FEATURE: The May Playlist: Vol. 1: The Hunger Is Growing

FEATURE:

 

The May Playlist

 IN THIS PHOTO: Florence Welch/PHOTO CREDIT: Tom Beard/DESIGN: Brian Roettinger

Vol. 1: The Hunger Is Growing

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ANOTHER single from Florence + the Machine…

IN THIS PHOTO: Jess Glynne

is out and it has got people excited – wondering what we can expect from her upcoming album, High as Hope (out on 29th June). Hunger has been released to the world and, with it, chattering tongues and excited voices are activated. In addition to that big release; there are fresh singles from Róisín Murphy and Jess Glynne; Tom Tripp and Spring King – albums from Leon Bridges and The Slow Readers Club.

This (Bank Holiday) weekend is going to be a hot and humid one: it is as well we have the music to back up that warm and sweaty weather! It is a great start to May and is guaranteed to get everyone in a better mood…

AL PHOTOS/IMAGES (unless credited otherwise): Getty ImagesHEADER PHOTO: Tom Beard/DESIGN: Brian Roettinger

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Florence + the Machine - Hunger

Jess Glynne – I’ll Be There

PHOTO CREDIT: Nicole Nodland

Róisín Murphy – All My Dreams

Troye Sivan – Bloom

Benin City – Bus

Young Fathers – Toy

Tom Tripp – Loving You More

PHOTO CREDIT: Hollie Fernando Photography

Spring King – Animal

Peace - You Don't Walk Away From Love

Amber Mark – Love Is Stronger Than Pride

Dagny – That Feeling When

Dirty Projectors – Break-Thru

Christina Aguilera (ft. Ty Dolla $ign, 2 Chainz) - Accelerate

Plan B – Wait So Long

The Interrupters – She’s Kerosene

Jennifer Hudson – I’ll Fight

YUNGBLUD – 21st Century Liability

Elohim - Half Love

 

Jessie Reyez – Body Count

Drenge – This Dance

Jimmy Eat World – Love Never

Aquilo – Seagull

Emma Blackery – Agenda

Johnny Borrell – My Life, Your World

PHOTO CREDIT: Stew Capper

The Modern Strangers – Nothing on You

Natalie Prass – Lost

Grace Carter – Saving Grace

Mogwai – Donuts

Manic Street Preachers - Hold Me Like a Heaven

Beach House – Black Car

PHOTO CREDIT: Chris Eckert

Eleanor Friedberger – It’s Hard

Frank Turner – Be More Kind

Gaz Coombes – Wounded Egos

MØ - Nostalgia

Jon Hopkins – Emerald Rush

Leon Bridges – Georgia to Texas

The Slow Readers Club – On the TV

Tove Styrke – Sway

Kacey Musgraves – Space Cowboy

FEATURE: Return of the Four-String Sting: Songs That Highlight the Power of the Bass Guitar

FEATURE:

 

Return of the Four-String Sting

 ALL PHOTOS: Unsplash 

Songs That Highlight the Power of the Bass Guitar

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THERE is that running joke where the bass guitar…

is seen as the slightly unathletic kid who is picked last in the playground. Once the smoking and rebellious electric guitar is picked; the next selection is the muscular and stern percussion. Then, you have the striking and popular singer that is a natural teammate. Then, when you have picked the sought-after kids; you scan around and look for rank-and-file people to complete the team. Bass guitar, sadly, is left until the end - seen as a bit of filler. I know many musicians who rate the bass and wield it to great effect. Whilst few of us ever do an epic ‘bass solo’ to songs; it is that crucial part of the song mix and has been responsible for elevating merely great songs to heavenly heights. Whether it is funky finger-picking and some beautifully nimble playing; a strident and ambitious bit of bass strutting – it infuses the song with melody, rhythm and physicality. It can drive a song and galvanise other players; it can bring new light to a piece and, if given the chance, stand out alone and steal the spotlight. I have selected some songs, from various genre and periods, which show how essential and underrated the bass is. I hope the collection of songs makes people rethink their priorities and realise the kid that always gets picked last is, in fact, rather…

SPECIAL and integral.

FEATURE: Bavarian Forest Sonata: The Artists Pushing the Limits of Sound

FEATURE:

 

Bavarian Forest Sonata

 PHOTO CREDIT: Unsplash 

The Artists Pushing the Limits of Sound

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SO much of what we hear today…

IN THIS PHOTO: Kamasi Washington/PHOTO CREDIT: Press/Getty Images

is all about forcing notes down the throat and sort of ‘getting to the point’. They say people can judge a song in the first thirty seconds: after that, they will stay with it or skip onto the next one. At a time when we are streaming music and buying albums in digital form; we tend to pick and choose our songs based on the first few seconds and whether they strike a chord. People buy albums but we are much more involved with single songs and browsing the full library of music. Even if we do buy a record; we tend to have our favourite tracks and gravitate towards certain tones. Pop music is changing and, even though it will not relinquish its spot in the forefront; the style that is being projected by its biggest newcomers has altered. More mature and inward-looking artists are writing about personal anxieties and pressures: we have more traditional Pop numbers but the whole music is changing, in fact. Even if there are shifts happening in every genre; there is still that thirty-second-rule: get the people hooked, either by energy and hooks or something beautiful and meaningful. Because of this, I am seeing that dependence on vocals and the power of the voice. Lyrics are important but, largely, we concentrate on the vocal and what it can deliver.

Even when we are hooked to the music – a chunky riff or pulsating percussion; some great, electronic rush or coda – we rarely get chance to indulge in the music and get blown away. Maybe we are less patient as a people or prefer our music tighter and less experimental. I want to mention a few artists: Kamasi Washington, Hannah Peel and Goat. The latter is a Swedish fusion group whose current album, Fuzzed in Europe, was met with critical acclaim. The single, Let It Burn, has been doing the rounds on radio and is a fantastically imaginative and galloping work with its tribal drums and epic build. It has the sound of a modern-day Progressive-Rock song. The way it goes through phases and grows larger and more animalistic. Goat have created something that relies on compositional brilliance; taking the listener somewhere wonderful and producing one of the finest singles of the year so far. You listen to a song like Let It Burn and you can feel that cinematic and dramatic sensation. The song was specifically written for the climactic scene in the short film, Killing Gävle. The six-minute-plus fuzzed-out gem has those rollicking drums and ‘fuzzwah’ guitar sounds; a bit of fuzzy bass and epic flute breakdown. Leading to the string-heavy final; it is a biblical and staggering thing that does not need to rely on layers of production and vocals.

IN THIS PHOTO: Hannah Peel/PHOTO CREDIT: Getty Images

Another artist, Hannah Peel, used brass and Classical elements in her music. Whereas Goat’s latest track is primal and urgent; Peel opens up more and creates something spacey and intergalactic. Her 2017 album, Mary Casio: Journey to Cassiopeia was a critical success and is a seven-track release that takes us through the cosmos and provokes images of the stars, planets and galaxies. It relies on the imagination and the listener’s willingness to succumb to the music. It is hard to say what genre (the music is) but the Northern Irish artist has taken Electronic music in new directions. The songs, or ‘movements’, use traditional colliery brass and it explores one person’s exploration to outer-space. It is documents an elderly, pioneering Electronic music stargazer and her lifelong dream to leave her Yorkshire home in Barnsley and see Cassiopeia. The record was recorded live in the Barnsley Civic and combines analogue synths and some incredible brass. One listens to the song and you are immersed in the soundscapes and wonderful twists and turns. It is a physical experience; Mary Casio: Journey to Cassiopeia takes the listener by the hand and brings them into this starry, magical world. It does not need to rely on voices and traditional guitar-bass-drum combinations. I have heard few composers like Hannah Peel who can take brass and Electronic sounds and make them accessible and wonderful. Maybe there are a few likeminded artists around right now: I have not seen anyone who possesses the same imagination and brilliance.

Heaven and Earth is the upcoming album, a sixteen-track release, and will be out towards the end of June. It is his first new album in a few years and shows he has lost none of his step. Fists of Fury is the lead-off track from the record and has been getting some radioplay right now. The fact it is over nine minutes means few will regularly play it. No matter, though; the song is a stunning and expansive work that features choral vocals and spirited horns. It is hard to put into words – you can hear the song a bit further down – and is proof Washington is among the finest composers and musical minds we have right now. If Hannah Peel is bringing Electronic music to new worlds; Goat are doing something radical with drums and more conventional instruments/genres – Washington is bringing Jazz to new heights. There are those who turn their nose at up at Jazz music and feel all of it holds no merit. I am not a huge fan of the genre but have always appreciated how the masters of the form can settle the mood and elevate the spirits; seduce the mind and get the blood rushing – sometimes, in the space of a single song! Kamasi Washington mixes the more ambitious and epic moments of Miles Davis but, in reality, stands out in a league of his own. It will be interesting seeing how Heaven and Earth will be received.

There are some great artists out there but, to me, there are few as scintillating and mesmeric as Nils Frahm. So far, I have brought you wonderful Swedish, British and American music: let us bring a German genius into the mix. One of my favourite discoveries is Frahm and his brilliant album, All Melody. It was released earlier this year and is another record that has picked up rave reviews. This year has seen some immense albums – everyone from Goat Girl to Kasey Musgraves – but they are more of what you’d expect from modern music. Frahm is someone who works with Electronic music but is a modern-day Classical composer. He can do dramatic and stirring: it is when he is at his most romantic and tender the shivers start and the jaw drops. Listen to a song like My Friend the Forest (below) and you can see what I mean. Frahm is an unconventional composer who mixes grand and upright piano; a Roland Juno-60 and Rhodes piano with Moog Taurus and drum machines. It is the way he manages to blend keys and Classical periods that amazes me. A song like My Friend the Forest is so sparse and open. You can hear him pressing on the foot pedal and the odd clatter and hiss of the tape; it is as naked and revealing a performance as you will hear all year.

Forever Changeless and All Melody are tracks that play with sound and mix styles with incredible conviction and brilliance – the latter is an Electronic number that departs from what one might usually expect. You’d think an album that pushes those contrasts and extremes together would not work and hang together. Everything flows purely – the only minor fault is Frahm’s treatment of the human voice and how it is less effective than anything else on the album. I have highlighted these artists because they rely on compositions and throw few vocals into the mix. We often listen to music and know what to expect. There will be vocals at some point and lyrics we can learn from; the songs are usually quite short and, when it is over, we can move onto something else. How many of us take the time to sit down and engage with a song that runs a little longer and emphasises compositional elements? It is no coincidence that Goat’s new single is being tipped as a year-best; Kamasi Washington is being hailed as a pioneer – musicians who go the extra mile and change the rules. I have only mentioned four artists but they represent a wider point. Many of us overlook sonic pieces and artists who engage the imagination and suck us into their worlds. I am obsessed with sound and, in a scene where we want something quick and familiar; these are the artists who rebel against that and produce mind-melting, knee-buckling works. Take a moment to think about the music we listen to and whether we take time to investigate musicians who place emphasis on composition. Take a listen to the songs included in this piece and try and argue against the fact that they are wonderful…

IN THIS PHOTO: Nils Frahm/PHOTO CREDIT: Getty Images

WORKS of brilliance.

FEATURE: No Teasers, Please: Why Arctic Monkeys’ Plan for Their New Album Is a Stunning Move

FEATURE:

 

No Teasers, Please

 PHOTO CREDIT: Getty Images 

Why Arctic Monkeys’ Plan for Their New Album Is a Stunning Move

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THEY tease and tempt us with their alluring promise…

PHOTO CREDIT: Unsplash

and bounteous, luscious potential. We are all eager to rip into Arctic Monkeys’ new album, Tranquility Base Hotel + Casino. The record is out on 11th May and is the Sheffield band’s sixth album. The group exploded onto the scene back in 2006 and, since then, have established themselves as one of the most essential and intelligent acts we have ever produced. There was a lot of speculation as to who the band were back on their debut – a bit unknown and, on their 2006, we asked Who the Fuck Are Arctic Monkeys? What usually happens after a five-year gap – they released AM in 2013 – is the record label hurries around and gets all their plans together. We normally have a little teaser video and that announcement of an album. Then, after that, comes the first single that is played to death on the radio. When we have all been exposed to that song, a few weeks later, there are plans to unveil the second single. We might hear four or five songs from an album before the actual thing is out! It is understandable a record label would want an album promoted as much as possible and to get it ahead of the competition. Most of us are used to the process and it is the way things are done nowadays. I get a bit bored of that cycle because, after you have digested those songs, you are either sick of that album or tired of the artist.

When you do get the album; you know those set of songs well and the other half (of the album) is new. It can seem rather disjointed and two-tone when you have these well-played and worn songs alongside the foreign cuts. Maybe you skip those singles you have heard and investigate something new. In any case; one is always a little bored about the endless build-up and circus around an album. In the case of Arctic Monkeys; the circumstances around Tranquility Base Hotel + Casino are unique. The band have come back after that five-year pause and they are releasing one of the most anticipated albums of the year. Their plan is to keep all the material private until 11th May – that is when you can experience an album in its entirety. This is a bold move for the band – one that DIY, having already reviewed the album, explained... – that will get some raised eyebrows:

“To cut to the obvious chase, the quartet’s long-awaited sixth is like nothing they’ve done before. An Alex Turner solo record by any other name, its 11 tracks run largely on the singer’s affected croon and a newly-discovered love of the piano. Rarely do guitars make a pronounced appearance, save for the ominous notes that open ‘Golden Trunks’ and a few slinking bass lines on ‘She Looks Like Fun’ and ‘Four Out Of Five’. What powerhouse drummer Matt Helders is going to busy himself with during live shows, meanwhile, is anyone’s guess…

 PHOTO CREDIT: Getty Images   

An album that only even begins to click after about the tenth listen, Arctic Monkeys’ sixth is the kind of eyebrow-raising curveball that could still yet lead to brilliance. Every maverick has to risk it all in pursuit of the new at some point. But there’s still something a little sad about having to try so hard to fall in love with a record from a band who’ve always made devotion so easy. Who the fuck are Arctic Monkeys? It seems only time will tell”.

It seems the new arrival from Arctic Monkeys is not what anyone expected. More an Alex Turner solo album or strange concept record – the full review shed more light – it seems like one of those albums that will get retrospective acclaim and understanding. Maybe that is what the five years have been about: brewing something that departs from the predictable path we expect and takes the band in a new direction. This is not the only time a big-name act has unveiled an album without a single coming from it – or dropped it straight out of the blue. Radiohead, in 2007, did it with In Rainbows; Beyoncé released her fifth solo album in 2013 without much knowledge; Kendrick Lamar’s untitled.unmastered arrived in 2016 and took us all off-guard. Labels love the build-up and normal procedure because it is all meticulous and allows them to test the water and see what reception the album will be afforded.

PHOTO CREDIT: Unsplash

I guess smaller artists do not have the cachet to do a surprise release and subvert the desires of labels and the public. In a way, Arctic Monkeys have created more excitement and fever with their new album. Even though the first review – the one I can find – is a three-star thing (the writer unsure whether Tranquility Base Hotel + Casino is a masterstroke or a confused work); that might be the story of 2018. All the artists who promised big, scene-shattering albums (including Jack White) have sort of come short and not really fulfilled their promise. Every artist reaches a stage where they change things up and go in a new direction. It would have been easy for Arctic Monkeys to release the long-awaited single and the Internet to jump on it. Given the fact their latest album is a concept and a bit of a left-turn; there might have been criticism and the songs might seem unusual and under-nourished out of the context of the album. It seems like all the songs need to be heard together: Tranquility Base Hotel + Casino is an experience and cinematic piece, it seems. A director would not release five-minute sections of a film before it comes on release. They put out trailers but you do not portion out a film before it goes into the cinemas. Music is unusual in the way it is released and promoted.

IN THIS IMAGE: The album cover for Arctic Monkeys' AM/IMAGE CREDIT: Getty Images 

Arctic Monkeys have had people breathing down their necks and been keeping us guessing for a while now. 2018 is there year and, because of that, they had the choice of whether to do a standard release – all the singles and interviews – or put an album out there and let people enjoy it. Their decision takes my mind back when I was a child and experiencing music. Sure; there may have been a single or two floating around but it was not unusual for a big act to release an album without any singles coming out. They wanted the public to enjoy the entire thing and, in essence, buy the record! People could listen to an L.P. in its entirety and get a much better picture of its sounds and themes – without the subjective and misleading influence of drip-feeding and slow-build. Maybe it is a generational thing: many younger listeners like getting songs before an album’s out and getting to witness this event and process. It depends on tastes, I guess, but I am more bonded and committed to a record if I have to wait and witness the music as a single thing. One of the reasons I was a bit disheartened listening to Jack White’s Boarding House Reach was I heard several of the songs at different stages. I then god the album and was listening to these familiar tracks alongside new ones.

PHOTO CREDIT: Unsplash

I had, in essence, heard the best from the record and was hearing music that didn’t really match what was already out. There is no guarantee my perception of the album would have been different had there been no singles from it. Arctic Monkeys have Tranquility Base Hotel + Casino out and, forgive them, they do not want to give too much away. I feel other bands and artists should take a bold approach like this. It is always risky doing this kind of thing if you do not have a salivating fanbase and that commercial profit. Arctic Monkeys, back on their 2006 debut, were already known and people had heard their music. They did not embark on the streaming flow – sites like YouTube were brand-new then – and would not have been able to ignore the promotional process if they were new in 2018. I would, mind, like to see more artists stepping away from the routine and ever-lasting routine of releasing songs one-by-one and, by the time the album comes out; we have heard half the album and it is all rather staid. Regardless of how critics receive Tranquility Base Hotel + Casino on 11th May – it looks like it could be that classic three-star record – it has been worth the wait and patience. People do not know what to expect and, for the first time in years; we are actually looking at reviews and learning about an album’s content in traditional ways. It is a shame the hard copy of NME is no longer around: a write-up about Arctic Monkeys would have been a perfect reason to buy the magazine and digest the review. Let us embrace artists who want to defy the normal and take music back to its basic brilliance. I am looking forward to Tranquility Base Hotel + Casino and am interested to see how Arctic Monkeys have evolved: going from tundra-walking primates to a spacey, casino-based bunch of blokes. Maybe it will balkanised and divide the fans but, in true Arctic Monkeys style, their new album will be anything…

PHOTO CREDIT: Getty Images

BUT boring!

FEATURE: A Big, Beautiful Aberration? How the Return of the Legendary, Era-Defining Band Is Dividing the Internet

FEATURE:

 

A Big, Beautiful Aberration?

 PHOTO CREDIT: Rex 

How the Return of the Legendary, Era-Defining Band Is Dividing the Internet

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IF one were to compile a list…

PHOTO CREDIT: Anders Hanser/Premium Rockshot 

of the unlikeliest eventualities and happenings; you’d probably put the resurrection of King Richard III above the news we heard this week: ABBA are reforming, it seems! Whilst some have mooted this might be a full-on reunion and return. It has been thirty-five years since the band split and recorded music – I was born in 1983 and, as such discovered the Swedish group retroactively. The band claimed nine number-one hits in the U.K. from 1974 and 1980 and are (rightfully) regarded as one of the finest Pop bands we have ever seen. Maybe, I guess, The Beatles have enjoyed better success and popularity – ABBA have not done too badly for themselves! There have been repeated suggestions and rumours the group would record together – all refuted and dampened soon enough. This time, it is not a drill: one of the two new songs they are recording, I Still Have Faith in You, will be featured in a T.V. special this December. In a statement; the band had this to say:

“The decision to go ahead with the exciting Abba avatar tour project had an unexpected consequence. We all felt that, after some 35 years, it could be fun to join forces again and go into the recording studio. So we did. And it was like time had stood still and we had only been away on a short holiday. An extremely joyful experience!”

Björn Ulvaeus revealed the details and, with it, sent the Internet into hyperdrive! Although the band are recording new material and are ‘back’; it seems the extent of their reunion will be a little limited – they will appeal on a special (by NBC and BBC) as computer-generated avatars; they will be ‘de-aged’ to look like they did in 1979. It all seems a little peculiar, I guess: the thought of them not really being there takes a little away from the hype and excitement. Alexis Petredis, reacting to the news, looked at their legacy and how they managed to gain a lot of success after their breakup:

“The first time around, Abba were not taken seriously as artists. The general critical consensus was summed up by a photo of legendary US rock writer Lester Bangs, wearing a T-shirt that read “Abba: the largest-selling group in the history of recorded music” and an expression on his face suggesting this was evidence of western civilisation’s imminent collapse.

In the years since they split up, however, their stock has rightly risen to a dizzying altitude. Björn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson are regularly hailed as the greatest pop songwriting team of their era; the emotional depth and maturity of The Winner Takes It All – and indeed the personal psychodrama behind it – is pored over in a way it never was on release; their relatively overlooked final album, The Visitors, is acclaimed as a kind of Scandi-noir masterpiece. When the BBC made an Abba documentary a few years back, you got the feeling that rock critics and hip musicians alike were queuing up to sing their praises”.

PHOTO CREDIT: Olle Lindeborg/AFP/Getty Images

Those are reluctant and dubious right now are considering what ABBA have provided us and how any new song cannot match the dizzying success and brilliance they reached in the 1970s and early-‘80s. You get this with every reformation and return: the artist will record new songs and they will be nothing like their best; it is pale and, whilst it is nice seeing them back; one wonders whether their music is best left in the past. Björn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson have given the world such standards as Dancing Queen, Super Trouper and Waterloo – the list is long and impressive. I can understand why purists and loyal fans might not want to see ABBA 2.0. come into the world. There is no way ABBA’s newest song will be THAT good and it is unlikely we will see a full-blown return. They are performing these new songs but it is unlikely the group will continue to record and bring out more records. The members are comfortabl middle-age comfort and they are not the same engaging and wide-eyed band we saw back in the 1970s. Maybe their songwriters have retained their magic with melodies and harmonies: in 2018, when ABBA’s style of music has translated into other artists and mutated; they cannot realistically release material that lives in the past – they have said they have come of age and the new material is just that: it is an evolution of who they were.

I am seeing so many different comments from all ages and corners. If you had to conduct a poll of those who want ABBA to reform and those who fear their return; I would say it would be around fifty-fifty. Although you can claim a lot of their best material came in The Visitors – their final album, released in 1981 – that was thirty-seven years ago. Time has passed and the four members have not been writing and playing together. If ABBA’s news was they were recording new albums and going on a world tour; it would raise questions and some doubts – are they going to degrade their best days and spoil the genius?! The ‘good’ news is they only have limited material out there: a lasting and productive revolution is not a possibility. The other side of the debate have made a great point: any new material from ABBA is a great thing. The fact they have buried their differences and seem, on the surface, to be in a better place is good news. ABBA’s new material will encourage new listeners and the young to seek out the band and their illustrious back catalogue. Most people know about ABBA but the most passionate fans remember them from the first time around – or children of those who grew up with their music.

PHOTO CREDIT: Getty Images

I am pleased they are coming back because it has created a positive vibe and flame on the Internet. It has given people real hope and something to bond over. We are all playing old ABBA number-ones and predicting what their new material will sound like. Few actually think it will be another Super Trouper and take the world by storm. Things have moved on and music has moved to a place where ABBA cannot exist and influence the same way they did in their first incarnation. The sheer attention and ceremony their T.V. appearance will be given will change the music world and bring us all closer to one another. If we do not put too much stock in their new music and expect a Second Coming then few will be disappointed. It will be strange hearing ABBA on record so long after they split. I can understand those who predict lukewarm material and wonder whether that will dent the brilliant music ABBA have given the world. The fact so many people are talking about them and checking out their old music is the best result one could hope for. I know ABBA will now get into the hands of new generations and it will inspire other musicians to up their game and aim as high as the Swedish group. One cannot make any decelerations and arrive at conclusions until we have heard I Still Have Faith in You. I am optimistic the group will release a song that gets into the head and still retains a lot of their bygone magic. I wonder, when they have appeared on T.V., they will discuss a full-time return and make more music. There are naysayers out there that raise their eyebrows: I, for one, would love to see ABBA reform and see…

PHOTO CREDIT: Getty Images

WHETHER it can reach the exhilarating peak of their glory days.

FEATURE: Age Against the Machine: Is the Dominance of Streaming a Sign the Music Industry Is Changing for the Better?

FEATURE:

 

Age Against the Machine

ALL PHOTOS: Unsplash

Is the Dominance of Streaming a Sign the Music Industry Is Changing for the Better?

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TODAY is a day that finds me….

reinvestigating a few areas I have stepped into before. I have been a little ambivalent towards the role streaming services are playing in the music industry. One of the reasons I am reversing my policy is the way it is rejuvenating labels and doing wonder for new musicians. Alongside the rise and takeover of streaming services; vinyl is still holding strong and we have not completely lost out affection for physical music. I will bring in a couple of articles that look at streaming and how the market is changing. Another reason why I have been imperious when faced with the sea of digital music is the way one forms memories. I do not feel I would have such a vivid and undying attachment to music were I raised through the Internet. The nature of holding music and having something tangible has produced sentient memories and a life-long obsession with the form. Whilst I believe there will be fewer diehard music fans in years to come – who have the same memories and broad tastes – I will concede there are obvious advantages when looking at streaming services. Smooth out issues around paying artists (some, in the past, have not compensated fairly) and it means we are able to give a real market to new artists. Look back a few years ago and it would not have been possible to provide opportunities to unsigned acts.

The only way their music could make its way into the public forum was, well…I am not sure it would have been possible. Now, any artist can get their sounds into the world and earn money. In 2018; streaming revenue and profit have overtaken physical sales – we are spending more on digital downloads than ever before. This is good news for the future of music. I am still nervous that, one day, we will say goodbye to the humble C.D. and see vinyl’s role in the world reduced. Can we really say that the streaming growth has dented music and meant that artists and labels are suffering?! I look back at an article from the end of 2016 and some clear facts come to mind

“Five years ago, the demise of the music industry seemed almost inevitable. Recession, rampant piracy, falling CD sales and a fear that “kids just don’t buy music any more” had giant record labels, once oozing wealth, counting the pennies.

Yet 2016 has seen a reversal of fortune – and the industry’s saviour is not what many predicted. Profits from music streaming, first championed by Spotify and now offered by Apple and Amazon, have given some labels their largest surge in revenue in more than a decade.

At the beginning of December, one of the world’s biggest labels, Warner Music, announced revenues of $3.25bn (£2.66bn) this year – its highest in eight years. More significantly, $1bn of that was from streaming, more than double its download revenue and more than $100m more than its physical revenue.

The surge in profits is being seen across all the major labels. In the first half of 2016, streaming revenue in the US grew by 57% to $1.6bn, and worldwide digital revenues overtook those from physical sales for the first time in music industry history, mainly because of streaming. This year’s most-streamed artist was Drake, with 4.2bn streams”.

Maybe, in a way, streaming availability is helped keep physical sales afloat. You cannot contest that the reason why so many people are buying vinyl is that they can hear albums online! I have dug back into the crates of music and played a record like Tusk (Fleetwood Mac). It sounds good coming out of my speakers: it sounds even finer crackling from the turntable. I feel we are more informed as a consumer nowadays. When we only had radio and record shops; we often made our buying decisions based on the charts and what specific D.J.s deemed worthy of focus. Now, in a busy market; we all have more options available and a wider range of music at our feet. Radio plays a pivotal role in the way we buy music – streaming allows us all to become more investigative and curious about artists. I have a paid Spotify subscription and will happily continue that. I feel guilty streaming and accessing music for free: everyone should be made to pay a subscription so that artists are fairly remunerated. Is there, however, still issues around royalties and how much every artist gets? Following Spotify’s announcement to go private; I read a Rolling Stone article that raised some interesting points:

“Spotify's plan to go public, filed last week, could generate $23 billion and make the world's biggest record labels hundreds of millions of dollars richer — but the Swedish streaming giant has yet to soothe grumbling and litigious artists and songwriters who say its royalty payments are unfairly low. "They rigged it so they don't pay the artist," David Crosby tells Rolling Stone. "I've lost half of my income because of these clever fellas. I used to make money off my records, but now I don't make any."

Spotify's response to these types of criticisms has been the same for years: The service has paid more than $10 billion in royalties to artists, labels and publishers, according to its modified initial public offering, and the company has helped save the record business from online piracy. "Spotify was founded on the belief that music is universal and that streaming is a more robust and seamless access model that benefits both artists and music fans," reads the 260-page filing. Adds Jim Caparro, former president of Island Def Jam Records: "The winds of Spotify are blowing in the right direction for the music industry."

If Spotify's modified IPO generates anything close to $23 billion, Sony Entertainment, home of Beyoncé and Bruce Springsteen, could generate an estimated $1 billion-plus, and rivals such as Warner and Universal could make almost that much. All three major labels have pledged to share this windfall with their artists, but it's unclear how that will play out. "Nobody knows," says a source at a major label. "People say, 'Well, it's easy, you take the usage on the platform from the beginning of the service and you allocate it based on that.' But if Bruno Mars is driving the majority of recent usage, are you going to just write a huge check to Bruno Mars? This isn't easy stuff".

I have looked at streaming and its rise in a simplistic manner: feeling access and availability is the most important factor. If you think about the words expressed above; are we seeing an unfair distribution of royalties? If millions stream a Bruno Mars song and very few do the same with a Thom Yorke solo track; does that mean we are encouraging a disparity and wage gap? It is only fair, I guess, a popular artist is paid fairly and they are allowed to benefit from their fans. What worries a lot of artists is the gulf we are seeing in terms of streaming rewards. Should we, instead, take a more balanced and equal stance? Instead of paying artists in terms of total downloads; cutting the cheque so that everyone gets the same amount might be better? It is clear the new wealth of sites like Spotify are hiding rats under the floorboards. I love that I can pay a subscription and have access to a whole world of music, present and past. One can never know whether artists are getting paid fairly and whether new artists are getting as much from it as they should. My experiences regarding feedback have been somewhat mixed. Many artists feel streaming services are a lifeline in the modern age. Gigs are harder to come by and many venues cannot afford to pay them – they might kick in for petrol but that is where the till starts to close.

By having your music on a platform like Spotify – and pushing people towards it – that means you can guarantee a constant flow of cash. The actual reality is that no minor artist will get as much as they deserve. Reading another article from Rolling Stone and the boost and success of streaming services still is not at the level we should be seeing:

“…While streaming services have boosted music revenue to levels not seen in a decade, it remains 40 percent below peak levels, with digital and physical recorded music sales continuing to decrease. There was a 25 percent drop in digital downloads revenue, which came in at $1.3 billion in 2017. Although physical product revenue exceeded that of digital downloads for the first time since 2011, shipments of physical products declined by 4 percent to $1.5 billion”.

The argument complicates the good news we have been promised. It is true streaming is succeeding and major labels are flourishing; more and more artists are finding success and profit on Spotify – there are other streaming services available – and competition is forming. YouTube have announced they are going up against the likes of Spotify and iTunes. This recovery and success should be seen in pragmatic terms: the race is not over and it does not mean C.D.s and vinyl are a spent force. I feel, so long as we can maintain the success of streaming sites and ensure artists are paid fairly, we can all benefit.

I do not feel vinyl will end its life and decline anytime soon – I hope C.D.s remain viable for many years to come. I have changed my mind regarding streaming because I feel it is benefitting music as a whole. More and more people are discovering artists they might not have otherwise had access to. It is providing homes for new musicians and ensuring older artists are kept alive and relevant. Radio does that too but, in an age where we are all more aimed at digital outlets; it is not a bad thing we are spending time there and being more curious. One of my reservations regarding streaming was the fear physical music would cease to be and we would feel less need to get out there and visit record shops. Keeping a balance and ensuring artists are not taking advantage of is the most important thing we need to be aware of. I am not completely happy by streaming taking such a hold but know it is the future of the industry. There are multiple benefits and we can get music more quickly and readily than ever before. Anything that means new artists can get their voices heard and raise money can only be a good thing. I will leave things there but wanted to explore both sides of the argument and see where music is heading. If all the bumps and rough edges can be smoothed out; if we study the problems and ensure there is a fair playing field and balanced market; I feel music as we know it is entering an exciting and prosperous stage…

THAT will bring great music to more and more people.

FEATURE: The Mixing Desk: From Social Media to Sociability

FEATURE:

 

The Mixing Desk

 ALL PHOTOS: Unsplash 

From Social Media to Sociability

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ACCORDING to Graham Coxon…

in Blur’s hit, Coffee & TV; sociability, it seems, can be a tricky thing. I am in the position where most of my daily dealings are completed through the Internet. I do not get out to gigs a lot and feel a little disconnected from the outside world. It seems like an odd statement saying, given the people I contact and how much I do; to suggest I am not connected to people is a bit strange. We all get into the routine of social media and spending a lot of our day checking it out. How many of us ever get the chance to switch stuff off and get out into the world?! Many might spend a few nights a week chilling out – many have guilt at being away from their screens. Even when we go out; how many are checking their phones for texts and updates on social media?! It becomes a bit of a hook and crutch, I guess. I have written about social aspects of music and explored it through different lenses. From the difficulty of dating and finding like-minded others to the difficulty of getting out of the house and spending time away from music; we are all a little less sociable than the generation before. I cannot claim the Internet is solely responsible for that reality. Rent prices have gone up and many people do not have as much disposable income as they’d like.

It is challenging balancing work and social time so that we do not neglect the former too much. Musicians are among the most deprived and hard-working in the world, I think. The pressure on their shoulders mean they do not get many hours to get out into the open and forget about things. I know dating and socialising are different things – many of us find the former much harder than the latter. I have pitched a way musicians could date similar-minded folks and shrug off all the pitfalls and heartache of the dating circuit. Having a drink and seeing a gig is a different thing, I know. Even that can be a bit of an obstacle for a lot of people. The more we get addicted to social media and the less time we spend away from the screens; the harder it becomes to adapt to a normal, more sociable life. I wonder whether we have all become too used to a social media way of life. Even the people I know in couples are getting out there less and meeting new people. Perhaps rising prices and a more expensive night out is leading many more to settle in with a box-set and ignore all that is out there. I am writing this piece because I have spent so much time writing on a laptop and have not really got out there and mingled. It is like being an outsider at school: sitting in the corner and watching others have all the fun. The same is true of many other creatives and musicians I know.

The more we engross ourselves in an easier and lonelier existence; the harder it can get when we finally dispense with the distraction and see what is out there. It may sound a bit patronising but, as I suggested a few months back; we can design something for musicians and journalists that sort of ‘eases’ them back into society (that did sound a bit condescending!). Whether we establish a club or a music-themed night; it would be possible to get a lot of similar folks together in conversation. Most of us, in music, go to gigs to see people like us. There is not a lot of conversation when we go to gigs: we are there to see the artists and it can get pretty loud. If we go to bars and clubs; we go with friends and often stick to the same places. It is a lot safer and less stressful getting into habits and not pushing ourselves. What I worry is many of us are unhappier than we were and there is a rising issue around mental-health. Human contact is a good way of easing stress and distracting ourselves from all the strains and demands of the average day. Another problem we face concerns those who live outside of cities. A lot of towns do not have many bars and spaces where we can converse and gather. Cities can be quite daunting and it is hard seeing where we head to find those we can communicate with and like.

I am hearing from a lot of musicians who dedicate their every spare moment to music. They do not want to give it up but, at the same time, feel there is very little opportunity to forget about their jobs and enjoy a night out. What, then, can we do to unite those who do not want to forget about music but still enjoy the pleasures of other people?! For those who want to date or find friends; there are few bespoke areas and avenues they can explore. I keep hearing about failed dates and many bemoaning the expensiveness of a night on the town. Maybe ‘The Mixing Desk’ would be a good name for a chain of, cafes/bars that cater to those who love music. You would have the benefit of being in a comfortable and communal church without all the nerves and annoyances of a crowded and bustling bar. There could be jukeboxes and gigs; a themed décor that mixes classic and nostalgic touches with the modern and fresh. Keeping prices low and the atmosphere accessible means everyone could go and socialise with people who think like them – make contacts and connections whilst enjoying some time to unwind. Even if there was not a bespoke and new venture like this; it is clear we all need to afford ourselves the chance to get away from the distraction of technology. I come back to that feeling of guilt and feeling rather lost if we give ourselves a night or two off.

By offering a transition and space where musicians, writers and D.J.s can converse, conspire and flourish; it eases that sense of guilt and provides a perfect balance of work and socialisation. Maybe there are those out there happy to stay inside and commit themselves to work; others are okay with the patterns they have and the way they are living. I feel there is too much unhappiness and stress bubbling up. We get into the groove that social media is where it is at and that provides us with a real and worthy connection. That view and assumption is a falsehood: it cannot replace the benefits of real connection and bonding with another human being. So many people have work mounting up and, by the time they come home from work; they either have to think about the next day or, if they are a musician, gigs and plans around that take precedence. My entrepreneurial mind often spins out ideas and ventures that could turn into something good. I am one of those who shut the world away and gives little time to others in the world. That is not as a result of being aloof and closed-off: I find I have little energy when I am through doing all my writing. Who knows what will become of us if we all continue down the path we are walking.

Things will get more expensive and we will all get busier and less relaxed. Although a special space is not strong enough to tackle every problem out there. The bottom line is that we all need to give ourselves some more time away from screens and get back in touch with the common man/woman. I am one of those who do not heed my own advice as much as I should. I am finding things getting rather hectic and do not have the motivation to get out into the world and give myself a break. I am not the only one who struggles to get out of that headspace. The more we disappear down the social media hole; the trickier it can be to get back into normal society. That may sound extreme but I wonder whether we start to lose conversation skills and confidence when we spend a lot of time online. Many people in music feel isolated and alone when they go for a night out. Maybe the people they speak to do not have common interests and it is hard negotiating when it comes to conversation. There are so many musicians and talented people who feel the same way about the world but are divided by the Internet. Let’s all give ourselves more credit and put down the digital distractions for a couple of nights. If one were to come up with a specialised music zone where it would house awaiting friends – or dates – and strip away anxieties; I feel that can only be a good thing. At the very least; we need to look at our lives and wonder whether we are as fulfilled, happy and outgoing as we can be – and many of us want to be. When that sort of question is posed, and we struggle for reasonable answers; a rather sobering and troubling answer comes to the fore: we are unable to get out of a rather limited and unhealthy routine. That can change, for sure. With a bit of resolve and necessary effort; all of us can commit to some social time and, when the effects are tabulated and highlighted; the results will be…

RATHER pleasing indeed.

FEATURE: The April Playlist: Vol. 4: Big Account, Small Savings

FEATURE:

 

The April Playlist

 IN THIS PHOTO: Ms Banks 

Vol. 4: Big Account, Small Savings

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NOT every musical week…

IN THIS PHOTO: She & Him

provides a slew of big-buck releases and solid-gold cuts. This week is a little slower but, among the releases this week, there are some great tracks to be found. We have treats from Ms Banks and Janelle Monáe; Chvrches and She & Him; Thundercat and Anne-Marie have released new material – Blossoms also come through with an album that is impressing critics!

Although the weather is a bit iffy and all over the place; there are plenty of great songs out there to get your teeth into – guaranteed to melt the heart, bolster the spirit and get the voice ringing.

ALL PHOTOS/IMAGES (unless credited otherwise): Getty Images

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Janelle Monáe - I Like That

Chvrches - Miracle

Franz Ferdinand - Glimpse of Love (Version)

Blood Red Shoes – God Complex

Aloe Blacc – Brooklyn in the Summer

HONNE – I Just Wanna Go Back

Jennifer Lopez – El Anillo

Sharna Bass – In Love

Ms Banks – Clap

She & Him – He Gives His Love to Me

Thundercat – Final Fight

Anne-Marie – Bad Girlfriend

Blossoms – Stranger Still

PHOTO CREDIT: Holly Blake

Amelia Caesar – I Think We’re Home

Scott Quinn – Run

Shawn Mendes - In My Blood

Machine Gun Kelly - 27

Charlie Puth (ft. Kehlani) - Done for Me

Ace Hood - Testify

Post Malone – Stay

Lily Moore – Lying to Yourself

Ben Howard – Nica Libres at Dusk

Simian Mobile Disco - Defender 

Father John Misty - "Mr. Tillman"

Japanese Breakfast – Dreams (Recorded at Spotify Studios NYC)

IMOGEN – White Lines

Equals – High-Def Retro

Wiley – Still Standing

FEATURE: Earth Day 2018: The Playlist

FEATURE:

 

Earth Day 2018

 ALL PHOTOS: Unsplash 

The Playlist

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IT is Earth Day (today) and we are all provided with the chance…

to think more carefully about our planet and how we treat it. Not only is one expected to reflect on the way the Earth is changing and how climate change/pollution is affecting the oceans and people; we are all urged to embrace what we have and the beauty that is out there. I have been thinking about the day and feel it is even more important, now more than ever, to acknowledge what we are doing to the planet and, well…take more care of her. There have been some insightful and thought-provoking pieces put online regards environmental concerns and how the climate concerns of the masses need articulating effectively by politicians.

I cannot do much to remedy issues we face but, as a music journalist; it is important I have a look at planet/Earth-related songs and tunes that make me think about the natural world – in good and bad ways. Here, then, is a selection of songs that, for me, look at the planet in various ways – from looking at it from space or the intimacies of a woodland or subtle piece of nature. I hope the songs sum up Earth Day 2018 and, more importantly, get us thinking about a world that is becoming more polluted and endangered. It is a shame because, when you think about all it has to offer; it is a pretty spectacular and…

BEAUTIFUL place.

FEATURE: Lottery Winners Die in Southern Motels: A Memory Tapes Playlist

FEATURE:

 

Lottery Winners Die in Southern Motels

 IMAGE CREDIT: Freepix 

A Memory Tapes Playlist

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I have cunningly (read: obliquely) mistitled this piece…

IMAGE CREDIT: Getty Images

to give the illusory impression it pertains to anything other than my musical memories and what stands out to me. The title, in fact, is not quite as clever (read: pretentious) as it might appear on the page. One of my more minor dreams is to have a collection of my favourite musical memories – those that have scored influential and nurturing moments – highlighted and exposed to the public. Others have different memory tapes that soundtrack a romance or a special friendship; others choose to represent a particular year in their life through music – the kind of songs, old and new, that held their hand and sticks in the memory. For me, I am a groove monkey whose musical ‘memory tape’ is less about specific events and relationships: my song selections start from my earliest years and come right near to the present. Each song has significance and has either helped me through a hard time or taught me something about myself. Going chronologically; my first-ever memory was, maybe, around 1986 when I would have been three (making myself feel old and decrepit!) and hearing the drum machine-heavy rush of Tears for Fears’ Everybody Wants to Rule the World. I have told this story before but, on the off chance there are curious ravens swooping overhead; I will briefly recount it.

IMAGE CREDIT: Getty Images

That song counts as the most important in my life because it was the first thing I heard – or remember – and, every time I hear the track; I seem to transport myself back to that early family home when the walls were browner and the hairstyles had a three-foot-minimum height restriction! Moving through my early childhood, and two artists come to mind: The Beatles and Kate Bush. They are heroes of mine but, in the context of my childhood; they both opened my eyes to different sides of music. My family possessed ample stock of Beatles vinyl and had everything from their ‘red’ and ‘blue’ albums – albums that collated their earliest and later work, respectively – and Abbey Road; some Revolver, Rubber Soul and Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. Not only did The Beatles’ albums blow my mind on an artistic front – the iconic covers of Sgt. Pepper’s’ and Abbey Road – but the music, somehow, took me back to the 1960s – when my parents were growing up around them and able to queue outside record shops for their latest gem. Even though Rubber Soul is my favourite Beatles album; it is their debut, Please Please Me, that stands aside. I will not recount its unique recording process – the fact all bar four songs were captured in an all-day recording session – but it seems to be on in the house/car during family trips to my grandparents.

IN THIS PHOTO: The Beatles/PHOTO CREDIT: Getty Images

The shivering and scintillating harmonica notes (from John Lennon) of Love Me Do make me think of visiting my grandparents and those Sunday evenings where I was discovering the world and unlocking new scents and sensations. Songs such as Do You Want to Know a Secret (dodgy George Harrison vocal) and I Saw Her Standing There (fantastic Paul McCartney opener) are still in my mind and on my turntable. The fact my grandparents have been gone for over twenty years (or twenty-five) does not matter: hearing those songs bonds me to them and evokes all the perfume, off-kilter language and familial in-jokes many of us take for granted. Moving through ages ten-sixteen and, as mentioned; Kate Bush comes to mind. She is a musical heroine, for sure, and I even have some of her lyrics tattooed on my arms – the number of heads that tilt to the side on the Tube; futile in its attempt to decipher and recognise their origin – and her debut album, The Kick Inside, is my favourite of all time – many argue Hounds of Love is her best work but they, as you’d imagine, are wrong. Like many (including Caitlin Moran); my vivid first memory of Bush is seeing her in the video for Wuthering Heights; wearing a white dress (that looked like a nightgown) and spiralling to the sounds of her number-one smash. It was on a V.H.S. – maybe, The Whole Story?! – and I would sit down and watch videos from a strange, beautiful and hugely alluring musician (she remains my one and only musician crush). Bush is still someone who resounds in me – it was The Kick Inside that, yes, kick-started that passion; revealing a unique and sensual butterfly who went on to influence everyone from Tori Amos, Florence Welch and Nickelback (might have made the last one up!).

PHOTO CREDIT: Sam Liddicott

Primary and middle-school were hard, and so, music was a companion in every crush-addled blitzkrieg and rose-cheeked embarrassment; the cliques of the playground and the tape-swapping mastication of the playground. In fact, backing it up a smidge and Carole King seems to distil all my primary school experiences into one album: the mesmeric and peerless Tapestry. Like Kate Bush; Carole King’s vocals and sublime songwriting touched me deeper and more profoundly than anything. I was bullied through school and was a little slow, academically. Now, at thirty-five; I know a lot more, comparatively, than I did back then and feel I have come this far because of music and its comforting kiss. Songs like It’s Too Late and Will You Love Me Tomorrow? swam in my hippocampus and seemed to offer friendship, counselling and reassurance: a bespoke and multifaceted isotope that gave me somewhere to retreat and cloister my, sometimes, battered soul within. Music started to play a bigger role between 1988-1999. The last years of secondary school were heightened by the awesome club and Dance music that came out around the time. I had a good life at school but, against all the academia and near-scrapes with the headmaster; it was those music-fuelled memories that stand proud and noble.

IN THIS PHOTO: Carole King/PHOTO CREDIT: Getty Images

One such incident saw a classmate take to a wooden chair – like Rommel saddling up and plunging into action! – and pump the kids up in delirium chorus. The song that blared out of the cassette player – it was the 1980s, remember! – was The Shamen’s smash, Ebeneezer Goode. For all its drug references and controversy – ‘Veras’ and ‘salmon’ slang for, well…not what you’d think – it was a banger that got us all pumped and together. Not only was our school fairly liberal; it was permissive of musical indulgence and the curiosity of children. I will talk about the song that, embarrassingly, seemed to define high school but, keeping it around the period; Dance music and popular hits fused and entwined. I was discovering Madonna and, with it, an empowered and bold female artist who taught me more about women and femininity than any textbook and hopeless crush. It was, however, a crush that ends the final memories of middle school. My late grandfather built a go-kart back in, I think, the 1980s and gave it to me as a present. It was black and you could pedal it; it has a stand on the back so we could get someone with a cassette player blaring as I/my friends pedalled. I was a bit smitten with a girl – who shall remain nameless; less she vomits at the mere recollection – and several artists helped me negotiate awkward conversations and innocent playfulness – when we would climb trees, explore woodland…and many other things Tom Sawyer would get up to if Huck Finn was in the mood for motivation.

IN THIS PHOTO: Michael Jackson/PHOTO CREDIT: Getty Images

Michael Jackson was a huge influence and, aside from his weird white gloves and his monkey (Bubbles); the wacky King of Pop was our lifeline and voice. Many happy days listening to Bad and Thriller beneath the carapace of a tree; a near-kiss to the strains of Smooth Criminal (musical irony and taunt at its most cruel and teasing); other pick-n-mix visions that made my childhood infinitely pleasurable and buoyant. T.Rex, actually, were those champions of the go-kart cassette player who taught me so much more about music. I remember listening to the anthemic rabble of Bang a Gong (Get It On) – subtlety plagiarised by Oasis on their hit, Cigarettes & Alcohol – and classics like Metal Guru, Children of the Revolution and Hot Love (a song that makes me smile like a child kicking Piers Morgan in the nuts). Britpop and its battles were the older boys that I looked up to and was fascinated by. Being in a state school in the South of England meant there was a healthy mix between those working-class peeps – such as myself – and the wannabe middle-classes who were both balkanised and galvanised by the Blur vs. Oasis rivalry. Songs from the legendary bands helped me through bullying and the first flourishes of depression. I became hooked by these emphatic and observant bands who were speaking for my generation – one finds few likeminded artists today who can truly represent Britain and give us all something to hold on to!

PHOTO CREDIT: Unsplash

I appreciated Blur for their clever-clever wit and Essex boyishness but was more drawn to the rugged rebelliousness of the Gallagher brothers and that constant spark. Albums like Definitely Maybe were vital sources of guidance and, as I started to discover Grunge in its late stages – going back to Nirvana and their earliest work – I was growing up around a mix of harder sounds that provided me with the energy and fortitude to withstand the vicissitudes of school life. The other artists – before I summarise the latter days and years – remind me of overcoming hard times and evoking crushes and cute times. In 1997, when a schoolmate died; I was searching music for assistance and a compassionate hug. The fact someone my age (fourteen or so) could leave the planet without warning and rationale was a dam breaking – where I changed from a relatively happy child to someone numbed by shock. The fact my musical icon Jeff Buckley – more on him soon – died that year meant I was scrabbling for reassurance and something uplifting. Odd songs – like Smash Mouth’s Walkin’ on the Sun – and familiar favourites provided the calories and sympathies needed to complete high school and ensure I was able to continue on. My broadloom and routine have been irrevocable shattered: music was the always-willing Muse who stood steadfastly and gave me that hug. I mentioned crushes and how they were scored: the Dance music you’ll see from my playlist were all rattling around my mind as I tried to win the most popular girl in school (without avail) and watched open-mouthed as a girl I was attracted to passionately made out with a friend of mine (what a prick!).

IN THIS PHOTO: The White Stripes/PHOTO CREDIT: Getty Images

That song I mentioned, that defined high-school, was, actually Snow’s Informer. That might not sound too humiliating but, to me, it was the song that made me feel good and tied together the myriad highs, lows and beautiful moments that helped me transition into adulthood. I will skip over a large chunk of time – the playlist covers any gaps – but there are other artists/time periods that need mentioning. The White Stripes came into my life when I started university up in Cambridge and, against the daunting spectacle of spires and centuries-old colleges; the Detroit-formed duo was a satchel I carried and was able to escape in. The memories of The White Stripes are bitter-sweet and complicated. I attended a ‘sister university’ of Cambridge - but was allowed entry to the Footlights. Although I only performed a few times; I attended social events and, being Cambridge University-organised; they weren’t actually relaxed and free-flowing. Black-tie dinners and French brasseries; dinners of fine decorum – where I would hang around with a few mates at the end and scoop wine bottles from the dinner table – would mix alongside summer parties in the gardens of Queen’s College. It was during one such party – where I over-imbibed on Pimm’s; had to cook dinner half-cut and watched the latest Harry Potter film without passing out – I realised, although I was a working-class guy who felt daunted and out of place among privately-educated people; music was that leveller and ice-breaker. This was around the time Elephant was released (2003) and that and The White Stripes – their debut of 1999 – were huge favourites. A mate of mine, Tom, introduced the duo to me and it was him that compelled me to see them play at Alexandra Palace – a gig memory that was a bit of a missed opportunity and regret…

IMAGE CREDIT: Getty Images

It was Tom who actually shared my love of Jeff Buckley. The man is my music idol and, as I was acclimatising to life post-university and exploring the possibility of music journalism; I got into Buckley and all his magic. I, like millions, adore Grace (his one and only studio album) but it is the live album, at Sin-é (pronounced shin-aye), that stands out. I have chosen his version of Je N'en Connais Pas La Fin (the spirit of Edith Piaf watching over him...) for my playlist. I actually wanted to select his rendition of Yeh Jo Halka Saroor Hae (a Qawwali song by his idol, Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan) that truly embodies all Buckley was: that brave and divine spirit; the way he could tackle any language/song and, if you listen to the monologue that proceeds the song; the way he interacted with the audience (a small number of people crammed into a New York café) that made me idolise him – shed tears and feel distraught realising he is no longer with us. His music has taught me more about myself and the world than any other musician; a dedication and relationship that still informs my decisions and makes me feel I am doing the right thing. I have not mentioned why Soundgarden and Nirvana represent great memories; why Björk’s debut is so vital – the artist that turned me on to BBC Radio 6 Music and the album that got me my first appearance on radio…we are pressed for time, so I shall end things...

PHOTO CREDIT: Unsplash

Music is a vital cog in my existence and the reason I got into music journalism was through a then-friend, Kate, and how music helped her. She wrote a blog that detailed her life and love experiences and it was a particular band, The National, who we used to bond over. I remember talking to her about albums like High Violet and The Boxer and how she found solace and warmth in the words. That may sound odd – considering the songs were quite emotive – but it brought me to her and, from there, started my music blog. We are no longer in each other’s life – a jealous boyfriend stopped that – but The National’s music reminds me of her (Kate’s) writings and what we used to discuss; how she compelled me to start writing and get into journalism. I have made a decision to dedicate full-time to music (and move to Manchester) and she is partly responsible for that – as are some of the artists I vibe to right now. Between then and now; there is one other artist who has made an impact – one that many might not have heard of. I was one of the first to review Yorkshire-born Billie Marten’s Writing of Blues and Yellows when it arrived in 2016. I gave it a hearty four-star review (when writing for an online music magazine) and, aside from some foolish conclusions – I reasoned, falsely, Emily and Green were minor songs! – the songs within helped me through a difficult time in a dismal job; in a town I hated/hate, around people I felt uneasy and angry around – a situation I am still in (in terms of the job and the town) but am changing in the coming months...

IN THIS PHOTO: Billie Marten/PHOTO CREDIT: Getty Images

It is one song, however, that had a huge emotive effect and helped me make decisions. Heavy Weather is a proudly delicate and passionate song that bellies her teenage years (Marten is, I think, eighteen) and one that fills my soul and makes me determined to make things better and plug on in life. My biggest hope is Marten releases another album this year – I will be one of the first to jump on that! – because Writing of Blues and Yellows was my favourite album of 2016. It was scandalously overlooked by the end-of-year poll-makers and did not even crack anyone’s top-fifty! Maybe that is a result of snobby attitudes towards Folk and young artists; let’s hope those journalists reverse their mistake and get involved with her sophomore record!

IN THIS PHOTO: Sam Liddicott/PHOTO CREDIT: Sam Liddicott

I will end things there – the playlist puts together songs that cover other years and events – but these songs, in their way, have shaped and guided my life from the age of three/four to thirty-four. They are the build-up to crushes and fumbled chat-up; the longing of youth and the discovery of new vistas and lands. (I haven’t even mentioned Steely Dan and how pivotal their album, Can’t Buy a Thrill, was to my childhood and reminds me of my aunt (who died of skin cancer); the way the songs connected and what they mean to me!). They are the fuc*-you to bullies and psychic bandages; the academic slackers and red-lipped temptresses that have shaped, for better or worse, the rest of my life. These are the songs, wonderfully, that will continue to influence my life as I tackle new careers, loves – let’s hope so! – and tragedies. All of the songs in the playlist have their place and short story; they are all crucial and irreplaceable and are memories I hope to hold…

PHOTO CREDIT: Unsplash

FOR the rest of my days!

FEATURE: Ma Nishtana: Why This Year Is Balancing Progression and Change with Tragedy

FEATURE:

 

Ma Nishtana

IN THIS PHOTO: Kendrick Lamar/PHOTO CREDIT: Getty Images 

Why This Year Is Balancing Progression and Change with Tragedy

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EVERY year in music…

IN THIS PHOTO: Avicii/PHOTO CREDIT: Getty Images

we witness heartache and unexpected loss. A few days ago, the super-producer Avicii lost his life and sent shockwaves through music. People from all corners of music and social media have come together to pay their respects to a wonderful and unique talent who had the potential to truly add his stamp to music. It is no secret that Avicii shunned some of the limelight and did not feel comfortable with the glare on his face. There were reports of depression and anxiety; he died in Muscat (Oman) with police reporting no foul play or suspicions. Back in 2016; Avicii was diagnosed with acute pancreatitis due to excessive alcohol use. Although one cannot draw a line between that diagnosis and his untimely death; the fact the Swedish producer is no longer with us has shocked many. Someone so young (twenty-eight) has left us and some wondering if more could have been done – if he should have gone into rehab or medical intervention could have prevented such a tragic loss. It is difficult to avoid every decline in health and sad loss – we have to go through this, unfortunately. Some of the best musicians and talents from the industry have died at a young age. The infamous 27 Club is the collective group of musicians who died aged twenty-seven – including Jimi Hendrix, Jim Morrison and Amy Winehouse.

IN THIS PHOTO: Amy Winehouse/PHOTO CREDIT: Paul Bergen/Redferns

There is no scientific or correlated reason why that age has become so synonymous with high-profile deaths. Maybe excess and certain pressures arrive at that age; when an artist reaches a sense of maturity and the critical acclaim gets too hot – the need to escape or find solace and comfort in drugs and alcohol. That is all speculation and lazy science. Of course; there are reasons why some of our finest musicians died at twenty-seven. Avicii’s fame and sudden prominence meant, of course, he was expected to be a certain way and in demand. His drinking issue might have had personal reasons and other contributory factors – perhaps his celebrity was not wholly culpable. It seems, though, we have an artist who suffered immense pressure and struggled to deal with all the trappings and roles of fame. He wanted to influence people – and left a great body of work – but was not completely happy having his every moment and movement planned. Again; there is no blame on anyone or the music industry as a whole. I am sad someone so young has died and warning signs were there. Should we expect this kind of thing to happen now and then?! I think it is a tragedy any artist, who is clearly over-indulging or struggling, should struggle so much. It seems, heartbreakingly, we cannot escape tragedies in the industry. My hope is Avicii’s sad and shocking death should open conversations and query whether we need to do more and raise awareness when it comes to young artists and excess.

PHOTO CREDIT: Peter Yang for Variety

One of the positive things that have come out of music this year is acknowledgement of black music and a greater focus on artists of colour. Kendrick Lamar, rather wonderfully, was the first black musician to win the Pulitzer Prize. The award usually goes to Jazz or Classic artists – the fact they awarded Lamar’s superb album, DAMN., is a big shift and seismic evolution. The ceremony has been accused of being stuffy and ludicrously narrow-minded. The rigidity and one-dimensional nature of his past winners mean nobody was expecting such a radical about-face. Lamar’s win follows on from Bob Dylan’s Nobel Prize win for Literature last year. Few expected a popular and decades-enduring musician to get the honour. Kendrick Lamar’s victory is not really needed from his perspective. He has accrued awards and huge fan numbers; the man has won critical affection and is one of the most popular and successful artists in the world. Those who criticise Hip-Hop – some bigoted commentators feel it has done more to damage black American youth than guns or drugs – need to look at the changes being felt and how the likes of Kendrick Lamar are coming to the forefront. Black music has suffered a turbulent and hard past. From Jazz innovators and Soul kings; the new wave of Hip-Hop and Pop artists – one can argue there has been racism and ignorance for many decades in music.

PHOTO CREDIT: Peter Yang for Variety

A piece in The Guardian argued why DAMN. warranted that elusive award:

“But even if it weren’t a cultural phenomenon, Damn would be deserving on a compositional level. While there will always be those who flatly refuse to accept hip-hop as a valid artform, for everyone else Lamar represents the pinnacle of the form. His combination of technical virtuosity, moral complexity, political acuity, wit, empathy and musical depth and breadth makes him the only MC (sorry Kanye) who can unite teenage hip-hop fans, Golden Age aficionados and people who barely follow the genre.

Raised in Compton, Los Angeles, Lamar, like many rappers, grew up amid poverty and gang violence. He continues to wrestle with survivor’s guilt and the moral responsibility that comes with success, constantly interrogating his own weaknesses and hypocrisies. When I interviewed him in 2015, he was hugely impressive in a low-key way: calm, reflective, deeply religious and wise beyond his years”.

I am not suggesting Kendrick Lamar’s achievement will reverse the trend we have always seen – where black artists do not get their due and are neglected when it comes to awards and festival slots. As recently as a year ago; we were wondering whether racism and the lack of attention paid to black artists would subside and redress. There seems to be more of a balance than there was back in 2017!

The most recent Grammy ceremony featured a lot of fantastic black artists and its major categories were supple with fantastic black artists. Although it did not go far enough – there was still imbalance and Bruno Mars, a Pop artist who produces music, not all critics love, won most of the awards – it was a great improvement and signs things were starting to change. The fact a black Hip-Hop artist won an award usually reserved to white artists of a certain genre…that sends a message that we cannot keep going on with ignorant practices. Another event I wanted to allude to was Beyoncé’s much-lauded and fantastic set at Coachella. The iconic singer-songwriter put in a career-spanning, life-affirming set that saw a reunification of Destiny’s Child and some of the best theatrics and dance displays seen at any gig. The artist has been out of the public eye since she gave birth to her twins last year. She is embarking on a co-headline tour with her husband, Jay-Z, and many wonder whether she will follow up 2016’s Lemonade with a new album. The confident and emphatic set she turned in at Coachella has put black music to the forefront again and showed our strongest and most impressive solo artist is black. You can argue there are better white artists who are more iconic and popular playing right now.

IN THIS PHOTO: Beyoncé/PHOTO CREDIT: Getty Images

I would argue against that and state nobody has the same power, pull and panache as Beyoncé. We need her in music right now and that singular, divining voice can do so much to a divided world. All of these events and changes might sound like a small step and minor occurrence. If we look back a few years and see how far we have come right now – I feel 2018’s big steps and breakthroughs will continue for the next few years. I cannot argue we will see a complete reversal and there will be true equality in our lifetimes. I am positive genuine evolution can happy so we do not see black artists confined to the shadows and seen as inferior to their white peers. I realise commercial artists like Rihanna and Beyoncé have been performing for years – there are many more in the underground who have not received the acclaim they deserve. With the likes of Cardi B and Leon Bridges, between them, delivering some of the most affecting and stunning music at the moment; I wonder whether the recent acclaim of Beyoncé and Kendrick Lamar needs to be highlighted and used as a guide. There are still steps to be taken and more we can all do. I am pleased a body like the Pulitzer Prize decided to give an award for music to Kendrick Lamar. Nobody saw it coming and, whether compelled by pressure or recognition of genuine talent; walls are coming down and the always-stuffy are starting to relax their stringent and homogenised ideals. This year has seen some tragedy and great loss: alongside it has been some big steps forward and signs parity will come about. Many might say 2018 is no different to any other year. I feel very different, indeed. So far, over the past few months; there are signals that suggest this year will be…

VERY different to every other one.   

FEATURE: The Hottest May on Record? Great Albums Due Next Month

FEATURE:

 

The Hottest May on Record?

 IN THIS PHOTO: Chvrches/ALL PHOTOS/IMAGES: Getty Images

Great Albums Due Next Month

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APRIL is almost through…

IN THIS PHOTO: Ray LaMontagne

and we are starting to get used to the warmer weather and promises of festivals. I have been looking ahead to May and all the records that are scheduled for release. There are some average and forgettable ones out there: among the clan are some fantastic options that warrant proper attention and play! I have collated the albums, I feel, everyone needs to get behind and investigate.

Here are the best May-due records that the fondest and most ardent music fans…

IN THIS PHOTO: Courtney Barnett

NEED to keep their eyes out for. 

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Gaz Coombes – World’s Strongest Man

Release Date: 4th May

Genres: Alternative/Rock/Indie

Label: Caroline Distribution

Eleanor Friedberger – Rebound

Release Date: 4th May

Genre: Indie-Rock

Label: Frenchkiss Records

Leon Bridges – Good Thing

Release Date: 4th May

Genres: R&B/Soul

Label: Columbia Records

Beach House – 7

Release Date: 11th May

Genres: Dream-Pop/Indie-Rock

Label: Sub Pop

Simian Mobile Disco – Murmurations

Release Date: 11th May

Genres: Dance/Electronic/House

Label: Wichita Recordings

Ash – Islands

Release Date: 18th May

Genres: Alternative

Label: Infectious Music

Courtney Barnett – Tell Me How You Really Feel

Release Date: 18th May

Genres: Alternative/Indie

Label: Mom + Pop Music

Parquet Courts – Wide Awake!

Release Date: 18th May

Genres: Indie-Rock/Post-Punk

Label: Rough Trade Records

Ray LaMontagne – Part of the Light

Release Date: 18th May

Genres: Singer-Songwriter/Folk

Label: RCA Records

Chvrches – Love Is Dead

Release Date: 25th May

Genres: Synth-Pop/Alternative

Label: Glassnote Records

FEATURE: On the Grass, Earphones In… The Sunshine Playlist

FEATURE:

 

On the Grass, Earphones In…

 PHOTO CREDIT: Dean Chalkley/NME 

The Sunshine Playlist

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WE are at a time of the year…

PHOTO CREDIT: Unsplash

when the sun is out and we are not freezing our bottoms off as soon as we leave the house! The days of scraping the ice from the windscreen and wearing two layers of clothing are, it seems, done with. I am glad we do not have to endure the endless chill and negotiate single-digit temperatures! I recently put out a spring-themed playlist that nodded its head to the warming climate and the lighter days. I wanted to go further and get together a collection of songs that project sunshine, heat and the approaching seduce of summer. I have included a song from the sadly-departed producer, Avicii – who lost his life yesterday at the age of twenty-eight. Alongside him are artists old and new who can put us in mind of warmer days.

IN THIS PHOTO: Avicii/PHOTO CREDIT: Sergi Alexander/FilmMagic (2015)

It is just as well things are turning and we are all in a better mood. I have been scowling the annals and libraries of music and have collated a summer/sunshine playlist that keeps the vibes going and pumps heat and a sense of sweaty allure from the speakers. Sit back and listen to songs from a range of genres that do, I hope, get the blood pumping and put smiles on faces. We may only be in April but there are signs to suggest things will only improve from here. Let’s get together, crank up the stereo high and spin some songs that…

PHOTO CREDIT: Unsplash

GETS the heat rising!  

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FEATURE: High Court Judges with Northern Accents: Does Morrissey’s Latest Controversy Mean We Need to Create Distinction Between the Artist and the Music?

FEATURE:

 

High Court Judges with Northern Accents

 ALL IMAGES/PHOTOS (unless credited otherwise): Getty Images 

Does Morrissey’s Latest Controversy Mean We Need to Create Distinction Between the Artist and the Music?

__________

THE BBC raised an interesting point…

in an article that asked whether it is possible to separate an artist like Morrissey from his music. I will crib a section from an NME article that outlined the latest controversies and contradictions from the always-nuts world of Morrissey:

“The former Smiths frontman has been increasingly vocal on his new Morrissey Central website in recent weeks, using the site to fire back at newspaper articlesand to take aim at Sadiq Khan.

Now, in a new blog post, Morrissey has voiced his support for For Britain, the far-right party founded by Anne Marie Waters. Waters formed the party following her departure from UKIP after Nigel Farage dubbed the activist and her supporters “Nazis and racists”.

“I despise racism,” Morrissey writes in his post, which takes its title ‘I’ve Been Dreaming Of A Time When / the English / are sick to death of Labour and Tories’ from the singer’s ‘Irish Blood, English Heart’ lyric.

“I despise fascism,” he adds, continuing: “I would do anything for my Muslim friends, and I know they would do anything for me”.

This is not, as we know, the first time the legendary songwriter has been embroiled in scandal. It seems odd, for a man who seems so against and horrified by racism he would align himself with a far-right organisation. He has taken to the stage to attack, well…anything and everyone.

Maybe it is the ongoing violence in London or the chemical attacks in Syria – maybe he has a bad case of piles and wanted to vent at the world! Whatever has rattled the parrot in his cage; it is clear the Mancunian icon needs to calm it down a bit. Existing and life-long fans have been turning their support away from the songwriter and criticising his words. I can understand why someone like Morrissey would feel enraged and annoyed at the world. We know spiky and open songwriters like Mark E. Smith tend to leave the filter behind and say whatever comes to mind – the fact he is no longer with us leaves a bit of a gap. What bugs me is the fact Morrissey has a platform where he can inspire and act as an inspiration. I can approve of his attack of the P.M. and the way of Government are handling the affairs of the nation. Morrissey went after London Mayor Sadiq Khan – a semi-racist and noxious slight... – and accused him of lacking any love and respect. Mayor Khan is doing the best he can and, whether you like him or not; he is not culpable for the spate of murders in the capital. Morrissey’s usual ‘meat-is-murder-and-people-who-eat-it-are-wankers' rant came out – he needs to update and polish that tired argument! – and, although I am a pescatarian myself; he is winning no new fans by being so angered and spiteful.

PHOTO CREDIT: Unsplash

He is allowed his own politics and agendas – one feels he has been saying the same thing for decades and it has not changed things for the better. Many might argue the fact Morrissey is adding nothing new to the cauldron of controversy should not irk people too much. Morrissey's blog piece (reported by NME) raised eyebrows:

“In his post, Morrissey describes Labour as “hopelessly naive,” Prime Minister Theresa May as having “turned Britain into a international target” with her policies and the “Loony Left” as “concerned only with victim culture”.

He accuses the press of making “inflammatory and unjust comments against any new party that threatens the same old bloody pointless two-party system”.

“Please give For Britain a chance,” Morrissey appeals again. “They will bring an end to the modern Westminster mania for self-destruction. For Britain is the bulldog breed that will never surrender. Both Labour and Conservatives have already sold you down the river into righteous oblivion.”

“This is my last political strike,” Moz adds. “No wish to upset anyone! But the time has come to fight, and Labour and the Conservatives have their backs to the sea. Are you capable of change?”

Morrissey has given his views about the Kevin Spacey-Harvey Weinstein scandal – rationalising their crimes and being rather naïve about the seriousness – and has barely said a positive and nation-unifying thing since his days in The Smiths.

PHOTO CREDIT: Unsplash

This brings me to the issue of the music vs. the artist. We can separate the two but they are intrinsically linked. People, young and old, listen to a musician’s work and they are going to be interested in what they say. What grinds my gears is the strength of Morrissey’s music and how he and fellow artists have inspired the music world. Outspoken musicians such as Liam Gallagher have never been short of oxygen and outrage – most of Liam Gallagher’s anger and comments are aimed at his brother, Noel. In fact; Liam does not attack every politician out there and alienate himself from the rest of the world. I listen to Morrissey’s music and it can be hard keeping my brain engaged and my mind focused. I always think about things he comes out with and wonder, truly, if he wants people like me listening to his songs. You can separate a musician from their songs – that does not mean you respect them and do not judge them when they say something stupid. A musician’s primary job is to provide fantastic sounds and do the best they can in the industry. Part of their job entails being responsible and trying to inspire those who follow them. There is a difference between rebellion and a Rock and Roll spirit compared to those who court condemnation and judgment.

IN THIS IMAGE: Liam Gallagher

Many have marked the death of Morrissey as a force in the industry. If you judge his earliest bloom (1984) and his latest album (Low in High School was released last year) – have we finally had enough of the icon?! Low in High School had some good moments but was a definite deterioration and slump compared to some of his recent albums. My favourite moments from Morrissey’s solo career come around 1992-1994. I love Your Arsenal (1992) and it seemed, after a fairly unbalanced start to his solo life, he was hitting the stride we knew he was capable of. That album was full of swagger, bite and hard-hitting, brain-buzzing tunes. Vauxhall & I, the fan favourite, was released in 1994 and kept that pace and genius alight. If one wants an abridged history of Morrissey’s barbed and scathing comments; you need only look at a Rolling Stone article from 2013:

“When Morrissey blamed Beyoncé for the near-extinction of the rhinoceros at a Los Angeles show last week – "The rhino is now more or less extinct, and it's not because of global warming or shrinking habitats. It's because of Beyoncé's handbags" – it was only the latest in a decades-long series of pointedly provocative comments by the ex-Smiths singer and animal rights activist. Earlier in the week, Morrissey refused to appear on Jimmy Kimmel Live! because the cast of pro-hunting reality series Duck Dynasty were slated to be fellow guests. Kimmel bashed Morrissey on the show and aired a parody Duck cast-as-vegans clip; Morrissey responded in typically withering fashion, saying Kimmel "found time to jokingly promote gun-ownership – hugely amusing for the parents at Sandy Hook, no doubt" and claiming that "Jimmy Kimmel himself has finally revealed his show to have an overwhelming loss of meaning."

 But animal rights is only one of Morrissey's pet issues. The singer also has a history of lashing out at the British royal family – and pretty much anything and anyone else he feels like. Some of his outbursts have drawn accusations of racism; others, merely poor taste. And some are just funny. Here are Morrissey's most vicious disses, bon mots and general nastiness:

·         2013: Morrissey refers to David and Victoria Beckham as "The Peckhams," describes them as "insufferable" and says they should be "dragged to the edge of the village and flogged."

·         2012: Morrissey links the suicide of a London nurse to the Duchess Kate Middleton. "There's no blame placed at Kate Middleton, who was in the hospital for, as far as I can see, absolutely no reason . . . She feels no shame about the death of this woman. The arrogance of the British royals is staggering, absolutely staggering."

·         2012: Morrissey has his band wear "We Hate William and Kate" shirts onstage.

·         2012: In an open letter to his fan club, Morrissey rips into the "blustering jingoism" of the London Olympics, comparing the mood in the U.K. to Nazi Germany. "The 'dazzling royals' have, quite naturally, hijacked the Olympics for their own empirical needs, and no oppositional voice is allowed in the free press. . . The spirit of 1939 Germany now pervades throughout media-brand Britain."

·         2011: In an interview with Billboard, Morrissey calls Lady Gaga"nothing new" and says her style is "fraudulent, and the exact opposite of erotic." He also refers to Madonna as "McDonna" and says Michael Bublé is "famous and meaningless."

·         2011: Of the Norway massacre in which 77 people died, Morrissey heralds to a Warsaw crowd, "That is nothing compared to what happens in McDonald's and Kentucky Fried shit every day."

PHOTO CREDIT: Unsplash 

·         2010: Discussing animal cruelty in China, Morrissey tells The Guardian, "You can't help but feel that the Chinese people are a subspecies."

·         2009: Morrissey leaves the stage at Coachella, explaining "The smell of burning animals is making me sick. I can smell burning flesh . . . and I hope to God it's human."

·         2002: From documentary The Importance of Being Morrissey: "Bring me the head of Elton John . . . which is one instance in which meat would not be murder, if it were served on a plate."

·         1997: Morrissey bashes Madonna again. "Madonna reinforces everything absurd and offensive. Desperate womanhood. Madonna is closer to organized prostitution than anything else."

·         1994: When asked about an incident in which an Australian student shot a starting pistol at the Prince of Wales, Morrissey responds, "I wish that Prince Charles had been shot. I think it would have made the world a more interesting place."

·         1992: Morrissey knocks dance music. "It's the refuge for the mentally deficient. It's made by dull people for dull people."

·         1985: Morrissey slams the charity group Band Aid and its co-founder. "Bob Geldof is a nauseating character. Band Aid was the most self-righteous platform ever in the history of popular music."

·         1984: Morrissey blasts the Cure. "Robert Smith is a whingebag."

·         1984: Morrissey laments the failed assassination attempt on Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher after the Brighton hotel bombing. "The sorrow of the IRA Brighton bombing is that Thatcher escaped unscathed."

I am a big fan of Morrissey’s stance on animal rights and the fact he does, deep down, have a love of Britain and wanting to keep the people safe. I have quoted so heavily from other sources because we need the facts in front of us – my personal views should not muddy the water and create bias.

It seems like artists who command respect and assume a sphere of influence should be more pragmatic and conscientious when it comes to what they say. A lot of media sources have attacked Morrissey and questioned what is happening with him. He has suffered health issues through the years and struggled with mental-health issues – should this be used as a justifiable excuse?! Other mainstream artists have anger and things to say to those in a position of leadership. They are better at articulating that frustration through something productive and inoffensive. One can look at comments made by the likes of Stormzy – who has voiced his opinions on the Government following the handling of the Grenfell tragedy – but his anger is motivated by that one event. He is not someone who takes swipes at multiple sectors of society and claims racism is bad – only to side with a party who are known for their radical views and hatred. I still listen to Morrissey’s music but am getting more and more bored of the man who created such brilliant albums. It is sad to think that the former Smiths frontman who, alongside Johnny Marr, penned some of the finest songs of the 1980s, has now been reduced to a rather bitter and bile-spewing middle-aged man who is tainting his legacy. He may loathe racism and oppression: the fact he is throwing his weight behind For Britain. His misguided comments and outbursts may not destroy his legacy and music; what they do is give the music an unwanted…

PHOTO CREDIT: Nick Knight for The Face, 1984.

TASTE of bitterness.  

FEATURE: The April Playlist: Vol. 3: As Record Store Day Takes Hold…

FEATURE:

 

The April Playlist

IN THIS PHOTO: Father John Misty 

 Vol. 3: As Record Store Day Takes Hold…

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THERE are a lot of people stepping up…

IN THIS PHOTO: Bishop Briggs

their passion for music today! Record Store Day is here and, with it, fervent and feverish crate-diggers will be out in force – getting their hands on all the re-releases, new offerings and classic vinyl. Away from the throng of record store heat are the best new songs from the world of popular music. There are cuts from Father John Misty and Ariana Grande; Janelle Monáe and Leon Bridges; The Coral and Courtney Barnett – a rare and unexpected release from Mazzy Star has gifted our ears this week!

It is an exciting, packed and big-name week for music that sees the likes of Anne-Marie and Blossoms stack up alongside Prince, Bishop Briggs and Miles Kane – something, you’ll agree, for everyone!

ALL PHOTOS/IMAGES (unless credited othewrise): Getty Images

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Father John Misty – Just Dumb Enough to Try

Anne-Marie – 2002

PHOTO CREDIT: Sara M. Méndez

Miles Kane – Loaded

Janelle Monáe – I Like That

Ariana Grande – No Tears Left to Cry

Blossoms – There’s a Reason Why (I Never Returned Your Calls)

Prince – Nothing Compares 2 U

Billie Eilish, Khalid - lovely

Leon Bridges – Beyond

The Coral – Sweet Release

Courtney Barnett – City Looks Pretty

Grace Savage – The Hunger

Kelsey Lu – Shades of Blue

Louise Golbey – Still

Lykke Li – deep end

Mahalia – No Reply

Mazzy Star - Quiet, the Winter Harbour

Morrissey – By the Time I Get to Wherever I’m Going

Sasha Sloan – Runaway (Vertical Video)

 

The Vamps – Hair Too Long

Alexis Taylor – A Hit Song

PHOTO CREDIT: @lindseybyrnes

Bishop Briggs – Wild Horses

The Paper Kites – Arms

The Shires – Loving You Too Long

PHOTO CREDIT: Rahi Rezvani

Editors – Darkness at the Door

AURORA – Queendom

Let’s Eat Grandma – It’s Not Just Me

Ben Howard – Towing the Line

The Tallest Man on Earth – Somewhere in the Mountains, Somewhere in New York

Morgan Saint - Just Friends

Daughter - All I Wanted (Live at Asylum Chapel)

JONES - Tender (Acoustic in London)

Kylie Minogue (ft. Gente de Zona) – Stop Me From Falling

The Pale White – Peace of Mind

FEATURE: First-Person Narrative: Is Love or Singledom the Greatest Muse?

FEATURE:

 

First-Person Narrative

ALL PHOTOS: Unsplash

Is Love or Singledom the Greatest Muse?

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IF Morrissey bemoaned his lack of action and sexual braggadocio…

on The Smiths’ song Never Had No One Ever; one cannot even start to get their head around my lack of relationship glory! A lot of my daily creativity throws in a moral and soulful conundrum around passion and companionship. In order to peruse my desires and aspirations to the nth-degree; I need to have a degree of solitude and focus. How much would I be able to produce if I had a committed relationship and was dividing my time? Would consistent journalism and the relentless curiosity that comes with it create a distraction and, thus, have a detrimental impact on the relationship? I do weight that up and am not assuming that if I had greater clarity in respect of placing my bodily needs over that of the mind, I would be able to find someone and be happier. The reason I embark on such a lonesome and all-hours-consuming drive is that I can get more done and have few distractions. I am interviewing a lot of people and a few things are coming to light. For a start; many of the songwriters I feature are single by choice. They feel there is a risk of having to balance the full-time demands of a relationship with the full-time job and full-time career in music. Full-time-squared is less pressured and destructive than, say, full-time-squared.

One might say the pleasures and burden-sharing benefits of a relationship make the equation less daunting and less heavy. It is possible being in a relationship and being able to commit to music and all it holds. Another thing I have noticed is the fact many are looking for love in order to help get their mind away from music. They are actively seeking a boyfriend/girlfriend because music is such a demanding and tiring pursuit. Having an extra body and that affectionate company allows a sense of de-stress and assistant. We are more anxious and solitary than any time in human history. The rise of machinery and the digital means we fabricate friendships and have access to all things at the click of a button – there is less need to go out and bond with people. Whilst we can get conversation and communication from the Internet; they have not advanced technology so we can have a relationship and sex through this method. Relationships are, luckily, one of the last human pursuits that cannot be outsold to big corporations and technology. Maybe we can communicate with our girlfriend/boyfriend online but the physicality and sociability need to be there in order to make it work. What, then, does this have to do with music?! The other thing I am picking up (from interviews) is that failed relationships and the need for personal space are becoming bigger motivators for creativity than love itself.

We look back to the music of the 1960s and 1970s and a lot of the best songs are about relationships and the paens of common connection. Now, in this fast-paced age, sex and relationships are more complicated and variegated – the full spectrum is being explored and exposed. I am caught between a rock and a hard place right now. I want a relationship myself but feel, if I relinquish the lure of writing and the demands it puts on me; that risks exsanguinating my proliferation and taking my attentions away from my true pursuit. Songwriting, I have found, is less clear-cut than recent years. More and more artists are talking about the benefits of solo life and being able to have independence. Whilst many artists are painting pictures of doomed love and deceitful lovers; they are finding relief in that transition and looking more inward. We have seen the new breed of Pop artist – from Sigrid and Dua Lipa to Tom Misch and Superorganism – and the palette is not as commercial and lyrically predictable as you’d imagine. When artists such as Dua Lipa are talking about love, there is a lot more bravery, personality and broadness – the sex is more sizzling and saucy; the single life more nourishing and less fearful; the relationships more even and challenging.

If you had to answer this simple question: Do you feel songwriters are talking more about love than being single – what would you answer be? I feel the once-reliable muse of romance is being replaced by a move towards single life. So many of the artists I review and speak to are either single by choice or unable to find love. Whilst that might paint an image of loneliness and stress; many are using that sense of freedom to expand their careers and become more ambitious. Songs are reflecting a less confined and predetermined life – children and marriage – and artists, because of the hours they put in, are unable to commit to proper relationships. I am not saying hook-ups are substituting relationships and long-term love: there is a sense that time is limited and a career in music is impossible if one were in a relationship. That being said; I am discovering artists, like I said, who are finding it harder to find love. Dating websites are out there but that either leads to dodgy dates and mixed results. Few are finding anyone substantial and, largely, the liaisons are brief and unmemorable. That desire for love is still part of the songwriting cannon but, more and more, artists are embracing – willingly or not – a life of singledom.

From my viewpoint; I commit a lot of time to writing and, when I do go out, it is for errands and not necessarily sociable. I get carried away with writing and, whilst I get a lot done and pleased with my work; there is little time at the end of the day to do anything (but sleep, I guess). The weekends are very similar: a lot of work and scant time outside and mingling. Although that concentration and discipline leads to a prolific output and a good routine; I wonder whether my work would be stronger were I to embark on a relationship – fewer pieces but better quality, owing to greater happiness and fulfilment. So much of music involves relationships and how sex and love are entwined in the fabric and bones of the process. There are songwriters who write about conventional desire and being in contended romances: there are more and more who are writing about separation and the need to embark on a solo life. Does this mean, though, we are a less together and compatible people?  Are successful relationships harder at a time when there is less disposal income in the pocket and more strain on the shoulders?! I find myself coming back to the paradigm of the modern Popstar: the embodiment of youth and the representation of young life.

Whilst artists in Folk and Rock articulate the complexities and realities of love as good as anyone else; it is those young Pop artists who have always focused on love more. Songs are becoming, largely, more mature and there is less emphasis on the ‘Ls’ of life: love, loss; lips, losers and loquaciousness. Artists are talking about psychological concerns and nurturing the self; coping with anxieties and finding it more difficult to concecrate their lives to relationships. It is odd comparing the way Pop and the mainstream, especially, has evolved through the years. Listen to a lot of the 1960s’ best and, yes, you will hear recrimination and romantic fall-out. There are more songs that express happiness and contentment in life. Even as recently as a few years ago; it seemed writers were in a more embracing and open mindset. Whereas love and its allure was a driving force then; now, as we look at new artists coming through – is love and its benefits outweighing solo life and tackling things lone? If I had to do a reconnaissance of all the interviews and reviews I have done over the past few weeks; when I ask artists about song inspiration and their status, the breakdown is quite clear: more artists are speaking about the negatives of life and more artists are single (than those in relationships).

Maybe that is just the artists I have been seeing: I feel they represent the changing nature of music and how artists’ lives are. That projection is not necessarily gloomy and clandestine. Loads of people are happily in love but I guess, given the time one needs to put into music; a lot are talking about love in more theoretical and less tangential terms – the need for something sustainable and uplifting is still there, though. I am one of those people who is motivated by career and creative success rather than embarking on a relationship and laying down roots. That is not to say, too, we cannot see classic love songs coming from the radio in years to come. I think love is a wider spectrum and more open forum than it was in previous years. We are more understanding of different orientations; people are not being defined by relationships and the life of the single person does not need to have any stigma attached. I shall leave things there but wanted to leave the feature’s headline question on the tongue. Listen to modern music and compare it with stuff we grew up with. One can chart a development and shift regarding the nature of a love song and what artists are writing about. Perhaps the charts are less beholden to inane love songs; maybe music has become more diverse and artists are exploring new territory – there is a definite change in the air! That eternal muse of love is strong but her skin is wrinkling and there are crow’s feet forming. What about me, then?! Well; I am hopeful of finding someone soon but feel, in order to achieve what I want from journalism and music my relationship status is not…

ONE I can change and negotiate with any time soon.

FEATURE: The Second War of Independence: Does Coachella Show What a British Music Festival Should Be?!

FEATURE:

 

The Second War of Independence

ALL PHOTOS/IMAGES (unless stated otherwise): Getty Images

Does Coachella Show What a British Music Festival Should Be?!

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THERE is still the amazing buzz around Coachella…

and the you-had-to-be-there-to-believe-it reunification of Destiny’s Child! That rare appearance of the trio (last night) was part of a career-spanning set from Beyoncé: one of the first major shows she has performed since giving birth to her twins last year. I, personally, couldn’t give a flying-f*ck about her twins – I am all warm and paternal that way! – but feel it amazing she has managed to get back onto the stage and not lose any of her spark and swagger! I am not going to turn this into a showcase and feature about Beyoncé – I am a big fan but have written about her before – but feel her set and performance was what Coachella is all about. There is that assumption and gospel that Glastonbury is the best festival on the planet. Whilst I argue Glastonbury has an aura and atmosphere that cannot be beaten; I wonder whether the main thing, the music, is as strong as the U.S. best?! I haven’t even mention SXSW when it comes to the U.S. showing – another huge festival that commands the biggest names in music. One of the problems with Glastonbury is the need to either have modern and obvious headliners or a male-majority featuring. Maybe we have a good female showing lower down the bill: the headliners are usually male, Rock-based and commercial.

IN THIS PHOTO: Björk

One of my hopes is we have Beyoncé headline Glastonbury in 2019 – there is a fallow year in 2018 – and, maybe, someone like St. Vincent or Björk doing another headline set. The fact all three of those artists are relevant and contemporary – two have released albums in the past few months – they can command a show and perfectly enthral the crowds. Coachella would think nothing of having a huge showing like that in their ranks. Beyoncé has been called in after giving birth; she has been given the platform to wow and show she is still one of the strongest modern artists around. Look around the bill and one can see much greater diversity and gender-balance. SZA, St. Vincent and HAIM are among the biggest acts; Cardi B is in the line-up and will be one of the biggest attractions. Tonight (Sunday, 15th April) will see Eminem take to the stage and, let’s hope, feature a number of songs from his classic alums – fewer from his recent effort, Revival. Another reason I wanted to highlight Beyoncé as a reason why Coachella is braver and bolder than Glastonbury is the reviews that followed her headline set yesterday. The Guardian wrote about the event:

“She’s also indebted to her musical past, and not just her own history. She splices Drunk in Love with Nina Simone’s Lilac Wine, elevated on a crane over the crowd. She has a go at husband Jay Z’s back catalogue, her orchestra alluding to Dirt Off Your Shoulder. There are classic hits from her early solo days, including Baby Boy; outings of the likes of Flawless and Don’t Hurt Yourself showcase her rock stardom with her third outfit change into black PVC. When she sings the infamous line “I woke up like this”, she turns to Coachella and asks: “How did you wake up this morning?”

 IN THIS PHOTO: Beyoncé

The thing is, Beyonce did wake up like this. There is clearly a double entendre to the notion of wokeness, but the show doesn’t get woke at the expense of actually waking everyone up to the joy and togetherness of live performance.

Once she’s proved her mettle more times than necessary the thought of potential guests starts looming. She covers a smidgen of Dawn Penn’s You Don’t Love Me (No, No, No) and you wonder if it might segue into Destiny’s Child’s No, No, No, but not yet. There are a few hits to get through – Hold Up, Countdown, Check on It – and then Jay Z comes out for Deja Vu. After Beyoncé has spent almost an hour singing scorned female anthems about adultery, they display a heart-melting chemistry for one another. Moving into Run the World, however, she appears in army khaki, and you know it’s coming. She has to paid her dues to the thing that got her to this point”.

That gives you an impression of what a festival headliner is all about. Sure, last year, we had Radiohead do a pretty bold and emphatic set. They were amazing and played songs from their earliest days – taking us right up to the moment and producing a spine-tingling performance. The other headliners – Foo Fighters and Ed Sheeran – pale into insignificance when it comes to the acts on offer in the U.S.

There is Kamasi Washington and David Byrne; Portugal. the Man and Fleet Foxes. Coachella’s ‘first round’ will conclude today – next Friday, Saturday and Sunday will repeat the action we have seen since Friday. You look through the bill and, whilst there are a lot of male acts; there is great balance than many festivals in this country. The fact the U.S. organisers have featured one female headliner is a lot better than our festivals – this year’s Reading and Leeds and last year’s Glastonbury have all been male-headlined. I have alluded to SXSW but, if you put it up against Reading and Leeds; one would have to give the advantage to the U.S. Many American artists who play over here always say Glastonbury is their best festival. That may be a kindness to us but I feel it has more to do with the spirit of the people as opposed to the facilities, music and weather. You cannot deny the British are among the world’s best when it comes to defying the conditions and sending chills through the air. We are wonderful at raising sun when there isn’t any; making a lot of noise and all joining together. One gets the impression Coachella is more relaxed, open and casual. We assume the audiences are not as together and rapturous; the sensations not as vivacious and mesmeric; the rules more strict and rigid.

IN THIS PHOTO: Kamasi Washington

The Americans are tighter when it comes to having drinks on site and being a bit lary. Gone are the days when people could drink and smoke what they wanted; climb over fences and do what they wanted. Whilst a sense of liberty and relaxation adds to a more harmonious and chilled festival; the added booze and excess leads to sore heads and regretful mornings. Coachella is more serious and is not quite as willing to let its patrons wander around with beers in hand. The fact is, when you go to the site and explore the facilities; it can match Glastonbury for its options, food and produce. One of the biggest decision-breakers come when you weight up what weather you want for a festival. Many say the cloudy and wet conditions is knitted into the fabric of the country. We moan whatever the weather is doing – we would not be happy if it were sunny and warm. California is hot and sunny; it can be stifling but, if anything means people are in a good mood before they get there. The British have learned to adapt to the bad weather and show that sense of adversity. I would prefer a festival where the temperature was a bit warmer and the sun was out – getting drenched is only appealing when you can dry off and have somewhere cosy to sleep.

PHOTO CREDIT: Unsplash

A lot of people go to bigger festivals like Reading and Leeds, Glastonbury and the like because of the community and additions: music is not the only reason why humans flock in their thousands. I feel, though, the music itself is the centre and soul of any festival. If you are forgiving of inequality, poor quality and predictable then why would you spend all that money going? Reading and Leeds’ line-up for this year has been slagged off for having too few great names and too many Rap/Grime acts. Although Kendrick Lamar is there to add some beef and authority; the likes of Kings of Leon, Fall Out Boy and Panic! At the Disco is a rather lacklustre and dreary proposition. There is no Glastonbury this year: the remaining festivals are offering few big names. Coachella has Jorja Smith and Jessie Ware: some of our very best are going to the U.S. because, one feels, they are not being afforded proper exposure at British festivals. Although Dua Lipa and Wolf Alice will take to the stage at Reading and Leeds; where are the exciting headliners and those epic sets?! I doubt we will produce anything as scintillating and years-lasting as Coachella will this weekend. Many have argued there is something ultra-fashionable about Coachella. People taking selfies and posing; Californian cool oozing from every palm tree and the bijou and hip shining bright.

There is something muddy and charming about Glastonbury. If we had to balance the merits of the British and American best; it all comes down to that final category: the quality and spread of the music. You can award Britain merit for its people and its upcoming artists; the way we flip a finger to the weather; the unique spirit only we can bring. The music itself is the reason people come to festivals and why they need to be supported. I worry about the quality of our headliners and how some festivals are losing their ethos and edge. There is an imbalance regards gender and we are not putting another of the biggest stars on the big stages – our attempts to match the sparks of Coachella and SXSW are rather timid and worn-out. The fact our premier Rock festival has Kings of Leon and Fall Out Boy headlining tells you all you need to know! I worry Glastonbury, when it returns next year, will not learn anything and make the same mistakes (regards its commercial headliners and lack of female names). We can teach the Americans a lot about the people and atmosphere: they are schooling us regarding the quality of music, the spread of genres and their all-killer-no-filler approach to bookings. We are being promised a hot summer in this country but I doubt, no matter how warm the weather gets; the music on show at our festivals will not be as fierce and memorable as the artists…

TAKING to the stage at Coachella!

FEATURE: Like a Broken Record: The Worst Albums Ever

FEATURE:

 

Like a Broken Record

 PHOTO CREDIT: Unsplash 

The Worst Albums Ever

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I am going to look at more serious and timely things…

 PHOTO CREDIT: Unsplash 

as the day ticks on but, looking back at my seven-year history; I don’t think I have ever assessed the worst records ever created! It sounds rather mean but, when you look back at all the fantastic albums that have been released through the decades, I wonder whether we ever consider the terrible records that, really, should not have seen the light of day (or were far beneath what we expected from that artist). I have been having a think and compiling selections from other sites, too; here is a rundown of those albums that critics all agree on: they are pretty darned naff!

ALL IMAGES: Getty Images

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Lou Reed – Metal Machine Music

Release Date: July 1975

Label: RCA Records

Critical Review:

“Lou Reed’s private obsession or a tired joke? Reed’s always claimed that MMM was a misunderstood recording that pushed the envelope of classical music. Since its 1975 release, critics have generally argued over the sincerity of this, or whether it was just a record label “fuck you” and a load of ear-shredding noise that’s impossible to sit through.

Truth is, we’re in neither camp. Recorded by manipulating a feedback explosion spewing forth from two amps sat next to two guitars, the album has its moments of hypnotic beauty. You can, if you really want to, hear anything from birdsong to ice cream trucks in its loops” – Record Collector

Duran Duran – Thank You

Release Date: 4th April, 1995

Labels: Parlophone/EMI; Capitol (U.S.)

Critical Review:

“An album of Duran Duran covering their "influences" was never something even the most dedicated fan wanted to hear, yet the band had the audacity to record Thank You, a collection of the group's favorite songs. Featuring songwriters as diverse as Bob Dylan and Sly Stone, Thank You works best when the band realizes the monumental silliness of its cover, as on "White Lines," which is performed with Grandmaster Flash himself, and the acoustic blues rendition of Public Enemy's "911 Is a Joke." Or it works when the band can reinvent material like Lou Reed's "Perfect Day" into a slick MOR ballad. When Thank You doesn't work, it's because the band doesn't quite get what made the original version special ("Lay Lady Lay" and "Watching the Detectives")” - AllMusic

The Enemy – Streets in the Sky

Release Date: 21st May, 2012

Labels: Cooking Vinyl; eOne Music

Critical Review:

“Fifteen minutes into the third album from The Enemy and already I'm feeling dangerous. I feel sulphuric. I am a creature. I am a planet killer. My nice Italian flatmate is singing in the next room and all I want to do is hurt him. If I strangle him, say, I will probably cry throughout. SOS, Mayday, Tom Clarke is screaming but no one is listening. I wave from the shore. I feel as though I've been left alone with you, Clarkey. This is a low point in British guitar music. For pity's sake, deliver us from evil” – Drowned in Sound

Limp Bizkit – Results May Vary

Release Date: 23rd September, 2003

Labels: Flip; Interscope

Critical Review:

“They are also that bit more insistent than their scores of imitators. Durst demands to be heard, and on Results May Vary, he goes to any lengths to make sure he is. If he's not blasting out the speakers on the generic Gimme the Mic, he is sulking "Nobody knows what it's like to be hated" on a slo-mo version of the Who's Behind Blue Eyes.

At least Limp Bizkit can't be accused of festering in the rap-rock ghetto: Durst's moody aggression adapts to gothic gloom (Underneath the Gun), Bon Jovian bubble-rock (Build a Bridge) and old-school funk (Red Light, Green Light, featuring a supremely sleepy Snoop Dogg).

But Durst's problems are ever-present - and does anybody still care?” – The Guardian

Dirty Vegas – One

Release Date: 18th October, 2004

Label: Parlophone

Critical Review:

“This English trio’s self-titled 2002 debut made the combination of dance beats and rock guitars feel surprisingly cozy and calm. It also won a Grammy and sold a million copies, aided by Mitsubishi’s TV campaign using “Days Go By.” Still, it was snapping street-punk compared to the follow-up. Pinpointing the worst element here is tricky: The hokey tunes of a million AOR nightmares? Or the jarringly stupid lyrics (on “Walk Into the Sun,” overly earnest singer Steve Smith informs, “Lately, I’ve been feeling different/Like I’ve come from outer space”)? Oh, but let’s not ignore the sound; less like, say, Underworld than Richard Marx being persuaded by his accountant to go electronic. If this exhaustingly awful album repeats its predecessor’s success, the world will seem more confusing than ever” - Blender

The Chainsmokers – Memories…Do Not Open

Release Date: 7th April, 2017

Label: Parlophone

Critical Review:

“…The female singers all sound like a Sia guide vocal for Rihanna; the men mostly simper shallow emo-EDM cliches about failing relationships. Eventually everything sounds the same - the more you hear the less there is to listen to. This is Trump-pop: shallow, always betraying its influences, with a third-grade vocabulary and ambition that runs no further than emptying the nearest wallet” – The Guardian

Charlie Puth – Nine Track Mind

Release Date: 29th January, 2016

Label: Atlantic

Critical Review:

“Puth cannot fill this frame of sentimentality with any genuine sentiment: The album’s emotional range covers the spectrum from light longing to light infatuation, contributing to the overall sense that Nine Track Mind is aimed exclusively at hairlessness: children, prepubescents, the discomfitingly waxed” - Pitchfork

Bob Dylan – Self Portrait

Release Date: 8th June, 1970

Label: Columbia

Critical Review:

“To say the least, it's confusing, especially arriving at the end of a decade of unmitigated brilliance, and while the years have made it easier to listen to, it still remains inscrutable, an impossible record to unlock. It may not be worth the effort, either, since this isn't a matter of deciphering cryptic lyrics or interpreting lyrics, it's all about discerning intent, figuring out what the hell Dylan was thinking when he was recording -- not trying to decode a song” - AllMusic

Spice Girls – Forever

Release Date: 1st November, 2000

Label: Virgin

Critical Review:

“As if guided by focus groups, tracks like ”Wasting My Time” and ”Let Love Lead the Way” could be any urban radio girl group. Every genre cliché, from homogenized harmonies to delicately plucked stringed instruments to male rapper interjections, is securely in place. The music is so tasteful, restrained, and assembly line proficient that it makes early singles like ”Say You’ll Be There” sound like the rawest punk rock” – Entertainment Weekly

Westlife – …Allow Us to Be Frank

Release Date: 8th November, 2004

Labels: Song BMG; RCA

Critical Review:

“Having never expressed any interest in the genre before, Allow Us to Be Frank, clever puns aside, feels like a lazy and unimaginative cash-in from a band who, thanks to covers of tracks by Barry Manilow, Cliff Richard, and Phil Collins, aren't exactly renowned for their cutting-edge invention” - Rovi

The Clash – Cut the Crap

Release Date: 4th November, 1985

Label: Epic

Critical Review:

“…too much of Cut the Crap is Strummer's angst running on automatic, superficially ferocious but ultimately stiff and unconvincing” – Rolling Stone

Chris Cornell – Scream

Release Date: 10th March, 2009

Labels: Mosley; Suretine

Critical Review:

“The idea of Cornell's sex-god wail over Timbaland's mechanized funk is appealing. But "Scream" draws out the worst tendencies in both of them. The icy remove of Timbaland's third-string beats here makes Cornell's lyrics like "Pain and suffering. Will come to those. When I get even." feel cartoonish, while Timbaland's vocal processing sucks the elastic virility from Cornell's voice. "Never Far Away" somehow indulges the grievous ballad excesses of both Akon and Daughtry simultaneously. Only the slinky "Ground Zero" arrives at incendiary friction.

After a recovery in the minor leagues, Ankiel made a successful return as an outfielder. Fans of inventive pop and rock music can only hope that both Timbaland and Cornell have similar comebacks in them” – Los Angeles Times

Alanis Morissette – Jagged Little Pill Acoustic

Release Date: 10th March, 2009

Labels: Maverick; Warner Bros.

Critical Review:

“It’s just a shame the new recordings are so damn anemic. I suppose the album was tailor-made for the java-sipping on-the-go types who frequent Starbucks, which is selling Pill exclusively for six weeks (much to the chagrin of traditional retail outlets across the country). We wouldn’t want to overexcite them, what with all the caffeine running through their veins. But I just can’t imagine rushing home to listen to this, and even if I did, it certainly wouldn’t wake my parents up” - SLANT

FEATURE: Access All Areas? How Disabled Gig-Goers Are Still Being Ignored

FEATURE:

 

Access All Areas?

 ALL IMAGES/PHOTOS (unless stated otherwise): Unsplash 

How Disabled Gig-Goers Are Still Being Ignored

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ONE need not be confined to a wheelchair…

or have a pronounced physical injury to be considered disabled. As someone who suffers from depression (an illness rather than disability) the ‘invisibility factor’ is a daily stress. It is assumed that, unless you are constantly weeping and suicidal, there is nothing really wrong. Even when you explain the severity and depth of depressions; many write it off as a minor thing and a personal problem – not something that should burden other people. I cannot imagine the sort of ignorance that extends to venues and live performance spaces of the world - to those who have limited access and genuine disabilities. Those disabilities can include deafness and blindness. People from all walks of life and ailments have a passion for music and, therefore, should be provided the opportunity to participate in gigs. It is an inalienable right for everyone: not something that should alienate those who are less able-bodied and mobile as the majority. A fantastic charity called Attitude Is Everything has a manifesto and business plan that aims to reverse the stigma and restrictions imposed on those with disabilities. They say, on their website:

“Attitude is Everything improves Deaf and disabled people’s access to live music by working in partnership with audiences, artists and the music industry.

Having begun as a pilot project in 2000, we are now a fully independent charity and part of Arts Council England’s National Portfolio of Organisations. We encourage events producers to go beyond the legal obligations set out in the Equality Act and implement best practice, providing a fair and equal service to their Deaf and disabled customers.

IMAGE CREDIT: Attitude Is Everything 

I have heard a lot of stories concerning those who, visibly and not, have been turned away from gigs or been unable to enter the premises. There are more and more venues considering disabled patrons and making accommodations. That might include wider seating and easier access to the venue; priority seats for disabled patrons – little improvements so that people are not needlessly turned away. Whilst many of us have no issues getting into venues once our tickets are purchased; for some, the experience they face when at the entrance is shocking and unacceptable. Some have been turned from the door because they had no visible physical issues and were able to stand. If you are deaf or blind, it might be clear-cut in terms of your needs and disability. There are conditions that affect mobility and access that do not necessarily present themselves in an overtly physical form – some people might need easier access to toilet facilities or be unable to scale steps/aisles to get to their seats. Even if you are a smaller venue; it can be intimidating, once in the place, to get enough room and visibility. Is this an issue that affects all venues? How large is the problem? Reading an article from early last year; it seems, at least, there is an improvement occurring:

“Access to live music for disabled people is improving, according to the head of a leading disability charity.

In 2016, Attitude Is Everything found a third of live music events had "no access information" on their websites for deaf and disabled people.

Since then, CEO Suzanne Bull MBE says that 40 festivals and venues now have dedicated pages online.

"Most disabled people are going to want to make an informed choice about where they're going to spend their money.

"What is the point of buying a ticket if you don't already know if you're going to get into that venue."

Band On The Wall is a venue in Manchester which was awarded Attitude Is Everything's gold status, which the charity uses as an example of somewhere which provides excellent disabled access.

Gawain Forster, Projects and Facilities Manager at the venue, says the changes mean they often get repeat customers.

"Customers with access needs come here regularly and often. If you make it easy for someone to attend and they have a good time, they keep coming back.

"That is the basic principle of business".

What happens when you are one of those people who is not confined to a wheelchair or need an aid to mobilise you? Do you suffer unfairly and are treated poorly because, if you are able to walk around, your disability cannot be that bad?! Many have, lately, spoken out regarding getting into venues and having their pleas ignored – they have been refused entry or not had their requirements taking into consideration. I have hinted at how the issue seems to be lessening.

Around the same sort of time as the previous article I quoted; another one, from the Independent, looks at deficits and worrying statistics:

“A study of 251 live music venues and 135 festivals, backed by Arts Council England and carried out by disabled music fans on behalf of the campaign group Attitude is Everything (AIE), found that a majority failed to provide adequate information on access for people with disabilities. Among independent venues, 69 per cent gave no prior details at all and 50 per cent of the remainder offered information described by the report as “poor”.

The findings provoked Emily Eavis, organiser of the Glastonbury Festival, to “urge all festival and venue organisers to ensure that they provide high quality and comprehensive access information” for disabled music fans.

Fans recounted stories of being ordered out of disabled toilets for taking too long, having their vital medical equipment subjected to searches and being doubted by staff over their need for a raised platform because they are not wheelchair users”.

It can be hard proving a disability if there are not clear physical signs. Most music-goers would not fabricate an illness or problem to get better seating. Everyone wants to get in and would not have to lie about a disability to get entry to a venue. There is such a demand for live music that many feel they are unable to do anything about the seating position/width and access rights; others are unable to spend the money making life easier for those with disabilities.

We need to make music as accessible and open to everyone. If we place barriers in front of those who are less able to get around and have a disability then we risk sending out a very poor message to the world. I know there are venues that are set up a particular way and, to adapt them to better accommodate disabled attendees, then it would require a big overhaul and capital input. In a lot of cases, it takes more understanding and tolerance from those who police venues and take tickets at the door. There is ignorance around what constitutes a disability and how some are unable to put their point across. Going back to Attitude Is Everything, and another part of their website caught my eye:

“We support the music industry to understand Deaf and disabled people’s access requirements at music venues and festivals by building equality into the strategic process using a Charter of Best Practice. The ethos of the Charter is that Deaf and disabled people should be as independent as they want to be at live music events and over 100 venues and festivals have already signed up”.

A piece, written by Rob Maddison, shows the experiences he had when performing and D.J.ing:

“…When I got out of hospital, I quickly discovered why: access. The first problem I encountered was how to get into my old rehearsal room, quickly followed by the challenge of getting into venues. Almost all the places I used to play, from small rooms to 2,000-capacity clubs, had suddenly become an impossibility for a musician in a wheelchair. Even a small step could appear like a mountain. Yes, there are helpful roadies and stage crew who can carry you up stairs, but this is extremely risky at the best of times. One slip and it’s all over”.

There is enough testimony and experience to see a split: some venues are adapting to the needs of disabled goers and others are not. It seems, at any rate, a survey needs to be conducted to ensure there is adequate access for disabled musicians and gig-goers. The fact there are so many visible disabled musicians might stem from the poor awareness and lack of accessibility. Deaf and disabled customers put so much into the gig economy and are invaluable to the music industry. If they are turned away then it risks haemorrhaging an important stream of revenue and faithful customer base; making it know the music industry is for the able-bodied solely. That is not what we want to tell people. More investment from the Government needs to happen, that is for sure. In any case, before then; we need to better informed regards the spectrum of disability and why the wheelchair is not the definitive symbol – the only disabled people are those restricted to a wheelchair. They need to be considered, of course, but there are so many who suffer restricted mobility or have neurological issues that limit their access and movements. I have hopes things can change – I am saddened there is ignorance and lack of understanding towards the disabled community. It might take more money and conversation but, if we can get the cogs turning and changes happening; it will make gig-going a much more pleasurable and less upsetting experience for…

THE disabled community.

FEATURE: Here Comes the Fear: The Growing Issue of Stage Fright

FEATURE:

 

Here Comes the Fear

 ALL PHOTOS (unless credited otherwise): Unsplash 

The Growing Issue of Stage Fright

__________

THERE is probably a better name…

to describe the sensation and nerves an artist gets when they hit the stage; the feeling of cotton balls being stuffed into the mouth and the stomach being pounded – the head spins and the words fail to come (anxiety, I guess, is more apt and less rigid). A lot of new artists I am interviewing at the moment are saying the same thing: they had to overcome stage fright and tackle something that, until recently, ruled their lives. There is something heartbreaking about having all that talent and ambition inside of you; the fact nerves and an inability to project in front of a crowd – or step up to the microphone in a studio – prohibits expression. One of the reasons I am raising this issue is my own drawbacks: stage fright and nerves have restricted my horizons and made me a little hesitant to get onto radio and put my voice out there. Many say that, when you are flying and get over those initial hurdles; everything is okay and you’ll wonder why you were ever so worrisome. The trouble remains: getting past those, seemingly insurmountable roadblocks are a lot harder than pithy bromides and casual maxims. The same way one afflicted by depression cannot simply overcome their illness with good spirits and optimism: someone who has that terror and crippling stage fright cannot, by force of indomitable determination, lose that burden and purge all that weight.

I can do radio and speak fine – I have been on before – and, aside from those initial nerves when the show gets started; I relax into the task and am excited to be where I am. One of the problems comes when being asked to sing or take control of the mantle. There are legendary artists, and new heroes, who have confessed to having stage fright. In fact, many of the biggest Pop names, at some time, have battled fears and anxieties. There is, however, a distinction between straightforward anxiety and the unholy pain of being unable to perform on stage. To some, it is about the immensity of the task and the sight of thousands waiting for something spectacular – the expectation gets heavy and starts to prod the heart, head and stomach. To others, it is the fear of losing their voice or screwing up their words; the embarrassment that comes with back-tracking and improvising – others, for example, are affected by the fact they are unaided and have to produce an entertaining and coherent gig. In my case; I have that sense of eyes being trained onto me; the way people are waiting for something to happen that moves them – having to face self-doubts and the unnerving silence that comes with gigs. I have not performed myself but the mere thought of stepping onto the stage holds some problems.

Maybe experience and conquering that fear is, in itself, the best way to remedy stage fright. Maybe you need to have some bad experiences and keep going before you can truly be confident and comfortable. There are deeper psychological issues and anxieties that make it hard to visualise a day when one can transition from a nervous and dry-mouthed performer/orator to a truly level and calm star. From holistic and homoeopathic remedies through to hypnotherapy and counselling; there are ways people are dealing with stage fright. Artists like Adele and Val Halen have, at some stage in their careers, faced stage fright and all that comes with it. I have been reading a few studies that explain what stage fright entails and ways one can try and defeat it. An article in The Guardian - back in 2015 - examines invoking stage fright in its physical manifestations and sentient self:

“At the Royal Northern College of Music, Professor Jane Ginsborg has a particular method for explaining this to her students. She asks them to write down what it feels like to fall in love, then, much later, write down what it feels like to stand backstage moments before a performance. Love and fear seem like contrasting emotions, but the descriptions most students will write for each are eerily similar. The bottom line is that the body has only one way of knowing excitement.

It’s why almost every soloist will experience the physical symptoms of music performance anxiety to some degree, particularly in the moments before walking on stage. At its very worst, this anxiety causes the heart rate to rapidly drop, resulting in the player simply freezing or even fainting on the spot.

Most common is the “fight or flight” response, less severe than freezing, but it can still stimulate a vicious cycle. The nervous system pumps two hormones, adrenaline and noradrenaline, into the bloodstream. When their levels get sufficiently high, it leads to physical reactions such as higher heart rate, muscle tremors and increased blood flow from the stomach to the muscles, causing nausea and the feeling we describe as “butterflies”.

If controlled appropriately, these hormonal imbalances can lead to a heightened state of awareness, and a more powerful performance. But given the fine muscle movements and coordination behind musical technique, too much can impair technique, leading to increased anxiety and panic, followed by concentration and memory lapses, and more stress”.

The subcutaneous itch and sting of stage fright is something some people never get over. The way the article above simplifies the body’s response to nerves and copes with it fascinates me. I guess, in some ways, stage fright is binary and does not have that many tentacles. One has that fight-or-flight instinct and it is hard to temporise the need to flee and abandon the stage. Are there, then, ways around the problem and medications one can take to negotiate with stage fright?! Another article I have been reading looks at the question in more depth:

“Janet Hilts, a California-based anxiety coach and producer of the DVD workshop, Dissolving Stage Fright, describes performance anxiety as a sort of post-traumatic stress disorder.

"When you think of little kids in moderately normal homes, they love performing — you can't stop them," Hilts says. "Then, some experience stomps that enthusiasm out of people. Some might have grown up in an environment where there was a lot of criticism, or maybe they were encouraged to be quiet."

To treat stage fright, some doctors prescribe "beta blocker" medications that close off the receptors responsible for our natural "fight or flight" response. Though these medications have been approved by the Food and Drug Administration, some anxiety specialists such as Hilts favor a more natural approach”.

There is that battle between taking a natural approach to medication and relying on prescriptions and drugs. The will and defiance needed to conquer something like stage fright can be rooted in, as alluded to, how our hormones react and guide us when we are children. It is interesting seeing the reasons why some might take to the stage with aplomb and no fear: others might have those jitters and pace backstage before they go on. Is there a downside to self-medicating and finding individuals ways to control those nerves? The Telegraph, back in 2014, cast the spotlight on that question:

“…The problem is that, by dulling nerves, pills or alcohol also dull the edge of tension and inspiration that makes for a great performance. They also treat the symptoms not the cause, says Aaron Williamon, head of the Centre for Performance Research at the Royal College of Music. “Basically there are two components to stage fright,” he says. “There’s the automatic physiological response to being in a stressful situation, things like dry mouth, racing heart and so on.”

Then there are the psychological aspects, which include unhelpful thoughts, like imagining the performance is going to be a disaster.

“The first one you can treat with things like exercise, which lower the amount of tension-inducing hormones in the body, such as cortisol,” says Williamon. “For the second one, cognitive therapies are very effective. It’s a matter of getting the musician to think about the situation in a more rational way. For example, instead of thinking that the audience is the enemy, and the performance will either be perfect or a disaster, you retrain the performer to accept that there will inevitably be a few mistakes, and the audience is on their side”.

There are a few articles that look at ways one can manage stage fright. Although it might be impossible to go from a cowering and nervous performer into a huge and boldly empathic alternative; that does not mean all is lost. Few artists out there can stand on a stage and be free of nerves and never be affected by stage fright. Classical artists have it; mainstream Popstars are afflicted – it is an issue in every corner and avenue of music. The best way to control and manage the problem so that one can get onto the stage and sustain a career is to follow a combination of self-actualisation exercises; natural cures and supplements – consider, if the issue is pronounced; go into therapy and look at the reasons why the stage fright is so bad. Many assume they are alone and it is not that bad for other people: so many others have the same fear and anxieties that affect how they approach music. I am going to radio and the media more but realise I need to address minor stage fright – looking at talk-therapy and some natural options that might alleviate some of the symptoms. I cannot imagine how bad it is for other people, though. The added pressures put on artists’ shoulders these days makes it all so much worse.

IN THIS PHOTO: Adele/PHOTO CREDIT: Getty Images

There is endless competition so the desire and demand to have them endlessly perform and be at their best ALL OF THE TIME can create insurmountable nerves and exacerbate a real problem! We need to go easier on musicians and recognise those who are afflicted by stage fright. Although few accommodations can be made; having a greater knowledge of the condition and how debilitating it can be will go a long way to lessening the severity of the symptoms. For anyone who does face daily stage fright; there is help out there and ways to take some of the strain off – even if there might not be a quick cure. Some big artists have suffered from stage fright for years. NME, back in 2015, looked at Adele and how her stage fight made it increasingly difficult for her to tour:

“In a new interview with NPR, the singer explained that she was finding it harder to perform and was “too frightened to try anything new.”

“I get so nervous with live performances that I’m too frightened to try anything new,” she said. “It’s actually getting worse. Or it’s just not getting better, so I feel like it’s getting worse, because it should’ve gotten better by now.”

“With my stage fright, I just don’t want to let people down,” she continued. “I get so nervous onstage that I don’t have the guts to improvise or anything like that”.

There is hope, though, that stars like Adele – who can still tour and take to the big stages – have found ways of dealing with stage fright and its worst traits. The bigger question is whether something effective and concentrated – without causing harm and addiction – can be given to musicians who suffer bad nerves and anxiety. The rewards, if that is ever possible, would be hugely beneficial…

TO the music world.