, why stop iit now? Asked if Radio One still has a duty to play alternative music, Parkinson says "It's not a duty, it's a passion." Erm... actually, mate, it's a duty. You're funded by the licence fee to provide something for everyone, and part of that is playing music from beyond the pop mainstream. Its why Radio One is worth saving from the people who would privatise it. It's why Radio One deserves to be funded. You might enjoy doing it - that's great - but still, never forget - you're there for us. Okay? And for a final spot of spin, challenged that Radio One has a bias towards dance and urban, Parkinson retorts "It's simply not true. There are more hours devoted to guitar and alternative music than urban and dance." Now, clearly there's no need for a quota to be applied, and radio 1 should be doing all these things, but... c'mon. All the 'indie' shows have been pushed back in the schedule to make way for more shows like Dave Pearce's - when's the Breezeblock on now? Half past nighttime? - and from the end of Mark Radcliffe on Friday, it's pretty much pop and dance solidly until, well, Radcliffe on Monday. In sheer terms of hours, it might be there's more guitars on the network, but the impression of Radio One is of a dance-heavy station. Worse, much of it is scheduled at the same time that commercial stations are doing substantially similar programmes, robbing listeners of any choice...

on bands - wit - the atomic kitten of electroclash and the zutons - another Bandwagon band...

Marcie Von Bondie started to play guitars "because boys made me." That's her off the ladyfest wish list, then...

BRMC are asked who their favourite authors are. Peter's response is "Who wrote the Old Man and the Sea?" - which is apparently the only book he's ever finished. No such problems with which rock star they'd most like to have been - Jimi Hendrix, Ian Curtis, (more playfully) Kurt Cobain. I wonder why people think they're detah-obsessed?...

the centre pages are given over to that "No war on Iraq" ad from Blur and Massive Attack. Which is great to see, but I'm not entirely sure that the claim "Both the British and US governments have stated their preparedness to use nuclear weapons in this war" is entirely true - haven't they just not ruled out first use, and not with regards to Iraq specifically? Its a small point, but it would be a pity if a strong moral cause felt the need to inflate the case to win people to its side. That's for *them* to do...

Didn't the nme used to love Oxide and Neutrino? Maybe its to avoid falling into the trap last year, when the paper seemed to be too quick to let off their So Solid chums for the fifteen year old with a broken jaw incident, but this time, O&N are paraded for the prime knobcheese you'd expect of an act who will sing "most of the time when you meet a girl, that girl will be a ho" - and who think that Peter Stringfellow is "proper safe." Hmmm...

Coldplay do the ten tracks - Pixies, Streets, Smiths, Kraftwerk, Aretha, Clash. Blimey, they listen to all that, and *still* make records that sound like weedy old gant toss. Makes you wonder...

reviews - soft cell - cruelty without beauty ("verge on the hamfisted", 6); death in vegas - scorpio rising ("adds up well", 8); miss black america - god bless miss black america ("al the wrong music", 5); paul weller - illumination ("long may he rail", 8); atomic kitten - feels so good ("cows", 3); roddy frame - surf ("uncool, of course, but beautiful", 8)...

sotw - the datsuns - in love ("we're besotted"); not suede - positivity ("go quietly now, and [your fans] will remain true", nor Avril Lavigne - complicated ("nowhere near as shit or wrong as the impending busted single"), nor BRMC - whatever happened to my rock n roll ("a very good record")...

live: foo fighters at ULU ("they've kept getting better"); Libertines in Scotland ("wistful as they are brutal")...

from the small ads: "Manics/Placebo fans wanted for university dissertation research. What draws you to these bands?" Contact magnoliasparkle@yahoo.com if you want, but it sounds like a trap to me...