James Acaster's Perfect Sounds
BBC
For James Acaster 2016 is the greatest year for music of all time. Following a breakup James set out to rekindle his love for music by buying hundreds of new and niche releases from 2016. Now he's sharing his obsession with fellow comedians, exploring...
Location:
United Kingdom
Genres:
Music Podcasts
Networks:
BBC
Description:
For James Acaster 2016 is the greatest year for music of all time. Following a breakup James set out to rekindle his love for music by buying hundreds of new and niche releases from 2016. Now he's sharing his obsession with fellow comedians, exploring his favourite albums: from Beyoncé's internet-breaking Lemonade, to Colombian math rock fusion, and everything in between.
Language:
English
Episodes
Fatiha El-Ghorri is in Heavn
5/26/2022
Heavn by Jamila Woods fuses R&B, Jazz and various other genres including classic indie.
Surely it must appeal to Cure-loving Fatiha!
Duration:00:26:55
Aparna Nancherla & Freetown Sound
5/19/2022
Freetown Sound by Blood Orange is such an "immaculate" album that James worries he might burst into tears just talking about it.
Here's hoping Aparna feels the same, otherwise trouble could be afoot.
Duration:00:28:34
Jen Ives & An Escape Into Space
5/12/2022
Splendor & Misery is a sci-fi concept album by experimental rap trio Clipping.
Lyrics and soundscapes combine to tell an Afrofuturist story of an escape from oppression into the void of space. Jen Ives prepares to be transported.
Duration:00:26:50
Stuart Laws & ScHoolboy Q
5/5/2022
James confesses to being in love with ScHoolboy Q's Blank Face LP.
With a Gangsta rap core but with psychedelic overtones and great production, is there enough to seduce Stuart Laws too?
Duration:00:29:03
Toussaint Douglass & The Life Of Pablo
4/28/2022
The ever-polarising Kanye West can be controversial at times but James can't help but like the music. After all, his 2016 album The Life of Pablo has a vein of weirdness running through it that is right up James' street. However, is it a path Toussaint Douglass is willing to tread?
Duration:00:28:41
Fern Brady & The Punk Beyoncé
4/21/2022
Black Terry Cat by Xenia Rubinos is a magical album drawing on many influences and described by the artist herself as "a punk Beyoncé".
However, is it enough to impress one of Scotland's finest, Fern Brady?
Duration:00:25:40
Sadia Azmat & Black Girl Blues
4/14/2022
Fetish Bones by Moor Mother delivers a powerful message via a sonically abrasive backdrop.
Labelled by the artist herself as Black Girl Blues, Project Housing Bop or Slaveship Punk, it's an album that demands the listener's full attention.
However, was it enough to hold Sadia Asmat's attention?
Duration:00:23:47
Sara Barron & Emily's D+Evolution
4/7/2022
Emily's D+Evolution, a brilliant Jazz-Rock-Funk fusion album by Grammy Award winning Esperanza Spalding, is usually the last thing Sara Barron would listen to.
However, some finely crafted lyrics start to reel her in.
Duration:00:29:35
Nathan Caton & an OST to Nothing
3/31/2022
Wes Borland you may remember as the guitarist in '90s rock/rap outfit Limp Bizkit. In 2016 he released Crystal Machete, a soundtrack to an imagined film.
James and Nathan try to imagine what that film would look like.
Duration:00:28:02
Thanyia Moore, Illusion & Destruction
3/25/2022
Mahoroboshiya by Japanese folk singer Ichiko Aoba is an album with such a delicate and intimate feel that James can't help but relax to it.
However, is it enough to chill '90s R'n'B-loving Thanyia Moore?
Duration:00:28:33
Jayde Adams & Hard Pop Opera
3/18/2022
Rien by Perrine en Morceaux has a sound so big, it envelopes James and (in his words) makes him feel like a little boy. But is it too big for Jayde Adams to handle?
Duration:00:29:10
Rhys Nicholson & That '70s Funk Thang
3/10/2022
Awaken My Love was a massive left turn for Childish Gambino and produced one of the best songs of 2016 in the form of Redbone.
Influenced by George Clinton's '70s band Funkadelic but with modern techniques, it made Rhys Nicholson "Horny... but not for sex".
Duration:00:26:05
Charlie George, Vampires and Periods
3/3/2022
Jenny Hval’s 2016 concept album, on the theme of blood, is a collection of light and beautiful melodies interspersed with dark and haunting soundscapes.
James tasks Charlie George to have a listen and report back.
Duration:00:27:43
Fatiha El-Ghorri & Cohen's Final Bow
2/24/2022
Fatihah El Ghorri, by her own admission, loves Cliff Richard and Shrek. So will the mournful, gravelly tones of Leonard Cohen appeal to her?
Duration:00:27:45
Sikisa Bostwick-Barnes & Bollywave
2/17/2022
Ami Dang, a classically trained sitar player, fuses ancient Sikh hymns and poems of Gurus with a modern dance feel and calls it "Bollywave".
Will it be enough to sweep Sikisa Bostwick-Barnes off her feet?
Duration:00:28:12
Aaron Chen & ОЭЩ МАГЗИУ
2/10/2022
ОЭЩ МАГЗИУ (or Oesch Magziu to you and me) by ГШ (or Glintshake to you and me) is an album inspired by the Russian avant-garde, a creative movement popular in Russia in the early 20th Century and worked into a more modern sound. However, will it translate across the globe? Australia's finest, Aaron Chen, is here to tell us.
Duration:00:27:17
Jen Ives & A Journey Into Darkness
2/3/2022
The Caretaker's Everywhere At The End of Time is a 6-hour project exploring the descent into dementia. It had a profound effect on James, but what effect will it have on Jen Ives?
Duration:00:29:32
Kiri Pritchard-McLean & Portuguese Fusion Pop Jazz
1/27/2022
James and Kiri discuss Portuguese maestro Bruno Pernadas's 2016 album, Those Who Throw Objects at the Crocodiles Will Be Asked to Retrieve Them.
Duration:00:27:33
Dai Henwood & Pop Royalty
1/20/2022
Carly Rae Jepsen's 2016 album Emotion: Side B is 110% pure pop, with enough sweetness to thaw James' cold heart towards the genre. However, is there too much sugar for Dai Henwood to digest?
Duration:00:27:39
Isy Suttie & International Prog Folk
1/13/2022
With music inspired by improvisational Jazz, Persian and African folk and vocals in myriad languages, it's hard to tie Léonore Boulanger to a specific genre. Will Isy Suttie, with her background in jazz and prog rock bands, be won over?
Duration:00:29:01