The Chorus

It's the end of the year (and Spotify tells us we're 87% up in streams, so thank you so much for your support). We welcome back our very first guest, trends analyst and rabid reader Bronwyn Williams, and some of what she says is sad, but she brought whiskey to share, so that's ok. Truth is scarier than fiction on the page and screen, but it's ok because great live music brings joy and maybe we're in a German wormhole so none of it matters. This and other important insights this week. We'll be back in the new year, still drinking Cito 1974 coffee because it's (genuinely) amazing and also our supply for the podcast is sponsored and we will punt your brand here if you jump in with your lovely products or actual cash to pay for our glamorous, kids' school fee-paying lifestyles. Read a book, listen to music, go to the theatre, watch the whole of every streaming service - have a great holiday!

Reviewed this week:

MUSIC: Starting Over - Chris Stapleton, The Waterboys Live

BOOKS: Present Tense - A Radiohead Compendium, edited by Barney Hoskyns, Rainbow Nation My Zulu Arse by Sihle Khumalo, Property by Lionel Shriver

TV: Nope, 1899, Dahmer, Black Panther

Stay in touch at https://www.facebook.com/TheChorusPodcast. And try out the superb coffee we drink on the show: Cito 1974 (www.cito1974.com).

A little birdy told us to delve into whether Twitter is quiet as much of a cesspool as we're led to believe. Elsewhere on social media, a man from The Darkness proves to be sweet, sensitive and wise. Plus, some of music's Biggest Names released new (and old) projects, and we finally brought back our First Take feature and played a tune live in studio again - Dreamed You Different. Frankly, it's lovely, and you should listen.

Reviewed this week:

MUSIC: Only The Strong Survive - Bruce Springsteen, Use Your Illusion Deluxe - Guns 'N Roses, Revolver Deluxe - The Beatles

BOOKS: The Survivors by Kate Furnivall, The Woman In The Blue Cloak by Deon Mayer

TV: The Midnight Club, The Dry

YOUTUBE:  Justin Hawkins Rides Again

Stay in touch at https://www.facebook.com/TheChorusPodcast. And try out the superb coffee we drink on the show: Cito 1974 (www.cito1974.com).

Our guest is CrashCarBurn frontman Garth Barnes, chatting about the band's new album, Back From The Dead. In almost related news, we also talk about old men, including Mick Jagger and Jeff Bridges. Plus, Stefan's dogs fight a lot in the background.

Reviewed this week:

BOOKS: The Rolling Stones - 1972, Dickens by Peter Ackroyd

TV: The Old Man, Cabinet Of Curiosities

Stay in touch at https://www.facebook.com/TheChorusPodcast. And try out the superb coffee we drink on the show: Cito 1974 (www.cito1974.com).

Our guest is comedian Mark Banks, whose show Alive! runs at the Studio at Pieter Toerien's Montecasino Theatre until 20 November. Book at Computicket.

Reviewed this week:

BOOKS: The End Of The End Of The World by Jonathan Franzen

TV: Derry Girls Season 3, Better Call Saul Season 1

Stay in touch at https://www.facebook.com/TheChorusPodcast. And try out the superb coffee we drink on the show: Cito 1974 (www.cito1974.com).

Our guest is Ben Voss, who plays Abominable Uncle Abanazar in Janice Honeyman's Adventures In Pantoland at the Joburg Theatre from November 6 to December 24.

Reviewed this week:

BOOKS: Book Ends by Michael Chabon; Unmasked by Andrew Lloyd Webber

TV: Yellowstone; Trigger Point

MUSIC: American Heartbreak by Zach Bryan; Memory by Nicole Scherzinger

Stay in touch at https://www.facebook.com/TheChorusPodcast. And try out the superb coffee we drink on the show: Cito 1974 (www.cito1974.com).

Our guest is Dan Chiorboli, festival director for WOMAD South Africa (running from 30 September to 8 October; tickets at Quicket), who unpacks the festival's itinerant delights and name-drops Peter Gabriel just because he can. We also go behind The Godfather - this is the reason movie tickets cost so much - and explore a book which lyrically and beautifully confirms that racism in the Deep South (or anywhere else for that matter) is frightening, inhuman force.

Stay in touch at https://www.facebook.com/TheChorusPodcast. And try out the superb coffee we drink on the show: Cito 1974 (www.cito1974.com).

There's a tweaked format in this post-sojourn return, as we take a stab at edification alongside entertainment. We dip into the effects of career pressure on musicians, as well as revisiting the magic of Terry Pratchett, unpacking why expensive streaming series don't last the distance, geeking out over a limited edition Beach Boys guitar strap, watching commerce take on concern in a book about a pink elephant, being concerned about Billy Crystal and comparing an American Idol winner to Burt Bacharach.

Stay in touch at https://www.facebook.com/TheChorusPodcast. And try out the superb coffee we drink on the show: Cito 1974 (www.cito1974.com).

Discussed this week (in which Bruce celebrated a birthday): The giant Cake Brothers tiramisu birthday that appeared alongside our microphone, and the aroma of the contents of several vials of white powder (ooh) our guest had brought with him. Between mouthfuls of cake, ice cream, delicious coffee and a smidge of whiskey, we chatted about the foolishness of taking on Carrie Mulligan, and let our ears go country because Spotify told us to.

GUEST: Malcolm Burroughs - more at https://www.facebook.com/CakeBrothersSouthAfrica/ and https://www.facebook.com/fabflava/

TV: Promising Young Woman

MUSIC: Richie Furey - In The Country

Please give us your comments, suggestions, reviews of our song and constructive input via our Facebook page, please: https://www.facebook.com/TheChorusPodcast. And try out the superb coffee we drink on the show: Cito 1974 (www.cito1974.com).

Discussed this week: The seven deadly sins, possibly in conjunction with the experiences of Elton John, Frank Sinatra, Pamela Anderson and Tommy Lee (that should cover most of them). Plus cycling, cruising and choreography.

THEATRE: La Traviata, Elton: The Experience

TV: Pam & Tommy, Hustle, Jungle Cruise

BOOKS: Around The World In 80 Days by Mark Beaumont

MUSIC: Chagall Guevera - Halcyon Days, Frank Sinatra - Watertown 2022

PODCAST: Stephen Fry - Seven Deadly Sins

Please give us your comments, suggestions, reviews of our song and constructive input via our Facebook page, please: https://www.facebook.com/TheChorusPodcast. And try out the superb coffee we drink on the show: Cito 1974 (www.cito1974.com).

Discussed this week: the return of full-capacity theatre, guilty pleasures. lovely hungry people and a sublime songwriter who needs to be Heard.

THEATRE: If A Tree Falls, Locked Upside Down...And Inside Out!, Kunene And The King 

TV: SAS - Rise Of The Black Swan, Fast And Furious 9 - The Fast Saga, Somebody Feed Phil, Stranger Things 4, The Morning Show

MUSIC: Mark Heard

Please give us your comments, suggestions, reviews of our song and constructive input via our Facebook page, please: https://www.facebook.com/TheChorusPodcast. And try out the superb coffee we drink on the show: Cito 1974 (www.cito1974.com).