The battle of breakfast radio: BBC Radio 6

Finally, a breakfast show that somehow manages not to be irritating. And at 7am, there is no higher accolade. The general rule of breakfast radio appears to be, the more anodyne the music, the more excitable the DJ, so it\'s no easy task finding a station in sync with your mood first thing. . Mercifully Shaun Keaveny, who hosts the breakfast show on 6 Music doesn\'t make too much of a hullabaloo between records His music choices are also always interesting, and generally free from desperate top 10 hits: Arcade Fire, The Only Ones, The Specials, Funkadelic, Fleet Foxes, Pink Floyd and The Temptations have all featured this week, alongside newer artists such as Sleigh Bells, Anna Calvi and Francis Neve. There\'s no rigorous analysis either, thankfully. \"You\'ve probably forgotten more than I know about music,\" he told listeners, adding: \"[I\'m] keeping myself behind the curve, where I belong.\" There\'s a low-key air to proceedings, it\'s all rather relaxed and engagingly slapdash, as though he\'s broadcasting from a sofa in his shed, and isn\'t really expecting anyone to be listening. (\"what was I saying before? No, it\'s gone\"). He might invite callers to nominate their favourite \'retro tea\'; or \'earworms\' (today\'s was Adam And The Ants\' Dog Eat Dog). Even his voice sounds warmly nostalgic, providing a supportive soundtrack for the listener\'s morning routine. A self-depracating wit pervades. There\'s none of that boasting about how great he is compared to other Djs, just the odd line about 6 Music being the home of great songs. Yesterday he voiced concern about this review, pointing out that he was going to be a man down as Matt Everitt was heading to Glastonbury. \"Could be better without me,\" Matt proffered. It\'s not. Keaveny has described his haircut as \"Hoxton Wogan\" and today he likened it to Friar Tuck and Mick Miller, going on to note that his head was too big for his body – \"and what can you do about that?\" There followed some affable musings with comedian Simon Day and Professor Brian Cox, who has his own brilliantly mad jingle. Keaveny\'s surreal opening gambit to him was: \"Are you a man who uses a hairdryer?\" For the most part, it\'s all rather gentle and unpretentious, which in my book is essential early in the morning; some good music with a bit of benignly sarcastic chuntering (mainly about Glastonbury this morning, unsurprisingly), more like an overheard conversation than a broadcast. There\'s no posse of fawning acolytes, you never feel like Keaveny\'s playing a character, unlike some breakfast Djs, and most importantly of all, he doesn\'t try to pretend it\'s great to be up and about at 7am.