Episode 220 is a chat with the journalist, pop culture writer, and author Michael Cragg.

Michael's new book Reach for the Stars is a rip-roaring oral history of UK pop music between 1996 and 2006, told through the interviews with the popstars, the songwriters, producers, label executives, pop fans, svengalis and culture writers of the day.

It's an unputdownable behind-the-scenes history of British pop music that tells the story of the Spice Girls, 5ive, Steps, S Club 7, Atomic Kitten, Girls Aloud, JLS, Liberty X, Sugababes, The X-Factor and more.

The book contains many anecdotes like Geri Halliwell missing the Spice Girls audition because she had sunburn or 5ive saying 'Baby One More Time' is " ” to Max Martin's face.

We spoke to Michael about pop stars' mad schedules, the lack of mental health awareness, Xenomania, the moguls like Pete Waterman; the homophobia around boy bands coming out, TOTP, Smash Hits and the media landscape of the day, and the crazy pressure they were under in which a number two record is considered was failure.

Michael Cragg will also be appearing for an interview and Q&A with our pal Louise Bruton at the Smash Hits Poll Winners Party on Saturday July 15th at Wigwam. Tickets are on Eventbrite.

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It's the ever popular monthly episode where Niall and Andrea share what's moving them musically from the month of June - new music and older stuff too.

On Episode 219 we have selections from King Krule, The Hives, Bright Eyes, Peter Gabriel, Maija Sofia, Glasser, Slaughter Beach, Dog, Niall's song of the summer contender and some oldie shouts from Surfers, Freestylers, Joy Anonymous and Bikini Kill.

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We are keeping our summer school vibe going for a bit for the season by keeping episodes relaxed and casual for a bit while the weather is a bit nicer.

Episode 218 of the Nialler9 Podcast then, sees Niall take the reins of the going out buzz after last week's Andrea Goes To Slane episode.

It was a busy festival weekend with Beyond The Pale, Body & Soul and Seas Sessions all taking place in Ireland this past weekend. Niall went to the first two for Body & Soul Festival on Friday and Saturday and then festival hopped to Beyond The Pale on the Sunday.

He shares his experiences of both, from the weather to the site cleanliness to the highlights, lowlights and an attempt to answer the question that was om everyone's lips - why was Beyond The Pale and Body & Soul clashing on the same weekend?

There were thunderstorms, lightning, big sets, stage time delays, vibe checks and crowd checks to consider.

Plus, we share your highlights and lowlights from your festival weekend experiences from our Insta and Discord callouts.

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Episode 217 of the Nialler9 Podcast is all about that great Irish music institution - Slane Castle.

22 years (!) after Nialler was last at the big annual concert in Meath, Andrea makes her first trip to Slane for the Harry Styles concert and our roving vibe reporter is here to share her experiences from the gig day out, the food on offer, and the car park saga after.

Plus, there's a look at the recent Why Not Her? radio report, a new official Beatles song via AI, some fascinating facts culled from the recent New Yorker piece on the Ed Sheeran/ Marvin Gaye copyright case

Plus, the US plan to hike up artist visa prices from $460 to $1,615 per individual musician or crew member, meaning a lot less international touring acts going to America to play if it goes through.

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Niall and Andrea with episode 216 of the Nialler9 Podcast and our monthly new music recommender for the month of May 2023.

On Episode 216, there are some "face eggs"-themed albums from Water From Your Eyes, Eyes Of Others and Caoilian Sherlock along with song choices from Gurriers, Blur, Kieran Hebden + William Tyler, Bricknasty, Buck Meek and two oldies from The Fall and Glasser.

And for those of you who appreciate our usual Succession talk, this week, there is a 40 minute BONUS EPISODE available on the Patreon for subscribers only, where we discuss the Succession finale episode.

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A reappraisal of the career of Cass Elliot, formerly known as Mama Cass, of The Mamas & Papas.

For this week's episode (#215), Andrea Cleary, takes the lead for a deep dive into the life and times of Cass Elliot, the late-60s singer who recently went viral when a Tik-Tok user used her song 'Make Your Own Kind Of Music' on a meme with Nicolas Cage / Pedro Pascal from the film The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent.

The song's virality has lead to a reappraisal of the legacy of the singer, whose established narrative can now be seen through a lens of fatphobia and unfair treatment of women in the industry and society at large.

Andrea takes us through her life and times on this fascinating episode.

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Nealo is a Dublin rapper and artist who is a regular on this site since first appearing in 2018. 2020's All The Leaves Are Falling was a Choice Music Prize-nominated debut album, an album exploring loss, friendship, family and the ties that keep us searching for home.

Fresh from the release of new song 'Forest' with Morgana of Saint Sister on vocals, Nealo is teasing a new album at a later date, and along with last week's guest Celaviedmai, is playing at The Hennessy Hip-Hop House at Body & Soul Festival this summer.

We've been talking to Nealo about getting him on the podcast for a long time, so we're delighted to finally bring him in with Niall and Andrea.

On this episode we discuss what Nealo has been up to by asking him about some songs that are inspiring him and he loves right now, along with chats about making and releasing music in 2023, sobriety, going to see Post Malone, and possibly controversial opinions about Taylor Swift.

Listen to the chat, or read the abbreviated choices on Nialler9.

The Hennessy Hip-Hop House announces its lineup at Body & Soul Festival this June 16th to 18th at Ballinlough Castle, Co. Westmeath.

Denise Chaila, Gemma Dunleavy, Kojaque, Fabio & Grooverider and The Outlook Orchestra (A/V Show) are among the headliners for the Hennessy Music Trail and The Hennessy Hip-Hop House has an extensive lineup of hip-hop to celebrate the genre’s 50th year in tandem this year.

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Galway rapper Celaviedmai is one of our favourite up and coming rappers and collaborators as she has shown adeptness at moving between rap, house, drill, Amapiano and Afrobeat in her music so far.

Mai is an artist with ambition and exciting plans on the horizon including a set at The Hennessy Hip-Hop House at Body & Soul Festival this summer.

It was great to have Mai in to pick 5 songs that have influenced her craft and one current banger she can't get enough of, and trail some future plans for Celaviedmai.

Songs featured:

Celaviedmai - Go Down Low

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The songs Mai picked :

Doechii - Crazy

Azealia Banks - Luxury

Missy Elliott; Ludacris - One Minute Man (feat. Ludacris)

J Dilla; Common; D'Angelo - So Far to Go

JAY-Z; Kanye West; Otis Redding - Otis

Doja Cat - Get Into It (Yuh)

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Celaviedmai; - Known Better

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It’s the monthly episode with Niall and Andrea discussing songs and albums we loved from the last month, and some older.

On Episode 212, there are albums recommended by Feist, Kara Jackson, Benefits and Tom Trago, along with choice songs from Anna St. Louis, Laurie Shaw, Beabadoobee + Clairo and two oldies.

Plus a bit of listener feedback about last week's AI episode, some book, TV and film recommends and a bit about the Ed Sheeran / Marvin Gaye copyright case.

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Show notes:

• Songs played on the Nialler9 Podcast Spotify Playlist

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The generation of music content through AI has grown at a rate much faster than anyone anticipated in the last month. The technology we thought might have been a few months away, has accelerated to the point where AI has become a dominant talking point in the music space.

In the space half a year, we have gone from a problematic fake rapper Fn Meka signing to Capitol before being dropped over moral issues, David Guetta creating a fake Eminem sample and China's AI pop hit hitting over a million streams to a fake AI-assisted Drake and The Weeknd song that had to be pulled off Spotify, a fake Oasis circa'97 album in its entirety, Grimes saying she will share her royalties with AI-generated songs that use her likeness and rap songs using deceased or contrasting voices to create new songs or versions of old classics.

It brings up questions about human creativity, copyright, moral standpoints, inherent biases in datasets and how sentient Chat GPT really appears to be.

On this episode, Niall and Andrea cover all these flashpoints of AI in recent months, discuss the cautionary tales, academic angles and artistic ones, like Holly Herndon's work in the space for a number of years now. Plus, we create so AI-generated content of our own...

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