The BBC has delayed blocking BBC Sounds app for audiences outside the UK.
It comes after a decision made by the corporation meant listeners outside the UK would only be able to access Radio 4 and the World Service via a new audio section on BBC.com.
In a statement the BBC said it is working on plans to “continue to make other BBC stations available to listeners outside the UK” adding that it “will not close BBC Sounds outside the UK until we have confirmed these plans”.
Any backtrack on their plans would be great news for me and the many thousands of BBC listeners worldwide.
I’m not counting chickens, but I am crossing fingers.
(I’m a big grown up boy and I can count things without using my fingers now.)
Ludovico Einaudi announced his 2025 album The Summer Portraitsback in early October last year. And as an artist who has released many new-age, modern classical albums, it’s clear that he had read the room with this particular track from the release.
The album was written in summer in Italy, and while The Summer Portraits is generally uplifting, and tries to pull the listener out of the doldrums…
The new project is inspired partially by the musician’s childhood in Torino. “I always considered Torino a place I would never go back to live. It was very grey, very industrial – I felt like I was in a cage,” Einaudi says in a press statement. “It’s a strange place, very poetic in a way. The soul of the people is more hidden. They don’t show things off – you have to find the dynamism inside yourself…”
…Pathos very much acknowledges the starting place of that journey.
And that follows along with the findings of the World Happiness Report, which came out at the end of the last month. People are generally less happy. This snapshot was taken just before November last year (before the US Election), and the US (24) and the UK (23) were already at their lowest ever positions.
This graph shows a very basic “Life Evaluation” perception score for a few nations, where 10 is the best that your life could be, and 0 is the worst. I’ve included the score for Finland and Afghanistan – the top and bottom rated countries in the study.
I’ve also included Ukraine, who are just behind SA, despite having their country invaded by the murderous forces of a despotic, nuclear-capable regime right on their doorstep.
We don’t have the same issue with Botswana.
Yet.
It will be interesting, given the… er… somewhat “extreme” new US government and its wide-reaching policies, what next year’s results will look like.
A reminder to self to look further into the 1963 Jean-Luc Godard film, Le Mépris (literally translated it’s “Contempt”, hence the post title).
Starring Bridget Bardot and Michael Piccoli, the Georges Delarue theme, Camille, from the movie was the music used by Cigarettes After Sex for their entrance onto the stage each night* for their Cape Town performances.
(Mainly) young, excited – dare I say “giddy”? – South African audiences need a bit of a reminder that there should be something of a pause between their pre-show chatting and their during show chatting, and this stunning, deep, orchestral piece bridged that gap perfectly as the house lights came down, Greg Gonzalez stepped onto the stage, and the screamy teenage volume went up.
A quick scan of Delarue’s catalogue shows just how prolific he was. There are some big name movie soundtracks in there: Céline, The Day of the Jackal, Twins (yes, that one) and Boomerang to name but a few of the 351 films he scored.
Jeez.
* I know this because Little Miss 6000 managed to snaffle a last minute free ticket for last night’s show as well
