SHOWS
The Album is Dead

Not on Radio Fandango it’s not. Every day at 2:30 we play an album in its entirety from start to finish. No breaks, no ads. So put the kettle on and join us for a playback.
Duration: 60 minutes
Next on Radio Fandango:
Check our schedule for live broadcast and new episodes.
Episodes
Series 1
Episode 31: The Album Is Dead: The White Stripes 'Elephant'
Series 1
Episode 30: The Album Is Dead: Radiohead 'Kid A'
This week we're celebrating the release of Radiohead's groundbreaking album 'Kid A', released in 2000 the album redefined the band and is often viewed as a 10/10 masterpiece.  The band have just revisited the album with their KID A MNESIA release which acknowledges both 'Kid A' and 2021's 'Amnesiac' placing them together on one album with a load of B-Sides, alternative versions and rarities!
'Kid A' produced by long term collaborator and 'sixth member' Nigel Godrich brings the bands more electronic elements to the forefront with glitchy beeps and blips over acoustic instrumentation, a process which allowed the band to develop a new way of recording and making music going forward.  The album is not only critically acclaimed but a fan favourite, unique and unrivaled in its originality within the bands genre it still stands up today, making it a truly timeless piece of work from a band that continue to push the boundaries of music.
Series 1
Episode 29: The Album Is Dead: Nirvana 'Nevermind'
This week to celebrate its 30th Anniversary we're playing Nirvana's second album 'Nevermind' in its entirety, including, hidden track 'Endless, Nameless'.
A true classic album which has stood not only the test of time but has become one of the most influential albums of all time. 'Nevermind' popularized American grunge music globally and is often included in the 'top 100 best albums of all time' lists that do the rounds every few years, the album consistently draws critical acclaim from the most relevant reviewers and music sites around the world. Few bands have crafted such a legacy and 'Nevermind' was a driving force behind their legendary status.
Series 1
Episode 28: The Album Is Dead: The Drums 'The Drums'
Pure indie-pop sounds laced with 80's vibes, they were one of the most hyped bands of the 00's coming of the back of the success of The Strokes, Kings Of Leon, White Stripes, Foals, The Libertines, Yeah Yeah Yeahs etc. which resulted in them signing to Island for their debut album and sophomore album 'Portamento'.
Hits such as 'Best Friend' and 'Let's Go Surfing' are still blasted out in indie disco's around the world while front man Jonathan Pierce still releases and performers under the name The Drums. Much like the Strokes they had instantly appealing indie pop hits with an effortless NYC coolness that meant they were destined for greatness during indie's golden era. It would be interesting to see how those buzz-generating singles would perform if released now, in this quick fire streaming world.
Series 1
Episode 27: The Album Is Dead: Yeah Yeah Yeahs 'Show Your Bones'
We're playing Yeah Yeah Yeahs second album 'Show Your Bones' in full each day at 2:30pm.  Less aggressive and frantic than the NYC trio's predecessor 'Fever To Tell' the album is a more tamed beast but more focused, considered and mature for it.  'Gold Lion' is a perfect example of this with its plodding drums and acoustic guitar intro.  It takes the listener on a less spontaneous journey but also helped the band break into the mainstream with its more radio friendly approach.
Series 1
Episode 26: The Album Is Dead: The Strokes 'Angles'
The first two albums by the Strokes are widely regarded as classic albums and rightly so, but an underrated album by the New Your 5-piece is their 4th studio album 'Angles'. as it often doesn't get the praise it deserves. We want to put that right, so each day at 2:30pm we're playing the album in full, it's packed with indie-pop hits and shows a lighter side the band compared to their previous three albums. Highlights include 'Taken For A Fool', 'Life Is Simple In The Moonlight' and 'Machu Picchu'. The band don't have a bad album but this one certainly shines through for what is one of the world's finest indie rock bands of all time.
Series 1
Episode 25: The Album Is Dead: TV On The Radio 'Dear Science'
his week our featured album is TV On The Radio 'Dear Science', the bands third studio album was released in 2008, a deeply textured album which touches on pretty much every genre. The bands most shiny, beautifully produced and well rounded album to date. Listen to it each day uninterrupted at 2:30pm
Series 1
Episode 24: The Album Is Dead: The Vines 'Highly Evolved'
One of the most hyped bands of the 00's, The Vines debut album 'Highly Evolved' was packed with energy and their live shows became legendary. The Australian band took the UK by storm and were NME favourites with short indie-punk hits like 'Get Free' and 'Outtathway' moulded around melodic, thoughtful album tracks such as 'Homesick'.
Sadly due to Asperger's syndrome the band don't tour much these days but their debut album is a classic in what was a very exciting era for music.
Series 1
Episode 23: The Album Is Dead: Interpol 'Turn On The Bright Lights'
This week you can hear a true 00's classic from Interpol each day at 2:30pm. The New Yorkers debut album 'Turn On The Bright Lights' was released back in 2002 to great critical acclaim, with Pitchfork giving the album an almost unheard of 9.5/10 stating
'Turn On the Bright Lights is an incredibly powerful and affecting album. Loss, regret, and a minor key brilliantly permeate jangling guitars and rhythmic and tonal shifts-- and although it's no Closer or OK Computer, it's not unthinkable that this band might aspire to such heights.' - high praise indeed!
Series 1
Episode 22: The Album Is Dead: Semifinalists 'Semifinalists'
This week we bring another underrated and under heard gem to our Album Is Dead Show (daily at 2:30pm) with Semifinalists self-titled album released in 2006.
Packed full of experimental indie-pop hits, the band didn't achieve the success they deserved despite being signed to a major label and projecting great imagination through their artwork, videos and imagery.
Series 1
Episode 21: The Album Is Dead: Good Shoes 'Think Before You Speak'
Released during the golden age of the British indie scene back in 2006 Good Shoes debut album 'Think Before You Speak' is our Album Is Dead show LP this week! With its jaunty guitars and Arctic Monkey-esque social commentary about working class towns the album was one of many highlights from a time when there were so many great bands flooding the gig venues around the country and releasing exciting debut albums. The four-piece even wrote a song about what it was like to grow up in their home town of Morden in South London, they painted a pretty grim, grey picture but the band was bright, refreshing and colourful in both sound and personality, an album well worth revisiting or introducing yourself to 15 years after its release.
Series 1
Episode 20: The Album Is Dead: Lowgold 'Just Backward Of Square'
This week our 'Album Is Dead' featured album is a hidden or at least often forgotten gem by LowgoldOfficial, you can listen to their debut album 'Just Backward Of Square' each day at 2:30pm on www.radiofandango.co.uk !
20 years after its release, the album has finally been added to all streaming platforms for the first time ever: lowgold.lnk.to/JustBackwardofSquare
Series 1
Episode 19: The Album Is Dead: At The Drive In 'Relationship Of Command'
This week we celebrate an album which is undoubtedly one of the greatest albums of the 00's and all time. In 2000 Texas four-piece At The Drive in released the genre defining seminal album 'Relationship Of Command'. It turned a cult band into a relatively mainstream outfit, listen to the album each day in full at 2.30pm on Radio Fandango. Combining emotional melodies and upbeat hardcore rhythms, it brought a unique take on hardcore, indie-rock music that has never been repeated. The band stepped away from fame with their hiatus in 2005 looking very permanent with band members focusing on solo projects before reforming in 2012 for a series of festivals and shows. And of course there was THAT performance on LATER with Jools Holland...did Robbie Williams ever get his chair back?
Series 1
Episode 18: The Album Is Dead: Foals 'Antidotes'
This week we're playing Foals debut album 'Antidotes' (2008) in its entirety each day at 2.30pm! The Oxford band burst onto an already thriving British music scene in 2007 with a series of singles which showcased their unique blend of math rock and dance music which quickly saw them become one the greatest live bands in the World, in recent years they've headlined Latitude, Reading Festival as well as playing a surprise set to a packed and feral Park stage at Glastonbury in 2019!
Series 1
Episode 17: The Album Is Dead: Arctic Monkeys 'Humbug'
Some people say hthe album is dead... we believe it is alive and well! We're taking a look at some classic albums from years gone by, this week's album is Arctic Monkeys 'Humbug'. The album saw a bold change in style and direction from the band, showcasing a slightly heavier, darker and more American sounding record from the UK's biggest and brightest band of the 00's. While still bearing the Sheffield bands hallmarks it was co-produced by Josh Homme from Queens Of The Stone Age and recorded at his studio in the desert which really comes across on the album. It's purring and menacing guitars which lay behind Turner's witty social commentary took the band to another level, a more mature level with the tracks sounding untouchable and booming on the big festival stages.
Series 1
Episode 16: The Album Is Dead: LCD Soundsystem 'Sound Of Silver'
Some people say the album is dead, we believe it is alive and well! This week's classic album is LCD Soundsystem's 'Sound Of Silver' (2007) which draws on influences from disco, electro, indie, punk and techno while all sounding, well, very LCD Soundsystem and New York at the same time. A true cross-genre classic album from James Murphy and co.
Series 1
Episode 15: The Album Is Dead: Desperate Journalist 'Maximum Sorrow!'
Some people say The Album Is Dead, we believe it's alive and thriving! The new album from gothic-indie four-piece Desperate Journalist is evidence of that. You can listen to 'Maximum Sorrow!' on all platforms now and we'll be playing it in full each day this week at 2.30pm!
Series 1
Episode 14: The Album Is Dead: Mogwai 'Happy Songs For Happy People'
The show where we celebrate the art of the album and prove that the album will never die.
This week we're playing Mogwai's 'Happy Songs For Happy People', which was released in 2003, the album brought out lighter, brooding elements to the bands sound. Reflective and contemplative not just due to the album's mirrored sleeve but because it takes the listener on a journey into the finer details of thought from lead single 'Haunted By A Freak' to the aggressive building finale of 'Stop Coming To My House'.
Series 1
Episode 13: The Album Is Dead: Blur 'Think Tank'
Each week we celebrate the art of the album in our 'Album Is Dead' show, this week Blur 'Think Tank' will be played in its entirety each day at 2.30pm!  Released in 2003 the album was an indication of songwriter Damon Albarn's expanding musical interests, with guitarist Graham Coxon only featuring on the closing track 'Battery In Your Leg'. With the likes of Norman Cook, William Orbit and Ben Hillier on production it has a unique sound that still stands up today.
Series 1
Episode 13: The Album Is Dead: Blur 'Think Tank'
Each week we celebrate the art of the album in our 'Album Is Dead' show, this week Blur 'Think Tank' will be played in its entirety each day at 2.30pm!  Released in 2003 the album was an indication of songwriter Damon Albarn's expanding musical interests, with guitarist Graham Coxon only featuring on the closing track 'Battery In Your Leg'. With the likes of Norman Cook, William Orbit and Ben Hillier on production it has a unique sound that still stands up today.
Series 1
Episode 12: The Album Is Dead: Phoenix 'Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix'
Each week we celebrate the art of the album with our Album Is Dead show. From classic albums to new albums we believe the album is still alive and well in the modern era of streaming, this week we take a listen to 'Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix' by French indie electro outfit Phoenix. The bands fourth album is a modern classic and the album that broke them into the mainstream back in 2009, merging elctro and indie sounds it packs big, complicated ideas with catchy sing a long choruses made for the big stage.
Series 1
Episode 11: The Album Is Dead: Fontaines DC 'Dogrel'
This week Fontaines DC are up for a Brit award! Back in June 2017 we put them on at The Finsbury in North London and a further two times at The Shacklewell Arms and The Victoria in East London. To celebrate their 'Best New Band' Brit nomination we take a look at their sensational breakthrough debut album 'Dogrel', played each day in full at 2.30pm! Tune In for one of the finest debut albums of the decade.
Series 1
Episode 9: The Album Is Dead: Desperate Journalist 'Desperate Journalist'
This weeks Album Is Dead comes from Desperate Journalist's self-titled debut! Originally released in 2014, the album has been released on vinyl for the first time this year! To celebrate we're playing the whole album in full each day at 2.30pm.
Series 1
Episode 8: The Album Is Dead: VLMV 'Stranded, Not Lost'
Some people say the album is dead, we believe it's alive and well and this week to prove it we bring you ambient post-rock duo VLMV's (formally known as ALMA) sophomore album 'Stranded, Not Lost', played in full at 2.30pmeach day!
Series 1
Episode 7: The Album Is Dead: 485C '485C'
This week, each day at 2.30pm we're playing the self-titled debut album by '485C' in full.
Released in 2018 the young band burst onto the London toilet circuit with singles such as 'She'll Lie', 'Kapow!', 'Better The Man' and 'Strange Medicine', the band didn't last long but they did release one of the best debut albums in recent times which more people should have heard, it's a proper album, proving the album isn't dead, it is alive and well.
Series 1
Episode 6: The Album Is Dead: Skint & Demoralised 'We Are Humans'
Some people say the album is dead, we believe it's alive and well, this week we're featuring the politically charged fourth album by Skint & Demoralised ‘We Are Humans’ which presents a raw, political and poetic tour de force against the backdrop of Brexit Britain.

A drastic departure from Skint & Demoralised’s original late ‘00s ditties detailing teenage love affairs, ‘We Are Humans’ instead reflects the subsequent decade of desperate austerity, as well as the European refugee crisis just 22 miles from Britain’s shores. Frontman and spoken word artist Matt Abbott volunteered twice at the Calais Jungle in 2016 – either side of the EU referendum in which his native city voted 66% Leave.

Alongside Matt songwriter and producer David Gledhill, known more recently for his SOULS project, channels a raucous poet-punk energy, with sonic influences ranging from ‘Sandinista’ to The Strokes. Snappy, sassy singles ‘Boro Kitchen 4am’ and ‘#RefugeesWelcome’ have received regular airplay on BBC Radio 6Music, but in the midst of the energetic observations about immigrants and inequality there is also intense, elegant pathos, epitomised by stunning album closer ‘Superheroes’.

Since Skint & Demoralised’s first Myspaceage outing, Abbott has established himself as a nationally acclaimed poet and likewise Gledhill as a producer – already the combination is curious. Add the searingly eloquent political commentary to the mix and it becomes an urgent and vital snapshot of these tumultuous times that engulf us, all wrapped up in fist-pumping, unapologetic and utterly essential alternative anthems.

Series 1
Episode 5: The Album Is Dead: The Clientele 'Music For The Age Of Miracles'
Instantly identifiable, The Clientele sound like no one else, although they are cited as an influence by bands as diverse as Spoon and the Fleet Foxes. It’s been said that the greatest bands always create their own individual sound; The Clientele have gone one further and created their own world. Each day at 2.30pm we play their most recent album 'Music For The Age Of Miracles', uninterrupted and in full
Series 1
Episode 4: Tall Tree 6FT Man - Boundaries
10 years in the making we play the latest album by Tall Tree 6ft Man boundaries in full and uninterrupted each day at 2.30pm
Series 1
Episode 3: The Album Is Dead: Modern Hinterland 'Diving Bell'
This week we're playing 'Diving Bell' the new album by indie-folk band Modern Hinterland in its entirety each day at 2.30pm!

MOJO | Album Review (3/5) Attached | 'Songwriter Chris Hornsby channels rueful, plaid-shirted euphoria and his band have the swing to pull it off.'

Uncut | Album Review (7/10) Attached | 'With it's spirited singalong choruses 'If I Knew You Well' marks the deepest foray into Mumford & Sons terrain on the third album by Modern Hinterland...Hornsby oscillated between knees-up fare and Wilco-inspired Americana on Diving Bell'

DAILY Express | Album Review (3/5) Attached | "a delicate Americana mixed with an indie-pop that will hope to kiss the charts in the way that the likes of Snow Patrol and Mumford & Sons have"

Series 1
Episode 2: The Album Is Dead: Stokie Local 'Aspidistra Sound FX'
This week we're playing the debut album from former Habitats front-man Mike Lawford aka Stokie Local, in its entirety and uninterrupted. A sprawling experimental double album of indie garage pop songs and instrumental interludes, 'Aspidistra Sound FX' was recorded at home during lockdown in his spare bedroom, it's quite literally a DIY bedroom pop album with plenty of hooks.
Series 1
Episode 1: The Album Is Dead: Softer Still 'Nuances'
Each week we'll shine the light on an album, played in its entirety. Some say 'the album is dead', we believe it's alive and still the heart beat of creative talent! This week we bring you 'Nuances' the debut album by indie dream-poppers Softer Still.
Series Synopsis:
Call us old fuddy-duddies if you want but we feel In this ugly modern age of short attention spans and instant gratification, the slower format of album, like the novel, should be celebrated, admired, appreciated. The album is dead. Long live the album.
MORE SHOWS