Icon of the Week: Carl Smithson
Flora Bigham speaks to the manager of Truck Records in Cowley, Carl Smithson, about the local music scene, the vinyl revival, and the store’s role in building a community around music in Oxford. How did you get to this position of running the store? Our parent company, Rapture opened up a shop
Henry McGuinness: an interview with an Oxford busker
Walk down Cornmarket or Westgate and at any given moment your journey will be set to the soundtrack of experimental synthesiser tracks (a recent highlight last week), a hand-wound organ, or Lana Del Rey covers. Henry McGuiness is a guitarist who devises such soundtracks to many Oxford-resident’s d
Suzanne Ciani: A Pioneer of Electronic Music
A pioneer of electronic music, Suzanne Ciani was there in the 1960s when the genre was taking off. From creating iconic musical effects for adverts to self-producing albums and composing film scores, now, decades later, she is back where she first intended to be. Dubbed America’s female synt
Drunk On A Flight: An Interview with Singer-Songwriter, Eloise
Releasing her debut album ‘Drunk On A Flight’ earlier this year, Eloise’s sweet, mellow voice, jazz-infused harmonies, and delicate lyrics are the perfect soundtrack to hazy afternoons and warm summer nights. Gearing up for tours in Europe and North America, I managed to catch her for a conver
Artist of the Week: Max Blansjaar
Flora Bigham interviews Max Blansjaar, a second-year music student at Catz. He has released two EPs with the Oxford-based label ‘Beanie Tapes’, described by Clash magazine as “deadpan, lo-fi pop tunes delivered with buzzsaw accuracy”. Hi Max! As a person and musician, how would you describe
