FEATURE: Horns, Improvisations and Wonderful Glitches: The Best Jazz and Experimental Albums of 2018

FEATURE:

 

 

Horns, Improvisations and Wonderful Glitches

PHOTO CREDIT: @jensth/Unsplash

The Best Jazz and Experimental Albums of 2018

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I have a couple more of these features to put out...

 IN THIS PHOTO: Julia Holter/PHOTO CREDIT: Gabriel Green

and I am keen to explore Pop and a couple of other genres. I think Jazz and Experimental music is not given the same appreciation as other genres - and Jazz especially is still seen as one of these niche and rather if-you’re-in-the-right-mood types of music. The modern crop is much more accessible and varied than some of the older Jazz icons. I have loved seeing the best of Jazz in 2018 but there have also been some great Experimental albums released too. It might seem odd putting these genres together but they do share similarities and, as I say, both sides of music that are not given as much love and plaudit as you’d like. To honour that, here is a selection of Jazz and Experimental albums that have helped make 2018’s music scene...

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

RICH and truly stunning.  

ALL ALBUM COVERS: Getty Images

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Kamasi Washington – Heaven and Earth

Date of Release: 22nd June, 2018

Label: Young Turks

Producer: Kamasi Washington

Review:

“Earth opener ‘Fists of Fury’ is a fantastic entry-point on this epic journey. It is easily the most immediate track on this record to hook the listener into the next two and a half hours (should you have the time to sit through it all in one sitting) with a brilliantly funky groove and a melody line that will become instantly lodged into the synapses. Meanwhile, Heaven opener ‘The Space Traveller’s Lullaby’ instantly creates the spacey, spiritualised side of the record to a head, with a beautiful vocal-choir performance rising and falling with the music. ‘Street Fighter Mas’ features an irresistible funky beat, helped no less by Washington’s long-time collaborator and the other current hot jazz pioneer (though coming at it from a completely different angle) Thundercat.

Heaven & Earth is ultimately yet another example of Washington’s incredible prowess behind the saxophone but also as a composer. Hopefully Washington’s music is a launch pad for a jazz revival in which the whole genre enjoys success, as it is worth remembering there is an incredible slew of talent out there to discover. This writer included, after recently witnessing this sheer power of Washington and his band The Next Step, there’s a whole world I am excited to discover. But for now, Heaven & Earth is a pretty damn great place to start” – Drowned in Sound

Stream: https://open.spotify.com/album/5mG7tl4EW2xrTy5rI8BgGL?si=nOfb2NL8T3S5kybmHdzIGg

 Standout Tracks: Testify/Street Fighter Mas/The Psalmist

Finest Cut: Fists of Fury

Meitei – Kwaidan

Date of Release: 30th January, 2018

Label: Meitei

Review:

“‘Kwaidan’ is a spellbindingly curious study in the “lost" art of Japanese ghost story-telling and horror folklore, marking the sublime first release on Singapore’s bijou Evening Chants imprint.

Inspired by living in Kyoto for the past two years, ‘Kwaidan’ - a form of Japanese ghost story - is focussed on musically crafting a form of “Japanese Mood”, or Meitei. Taking this word as his moniker, Meitei becomes his subject in a pointed effort to revive or at least keep this artform alive, using a combination of frayed, enigmatic backdrops to tactfully limn a specific mood.

The delicate approach and febrile, shapeshifting results recall to our ears the subtly suggestive sound sets of Sugai Ken as much as Jan Jelinek at his dreamiest, conjuring winding passages of crackle and shimmering subaquatic chords, finding beauty lurking in the low key and peripheral, spectral and metaphysical realms...” – Boomkat

Stream: https://open.spotify.com/album/0COOSP2TWDQQLdLE1HdGlO?si=h9cLiXybTQOt5uZ0uCHoSQ

Standout Tracks: Curio/JIZO/Shoji

Finest Cut: SAZANAMI

Sons of Kemet – Your Queen Is a Reptile

Date of Release: 30th March, 2018

Label: Impulse! Records

Producer: Shabaka Hutchings/Dilip Harris

Review:

“Kinetic and thrilling as the uptempo blasts are, where Your Queen shines is on the slower pieces, revealing that Hutchings can purr, murmur and wax lyrical as well. With another up-and-coming British jazz star Nubya Garcia, the two twine around each other on “My Queen Is Yaa Asantewaa” (for queen mother of Ejisu in the Ashanti Empire if you’re not up on your black studies) each pushing the other to range further and deeper, every line a mix of fire and eloquence. The drums slow to a sacred, nyabinghi heartbeat on “My Queen Is Nanny Of The Maroons” and Cross’s tuba wades deep into dub bass territory as Hutchings offers up his most poignant solo, one that need not rise above a whisper to prove that this Jamaican national hero and Your Queen as a whole is worthy of national worship” – SPIN

Stream: https://open.spotify.com/album/4pxnDGBdoGu88h8ZInX5f5?si=tdRtFmGKQcuGPwyrT2G1dA

Standout Tracks: My Queen Is Ada Eastman/My Queen Is Anna Julia Cooper/My Queen Is Nanny of the Maroons

Finest Cut: My Queen Is Yaa Asantewaa

            

Park Jiha – Communion

Date of Release: 2nd March, 2018

Label: Mirrorball

Review:

“Both the title track and ‘The Longing Of The Yawning Divide’ have a crystalline sense of magic realism about them, their musical lineage resting neither in the folk-tradition of their instruments nor fully in the world of the varied styles they occupy.

Communion closes on a high with ‘The First Time I Sat Across From You’. A (supposedly) improvised flute passage whirls and winds as the dulcimer pulse behind it becomes ever more chaotic until at last it dissipates, leaving us only with the touching, mysticising sounds of plucked strings.

Park Jiha has composed, performed and produced an album that treats clarity with the utmost respect, in that it realises that with lucidity comes an understanding of calamity and disorder. The world she has created succeeds because of that understanding. So much music that tries to fuse the traditional with the contemporary fails because of an idolisation of its parts; Communion idolises nothing, and is all the more tangible and engaging for that” – The Quietus

Stream: https://open.spotify.com/album/5cOsXBUTKytilc5odrPtpk?si=sQ5GHX2cSIGXu3qYhti-YQ

Standout Tracks: Accumulation of Time/Sounds Heard from the Moon/All Souls’ Day

Finest Cut: Communion

 

Amnesia Scanner – Another Life

Date of Release: 7th September, 2018

Label: PAN

Review:

“To end where Another Life begins, “AS Symetriba” sounds like the pixelated din emanating from that notorious video of cyber goths dancing under a bridge, their tassels twirling over the neon gas masks and jet-black goatees. The devious gesture Amnesia Scanner are making in this sonic contiguity here — and more generally throughout Another Life — is a wry one, at least as old as Duchamp: a mockery of authorship and a robbery of the value that it conducts between concept and object.

But this is a shitty simile — and Amnesia Scanner know it. While Duchamp’s toilet stood on a pedestal in a gallery unused and unusable, Amnesia Scanner’s toilet invites us to dance like those goths and their fingerless gloves, invites us to use it, invites us to shit in it. If the art kids with the bowl cuts and the dangly earrings don’t want to let loose when the beat explodes into clattering syncopation and flanged exuberance, then let them keep their distance, let them hold it in, let them shit their pants while the toilet bowl gleams right in front of them” – Tiny Mix Tapes

Stream: https://open.spotify.com/album/5xYZZk3w1qqSUPokXTQvLr?si=YB9ToHtXQnSMBCoAMu4cig

Standout Tracks: AS A.W.O.L/AS Too Wrong/AS Faceless

Finest Cut: AS Symmetribal

Eartheater – Irisiri

Date of Release: 8th June, 2018

Label: PAN

Review:

“The ability to turn her voice into a chimera of sound helps Drewchin explore her own embodiment as a site of various inhuman pleasures and intensities that is built on the back of her dance and video performances. On the “ghost track” video only release of ‘Claustra’, Drewchin contorts her own body into a crab-like humanoid, scuttling around a graveyard, while on the video trailer for Irisiri, she is digitally portrayed as a weird animatronic centaur. Throughout Irisiri Drewchin is preoccupied by her body’s component and functions, such as on “inclined” here she talks of “piercing without penetration, before demanding you to “suck her bile”. She compares herself to a snowman on ‘Inhale Baby’, licking herself till she melts before declaring in a roboting manner that “there’s so much stuff coming out of my skirt”. The final tract, ‘OS In Vitro’ takes the amalgamation of body and technology to a near pure cyborgian level. Yet Drewchin still insists on retaining her body as something that is not a quantified object as her digitised voice declares: “Computer, this body is a mystery / These tits are just a side effect / You can’t compute her/ You don’t decide for my chemical”.

Irisiri is an album that explores the concepts of femininity, technology and the how many non-conforming bodies end up falling between the cracks in the seemingly implacable poles of gender, sex and the human, all her songs display seemingly disparate contrasts of surrealist wordplay, with organic, fragile tones and cold, machinist grind, as she pieces and stitches them into idiosyncratic little monsters that at times bewilders, but ultimately beguiles you with their curiosity and playfulness” – The Quietus

Stream: https://open.spotify.com/album/2G176tUq4Qc60xbUW3qB9i?si=LYy9GVzWQPScdbT3XvutwQ

Standout Tracks: Not Worried/Curtains/Slyly Child

Finest Cut: Peripheral

 

Julia Holter – Aviary

Date of Release: 26th October, 2018

Label: Domino Recording Company

Producers: Julia Holter/Kenny Gilmore

Review:

“The majority of Aviary is designed to be mused on mindfully, but there are a handful of more immediate moments. The spellbindingly brilliant I Shall Love 2 builds gradually into a chamber-pop ballad, whose droning quality and sense of childlike disarray recalls the Velvet Underground. Whether is a jaunty piece of electrified post-punk, while Les Jeux to You features jolly staccato singing in broken English that resembles odd Euro-pop from the 1970s. Holter doesn’t drop quite enough of these joyful crumbs to cajole the listener through the entirety of this 90-minute epic – yet there remains a glut of beauty and braininess in store for those willing to stick around” – The Guardian

Stream: https://open.spotify.com/album/6icpwcJQWK4nq9Xilk4yRu?si=49AUdVp4T9SGaEtJAGBv6g

Standout Tracks: Voce Simul/Another Dream/I Shall Love 1

Finest Cut: Turn the Light On

Tony Bennett & Diana Krall – Love Is Here to Stay

Date of Release: 14th September, 2018

Labels: Verve/Columbia

Producers: Dae Bennett/Bill Charlap

Review:

“Their rapport is established on ’S Wonderful, with Bennett chuckling softly at Krall’s accented phrasing and Krall quietly scatting beneath him on their return chorus. Charlap even tosses in a cheeky quote from Clap Yo’ Hands. The discursive piano playing on the bluesy My One and Only draws some tasty jazz phrasing from both singers, who also give a warm maiden reading of I’ve Got a Crush On You.

There are two solo tracks. Accompanied only by Charlap, Krall sings But Not For Me with unforced fragility. As with the best interpreters of this ballad she understands how its lyrics use humour to push home the pathos. It’s a spine-tingling performance. Bennett does Who Cares? with his usual elan, effortlessly varying tempo and texture. Like Gershwin, Krall and Bennett’s lovely music is here to stay” – The Times

Stream: https://open.spotify.com/album/7dj3N9Ue8kXeMjXyxesD2t?si=Hs3yr5twQmWlCDoBvLxHOw

Standout Tracks: My One and Only/I Got Rhythm/Do It Again

Finest Cut: Love Is Here to Stay

Cécile McLorin Salvant – The Window

Date of Release: 28th September, 2018

Label: Mack Avenue Records

Review:

“Salvant has found a fine match in Fortner, a New Orleans native who has played with the likes of Wynton Marsalis, John Scofield, and Paul Simon. He doesn’t accompany her so much as join in the conversation she’s having with these songs, occasionally even arguing with her about them. He toggles between the blues and jazz and classical figures with dizzying fluidity during “I’ve Got Your Number,” while his tectonic bass chords for “By Myself” make it seem like the ground is constantly shifting beneath Salvant. And when it comes to songs, it is: Salvant sings with the understanding that no tune is ever set in stone, even one as frequently sung as “Somewhere.” On The Window, she excels at keeping every possibility open all at once” – Pitchfork

Stream: https://open.spotify.com/album/2XClSOjimwtkeWYPo53mHG?si=1r573kOaQ622NB7Ih4eAXg

Standout Tracks: By Myself/Obsession/Wild Is Love

Finest Cut: One Step Ahead

 

Brad Mehldau Trio – Seymour Reads the Constitution!

Date of Release: 19th May, 2018

Label: Nonesuch

Producers: Brad Mehldau

Review:

“The influence is especially felt on the aptly named Mehldau original "Spiral," in which the pianist lays down a descending circular theme in a roiling time signature that has the dreamy feel of riding on a train with your eyes closed. They conjure an equally Jarrett-esque vibe on their sophisticated reading of Sam Rivers' classic "Beatrice," with Mehldau moving in and out of tonality during his kinetic, serpentine solo. As intense as that track can be, it never gets out of hand. In fact, much of the album has a balmy, laid-back quality as if it were recorded during a sunny afternoon at home. That sunny atmosphere is also at the core of the title track, in which Mehldau and Grenadier often share the melody, bumping up against each other in a bluesy dance. Elsewhere, they launch into a sprightly rendition of the Lerner & Loewe standard "Almost Like Being in Love" and offer up a bright, waltz-like take on the Beach Boys' "Friends," the latter of which is so friendly you can almost sense Mehldau and his bandmates smiling at each other” – AllMusic

Stream: https://open.spotify.com/album/2lPb2KYIudWUQcaL0vAlUm?si=SypNEzBESe2MezqXSeGojg

Standout Tracks: Spiral/De-Dah/Great Day         

Finest Cut: Almost Like Being in Love

 

Heather Leigh and Peter Brötzmann – Sparrow Nights

Date of Release: 26th October, 2018

Label: Trost Records

Review:

“Peter Brötzmann has spent more than 50 years repping the aggro fringe of free jazz. But the saxophonist behind famously abrasive Sixties sessions such as Machine Gun has always been a more nuanced player than his reputation as an air-raid-siren screamer would suggest. That’s why Sparrow Nights is a revelation. The 77-year-old German improviser has rarely sounded more vulnerable than he does on this set of atmospheric studio-recorded duets with American-born pedal-steel guitarist Heather Leigh, his frequent foil in recent years.

Many Brötzmann collaborators have engaged him in gladiator-style combat, as heard on another recent release from the saxist’s aptly named power trio Full Blast. Leigh instead emphasizes negative space. Set against her echoey, meditative swirls or harsh, pealing distortion (textures she combines with otherworldly vocals on a new solo album), Brötzmann — blowing hoarse laments or rough wails on a bevy of reeds, from bass sax to contra-alto clarinet and his customary tenor — often sounds like he’s interacting with the elements. The setting’s sparseness foregrounds the forlorn existential-blues pathos that’s been at the heart of his performances for decades. If Machine Gunwas Brötzmann’s steely catharsis, Sparrow Nights is the haunted aftermath” – Rolling Stone

Stream: https://open.spotify.com/album/0xBfH9Gp7hu2YeK3E3qSos?si=xFLEupPkTI6GmbI-UqDWVA

Standout Tracks: Summer Rain/Sparrow Nights/At First Sight

Finest Cut: This Word Love

FEATURE: Legends Have It: Throwing the Spotlight on the Artists Who Have Endured and Continue to Amaze

FEATURE:

 

 

Legends Have It

IMAGE CREDIT: @GlastoFest

Throwing the Spotlight on the Artists Who Have Endured and Continue to Amaze

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I have written a few pieces this year regarding ageism in music...

 PHOTO CREDIT: @kylieminogue/Getty Images

and the fact we treat it less passionately than sexism. Any discrimination is bad and should be abolished - but how many of us take ageism as seriously as other forms of discrimination?! I feel like radio stations and festivals are rather cavalier and crude when it comes to age and the type of artists they feature. A lot of the radio stations in the country – and throughout the world – have definite age barriers and, depending on where you look, you have a set demographic and ‘sound’. One is less likely to see an artist over the age of, say, fifty on any of the younger stations…and there is a definite compartmentalisation. Festivals are culpable too and you do not often see a lot of middle-aged and older artists given big billing. Maybe some of the bigger festivals’ headline slots go to the icons and legends but what of any of the less-known older acts?! The reason I am writing this piece is the fact Kylie Minogue has been booked to play the ‘legend’ slot at next year’s Glastonbury. The Guardian have proved the details:

“Kylie Minogue will perform the Sunday teatime “legend” slot at Glastonbury festival 2019.

The heritage act slot on the festival’s main Pyramid stage tends to draw the biggest crowd of the weekend, and has been filled in recent years by Barry Gibb, Lionel Richie and Dolly Parton. Festival organiser Emily Eavis said she was “delighted” with the booking, adding: “We cannot wait”...

It will be the first time Kylie has played a solo set at Glastonbury. She was due to headline the Pyramid stage in 2005 but had to cancel following a breast cancer diagnosis – Basement Jaxx replaced her, and fellow headliners Coldplay performed a cover of Kylie’s Can’t Get You Out of My Head in tribute. She also made a guest appearance with Scissor Sisters in 2010 for a performance of their song Any Which Way.

The only other act to have been announced for the sold-out festival is Stormzy, who will headline the Pyramid stage on Friday night”.

We have seen one headliner, Stormzy, announced for next year but I suspect the other two headline slots will be occupied by new acts too. There is talk of Sir Paul McCartney playing – more on him later – but one suspects he might be another booking in the legends category – accompanying Minogue at 2019’s Glastonbury. It is important to give big stages to newcomers and those coming through but I think, to a degree, we overlook those who have given so much to music. Consider someone like Kylie Minogue and how she has reigned since the 1980s. I grew up listening to some of her earlier hits and the infectious, giddy delight of songs like Hand on Your Heart and more modern cuts like Can’t Get You Out of My Head - they are hard to beat!

 PHOTO CREDIT: @kristsll/Unsplash

The fact those lucky enough to see Kylie Minogue at next year’s Glastonbury means they will get to hear her big hits alongside some newer material. I think she is someone who continues to provide magic and, even though Golden (her latest album) is a more Country-sounding offering, it is the sign of an icon adapting and not standing still. Whilst there has been a lot of praise regarding Minogue getting that booking; others are accusing Glastonbury of going with cheese and lacking any sort of cool. If they book artists that are deemed ‘fashionable’ and ‘in’ then that is very boring and exclusive. You cannot have festivals overloaded with the new or predictable. It would be a shame if Glastonbury booked newcomers for their headline slots next year or they just went with bands/acts that are currently trending. If you like Kylie Minogue or not then you cannot argue against her legacy and popularity. She has remained and inspired for decades and, in an industry where it is hard to survive, she is a guiding light for artists coming through. Ensuring she has that stage to shine on and remind people why she has remained in the heart for all this time is very important. I have been thinking about other Pop artists who have created a legacy and might not be the first in mind when it comes to the big festivals.

 IN THIS PHOTO: Christina Aguilera/PHOTO CREDIT: Getty Images/Christina Aguilera

Consider other female acts like Britney Spears, Madonna and Christina Aguilera. I think all three are working on new material and tours – Spears is heading to the U.K. soon and Madonna is writing a new album – and they have each made their mark. I recall Spears and Aguilera coming into music in the late-1990s and early-2000s and being fresh and unexpected. It was a period where we needed those anthemic and bold artists to provide a sense of balance and fresh life. I am a bigger fan of Britney Spears’ work and love how she evolved as an artist. Both are huge American Pop pioneers and, although they are in their thirties, they are not going to be courted by the likes of Glastonbury or Coachella. I do think there is a definite sense of shelf life and festivals need to focus on what is modern and currently popular. Artists like Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera continue to make great music and, even though their music is more mature than it once was, recognising what they have given music is essential. I am not sure which other legends will be playing Glastonbury next year but I think more space and focus should be given to acts that have helped changed music. Go even further back and think of all these icons we grew up around. I know Paul Simon has just retired from touring but think about some of his peers – such as Paul McCartney - and I think we should be giving these musicians as much time as possible.

 IN THIS PHOTO: Paul Simon/PHOTO CREDIT: Getty Images

I think festivals are too dependent on what is considered to be mainstream and relevant; relying on newer acts or, when they go further back, not really celebrating older artists. Festivals such as Reading and Leeds have booked bands who were popular in the 1990s but think about the musicians who were ruling before that and how many get a proper platform? Maybe we have festivals, like Glastonbury, who have stages for legends but I think there should be natural consideration for the icons and pioneers – even if their glory days are in the past. Consider the recent excitement caused by Sir Paul McCartney when his Beatles bandmate, Sir Ringo Starr, took to the drums at one of his gigs – accompanies by a Rolling Stone, Ronnie Wood. How can you beat a moment like this:

“...And not just any friends - the 76-year-old was reunited with Sir Ringo Starr, 78, on drums and joined forces with Rolling Stone guitarist Ronnie Wood, 71. The supergroup lined up to perform The Beatles' 1969 hit Get Back at London's O2 Arena and close the UK leg of Freshen Up tour. Sir Paul stunned the sell-out crowd before the encore of his show on Sunday night, saying: "We've got a little surprise for you. It's a surprise for us, actually - it only happened today."

After the performance, Sir Ringo said: "I don't know about you, but that was a thrill for me.

"I'm just going to let that moment sink in," McCartney added as the two musicians left the stage”.

I hope Sir Paul McCartney gets a chance to play Glastonbury and the fact we have so much love and respect for these legends leads me to believe there should be more of a balance at festivals. Whether we are talking about Pop legends or the big bands who dominated in the 1960s and 1970s; it is not merely nostalgia having them on bills. I feel many people are too primed by what is recommended on streaming sites and digesting what is new and at the forefront. It is all very well dipping into the past and recognising the big musicians who have helped progress the industry – I feel like they warrant a lot more fondness and appreciation. Consider radio stations and how so many artists gets ignored when they get to a certain age. The likes of Kylie Minogue, Madonna; P!nk and Pete Waterman have spoken out against ageism and recognised that music, for the most part, is dedicated to the young. Even when you get to thirty you have to look over your shoulder and wonder whether you are going to be seen as relevant and ‘with it’ Some of the iconic artists in their fifties and sixties are producing their richest and most personal work to date. The music industry owes a debt of gratitude to artists who have survived and campaigned for decades and helped inspire the new generations.

 IN THIS PHOTO: Stormzy (the first confirmed headline act for next year’s Glastonbury)/PHOTO CREDIT: Shirlaine Forrest/WireImage

I am pleased Glastonbury have booked Kylie Minogue and the fact she will prove a more popular draw than their confirmed headliner Stormzy shows why we need to respect these legends who have done so much. It is, as I say, not just about looking back and getting that nostalgic blast. The modern output of the likes of Kylie Minogue, Sir Paul McCartney or someone like Johnny Marr (The Smiths’ former songwriter and guitarist) is hugely important and should not be written off. The only way the fans and musicians of the future will get to know where music came from and how it has changed is to see these titans in their element on the stage. We have streaming sites and can buy records of the legends but ensuring there is a stage where they can perform is crucial. It is always disappointing to see great artists excluded and marginalised by certain radio stations when they get older. Their legacy and role in music is being diminished and, again, so much attention and spotlight is given to the new and ultra-cool. I feel every station and festival should provide equal weight to the unsigned/newcomers, the modern mainstream and the legends of the past. Maybe music is so busy and packed that it is impossible to give an equal billing to everyone!

 IN THIS PHOTO: Bruce Springsteen/PHOTO CREDIT: Danny Clinch for Variety

I think we need to think about ageism and ask whether we give as much to the icons and legends as we should. From Minogue to McCartney through to Bruce Springsteen and the more recent Pop progressors – I feel having their music on stages every year is a no-brainer. If you head to Glastonbury and are lucky enough to see the legends play (I am not sure who else is going to be confirmed) then you get that wonderful blend of their new material and all the hits. I have looked back at Glastonbury festivals and, in recent memory, performances by Nile Rodgers (and CHIC) and Barry Gibb (the Bee Gees) have proved more popular than the headline acts! I have nothing against the new breed at all – and feel we need to show them as much love as we can – but due respect and warmth needs to be given to those legends who have managed to put out great music for so long. I know festivals around the world give a stage to the legends but more can be done. I would like to see radio stations being more inclusive and less ageist; festivals integrated legends more every year and, unless the greats of the past are given the chance to keep performing on the big stages then we risk a generation passing them by entirely. It is a long way off but I know there are thousands out there who have their Glastonbury tickets that are looking forward to Kylie Minogue taking to the stage and belting out her golden hits to the...

 PHOTO CREDIT: @v_well/Unsplash

ADORING and delighted masses.

FEATURE: An Edge That Cuts Deeper: The Best Hip-Hop and Rap Albums of 2018

FEATURE:

 

 

An Edge That Cuts Deeper

PHOTO CREDIT: @ohthehumanity/Unsplash  

The Best Hip-Hop and Rap Albums of 2018

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EVERY year produces some exceptional Hip-Hop and Rap albums...

 IN THIS PHOTO: Noname/PHOTO CREDIT: Getty Images

and 2018 has been no different! There have been some truly wonderful offerings from genres that are still confined to the borders. I think artists in Hip-Hop and Rap are producing some of the finest music around and they deserve a lot more acclaim. In any case; here is a look at the best albums from the genres – proof of the intent, potency and quality of the very best artists out there. As we head in 2019, I feel the Hip-Hop and Rap genres will continue to delight and provide the sort of strength and firepower...

 IN THIS PHOTO: The Carters (Beyoncé and Jay-Z)/PHOTO CREDIT: Getty Images

OTHERS cannot.

ALL ALBUM COVERS: Getty Images

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Cardi B – Invasion of Privacy

Date of Release: 5th April, 2018

Labels: Atlantic/KSR

Producers: Various

Review:

“That presence, which anchors Invasion of Privacy, breaks with the rap game’s minimization of women to amplify a multifaceted female MC who is enamored of her own sex appeal and disinterested in the rules. A loud-mouthed Afro-Latina who refuses to be silenced in a world that has historically penalized black women for speaking their minds, Cardi B has changed the trajectory of the hip-hop narrative by upending longstanding street lore about how to earn wealth and respect in the genre and supplanting her male peers by daring to make herself the star of the story.

A woman with no need to rely on a more prominent male counterpart is the protagonist at the controls rewriting the rules, teaching other women how to get to the bag and challenging the men to keep up. Her presence proves that rap is only made better and more compelling by a diverse crop of female talents that do not fit neatly into any particular boxes or gender roles and are not shrinking violets. Cardi B is the real deal. Only thing fake is the boobs” – Entertainment Weekly

Stream: https://open.spotify.com/album/4KdtEKjY3Gi0mKiSdy96ML?si=XhtycAb_S02lxUa7ovVkrQ

Standout Tracks: Be Careful/Money Bag/She Bad

Finest Cut: Bodak Yellow

J. Cole – KOD

Date of Release: 20th April, 2018

Labels: Dreamville/Rock Nation/Interscope

Producers: Jermaine Cole/Ibrahim Hamad/BLVK/Mark Pelli/Ron Gimore/T-Minus

Review:

“Most compelling of all is "Once an Addict," a regretful reflection on struggling as a child and young man to cope with the toll heartbreak and alcohol took on his mother. Cole's few departures from the narrative method are sometimes for the worse, such as the point on "KOD" where he gets combative about the lack of guests on his records and deflates boastful rationale with some of his weakest wordplay. Two other instances conversely make for highlights. "Brackets" sharply turns from a millionaire bleating about paying taxes to a detailed treatise on who does and doesn't benefit from the process. Finale "1985 (Intro to 'The Fall Off')" is straight talk directed at a certain sect of younger commercial rappers, mixing sharp cultural commentary with condescension and guidance: "These white kids love that you don't give a fuck/'Cause that's exactly what's expected when your skin black." As the value of Cole's witticisms, and the intellect required to decrypt full meaning of his verses, continues to be debated, the increased strength in his clear-cut writing evinces promise of greater work ahead” – AllMusic

Stream: https://open.spotify.com/album/4Wv5UAieM1LDEYVq5WmqDd?si=dnozvPOaRYGl8grm7OFSrA

Standout Tracks: Photograph/ATM/BRACKETS

Finest Cut: 1985 – Into to “The Fall Off”

cupcakKe – Ephorize

Date of Release: 5th January, 2018

Labels: (Self-released)

Producers: Def Starz/Turreekk

Review:

“The album isn't flawless. While LGBTQ support has long been a key component of Harris' voice and perspective, her songs voicing it can still feel a tad clumsy and overstated. 'Crayons' finds her characteristic cleverness replaced by a well-intended jackhammer, repeating “Boy on boy / Girl on girl”, with CupcakKe pointing out she has a gay stylist. It's hard to find any fault with her, giving much needed voice in a homophobic musical arena, but one hopes she finds a way to more naturally graft it into her songwriting.

It hardly detracts from the project overall, and on 'Post Pic' she's back to imagining men masturbating to her pictures, while 'Meet and Greet' brings the aggression back, offering the gem, “Only time a bitch can tell me 'Have a seat' / is if I'm on the Ellen Show.” CupcakKe's confidence and complete lack of a filter remain her greatest allies on Ephorize, with the album feeling like an arrival. Queen Elizabeth may have made some noise, but here, she drowns out the competition. Her position has become undeniable, leaving room for only one thought: what's next. She's sure to be eating on the couch for a while” – The 405

Stream: https://open.spotify.com/album/5vnAsJiYwz1Cb3lydVGN9W?si=Zqp8hpccTNq4ugebJbrIYA

Standout Tracks: Duck Duck Goose/Crayons/Self Interview

Finest Cut: 2 Minutes

The Carters – EVERYTHING IS LOVE

Date of Release: 16th June, 2018

Labels: Parkwood/Sony/Roc Nation

Producers: Various

Review:

“Everything may lack the emotional depth of Beyoncé’s last two solo records, but it more than makes up for it in holy-shit-Beyoncé moments. Throughout, Jay doesn’t really try to compete with her, which is probably its most revealing insight into their marriage. The past few years have seen a flood of megawatt, full-length team-ups, but only Jay’s own work with Kanye (and Drake and Future’s collaborative 2015 takeover of rap radio) even approach what the Carters have done here, at least as far as fusing their disparate personae into an appealing whole. Both have built vast personal myths across their sprawling discographies, filled with recurring characters and motifs, mothers and hometowns and tragedies. They bring all of that and more into Everything Is Love, an album that deliciously fills in backstory (Jay brought a friend to their first date?), raises the specter of every beef the two have ever had (apologies to Nasir), and demands art history explanation alongside tabloid speculation” – The A.V. Club

Stream: https://open.spotify.com/album/7jbdod8XNRfe2nIhppht46?si=8yVxqbBcQ-GQk5Qkd_euxw

Standout Tracks: BOSS/713/BLACK EFFECT

Finest Cut: APESHIT

Buddy – Harlon & Alondra

Date of Release: 20th July, 2018

Label: RCA Records

Producers: Various

Review:

“As ever, this much variety is a risk. But there's a delicacy in the approach that ties everything together. Where other sample-based producers might just loop up and check out, the team here – from Bruno Mars collaborator Brody Brown to master sticksman Roofeeo – craft arrangements that are intricate and deliberate. A barely-there string quartet closes "Real Life Shit"; a Wurlitzer purrs in the background of Young; every bit of close harmony and double-tracking is crisp and considered.

And the rapper cum singer has the vocal equipment to join the dots. Spitting 'Dear Diary' scrawl or political polemic, singing gospel or R 'n' B, Buddy leans into each style without losing a thread of idiosyncrasy. There are simply no duds.

Even more exciting is the amount of industry support behind him. 2018 is barely halfway through, but Harlan & Alondra will have to be crowbarred out of end-of-year lists come December. An absolute triumph” – The Line of Best Fit

Stream: https://open.spotify.com/album/5djciKtjqkY9ZQ1OhKICXN?si=5Vmo-469RUmzIcvSzxGzag

Standout Tracks: Real Life S**t/Trouble on Central/Young

Finest Cut: Hey Up There

Kids See Ghosts (Kanye West, Kid Cudi) – Kids See Ghosts

Date of Release: 8th June, 2018

Labels: GOOD/Def Jam

Producers: Various

Review:

“For once, Cudi sounds like the one who has it together, the apprentice supporting his former mentor. On an album of highlights, "4th Dimension" and "Freeee (Ghost Town, Pt. 2)" are standouts, as exciting and vital as anything West produced in his early-2000s golden years. Sampling Louis Prima's swinging holiday track "What Will Santa Claus Say," the former features KSG's best flow, which, when the hard beat clicks into step with Cudi's verse, is a thrill; while the latter track builds upon the brief glimmer of hope offered on Ye's "Ghost Town" in a bold and exciting moment of triumph as Westproclaims, "Nothing hurts me anymore/Guess what, baby? I am free." That energy is peppered throughout, from the mantras of "Reborn" ("I'm so reborn/I'm moving forward") to the Kurt Cobain-sampling "Cudi Montage," where the song's namesake repeats "Stay strong/Lord, shine your light on me/Save me please." Kids See Ghosts is everything Ye wasn't, delivering a worthwhile listen in spite of the extended PR disaster that preceded its release. With Cudi as the yang to West's yin, the pair inch closer to finding peace and a light in the darkness” – AllMusic

Stream: https://open.spotify.com/album/6pwuKxMUkNg673KETsXPUV?si=kVulTW-6QnmZBjjMXf9L7A

Standout Tracks: Fire/Freeee (Ghost Town Pt. 2)/Reborn

Finest Cut: 4th Dimension

BROCKHAMPTON – iridescence

Date of Release: 21st September, 2018

Labels: Question Everything/RCA

Producers: Brockhampton

Review:

“The album’s emotional centrepiece, though, is ‘WEIGHT’, an urgent, necessary cleansing of deep-seated doubts from Kevin. He confronts self-doubt (“I’ve been feeling defeated, like I’m the worst in the boyband”), the mental health of his bandmates (“I’m still worried ‘bout when Ashlan [Grey, Brockhampton member] finna put the razor down”), his sexuality (“Every time she took her bra off my dick would get soft / I thought I had a problem, kept my head inside a pillow screaming”), before he simply and softly decides to move on from all the controversy the band have faced, singing: “I don’t wanna waste no more time, I’m ready to go / I live my life on standby, I can leave you alone.”

By confronting the bumps they’ve found in the road over the last year, Brockhampton have found a new sense of unity, and when ‘iridescence’ confronts every single one of these bumps, it proves that the band possess a truly special voice. It was a record Brockhampton had to make - now it’s done, they’re free to move on and become the biggest in the world” – DIY

Stream: https://open.spotify.com/album/3Mj4A4nNJzIdxOyS4yzOhj?si=tkUCAsoIR2GeaSsU1oykMw

 Standout Tracks: BERLIN/LOOPHOLE/HONEY

Finest Cut: WEIGHT

Marlowe – Marlowe

Date of Release: 13th July, 2018

Label: Mello Music Group

Review:

“There are few things I dislike more in hip-hop than annoying transparency, and I love the fact that I have to actively try to figure this record out. I recognize that not everyone shares this opinion, and the fact that Marlowe is just as strange in style means it’s probably not for everyone – but those who will like it will really like it. Brigham’s droning, monotone delivery is perfect atop L’Orange’s dynamic and driving beats, with both always pushing each song along at a meditative pace. I found myself bobbing my head similarly to when I listen to Neu! or Boredoms, and I’m grateful that I’ve finally found a hip-hop record with this sort of rhythmically hypnotic effect. The skits are short, entertaining, nondisruptive; the pacing perfect; the ending conclusive and satisfying despite my never really knowing what was going on. I really can’t say enough good things” – Noise Not Music

Stream: https://open.spotify.com/album/7bqvcSakcw6pS57fMOvlHL?si=evpXEIr8So67aJ96vhzEvA

Standout Tracks: Demonstration/Medicated/Mayday

Finest Cut: Lost Arts                  

Pusha T – DAYTONA

Date of Release: 25th May, 2018

Labels: GOOD/Def Jam

Producers: Kanye West/Terrence ‘Pusha T’ Thornton/Steven Victor/Andrew Dawson/Mike Dean/Pi’erre Bourne

Review:

“Pusha wastes little time on “Infrared” before diving back into his shots at Drake; there’s a Quentin Miller reference and at least one other jab about ghostwriters, and in context, the anecdote about Jay needing that Annie sample to match Grammys with Will Smith seems pointed.

The real venom is saved for Baby and Wayne, though. Pusha thanks Rick Ross—who appears earlier on Daytona—for holding Baby’s feet to the fire for his alleged exploitation of Cash Money artists: “Salute Ross ’cause the message was pure/He see what I see when you see Wayne on tour/Flash without the fire/Another multi-platinum rapper trapped and can’t retire.” It’s withering, and while it’s likely rooted in fact (the details of Wayne’s lawsuit against Cash Money were unbelievably bleak), it serves primarily to cast Pusha as the savvy one, the one who could face boardroom or back-alley obstacles and come away unscathed. That’s not the whole story, of course. But what Pusha has done is carve out his own corner of rap where he can reign as king for as long as he wants” – Pitchfork

Stream: https://open.spotify.com/album/07bIdDDe3I3hhWpxU6tuBp?si=fGp-5TAdRh6mCV596GYHWA

Standout Tracks: The Games We Play/Hard Piano/Come Back Baby

Finest Cut: Infrared

Noname – Room 25

Date of Release: 14th September, 2018

Producers: Phoelix/Noname

Review:

“Meanwhile, In ‘Don’t Forget About Me’ – a tender, wordplay-filled tale of a mother going through chemotherapy – Warner muses on the limited powers of her art, and cracks out the most arresting couplet of the year: “All her hair gone/ Feeling fishy, Finding Chemo/ Smoking seaweed for calm / These Disney movies too close”. Her ponderings on mortality give way to a spiralling string orchestra that wouldn’t sound out of place in the opening moments of Cinderella.

Noname said in a recent interview that hiring that particular 12-piece orchestra (she remains thoroughly independent, an expensive business) blew the entire budget for the project. Unlike many rappers out there, Noname isn’t bringing us a romantic rags-to-riches story; here she acknowledges the pitfalls of fame (as well as the occasional perks) with whip-smart honesty. Just like ‘Telefone’, it’s flawless” – NME

Stream: https://open.spotify.com/album/7oHM3Sj0l2nXAzGAxW0KOt?si=E67SuiECQ2iibSPL-TWMgg

Standout Tracks: Prayer Song/Don’t Forget About Me/Part of Me

Finest Cut: Blaxploitation

Vince Staples – FM!

Date of Release: 2nd November, 2018

Label: Def Jam

Producers: Cubeatz/Hagler/Kenny Beats/KillaGraham

Review:

“Yet, despite the impressive roster, FM! remains the Staples' show, his head-spinning flow and twisting wordplay making every track he touches a must-listen. Unsurprisingly, he hits the same themes that he's known for -- including black pride, street violence, "Norf"side repping, and partying -- all with characteristic bite and wit. Without the harsh drill production of Big Fish Theory, FM! is slightly more accessible -- as summer-breezy as Staples can get -- and hypnotizes as effortlessly as it menaces. "Relay," "Outside!" and "FUN!" are the highlights on an album of standouts, but in reality, every track is worthy of attention. Despite FM!'s brevity, Staples jams so much into every bar that it fully satiates, all while still managing to end so abruptly that it comes as a surprise. The electrifying thrill of FM! is a triumph for the rapper who remains at the top of his game” – AllMusic

Stream: https://open.spotify.com/album/1XGGeqLZxjOMdCJhmamIn8?si=SY42YoMFTYuANmzOyHElFw

Standout Tracks: Relay/FUN!/Tweakin’

Finest Cut: Feels Like Summer

Saba – CARE FOR ME

Date of Release: 5th April, 2018

Labels: Saba Pivot/LLC

Producers: daedaePIVOT/Daoud/Saba

Review:

“While Saba handles the majority of the production on the album, he gets a hand from producers DaedaePIVOT and Daoud. Saba's lyricism on every track reminds me of a mix of Chicago rappers Mick Jenkins and Chance the Rapper; however, on "Life," Saba says "stop comparing me to people, no I am not them," and that's fine. He has his own sound and stands out as an artist, with this album possibly being the one to distance himself from being overshadowed by other Chicago rappers. He does hold it down for showing his upbringing through his music as a Chicago artist in a more authentic way this time around.
 
His rawness is revealed throughout the entire album. He starts off the album with "Busy/Sirens," which reflects on the life situations he's dealt with in the past few years, while touching base on his cousin, who passed away due to a stabbing in February last year. It only gets more personal from there.
 
His reflections on living as an artist, depression, relationships, love, death, trust issues, the dangers in Chicago and more show that, despite being a known artist in the industry, he's human. Saba confronts his life by writing every thought possible, storytelling to let listeners be aware that he struggles too, possibly with things he can't seem to escape from. His honesty and melodic, calming choruses and singing are for those who want to hear something real” – Exclaim!  

Stream: https://open.spotify.com/album/6Te111t5gDZ7W94myHRqUt?si=Jd8SCz5fS1K-YFaTa-kUWA

Standout Tracks: BUSY / SIRENS/FIGHTER/SMILE               

Finest Cut: LIFE

FEATURE: Melody and Magic: The Best Folk, Americana and Country Albums of 2018

FEATURE:

 

 

Melody and Magic

PHOTO CREDIT: @sethmacey/Unsplash

The Best Folk, Americana and Country Albums of 2018

__________

I am keen to celebrate the best albums of the year...

 IN THIS PHOTO: First Aid Kit/PHOTO CREDIT: Nate Ryan/MPR

and, in this feature, break it down by genre and highlight the finest from each. This time around, I am focusing on Folk, Americana and Country. They are genres that do not get the same acclaim and focus as, say, Pop and Rock. I think it is unfair because, as we can see from the records below, there is so much quality and variety to be found in the genres. Have a look and listen to the best Americana, Folk and Country albums of 2018 and I am sure there is going to be an album in the list...

 IN THIS PHOTO: Mount Eerie/PHOTO CREDIT: Jordan Stead

THAT lodges firmly in the mind.

ALL ALBUM COVERS: Getty Images

________________

Lori McKenna – The Tree

Date of Release: 20th July, 2018

Label: CN Records

Producer: Dave Cobb

Review:

“You can maybe guess the quality and sound of The Tree from noting that it’s produced by Dave Cobb, who also plays guitar: he’s been a common thread on much of the best country over recent years, working with artists who favour small band set-ups, rather then pop country’s flash and bang. McKenna’s and his styles are perfectly suited to each other: a gentle lollop, a hint of twang, letting the lyrics do the lifting.

And McKenna’s eye for detail is terrific: the man who’s “got bicycle tires and lawn mower parts / Miles of wires and kitchen drawer knobs”, but no idea what parts he needs to mend his marriage (The Fixer), or the woman who will “spray the soap from the bathroom tiles / Cut the threads off the kitchen towels”, knowing her husband won’t notice she’s left (You Won’t Even Know I’m Gone). It’s an album for grown-ups, contemplative and wise” – The Guardian

Stream: https://open.spotify.com/album/2Jv8rT6pudH0eIlgu90zKm?si=_Tav2yrUTz2UM0uqnDeISQ

Standout Tracks: A Mother Needs Rest/The Tree/You Can’t Break a Woman

Finest Cut: The Fixer

Kacey Musgraves – Golden Hour

Date of Release: 30th March, 2018

Label: MCA Nashville

Producers: Dave Tashian/Ian Fitchuk/Kacey Musgraves

Review:

“Musgraves doesn't mine this vein, preferring a soft, blissed-out vibe to skittering rhythms and fleet rhymes. At their core, the songs on Golden Hour -- largely co-written with Musgraves by her co-producers Ian Fitchuk and Daniel Tashian, but also featuring Natalie Hemby, Luke Laird, and Shane McAnally, among other collaborators -- don't play with form: they are classic country constructions, simply given productions that ignore country conventions from either the present or the past. This is a fearless move, but Golden Hour is hardly confrontational. It's quietly confident, unfurling at its own leisurely gait, swaying between casual confessions and songs about faded love. The very sound of Golden Hour is seductive -- it's warm and enveloping, pitched halfway between heartbreak and healing -- but the album lingers in the mind because the songs are so sharp, buttressed by long, loping melodies and Musgraves' affectless soul-baring. Previously, her cleverness was her strong suit, but on Golden Hour she benefits from being direct, especially since this frankness anchors an album that sounds sweetly blissful, turning this record into the best kind of comfort: it soothes but is also a source of sustenance” – AllMusic

Stream: https://open.spotify.com/album/7f6xPqyaolTiziKf5R5Z0c?si=I5C3t9WVT_6PIf_np-BrJQ

Standout Tracks: Butterflies/Space Cowboy/Wonder Woman

Finest Cut: High Horse                     

Mount Eerie – Now Only

Date of Release: 30th March, 2018

Label: P.W. Elverum & Sun

Producer: Phil Elverum

Review:

“Now Only is just as devastatingly direct, but there are glimmers of catharsis—of light gleaming in tears, as Elverum puts it. Where Crow occupied a numb, purgatorial present tense, the new record leaps around like a wandering mind, to vivid anecdotes from the singer-songwriter’s past. Now Only also hesitantly reintroduces some sonic variety, augmenting Crow’s stark, plainspoken folk; in this context, the crunch of doom-metal guitar on “Distortion” sounds almost hopeful, to say nothing of the hint of humor—and the presence of an actual, ironically catchy chorus—on the title track. Elverum may spend the rest of his career grappling with his grief. It’s a tough, beautiful privilege to be invited along on that journey” – The A.V. Club  

Stream: https://open.spotify.com/album/7aQG6DxwFmUKVhkOJtlCZ1?si=tHXmzCKNR5SJVEg7D6dr6g

Standout Tracks: Tintin in Tibet/Earth/Two Paintings by Nikolai Astrup

Finest Cut: Distortion                       

Brandi Carlile – By the Way, I Forgive You

Date of Release: 16th February, 2018

Labels: Low Country Sound/Elektra

Producers: Dave Cobb/Shooter Jennings

Review:

““Everytime I Hear That Song” takes on one of the oldest heartache clichés in all of country music: the notion of suddenly remembering an ex-lover when your favorite song comes on the radio. Carlile’s less interested in mining her loneliness than she is in seizing forgiveness as a source of strength: “After all, maybe I should thank you/For giving me what I found/’Cause without you around, I’ve been doing just fine.” There’s an expression of vulnerability here, yet that’s not how the song is defined. She takes control, forgives even if she can’t forget, and presents it as a song of empowerment.

Subject matter like this can sometimes make By the Way, I Forgive You a heavy listen, and there are times when it’s hard not to miss some of the loose, limber rock of 2015’s The Firewatcher’s Daughter. Then again, channeling haunted, harrowing songs into moments of liberation and catharsis has always been Carlile’s gift. Here, she’s not only created some of her most fully realized characters—tough and vulnerable in equal measure—but she’s found her most sympathetic collaborators, making By the Way, I Forgive You the most emotionally direct and revealing album she’s to released to date” – Slant Magazine

Stream: https://open.spotify.com/album/2wDKBKgco7u3V1IWEK5V8l?si=0neSs57MRSWfKsvLrkwxBg

Standout Tracks: Every Time I Hear That Song/The Mother/Harder to Forgive

Finest Cut: The Joke                         

Richard Thompson – 13 Rivers

Date of Release: 14th September, 2018

Label: New West Records

Producer: Richard Thompson

Review:

“Hearing Thompson and his band dig into these songs is truly satisfying, and as usual, he's left us no doubt that he's a master tunesmith, in particular in the troubled introspection of "The Storm Won't Come," the edgy contemplation of the unreliable inner voice in "The Rattle Within," the toxic certainty of "You Can't Reach Me," and the uncomfortable obsession of "She Was Meant for Me." The wit that usually dilutes the darker moments on a Thompson album is, for the most part, conspicuous in its absence on 13 Rivers (though it's briefly evident on "O Cinderella"), but it does give this set a thematic consistency that's effective, and Thompson's vocals are superb throughout, making the most of his dour but incisive stories. 13 Riversisn't an unusual Richard Thompson album in most respects, but it is one that makes the most of his craft as a guitarist, songwriter, and bandleader. Not many artists continue to create bold, compelling work that doesn't sound like it's treading creative water after a half-century, but 50 years on from Fairport Convention's debut LP, 13 Rivers is striking music from a musician who remains fresh, contemporary, and peerless” – AllMusic 

Stream: https://open.spotify.com/album/2XHVhUTfta3YoNHd0EjWNs?si=IpSkrKuNQq-IStWD1MBX0Q

Standout Tracks: Her Love Was Meant for Me/The Dog in You/No Matter

Finest Cut: The Storm Won’t Come         

Haley Heynderickx – I Need to Start a Garden

Date of Release: 9th March, 2018

Label: Mama Bird Recording Co.

Review:

“Aside from the occasional flourish of strings and piano or cacophonous horns, Haley largely confines herself to a lone guitar, which allows her soft vocals and colourful lyrics to take centre stage. ‘No Face’ reaches an almost Angel Olsen-esque climax as soft coos evolve into a warbling vibrato. ‘The Bug Collector’ creates a magical atmosphere as she sings about a “praying mantis in the bathtub” and a “millipede on the carpet” as metaphors for her religious past - a theme that reappears on ‘Untitled God Song’. ‘Worth it’, meanwhile, recalls Pavement-style rock’n’roll at points, in an eight-minute highlight that metamorphoses between sliding arpeggios and angsty power chords.

‘I Need To Start A Garden’ is largely a subtle and restrained record, and aside from the tangible vocal refrain of ‘Oom Sha La’, there are few traditionally-structured pop songs. Deep inside this warm collection of songs, though, there is a delicate charm to be found. Tender without being twee, this debut LP ultimately captures a moment that is both genuine and touching” – DIY

Stream: https://open.spotify.com/album/2XHVhUTfta3YoNHd0EjWNs?si=IpSkrKuNQq-IStWD1MBX0Q

Standout Tracks: The Bug Collector/Worth It/Drinking Song

Finest Cut: Show You a Body        

       

First Aid Kit – Ruins

Date of Release: 19th January, 2018

Label: Columbia

Producer: Tucker Martine

Review:

“Their lyrics exhibit a sharp, unsentimental eye for the forensics of failing relationships, but the buoyancy of their harmonies acts as a counterweight to the loneliness inherent in the subject matter. Fireworks is a beautiful song of thwarted longing, steeped in Roy Orbison-esque melancholy, but the tightly bound twin vocal means you don’t imagine the narrator going through it alone.

The delightful Hem of Her Dress comments on the mechanics of a break-up (“So here we go again/ I know how this one ends”) but concludes with a cheery singalong, a roomful of beery, cheery voices toasting the inevitable.

This quality of unity lends their tales of failed romance an implicit, feminist strength. First Aid Kit sooth the pain of heartbreak with the balm of sisterhood” – The Telegraph

Stream: https://open.spotify.com/album/5l2Ts5Hd4BN2O28rZksznR?si=97J0lkHxRyu8SOUvDybEEg

Standout Tracks: Rebel Heart/It’s a Shame/Ruins

Finest Cut: Fireworks

Courtney Marie Andrews – May Your Kindness Remain

Date of Release: 23rd March, 2018

Label: Loose

Review:

“It’s one of the elements – along with the organ and Mark Howard’s spacious but focused production – that gives the album an unusual intensity. May Your Kindness Remain sounds forever on the brink of eruption – no shucks-we-were-drinking-beer-in-your-truck here. Andrews has said the theme of the album is coming to terms with depression, which you can sense without even listening to the lyrics.

Amid the misery, though, there is a search for moments of levity. This House is a long way from Madness’s house or Graham Nash’s house – “Empty cans on the counter / And the laundry’s never done,” Andrews sings, detailing the shortcomings of the surroundings, even as she insists “this house ain’t much of a house, but it’s a home”. May Your Kindness Remain confirms Andrews’ rise. It’s a brilliant record, proof that old forms can still be timeless” – The Guardian

Stream: https://open.spotify.com/album/6R3VgtxtmzmrDfBlaApXMV?si=YIIw9ewQTtekxsdOMtY_PA

Standout Tracks: Two Cold Nights in Buffalo/Border/This House

Finest Cut: May Your Kindness Remain

John Prine – The Tree of Forgiveness

Date of Release: 13th April, 2018

Label: Oh Boy Records

Producer: Dave Cobb

Review:

““Summer’s End” evokes the seasonal sanctuary of home for the lonely. Prine stretches each line’s last word out companionably, but the warm welcome is really extended by phrases of folksy, funny surrealism. In Prine country, “the moon and stars hang out in bars/just talkin’”. “Caravan of Fools”, by contrast, sees him lower his cancer-scratched voice to one of biblical portent, for an ominous tale recalling Cormac McCarthy’s fated characters.

Some songs are genuinely slight. “Lonesome Friends of Science”, though, is a modest masterpiece, sharing the weary worldliness and loping stride of his contemporary Townes Van Zandt’s “Pancho and Lefty”. An organ whistles in amiably as if from some long-gone Dylan Nashville session, as Prine’s ornery narrator stays free in his mind from the demands of a troublesome, rational world.

Prine’s stance has stayed askew. Yet these songs are solid like good chairs you can settle into for a while” – The Independent

Stream: https://open.spotify.com/album/13UwfQZqne7ZQIkUZsAPLg?si=bPDfQQCkQvCqi73-skLykw

Standout Tracks: Knockin’ on Your Screen Door/No Ordinary Blue/Boundless Love

Finest Cut: Summer’s End

Devin Dawson – Dark Horse

Date of Release: 19th January, 2018

Label: Warner Bros.

Producer: Jay Joyce

Review:

“In particular, the reliance on sturdy, melodic songs distinguishes Dark Horse from amorphous, EDM-flavored pop; the electronic flair is merely flair, never distracting from the tunes. If Dawson tends to slip into the production instead of demanding attention, it only accentuates how Dark Horse cultivates a cool vibe in both senses of the word: the album is hip and it runs cold, not hot. This sensibility means that it can slip by upon the first listen, but like most pop music designed to endure repeated spins, either on personalized playlists or radio, Dark Horse reveals its sly gifts upon repeated plays. By the third or fourth time these songs are heard, this low-key music gains definition and its melodies, along with its post-genre sheen, are beguiling” – AllMusic  

Stream: https://open.spotify.com/album/0veZCRGPKNnX0ufHxiUnTM?si=PgJ8B2SxReWCjOJXCnrGMw

Standout Tracks: Second to Last/Symptoms/War Paint

Finest Cut: All on Me

Ashley McBryde – Girl Going Nowhere

Date of Release: 30th March, 2018

Label: Warner Bros. Nashville

Producer: Jay Joyce

Review:

“The title track of McBryde’s Girl Going Nowhere is a whispered anthem about crushing it in the face of doubters. Most triumphant artists would holler, gloat, swagger, flip the bird, but in this opener, McBryde barely raises her voice, which quivers potently over a muted snare, guitar notes flashing like phone screens in a dark arena. Then “Radioland” crashes in, a country rocker about old-time broadcast bliss, invoking John Cougar’s “Jack and Diane” and McBryde’s daddy, “a rock star riding on a tractor listening to Townes Van Zandt.” (That songwriting giant Van Zandt got scant love from radio just makes the song’s vision sweeter.) “Southern Babylon” evokes the smoky country soul of Memphis, where McBryde logged time in bar bands. “Andy (I Can’t Live Without You)” depicts true love as a holy pathology; “Livin’ Next to Leroy” is a Southern-rock conjuring of a drug buddy who ends up dead on his sofa. McBryde’s got a big, vibrato-tinged alto, biker-chick style, and she wrote or co-wrote everything here, including “Dahlonega,” with a sharp eye for piercing detail. She has a serious gift” – Rolling Stone   

Stream: https://open.spotify.com/album/2FeaUU9jFydTIsVO5F8rNU?si=AmCYzBXxRiGJcHOg3lUUdg

Standout Tracks: Radioland/Livin’ Next Door to Leroy/Tired of Being Happy

Finest Cut: American Scandal

Pistol Annies – Interstate Gospel

Date of Release: 2nd November, 2018

Label: RCA Records Nashville

Producers: Frank Liddell/Glen Worf/Eric Mauss

Review:

“The Annies admire brazen Cheyenne and behold their ex’s new wife with wistfulness as they sing from the perspective of women abandoned by hope, yet not cheated of empathy. Milkman’s older mother is uptight, but the song’s rueful tone and acoustic intimacy sketch the limitations of her life. The mariachi brass on Leavers Lullaby accentuates the sad fate of a woman “paying what it cost to feel so free”. Commissary breaks into a psychedelic reverie as another mother refuses to fund her child’s prison account: as she repeats her tough-love position, the words echo sombrely, highlighting her guilt. There’s so little light here that the cheeky Sugar Daddy is forgivable – plus there’s a forthrightness to their exhortations to “saddle up and ride” that adds to their theme of women without time to waste” – The Guardian   

Stream: https://open.spotify.com/album/0IXxmmlfSQxgJNWnNjHhgJ?si=Pxp7B5WJQQisUvRHUH_rzw

Standout Tracks: Stop Drop and Roll One/Cheyenne/Sugar Daddy

Finest Cut: Got My Name Changed Back

FEATURE: A Colourful Cocktail: The Best Punk, Post-Punk and Pop-Punk Albums of 2018

FEATURE:

 

 

A Colourful Cocktail

PHOTO CREDIT: @huguesdb/Unsplash  

The Best Punk, Post-Punk and Pop-Punk Albums of 2018

__________

OVER the next day or two...

 IN THIS PHOTO: IDLES/PHOTO CREDIT: Getty Images/IDLES

I will look at some softer and more melodic styles of music – when it comes to the best albums of the year – but, for today, I will stick with the more intense and fired-up. It has been an especially grand and memorable year for artists in the Punk/Post-Punk genre – and those who mix a bit of Pop into the pot. I have already covered the best Indie, Alternative and Rock records of 2018 so it is the turn of the Punk warriors. Here is an essential rundown of 2018 gems that have impressed critics and made their mark on the public. If the crop of 2019 follows in the lead of the Punk-flavoured pioneers of 2018 then I think it will be a year we will remember...

 IN THIS PHOTO: Goat Girl/PHOTO CREDIT: Getty Images

FOR a very long time to come.

ALL ALBUM COVERS: Getty Images

________________

Shame – Songs of Praise

Date of Release: 12th January, 2018

Label: Dead Oceans

Producers: Dan Foat/Nathan Boddy

Review:

“Elsewhere, on ‘Tasteless’, he rails against those “distorted by distance”, only arsed when world affairs affect them personally, and delivers the lines with a desperate, hoarse bark. If all this sounds a bit heavy, it doesn’t account for the sense of sarcasm and dark fun that laces the album. On standout ‘Friction’, with its insistent, looping refrain and jaunty, camp drum fills, you can almost hear Steen wink through the lines, “Do you ever need the needy? Do they ever tug on your heart?” He’s deadly serious, and at the same time sending himself up, the sarky shite.

This is a band with a real sense of showmanship, as those who have witnessed Shame’s sweat-slicked live shows will know. It’s this that makes ‘Songs Of Praise’ utterly invigorating” – NME

Stream: https://open.spotify.com/album/3A1kutvBmC6czSsSv7aR5E?si=TNFb5MzcS3O8AtJQj2tL6Q

Standout Tracks: Dust on Trial/Donk/Friction

Finest Cut: One Rizla

IDLES – Joy as an Act of Resistance

Date of Release: 31st August, 2018

Label: Partisan

Producers: Space/Adam Greenspan/Nick Launay

Review:

“It runs the risk of being overwhelming, if not for the sense of elation that Talbot brings to the table, masterfully exemplified by his staunch defense of immigration on "Danny Nedelko," which is both a personal case for a good friend -- the lead vocalist of Heavy Lungs -- and a series of more relatable characters that immigration has brought to the U.K. Most importantly, the track swells to such manic levels of celebratory joy that it inescapably sweeps everything along with it. Conversely, the linchpin of the album, "June," features heartbreaking lyrics and is easily the most personal song for Talbot; it entails the tragic loss of his baby daughter, an honest and brave move, especially considering how recently that unfortunate event took place.

In a move almost possible to predict, Idles have also included a full-blown cover with their own rendition of Solomon Burke's "Cry to Me," which works more than it really should, both thematically and in this new crunchier form. Overall, Joy as an Act of Resistance manages to plumb new depths for Idles -- that they've achieved another record in such a short space of time is admirable, let alone one that shines head and shoulders over the majority of their peers -- and it certainly upholds their status as one of the U.K.'s most exciting new acts” – AllMusic

Stream: https://open.spotify.com/album/27NYgZQHcapoSAs5bWAxRI?si=XMhFGUCEQZCZiJfdHT0zXQ

Standout Tracks: I’m Scum/Danny Nedelko/Gram Rock

Finest Cut: Samaritans

Goat Girl – Goat Girl

Date of Release: 6th April, 2018

Label: Rough Trade Records

Review:

“In the face of these degenerates Goat Girl stand unfazed, a sentiment that remains a through-line even when the album warms up. The Man is a feverish love song, where lead singer Lottie, aka Clottie Cream, repeats the phrase 'You’re the man for me' ad nauseam with a moaning drawl until her infatuation steadily warps into obsession. Meanwhile, clocking in at under two minutes, Country Sleaze is a brief explosion of attitude, where a wall of crunchy guitars and bass drums envelops Lottie as she spits that 'nobody will mess' with her.

In Goat Girl’s London, a fucked up place full of weirdos both loathsome and benign – mostly loathsome – we’d say that’s a fair attitude to have” – The Skinny

Stream: https://open.spotify.com/album/3jDJ8KuleRVdhS2DJKFEW2?si=LOg62VKKQ7KJEagjfbrq_Q

Standout Tracks: Creep/Cracker Drool/Slowly Reclines

Finest Cut: The Man

flasher – Constant Image

Date of Release: 8th June, 2018

Label: Domino Recording Company

Review:

“Constant Image peaks with “Who’s Got Time?” which chooses a shitty relationship over none at all. Described by the band as “a celebration of disappointment and failure,” the track indulges in some common punk tropes: ennobling underdogs who just can’t help themselves, finding triumph in camaraderie rather than traditional success. But Flasher don’t romanticize the times when the adrenaline nightshift gets way too real, fueled by whatever stimulant gets them through that thing they do to keep the lights on; they highlight the power structures that keep them on that treadmill. People who share the band’s demographic profile and financial straits like to joke about what’s “tired” and what’s “wired,” what’s “woke” and what’s “broke.” Constant Image recognizes that they are all of the above—and have been for quite a while” – Pitchfork

Stream: https://open.spotify.com/album/6fvUDhvz6hDVck9epHLnf6?si=Ffb04FwJTi6iICjA_0OGMQ

Standout Tracks: Sun Come and Golden/Harsh Light/Punching Up

Finest Cut: Pressure

Screaming Females – All at Once

Date of Release: 23rd February, 2018

Label: Don Giovanni Records

Producers: Matt Bayles/Screaming Females

Review:

“Crucially, it feels like the work of a band completely in sync, trying to push in different directions before ricocheting into new territory and exploring with a gleeful menace. Some of the riffs here are fragile and fun ('Fantasy Lens' dive from spiky noise to gentle jangle feels spontaneous and is naturally brilliant) while others simply get their heads down and their hands dirty ('Agnes Martin' has more than a hint of QOTSA to its formidable noise). Word has it the band wanted to echo the free-flowing nature of their red-hot live shows on this record; all evidence points to that being a pretty smart idea, overall. This is the work of a band continuing their dramatic ascension from spirited young punks to one of the finest power trios on the planet – even at it’s bleakest, 'All At Once' is sheer rock’n’roll joy from start to finish” – CLASH

Stream: https://open.spotify.com/album/27WCDmHjVFzzdhxjqMKDgD?si=Lkos1aVbTgKbHsrlPelG0Q

Standout Tracks: Black Money/Deeply/Bird in Space

Finest Cut: I’ll Make You Sorry

Spanish Love Songs – Schmaltz

Date of Release: 30th March, 2018

Label: Uncle M Music

Review:

““The Boy Considers His Haircut” is my clear favorite from the album, a song that takes minutiae and reveals it to be symptoms of a greater angst. It has great screamlong melodies throughout the song, without ever dipping into a strict verse-chorus structure. The aversion to, but not total rejection of, traditional song structure reveals another parallel between Spanish Love Songs and The Menzingers—the effect is a strong one though, making each song feel natural, like it’s growing off of itself in new and organic directions.

There’s too many great songs on Schmaltz to talk about individually, but the number of highlights could very well be the same as its tracklisting, as each new listen offers something new to appreciate. That’s the depth the songwriting brings to the album; there’s a lot to unpack and Spanish Love Songs craft their music to make sure you want to unpack it, even when it hurts, even when it’s just a mirror to our discontent” – Dying Scene

Stream: https://open.spotify.com/album/1ZhCUWtUp7P7Yj1LlQi3yQ?si=lmIgOsWzQyymRU-zBHskSw

Standout Tracks: Sequels, Remakes, & Adaptations/Buffalo Buffalo/It’s Not Interesting

Finest Cut: Bellyache

Muncie Girls – Fixed Ideals

Date of Release: 31st August, 2018

Label: Specialist Subject Records

Review:

“At the fulcrum of its brilliance was singer/bassist Lande Hekt, whose lyrical observations bounced from feminism, to Sylvia Plath, to the sort of political awaking that occurs when you realise you’ve spent a decade at school and you haven’t really learned anything of very much importance at all. This time round, there’s a more coherent theme to Lande’s songs. She’s largely concerned with the concept of health, largely of the mental variety. ‘Clinic’ will be familiar to anyone who’s ever woken up with a head feeling like a test site for Trident, only to be told by the doctor’s receptionist “there’ll be a three week wait”. Then there’s the frenzied ‘Picture Of Health’ which not only shares the viewing platform for the abyss with the aforementioned number, but serves as the best argument for fuzz pedals to be given out free to children we’ve heard all year. You’ve probably got a pretty good idea what songs like ‘Laugh Again’ and ‘Falling Down’ are about. Not that it’s relentless horror. The song ‘Bubble Bath’ uses actual bubbles as a musical instrument of sorts” – NME

Stream: https://open.spotify.com/album/3CyxNM1u2MmhWR9tmXarmg?si=r39ipprqSiWzV6Iv9G_5oQ

Standout Tracks: Picture of Health/Isn’t Life Funny/Locked Up

Finest Cut: Clinic  

Iceage – Beyondless

Date of Release: 4th May, 2018

Label: Escho  

Producers: Nis Bysted/Iceage

Review:

“Beyondless builds on Plowing’s change of direction, with far more satisfying results. Frontman Elias Bender Rønnenfelt’s voice still dominates, but this time his slurring delivery works in the band’s favour, giving Showtime and the stop-start Thieves Like Us the air of unsettling late-night cabaret numbers. His duet with girlfriend Sky Ferreira on the brass-assisted Pain Killer, meanwhile, is an exercise in barely harnessed chaos – think Fun House-era Stooges – that’s as impressive as anything the band have ever done. Other highlights include the relentless opener, Hurrah (even if its lyrical obsession with killing sounds distinctly adolescent), and the uncharacteristic restraint of Take It All. It’s by no means a comfortable listen, but it is their most intriguing and fully rounded album to date” – The Observer   

Stream: https://open.spotify.com/album/5H8wFFblf7YvGc7LbBzuR9?si=_WOEIJmwS0aEsfj2A6UqOg

Standout Tracks: Pain Killer/Plead the fifth/Thieves like us

Finest Cut: Catch it

Lithics – Mating Surfaces (Abridged Version)

Date of Release: 25th May, 2018

Label: Kill Rock Stars

Producers: Nis Bysted/Iceage

Review:

“Released via Olympia, Washington, indie imprint par excellence Kill Rock Stars, Lithics’ sonic cubism consistently intrigues on their second album. From fist-clenched opener ‘Excuse Generator’ to breakneck closing blitz ‘Dancing Guy’, it’s an unfurling tapestry of interlocking DIY minimalist art-punk where precision and abandon prove uniquely compatible.

Despite pinning early 1980s Fall worship a little too visibly on its sleeve, the bobbing ‘Still Forms’ is a real triumph early on, while the five-minute ‘Boyce’ – the longest track by some distance – wields dissonance with remarkable aplomb. Elevating promise to certain brilliance, Aubrey Hornor’s languid vocals are fully present yet deftly unemotional on ‘Mating Surfaces’’ dozen combustions. On each of them, Lithics, bona fide post-punk revivalists, have zero dearth of confidence and it really stands to reason” – Loud and Quiet

Stream: https://open.spotify.com/album/5H8wFFblf7YvGc7LbBzuR9?si=_WOEIJmwS0aEsfj2A6UqOg

Standout Tracks: Still Forms/Boyce/Glass of Water

Finest Cut: Edible Door

The Beths – Future Me Hates Me

Date of Release: 10th August, 2018  

Label: Carpark Records

Review:

“Prior to forming the band, all four members studied jazz at the University of Auckland, and their well-bound musicality is certainly evidence that they took their studies seriously. Until earlier this year, Stokes taught trumpet to children in Auckland, a job she ditched to focus on the Beths full-time: “The Beths is almost reactionary to jazz school and trumpet,” she told Rolling Stone. “It’s a guitar band. We make guitar music. I like it that way.” Future Me Hates Me is more than proof that she and her bandmates made the right choice on refocusing their musical concerns—and it’s an absolute thrill to think about where this young band will take their talent next” – Pitchfork  

Stream: https://open.spotify.com/album/7LjtUEveoqeoOMGfGhVgsd?si=EBtu9icDTHWd0TE6tnITvQ

Standout Tracks: Uptown Girl/Little Death/Happy Unhappy

Finest Cut: Great No One  

The Wonder Years – Sister Cities

Date of Release: 6th April, 2018  

Label: Hopeless Records

Review:

“It’s not all gut wrenching frustrations being exercised however. "It Must Get Lonely" feels optimistic in comparison to much of the album; its buoyant verses a contrast to the despondency that features elsewhere. "Flowers Where Your Face Should Be" is another example of one of Sister Cities' more subdued moments. Though sombre in tone, delicate guitars provide the track with an airy sense of nostalgia, providing listeners with a brief moment of respite.

For the most part however, Sister Cities is a record that feels born out of frustration, and of heartbreak. Its 11 tracks taking listeners on an rollercoaster of emotional peaks and troughs, and by the time the closing moments of final track "The Ocean Grew Hands To Hold Me" ring out, you can’t help but feel bruised, beaten and above all cleansed” – The Line of Best Fit

Stream: https://open.spotify.com/album/3VRTF9hehAZgjvA4W2gIaI?si=chuAldGHQ7OrM36b-dtkUQ

Standout Tracks: Pyramids of Salt/Sister Cities/The Orange Grove

Finest Cut: It Must Get Lonely  

FEATURE: Turn It Up! The Best Rock, Indie and Alternative Albums of 2018

FEATURE:

 

 

Turn It Up!

PHOTO CREDIT: @firmbee/Unsplash 

The Best Rock, Indie and Alternative Albums of 2018

__________

THE final days of the year will see me...

 IN THIS PHOTO: Mitski/PHOTO CREDIT: Amber Knecht

combine more traditional pieces with articles relating to the best albums in certain genres. I hope to cover Punk, Pop; Folk, Hip-Hop and Rap soon but, right now, I have been looking at some of the finest Rock, Indie and Alternative albums of this year. It has been a successful and varied year for music and there have been some truly wonderful albums. Here is a selection of incredible Rock/Indie/Alternative records that have helped shape 2018 and should definitely be included in...

 IN THIS PHOTO: Parquet Courts/PHOTO CREDIT: Slant Magazine/Getty Images

YOUR collection.

ALL ALBUM COVERS (unless credited otherwise): Getty Images

________________

Mitski – Be the Cowboy

Date of Release: 17th August, 2018

Label: Dead Oceans

Producer: Patrick Hyland

Review:

“Be the Cowboy is 14 songs long, only three of which exceed two-and-a-half minutes. This odd but effective structure lets Mitski investigate new styles, commit just long enough for them to stick, then quit before anything becomes a genre exercise. She trades most of the rock heft of her 2016 album Puberty 2 for exhilaratingly manic disco (Nobody), girl-group hypnosis (Come Into the Water) and gothic surrealism (A Horse Named Cold Air) among some straighter, strummier numbers.

Mitski’s songwriting trademarks are strong enough to transcend the stylistic revamp – arrangements that are rich without being precious (Pink in the Night), plus her terrifically mordant worldview. “Nobody butters me up like you,” she sings on twisted country song Lonesome Love. “And nobody fucks me like me.” It is hard to sing at a remove and maintain emotional directness – Mitski is famously private – but like St Vincent or even David Lynch, she specialises in the bait-and-switch of delight and obfuscation” – The Guardian

Stream: https://open.spotify.com/album/653wRjqO0GOZPQPcXpeAXD?si=o6TGimuuTkS2BiBoG9084Q

Standout Tracks: Geyser/Remember My Name/A Horse Named Cold Air

Finest Cut: Nobody

Parquet Courts – Wide Awake!

Date of Release: 18th May, 2018

Label: Rough Trade

Producer: Danger Mouse

Review:

“The most pronounced influence, however, is the Minutemen, who in the early 1980s overturned hardcore punk orthodoxy by placing bass, rather than guitar, at the centre of their sound and dabbling in jazz and funk stylings. Indeed, on Violence and NYC Observation in particular, the hollered vocals even recall those of the late D Boon. Lyrically, meanwhile, our tumultuous times have evidently proved an inspiration, as themes of climate change, gun violence and general disquiet abound. But for all the po-faced worthiness of lines such as “collectivism and autonomy are not mutually exclusive”, there are undercurrents of absurdist, tangential humour here, too – and a blunt rejection of Trump-endorsing jock Tom Brady. Wide Awake! might be too scattershot to appeal to a much wider audience, but it does cement Parquet Courts’ position as one of US indie’s more intriguing outliers” – The Observer  

Stream: https://open.spotify.com/album/5uTI2HcpAywDP8Vo1DpJta?si=BXkYcfjeSYqbu6cAZskh4g

Standout Tracks: Mardi Gras Beads/Freebird 2/Wide Awake!

Finest Cut: Total Football

Arctic Monkeys – Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino

Date of Release: 11th May, 2018

Label: Domino

Producers: James Ford/Alex Turner

Review:

“Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino feels like poetic social and fantasy-world commentary penned by Turner, who then fancied having a go at the piano and then brought the whole band in for good measure. Turner is clever and cheeky, as he's been known to be, switching up his singing style from deep to falsetto, and even testing out different tones as he embodies certain characters.
 
"The Ultracheese" has a vocal melody that recalls Patsy Cline's "Leavin' on Your Mind", and the instrumentation on "The World's First Ever Monster Truck Front Flip" wouldn't be too out of place on Pet Sounds with its reverb and sparse touches of bass and percussion. "Golden Trunks" has a rather unsettling feel, and "Four Out Of Five" may jive best with fans who love the band for their grooves and riffs.
 
If you're a long-time listener, or someone that was tuned in to AM, you might be prepared to change the dial. But before you write this off as exhausting or pretentious self-indulgence, give it a listen or two. Peruse the lyrics, dissect them and have a laugh. Commitment isn't as scary as you think” – Exclaim!   

Stream: https://open.spotify.com/album/7v6FNgLDS8KmaWA1amUtqe?si=0aJyVwqMR8WNr91UCjrk3Q

Standout Tracks: American Sports/Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino/Golden Trunks

Finest Cut: Four Out of Five

Jack White – Boarding House Reach

Date of Release: 23rd March, 2018

Labels: Third Man/Columbia/XL

Producer: Jack White

Review:

“But White can knock these out in his sleep. He sounds most fully engaged bending form, as on the time-shifting heavy groove of Respect Commander and squelchy Daft Punk inflected robofunk of Get in the Mind Shaft. The sheer musical exuberance pouring out brings to mind Stevie Wonder and Prince at their most playful.

There is ultimately something sketchy about Boarding House Reach, pulling in so many directions that it suggests rough drafts for more fully formed work to come. But for all that, there are so many rich ingredients in the mix, even misophones should find something to soothe their troubled ears” – The Daily Telegraph

Stream: https://open.spotify.com/album/3gncrZwl7EfpAkd4kZthWO?si=cLZPVkkKTg6M9SnitONvBg

Standout Tracks: Connected By Love/Corporation/Respect Commander

Finest Cut: Over and Over and Over

Anna Calvi – Hunter

Date of Release: 31st August, 2018

Label: Domino Recording Company

Producer: Nick Launay

Review:

“The title track carries the graceful, aching melancholy of Bowie in his latter ‘Blackstar’ years, while the simmering brimstone of lead single ‘Don’t Beat The Girl Out Of My Boy’ and ‘Indies Of Paradise’ sees Calvi’s message, guitar virtuosity and untethered vocal range all honed together as a knock-out one-two sucker punch. ‘Swimming Pool’ and closer ‘Eden’ carry her knack of Ennio Morricone-sque filmic dreamscapes to a much more realised realm, but are wonderfully anchored by the more primal rushes.

On the firecracker ‘Alpha’, she’s both vulnerable and predatory. On howling album highlight ‘Chain’, she constantly wanders between being girl and boy, revelling in every moment of the chase. This is an album of extremes, but they’re all bridged by bold and fluid movements of an artist refusing to be either man, woman or victim – always the hunter” – NME

Stream: https://open.spotify.com/album/4i2XIJtswPyQE6G46wpKpH?si=wvnzNFVRTkqYtoEhnyPAlA

Standout Tracks: As a Man/Hunter/Alpha

Finest Cut: Don’t Beat the Girl Out of My Boy

boygenius – boygenius EP

IMAGE/PHOTO CREDIT: Lera Pentelute 

Date of Release: 9th November, 2018  

Label: Matador Records

Review:

“While these tracks may challenge lyrically, in terms of composition, both feel like they could have been taken from their respective solo albums. The long build in ‘Stay Down’ is characteristic of Julien Baker’s 2017 LP Appointments, while the loud/quiet dynamics of ‘Salt In The Wound’ could easily have found a place on Historian. The only track that really bucks this trend is closer ‘Ketchum, ID’. It feels like a more collaborative effort with all three taking separate harmonies and combing to get the most out of their distinctive styles. But where this EP lacks in progression, it makes up for in the strength of the songwriting. The riff on ‘Souvenir’ is endlessly infectious and the repetitive mantra of ‘Bite The Hand’ lingers long in the mind after the chords have ended. While the future of Boygenius may be unclear, we can be all be glad this particular in joke didn’t stay as just that as so many of them do” – Drowned in Sound  

Stream: https://open.spotify.com/album/5BRORKnC2HD5xhgUyR31SH?si=VDtABoS8Q_miQP-_-uJIIw

Standout Tracks: Bite the Hand/Souvenir/Salt in the Wound

Finest Cut: Me & My Dog

The Spirit of the Beehive – Hypnic Jerks

Date of Release: 14th September, 2018

Label: Tiny Engines

Review:

“With the band operating in countless speeds and tones, the vocals also swerve between a handful of styles. The title track opens with Parquet Courts-esque deadpan barks, coherent to the point of almost shattering the band’s illusion, but the song promptly pivots to something less earthbound. When the voices swing more ethereal, the lyrics tend to concern relationships, but even intimacy is seen through a kaleidoscope. The poignant verse-trading and overlapping vocals on “(Without You) In My Pocket” paint two sides of a dissolving romance; brutally honest lines like “I don’t feel compassion for you anymore” are mixed with vignettes of fame and “selling out MSG.” Though remaining enigmatic at their core, the Spirit of the Beehive are starting to let in some light.

On Hypnic Jerks, the Spirit of the Beehive find their home base when exploring open space, jamming with plucky guitar and inviting grooves, a notable shift from the claustrophobic delirium of their last record. Whereas Pleasure Suck unleashed an assault, Hypnic Jerks is content to kick back. Well, mostly kick back; whenever you feel you have a grasp on the record, it deftly changes lanes—music that rewards devotion as you memorize its contours” – Post Trash

Stream: https://open.spotify.com/album/5l93RkfOpA9Whuziy038gB?si=3YcrouuPStG15jVtbBfljw

Standout Tracks: mantra is repeated/poly swim/hypnic jerks

Finest Cut: nail I couldn’t bite

Cat Power – Wanderer

Date of Release: 5th October, 2018

Label: Domino Recording Company

Producer: Cat Power

Review:

“"Robbin Hood," with its vicious cycle of literal and spiritual theft, could have been written in the shadow of the Great Depression or the Great Recession. Conversely, Marshall also incorporates 2010s touches in ways that sound classic and, above all, genuine. On "Woman," she and Lana Del Rey bid a liberating goodbye to others' expectations, their voices combining in an evocation of the spirit of womanhood (although Marshall's confession "The doctor said I was not my past/He said I was finally free" is utterly, poignantly personal). Similarly, she hones Rihanna's "Stay" -- already an unusually naked and free-flowing pop ballad -- to its most soul-baring parts, and its spine-tingling beauty is another testament to the strength it takes to be so vulnerable. As tender as it is uncompromising, Wanderer is exactly the album Marshall needed to make at this point in her career and life. It's some of her most essential music, in both senses of the word” – AllMusic  

Stream: https://open.spotify.com/album/28SMXZ4p2uQGJZJpFXw8em?si=If1BpkteSs69837q6xCyKw

Standout Tracks: Wanderer/Black/Robin Hood

Finest Cut: Woman

Beach House – 7

Date of Release: 11th May, 2018

Label: Sub Pop

Producers: Beach House/Sonic Boom

Review:

“Measuring Beach House albums against one another is tricky—how do you compare daydreams? But on a sensory level, you feel whether the spell is working, and how potent it remains. On 7, all the contrasts that mark their music are dialed up to blinding; you are plunged into darkness and then showered in light. The experience is so enveloping that you find yourself contending, once again, with that familiar itch to locate meaning. The secret at the heart of Beach House’s evocative music remains the same—there is no specific place Legrand wants to take you. But there will always be… someplace you’d rather be. Beach House will always help you dream of it” – Pitchfork   

Stream: https://open.spotify.com/album/1xg88pe0CUD6UeE3fEnEkD?si=oezXQbDwQcKbEz-1jIMyxA

Standout Tracks: Lemon Glow/Dive/Lose Your Smile

Finest Cut: Dark Spring

The 1975 – A Brief Inquiry Into Online Relationships

Date of Release: 30th November, 2018

Labels: Dirty Hit/Polydor

Producers: George Daniel/Matthew Healy

Review:

“A tone of urgent honesty pulses through the album, a visceral need to connect that shatters the production's glittering surfaces, breaking through with emotional weight on the warped synth ballad Inside Your Mind and the dreamily epic final track, I Always Wanna Die (Sometimes).

"There are no big bands doing anything as interesting as us," Healy, 29, recently proclaimed. It is the kind of rubbish rock stars used to spout all the time, and yet it is oddly reassuring to hear a young, 21st-century frontman in the ring with that old-fashioned bravado, inviting all-comers to take pot shots. Right now, The 1975 are the band to beat” – The Telegraph

Stream: https://open.spotify.com/album/6PWXKiakqhI17mTYM4y6oY?si=o4r6xfk-QQGtQlakSWxEcw

Standout Tracks: TOOTIMETOOTIMETOOTIME/Sincerity Is Scary/I Couldn’t Be More in Love

Finest Cut: Love It If We Made It

David Byrne – American Utopia

Date of Release: 9th March, 2018

Labels: Nonesuch/Todo Mundo

Producers: David Byrne/Brian Eno/Rodaidh

Review:

“Abstraction abounds on the album, taking familiar forms from the artist’s back catalog: dogs, architecture, idiosyncratic dance moves. As funny as those moments can be (see: “The pope don’t mean shit to a dog”), the headier moments of American Utopia tend to dissipate in the ether. Telling the story of a shooting from the perspective of the bullet is a clever creative exercise, but the album can do, and does, better. What makes that True Stories scene stand out, more than 30 years later, is the way it sidesteps its guided tour to consider the people whose paths the narrator crosses: “People here are inventing their own system of beliefs. They’re creating it, doing it, selling it, making it up as they go along.” Utopia’s a nice thing to believe in, but it’s just an idea. So is America. What lingers is tangible, and personal, and here” – The A.V. Club

Stream: https://open.spotify.com/album/3layBPHhaedgV3ezVSR7AV?si=Ha1Cy-vdREOByI53fGTQVw

Standout Tracks: Gasoline and Dirty Sheets/Dog’s Mind/It’s Not Dark Up Here

Finest Cut: Everybody’s Coming to My House

Natalie Prass – The Future and the Past

Date of Release: 1st June, 2018

Label: ATO

Review:

“Prass picks and chooses when these moments are allowed to happen. More often, she runs a tight ship; nothing feels out of place, and everything feels very considered. The Fire is probably one of the more conventional tracks on the record, but small vocal tweaks in the second verse and a gorgeous verse-chorus segue make it one of the highlights. Nothing To Say is another pared back affair, maybe unsurprising given it's one of the record's older cuts (you can find clips online of Prass playing it live as far back as 2012) – it's basically a power ballad. Big, chunky piano chords and a coda that deserves to be sung along to with everything you have.

You absolutely can hear the fingerprints of Prass' influences across these tracks, but as well as the Dusty Springfield and Karen Carpenter tones that colour her first record, there's bits of Dionne Warwick, Laura Nyro and Diana Ross. More than that though, you're hearing a songwriter who seems to know exactly what she wants to make, and has all the tools to do that. A glorious, glorious album” – The Skinny

Stream: https://open.spotify.com/album/4eaB4Z7pCzLfvgvdbq2mVO?si=Zgkur1anTyiClfsBtX2e9g

Standout Tracks: Short Court Style/Lost/Nothing to Say

Finest Cut: Oh My

FEATURE: The Picky and Passionate Music Lover: Great Music Technology, Album and Accessory Ideas for Last-Minute Christmas Shoppers

FEATURE:

 

 

The Picky and Passionate Music Lover

PHOTO CREDIT: @eugenivy_reserv/Unsplash 

Great Music Technology, Album and Accessory Ideas for Last-Minute Christmas Shoppers

__________

I have covered music books and the page-turners you need for Christmas...

 PHOTO CREDIT: @rawpixel/Unsplash

and listed the best albums of the year. I will do another gift-related piece this week but I wanted to bring together eleven gift ideas that cover accessories, technology and some essential music – perfect for stockings and those big presents alike! If you are stumped for great gifts for the music obsessive in your life; here are some ideas, in a variety of prices, that should give you some good ideas. It can be tough buying for that special someone who loves their music but, with these handy suggestions, you should be able to find something...

 PHOTO CREDIT: @lukesouthern/Unsplash

THAT brings a smile to their face!

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

________________

Moleskine Large Music Notebook

Perfect For: Budding songwriters and composers who want to get down their musical inspirations!

Buy: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/886293310X/ref=as_li_qf_asin_il_tl?tag=skim1x180966-21&ie=UTF8&linkId=d5310148290457ac04ec753a2d7b5fc5

Price: £15.50 (Amazon.co.uk)

Vibes Acoustic Filter Ear Plugs

Perfect For: These decibel-reducing earphones are perfect if you want excellent sound and comfort without the annoyance of wires and endless tangling.  

Buy: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B018WPOQSG/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?tag=skim1x180966-21&ie=UTF8&linkId=d1bf5dbf7202b01ffa3c86649bfa8f53

Price: £21.00 (Amazon.co.uk)

FORITO Retro Portable Cassette Player

What’s the Deal?

“If you grew up listening to your favorite bands on a cassette tape, you know there's nothing quite like the sound of strumming guitars and thumping bass as it poured through the headphones of your shiny new Walkman. Well now, thanks to the Setech USB Retro Cassette Player you can convert all your old tapes and mixtapes to a digital MP3 format so you can listen to them on your new iPod or mobile device.

Simply pop in a cassette, hook up the USB cable to a laptop, and then easily convert all your music into easy-to-enjoy MP3 files. Then all you have to do is load them on your portable music player and listen to them in your earbuds, in the car or while you're going hard on that treadmill. Better yet, you can still use it listen to your tapes exactly as they are, and people everywhere will know that you're not only retro, you're still cool as they day you got that Walkman” (Amazon.co.uk)

Buy: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Portable-Cassette-Converter-Compatible-Earphones-White-Black/dp/B07GYNB1QH/ref=sr_1_15?ie=UTF8&qid=1545056792&sr=8-15&keywords=clear+cd+player

Price: £17.99 (Amazon.co.uk)    

Prince – Piano & Microphone 1983 (Deluxe Edition)

What’s the Deal?

“Prince left behind a massive collection—a literal vault—filled with unreleased songs and recordings. The first collection of those recordings released is Piano & A Microphone 1983, a selection of work recorded during his iconic Purple Rain era. This box set is essential not only for Prince lovers, but for any music lover in general” (Esquire)

Buy: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07DKGDX9P?creativeASIN=B07DKGDX9P&linkCode=w61&imprToken=m6IcdUHkBtYHRT3NoUaI-Q&slotNum=1

Price: $35.77/£28.34 (Amazon.com)

The Beatles – The Beatles (White Album) (Deluxe Edition)

What’s the Deal?

“This is the first time The BEATLES (‘White Album’) has been remixed and presented with additional demos and session recordings. To create the new stereo and 5.1 surround audio mixes for ‘The White Album,’ Martin and Okell worked with an expert team of engineers and audio restoration specialists at Abbey Road Studios in London. All the new ‘White Album’ releases include Martin’s new stereo album mix, sourced directly from the original four-track and eight-track session tapes. Martin’s new mix is guided by the album’s original stereo mix produced by his father, George Martin. During the last week of May 1968, The Beatles gathered at George’s house in Esher, Surrey, where they recorded acoustic demos for 27 songs. Known as the Esher Demos, all 27 recordings are also included in the 7 Disc Super Deluxe package, sourced from the original four-track tapes. The comprehensive, individually numbered 7-disc collection features: CDs 1 & 2: 2018 stereo album mix+H5 CD3: Esher Demos CDs 4, 5 & 6: Sessions - 50 additional recordings, most previously unreleased, from ‘White Album’ studio sessions; all newly mixed from the four-track and eight-track session tapes, sequenced in order of their recording start dates. Blu-ray: - 2018 album mix in high resolution PCM stereo - 2018 DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 album mix - 2018 Dolby True HD 5.1 album mix - 2018 direct transfer of the album’s original mono mix” (Amazon.co.uk)

Buy: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Beatles-White-Album/dp/B07HFYZY7D/ref=sr_1_1?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1545053266&sr=1-1&keywords=THE+BEATLES+%28THE+WHITE+ALBUM%29)  

Price: £124.9 (Amazon.co.uk)

SONOS PLAY:1 Smart Wireless Speaker, White

Perfect For: Those who want a speaker that can fill any room; live up to all your demands and provide the very best and clearest sounds.

Buy: https://www.amazon.co.uk/SONOS-PLAY-Smart-Wireless-Speaker-White/dp/B00FMS1KJK/ref=sr_1_2?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1545053460&sr=8-2&keywords=sonos+one+speaker

Price: £139.00 (Amazon.co.uk) 

Steepletone '60s Rock Bluetooth Desktop Jukebox

Perfect For: Those who want a great blast of nostalgia and the ability to play all their favourite tracks instantly.

Buy: https://www.urbanoutfitters.com/en-gb/shop/steepletone-60s-rock-bluetooth-desktop-jukebox?category=gifts-tech&color=020

Price: £100.00 (Urbanoutfitters.com)

GPO Brooklyn Grey Portable Boombox + Music System

Perfect For: People who want to get the sensation of a Brooklyn boombox but have a savvy and great piece of modern technology in their hands.

Buy: https://www.urbanoutfitters.com/en-gb/shop/gpo-brooklyn-grey-portable-boombox-music-system?category=gifts-tech&color=004

Price: £250.00 (Urbanoutfitters.com)  

Numark PT01 Touring Vintage Suitcase Turntable

DESIGN CREDIT: Pitchfork

What’s the Deal?

“The Numark PT Touring turntable is a styled suitcase unit that recalls the popular portable turntables from the past. PT Touring has a rugged case with a handle so you can carry it anywhere. It plays all your 33 1/3, 45 and 78 RPM records, comes with a 45 RPM adapter, and it has built-in stereo speakers for convenient listening without needing to connect external speakers. In addition, it has RCA outputs for simple connection to home audio equipment and a convenient auto-stop feature kicks in when it reaches the end of the record. Plus with its USB port, included USB cable and downloadable EZ Vinyl/Tape Converter software, converting analogue records into digital files for archiving on your computer is a snap” - (Amazon.co.uk)

Buy: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B015FJZZZA/ref=sr_1_1?slotNum=2&s=electronics&keywords=numark+PT01+USB&ie=UTF8&sr=1-1&linkCode=g14&imprToken=L20gT9-eL6TXUAIdERy5Gw&creativeASIN=B015FJZZZA&tag=pitchforkuk-21

Price: £58.95 (Amazon.co.uk)  

Urbanista Seattle Wireless Bluetooth Headphones

What’s the Deal?

“Essential wireless headphones from Urbanista. The Seattle headphones combine minimalist style with maximum functionality with a hands-free microphone + volume control, memory foam headphone cushions + much more. Includes Bluetooth capabilities and voice assistance from Siri + Google Now for the easiest listening experience possible. Finished with a practical folding function that makes them easy to take anywhere” (Urbanoutitters.com)

Buy: https://www.urbanoutfitters.com/en-gb/shop/urbanista-seattle-wireless-bluetooth-headphones?category=SEARCHRESULTS&color=066

Price: £90.00 (Urbanoutfitters.com)    

The Retro Monthly Vinyl Club

Perfect For: Available in a range of subscription plans and bundles; you can have your favourite classic albums delivered to your door at a great price.

Buy: https://theretro.co.uk/vinyl/

Price: Various (depending on subscription and number of albums per month)  

FEATURE: Lost Ones: Artists We Said Goodbye to in 2018

FEATURE:

 

 

Lost Ones

IN THIS PHOTO: Aretha Franklin

Artists We Said Goodbye to in 2018

__________

THIS is a time when we share cheer and festivity...

 PHOTO CREDIT: @aliyahjam/Unsplash

and look forward to the year ahead. In music terms, critics and fans are sharing their precious memories of 2018 and the records that have moved them. Among the celebration, relaxation and positivity, there is that feeling of sadness when we look back at artists we have lost this year. Every year, sadly, sees some artist depart and, whereas 2016 was especially tragic and brutal; 2018 has seen some big names leave us. To honour them, I have put together a little compilation that highlights the artist and some of their best material. We need to be in that positive mindframe and space but, within the delight and joy, there is soberness as we remember big music names who are no longer with us. Let’s us reflect and remember some fantastic names who have given us so much but, sadly, we lost this year. They did give so much but, in so many ways, their legacy and music...

 IN THIS PHOTO: Avicii

WILL never be lost.

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

___________________

Dolores O’Riordan

Date of Death: 15th January, 2018

Noticeable Honour: Lead singer of The Cranberries

Remembrance:

“Dolores hadn’t had a great time in her life. But the music that came out of her despite everything was incredible. I remember first hearing Zombie in the 1990s – that was the first time I was aware of her. Her voice caught me straight away. The way it went from this beautiful, soft whisper with this real Celtic vibe, to this huge rock voice, was fabulous, really unique. She didn’t get enough credit for that.

I told her I was a fan of her band, and she told me she was a fan of the Kinks, and she had listened to us a lot growing up. We met up a few times and talked a lot about music. She talked about the problems with her dad, and how she was missing her children, about how she’d had to cancel tours, and how happy she could be making music.

We had a mutual respect. We talked about writing together – I had an idea for a song called Home, about being home again, and she understood what I was trying to say. But we never sat down to do it, and that makes me really sad. She was very kind to me, too. We said we’d meet when she was next in London, and that was that.

When I heard what had happened, I couldn’t believe it. It was so awful. It must be so awful for her family. It was an honour and a pleasure to get to know her. The world’s a poorer place without her” – Dave Davies speaking with The Guardian

Greatest Album: Everybody Else Does It, So Why Can’t We? (1993)            

Choice Cut: Linger (EverybodyElse Does It, So Why Can’t We?)

 

Aretha Franklin

PHOTO CREDIT: Redferns 

Date of Death: 16th August, 2018

Noticeable Honour: The undisputed Queen of Soul

Remembrance:

“Aretha Franklin’s voice — bred from gospel, blues and jazz, American traditions that reached indelible glory because they had to overcome America itself — made all the difference. It was how, in the words of a gospel song she loved, she got over. “You had a number of gospel singers who were filled with the spirit,” said writer Peter Guralnick. “She translated that spirit into the secular field. . . . She translated that feel and fire.” More than that, Franklin’s voice raised and defined her. Nobody came close to touching it, though she emboldened many others to follow her — Patti LaBelle, Gladys Knight, Natalie Cole, Chaka Khan, Whitney Houston, Alicia Keys and Beyoncé among them. More than any of them, Franklin possessed a roar that wasn’t merely technically breathtaking; it was also a natural and self-derived instrument that testified to her truths in ways she otherwise refused to address. Some say Franklin was insecure at times in her gift, but with something so fearsome moving through their body, mind and history, who wouldn’t be both daunted and proud?

Upon learning of her death in August, at age 76, from pancreatic cancer, Barack and Michelle Obama said in a statement, “Aretha helped define the American experience. In her voice, we could feel our history, all of it and in every shade — our power and our pain, our darkness and our light, our quest for redemption and our hard-won respect.”

The late keyboardist Billy Preston — who started in gospel and went on to play with Franklin, the Beatles and the Rolling Stones — put it in more rough-hewn terms: “She can sing all kinds of jive-ass songs that are beneath her. She can go into her diva act and turn off the world. But on any given night, when that lady sits down at the piano and gets her body and soul all over some righteous song, she’ll scare the shit out of you. And you’ll know — you’ll swear — that she’s still the best fuckin’ singer this fucked-up country has ever produced” – Mikal Gilmore for Rolling Stone

Greatest Album: I Never Loved a Man the Way I Loved You (1967)           

Choice Cut: Respect (I Never Loved a Man the Way I Loved You)

Chas Hodges

Date of Death: 22nd September, 2018

Noticeable Honour: One half of the legendary Chas & Dave

Remembrance:

“And Chas didn’t stop writing, even when he was ill. He rewrote Sling Your Hook to make it about his cancer, and put it on our last album [2018’s A Little Bit of Us], which we recorded in Brian Juniper’s studio. He wrote a song with Paul Whitehouse recently for the new Only Fools and Horses musical. And when we played on Jools Holland in the summer, we played the last song Chas ever wrote, Wonder Where He Is Now, about fishing with his mate when he was a kid. We’re putting it out as a single soon. I thought that’d be a nice tribute for him.

The last time we saw each other we went fishing. He’d seemed to pick up a bit, started to eat properly, and I thought, hello, he’s on the up now. But sadly, it wasn’t to be. We used to have a laugh fishing. Chas used to have a little private fishing lake, and we’d go there, take our little sandwich boxes, and Joan would come along and make us a cup of tea. The last picture I’ve got of us together, we’ve got fishing rods in our hands. I’m glad I’ve got that.

I always say to people, Chas and Dave weren’t just a band, they were a way of life. Our wives were best friends – I lost my wife nine years ago, to cancer as well – and I’m godfather to his and Joan’s three children. We were so intertwined, not just in music. Every aspect of our lives. We were just together in everything” – David Peacock (Chas & Dave) speaking with The Guardian

Greatest Album: Don’t Give a Monkey’s (1979)

Choice Cut: Rabbit (Don’t Give a Monkey’s)

 

Yvonne Staples

PHOTO CREDIT: Charley Gallay/Getty Images for NAACP Image Awards   

Date of Death: 10th April, 2018

Noticeable Honour: Part of the iconic vocal group the Staples Singers

Remembrance:

“There were a lot of family acts that broke big in the 1970s, including the Osmonds, the Jackson 5, and the Partridge Family (who weren't really related, but still). But probably no family band was as polished and staggeringly talented in the pipes department as the Staple Singers. The group formed way back in 1948 as a gospel act — "Pops" Staples put his kids Cleotha, Mavis, and Pervis to work. When Pervis was drafted into the Vietnam War, formerly left-out sibling Yvonne Staples stepped up. Good timing: In 1971, the group released its first album of secular gospel-funk, The Staple Swingers. Yvonne Staples sang backup (the group's clear leader was Mavis Staples) on huge, soulful hits like "I'll Take You There" and "Let's Do It Again." Staples family friend Bill Carpenter told the New York Times that Yvonne Staples "was very content in that role. She had no desire to be a front singer, even though people in the family told her she had a great voice." Tempting and resisting sibling rivalry and resentment once more, Yvonne Staples later served as a backup singer and road manager for Mavis Staples in her solo career. Yvonne Staples, the best sister anyone could have, was 80 years old when she died on April 10” – GRUNGE

Greatest Album: Be Altitude: Respect Yourself (1981)     

Choice Cut: Respect Yourself (Be Altitude: Respect Yourself)

Scott Hutchison

PHOTO CREDIT: Roberto Ricciuti/Getty Images

Date of Death: 10th May, 2018

Noticeable Honour: Lead/founder of the Scottish band Frightened Rabbit

Remembrance:

“It’s impossible to listen to some of Hutchison’s songs now without thinking about the circumstances surrounding his death, as well as the highly public struggles with depression that preceded it. The fact that his body was found in a body of water called the Firth of Forth, where on The Midnight Organ Fight’s “Floating in the Forth” he had imagined his own suicide (before rejecting the idea “for another day”), became the stuff of tabloid news. Or take “Swim Until You Can’t See Land,” from 2010’s The Winter of Mixed Drinks, which seemed initially like a festival-friendly ode to persistence; its lyrics about a baptismal “drowning of the past” are tough to hear today. That Hutchison apparently couldn’t find the same relief that he brought to so many others, through his songs and his work with the UK’s Mental Health Foundation, is what’s most tragic.

Hutchison was open about his struggles from the start. The first words heard on Frightened Rabbit’s 2006 debut are, “What’s the blues when you’ve got the greys?” It was right around this time that Frightened Rabbit first released its cover of the UK electronic duo N-Trance’s rave-era hit “Set You Free.” Listening to Hutchison’s sweetly ramshackle version now, I’m struck by how his earnest delivery lends some shred of real emotion to throwaway lines like, “Only love can set you free.” Through Frightened Rabbit’s music, Hutchison gave the world so much love, and was loved in return. If it’s too late to show him that, then the least we can do is pay his generosity of spirit forward to each other, especially in those bouts of grey. After all, there’s a lot of hard times ahead” – Marc Hogan for Pitchfrork     

Greatest Album: The Midnight Organ Fight (2008)          

Choice Cut: Heads Roll Off (The Midnight Organ Fight)

 

Avicii

Date of Death: 20th April, 2018

Noticeable Honour: A hugely popular Swedish record producer, D.J. and remixer

Remembrance:

“One of the most defining moments of Avicii’s too-brief career came at the 2012 Ultra Music Festival, when Madonna appeared on stage to introduce him and their first collaboration, “Girl Gone Wild.” That the queen of pop acknowledged the then-22-year-old Tim Bergling — who died Friday at the age of 28 of undisclosed causes — as a peer and a collaborator wasn’t just a watershed moment for him, it was one for dance music as well.

But actually, a more telling moment in the Swedish superstar’s career came a year later, at Ultra in 2013, when he unveiled his new bluegrass-meets-electronic sound for the first time. Avicii opened his set with his signature hit, “Levels,” a blockbuster track that altered the face of EDM when it was first played at Ultra in 2011. But immediately afterward, Aloe Blacc took the stage to perform “Wake Me Up,” released just days earlier, live for the first time. When Blacc appeared, the crowd didn’t know what to think of fiddles and banjos onstage at an electronic music festival. He then went on to preview all of the songs that would make up his debut album, “True,” spotlighting folk singers Audra Mae and Dan Tyminski.

Although he retired from touring in 2016 for health reasons, Avicii never stopped making music. His second full-length studio album, “Stories,” came out in the fall of 2015 and featured hits “Broken Arrows” (a return to his bluegrass sound, featuring Zac Brown) and “Waiting for Love.” In 2017, he released a new 6-track EP, “Avīci,” featuring collaborations with AlunaGeorge, Rita Ora, and Sandro Cavazza. “Last year I quit performing live, and many of you thought that was it,” he wrote on his website. “But the end of live never meant the end of Avicii or my music. Instead, I went back to the place where it all made sense – the studio. The next stage will be all about my love of making music to you guys. It is the beginning of something new” – Jeremy Blacklow for Billboard

Greatest Album: True: Avicii by Avicii (2013)                                         

Choice Cut: Levels (Levels)

Pete Shelley

PHOTO CREDIT: Chris Gabrin/Redferns

Date of Death: 6th December, 2018

Noticeable Honour: The genius, much-loved lead of the band Buzzcocks

Remembrance:

“He was innovative musically as well as lyrically, taking inspiration from David Bowie, Brian Eno, Roxy Music and the Velvet Underground, as well as from German bands such as Neu and Can. While the music of many of the punk bands remains firmly of its time, Buzzcocks’ best songs still sound fresh and inventive, mixing dense guitar patterns with infectious melodies. Their influence can be heard on bands from Primal Scream and the Jesus and Mary Chain to REM and Nirvana. Gary Kemp of Spandau Ballet said, “Pete was one of Britain’s best pure pop writers, up there with Ray Davies.”

Buzzcocks achieved success with their first recording, the Spiral Scratch EP, which was released on their own label, New Hormones, in January 1977. It was one of the first independent releases of the punk era, and to the band’s surprise sold its first 1,000 copies in four days. “We made quite a bit of money from Spiral Scratch,” Shelley recalled. “It ended up selling about 16,000 copies and we were able to buy some new equipment.”

In 1981 Shelley launched his solo career with the single Homosapien, from the album of the same name, produced by the Buzzcocks producer Martin Rushent (who was about to help make Human League’s electropop epic Dare). Shelley had returned to his earlier fondness for electronica, and found himself in controversial waters when the BBC banned Homosapien for its “explicit reference to gay sex”. In 2002 Shelley commented that his sexuality “tends to change as much as the weather”. The track reached 14 on the US dance chart” – The Irish Times

Greatest Album: Another Music in a Different Kitchen (1978)                     

Choice Cut: Ever Fallen in Love (With Someone You Shouldn't've) (Love Bites)

Mac Miller

Date of Death: 7th September, 2018

Noticeable Honour: American rapper and singer who helped boost the career of numerous popular artists

Remembrance:

“He helped countless artists to get exposure, whether it was taking Kendrick Lamar, Chance the Rapper or The Internet on some of their first tours [as his support acts], or helping Vince Staples, Sza and Earl Sweatshirt with studio time, rides, production or just a conversation. He was available, always. He understood the benefit of lifting others up.

After one of the last shows he played, he came backstage and said, “For all the slow, quiet songs, people just sat there and listened – that’s all I ever wanted.” He was incredible live and he could make the crowd go wild, but there was something inside him that just wanted people to listen – to experience and appreciate the music, and that’s what happened in that moment. You could see this glow about him. It was like, “Man, I’m getting there, I’m actually becoming the artist I want to be.”

He’ll be remembered for his ability to redefine himself as a musician: look at the difference between Blue Slide Park and Swimming. But, as importantly, he’ll be remembered through those musicians he helped along the way. He was a spark to so many people. In a world dominated by ego, he led with the soul and lived by focusing on similarities rather than differences – that’s a lesson we all could use” – Christian Clancy for The Guardian

Greatest Album: Swimming (2018)                                         

Choice Cut: Best Day Ever (Best Day Ever)

Lovebug Starski

PHOTO CREDIT: Getty/Johnny Nunez  

Date of Death: 8th February, 2018  

Noticeable Honour: A pioneer who helped coin the genre/word ‘Hip-Hop’ and was a successful and influential M.C. and producer

Remembrance:

“To hear Lovebug Starski tell it, he was there when the phrase “hip-hop” was coined, trading the two words back and forth while improvising lines with Cowboy of the Furious Five at a farewell party for a friend who was headed into the Army.

He incorporated the phrase into the D.J. sets he was playing in the South Bronx, helping to solidify it as lingo of the scene and inadvertently providing the opening line to “Rapper’s Delight,” the 1979 Sugarhill Gang song that would take hip-hop out of parties and onto the radio.

Decades before hip-hop was the dominant influence on American popular culture, it was the work of Bronx teenagers gathering in parks, recreation centers and clubs and improvising a new approach to music by jury-rigging old records and technology.

Lovebug Starski was a mainstay of this scene in the 1970s. He started out carrying records and equipment for the disco and funk D.J. Pete (DJ) Jones — one of the first to mix two copies of the same record — at the Starland Ballroom in the Bronx before becoming a D.J. in his own right, spinning at numerous Bronx clubs.

He was a rapper as well, one of the first to rhyme and spin records at the same time. When rapping was little more than accompanying patter to enhance a D.J. set, he was a charismatic source of party-moving phraseology, and he would also handle the microphone for other D.J.s, including a young Grandmaster Flash” – Jon Caramanica for The New York Times

Greatest Album: House Rocker (1986)                                   

Choice Cut: Amityville (The House on the Hill) (1986 single)

 

Mark E. Smith

PHOTO CREDIT: Andrew Whitton 

Date of Death: 24th January, 2018  

Noticeable Honour: Acerbic, caustic and unforgettable lead of The Fall

Remembrance:

“Mark E. Smith—the mad Mancunian genius behind The Fall, one of the most prolific, mercurial, confounding, and enduring bands of the post-punk age—has died, according to a statement from his manager, Pamela Vander. “It is with deep regret that we announce the passing of Mark E. Smith,” Vander wrote. “He passed this morning at home. A more detailed statement will follow in the next few days.” Smith, who had spent previous tours in wheelchairs, had been in particularly poor health the past few months, canceling a planned weeklong residency in Brooklyn over the summer and bowing out of U.K. gigs that he’d scheduled against the advice of his own bandmates and management team—stubborn and determined to keep the group going to the very last. Smith was 60 years old, and there will never be another like him.

Smith—braying and sneering about the urban grotesques and pub-dwelling “Slates, Slags, Etc.” crowding his streets, delivered in a hyper-literary style crammed with H.P. Lovecraft references, weird fragments of crackpot history, and inscrutable inside jokes peppered with regional slang—was a singer and songwriter like absolutely no other. It’s impossible to explain his appeal to anyone (let alone someone like me, a suburban Texas kid), other than to say that you either get it or you don’t. It’s why Fall fans are notoriously tribal; merely “getting it,” a nigh-biological response to Smith’s voice in your ear, grants automatic passage to its cult, where you can waste your days scrutinizing tossed-off references to British politicians and forgotten ’50s pop idols on the Fallnet mailing list, arguing with other opinionated, smartass record geeks like yourself” – Sean O’Neal for The A.V. Club

Greatest Album: Live at the Witch Trials (1979)                  

Choice Cut: Mr Pharmacist (Bend Sinister)

FEATURE: Start As You Mean to Go On... The Best Debut Albums of 2018

FEATURE:

 

 

Start As You Mean to Go On...

PHOTO CREDIT: @samueldixon/Unsplash 

The Best Debut Albums of 2018

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EVERY year is filled with great albums...

 IN THIS PHOTO: Noname/PHOTO CREDIT: Getty Images

and, when it comes to the end of the year, how many critics focus on incredible debuts? I feel those artists who make a bold start are overlooked to an extent so, as this year’s best albums have already arrived; let’s take a look at the acts who have made a sensational entrance. It is always interesting heralding big debuts and wondering where that artist will head next. To celebrate bright newcomers who have dropped incredible debuts, I have collected together the ten finest of 2018. Who knows where they will go from here but, with great reviews under their belt, it is sure to be a very bright future. Many have celebrated and highlighted the best albums of 2018 but here, in isolation, are ten stunning albums from artists...

 IN THIS PHOTO: Superorganism/PHOTO CREDIT: Getty Images

TAKING their first big step.

ALL ALBUM COVERS: Getty Images

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Cardi B – Invasion of Privacy

Release Date: 5th April, 2018

Label: Atlantic

Producers: Various

Review:

“Later, on the popping "Money Bag," she playfully laments "I been broke my whole life/I have no clue what to do with these racks!" She gets filthy on the explicit "Bickenhead" -- which samples its namesake Project Pat song with a little Blood twist -- that it could make Lil' Kim or Foxy Brown blush. Her chart-busting singles "Bodak Yellow" and "Bartier Cardi" are also included here, nestled with other tough-talking shots like "She Bad" with YG and "Drip" with fiancee Offset and his group Migos. The Latin trap "I Like It," with Bad Bunny and J Balvin, is a notable highlight, a potential chart-buster in waiting. Surprisingly, Invasion is not just sneering street bangers about her "money moves." Bittersweet infidelity dirge "Be Careful" finds Cardi yearning for a solid relationship with a real man, not an unfaithful one (all signs point to Offset). On "Ring," a smooth R&B jam that features Kehlani, Cardi is vulnerable, revealing a well of pain beneath her tough-as-nails facade. "Thru Your Phone" is unflinching and relatable, wherein Cardi burns with vengeance as she poisons her cheating man with bleach in his cereal and a good old-fashioned stabbing. It's cartoonish but real, a confession of thoughts that are all too familiar to the scorned. This balance between over-the-top party starters and thoughtful reflection makes Invasion of Privacy an impressive debut for a rising star who can back up her outspokenness with raw talent” – AllMusic

Stream:  https://open.spotify.com/album/4KdtEKjY3Gi0mKiSdy96ML?si=NoNriDUsSg-zK57d8_E0uA

Elite Tracks: Bartier Cardi/I Like It/Ring

Standout Track: Bodak Yellow

Shame – Songs of Praise

Release Date: 12th January, 2018

Label: Dead Oceans

Producers: Dan Foat & Nathan Boddy

Review:

“First impressions and preconceptions do few bands many favours, but Shame seem to have had to work hard to shelve such opinions on ‘Songs Of Praise’. The power and ferocity with which they do so across the album - as well as its rollocking instrumentation and clear social conscience - makes it a triumph.

“In a time of such injustice, how can you not want to be heard?” Charlie offers in ‘Friction’, before he launches himself into a roaring chorus, and on ‘Songs Of Praise’, Shame shout louder than anyone else at the moment, and make a claim to become Britain’s best new band” – DIY

Stream:  https://open.spotify.com/album/3A1kutvBmC6czSsSv7aR5E?si=OkwDGxa3Q7aRYhjWnfIU9g

Elite Tracks: Dust on Trial/Donk/Friction

Standout Track: One Rizla

Miya Folick – Premonitions

Release Date: 26th October, 2018

Label: Terrible Records PS

Review:

“Those sugary hits of pop magic linger longer than they ought to; Folick knows how to reach heights that few others’ voices and songwriting can reach. ‘Baby Girl’ is a heart-rending tale of devotion (“Oh, lying on the bathroom floor / Laughing our heads off / Oh, crying in the alleyway  Your head in my lap”), while the sharp pop production of ‘Dead Body’ and ‘Thingmajig’ allow space for an artist who continues to explore with leaps and bounds.

It’s a rare feat for an album to paint a picture that’s broad but intimate at the same time, but Folick has done it here. Her voice, songwriting and ascent are unstoppable; one would do best not to ignore her” – NME

Stream:  https://open.spotify.com/album/3nWDfV4stC2VQopcuHjJmO?si=hJ0ItwERSHik6yiCGbQR9g

Elite Tracks: Thingamajig/Premonitions/Stock Image

Standout Track: Stop Talking

 

Ashley McBryde – Girl Going Nowhere

Release Date: 30th March, 2018

Label: Warner Bros. Nashville

Producer: Jay Joyce

Review:

“But even when the core of the tune is just the smoky draw of her voice and an acoustic guitar, she makes her songs stick through the placement of sharp details. “Andy (I Can’t Live Without You)” finds a new twist on the familiar trope of a girl singing about a guy who she loves in spite of his bumbling ways by performing it as a heartfelt ballad rather than a winking goof. Similarly on “Tired of Being Happy,” McBryde’s humble reminder to an ex-lover that she’ll be there if his new relationship flames out is played with ample amounts of heat and distortion.

To some ears, then, Nowhere could sound like raw material to be crafted into some major hits for some major country stars. According to McBryde, that was potentially the case with the marvelous nose thumbing title track as apparently Garth Brooks had taken a shine to it. But luckily someone with her label or management team stepped in and put the brakes on him recording his own version of it before hers came out. These songs don’t need to be messed with or tarted up or given a 21st century shine. They work perfectly in their current roughshod, if gently polished, form. The needle may keep moving for female country artists, but that’s of little concern to McBryde. She’s on a journey toward career longevity and Nowhere is her confident and solid first step” – PASTE

Stream:  https://open.spotify.com/album/2FeaUU9jFydTIsVO5F8rNU?si=KlQwue7LRIKNAeQvoKw2Ig

Elite Tracks: Radioland/A Little Dive Bar in Dahlonega/Home Sweet Highway

Standout Track: Girl Goin’ Nowhere

 

Snail Mail – Lush

Release Date: 8th June, 2018

Label: Matador

Producer: Jake Aron

Review:

“Bedroom pop gets a hi-fi makeover on Snail Mail’s debut full-length, the appropriately titled Lush. Back in the ’90s, backing intimate confessions with swishing cymbals and professionally produced guitars would have been heresy, but 18-year-old singer-songwriter Lindsey Jordan is bound to no such orthodoxy. The emotional thrust of her music is the same, though, writing about unrequited crushes, boring parties, and the acute loneliness of standing alone in a suburban kitchen in the middle of the night. The self-assurance underlying Jordan’s lyrical vulnerability comes through in Lush’s anthemic dual-guitar approach, overlaid with her strong, clear voice and even a French horn on the melancholy “Deep Sea.” The crushing sameness of the existence described in Snail Mail’s music means that not every song on Lush is essential, but when Jordan hits, she hits a bullseye, with mini-indie masterpieces like “Pristine” and “Heat Wave” set to inspire another generation of songwriters” – A.V. Music

Stream:  https://open.spotify.com/album/2e48GqjEwCi87gQJanb1bf?si=uyoo-AcSRIGdS7GYLd8ZDg

Elite Tracks: Pristine/Stick/Deep Sea

Standout Track: Heat Wave

 

Superorganism – Superorganism

Release Date: 2nd March, 2018

Label: Domino

Producers: Superorganism

Review:

“The band can do shiny pop ("It's All Good," which has a crazy slowed-down Tony Robbins sample), introspective dream pop ("Reflections on the Screen"), slowly strutting Beck-like hip-hop ("SPRORGNSM"), and melancholy ballads ("Nai's March"), all with equal aplomb. When they kick into second gear, they make modern pop that equals the best around. "Everybody Wants to Be Famous" is a rollicking takedown of D-list culture complete with ringing cash-register percussion and a melt-in-your-mouth sweet vocal by Orono; "Something for Your M.I.N.D." is warped pop gold with subaquatic bass, a naggingly catchy vocal sample, and Orono's second most off-kilter lyrics (after "The Prawn Song"). Despite the somewhat cluttered and freewheeling exterior, it's clear that Superorganism know exactly what they are doing at all times, slicing and dicing like master chefs, then reassembling the bits and bobs of pop ephemera into a concoction that has a sugary kick sweeter and fizzier than an ice-cold cola” – AllMusic  

Stream:  https://open.spotify.com/album/15TFB6uLZlb3gnCysRrLix?si=aTYhWdfAThKqSk0YCV15ww

Elite Tracks: Nobody Cares/Something for Your M.I.N.D./The Prawn Song

Standout Track: Everybody Wants to Be Famous

Noname – Room 25

Release Date: 14th September, 2018

Producers: Phoelix/Noname

Review:

“Noname’s evolution and personal growth since Telefone is evident throughout Room 25, but particularly on “Don’t Forget About Me,” which extends the introspection of “Forever” and many of the questions she began to grapple with on “Casket Pretty.” Backed by smooth yet stirring R&B melodics, Noname meditates on life, death, and the longevity of love, seeming to take comfort in the temporal limitations of being human. When she sings, “I know my body’s fragile, know it’s made from clay / But if I have to go, I pray my soul is still eternal / And my momma don’t forget about me,” the track becomes a sort of memento mori, highlighting the redemptive potential of mortality.

Equally gripping and swoon-worthy, “Regal” and “Montego Bae” showcase the breadth of Noname’s vocal prowess and the dynamic energy of her diction. Wrestling simultaneously with the impact and glory of cultural innovators like Oprah and Toni Morrison and the lure of sensuality and consumerism, she reminds her audience that to be human is to be many things at once: “So he gon’ fuck me like I’m Oprah, classy bitch only use a coaster / Now I’m swimmin’ in the money with a ducky too / Reading Toni Morrison in a nigga canoe / ’Cause a bitch really ’bout her freedom ’cause a bitch suckin’ dick in the new Adidas / And yes and yes, I’m problematic too” – A.V. Music

Stream:  https://open.spotify.com/album/7oHM3Sj0l2nXAzGAxW0KOt?si=Gm00q82tTSywzMd7J3iVqQ

Elite Tracks: Prayer Song/Regal/Part of Me

Standout Track: Blaxploitation

Kali Uchis – Isolation

Release Date: 6th April, 2018

Labels: Rinse/Virgin/Universal

Producers: Various

Review:

“Reciprocal guest appearances are made throughout. Tyler and Bootsy add sympathetic humor to the drifting BadBadNotGood groove "After the Storm," while Gorillaz' Damon Albarn lays out some festive Suicide synth pop for "In My Dreams." Elsewhere, numerous West Coast associates -- Sounwave, Larrance Dopson, DJ Dahi, Om'Mas Keith, and Thundercat among them -- add to the set's prevailing dazed, dreamlike feel. Uchisis never obscured by the productions, coolly expressive while casually threading clever imagery from song to song. Her writing is most vivid in one of the delightfully bent retro-soul numbers, "Feel Like a Fool": "My heart went through a shredder the day I learned about your baby mothers/'Cause you're a grown-ass man, now you should know better/But I still run all my errands in your sweater." For all its entertaining art-pop feats, Isolation is just as remarkable for serious moments like "Killer," in which Uchis reaches a high degree of anguish that only real-life experience can arouse” – AllMusic

Stream:  https://open.spotify.com/album/4EPQtdq6vvwxuYeQTrwDVY?si=anNk1GYJQtaOtvDmwFrWPw

Elite Tracks: Miami/Tyrant/Neustro Planeta

Standout Track: After the Storm

 

Soccer Mommy – Clean

Release Date: 3rd March, 2018

Label: Fat Possum

Producer: Gabe Wax

Review:

“Through the delicate opener “Still Clean” Soccer Mommy laments a relationship that doesn’t work out, but shifts gears to play with the “cool girl” trope on the record’s second single “Cool”. With “Your Dog” Soccer Mommy proves she does power pop as well as she does balladry, as she rails against an emotionally abusive relationship: “I'm not a prop for you to use/When you're lonely or confused/I want a love that lets me breathe/I’ve been choking on your leash.” But Soccer Mommy truly shines as she wistfully lilts, “You’re made from the stars/That we watched from your car,” about a lover who strays, on the album’s central anthem “Scorpio Rising”.

Despite the situations Soccer Mommy finds herself in, Clean isn’t just about the teenage experience: it’s a 10-track album that encapsulates emotions and situations that are as versatile as her sound. Whether you’re reminiscing about late-night make out sessions in high school or surrounded by plenty of “cool” girls in your city, Soccer Mommy’s introspection is something that defies age” – The Independent

Stream: https://open.spotify.com/album/36NLDBi2kX7XRHnyLzLOS8?si=pSekcy7ZQneRrs4v6Nf5og

Elite Tracks: Last Girl/Scorpion Rising/Last Girl

Standout Track: Your Dog

 

SOPHIE – OIL OF EVERY PEARL’S UN-INSIDES

Release Date: 15th June, 2018

Labels: MSMSMSM/Future Classic/Transgressive

Producer: SOPHIE

Review:

“Her other mode of expression is the one she deployed on early tracks such as Hard: mechanistic dance tracks as sexual, tough and water-resistant as the prostate massagers she once sold as merch. But where once those tracks were tinny, here they have become steroidally imposing, gilded with distortion and industrial heft. Based around catchy chants, perfect for skipping rope games conducted by dominatrices, Ponyboy, Faceshoppingand the Aladdin-quoting Whole New World/Pretend World are dazzlingly brash and butch. Pretending is less successful – a stately bit of Tim Hecker-ish ambient, where her very particular sonics get lost in reverb – but it leads into the album’s biggest pop moment, Immaterial, where all the latent J-pop vibes get brought to the fore in a high-speed pachinko cacophony.

Despite software advances, so many electronic producers are content to lapse into nostalgia or a safe, compromised emotional range; Sophie has crafted a genuinely original sound and uses it to visit extremes of terror, sadness and pleasure” – The Guardian

Stream: https://open.spotify.com/album/6ukR0pBrFXIXdQgLWAhK7J?si=u1aip4LeSL-4zs58yf1VFw

Elite Tracks: Pony Boy/Faceshopping/Immaterial

Standout Track: It’s Okay to Cry

FEATURE: Live Forever: Was Music At Its Happiest in 1994?

FEATURE:

 

 

Live Forever

IN THIS PHOTO: Oasis captured in 1994/PHOTO CREDIT: Getty Images 

Was Music At Its Happiest in 1994?

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THERE might be some debate regarding...

 IMAGE CREDIT: Getty Images/RexUSA

the most optimistic year in music but there can be no doubt the last really glorious time; when people were together and spirited was a very long time ago. I think the only way for modern music to last and make an impact years from now is to bring some joy to the party. At the moment, music is largely the sullen teenager who sits in the corner with a beer and nurses that all night. They might slink off to the bathroom and sit in the rub as the sound the festivities comes through the floorboards. That actually sounds like something I’d do but we need to think why music has become so negative and lacking in spark. That is not to say every artist and song is lacklustre: there is ample energy and excitement but, in a lot of cases, how often are those songs sticking and coming back to mind? It will take a long time before music can regain its energy, happiness and unity – look back at 1994 and there was definitely something in the air then. There was a Tory government in the form of John Major and there was a definite need for some change and improvement. We did not have anything as manic and annoying as Brexit but the U.K. especially was not in a particularly strong state. I was only ten when the year started and had already seen the death of Grunge. Its leader, Kurt Cobain, died in 1994 and it was a rather bleak time of things.

IN THIS PHOTO: Björk in 1994/PHOTO CREDIT: Joseph Cultice

Many would have assumed music would descend into misery and bleakness but there was a definite revival and optimism. Grunge still continued and would see bands like Soundgarden create masterful works; there were other genres coming to the fore. The song that I have used at the top of the article, Live Forever, seemed to define what was needed at the time: youthfulness and no concern with small talk and mortality. Although 1993 was a stunning year for music, there was not quite the same epic offerings as we got the following year. Nirvana gave us their final album, In Utero, and Björk came onto the scene with the incredible Debut. Whilst there was some darker music and moodier artists; we were seeing seeds planted that would burst into life by 1994. Some could say the 1990s was always cheery and we have only reached a doom-laden sulk now. It is clear 1997, too, was optimistic and transformative but I feel 1994 is the year when everything peaked. Britpop players were starting to come through in 1993. Suede and Blur were releasing stunning material that showed what was to come. I think as 1993 as a year when scenes like Grunge were slowing and music was looking for fresh inspiration. By the time 1994 came along; there were a lot of changes and developments that called for artists to come together and provide sounds to lift the world.

 PHOTO CREDIT: @jeremymcknight/Unsplash

That might sound a bit grand and exaggerated but look at the best albums, singles and T.V. shows at the time and you cannot argue against the spirit, positivity and happiness. If Cobain’s death did not entirely lead to an explosion of rebellious happiness – Superunknown by Soundgarden counts as one of the bleakest and one of the most impressive albums of the year – there was an effort to come up with a movement that offered hope and did not retreat into itself. There was a split between Britain and America. It is not to say the U.S. was depressed whilst Britain was happy – different scenes dictated the music mood. Britpop, in many ways, signalled something hopeful and wonderful in this country. Oasis’ debut, Definitely Maybe, was a bold and brilliant record that matches big riffs and huge choruses with messages of living for the moment and all having a good time. Blur’s Parklife had some down moments but its infectiousness and sheer vitality cannot be understated – defined by songs such as Parklife and Girls and Boys. Britpop offered musicians the chance to drive optimism and use music as a way of joining people. If there were some more arty and less joyous bands in the Britpop movement; we had a brilliant moment in music that gave us reason to smile! Beastie Boys released Ill Communication and Beck gave us Mellow Gold. Even albums like Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain (Pavement) and Jeff Buckley’s Grace, in their own way, lifted us and stayed in the heart.

The romance of Buckley’s music introduced a genuine star who, although he would only live another few years, was unlike anyone around. Alongside Britpop and Grunge was an invasion of great Dance and Electronic music. Our very own Prodigy released Music for the Jilted Generation and, again, there was plenty of raw energy and positivity. The generation might have been jilted but The Prodigy were bringing this fierce and spectacular brew to the youth of Britain. It might sound weird but there was plenty of validity and pleasure to be found in music that was slightly less happy. Tori Amos’ Under the Pink and Manic Street Preachers’ The Holy Bible were not exactly cheery…but there was something to hold onto; music that could ease our pain or identify with us at the very least. Bands like Pulp, The Cranberries and Underworld were all adding their colours to the mix and it was such a heady time. I have alluded to some rather unhappy records but compare them to albums of today and I still find a lot more relevance, optimism and longevity in the best of 1994. I like the fact there was a genuine need for improvement and a need to connect with people; albums that were big, bold and unforgettable! Pop was very much at the forefront and the best of the mainstream were adding their voices to an incredible year. Madonna was entering a new creative phase with Bedtime Stories and a more mature and accomplished artists was showing her strengths.

Anthems from 1994 such as Oasis’ Live Forever and Blur’s Parklife were sitting alongside Beck’s Loser and Ini Kamoze’s Here Comes the Hotstepper. The Dance and Pop scene was strong and, if anything, that is the biggest change we have seen now. I can’t think of the last year Dance music was a big part of the mainstream but throughout the 1990s, a mix of British and European pioneers were giving us this instant and fantastic songs that put you in a better frame of mind. Some of the songs that topped the charts in 1994 were The Sign (Ace of Base), I’ll Make Love to You (Boyz II Men) and The Most Beautiful Girl in the World (Prince). Sheryl Crow was singing All I Wanna Do whilst Crystal Waters gave us 100% Pure Love. Culture Beat gave us Mr. Vain and Madonna had a Secret; Haddaway asked What Is Love whilst Aerosmith were Crazy. These Billboard-topping songs were not a minority. There was so much ebullience and mood-lifting music mixing alongside songs that were a little less happy. Even the more introverted songs seemed, in their own way, lifted you with their beauty and made you genuinely feel something. U.S. Pop-Punk (Green Day) was nestling alongside darker Alternative-Rock (Nine Inch Nails) and the great Pop and Rock of Britain. The music world was as open and vital as any other time in history.

This summer has been hot in terms of temperature but can we say the music reflected that warmth?! If anything, it has been a rather downcast year for sounds. Look at 1994 and summer hits included M People’s Moving on Up and Salt-N-Pepa’s Whatta Man (with En Vogue). The fabulously goofy Crash Test Dummies scored big with a song whose chorus was, essentially, mumbling whilst Lisa Loeb gave us the exceptional Stay (I Missed You). All-4-One brought us the luscious I Swear and Janet Jackson’s Any Time was a huge smash. Maybe the popularity and prominence of music television helped elevate and define the colour and optimism in the air. We got to see the biggest acts of the day producing these equally vivid and eye-opening videos and the giddiness of 1994 was pure and immense. A great Hip-Hop scene easily slotted in with the big Alternative and Rock scene and, as Billboard state in this article; the longevity and sustainability of the music is evident:

“What separates '94 from the rest of the '90s is that there was perfect balance in the system: hip-hop (Nas' Illmatic, Biggie's Ready to Die, Outkast's Southernplayalisticadillacmuzik) and alternative rock (Alice in Chains, Weezer, Stone Temple Pilots, Nine Inch Nails, Nirvana) began to appeal to the masses through FM radio and MTV without selling out. And much like a school dance chaperone who turned off Boyz II Men's II, before anyone could make out, they kept pop music in check...

But proof of 1994's musical power lies in its longevity. Twenty years after the fact, Warren G's "Regulate" is eternal in its excellence. R. Kelly's "Bump N’ Grind" feels wonderfully timeless. Hootie & the Blowfish are forever tied with the heyday of David Letterman. To the extent that there's rock music on the radio, it's most likely tributes to Soundgarden, Nirvana, or Green Day. Even “Cotton-Eyed Joe” by Rednex, our good ol' fashioned American Macarena, has played in more Yankees home games than Derek Jeter. And when it comes to making out? There was only one choice”.

There was this spirit in the air that urged listeners to hope for the best – music was much less insular and guarded than it is today. D:Ream chanted that things could only get better whilst Pop gems like Saturday Night by Whigfield (guess it is not to everyone’s tastes!) were getting us all singing along! Articles such as this present songs that show 1994’s muscles and strengths and there were other reasons why the year was so pivotal. This article from LA Weekly talked about women having a bigger say; tremendous debut albums coming through and popular culture bleeding into the music.

 IN THIS PHOTO: The cast of Friends in 1994/PHOTO CREDIT: NBC/Getty Images

There are some great comedies and films around now but 1994 was a year when two of T.V.’s biggest and most-loved comedies enjoyed great success. Friends began life in 1994 and would go on to become one of the greatest sitcoms ever. Even that first season in 1994 was getting people talking and providing us with six New York residents who easily won our hearts. Frasier was in its second year and hitting its stride whilst The Simpsons’ had its fifth and sixth seasons on the air during 1994. Some say those seasons are the very funniest periods from one of the best comedies ever. Iconic 1994 films like Four Weddings and a Funeral, Pulp Fiction and Clerks were inspiring and cheering us all whilst there was the introduction of big shows like Party of Five. It is inevitable music and popular culture intertwined and there was this reciprocal sense of hope. It was an exciting and hugely important time that we have not really seen since. The reason I am arguing the case of 1994 is how different music is now. We do not have the same Dance scene and there have been few Pop bangers that you can match with 1994’s best. I think the country was more stable back then but we have more at our disposable in terms of sounds and technology.

 IMAGE CREDIT: Getty Images

I do wonder whether we can ever return to such a heady day; a time when music and popular culture were providing legends and pure genius. I think, in many ways, music is at its lowest ebb. Certainty, we are hearing too many downbeat and depressed songs. I can understand why artists want to be true to themselves and honest but I think so much fun, optimism and togetherness has been lost. We need music to be alive and vibrant right now and, instead, there are so few tracks that have a genuinely positive grin and will stay in the mind for years. Any time period is capable of shining and 1994 was not in any sort of privileged position. Maybe it was this rare period we will never see again. In many ways, it is quite sad looking back and wondering why this has been this real downturn. I feel musicians of today can learn a lot from 1994 and a time in music where there was so much invention, progress and optimism. I know it is dangerous to look back and want things to be as they were but there is a definite gulf and vacuum that needs to be filled. I feel the only way music from today can endure for years and decades is if there is more joy and positivity. One can say the gloomier records of 1994 have endured too but, as I said, I feel even they had something about them that got under the skin and stayed with us. I think a resolution for next year should be injecting something happier into music and, if artists of today need guidance then they should look back at the epic, blissful and...

INSPIRING 1994.

FEATURE: Music Sounds Better with You: Ones to Watch 2019: Part IV

FEATURE:

 

 

Music Sounds Better with You

IN THIS PHOTO: Sea Girls/PHOTO CREDIT: Phil Smithies for CLASH

Ones to Watch 2019: Part IV

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WE are almost at Christmas...

IN THIS PHOTO: IAMDDB

and people are going to be thinking about next year. This year’s music has been fantastic and varied and I am sure there will be a lot more coming up. It is always tricky deciphering which artists will make a splash and who will rule the roost in 2019. I am excited by the wealth of artists emerging and I think next year will be one of the most diverse and bold years for music. Have a look through this rundown of hot artists on the move; those who are either making big footprints or have the potential to shake things up next year. I am sure they will all, in their own way, do great things and you definitely need to get behind every act assembled. Before you think about Christmas and wind down for the year; I have brought together a collection of artists who are likely to help shape music...

IN THIS PHOTO: Confidence Man

AS we walk into 2019.

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

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LENN

Follow: https://www.facebook.com/theysaylenn/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/theysaylenn

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/2q3poPC1pFe0l2ObYpZyOO?si=Hfa-_kOZSyi98mFnVD8g9g

ILL

Follow: https://www.facebook.com/weareill

Twitter: https://twitter.com/we_are_ill

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/3ljac8AXSWHbJBd5DITVsB?si=SRkI28ycQF20ZOT_BiYIQw

Stella Donnelly

PHOTO CREDIT: Willem Schalekamp

Follow: https://www.facebook.com/stellamusicband/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/stelladonnelly

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/2mHjhKyKCLh6MZELuCe1Es?si=tvldWkWASc6fMB1rDZoZwQ

One-Way Song

Follow: https://www.facebook.com/onewaysong/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/OneWaySong

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/4zCjCF8a4IS3WnM1si0RYA?si=cRM2U8O4RrC-UKn7_-SFrw

Harry Pane

Follow: https://www.facebook.com/harrypanemusic/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/HarryPaneMusic

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/0Rl5q2Pq8y9xRbujCpZueF?si=xSOnbomBSVGwDOtGGpYM7g

Normani

Follow: https://www.facebook.com/normanikordei/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/Normani

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/2cWZOOzeOm4WmBJRnD5R7I?si=2-o-Zv1LShKzZqZRrop3EA

Stealing Sheep

Follow: https://www.facebook.com/stealingsheep/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/stealingsheep

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/3ghT43Gj41br25PvBCDS22?si=k4QO8oxJQq-C0b22ZJO22w

Sports Team

Follow: https://www.facebook.com/sportsteamband/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/SportsTeam_

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/04JIxSs2P0iteVWtaskfeh?si=amdkSAIaSxSsLoLBKVRB4w

Woodes

Follow: https://www.facebook.com/woodesmusic/

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Sophie Hunger

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Gazelle Twin

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SIIGHTS

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Taliwhoah

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The Young Fables

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Sea Girls

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IAMDDB

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Summer Walker

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King Princess

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bülow

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Grace VanderWaal

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Alicai Harley

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Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/album/1or2Ipcprc2k8s9hikqryA?si=ZGS646bwRP6DI2Gn8jjH6Q

Riva Taylor

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Kweku Collins

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Novelist

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Joshua Luke Smith

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Confidence Man

PHOTO CREDIT: Neelam Khan Vela for The Femme Collective

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Twitter: https://twitter.com/confidencemanTM

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/0RwXnFrEoI8tltFvYpJgP6?si=196qsxlXTnyjZyymK8Ecjg

FEATURE: Sad Endings and New Beginnings: The Finale of Shaun Keaveny’s Breakfast Show

FEATURE:

 

 

Sad Endings and New Beginnings  

IN THIS PHOTO: Shaun Keaveny (who delivered his final breakfast show (he moves to afternoons in January) for BBC Radio 6 Music from the ‘legendary’ Maida Vale Studios, London on 14th December, 2018 after eleven years in that slot)/PHOTO CREDIT: BBC 

The Finale of Shaun Keaveny’s Breakfast Show

__________

YESTERDAY was a pretty memorable and special day...

 PHOTO CREDIT: @monaeendra/Unsplash

that will be etched into my mind for years to come! It did not start too well, mind. I only got three hours’ sleep the night before – the heating was a bit f*cked – and was determined not to sleep through my alarm! I eventually crawled out of bed at 05:30 and made my way to Wood Green station (all glamour and loveliness that time in the morning!). I took the Tube to Piccadilly Circus and then transferred to the Bakerloo Line where I connected to Warwick Avenue (singing Duffy all the way) – making that fateful and lovely stroll to Maida Vale Studios on Delaware Road. I has stressed myself into thinking the London Underground would grind to a halt on the day I went to see a radio hero of mine say goodbye to his breakfast show. I caught the Tube fine and everything was smooth. I got to Maida Vale in the freezing cold and was one of the first in line when I arrived at Maida Vale. There were a few other people there who were listening to the start of Shaun Keaveny’s last-ever breakfast show – it started at its usual time of 7 A.M. but we were let it from 8 – and it was a jovial mood. Some had come from as far afield as Scotland and I was chatting to a woman, whose name alludes me, who was the last-ever Small Claims Court guest. She did it live in the studio and was excited to be there…

 IN THIS PHOTO: The exterior of the ‘legendary’ Maida Vale Studios/PHOTO CREDIT: Getty Images

The people there ranged from the likes of me (who had followed the show for about four years) to the die-hard Keaveny fans. It was a mix of sadness and happiness as we stood outside awaiting the call. People started chattering and speculating as to what the show would entail and what the insides of Maida Vale would look like. I had only just written a piece about the legendary space; so it was strange to be there! It is sad it will close its doors and facilities will be moved to East London so it was extra-special to be one of the last members of the public to see the insides! I was overjoyed when I got the email to say I was among the select audience to see Keaveny’s last show and this piece might have helped clinch it. I brought along a musician who is also a big fan, Nick Byrne, and we both wandered in and were seated in the small studio. It was almost zoo-like filing in and seeing the ‘main attraction’ up-close and personal. That might sound strange but, for the most part, we see BBC 6 Music presenters like Shaun Keaveny as disembodied heads - and we rarely ever get to meet them!

After 11 years, 4 months and 3 days, time's up for @ShaunwKeaveny's alarm clock. 🕰🔨

Grab a handkerchief and listen again to @BBC6Breakfast's #BreakfastExit on @BBCSounds https://t.co/pEIvinqAtg pic.twitter.com/C2pbRvrQVB

— BBC Radio 6 Music (@BBC6Music) December 14, 2018

I have met and chatted with Matt Everitt before – we had breakfast/brunch once; more on him later – and was aware of him as a person. Keaveny, on the other hand, was this hero on the airwaves who I have always been keen to meet. Being seated so close to him was a real buzz! I am not sure how many people were in the studio but there was a balcony above me and a few rows of seats on the floor. I was seated to the left of the desk – Keaveny was to the north-west of me – and I was a matter of feet away! Matt Everitt made his return to the show after spending a bit of time away (he had a daughter and she was ill for a little bit). Georgie Rogers, as Shaun Keaveny said earlier in his last show, did a brilliant job and carried the baton very well – with huge grace, professionalism and appeal. She was also sat in the audience and it was great to see Keaveny and Everitt rekindle their radio romance for the big occasion. There was no music news yesterday (as it was a special show…) and, instead, some lighthearted banter and lots of emotion too. It was good to see the two back together and they will resume their partnership (alongside Georgie Rogers) when Keaveny takes to the afternoons in a few weeks.

The last broadcast was fascinating to watch as it gave me a glimpse into what a ‘typical’ Shaun Keaveny broadcast contained. Off of the air – when music and news was played – he was chatting to the audience, swearing a ‘bit’ (telling us not to f*cking swear!) and some delicious brioche-type goods were handed/thrown out. There was a lot of laughter and it I got to see producer Phil Smith handing out paper/emails and calling the shots. Zahra – his assistant/co-producer – was there and the whole team were doing the usual show but a select few of us had the pleasure of seeing the cogs turn. When the music was playing, Keaveny was wandering a bit; going to the toilet and bantering. Matt Everitt was there with his new daughter (and girlfriend) and there were laptops out and it was all wonderful! The entire day was dedicated to celebration and cheer and a rare opportunity to see all the beloved BBC Radio 6 Music personalities united and under the same roof. Things, naturally, were focused on Shaun Keaveny and his very last show. It was both an honour and an emotional experience knowing I, and a select few, were watching some truly wonderful.

What a day!
🎅🌲 From #BreakfastExit with @shaunwkeaveny to @Sleepertweeting rocking out for @steve_lamacq via the sublime @thestaves and @Sinkyateeth playing for @StuartMaconie, plus @laurenlaverne's lunchtime party with @erolalkan & friends + the festive fun of @Hot8BrassBand. pic.twitter.com/KjQuFzjzLx

— BBC Radio 6 Music (@BBC6Music) December 14, 2018

Songs were played and emails read out; there was that live Small Claims Court and there were lots of special appearances. I have only been in a radio studio once - for BBC Radio 5 in 2017 when taking part in a show dedicated to the fiftieth anniversary of The Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band -, so was not overly-sure that the sensation was regarding the off-mic chats and how a show comes together. Seeing that transformation of the serious yet funny Keaveny on the air and speaking with the listeners to a looser and less censored off-air version was really fascinating! It was all part of a magical and eye-opening experience at Maida Vale Studios! Included in the final breakfast show was spoof psychic/futurologist Clinton Baptiste (Phoenix Nights). Hewas there to predict the future for Shaun Keaveny and his show – he got lots of laughs and love – and I enjoyed seeing the mullet-overloaded Baptiste in the studio. Mark King of Level 42 was there - and Ed Harcourt was the special music guest. Harcourt performed a cover of The Pretenders’ 2000 Miles (It Must Be Christmas Time) and there was a great story behind that choice…

 IN THIS PHOTO: Ed Harcourt was the special musical guest for Shaun Keaveny’s final breakfast show/PHOTO CREDIT: Getty Images

Harcourt was actually on the phone with Chrissie Hynde (The Pretenders’ lead) and he mentioned he’d be going on the last-ever breakfast show. He asked if he could cover the song and she was cool with it. Harcourt performed a stunning version of the song and I was a mere few feet behind his piano. BBC Radio 6 Music D.J.s such as Chris Hawkins (hungover) and Mary Anne Hobbs were there and, throughout the all-day Christmas celebration at Maida Vale Studios; so many BBC Radio 6 Music presenters were there in a rare coming together. Whereas some of the shows were taking part in the Christmas festivities; Shaun Keaveny was ending his breakfast tenure after eleven years and eight months. Lauren Laverne, who takes over breakfast from January, was there (in a very sparkly and cool dress) and was interviewed by Keaveny – she suggested there might be a new feature, House Music, that matches the noise of household appliances with recognisable songs (could be cool!). It was a bit cryptic but she stated how excited she was and what an opportunity it was going to be. The fact it is the last time Keaveny and Laverne will ‘hand over’ to one another – Laverne follows Keaveny’s show and, as Mary Anne Hobbs is sandwiched between them, they will no longer follow one another – made it a bit sad! They had some very kind words to say about one another and Laverne was presenting her usual show from a different studio.

 IN THIS PHOTO: Lauren Laverne moves from her mid-morning/early-afternoon slot and takes over from Shaun Keaveny from January/PHOTO CREDIT: Getty Images

The final minutes were emotional and, with a potent and touching last speech, Shaun Keaveny signed off. He did not put a foot wrong – there was a slight hiccup earlier – and his last show was very fun and incredibly affectionate. When the show was over and the applause rang out; everyone started to pile out and there were photos taken. A cake was brought in earlier and I was chomping on it as we all started to slowly move out. It was almost like meeting a Royal in the sense there was a neat line and each of us had our moment. I did not get to chat with Georgie Rogers or Matt Everitt – they were busy or with other people/Everitt’s baby – but I got to shake Shaun Keaveny’s hand and have a little chat. I asked whether his decision to move to afternoons was motivated by tiredness and a need to regain his human side – he said, after all these years, he was barely able to put a sentence together.

IN THIS PHOTO: Matt Everitt and Shaun Keaveny live for the last show at Maida Vale Studios on 14th December, 2018/PHOTO CREDIT: @MissSamSingh

A lot of people I spoke with - Keaveny included - were excited to see this new afternoon show but nervous about the shift. It is odd we will not hear the morning show with the usual jingles and beds; the Small Claims Court segment and everything we have grown accustomed to. I know there will be lots of great things coming into Shaun Keaveny’s afternoon show and it was a great honour to see the man before he exited the building. I left Maida Vale Studios, with Nick, in a daze and stunned by everything that had gone down. A new line was outside waiting to see Stuart Maconie’s show there – Lauren Laverne’s crew were already seated and listening to her show – and it was strange to be in the outside world...

 IN THIS PHOTO: Georgie Rogers and Shaun Keaveny sharing a tender moment at Maida Value Studios on 14th December, 2018/PHOTO CREDIT: @GeorgieRogers 

What a fitting goodbye to Shaun Keaveny’s breakfast show but, as he says, it is more like a Cabinet reshuffle. He is only moving to a new slot and nobody is losing their jobs. It will be a hard transition but things will be great and everything we know and love about him, I am sure, will remain unblemished. I will end by talking about the reason I started listening to his show but Shaun Keaveny himself has written a piece and reflected on his eleven-plus years at the BBC Radio 6 Music breakfast helm. In his blog post; Keaveny talked about the start and what the reality was like:

“I will certainly never forget how lonely it was to begin with. Before they are won, the audience is a wary animal, a bit like a deserted pet…where has my owner gone? (Phill) and who the fuck is this Herbert? He knows nothing of Laurie Anderson or deep cuts reggae, he seems to be a Dire Straits fan…(lest we forget what a cabal of true purists 6 Music listeners were in the early days). In those first days weeks and months, the first 18 months in fact, the hell ride was intense. 

But, there is something a bit different about doing an early morning show for a long time. There is something vulnerable about us at that first point of the day. Its “before we have our armour on” as someone clever once said to me. We’re like crabs without a shell. Totally sensitive and as-yet-unprepared for what the day will bring. We’ve often been spat into consciousness by a violent alarm from a deep sleep, we’re full of weird subconscious fears that were percolating in dreams or sleeping thoughts. AND NOW WE HAVE TO PRESENT OUR SELVES TO THE WORLD. It’s hard being a human, and the darkest hour can be before the dawn”.

There was a particular ‘hairy’ case of ‘over-efficient producing’ that caught everyone by surprise: 

“HILARIOUS DOUBLE-BOOKING MOMENTS- REMEMBER THE MORNING when our wonderful now-passed (he’s not dead, just living in Hong Kong) producer Nic Philps booked an absolute shitstorm of talent by accident all on the same day? I tell you what, you’ve not experienced true adrenaline til you realise that you’re interviewing Stephen Fry live, Bret Easton-Ellis is sitting in the ante-room through the glass reading the New York Times waiting patiently to be grilled, and then you notice in your peripheral vision that maverick and occasion loose-cannon comic Sean Hughes has also arrived for a chat!!”

Some of the kindest and most affectionate words were reserved for his long-suffering radio husband, Matt Everitt:

“…I love him. He makes me absolutely piss with LOLS every day. He thinks he understands binary. He basically hates all taxi drivers. He thinks Hendrix is over-rated a bit. His face is only marginally longer than a normal one yet I have made it a “thing”. He is very patient with me. He has been my sunshine when skies were grey, and administered lager when stuff was great. He has a ridiculous car that costs as much as a Spitfire to run but he’s so daft he won’t sell it. He is by some distance the most respected broadcast music journo I know. He knows every one, and they all love him, because he is totally professional yet a darling to chat to. He’s brought us so many great exclusives I can’t count them, and I would say about 3 massive laughs a show. He is my wind. Beneath my wings”.

 IN THIS PHOTO: Georgie Rogers (who stood in brilliantly for Matt Everitt whilst he was away from music news duties on BBC Radio 6 Music)/PHOTO CREDIT: Getty Images

There was kudos put to Zara and Phil; a great tribute to his radio hero, Sir Terry Wogan, and selected highs and lows. I urge you all the read the article and get a real insight into how the long-running breakfast show started its life; producers coming and going and why it was time to move on. There will be years and years of Shaun Keaveny magic to come on BBC Radio 6 Music but there are reasons why I love his show. I sort of half-joked, in a tweet to the show, how the first show must have been a bit like Dr. Frasier Crane starting his first show on the air (on the U.S. sitcom, Frasier). That show saw Crane trying out ‘voices’ for radio and dispensing advice and goodwill to his troubled listeners as best as possible.

John Humphrys (@BBCRadio4 / @BBCr4today) reacts to #BreakfastExit. pic.twitter.com/EQLpe2Ckxo

— BBC Radio 6 Music (@BBC6Music) December 14, 2018

The finished and final-show Frasier Crane was dignified and was seen delivering his goodbye speech by family, friends and his radio family. Not that Shaun Keaveny’s start was as troubled and conspicuous - but could he have imagined he would end the show with such applause and fanbase?! (His and Frasier Crane’s radio tenure is almost the same length!). I am a relatively late convert but first noticed the humour and voice. Before then, I listened to Absolute Radio (shite, repeated music and presenters who grate...no idea why I listened!) and Keaveny was an introduction to this new way of listening!

 IN THIS PHOTO: Matt Everitt and Shaun Keaveny finding the funny side of things at Wogan House/PHOTO CREDIT: BBC

I had not heard too many northern accents on radio (he is from Leigh, Lancashire) and would soon discover Lauren Laverne (from Sunderland). The wit and self-deprecation charmed me and I soon fell in love with this very real and accessible personality. I followed him until his last breath on the morning slot and I cannot believe he managed to keep such a high standard through the years! He would refute that and be his usual self-flagellating self but one cannot deny his admiring fanbase and reputation is no fluke! The fact he managed to stay awake all those years and deliver any sort of show is amazing: the fact his breakfast show was constantly amazing, funny and addictive shows how perfect a match Keaveny and BBC Radio 6 Music. I also follow him because is that comfort and ambition. One of my dreams is to appear on BBC Radio 6 Music and am envious of the guests that come on and get one of the epic and kind introductions. Maybe I have to get my skates on if I want to be worthy enough to appear om his show but his voice, great delivery and incredible sense of allure makes everyone in the music industry up their game and aim high – so we might appear alongside him one day. In fact, my dream is to be a music presenter on the station so it might be a very long time until that happens!

 IN THIS PHOTO: Shaun Keaveny and Matt Everitt in cake cutting action/PHOTO CREDIT: BBC

I also love the fact Shaun Keaveny seems to be like his listeners. I have had a difficult year in 2018 as I have adapted to living in London and working here (still looking); a new way of life and navigating a very busy and unforgiving city! It is a challenge and pretty hard going but I listen to Shaun Keaveny and hear someone I can relate to. His life is more successful – he has two sons, a girlfriend and a great career – but he makes you feel like he is the same; like he gets it and someone you could easily lift a beer with. So many D.J.s seem distant and not like us at all; too rich or uncaring to some extent. Part of Keaveny’s magic is being able to connect with every listener without ever meeting them. That is not something that can be necessarily taught or picked up: it is a natural part of his aura and personality. The other reason I love him is because he seems to channel his radio hero, Sir Terry Wogan. Sir Terry would be proud of Keaveny and his show. He would be proud how he composed himself at Maida Vale and what a great (adopts Sir Paul McCartney voice here) final show he delivered – we are all very proud of him.! Wogan, naturally, is someone we cannot replace and is a unique comet in the radio galaxy. The fact I am reminded of Sir Terry Wogan when listening to Shaun Keaveny is no light praise – I would not be surprised to see Keaveny enjoy the same career and, maybe, move to BBC Radio 2 in years to come.

 IN THIS PHOTO: The late, great Sir Terry Wogan (a hero of Shaun Keaveny)/PHOTO CREDIT: BBC

Keaveny’s natural respect and love of his listeners means reciprocation is easy and warranted. Here is someone who has opened his heart and mind to his loyal following over eleven years and it is great he is still with the station. I am not sure whether his cartwall of sound effects will follow him to afternoons and whether we will get the same features and dynamic as mornings. Some things have to change and there will be a different feel; many things will remain and, lucky as we are, we have a refreshed and excited D.J. we know can deliver the goods time and time again. I imagine there is chance for live sessions and, alongside Everitt on the music news; it will be a chance to venture into new ground. The upset and strangeness of a new breakfast presenter – Lauren Laverne will be amazing – will take a while to get over and waking up to someone new and non-Keaveny is a rather strange realisation. Like everyone who was fortunate enough to be in attendance yesterday at Maida Vale Studios; we witnessed something very special in a once-in-a-lifetime-thrill. It was a sobering, amazingly vivid and uplifting experience that was bittersweet: the mutual love and joy that engulfed the room coupled with the understandably sad goodbyes and tears. I hope, in some capacity, I get to talk with Keaveny (and Matt Everitt and Georgie Rogers) next year. The man loves Madonna (an artists who can cause two straight men to drool and worship her like a goddess) and he is a big Beatles fan; he seems like someone you can bond with for hours and, through his long career, he has achieved so much and continues to grow. It has been a wonderfully strange, beautiful and unexpected last couple of days with a mix of emotions. Shaun Keaveny and his team move as part of the line-up shift and January will see a different show from the man we all know and love. Best of luck to him and his loyal team! As we reflect on eleven years of brilliance and predict what will come next; it is probably best I end with a Christmas song...

FROM the great man himself.

FEATURE: Groovelines: Madonna – Vogue

FEATURE:

 

 

Groovelines

IMAGE CREDIT: Getty Images 

Madonna – Vogue

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THERE are so many periods of Madonna’s career one can explore...

 IMAGE CREDIT: Getty Images

but I wanted to look at a rather epic time for the Pop queen. It is impossible to look at Vogue and not explore the dance/video. I will come to that later but to me, Vogue arrived at the peak of her career. Many will know it from the David Fincher-directed video and, in many ways, it is one of those songs that could have easily been nestled and lost. It is from the 1990 film, Dick Tracy, and the film itself was not exactly a blockbuster! By 1990, when the track came out, Madonna was already the established Queen of Pop. That ‘moment’, to me, arrived around about the time Like a Prayer (album) arrived in 1989. She was on a steady incline but, in many ways, Like a Prayer shot her to the heavens and meant she ended the decade as the true Pop leader. Michael Jackson was two years away from releasing Dangerous and, to be honest, had probably peaked. Prince enjoyed various rises but many argue his best work was achieved by the middle of the 1980s. There were other 1980s Popstars but none that had the sustainability, reputation and gravitas as Madonna. It would have been hard to sustain the interest and manage the pressure after Like a Prayer. It was an album that truly announced Madonna’s intentions and showed what an incredible writer she was – she co-wrote every track on the record.

 IN THIS PHOTO: Madonna in 1990/PHOTO CREDIT: Getty Images

Reaction at the time of Like a Prayer’s release was intense and fevered but there has been plenty of retrospective acclaim. This Pitchfork review raises interesting points regarding the album’s confidence and emotional blends:

“While Madonna was no shrinking violet during the first chunk of the ’80s—the decade of Madonna wannabes, MTV Video Music Awards-ready wedding dresses, and “controversial” her officially recognized prefix—Like a Prayer does showcase her growth as a pop artist, from the gnarled guitar that opens its title track all the way through its warped-tape closer “Act of Contrition.” She takes more chances lyrically and musically, and while they don’t always work, they do give a glimpse at her restlessness and increased willingness to take musical chances, whether she’s bringing in Prince or letting her voice’s imperfections into songs or taking on heavy, personal-life-adjacent topics.

The emotions on Like a Prayer aren’t all fraught. “Cherish” is a feather-light declaration of devotion that calls back to Cali-pop outfit the Association while updating Madonna’s earlier exercise in retroism “True Blue”; “Dear Jessie” engages in the reaching toward sounding “Beatles-esque” that was in vogue at the time, pairing fussy strings and tick-tock percussion with images of pink elephants and flying leprechauns. “Love Song,” meanwhile, is a synth-funk chiffon co-written by none other than Prince, one of Madonna’s few pop equals at the time. The two of them feel locked in an erotically charged session of truth or dare, each challenging the other to stretch their voices higher while the drum machines churn. Prince also played, initially uncredited, on “Like a Prayer,” the sauntering pop-funk track “Keep It Together,” and the album-closing “Act of Contrition,” a two-minute maelstrom that combines Prince’s guitar heroics, backward-masked bits from the title track, heavy beats, and its title inspiration, the Catholic prayer of… confession”.

IN THIS PHOTO: Madonna shot in 1990/PHOTO CREDIT: Patrick Demarchelier

There is no denying how much power Madonna wielded by the end of the 1980s. She started in the decade and started, in 1982, as this promising artist. By 1989, she was riding high and had no peers. The 1990s was a decade that evolved and developed from the 1980s and was different in many ways. Madonna would court controversy by 1992’s Erotica and come back with an exceptionally mature response (1994); she had a great rebirth on 1998’s Ray of Light and would continue to create fascination and huge reviews until the end of the decade – her first real creative misstep did not really occur until 2003’s American Life. Many artists would take a few years off after an album as biblical and lauded as Like a Prayer but Madonna’s next studio record would be along in three years – a year after Like a Prayer, the Queen of Pop would grace the screens alongside Warren Beatty in Dick Tracy. In terms of the musical content; the film was a mix of Swing, Pop and Jazz and saw Madonna embrace a showgirl personality (on the soundtrack, I'm Breathless: Music from and Inspired by the Film Dick Tracy). The film was set in the Untouchables law enforcement days and Madonna sang accordingly – even smoking for the film so she could portray the vocals of her character, Breathless. Before moving on to look at the film’s starring song; here some background and details regarding the film and Madonna’s role:

“In 1990, Madonna was part of the film Dick Tracy starring as Breathless Mahoney, with Warren Beatty playing the titular character.[1] Madonna told Premiere magazine that initially she had waited for Beatty to call her for the film. But when he did not, the singer decided to involve herself voluntarily.[2] She pursued the part of Mahoney, but offered to work for minimum wages to avoid favoritism.[3] Principal photography for Dick Tracy began on February 2, 1989 and ended three months later.[4] The filmmakers considered shooting the film on-location in Chicago, Illinois, but production designer Richard Sylbert believed that Dick Tracy would work better using sound stages and backlots at Universal Studios in Universal City, California.[4][5] Other filming took place at Warner Bros Studios in Burbank, California.[6] Beatty often encouraged dozens of takes of every scene.[4] The film was released in the United States on June 15, 1990,[7] and was the third-highest opening weekend of 1990.[8] Dick Tracy was the ninth-highest-grossing film in the US in 1990, and number twelve globally.[8][9] The film also received positive reviews from critics. Roger Ebert from the Chicago Sun-Times praised the matte paintings, art direction and prosthetic makeup design, stating: "Dick Tracy is one of the most original and visionary fantasies I've seen on a screen".[10]

 

Beatty had realized several positive aspects of hiring Madonna as an actress for the film. She would be inclined to develop the soundtrack for Dick Tracy and the film studio would see this as a promotional opportunity before the release of their product, since Madonna was popular as a recording artist. This would also benefit Warner Bros. Records, who would get a reason to release a new Madonna record. According to J. Randy Taraborrelli, author of Madonna: An Intimate Biography, by the 1980s record labels started to release albums which were closely associated with a film, thereby gaining double promotion. These were mostly termed as soundtracks although many of them were not related to the film. After the shooting for Dick Tracy was over, Madonna started working on the soundtrack. She had begun recording three songs by Stephen Sondheim for the film—"Sooner or Later", "More" and "What Can You Lose"—which would be part of the album, but also had to write and develop new songs comparable in style to the previous.[11] In her favor, she produced the entire album, including the Sondheim songs. "I want people to think of me as a musical comedy actress. That's what this album is about for me. It's a stretch. Not just pop music, but songs that have a different feel to them, a theatrical feel", she said at the time[12]”

The twelve songs that feature on I’m Breathless (soundtrack) are a good representation of Madonna’s character and it is good to see her step away from the tones and themes of Like a Prayer. It is no shock to find the Pop queen transform so quickly and effortlessly but, in terms of quality, you cannot compare I’m Breathless with Like a Prayer. The film soundtrack did boast the odd good song – such as the cheeky Hanky Panky – but it is the finale, Vogue, that strikes a move and steals the show. One might think a song as iconic and unique as this would not fit into the film but it completely does. Warner Bros head, Craig Kostich, approached Shep Pettibone (who would co-write with Madonna on 1992’s Erotica) regarding a collaboration. The track was completed for only a few thousand dollars and was done very quickly. Pettibone wrote a Philly-inspired backdrop and sent it to Madonna who wrote the lyrics and came up with the title. Madonna flew to New York and recorded her vocals in a very small basement studio on West 56th St.; in a booth that was converted from a closet. The verses and chorus was recorded quickly with very few takes and Pettibone suggested the famous rap – where Madonna name-checks icons and style stars. Madonna flew back to L.A. whilst Pettibone tweaked the song slightly – including the addition of the House piano line and bassline part.

The musical direction of Vogue, unlike other songs on I’m Breathless, are inspired by House and have Disco influences. The deep House groove and throbbing beats captivated listeners and critics and many rank Vogue alongside Madonna’s finest tracks. The sleek and stylish song seems to define Madonna and who she was at the time. This Pop icon was at the top of the world and renowned for her incredible fashion choices. I feel Vogue is underrated as a song and often falls outside top-ten lists when we think of her finest moments. Listen to a lot of the House tracks that emerged in the 1990s and you can track it back to Madonna’s Vogue. The icon was always inspiring and changing music but Vogue not only cemented her reputation as the Queen of Pop but it took her to a new level. There is sheer confidence and panache that explodes from Vogue. This confidence would continue into Erotica and there was no stopping the pioneer. The sixteen celebrities mentioned in Vogue were either dead or nearing death. The last surviving icon, Lauren Bacall, died in 2014:

“The death of famed actress Lauren Bacall, the husky-voiced starlet known for her sultry sensuality, not only meant the loss of a true Hollywood legend, but also the end of a golden era of icons.

As first reported by Slate, all of the 16 Hollywood icons named in singer Madonna's pop song, "Vogue," have now died after the passing of Bacall on Tuesday...

 

The song, released in March 1990, was inspired by the New York City dance community. Voguing is a stylized dance that evolved from the Harlem ballroom scene in the 1980s.

One section of the song contains only spoken words in which Madonna quickly lists off 16 celebrities that are considered part of the golden era of Hollywood: "Greta Garbo, and Monroe / Dietrich and DiMaggio / Marlon Brando, Jimmy Dean / On the cover of a magazine / Grace Kelly; Harlow, Jean / Picture of a beauty queen / Gene Kelly, Fred Astaire / Ginger Rogers, dance on air / They had style, they had grace / Rita Hayworth gave good face / Lauren, Katharine, Lana too / Bette Davis, we love you".

The song itself is a fantastic thing but so much of Vogue’s legacy revolves around its video and dance choreography. The term ‘voguing’ has been a part of the lexicon for a while but many name Madonna as someone who managed to push it into the mainstream. Stephen Ursprung, in this piece, examined the term and Madonna’s role:

“Voguing has left its mark on the world largely due to the commercial success of the Madonna song of the same name.  On the surface, voguing appears to be the dance of black gay men that has been appropriated by popular culture.  However a close examination of the form reveals that voguing gives a voice to the oppressed: the gay, lesbian, transgendered, bisexual, black, latino, female, and otherwise marginalized subcultures of American society.  Although characteristically American in its geographic roots, Voguing has evolved in a community that pays homage to global culture and celebrity.   Furthermore, voguing continues to hold relevancy thanks to an ongoing reciprocating exchange of influences with commercial entertainment”...

 

By bringing voguing into the limelight, Madonna created a market for voguing in the commercial entertainment world.  As interest in voguing spread, the popularity of the already critically-acclaimed Paris Is Burning skyrocketed.  Other dancers outside of the the house of Xtravaganza also highlighted in the film catapulted to fame.  One of those dancers, Willi Ninja, whom I have previously mentioned, became one of the most recognizable vogue dancers, choreographers, and modeling coaches in the world.

As the global obsession with voguing fell out of the limelight, the focus of the ballroom scene shifted.  While still emphasizing community-based support and striving for innovative new dance steps, ball culture has devoted itself to rebuilding the community in the wake of AIDS.  As chronicled in Paris Is Burning, many participants in ball culture make their livings in the sex industry and risk infection and violence.  Even now, decades after the hight of the AIDS crisis, voguing legends continue to succumb to the disease.  Most recently, Willi Ninja passed away at the age of 45 after a long battle with AIDS-related heart failure.  By forging a long-standing relationship with the Gay Men’s Health Crisis and various HIV/AIDS organizations, ballrooms have focused on providing sexual health and lifestyle education to newcomers too young to have experienced the outbreak of AIDS and the immediate loss of a generation of gay men.  How Do I Look? documents this shift towards health education”.

 PHOTO CREDIT: @peterhershey/Unsplash

I have tried to ‘master’ the Vogue dance and cannot get the hang it to save my life! It is a pretty cool thing to pull off and so many people were hooked on the video – the famous black-and-white promotion directed by David Fincher. The video was shot in Burbank, California in February of 1990 and was the result of a huge casting call – hundreds of dancers were auditioned in Los Angeles. The video matches the song’s themes and images of classic Hollywood and the lure of the screen icon. The video features many of the dancers who would appear on Madonna’s then-upcoming Blond Ambition Tour and is seen as one of the best music videos ever. The video has a rare and very eye-catching setting:

“The black-and-white video, set in Art Deco-themed 1920s and 1930s surroundings, starts off showing different sculptures, works of art, as well as Madonna's dancers posing. Along with this are images of a maid and a butler cleaning up inside what seems to be a grand house. When the dance section of the song starts, Madonna turns around, and, similarly to the lyrics, strikes a pose. The video progresses, and images of men with fedoras, Madonna wearing the controversial sheer lace dress and other outfits, follow. As the chorus begins, Madonna and her dancers start to perform a vogue dance routine, where she sings the chorus as her dancers mime the backing vocals. After this, other scenes of Madonna in different outfits and imitations of golden-era Hollywood stars progresses, after which there is a scene with Madonna's dancers voguing. Finally, after this scene, Madonna can be seen wearing her iconic "cone bra", after which she also performs a dance routine with a fellow dancer. As the rap section begins, different clips of Madonna posing in the style of famous photographs or portraits of Hollywood stars, begins, ultimately followed by a choreographed scene with her dancers and backup singers...

The legacy and impact of the video cannot be understated – even if it did court some controversy (which was not unusual for Madonna!):

“MTV placed the video at second on their list of "100 Greatest Music Videos Ever Made" in 1999.[49] In 1993, Rolling Stone magazine listed the video as the twenty-eighth best music video of all-time. Also, the same magazine listed "Vogue" as the #2 music video of all time in 1999 second only to Michael Jackson's Thriller.[50] It was also ranked at number five on "The Top 100 Videos That Broke The Rules", issued by MTV on the channel's 25th anniversary in August 2006.[51] It was the third time Fincher and Madonna collaborated on a video (the first being 1989's "Express Yourself" and the second being 1989's "Oh Father"). About.com listed as the best Madonna video.[50]

There was some controversy surrounding the video due to a scene in which Madonna's breasts and, if the viewer looks closely, her nipples could be seen through her sheer lace blouse, as seen in the picture on the right.[38] MTV wanted to remove this scene, but Madonna refused, and the video aired with the shot intact.

"Vogue" music video received a total of nine MTV Video Music Awards nominations, becoming her most-nominated video at the award show. It won Best Direction, Best Editing and Best Cinematography.[52][53][54] The video was voted #2 on MTV's "100 Greatest Videos Ever Made"[55]”

Vogue was included on the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’s 500 Songs That Shaped Rock and Roll and has often been voted as one of the best songs of the 1990s. Madonna helped bring ‘voguing’ into the mainstream and popularising it. Beforehand, it has been confined to bars and discos in New York’s underground gay scene. The popularity of Vogue not only married sounds like Disco and House but it helped shine a spotlight on gay culture and helping bring about greater inclusiveness. The song’s hedonism is about togetherness and everyone getting together. It is rare to hear a song like that today but not rare to hear it from Madonna. Some say the song was not inclusive enough regarding race whilst others say it was a commercial pitch to get Madonna noticed – rather than being concerned with bringing the underground gay scene into the forefront. Vogue not only helped confirm Madonna’s status as the Queen of Pop but it brought House music to the mainstream. Who knows how many great Dance tracks of the 1990s would have been lost were it not for Madonna! There are so many fascinating aspects to Vogue. Not only are there the name-checked celebrities but the dance itself; the idea of positivity and bringing people together and the momentum Madonna had at that stage. Her career would change and take on a new life when Erotica came along but, after the blockbuster Like a Prayer; it would have been easy to rest on her laurels or take a break from the limelight. Instead, she struck a pose, got her groove on and created...

THE monumental Vogue.

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

FEATURE:

 

 

Sisters in Arms

IN THIS PHOTO: Kelli-Leigh 

An All-Female, Winter-Ready Playlist (Vol. II)

__________

THE weather is properly chilled today...

 IN THIS PHOTO: I Am Karate

so it is time for another female-led playlist! I have been excited by the sheer weight and quality of music coming out this year and, to me, the very best has been made by women. This is true in the mainstream and the underground alike. We all need to be warmed up and have that teasing flame of music fill the body. Given that desire; here is another rundown of female-headed sounds that are guaranteed to convey the complexities of winter. There is the beauty and serenity to be found but a rawness and immediacy that definitely gets into the blood! Have a listen to these fresh – there are a couple of older songs – releases that are properly good. It is bad outside so you won’t want to go out – stay inside with this music instead! Here for you is some of the best female-led music that offers the warmth and energy we need to forget...

  IN THIS PHOTO: Shaylen/PHOTO CREDIT: @piperferguson

ABOUT the rubbish weather.  

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

____________

PHOTO CREDIT: Conor Kerr Photography 

VOKXEN – Crystal Eyes

PHOTO CREDIT: Declan Haughian

Bess Atwell – Grace

Shaylen – Isn’t You

PHOTO CREDIT: Carl Farrugia

Panic Pocket – Mrs Santa

Bibi Bourelly – Xmas Trees

I Am Karate – Work It Out

 

Hannah Grace (ft. Gabrielle Aplin) – December

PHOTO CREDIT: Sebastian Barros Photography

BABYTEETH – Cocoon

Tiger Mimic – I Took Off My Body                           

Iris Gold – Keep the Light On

Antonioni – Easy Listener

Moonlight Breakfast – Look Up

PHOTO CREDIT: Joe Eastwood

Exhibitionist – Vicious Love

Monica Martin – Cruel

Runrummer – Soul Wrinkles

Grace Weber – Joy to the World

Delaney Jane – Psycho

Avril Lavigne – Tell Me It’s Over

Wallis Bird – The Ocean

PHOTO CREDIT: Aaron Wynia for FADER

Charlotte Day Wilson – Nothing New

Woman’s Hour – Don’t Speak

Rothwell – Darling

Hockeysmith – Tears At My Age

Lennon Stella – Fortress

PHOTO CREDIT: Helen Boast Photography

Kelli-Leigh – Nothing More

PHOTO CREDIT: Samuel Henger 

Katey Brooks – In Your Arms

Chloe Foy – In the Bleak Midwinter          

PHOTO CREDIT: David Ryder Prangley

Desperate Journalist - Cedars

FEATURE: The December Playlist: Vol. 3: Before the Big Day Comes…

FEATURE:

 

The December Playlist

IN THIS PHOTO: Ariana Grande 

Vol. 3: Before the Big Day Comes…

__________

THERE is not a lot more to come…

 IN THIS PHOTO: Drenge

from this year and I am keen to collect together the very best that is around. It is by no means a poor week for music but not the same solid and epic collection we are used to. Artists are winding down and thinking about 2019 and, alongside a few Christmas songs, there are some more traditional numbers. It is interesting seeing what is out there and investigating the songs that are ending 2018 with a bang. From Drenge and Ariana Grande to Ian Brown and Maggie Rogers; there is plenty to get your teeth into! Have a listen to the latest collection of December tracks and I am sure there is plenty in there that will take your fancy. Even though this year is almost over, artists from every corner of the music are showing there is still...

 IN THIS PHOTO: Maggie Rogers/PHOTO CREDIT: Olivia Bee

PLENTY of life left in them.

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

__________

PHOTO CREDIT: Caitlin Mogridge

The Modern Strangers – Red Strip Lights        

PHOTO CREDIT: David Ryder Prangley

Desperate Journalist – Cedars

Broken Bells – Shelter

Against the Current – The Fuss

Drenge – Autonomy

Janelle Monáe - Crazy, Classic, Life

Allie X – Last Xmas

Amanda Palmer – Drowning in the Sound 

PHOTO CREDIT: Craig McDean

Ariana Grande – imagine

Bibi Bourelly – Xmas Trees

PHOTO CREDIT: SHOT BY PHOX

Grace Carter – Ashes

Joshua Homme & C.W. Stoneking - Silent Night

 

Ian Brown – Black Roses

Kelli-Leigh – Nothing More

Papa Roach – Elevate

PHOTO CREDIT: Amber Pollack

Sundara Karma – The Changeover

The Chainsmokers – Beach House

PHOTO CREDIT: Michael Doyle Olson

Monica Martin – Cruel

ZAYN – There You Are

Matt Maeson – The Mask

Maggie Rogers - Tim McGraw (Recorded Live at Spotify Studios N.Y.C.)

Carlie Hanson - Numb

Mokita – London

Mitchell Tenpenny - Goner

PHOTO CREDIT: An Bezzi

Bianca Rhoden – Out of Words

Grace Weber – Joy to the World

Delaney Jane – Psycho

Cass McCombs – Estrella  

I Am Karate – Work It Out

Tamzene – Last Song

Avril Lavigne – Tell Me It’s Over

Russ – Missin You Crazy

Kodak Black – Testimony

gnash – t-shirt

FEATURE: The Good, the Rad and the Beautiful: Confirmed and Rumoured Albums to Look Forward to in 2019

FEATURE:

 

 

The Good, the Rad and the Beautiful

IN THIS PHOTO: Maggie Rogers/PHOTO CREDIT: Jenn Five for DIY

Confirmed and Rumoured Albums to Look Forward to in 2019

__________

WE are still getting to grips with the albums of this year...

 IN THIS PHOTO: Let’s Eat Grandma released their incredible sophomore album, I’m All Ears, earlier this year/PHOTO CREDIT: Getty Images

and the artists who have defined music. It has been a very eclectic and busy one that has seen some terrific work come through. Whether it is the inflammatory and essential sounds from IDLES and Shame or the terrific Jazz of Kamasi Washington; the strangeness of Let’s Eat Grandma or the Pop of Robyn – I have been delighted by the variation and boldness that has been revealed. Everyone has their own interpretation regarding what defines 2018 but I think the raw and more political/social-minded records have made the biggest impression. We have a few more days to go until things start to wrap up but there will not be any big albums coming along that challenge the best of the year. I know there have been some albums announced for next year and others have been rumoured. I am looking around and seeing what next year is already offering and some of the artists who are making a return. One of the artists I am most looking forward to hearing from in 2019 is Billie Marten. Her 2016 debut, Writing of Blues and Yellows, was my favourite of the year. There have been some changes for her – moving from her family home in Yorkshire to living in East London – but her pure and unique voice remains unchanged. As she told the BBC in this interview; not everything is hunky-dory:

"I'm 19 years old - it's the worst thing about me," she says when asked her age.

Expanding on this, she says: "I guess it's just the reaction when you say you haven't even hit your 20s yet...

"Most people's perceptions of you immediately change because they know you've not been on this planet very long. There's a tendency to say, 'Oh, she's just a girl and she doesn't know what she's doing.'"

"In the city everybody's still grafting and working, heads down, and there's no communal love," she says.

"When I go home we're all miserable but we're all in it together, whereas here you're left on your own a lot. The Tube sucks and it's always dark. It's harder".

Marten articulates feelings many of us have and one of the reasons her debut album and new singles like Mice resonate is because she does not hold back and is completely honest. There is never the feeling everything is doomed and she is using music as a way of venting. Her lush, beautiful and enriching version of Folk touches the soul but tells a lot about the teenage artist. CLASH caught up with Marten and she talked about the changes in her music – the upcoming album was made with Ethan John:

“...On the new record, Billie writes new narratives for the people she sees at a glance. Her storybook pokes fun, draws caricatures and unpicks the irony of the world around us, viewing how we as humans adapt and settle in it.

“I’ve felt more independent musically and that I’ve grown more confidence to be a musician in my own right, something I always felt guilty of before. I’ve properly trusted in my body this time around so the instinctual force has been strong”...

Over the last couple of years, Billie has had a small shift in perspective; she now relishes an open space without a poster, and has become more awake to society, and has found a home living above a bohemian couple in their 70s. The songs capture the small strokes of magic that we search for, and a lot of them didn’t exist anywhere except her mind before being recorded.

“That’s quite nice for me because the songs don’t pretend to be something they’re not, they’re just sweet and small and important,” she smiles. Billie Marten is a songbird, and we should take the time to listen to not just the sweet words and tunes, but to the meaning and the story behind each ones”.

Marten did mention the name of her sophomore record when she was on BBC Radio 6 Music recently but it escapes me! I think it will be one of 2019’s very best and for me personally, it is an album I am dying to hear. That is not the only long-awaited album I am excited about. Madonna has announced she is working the follow-up to 2015’s Rebel Heart and it will be good to hear! She has not long turned sixty and the Queen of Pop has kept her cards close to the chest regarding themes and sounds. Rebel Heart was lauded and marked a bit of a return to form.

 IN THIS PHOTO: Madonna watching Migos perform at Wireless Festival at Finsbury Park on 7th July, 2018/PHOTO CREDIT: Joseph Okpako/WireImage

I think she is at her strongest when not collaborating with the ‘hip’ and ‘cool’ producers and trying to fit into the modern mainstream. Rebel Heart boasted a bit more of the true and unique Madonna. Her post-2000 output has been mixed in terms of quality but you can never predict where she will head and what will come next. I am always thrilled to hear of Madonna material and it looks as though songs are coming quite quick. It was hoped she’d release a record this year but there have been delays – expect something early in 2019. I am pumped to hear the debut record from Maggie Rogers. Like Billie Marten; here is a young talent who differs from everyone out there – even if their styles are very different. The U.S. songwriter brings us Heard It in a Past Life on 18th January and it will be the perfect way to banish the winter blues! Light On and Give a Little were released this year and will form part of the twelve songs on the record. Greg Kurstin works alongside Rogers (there are a few others who contributed to the album) and it seems like things have been moving fast for Rogers. She has claimed much has changed and it has all been a bit scary. If life has been disruptive and predictable then the music she is putting out doesn’t show that strain.

 PHOTO CREDIT: Olivia Bee for DORK

In this interview with DORK back in July, she talked about the album (the release date was not known but has been established) and she talked about collaborators and themes:

“It’s impossible not to name-drop when it comes to Maggie Rogers. On her debut album, she’s working with Greg Kurstin, Rostam, and Ricky Reed. She says, “I learned so much working with these people, that I just feel so lucky to have had collaborators like that for this record.” No biggie.

She’s also doing whatever the bloody hell she wants when it comes to releasing singles and the record. “I’m just like, making decisions when I have decisions to make. Right now I don’t need to know what the third single is. I know what the second is. I feel in the flow; I feel good.

Maggie’s totally rewriting the rules for this album release. Going with the flow and trusting her instincts seem to be her mantras for the process. “When you really settle, you already know the answers to all the questions. Just takes a little time. And trusting it, I think that’s the thing I’ve learned over the last two years. When everything’s so new, it’s hard to figure out what your instinct’s saying. Especially when it’s not always the convenient answer.

“This record is a lot about change and transition and how powerful that can be and how exciting that can be but also like how terrifying it can be and anxiety-inducing. It feels like everywhere I look things are changing these days. Whether it’s social, political, personal. Its just kind of something that, as personal as it feels and as much change as there’s been in my life, it also feels like a greater narrative.”

January will also see the release of Alice Merton’s debut, Mint. Singles such as No Roots and Lash Out show what she is capable of and many, myself included, are excited to see what Mint will provide. The German-Canadian artist is one of the most exciting in new music and someone we all need to keep an eye on. Ladytron’s eponymous album is released on 1st February and is the sixth from the Electronic band.  Singles released so far suggest Ladytron will be grittier and darker than their previous work and it seems like they are taking things in a new direction. Nina Nesbitt is releasing her hotly-anticipated album, The Sun Will Come Up, the Seasons Will Change, on 1st February and it follows the incredible Peroxide (2013). White Lies’ Five is also out on 1st February and will be great to see a new album from them. March looks set to the be the biggest and most exciting months for albums in 2019! A lot of albums are rumoured and have no set release date (I shall come to them soon) but there are some huge releases in March. The Japanese House (Amber Bain) releases her album, Good at Falling, through Dirty Hit - and it follows the singles Lilo and Follow My Girl. Here is an artist who has been tipped for success and it has been a little while to wait for a debut album.

 IN THIS PHOTO: Weezer performing at the Osheaga Music and Art Festival on 1st August, 2015 in Montreal, Canada/PHOTO CREDIT: Mark Horton/WireImage

It is understandable given the pressure and work required but many are relieved we get to see an L.P. from the Buckinghamshire gem. There are a lot of great solo acts around but there is something immediately satisfying and wonderful about The Japanese House. Given the material she has already put out; I expect some big critical thumbs-up come March. Weezer release their eponymous album (another one!) on 1st March and, also known as ‘The Black Album’, it has been on the cards for a little while now:

“Weezer frontman Rivers Cuomo first hinted at the album in April 2016, shortly after the band released their tenth album Weezer (The White Album). "What could stand out more against 'White' than 'Black'? I think it's going to maybe be like Beach Boys gone bad. I'm thinking of swearing, which is something I've never done in songs."[2]

While promoting the band's eleventh album Pacific Daydream in August 2017, Cuomo said "The original plan was the Black Album but Pacific Daydream really came together. The Black Album is pretty much ready, it's coming"[3]

Dido makes an unexpected return on 8th March with her album, Still on My Mind. It is her first album since 2013’s Girl Who Got Away and it is good to have her back on the scene!  It’s only single so far, Hurricanes, is a more Electronic and tougher cut than one would expect and, like Ladytron, might suggest the songwriter is heading in a new direction.

Dido has also announced tour dates – she has not taken to the stage for many years – and many are curious to see what her upcoming album will contain and whether it mixes in a new direction with elements of previous albums such as No Angel. It seems female artists are defining the sound of 2019’s first-quarter and a new Lana Del Rey album backs that up! Norman Fucking Rockwell is out on 29th March and looks set to make waves. She only release an album last year – the excellent Lust for Life – and the single Venice Bitch shows she is in incredible form. This article from Variety (from this September) announced the album and a few details:

“Lana Del Rey’s career is filled with eyebrow-raising moments, and we got another one on Tuesday when she announced on Beats 1 that the name of her new album will be “Norman F—ing Rockwell.”

She told host Zane Lowe how the title of the album, a collaboration with Bleachers frontman Jack Antonoff (Lorde, Taylor Swift, St. Vincent) as well as her usual crew came about.

“Working with Jack, I was in a little bit of a lighter mood because he was so funny,” she said. “So the title track is called ‘Norman F—ing Rockwell’ and it’s kind of about this guy who is such a genius artist, he thinks he’s the sh– and he knows it and he won’t shut up talking about it. So often I ended up with these creative types — or not, or whatever — and they just go on and on about themselves and I’m like yeah, yeah. But there’s a little bit of merit to it, also. They are so good. I just like the title track so much that I was like OK, I definitely want the record to also be called that”.

We know The 1975 will bring us Notes on a Conditional Form – date is not known yet – and only just released the epic A Brief Inquiry into Online Relationships. It is surprising to see the band release too albums so close to one another but it is evident they are in exceptional and career-defining form. The reviews that followed A Brief Inquiry into Online Relationships were staggering. SPIN recently provided their thoughts and there are many similarly-impressed reviews:

“How often does your carefully curated persona misalign with your actual personality? How much suffering could you avoid if you gave up the game entirety? And why the hell should you believe Matt Healy when he offers the same alternatives to meaningless sex and screen time that you ignored from your parents: Honesty is the best policy, dare to be great, give yourself a try. It holds weight because the 1975 are living proof, even if he doesn’t always take his own advice. Try and find the earliest video of “Sex,” with their severe haircuts, black-and-white branding, and Johnny Cash posters. This was a group of young men trying so damn hard to be perceived as austere and cool, while critics claimed to see right through them. Six years later, the critics are on their side, and it doesn’t even really matter. The 1975 are still whoever the hell they want, and completely themselves”.

 IN THIS PHOTO: Adele (photoed in 2015)/PHOTO CREDIT: Alasdair McLellan

There are no album titles of confirmed dates yet but we know 2019 will see new albums from The Raconteurs, Adele and Coldplay. Sheryl Crow also promises new material and it seems like there is a lot to get excited about. It will be interesting to see how both The Raconteurs and Adele sound after a fairly long gap – The Raconteurs’ previous album, Consolers of the Lonely, was released in 2008; Adele’s 25 was released in 2015 – and whether they will make a big splash! This article from Monster Children brings in a few other rumoured albums that are worth looking forward to:

“In October of 2016, the world received a truly magical gift: Solange’s third full-length album, A Seat at the Table. Oh, what I wouldn’t give to pull up a chair at one of Solange Knowle’s dinner parties. I bet she’s a fantastic cook, too, because is there anything she can’t do? She even managed to rock hives at her wedding. Seriously, the amount of cool she omits is almost offensive. Anyway, earlier this year, New York Times journalist Ayana Mathis published an article saying we should expect a Solange release “this fall, probably sometime soon.” Alas, fall has come and gone, so Solange updated her Instagram bio last week to respond to the increased speculation. It reads: “prolly next year.” Suddenly 2019 can’t come soon enough...

IN THIS IMAGE: Tom Waits/IMAGE CREDIT: Peter Ochabski  

Okay, so I’ll admit that this one might be more of a personal wish than a well-informed rumour. BUT, hear me out. In April of this year, Chris Douridas of LA-based KCRW radio announced on his show that Tom Waits is “at work on a new album.” I know because I listened to the audio posted here. Is a ten-second audio clip enough evidence to make such a declaration? No, but I’m doing it anyway because there’s only so many times I can listen to “Bad As Me” before I quite literally go crazy.

Speaking of musicians who take their sweet-ass time to release records, remember when we all waited 14 years between D’Angelo’s Voodoo, and his 2014 follow up, Black Messiah? It turned out that D’Angelo was dealing with some pretty serious substance abuse issues throughout that time, and Black Messiah was totally worth the wait anyway. It looks like we won’t be cooling our knees for much longer though, with the soul singer cancelling a performance earlier this year because he was “deep in the recording process”. Fans have put the rumour mill into overdrive ever since, and I’m not too ashamed to admit I’ve been caught up in the hopeful hysteria”.

A lot of new releases and announcements will come along pretty soon but, from what we have heard already, it seems there will be some big records out! Whether you want a bit of Madonna or Billie Marten; a great debut from The Japanese House or another album from The 1975 – a lot of variety and anticipated albums are coming our way. 2018 has been a huge year for music and we have seen some of the best albums of the past twenty years released this year. There is no reason to suggest 2019 cannot match that quality and it many are already looking ahead. Keep your eyes and ears peeled but, from what is announced and rumoured, it seems that 2019...

 IN THIS PHOTO: Billie Marten in 2016/PHOTO CREDIT: Dannye Payne for The 405

WILL not disappoint!

FEATURE: Too Many Cooks: Should Artists Be More Singular and Self-Reliant?

FEATURE:

 

 

Too Many Cooks

PHOTO CREDIT: @iamjohnhult/Unsplash 

Should Artists Be More Singular and Self-Reliant?

__________

MAYBE there is a lack of necessary talent and skills...

 IMAGE CREDIT: Getty Images

but I am finding so many albums overloaded with producers and writers! Albums throughout time have been stuffed with engineers, producers and songwriters and I wonder, really, whether there is any need. This year has been no exception. Take a record like Isolation by Kali Uchis. It is a fabulous album and one that I feel should be regarded as one of 2018’s very best. Whilst I love what Uchis does and think she has a great sound; her album has twenty-two producers! There are fifteen songs on the album and it seems like there are far too many people working on it. Some might say this marks a lack of ability from the artist but I actually feel Isolation – ironic in title! – would be stronger is Uchis took more control. Tommy Genesis’ exceptional eponymous album has about thirteen producers and it looks really offputtng when you see it. I know being a ‘producer’ in today’s music can mean an artist who collaborated and had minor input but I would like to see more focus and streamlining in music. Although some of this year’s biggest albums – from the likes of IDLES, Kamasi Washington and David Byrne – had a few producers on them; it is still a much more muscular and focused look. Maybe three or so producers is not so bad and it offers perspective and range. I would argue a single producer would create a more cohesive and tight record but that is my opinion!

 PHOTO CREDIT: @pawelj/Unsplash

What bugs me is how busy and crowded records are. If an artist wants to collaborate with a few different musicians then that is fair enough. It is this idea that those collaborated are producers and warrant that sort of credit. You have these albums that arrive and the central artists is buried in a sea of producers and writers. Even modern-day icons like Beyoncé have endless producers on her albums and it seems unnecessary and ridiculous. Many might say the records are as memorable and celebrated because of the different voices but who is to say the artists themselves could not have handled the responsibilities? It is more an issue with solo artists but I hate seeing song credits and having an army of writers and producers. Not to sound like an old man but all the best and most enduring artist of the past had very few cooks in their kitchen. They might have had a producer and sound engineer but, when it came to the writing and creative side, there were very few others involved. I know icons from across time have suffered this bloated approach to music – including Pop legends like Madonna – but it seems to be happening a lot today. One reason why the mass of producers and writers piling in annoys me is because it takes something away from the artist.

 IN THIS PHOTO: Madonna/PHOTO CREDIT: Getty Images

If there are so many others calling shots and having their say then it is much more of a group effort than a solo project! I admire those who seek out new producers and can collaborate with others but that can be done economically and without packing too many into the studio. There is this argument between getting the sound right – even if that does involve a lot of other people – and ensuring the central artist has their role and does not have a minor role. Look at the best albums of this year and, largely, they are slim and muscular when you look at the producers and writers. Most genres are culpable and I was shocked a while back when Ed Sheeran released Galway Girl – an awful racket! – and there were nine writers listed! I mentioned this a while back but how can you have NINE people writing a song?! It is almost like they all pitched a few lines or a few words each! Given that it (Galway Girl) is not a Pink Floyd epic or Bohemian Rhapsody; one wonders why it takes so many people to write such a thing! Ed Sheeran is someone who does not have too many others write his songs but on his last album, ÷, I counted eight producers! It is very rare to hear the unique and personal voice of an artist if you have so many different people pulling their own way.

I am trying to think of an occasion when an album has been so chocked with names and it has stood the test of time. Maybe the likes of Madonna are rare exceptions but I feel the best and most resonating music is that which is largely controlled by the artists themselves. It is good to have a couple of co-writers but is modern music defined by a raft of other bodies! Look at two very good and different Pop albums. The stronger effort, Robyn’s Honey, had about five producers and the co-writing credits are quite slender. A less challenging and nuanced record (but still very good) is Rita Ora’s Phoenix. There are, would you believe, twenty-eight producers listed! Each of the twelve songs, bar one or two, are crammed with co-writers and it makes me wonder why so many people were needed! I have listened to the record and the lyrics are not that demanding; the production is solid but hardly the work of Tony Visconti! Do we truly need SO many human beings to make such easy music? The only way I would ever feel comfortable reading a list of producers so long is if an artist sampled others and was crediting them. Maybe there is that thing where modern artists and producers are keen to be associated with a big name like Rita Ora – or being a producer or writer requires very little input. The albums I have listed – full of writers and producers – have all been acclaimed and proved popular but that is not to say they would be weak if fewer people were involved.

 IN THIS IMAGE: The cover for Rita Ora’s new album, Phoenix/IMAGE CREDIT: Getty Images

I am not even narrowing down the argument to mainstream Pop. From credible Rock bands to Hip-Hop and Rap artists; it seems to be the way things are going. That is also not to say modern music is purely about a lack of focus and clarity. So many artists are capable of writing all their own songs or keeping things very uncluttered. It is not only writing and production credits that can make the eyes water. Look at the music that has come through this year and, again, the best tracks are those with few voices in the mix. This is more of a modern problem but we have so many tracks that pile artists together. I have streamed some songs that have had about five or six other names on them! You open a song on Spotify and there is this endless scroll as we see all the other featured artists. When you hear the song, the contribution of others is little more than the odd grumble, word or interjection. I will bring in a few different articles (penned in various different years) that speculate why so many artists bring so many different people into the mix. Last year, the BBC published an article that explored the nature of the modern hit:

“A new study by Music Week magazine shows it now takes an average of 4.53 writers to create a hit single....

The publication analysed the 100 biggest singles of 2016, and found that only four were credited to a single artist - Mike Posner's I Took A Pill In Ibiza, Calvin Harris's My Way; and two separate hits by rock band Twenty One Pilots.

Ten years ago, the average number of writers on a hit single was 3.52, and 14 of the year's top 100 songs were credited to one person, including Amy Winehouse's Rehab and Arctic Monkeys' When The Sun Goes Down.

The best-selling song of 2016, Drake's One Dance, needed eight writers - but even that pales into insignificance compared to Mark Ronson's Uptown Funk, which took 13 people to create, leading Paul Gambaccini to brand it "the most written song in history".

PHOTO CREDIT: @rawpixel/Unsplash

(To be fair, Uptown Funk originally listed a mere four writers, but others were added when it was noticed the song bore a resemblance to The Gap Band's 1979 hit Ooops Upside Your Head.)”.

According to Mike Smith, managing director of music publishers Warner/Chappell UK, it is simply that the business of making music has changed.

"Think back 20 years and an artist would take at least two or three albums to really hone their craft as a songwriter," he told Music Week.

"There is a need to fast-forward that process [which means record labels will] bring in professional songwriters, put them in with artists and try to bring them through a lot faster."

All this unfettered creativity sounds idyllic, but there is a downside. If you have 13 writers on a song, each of them gets a slice of the royalties when it's purchased or played. And the money doesn't get shared equally, which means lesser-known writers who contribute a line or a lick to a hit song may only get 1% of the profits....

PHOTO CREDIT: @blankerwahnsinn/Unsplash

And then there's the issue of homogenisation. If the world's biggest artists all employ the same writers, could your dad actually be right when he claims "all music sounds the same these days"?

For Scottish pop band, Chvrches, that's a real risk.

"People don't make albums any more," synth player Iain Cook told BBC News in 2015. "They make 11, 12 songs, and they put them out as an album but they feel like a greatest hits, or a playlist.

"And maybe out of those 10 or 11 songs, those co-writes that you do, there's a global number one. But it's not yours."

Singer Lauren Mayberry added: "When I listen to our record, I listen to it and think, 'that has a strong identity'”

That is a lot of information to take in but a few points comes through. The lack of identity and using the same writers for different artists; having this rather factory-like approach to creativity – is this what popular music is about? This article (from 2008) looks at the lucrative business of collaborating and investigates the issue of cuts and royalties.

“I sometimes get asked by songwriters what percentage they should ask for when they collaborate with other writers and artists. Some writers that write the so-called "top-lines" (vocal melody and lyrics) feel that they should get more than 50%, claiming that that's pretty much the whole song and the rest is production and arrangement.

I usually respond with the question: "Do you ever want to work with this person again?" If the answer is yes, I strongly advise equal splits all the way. Do you think Lennon and McCartney would have written half the classics they did if they'd spent their time arguing about who wrote what, and trying to get more songs than the other onto each album?”

 PHOTO CREDIT: @neonbrand/Unsplash

Other genres, like Hip-Hop, are a bit more complicated to navigate and explain:

“When it comes to hip-hop (and sometimes R&B) the question of songwriting splits can become even more intricate. Look at the credits of some of those records and you'll see up to ten names on one single track. Sometimes it's due to all the samples they've used, but often it's because producers set up a groove and invite a crew of people to jam on it. Then the publishers tear their hair out, as it's difficult to give a writing credit to "Vernon from Prospect Park" and "Al from around the way" without having any more information than that”.

I will bring in one more article, from 2015, that seems to define the modern-day songwriter and how music has become much more of a machine and business than ever:

 “So they note down a few useless, illiterate lyrics and the ‘music guys’ come in and build a song around them. It’s remarkable how many professional songwriters are people who had a go at being performers and didn’t sell as many records as their talents might have merited. I see that Dan Wilson, once of powerpoppers Semisonic, has been working with the Dixie Chicks, Taylor Swift and John Legend, and co-wrote Adele’s ‘Someone Like You’. And one of my favourite songwriters, Gary Clark, who wrote and sang ‘Mary’s Prayer’ for Danny Wilson and many other songs that should have been hits, now lives in the US and shapes whole albums for the likes of Natalie Imbruglia and Delta Goodrem. As they say, it’s a living”.

PHOTO CREDIT: @danielcgold/Unsplash 

I do realise there are plenty of musicians who do not rely on an army of others to create their songs and we have genuine artists who can write, produce and perform without the need to lean on hired guns and professionals. I do get a bit tired seeing songs crammed with other voices and these credits that take forever to read! The artist gets all the credit and their voice is the main focus but, if you strip away these big albums and songs; do we really have enough of the artist standing out?! I think so many popular albums and acts depend on hired songwriters a legion of producers to make something that should come from their own mind. I think more artists should either tighten when it comes to collaboration or they should shoulder more of the songwriting/production duties. I think music is much more connective and deep when we get more of the artist’s say. Having too many cooks add their ingredients creates this hybrid and synthetic experience that is more about money and formula than it is creative expression. It should not matter how many people create good music but we have a generation coming through who idolise artists and what they are putting out. If we are saying the way to get a big album in the charts is to work with a dozen other people then that seems wrong to me! We should be encouraging artists to be self-reliant and trust their own voice; not have to rely on so many others and, at the very least, work with a very small team. I do not think it is a coincident that the best and more striking music, past and present, has been created by artists...

 PHOTO CREDIT: @andrewwelch3/Unsplash

WHO do not rely on so many others to make the magic happen.

FEATURE: Sprouts for Christmas: The Return of the Peerless Paddy McAloon

FEATURE:

 

 

Sprouts for Christmas

IN THIS PHOTO: Prefab Sprout’s Paddy McAloon (circa 2013)/PHOTO CREDIT: Kevin Westenberg

The Return of the Peerless Paddy McAloon

__________

THIS new announcement and news from Paddy McAloon...

 IN THIS PHOTO: Paddy McAloon captured in 1985/PHOTO CREDIT: Michael Putland

is not promising fresh material in the coming days and weeks but it does seem, by September of next year, there will be more music from the Prefab Sprout lead. Prefab Sprout is essentially McAloon himself and the previous album, Crimson/Red, was made with producer Calum Malcolm. That record is a terrific thing and was made after McAloon forgot he had to get an album out. He was phoned one day to say he was overdue and, in a panic, retreated to his archives and selected some songs that he could do fairly quickly. If the process seems rushed then you cannot say the execution is sloppy and lacks quality. It is one of the best albums from the Prefab Sprout catalogue and has all the usual and reliable threads we expect from McAloon. The Durham-born songwriter did a couple of interviews around the release of Crimson/Red and it was nice to hear him talk so openly about the record and his absence. Let’s Change the World with Music was released in 2009 so there was a little bit of a gap. McAloon, when interviewed, was in great spirits and talked about the making of Crimson/Red and the inspiration behind some of the songs. He stated, when speaking with Mark Radcliffe and Stuart Maconie on BBC Radio 6 Music that he likes character songs and, on the album, you get some vivid stories and so much colour.

It is a fantastically written and realised record that impressed critics and stood out as one of 2013’s very best. Uncut, in this review, talked about the traits and magic elements of Crimson/Red:

“But the final triumph of Crimson/Red doesn’t lie in the usual smart artifice. It lies in the fact that it is ridiculously catchy. McAloon assembled these songs from the vaults – “The Old Magician” is 16-years-old, “List Of Impossible Things” has been tinkered with for a decade – on a deadline, and decided to forgo his normal tendency to take a hookline and sink it beneath modal twists and muso turns, and just let the choruses breathe. All of the songs mentioned plus the harmonica-led, yacht-rock note-to-self of the endlessly repeating “Billy” are once-heard, forever-whistled earworms, destined to get you humming annoyingly at the checkout in Tescos.

The result is an album that cuts through much of the cerebral work that being a Prefab Sprout fan generally entails, in favour of mainlining directly to the heart. It’s a genius pop album by a genius pop singer-songwriter. Or: A universally accessible joy from a particularly clever bastard”.

It is hard to deny the brilliance of the album and, as Paddy McAloon interviews are rare, it was good to hear the man speaking and revealing what he has been up to. One of the reasons why he is not touring and recording more is because of hearing and sight issues. He has damaged hearing and it means, if he were to tour, it would be him strumming a guitar – a nervous experience and not one he is willing to explore.

There are constraints when he records and working as he did back in the 1980s is not going to be possible. I hoped McAloon would announce a new Prefab Sprout record and, whilst we do not have a lot of detail, he did speak with Today reporter Nicola Stanbridge about his plans. It is great that he is working away and, when it comes to sprouts at Christmas; it is nice to have a bit of Prefab on the plate! It is a present and tantalising revelation from McAloon and, as he says in the interview, he hopes to have something out in September – if his hearing holds and he can put it all down on tape. I have often and long regarded Paddy McAloon as one of the greatest songwriters the world has seen. Ever since Prefab Sprout’s debut, Swoon, in 1984; the man has been able to pen songs like nobody else. Witty, intelligent and utterly absorbing; you are drawn into his world and struck by his striking pen and brilliant use of language. Maybe we all know the band from The King of Rock ‘n’ Roll (from 1988’s From Langley Park to Memphis) but many critics felt it was the band at their more commercial and less potent. That songs, especially, holds weight and significance to me as it is one of my earliest memories. I was five when the song came out and, as it was played a lot on radio at the time, it was hard to miss it.

I was at a theme park with my family – it was a warm day and there was a sort of beach there – some sand and chairs around swimming pools to simulate a beach – and the song was playing on a tannoy as we were coming in (and was being played as we walked around). I love the chorus and catchiness – jumping frogs and hotdogs... – and it remains one of the band’s best-loved numbers. To be honest, it is hard to define Prefab Sprout and get to the roots of Paddy McAloon. He can write songs of heartache and longing like nobody else but come up with these strange and wonderful character studies. Cleopatra is the new song McAloon is working on and currently doing the vocals for. As he said in the current interview; he has been interrupted by various things – his hearing went badly wrong and he was working with Spike Lee – and it seems he is in a place where he can focus on the record. The last ‘song’ we hear from McAloon was released online back in March last year. Entitled America, it seems to be this calling for clarity and stability in a beautiful nation. Rather than attack President Trump and get angered; the vocals are warm yet carry urgency. It was an unexpected delivery from McAloon and I wonder whether the song will feature on the upcoming Prefab Sprout record. In a time of turmoil and national crisis; it is nice to hear from Paddy McAloon and I am already excited by the prospect of some delicious Prefab Sprout. Whilst we wait for a new studio album from Prefab Sprout – one assumes it will be another solo effort without the original band members – I have collated the five essential Prefab Sprout albums that you need to get involved with. Whether you are a diehard fan or a new convert; have a look at these golden Prefab Sprout record and...

 IN THIS PHOTO: Prefab Sprout’s Paddy McAloon and Wendy Smith (date unknown)/PHOTO CREDIT: Getty Images

MAKE sure they are in your collection.

ALL ALBUM COVERS: Getty Images

__________________

Steve McQueen

Release Date: June 1985

Labels: Kitchenware/CBS

Producer: Thomas Dolby

Buy: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Steve-McQueen-Prefab-Sprout/dp/B001GTUN38/ref=ice_ac_b_dpb?ie=UTF8&qid=1544623320&sr=8-1&keywords=prefab+sprout+steve+mcqueen

Information:

“On an episode of the BBC Radio 1 programme Roundtable, musician and producer Thomas Dolby, a panelist on the programme, spoke favourably of Prefab Sprout's "Don't Sing", a track from their 1984 Swoon.[2] The band subsequently contacted Dolby, who met with frontman and primary lyricist McAloon in the latter's County Durham home.[2] McAloon presented Dolby with a number of songs he had written, "probably 40 or 50" by Dolby's estimate,[3] some written as far back as 10–12 years prior.[2] Dolby then picked his favourites and asked McAloon to make demo recordings of them; these recordings served as the basis for Dolby's initial process of planning the album's recording.[3]

In the autumn of 1984, Dolby and Prefab Sprout began working on the album's songs in rehearsals at Nomis Studios in West London; after these sessions had commenced, they moved to Marcus Studios for proper recording.[4] The sessions were mutually amicable, with the band being respectful of Dolby's edge over them in recording and musical experience, and Dolby himself keeping into account the band's wishes, knowing that McAloon "wouldn't want to be diluted" by Dolby's additions to the album.[4] Subsequent mixing was carried out at Farmyard Studios in Buckinghamshire.[4]

The bulk of Steve McQueen's sound is dominated by Dolby's lush, jazz-tinged production.[5][6] McAloon's songs touch on a number of themes, including love, infidelity, regret and heartbreak,[5] and are lyrically "literate and humorous without being condescending in the slightest"[7]  - Wikipedia

Review:                                                                                   

“I think he needn't be so bashful; one of the defining qualities of the record is its pop ambition, its willingness to engage with its times, precisely by not being a sullen singer-songwriter would-be timeless classic. Imagine if Sinatra had decided that Nelson Riddle's arrangements tied his albums to closely to the early 50s. According to this additional disc, Steve McQueen might have been some perfectly prim and pleasant Go-Betweeny acoustic curio, rather than how it ended up: the kind of record you imagine Elvis Costello might have made had he been signed to ZTT and been ensconced in a studio with Trevor Horn” – Pitchfork

Standout Tracks: Faron Young/Bonny/Appetite

The Ultimate Cut: When Love Breaks Down

From Langley Park to Memphis

Release Date: 14th March, 1988

Label: Kitchenware

Producers: Thomas Dolby/Jon Kelly/Paddy McAloon/Andy Richards

Buy: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Langley-Park-Memphis-Prefab-Sprout/dp/B001GUKEZY/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1544623520&sr=8-1&keywords=prefab+sprout+from+langley+park

Information:

“From Langley Park to Memphis is the third studio album by English pop band Prefab Sprout. It was released by Kitchenware Recordson 14 March 1988.[2] It peaked at number 5 on the UK Albums Chart, the highest position for any studio album released by the band.[3]The album featured guest appearances from Stevie Wonder and Pete Townshend.[1] Five singles were released to promote the album: in order of release, "Cars and Girls", "The King of Rock 'n' Roll", "Hey Manhattan!", "Nightingales" and "The Golden Calf".[4] "I Remember That" was later released as a single in 1993 to promote the greatest hits album A Life of Surprises: The Best of Prefab Sprout.[4]”- Wikipedia

Review:                                                                                   

“As suggested by the title, From Langley Park to Memphis is Prefab Sprout's spiritual journey into the heart of American culture; obsessed with rock 'n' roll ("The King of Rock 'n' Roll") and Bruce Springsteen ("Cars and Girls"), fascinated with gospel music ("Venus of the Soup Kitchen") and locked in a love/hate relationship with New York City ("Hey! Manhattan"), Paddy McAloon turns an iconoclastic eye to the other side of the Atlantic in order to make some sense of it all. An airy, lounge-pop feel permeates the record, which also sports cameos from the likes of Stevie Wonder and Pete Townshend. Still, while ambitious in both concept and execution, From Langley Park to Memphis pales in comparison to its masterful predecessor Two Wheels Good -- a shortcoming acknowledged by Prefab Sprout themselves with the title of their next album, Jordan: The Comeback” – AllMusic

Standout Tracks: Cars and Girls/Hey Manhattan!/The Golden Call

The Ultimate Cut: The King of Rock ‘n’ Roll

Jordan: The Comeback

Release Date: 7th September, 1990

Label: Kitchenware

Producer: Thomas Dolby

Buy: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Sony-PS4-Dual-Shock-Negro/dp/B000025THW/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1544623625&sr=8-1&keywords=prefab+sprout+jordan

Information:

“Jordan: The Comeback is the fifth studio album by English pop band Prefab Sprout. It was released by Kitchenware Records on 7 September 1990. It peaked at No. 7 on the UK Albums Chart.[8] "Looking for Atlantis" and "We Let the Stars Go" were released as singles, peaking at No. 51 and No. 50, respectively, on the UK Singles Chart.[8] Additionally, Jordan: The EP peaked at No. 35 on the UK Singles Chart[8]”- Wikipedia  

Review:                                                                                   

“In fact Jordan... consolidates the band’s newfound commercial clout with McAloon’s tendency to fit at least three songs into every one. Confirmed as a songwriter of considerable genius, he now explored genres aplenty: "One Of The Broken" (sung from the vantage point of God – never let it be said that Paddy lacked ambition) is a country song while "Carnival 2000" toys with samba. Dolby returned to the desk, supplying the synth and string, reverb-drenched fairy dust that McAloon’s songs of religion, loss and love demanded.

At times it comes uncomfortably close to cloying - especially on "We Let The Stars Go" or "All The World Loves Lovers" – or too clever for its own good ("Michael" – subject: Lucifer longs to return to paradise) yet is always rescued by the heart-tugging meodies or scintillating arrangements that never hang around long enough for boredom or familiarity to set in. The 'Jesse James' numbers (equating the Western outlaw to a reclusive Elvis, holed up in Vegas) are especially fine with their recurring themes.

Prefab Sprout longed to make pop music, but were always far too intelligent and inventive to do anything so straightforward. Like George Gershwin transported into Brian Wilson’s sandbox, Jordan... is equal parts passionate, philosophical and preposterous. Nothing else sounds like it” – BBC

Standout Tracks: Wild Horses/We Let the Stars Go/The Wedding March

The Ultimate Cut: Looking for Atlantis

I Trawl the Megahertz (Paddy McAloon Solo)

Release Date: 27th May, 2003 

Label: Liberty Records

Producers: Paddy McAloon/Calum Malcolm

Buy: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Trawl-Megahertz-Remastered-Prefab-Sprout/dp/B07J35TBSP/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1544625660&sr=8-1&keywords=I+trawl+the+megahertz

Information:

“The largely instrumental album marks a notable stylistic change from previous Prefab Sprout work, featuring classical passages and orchestration reminiscent of Claude Debussy and Maurice Ravel, McAloon's two favourite composers. Writing much of the music on his computer, McAloon was given help by co-producer Calum Malcolm and composer David McGuinness in translating his original versions into the final recordings, with live orchestration provided by Mr McFall's Chamber. McAloon's radio-sourced material was then integrated with the songs, with spoken word vocals from Yvonne Connors on the title track, TV and radio dialogue samples on "I'm 49" and McAloon's own singing on "Sleeping Rough"

In 1999, Paddy McAloon, front man of British pop band Prefab Sprout, suffered detachment from both retinas in his eyes in quick succession, possibly due to congenital factors, which needed extensive surgery and left him nearly blind for some time.[6] As such, he was left housebound,[7] and rendered unable to write songs in his usual fashion, namely "hunched over a keyboard," and he found it particularly frustrating as he found himself subject "to itchy, unpleasant withdrawal symptoms if [he] cannot work."[8] As a result of this, and being unable to read, McAloon passed the time by listening to, and recording, various television and radio programs, especially chat shows, phone-in radio shows, citizens band conversations and "military encryptions – you name it, I was eavesdropping on it."[8] Much of his listening was to late night radio shows.[9] One journalist pointed out his listening to particularly short wave radio transmissions.[10]

McAloon found solace in the various radio shows and documentaries he listened to, and inspired by what he heard, used them as the source for a new solo album, I Trawl the Megahertz. He began taping the programs he listened to ("chat shows and things like that, people phoning in with their complaints to various DJs."[11]) To his own admission, he found 90% of what he recorded "boring," but he began to "mentally edit" some of the things he heard: "Odd words from documentaries would cross-pollinate with melancholy confidences aired on late night phone-ins; phrases that originated in different time zones on different frequencies would team up to make new and oddly affecting sentences. And I would change details to protect the innocent (or guilty), to streamline the story that I could hear emerging, and to make it all more...musical, I suppose"[8]  - Wikipedia

Review:                                                                                   

“The most significant song is the opener; 22 minutes in length, it's nearly elegiac in it its mournful tones played out by a swaying string arrangement and a weeping trumpet. Throughout its duration, Yvonne Connors speaks matter-of-factly -- yet dramatically enough to be poignant -- as she rifles through fragments of her memory, the most disarming of which reads like this: "I said, 'Your daddy loves you very much; he just doesn't want to live with us anymore.'" Of the eight remaining songs, McAloon's voice is present on just one, which doesn't come along until near the end. This song, the particularly autumnal "Sleeping Rough," is almost as emblematic of the album as the opener, expressing a somewhat sorrowful but content coming to grips with the passage of time ("I'll grow a long and silver beard and let it reach my knees"). The album was conceived during and in the wake of McAloon's bout with an illness that temporarily took away his eyesight, but it's plain to hear that his vision remains” – AllMusic 

Standout Tracks: Esprit de Corps/Fall from Grace/Sleeping Rough

The Ultimate Cut: I Trawl the Megahertz

Crimson/Red

Release Date: 7th October, 2013   

Labels: Icebreaker/Kitchenware

Producers: Paddy McAloon/Calum Malcolm

Buy: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Crimson-Red-Prefab-Sprout/dp/B00FJX6SJ0/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1544624138&sr=8-1&keywords=crimson+red+prefab

Information:

“Crimson/Red is the tenth studio album by the English pop group Prefab Sprout. It was released in the United Kingdom by Icebreaker Records/Kitchenware Records on 7 October 2013.[1] The album title is a reference to artist Mark Rothko[2]” - Wikipedia

Review:                                                                                   

“The subjects, too, are rich and strange. The Best Jewel Thief In The World is a creation only McAloon could summon, a professional cracksman at the top of his game, scorning the little folk ("what do any of those assholes know?”). There’s the "urbane” Mephistopheles of Devil Came A Calling who offers Paddy – OK, “Patrick” – “a mansion on Fellatio Drive” before returning, after 50 years of gravy, to claim his due. Bob Dylan and Jimmy Webb, or representations thereof, pop by, as if lending moral support to the songwriter at bay.

Music itself is now McAloon’s hot topic, a holdover from Let’s Change The World With Music, the house-informed album McAloon made in 1993 but only relinquished for release in 2009. And though music about music can smack tediously of self-justification, the payoff here is Billy, a delirious fable wherein music’s intercessionary magic is embodied by a discarded trumpet, stumbled across in the snow.

In the ’80s, McAloon might have scorned such a sentimental metaphor, but he’s not that smart aleck any more, not with life’s solaces now at such a premium. The gifted kid’s still gifted. He just grew up, is all” – Mojo

Standout Tracks: The Best Jewel Thief in the World/Devil Came a Calling/The Old Magician  

The Ultimate Cut: Billy

FEATURE: Goodbye Maida Vale Studios: Are We Doing Enough to Save Our Iconic Music Spaces?

FEATURE:

 

 

Goodbye Maida Vale Studios

IN THIS PHOTO: The Big Moon performing live at Radio 1's Future Festival live recording at Maida Vale Studios in 2017/PHOTO CREDIT: Merrick Winter  

Are We Doing Enough to Save Our Iconic Music Spaces?

__________

I am lucky enough to be one of the last members of the public...

IN THIS PHOTO: The exterior of Maida Vale Studios on Delaware Road/PHOTO CREDIT: David Dixon

who will get to go into Maida Vale Studios before it closes its doors. The iconic venue is going to move to East London – more accurately, the BBC will host sessions and move operations to a new venue over the other side of London. The legendary and much-loved space has played host to countless artists and incredible moments. Modern artists have been lucky enough to play there and, across the years, Maida Vale has hosted some of the biggest musicians ever. One approaches Maida Vale Studios in West London and, from the outside, it looks rather average. As you walk along Delaware Road, one sees a tin roof and it looks like a farm building. Walking further and there are a series of doors/entrances and then, a bit further still, and you have the main entrance. I have never been in the studios but have seen many photos and the impression one gets from seeing them is immediate. The sheer gravity, size and glory of the studios’ wonder is breathtaking and wondrous. I have heard sessions there throughout the year and, unlike a smaller BBC studios, you can get a healthy crowd in there and pretty much accommodate any musician. It is a dream for artists because they get to be in this iconic space and it feels like they are in a large venue. Given the scale and size of the studios, one might feel there is a lack of grace and intimacy.

Maida Vale Studios perfectly blends the homely and intimate with something more stirring and epic. The BBC has had to make cuts and accommodations through the years but many were not ready to say goodbye to Maida Vale Studios. Back in June, the news was announced that Maida Vale Studios would shut its doors and facilities would move to East London. Here is how The Guardian documented the news:

“The BBC plans to close its Maida Vale studios after 84 years and move its live music base to Stratford in east London.

The world-famous studios have hosted thousands of performances ranging from the Beatles to Beyoncé to Girls Aloud, in addition to hosting the BBC Symphony Orchestra.

The studios were originally constructed in 1909 as a short-lived rollerskating venue. The BBC took over the building in the 1930s and refurbished it to serve as studios, making it one of the broadcaster’s oldest buildings.

However, the distinctive and unusual building is in a residential area and contains asbestos, increasing the cost of refurbishment.

“I understand how much our musical heritage at Maida Vale means to us, to artists and to audiences,” the BBC director general, Tony Hall, said in a note to staff. “We haven’t taken this decision lightly. But we’re determined to ensure that live music remains at the heart of the BBC and moving to this new development gives us the opportunity to do just that”...

IN THIS PHOTO: Beyoncé (who is one of the many artists who has performed at Maida Vale Studios)/PHOTO CREDIT: Tyler Mitchell for Vogue

Maida Vale was the site of Bing Crosby’s last recording session and has hosted tens of thousands live music events for BBC radio stations, ranging from John Peel sessions to Radio 1’s Live Lounge recordings. It was also the home of the experimental BBC Radiophonic Workshop, where Delia Derbyshire recorded the Doctor Who theme tune.

The BBC hopes to relocate most of Maida Vale’s functions to a new complex in the Stratford Waterfront development in the Olympic Park by 2023. The site will contain recording and rehearsal studios, providing a purpose-built base for the BBC Symphony Orchestra and Chorus and the BBC Singers, as well as being used regularly by the BBC Concert Orchestra.

The broadcaster has pledged to run music sessions in east London schools as well as making digital music resources available to schools everywhere. The BBC will also partner with local education groups on other music projects”.

Musicians, as NME show, were quick to respond to the news:

“Several high profile musicians have now tweeted using the #BBCSaveMaidaVale hashtag. Radiohead producer Nigel Godrich wrote: “This is absolutely insane…!! wrong… misguided… Call it what you will – the wrong move… don’t destroy this incredibly important part of our cultural heritage – every bit as important as Abbey Road studios…. stop!!!!”
Foals’ Yannis Philippakis added: “So many memories at Maida Vale, so many amazing sessions over the years. DOn’t confine it to history. The BBC should reconsider.” His bandmate Jimmy Smith said: “For god’s sake BBC, not this one, don’t knock it down. We’ve had so many good times in there, nowhere like it on earth and you are gonna obliterate it!! Every band should get to smell the history in that place.”

Portishead and Beak>’s Geoff Barrow has been asking more musicians, DJs and fans to “tell the BBC they are wrong” using the hashtag. He also asked: “Why are the BBC hell bent on destroying the buildings that are so important to our cultural heritage?”

 

Although I do not have an association with BBC’s Maida Vale Studios; I will be stepping into this legendary space this week and it will be quite sad. The occasion will be happy but, when things are done, one has to realise that it will not happen again – before long, something else will be in its place. I can understand concerns around safety and refurbishment. No matter how much money it takes, there would be plenty willing to subsidise and fund the improvements. It is not like the entire building is crumbling and it is impossible to save it: we are talking about making some smaller changes and repairs/renovations that could bring it up to scratch. Think about the artists who have played through the years and how many have seen their careers hit new peaks because of Maida Vale Studios. It is situated in a very nice part of London. It is only a few minutes’ walk from Warwick Avenue underground and surrounded by rather up-market properties. There is no complaint around noise pollution and, whilst it can get busy around there at times, it is not the case people are stumbling from the building in the early hours and shouting. The civil and professional manner in which operations happen means the closure of Maida Vale Studios is extra-sad. Money and a little effort seems to be the only reason why it is shutting and it makes me wonder why the towel has been tossed in so quick.

PLEASE EVERY

Artist/band/musician/DJ/MusicFan

please use this hash tag to tell the BBC they are wrong to close down
The historic Maida Vale Studio and replace it with a new building#BBCSaveMaidaVale@radiohead @PaulMcCartney @KasabianHQ @Adele @jeremycorbyn @BBC6Music

— Geoff Barrow (@jetfury) June 6, 2018

Musicians and music lovers alike have argued and protested at the closure. The sheer outage and upset that has been seen on social media over the past six months tells you all you need to know. I am sure the new space/location will be okay but that is not the point. Who knows what will become of the space now? Maybe there will be flats or a posh shop or something. It is another case of something long-serving and much-respected being sacrificed to make way for modern consumers and residents. One will walk down Delaware Road and see something new and unfamiliar in the place of Maida Vale Studios. I shudder to think what is taking the place of Maida Vale’s iconic studios but I suspect it will be some sort of residential building. You can only imagine how expensive that will cost and it makes me wonder whether the millions that will be invested into that project is less costly than what it would take to improve Maida Vale Studios?! How could one rationalise moving and closing this years-lasting and hugely popular venue and replacing it with anything else?! Not only will musicians suffer and we will lose a part of British music’s rich fabric but the area will become poorer. I am sure many who live nearby would rather keep Maida Vale Studios and see it carry on for decades than have flats or shops in its place – which will make the area more crowded and who knows what it will do to the balance there?

 PHOTO CREDIT: @d_mccullough/Unsplash

You never know if the new development will be a boon or a big gamble. Maida Vale Studios has served the local and wider community with dignity and passion since the 1940s. One of the saddest reasons behind the closure is betraying the artists and D.J.s who have relied on it and made it such an iconic place. The Peel Sessions became reliant on Maida Vale Studios and, for one, I feel angry the late John Peel’s legacy and incredible work is almost going to be tarnished because of the move:

“From 1967 to 2004, the John Peel Sessions were recorded in studio MV4. At first a number of other venues around London were also used, such as the Playhouse Theatre in Charing Cross, but as these ceased to be used by the BBC, the sessions increasingly centred on Maida Vale 4. Music sessions were once a mainstay of BBC Radio programming as there were strict limits on the amount of commercially recorded music that could be aired, known as needle-time restrictions, so the BBC regularly booked musicians to record music exclusively for broadcast. In the early 1960s, when the BBC began to give some limited coverage of pop groups such as The Beatles, it was found that the sessions allowed up-and-coming bands to gain exposure, and for musicians and groups to try out new material, play covers they would not include on their albums, and experiment with different sounds and guest musicians...

With the introduction of Radio 1 in 1967, programmes such as Top Gear embraced this concept, with sessions from such stars-in-waiting as David Bowie, Led Zeppelin and Jimi Hendrix. And when one of Top Gear's presenters, John Peel, gained his own programme, commissioned specially recorded sessions had a new outlet. Most of the artists were relatively unknown even to Peel's listeners: he and his producer would often invite bands on the strength of a rough demo tape or gig to hear what they could do, and for many of the bands it was their first experience of a professional recording studio, not to mention a much-needed boost to their finances…

IN THIS PHOTO: The legendary John Peel (who often based his Peel Sessions out of Maida Vale Studios)/PHOTO CREDIT: Getty Images

The format became standardised as a single session in the studio with a staff producer and engineer (or more latterly a producer-engineer and assistant), during which the artists would record four songs, but there were also some sessions which were either live to air, or pre-recorded as live with an audience. Other Radio 1 programmes and DJs adopted a similar system of Maida Vale sessions, such as Janice Long, Andy Kershaw, and The Evening Session, whose current host Zane Lowe has nicknamed the studio 'Maida Vegas'; as well as the more direct inheritors of the Peel Sessions tradition Huw Stevens, Rob da Bank and Mike Davies”.

Who knows what modern music would be and sound like were it not for those Peel Sessions?! The late John Peel helped transform music and change it for the better when he broadcast from there. It might sound like I am misty-eyed and looking at things through a purely musical (and non-pragmatic) lens but I do wonder whether a lot of effort and thought was put into the closure decision.

One needs to balance all the pros – the fact it has been there for decades and is a crucial part of the musical landscape – against the negatives and drawbacks – the cost of repair and improvements so that it can continue for many more decades. The former is the human cost and benefit whilst the latter is purely financial. It is not a case of staff rebelling and refusing to work; it is not the case residents are complaining and forcing the BBC to move elsewhere. Why did the BBC not have a public fundraising campaign so that extra money could be found?! Why did they not do everything possible to save it?! I think there has been this wasted opportunity for preservation that makes the whole situation really tragic. We do get into this habit of submitting and, rather than do anything to retain the status quo, look at other options that are more modern and cost-effective. So many prefer the Maida Vale Studios – as opposed Broadcasting House and other BBC facilities – because it has that warmth and is overlooked by a rather calm, picturesque and stunning part of London (free from endless traffic and chaos. One could have easily seen radio shows move there and it would have provided a great house for someone like BBC Radio 6 Music or BBC Radio 2. That will never happen and I do wonder whether Maida Vale Studios’ death needs to be a wakeup call for those who make decisions.

The anger and sadness expressed (regarding the closure) demonstrates how important places like Maida Vale Studios are. You cannot simply see a small/medium-sized problem and decide that, because it will be costly to fix it, then that should be it. Considering the likes of The Beatles have played there; one could imagine Maida Vale Studios being declared a national treasure. Put a blue plaque there and get English Heritage invoked! It may sound extreme but you wouldn’t plough through parks and sites that have been deemed culturally significant or historic. There would be protest and the plans would be stopped. Maida Vale Studios has this huge cultural background and legacy that is going to be bulldozed and purged. We owe it to the people, past and present, who have made it what it is – so many will miss it and music will not quite be the same. Look around the country and how many epic and iconic venues are left?! Smaller venues are closing all the time and it seems there is very little classic and old remaining. We are always looking for the new, shiny and elegant. Maida Vale Studios is brilliant and bright but it is not the soulless and ultra-modern sort of space that corporations like the BBC wants.

 IN THIS PHOTO: MV3 at Maida Vale Studios/PHOTO CREDIT: Getty Images

I am not blaming them entirely but it seems like the closure of Maida Vale Studios could have been avoided. There is an all-day Christmas party being held there this Friday (starting at around 7 A.M. I believe) and it will mark the changes happening at BBC Radio 6 Music next year. Whilst there will be celebration and much festivity in the air; there will be that sadness as everyone leaves Maida Vale Studios...uncomfortable in the knowledge that we will never see anything like that happen again. That realisation and heartache might be good for the bottom line and the purse but can you say the masses who adore Maida Vale Studios are better off?! There are still iconic venues and spaces in the U.K. that are safe and I dearly hope they are not subjected to closure threats and caution around financial viability. It would have been costly to bring the studios to code but many would have been happy to briefly relocate to allow the work done. Yes, it would have created a bit of noise whilst workmen were there but given the fact Maida Vale Studios will be replaced and there will be the same sort of upheaval very soon; can one say the trade-off has been a good one?! There is very little that can be done now but I feel, the more and more people come out and share their memories of Maida Vale Studios, the more misguided and foolish the decision is. Let us hope, for all the other iconic venues and spaces in Britain, they do not have to suffer the same fate...

AS Maida Vale Studios!

FEATURE: Both Sides Now: The Split Cassette: 1983 (The Year of My Birth)/1989 (Personal Musical Revelations)

FEATURE:

 

 

Both Sides Now

IMAGE CREDIT: Katyau  

The Split Cassette: 1983 (The Year of My Birth)/1989 (Personal Musical Revelations)

__________

I might turn this into a regular feature...

but I have been thinking about pivotal musical years in my life. In the first (if only) part of the feature; I am concentrating on the popular albums and sounds from 1983 and 1989. I was born in 1983 so am compelled to explore a year when I arrived into the world – and what was popular as I was taking my first breaths and motions. The other, 1989, is very special. It is a year when music started to sink in and stay in the mind. Albums, songs and artists were filling my ears and it was an exciting and revelatory time in my life. I am compelled by 1989 because of the sheer range of music and the fact mainstream Pop and the rise of Hip-Hop were nestling aside one another. Like a split cassette; here are two different sides with their own flavour and tone. I have looked at 1983 and 1989 and what was happening then; the biggest ten albums and the definitive record; which song was at number-one at the start and end of each year – I end with a playlist compiling the best tracks of each year. Maybe these years in music will resonate and bring back memories but, for me personally, 1983 and 1989 are vitally important. Sit back, relax and enjoy a couple of music years that...

PACKED a hugely impressive punch.

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

____________

A-SIDE: 1983

This was the year of my birth and, in the first half of the 1980s, many sort of write things off. Most of the celebrated and notable albums from the 1980s arrived later in the decade and, in general, there is a lot of snobbish behaviour when looking at a wonderful decade. There was some cheese and bad years that decade (1986 has been highlighted as a low point) but 1983 is important for so many reasons. I think it is important to look at the year you were born and the music that was coming out at the time. The things that stick out about 1983 is that move away from the Hard-Rock and Classic-Rock brilliance of the 1970s – when the likes of Led Zeppelin were ruling – and a new era. Pop was a more dominant force in the early years of the 1980s and, with Michael Jackson’s Thriller arriving in 1982; it helped spark something that would change the scene. I am especially fond of the album and, whilst the hype it was still receiving in 1983 is not in my memory; I know the record was very popular and still being drooled over. Alongside Michael Jackson’s rise and genius was another Pop icon – one making her first steps. Madonna’s debut album, Madonna, was released in 1983 and, if that is not reason enough to mark a year then I do not know what is!

 IN THIS PHOTO: Madonna in 1983

I think her debut is very underrated and, when you compare it to the other Pop albums of 1983, it stands above them and provides real nuance. Tracks such as Borderline and Holiday are stunning singles but, to be fair, there was more than that to get the critics interested. It is a fantastic record packed with personality and life and was the start of a remarkable career. Culture Club’s Colour by Numbers was released in 1983 and is seen as one of the year’s very best. I love that album but especially love Karma Chameleon. If you wanted proof that Pop was in spectacular health and flexing its muscles then you only need one spin of that track! I know for a fact Spandau Ballet’s True was top of the British charts on the day I was born (9th May) and there were these new type of musicians, New Romantics, that were providing something fresh. It may seem a bit lame compared with the Punk of the 1970s and Grunge of the 1990s but many modern artists have been inspired by the New Romantic movement. Legends like David Bowie and New Order were producing some of their finest work in 1983. It was an eclectic, busy and memorable year that shows the 1980s was a fantastic decade.

Popular Trend: Classic music C.D. had become popular among listeners.

Musicians Born in 1983: Carrie Underwood, Future; Cheryl and Amy Winehouse

Musicians Who Died in 1983: Dennis Wilson and Karen Carpenter  

The First Number-One Single of 1983 (U.K.): Phil Collins – You Can’t Hurry Love

The Last Number-One Single of 1983 (U.K.): The Flying Pickets – Only You

The First Number-One Album of 1983 (U.K.): Various Artists – Raiders of the Pop Charts

The Last Number-One Album of 1983 (U.K.): Various Artists – Now That’s What I Call Music!

Notable Groups Formed in 1983: Bon Jovi, The Cult; Del Amitri, The Farm, The Flaming Lips; The Housemartins, Inspiral Carpets; My Bloody Valentine, Red Hot Chili Peppers and The Waterboys

Notable Groups Disbanded in 1983: Altered Images, Gang of Four; Simon & Garfunkel, Sly and the Family Stone and Yazoo

Big Albums of 1983:

R.E.M. – Murmur

The Police – Synchronicity

Elvis Costello and the Attractions – Punch the Clock

Tom Waits – Swordfishtrombones

David Bowie – Let’s Dance

Madonna – Madonna

Talking Heads – Speaking in Tongues

U2 – War

Eurythmics – Touch

Paul Simon – Hearts and Bones

Big Country – The Crossing

Biggest Album of 1983:

Culture Club – Colour by Numbers

_______________

B-SIDE: 1989

Whereas 1983 is pivotal because it was the year I was born; 1989 is where music started to really form in the mind and, as I was making my way through primary school, it was a very formative time. I associated 1989 with the sheer clash of styles and genres. Hip-Hop was born, let’s say, in 1986 and 1988 saw some huge albums from Public Enemy (It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back) and N.W.A. (Straight Outta Compton). Even though there is only six years between 1983 and 1989, the way music changed is amazing! The New Romantic wave was pretty much dead but a harder-edged sound was taking hold. Iconic and big albums from the likes of Sonic Youth, Pixies and Metallica were sitting alongside the new pioneers of Hip-Hop. There was still a lot of great Pop music around and artists who had started their careers in 1983, such as Madonna (her first album as opposed single), were hitting their peak. For me, it remains a huge year because of the changes and what was being prepared for the 1990s. Whilst I have music memories earlier than 1989; this was the year when I was really starting to discover music and get to grips with everything. I was six (by May) and music was starting to become a part of my social life at school.

 IN THIS PHOTO: De La Soul on Long Island in 1989/PHOTO CREDIT: Janette Beckman

The sheer weight and eclectic nature of music in 1989 was sensational and Hip-Hop, especially, was starting to take huge steps. I do not know what caused the big changed between the Pop and sounds of the early-1980s and the very different landscape of the late-1980s. Trends and movements came and went and, if anything, U.S. music was playing a bigger role than British sounds – that would change in the first half of the 1990s. I cannot state how incredible the music of 1989 is and, again anyone who thinks the 1980s was weak and a bit naff needs to do their homework and see what was being put out! I have used the word ‘cassette’ in the headline/title of this article and that ‘technology’ was really important. I can recall holding cassettes and, despite its flaws, you could not beat having something in your hand that was easily portable and could be shared with friends. It was a wonderful time and a very important year for me. I am excited to reveal all the stats and great albums from 1989 – showing how different music was then compared with 1983. There would be better years for music coming up (including 1991, 1994 and 1998) and, in terms of impact and influence, 1994 is higher up the rankings. I love 1989’s music because it accompanied me through my early school days and defined the vibe in the playground. From U.S. Alternative and Rock to the changing face of Pop music; a very wide-ranging and inspiring year. Have a look at what was happening in 1989...

 IN THIS PHOTO: New Kids of the Block (circa 1989)/PHOTO CREDIT: Michel Linssen/Redferns

Popular Trend: To the kids of 1989, the summer belonged to New Kids on the Block - an exciting Pop sensational who were sweeping the charts in the U.S.

Musicians Born in 1989: Chris Brown, Taylor Swift; Bebe Rexha and Joe Jonas

Musicians Who Died in 1989: Irving Berlin  

The First Number-One Single of 1989 (U.K.): Kylie Minogue and Jason Donovan – Especially for You

The Last Number-One Single of 1989 (U.K.): Band Aid II – Do They Know It’s Christmas?

The First Number-One Album of 1989 (U.K.): Various Artists – Now That’s What I Call Music! 13

The Last Number-One Album of 1989 (U.K.): Phil Collins – ...But Seriously

Notable Groups Formed in 1989: 4 Non Blondes, Black Box; The Breeders, The Cranberries; Culture Beat, Mercury Rev; Neutral Milk Hotel, Ocean Colour Scene; Orbital, Pavement; Powderfinger, Slowdive, Suede and Teenage Fanclub

Notable Groups Disbanded in 1989: The Bangles, Lloyd Cole and the Commotions; The Jackson 5 and The Style Council

Big Albums of 1989:

Pixies – Doolittle

The Cure – Disintegration

De La Soul – 3 Feet High and Rising

Madonna – Like a Prayer

Tom Petty – Full Moon Fever

New Order – Technique

Soul II Soul – Club Classics Vol. I

Janet Jackson – Janet Jackson’s Rhythm Nation 1814

Nirvana – Bleach

Neneh Cherry – Raw Like Sushi

Kate Bush – The Sensual World

Soundgarden – Louder Than Love

Biggest Album of 1989:

Beastie Boys – Paul’s Boutique