Touching from a distance

Most evenings recently, I’ve made an effort to listen to at least twenty minutes or so of Gideon Coe’s BBC 6Music radio show. I’m trying to make it a habit; the fellow plays a marvellous mix of older and newer stuff and I appreciate the laconic, wise and intelligent banter between numbers. Coe epitomises what the station should be all about: bright, erudite and witty people who dig their sounds sharing a love of fine music. I’m hugely disappointed by the daytime schedules on 6Music. Where Phill Jupitus and Coe once lit up the airwaves, the rank and embarrassing Shaun Keaveny and George Lamb (where did he spring from?) now lurk. Keaveny merely seems to boast about how much he had to drink the night before and I really can’t be bothered to listen to Lamb’s egotistical proclamations. Luckily, quality and intelligence are in abundant supply elsewhere and Coe and his ilk (Tom Robinson, Stuart Maconie, Adam and Joe) shall continue to merit my support.