Because that’s much of what 6 Music sets out to do; they put records in front of their audience for them to decide whether or not they appreciate the music. There are no visuals, no marketing fluff, no advertising – just the music. 6 Music Recommends is a theme that runs throughout the shows. On the weekend that I write this, the channel showcased a whole 15 hours of brand new music. That is some commitment to musical endeavour as opposed to commercial opportunism.
In a quiz book I can’t just ask questions on brand new music – they’re all about memory and knowledge of a whole pantheon of (in this case) popular music. But equally I couldn’t ignore the thread that is 6 Music Recommends. So here is a personal take on that thread – 30 questions on bands that I first heard while listening to 6 Music over the years.
Answers: here
1 La Di Da Di was the third album (2015) by which art-rock band? Who is their singer and keyboard player noted for his distinctive and experimental guitar style?
2 John Bramwell is the lead singer in which Manchester band, who are a hit on the live circuit if not in terms of record sales? What was their only UK Top 40 single, taken off their third album, Gods and Monsters?
3 Who crashed through the fame barrier with a live performance of their single ‘Seasons (Waiting on You)’ on US talk show Letterman that became a YouTube phenomenon? What is the name of their singer?
4 The Black Keys comprises two chaps, a guitarist/singer and a drummer: who are they?
5 What were Foals exhorting us to forget in their song ‘Spanish Sahara’? From which 2010 Mercury Prize-nominated album was it taken?
6 What was the 2007 release by Rilo Kiley that became their first album to seriously chart? What was the side-project band formed by one of the band’s main songwriters, Blake Sennett, releasing their first album, Me First, in 2004?
7 What kind of sex gave The Vaccines their first UK Top 40 hit? And what was the street-art-related title of their third album?
8 If Youth Novels (2008) was first and I Never Learn (2014) was third, who is the artist, and what was second in 2011?
9 In 2003, Sufjan Stevens released an album named after a US state, claiming it was the first of a series of 50 such albums he intended to make: what was the state? What was Stevens’ 2015 release, his first to make the Top 10 of the UK album chart?
10 Give You the Ghost was the 2012 debut album by which cult electronic band? Who is their lyricist, singer and keyboard player?
11 What are the names of the Söderberg sisters from Swedish folk-pop band First Aid Kit?
12 What was the 2014 album from War On Drugs that gradually crept up the charts after good reviews and word-of-mouth approval? According to the title of the album’s epic fourth track, what is ‘in between the waves’?
13 Instant Coffee Baby (2008), Susan Rode the Cyclone (2010) and A Season In Hull (2016) are all albums by which witty pop rockers? Which cult musician and artist collaborated with the band on their 2015 album, Great Big Flamingo Burning Moon?
14 Which band survived the departure of main songwriter and singer Tim Smith in 2012? What was the album they released the following year after ditching all of Smith’s material and starting afresh?
15 Who played drums on the Queens of the Stone Age album, Songs for the Deaf (2002)? And who provided guest vocals on both this and the band’s previous album, Rated R?
16 Which south London shock-rockers released their second album of boundary-pushing tracks, Songs for Our Mothers, in 2016? Which post-punk singer and influence did they reference in a 2014 single?
17 Peter Liddle was the singer and lyricist in which English folk rock band, who released their first album in 2012, another in 2014, and then split? How did he love you, in the band’s 2011 single, ‘No Rest’?
18 Which city gave Editors their first UK Top 10 hit? And in their second, what were the saddest things the band ever saw?
19 Paul Janeway is a soul singer who gives his name to which Alabama six-piece collective? What was their semi-urban debut album from 2014?
20 Whose eponymous 2012 debut album included the singles ‘WOR’ and ‘Default’? According to the title of their 2015 follow up, where were they born?
21 Who released the By Default album in 2016? What induced death on the second track form their 2009 debut album, Baby Darling Doll Face Honey?
22 Héloïse Letissier is a French singer with which band? What was her 2014 release, a massive mainstream hit in France that picked up airplay and sales on its release in a UK version in 2016?
23 With which band was Kurt Vile recording before embarking on his solo career? What is the name of Kurt’s backing band?
24 The Hutchison brothers, Scott and Grant, from Selkirk in Scotland, were founder members of which contemporary band? What was their 2016 album, produced by Aaron Dessner of The National?
25 Who dropped ‘We Are . . .’ from their band name in August 2013? What was the title of their intense 2011 debut album?
26 The 2013 hit Take Me to Church was a global hit for which Irish singer-songwriter? Which other Irish singer recorded a song with the same title on her 2014 album, I’m Not Bossy, I’m the Boss?
27 Thank Your Lucky Stars was a very swift follow-up (released two months later) to which 2015 album by Beach House? What connects the band to the TV show The Wire?
28 If Brittany Howard is playing guitar and singing, which band are you watching? What was the band’s much-praised 2012 debut album?
29 Which indie guitar icon worked with Modest Mouse on their 2007 album We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank? Who is Modest Mouse’s primary singer and lyricist?
30 Sante Fe musician Zach Condon is the lynchpin of which band? What is his primary instrument when they play live?