The best of July (Thought it was about time I revived my monthly update again)
TV programme of the month: You'll be expecting me to say Big Brother, and so I will. OK, so it was over-hyped. OK, so it was a bit trashy. OK, so it may not have been as gripping as last year. OK, so they had to force stuff to happen by constantly changing the rules. But nothing else in the last two months has gripped me quite as much as this ongoing saga of thirteen people doing not very much. It's a bit like life really. It's a lot more interesting to get to know people you see regularly by observing their everyday behaviour than it is to read about the carefully-screened public appearances of distant global superstars. Or is that just me? Whatever the case, with FameAcademy and Pop Idol failing to fill the gap, and nothing much else on the horizon, TV in August suddenly looks a lot emptier.
Football result of the month: Yawn. Isn't it August yet?
Film of the month: I wasn't tempted by Hulk. I could probably have been dragged to Bruce Almighty. I was very nearly tempted by Secretary. But walking straight past the première of Legally Blonde 2 was as close to Hollywood as I got this month. Just as well I didn't fork out for a year's membership down at the UGC multiplex then.
Album of the month: Loss by Mull Historical Society. I'm months late on this one, more than 20 months late in fact, but after that gig in Brixton I thought I'd better catch up on the support act's back catalogue. That back catalogue consisted of two albums, Loss and Us, both of which I bought and one of which I love. Colin MacIntyre's first album is jam-packed full of songs that sound simple but clearly aren't because they creep inside your brain and stay there. Enchanting, innocent and captivating, like a mist-covered Scottish island. Sadly the follow-up LP never quite scaled those same heights. His Loss, my gain.
Single of the month: I haven't actually (ahem) bought any singles this month so, hmmm, what to select as a favourite? Let's check out the BBC Radio playlists and see what I rate on there. On the Radio 1 playlist I'm rather taken by Goldfrapp's Strict Machine, Junior Senior 's Rhythm Bandits, Benny Benassi's Satisfaction and Pink & William Orbit's Feel Good Time. On the Radio 2 playlist... nothing. That's a relief, although it has got a lot better over the last few years. And on the Radio 6 playlist... just the Goldfrapp. Hmmm, maybe I'm not as avant-garde and trendy as I might like to think.
