The Chorus

We encounter both John McEnroe and Ian Thornley twice - it's more cost-effective that way - in the course of talking about the former writing books and narrating the enjoyable Netflix series Never Have I Ever and the latter being painfully self-effacing on the Everyone Loves Guitar podcast while also being at least as talented as the whole of Led Zeppelin. We also double up on good doctors in, er, The Good Doctor (for which Freddy Highmore is now justifiably as famous as for being in the Finding Neverland memes with Johnny Depp) and All Creatures Great And Small, in which a delightful country vet regularly gets shoulder deep in ... work. Olivia Rodrigo succeeds while abusing apostrophes, which doesn't seem fair, and REM finish strong, prompting us to sing Find The River off the cuff. Pretty well, we think. 

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We return, cautiously but happily, to the theatre for "Dusk" - a fictional story about how isolation and a lack of support might send you around the bend (at least that doesn't happen in reality, right?). Krugersdorp goes to hell in a handbasket in "Devilsdorp", and Los Angeles comes off worse, if anything, in "The Sons Of Sam: A Descent Into Darkness". And we visit The Museum Of Broken Relationships via the book of the same name. Then it gets happier. Fortunately, as we had no whiskey this week. John Jorgenson saves guitars from a flood and names the compositions he plays on them after them. We can possibly relate, having called our own guitars "Second Wife", "Favourite Child" and more. "Jazz: A Film By Ken Burns" has so much to offer that it is actually a Miniseries By Ken Burns and Christopher Meloni in the show "Happy!" is what other people might call "Crazy!". And in new tunes from "The Single File", Lana Del Rey, Holly Humberstone and Nosihe blow our hair back. Which is impressive, as we have very little between us.

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Paths to - and definitions of - success in matters of creativity differ wildly. Put the best song at the end of an album? Sara Bareilles does just that in our "Closing Time" feature. Re-imagine language because your brain interprets signals differently? Daniel Tammet does so in his book "Every Word Is A Bird We Teach To Sing". The Netflix series "Criminal" uses the same narrow formula in different countries, with different audiences - and triumphs. And the Tedeschi Trucks Band strikes gold by playing a whole album of someone else's music. So is there a formula that works for everyone? We'll tell you when we celebrate our millionth listener...

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Post-lockdown. New features. Live performance. Short sentences. Key messages: corruption is bad, music is great, driving is cool, food is complicated and doing things purely to feel joy is essential. Also, a book is abandoned before it is finished, which makes us feel weird. Plus, in First Take (new feature - we mentioned that, right?) - in which we play a song without rehearsal; first take is what you hear/what we may need to apologise for later - we covered some Counting Crows (birdwatchers: that's not as dirty as it sounds). And in More Gear, No Fear (a safe space for musical gadget addicts), we look at the Breaker Overdrive pedal from Bondi Effects. Comments, suggestions, messages of undying love: https://www.facebook.com/TheChorusPodcast.

WATCH: Line Of Duty / This Is Pop / Formula 1: Drive To Survive / Soul / High On The Hog

READ: Lincoln In The Bardo

FIRST TAKE: Sullivan Street - Counting Crows

MORE GEAR, NO FEAR: Bondi Effects Breaker Overdrive

People who don't laugh make jokes much funnier. It's Brooklyn Nine-Nine science. As is Stephen King ÷ Stanley Kubrick > 1. Wait, that's maths. Movie maths. AC/DC music videos feel flaccid, but Elvis remains royally vital. In predictable news, country music musicians are incredible and competitive cyclists take drugs. More capriciously, Matthew McConaughey fails to convince as an American and a child grows antlers. Plus, there is nudity and someone standing still while strangers cut them with razors. You know, the usual.

THE HOOKS:

WATCH: Brooklyn Nine-Nine / Dr Sleep / Elvis: The Searcher / Sweet Tooth / The Gentlemen / Heartworn Highways / Icarus

READ - Body Of Art by Phaidon editors

LISTEN - AC/DC, Billy Gibbons

In which Bruce and Stefan are less retentive than usual. Feel the freedom of unclenched sphincters and rejoice! We chat about fake Faust and fantasy philosophy, about a Charlie Parker who doesn't play the saxophone, about the value of albums over singles, about our lust for Suhr guitars, and about accommodating a loss of appreciation for art. Like, share, subscribe and let us know what you want to hear about in arty, culturey (that's a word) areas via [email protected].

THE HOOKS:

READ - A Game Of Ghosts by John Connelly, The Illustrated Eric by Terry Pratchett

LISTEN - Big Wreck, David Bowie, Mott The Hoople, Billy Gibbons

We welcome the lovely Alyssa Harrison - actress, singer, director, and half of theatre marketing hub and events co-ordination platform Plug In Theatre, She adds class and elegance as we rattle on about shadows and monsters, future stage stars and films that killed off actors for no apparent reason. There is also talk of Bruce's new single (a collaboration with Kate Normington), why editors are important and how musical interpretation is no less wonderful than original writing.

THE HOOKS:

WATCH - Shadow And Bone / Love And Monsters / The Long Riders / Lamplight / Parable

LISTEN - The Black Keys / Sheryl Crow / Bruce Dennill & Kate Normington / Matt Nathanson / Editors / Big Wreck

Bruce attempts to expand, amplify and explicate his vocabulary while forgetting - or wishing he could - film plots and appreciating a boundary-pushing songwriter. Stefan has forgotten how to read, but explores Vegas, superhero psyches and immigrant shopkeeping before making the most of mandolins and returning to roots music. And we play a live, original song: "Arguing", written by Bruce Dennill and John Ellis.

THE HOOKS:

WATCH - Outside The Wire / The Hunt / Deadly Class / Army Of The Dead / Jupiter's Legacy / Kim's Convenience

READ - The Cabinet Of Linguistic Curiosities

LISTEN - Songcraft: Spotlight On Songwriters - Jackie DeShannon / Julian Lage / Chris Eldridge / Chris Thile / Punch Brothers / Goat Rodeo / Daniel Lanois / Emmylou Harris / The Black Keys

Stefan discusses being scared and literal character assassination, while Bruce is less impressed with Greek kings than he is New York nerds. And both go back to the Nineties, to when music involved both musings on eternity and melodies.

THE HOOKS:

WATCH - Things Heard And Seen / Deadly Class / How To With John Wilson

READ - The Fry Chronicles / House Of Names

LISTEN - DC Talk / Bill Bryson / Nineties Pop-Rock

Stefan and Bruce wax lyrical about a vocal collective before considering animated AI and the kind of all-encompassing drive(r) needed to become the best and most famous sportsman on the planet. We discover that there is arguably not enough to write about Jimi Hendrix and rather too much to write about Istanbul. And we mash up celebrated wordsmithery, call-and-response gospel and ... ukuleles. It's so much better than you'd think.

THE HOOKS:

WATCH - The Mitchells Vs The Machines / African Pulse: Celebrating The Ndlovu Youth Choir / I Care A Lot / Tiger

READ - Two Riders Were Approaching: The Life And Death Of Jimi Hendrix / Istanbul: A Tale Of Three Cities

LISTEN - Kirk Franklin / Born To Uke / Stephen Fry