FEATURE: STOP the Music! The Artists Speaking Out Against Politicians Using Their Songs Without Permission

FEATURE:

 

 

STOP the Music!

IN THIS PHOTO: Rihanna (whose song, Don’t Stop the Music, has been played by U.S. President Donald Trump (at his rallies) against her wishes)/PHOTO CREDIT: Craig McDean for The New York Times Style Magazine

The Artists Speaking Out Against Politicians Using Their Songs Without Permission

__________

THERE are loopholes and sneaky avenues…

 PHOTO CREDIT: @fentybeauty/@rihanna 

politicians can embark down in order to get certain songs played at their speeches - or they can blatantly nick them without regard for any morals or artist rights! We all know the scene, don’t we?! Whether it is here or the U.S., some politician will stride towards a podium with a recognisable song playing loudly. A lot of times, the song’s title fits in with their mandate and, for the most part, is some really awful pun or corny message that makes you cringe. The songs themselves are good but politicians select songs whose title/chorus ‘speaks’ for them and says what they are all about. Leaders, especially, are culpable of taking liberties regarding artists’ songs and using them without permission. I will talk about Donald Trump and why he is in the news  again but, right now, look at the recent ‘dance’ Prime Minister Theresa May performed that used an ABBA song. This piece explains how ABBA do not want their music used in this context and how, on more than one occasion, our P.M. has defied their ruling:

 “The 2010 quote has resurfaced on social media after Prime Minister Theresa May danced on stage to Dancing Queen at the Conservative Party conference yesterday.

Although the Swedish pop icons have not commented on the anthem being used, some on Twitter have rediscovered some sharp words of warning Andersson issued to the Danish People’s Party when they used Mamma Mia at their rallies.

The two situations are, of course, different: the DF, a far-right group, had changed the lyrics of Mamma Mia to Mamma Pia in tribute to their then-leader Pia Kjaersgaard…

IN THIS PHOTO: ABBA’s Benny Andersson/PHOTO CREDIT: Knut Koivisto  

“ABBA never allows its music to be used in a political context,” he said at the time, according to BBC News.

“This is something that we have pointed out to the Danish People's Party."

He had also chastised them for changing the lyrics, saying: “"Firstly, you cannot just rewrite songs as you like and secondly we want them to understand that we have absolutely no interest in supporting their party.”

Musicians are often speaking out against their songs being used in politics: Foo Fighters did the same in 2008 during the US presidential campaign when John McCain and Sarah Palin used their track at a rally.

And more recently, Donald Trump reportedly used Adele’s Rolling In The Deep at a campaign rally and her people shot back: "Adele has not given permission for her music to be used for any political campaigning”.

You can see Donald Trump’s name appearing in that piece and it seems to be the case that a disliked and unpopular leader will choose quite a cool or popular track to make themselves seem hip and ‘with-it’. The fact artists like ABBA and Foo Fighters stand against the politicians who use their music; nobody came to them to inform them they would be using their music. Essentially, they have got a song off Spotify and played it and that is it. The artists, hearing this, have spoken out and distanced themselves from that politician.

 IN THIS PHOTO: Foo Fighters/PHOTO CREDIT: Getty Images/Press

Not only does using a song without an artist’s permission create legal issues but it looks bad on them. Imagine being Foo Fighters and hearing a Republican politician using one of your songs. The Foo Fighter boys are Democrats and would not want their fans to assume they support Republican ideologies. The same goes for ABBA. They do not want to be seen as big supporters of Theresa May and have rightly taking umbrage. I am not sure how much political leaders know about the musical world but, as this article explored – when talking about Theresa May’s appearance on Desert Island Discs – some have incredibly awful taste:

“Theresa May will be the least hip prime minister since John Major. Political journalists contemplating the forthcoming premiership of Britain’s new leader may not currently be focussing on May’s taste in music but as a pop critic, I am duty bound to consider whether the contents of a politician’s Spotify playlist offer any handy insights to their style of leadership.

Since the Britpop boom of the Nineties, we’ve endured the reigns of guitar slinging amateur rocker Tony Blair and indie rock acolyte David Cameron, who regularly annoyed rebellious rock stars by proclaiming how much they liked their music. Even Gordon Brown pretended to like the Arctic Monkeys in a dismal effort to seem au fait with popular taste…

Does it even matter what music our leaders listen to? Obviously, it’s not the first thing you look for on their CV. As May goes into those delicate Brexit negotiations, I don’t think anyone’s going to be wondering if she geed herself up in the morning with a dose of Rick Astley’s Never Gonna Give You Up, or entered the boardroom to the strains of Europe’s The Final Countdown.

The younger generation, however, who voted overwhelmingly to Remain, might be concerned to be represented by someone whose idea of pop culture seems to have atrophied before most of them were even born. Dancing Queen was released in 1976. Since then we’ve had punk rock, hip hop, Britpop, techno and grime”.

Whilst it may not be important that a politician has naff taste in music; when it comes to using songs to soundtrack conference entrances or using them at rallies; that is a different matter and goes behind an artist’s back. I love it when artists attack politicians because they name-check them and say they like their music! The fact their reputation is being dented because of that association is enough to get them taking to social media and the press! The cases of political figures using music without permission goes back a long way.

 IN THIS PHOTO: Former British Prime Minister David Cameron/PHOTO CREDIT: PA Wire/PA Images

I am reminded of a case in 2010 when The Smiths’ guitarist Johnny Marr came out against David Cameron (the then-Prime Minster) ‘forebade’ him from saying he liked the band’s music:

 “It has become something of a tradition for British prime ministers to name-drop a rock star or two in the hope that a bit of cool will rub off by association, only to be publicly and embarrassingly rebuffed.

Who can forget Gordon Brown's Arctic Monkeys debacle in a men's magazine, when he was unable to name a single track? Or Tony Blair's admission that he was a fan of Oasis – only for lead singer Noel Gallagher to announce that he was fed up with taking "flak" for it?

David Cameron, stop saying that you like The Smiths, no you don't. I forbid you to like it.

— Johnny Marr (@Johnny_Marr) 2 December 2010

Now David Cameron has become the latest to run the gauntlet of the uneasy and usually unrequited relationship between politician and musical muse.

Johnny Marr, a founding member and the lead guitarist of The Smiths, yesterday called on the prime minister to stop saying that he liked the band.

While Marr hasn't explained why he was so incensed at being to Cameron's taste, perhaps Margaret on the Guillotine, Morrissey's song that imagined the execution of Mrs Thatcher, from his 1988 debut album Viva Hate, might have been a clue as to what the band think of the Conservative party.

Marr is not the first musician to take exception to Cameron. Radiohead's frontman, Thom Yorke, came forward to dispute a claim made by Cameron during his appearance on Desert Island Discs that Yorke had performed the song Fake Plastic Trees, his favourite, at a show following a request by the prime minister”.

 

There is a difference between taste and unpopular association and those who use music without prior consent. This article shows the cases where politicians have been named and blasted for using music without the consent of the artist/band. A few examples stood out to me – one involving the music-mentioned and maligned Donald J. Trump:

“7. Bon Jovi

Song: "Who Says You Can't Go Home"
Politician: John McCain
Outcome: While Bon Jovi issued a disapproving statement about the McCain camp's use of their song, no legal action was taken and usage continued unabated.

9. Bruce Springsteen

Song: "Born in the U.S.A."
Politician: Ronald Reagan, Bob Dole, Pat Buchanan
Outcome: An adviser to Reagan asked The Boss if he could use "Born in the U.S.A." during his re-election campaign in 1984. Springsteen turned him down. This episode is seen as the start of Springsteen's progressive awakening, and since then, he has become an outspoken liberal. In later years, Dole and Buchanan were similarly turned down.

12. Elton John

Song: "Rocket Man," "Tiny Dancer"
Politician: Donald Trump
Outcome: Trump admires Elton John. He even referenced one of the British singer's songs by disparagingly calling North Korean leader Kim Jong-un "Rocket Man." John has known the president for decades, but he turned down Trump's invitation to perform at his inauguration. John also had asked that his songs not be used during the 2016 presidential campaign but Trump continues to use songs such as "Tiny Dancer" at political rallies”.

 

There is a long list of musicians attacking politicians for using their music without their prior knowledge. Is it, then, a legal issue if a song is used?! This article explains the law and drills down to the real reason artists do not want politicians using their songs: they do not agree with their politics:

“Do you remember the time Donald Trump played “It’s The End of the World as We Know It” at a campaign rally and REM told him not to use their music "for your moronic charade of a campaign?" Or that time John McCain used “Running on Empty” in a TV ad bashing Obama and Jackson Browne sued him? Or that time Rand Paul used “Tom Sawyer” during his Senate run and Rush said that it was obvious Paul “hates women and brown people?"* It seems like every time there’s an election, you can't swing a dead cat without hitting a band upset at a politician for using its music. And with a year left before the general election, it’ll happen a few more times at least.

Most of the time it's just a blip on the news, something fun to chat about on a slow work day. But for some reason this election cycle it’s become a THING, launching a thousand and one think pieces like this one over the copyright issues inherent in this particular type of controversy.

Let’s clear this up first: using a copyrighted song without a license is infringement, even if it’s for a non-commercial/political reason. Songs generally have many copyright owners (the writers, musicians, record label, licensing houses, publishers, etc.) and that means you need several licenses, not just one. The RIAA has a useful primer illustrating a campaign’s legal responsibility when licensing music. Here are some highlights:

"When music is played in public, such as at a campaign event, it is typically necessary to obtain a license for the musical composition (words and music). It is not necessary to obtain a license from the owner of the sound recording (usually a record label).”

"A campaign must obtain permission from the owner of the musical composition (usually a music publisher [such as ASCAP, BMI, or SESAC]). This is known as a 'synch license.’”

“[I]f a campaign wants to use a specific recording of the song (e.g., Survivor’s recording of 'Eye of the Tiger'), then the campaign must obtain permission from the owner of the sound recording (usually the record label). This is known as a 'master license.'”

ASCAP has its own primer, stating:

“[I]f the campaign wants to use a song as its theme, they should contact the management for the artists and/or songwriters of the song in question and obtain their permission.”

So you need permission. And fair use, an oft-claimed but little understood doctrine, won’t give you relief either. As this Loyola of Los Angeles Entertainment Law Review article points out, using a song without permission for a political campaign typically won't qualify for fair use protection because:

1.       The use of the music is rarely transformative - despite the fact that political campaigns are not commercial, the song’s meaning is rarely altered, commented upon, or otherwise changed enough to differentiate itself from the initial use;

2.       The use of the music, often to bolster a candidate’s standing in the eyes of supporters and/or to bash other candidates, does not serve the public interest and is therefore not worthy of free usage; and

3.       If the music is used repeatedly, it could create a financial harm to the artist who would have otherwise been paid if the music had been properly licensed.

But let’s not kid ourselves; this is not a copyright issue. Copyright is merely the mechanism by which a musician can get the candidate to stop and/or pay damages. This is about politics”.

 IN THIS PHOTO: Taylor Swift/PHOTO CREDIT: Getty Images

“Artists, especially established ones, rightly view their reputation as a business asset. If people like the brand, they buy the product. If the brand offends them, they don’t buy the product. A good brand gives you not only money, but influence. That’s how Taylor Swift is able to force Apple to change its policy with a single blog post. So when artists perceive their brand to be under attack, they understandably lash out. Trademark law can give them the tools to do that.

Under the Lanham Act (the law governing trademarks), trademark infringement can occur if the use of a song by a politician is likely to create confusion** in the marketplace that the musician endorses the politician, especially if this association harms the musician’s reputation (referred to as “dilution by tarnishment”). But meeting this bar isn’t so easy. To determine whether a likelihood of confusion exists, the federal courts have developed an eight-factor test (called “the Sleekcraft factors” after the landmark 1979 Ninth Circuit case, AMF, Inc. v. Sleekcraft Boats). Those factors are:

1.       The strength of the mark;

2.       The proximity or relatedness of the goods;

3.       The similarity of the marks;

4.       Any evidence of actual confusion;

5.       The marketing channels used;

6.       The degree of care customers are likely to exercise in purchasing the goods;

7.       The defendant's intent in selecting the mark; and

8.       The likelihood of expansion into other markets”.

Although there is clarity regarding the law and distinctions; why do politicians keep using particular songs and gaining such fevered backlash? In the case of someone like Theresa May drunkenly stumbling on stage to ABBA; one assumes it was a very misinformed decision by the Conservatives who felt it would make her seem accessible, cool and a bit ‘down with the kids’. If she wanted to do that then she could have played some Skepta or Dizzee Rascal but it would have been tragic to see her come on to some Grime tune and pretend she had any idea of what the music is about! The fact she looked like a demented aunt who had just sat on a drawing pin and was looking for the nearest toilet not only reflected bad on ABBA but took her cool-o-meter right into the minuses! Rolling Stone shed more light onto the reasons why politicians use songs from particular artists for their campaigns and speeches:

 “Nine times out of 10, it’s a young advance person who thinks it’s a cool song to play when the guy’s walking in and the candidate hasn’t a clue what was playing,” he says. “In this case, Donald Trump could have walked in that room: ‘I want that Neil Young song, and it better be playing loud.’ But I don’t know.” (Reps for Trump, as well as Walker, Mitt Romney and Senator Marco Rubio, who have run into this problem repeatedly throughout recent election cycles, did not respond to requests for comment.)

Either way, the impact of such unauthorized use can be devastating for a songwriter. “The artist gets drawn into the question of whether or not to take any action, and run the risk of giving the politicians some additional publicity, or [allowing] the public for one second to think that someone like Neil Young was endorsing Donald Trump,” says Jon Landau, Springsteen’s longtime manager. “It’s kind of a reverse endorsement trap – Ronald Reagan declares Bruce as one of his own, and then Bruce has to either let it stand or actively disassociate. When the confusion gets big enough, most artists will, one way or the other, step in”…

IN THIS PHOTO: Former U.S. President Bill Clinton addresses a joint session of Congress on 17th February, 1993/PHOTO CREDIT: Getty Images

Of course, the opposite effect can happen. Mick Fleetwood recently said Bill Clinton’s campaign never requested permission for what became his iconic 1992 campaign anthem, “Don’t Stop,” but the band generally voted Democratic and didn’t object to the exposure. On a smaller scale, Gym Class Heroes’ “The Fighter” recently wound up on Hillary Clinton’s publicly released Spotify playlist (after her presidential campaign received permission from the band). “If it wasn’t Hillary, and I didn’t necessarily agree with their stance, it’d definitely be an awkward position,” says the band’s Travie McCoy, who sang and co-wrote the song. “When you’re in a position of being super-impressionable on people, you’ve got to be careful how you step.” Several artists who’ve had conflicts with politicians in recent years on this issue, including Dropkick Murphys, Axwell and Ingrosso, Heart, Tom Petty, Don Henley and Van Halen, turned down interview requests for this story.

“Why does it keep happening? I would say arrogance. Or because [candidates] want to use music in order to associate [with] fans of the artists whose music they’re using, and they think they can’t get permission,” Iser says. “What’s that expression? ‘It’s better to beg forgiveness than to ask [only] to get turned down'”.

I think a lot of the unhappy association is to do with politics and cool. Not many artists would have objected to former President Barack Obama using their music or, I feel, Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn doing the same! The more popular politicians will not face such umbrage and anger because they are speaking for the people and have that more human image – the music, as such, is being used in a positive way.

 IN THIS PHOTO: President Donald Trump speaks during a campaign rally at Bojangles' Coliseum on Friday, 26th October, 2018 in Charlotte, N.C./PHOTO CREDIT: AP Photo/Evan Vucci

This all takes us to the latest case of unhappy musician-politician partnership: Rihanna being informed Donald Trump was using her music as part of his rallies.

“Less than 24 hours after endorsing Andrew Gillum, the Democratic nominee for Florida governor, Rihanna has revealed she plans to ensure President Trump stops playing her music at his rallies.

The singer tweeted about this after the Washington Post's White House Bureau Chief tweeted: "It’s been said a million times, but here’s a million and one — Trump’s rallies are unlike anything else in politics. Currently, Rihanna’s “Don’t Stop the Music” is blaring in Chattanooga as aides toss free Trump T-shirts into the crowd, like a ball game. Everyone’s loving it."

Rihanna responded "Not for much longer...me nor my people would ever be at or around one of those tragic rallies, so thanks for the heads up philip!"

Not for much longer...me nor my people would ever be at or around one of those tragic rallies,  so thanks for the heads up philip! https://t.co/dRgRi06GrJ

— Rihanna (@rihanna) November 5, 2018

 

“Rihanna’s comments followed remarks by Axl Rose, who this weekend accused the Trump campaign of “using loopholes in the various venues’ blanket performance licenses … without the songwriters’ consent” after learning that Guns N’ Roses’ 1988 song Sweet Child O’ Mine was being played at the president’s rallies.”

Axl Rose also said that Guns N’ Roses had “formally requested r music not b used at Trump rallies or Trump associated events”.

Unfortunately the Trump campaign is using loopholes in the various venues’ blanket performance licenses which were not intended for such craven political purposes, without the songwriters’ consent.

Can u say “shitbags?!”💩

— Axl Rose (@axlrose) November 4, 2018

I guess it is pretty obvious why Trump has used a song from Rihanna. He hears something in the title or the chorus that he thinks he is about – a positivity and sense of optimism that he hopes his supporters can take to heart and be buoyed before. There will be fans of Rihanna and Guns N’ Roses who are Republicans but it is good to see artists taking a stand and, in doing so, showing the colour of their political skin (blue in this case; red in the case of British musicians).

Trump will always take liberties and drag artists down his road to perdition. I guess Kanye West is the only artist who would like his music played by the U.S. President and here, I wonder how many would feel pride when their music is used to support Theresa May. No names spring to mind and it is a sticky business. I can understand politicians need music to soundtrack their entrances or be their ‘anthems’ but artists who object to their politics shouldn’t be made to hear that indignity. Using Rihanna’s music will send a message to her fans that she is a Trump supporter when, clearly, this is not the case! The same can be said of Axl Rose. There are very few prominent musicians who are Republicans and, as such, most of Trump’s musical choices will be met with anger. Look at the Conservatives and how many modern artists are behind them?! I can’t think of any artist who is a Tory supporter and, again, it does somewhat limit options. Whilst there are no legal ramifications using music without consent; there is that political and ethical issue (and copyright) that needs to be considered. The unauthorised use will not stop but I think there is something tragic and pathetic about these politicians, the unpopular ones, using popular music because they think that makes them bigger or cooler. Rihanna wants President Trump to quit using her song, Don’t Stop the Music, for his rallies. There is a lyric in the song that goes “You’re makin’ staying over here impossible” and, if politicians like Trump keep using artists’ music without their permission we might see a lot of them…

EMIGRATING and escaping the country they love!

FEATURE: 5 Become 4: Can the Spice Girls Create the Same Magic Without a ‘Posh’ Icon?

FEATURE:

 

 

5 Become 4

IN THIS PHOTO: The Spice Girls (BACK: Geri Horner (née Horner, ‘Ginger Spice’) and Emma Bunton (‘Baby Spice’)/FRONT: Melanie Brown (‘Scary Spice’); Melanie Chisholm (‘Sporty Spice’); Victoria Beckham (née Adams, ‘Posh Spice’)/PHOTO CREDIT: Getty Images

Can the Spice Girls Create the Same Magic Without a ‘Posh’ Icon?

__________

WHETHER you are a big Spice Girls fan or not…

you cannot deny that, back in the day, they made an impact on music. I will look at the legacy and music they left us but, imminently, they will be announcing tour dates and locations. It is a rare opportunity for fans to catch the Spice Girls on the stage – 2000’s Forever was their last album as a group and did not feature Geri. There has been talk of a reunion and, in the years since they split, there have been attempts to get them all on the same stage. Apart from an ill-fated Spice Girls musical and some one-off singles/appearances; it has been a quiet time for the band this century. Emma Bunton (Baby Spice) spilled the beans and gave Jamie Theakston the rundown on their Heart radio show regarding the Spice Girls reunion and what we might expect. Check the video out below but there is a lot of excitement brewing and people are excited to see four-fifths of the band on the stage and going around the world – one suspects there will be a lot of international dates and it will be a busy next year for the girls. I am not sure what provoked the decision but there have been rumours for years and there must have been a moment when they all got together and decided the time was now.

The moment we've all been waiting for... @EmmaBunton aka #babyspice discusses the #SpiceGirls reunion!😱 pic.twitter.com/uEDnRobNxy

— Heart (@thisisheart) November 5, 2018

I believe the announcement will be made at 3 P.M. and the reunion tour will not include Posh Spice – Victoria Beckham is not part of the plans but the full reason has not been given. Vogue published a piece earlier today that gave a bit of background:

“The Spice Girls last performed together in 2012 during the Olympics closing ceremony, but they have not toured as a band since 2008. Over the years, Bunton, Beckham, Geri Horner, Melanie C and Melanie B have posted photographs of the fivesome together on social leading fans to predict a sequel to Spice World and new music. Beckham, however, has always vehemently denied plans to reunite. “I’m not going on tour. The girls aren’t going on tour,” she stated during a preview of her autumn/winter 2018 collection. As her former band mates prepare for the demands of stadium life once more, it is assumed that Beckham will concentrate on her burgeoning fashion brand”.

One can look at that explanation of omission – Victoria Beckham concentrating on fashion – but one would assume she could do the both, surely?! Melanie B (Scary Spice) recently sported a Halowe’en outfit of her in a mask of Posh Spice and a bit of a jibe against her decision. Maybe it was playful but one senses there is a bit of animosity and disagreement in the camp that has led to Beckham not being included.

 PHOTO CREDIT: Getty Images

There are some who feel her omission is a relief. In terms of the band’s best singers, she would be at the bottom of the pile, alas. I am not sure whether the Spice Girls will adopt their nicknames and dress as they did back in the 1990s. One suspects the stage attire will be a bit more refined and 2018 – one cannot imagine Geri Horner in a Union flag dress or Emma Bunton as Baby Spice. I guess, if they are cranking out the old hits, then there needs to be some authenticity and purity. There is a school of thought that suggests a depleted Spice Girls is a bit of a charade. If you have always wanted to see the group get on the stage and perform like they did in their heyday then would a four-piece satisfy you?! Although most of the lead vocals were taken by Melanie C (Sporty Spice) and Melanie B; each member had their place and were all part of the mix. I suppose Baby Spice and Ginger Spice (Geri Horner) did a lot more of the vocal lifting than Posh Spice but that image and iconic line-up is what people want to see! Tickets will be snapped up within a few minutes and many of them will be flogged on resale sites for exorbitant and eye-watering prices.

 IN THIS PHOTO: The newest publicity photo of the reunited Spice Girls/PHOTO CREDIT: Getty Images

I do not buy the fact Victoria Beckham is not going to be involved because of commitments and the fact she is too busy. The reason the group have not reunited since they split is because it has been hard getting all five of them on the same page. Look at the 2000 album from Spice Girls and one notices Ginger Spice missing. Many felt that reality was the beginning of the end and, whilst songs like Let Love Lead the Way and Goodbye were good tracks; Forever was a bit of a damp squib and got a critical bashing. It is good Geri Horner is back in and committed to a reunion and there is a sense of excitement in the camp. All of the members have gone on to enjoy varying degrees of success since the Spice Girls called time. Emma Bunton is a D.J. and T.V. personality whilst Melanie C and Geri Horner have enjoyed some solo success; both are very much in the public eye but not as active as they were in the years following the group’s split. Melanie C, too, had some success but a lot of the column inches dedicated to her have revolved around relationship issues and controversies. Geri Horner has not released an album since 2005’s Passion but she has been on our screens and has enjoyed a more domestic and settled life.

 IMAGE CREDIT: Getty Images

I am not here to rake over the leaves of split and tension but it is a shame there will not be the classic line-up on the stage. Many might say why, so many years down the line, are the Spice Girls getting back together?! Can they really create an impact and thrill people like they did when they were on top of the world?! Times have changed and one barely sees girl groups in the mainstream. The golden days when you had the Spice Girls, En Vogue and Destiny’s Child doing their thing and promoting messages of empowerment and strength; now, there is much less of it and it seems that area of music is dying. I am not sure why there is little cultivation of girl groups but one feels a Spice Girls reunion will stoke some interest and revival. I wonder whether a reunion will go as far as new material. Many might scowl and be fearful of that question but look at En Vogue and All Saints. The latter, especially, have enjoyed success lately and, whilst they were not officially split, they have managed to transition from their success in the 1990s/2000s and sustained public interest. All Saints are not releasing the same vibe as they did when they started out and, instead, are producing a more mature sound but one that has ample punch and intent. If an album did arrive from the Spice Girls then you have to feel their sound would go down the same road.

Again, it would probably not feature Victoria Beckham and it would be a similar case to Forever – four unified and happy members but a noticeable gap. Who knows what will occur between now and the days following the tour announcement. There will be a public demand for new material and I think that will follow when they are off the road. The gigs, I envisage, will be the classic hits and a real retrospective. It is great in terms of nostalgia but that need for fresh offerings will force them into the studio. I will update this article when more details come to life and the news spreads but there has been some divisions regarding the reunion. Some say that it is best to leave the Spice Girls in the past and they can never recapture that spirit of Girl Power and what they stood for. Back in the 1990s, you could not avoid Spice Girl-related merchandise and girls mimicking them. Singles like Wannabe, 2 Become 1 and Who Do You Think You Are became radio staples and catapulted them into the public conciseness. Spice (1996) was a big debut that got a lot of people talking and why the songs lacked the same great and authority as some of their peers’ music – the likes of En Vogue and Destiny’s Child – there was something anthemic and catchy about their material.

Teen-Pop, as a result, was brought back into the mainstream and the doors were opened for other artists to step up. The wave of obsession that followed that release is akin to Beatlemania in the 1960s. That album peaked at number-one in seventeen countries and was a gigantic success. 1997’s Spiceworld was another big success and capitalised on the group’s popularity and demand. They were touring the world and bringing their unique live set to the hungry masses. The catchiness of songs like Spice Up Your Life, Stop and Too Much won new hearts and the group were involved with the writing process – it was a juggernaut that was taking over the world. Critics always were and always have been split by the validity and appeal of the music. One can argue there is a lot of cotton candy and sweetness that hides any real maturity and depth whilst others contest the hooks, big choruses and sense of fun are proof enough. However divided the press were; the nation as a whole was involved in this brief and brilliant burst of Girl Power that seemed to provide something new and needed into music. There were not a lot of British Pop artists augmenting sisterhood, this notion of Girl Power and a defiance that marked them as, albeit cheeky and commercial, rebels and role models for teenagers and children around the world.

There was sadness when they split but many have suggested they did what they did well and it is best left in the past. Others feel this reunion is about money and trying to recapture long-lost success and fame. I agree new material will be very different to what they have produced and you cannot go back in time and expect them to create the same effect and sensation they did in the 1990s. Music has changed beyond recognition and modern Pop has shifted to the solo artists; the quality and nature of mainstream music has altered and it would be inorganic and strange for a revival of the sounds we heard on Spice. Between the four touring members, there are children, husbands and new careers; they are not as young as they once were and their creative intent is changed. Maybe we will see a revival of the Girl Power mantra but I feel they have passed that phase. In any case; although I am not a mega-fan of their work; I feel their return is a good thing and who knows where it could lead?! All Saints have managed to find popularity and acclaim a couple of decades after their first incarnation and one feels, if Destiny’s Child reformed, then they could create something sensational. It would be interesting to hear Geri Horner, Melanie Brown; Melanie Chisholm and Emma Bunton work on something new and you wonder, if it got to the studio, whether Victoria Beckham (née Adams) would be persuaded to return.

 IN THIS PHOTO: Victoria Beckham/PHOTO CREDIT: Getty Images

Keep your eyes peeled for the 3 P.M. announcement but, of course, I think it is exciting music gets to focus on something positive and speculate what could be. I agree it will be impossible to replicate that excitement and sound of the 1990s and nobody expects them to. Even if there is nothing more than touring and a single album; there are so few female bands around at the moment. There are a lot of female solo artists and duos but, when it comes to band; female bands tend not to be Pop-based. Certainly, there are far fewer of the traditional girl bands and I feel the return of the Spice Girls could inspire a new generation. Hearing those hits in stadiums will certainly bring back memories but I wonder whether a lack of Posh Spice on the rack will take away an essential ingredient. Even if the vocal prowess of Victoria Beckham is not the reason to be sad; her place in music history is confirmed and many want that complete group. There is a bit of obfuscation and disguise regarding the official reason – why they are a four-piece and not a quintet – but I hope they can find some common ground. I do not think the Spice Girls can have a long-term recording career as a foursome and most will need the original five back together.

IN THIS PHOTO: The Spice Girls photoed in Paris in September 1996 PHOTO CREDIT: Tim Roney/Getty Images

They can certainly tour and sell tickets by the shed-load but is that Posh Spice-shaped hole going to be too strange?! Will someone take her place and how will the songs differ regarding vocal arrangements and dance routines?! The biggest takeaway from the reunion is how it will affect the new generation and the impact those songs will have. We want the return of those girl groups who could make that instant impact with their chemistry and hooks; those songs that survive the years and, whether you admit it or not, you kind of like! The huge absence of any girl groups might be a sign of the times – that term seems sexist and outdated; Pop is a more personal and solo endeavour – but I feel it would be easy to revive that scene and get some great modern options to the plate. Whatever happens and however it all unfolds; this is news few expected to come and it means 2019 will be one where, believe it or not, four out of the five Spice Girls will share the stage together. It is good to have them back and I hope, in time, Victoria Beckham comes into the group and there is that complete unit. Keep your eyes on the clock for 3 P.M. and, regardless of how they move next year and what plans are afoot; I am pleased to see the Spice Girls…

 PHOTO CREDIT: Getty Images

BACK in the music world.  

FEATURE: Ending the Decade in Style: Part II/V: The Finest Albums of 2009

FEATURE:

 

 

Ending the Decade in Style

PHOTO CREDIT: @julemergener_/Unsplash 

Part II/V: The Finest Albums of 2009

__________

THE reason I have put together a new feature…

 PHOTO CREDIT: @priscilladupreez/Unsplash

is to shine a light on the albums that ended a decade with a huge bang. I feel it is hard to define what a decade is about and how it evolves but the first and last years are crucial. Entering a decade with a big album is a great way to stand out and, similarly, ending it with something stunning is vital. It can be hard leaving a brilliant and bountiful decade of music but I wanted to shine a light on the artists who brought out albums that did justice; gave hope the next decade would be full, exciting and brilliant. I will do a five-part series about albums that opened a decade with panache but, right now, the second in a five-part feature that collates the best decade-enders from the 1960s, 1970s; 1980s, 1990s and the 2000s. I am focusing on 2009 and the best ten records from the year. The 2000s started off brilliantly but hardly relaxed and phoned it by the very end! In fact, some truly terrific records arrived that got us all set for 2010 and what that would offer. As we came to the end of the first decade of the twenty-first century; music was evolving and hitting new heights. Here is ten album that prove we ended the decade…

 PHOTO CREDIT: @florenciaviadana/Unsplash

WITH a real explosion!

ALL ALBUM COVERS: Getty Images

______________

Grizzly Bear – Veckatimest

Release Date: 26th May, 2009

Label: Warp

Review:

“Distressed electric piano, disembodied choirs, and the instantly discernible strings of Nico Muhly color the album’s meditations on distance, as seen in the bitter retreat of the galloping opener “Southern Point” (“You’ll never find me now”) and the hushed, heartbreaking refrain of “All We Ask.” (“I can’t get out of what I’m into with you.”) But for all Veckatimest’s talk of space, its brilliance lies in subtle, interlocking moments such as the backward guitar disrupting the lockstep girl-group groove of “Cheerleader,” the way the watery ballad “Dory” shifts seamlessly from genteel to creepy, or the cinemascope cacophony that ends “I Live With You.” As with Animal Collective’s Merriweather Post Pavilion (a record it seems likely to vie with for album of the year), Veckatimest offers more than just an inventive exercise in collage: It’s like hearing the past few centuries of music playing in symphony, which sounds—thrillingly and reassuringly—like the future” – AV Music

Standout Track: Two Weeks

Yeah Yeah Yeahs – It’s Blitz

Release Date: 6th March, 2009

Labels: Dress Up; DGC; Interscope

Review:

“Elsewhere, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs and producers David Sitek and Nick Launay find other ways to shake things up, from the disco kiss chase of "Dragon Queen," which features Sitek's fellow TV on the Radio member Tunde Adebimpe on backing vocals, to "Shame and Fortune," which pares down the band's tough, sexy rock to its most vital essence and provides Chase and Zinner with a showcase not found anywhere else on the album.

However, It's Blitz!'s bold moments are a bit misleading: the album's heart is often soft and searching, offering some of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs' quietest work yet. This approach doesn't always work, as on the too-long "Runaway," but when it connects, the results are gorgeous. "Skeletons" is luminous with an oddly Celtic-tinged synth part; "Hysteric," a love song about being happy with someone rather than trying to make him or her stay, feels like the mirror twin of "Maps." The serenity in It's Blitz!'s ballads feels worlds apart from Show Your Bones in a much less obvious way than the album's outbursts. But between the violently happy songs and the softer ones, this is some of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs' most balanced and cohesive music” - AllMusic

Standout Track: Skeletons

The xx – xx

Release Date: 14th August, 2009

Label: Young Turks

Review:

“On paper, it's a mongrel mix. As the languorous swirl of Intro fades in, however, you immediately sense you're listening to something seductively special. When Croft and Sim start singing, on VCR, they come across as being in an advanced state of fatigue. Standout tracks such as Crystalised, with its off-key riff, possess a very modern sense of anxious turmoil, while Shelter mixes spare, dolorous guitar lines with a restless chorus. It's an album to play when you're wallowing in a comedown and slow-paced melancholy offers a strange comfort.

There is a lightness of touch at play that gives the XX a sophistication beyond their years. It probably means that their dream pop will become the ubiquitous dinner party album du jour. But really, their panicky atmospherics are too strange for that. This is uneasy listening to soundtrack the gentle gnashing of teeth” – The Observer

Standout Track: Islands                               

Wild Beasts – Two Dancers

Release Date: 3rd August, 2009

Label: Domino

Review:

“The band display little appetite for radical change on their second album, but those who like their pop arch, odd and romantically heightened will find Two Dancers a treasure trove. The guitars say Orange Juice, Talking Heads and early Aztec Camera; the voice says Billy Mackenzie, Sparks and Antony Hegarty; and the words say plenty, much of it frankly filthy. Whether it's "his dancing cock" or "my boot up your asshole", sex is never more than a hot breath away. Like Franz Ferdinand's Tonight, Two Dancers reeks of well-read, middle-class lads gone bad, out on the lash and on the pull.

The music, too, has a seductive fluidity, with echoes of the Acorn's Glory Hope Mountain on standout track All the King's Men, where the Afrobeat guitar lines ring crisp and clear over a lascivious lyric about "girls from Hounslow, girls from Whitby". The heart of Two Dancers lies in these seemingly jarring juxtapositions. The individual ingredients may be a decidedly mixed bag, but the final product is both coherent and very satisfying” - The Observer

Standout Track: We Still Got the Taste Dancin’ on Our Tongues

Dirty Projectors – Bitte Orca

Release Date: 9th June, 2009

Label: Domino

Review:

“…With its nodding R&B beat and Amber Coffman’s melismatic vocals, that breakout waiting to happen is but one “all the single ladies” shout-out away from being a Hot 97 jam. Over nine indispensable tracks, Bitte Orca forges a more perfect union between eccentricity and accessibility: The pop crescendos of “Temecula Sunrise” filter through what feels like 10 different time signatures; the warped electro pulse of “Useful Chamber” dissolves into finger-picked introspection before exploding in noise-rock abandon; restless guitar skitters, and esoteric Nico references add anxiety to the heart-stilling balladry of “No Intention” and “Two Doves,” respectively. Much ink will likely be spilled on 2009 being the year that Brooklyn’s experimental class finally went “pop,” and—with apologies to Animal Collective and Grizzly Bear—it’d be hard to find a better thesis statement” – AV Music

Standout Track: The Bride                    

Anthony and the Johnsons – The Crying Light

Release Date: 19th January, 2009

Label: Secretly Canadian

Review:

“Elsewhere, on the gorgeous chamber pop of "Epilepsy Is Dancing," terror, power, and beauty are wrapped as one entity: "Epilepsy is dancing/She's the Christ now departing/And I'm finding my rhythm/As I twist in the snow...Cut me in quadrants/Leave me in the corner/Oh now it's passing/Oh now I'm dancing." Curse and blessing, sacrament and damnation. Other standouts, including the utterly gorgeous, elliptical "One Dove" and the single "Another World," reflect similar themes, though always from the projection of the most hidden flicker that seeks union with a larger illumination. Certainly this is spiritual, but it is not limited to that because it also exists in the physical world. Death is the constant undercurrent, but it's not so much morbid as another shade of the verdant universe. "Kiss My Name" is the hinge track, in waltz time with lovely reeds and violins, skittering with a drum kit -- it is both an anthem of love to life itself and a self-penned epitaph in advance. Whatever hopes you held in the aftermath of I Am a Bird Now, they have been exponentially exceeded in poetry, music, and honesty here” – AllMusic

Standout Track: Another World

Florence + the Machine – Lungs

Release Date: 3rd July, 2009

Label: Island

Review:

“An intense young woman who read a lot of Edgar Allan Poe as a child, Florence specialises in dark, gothic imagery - werewolves, wedding dresses, bleeding hearts and coffins - and quirky tunes that start quietly and build into big, soaring climaxes. The songs are generally angry, with an undercurrent of violence and/or animal passion, and a nagging hook to keep you there. When this girl falls in love, you gather, she really falls. When it's over, the only recourse is pain, rage and vast quantities of alcohol. The current single Rabbit Heart was written after her label asked her for something more upbeat, but ended up with a typically jaunty chorus about sacrifice: "This is the gift/ It comes with a price/ Who is the lamb/And who is the knife?".

Sometimes the rough edges have been over-smoothed: there are all kinds of strange, cheap synthesised noises buried under the layers of polish that I'd like to hear more clearly. But this is a minor gripe, for despite its dark heart, there's a real joy about this debut. It's the sound of someone who has found their voice and is keen to use it - as loudly and freely as possible” – The Observer

Standout Track: Dog Days Are Over

Animal Collective – Merriweather Post Pavilion

Release Date: 6th January, 2009

Label: Domino

Review:

“There’s a beaty bent through the whole album, although this is dance music hammered together from the weirdest of materials; ‘Lion In A Coma’ fashions a funky shuffle from a medieval rhythm and a didgeridoo. ‘In The Flowers’ starts with a long, oscillating Eno-esque intro before it’s engulfed in a wall of radiating ambient noise and a motorik beat, as Avey Tare fashions a new futurist folklore of kinetic energy, imagining “A dancer high in a field from her movement… I couldn’t stop that spinning force I felt in me”. 
There are moments when they still trip off into self-indulgence: ‘Also Frightened’ is dreamy, a tribal, woozy waltzing that recalls CocoRosie via Björk, but stretches out just that little too long. ‘Bluish’ edges 
a tiptoe too far into Fleet Foxes territory, but these are tiny moments in an album that’s overwhelmingly rich in invention and imagination.
‘Brothersport’ rounds it off perfectly, a resplendent orgy of Afrobeat pop with touches of hard house, like Orbital double-dropping with Fela Kuti or Vampire Weekend in space. It ends in radiant, My Morning Jacket-style harmonies and leaves you wondering what happened to your mind and ears.Put the album on again. Listen hard. Focus on each sound, analyse it, pin it down, pull it apart. It’ll just shift under your gaze and run off laughing. Or you could just run with it” – NME

Standout Track: Keep on Movin’

The Horrors - Primary Colours

Release Date: 21st April, 2009

Labels: XL

Review:

“The album ends with the song that first signified The Horrors’ reinvention, ‘Sea Within A Sea’. Here it works as ‘I Am The Resurrection’ does on ‘The Stone Roses’, allowing the acid house elements to come to the fore in a bravado demonstration of what the band are capable of. 

For us listeners, it’s a relief to hear a band growing so impressively at a time when most others have neither the talent nor the opportunity to do so. Time will tell how ‘Primary Colours’ stands up to the likes of ‘Loveless’ or ‘Psychocandy’, but right now, this feels like the British art-rock album we’ve all been waiting for” – NME

Standout Track: Primary Colours           

Phoenix – Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix

Release Date: 25th May, 2009

Labels: V2; Loyauté; Glassnote

Review:

“At another point in Lisztomania, Roger Daltrey's entire body is sucked into a devilish princess' underthings. (Seriously.) Before that happens, though, the cigar-chomping heiress quotes Oscar Wilde while explaining her unladylike smoking habit, "It's the perfect form of pleasure, it's exquisite and leaves one unsatisfied. What more can one ask?" Phoenix seem to understand this line of thinking-- and not just because they look like a group of guys who know their Gauloises. They're pleasure-pushers, filling tunes with riffs, phrases, and beats a five-year-old could love. But, on Wolfgang, those same songs are unfulfilled-- and this band wouldn't have it any other way. There's beauty in a sunset. Phoenix are wringing it out” – Pitchfork

Standout Track: 1901     

FEATURE: Sonic Boon: Why BBC Sounds Is Long-Overdue and Could Provide Guidance for YouTube and Spotify

FEATURE:

 

 

Sonic Boon

IMAGE CREDIT: BBC/Getty Images 

Why BBC Sounds Is Long-Overdue and Could Provide Guidance for YouTube and Spotify

__________

IF you are a regular listener to BBC Radio…

you would have been aware of the idents/promotionals for their new BBC Sounds site/app. If you are not a listener of BBC Radio then you might have seen the advert playing on T.V. and YouTube. In it, we start out with Rita Ora and then are led through a ‘BBC universe’: scenes are cut close together in a device I am not fond of: someone starts a sentence and then someone else jumps in and there are those fast cuts (it is a bit overdone and can be a bit grating but, in the context of a radio app/site, it seems an appropriate device). I normally object to that overlap/cut style of filming but it perfect illustrates the radio dial and the variety one can get across the BBC. Although there are some objectionable parts of the clip (starting with Rita Ora and her music, even in a self-deprecating way is very commercial and not the artist I would promote in terms of recommendation; Idris Elba taking about The Dark Side of the Moon (not a man I would  imagine loving the record, genuinely; he also says ‘Dark Side of the Moon’ when there is a ‘The’ at the start; Louis Theroux is under-used massively) but it is a nice and sharp way of assessing the new initiative and getting people interested.

 IMAGE CREDIT: BBC/Getty Images 

I am pleased there is that awareness of gender and race – not just men and male figures; there could have been more minority faces – and we get a nice spread of all sides of the BBC dial. If you needed a hook and a bait to get into BBC Sounds then you have it all there – you can never create something punchy and wide-ranging that will appeal to everyone so we can forgive a few blips. I will talk about the sides of BBC Sounds but it is timely this endeavour – not sure what to call it?! – because, to be fair, the BBC Music site was dreadful. There is still the issue when it comes to BBC stations, especially BBC Radio 6 Music. It is quite a simple design but so hard to navigate and find information; not user-friendly in any way and need a complete overhaul and redesign. I am not sure whether that will happen but I have often found it frustrating finding music news, features and music-related information and it is a baffling experience. How long it will take for all the sites to be redesigned and made better for the public I am not sure but BBC Sounds is a way of organising all the different angles, shows and contours so one does not have to navigate all of the day!

 IN THIS PHOTO: IDLES (a more unifying face of the BBC Sounds project?!)/PHOTO CREDIT: Dan Kendall

Apart from a few overlooked elements to their T.V. spot – IDLES would have made a more popular, current and funny option than the musicians featured – the site/app is actually really good. As time progresses, it will go through phases and strengthen. Public suggestions will come in and, hopefully, more money will be set aside so BBC can bring more elements into play. Consider video and the type of features that can be built in. I know there is a lot of audio content in there but utilising video – visual podcasts and live performances for the BBC – gives BBC Sounds a more interactive and diverse outlook. In any case; it is a great new move that is overdue, I feel. Before, the website for Music was a bit disorganised and, even now, there are big flaws regarding their individual station pages – still too fiddly and not informative enough! Before I come to the nub of my argument; here is an article from The Guardian that spoke about the launch of BBC Sounds and what it would entail:

 “The BBC’s director of radio is worried. Younger audiences are listening to more audio then ever before. They understand the captive quality of spoken-word stories. They’re more likely to listen to challenging, interesting podcasts on their commute to work or while in the car. They want to hear new music, tailored to their interests. The problem is they don’t necessarily need to go to the BBC to get what they want…

PHOTO CREDIT: @thefakebhogra/Unsplash 

“If we don’t do anything over the next 10 years you’ll have a two-speed BBC radio audience,” says James Purnell, the man tasked with turning this around. “People who’d grown up with it and people who didn’t.”

On the face of it, BBC Radio is in rude health. It has half the national market, with dozens of stations reaching more than 34 million people a week. Radio 2 alone reaches 15 million listeners a week and for all the criticism of the Today programme (“editorially I think it’s in brilliant shape,” says Purnell), one in nine Britons still tune in to hear John Humphrys and his co-presenters harangue politicians every week.

“BBC Radio is still incredibly successful, but I don’t think it’s ever faced such competition,” says Bob Shennan, a lifelong BBC employee who oversees all its radio and music output, pointing towards the likes of Spotify and Apple’s podcast libraries. “People are listening to things the whole time but the competition for their ears is with a whole host of organisations beyond the commercial radio sector.”

Relying on pensioners to provide the audience is not sustainable for an organisation that relies on convincing the vast majority of the public to pay for its services. Although millions of young Britons continue to tune in to traditional BBC radio stations, Purnell says just 3% of under-35s use the iPlayer catch-up radio app, which will soon be axed.

IMAGE CREDIT: BBC/Getty Images  

The man tasked with making this work is Jason Phipps, a former Guardian employee who joined as the corporation’s first commissioning editor for podcasts earlier this year. He says there is a need to reconsider the entire tone of how the BBC tells stories, shifting away from rigid formality if it wants to attract the precious under-35 audience: “It has to be a warmer, more story-led journey. You need to report the very personal experience of it.

“The very best stories are fundamentally anchored around the personal experience. You’re trying to find the human in the machine. Journalists have a process but younger audiences can find that very cold and want to access the actual response of human beings. They really want to understand the heart of the story.”

One of the UK’s most popular podcasts, My Dad Wrote a Porno, “wouldn’t have been commissioned anywhere in the past” because it is “too outlandish”, Phipps argues.

“We need more brash, funny, intelligent podcasts,” he says, saying the format’s intimacy is the reason why podcasts about “sex, relationships and erotic imaginations” have done so well. “It’s a perfect place to have uncomfortable conversations”

There is a lot of positivity and ambition in the BBC camp and not only will it benefit BBC listeners/viewers but will bring more people in. One of the reasons why I am interested in BBC Sounds is the choice and organisation you get. I have an idea – that is outstanding (in the sense it has yet to be realised) – that would work like YouTube and Spotify but be a lot more compartmentalised and organised.

 PHOTO CREDIT: @maltewingen/Unsplash

The issue we have with sites as hefty and busy as YouTube is how hard it is to find order. Look on there now and you will have songs recommended for you and there will be videos trending – there are very few menus and other options. Before long, you have these videos recommend that you keep watching over and over, unable to break out of that cycle! You have a search option but, unless you know what you’re looking for, then it is limited. A lot of new songs pass you by and there are not menus/sub-menus so you can search songs by year, genre and other factors. There is so much material on the site and you need ways so you can discover more; a broader spectrum and something a lot slicker. The same problem comes with Spotify. Whilst there is more music on the site; there are playlists and mixes but it is still very hard when you want suggestions, rediscovering older sounds and finding the best and hottest new suggestions. I know there are a lot of great podcasts out there but it is so hard to find. The market is busy and competitive but I feel BBC have already taken a big step when it comes to organising material and making it easier to come across fresh discovery.

 PHOTO CREDIT: @brunocervera/Unsplash

I have not got to grips with the app yet – I am going off the BBC Sounds website – but the design is great and modern and everything is in one place. There are things that can be added and menus that can be incorporated but I think it is in the easy stages and all of that will come. Regular music news, podcasts and features (incorporate the existing Music website into BBC Sounds) would be a good idea and the lack of dropdown menus is limiting at the moment. At some stage, there will need to be categories and sub-menus so more can be accessed and there is an opportunity for a lot more historic archive and music. I know the site is BBC-specific so it could not well incorporate all music and videos but who is to say there is legislation that limits that sort of endeavour? Although BBC Sounds is about promoting their own shows and stations; I think there is a way of broadening music-wise and not compromising their ideals. I am glad there is a way for new and existing BBC fans to experience all the work being put out there right now. Radio and the BBC stations are at the top but you get great podcasts and mixes. This is an area we might not be aware of.

 IN THIS PHOTO: Rita Ora/PHOTO CREDIT: Rex Features

Most of the time, when we listen to BBC podcasts and documentaries; these are part of existing shows on radio and we often do not hear about them unless we go to that station’s website. Now, there is this central hub that makes it easier to see and hear what you want. In terms of the mixes; there are great female-led playlists and chats/documentaries with Rita Ora and Little Mix. One of my concerns is around the prominence of BBC Radio 1-themed mixes and the commercial nature of the artists. A lot of the cooler, less mainstream artists you might hear on BBC Radio 6 Music are not as high up the pecking order and there tends to be a distinct demographic/audience in that sense – for me, I want to discover something else and, when it comes to appealing to the BBC listener spectrum, more thought needs to be given to the range and diversity of the mixes. What is up there is good but, in time, more parity needs to come in that equally represents the stations across the BBC. In any case; I am pleased by what is there and I have discovered some great mixes. The podcasts are great and entertaining but, again, there seems to be a numerical bias regarding the ‘Hot Podcasts’.

 IMAGE CREDIT: BBC/Getty Images 

The ‘Categories’ is the biggest advantage and something I think YouTube and Spotify could learn from. You can subscribe to hear the latest shows but I wonder if there is an option to make your own BBC Sounds profile? By that, you can collect together all your favourite podcasts and videos together with mixes and news. The categorisation of sounds and genres is great and one can search more easily for the type of show/podcast that means the most to them. Maybe going further and expanding the search tool and menus could lend a bit more speed and efficiency. I feel the market is going through a lot of changes. YouTube is having to deal with Article 13 and its repercussions whilst Spotify is introducing new features and initiative – even though their share price has fallen and a slight dent has come in. BBC inhabits its own ground but is aware it needs to compete with the new and expanding market; able to provide something appealing and interesting to its audience and recruit new ears in. Make sure you investigate what is happening on BBC Sounds and make sure it is part of your travels; listen to it whilst at the laptop and dive in. Above all this great news and boon; I keep coming back to that promotional advert and wonder whether Idris Elba would ever stick Pink Floyd on…

 IN THIS IMAGE: The cover for Pink Floyd’s The Dark Side of the Moon/IMAGE CREDIT: Getty Images

AND chill to The Dark Side of the Moon!?

FEATURE: Following a Rebel Heart… Madonna: Where Next for the Iconic Reinventor?

FEATURE:

 

 

Following a Rebel Heart…

IN THIS IMAGE: The cover for Madonna’s 2015 album, Rebel Heart/ALL ALBUM COVERS: Getty Images 

Madonna: Where Next for the Iconic Reinventor?

__________

I was going to write a piece about plastic waste…

Sometimes I never leave my bathroom 🚽🚰🚿🛁 😂 #weekend 👑 pic.twitter.com/wROvEIoxOE

— Madonna (@Madonna) November 2, 2018

and how music can play a role (concerning reducing the cost) but I will have a more ‘serious’ day of writing tomorrow and bring that together with a few other pieces. Before looking ahead and seeing where Madonna might head next; I want to look back and talk about why I am returning to her feet. I do not need much of an excuse to talk about icons of music and explore them from different angles but this year has been a special one for Madonna. Back on 16th August, we all came together to celebrate her sixtieth birthday and look back at her incredible back catalogue. Madonna herself got into the spirit – so many artists why shy away from marking their sixtieth and feel reserved – and she posted images of herself on Twitter/Instagram embracing the passing of another year of life; being revered by fans and embracing her status as the Queen of Pop. You might think continuing that appreciation and fascination seems a bit pointless – will her next record match the heights of her best work and do we even know when it is coming out?! One of the reasons I put out a few Madonna-related articles around her birthday was because of her multiple sides; the fashion icon status and the evolutions; the varied albums and how she spoke (and continues to do) out against sexism and homophobia.

There was something bittersweet regarding a retrospective. On the one hand, we can marvel at her legacy and how she has changed music but one wonders whether we will ever see her like again – I do not think that is even possible. The sense of drama, theatre and the spectacular one gets with Madonna keeps her in the mind and will always tug at the heart. It was great to rank her albums and songs and chart her fashion changes and career shifts. Each album is worth marking when it has an anniversary and, just under two weeks ago, the twenty-fourth anniversary of Bedtime Stories. Look at the albums around that release. Erotica was released in 1992 and it was an album that garnered a lot of attention and controversy. Madonna’s Sex book was released around the time and the Pop queen was determined to push boundaries and express herself. Since Like a Prayer (1989); there was always suggestion she would evolve sexually and bring that into her work more. Erotica used an alter ego, Mistress Dita, and songs talked about sex, romance and something more intimate. An artist who was once being led by the record label and recording songs in a very commercial and safe way was striking out on her own and not answering to anyone. The result of that was a lot of press talk and many turned their noses up at the provocative and challenging album. If you listen closely then it is not all about sex: there is a range of emotions and stories playing out but there is that definite edge.

Bedtime Stories arrived in 1994 and, in one of music’s greatest years, stood out. It was a more refined, mature and emotional album that, in a way, was a sort-of-apology from Madonna. A tighter and much shorter album that Erotica; Bedtime Stories was a move to come away from the edges more and into the core of the mainstream. Without compromising and producing something formulaic; Madonna worked with the likes of Babyface and Dallas Austin to, again, produce another shift. It is remarkable to think Bedtime Stories is twenty-four as I remember it clearly and it is one of the first of hers that stuck in the mind. Ever since her eponymous debut; Madonna was eager to change and grow between albums and not repeat herself. Singles such as Secret and Take a Bow showed a more graceful, settled and less provocative Madonna who was able to talk about the complexities of relations and lust without being explicit. Following some backlash from Erotica; the saucy Mistress Dita was replaced with a more natural Madonna. Look at the costumes for videos like Take a Bow and Secret and there is a more classical, elegant and classy Madonna. Human Nature documented the reaction to Erotica – cheekily asking whether she can talk about sex and the fact it is natural – but the new producers/writers incorporated more R&B influences and, with it, a new Madonna. It would be another four years before Madonna produced another studio album and, on Ray of Light, another incredible transformation.

Consider the six years between Erotica and Ray of Light and what Madonna did. She started with this sexually-charged and controlling persona and then channelled into this more mature and less controversial artists in 1994 – although her grasp of the sexual and challenging never went away. By 1996; she starred in Evita and, again, a new side of her was brought through. You can see some of the influences from Bedtime Stories in terms of fashion and look but, two years after Evita, nobody expected Ray of Light. An album that brings in Electronic and Dance and, for the first time, brilliantly united Dance and Pop and puts it into the mainstream. It would have been easy to stall and settle after Ray of Light but, being Madonna, she was moving and thinking about a new look. Music (2000) kept the harder sound and electronics but swapped some of the more orchestral sways for something edgier. In fact, Music is a varied album that keeps the party girl of Ray of Light and brings in something maternal – Madonna had just had a baby and was in a very spiritual frame. There is Future-Folk and Dance that comes together in another triumphant album – Madonna co-wrote all of the ten tracks and critics were keen to lend their praise!

One can argue that, although there was reinvention and change by 2003’s American Life; the critics were not as hot and, maybe, the material not as sharp. Madonna has moved from a cowgirl to a more rebellious and politically-minded figure. Reviews at the time were mixed – some found the record confusing – but they have been kinder and fairer down the line; many noting the consistency of the material and the risks being taken. Songs like Hollywood and Love Profusion are among the best of her more-recent work and the tour that accompanied American Life upped the game, budget and set; amazing critics and thrilling fans. There was this big transformation that continued into Confessions on a Dance Floor. Again, after only a short period; 2005-Madonna had ditched the beret and mood of American Life and was embracing the disco and something a bit more specific. Maybe a New York club or 1970s Disco; it was a mix of Club music from the 1970s, 1980s and modern-day scene. The songs were structured like a D.J.’s set and blended so that they play continuously without any gaps. Samples and references to ABBA, Donna Summer and Bee Gees meant there was a distinct mood and flavour. The forty-seven-year-old was not beholden to what artists of her ‘age’ should be doing and what was seen as ‘appropriate’. Confessions on a Dance Floor turns thirteen on Friday and it is another chance to celebrate an album of Madonna’s – strange to think of the vast differences between Bedtime Stories and Confessions on a Dance Floor (in many ways, one would think Confessions on a Dance Floor’s tones and energies would come before Bedtime Stories’ more grown-up and sensual mood).

Whereas Confessions on a Dance Floor was another bold move and reinvention; it was a return to the critical good books and, in fact, gained the sort of acclaim Music did in 2000 – maybe even more praise and good reviews. One could argue the reinventions since 2005 have been bold and drastic but the quality has been a little lower than one would expect. Hard Candy, in a way, seemed to update the look and provocative edge of Erotica and Like a Prayer; albeit a more modern version. Madonna stated the songs on the album were autobiographical, in an unconscious way, and she was not in any mood to calm down and project a more wrapped up and safe artist. Age has never been an issue with Madonna and she writes and performs as she feels fit; she is not answering to anyone or doing what her peers do. 2012’s MDNA was a relatively smooth and productive recording that saw subjects live separation, revenge and heartbreak coming into the music. This album was the first she released under a three-year deal with Interscope (in 2012) and there was a new phase in her career. Again, the image and look changed and musical subjects changed. Some saw the music as a little regressive and unmemorable but, regardless of critical impression, it showed Madonna was always looking out for new inspiration and look. 2015’s Rebel Heart is the last album from her and one that, as you’d expect, adopts its own skin and landscape.

There was a sense, with Rebel Heart, Madonna was progressing and new genres like House, Trap and Reggae were making their way in. Many icons would struggle to succeed after so much time and be able to inhibit new genres naturally. Rather than try n updated Pop version of Madonna or Like a Virgin; Madonna was changing with the times and keen to work with the best upcoming and established talent. After working with Timbaland and Justin Timberlake on Hard Candy; she featured guests such as Nicki Minaj and Nas on Rebel Heart and worked with Kanye West. Critics felt Rebel Heart was one of her best effort in a decade and, unlike some of her fairly recent albums, there were a lot more writers and producers in the mix – far less singular and streamlined than we would have seen on albums like Ray of Light and Bedtime Stories. In any case; the 2015 release marked another step and evolution from the always-changing Madonna. The Queen of Pop was not going to surrender her crown to anyone and, even though Nicki Minaj featured on Rebel Heart; she is decades away from reaching the summit of Madonna’s powers. The last few years have seen her embrace her sixtieth birthday and moving away from London. I think she is based in Portugal now and seems to be happy in Lisbon.

I am not sure whether she will move back to New York or London in years to come but, as a single woman whose children are quite grown up; there are not the ties and need to be in a big and music-orientated city. I figure there is new material coming quite soon and you will know when it comes. Madonna is not someone who will drop an album without warning and it will be released into the world like an unshackled beast. There are teams of people planning every move and, before the first single comes, we will have teasers, videos and cryptic posts that get the appetite whetted. Madonna is on Twitter most days posting images and videos from home. She is proud to look back on her older albums but does not want to repeat them and bathe everyone in nostalgia! Rather than repeat herself and try and capture bygone standards; she is looking ahead and finding new ground to conquer. That is the mark of a truly brave, established and innovative artist! Sketches and suggestions have been made regarding Madonna’s new album and what it could be about. This article suggests there could be a move towards Rap:

“Perhaps the Queen of Pop has her sights set on another genre.

Madonna is currently hard at work on a new studio album. A previous report claimed she plans on combining Portuguese and African rhythms with pop, however if we take a look at Madonna’s comment replying to a fan on Instagram at face value, maybe she’s changed her mind and wants to drop a rap record instead. Kinda here for it.

“I want Madonna to release a full on rap album called Grillz and the lead single to be called Derma Roller featuring Quavo, Nicki Minaj and Cardi B just to annoy the demanding fans!!!!,” a fan wrote”.

You never know what you will get from Madonna but I would expect some sounds of Africa – where she has spent time recently and always had a connection to – and tones coming out of Portugal. She will not go fully into World music territory and abandon Pop but look at the sort of look/fashion she posts on her latest Twitter pieces and that could give you an indication into the album cover’s vibe and what she will explore. There was rumour the album would be released this year but it seems, as this article explores, we will need to wait until 2019:

“It was initially believed that the Queen of Pop would be unveiling her fourteenth studio album in 2018, but she’s now confirmed it will hit shelves at some stage in 2019.

The 60-year-old told WWD: “I’m finishing my record, which I’m going to release next year.

“Yep, in between rose mist spray and serums, I’m actually making music. Can’t quit my day job.”

She is also believed to be plotting a tour to accompany the record”.

Will, as this article from July suggested, there be more Fado and Portuguese influences on her fourteenth studio album?

“Portuguese music will be a huge source of inspiration for Madonna's new album, it has been revealed.

The legendary popstar is the cover star of Vogue Italia's August edition to celebrate her 60th birthday on August 16. Pictured in Lisbon, Portugal where Madonna is currently based, the icon of music and fashion is seen striking a pose (pun intended) across two collectable covers in all-black Saint Laurent.

Vogue Italia's creative director Giovanni Bianco - who is also a close friend of Madonna's - discussed the shoot for trade journal Women's Wear Daily, explaining the influences Madonna is soaking up during her tenure in Portugal…

“She is an incredibly hard worker, I have learned so much from her intensity and dedication,” said Giovanni, before the interview explains that Madonna often visits her favourite bar in the Tejo region "where she regularly goes to listen to Portuguese and African music."

Giovanni elaborates: "She knows the musicians there, it’s like a laboratory, there’s music from Cabo Verde and she loves fado [a Lisbon-based music genre],” a style that "will infuse her work".

Beautiful Game is expected to be the lead single from Madonna's upcoming fourteenth studio album. She performed the song at the 2018 Met Gala in new York, and then teased the song as "coming soon" on social media.

Madonna worked with the French producer Mirwais on the song, whom she previously worked with on her Music and American Life albums”.

In terms of sound and genres, we will have to wait to see if any absolute truths emerge. It is a shame we have to wait until 2019 but I feel the new record will arrive early in the year. I can sense something in shaping up and Madonna will be keen to make some sort of statement before this year is through. I think, sound-wise, it will be a combination of Hip-Hop and Fado. There might be some African inspirations and I feel it will break away from the Electronic and Dance sounds she owned and explored between 1998 and 2005.

Inspiration for my new Record all started here in Lisbon at Tejo bar! 🎼🎸💃🏾 with #dinodsantiago #vaniaduarte #fado #morna #funana #magic #music 🇵🇹 #mertalas pic.twitter.com/vfQfBFJPSG

— Madonna (@Madonna) October 25, 2018

I think many are pining for a new Madonna album as it has been a few years and a lot has happened since then. Rebel Heart saw a return of sorts of more critical praise than previous records; a fresh perspective and a persona/look/sound that seemed to be a very natural fit. I think, with Trump and his workings; the sexism and scandal we have seen and how American culture has changed, that is going to come into her mind but so too will her settling in Portugal and a new form of spirituality. Madonna has always been in-tune with religious and different cultures but I think she will l embrace this on her new album as she did through Ray of Light (Shanti/Ashtangi showcase this direction). There has to be some of the spit and observations we saw on American Life and earlier albums and it would be good to see a sort of return to Confessions on a Dance Floor – inject something vibrant and danceable; maybe a more African version of that?! I think there have been some good albums since 2015 and Pop has some artists who could turn into something special in time but nothing like Madonna. Even at sixty; she is reluctant to calm things and return and her voice is as important as they come. Maybe there will not be the same revelations and media-courting releases as Erotica but she has not lost the ability to shock and lead. There is a great opportunity to document the changes in the world and all the crap flying around but do so in her own way – whether there is anger and accusation or a more peace-and-love approach, I am not sure. It is exciting to see what she can come up with and what the next incarnation will be. Maybe we have to wait a bit longer to see what Madonna comes up with but you can bet your bottom dollar her next album will be…

 IN THIS IMAGE: The promotional image for the film, Madonna: Rebel Heart Tour

SOMETHING fresh and sensational.

FEATURE: Ending the Decade in Style! Part I/V: The Finest Albums of 1989

FEATURE:

 

 

Ending the Decade in Style!

PHOTO CREDIT: @divandor/Unsplash 

Part I/V: The Finest Albums of 1989

__________

THE reason I want to put together a new feature…

 PHOTO CREDIT: @akshayspaceship/Unsplash

is to shine a light on the albums that end a decade with a huge bang. I feel it is hard to define what a decade is about and how it evolves but the first and last years are crucial. Entering a decade with a big album is a great way to stand out and, similarly, ending it with something stunning is vital. It can be hard leaving a brilliant and bountiful decade of music but I wanted to shine a light on the artists who brought out albums that did justice; gave hope the next decade would be full, exciting and brilliant. I will do a five-part series about albums that opened a decade with panache but, right now, the first in a five-part feature that collates the best decade-enders from the 1960s, 1970s; 1980s, 1990s and the 2000s. I am starting with 1989 and the best ten records from the year. The 1980s get a reputation as being a bit naff and dodgy but I would contest this. The 1990s is a wondrous and fabulous time and bridging that gap was a hard task. The 1980s had some iffy years – 1986 and 1983 produced few genuine standouts – but it was an incredible decade that provided some world-class records. A lot of them came in 1989 and, as I show, prove the decade had its share of innovation, brilliance and promise. Have a look at the essential ten 1989-released records and recall – if you were alive then… – a year that bade farewell to a brilliant decade…

 PHOTO CREDIT: @mero_dnt/Unsplash

IN style!

ALL ALBUM COVERS: Getty Images

______________

The Cure – Disintegration

Release Date: 2nd May, 1989

Label: Fiction

Review:

“Expanding the latent arena rock sensibilities that peppered Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me by slowing them down and stretching them to the breaking point, the Cure reached the peak of their popularity with the crawling, darkly seductive Disintegration. It's a hypnotic, mesmerizing record, comprised almost entirely of epics like the soaring, icy "Pictures of You." The handful of pop songs, like the concise and utterly charming "Love Song," don't alleviate the doom-laden atmosphere. The Cure's gloomy soundscapes have rarely sounded so alluring, however, and the songs -- from the pulsating, ominous "Fascination Street" to the eerie, string-laced "Lullaby" -- have rarely been so well-constructed and memorable. It's fitting that Disintegration was their commercial breakthrough, since, in many ways, the album is the culmination of all the musical directions the Cure were pursuing over the course of the '80s” – AllMusic

Standout Track: Pictures of You

Beastie Boys – Paul’s Boutique

Release Date: 25th July, 1989

Label: Capitol

Review:

“While each member has their spotlight moments—MCA’s pedal-down tour de force fast-rap exhibition in “Year and a Day,” Mike D having too much to drink at the Red Lobster on “Mike on the Mic,” and Ad-Rock’s charmingly venomous tirade against coke-snorting Hollywood faux-ingénues in “3-Minute Rule”—Paul's Boutique is where their back-and-forth patter really reached its peak. At the start of their career, they built off the tag-team style popularized by Run-DMC, but by ’89 they'd developed it to such an extent and to such manic, screwball ends that they might as well have been drawing off the Marx Brothers as well. It’s impossible to hear the vast majority of this album as anything other than a locked-tight group effort, with its overlapping lyrics and shouted three-man one-liners, and it’s maybe best displayed in the classic single “Shadrach.” After years of post-Def Jam limbo and attempts to escape out from under the weight of a fratboy parody that got out of hand, they put together a defiant, iconographic statement of purpose that combined giddy braggadocio with weeded-out soul-searching. It’s the tightest highlight on an album full of them, a quick-volleying, line-swapping 100-yard dash capped off with the most confident possible delivery of the line “They tell us what to do? Hell no!” – Pitchfork

Standout Track: Shake Your Rump

Pixies – Doolittle

Release Date: 17th April, 1989 (U.K.)/18th April, 1989 (U.S.)

Labels: AD; Elektra (initial U.S. distribution)

Review:

“Wouldn't it be wild if quirky alternative rockers like Pere Ubu and the Swans (each now on major labels) turned out to be in 1989 what sensitive folkie types were in 1988? If that happens, the Pixies' second album should reach the top of the charts.

Unlikely. But, if it did, it would probably start with the Boston quartet's song "Here Comes Your Man," a sweet 'n' summery cross of the Tremeloes' '67 pop hit "Here Comes My Baby," Them's "Here Comes the Night" and the Velvet Underground's "Waiting for the Man." Way cool, indeed, but no less so than the flip of the coin that follows immediately, the fractured horror-flick tune "Dead," a yowling hunka anti-pop. The neat thing is that this major bit of, um, Pixilation doesn't come off as coy or arch, but dovetails to form a serious/curious dichotomy not unlike that of the Sugarcubes.

The hands-down highlight, however, is the cello-mellowed "Monkey Gone to Heaven." Here, singer-guitarist Black Francis (ne Charles Thompson) suspends himself halfway between his winking and wicked extremes for a majestic yet dry elegy to humanity's follies, with bassist Kim Deal's indifferent reading of the title phrase bold-facing Francis' understated confusion and anger. The prototype for thoughtful, creative and bracing pop in the '90s? We can only hope” – Los Angeles Times

Standout Track: Debaser

New Order – Technique

Release Date: 30th January, 1989

Label: Factory

Review:

“Technique was the group's most striking production job, with the single "Fine Time" proving a close runner-up to "Blue Monday" as the most extroverted dance track in the band's catalog. Opening the record, it was a portrait of a group unrecognizable from its origins, delivering lascivious and extroverted come-ons amid pounding beats. It appeared that dance had fully taken over from rock, with the guitars and bass only brought in for a quick solo or bridge. But while pure dance was the case for the singles "Fine Time" and "Round & Round," elsewhere New Order were still delivering some of the best alternative pop around, plaintive and affecting songs like "Run" (the third single), "Love Less," and "Dream Attack." Placed in the perfect position to deliver the definitive alternative take on house music, the band produced another classic record” – AllMusic    

Standout Track: Run

Kate Bush – The Sensual World

Release Date: 16th October, 1989

Labels: EMI; Columbia (U.S.)

Review:

“Goddess or gooney bird? Even some of this English progressive popstress' loyalists sometimes have to wonder. Though on 1985's "Hounds of Love" Bush stripped away many of the quirks of youthful exuberance that had marred her unique approach, some will always find her attention-getting vocals precious and her quasi-cosmic outlook and naked emotionalism off-putting. But this, her first album since "Hounds," is even more mature and accomplished. As Bush herself sings in "The Fog," "You see, I'm all grown up now."

The glorious Trio Bulgarka sings on three songs, further expanding Bush's already thoroughly developed world vision--perhaps only Peter Gabriel melds so many cultural elements with such seamless flair. But it's the how , not the what , that distinguishes her accomplishments.

Listen to the mournful Balkan wail that punctuates "Deeper Understanding's" look at loneliness in the computer age. No Post-Modern irony or juxtaposition here; rather, the combination transforms the song into a wide-eyed-wonderful essay on the human condition, with all the sensuality promised in the album title. It's enough to make you go, well, gooney” – Los Angeles Times

Standout Track: This Woman’s Work

The Stone Roses – The Stone Roses

Release Date: 2nd May, 1989

Label: Silvertone

Review:

“Compared to the dark, macho Mancunians who came swaggering in their wake, the beauty of this mythological debut twenty years later is its light, almost feminine beauty.

The album’s second reissue – coming in enough formats to appeal to everyone from casual converts to old fanatics – polishes up the gang’s ultraconfident blend of sun-drenched, jangly psychedelia and whip-smart, dance floor rhythms, while still conjuring the giddy excitement of acid-house: “Kiss me where the sun don’t shine/ The past was yours but the future’s mine” – The Daily Telegraph

Standout Track: I Am the Resurrection

Janet Jackson – Janet Jackson’s Rhythm Nation 1814

Release Date: 19th September, 1989

Label: A&M

Review:

“In 1989, protest songs were common in rap but rare in R&B -- Janet Jackson, following rap's lead, dares to address social and political topics on "The Knowledge," the disturbing "State of the World," and the poignant ballad "Living in a World" (which decries the reality of children being exposed to violence). Jackson's voice is wafer-thin, and she doesn't have much of a range -- but she definitely has lots of soul and spirit and uses it to maximum advantage on those gems as well as nonpolitical pieces ranging from the Prince-influenced funk/pop of "Miss You Much" and "Alright" to the caressing, silky ballads "Someday Is Tonight," "Alone," and "Come Back to Me" to the pop/rock smoker "Black Cat." For those purchasing their first Janet Jackson release, Rhythm Nation would be an even wiser investment than Control -- and that's saying a lot” – AllMusic  

Standout Track: Rhythm Nation

Neneh Cherry – Raw Like Sushi

Release Date: 5th June, 1989

Label: Virgin

Review:

“Produced by a shifting team of young musicians, the most established of whom is Tim Simenon of Bomb the Bass, Raw Like Sushi never runs out of tricky beats. Whether incorporating Latin freestyle ("Kisses on the Wind") or go-go percussion ("Inna City Mamma"), the production ensemble eschews the easier option of sampling for its own catchy thump and consistently matches Cherry's bravado with episodic surprises. During the last several years, many musicians have built retirement funds by imitating the musical and sexual paths of Prince and Madonna. Neneh Cherry may be the first newcomer inspired by them who also poses a threat to their preeminence” – Rolling Stone  

Standout Track: Buffalo Stance

Soul II Soul – Club Classics Vol. One

Release Date: 10th April, 1989

Label: Virgin

Review:

“Twisting voluptuous female soul vocals (Caron Wheeler, Rose Windross, the late Do'Reen Waddell) with rare groove-styled dance beats gave Soul II Soul a niche that would see them win a broad array of fans worldwide. Back To Life (However Do You Want Me), their best-recognised hit, is a classic example of this musical melting pot.

Keep On Movin' –another key anthem- was the group’s first real mainstream success (Fairplay only made it to 63 in the UK charts) and came at a time when American artists saturated the R&B scene. Founder Jazzie B made his record label more than happy as the track hit number five in the UK and number one on the US R&B chart.

Much like Bristol's trip-hop supergroup, Massive Attack, Soul II Soul have had a huge and important effect on black British music. Like Massive Attack's Blue Lines, Club Classics Vol. 1 is one of those rare albums that make you want to listen to every single track, over and over, again and again. Something most musicians can but dream of” – BBC 

Standout Track: Keep on Movin’

Madonna – Like a Prayer

Release Date: 21st March, 1989

Label: Sire

Review:

“So maybe Madonna’s protests that Like a Prayer wasn’t autobiographical were a bit of a ruse—or just another way to keep the minds of America’s pop-watchers thinking about her music as she gave them an album where she was less afraid to show her flaws, more willing to try on new personas that had bits of her selves attached. After all, as she told The New York Times in 1989, “What I do is total commercialism, but it’s also art.” Like a Prayer straddles those two ideals with gusto, with even its less satisfying moments adding to the heat given off by the MTV era’s brightest star” – Pitchfork   

Standout Track: Like a Prayer

FEATURE: Killing in the Name: Rage Against the Machine’s Masterful Debut at Twenty-Six

FEATURE:

 

 

Killing in the Name

IMAGE CREDIT: Getty Images 

Rage Against the Machine’s Masterful Debut at Twenty-Six

__________

THERE are a lot of albums that warrant attention…

 IN THIS PHOTO: Rage Against the Machine in 1992/PHOTO CREDIT: Getty Images

and are those that we all keep coming back to. They are those we shine a light on should be dissected and respected. One such album is the incendiary and splenetic Rage Against the Machine. The eponymous debut album from the American band launched into the world when George H. W. Bush was defeated by Bill Clinton in the presidential elections. In fact; the same day Rage Against the Machine - with that debut album on 3rd November, 1992 - announced their presence in the world was when Clinton came to power (he would not be inaugurated until January 1993). It was a narrow margin but it was a popular one. Consider what was happening in the world – from racial discrimination and violence to corruption and social inequality – and you can understand why this cocktail of an album came along. Although it would take a while for the new President to take his place in the White House and regain control of the ship; it is iconic to think this masterful album arrived the same day the United States welcomed a new leader. Every year seems to bring corruption and anger to the fore and there is always some form of unrest brewing. Stories of police brutality and despicable injustice was angering and igniting the American people but there were no bands around articulating that fury through music. Change was needed and many (in the U.S.) felt displaced and scared.

The reason why the anniversary of Rage Against the Machine should be talked about is because it is more relevant now than ever! It is somewhat sad and upsetting a record that rallies and rebels against evil should be more needed and reveals more light the further time goes on. One would think the messages from Rage Against the Machine would resonate and warn those to come. Presidents have varied in their competency and humanity and, although a Democrat in power was a good thing; there has been that building rage and sense of despondency. Now, twenty-six years from the release of that incredible debut and it seems like lessons have not been learned. There were plenty of hard-hitting and anthemic albums that arrived in the U.S. leading up to the introduction of Rage Against the Machine. In 1991, we saw Nirvana’s Nevermind come and Metallica’s eponymous release; there was Use Your Illusion I from Guns N’ Roses and Public Enemy’s Apocolypse 91… The Enemy Strikes Back. 1992 gave us Pavement’s Slanted and Enchanted and Dr. Dre’s The Chronic; Manic Street Preachers’ Generation Terrorists and Alice in Chains’ Dirt. There were some great Rock and Rap efforts but none that managed to fuse the genres in the same way; few that had that political edge and anger. Maybe Public Enemy brought some of that sense of injustice and fire but Rage Against the Machine came out of nowhere, it seemed.

In a scene where Grunge and Rock bands were talking about their own pains, depressions and angers; here were a tight and focused group of renegades who were armed and very dangerous indeed! There was no posturing from Zack de la Rocha (vocals), Tom Morello (guitars); Brad Wilk (drum and percussion) and Tim Commerford (bass) and their debut album smacked of complete conviction and reality! Unlike some of their preening and commercial peers; this was a band that meant business and were laying down an album that contained none of the clichés and tropes that were coming out at the time. Against the rather introverted and gloomy nature of Grunge; Rage Against the Machine possessed the same anger and attack but it was directed and projected at those corrupting the country and getting away, in many cases, with murder. Rage Against the Machine would produce three more albums before they split – although, technically, they are together there has not been any new material since 2000 – but none burned as bright as their debut. 1992 was a year with a lot of music gold emerging but, in political terms, political corruption and injustices were not being ably met by artists. Even though Rage Against the Machine has ten tracks; most of them are over five minutes long and a lot of ground is covered.

In spite of the longer running times; every song is tight and focused but there is a sense we are hearing mandates being laid. The band were not sloganeering or spouting worn buzzwords: every song on Rage Against the Machine was led by Zack de la Rocha’s poetic and fierce lyrics and the world’s best musical support. Take the opener Bombtrack and you get a sense of what is to come. The introduction trips and teases like Earth, Wind & Fire’s Fantasy before bursting into life. The lead summons the band into action and they galvanise in a storm of killer riffs and potent beats. Tim Commerford (bass) composed the riffs and the rest of the band impressed. The title unites the Hip-Hop term for greatest ‘bomb’ so, in essence, they felt Bombtrack was the greatest track. The potent and intense opener talks about “landlords and power whores” as Take the Power Back and Settle for Nothing showcase what an exciting and unique band Rage Against the Machine are. A lot of bands put too much emphasis on the front or push the bass to the background: tracks on Rage Against the Machine unite all the members and there is no one lead. The bass is consistently inventive and leading whilst the percussion provides the fist of power and protest. Morello’s spectacular guitar fireworks add so much to the music and heighten everything around it.

Even when de la Rocha’s lyrics occasionally slip into the ordinary; Morello and co. are there to bring the magic and support. Bullet in Your Head and Know Your Enemy are in the middle of the pack and are among the most explosive and enthralling songs on the album. Never has a band sounded as primed and angered as they do when talking about those who deceive and screw you over. Whilst not perfect and on the same level as the world’s best lyricists; Zack de la Rocha was able to write in an intelligent and inspiring way that was a lot more accomplished and inspiring than a lot of his peers. Wake Up talks about racism in the American Government and the counter-intelligence programs of the FBI. Part of the song incorporate an FBI memo in which its director J. Edgar Hoover suggested suppressing the black nationalist movement. Rage Against the Machine, on the song, suggest black leaders like Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. were assassinated because of the Government – they arranged the killings and needed them silenced. Know Your Enemy rallies against the supposed American Dream and its irony in the modern time. The song’s composition is dizzying and busy and makes use of Tom Morello’s toggle switch; the track switches between a pickup that is turned off and one that is on – which creates a tremolo effect. Commerford, again, was responsible for the riffs and he wrote the primary and secondary ones on acoustic bass.

Freedom, the longest track on the album, ends things with a real bang and one of the most fired vocals from de la Rocha. Songs like Fistful of Steel show how the band could layer the sound and take the song from a whisper to a scream. Listen to the slightly muted and far-off riff that starts; backed by bass and then, when Wilk’s drum tees up de la Rocha and heralds the song in; the lead gives out a pointed “Hup!” and the song swaggers forward. Maybe the riffs and composition should have been a little faster but, in any case, you get this head-nodding, resilient diatribe that gets into the head and makes you think. Most of the attention, quite rightly, goes to the lead-off single from Rage Against the Machine, Killing in the Name. The song is a tirade against American ills and makes reference to racist police brutality; the irony of those charged with protecting citizens yet embroiled in hatred and racial violence. The song’s chorus has the famous line “Fuck you, I won’t do what you tell me” and that word, ‘fuck’, is used seventeen times. The track nods to occasions when U.S. police officers have colluded with white supremacist groups and implicitly supported violence against the black population.

The song arrived only six months after the Los Angeles Riots – it saw four white officers acquitted of the beating of black motorist Rodney King. No surprise the song resonated with people and remains Rage Against the Machine’s most-popular song. Killing in the Name is a live favourite – or ‘was’ – and was a huge radio hit when it was released in 1992. Aside from a slip when BBC Radio 1 D.J. Bruno Brookes accidentally played the uncensored version and provoked a wave of complaints; people have always been drawn to it. A famous campaign in 2009 aimed to get Killing in the Name to number-one and defeat the inevitable campaign from the latest X Factor warbler. Although Killing in the Name only survived at the top spot for a week – it slumped out of the top-40 pretty quick – it did hold off the challenge of Joe McElderry and show that, even at Christmas, a song rallying against police racism and brutality was a more popular choice than something more traditional. Although the song has taken on a life of its own and exploded; it does not eclipse the other nine tracks on Rage Against the Machine. With no filler and a phenomenal amount of confidence; the 1992 debut from Rage Against the Machine scored huge critical acclaim – it got a lot of retrospective love as well.

 PHOTO CREDIT: Getty Images

This review/retrospective, written by Pitchfork last year, paid passion tribute to the album and looked at the beginnings of the band and how Rage Against the Machine added their stamp to music:

“It was 1990, and Tom Morello was a struggling rock guitarist in Los Angeles, with a Harvard degree in social studies. He had a vision to funnel the unrest of the day—the Gulf War, the prospective end of apartheid, the collapse of the Soviet Union—and his galvanizing experiences as a Kenyan-American kid in suburban Illinois into a group that synthesized rock and rap into something inherently rebellious. Or, as he put it in a want ad, he required “a socialist frontman who likes Black Sabbath and Public Enemy.”

Within weeks of forming, Rage Against the Machine—a name lifted from an abandoned tune in de la Rocha’s last band—had recorded a 12-song demo of originals, pieced together largely from fragments in de la Rocha’s journals and song structures Morello had contemplated for years. By the end of 1991, they were navigating major-label offers. By the middle of 1992, they were recording their self-titled debut in a string of fancy Los Angeles studios. Seven of those first demos reappear on Rage Against the Machine in almost identical form, de la Rocha’s vocals simply sharpened by veteran engineer Garth Richardson…

IMAGE CREDIT: Getty Images

Rage Against the Machine became a better band on each subsequent album. Their landmark follow-up, 1996’s Evil Empire, is much more coiled and concise. Wilk and Commerford were perfectly heavy. Morello had found the fertile nexus between gargantuan riffs and idiosyncratic techniques that intrigued adolescent fans and Guitar Player obsessives alike. And on 1999’s The Battle of Los Angeles, their hard-nosed finale, de la Rocha is at the height of his polemical powers, rhyming in great hypertextual arcs of political pleas. Morello’s singular guitar style had developed to the point that Rolling Stone famously mistook his screeching “Guerrilla Radio” solo for a harmonica break.

Never again, though, would the quartet sound so casually confident, as if they actually had the gusto and naiveté to take on the world”.

You can claim Rage Against the Machine made a better album – although I would argue against it – but they never created anything as instant, unexpected and timely. The band have not ruled out a reunion but with three-quarters of the band (everyone except Zack de la Rocha) involved with the band Prophets of Rage – alongside members of Public Enemy and Cypress Hill – the band have gone their separate ways but there is no bad blood. It would be exciting to think that, in a time when Donald Trump scares the world and there is police brutality and racism; the band who brought this remarkable debut album could dust it off and take to the stage. You can apply inspirations from the 1990s and events happening then to 2018.

If anything; there is more fear and division in the world and America has a President who seems to causally overlook problems like racism and brutality. He stands for everything Rage Against the Machine oppose and, as such, we need to study Rage Against the Machine and learn from it. Whilst its creators might be reproduce it and follow it; I wonder whether any bands of the moment will take heed and create their own version. In many ways, Rage Against the Machine could only come from this one band who seemed to bright incredibly bright from the off. Although they did release Evil Empire (1996), The Battle of Los Angeles (1999) and Renegades (2000) – the latter was a covers album – I feel none touched the sheer brutality and brilliance of Rage Against the Machine. Few bands since have managed to create anything as jaw-dropping and potent. We need more political bands who can provide big statements and fire against the corrupt but it seems like other genres are taking care of that – solo artists from Grime and Hip-Hop are doing it instead. In this feature from last year; the band recall their beginnings and how the magic started:

“Twenty five years on from its original release, Rage Against the Machine remains chillingly relevant – current turbulent, geo-political times have ensured to that. The band’s firebrand rhetoric has also been given extra muscle by the arrival of Prophets of Rage, a rock-rap supergroup comprising the original band’s engine room of Wilk, Commerford and Morello….

IN THIS PHOTO: (L-R): Zack de la Rocha, Tim Commerford; Brad Wilk and Tom Morello/PHOTO CREDIT: Press Association

The seeds of Rage Against the Machine’s emergence can be traced to Libertyville, Illinois when Morello, a Joe Strummer-obsessed singer-songwriter and the “only black kid” in the all-white town, moved to LA in 1988 to join Hollywood rock band and Geffen Records incumbents, Lock Up. Having worked somewhat incongruously as both political secretary for Democrat politician Alan Cranston and an “exotic dancer” to pay the bills, Morello had his ambitions of fame dented when the band split up in 1990 after releasing just one album, 1989’s Something Bitchin’ This Way Comes.

When the band divided their final pay cheque of $1,000, Morello was only 26 years old, but the sudden career lane change proved inspiring. He was now free to make the heavier, angrier music he had held back from Lock Up’s recording sessions. Morello called in Wilk, who had previously auditioned for the band and, later, de la Rocha and Commerford.

“I was relieved that my music career was done," says Morello. "I thought, ‘Well, if I’ve missed my grab at the brass ring, then at least I’m going to play music that I believe in and love.’ Rage Against the Machine was formed with zero ambitions.” The band’s early writing sessions – a basic, punk rock set-up comprising guitars, drums and de la Rocha’s righteous rage – were soon imbued with a headier vibe.

Rage Against the Machine’s rock-rap musical gumbo soon delivered an album of demos that would make up their debut album. Early cassettes were delivered to record label influencers with a match taped to the box. Chuck D, impressed by the band’s lyrical MO would later take them on a powderkeg US tour where shows were patrolled with police helicopters and metal detectors were commonplace, the authorities fearing an outbreak of gang violence…

“Tom’s (guitar) was what-the-f---, out of this world,” says Chuck. “The bass was like [Motown bassist] James Jamerson. [Rage Against the Machine] had power.” On its release, Rage Against the Machine went triple-platinum in America and made the UK top 20, though its breakthrough moment undoubtedly arrived when firebrand single Killing In the Name was aired on Radio 1 in February 1993. In a headline-making blunder, DJ Bruno Brookes accidentally played the track’s uncensored mix, peppering the airwaves with the anthemic, but expletive-heavy chorus, “F--- you, I won’t do what you tell me.” Brookes was suspended and the LA four-piece’s notoriety was immediately assured’.

Last year saw Rage Against the Machine turn twenty-five and it seemed very apt that many would reconnect with it. A year on and we have seen even more outrage and corruption from Donald Trump; shootings happen and racism come back into the news; division in the U.K. and atrocities that gives Rage Against the Machine even more relevance and meaning. It is almost disturbing listening to a record that seems to predict what would happen in the future whilst brilliantly assessing the mess it was in (in) 1992. Few debuts have burned as hard and made such an impact and it is testament to a band that was tight, brotherly and, in their own way, uniquely talented. There was no minor member: each performer added incredible angles and D.N.A. to the album and ensured it was hugely well-received. Whilst the people of America pray for a new President and want to forget the disturbing reign of Donald Trump; it seems the chorus of Killing in the Name seems…

  PHOTO CREDIT: Getty Images

MORE relevant than ever.

FEATURE: The November Playlist: Vol. 1: What Lies Beneath the Masks

FEATURE:

 

The November Playlist

Vol. 1: What Lies Beneath the Masks

 __________

THIS has got to be one of the…

 IN THIS PHOTO: Keith Flint of The Prodigy/PHOTO CREDIT: @Bart_heemskerk

most eclectic and eccentric Playlist collections for quite a while! Not only are there barking and intense offerings from Slipknot and The Prodigy but there are softer and more soulful tracks from Sheridan Smith and Marianne Faithful! It is a rather broad collection of new tracks that sprinkles in some Bill Ryder-Jones and Halsey; a bit of Chromatics and Sharon Van Etten. There should be more than enough to get your weekend kicking and every part of the brain moved! Once you have calmed from the violence and pummel; have a listen to the more accessible and chilled tracks that should bring you back down and provide some caress. It is a wild, weird and wonderful week of music that is as varied and wide-ranging as I have seen in quite a while!

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

___________

Slipknot – All Out Life

The Prodigy – Champions of London

Halsey – Without Me

Bill Ryder-Jones – Don’t Be Scared, I Love You

Carly Rae Jepsen – Party for One

Saint Raymond – Echo

Beirut – Corfu

PHOTO CREDIT: Ryan Pfluger

Sharon Van Etten – Comeback Kid

BODEGA – Name Escape

RAT BOY – CHIP ON MY SHOULDER

Chromatics – House of Dolls

Morrissey – Back on the Chain Gang

PHOTO CREDIT: Stella Asia Consonni

Anna of the North – Nothing Compares 2 U 

Anne-Marie – Perfect to Me

Carly Pearce – Closer to You

King Princess – Pussy Is God

Little Mix – Joan of Arc 

Skepta (ft. LD) – Neighbourhood Watch

Troye Sivan – Someone to Love

Zuzu – Dark Blue

Barbra Streisand – Lady Liberty

Jacob Banks – Slow Up

Liv Austen – A Moment of Your Time

PHOTO CREDIT: Yann Orhan

Marianne Faithfull – Don’t Go

Sheridan Smith – The One

Lil Peep - Runaway

Pistol Annies – Got My Name Changed Back

Mariah Carey – A No No

PHOTO CREDIT: Shervin Lainez

Jade Bird – Love Has All Been Done Before

 

Charlotte Cardin – Double Shifts

PHOTO CREDIT: Scotify Studios

Slow Pulp – Steel Birds

PHOTO CREDIT: Ed Fielding and Sloane Morrison

Rival Sons – Back in the Woods

FEATURE: Sisters in Arms: An All-Female, Autumn-Ready Playlist (Vol. XVI)

FEATURE:

 

 

Sisters in Arms

IN THIS PHOTO: Jae Stephens 

An All-Female, Autumn-Ready Playlist (Vol. XVI)

__________

BEFORE the weekend comes…

IN THIS PHOTO: Charlotte Cardin 

I have collated another female-led assortment of songs that are culled from different periods. A lot are fresh off the blocks but some are from earlier in the year (one or two from 2017). In any case; I feel these tracks will provide all the colours and contrasts of autumn and will definitely put you in a better mood. There is so much great music coming through from female artists – as there have always been – but I wonder how much of it radio stations and label heads are aware of. In any vase; this is another rundown of songs that I am keen for people to dig into and investigate. Have a look through this assortment and I am sure there’s enough in there to keep you occupied. It is another interesting and varied group of songs that shows what talent we have in music. Get your ears around this female-led collection and start the weekend off…

IN THIS PHOTO: Sarah Close 

ON the right note.  

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

____________

Lainey Wilson - Microphone

Hannah Wants – You Keep Comin’

Charlotte Cardin – Double Shifts

PHOTO CREDIT: Timothy Saccenti

Kelly Moran – Halogen

Willa – Cause You Did

PHOTO CREDIT: VIBE

Kodie Shane – High Speeds

Ella Frank – Blue Jay

Y.A.S – 100 YEARS

Morgan Saint – Falling

Georgia – Started Out

Lilianna Wilde – Love Me Right

Bryony Williams – Narrative Form

Jade Bird – Love Has All Been Done Before

Thyla - Candy

Sarah Close – Crazy Kind

Greta Jaime – Temporary Panic 

REYNA – Heartbeat

Déyyess – Escher Heart

Lana Lubany – Come Midnight

Elle Hollis - Luxury

Anna of the North – Nothing Compare 2 U

Jae Stephens – Long Way to Go

Orla Gartland – Between My Teeth

Chromatics – Camera

ROYAL – Black Beauty

boygenius – Me & My Dog

Faye Webster – Alone Again

FEATURE: Sisters in Arms: An All-Female, Autumn-Ready Playlist (Vol. XV)

FEATURE:

 

 

Sisters in Arms

IN THIS PHOTO: Kayla Painter 

An All-Female, Autumn-Ready Playlist (Vol. XV)

__________

THE cold is properly kicking in…

IN THIS PHOTO: Rachel K Collier 

so it is just as well there is some warming and wonderful music out there that can soothe the bones and bring some sort of heat back! Autumn is that time when the weather is a bit unpredictable and we can have extremes. Whilst I have been enjoying the sun; I know things will turn darker and colder - so I have been looking around music and picking some great tracks. Here is another assortment of female-led songs that showcase some tremendous talent and prove what incredible music is being put out into the world. Have a listen to the busy and diverse playlist and I am sure you will find some tracks that get into the heart and stay in the head. With the cold truly here and things turning a bit naff; console yourself and warm the body with these…

IN THIS PHOTO: Robinson 

BRILLIANT tracks.  

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

____________

Maggie Lindemann – Human

Grace Savage – The Hunger

Bianca Bazin – Poor Thing

Sheridan Smith – Listen to the Rain

Robinson – Medicine (Acoustic)

Sky Keller – Bad

PHOTO CREDIT: @julia_brokaw

Cornelia Murr - Cicada

Nao – Orbit

Rachel K Collier – Poison

Kayla Painter – Sacrificial Magic

Ani Glass – Peirianwaith Perffaith

Cecil – Toybox

Sophie and the Giants – Space Girl

KP Wolfe – Exodus

Cassadee Pope – One More Red Light

Wild Moccasins – Desired Effect

Tessa Dixson – Beautiful Pain

Chloe Lilac – Summer

Jessica Pratt – This Time Around

Kero Kero Bonito – If I’d Known

Ivy Mae – Snakes and Ladders

CHAI – Fried

Amber-Simone – Strawberry Kisses

Sara Diamond – Fool

The Wild Things – Better Off Alone

Kiki Rowe – Use You

JFDR – White Sun (String Version/Live) 

Yes You Are – Blacklight

 

FEATURE: Colour, Light and Darkness: The Wonder and Contradictions of K-Pop

FEATURE:

 

 

 Colour, Light and Darkness

IN THIS PHOTO: K-Pop stars Black Pink (often stylised as ‘BLACKPINK’)/PHOTO CREDIT: Getty Images

The Wonder and Contradictions of K-Pop

__________

I am always conflicted as to whether…

 IN THIS PHOTO: K-Pop group BTS/PHOTO CREDIT: Getty Images

mainstream Pop in the U.K. and the U.S. is as strong as it could be. I am not down on the mainstream and the artists coming but find myself, naturally, looking back at the 1980s and 1990s with regards those instant tunes and sounds that can stick in the mind. There are some great gems to be found but I tend to find a lot of Western Pop is led by something introspective or deeply personal – this can be quite hard on the senses and few songs stay in the brain. We have plenty of more giddy and exciting artists that can provide a much-needed thrill and sunshine burst but is this practice becoming rare? Maybe I am misremembering the 1990s and 1980s but there were artists who could produce inspiring and optimistic songs that made you think and, as such, have endured. Maybe politics and the culture is forcing artists into a more negative headspace. Whatever the reason behind a slightly less joyous and rigid Pop form – fewer bands and a little less scope than decades past – there is this new wave of Pop coming from overseas. We think of Asian music and, when thinking of nations like Japan, maybe something eccentric, odd and very cheery. That is a bit stereotypical and does an injustice to the accessibility and variation you can find in the country. When it comes to Korea; there is a definite split. We know about the rivalry and tension between North and South Korea and one would not instantly look to Korea in general for Pop magic and progression.

I am going to bring in some articles that explain the rise of K-Pop and why, in some ways, English is not necessarily the primary language of modern Pop – especially in countries like America. There are some who contend the popularity of K-Pop is overblown and limited to only a few different artists. A reason why I am drawn to the ‘genre’ is because of what is bring to Pop. Not only are a lot of the artists singing in Korean – making its success and translation even more impression – but it is filling a gap in the market. There are K-Pop solo artists but there are a lot of groups and, at a time when Pop is becoming quite singular and solo-based; I wonder whether artists here and in the U.S. could learn from the Korean market. You may have heard only a few whispers regarding K-Pop or completely foreign to it. How, then, did this phenomenon start and get to where it is now? This illuminating article charts the history of K-Pop; how it has risen to where it is and, despite the success and popularity; there is a darker side and one that might not seem that surprising when you think of ‘democracy’ in Korea:

“There are three things that make K-pop such a visible and unique contributor to the realm of pop music: exceptionally high-quality performance (especially dancing), an extremely polished aesthetic, and an “in-house” method of studio production that churns out musical hits the way assembly lines churn out cars…

 

Because of the control they exert over their artists, South Korean music studios are directly responsible for shaping the global image of K-pop as a genre. But the industry is notoriously exploitative, and studio life is grueling to the point that it can easily cross over to abusive; performers are regularly signed to long-term contracts, known as “slave contracts,” when they are still children, which closely dictate their private behavior, dating life, and public conduct”.

There are a lot of positives and brilliant aspects to K-Pop but there is a rigidity and strictness when it comes to the sort of themes being expressed. Maybe reflective of a wider culture in Korea; there seems to be a distinct split between men and women. Although there is a massive boom and spread of K-Pop; are the themes being performed encouraging and suggestable?! I love the sound of K-Pop and how it makes you feel but, if you dig down to the lyrics, there are some rather worrying limitations and facts:

“If songs for women in K-pop break down along the “virgin/mature woman” divide, songs for men tend to break down along a “bad boy/sophisticated man” line. Occasionally they even break down in the same song — like Block B’s “Jackpot,” the video for which sees the band posing as wildly varied members of a renegade circus, uniting to kidnap actress Kim Sae-ron into a life of cheerful hedonism.

Male performance groups are generally permitted a broader range of topics than K-pop’s women: BTS notably sings about serious issues like teen social pressures, while many other boy bands feature a wide range of narrative concepts. But male entertainers get held toarguably even more exacting physical and technical standards than their female counterparts”.

There are, as I will examine, many positives and reasons why K-Pop should be embraced but are many of the performers dictated to by the Government and censorship? One wonders how expressive and free artists would be were they allowed the same sort of openness as artists in the U.S. and U.K. It seems, whilst the K-Pop phenomenon is global and taking over some parts of the world; there is that problem with limitations and strict censorship:

“Though government censorship of South Korean music has relaxed over time, it still exists, as does industry self-censorship in response to a range of controversial topics. South Korean social mores stigmatize everything from sexual references and innuendo to references to drugs and alcohol — as well as actual illicit behavior by idols — and addressing any of these subjects can cause a song to be arbitrarily banned from radio play and broadcast. Songs dealing with serious themes or thorny issues are largely off limits, queer identity is generally only addressed as subtext, and lyrics are usually scrubbed down to fluffy platitudes. Thematically, it’s often charming and innocent, bordering on adolescent.

Despite these limitations, K-pop has grown over time in its nuance and sophistication thanks to artists and studios who have often either risked censorship or relied on visual cues and subtext to fill in the gaps”.

It is amazing there has been this explosion of Korean Pop and there is this sensation that seems to be coming to the fore. Consider where Korean music would have been in the 1990s and how far it has come in the last few years; the rate of progression and exposure is impressive indeed. Where, then, did it sort of begin and when was that pivotal creation moment?

“But TV was still the country’s dominant, centralized form of media: As of 1992, national TV networks had penetrated above 99 percent of South Korean homes, and viewership was highest on the weekends, when the talent shows took place. These televised talent shows were crucial in introducing music groups to South Korean audiences; they still have an enormous cultural impact and remain the single biggest factor in a South Korean band’s success.

As Moonrok editor Hannah Waitt points out in her excellent series on the history of K-pop, K-pop is unusual as a genre because it has a definitive start date, thanks to a band called Seo Taiji and Boys. Seo Taiji had previously been a member of the South Korean heavy metal band Sinawe, which was itself a brief but hugely influential part of the development of Korean rock music in the late ‘80s. After the band broke up, he turned to hip-hop and recruited two stellar South Korean dancers, Yang Hyun-suk and Lee Juno, to join him as backups in a group dubbed Seo Taiji and Boys”.

I will move on to a new side of K-Pop but, so far, I have uncovered some of the dark elements of the industry and how, even in an industry where most artists are free to express themselves how they feel; Korean Pop performers seem to be restricted in terms of gender roles and themes – never allowed to break too far from what is expected. The Winter Olympics earlier in this year provided a platform for K-Pop – it was held in South Korea – and showcased the diversity of the sound:

“K-pop has become a truly global phenomenon thanks to its distinctive blend of addictive melodies, slick choreography and production values, and an endless parade of attractive South Korean performers who spend years in grueling studio systems learning to sing and dance in synchronized perfection…

IN THIS PHOTO: A shot of South Korea/PHOTO CREDIT: @shawnanggg/Unsplash  

Now, with South Korea hosting the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang at a moment of extremely heightened geopolitical tensions, K-pop has taken on a whole new kind of sociopolitical significance, as South Korea proudly displays its best-known export before the world.

During the Olympic opening ceremonies on February 9, 2018, athletes marched in the Parade of Nations to the accompaniment of a select group of K-pop hits, each playing into the image South Korea wants to present right now: one of a country that’s a fully integrated part of the global culture”.

For those uninitiated and unsure of the K-Pop market; you might think it is commercial sounds that talk about fun and love; a rather cheesy and uncomplicated type of music that appeals to a certain audience – usually teen or pre-teens that fall for the bright colours, strangeness of some of the music and the general mood. In my view, there is more diversity and variation in K-Pop than the Pop music we get over this way. Whether it is rapping or something humorous; a serious ballad or something spirited and fun, it seems K-Pop has it all sewn up:

“As a whole, these songs and performers show us that K-pop stars can excel at everything from singing to comedy to rap to dance to social commentary. And their fun, singable melodies make it clear that the South Korean music industry has perfected the pop production machine into an effervescent assembly line of ridiculously catchy tunes sung by ridiculously talented people in ridiculously splashy videos. When Red Velvet sing, “Bet you wanna (bet you wanna) dance like this” in their single “Red Flavor,” they’re sending a message to the world that South Korea is modern but wholesome, colorful, inviting, and fun”.

Some argue K-Pop is made popular by the Internet and it exaggerates its appeal and true popularity. One needs to shift fewer units to ride high in the charts and a lot of the chart positions obtained by K-Pop artists are fairly low. Maybe we cannot call this a full-on explosion and revolution but it is clear Korean-made Pop is taking its place and is a lot more than the music. This article shows that, unlike a lot of Pop music; K-Pop is about culture and, in fact, has led to a rise in those learning Korean:

“At first listen, it may all sound like a bunch of up-tempo pop numbers, but for those in tune with the nuances of modern pop culture, it is clear that K-pop, which is wildly popular in the UAE, is about more than just the music.

Korean pop, to give it its full name, is known for its blend of well-groomed performers, carefree lyrics and militaresque training. For the past two decades, it has grown from a regional curiosity into a global cultural phenomenon in line with India’s Bollywood and Japan’s Manga.

To demonstrate its growing reach, Dubai’s Autism Rocks Arena will host the festival SM Town Live on Friday. More than 20,000 fans are excepted to attend the showcase featuring nearly a dozen K-pop bands, including one of the scene’s leaders, Exo”.

IN THIS PHOTO: K-Pop band Exo-K/PHOTO CREDIT: Getty Images 

Given the popularity and new prominence of K-Pop; this is leading to more and more people learning Korean. This BBC article brings in some facts and good news and shows that one of the great effects of the K-Pop rise:

“Korean is rapidly growing in popularity, in a language-learning boom driven by the popularity of the country's pop stars.

A desire to learn the lyrics of K-Pop hits like Gangnam Style has boosted the Korean language's popularity explode in countries like the US, Canada, Thailand and Malaysia.

A report by the Modern Language Association shows that Korean uptake in US universities rose by almost 14% between 2013 and 2016, while overall language enrolment was in decline.

The latest statistics show 14,000 students are learning Korean in the US, compared to only 163 two decades earlier.

The language learning website Duolingo launched a Korean course last year because of rising demand. It quickly attracted more than 200,000 pupils”.

This is backed up by this article that expands on how Korean is being taken up by more and more people:

“Priscilla Kim is the director of the Korean Cultural Center in New York, which offers language courses. She says that, among younger students, K-pop has become a driving factor to learn the language. “Over the years we have definitely witnessed growing popularity of K-pop among younger students. As a Korean language and cultural institution located in the heart of K-town, we have courses in the summer that are tailored toward K-pop fans who are interested in learning Korean through K-pop lyrics.”

The language app Duolingo launched a Korean course in September 2017 and it currently has 2.78 million total learners. On message boards on the site, users have talked about being inspired by K-pop acts as well as Korean TV to learn Korean, and the app has included some lessons that are based around K-pop”.

Whereas K-Pop is gaining some fans and following here – some of the biggest acts have performed huge concerts here – there are reasons why K-Pop is trending in America. This piece explains why so many American listeners are falling for and sharing K-Pop:

“The sizable Korean-American population in cities such as Los Angeles is certainly helping to fuel the popularity of K-pop in the United States, but the stateside K-pop audience stretches beyond Asian-American demographics.

"When we performed in Los Angeles, New York and Paris, we were shocked and surprised to see that the majority of our fans were non-Asian," says Sunny of Girls' Generation. "That is when we realized how big and influential K-pop was [becoming] around the world."

Joon Ahn, executive vice president for the music business division at Korea's CJ Entertainment & Media, says K-pop first emerged in the '90s with ballad crooners such as Kim Gun Mo and Shin Seung Hun. The first decade of the new millennium has seen the emergence of new stars such as Girls' Generation, Big Bang, Super Junior, and Wonder Girls, with the latter opening for the Jonas Brothers in 2009…

 

“As the international audience for K-pop has broadened, so has its stylistic boundaries, says Ahn. Hip-hop, rock and techno are now freely embraced by some artists in the movement. Snoop Dogg performed on the title track of Girls' Generation's 2011 album, The Boys; Kanye West appeared on JYJ's "Ayyy Girl" in 2010; and the Black Eyed Peas' will.i.am will reportedly produce the U.S. debut album by K-pop group 2NE1, an all-female hip-hop group.

"The channel for movement of music is now very simple with digital," Ahn observes. "Even the file size is convenient for it. Compared to movies, musical theater, or TV series that have a bigger language barrier, music's appeal is communicated through rhythm and visual impact. YouTube and other social networks have contributed the most to spreading music of all kinds and allowing them to be heard [by] a greater audience."

With commercial success comes increased competition. It's been said that even a few months out of the spotlight can spell trouble for a successful K-pop group because there are many artists clamoring for attention”.

Whilst there are limitations regarding what male and female acts in K-Pop can express and how they can perform; you cannot deny how important the music is and the effects that are taking place. A couple of the biggest K-Pop acts, Black Pink and BTS, are seen as the future of K-Pop and representative of where it will head.

IN THIS PHOTO: A shot of Seoul, South Korea/PHOTO CREDIT: @yokeboy/Unsplash

This piece in Vulture explores those groups and why they have managed to resonate and, in many ways, break away from convention. Although a lot of K-Pop groups are being shackled by label and Government restrictions; there are those who are bucking the trends and shaking things up:

“A K-pop idol group, for example, might strategically include one or more members from abroad. Tiffany, who is in Girls’ Generation, is a Korean-American; Victoria from f(x) is Chinese; Tzuyu from Twice is Taiwanese. The non-Korean members served as ambassadors for the international market, in which the K-pop group would put out different albums and concerts in the language of that market. They may even change their aesthetics to be more aligned with the needs of any given local market. During their U.S. tour, Wonder Girls adopted Korean-American-style makeup — which made them appear darker and their eyes narrower — to the consternation of their fans in Korea. This method did find some success in the U.S.: the English version of Wonder Girls’ “Nobody” was the first K-pop single ever to chart on the Billboard Hot 100, clocking in at No. 76.

Yet BTS employed none of these localization tactics. The group has no non-Korean member, nor does it have any song sung entirely in English. It’s not likely that BTS could have successfully emulated the conventional localization strategy (they tried once, earlier in their careers, without much luck. Their Japanese-language album, Wake Up, faced anemic sales when it was released in 2014): Their production company, Big Hit Entertainment, is more like an ambitious start-up in the K-pop world compared to the Amazons and Googles that are SM Entertainment and JYP Entertainment, whose market capitalization approaches a billion dollar…

 

“But BTS had something else going for them: authenticity and a narrative arc. Although BTS’s members did undergo the training typical for a K-pop idol group, they participated in the music-making process from the beginning, creating music that they could call a product of their own minds, rather than something concocted by their label.

It is not yet clear whether BTS’s “narrative authenticity” strategy truly presents a meaningful alternative path for other K-pop groups — but other groups are certainly trying to walk that path. More K-pop groups, such as Seventeen and Monsta X, are producing their own music. Monsta X and Got7 have even put out conceptual trilogies of their own. JYP Entertainment’s new group, Stray Kids, is the “narrative” strategy on steroids: Rather than a series of albums, the group stars in a season-long reality television show in which they work together to make a debut album.

Black Pink is the evolutionary next step of 2NE1, YG Entertainment’s last great female K-pop group, which peaked around 2013–14 and disbanded in 2016. As with 2NE1, Black Pink’s music is centered around producer Teddy’s Korean-ized take on hip-hop, and Black Pink’s visual presentation uses a similar strategy. The end result is something that is familiar to K-pop fans: attractive artists performing precise and disciplined choreography accompanying the latest offering from YG’s in-house production team”.

 

I look around at the Pop acts we have now and, as I said, there are many more solo artists than groups. Once was the time when there were a lot of male and female Pop groups but, more and more, that is dwindling and, with it, a sense of community, unity and togetherness. The role of Pop in the U.S. and U.K., largely, is for a lone artist to have their say. I admit there are Pop groups around but none that have the same mix, components and strengths as the likes of BTS and Black Pink:

“There are also some parallels between BTS and Black Pink. Using hip-hop as their musical calling card is an important commonality. But unlike BTS, Black Pink continues the localization strategy with its members. Lisa is Thai, and Rose is a Korean–New Zealander. The group collectively speaks Korean, English, Japanese, and Thai. The addition of a Thai member is a nod to Southeast Asia, a relatively new but booming market for K-pop. This strategy appears to be working across the board. In the U.S. market, Black Pink’s album, Square Up, debuted at No. 40 on the Billboard 200, the highest ranked album from a female Korean act ever.

With its group NCT, SM Entertainment arguably is a step farther than JYP in terms of localization. In 2016, SM’s founder Lee Soo-man outlined his vision of “Neo Culture Technology,” which forms the basis of the plan behind the group (as well as its name). It is not clear if NCT are a “group” or a “band” in the traditional sense; a term like a “format” or “brand” might be more appropriate. Under the banner of NCT, SM Entertainment formed a number of subunits made up of members recruited locally, using the K-pop trainee system that SM pioneered. NCT currently has three subunits based in different cities around the world (NCT U, NCT 127, and NCT Dream), with an additional subunit based in China to debut soon. The subunits sing different songs and offer different visual aesthetics, tailor-made for their markets.

 

“Despite years of trying, K-pop’s appeal in the U.S. market initially appeared to have a ceiling. But with BTS, K-pop broke through once again. Crucially, the narrative strategy of BTS and the localization strategy of Black Pink and NCT are not in direct competition with each other: Plenty of K-pop fans like all three groups. The point is not to see which strategy wins the race; rather, it is to anticipate the path of global K-pop in the coming years by observing the two models’ call-and-response”.

There are some weirder and darker sides to K-Pop and, being from Korea, there is always going to be governmental rules and something a little strict. You never know what goes on behind closed doors and it is that contrast and sense of mystery that lends K-Pop a lot more intrigue than the more conventional Pop in the West. Despite its flaws – there is plenty of room for evolution and improvement – I can see things getting better and the positive effects – more learning Korean and positive role models coming through – are clear. Whether the K-Pop act sings in English or Korean; there is something interesting about the music that may speak to where they hail or a direct opposition to westernised Pop. Maybe it is not as fascinating and enduring as the Pop of the 1980s and 1990s but, at a time when the Pop group is disappearing the Pop industry, in general, is becoming less interesting, electric and outward-looking; K-Pop is a much-needed medicine and weapon that I hope others take up. Maybe we will not see an instant transformation of Pop but I feel we might see more Pop bands come through and the landscape open up. If you are new to the contrasts and complexities of the K-Pop market; spare some time and listen to music that is, bit by bit, starting to…

 IN THIS PHOTO: Black Pink/PHOTO CREDIT: Getty Images

TAKE over the world.

FEATURE: The Icon Is Born: Why Aladdin Sane Is David Bowie’s Most Important Album

FEATURE:

 

 

The Icon Is Born

IN THIS PHOTO: David Bowie as Aladdin Sane (eyes open, 1973)/PHOTO CREDIT: Brian Duffy/the Duffy Archive  

Why Aladdin Sane Is David Bowie’s Most Important Album

__________

THIS is one of those pieces that is not provoked by…

IN THIS PHOTO: David Bowie/Aladdin Sane (Contact Sheet, 1973)/PHOTO CREDIT: Brian Duffy/the Duffy Archive  

an anniversary or something timely - but I have been thinking a lot about David Bowie and his extraordinary impact on music. I often muse about modern music and wonder if, at any time, we will witness a rare creature such as Bowie. He seemed to arrive from another planet; one where there were no rules and boundaries; a fearless and always-surprising entity who, over the course of his career, changed music and inspired scores. He remains that rarest of musicians: a unique and untouchable figure. When he died (in 2016); I was sad but thought to myself: there will never be anyone like him in anyone’s lifetime. Maybe that is a rash and all-sweeping statement but think about music now and the ‘characters’ we have now. Who is there that shifts music on and evolves so much? Who do we have that can beguile with their image, music and personality? I think we will have stars and icons but nothing on the same plain as David Bowie. I often, too, wonder how many artists you can look at any break their career into stages. There was that incredible ‘Berlin period’ where we saw Low (1977), “Heroes” (1977) and Lodger (1979). There was the wonderful one-two of Diamond Dogs (1974) and Young Americans (1975) where Bowie shifted his sonic and visual focus: going from post-apocalyptic and Glam-inspired (Diamond Dogs) to an American-influenced, Soul-tinged album in Young Americans.

 IMAGE CREDIT: Getty Images

Maybe the late-1980s/early-1990s was not the most successful and consistent period for Bowie but his ‘recent’ works – 2002-2016 – showed the master had not lost any of his magic and brilliance. I am not sure whether you can call that period ‘A Rose Revival’ or something else but, look at certain bits of his career and there are definite phases and themes. Many quibble as to which David Bowie album is the greatest. Maybe Low, Hunky Dory; Station to Station and “Heroes” will be wrestling for that top spot but I’d like to introduce a fifth guest to the table: Aladdin Sane. Talk about David Bowie ‘The Icon’ and the image that stares at one from Aladdin Sane’s cover is a spacey, mysterious and beautiful figure. In many ways it is the reincarnation and evolution of Ziggy Stardust. I pose the question at the top of this article – as to whether Aladdin Sane is Bowie’s most important work – as it seemed to be that zenith of that early phase. Bowie would go onto record wonderful albums and enjoy a consistent run of hits – 1974-1977 saw five albums released and there was barely a missed step in the pack – and there was a time when nobody could compete with him. It wasn’t until 1970 that David Bowie started to get into the public consciousness.

  IMAGE CREDIT: Getty Images

The Man Who Sold the World (1970) is regarded as the start of Bowie’s ‘classic period’ and when he started to hit his stride. That album contains incredible material and some debate when Glam/Glam-Rock was truly born. Many say it was when Marc Bolan/T. Rex appeared on Top of the Pops performing Ride a White Swan in December of 1970 whilst wearing glitter. There is a school of thought that suggests David Bowie heralded the birth of Glam. Certainty, he was a pivotal force and The Man Who Sold the World helped popularise and expose this new and wonderful style of music. The 1960s brought fashion changes and style changes but nothing quite like Glam. With Marc Bolan daubed in glitter and projecting this almost mystical figure on the stage; David Bowie was growing into this true and original beast who, like Bolan, walked on the more imaginative and sexual side of the road. The Man Who Sold the World hinted at what Bowie would become and truly caught the critical imagination – his first couple of efforts were quite well received but few raved about him. The wheels were truly turning and 1971’s Hunky Dory sort of came out of nowhere! It is a vast array of themes and styles fused together. There are the contrasts of sexuality and class; Bowie sweeping between kitsch and refined and this amazing confidence running throughout.

  IMAGE CREDIT: Getty Images

Many consider Hunky Dory David Bowie’s most important work because it helped open his music to the world at large. Bowie, on the album’s cover, saw Marlene Dietrich’s influence come through – it was captured by Terry Pastor and designed by George Underwood. It is not his most challenging musical palette but, in lyric terms, it confirmed what would come and who Bowie would be. Changes investigated artistic transformation and evolution – something personal and important to Bowie – and musical heroes (The Velvet Underground and Bob Dylan were given tribute on the record) to legendary Life on Mars. His most solid and eclectic collection (up until that point); songs such as Changes, Life on Mars and Kooks are considered staples and fan favourites. Bowie himself considered Hunky Dory one of his most important. He was afforded an actual audience and people were directly responding to music and communicating that. A lot of Hunky Dory’s acclaim did not arrive until 1972 when The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars arrived. Bowie had been experimenting with characters and personas up until that point but here was the man creating his own world; a new figure that he could embody and speak through. The concept, loose as it was, was this fictional, androgynous bisexual Rock star who was a messenger for extraterrestrial beings.

  IMAGE CREDIT: Getty Images

Bowie said the album was (about a) story that didn’t really take place; fragments he randomly dropped together and, as such, you could listen to in any mood and would not be led by a strict concept. Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars, essentially, could be the last band on Earth. The ill-fated hero, Ziggy Stardust, comes to Earth and wins the minds and hearts of teens; scares their parents and becomes this revered figure. He, by the closing of the album, falls victim to his own fame and, whilst not on the planet, is kept in the hearts and souls of his disciples. The reason why I need to make a distinction between ‘best’ and ‘most important’ albums is because many would say The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars is David Bowie’s best album – I argue Aladdin Sane must be considered as his most important. A lot of critics, when the album came out, were impressed but not really completely on board. They could recognise the quality of the work and the inventiveness throughout but nothing like it has ever come before. Even during a time when Glam was around and you had these wild and extroverted performers like Marc Bolan; music was acclimatising to this new wave and there was something alien about David Bowie and this new persona.

Certainly; in terms of creative and personal leaps, it took a lot of people by shock. Consider the rather ordinary and relatable figure that we saw on the cover of David Bowie (1967) and, in a way, you get a very typical and normal human – looking a bit like Scott Walker, in fact! Maybe there was a feeling this new sound and look was pretentious but Bowie executed it perfectly and with huge confidence. I feel The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars is considered an enduring masterpiece is because of the acclaim it has accrued after its release. A lot of people responded to the record years down the tracks and, perhaps, The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars was light years ahead of its time. Bowie was taking a big leap and risk – although he would never think so – and it is testament to his natural abilities and instincts The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars resonated and is viewed as this classic record. I feel Aladdin Sane is his most important work is because it was the first time in his career Bowie was coming from a position of creative and personal strength.

Hunky Dory proved successful and popular but it was the aftermath of The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars that provided the most willing springboard. His sixth studio album came with this expectation and waiting eyes. Bowie could not very well do another Ziggy-type album and continue the concept he explored before. He could not return to a more traditional and homely look or explore the styles/ideas he did in the first few years of his career. Lesser artists could have panicked and made a mistake; released an album too quickly or taken too long to produce anything. David Bowie, at the time, was a star and was being accepted as this originator and unique personality. Some critics at the time (1973) felt Aladdin Sane lacked the intimacy of Hunky Dory and was less intense than The Man Who Sold the World. This was an understandable vantage considering how little material Bowie had put out until that point. Look back at his entire career now and you can see that he was always moving and changing courses. Aladdin Sane is essential and influential because of what could have been. Instead of producing a copy of his previous moves or going off the rails; Aladdin Sane is an essential, urgent and instantly memorable album that captures you the moment you hear it.

 IMAGE CREDIT: Robert Bateman

That sense of image and character was still in play. Maybe the character of Aladdin Sane was less ostentatious than Ziggy Stardust but the cover alone has accrued interest and speculation. Shot by Brian Duffy, it is this enduring and iconic image that seemed to take Bowie and his work to another level. Seeds had been planted during the previous album regarding image and the idea of David Bowie as this otherworldly figure and true chameleon but, to me, Aladdin Sane was when it was truly cemented. In this article; Chris Duffy - the son of Brian Duffy – talks about the impact of Aladdin Sane and that cover image:

“Still, he’s well aware of the cultural impact the sessions they conducted together continue to have. “Duffy’s pictures of David are so iconic,” Chris says. “Eventually we have all got to pass on, but I would guess that David’s legacy will be the Aladdin Sanepicture. It has become a cultural icon. Several years ago I started calling it the Mona Lisa of Pop. I think it is quite befitting – there isn’t really an image that is as ubiquitous. It’s been on used fridge magnets, caps, calendars, t-shirts, lighters, beer mats and it is quite extraordinary, you know? You can go somewhere like a market in Goa and you will find people selling rip off Aladdin Sane T-shirts”.

The importance of Aladdin Sane cannot be underestimated. It was the first release from an artist who had transformed from this promising and exciting figure to someone who was a true star.

The flirtation with image and personas continued and showed The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars was no fluke and, in fact, there was a lot more of this to come from David Bowie. Aladdin Sane was the moment David Bowie killed off Ziggy Stardust. It was the transformation from the somewhat playful and charming figure to something darker and more disturbed. Beforehand, you could hear a lot of British influenced on Bowie but Aladdin Sane was the master embracing America and what it held – from seedy and salacious elements to new sounds his audience had not heard. Bowie could have played it safe or kept on the same course people were familiar with but Aladdin Sane as this first real leap and shift. Bowie would bring in America music and culture on albums like Young Americans and Station to Station – in many ways, Aladdin Sane was this awakening and portal into a new nation; taking his music in another direction and influencing what he would become. In 2016; Rolling Stone ran a piece that investigated the death of Ziggy and the birth of this much more intense and intimidating figure:

“A sinister influence, to be sure. Aladdin Sane is a harder, nastier, gaudier album than Ziggy Stardust, written on the road and immersed in the decadence and sleaze of American culture. Each song on the LP is listed with the place that supposedly inspired it: “Watch That Man” in New York, “Drive-In Saturday” in Seattle and Phoenix, “Cracked Actor” in L.A., “Lady Grinning Soul” back in London. But everywhere he goes, he sees cheap sex and cheaper drugs. Now that he’d hustled his way into the American limelight, he wasn’t sure he liked it...

Bowie wrote the songs amid the frenzy of touring, with the working title Love Aladdin Vein. (In that same crazed year, he produced Lou Reed’s Transformer and mixed the Stooges’ Raw Power.) The music expanded as avant-jazz pianist Mike Garson joined the Spiders From Mars. (A Scientologist, Garson spent the tour trying to convert the boys in the band, adding to the general chaos.) Ronson goes for his filthiest and flashiest guitar heroics in “Panic in Detroit,” “The Jean Genie” and “Watch That Man” – the hardest rock of Bowie’s life – while Garson’s piano carries drama-queen ballads like “Lady Grinning Soul”.

Aladdin Sane was released in April 1973, three months before he famously killed off Ziggy Stardust onstage in London. As far as the rock & roll big time was concerned, Bowie had just arrived. But with Aladdin Sane, he was already restless to move on to parts unknown”.

That last paragraph – relating to a huge leap and this icon arriving – marks Aladdin Sane as a vital and hugely important work. You cannot look at an album like Aladdin Sane purely in the context of the time or a particular phase. You have to acknowledge the sound, the look; the other records of the time and where Bowie would head. 1973 was a fantastic year for music and, in many ways; Aladdin Sane seemed to incorporate a lot of elements from the best of the year. Consider the trip and imagery of The Dark Side of the Moon (Pink Floyd) or the extravagance of Goodbye Yellow Brick Road (Elton John); the potency and explosion of Raw Power (The Stooges) or the variety and richness of Mott (Mott the Hoople).

 IMAGE CREDIT: Getty Images

David Bowie’s Aladdin Sane stood out in a busy and eclectic year for music and propelled his music to new realms. Clash looked back on the album and how it inspired and changed the music landscape:

“The album also sacrificed the linear narrative of ‘Spiders’ in favour of a more experimental sound which saw Bowie, empowered by the production skills of Ken Scott, embrace commercially successful reinvention for the first time. ‘Watch That Man’ aggressively broke with the polish of ‘Spiders’ in favour of a Stones influenced blend of raw blues, which saw the vocal lost in a sleazy wall of sound.
Equally diverse, the title track was one of several to incorporate the piano playing of avant-garde jazz pianist Mick Garson who weaved his jazz playing into a two-minute piano solo that elevated Bowie above his peers. The sense of the otherworld is recaptured on a sleeve depicting Bowie gazing vacantly from an expanse of white nothingness while a lightning bolt slashes his face in two to conjure the schizophrenic symbolism of some faraway planet”.

‘Aladdin Sane’ had entered the UK charts at No.1 to propel Bowie from outsider to legend. However, after 18 months of touring, a cancerous exhaustion was rotting the band from the core, and following a lacklustre performance at Earls Court, Bowie seized the opportunity to amputate the festering wound while burning Ziggy in to the conscience of rock iconography. In the final moments of an arousing performance at the Hammersmith Odeon in July 1973 the falling star made his most provocative statement yet. Set against the backdrop of ‘Rock ‘n’ Roll Suicide’, the dramatic announcement of "that will be the last show we ever do" reverberated around a silent hall to send shockwaves of disbelief through an atmosphere thick with distilled emotion”.

Bowie is synonymous with reinvention and this was the first time we had seen this happen. Many saw a lot of Aladdin Sane points as to what he would achieve with Diamond Dogs – a grittier sound and one that is a bit post-apocalyptic in terms of themes and tones – and, as such, its impact and importance cannot be undermined:

“‘Aladdin Sane’ bridged the gap between ‘Ziggy Stardust’ and ‘Diamond Dogs’. With advanced orders of over 100,000 the album finally clarified Bowie’s position as an established rock ‘n’ roll star. In maintaining his fan base while diverting to more experimental territory Bowie was confident he could hold a crowd and set the trend. Crucially this period saw the beginning of Bowie as pop auteur. Brimming with self-belief after having the audacity to kill off Ziggy, he went on to reinvent himself time and time again, becoming a key innovator and changing the face of the musical and cultural landscape throughout the seventies”.

Ultimate Classic Rock looked at the influence of Aladdin Sane and how it helped predict where Bowie would go and what would define his music:

“But Bowie also dug deeper into the avant-garde and jazz shadings that would fuel some of his later records (see the title track). In addition to the music's legacy, the album's cover art became one of Bowie's most iconic images. The lightning bolt that splits his face in half was partly inspired by the way Bowie felt he was being pulled in different directions during this hectic time in his life, and a perfect visual complement to the album's title pun. More than all of this, Aladdin Sane clinched Bowie's standing in the big leagues”.

I think about Bowie and, in addition to sonic shifts and these distinct ‘periods’ (geographical and genre); you cannot escape the fashion and iconic looks Bowie adopted until his death in 2016. In many ways, Aladdin Sane is one of the most enduring and inspiring albums because of that iconic lightning bolt on the cover. The Telegraph (their fashion director Lisa Armstrong penned it) wrote a piece regarding the impact and popularity of that lightning bolt look:

“Aladdin Sane was everywhere in 1973, so ubiquitous, he had even infiltrated my school  -  Dorchester Grammar, a rural  establishment hitherto impervious to fashion and, so it seemed to me, anything colourful.  Like a West Country kabuki tribe, the girls in the fifth and sixth form marched arm-in-arm (forbidden) down the corridors with their spiky orange hair-cuts (not forbidden, but only because the rules had yet to catch up), alabaster faces and tweezered-to-the-brink-of-extinction eyebrows in tribute to their hero, terrifying my fellow first years and me.

And the list of beneficiaries of Bowie inspiration goes on. The New Romantics, New Order, Madonna, Kate Bush, Kate Moss, Gaga, Florence, Jean Paul Gaultier, Balmain and many more, have openly paid homage to his influence on their style and careers.

Without doubt however, it’s Bowie’s androgyny that has had the most lasting footprint. Unlike other agents of glam rock, Bowie’s gender fluidity managed to shock because it wasn’t mere posturing. While the members of Slade and Sweet went out of their way to demonstrate their machismo, Bowie, with breath-taking insouciance, flouted his bisexuality”.

Maybe there are finer and more complete works than Aladdin Sane – one thinks of “Heroes” and Low – but there are none, in my estimation, that as important (in Bowie’s career) than the 1973-released gem. Such was the importance and popularity of Aladdin Sane; it would be a little while before Bowie created another masterful album. 1973’s Pin Ups is not considered an essential Bowie release whilst Diamond Dogs (1974) is brilliant but flawed (and his first album not to feature any of the Spiders from Mars). Many people focus on the look and iconography of Aladdin Sane and overlook the rich bouquet of music on there. Drive-In Saturday and Cracked Actor are tremendous cuts from the first side whilst The Jean Genie and Lady Grinning Soul end the album spectacularly. Critical reaction from the U.S. was stronger than it was in the U.K. and it meant his popularity there grew enormously – which, in turn, inspired his future direction and popularity. The fact Aladdin Sane is forty-five and still gathering huge acclaim and investigation shows how important and impactful it was – and how it signalled the rise and birth of an artist like no other! You can argue as to which Bowie album is the king but, if you think about importance and the transformation from The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars; Aladdin Sane has to be in your thoughts and its relevance acknowledged. Not only does the imagery and look of the album endure and influence but the rawer and harder-hitting sounds of Bowie not only inspired the man himself but generations of artists. We always here that thing about icons and the new breed: they do not make them like this anymore! In some cases that is a bit of an over-exaggeration but, in the instance of David Bowie and the wonder of Aladdin Sane; I feel that statement is…

 IN THIS PHOTO: David Bowie, Aladdin Sane (album cover, 1973)/PHOTO CREDIT: Brian Duffy/the Duffy Archive  

VERY apt indeed.

FEATURE: Bad Blood: The Toxic World of the Twitter Feud

FEATURE:

 

 

Bad Blood

IN THIS IMAGE: Nicki Minaj and Cardi B/IMAGE CREDIT: Getty Images  

The Toxic World of the Twitter Feud

__________

I might have time to concoct something…

 PHOTO CREDITS: Getty Images

a bit more ‘Hallowe’en-y’ later today but, as I have already done a Hallowe’en playlist; I feel like I should address something a little more serious and worrying. There is nothing new about artists taking to social media to rip shreds out of one another. The latest news-courting feud is between U.S. stars Nicki Minaj and Cardi B. A fairly new development has been reported:

“Cardi B has accused Nicki Minaj of leaking her phone number to the public, which led to death threats against her daughter.

In one of a series of Instagram videos, Cardi B accuses Minaj of the leak following an altercation at a New York fashion week party that left Cardi B with a bruised forehead after she reportedly threw one of her shoes at Minaj. “How come my phone number got leaked one hour after that altercation at the Harper’s Bazaar party?” Cardi B says. “How come everybody that y’all have issues with, y’all have the numbers in your camp and they numbers got leaked?”

She goes on to show text messages she received after the number became public, including one that reads: “We coming to find you and your daughter. We ain’t resting till we kill Kulture”, her daughter with rapper Offset. She describes Minaj as “sick in the head”.

Minaj has denied leaking the phone number, saying: “I’ve never leaked a number in my life and y’all continue to lie on me to make me look like a bad person.”

Minaj has since tried to move on from the dispute, tweeting: “Let’s focus on positive things only from here on out”, with Cardi B agreeing, saying on Instagram: “Alright then! Let’s keep it positive and keep it pushing!”

"I know what there is footage of. You standing on the wall like 'I'm standing right here.' Ms. Chun-Li, the street fighter"- Cardi B

I howwwwled at this pic.twitter.com/8WCPMIkL3z

— Keith Nelson Jr (@JusAire) October 29, 2018

Not only is the feud between these two artists quite petty and unexplained but it seems like there are going to be severe repercussions from their spat. I am not sure who will come off worse in this feud but you wonder what is truly motivating it. This escalating war between the artists has, already, seen scuffles, mean exchanges and quasi-threats and many have claimed it is nothing but a bid for supremacy. Whether you consider Nicki Minaj or Cardi B as the Queen of Pop/R&B; you do not particularity want them going at it all the time and taking attention away from the music. Maybe that is part of the idea: gaining publicity and traction and creating this hype. You can sense the intentions and dislike is real but things have escalated to such an extreme length that death threats are being reported. It is okay if artists have a beef with one another but, when you open it to the unedited and capricious shark tank of social media, you are inviting a world of trouble! Twitter is especially notorious when it comes to superfans getting carried away; random trolls kicking off and assorted freaks seeing how far they can take it. Cardi B released her album, Invasion of Privacy, and it scored big with critics. Nicki Minaj released her record, Queen, in August and, whilst an accomplished record, it did not fare as well with reviewers.

Throw into the mix there were delays and problems with sample clearance and, at least for now, Cardi B has that commercial and critical edge. In terms of the ignited and escalating Twitter feud; you wonder where it will end and, indeed, what toll it will take on the artists. Some might write all of this off as tantrums and cynical publicity but, when things get as serious as death threats and endless insult; it goes too far and exposes those artists to something toxic and horrible. If you want the chronology and story of the Nicki Minaj v. Cardi B feud; here is an article from an exasperated reporter – who gives the timeline to us:

“So, if you’re like me, and want to find out what happened so you can quickly go back to “not caring about it,” here’s your cheat sheet, presented in chronological order:

Nicki hops on “Queen Radio” on Monday afternoon to address rumors that her security team beat up Cardi B at the Harper’s Bazaar Icons event during New York Fashion Week. Nicki claims pal Rah Ali punched Cardi B “9 or 10" times. The Queens rapper paid $100,000 for surveillance footage of the fight that night, as well as claiming she had video of her own.

Nicki claims Cardi prevented her husband, Offset, and rapper 21 Savage from collaborating with Nicki on the “No Flag” video, and kept 21 Savage from doing a remix to “Krippy Kush.”

Nicki denies that she leaked Cardi’s number to her Barbz, which Cardi’s sister, Carolina Hennessy, alleged.

Cardi responds to alladat in an epic 10-video Instagram rant Monday night, countering that she:

Did not stop Nicki’s bag or practice payola (and threatened to sue Nicki for defamation of character for alleging so),

Did not get beat up by Rah Ali (and would never lie about such a thing when there were so many “footages”—a real word!—of the incident),

Called Nicki to discuss issues around “Motorsport,” the song on which they both featured (and displayed Nicki’s alleged phone number in the process—yikes! Cardi!),

Was initially offered Nicki’s Diesel jeans partnership before Cardi passed on the offer (people still wear Diesel jeans?), as well as declining a chance to feature on a Little Mix song Nicki eventually featured on….

 

Cardi invites Nicki to talk it out or just fight already.

Nicki counters back, on Twitter and in Instagram comments, tapping her inner Maury Povich and inviting Cardi to take a lie detector test on her podcast, and accuses the Bronx hit-maker of not writing her verses.

For some reason unbeknownst to anyone with common sense, Wilhelmina CEO Bill Wackermann waded into the tumultuous Instagram waters and claimed the Diesel campaign was always built around Nicki.

Cardi, apparently perched on Instagram like a merciless macaw, quickly posts receipts—i.e. emails of the Diesel contract offered to her. She also forgets to blur out the email accounts (Cardi! Think of the notifications! The overflowing inboxes! The rabid Barbz! The humanity!).

Wackermann deletes his Instagram account post, because bruh. No one wants that Nicki/Cardi crossfire smoke.

Nicki continues to ask Cardi where her pen’s at.

Cardi asks Nicki where her #1 songs are at.

We reach peak “everything is funny right now” and everyone’s face melts off.

Nicki decides she’s done with all this mess and, depending on how you feel about her, decides to a) tap out or b) be the bigger person and says she “won’t be discussing this nonsense anymore.”

Cardi concurs, saying “let’s keep it positive and keep it pushing.”

The person (or people) running The Shade Room’s Instagram account finally exhales and rests their weary fingers, which had been flying for the last 4 hours (seriously, we owe y’all a drink...or 10).

People who think “females” only started rapping in 2010 find something else to do with their time (or not)”.

Something less catty and just as serious is the ongoing war between Eminem and Machine Gun Kelly. The two have exchanged diss songs and it seems there is this intense beef and heat that threatens to ignite once more! On the song, No Reason; Machine Gun Kelly provides a low-key shade of Eminem – some of the lyrics not as cryptic as he’d hope! One line, “To remind y’all you just rap, you’re not God” is a direct reference to Eminem and it seems like, in this case, there is professional jealousy. Rap Devil also came out and poured more fuel on the fire! Back in 2015, Machine Gun Kelly was banned from radio stations following inappropriate comments aimed at Eminem’s daughter, Hailie, and her looks. Hallie was about twenty at the time and it was seen (the comments and lust) as a step too far. Turn this back as far as 2012 and, at aged sixteen. Hailie was subject to more attention from Machine Gun Kelly. He claimed she was “Hot as f*ck” and, considering the age of consent in the U.S. is eighteen; there is something seedy and pervy. There is no surprise Eminem has taken umbrage at Machine Gun Kelly and their feud, for the most part, has been in the press and through songs. Eminem seems to be the bigger man in this case but is clearly unhappy about Machine Gun Kelly and his attitude.

 IN THIS PHOTO: Machine Gun Kelly/PHOTO CREDIT: Getty Images

Considering what could happen between the Hip-Hop/Rap artists if it did spill out into the public; you have to wonder whether steps need to be taken to resolve the problem or keep them apart. I am not suggesting they have crews that will attack one another in the street but, again, the feud has been highlighted on Twitter and like the ‘CarNaj’ debacle; one feels things are going too far. You see these artists taking strips off of one another and it is so unseemly and sets a bad example. There are young fans who are seeing and hearing words from Eminem and Machine Gun Kelly and it does rather leave a bad taste. Maybe, again, there is that need to gain press focus and escalate so that the music sells well. Machine Gun Kelly can shade Eminem in song and that will get him millions of YouTube streams. Eminem can retort and that will push his profile and, like days past, you have this feud that is being played out in music. The feud in music is not a new sensation at all. Classic bands like The Beatles and The Beach Boys have seen their leaders separated and spitting cruel words at one another. Although Paul McCartney and John Lennon resolved their differences; Lennon took to the press after The Beatles dissolved in 1970 to attack McCartney’s overbearing nature in the studio.

 IN THIS PHOTO: Paul McCartney and John Lennon/PHOTO CREDIT: Getty Images

McCartney provides a subtle stab-back in 1970 but it many saw this attack coming – tensions in the camp of The Beatles has been growing since 1968. Pink Floyd’s David Gilmour and Roger Waters have been balkanised and divided for years and Ray and Dave Davies have been at each other’s throats since the 1960s. The Kinks’ surviving members recently shared the stage for the first time in years and many are speculating a reunion. Other music feuds, including that between Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel, is seen as pretty serious but the lack of social media intervention/input means, in a way, the fire has been contained somewhat. Maybe social media is not to blame for feuds exacerbating and becoming vile but it does not help. There is a more humorous side to some of the feuds. The brothers Gallagher (Liam and Noel) might have been a bit spicy and intense during their Oasis heyday but now, as slightly ageing Rock gods; they are taking to Twitter to jab at one another. Although Liam is keen for an Oasis reunion; he cannot help poking Noel and taking the piss when the moment calls. It is quite funny the brothers have this unbreakable sense of conflict but you know, underneath it all, they love one another. There have been some recent feuds that have, one hopes, come to an end.

 IN THIS PHOTO: Remy Ma/PHOTO CREDIT: Shareif Ziyadat/Getty Images

Rolling Stone ran a piece about, again, Nicki Minaj and her feud with Remy Ma. The battle had been rumbling for a while but things started to intensify around 2017:

“Remy responded by launching an all-out assault with the seven-minute diss epic, “ShETHER,” which took aim at Minaj. “I’m jealous? Bitch, you was happy when they took me/Best thing that ever happened to you was when they booked me,” she seethed on the track.

Remy gave Minaj a 48-hour deadline to respond to the song, which she did – sorta. Instead of a response track, Minaj shaded her on Instagram by posting a (since deleted) screenshot of Plata O Plomo‘s “disappointing” album sales with a caption reading “yikes.” She also shared a video in which Beyoncé, pop royalty in her own right, acknowledged Minaj as a “rap queen” on her rework of Prince’s “Darling Nikki.”

Remy dropped an equally brutal diss track four days later, “Another One,” and continued the taunting with a (since-deleted) throwback Instagram photo of Minaj captioned “#B4TheButtJob.” Addressing the feud on The Wendy Williams Show the following day, Remy, resplendent in funeral attire, quipped, “My grandmother told me to never speak ill of the dead.” Minaj eventually came for her with some help from her Cash Money friends Drake and Lil Wayne to serve up the “#3PackFromPARIS,” a trio of diss tracks led by “No Frauds.”

Remy scored her biggest triumph at the 2017 BET Awards in June, when she ended Minaj’s seven-year run as the Best Female Hip Hop Artist. She paused during her acceptance speech to rap a few victorious verses from “Spaghetti,” an anti-Minaj Plata O Plomo album cut. The following day, Minaj chose to perform two of her Remy disses, “Realize” and “No Frauds,” at the NBA Awards”.

 IN THIS PHOTO: Katy Perry/PHOTO CREDIT: Covergirl

Maybe not as spiked and potent as the current feud between Nicki Minaj and Cardi B; two other mainstream females, Katy Perry and Taylor Swift, were at each other’s throats for ages. Here is this history of the war between Swift and Perry:

“The bad blood apparently started flowing back in 2013, when a dancer named Lockhart Brownlie (who had toured with Perry for her California Dreams world tour in 2011) was interviewed for Australia’s The Examiner. During the interview, Brownlie admitted that he and two other dancers stopped working for Swift on her Red tour after Perry called and invited them to come join her on her Prism tour instead.

"I was with Taylor for the first six months [of the Red tour]," he explained. "It was a great experience and she’s a great person to work with, but then Katy contacted us. We weren’t really dancing in Taylor’s tour anyway, so I had got a little bored and I really wanted to do a promo tour."

So yeah, that happened. Then, in a 2014 interview with Billboard, fans thought Swift basically confirmed that her hit song "Bad Blood" was about Perry and the whole debacle. Of course, she didn't actually say Perry's name, but fans drew their own conclusions. Here's what she said:

She did something so horrible. I was like, 'Oh, we're just straight-up enemies.' And it wasn't even about a guy! It had to do with business. She basically tried to sabotage an entire arena tour. She tried to hire a bunch of people out from under me. And I'm surprisingly non-confrontational – you would not believe how much I hate conflict. So now I have to avoid her. It's awkward, and I don't like it.

Whoa. Things only got worse from there. After Swift got herself into a Twitter war with Nicki Minaj over the VMA nominations in 2015, Perry used the opportunity to weigh in and throw some serious shade Swift's way…

Watch out for the Regina George in sheep's clothing...

— KATY PERRY (@katyperry) September 9, 2014

A year later, Perry got dragged into a different Twitter fight — this one between Swift and her ex Calvin Harris. In July 2016, shortly after the two broke up, the news got out that Swift had secretly co-written Harris' hit Rihanna collab "This Is What You Came For." Harris went on Twitter rant about how Swift leaked the credit in order to tear him down. "I know you're off tour and you need someone new to try and bury like Katy ETC but I'm not that guy, sorry," he wrote in a since-deleted tweet. "I won't allow it."

Perry responded with a subtweet that featured a gif of Hillary Clinton, because of course she did”.

pic.twitter.com/m6ebYV8D1r

— KATY PERRY (@katyperry) July 13, 2016

It seems like any bad blood between the has ended – or cooled at the very least! Another Taylor Swift-featuring feud was her standoff with Kanye West. To be fair; Kanye West initiated things and made it worse but it is another case of this toxicity spilling into song – there were potent and laced tweets from West (and Swift) that brought in fans and seemed to take it to another level. Rolling Stone show where it all went wrong:

“Then he dropped The Life of Pablo in February 2016 and everything went sideways. The track “Famous” made waves for the line: “I feel like me and Taylor might still have sex/Why? I made that bitch famous.” The collective national gasp had barely faded away when he released the accompanying video in June, which featured nude wax figures of several West-related celebrities – Swift among them – in bed next to a replica of himself and wife Kim Kardashian. Protestations from Swift’s camp were blunted when Kardashian leaked a videothat appeared to show West clearing the offending lyric with the singer…

 

Swift posted a lengthy note to her social media accounts objecting to the use of the word “bitch,” which had not been discussed previously. But that was just the preamble for her earthshaking “Look What You Made Me Do,” a lethal revenge track released in late August 2017.

Though West isn’t mentioned by name, the lyrics are littered with hints about its target. “I don’t like your tilted stage,” she sings, seemingly alluding to the slanted set West used during his Saint Pablo tour, and the faux phone call proclaiming, “the old Taylor is dead” recalls the taped call controversy. The final scene of the music video features Swift mockingly reenacting the VMAs moment while pleading, “I would very much like to be excluded from this narrative” – her famous rebuke to West’s “Famous” controversy, thus confirming that West is at the top of her enemies list. In red. Underlined”.

Although a lot of these feuds are played out more through music; it is coming into social media and Twitter is playing a big role. Sending a sarcastic, insulting or baiting tweet is an easy way of getting things heated and, as I mention, fans of each party are having their say. It catches on in the press and this attention seems to fuel the fire and leads to escalation. Wherever you look, there seems to be sort of beef playing out through Twitter. Azealia Banks and Lana Del Rey have not been immune to Twitter wars:

“Allegedly, it all started when Azealia Banks took to Instagram at the end of September 2018 to lambaste Lana Del Rey for speaking out against Kanye West and for doing, what Banks claimed, was "bootleg witchcraft." It was nearly two weeks before Del Rey finally responded via Twitter, saying: "Banks. u coulda been the greatest female rapper alive but u blew it. dont take it out on the only person who had ur back…

IN THIS PHOTO: Lana Del Rey and Azealia Banks/PHOTO CREDIT: Getty Images  

Banks fired back immediately, and on an otherwise calm afternoon on October 9, the internet sat back and watched as the two music artists lashed out at each other with a barrage of petty shots and insults. Del Rey threatened to "f*ck you the f*ck up," then Banks responded that she felt "powerful," cryptically plugged her line of soap, the followed it up with some detailed body shaming, accusing Del Rey of having plastic surgery - but not enough of it - and advising her to invest in appetite suppressants. Del Rey, in turn, clapped back, announcing she would give Banks the number for her psychiatrist and creating a new trending hashtag, #uneedanewcocktail, in the process”.

There are many other occasions when there have been spats and misjudged comments on Twitter and it seems like the social media channel is a perfect place for misinterpretation, escalation and general spitefulness. We have seen some brief battles and Twitter feuds and long-runners like that between Taylor Swift and Katy Perry that, we hope, has burned out. The long-standing and intensifying war between Nicki Minaj and Cardi B got into my head and it seems like things will get even uglier in the weeks to come. Maybe there is something petty and childish about the retorts and comments but it does not take too long before one takes it too far and something serious happens. There have been recent development, whether they are true or a red herring, that suggest the feud between Cardi B and Nicki Minaj might be over. ELLE reported the news:

“The great Nicki Minaj and Cardi B feud has come to an end after less than two months. The two rappers, whose Harper's Bazaar ICONS party fight (where Cardi B allegedly threw her heel at Minaj after she believed Minaj liked a tweet insulting her parenting) really started their public war with each other, came to peace last night on Twitter and Instagram—but not without some drama first.

Yesterday Cardi B called Minaj a liar on her Instagram stories after Minaj said on her Queen Radio show that she was innocent regarding multiple aspects of their fight, per The Cut. Minaj then suggested Cardi B take a lie detector test with her on Twitter (and also promoted her new music video because of course):

We can...

Get on live & have the convo for the world to see.

Do a lie detector test TOGETHER

Do an interview on #QueenRadio 😅

*** ORRR we can both sit in a room together, hear a beat for the first time, and have ourselves FILMED WRITING TO IT!!!!!! #DipVIDEO OUT NOW 👅

— QUEEN (@NICKIMINAJ) October 30, 2018

Let us hope this reports are well-founded and they are going to bury the hatchet. I wonder whether things will spark back up and whether one sly comment can get that fire burning. Twitter seems to be this platform where artists can air their grievances and it can escalate so quickly. Whether there is that commercial aim or the publicity is the only way of staying in the public eye; it leaves a bitter taste and I do wonder what the point of it all is. I am not sure how many other Twitter feuds are going on but every one of them seems to be pointless and they all get out of hand before you know it. As we have seen already; if things get carried away then it can turn really ugly. I know the Twitter feud is a way of airing beefs without getting physical but, when it is all said and done, you have to ask yourself…

 IN THIS PHOTO: Nicki Minaj and Cardi B/PHOTO CREDIT: Getty Images/Kevin Tachman

IS it all worth it?!

FEATURE: After the Gold Rush: Article 13 and Providing Musicians a Fairer Financial Deal – and Why New Copyright Laws May Prove Problematic

FEATURE:

 

 

After the Gold Rush

PHOTO CREDIT: @giamboscaro/Unsplash  

Article 13 and Providing Musicians a Fairer Financial Deal – and Why New Copyright Laws May Prove Problematic

__________

THERE are a few points I want people to consider…

 PHOTO CREDIT: @luke92/Unsplash

when it comes to money in music and how it is generated. Think about new and established artists alike and how they go about their promotions. They will release a song and, typically, it gets pitched to radio and websites to big them up. If they are lucky they might get airplay once or twice on a station but, for some, they might enjoy longer focus. In terms of physical sales; very few underground artists are relying on C.D. and vinyl sales. The bigger names might enjoy healthy sales in that respect but how much money can they expect to see after shifting a lot of units – and how much of that profit goes to the record label?! Merchandise is an option but when you add all this up; is a lot of money being made from each track/album? The costs will be covered but, considering how much work the artist puts in to promote and spread their work, it really doesn’t seem like adequate compensation. It used to be the case that physical sales could generate a lot of money and music was more physical. Now that we do a lot of our listening/buying online; one would think the money has shifted and drifted in a natural fashion. Whereas an artist might have made quite a lot from physical album sales back in the day; now, many are struggling to get fair finance and profit when they put a track online.

 PHOTO CREDIT: @whereslugo/Unsplash

If you are a small artist who puts their tracks onto YouTube; they might get a few hundred views and that will be it. Perhaps that is the only way you can get people to listen but, even when that many people hear you, the money going to the creator is a tiny. We should all be aware about the discussion that has been happening for the last month or two regarding Article 13. This article lays out what Article 13 is intended to do and how a fairer deal for artists can be struck:

“The UK music industry has joined forces to take on the tech giants that are trying to block EU plans to give everyone in the music industry a fairer deal.

Members of the European Parliament backed the Copyright Directive in an important vote on 12 September.  This change would boost the tiny amounts that some tech firms like YouTube pay for music played online.

Our campaign - called #LoveMusic - supported this important change.

TRUTH VERSUS FAKE NEWS

·         Article 13 does not impose obligations on the general public. The rules only relate to online platforms and to creators and those who invest in creators.

·         Article 13 makes it easier for the public to create, post and share online content.

·         Article 13 will only be applied to online platforms whose main purpose is to make a profit from storing and making available creative content.

·         Online encyclopedias, open source software and non-commercial platforms are explicitly excluded from the requirements of Article 13.

PHOTO CREDIT: @cytonn_photography/Unsplash

COPYRIGHT MYTHBUSTING

·         Article 13 will NOT make memes illegal. Exceptions to copyright for parody are already in place and the Directive does not change this.

·         Article 13 will NOT kill remixes. Services are already licensed for remixes and mash-ups are covered by existing exceptions to copyright.

·         Article 13 will NOT harm small businesses and start-ups. The measures will be proportionate, reflecting the specific size and scope of the service.

·         Article 13 will NOT breach privacy or personal data and will be in full compliance with the General Data Protection Regulation.

HOW YOUTUBE COINS IT IN AT MUSIC’S EXPENSE

·         1 million streams on YouTube generates as little as £540 for the artist

·         YouTube pays creators a tiny £0.00054p per stream of music

·         Streaming sites like Apply Music and Spotify pay £4.3 billion for music use – way more than YouTube, even though YouTube is the most popular music service in the world.

·         A song needs to be streamed 51.1 million times on YouTube before the creator can make the average UK annual salary of £27,600.

·         A total of 85% of YouTube’s visitors come to the site for music and YouTube accounts for 84% of video streaming services.  At least £2.33bn of YouTube’s revenue in 2017 was generated by music in 2017, according to MIDiA Research.

WHY CHANGE IS NEEDED TO PROTECT MUSIC

Many tech companies are fully licensed and have systems for managing content on the internet.

But there are legal loopholes that undermine the rights of creators and those that invest in them. We need to close the loopholes and make the internet work for everyone.

According to figures from the International Federation of the Phonographic industry (IFPI), audio streaming platforms attracted 272 million users in total in 2017, while 1.3 billion music-using users turned to online video services like YouTube...

Despite having one-fifth of users, audio streaming platforms pay substantially more for the use of music. These services paid around $5.6bn (£4.3bn or £15 per user per year) which contrasts significantly with the $856m (£650m or just 50p per user per year) returned to the industry by the likes of YouTube.

The legislation proposed in the European Parliament would create a level playing field in the online market.  If you#LoveMusic, please continue to support this change.

To watch our video to learn more about this campaign and to sign the petition please visit http://love-music.co/ 

   THE FIGHT TO SAVE MUSIC ONLINE

              SUBMISSIONS

                     ALL-PARTY PARLIAMENTARY GROUP ON MUSIC

                   FINANCE

                 COPYRIGHT AND INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY

                     SUSTAINABILITY

There have been some developments and debates regarding this proposal but the reason I wanted to bring it up now is to make people aware of how much money artists are ‘losing’ when they accrue millions of streams on YouTube. I am not sure whether the problem is the same regarding Spotify and how artists are paid but it renews my calls for YouTube to provide subscription. I get the luxury of perusing Spotify and having limitless access to music in exchange for a subscription fee. I am happy to pay this and feel they could go further – charging users a bit more and sharing that revenue with artists. YouTube doesn’t have that same option and anyone can go on the site for free and watch any video they wish. YouTube relies on advertising a lot when it comes to paying artists but, as the figures show, the amount of money artists make is very low.

 PHOTO CREDIT: @rawpixel/Unsplash

It is not only about the profit and loss and making sure artists get their fair share. There is that guarantee of data protection and, essentially, ensuring sites that profit from users and musicians are giving money back. YouTube makes a pretty hefty whack from musician and advertising and the site has not really changed much since its inception. You might get the odd tweak here and there but it could be a lot better, more organised and user-friendly. I feel, unless you are a huge artist who can bag millions of stream with each single; your life is going to be a bit hard and it seems unfair so little money is generated. Even if you are someone like Rihanna, Taylor Swift or Drake; does the amount of money earned correspond to the amount YouTube will make and is it treating the artist with respect?

 IN THIS PHOTO: Dua Lipa/PHOTO CREDIT: Getty Images

Although it is good there is that awareness and accountability regarding fair pay and making more for artists; another component of Article 13 relates to user content and copyright laws – something, some say, could threaten YouTube’s future. This article explains the proposals in more detail:

“The platform’s Chief Business Officer Robert Kyncl has said the ability for creators and artists to find fans and build a business online is now “at risk” thanks to the heavily debated Article 13.

Kyncl cites the role of user-generated content in the success of videos by Drake, Dua Lipa and Alan Walker, explaining: “Creators and artists have built businesses on the back of openness and supported by our sophisticated copyright management tools, including Content ID and the recently launched Copyright Match Tool that manages re-uploads of creators’ content.

“Copyright holders have control over their content: they can use our tools to block or remove their works, or they can keep them on YouTube and earn advertising revenue. In over 90% of cases, they choose to leave the content up.

“Enabling this new form of creativity and engagement with fans can lead to mass global promotion and even more revenue for the artist.

“That’s what makes platforms like YouTube special: fan videos have the power to help propel established songs to new heights and even break new artists. This is the new creative economy in action.”

The idea that Article 13 will threaten the ability of people to create user-generated content has been dismissed as “bogus” by music industry representatives”.

PHOTO CREDIT: @joshrh19/Unsplash 

Since all the debate and build-up regarding Article 13; it was approved and passed and, over the last few days, there has been speculation as to how profitable and sustainable will be in future years. I applaud the need to make sites like YouTube aware of how little money is being paid to artists but are the copyright restrictions/tightening going to create a problem regarding freedom of speech, choice and surveillance (users being monitored tightly to ensure they are not breaking any rules)? This article, published today, poses some interesting points:

“While not yet law, the proposed reform has split the modern music industry as YouTube supporters claim the legislation limits the possibilities of content creation on the internet. Others are happy at the idea of creators earning more revenue directly from their content on YouTube.

“This is a good sign for the creative industries in Europe,” said Axel Voss of the EU Parliament in a statement concerning the vote.

His view is not shared by YouTube, which has been unequivocal about where it stands since the passing of the vote. “Today’s outcome in the EU copyright debate is disappointing and we’re concerned about the impact on the creative economy across the internet,” tweeted YouTube ‘s chief product officer Neal Mohan after news of the legislation got out.

Although the vote by the parliament was in favour of the Copyright Directive with a 438-226 landslide, individual countries will carry out their own votes in 2019 before the reform becomes law. If Article 13 does become law, watchers can expect more displeased notes from YouTube”.

I think there needs to be a definite revision of copyright laws and change how YouTube is operating right now. Whilst I am all behind the need to put more money back in the pockets of artists and ensure they are being fairly paid for the work they put online; do the stricter controls around copyrighted material and new measures mean jobs will be sacrificed? A lot of money is being brought in right now that means YouTube can operate as they do and they can employ the amount of staff they have. With fewer videos coming onto the site and stringent controls being levied; will staff numbers be cut and revenue shrunk?! It seems, if Article 13 does fully pass into law; YouTube’s CEO, Susan Wojcicki, will not be happy – as this piece explains

“YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki warns video makers about the threat of a controversial copyright law in the European Union and urges them to "take action immediately" and protest the ruling with videos and social media posts.

"This legislation poses a threat to both your livelihood and your ability to share your voice with the world," she writes in a blog post published Monday.

Wojcicki focuses on Article 13 of the EU's new Directive on Copyright, which passed in early September and makes tech platforms liable for copyright-protected content. Essentially, this means that giant platforms that rely on user-generated content, including Google's YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter, would be responsible for making sure that users don't share copyrighted material. As it stands now, the platforms aren't fiscally accountable for violations, although they do need to remove copyrighted content when rights holders ask them too.

Critics say that Article 13 could could threaten people's ability to share material like memes or parodies”.

 PHOTO CREDIT: @rawpixel/Unsplash

What does all these changes mean and how will they affect YouTube? Polygon provided a compelling argument that put together the pros and cons of Article 13 in relation to its proposals and checks:

“The new proposal would likely find YouTube implementing a more rigorous, pre-publish copyright check, which many critics assume means using a filtering system whose algorithm can’t tell the difference between transformative work and direct re-upload. User content isn’t directly at risk of disappearing, but in this scenario, a Doctor Who meme or video essay would be hit before it’s even published because it includes work that belongs to the BBC. Transformative or not, the filtering system would kill the video.

Rights holders who defend the EU Copyright Directive cite fair compensation as the main reason for their decision to back the directive. Paul McCartney, for example, published an open letter in July announcing his support for the directive.

“We need an internet that is fair and sustainable for all,” McCartney wrote. “But today some user upload content platforms refuse to compensate artists and all music creators fairly for their work, while they exploit for their own profit”.

It seems to be this case of Article 13 overhauling YouTube across the board and getting real serious. I am sort of divided as to the outcomes and how beneficial the rules will be. Many are saying copyright laws being proposed are akin to a dictatorship or being controlled. Whilst I do not think there is a need for outrage and protest; it does seem like a lot more checks will be applied when anyone uploads to YouTube. Whether this will weed out those who are ripping off someone else’s work and need abiding by copyright laws or it will go deeper and impact many others remains to be seen. It has been said remixes will not be affected and it is for the good of the YouTube community but you have to wonder whether there is an easier way to do things. Article 13 has whipped up a lot of opposition – regarding copyright and how users will be affected negatively – and there are positives regarding payment to artists and that is a good thing. This proposal will also affect sites like Twitter and Facebook but I am concerned with YouTube because of the music on there and how people like me use it. Whilst I am on-board for the most part (of changes); there is some confusion as to what will be affected and how far the legislation goes. In this WIRED article from a week ago; they provided their thoughts and what will be impacted:

“The latest amended version of the Directive removes this phrase and inserted an exception saying “special account shall be taken of fundamental rights, the use of exceptions and limitations as well as ensuring that the burden on SMEs remains appropriate and that automated blocking of content is avoided.”

The reason why this article has been dubbed the “meme ban” is that no one is sure whether memes, which are often based on copyrighted images, will fall foul of these laws. Proponents of the legislation argue that memes are protected as parodies and so aren’t required to be removed under this directive, but others argue that filters won’t be able to distinguish between memes and other copyrighted material so they’d end up being caught in the crossfire anyway”.

 PHOTO CREDIT: @rawpixel/Unsplash

Another proposal going through, Article 11, or the ‘link tax’ is something that might impact me and makes me wonder how much of an article I can use in my own work:

“The article intends to get news aggregator sites, such as Google News, to pay publishers for using snippets of their articles on their platforms. Press publications “may obtain fair and proportionate remuneration for the digital use of their press publications by information society service providers,” the Directive states.

No one is really sure how this one would work either. How much of an article has to be shared before a platform has to pay the publisher? The Directive states that platforms won’t have to pay if they’re sharing “mere hyperlinks which are accompanied by individual words,” but since most links are accompanied by more than a couple of words it seems that many platforms and news aggregators would fall foul of this rule.

The Directive does contain an exemption for “legitimate private and non-commercial use of press publications by individual users,” so it doesn’t look like individuals sharing links on social platforms will have to dip into their pockets”.

In January next year; the Directive will go back to the European Parliament and there will be a vote regarding the final wording. If the Directive passes then member states of the E.U. have two years to pass laws that will bring their laws in line with new regulations.

It is clear change needed to happen. You cannot operate sites like YouTube and pay artists so little. It is clear there is also a need to protect artists’ work and ensure there are no copyright violations. Most people can get onside regarding shifting money from tech companies to provide more substance and coin for artists. Nobody should see their work get a lot of views and attention and be paid paucity. If some fear this will leave YouTube with less profit and affect their growth; I would suggest implanting a subscription and asking users to contribute. As it stands; anyone can wander in and see what they want and share it out into the world. It is clear users need to pay and artists, in turn, need to get their fair shake. It is yet to be seen how proposed copyright changes will impact sites like YouTube and their future but there are a lot of opposing voices – if there had been these measures since the start of YouTube; many argue it would not be as open and accessible to artists as it is. There is a long way to go but this is something that has provoked a lot of response and emotion. I am a little nervous about some proposals and articles but I feel the increase artists get when their music is streamed/viewed has been a long time coming! Many will welcome this rule and I think it will benefit music in general and allow new artists the chance to grow and not struggle as much. Whether there will be implications as to YouTube’s future and its freedom down the line has yet to be seen. I hope, when there is a ruling and we get greater clarity, we will not see the future threatened of a site that, whilst lax regarding payment to artists, is a hugely…

 PHOTO CREDIT: @flaviewxvx/Unsplash

INVALUABLE and brilliant platform.

FEATURE: Turn the Page: Is Music Journalism Really in a Healthy and Sustainable State?

FEATURE:

 

 

Turn the Page

PHOTO CREDIT: @elijahsad/Unsplash 

Is Music Journalism Really in a Healthy and Sustainable State?

__________

I will bring in a piece Dave Simpson wrote for The Guardian…

 IMAGE CREDIT: Getty Images/Press

in regards music journalism and its health. He argues, quite rightly, there is a wealth of wonderful magazines on the newsagent racks and plenty of choice for everyone out there. Let’s start with the print media and how it has shifted. Many have argued that music’s printed press and the hard copies we all grew up with are going strong – even if the market has changed and there are smaller publication. Whilst there is not the likes of Smash Hits anymore; there are plenty of options out there. I remember growing up around Pop magazines and popular publications that were shared around the playground and we would pour over the pages and read all the interviews and reviews; the cool news and great images of our favourite stars. I loved the writing but, to me, it was the colour and style of these magazines that got into the mind and stayed with me. Whilst some have bitten the dust, there are many available options for the modern consumer. The biggest change, I feel, is the age shift. Music magazines used to be digested and thumbed through by children and younger fans but I feel there are fewer modern options established for that age range. Maybe there are fewer younger music fans who are interested in music journalism or there are no real options on the shelves. Many are getting their news and fix from the Internet and a lot of the music magazines out there, bar the odd one or two, seem to be designed for the more mature and ‘serious’ purveyor…

 IMAGE CREDIT: Getty Images/Press

There are few of the glitzy and colourful magazines we used to buy as children. Now you have these more advanced and po-faced magazines that are as alluring and captivating as those we were raised around – even if there is a little less fun and humour to be found. There is a school of thought that suggested we do not buy magazines and the music press is irrelevant. One cannot make that declaration without frequenting a newsagents or shop and seeing the array of available mags. If anything, a lot of smaller, specialised magazines are popular and there is a wide range that covers all genres. You can buy magazines dedicated to Classic music or Metal; those for Pop and Rock and Folk options. If you want your fix of the coolest Indie out there then you have choices and affordable passions. One of the biggest losses in the music industry was the death of NME’s print edition. This is how The Independent presented the news:

“NME has announced that this week’s issue (Friday 9 March) will be its final print edition, as it attempts to expand its digital audience.

NME was launched as the New Musical Express in 1952 and began its 66-year career as one of the UK’s most recognisable music publications, featuring iconic artists on its cover including Oasis, Bowie, Amy Winehouse, The Libertines and The Strokes.

The free NME launched on 18 September 2015 and featured Rihanna on its cover. It has been handed out to commuters and students around the UK on a weekly basis since…

IMAGE CREDIT: Getty Images/Press 

Paul Cheal, Time Inc UK’s group managing director for Music, added: “NME is one of the most iconic brands in British media and our move to free print has helped to propel the brand to its biggest ever audience on NME.com”

“At the same time, we have also faced increasing production costs and a very tough print advertising market. Unfortunately we have now reached a point where the free weekly magazine is no longer financially viable. It is the digital space where effort and investment will focus to secure a strong future for this famous brand”

The end of NME’s print edition led many to believe this was a sign of a journalism apocalypse: the move from the newsstands to the Internet and a sign people were not buying music magazines any more. Many took to the Internet to share their disappointment and theorise why NME were struggling. Maybe there was an issue with the way the editor was taking NME or a problem regarding advertising getting in the way of the music. Whatever the reason behind declining sales; it was a sad day and the end of an era. Other publications have had to call time but, as explained, there are ample choices and a really healthy raft of magazines/papers for those who love their music journalism in printed form. Dave Simpson backs up this viewpoint:

“...And yet, to walk into any major newsagent in 2018 is to be greeted by a dizzying array of titles – far more than there were when Melody Maker, NME and Sounds shipped hundreds of thousands of copies. Today’s circulations are lower, but there are magazines for every niche or genre, from Classic Rock to Blues & Soul to avant garde title The Wire…

PHOTO CREDIT: @rawpixel/Unsplash 

“I’ve read thousands of words about the so-called ‘crisis in music journalism’, but your average punter would be hard-pressed to understand that,” says John Mulvey, who edits the 63,000-selling monthly Mojo, which celebrated its 300th issue last month. He argues that the ill-fated free NME was “a last attempt to court a general audience, as titles have realised that they are no longer mainstream but specialist publications”.

I love how Mojo and Q have survived for years and seem to have that loyal fanbase. There is no sign of end for them and it is clear, at its heart, magazines like that do their job very well. There are great reviews and interviews and it is clear people are not abandoning the printed form for the Internet. I will end by looking at negatives and ways the music media is suffering but it seems, for the most part, the visibility and variation of printed forms is evident. I am a fan of magazines like The Line of Best Fit and DORK. They are handy, cool editions that are colourful, really well-designed and informative. Each has their own style and you get these great reviews, articles and interviews. If you want a more mainstream option then you have the likes of Q and Uncut but there are these smaller rivals that seem to project a more geekish and cool element – they are the types you’d expect to hang around Hackney with really posh beer talking about the latest Wolf Alice album, Whereas one was a little limited back in the day regarding range and surprise; as music has opened and more and more choices are available for the listener; journalists have reacted to this and ensured that is reflected in print form.

 PHOTO CREDIT: @bank_phrom/Unsplash

I would not say the printed form is completely out of the woods regarding safety. The more and more we turn to the Internet; the more some of the smaller and less popular options will fail. Look at the longevity of magazines like Q and Rolling Stone and it does provide hope and comfort for those who want to bring their own options out. Whilst I acknowledge the variety and vivacity of the magazines out there; one wonders how profitable they are. Back in 2011, there was a bit of a sales dip for publications such as Uncut and Q but it seems like they recovered quite well. Advertising and revenue from that means publications can be more ambitious and attract big artists to the cover; they can employ more people and there are options available. So many of the magazines I buy and read are either free or cost very little. It seems, although printed music media is stable, the profits available are quite slim. Advertising brings in enough money to cover expenses but there is not a huge amount of profit at the end – meaning there is always that risk of loss and decline. As I shall speak about later; one of the main problems with music media/journalism is the lack of employment opportunities and paid positions.

 IMAGE CREDIT: Getty Images/Press 

What, then, is the reason behind the survival and growth of music magazines?

“Following what Mulvey calls a “recalibration”, today’s music titles are adapting to smaller circulations and more competitive markets by lowering overheads, using smaller teams and refining their core specialisms, emphasising quality, longform journalism in the face of an avalanche of disposable free content. Mulvey – an ex-NME staffer who edited Uncut until last January – wants to develop an ageing readership gently by covering new artists alongside the “evolving stories” of veteran Mojo favourites – so Paul McCartney can be on the cover and Malian star Fatoumata Diawara inside. Uncut’s current editor Bonner wants the 44,000-selling monthly to “celebrate the best of old and new” – so David Bowie retrospectives mix with passionate pieces on Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever or Moses Sumney”.

 IN THIS PHOTO: Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever

Whilst there are some positives to take away; it seems like appeal and stability is more important than sales figures and profit. We are not in a time when there are great movements like Britpop getting us racing to the stands. Fewer school children are sharing music magazines and the culture has changed. Music is more about individuals than it is genres/albums; we have changed immeasurably and, with that, there have been some bumps for a few of the bigger magazines:

“Q editor Ted Kessler has a tough job, turning around the so-called “world’s greatest music magazine” with its slightly younger remit spanning the post-Britpop era and contemporary pop: it sold 200,000 copies in 2000 but 37,000 in 2017. But the recent Christine and the Queens cover felt zeitgeisty and Kessler insists he doesn’t fret over sales figures. “I’m confident enough in what we’re producing appealing across the generations to not fear the readership dying on us. Every month I’m excited when we put the magazine to bed, which hasn’t always been the case at Q”.

Whilst there is that satisfaction, from editors, regarding their cover stars and their working lives; the fact sales figures are dipping and magazines have to retail for less/offer more means there is this struggle for survival and growth. I wonder, given the figures we just saw for Q if people are turning more and more to websites for their news and music?

PHOTO CREDIT: @rawpixel/Unsplash

A lot of people sneer at music journalists and feel most people, with streaming services, can make their own minds up and do not need people telling them what to buy. There are so many music websites around so why would we need to go out and buy magazines? Whilst there is a range of magazines on the shelves; you wonder how many will disappear in years to come and how healthy their sales figures are. It is hard to tell just how well magazines are faring but, as Simpson explored, the dents and obstacles are affecting Internet sites too:

“Internet titles have been hit hard by a collapse in web advertising, following Facebook and Google’s greater ability to place advertisements right in front of any target audience – refined, by algorithms, to age, location, “likes”, music tastes and so on. “I’m constantly being shown ghost adverts saying, ‘All your readers could see this on Facebook if you pay us,’” says John Doran, co-founder of the Quietus. The esteemed left-field website recently turned 10 and attracts 400,000 monthly readers for coverage of acts from Guttersnipe to the Fall, but requires supporter donations and pays journalists when it can (many work gratis to assist what is seen as a noble cause). Doran admits that he and colleague Luke Turner are themselves “on less than minimum wage, forever five minutes from the dole. Today, I wouldn’t start a website. I’d start a free, bi-weekly, multi-genre paper, distributed in universities”.

 PHOTO CREDIT: @mikeack/Unsplash

I feel the biggest market is those smaller publications that are newer to the market and providing a bit more variety, style and personality. Perhaps magazines like Q and Uncut need to rebrand or take a new direction but I do fear for their long-term future. Whilst there is a bit more stability with Mojo and Kerrang!; I still think the next few years will provide a challenge when it comes to keeping the sales figures up. Every music magazine/outlet knows they need that print edition and few out there can survive as a website alone. People do not pay to see a website and read their news so it is vital to have that paid option. Many P.R. companies and artists want to see their work in print and it has that quality they want to hold onto. It is like the clash between digital and vinyl music: we love the accessibility and speed of streaming but people love to have that physical product and have something in their hands! It seems a lot of new artists love the choice of online sites and they can get their music/words on there but the bigger, established artists prefer print and that heritage. As more and more newer artists come through; how long before websites take sales/attention from magazines and cause some problems?!

 PHOTO CREDIT: @juliusdrost/Unsplash

I agree there is no need to write off the printed press – and many still want magazines and something they can read – but there is an inherent issue when it comes to all these websites sprouting up. I am a blogger and know there are hundreds of options out there. Not only do we have the problem with saturation and TOO many options but so many people are working in the industry for free. Advertising brings in so much but a lot of that is used for expenses such as gig tickets, travel and other costs. Maybe some of the bigger websites can pay their staff – people like The Guardian have paid employees for sure – but there are a load of websites that recruit freelance journalists who, for the most part, receive no fee. Journalism should be about passion rather than money but, if a young journalist cannot get paid and there is no easy route to paid employment; is that going to turn many away?! I have tried to apply for work at big magazines and newspapers and the route for people like me is either an internship or pitching to the editor. If you are lucky then you might get a bit of money for an article or interview but it is unstable and an unreliable source of finance in the long-term. Internships are unpaid, for the most part, and hugely competitive. Loads of people are going for them and there is no guarantee a job will await you at the end.

If you have been a journalist for a while and want to earn a wage, you cannot step back and do an unpaid internship. You will not be able to afford rent and travel and the fact you are battling so many others means long-term prospects are shaky and unsure. Not only is the lack of paid work a trouble but there is still problems around class, race and gender. Music websites are great but how often will you be able to earn some money from submitting pieces? You might get the odd bit of cash here and there but is that attractive to a journalist emerging? They will see the reality – you have to work for free a lot – and that is going to affect recruitment. People like me blog for the love of it but, naturally, we want to get paid in the future and make it a career. Even with a slightly upturn in magazines and choices, it does not mean a paid music career is a safe bet or guarantee. So many of these publications have small margins and is it realistic to be a journalist in this day and age?! If you want to work for free and can work a full-time job around that then that is an option but not one many are tempted to do. Another problem exists when you consider that issue with reviewing and public opinion. There are a lot of positive reviews out there and I feel a lot of journalists, myself included, compromise a bit of integrity and truth in order to seem warm and all-inclusive. Have critics, in fact, lost the art of being critical?!

 PHOTO CREDIT: @belart84/Unsplash

This article from earlier in the year explores issues around reviewing and some under-discussed problems in music journalism:

“This is an odd thing to notice at first, but since the turn of the decade or so, more and more mainstream, major label albums have been getting positive reviews by professional music critics.  Is the overall quality of music getting better? Turn on commercial radio and listen for yourself. Okay, clearly the good-to-mediocre-hits balance is still the same as it has been for generations – so what gives? Are critics across all industries slowly loosening up and realizing that at the end of the day, it’s all just art for the masses and tastes are subjective? Strangely enough, no.

MetaCritic.com features an aggregator to add up all the review scores given to releases in movies, video games, TV and music by professional critics everywhere, creating a fairer average rating by balancing things with more voices and viewpoints. They use colour coding for consumers scrolling their listings to quickly identify if this release is generally considered good or not. Green means good. Yellow means mixed. Red means that the critical consensus is that this entertainment product should be avoided. Each year, about 10% of movies Meta Critic lists have red scores. So for every 7,000 or so motion pictures that get widely reviewed, around 700 are considered “bad” by the vast majority of professional critics. Music releases, in the mean time, fare a lot better. For example, from 2012-2017, out of the 7,287 total albums listed on Meta Critic, eight were given a red score (no red scores in 2017). That can’t be accurate! How can it be that only the music critics are getting soft and cuddly in the last few years, but other industries are as tough as ever to please!” 

 PHOTO CREDIT: @craftedbygc/Unsplash

“The print publication makes money on advertisements in between articles. It’s a formula: “if xnumber of people are subscribers and we average y number of sales from grocery store checkout lines this time of year, that’s x+y  eyeballs reading cover-to-cover who will see an ad about your company. We think that kind of attention is worth z in cash.” Nowadays, most people read magazine articles online. The ratings are down for cover-to-cover zealous readers, and way up for clicking links to articles that your friend sent you”.

As a working-class writer; I feel there are fewer true and relatable voices in the press. Whilst a lot of the smaller publications seem to resonate; many of the bigger papers/magazines are still staffed by privileged and well-educated journalists. It seems easier to get your foot in the door if you have connections with a publication/record label and, for many, the reality is they will have to work harder is they are working-class. With so few working-class artists in the mainstream; are publications going to recruit working-class journalists?! Look at this article from a few months ago and it seems, in terms of the mainstream sites and papers; there is a long way to go until the class bias is reversed:

“The Sutton Trust, which seeks to improve social mobility, found that 51% of the country’s leading journalists were educated privately, and 80% of its top editors went to either private or grammar schools….

PHOTO CREDIT: @honeyyanibel/Unsplash  

Privately educated pupils are also more likely to go to Oxbridge, which makes more offers to one school – Eton – than all of those on free school meals, according to research by David Lammy MP.

There is more. Former social-mobility tsar Alan Milburn’s State of the Nation report found that 11% of journalists were from working-class backgrounds, compared to 60% of the population. A report by City University in 2016 found that the British journalism industry is 94% white and 86% university-educated. Just 0.4% of British journalists are Muslim.

The declining economic fortunes of the industry mean that cheap and even free labour, in the form of unpaid internships, are increasingly common, while expensive postgraduate degrees appear the best way in for many. Given this, the barriers to those who need to earn money to launch a career look set to get even worse.

Some will argue that this lack of income diversity doesn’t matter: only the best rise to the top, as though ratlike cunning and a passion for deadlines are taught alongside manners at public schools”.

Maybe Internet sites have more working-class working for them but look at the bigger publications and newspapers like The Guardian and The Independent and most of their contributors are either very well connected in the industry or from a wealthier background. They do have working-class contributors but I wonder, unless you have connections and contacts within the industry; how realistic is it for a working-class music journalist to get a foot-up and be noticed?!

PHOTO CREDIT: @clar_san/Unsplash

There are so few black and Asian faces in the music media and I get tired of seeing endless white faces starting back at me. Maybe this reflects a racial narrowness in music as a whole – fewer black and Asian artists are featured and celebrated – but I think there is more broadness and diversity in music than in journalism. I only know a few black music journalists and, for the most part, it is white journalists who you see. Maybe there is health in terms of availability of printed magazines and Internet sites but there is a clear issue regarding race and social class – the type of people recruited and the ease of being able to work as a professional is you are black/Asian or working-class. The last point I will raise is gender. It is a harder one to judge but there is a definite split between online sites and the printed press. It seems, when you read music news and reviews in papers; most of what you see is by men. Figures are improving but there is still a big imbalance. As Clash investigated in this piece; online sites have provided a bigger voice for women:

“But now the focus of music writing – and journalism in general – has shifted online. One advantage of this is that it gives everyone a voice, regardless of gender or appearance. Nepotism has always been rife in the media, and that’s by no means gone, but the theory is that online music journalism is meritocratic – everyone has access to the music and contacts they need and that allows the best quality writing to shine through. Where women may have been unwelcome in the past, barriers have been removed, and there are now even blogs and publications, such as Wears The Trousers – which look at music exclusively from a female-focused perspective….

 PHOTO CREDIT: @all_who_wander/Unsplash

“Journalism is slowly becoming more female-friendly, which is a blessing because it’s one of the few places for women where people don’t judge you predominantly on your looks,” believe Rhiannon and Holly. “Diversity in editorial is so important, and most editors have realised that only providing the white male voice is downright boring.” Herein lies the key point. It’s a question of diversity, of making sure all viewpoints and attitudes are taken into account. The world of music is a fascinating place, a melting pot of countless cultures, races and backgrounds. To continue to limit those who write about it to one group – namely young, white men – would be to miss out on some truly exciting, not to mention under-heard, perspectives”.

For many black women in journalism; it seems like there is a real problem. A couple of years ago; Jordannah Elizabeth shared her experiences and how few black peers there are in Rock journalism:

“What drew me to psych-rock music was that the songwriters of the bands were still writing about love and mind expansion. I liked that the lyrics were potent and the music, whether neo-psychedelic or revivalist, had a euphoric and nostalgic style that seemed to bond the listeners and musicians together. But even after many years, I noticed that I remained one of the few, if not the only, black female writer in my circle. As my career grew, it became important to me to address the question of why diversity was not advancing in rock and alternative music journalism.

I don't feel like I'm a part of the industry yet. That's the beauty of the internet and the crack in journalism that we're experiencing. I'm a freelance journalist, and this month is my first year anniversary of getting paid for my writing. So far my biggest challenge has been getting paid on time and getting commissioned to write about things outside of what people think is the black female experience. Don't get me wrong, I love Beyonce and def had a review of Lemonade in my drafts, but I'd still love to be paid to write about the aesthetic of early-2000s emo music and MySpace”.

 PHOTO CREDIT: @bastleblanc/Unsplash

Lina Lecaro, writing in 2015, stated that, whilst online sites give women a voice and identity; there are still doubts and a certain ‘image’ they have to project:

“Backstage and beyond, women music journalists must regularly navigate conflicted feelings and complicated gray areas that we face as both critics and fans. Our profession presents us with a distinct set of challenges and unforgiving double standards as we strive to be taken seriously, particularly when starting out.

What is true is that women are conditioned, and even encouraged, to participate in the more superficial aspects of music fandom when we’re young: to be screaming, crying, poster-kissing “fan-girls.” But female obsessives’ interest in music runs as deep in terms of sonic structure, tone, mood, and inspiration as it does for anyone of any gender. We can also be into the fashion, culture, spectacle, and allure surrounding an artist. These things aren’t mutually exclusive.

Female writers, just like female musicians, are clearly still fighting for our place in the music world. Self-doubt still creeps in. Editors sometimes don’t reply. Many still favor male writers, and now that I’ve been doing this for so long, there’s ageism to contend with. But despite lower pay rates than when I started, I finally know my worth. I know I don’t have to look or act a certain way, or keep quiet about anything inappropriate that happens to me in order to stay respected as a journalist”.

PHOTO CREDIT: @beccatapert/Unsplash 

I think there is change when it comes to sexism but there are still a lot of mainstream papers and magazines that are male dominated and have mainly white faces – this is reflected in radio and many other areas of the industry. It is harder to get a paid position and make your way through the industry if you are working-class and, although blogs and online sites provide valuable experience; the reality is that many aspiring music journalists will never enjoyed a paid career and be able to make a healthy living from it. I agree with Dave Simpson and the fact there are more publications available and the printed form is surviving but there are many other issues that need addressing – sales figures and gender; the long-term potential for music magazines and whether people still value critics and follow their word. This article shows that, even as recently as a few years ago, there is blatant sexism in the music journalism sector but, perhaps, there is slight improvement. I think online sites are growing and there is a definite place for the music critic and aspiring writer but I worry those who want to do it professionally will be disappointed. The rise of the Internet means more people get their music journalism for free and, naturally, there are fewer opportunities for paid positions. It is great to see so many options on the market and that balance between printed publications and online content but I feel long-term prospects for the printed option is limited and fraught. I am glad the Internet means female journalists can have their voice but that is not necessarily translated in mainstream publications and newspapers. Race is still a problem as is class. I feel, until we get all these problems addressed and thoroughly review the true state of music journalism; we cannot confidently and convincingly say the industry is… 

 PHOTO CREDIT: @heftiba/Unsplash

IN a healthy and promising state.

FEATURE: XX/XY: Despite Some Big Steps Regarding Gender Equality in Music, Is There Still One Big Divide?

FEATURE:

 

 

XX/XY

PHOTO CREDIT: @rawpixel/Unsplash

Despite Some Big Steps Regarding Gender Equality in Music, Is There Still One Big Divide?

__________

THERE was a time when we had to wait years…

 IN THIS PHOTO: Sara Cox/PHOTO CREDIT: Getty Images

for genuine steps to happen in the battle against sexism in music. Whether it was a lack of female headliners at festivals or a lack of female D.J.s; progress happened slowly and I feel like the last couple of years have done more to realise parity. That being said; there is still an awful long way to go. Last week, I wrote an article regarding the inequality in the radio industry and how few female D.J.s are being heard. Maybe things are different regarding smaller stations but the big guns are not doing enough to ensure there is equality in their ranks. I pitched the idea that Sara Cox should vacate the absent Drivetime slot and that would be a big step. Not that I had anything to do with it but she has just been appointed as the new Drivetime host. It is the first time, I think, that BBC Radio 2 have hired a female D.J. for that position and it shows there is that desire to change. Whilst there are still many more men on the station as a whole; having a female breakfast host (Zoë Ball) and Sara Cox in that late-afternoon/evening position; will it lead to evolution at other stations? Other BBC stations can take some steps and I think, although Cox’s appointment is a big step, there is a long way to go and it would be good to see the momentum going.

 IN THIS PHOTO: Zoë Ball/PHOTO CREDIT: Getty Images

Naturally, some have scoffed at her taking over the Drivetime show but there is recognition among many that more female D.J.s should be in these lucrative shows and things do need to improve. I do wonder how long it will take before we see true equality in radio and, indeed, every other sector of music. I am always looking at statistics regarding producers, engineers and festival headliners; the songwriters being recognised and artists getting airplay – is there actually equality there and are we getting close?! I do not think we are anywhere near to actually equality but, with little/big steps here and there; I am hopeful this movement will carry on and things will, gradually, get better. Cox’s new show will be great and it does mean that two female D.J.s at the station are hosting really big shows. I am not suggesting other radio stations lack any awareness and are dropping the ball but statistics show that there is still a huge disparity between men and women. It does not only exist in terms of numbers and who is hosting the most lucrative and big shows – there is that gender imbalance regarding pay and a need to close the gap. It would take a long time for me to name all the sectors and corners of music where more needs to be done but, as we know this, I will save you the trouble of hearing me prattle on.

 PHOTO CREDIT: @jerryinocmd/Unsplash

It may be controversial territory but I wonder whether there is a division between men and women regarding the fight for equality. One could argue there are few men in the media who are actively and persistently calling for change; most of the voices are female and, in fact, the absence of high-profile men speaking out is causing delay and a lack of progress. I appreciate the appointment of women to prestigious time slots is, more often than not, the case of male management making that decision but one could argue they are culpable of making poor decisions in the past; holding back equality and spending too much time and money with male talent. We all know most of the boardrooms and executive suites are filled with men; most studios and festivals are run and dominated by men – they hold great power and positions but, in reality, are they doing enough to speak out and call for change?! It is no surprise that most of the voices calling for change in the music industry come from women. I am not sure what percentage of men are out there and speaking loud but it is a tiny minority. I wonder whether there is general apathy (in men) or whether there is a bigger barrier at work. I realise there must be, one would hope, many other male journalists that refuse to be silent and are big advocates of gender equality.

Most men in the industry would call themselves feminists and, if asked, would like to see equality happen as soon as possible. I think there is a practical difference between those who think about these things and want them to happen and those speaking out and protesting for change. Any radio and T.V. interview regarding sexism and gender inequality features women and when one hears podcasts surrounding a need for equality; they are always fronted by women. It is great to see so many women in music leading a charge and getting their voices heard but I wonder whether a division between the genders is occurring. It may sound like a personal gripe but I tend to find, when I pitch a show about sexism in music or contact someone (a high-profile feminist or name) my calls are ignored and it is hard to get any sort of response. I have my posts shared by female musicians and D.J.s when I write features about them but when it comes to putting together my own features and shows; a big project that unites those in the industry, men and women, and discusses the problems at hand…there are many deaf ears out there. One could say it is a case of me lacking cachet but I have seen many female journalists/members of the public have their calls/queries answered and posts shared.

 PHOTO CREDIT: @alexisrbrown/Unsplash 

It could not be a personal thing – as those I contact don’t know me from Adam – and I recently contacted a radio production with a view of putting together a documentary regarding gender inequality and they already have an idea like that in process – fronted by a female journalist. When was the last time any radio documentary or T.V. show was broadcast, in relation to sexism and the need for change, with a man at the front? Has a man ever done anything like that and, in cases where there are documentaries/broadcasts; what is the proportion of men-women? Perhaps there I an assumption that men will not understand the true issues regarding sexism or they do not have the experience to warrant authority. If you have a man fronting a show about gender inequality; will that come across as ironic and problematic?! If we are looking at creating better rights for women in music, having a bloke talking about it seems rather cheap, foolhardy and unwise. Does that create problems and show that, in fact, everything needs to be controlled by men?! I am not saying people like me dominate the market and put together scores of shows regarding sexism but there needs to be a bit more integration. There are natural barriers that assume men do not want to produce these shows or would lack any knowledge. In cases of sexual abuse and sexism, indeed, women are more qualified and have that direct experience but does that mean men should be excluded?!

 PHOTO CREDIT: @jmvillejo/Unsplash

Whilst a journalist like me cannot understand what it is like to be overlooked in regards my gender and is unaware of the pain that comes from being excluded on that front; I know the statistics and I have ample understanding of the realities and what needs to be done. I have not been sexually assaulted or passed over because I am a woman. As a man in the industry; life is a little easier for me but that is not to say I lack empathy and that desire to right things. I have endlessly pitched shows and asked to be on shows to talk about the problem – including Woman’s Hour – but everything has been ignored. The same goes when I ask for advice (from women in the industry) and try and get something together. There is not a sexism working away there but I feel there is that feeling that a man does not have the authority and experience needed; that having someone like me speak openly seems more sexist. I agree that women need to be at the forefront when it comes to calling for change but there is that whitewash. Maybe there are fewer men in the industry who passionate about equality but I know there are enough out there. From musicians and D.J.s through to label owners and producers; that need to see things improve and create an open dialogue is important to so many.

The best way, I feel, to make some big movements is to create that dialogue and integrate more. I am not suggesting there is a fifty-fifty split, gender-wise, when it comes to shows and discussions but it needs to be a bit more open. I was talking with someone about my issue and they said, perhaps, women feel men are doing it to boost their own profile and there is arrogance behind that desire (to talk out). Some might be suspicious and feel the issue of sexism is heightened when you add men into the dialogue. I can understand that and, to be fair, it is a hard balance to strike. Maybe the fact men have not experienced sexism and have an easier time in music means they should show more respect and the discussion is more veracious and potent when it stems from those who genuinely suffer and are overlooked. I get that but not all men in music are privileged and not all feel like men should dominate. Another musical contact suggested the most effective way of opening up the debate and startling people is to have men talking with one another regarding what needs to be done and how things can improve. At the moment, from the outside, it looks like most men do not care and women are having to do all of the campaigning themselves.

 PHOTO CREDIT: @rawpixel/Unsplash

The reality is a little different. A lot of men might feel like they’d be excluded if they asked to be involved or they might not have the necessary passion and knowledge to make a difference. Having different voices in the mix can only be a good thing. As I said; the statistics are clear and men and women alike know the realities and how much work needs to be done. Whether it is a radio show dedicated to female music or a symposium that gets some heated debate underway; creating a more gender-balanced discussion and dynamic is needed. I do as much as I can with my writing but I feel like I am a bit excluded because I genuinely want to assist. Some female artists have struck out against male musicians who have talked about sexism and feel they (women) do not need to be spoken for; they are capable of speaking for themselves. Maybe some men are jumping on a bandwagon and have other motives but I disagree there is that need, in men, to boost their profile and there are nefarious objectives. It is not taking anything away from feminism or a female voice if a man speaks out. If a male actor argued against the wage gaps in the film industry or tirade against men accused of sexual abuse then that would be applauded.

They (the men) will not have experienced that horror first-hand but the fact they are putting their voices out there shows there is a genuine shock and disgust – that most men do not condone what is happening and are supportive. The same needs to happen in music. A lot of men are arrogant and do not want things to change; those who are well-off and not affected have that apathy and do not feel motivated to get up. There are men in the industry – from journalists and artists to D.J.s – who know how crap things are. I am not suggesting replacing shows and discussions that are female-led: I would like to see more where men and women are debating and there is that visible and audible conversation. I do not think it is true that a man lacks understanding and sympathy and, whilst they do not have direct experience regarding sexism; does that mean they are cold to the problem or do not want to see improvement?! From my perspective; it is frustrating having ideas ignored or not being answered because of my gender or I might not have the same gravitas as a woman. These issues I am experiencing are a minority – most female artists and D.J.s share my work and do not see gender divisions or problems when it comes to calling for equality – but we need to see more men and women talking with one another; those in high positions being interviewed and high-profile men in the industry rallying and speaking out. There are many out there who feel outraged and want to fight sexism and inequality but I am aware there is an invisible barrier that divides genders.

I do not agree with the assumption you are making the issue of sexism worse by inviting men into the conversation and it takes away some of the potency. One of the ways to show there are plenty of men who want to see change is by inviting them in and creating a more gender-balanced debate. I love the fact women in music are standing up and will not be silenced but I have seen some worrying posts where women have turned their noses against men who have spoken out – assuming they are being patronising and being condescending. Perhaps there is an impure motive in some cases but there is genuine compassion and support to be found. If we want to create a more stark and bonded discussion then both genders need to get involved and harmonise. Male journalists and musicians need to contribute and those in positions of power need to be brought in and explain themselves. It would not be an integration and attack but an opportunity for them to think about the realities and answer some pressing questions. I would like to produce and front a documentary regarding women and sexism in music but I feel, most of the time, I will be overlooked in favour of a woman. Maybe it is my lacking name and cache but there is a feeling women are more knowledgeable and people would not want to hear a man do a show like this – like it would add to the situation in a negative way. I do not abide by this and feel, although it is alien and strange; we need to get men and women talking otherwise there will only be that one side and one impression. Men, in general, need to do more but there are plenty who want to speak and show their support and should not be overlooked because they do not have direct experience or are not affected. If we can get a more balanced discussion happening and get both sides talking and fighting hard it lead to some changes. I applaud anyone who speaks against sexism and calls for improvement but I feel there is a division. I might not have the same viewpoint and experiences as many women in music but there are many people like me who desperately want to be…

 PHOTO CREDIT: @kslupski/Unsplash

PART of the debate.

FEATURE: Against Their Will: The Divisive Nature of the Posthumous Album

FEATURE:

 

 

Against Their Will

IN THIS IMAGE: The cover for the posthumous Jeff Buckley album, Sketches for My Sweetheart the Drunk (1998)/IMAGE CREDIT: Getty Images 

The Divisive Nature of the Posthumous Album

__________

IT may sound a bit ghoulish…

 PHOTO CREDIT: @alvaroserrano/Unsplash

and weird to raise the topic of death in a music piece, but there is something to be said for the success artists can gain after they depart us! The subject is not reserved to albums released after a musician has died. We all know how some artists gain acclaim after their deaths because, for some reason, people do not seem to get what they are all about when they are alive. It is odd to think how, sadly, some bands/artists are never given the success and love their music demands when they are alive and, years later, people latch onto them. There is, as I will explore, albums released after an artist has died that was not discovered in their lifetime or they were making and never got to finish. Whether a completed and recognised studio album gains fresh traction posthumously or an unreleased record is brought out and gathers a fresh wave of respect for that artist – I am interested learning why an artist can get new fans and see their music elevated after their deaths. When music loses a talent and we have to go through that awful realisation; naturally, sales of that artist’s albums go up and there is that burst of interest. It is understandable people would want to mark that musician and have an interest in them but, for some reason, that demand and rush tends to end fairly quickly and that is it.

 IN THIS PHOTO: Johnny Hallyday (who died last year) pictured in 2014 in Los Angeles/PHOTO CREDIT: Michael Buckner/Getty Images

Why do we have that sort of sympathetic attachment to an artist in the wake of their death and why do some albums gain huge sales figures that were not achieved during the natural life of the artist?! One reason why I bring up the ‘lure’ and importance of posthumous popularity is a story concerning Johnny Hallyday that talks about increased sales figures and a resurgence following his sad death last year:

“Johnny Hallyday, the leather-trousered “French Elvis” who died last year, didn’t believe in resurrection. But from beyond the grave, the musician has managed to miraculously restore life to a dying record and CD industry.

With 780,177 copies on CD and vinyl sold since the album’s release last Friday, Hallyday, who died in December aged 74, is expected to have bigger first-week converted sales than Drake, whose Scorpion release was the biggest album in the US this year.

The Hallyday album’s vast sales on CD and vinyl are highly unusual at a time when sales of physical records are falling. Music insiders called it “the Johnny phenomenon”, saying the CD sales were a sign of Hallyday’s huge following in France. Fans apparently wanted to own a physical copy even though it was available on premium streaming services.

The album, a combination of rock, rockabilly and blues, was recorded last year in Los Angeles, months before Hallyday died of lung cancer. It went platinum within minutes of going on sale in France on 19 October and sold 630,000 units in the first three days”.

 PHOTO CREDIT: @art_ed/Unsplash

In the case of Hallyday; it seems like the posthumous release that sold big numbers has been met with positivity and it was a case of releasing material he planned to put out into the world. There is that argument, if an artist had only recorded a few tracks and they were not album-ready, then should they be released against their will? I remember having mixed emotions diving into Jeff Buckley’s 1998 posthumous release, Sketches for My Sweetheart the Drunk. There are some fantastic gems on that collection that hint at where Buckley was heading. A lot of the material was recorded in 1997, not long after he died. One wonders whether the ‘finished’ material on the album was what Buckley wanted to release eventually or whether he would have scrapped them and started again. Buckley was a perfectionist and one feels he might have kept a song or two and then recorded completely new stuff for his sophomore release. I will bring in the case of Prince and why a posthumous release is welcome and unearths something that reveals a new side to him but there is that argument as to whether it is ethical and moral for producers/family to collect these scraps and demos and put them into a posthumous album.

This article from The Guardian, written the year Amy Winehouse died (2011), talks about an album of her unreleased tracks that divided fans and the media:

“…Next week, a little over four months after the untimely death of the singer, Lioness: Hidden Treasures, will be released.

By necessity, it is a collection of early recordings, out-takes, and just two unfinished tracks from her planned third album. "She appears to have recorded almost nothing in the last two years of her life," noted Alexis Petridis, the Guardian's music critic, this week. Anyone who followed the tabloids over the last few years will be painfully aware of the reasons for that, but Remi hoped the album would be a fitting reminder of Winehouse's talent. "Going through her music was like going through a photo album," he says. "There was a lot of stuff that I had forgotten about, and that nobody else knew existed. When I shared that with her manager and her family, we thought maybe we should share this with the rest of the world".

I am a bit split when it comes to artists unexpectedly dying and what do you do with the material they never got around to releasing. Although one can assume some of the songs would have found their way onto a new album; you can never say what their plans were and if they actually want them into the world!

IN THIS IMAGE: The cover for the posthumous Amy Winehouse album, Lioness: Hidden Treasures (2011)/IMAGE CREDIT: Getty Images

The article explores the seedier and more unpleasant side of posthumous releases and whether they are betraying an artist’s will:

“There is, of course, a darker side to posthumous releases, where words such as "legacy" are bandied about and sales are guaranteed as long as there are enough voracious fans who can be relied on to will buy anything connected to their late idol. (In fairness to those behind Winehouse's album, a proportion of profits are to go to the foundation set up in her name). Tupac Shakur, the American rapper who was shot in 1996, has released more albums in death than he did in life, the richness of his music appearing more diluted with each one. Jimi Hendrix, who released just four albums before he died in 1970, has had his name on more than 50 posthumously, with most years seeing a new release of live recordings or a compilation, most recently in September.

Michael Jackson's posthumous album, Michael, was released last year, 18 months after his death, amid accusations from the singer's family that he wasn't even singing on some of the tracks. Quincy Jones, his former producer, told Us magazine. "It should have stayed in the vault. It seems everybody is trying to put everything out that they can with him. It's all to make money. He wouldn't have wanted it to come out this way." Another album, Immortal, has been released, and Howard Weitzman, who co-manages Jackson's estate, says more releases are planned. "It's a pretty vibrant estate in the sense that it continues to generate not just catalogue opportunities, but plenty of other ideas," he told Billboard in October”.

I can understand the resistance fans have when they see an artist they have followed and lost having control taken away. There is a lot more content and agreement when a posthumous album is a realised and complete work that, sadly, was completed just before an artist died. In some cases, there are albums they recorded and did not released – they are unearthed and taken from the archives and brought into the world. Many people worry about the morals of record labels that mine departed artists for all they are worth. Amy Winehouse is an artist whose legacy and music is being mined even more with a planned hologram tour and biopic. I like some of the tracks that were released after her death but there is nothing that matches the honesty and rawness of Frank and the brilliant Back to Black. Estates and labels are keen to bring every half-cut demo, scratchy outtake and B-side-primed song to the fans. Many might say that is giving people what they want and ensuring they can experience new music from their favourite artist after they have died. Others argue capital incentives are behind the decision and it is all about raking in money and being exploitative – taking advantage on people’s zeal to get fresh music from an artist that is no longer around. I am a bit hit-and-miss regarding posthumous albums but, even as a die-hard Jeff Buckley fan and a bit supporter of Amy Winehouse; I was glad posthumous albums were released because there are some fascinating and promising songs. You wonder what could have been and you gain an insight into what the artist was thinking/planning before they died.

 PHOTO CREDIT: @rawpixel/Unsplash

Posthumous releases are not new: ever since the 1950s; the likes of Buddy Holly have been the subjects of posthumous releases. Returning to the article I have quoted; there are some who feel like something gaudy and greedy lies behind those who bring unreleased material out when an artist dies:

"Reissue, repackage," was how Morrissey described the "sickening greed" of record companies on the Smiths track Paint a Vulgar Picture, and there is no doubt that a celebrity's earning power doesn't stop with their death. In Forbes magazine's recent list of the top-earning dead celebrities, Jackson was at the top for the second year running, earning $170m this year (£110m; the previous year, he earned $275, or £175m).

The man in second place – Elvis Presley – earned $55m (£35m) last year. If you want to see how we might treat deceased stars in future, look to the US company Authentic Brands, which bought the rights to Marilyn Monroe this year (they already market products under Bob Marley's name). CEO Jamie Salter told a Canadian newspaper that, thanks to digital technology, he expects Monroe to be starring in a new film "in the next couple of years".

I have stated how some posthumous albums are completed works that were not released in an artist’s lifetime for some reason or other. Maybe the timing was not right or the label wanted something else. Two cases where the public have been behind posthumous releases concern two artists we lost in 2016: David Bowie and Prince.

 IN THIS PHOTO: David Bowie captured whilst appearing in the film, The Man Who Fell to Earth (1976)/PHOTO CREDIT: Steven Schapiro

David Bowie had a lot of material ready and held back. It is sad we lost Bowie to cancer but one feels he would have been behind re-releases and unreleased material coming through. It seems, every month, there is something ‘new’ from the departed innovator. Back in March; Consequence of Sound excitedly talked about planned released from the late star:

“David Bowie is said to have prepared a number of records to be released posthumously. Among the releases to have surfaced in the two-plus years since his death: an EP of unreleased material called No Plan; an archival box set featuring the unreleased album The Gouster; reissues of the Labyrinth and The Man Who Fell to Earth soundtracks; the live album Cracked Actor (Live in Los Angeles 1974); a repressing of 1971’s Bowpromo; a second archival box set chronicling Bowie’s Berlin trilogy; and an early demo version of “Let’s Dance”.

There’s apparently plenty more still to unearth from Bowie’s vault, as the coming month will bring upwards of eight new records. Two reissues have already been announced for next month: Bowie’s 1981 compilation Changes to Bowie will go back into print on April 13th, followed on April 20th by a vinyl reissue of Aladdin Sane.

Now, comes word of a trio of Bowie records available for Record Store Day 2018 (April 21st). The allotment includes Welcome to the Blackout (Live London ’78) featuring recordings from Bowie’s “Isolar II tour” at London’s Earls Court on June 30th and July 1st, 1978; a 12-inch single that includes the first-full length version of “Let’s Dance”; and Bowie Now, a rare US only promotional-only LP from 1977, which is receiving its first-ever commercial release”.

Earlier this year; Piano & a Microphone 1983 was released and is a rare chance to hear Prince and his piano – a stripped and barenaked revelation that many have welcomed and celebrated. Again, like Bowie; this has been a welcomed and much-needed posthumous chapter from a legend of music. 

“Prince, who to the shock of his many fans worldwide died two years ago, would have celebrated his 60th birthday this June.

Now, for all of 35 minutes, he is back, sitting at the piano and playing music, back in the early 1980s. Listening to the tracks, it is easy to imagine lounging in a comfortable chair, reading a book while Prince sings and tinkers on the piano. It sounds as if he were all by himself, very relaxed, raw and intimate.

Of course he is not playing in his living room, but in in a studio, where occasionally, sound engineer Don Batts gave the artist brief instructions during the recording, for instance to lower his voice.

IN THIS PHOTO: Prince/PHOTO CREDIT: Ebet Roberts/Getty Images  

Prince is said to have written more than 1,000 songs, many of them under pseudonyms and many of which have yet to be released.

Prince left no will, so legal issues had to be clarified before the release of Piano & A Microphone 1983. Prince's sister and five half brothers and sisters were declared the heirs to his estate and they have been careful with new releases. Two best-of compilations were released posthumously so far.

This newly released album is a true gem — intimate, playful and soulful songs by a musical genius who wasn't aware at that point that he'd one day become one of the world's top icons of pop”.

One of my quandaries regards that lack of control and whether an artist would consent. There was rankle a few months back when it was claimed a lot of Michael Jackson’s posthumous songs were actually not sung by him. There is still debate happening but many have heard some posthumously-released songs and say it is not Jackson singing. There are a few Jackson songs that never got released in his life but some others, one suspects, have been masquerading as Jackson-sung tunes. There is that problem with authenticity but another one revolves around quality. If a musician released faultless and brilliant records whilst alive; do these half-finished and flawed posthumous albums actually dent their legacy?! Some say the way of reaching new generations is to release these albums/tracks and, if there is music in the vaults; what is the sense of leaving them be and people being denied? It depends on whether you feel an artist’s music should be protected when they die and whether it is wrong to release new material without their consent. Some posthumous albums have proved rather interesting and popular. Other Voices is a release from The Doors that does not feature their leader, Jim Morrison. Morrison died in July 1971 and the ‘new’ Doors album was in the world some three months after. Nirvana’s famous unplugged session for MTV was brought out after Kurt Cobain’s death in 1994 and Johnny Cash’s American V: A Hundred Highways was intended to be released during his lifetime. That record is a fascinating thing and it is only the slightly untimely passing of Cash that denied the master the chance to see it released to the world.

 IN THIS IMAGE: The cover of Johnny Cash’s posthumous album, American V: A Hundred Highways (2006)/IMAGE CREDIT: Getty Images

There is also that subject of an artist dying suddenly and having bits of an album ready with the intention of adding to it. Prince, Michael Jackson; Jeff Buckley and Amy Winehouse all died without much warning and expectation and they wouldn’t have left directives and wills that stated how they wanted unreleased material to be treated. George Harrison died in 2001 and was working on Brainwashed (2002), his final album, before he died. He was determined to get it released before his death and it is a case of the artist knowing the material that they were working on before their death should be out there. The same is true of the Queen album, Made in Heaven (1995). Freddie Mercury died in 1991 and was determined to get as many songs and demos recorded before he went – the band worked with him and there was definite desire and consent from the Queen lead. Joy Division’s Closer (1980) and From a Basement on the Hill (Elliott Smith, 2004) are completed and full work that are cherished and exceptional – sad cases of the leads and creators dying (committing suicide in these two cases) before an official release could happen. I am a big fan of Aaliyah’s eponymous posthumous release of 2001 and, again, it is a case of an artist suddenly dying before the record could be complete – she died in a plane crash on the way back from filming the video for the album track, Rock the Boat.

Despite the lauded and revelatory posthumous releases; does it all come back to the unseemly and label-dictated cash-ins?! Are they the factors that stand out – rather than the music itself?! The late XXXTentacion was the subject of a piece in High Snobiety. They looked at the posthumous release and the ethics behind them. They reacted to XXXTentacion going to number-one with the single, SAD!

“This year, late rapper XXXTentacion became the first artist to chart posthumously at number one since Biggie did back in 1997 with the release of “Mo Money Mo Problems,” joining an elite yet tragic group of hip-hop chart-toppers. Controversy aside, the success of “SAD!” is well deserved on artistic grounds, yet there’s something rather unsettling about the accompanying video, which sees X attend his own funeral.

Although the promo was both written and creative directed by XXXTentacion before his death, seeing the young star resurrected on film so soon after his real-life murder raises some ethical issues. Fans might argue that the “SAD!” video is a beautiful elegy to X’s legacy and while that’s true to a point, it’s hard not to see how the record company also had plenty to gain from capitalizing on the star’s posthumous success for financial gain too.

Either way, it’s important to note that XXXTentacion had full creative control over the “SAD!” promo and always intended to release it more or less in the form that we see today. But what will happen in five years time when unreleased songs hidden in the vaults suddenly come to light? How would X react if he knew that unfinished tracks he didn’t approve could potentially become part of his musical legacy?”

 IN THIS PHOTO: Aaliyah (whose eponymous posthumous album was released after her death in 2001)/PHOTO CREDIT: Getty Images

Is everything about maximising an artist’s appeal and commercialism following their death? A lot of labels want to keep them in the public eye and ensure they can eek money from their music. In a lot of cases, there is real passion that comes from posthumous release:

“It’s not all about the sales though. Drake’s genuine admiration for the likes of Aaliyah and Michael Jackson is well-documented, transforming songs like “Enough Said” and “Don’t Matter To Me” into elegies that pay homage to the musical prowess of both artists in question. And while some fans might want record companies to leave the reputation of these deceased stars alone, we also shouldn’t assume that there’s nothing left of value in their unreleased back catalog.

After all, “(Sittin’ On) the Dock of the Bay” was released after Otis Redding died, cementing his status as a musical icon, and if songs were never released posthumously, then we wouldn’t have game-changers like Sam Cooke’s “A Change Is Gonna Come” or Joy Division’s “Love Will Tear Us Apart” either”.

The article raises a good point that I had not even considered: the weird ‘duets’ between a dead artist and a living recording star. I often wonder why it is allowed and whether it is a compromise between a new recording and releasing some rare offcut. Whatever the reason behind this rather odd combination; there have been some serious missteps:

“Remember Duets: The Final Chapter? Released in 2005, eight years after The Notorious B.I.G. was murdered, this album was composed entirely of unlikely duets that even new fans questioned the authenticity of. Although it’s impossible to know what path Biggie’s career might have taken, it’s clear that the esteemed rapper would have never traded bars with someone like Nelly, and the inclusion of other deceased artists like Tupac, Big Pun and Bob Marley was an even more offensive affront to everyone involved. There’s a big difference between releasing completed tracks and constructing some bizarre Frankenstein-patchwork of sub-par material”.

I will round things off soon but I, like many, was stunned hearing the news of The Cranberries’ lead, Dolores O’Riordan, earlier this year. The band were recording material before she drowned – the coroner decided her death was an accident and not suicide – so there is that heartbreak regarding what-if and what could have been. Whilst the ‘new’ and posthumous Cranberries release will be met with interest and lust; this piece reflects on that and distils the nature of the posthumous release perfectly:

“After much consideration we have decided to finish what we started,” the remaining members of the Cranberries wrote on their website this month, announcing their first new album since 2012. Dolores O’Riordan, who died earlier this year, had already finished recording her vocals: there’s no sense her parts would have needed to be imagineered. However, the ouija board of what dead musicians “would have wanted” is a faint and often baffling instrument.

Posthumous albums come in two forms: the Cobble and the Legacy. The former is the least lovable. Michael Jackson’s first posthumous release, 2010’s Michael, was so threadbare that his family strongly questioned whether it was him singing on three of its tracks – the so-called Cascio Tapes. “I immediately said it wasn’t his voice,” mused brother Randy on Twitter when he heard them. Artistically, Cobbles are normally justified on grounds of completism: that they “tell us something new” about the artist, and occasionally turf up the odd gem that “deserves to see the light of day”. On that score, something like Jackson’s Do You Know Where Your Children Are, from his second posthumous album, Xscape (2014), ticks all boxes: both a solid jam and a jarring lyrical premise. Cobbles can also offer Stalinesque revisionism: some of Lisa “Left Eye” Lopes’s verses on TLC’s 3D – released seven months after her death in 2002 – were spliced together from old solo album cast-offs. There was even a delayed ouija conjure from obsessively private, label-hating control freak Kurt Cobain; his 2015 soundtrack Montage of Heck – a series of solo sonic doodles and Beatles covers – only saw light of day when the Nirvana well had run dry”.

IN THIS IMAGE: The cover for the posthumous Michael Jackson album, Xscape (2014)/PHOTO CREDIT: Getty Images 

I can see the appeal of posthumous releases and the itching desire to get these unfinished tracks out to the public. I am curious whether the greed of a label is the real reason why we see posthumous releases from the likes of Amy Winehouse and Michael Jackson. I have mentioned artists, including David Bowie and Prince, where few are objecting but there are many more dead artists whose work has been released against their will. There are cases when musicians die unexpectedly and tragically so there is no definitive answer as to whether they would want their material released. In some cases, the band/artist were working on an album and it is cut short but accidents and unexpected mourning. I commend hard decisions and there are exceptions where a posthumous release is needed and good. I take all this into account but feel, in many cases, when an artist dies then that should be the end of things. Although I am a huge fan of Jeff Buckley and there are posthumous songs that have blown me away and I am glad saw the light of day; releasing a full album was a mistake and he would have objected to. I feel Amy Winehouse, Michael Jackson and other big artists would have refused labels bringing out songs/albums they were not 100% happy about and there is that unpleasant chasing of money and commercial success. Labels and estates want this music to come and people too be touched but how much of it matches the best days and does that artist justice?! I feel music cannot come out into the world until it is completely ready and that artist gives their approval. Posthumous releases can be a surprise and create some great results – in the case of Johnny Hallyday, for example – but, more often than not; there is an unpleasant aftertaste…

THAT is hard to wash away.

FEATURE: Who You Callin’ a Loser?! The Amazing and Evolving Beck: His Ten Finest Albums

FEATURE:

 

 

Who You Callin’ a Loser?!

IN THIS PHOTO: Beck/PHOTO CREDIT: Getty Images

The Amazing and Evolving Beck: His Ten Finest Albums

__________

THIS might sound relevant of nothing (and you’d be half-right)…

 IMAGE CREDIT: Billboard

but I am thinking about those artists who have managed to endure for decades in the industry and done so through consistently brilliant and engaging albums. When I think about the finest artists out there; those who have managed to cement a legacy and continue to amaze, there are few who stand firmer than Beck. The forty-eight-year-old, Los Angeles-born treasure has weirded-out, amazed and led music since his debut album, Golden Feelings, in 1993 (that album is seen as the ‘unofficial’ debut of Beck). His most-recent record, Colors, was released last year and met with critical acclaim – not seen as his finest hour but certainly nothing that can be called average! There have been thirteen studio albums spanning twenty-four years; each with their own skin, personality and dynamic. I have collated his finest ten albums and put them in their rightful order – although many might agree with the rankings! From the genre-fusing masterpieces to the more introspective and personal; here is the essential Beck back catalogue with a standout track and review from each album – showing how critics reacted to the record at the time (or in retrospect). Have a look through the top-ten and it is clear why the intrepid, experimental and wonderful Beck…

 PHOTO CREDIT: Eliot Lee Hazel 

IS in a league of his own!

ALL ALBUM COVERS: Getty Images

____________

10. Colors

Release Date: 13th October, 2017

Label: Capitol

Producers: Beck (also exec.); Greg Kurstin (also exec.) and Cole M.G.N.

Standout Track: Dear Life

Review:

“Colors closes with a nod to those of us most enamored of sad-mode Beck. “Fix Me” is a gorgeously melancholy mood piece that would’ve fit nicely on Morning Phase. Beck wrote and produced the track himself, adding an acoustic strum to its synth wash and simple backbeat. It’s telling that it’s the polar opposite of the album’s other great song, “Wow”—one’s silly, the other contemplative. They’re proof, in a way, that Beck is at his best when he’s navigating the margins rather than playing to the middle. Colors is solid—Beck doesn’t make bad records, whatever mode he’s in—and it flirts with greatness, but he’s at his best when he decides to either get loose or get serious, less so when he drives straight down the center” – AV Club

9. The Information

Release Date: 3rd October, 2006

Label: Interscope

Producer: Nigel Godrich

Standout Track: Cellphone’s Dead

Review:

“It’s a sonic tour de force, and Beck seems comfortable in the info-storm, which he presents not as dystopia or utopia, but as a restless middle ground, like Dante’s limbo, or America in 2006. The Information clearly aspires to be a self-aware update of dorm-room bong-hit soundtracks like The Dark Side of the Moon or OK Computer, right down to the cryptic, spaced-out outro (voiced by director Spike Jonze and author Dave Eggers). It earns those comparisons. At a time when freaky ’60s music is being revived with varying levels of aesthetic discernment (Espers, Comets on Fire), Beck manages to drink the psychedelic Kool-Aid without losing his wits in the process” – Entertainment Weekly

8. Mutations

Release Date: 3rd November, 1998

Label: DGC

Producers: Beck Hansen; Nigel Godrich

Standout Track: Tropicalia

Review:

“…Mutations was never meant to be a commercial endeavor -- there's no floor-shaker like "Where It's At," and it doesn't trade in the junk culture that brought Odelay to life. Recording with his touring band -- marking the first time he has entered the studio with a live band -- does result in a different sound, but it's not so much a departure as it is a side road that is going in the same direction. None of the songs explore new territory, but they're rich, lyrically and musically. There's an off-the-cuff wit to the songwriting, especially on "Canceled Check" and "Bottle of Blues," and the performances are natural, relaxed, and laid-back, without ever sounding complacent. In fact, one of the nifty tricks of Mutations is how it sounds simple upon the first listen, then reveals more psychedelic layers upon each play. Beck is not only a startling songwriter -- his best songs are simultaneously modern and timeless -- he is a sharp record-maker, crafting albums that sound distinct and original, no matter how much they may borrow. In its own quiet, organic way, Mutations confirms this as much as either Mellow Gold or Odelay” – AllMusic  

7. Morning Phase

Release Date: 21st February, 2014

Labels: Capitol/Fonograf

Producer: Beck

Standout Track: Heart Is a Drum

Review:

“Yet there's an older, wiser head here: as the title suggests, rather than wallow, Beck accepts that heartbreak is just a temporary grief he needs to see out. And so he does with lush strings (arranged by his father), gently crescendoing pianos (especially on the Nick Drake-esque Heart Is a Drum) and acoustic guitar in which you can hear the twang of each string. Despite the lyrical themes, the record's sun-dappled shimmer suggests Beck sees a way out of his emotional hole. The bad news for him is that being in it seems to make for some of his best music” – The Guardian   

6. Modern Guilt

Release Date: 8th July, 2008

Labels: DGC/XL (U.K. and E.U.)

Producers: Danger Mouse; Beck

Standout Track: Soul of a Man

Review:

“But some of the experiments that dare to fail big also feel the freshest: “Modern Guilt” reinvents the Doors‘ “People Are Strange” as a shuffling midtempo beatnik ballad — and, somehow, it works.

That last song sums up Beck’s biggest issue on the album: “Don’t know what I’ve done, but I feel ashamed.” That’s modern guilt for you: knowing the world’s going to hell and feeling partly responsible, but not quite knowing what to do about it. “Some days, we’re worse than you can imagine/And how am I supposed to live with that?” he sings on “Walls.” A few lines later, he finds his own reason to carry on: “We do the best with the souls we’re given.” And not long after he sings these words, the song cuts out abruptly in the middle of the melody. Like Tony Soprano said, you never know when your time is gonna come” – Rolling Stone

5. Midnite Vultures

Release Date: 23rd November, 1999

Label: DGC

Producers: Beck Hansen; Dust Brothers; Tony Hoffer and Mickey Petralia

Standout Track: Sexx Laws

Review:

“'Midnite Vultures' is bound to entrench opinions on both sides of the Beck divide. The doubters will recoil from its myriad layers of self-knowledge and the fact that the author's tongue is almost permanently lodged in one cheek or another. But just because this isn't a conventional dose of 'reality' doesn't mean Beck can't be sincere, and the force of character laid bare here is quite an awesome thing to behold. Narrower in scope than 'Odelay' but more immediate in impact, it's clearly been conceived as an accompaniment to our hedonistic habit of choice, the last great party album of the millennium. And like a certain song says, parties weren't meant to last” – NME

4. Mellow Gold

Release Date: 1st March, 1994

Label: DGC

Producers: Beck Hansen; Tom Rothcock; Rob Schnapf and Carl Stephenson

Standout Track: Loser

Review:

“Since Mellow Gold was pieced together from home-recorded tapes, it lacks a coherent production, functioning more as a stylistic sampler: there are the stoner raps of "Loser" and "Beercan," the urban folk of "Pay No Mind (Snoozer)," the mock-industrial onslaught of "Mutherfuker," the garagey "Fuckin' With My Head (Mountain Dew Rock)," the trancy acoustic "Blackhole," and the gently sardonic folk-rock of "Nitemare Hippy Girl." It's a dizzying demonstration of musical skills, yet it's all tied together by a simple yet clever sense of songcraft and a truly original lyrical viewpoint, one that's basic yet as colorful as free verse. By blending boundaries so thoroughly and intoxicatingly, Mellow Gold established a new vein of alternative rock, one that was fueled by ideas instead of attitude” – AllMusic  

3. Sea Change

Release Date: 24th September, 2002  

Label: Geffen

Producer: Nigel Godrich

Standout Track: Sunday Sun

Review:

“The clarity of his crisis has a lot to do with the naked strength of Beck’s singing. For someone who started out as a teenage folk hobo — just voice and strum — Beck has rarely walked this far out in front of the music on his own records. And considering his eternal-high-school looks, he possesses a surprisingly manly tenor, a clean, deep instrument of lust and worry. It fills the big spaces in Nigel Godrich’s haunted production — the backward-tape buzz in “Lost Cause”; the desert-Bach air of the keyboards in “Nothing I Haven’t Seen” — with the combined pathos of Nick Drake, the solo, freaked-out Syd Barrett and the John Lennon of Plastic Ono Band. When Beck and Godrich pour on the Indo-Beatles chaos in “Sunday Sun” — ghostly pounding piano and not-so-unison guitar; a meltdown coda of drums and distortion — you can still hear Beck’s resignation and unsteady resurrection inside the song” – AllMusic

2. Guero

Release Date: 29th March, 2005  

Label: Interscope

Producers: Beck Hansen; Dust Brothers and Tony Hoffer

Standout Track: Earthquake Weather

Review:

“From there, Beck darts around the musical map like an animated flea, springing from the low-riding chicano funk of "Que Onda Guero" to the summery pop of "Girl" and the itchy bossa nova of "Missing", whose infectious Tropicalismo tone is streaked with Eastern-flavoured strings orchestrated by Beck's father, the arranger David Campbell. The song's reflections on the essential patchwork incompleteness of life - "Something always takes the place of missing pieces/ You can take and put together/ Even though you know there's something missing" - are no less applicable to his own work, which typically makes unorthodox wholes from diverse fragments.

Examples are legion here: the gulp of harmonica, breakbeat drums, babble and scratch that form the groove of "Hell Yes"; the lolloping, late-period Sly Stone-style groove of "Go It Alone", in which furtive electric piano peeks out tentatively from behind Jack White's limber bassline; the bang-in-fashion Eighties indie stylings of "Send a Message to Her"; and the darker combination of piano and bottleneck guitar in "Broken Drum". Most impressive of all is the engaging mélange of choogling clavinet and squally lead guitar that is "Earthquake Weather".

Death casts its cadaverous shadow over a few tracks, most notably the sombre "Farewell Ride", as Beck contemplates his own departure, with "Two white horses in a line/ Carry[ing] me to my burying ground". For all the superior production standards, it's a sentiment that could have come off 1994's hip-hop-folk-blues oddity One Foot in the Grave, suggesting that Beck's character remains essentially unchanged by a decade of success” – The Independent

1. Odelay

Release Date: 18th June, 1996  

Label: DGC

Producers: Beck Hansen; Dust Brothers; Mario Caldato Jr.; Brian Paulson; Tom Rothcock and Rob Schnapf

Standout Track: Where It’s At

Review:

“For Odelay, his second major-label outing (since Mellow Gold he has released two discs on indie labels), Beck has enlisted the Dust Brothers, the producers responsible for the smorgasbord of tasty, left-field samples on the Beastie Boys’ seminal Paul’s Boutique. The result: a pastiche of twangy country licks, hip-hop beats, surrealistic folk, jive-turkey rap, and samples (from Tchaikovsky to the Frogs) that further affirms Beck’s rock-chameleon identity.

Beck’s got a lot going for him beyond his wide-ranging musical interests. Primary among his virtues is an ever-present sense of humor: Without straying into Weird Al territory, he imbues his lyrics with a healthy sense of the absurd — something almost entirely lacking in rock today. ”I got a stolen wife and a rhinestone life, and some good old boys/I’m writing my will on a three-dollar bill,” he sings in ”Sissyneck,” the finest of his many country-funk inventions. Ultimately, what holds all Beck’s work together is his arch, whacked-out street poetry. Whether reminiscing about a rough-hewn club (”A place we saw, the lights turned low/With the jigsaw jazz and the get-fresh flow”) or philosophizing about settling down (”I dropped my anchor in the dead of night/Unpacked my suitcase and threw it away”), Beck maintains a perfect balance of hip disaffectedness and depth of feeling. And that’s why he’s no loser, baby” – Entertainment Weekly

FEATURE: Songs to Remember Me By: The Amazing Way Music Unlocks Memories and Can Tackle Cognitive Issues

FEATURE:

 

 

Songs to Remember Me By

PHOTO CREDIT: @4lexmccarthy/Unsplash 

The Amazing Way Music Unlocks Memories and Can Tackle Cognitive Issues

__________

I have been thinking a lot about memory and why we all…

 PHOTO CREDIT: Getty Images

cast our minds back to certain times. Maybe we intuitively and unconsciously lock certain events in a different compartment of the brain to be recalled when we need cheering or calming. We edit a lot of memories and try and retain as many of the good ones as possible. I have covered this topic before and examined how music can help those with memory issues or degenerative cognitive impairment. Drugs can help with patients and work wonders but there is something therapeutic about music and how it can heal. I have heard about people with diseases like Alzheimer’s and M.S. who have recalled lost memories because of music. Many sufferers might not know their loved ones’ names but, when a song from their past is played; their eyes are widened and it uncovers so many other memories. This article, written in 2013, reacted to a study regarding the link between music and memories:

“A series of recent studies have found that listening to music engages broad neural networks in the brain, including brain regions responsible for motor actions, emotions, and creativity.

In the first study of its kind, Amee Baird and Séverine Samson, from University of Newcastle in Australia, used popular music to help severely brain-injured patients recall personal memories. Their pioneering research was published on December 10, 2013 in the journal Neuropsychological Rehabilitation…

 PHOTO CREDIT: @tchompalov/Unsplash

Although their study only involved a small number of participants, it is the first to examine ‘music-evoked autobiographical memories’ (MEAMs) in patients with acquired brain injuries (ABIs), rather than those who are healthy or suffer from Alzheimer’s disease.

In their study, Baird and Samson played snippets from "Billboard Hot 100" number-one songs in a random order to people with ABI. The songs—taken from the whole of the patient’s lifespan from age five—were also played to control subjects with no brain injury. All participants were asked to record how familiar they were with a given song, whether they liked it, and what memories the song evoked.

Interestingly, the highest number of MEAMs in the whole group was recorded by one of the ABI patients. In all those studied, the majority of MEAMs were of a person, people or a life period, and were typically positive. Songs that evoked a memory were noted as being more familiar and more well liked than songs that did not trigger a MEAM. This is common sense”.

I think we can all get scared and unsure and there are times when we need some positivity or assurance we are on the right path. Maybe we consciously do it but many of us listen to music we grew up around because we want to be reminded of safer and less challenging times.

 PHOTO CREDIT: @dg92/Unsplash

I am not saying we all get nostalgic but we can listen to a song that is common to many and evoke personal and unique memories. I am not sure why it is but music is held in special reserve and keeps safe snippets of our past. Maybe we inadvertently attach music to memories (or vice versa) and they are in our brain for life. If a particular song is hated or ignored by someone else; to someone like me, they can be precious because they soundtracked a formative or special time. Why do we classify music in a way that we do not with anything else? Why do we hold some songs in the brain and others can slip on by? This story sheds some light:

“The hippocampus and the frontal cortex are two large areas in the brain associated with memory and they take in a great deal of information every minute. Retrieving it is not always easy. It doesn’t simply come when you ask it to. Music helps because it provides a rhythm and rhyme and sometimes alliteration which helps to unlock that information with cues. It is the structure of the song that helps us to remember it, as well as the melody and the images the words provoke.

The technique remains important today. Neuroscientists have analysed the brain mechanisms related to memory, finding that words set to music are the easiest to remember. Just think of one of the first songs you could well have sung: “A,B,C,D,E,F,G, come along and sing with me.” Text learnt to music is better remembered when it is heard as a song rather than speech. Try and remember anything set to a tune and your powers of recall will be stronger: “Now I’ve sung my ABC”.

I have distinct memories of music that are amazing to recall. I cannot remember things I did today and the last person I spoke with but I can project clear images of my childhood when I hear a song played. The Bangles’ Eternal Flame takes me back to one of my first homes and watching the song’s music video through the bannisters. Soundgarden’s Black Hole Sun takes me to a Greek island as a child; watching the video on MTV as I was sitting with my family outside a beach-side bar. I listen to The Shamen’s Ebeneezer Goode and can recall a middle-school memory where a classmate played the song on a tape recorder – delighting the class – and I cast my mind back to university when I listen to other songs. It is amazing to think I can hear Tears for Fears’ Everybody Wants to Rule the World and that is my first memory of life – a young child hearing it coming from the kitchen; the odd sensation of being aware of music for the very first time. I wanted to re-explore the subject because these memories and this beguiling music-memory romance is one we all share. It is amazing how we can hear songs from particular times and recall them for decades whilst others are lost. I am intrigued why a song such as Rhythm Is a Dancer takes me back to a family holiday at Butlins and sitting in an activity class with other kids – my parents given time to escape and have some free relaxation.

There would have been other songs played in those classes/groups and I would have heard other songs that holiday – this one song is associated with that time and is the official soundtrack. Why does the brain choose to select that song?! The BBC article I have just quoted explains why certain tones and genres stick:

“Notably, memories stimulated by music often come from particular times in our lives. Classic hits take us back to our teenage years and our twenties, much more than songs of later years. Psychologists have called it the ‘reminiscence bump’. It may work this way because this is an especially important and exciting time in our lives, when we are experience things for the first time and when we become independent. Everything is new and meaningful. Later, life becomes a bit of a blur. Music evokes emotion, but the sound and feeling of it, while important ,don’t necessary define your feelings. A sad song could be associated with a happy time, a happy one with a sad one”.

Maybe there is something indiscriminate with the selection process but I’d like to think, on some level, our childhood is about formulating the music we will follow as an adult and shaping us as consumers. We cannot retain all music but we are picking as we go along and those precious memories are the way we get music to stick. Maybe it is not so much about music being stored in the brain so we can recall it years down the line; perhaps we retain certain music as we grow up for different reasons. It is so interesting to dig deep and learn about that process.

 PHOTO CREDIT: @flpschi/Unsplash

I am always amazed how I can recall these memories and, with it, there are smells, sights and quotes. I have problems with memory but can hear a song I remembered from school days and my classmates are there (one who is actually dead is in that memory!) and the smell of paint in the class; the weather outside and what our uniforms looked like. Some of these memories might be unreliable – the weather and why that song was played – but I can picture faces and how I felt back then – maybe twenty-five years or more! There is a science and process our brain goes through with regards retention and musical memory. The article I previously quoted looks at a revolutionary 2011 study:

“In a 2011 study, Finnish researchers used a groundbreaking method that allowed them to study how the brain processes different aspects of music, such as rhythm, tonality and timbre (sound color) in a realistic listening situation. Their study was published in the journal NeuroImage.

Limbic areas of the brain, known to be associated with emotions, were also found to be involved in rhythm and tonality processing. Processing of timbre was associated with activations in the so-called default mode network, which is assumed to be associated with mindwandering and creativity.

"Our results show for the first time how different musical features activate emotional, motor and creative areas of the brain," concluded Professor Petri Toiviainen from the University of Jyväskylä. "We believe that our method provides more reliable knowledge about music processing in the brain than the more conventional methods".

 PHOTO CREDIT: Getty Images

The reason I adore the 1990s and look back at the decade with fondness is not a hopeless nostalgia trip but because I have so many happy memories from them – most of them scored by music! You might say that is one of the same but I refute that. I will end this article with a memory tape list I included in the last related article: all of the songs hold a special memory for me and, whilst you may hate some/most; each has been included in that playlist for a good reason. You can match the article with the songs and see if you can think of your own memory playlist! Whilst it is true we tend to retain musical memories at a younger age – perhaps fewer songs from adulthood remain – I feel it is an ongoing process. Our memories are sharper as our brains develop so there is a natural period when we will stop retaining so prolifically. Also; as we discover music and have that curiosity; more of our memories will be tied to music. I can bring to mind memories from a few years ago revolving around music but most stored seem to go from the year 2000 back to my early childhood. One might say music was better before that year so it is only natural I would hold them dear. That raises another theory: do we recall certain songs because of their quality or is it to do with the memory itself?! Are we remembering tracks because they are so good and we had never heard anything like it or are the memories they are associated with what we remember – the music is purely circumstantial or plays a minor role?! In any case; music is a potent and powerful thing that can help us keep memories safe and brought to mind at the most random moments.

There are those who suffer from neurological disorders or brain injuries who might have poor short-term memory recall. It is devastating to see someone suffer from memory issues and literally forget their own names! I have, ironically, explored this before but I am drawn to music and how it can help those with memory/neurological illnesses. The fact I am spending time recalling fond musical visions means, in some way, I am curious as to why certain times in my life have been retained – others have been lost and it seems like there is some sort of gating mechanism. Going back to the BBC piece and they investigate why certain songs are retained and how these memories can aid in recovery after brain injuries:

“Cretien van Campen, author of The Proust Effect: The Senses as Doorways to Lost Memories researches the ways different senses act like the madeleine for the French author Marcel Proust in In Search of Lost Time when a bite of the sweet cake takes him back to his childhood with all its smells, colours and feelings. Much of Campen’s work studies the brain, but he makes an important observation about what happens outside of our heads. “Smell differs in that it is a personal memory, whereas there is something very social in our experience of music,” he points out. “Music memories are often shared with peer.”…

 PHOTO CREDIT: @zacfriesen/Unsplash

“…We listen, together. At a party, it is something that we hear whilst dancing or chatting to a friend. We go to concerts or gigs with one another. And it is because music is there as part of lives spent with others – often significant others – that helps make it especially meaningful. Indeed it is often played at or composed for significant occasions, like funerals or weddings, where we witness major life events.

People who have suffered traumatic brain injuries will often have problems with memory. Music can help bring back some of those special moments of their lives that they have forgotten. Those suffering from dementia can trigger vivid memories by listening to music they heard when they were young. Campen also highlights its uses for those with depression. It can assist people to recall difficult parts of their lives that were not necessarily as bad as they had thought. “People who are depressed often feel as if there is a blanket over their lives”. Hearing music, and remembering various experiences, “can help them remember the more complex experiences.” It’s not that these are always positive, he notes, “but they may be more rounded.” Music cannot cure, but perhaps it can help heal”.

Memories and stored reminders are incredibly important when it comes to those whose memories might be otherwise skewed. Thing about someone who suffers from a brain injury or disorder and they might not remember where they came from and who they are.

Play them a song through headphones from their past – whether Glory Box by Portishead or The Beatles’ Taxman – and that can unlock myriad visions, colours and visions. Without verbal prompt or any medication; a patient can unlock this lost world and recall memories in perfect detail. I know it is a short-term release and it only provides a few memories but we have not harnessed how music can help go further – can therapy with music help that process and stimulate the brain? Can music in general advance memory recovery and provide stimulus? This article talks about music therapy and why music is a powerful tool:

“Music taps into our emotions and creates a non-threatening, non-invasive atmosphere where individuals are provided an outlet to be creative, have opportunities for control over their environment, be social, and express their emotions. As a result, children and adults who suffer from anxiety and mood disorders may benefit from music therapy to improve coping skills, reduce anxiety, improve self-regulation, self-esteem, self-awareness, and increase their verbal and non-verbal expression of feelings.

Music provides a structured beginning, middle, and end that is appeasing to our brains! It provides predictable and organized outcomes through steady rhythm, melodic phrases, and form. Structure and familiarity through music can be very soothing and coordinating for the brain. Because of this structure, music therapy interventions can be beneficial for individuals with ADHD and Autism Spectrum Disorder by providing music to encourage relaxation, promote self-regulation, reduce hyperactivity, adjust to changes and transitions, and improve attention”.

One of the reasons I am a music journalist and want to pursue music to its nth degree is because of the way it sticks in my mind and how I can recall certain songs. These natural memories have been carried with me all this time and that sheer power is hard to describe. I can tell you in a thousand words why T. Rex’s Hot Love is so meaningful to me but it might not resonate with anyone else. Our brain chooses to remember particular songs and I am always going to be curious why that is and how why particular songs remain and others do not. Whilst we can recall memories and songs from our past; I wonder whether, in people whose memories are distorted and fractured; can music and therapy help uncover many more lost memories and provide nourishment to the brain in ways we cannot comprehend? Music is a wonderful and evolving artform that can assist with depression, anxiety and all manner of situations. Music can help us through grief and heartache and it can lift the mood in a way nothing can. Whilst it is wonderful we can retain music from years back and recall these childhood times; I am always looking forward as to how those who suffer appalling neurological issues can benefit from music. The memory is a wonderful and complex instrument that can be taken away from us and damaged; it can be blurry and unreliable or, on certain days, clear as a bell! Music is always there; feeding into corners and sinews that we did not know existed; storing away for future days and able to aid and elevate us when required. The mystery as to why we store certain songs and times is always of interest to me but, when thinking of those whose minds and memories are slipping; it is clear that music, future, present and past has a…

HUGE role to play.  

FEATURE: Language Barriers: Why a Swearing Ban for Wireless Festival Hides Bigger Issues That Need Addressing

FEATURE:

 

 

Language Barriers

 IN THIS IMAGE: J. Cole (who was one of the headliners at this year’s Wireless Festival)/IMAGE CREDIT: SBM832  

Why a Swearing Ban for Wireless Festival Hides Bigger Issues That Need Addressing

__________

IT seems a bit of a cheek to impose…

 IN THIS PHOTO: Stormzy (who was a headliner at this year’s Wireless Festival)/PHOTO CREDIT: Oliver Hadlee Pearch

a swearing band on any music festival. Wireless Festival is an annual event that attracts the more gritty and raw talent from the music spectrum. This year’s event, held back in July, saw Stormzy, Post Malone and J. Cole play and, for the most part, the event went well without much complaint. It would be horrible stereotypical to suggest a festival that supported Grime and Hip-Hop (and other genres) artists would have trouble follow it about. Even if you are not aware of what the likes of Stormzy are all about; one cannot be naïve enough to think they’re going to be calming walking the stage, acoustic guitar in hand and using the sort of language that would appeal to the most pious and delicate. I will bring a couple of artists in that have reacted to an announced swearing ban at Wireless. I am not sure whether the decree has been signed but it seems like, from now on, there is going to be an expletive-lite festival that does not offend ears. There have been complaints that children have been within ear shot of the festival and have heard the sort of language coming from the stage. The Finsbury Park-staged event does put out a lot of noise and it can be distracting for residents if you want a bit of silence.

Consider how many songs are played across the few days and how many of those contain swearing. One cannot imagine it a torrent of swearing is happening throughout the day and I wonder whether this rather absurd ban hides some deeper issues. Before I speculate as to what actually needs to happen; Suzanne Moore, writing in The Guardian, addressed the situation and asked whether swearing was really a huge issue:

“Well, no. And Wireless isn’t for the likes of me, though I can hear it from where I live. Interestingly, the biggest sound I ever heard coming from Finsbury Park was when Madness played. The ground was shaking. The earth moved for the centrist dads that day.

Now Haringey council in its infinite wisdom has, after listening to protests, agreed that Wireless can continue, but performers have been told they must not swear, make obscene gestures or wear skimpy clothes on stage. They cannot “make any vulgar gestures actions or remarks during the performance, or at any point whilst using an amplification device, including the use of expletives”. To which the only thing you can say is two words made of asterisks”.

Reading those guidelines and proposals makes me scoff somewhat. I can understand the projected noise, if it contained incredibly vulgar and racist language, should be banned were it reaching the minds of children. I realise sound can travel a long distance but how many children and sensitive locals are going to be able to see rude hand gestures and hardly-clothed dancers?! Unless you are on the site and within a certain distance of the stage; this is not something that is going to affect you and people who attend Wireless know full well what they are in for! If you are bringing kids to the festival and then are offended; it is hardly the fault of the organisers, is it?!

 PHOTO CREDIT: @dkravchenko/Unsplash

Sound and noise pollution will always stir discontent and anger but for some but I feel music festivals, in terms of their language and acts, are not as controversial and troublesome as some of the second-hand smoke that is created. Should Wireless, rather than get precious about swearing, focus on the gender and range of acts it books?!

“There are problems with Wireless, and Lily Allen and Annie Mac have pointed them out: the lack of diversity, with only three female acts booked over three days this year. But that is not what this is about. Instead it’s part of the clampdown on what is politely termed “urban” music. Everyone knows what that means, but they can’t bring themselves to say “black”. Under these new rules, the likes of Stormzy and Kanye West would be banned.

Locals have legitimate complaints: there aren’t enough toilets; there are drug dealers and the ever-present fear of gangs – but Haringey cannot boast of its multiculturalism and then come out with this ridiculous ban. It’s the latest in a long line of attempts by the police to stop certain gatherings, which included the infamous form 696, a risk assessment used to stop bashment etc. In my day the government tried to ban “repetitive beats”, which is as mad as it sounds”.

I feel a festival needs to look at the artists it is booking and whether there is enough diversity – rather than look at issues that are endemic with any music festival.

One of the ironies of this swearing band is the fact the Haringey district is not exactly known for censorship and its homogenisation. There are countless languages being spoken and people from all over the world walking the streets. On any given day leaving my flat, I will – almost instantaneously! – encounter someone spitting. I saw a man racially abuse someone the other day and there is severe emotional and psychological poverty. I am not sure about the surrounding neighbourhoods of Finsbury Park but where I live, Wood Green, there is so much disadvantage and lacking financial investment. I have lost count of those who I suspect are drug addicts; there are numerous homeless and most of the population live very close to the breadline. You have to take quite a few stops on the Piccadilly Line past Finsbury Park before you see things improve. Walk around the street and you will hear any number of cusses and expletives casually spat within listening distance of children. Many of the mothers you see pushing toddlers around do it and the problem with drugs and drink is hardly hidden. The smell of cannabis hovers in the air; many people I know have been offered drugs and propositioned; others have been abused and encountered aggression. There is minimum police presence – as you’d expect – and there is a feeling of disconnection and alienation when you live and move around the community. This is all known and stated and, in many ways, there is more safety and security inside Wireless than the neighbourhoods mere feet away!

 IN THIS PHOTO: Giggs photoed at Wireless Festival on 8th July, 2018/PHOTO CREDIT: Ashley Verse

How far does a swearing ban go?! I guess those at Glastonbury and Reading cannot object because there are few residents nearby and, for the most part, the artists keep it clean. The sort of artists we see at Wireless are telling it like it is and not idly throwing swear words around to shock and as part of their vocabulary. The likes of Stormzy use swearing as part of their music but it is there to project a reality that is all too clear in Haringey. Many of the people Stormzy talks about – those overlooked and living close to poverty – are the ones who will hear the swearing; the ones he is trying to speak to and speak for. One wonders whether the complaints have come from some of the more well-off residents and whether many of them are middle-class. I can see why families would be a bit sensitive to swearing if they lived in areas where things were very sanitised and clean – but that is not the reality we are dealing with here! Haringey is a diverse area of London and it can range from the well-off to the downright deprived. One of the reasons why people move there is because it is more affordable than many parts of London and there is multiculturalism. Part of putting so many different people from different nations together is to project a more united, diverse and cosmopolitan city; one that is not all the same and that sports a richness. Swearing and rude gestures happen all over the place. You can hear youths swearing on public transport and at pubs; business owners during their lunch breaks and older people doing it.

 IN THIS PHOTO: A couple pose for a selfie at this year’s Wireless Festival/PHOTO CREDIT: James Bridle

If you start asking artists to cut the swearing then where does that end?! Swearing is part of your freedom of speech and you could not tell someone on the street to quit swearing because it is a bit unpleasant. Do people like J. Cole get a pre-gig contract that states he is not allowed to get political or use any swearing; he must keep his dancers covered up and can absolutely not slag anyone off! Apply that to other festivals and you’d have people complaining in their droves! I wonder whether there is something quite discriminatory and bigoted about whom they are targeted. Whether it is racially inspired or censoring a type of music that is seen as provocative and controversial. You can ban musicians who are racist and extremist but you cannot go to every festival and ask artists if they wouldn’t mind keeping the bad language to a minimum! Another article from The Guardian shed more light on the problems Wireless carries with it:

“In a complaint made to Haringey council, campaigners said the festival brought anti-social behaviour to the area, with open drug dealing, vomiting on streets and excrement on doorsteps seen in previous years.

Tom Palin, a director of Friends of Finsbury Park, said locals last year “could not get any peace” and he personally knew of 10 people who had moved out of the area as a result of the disruption each year…

PHOTO CREDIT: @lucasquintana/Unsplash 

“I remember last year when Travis Scott was performing and the windows at my friends’ house were shaking,” he said. “You could hear them jangling. The residents were adamant that something had to be done to stop the disturbance.”

The ban, which is likely to be difficult to enforce, was criticised on social media for effectively censoring music and introducing rules that might not be applied to indie and rock festivals.

Councillor Kirsten Hearn, Haringey’s cabinet member for the environment, said: “Wireless festival is a world-class urban event that helps to fund the park the whole year round and makes a major cultural contribution to Haringey. We will work to address these [concerns] with residents and partners at Finsbury Park”.

Although it is sad to see anyone forced to move because of threats or some other action; I wonder whether these events shroud a bigger problem. There are, to be fair, only a few residents who experience things like dog pooh left on their doorsteps and few who will come into contact with drug dealers. The reason I am aggrieved there is a swearing ban is because it is not a catalyst: people are not hearing the swearing from the stage, finding the most constipated dog and waiting for the thing to shed its load!

Drug dealers are not being brainwashed by artists to provoke trouble and throw up; the songs do not glamorise anti-social behaviour and urge people to strike fear into others! Wireless is the premier Urban festival in London and is designed to host artists who are speaking louder than politicians; those delivering potent and compelling messages that are deigned to make you think. In any case; I think fewer people object to swearing as they do the problem with drugs and degradation. Most of the punters who pass through Finsbury Park are law-abiding and do not want to cause any issues. They might have a couple of pints and be a bit loud but they are not hurting anyone and certainly not going as far to target residents! There is this small number who are bringing drugs to the site or dealing nearby. There are others who are drinking excessively and vomiting and generally being obnoxious. I can understand that objection but, as I say, I and many other people live in parts of London where that sort of thing happens every day! If there was a music festival right near me then it would exacerbate things but a lot of the anger aimed at Wireless is about a very small number of patrons. I feel the issue of drugs needs to be addressed and more stringent checks carried out.

 IN THIS PHOTO: Mabel (who is shown performing at this year’s Wireless Festival)/PHOTO CREDIT: Ashley Verse

There is the ongoing problem with rubbish and plastic and laws around what people could bring in would help; having recycling bins or fining those who litter. Maybe having extra security around the site and additional police during the festival would help ensure there were fewer incidents. I have spoken to a couple of people who live in and near Finsbury Park and the main issue is the additional numbers and noise. They are not so affected by swearing but the throng of people and how much more litter/noise there is. It is a time of the year when there is a more visible and obvious issue: a typical mass of festival-goers who are not respecting the locals are the areas as much as they should be. It is an issue at all major and smaller festivals but, for most of them, they are situated away from towns or there is a bit more protection. I think banning swearing is avoiding the real issue and not addressing the real threats. By banning swearing, organisers and the council will cure a very minor thing – so few I know have a problem with bad language – and they are turning a blind eye to the mess, litter and drugs. If more money were spent ensuring the site and surrounding areas were left cleaner and fewer disreputable characters were allowed entry then we might be onto something.

 PHOTO CREDIT: @thoughtcatalog/Unsplash

Even if Wireless’ majority are calm and well-behaved, there is always going to be sector that are loitering and want to stir something up. I think the hassle and intimidation that some offer locals is a much more harrowing and eye-opening concern! The artists who take to the Wireless stage would be the first to distance themselves from those who offer nothing but aggression, problems and disrespect. Wireless is not about stirring up a storm and not giving a damn about those around them. The artists are the ones who will be stifled and affected by the swearing band. Consider problems that hounded Wireless a few years back and one wonders whether these sorts of scenes are the ones that should be investigated first:

“Campaigners are calling for a huge north London music festival to be axed after it was beset by rampaging gatecrashers last year.

Residents say the Wireless festival brought "scary" disorder to Finsbury Park in July 2015 and also left the green space in tatters, with the ground looking like a “desert” and strewn with laughing gas canisters and broken glass.

The festival was attended by 50,000 people each day and featured acts such as Drake, David Guetta and Nicki Minaj.

But it hit the headlines for the wrong reasons after large crowds of youths were filmed repeatedly trying to break into the event, with many successfully storming through fences.

One shocking video showed a lone police officer attempting to hold off a crowd of would-be gatecrashers with a baton.

At least eight people were arrested during the course of the event, including for knife possession and actual bodily harm”.

Rather than targeting the artists on the stage; look at those who are causing the real problems and find ways to stop that! Swearing is not the issue and never has been; residents and those who attend Wireless would much rather they avoid riots, violence and drugs than a bit of spicy language! Are members of the council, residents and organisers actually coming together to discuss problems not related to swearing and trying to do something about that?! I am not that sure but I do know Wireless tries to ensure there is public safety and take measures to protect people. One might say banning swearing is not a huge thing and how many people is it going to affect? If it helps make the residents happy and keeps them calm then what is the issue?! I agree with that but argue you get much more swearing on the street and wherever you go then you’ll ever get at Wireless. I have already explored drugs and noises and how is a swearing ban going to stop all of that?! It is not like artists cleaning up will magically whitewash the ongoing issues that come with the festival. It is a shame that certain people ruin it for everyone and there are very obvious things that need to be eradicated. A lot of Finsbury Park residents have had enough with Wireless because of the problems that have come and the extra noise it brings each year.

 PHOTO CREDIT: @paucasals/Unsplash

Before 2019’s event – if it is allowed back – there needs to be a lot done to, maybe, limit bad language but do a lot more when it comes to most more pressing and explicit problems! I do not think musicians can be censored and you cannot tell one specific festival that their talent should be clean and not offend. I return to the first article I quoted a passage that keeps coming back to my eyes:

“I cannot imagine life without swearing, for swearing is life. Lately, football commentators have taken to apologising when microphones pick up the crowd’s chants or managers’ swearing. This is such a weird infantilising of the audience: we can hear swearing but are told we somehow shouldn’t have. It’s the equivalent of bleeping and asterisks, all of which bemuse me. Swearing can be dull and lazy and simply an exclamation mark, or it can be fantastically creative and funny. It is malleable, like all language, and when it is done in Portuguese by José Mourinho, who among us is truly offended? Indeed, it should be subtitled”.

Swearing is all around us and it is impossible to go anywhere without hearing someone saying something rude! It is not down to people to tell artists what they should say and whether they can use bad language. If you take away that right and speech then you are going to send a terrible message to the rest of the industry.

 IN THIS PHOTO: Lil Uzt Vert gets in among the crowd at this year’s Wireless Festival/PHOTO CREDIT: Ashley Verse

It seems like the pressure and circus of the festival, in general, is what residents are objecting to. If you move it to other parts of London then other people will have a problem; if you move it outside London then fewer people can get there and it means you will be brushing something away without compromise and consultation. Where does the censorship stop?! Do you ban alcohol or ensure people are strip-searched when they come in and out?! Every music festival is going to have problems because of the sheer mass of bodies coming through and you can never solve that. I am not sure what a quick fix will be but moving Wireless out of Finsbury Park is not a cure. There are plenty in the area that love having it on their doorstep and it is only the minority of those who attend Wireless that create problems. More needs to happen right now to ensure next year’s Wireless is as smooth and improved as possible. Get the residents on board and listen to their views; have a word with security and police to up the numbers and, maybe, speak with artists who can speak out themselves and direct a message against those who create trouble. A lot needs to be done but swearing, alas, is not the big elephant in the room. It is a slight problem but there are bigger ones that are being ignored. You cannot tell artists to stop swearing because they have a right and you get into some dangerous areas. It would be sad to see a more PG Wireless festival and how that affects who plays and which songs they get to perform. Nannying, controlling and editing those who take to the Wireless stage is a joke and those who feel all the problems and troubles around Wireless will simply disappear are…

IN THIS PHOTO: Post Malone (photoed playing at this year’s Wireless Festival)/PHOTO CREDIT: Jordan Hughes  

PLAIN fucking wrong!