Mark Savage

Thank you!

I spoke to legendary presenter Simone Angel about the legacy and impact of MTV Europe, as the channel prepares to close all of its music stations in the UK and elsewhere in Europe. #mtv

Wolf Alice: 'A good album is one of the highest forms of art' With a fourth consecutive Mercury Prize nomination, the band share their philosophy of album making.

“We had no idea, from a technical perspective, of what we were doing.”

Wolf Alice on their development as a band, their fourth Mercury Prize nomination and their favourite albums.

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What if you get a blister on your little finger? What if you get a blister on your thumb?

MTV to axe its music TV channels in the UK The broadcaster will stop showing music videos in December, but its main channel will remain on air.

End of an era… Although I was surprised to see 1.3m people still watch MTV’s main UK music channel every month.

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Taylor Swift's new album breaks her own sales records The star gets the biggest first-week sales of her career in the UK; and sets new records in the US.

I will stop posting about Taylor Swift soon, I promise, but the latest sales figures are astonishing.

She sells records - actual, physical records - like streaming never happened.

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The “unhappy artist” cliché is neither true nor helpful. What about It Must Be Love, Maybe I’m Amazed, Isn’t She Lovely, One Day Like This, the entirety of Ray of Light, etc?

Your point about the tank running dry is more apt - although I think there’s still some great writing on Showgirl.

Oasis guitarist Bonehead pulls out tour after cancer diagnosis One of the band's founding members says he will be miss some upcoming shows for treatment.

This sucks. He was having such a good time on stage at Wembley last weekend. Hoping for a speedy recovery.
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“Even Taylor Swift’s worst ideas have a way of working out.”

Even in my wildest dreams, I couldn’t describe Taylor’s album with as much verve and insight and joy-in-writing as Tom. The definitive review?

This is such a good analogy. I’ll credit you in every interview where I steal it this morning!!

There’s a tacit admission that she’s unable to compete with Chappell, Charli, Lola and all the messy pop girls. But that’s ok.

I’d have liked a Blank Space or I Knew You Were Trouble - but equally, I can live without a bad facsimile of those big pop moments.

I feel like we were all expecting 2008-era Max Martin, when his most recent productions have been more atmospheric and subtle.

I felt the album was a good balance between the writing of Folklore and his melody-first approach.

Agree on the lack of singles, though - but Opalite is v catchy.

Taylor Swift: The Diary of a Showgirl is a triumphant pop victory lap Taylor Swift's 12th album is a breathtakingly fun pop record, capturing the joy of falling in love.

Romance! Scorn! Knob jokes!

Absolutely loved The Life of a Showgirl. The first ever Taylor Swift album to make me laugh out loud in public.

Full review/ brain dump on the Beeb.

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She should be told!

I grew to like TTPD over time, but it needed a lot of pruning. There is a superb 12-track album hiding in there.

Does anyone else's nose go all tickly when they use an electric toothbrush, or am I doing it wrong?

How Taylor Swift made herself too big to fail - BBC News With a passionate fandom and chart supremacy, it seems like nothing can damage Taylor Swift, as expectation about her new album grows.

My name's at the top of this piece, but all the really impressive stuff was done by Luke Mintz and our Visual Journalism team. Kudos to them. Best in the business.

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Lady Gaga serves mayhem, magic and a few surprises as UK tour launches The pop star brings her Mayhem Ball to the UK, throwing in a few unexpected surprises along the way.

On previous tours, I’ve often felt Lady Gaga’s ambition was let down by the execution. Not this time. 5 black stars for a gothic night of opulence.

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The whole poster is a delight

This is really smart and clear. Scott, as always, has his eyes on the ball. (A big sparkly mirrorball, but I digress…)

Raye on hit song Where Is My Husband! and five-year plan to start a family Chatting with her sisters, the pop star says her new single, Where Is My Husband!, is a pop manifesto.

Ooops! Here’s the link I meant to include in the original post.

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Raye’s Where Is My Husband, isn’t just a viral hit, it’s a manifesto!

So, soo good to catch up with her (and to meet her sisters Amma and Absolutely) last week. Full interview on the BBC News website.

Somehow, these are Frosted Shreddies

Stray Kids downplay their global fame: 'Success is a strong word' As the K-pop idols continue to break records, they stay focused on making music and meeting fans.

I had the chance to speak to Stray Kids - the fifth-biggest selling act IN THE WORLD - about chart dominaton, insane workloads and the intimate bond they have with fans.

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That time I asked Lulu for vocal warm-up tips.

I actually ran the same marathon but faster and also used a fake name so I’m sorry but you can’t look it up. You’re just gonna have to take my word for it

The top ten features three tunes from Demon Hunters, three from Sabrina Carpenter and three* from Olivia Dean. (*one is technically a feature with Sam Fender) and one song from Sombr. Olivia's occasional trio in the top ten has made her the first UK female turn since Adele to dominate in such a way.

Joy Crookes on her new album Juniper and 'letting go' of perfectionism The singer says she avoided the second-album slump as she

Joy Crookes’s gorgeous new album Juniper is out today. So we had a big chat about how it’s inspired by Van Morrison and Marvin Gaye and artists who aren’t afraid to let their imperfections shine.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Japanese girl group AKB48 release AI-assisted single after fan vote Pop group AKB48 asked fans to pick their next single from a song written by humans and another by AI.

This is fascinating... One of Japan's biggest hitmakers agreed to a songwriting contest with an AI programme trained on his music.

The pop band AKB48 recorded a song by each "composer" - and let fans decide which one to release as a single.

The AI won.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

I went record shopping with Mark Ronson, who’s just written a book about his early career as a DJ.

Watch the whole thing on BBC iPlayer today!

www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/epis...