The consensus, about half way into What Is Melody? (Friday, Radio 2), seemed to be that nobody quite knew. "I don't think it's something I can define in words," mooted one pundit. "It's that something that's not describable," opined another. This lack of answers wasn't due to not asking round enough. Oh no. Listening to the programme was like being stuck in a room full of chatterboxes and not being able to get a thought, let alone a word, in. Our host was Richard Niles, who sounded like Kermit after one too many energy drinks. This was how he introduced band members from Wet Wet Wet: "Glasgow popsters with more hits than you could stuff into Dawn French's underwear." It was all utterly exhausting.
At the other end of the liveliness spectrum was World Routes (Saturday, Radio 3), which featured music from the Golden Temple of Amritsar. The music was beautifully stirring, but presenter Jameela Siddiqi was too restrained to match it. This programme let the music do the talking, and relegated Siddiqi to little more than a whisper.
