ALBUMBLE

19 Headquarters by The Monkees

We are back!!!!
After our short yet slightly stressful Eurovision break we look back over the last few weeks and have a quick round up of news regarding some of our past ALBUMBLE alumni. On the subject of this podcast, we delve into the 60's with an album by The Monkees. "Headquarters" was the band's third album - and the third that reached number 1 on the Billboard album chart - although it contained a lot of firsts for the band as musicians.
Mickey, Peter, Mike and Davy were originally cast as a fictional band for the TV series of the same name. The foursome, however, at the start of their career had very little say in the music they performed and brought out even though they *could* actually play instruments and had the nous - together or singularly - to write a decent song and an entire hit album! Although they were a band very much of their time, their TV shows have been repeated all over the world and still can be found on satellite schedules this very day. 
To fully immerse yourself in the ALBUMBLE podcast, listen to the album yourselves (Headquarters is on Spotify and possibly other places too) then listen to our appraisal. Remember to get in touch by tweeting us via @albumble and tell us what you think of The Monkees' work (music Or television!) and whether you agree with our views !!

SOA2025-6

Welcome back to the final Shite Or Alright for 2025!We start off this last - and hopefully exciting - episode by noticing if the similarity between seemingly disparate jingles may actually be by design. Ann also dumps the idea of Eurovision Tariffs because the EBU might be able to get some extra funding and expertise by appearing on a certain BBC business show...
Once we have our final show winner we look at all six heat winners and decide who is our "champion of champions" who will surely - almost definitely - will not be winning in Eurovision this year.
We hope you have enjoyed this Eurovision specials. We will be back bright-eyed and bushy tailed with the regular bi-monthly ALBUMBLE shows in June by reviewing "Headquarters" by The Monkees ! 
SHOW SIX - MONOGRAMMED COMMODE
Australia, Ireland, Montenegro, San Marino, Spain and Ukraine
Not even Blümchen... A performance they believe in Just wish it went somewhereNever knew Jimbo and the Jet Set were so popularIt *should* be a shoo-inNot serving subtlety

SOA2025-5

Welcome back to episode 5 of Shite Or Alright 2025!Andy starts the podcast by revealing he has some kind of Eurovision malaise but don’t worry he has a belated Belgium-related fix to relieve it. We swiftly begin the judging with a lot of explaining to do as it has ended up being a rather loaded episode!!!! 
So here we go!
SHOW 5 - THE YEAR OF THE PLINTH
Albania, France, Lithuania, Malta, Netherlands & Serbia
He does all the film voiceovers It's good - but it's not rightUnder the auspices of Dr Evil
When are Liechtenstein doing Eurovision?This was everything from Novelty Island - apart from Graham ListerA rollover vote?

SOA2025-4

Welcome back to Shite Or Alright for 2025!We start the podcast by considering how good Gilles de Coster, the Belgian host of “De Mol”, is at keeping secrets and a convincing straight face but that is all after relating the Monty Hall problem to why USB ports are so random… We eventually get onto the job at hand and judge some Eurovision songs… with some rather surprising results!!!! 
So here we go!
SHOW 4 - DANCERS AND CYCLISTS CAN'T SING
Cyprus, Greece, Germany, Luxembourg, Portugal & Slovenia
Ammonite contempowaft Greater than the sum of its partsIf Duncan Laurence could write a songClean Bandit from TemuDoesn't have a leg to stand on... unfortunately"Three riddles have I....!"

SOA2025-3

Welcome back to Shite Or Alright for 2025!We start by wondering of the recent rise in talk about 'tariffs' could be leveraged in Eurovision and think about the categories of Eurovision tropes that could be incentivised and sanctioned so the entrance fee for the contest could be slightly negotiated. After that we judge 6 of this year's crop from 0 to 5 and find a show winner!
So here we go!
SHOW 3 - AN EXPLANATION OF URINAL CAKES
Austria, Croatia, Czechia, Denmark, Sweden, & United Kingdom 
A till from the Grace BrothersThey can no longer afford trousersIs there a culture of Panto...?Dear Finland - your problemDo Polish people want to watch things about Henry VIII?Normal Collier processing

SOA2025-2

Welcome back to Shite Or Alright for 2025!We talk about why we didn't really see Nemo coming for the win last year (I blame trains) but that 's after we start with a brief sojourn into reaction videos - and not just Eurovision ones - before Andy and Ann give their views on each song & performance giving them a score from 0 to 5.
So here we go!
SHOW 2 - SWEEP FOR ESC 2026
Armenia, Finland, Iceland, Italy, Latvia & Norway
"Swashbuckle" graphicsA fan of Blue PeterEnya... on drugsShoving fags in his faceA niche to carve outThe Quantum Leap Soundtrack 

SOA2025-1

Shite Or Alright is back for another year!On our return to review the 2025 Eurovision songs, we have a brief moment to recall the (mostly not so nice) events of ESC 2024 and frame the themes and memes we have in store in 2025. We begin with why there are 37 songs on the menu and not the expected 38, why we're only reviewing 35 of them and why some countries are on a final warning.... After each clip Andy and Ann give their views and give them a score from 0 to 5.
So here we go!
SHOW 1 - HOLDEN'S CAULDRON
Azerbaijan, Belgium, Estonia, Poland and Switzerland MarmiteThose buildings looked frankly dirtyWhatever they are dancing to isn't that songNo need for a violinThat's what we do well

18 Service Station at the End of the Universe by Antony Szmierek

In this last episode before a Eurovision break we review a brand new album!!! This is Antony Szmierek's second album although it has been four years since their debut effort. He has been on the scene making waves not in the form of releases but more in the form of live shows and tours.
Former teacher Szmierek takes us for a ride (not like that!) to the world of the service station and is able to pull apart, visualise, imagine and dissect who is there, why are they here and what will happen next. The album itself is a bit of a rollercoaster ride as life, its meaning and its weight upon us is explained to and fought against on a peripheral and personal level. There is also a short discussion about how this spoken word artist is similar and very different to previous ALBUMBLE subject Scroobius Pip.
In April our airwaves will be full of Eurovision news - more about that in the pod. Our news round up is (once again) mostly full of Joost news! Even though the next ALBUMBLE podcast won't be out for a little while, we still reveal which album we'll be looking at in the next ALBUMBLE show which should be out on the 1st May.
To fully immerse yourself in the Albumble podcast, listen to the album yourselves (Service Station at the End of the Universe  is on Spotify and possibly other places too) then listen to our appraisal. Remember to get in touch by tweeting us via @albumble and tell us what you think of Antony Szmierek's work and whether you agree with our views !!

17 Meat Is Murder by The Smiths

In this episode we 'celebrate' the 40th anniversary of The Smiths only chart-topping number 1, Meat Is Murder. Known, but not as well known as some of their other releases, this album has a slightly unusual collection of songs in terms of song style, song meaning, song tempo and song length but is possibly more known for the 'political' nature of the lead song and the album artwork.
This was their second studio album and spawned a rather disparate and not too well-known number of singles but the title track certainly captured headlines and hearts.  As we discuss, many of the songs had that stereotypical dreary Smithsness but there are a few rather chipper - almost pop - numbers proving they were more than just a one note band. In addition we also note that the tracks start to strengths of all of the band members not just Morrissey and Marr!
Our news round up is mostly taken up with Joost news! As always though, we reveal of the next albumble album which is a bit different as this album is literally days old as of recording!
To fully immerse yourself in the Albumble podcast, listen to the album yourselves (Meat Is Murder is on Spotify and possibly other places too) then listen to our appraisal. Remember to get in touch by tweeting us via @albumble and tell us what you think of The Smiths' work and whether you agree with our views !!

16 Smart by Sleeper

This episode sees us return to albums and back to the 90s, although for both of us, this wasn't something either of us had on our discmans (discmen?!?!) at the time of release
Sleeper got swept in with the cool kids of Britpop and their debut album has lyrics that are very of their time but, as we discuss, there is a little more too it than that. Smart was certified gold and spawned 4 singles although many of these went under the radar. We also realise many of the themes are much ruder that one might have anticipated and the nuances of a couple of tracks were possibly before their time. Maybe the Sleeper train was piled on because there was a strong female influence but that point of view is something that obviously needed airing!
Our news round up is very short this week as there is not much news going on! As always though, we reveal of the next albumble album which like Smart is also celebrating an anniversary!! 
To fully immerse yourself in the Albumble podcast, listen to the album yourselves (Smart is on Spotify and possibly other places too) then listen to our appraisal. Remember to get in touch by tweeting us via @albumble and tell us what you think of Sleeper's work and whether you agree with our views !!