FEATURE: The April Playlist: Vol. 3: My Chosen Family Are My Titanium

FEATURE:

 

 

The April Playlist

IN THIS PHOTO: Dave 

Vol. 3: My Chosen Family Are My Titanium

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THIS week is pretty jam-packed…

IN THIS PHOTO: Rina Sawayama and Elton John

and brimming with big tracks! There are new releases from Dave, Rina Sawayama and Elton John, Paul McCartney (ft. Phoebe Bridgers), MARINA, London Grammar, Fiona Apple, Mick Jagger with Dave Grohl, Royal Blood, Amy Winehouse, Biig Piig, Dawn Richard, Coach Party, and Alanis Morissette. Throw into the mix Olivia Dean, AJ Tracey, The Black Keys, Imelda May, girl in red, Field Music, Greentea Peng, and Andra Day, and one has more than enough to get you going and off to a great start! It is a busy and varied week, that is for sure. If you need a boost and some energy to get you into the weekend, then I think that this collection of songs…

 IN THIS PHOTO: London Grammar

SHOULD do the trick.   

ALL PHOTOS/IMAGES (unless credited otherwise): Artists

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Dave – Titanium

ART CREDIT: Parent Company

Rina Sawayama, Elton John – Chosen Family

PHOTO CREDIT: Mary McCarttney

Paul McCartney (ft. Phoebe Bridgers) - Seize the Day

MARINA - Purge the Poison

PHOTO CREDIT: Alex Waespi

London Grammar - Lord It's a Feeling

Fiona Apple - Love More

Mick Jagger with Dave Grohl – EASY SLEAZY

Royal Blood – Boilermaker

PHOTO CREDIT: Bram Clayton

Biig Piig – Lavender

PHOTO CREDIT: Phoebe Fox

Coach Party - ‘i'm sad’

Dawn Richard - Mornin | Streetlights

Olivia Dean – Be My Own Boyfriend

AJ Tracey - Little More Love

The Black Keys - Crawling Kingsnake

PHOTO CREDIT: Eddie Otchere

Imelda May – Diamonds

Methyl Ethel - Neon Cheap

Baby Queen - Dover Beach

Fickle Friends - Cosmic Coming of Age

girl in red - You Stupid Bitch

easy life – skeletons

Field Music – Do Me a Favour

LAUREL – You’re the One

Greentea Peng - Kali V2

Sinead Harnett - Hard 4 Me 2 Love You

Fred again… - Dermot (See Yourself in My Eyes)

Andra Day – Phone Dies

PHOTO CREDIT: Dani Monteiro

IDER - Cross Yourself

Popcaan – Survivor

Bebe Rexha – Sabotage

The Offspring - This Is Not Utopia

The Coral – Vacancy

Liz Phair - Spanish Doors

Amy Winehouse – I Heard It Through the Grapevine – Live at the BBC

PHOTO CREDIT: Matt Barnes

Barenaked Ladies – Flip

Charlotte OC – Bad Bitch

Queen Naija – Passionate

Orla Gartland - Zombie!

dodie - I Kissed Someone (It Wasn't You)

José González – Visions

MarthaGunn - Giving In

Lucy Dacus - Hot & Heavy

Emotional Oranges (ft. Becky G) - Down to Miami

RuthAnne – F.L.Y.

Birdy – Second Hand News

Jenny Lewis & Serengeti - GLTR

Grace VanderWaal – Repeat

PHOTO CREDIT: Raen Badu for EUPHORIA. 

Julia Michaels - Love Is Weird

Matilda Mann – Doomsday

Charli Adams – Cheer Captain

Amy Shark – Amy Shark

Georgia Twinn – Matty Healy

Alanis Morissette - I Miss the Band

Low Island - Knockin' on Heaven's Door

Matt Berry - Summer Sun

CupcakKe - Mosh Pit

Hey Violet - Problems

PHOTO CREDIT: Bridgette Winten

Maple Glider - Swimming

FEATURE: A New Formation: Beyoncé’s Lemonade at Five

FEATURE:

 

 

A New Formation

Beyoncé’s Lemonade at Five

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THERE are a few albums from 2016…

that I am marking in features through the coming weeks and months. Most would say that a fifth anniversary is not a big one. I would disagree. I feel it is good to look back on an album after that period of time and see how it has influenced and aged. On 23rd April, Beyoncé’s sixth solo album, Lemonade, turns five. After putting out the Beyoncé album of 2013, there was a gap until her next album arrived. I love that eponymous album and feel that it is among her very best. It was developed as a ‘visual album’; its songs are accompanied by non-linear short films that illustrate the musical concepts conceived during production. Another reason why the album is so extraordinary and connected with critics is because of its dark, intimate subject material, which includes feminist themes of sex, monogamous love, and relationship issues (inspired by Beyoncé's desire to assert her full creative freedom). Lemonade was a similar album in terms of its release and impact. Another amazing visual album, its concept boasts a song cycle that relates Beyoncé's emotional journey after her husband's infidelity in a generational and racial context. I am going to end by talking about the legacy of Lemonade. Not only is the album one of the best of 2016. I think it Beyoncé’s finest release. Focusing on infidelity in Black relationships, she also used the album as a form of recognition, commemoration and celebration of the culture and history of Black people in the Deep South and in the United States as a whole.

Alongside this are powerful songs of Black feminism. It is an exceptional album that is so important and powerful, but it is accessible at the same time. I think that Lemonade is an angrier album that a lot of Beyoncé's earlier work. I also think it is broader in terms of sound. Moving away from a mostly R&B sound, Beyoncé covers Rap, Hip-Hop, Jazz, Art Pop, Soul, Blues and so many other sounds through the twelve tracks (the physical release had twelve tracks, whereas Sorry appears on the digital release). Although there are vocal collaborators like James Blake, Jack White and Kendrick Lamar, it is Beyoncé's incredible performances and voice that burns brightest and leaves the biggest impression. The reviews, unsurprisingly, were phenomenally positive! So many were stunned by an album that sees Beyoncé's at her absolute peak. This is what Entertainment Weekly wrote:

“Like her “Formation” video, the visual album’s imagery—a mostly female and nonwhite affair—makes the point with haunting clarity. Black women in antebellum dresses populate eerie plantation tableaus; home videos of kids playing in the yard bleed into coffins and the mothers of Trayvon Martin and Eric Garner holding portraits of their dead boys; Serena Williams, whose otherness has long been scrutinized by the very not-woke tennis world, dances with abandon. Her body belongs to herself—no small thing in the context of African-American history. “Did he bend your reflection?” Beyoncé whispers. “Did he make you forget your own name?”

For the magnetically spare emotional ballad “All Night,” we see footage of the women in Beyoncé’s own family and get a sense of how their pain links them through the generations: “Grandmother, the alchemist, you spun gold out of this hard life, conjured beauty from the things left behind.” Lemons into lemonade, personal into universal.

And then there’s the album’s fiercest banger, “Freedom.” Beyoncé’s victorious voice combusts (“I break chains all by myself”) over a maximalist soul sample, while Kendrick Lamar, the game’s top rapper, explodes in a verse that cuts into our nation’s perpetual civil rights tragedies. “Freedom” is big. Could an anthemic Black Lives Matter jam become mainstream America’s song of the summer? If anyone can make it happen, it’s Beyoncé.

Other things she can do: rock, blues, country, avant-garde, whatever. Lemonade stands as Bey’s most diverse album to date. Sinister strip-club-in-the-future R&B (“6 Inch,” featuring none other than the Weeknd) sits right next to a slab of Texas twang (“Daddy Lessons”). Led Zeppelin and Soulja Boy become bedfellows; Andy Williams and Isaac Hayes both get sampled; and Yeah Yeah Yeahs, James Blake, Vampire Weekend’s Ezra Koenig, and Animal Collective all get credits.

But inevitably, a lot of you are still wondering: What does all this mean for her husband? The guy who was the desired object of Bey’s other surprise visual album, the superb 2013 self-titled record that made married sex seem so hot while also introducting us to the “surfbort”? Fortunately for Jay Z, things look like they might be all right. After wrestling with herself throughout Lemonade, Bey begins to heal towards the back half, as evidenced by the sweet, vulnerable ballad “Sandcastles.” By the time we get to “All Night,” the last track before the Super Bowl-vetted “Formation” closes the album, Beyoncé’s soaring voice indicates that she’s found some peace, at least for now. “Our love was stronger than your pride,” she sings, and it sounds like she believes it.

Of course, many will still obsess over what it was Jay Z did and with whom. If you want to spend your time speculating, cool—that’s your deal. But Beyoncé’s not thinking about that. She’s too busy putting out her boldest, most ambitious, best album to date. Middle fingers up”.

I have been listening to Lemonade a lot since 2016 and it still moves me in a very powerful way. I am not sure what it is exactly. The songwriting and production is incredible. The variety of genres fused is impressive and extremely nuanced, whilst Beyoncé's voice is at its very best! In their review, Rolling Stone concurred that Beyoncé's voice is amazing throughout:

“Yet the most astounding sound is always Bey’s voice, as she pushes to her bluesiest extremes, like the hilariously nasty way she sneers, “He’s always got them fucking ex-cuuuu-ses.” She hits some Plastic Ono Band-style primal-scream moments in the devastating ballad “Love Drought.” (“Nine times out of ten I’m in my feelings / But ten times out of nine I’m only human” is a stunning confession from a diva who’s always made such a fetish out of emotional self-control.) “Freedom” and “Formation” reach out historically, connecting her personal pain to the trauma of American blackness, with the power of Aretha Franklin’s Spirit in the Dark or Nina Simone’s Silk and Soul. She can’t resist adding a happy ending with “All Night,” where the couple kisses and makes up and lives happily ever after, or at least until morning. But it’s an uneasy coda, with the word “forgive” noticeably absent and the future still in doubt.

Whether Beyoncé likes it or not – and everything about Lemonade suggests she lives for it – she’s the kind of artist whose voice people hear their own stories in, whatever our stories may be. She’s always aspired to superhero status, even from her earliest days in a girl group that was tellingly named Destiny’s Child. (Once upon a time, back in the Nineties, “No No No” was the only Destiny’s Child song in existence – but make no mistake, we could already hear she was Beyoncé.) She lives up to every inch of that superhero status on Lemonade. Like the professional heartbreaker she sings about in “6 Inch,” she murdered everybody and the world was her witness”.

I am going to round off with a couple of articles that discuss the impact and legacy of Lemonade. In a feature from last year, Pop Dust argued why the album is one of the best pieces of art ever made:

“Not much can be said about Lemonade that hasn't already been written. Lemonade was before its time and yet fundamentally of its time. Rich with history, sparkling with collaborations and features, it's a sonic and visual experience that uses poetry, music, and visuals in a completely innovative way. It was personal and political, private and immensely public, ageless and timely.

Ostensibly about Beyoncé's relationship with Jay-Z and her response to his infidelity, it also dives deeply into many layers of existence, including the experience of being a Black woman in America, the experience of being a woman, the experience of trauma and the experience of finding redemption in community and resurrection in love. "It isn't just a collection of standalone pieces produced for pop-culture consumption; the culmination of these movements spans a broader political perspective of the black female experience," writes Suzanne Churchill.

Despite its lofty themes, Lemonade was produced for pop culture consumption, as much for young girls as it was for academics. It is a pop album in a high-art frame, highbrow and lowbrow, open for the taking and sharing. It reached far more people than any piece of literary theory, yet it broke open boundaries and created new spaces out of fragments, questions, and fractured memory.

PHOTO CREDIT: HBO 

"Lemonade reflects and advances a black womanist Afrxfuturism that asserts Itutu, precision of self-expression and direction within instability. Conjuring balance in the maelstrom of antiblackness produces an Afrxfuturist aesthetic teeming with seeming paradoxes that can be best understood through the idiom of diasporic vertigo," writes Valorie D. Thomas. In its contrasts, in its flickering multimedia images and constantly shifting soundscapes, it performs the alchemy that inspired its name. Lemonade is life out of lemons, it's shoots growing out of concrete, it's hope at the end of the world.

"[Lemonade] invokes so much of the Yoruba tradition, which is grounded in African tradition," said Dr. Amy Yeboah, associate professor of Africana studies at Howard University. "But it spreads across the diaspora. So you see it in Cuba, you see it in Louisiana. It's a cultural tradition that connects women of the diaspora together."

"This Womanist fairytale — featuring American Southern, Voodoo, and Afrofuturist utopian imagery — is most of all a personal film, though co-directed by seven people, including Beyonce Knowles-Carter herself," writes Miriam Bale for Billboard.

All in all, Lemonade is gospel for the modern era. Lemonade is a literal and figurative story of rebirth, of baptism by fire and of birth through death. Each time it's watched, the video offers more and more gems of wisdom, more hints about how we might all be reborn.

"Lemonade shimmers: history and current events remain co-present. As Beyoncé says, 'The past, and the future merge to meet us here,'' writes Carol Vernallis. More than ever we need recipes for rebirth and healing. Luckily, Beyoncé wrote us one in 2016”.

I know Beyoncé has released other music since Lemonade, though it is the most-recent solo album. I wonder whether we will get another album from her soon, and whether it has a similar ambition and tone as Lemonade. I think it is an album that created such shockwaves that it might take a while for Beyoncé to follow it! This Wikipedia article reveals the sonic, visual and wider impact of a remarkable album:

“Lemonade has been credited with reviving the concept of the album in an era dominated by singles and streaming, and popularizing releasing albums with accompanying films. Jamieson Cox for The Verge called Lemonade "the endpoint of a slow shift toward cohesive, self-centered pop albums", writing that "it’s setting a new standard for pop storytelling at the highest possible scale". Megan Carpentier of The Guardian wrote that Lemonade has "almost revived the album format" as "an immersive, densely textured large-scale work" that can only be listened to in its entirety. Myf Warhurst on Double J's "Lunch With Myf" explained that Beyoncé "changed [the album] to a narrative with an arc and a story and you have to listen to the entire thing to get the concept". The New York Times' Katherine Schulten agreed, asking "How do you talk about the ongoing evolution of the music video and the autobiographical album without holding up Lemonade as an exemplar of both forms?" Joe Coscarelli of The New York Times describes how "some brand-name acts are following Beyoncé’s blueprint with high-concept mini-movies that can add artistic heft to projects," with Frank Ocean's Endless and Drake's Please Forgive Me cited as examples of artists' projects inspired by Lemonade. Other projects said to have followed the precedent that Lemonade set include Lonely Island's The Unauthorized Bash Brothers Experience, Thom Yorke's Anima, Sturgill Simpson's Sound & Fury, and Kid Cudi's Entergalactic, which were all albums released with complementary film projects.

Several musicians were inspired by Lemonade. American rapper Snoop Dogg named his fourteenth studio album Coolaid (2016) after Lemonade. British girl group Little Mix cited Lemonade as an inspiration for their album Glory Days (2016). American singer The-Dream wrote a response to Lemonade titled "Lemon Lean" in his EP Love You To Death, saying that the album changed the way people think about their relationships. American singer Lauren Jenkins used Lemonade as the inspiration for her album and long-form music video No Saint. American comedian Lahna Turner released a visual album entitled Limeade in homage to Lemonade. American singer Matt Palmer was inspired by Lemonade to create his visual EP Get Lost. American musician Todrick Hall's second studio album Straight Outta Oz was made as a visual album due to Lemonade. British singer-songwriter Arrow Benjamin was also inspired by Lemonade for his 2016 EP W.A.R. (We All Rise), saying: "Every piece on this project was created from a visual, so that's why I was extremely inspired when I saw Lemonade." Cardi B was inspired by Lemonade for her upcoming album, which she says is "going to have my Lemonade moments".

Jenna Wortham for The New York Times drew a parallel between both albums as "blueprints for how to take in all that emotion and kind of how to push it back out in a way that’s cathartic and constructive". Dan Weiss of Billboard wrote that Shania Twain's Now "couldn't have existed without" Lemonade, as an album that "completely changed the course of breakup album history" in which the artist is "someone at their full creative peak pushing herself into new niches, dominating new musical territories."

Kadeen Griffiths from Bustle states that Lemonade, as an album that deals with issues related to black women, "paved the way" for Alicia Keys' Here and Solange's A Seat At The Table. Danielle Koku for The Guardian stated that Lemonade aided the return of African mysticism to pop music, writing: "By taking African mysticism to the world stage, Beyoncé stripped it of its ancient pagan labels”. Many critics have noted that Jay-Z's thirteenth studio album 4:44 (2017) is a response to Lemonade, with Jay-Z referencing lines from Lemonade, such as the "You better call Becky with the good hair" line on Beyoncé's "Sorry", with Jay-Z retorting: "Let me alone, Becky" in "Family Feud”.

Ahead of its fifth anniversary on 23rd April, I wanted to write about a very special album. It is an album that everyone should own on vinyl, as I think we will be talking about Beyoncé’s Lemonade for decades to come. This was a musical icon delivering such a profound, staggering and hugely vital album that makes me (and many who hear it) feel so many different emotions each time. Even if you were not invested in Beyoncé’s career up until 2016, everyone has to concede that Lemonade is impossible to ignore and dislike - such is its potency, confidence and brilliance. Five years since it was released into the world, Lemonade must go down as…

A modern masterpiece.

FEATURE: Too Good to Be Forgotten: Songs That Are Much More Than a Guilty Pleasure: The Fratellis - Chelsea Dagger

FEATURE:

 

 

Too Good to Be Forgotten: Songs That Are Much More Than a Guilty Pleasure

The Fratellis - Chelsea Dagger

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IN this current part of my feature…

that highlights songs that are seen as guilty pleasures, I am investigating The Fratellis’ 2006 hit, Chelsea Dagger. My aim is to show that there is no such thing as a guilty pleasure song. A lot of tracks that are seen as such are a lot stronger than many give it credit for. On 28th August, 2006, the Glasgow band unleashed a huge tune. I am including this song, not only because it turns fifteen later in the year; the band released their album, Half Drunk Under a Full Moon, on 2nd April. Whilst some see The Fratellis as a bit of an average band, I think that they are pretty decent. Their debut album, Costello Music, has some great tracks on it. Whilst Chelsea Dagger is not my favourite off that album – that honour goes to Creepin Up The Backstairs -, it is a song that has got some stick through the years – some see it is boozy and a crowd track that is a bit basic and stupid. As Wikipedia outline, Chelsea Dagger has been celebrated and ranked high in critical lists:

“This song was number 77 on Rolling Stone's list of the 100 Best Songs of 2007. "Chelsea Dagger" has become notable for its usage in sports. It has also been featured in adverts for Amstel Light and KitKat, the films Run Fatboy Run and Pitch Perfect, a TV spot for Open Season, an episode of The Inbetweeners, as well as the video games Burnout Dominator and Guitar Hero: On Tour Modern Hits. The song peaked at number 2 on the Scottish Singles Chart and number 5 on the UK Singles Chart and was certified platinum by the British Phonographic Industry in 2018”.

 

I am going to bring in a recent feature from The Guardian, where Jon Fratelli (songwriter, vocals, guitar) and Tony Hoffer (producer) talked about making the song. It is has quite an interesting backstory:

“Jon Fratelli, songwriter, vocals, guitar

From the age of 16 onwards, I spent my time either lying in bed or on the sofa, with the TV on and a guitar in my hands. For some reason, to write songs, those elements just always had to be present. And out of that would come these little ideas. Chelsea Dagger was one.

I was living in a quiet village outside Glasgow. I didn’t know anybody. I hadn’t travelled. I hadn’t really lived. So with that song, I was trying to create this alternative reality – a slightly dodgy underworld I’d never been to, filled with characters I’d never met. Burlesque dancers. Gangsters. Cradle-snatchers. The song has the atmosphere of a sinister old speakeasy.

I wrote it after meeting my girlfriend, who became my wife. At the time, she was building up to her first burlesque performance at Club Noir in Glasgow, which was the world’s biggest burlesque club night. I had no idea what “burlesque” meant. I’ll be honest: at first, it sounded to me like stripping, but I was told in no uncertain terms it was completely different. She’d chosen Chelsea Dagger as her stage name – as a play on Britney Spears – and something told me I could get a song out of that. But I don’t really see her as Miss Dagger, the burlesque dancer in the song. My wife is more wholesome.

PHOTO CREDIT: Sony BMG Entertainment

We went to Los Angeles to record. I wasn’t mad keen on going down the road of the chant vocals. I really wanted to have a New Orleans big band playing. But Tony Hoffer, our producer, had us doing multiple vocal takes from all around the studio. At one point, I seem to remember standing on top of a £60,000 Steinway grand piano.

We didn’t think we’d made a hit. Most musicians are so hard on themselves that they never write something then punch the air. It was nice when Celtic started playing Chelsea Dagger at matches, but I think it got overused at sporting events. There was a period where every third team was using it and it’s hard for any song to keep up. I understand why some journalists formed the opinion that Chelsea Dagger was music for football hooligans, but I would never give any credence to that.

I wasn’t eased into success. It was a headfuck. Of course, there’s a downside to having a song like Chelsea Dagger, but it feels perverse to talk about it, because it’s made my life so much more pleasant. I doubt Rod Stewart wants to be playing Maggie May every night. I’m not even sure if Springsteen wants to play Born to Run. I’m exactly the same. But that’s the deal you make, and you have to do it in good faith. If you do it begrudgingly, people smell that a mile off.

Chelsea Dagger is a song for a crowd. When we play it, we fade into the background and it becomes theirs. That never gets dull”.

I have seen a lot of quite decent songs have to defend themselves. I do not think that one can see any song as a guilty pleasure. Everything is worthy and valuable. If you have been a bit reticent to embrace the howls and chants of Chelsea Dagger then I would encourage you to revisit. It is a powerful song where one cannot help but sing along to the chorus! Maybe it is not the most sophisticated or deep song, but it has a charm and a catchiness that is hard to refute. Rather than see it as a guilty pleasure and a track that should be given a wide berth, check out Costello Music’s second single. I remember when that album came out. It is hard to believe that it is almost fifteen years old! The album is actually pretty strong. It got some positive reviews, though I think it is underrated and warrants a fresh listen. I can appreciate that some feel Chelsea Dagger has been overplayed or has not dated that well. I would disagree. It is a fine song that one should surrender to. You can release energy and tension singing along to it! After years of the song being played and sung along to, Chelsea Dagger remains…

A magnificent racket.

FEATURE: Every Grain of Sand: Bob Dylan at Eighty

FEATURE:

 

 

Every Grain of Sand

PHOTO CREDIT: Ted Russell/Polaris  

Bob Dylan at Eighty

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I realise that I am a little premature…

 PHOTO CREDIT: Ted Russell/Polaris

by marking the eightieth birthday of Bob Dylan. The Guardian recently published an article to mark a series of books that are due to coincide with Dylan’s eightieth. On 24th May, one of the world’s greatest songwriters hits a milestone birthday. Neil Spencer talked to, among other people, Clinton Heylin. He has just released A Restless Hungry Feeling: The Double Life of Bob Dylan Vol 1 1941–1966. I am looking forward to May, when we get to celebrate a musician who continues to release music of the highest order:

“Dylan has certainly lasted extraordinarily well, rebounding from a career low in middle age – his role as a washed-up rock star in 1987’s Hearts of Fire and on disc with the Grateful Dead the same year marked his nadir – into a creative renaissance during his “third act”, a time when most pop stars have long since hung up their rock’n’roll shoes. A revival that began with 1997’s Time Out of Mind has continued with Love and Theft (2001) Modern Times (2006), Tempest (2012) and last year’s Rough and Rowdy Ways, a quartet interspersed with three albums inconsequentially covering the great American songbook (ie Porter, Sinatra and co), a somewhat preposterous Christmas record and a sizeable memoir, 2004’s Chronicles Volume One, not forgetting his brilliant radio series, Theme Time Radio Hour. All have arrived against the background of the “never-ending tour” that Dylan declared back in 1988 and which has since delivered more than 3,000 shows, its progress halted only by the Covid pandemic.

It’s an astonishing work rate that has surely taken its toll. Arthritis means that Dylan can no longer hold a guitar; onstage he plays, and is propped up by, an electric piano. His voice – rarely a thing of beauty and most often an abrasively compelling affair described by David Bowie as “like sand and glue” – is in tatters, obliging him to abandon singing altogether for gravelly, dramatic declamation on Rough and Rowdy Ways. Yet like Matisse, forced to give up oils and canvas for cut-outs around the same age, Dylan remains obstinately true to his art, “refusing to let his career become embalmed” as Paul Morley puts it in his new book, out next month. Once you stop creating, you’re in the past.

Dylan’s trickiness, his elusiveness, indeed his outright dishonesty, are legend. Arriving in New York he would tell people he was an orphan, was born in Oklahoma, had run away with the carnival… anything but the truth, which was always concealed, one reason, presumably, for the title of Heylin’s latest biography, The Double Life of Bob Dylan.

“For sure,” confirms Heylin, “but also something as prosaic as the fact that this exploration of his life will be in two volumes, and most importantly, to reflect Dylan’s Gemini nature; hot and cold, kind and cruel, hard and soft, wild and woolly, and most of all, public and private, artist and man.”

Heylin has long been Dylan’s most accomplished biographer, with 1991’s Behind the Shades moving on the singer’s story from the well-chronicled glory years of the 1960s to the quarter century beyond, and supplying a wealth of original research. The book has been updated three times since, while Heylin has also delivered two volumes analysing Dylan’s songs, Revolution in the Air (2009) and Still on the Road (2010). The arrival of the Dylan archive – Heylin is one of the first to be granted access – has already delivered fresh insights.

“It’s an impressive resource,” says Heylin, “and an important one to have in light of the usual Rock and Roll Hall of Fame approach, which continues to paint Dylan as a quirky protest singer from the 1960s. However, the archive doesn’t really start until after his motorcycle accident in 1966, which is where this volume ends. There are very few manuscripts from before then, but one coup was to go through the entire footage of Don’t Look Back and Eat the Document [DA Pennebaker’s renowned documentaries from 1967 and 1972] in that period of great creativity, where you see Dylan not just in interviews but in conversations, in down time, and witness that mind endlessly whirring… it never turns off!

At 80 Dylan has lived a third of his country’s history, becoming both cultural titan of modern times and shaman from “the old weird America”. He once claimed “the Dylan myth wasn’t created by me - it was a gift from God”, but he has been a willing accomplice, a magus distilling his personal gnosis as much from religion as from music or art, one steeped in Judaism and Christianity, though ancient Rome is a surprisingly consistent strand. Women remain the other element in the alchemy, but despite a trove of love songs, variously tremulous, ardent or betrayed, Dylan remains an old testament prophet, forever promising “A wave that can drown the whole world” or warning “You gotta serve somebody”. Apocalypse is always imminent, but first, he’s heading for another joint on the never-ending tour”.

There will be a lot of articles and features published about Bob Dylan ahead of his eightieth birthday next month. I adore his music and I grew up around his albums. I think my favourite would have to be Bringing It All Back Home of 1965. Although there was a little bit of a slump in the 1980s, I think that he has been amazingly consistent and has released incredible albums through every decade since the 1960s. His thirty-ninth album, Rough and Rowdy Ways, was released last year and ranks alongside his very best!

 PHOTO CREDIT: Chris Pizzello/Associated Press

I wanted to write this feature for a couple of reasons. The books that are out/coming out are really useful and different approaches to an artist who has not only influence generations of musicians; he has also had an enormous impact on society as a whole. I am going to end this feature by bringing in a Bob Dylan playlist. It shows the scope and prolificacy of his genius. I will write a few other features between now and Dylan’s eightieth birthday. I was caught by the article from The Guardian and the interesting books that pay tribute to a remarkable artist. I think Dylan has impacted us all and, even if you are not a massive fan, there will be songs and albums of his that resonate. I have been a big fan since childhood, and I continue to be amazed by his brilliance and the fact that, as he nears eighty, he is in peak form! Let’s hope that we get to enjoy his music for many years to come. I hope that people use Dylan’s eightieth birthday to listen back to as much of his material as possible. From his eponymous 1962 debut album through to a trio of masterpiece albums from 1965’s Bringing It All Back Home, to a fascinating mid-1970s period and his hugely accomplished recent albums, Bob Dylan has released so many amazing and timeless albums. It will be exciting to see how the world salutes and thanks a brilliant artist...

ON his eightieth birthday.

FEATURE: Always and Forever: The Incomparable Luther Vandross at Seventy

FEATURE:

 

Always and Forever

The Incomparable Luther Vandross at Seventy

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I am going to finish off with a playlist…

that contains some of Luther Vandross’ ultimate cuts. The R&B legend is very much missed. Having passed in 2005 (he suffered from diabetes and was confined to a wheelchair in 2003 following a stroke), there has been a huge gap since he left us. As 20th April would have been his seventieth birthday, I am revisiting one of the greatest voices ever (I did a Lockdown Playlist last year I think). As this Wikipedia article illustrates, Vandross left us with a raft of classic tracks:

“Luther Ronzoni Vandross Jr. (April 20, 1951 – July 1, 2005) was an American singer, songwriter, and record producer. Throughout his career, Vandross was an in-demand background vocalist for several different artists including Todd Rundgren, Judy Collins, Chaka Khan, Bette Midler, Diana Ross, David Bowie, Ben E. King, and Donna Summer. He later became a lead singer of the group Change, which released its gold-certified debut album, The Glow of Love, in 1980 on Warner/RFC Records. After Vandross left the group, he was signed to Epic Records as a solo artist and released his debut solo album, Never Too Much, in 1981.

His hit songs include "Never Too Much", "Here and Now", "Any Love", "Power of Love/Love Power", "I Can Make It Better" and "For You to Love". Many of his songs were covers of original music by other artists such as "If This World Were Mine" (duet with Cheryl Lynn), "Since I Lost My Baby", "Superstar", "I (Who Have Nothing)" and "Always and Forever". Duets such as "The Closer I Get to You" with Beyoncé, "Endless Love" with Mariah Carey and "The Best Things in Life Are Free" with Janet Jackson were all hit songs in his career.

During his career, Vandross sold over 35 million records worldwide, and received eight Grammy Awards, including Best Male R&B Vocal Performance four different times. He won a total of four Grammy Awards in 2004 including the Grammy Award for Song of the Year for a song recorded not long before his death, "Dance with My Father".

I am keen to get to a playlist at the end. I want to first source the biography from his official website, because we learn a lot about one of the most extraordinary and influential artists ever:

“In the world of contemporary music, there are just a handful of superstars whose first name alone brings instant recognition. Check Aretha, Whitney, Mariah, Diana and Dionne. But when it comes to male vocalists, the list is far shorter. One name towers above the rest in any discussion of black male singers whose impact and influence has been unparalleled. Say the name “Luther” and record buyers the world over respond immediately. The fact is, Luther Vandross was, and always will be, the pre-eminent black male vocalist of our time.

In the years since Luther’s passing, one constant has remained to define his life and musical success: the voice. Like any great singer of the past 100 years, Luther Vandross’ voice and distinct singing style led to not only monumental success, but an instant recognition when you hear him singing–through your stereo, car radio, on TV or in a movie. Bing. Frank. Billie. Robeson. Aretha. Diana. Dionne. Whitney. Mariah. Michael. Marvin. Luther. It is rarified company, but indelibly classic and everlasting in the annals of American music and a club in which Luther Vandross’ membership is permanent.

Coupled with that voice was Luther’s unique ability to write and sing about love and the shared emotions we all feel in that search for and enjoyment of love. Love of family, friends, that special someone–all were themes Luther explored with his music regularly, reaching many. Through his songs, for the last two generations Luther Vandross became a staple in the most joyous moments of people’s lives.

At the time of Luther’s death in 2005 following complications from a stroke two years earlier, Luther had been in entertainment for 35 years. From his introduction to the world as a singer on the first season of PBS’s Sesame Street in 1969 to winning four Grammy Awards in 2004, Luther was a permanent and dynamic force in popular music. He crossed boundaries, starting with his earliest success as a background vocalist and arranger for David Bowie, Bette Midler, Barbra Streisand, Donna Summer, Carly Simon, Judy Collins, J. Geils Band, Ben E. King, Ringo Starr and Chic. He produced records for Aretha Franklin, Dionne Warwick and Whitney Houston. He wrote one of the climactic musical numbers (“Everybody Rejoice”) for the Tony Award-winning Broadway musical and Academy Award-nominated film The Wiz. Luther’s reach is extensive enough that CBS Sports has used his rendition of “One Shining Moment” for their coverage of the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament since 2003, and Luther performed the National Anthem at Super Bowl XXXI in January 1997 in New Orleans.

Luther was a regular musical performer on the television shows Saturday Night Live, The Tonight Show (Johnny Carson and Jay Leno), Rosie O’Donnell, The Arsenio Hall Show, Solid Gold and Soul Train and was a common performer at Washington DC events in the 1990’s, including The People’s Inaugural Celebration, A Gala for the President at Ford’s Theatre, Christmas In Washington and A Capitol Fourth.

Luther also appeared on Hollywood Squares and Family Feud, and tried his hand at acting on TV’s In Living Color, 227, New York Undercover, Beverly Hills 90210 and Touched By An Angel and in the film The Meteor Man. Luther’s songs have appeared in a vast number of movies, and he contributed original songs for sixteen films, including Bustin’ Loose, The Goonies, Ruthless People, Made In Heaven, House Party, Hero, Money Train and Dr. Dolittle 2.

For almost 25 years, from 1981 to 2005, Luther dominated the American R&B music charts like no other artist before or since. In that span Luther released eight #1 R&B albums, seven #1 R&B singles and another five Top 20 R&B singles. He achieved crossover status with eight Billboard Top 10 albums, including reaching #1 with 2003’s Dance With My Father; and another five Top 10 Billboard Hot 100 singles.

From 1981 to 1996, Luther Vandross released 11 consecutive platinum/double platinum albums on CBS/Sony’s Epic Records label; and at the time of his passing in 2005, 13 of Luther’s 14 studio albums had gone Platinum or multi-platinum.

Luther’s success was not confined to the United States, with record sales of over 40 million worldwide since 1981, including four Top 10 UK albums (one #1). In March 1989, Luther Vandross was the first male artist to sell out 10 consecutive live shows at London’s Wembley Arena.

Overall, Luther received 31 Grammy Award nominations, winning eight times. Additionally, Luther won eight American Music Awards, including Favorite Soul/R&B Male Artist seven times.

Throughout his distinguished career, Luther Vandross was active in charitable causes with the United Negro College Fund and the NY Chapter of the American Diabetes Association, in addition to performing at numerous charity concerts, most notably Michael Jackson’s Heal The World concerts in the 1990’s. Luther also contributed “The Christmas Song” to the A Very Special Christmas 2 record released in 1992 to benefit the Special Olympics.

Luther Vandross was a musical master whose style has influenced an entire generation of today’s vocalists. His distinctive brand of satin smooth vocal magic moved international audiences and continues to touch people to this day”.

To mark the seventieth birthday (on 20th April) of an icon and much-missed artist, I am ending with a playlist featuring some phenomenal Luther Vandross tracks. You only need to listen to one or two to understand just what a talent he was! Although we will never hear anyone like him again, I think that he has inspired so many artists. His legacy and importance remains strong. That is why I was keen to pay tribute to…

ONE of the all-time greats.

FEATURE: Modern Heroines: Part Forty-Two: Jehnny Beth

FEATURE:

 

 

Modern Heroines

Part Forty-Two: Jehnny Beth

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THERE are a few reasons why…

this part of Modern Heroines features Jehnny Beth. The French songwriter, born Camille Berthomier, is one of my favourite artists right now. She used to be in the band, Savages. Their final studio album, Adore Life, turned five earlier in the year. I loved Savages, though I can understand why they went their separates ways. One only needs to listen to Savages to realise that Jehnny Beth is a force of nature! I also wanted to include Jehnny Beth as her debut studio album, TO LOVE IS TO LIVE, was released last year. I think it is quite underrated, despite the fact that it got some great reviews. I am going to bring in some interviews and a bit of information about her book, C.A.L.M.: Crimes Against Love Memories, that she produced with Johnny Hostile. If you have not heard Jehnny Beth’s debut solo album, then check out TO LOVE IS TO LIVE. It is a magnificent album that has that blend of power and sensitivity. This is what CLASH wrote in their review:

“You might think that after being nominated for two Mercury Prizes, you would feel accomplished. But Savages’ Jehnny Beth said, f*ck that and has sculpted what could possibly be the album of the year by leaps and bounds, ‘To Love Is To Live’.

‘To Love Is To Live’ is Beth’s debut solo album, a cathartic tour de force founded upon a marriage of vulnerability and power reflecting upon her own emotional pilgrimage. “I am naked all the time” — the opening line of ‘I Am’, symbolic of fragility, is voiced in a low-pitched grumble coupled with sinister and ghoulish waves that could have been plucked straight out of the Stranger Things soundtrack. It all feels rather spooky until the track seamlessly melts into a desperate and poignant torrent of tenderness and emotion.

Again Beth uses the bent, low-pitch of ‘I Am’, mimicking the assertive, congenital dominance presented by the male species. Grappling with the notions of power and inequality, ‘Innocent’ is Beth’s middle finger to the patriarchy. Crafted of dense bass and brisk drum attacks, the track emits unapologetic confidence. This is further emphasised when the album reaches its most chaotic with the anarchic and face-melting sixth track, ‘I’m The Man’. This fan favourite is a frenzied discourse of masculinity.

And it soon becomes a common theme placing the delicate amongst the brazen. This is most prominent in ‘Flowers’, a treasured BBC Radio 6 pick. Beth’s semi-whispered vocals get swept under a thick rug of jugular bass, frantic keys and a half-shouted chorus.

As the result of self-scrutiny and discovery, the songwriter frequents Catholic imagery in her lyrics with tracks such as ‘Innocence’ and ‘We Will Sin Together’, but is referenced in some way in each track. It seems as though Jehnny Beth is breaking free with ‘To Love Is To Live’ as her own echo chamber, which is briefly shared with a cameo from Idles’ Joe Talbot.

Nearing its close, ‘The French Countryside’ takes the album onto a gentler path. Hearing Jehnny Beth actually sing almost sounds strange, but oddly comforting with the addition of a melancholy piano and mellow strings into the bargain. Creating a cyclic structure, the ultimate track ‘Human’ is dark and poetic, hearing those strings as a horror movie instead of a drama.

‘To Love Is To Live’ is a sonic poltergeist with sentiment to boot”.

I normally end these features with a career-spanning collection of songs from that artist. As Jehnny Beth has only one solo album to her name, I am including songs form her Savages days (she also performed in the duo, John & Jehn, alongside Johnny Hostile). I think that we are going to see a lot of compelling and challenging albums from the remarkable artist. She is not only one of the most interesting songwriters of today; her live performances are so sensational! Before I come to the C.A.L.M. book, I think it is worth introducing an interview Jehnny Beth conducted to promote TO LOVE IS TO LIVE. NME spoke with Jehnny Beth about a stunning solo introduction:  

“And what better exercise in self-analysis and discovery than putting together your debut solo album? On Friday, Beth arrives with ‘TO LOVE IS TO LIVE’, an assured collection of pummelling industrial rock and soaring cinematic sounds, which back the French punk provocateur’s most raw and personal lyrics to date. The last Savages’ record, 2016’s ‘Adore Life’, was adorned on its sleeve by a fist; a symbol of the defiant spirit of the record within – tackling sex, power, fluidity and freedom. ‘TO LOVE IS TO LIVE’ feels like a much more open gesture, inviting you to get to know who Jehnny Beth really is. The sleeve this time is a naked statue of the singer, exposed yet primed to face the world.

 Savages soon gained a reputation worldwide for their rabid and confrontational live shows, with Beth often drawing comparisons to the intensity of Joy Division’s Ian Curtis as a performer. You might have also witnessed this when she went on tour with Gorillaz a couple of years back after singing on ‘We Got The Power’ from 2017’s ‘Humanz’ alongside Noel Gallagher. Pained by being unable to step on stage for a while due to COVID, she’s found another outlet for her fighting spirit.

“The stage for me is where I can push the physical boundaries, be in the present and be absorbed by this total energy,” she says. “I do miss it a lot since I stopped touring with Gorillaz to work on the record. However, I’ve found the energy again at home through boxing. The boxing ring shares a lot of aspects with the stage. There’s an attitude you need to get. It makes you mentally as well as physically strong.”

Beth first had the epiphany to step away from Savages and touring to focus on her own music in 2016. Like many of us, she awoke in the early hours of January 10, opened her phone and was struck down by the news that David Bowie had died. As well as spending the day poring over his final album and parting gift ‘Blackstar’, she felt the pang that something was missing in her own life. “I realised that one day I’m gonna be gone, so in my core I felt that there was something that I hadn’t done yet,” she admits, “and that was this record.”

 Asked if there was anything restrictive about Savages that drove her to go solo, she blurts out a playful “ha!” followed by a very pensive pause. “You know what? It’s all down to a life and death situation. I know it sounds quite dramatic, alright, but hear me out.”

With the album written before the onset of COVID-19, and this interview taking place before the killing of George Floyd and the subsequent worldwide protests for racial equality, little did Beth know that reality in 2020 would continue to escalate.

Still, Beth admits that many aspects of ‘TO LOVE IS TO LIVE’ became “quite magic and premonitory” – not least for its title calling for connection and togetherness. “I used to be a human being, now I live on the web… take what’s left of me and my free time,” she sings on ‘Human’, seemingly predicting our days lost to Zoom calls, as well as our desensitization through an endless algorithm of shocking headlines. ‘Innocence’ meanwhile, takes us to a vast city where everyone feels disconnected, alone and riddled with self-doubt despite being surrounded.

“There’s rage piling up on these songs as you wonder where humanity has been and where it has gone,” Beth tells NME. “Those ideas felt quite scandalous and frightening, but then a song felt like the right place for them to exist.”

Another fiction she tackles is love, and how desires don’t always fit the shapes that love songs present you with. “She loves me and I love her, I’m not sure how to please her,” she pines on ‘Flower’, written for a dancer she fell for at Jumbo’s Clown Room, the raucous landmark Hollywood burlesque bar, frequented by the stars and where Courtney Love used to dance in the early ‘90s.

“That song is shouting about the unknown,” says Beth. “When you’re in love and not sure if you’re going to be loved back, that sensation is quite tender and exciting. It definitely makes you feel alive”.

I think that Jehnny Beth is already one of the finest artists in the world. I know that she has the promise and talent to be an icon of the future! TO LOVE IS TO LIVE is an album that I keep returning to, as there are so many songs that have stuck in my mind and I need to revisit. If you can get a copy of C.A.L.M.: Crimes Against Love Memories, then do so. This is how Rough Trade describe the book:

“This is the uncompromising vision of Jehnny Beth and Johnny Hostile. Fearless and highly erotic, these stories delight in ideas of sexual transgression and liberation, offering a window onto a world where anything is permitted, and everything is safe. As each of Jehnny Beth and Johnny Hostile's characters break from the bonds of acceptability and enter a darkness of desire, submission and sex, they discover their own humanity, a place where they can truly be free.

A manifesto in the form of erotic photography, monologues and dialogues, Johnny Hostile's stimulating photography punctuates Jehnny Beth's seductive prose. Collapsing the barriers between sex an art while examining the universal values of human existence and consciousness through uninhibited desire, C.A.L.M. established Jehnny Beth and Johnny Hostile as two of the bravest and most provocative voices in fiction and erotic art today.

The full collection of Johnny Hostile's photography is featured in a hardcover limited-edition photographic art book of C.A.L.M.”.

 PHOTO CREDIT: Andrew Benge/Redferns

I wrote about C.A.L.M.: Crimes Against Love Memories when it was released. I compared it to Madonna’s Sex book of 1992. She released that alongside Eroitca, so that we got this sort of companion book to a sensational album. Madonna received a lot of flack from the press because of the explicit nature of the book and album. Forward to 2020 and we have this modern-day equivalent. Whilst Madonna and Jehnny Beth are very different artists, it is impossible not to draw comparisons. Jehnny Beth spoke with The Quietus about the book:

“Not that either of us abide by a gendering of gallantry, as she tells me of her image: "I don't really think of myself as a man when I'm doing this." Yet a tough pomp trusses Jehnny Beth's new album, To Love Is To Live and her forthcoming book of erotic stories with photography by Johnny Hostile, C.A.L.M. She is a practiced interviewer and interviewee – but her polish doesn't evade difficulty. Rather, as she continues our conversation from Paris, it allows her to civilly lock horns as we discuss artists who dare not to please. As she sings in 'Innocence', "Not my duty to give you shelter/Not my duty to give you hope."

C.A.L.M. (Crimes Against Love Memories, released via White Rabbit books this July) presents adventures in gore, piss and abject passion with a forensic detachment that recalls Bataille, De Sade, Anais Nin and Patrick Suskind. On the other hand, the surreal, menacing soundscape of 'To Love Is To Live' is a dark pop drama. Throughout, adrenaline-fuelled drum machine, siren synth, amorous brass, street voices, and a ticking clock underpin Jehnny Beth's gripping vocals. Soaring from sorrowful whisper to Enya-like harmonies, creeping from cold proclamation to crepuscular beast, she's never sounded better. Melding electronica, punk, jazz and noise, she skulks through these songs of doubt – of romantic love, of the self – with a rent-boy glamour. And just when the gleaming production feels perhaps a little too controlled, she slashes its compression with a vomit of emotion in the cyberpunk thrash of 'How Could You'. She's equally piercing as we discuss her struggle to create a space, in book and album, free of social conditioning.

For me, a recurring theme unites your album and new book, C.A.L.M. You seem to suggest that by being 'sinful', we reclaim innocence. Your opening song, 'I Am' and the narrator in the story 'Bitching', both speak of "burning inside" – and this burning is far from 'wrong'. Rather, the dogging, the group sex in the story, is an act of love. 'Burning' feels like a metaphor for purification. And burning turns up again in the song, 'We Will Sin Together'.  Elsewhere in the album, you sing, "I'm done with trying to fix what's wrong" and "your safe is my danger". So, I must ask, what is 'sin', for you?

Jehnny Beth: [Laughing] That is probably the best introduction to an interview I've had. You've really brought together the book and the album. When I wrote those lyrics in 2016 and 2017, they were about survival. I felt bereft of my own self. A lot of reasons behind that were to do with extensive touring. Also, the first time I came to London, I was 15. I never really looked back. I accomplished a lot with Savages, in terms of finding an artistic identity. But I found that what was burning inside, from being a teenager, was that question, "Who am I?"

I grew up as a bisexual although, despite my experiences, it took me a long time to name it. It created the anxiety of feeling I was living a lie. As a bisexual, whether you're with a man or a woman, you're always excluding the other part of yourself. In my younger life, I even desired to kill myself because the pain was too strong. Music saved me – and my relationship with Johnny Hostile, which was very open-minded. There was never anything we couldn't talk about.

Sin, as it's been told to me… My grandma is very religious but my parents were not. My sister and I are the only ones in our family not baptized. This caused quite a stir with my grandma. She bought me a Bible and cross and took me to church. I would pray every night through the Virgin Mary. I loved the discipline and the rituals. But I think the conditioning that was imposed on me is that what happens in your mind, whether or not concretized, is a sin. They [the Catholics] go deeply into your brain and are already closing doors, there. Through my art, I was trying to open those doors.

I wanted to write a book of erotic fiction because I feel fantasies should be free of sin. They shouldn't be attached to any social or political stigmas or be constrained, because they are between you and your mind”.

I am interested to see where Jehnny Beth heads next. After an accomplished and incredible debut solo album, there is going to be a lot of interest regarding a follow-up. TO LOVE IS TO LIVE is proof that, whether solo or with The Savages, she is one of the greatest modern-day songwriters and performers. There is no doubt that Jehnny Beth is going to be an iconic artist of the future. I love everything she puts out so, looking ahead, I am definitely going to…

KEEP my eyes and ears peeled.

FEATURE: The Hope Six Demolition Project at Five: PJ Harvey’s Finest Cuts

FEATURE:

 

 

The Hope Six Demolition Project at Five

PJ Harvey’s Finest Cuts

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I like celebrating quite big album anniversaries…

and, even though PJ Harvey’s ninth studio album, The Hope Six Demolition Project, is five tomorrow (15th April), I feel it is worth marking! I think that the album is quite underrated and warrants new inspection. Prior to the album’s release, this is how PJ Harvey’s official website announced the release:

“This spring sees the release of PJ Harvey’s ninth studio album,

The Hope Six Demolition Project, on April 15th through Island Records.

The Hope Six Demolition Project draws from several journeys undertaken by Harvey, who spent time in Kosovo, Afghanistan and Washington, D.C. over a four-year period. “When I’m writing a song I visualise the entire scene. I can see the colours, I can tell the time of day, I can sense the mood, I can see the light changing, the shadows moving, everything in that picture. Gathering information from secondary sources felt too far removed for what I was trying to write about. I wanted to smell the air, feel the soil and meet the people of the countries I was fascinated with”, says Harvey.

The album was recorded last year in residency at London’s Somerset House. The exhibition, entitled ‘Recording in Progress’ saw Harvey, her band, producers Flood and John Parish, and engineers working within a purpose-built recording studio behind one-way glass, observed throughout by public audiences”.

I am going to end this feature with a selection of the best PJ Harvey cuts. I know I have included a Harvey playlist before but, as her latest studio album is five, it is worth coming back to her fabulous music! In their review of The Hope Six Demolition Project, this is what The Guardian wrote:

“Tellingly, The Hope Six Demolition Project is better still when Harvey hands over the songs’ narrative voice to others. The Community of Hope more or less transcribes a Washington Post journalist’s running commentary while driving Harvey around the city’s roughest neighbourhoods, perfectly capturing the point where impotent hopelessness – “This is just drug town, just zombies, but that’s just life … the school just looks like a shithole” – collapses into cynicism: “They’re gonna put a Wal-Mart here,” it concludes, in a rousing massed chorus. A Line in the Sand, meanwhile, is flatly terrifying. This time the voice is of a worker in a refugee camp, detailing the horrors he’s seen – refugees murdering each other over air-dropped food, “a displaced family eating a cold horse’s hoof” – the whole thing somehow rendered bleaker still by the fact that Harvey sings his words to a jaunty, skipping melody, in a blithe, high-pitched voice.

The Hope Six Demolition Project is full of moments like that, where the experiment unequivocally works, to pretty devastating effect. Even when it doesn’t – when the words seem a little hollow or heavy-handed, attended by a distinct hint of think-about-it-yeah? – it’s still a hugely enjoyable album, potent-sounding, stuffed with tunes great enough to drown out the occasional lyrical shortcomings. By anybody else’s standards, it would be a triumph, but it’s hard to escape the feeling that Harvey was after something more than a hugely enjoyable, potent-sounding album stuffed with great tunes – in which case, she’ll have to settle for a qualified success”.

To mark the fifth anniversary of one of the world’s greatest artist’s current studio album, the playlist below combines some of PJ Harvey’s very finest tracks. As you will hear, when it comes to the music of Polly Jean, she has been releasing stunning music since the start. She truly is…

A musical treasure.

FEATURE: The Snow Is Coming… Kate Bush in 2011

FEATURE:

 

 

The Snow Is Coming…

 IN THIS PHOTO: Kate Bush in a promotional photo for 2011’s Director’s Cut

Kate Bush in 2011

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I feel like I have discussed Kate Bush and the fact…

that 1978 and 2011 have parallels. Both years saw her release two albums. In 1978, it was her debut album, The Kick Inside, and its follow-up, Lionheart. In 2011, she put out Director’s Cut…then came 50 Words for Snow. I am writing this feature because Director’s Cut turns ten next month. It is an album where Bush reworked songs from 1989’s The Sensual World and 1993’s The Red Shoes. I think that, if anything, Bush was a little more pushed in 2011 than 1978. She put out two albums within about six months of one another! Although 1978 was a frantic years where she barely had chance to rest, I think that there is something about Director’s Cut and 50 Words for Snow that is more complex and hard work. The former is an album where she had to rework old songs. That may sound simply, yet it is not as simple as doing a new version of those songs. Bush stripped back the tracks and reworked them. It was almost like doing a new album from scratch. There are those who question whether it was necessary to rework those songs and put out Director’s Cut. I think that any Kate Bush album is a great thing and, if Director’s Cut was not essential and among her best, it was a chance for her to correct songs that she felt were not at their best originally. Bush also set up her Fish People label at the time. Director’s Cut arrived on that label and EMI – who had released every album prior to Director’s Cut. It was obviously important to get Director’s Cut out and sort of deal with ‘old’ material before putting anything new into the world.

I am going to bring in a review for Director’s Cut and an interview before moving onto 50 Words for Snow. On Director’s Cut, Bush didn’t have that many other musicians playing with her. Her brother, Paddy, was there as you’d expect. Her other half, Danny McIntosh, was also there, as was Eric Clapton, Gary Brooker and her son, Albert McIntosh. A few other people were involved. Compare that to 1993’s The Red Shoes or even 2005’s Aerial and it is a smaller crew. I guess the main thing was re-recording the vocals and having a slightly stripped-back sound. Even so, it would have taken a while to make sure the songs sounded as she had hoped. After all, releasing an album where certain songs are ‘improved’ would have been futile if she were not satisfied with the results. Nobody was really expecting a couple of albums from Bush six years after the double album, Aerial. It is clear that she had new music brewing, though she also wanted to clear the decks and redo some songs that she was not entirely happy with. I have speculated whether you could do the same with songs from even earlier in her career. It is unlikely, although I would be interested to hear how she re-versioned some songs from Never for Ever or The Dreaming! Although some felt that it was a bit sacrilegious redoing some great songs from two of her previous albums, Director’s Cut received a lot of praise.

This is what AllMusic observed in their review:

“During her early career, Kate Bush released albums regularly despite her reputation as a perfectionist in the studio. Her first five were released within seven years. After The Hounds of Love in 1985, however, the breaks between got longer: The Sensual World appeared in 1989 and The Red Shoes in 1993. Then, nothing before Aerial, a double album issued in 2005. It's taken six more years to get The Director's Cut, an album whose material isn't new, though its presentation is. Four of this set's 11 tracks first appeared on The Sensual World, while the other seven come from The Red Shoes. Bush's reasons for re-recording these songs is a mystery. She does have her own world-class recording studio, and given the sounds here, she's kept up with technology. Some of these songs are merely tweaked, and pleasantly so, while others are radically altered. The two most glaring examples are "Flower of the Mountain" (previously known as "The Sensual World") and "This Woman's Work." The former intended to use Molly Bloom's soliloquy from James Joyce's novel Ulysses as its lyric; Bush was refused permission by his estate. That decision was eventually reversed; hence she re-recorded the originally intended lyrics. And while the arrangement is similar, there are added layers of synth and percussion. Her voice is absent the wails and hiccupy gasps of her youthful incarnation.

These have been replaced by somewhat huskier, even more luxuriant and elegant tones. On the latter song, the arrangement of a full band and Michael Nyman's strings are replaced by a sparse, reverbed electric piano which pans between speakers. This skeletal arrangement frames Bush's more prominent vocal which has grown into these lyrics and inhabits them in full: their regrets, disappointments, and heartbreaks with real acceptance. She lets that voice rip on "Lilly," supported by a tougher, punchier bassline, skittering guitar efx, and a hypnotic drum loop. Bush's son Bertie makes an appearance as the voice of the computer (with Auto-Tune) on "Deeper Understanding." On "RubberBand Girl," Bush pays homage to the Rolling Stones' opening riff from "Street Fighting Man" in all its garagey glory (which one suspects was always there and has now been uncovered). The experience of The Director's Cut, encountering all this familiar material in its new dressing, is more than occasionally unsettling, but simultaneously, it is deeply engaging and satisfying”.

Before coming to 50 Words for Snow, I want to source from an interview Bush conducted in 2011. Speaking with Interview Magazine, she explained why she wanted to take Director’s Cut on:

“EHRLICH: It’s funny. I’d think revisiting those songs would almost be like looking at old photographs or reading old love letters from a long time ago, because as a songwriter, the emotions that you’re tapping into are the most primal, raw, and immediate ones. Was it strange to step into the emotional clothing you had worn 20 years ago and see how it fit and wonder, Who is this person?

BUSH: Yeah, it was. At first, it was quite difficult, and, at a couple of points, I nearly gave up the whole process. I found that by just slightly lowering the key of most of the songs, suddenly it kind of gave me a way in, because my voice is just lower now. So that helped me to step back into it. And although they were old songs, it all started to feel very much like a new process and, in a lot of ways, ended up feeling like I was just making a new album—it’s just that the material was already written. When I listen to it now, it feels like a new record to me.

EHRLICH: Why did you decide to re-record existing material rather than do something new, or just release the old versions remixed, or whatever?

BUSH: Well, I really didn’t see it as a substitute for a greatest hits package, but it was something I’d wanted to do for a few years. I guess I just kind of felt like there were songs on those two albums [The Sensual World and The Red Shoes (1993)] that were quite interesting but that they could really benefit from having new life breathed into them. I don’t really listen to my old stuff, but on occasion, I would either hear a track on the radio or a friend might play me one, and there was generally a bit of an edgy sound to it, which was mainly due to the digital equipment that we were using, which was state of the art at the time—and I think everyone felt pressured to be working that way. But I still remain a huge fan of analog. So there were elements of the production that I felt were either a little bit dated or a bit cluttered. So what I wanted to do was empty them out and let the songs breathe more”.

Not only is Director’s Cut coming up for its tenth anniversary; it is almost a decade since Kate Bush put out 50 Words for Snow. In November 2011, we were not ready for a second Bush album in a year! She knew that she wanted to put out her second album of that year before the end of the winter as she would have had to have held it back to the following winter otherwise – what with the snowy themes, it wouldn’t have sounded right to put it out in the spring! Though she could have released it early in 2012, I think that she knew from the start that she wanted these two albums out in 2011. The first album entirely released on her Fish People label, she had no timescales or any big input from EMI. A completely different entity to Director’s Cut, Bush would have been working on both albums alongside one another. There was this overlap where she had material for her tenth studio album; at the same time, she was putting the final touches on Director’s Cut. I can only imagine the scenes in the Bush household as 50 Words for Snow was coming together! It must have been tense trying to get everything ready for release. Whereas Director’s Cut was quite bare because the songs were intended to be a bit less cluttered than they were on the original albums, 50 Words for Snow had a deceptive bareness. I think the compositions are gorgeous and beautiful, yet they are also quite intricate and full at the same time. Again, to switch headspace and moods so quickly is quite a skill - and it must have proven tricky!

In terms of personnel, things were fairly tight again. The only returning musician – apart from her son and other half – was Steve Gadd on percussion. I wonder whether Paddy Bush would have been offered a part? I suppose 50 Words for Snow’s sound and reliance on guitar, piano and percussion meant that there was not a lot for him to do! I think that 50 Words for Snow is one of Bush’s best albums. It received huge critical kudos. Maybe the experience of stripping songs for Director’s Cut naturally led Bush to create something fairly similar for her next album. In this review, The Guardian were keen to show some love:

“But in one sense, these peculiarities aren't really that peculiar, given that this is an album by Bush. She has form in releasing Christmas records, thanks to 1980's December Will Be Magic Again, on which she imagined herself falling softly from the sky on a winter's evening. She does it again here on opener Snowflake, although anyone looking for evidence of her artistic development might note that 30 years ago she employed her bug-eyed Heeeath-CLIFF! voice and plonking lyrical references to Bing Crosby and "old St Nicholas up the chimney" to conjure the requisite sense of wonder. Today, she gets there far more successfully using only a gently insistent piano figure, soft flurries of strings and percussion and the voice of her son Bertie.

Meanwhile, Fry's is merely the latest unlikely guest appearance – Bush has previously employed Lenny Henry, Rolf Harris (twice) and the late animal imitator Percy Edwards, the latter to make sheep noises on the title track of 1982's The Dreaming. Equally, Fairweather Low is not the first person called upon to pretend to be someone else on a Bush album, although she usually takes that upon herself, doing impersonations to prove the point: Elvis on Aerial's King of the Mountain, a gorblimey bank robber on There Goes a Tenner. Finally, in song at least, Bush has always displayed a remarkably omnivorous sexual appetite: long before the Yeti and old Snow Balls showed up, her lustful gaze had variously fixed on Adolf Hitler, a baby and Harry Houdini.

No, the really peculiar thing is that 50 Words for Snow is the second album in little over six months from a woman who took six years to make its predecessor and 12 to make the one before that. If it's perhaps stretching it to say you can tell it's been made quickly – no one is ever going to call an album that features Lake Tahoe's operatic duet between a tenor and a counter-tenor a rough-and-ready lo-fi experience – it certainly feels more intuitive than, say, Aerial, on which a lot of time and effort had clearly been expended in the pursuit of effortlessness. For all the subtle beauty of the orchestrations, there's an organic, live feel, the sense of musicians huddled together in a room, not something that's happened on a Bush album before.

That aside, 50 Words for Snow is extraordinary business as usual for Bush, meaning it's packed with the kind of ideas you can't imagine anyone else in rock having. Taking notions that look entirely daft on paper and rendering them into astonishing music is very much Bush's signature move. There's something utterly inscrutable and unknowable about how she does it that has nothing to do with her famous aversion to publicity. Better not to worry, to just listen to an album that, like the weather it celebrates, gets under your skin and into your bones”.

Bush did not provide that much press for Director’s Cut. I guess, as the album is her reworking older songs, there was not to much to say regarding the songs’ origins and meaning – as we all pretty much knew all of that already. That was not the case with 50 Words for Snow. Between radio interviews and press chats, Bush was very generous with her time! I suppose, as she had put out two albums in a year, she was eager to discuss her latest work. In 2014, The Quietus published a 2011 interview where John Doran chatted with her about 50 Words for Snow:

“So Aerial is full of images of clear skies, still water, warm days and it’s full of the bustle of family life and an easy domesticity. 50 Words For Snow is a similarly beautiful album but there is a chill to it - it lacks the warmth of its predecessor. I wondered if it represented another switch from an autobiographical to a narrative song writing approach?

KB: Yeah, I think it’s much more a kind of narrative story-telling piece. I think one of the things I was playing with on the first three tracks was trying to allow the song structure to evolve the story telling process itself; so that it’s not just squashed into three or four minutes, so I could just let the story unfold.

I’ve only heard the album today so I can’t say I’m completely aware of every nuance but I have picked out a few narrative strands. Would it be fair enough to say that it starts with a birth and ends with a death?

KB: No, not at all. Not to my mind anyway. It may start with a birth but it’s the birth of a snowflake which takes its journey from the clouds to the ground or to this person’s hand. But it’s not really a conceptual piece; it’s more that the songs are loosely held together with this thread of snow.

Fair play. Now some of your fans may have been dismayed to read that there were only seven songs on the album but they should be reassured at this point that the album is 65 minutes long, which makes for fairly long tracks. How long did it take you to write these songs and in the course of writing them did you discard a lot of material?

KB: This has been quite an easy record to make actually and it’s been quite a quick process. And it’s been a lot of fun to make because the process was uninterrupted. What was really nice for me was I did it straight off the back of Director’s Cut, which was a really intense record to make. When I finished it I went straight into making this so I was very much still in that focussed space; still in that kind of studio mentality. And also there was a sense of elation that suddenly I was working from scratch and writing songs from scratch and the freedom that comes with that.

Had you always wanted to do 50 Words For Snow or were you just on a roll after Director’s Cut?

KB: No, they were both records that I’d wanted to do for some time. But obviously I had to get Director’s Cut done before I could start this one... Well, I guess I could have waited until next year but this record had to come out at this time of year, it isn’t the sort of thing I could have put it out in the summer obviously.

Did the snow theme come from an epiphany or a particular grain or idea? Was there one particular day when you happened to be in the snow…

KB: No. I don’t think there was much snow going on through the writing of this… it was more to do with my memories of snow I suppose and the exploration of the images that come with it.

Have you worked with Andy Fairweather Low before, the [Amen Corner] vocalist who presumably plays the role of the hirsute gentleman of the mountains?

KB: [laughing] Hirsute? Well, no, Andy doesn’t play the hirsute beastie, he’s one of the people on the expedition into the Himalayas. But I think that Andy just has one of the greatest voices. I just love his voice. When I wrote the song I just thought, ‘I’ve got to get Andy to sing on this song because he sounds great.’ Which I think he does. He’s just got a fantastic voice.

Now, ‘Snowed In At Wheeler Street’ features the vocal talents of Sir Elton John and I was wondering, was the track written with him in mind?

KB: Yes. Absolutely.

How long have you known him?

KB: Oooh. I’ve known him for a long time. He used to be one of my greatest musical heroes. He was such an inspiration to me when I was starting to write songs. I just adored him. I suppose at that time a lot of the well-known performers and writers were quite guitar based but he could play really hot piano. And I’ve always loved his stuff. I’ve always been a fan so I kind of wrote the song with him in mind. And I’m just blown away by his performance on it. Don’t you think it’s great?

I love the way out of the fifty words that you come up with for snow, without a bit of digging round I wouldn’t have been able to tell you which words were real, which were made up, which were partially true and which were obscure, archaic or foreign. I know that the whole idea of Eskimos having 50 words for snow is false but at the same time I do know that the Sami people of Lapland do actually have hundreds of words for snow. But from your point of view where did the idea for such a beautiful and weird song come from?

KB: Well, I’m really pleased you like it. Years ago I think I must have heard this idea that there were 50 words for snow in this, ah, Eskimo Land! And I just thought it was such a great idea to have so many words about one thing. It is a myth - although, as you say it may hold true in a different language - but it was just a play on the idea, that if they had that many words for snow, did we?

IN THIS PHOTO: Kate Bush in a promotional photo for 50 Words for Snow/PHOTO CREDIT: John Carder Bush 

If you start actually thinking about snow in all of its forms you can imagine that there are an awful lot of words about it. Just in our immediate language we have words like hail, slush, sleet, settling… So this was a way to try and take it into a more imaginative world. And I really wanted Stephen to read this because I wanted to have someone who had an incredibly beautiful voice but also someone with a real sense of authority when he said things. So the idea was that the words would get progressively more silly really but even when they were silly there was this idea that they would have been important, to still carry weight. And I really, really wanted him to do it and it was fantastic that he could do it”.

I will leave things there. I was thinking about Kate Bush and 2011 because, on 5th April, Director’s Cut’s Deeper Understanding turned ten. Releasing only one singe from each album (Wild Man was the single from 50 Words for Snow), Bush was keen for people to listen to the albums as a whole – she also only put out one single, King of the Mountain, from 2005’s Aerial. Props to her for not only putting out two albums in 2011; both albums are terrific and completely different – perhaps not something one can say about her two albums from 1978. Although nobody could have predicted it, Kate Bush fans were treated to…

TWO brilliant records in one year!

FEATURE: Vinyl Corner: Julien Baker – Little Oblivions

FEATURE:

 

 

Vinyl Corner

Julien Baker – Little Oblivions

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IN this Vinyl Corner…

I am concentrating on an album that was released just this year. Julien Baker’s excellent Little Oblivions is an album I would encourage people to get on vinyl. This is how Rough Trade describe the record:

“Little Oblivions is the third studio album by Julien Baker. Recorded in Memphis, TN, the record weaves together unflinching autobiography with assimilated experience and hard-won observations from the past few years, taking Baker’s capacity for storytelling to new heights. It also marks a sonic shift, with the songwriter’s intimate piano and guitar arrangements newly enriched by bass, drums, keyboards, banjo, and mandolin with nearly all of the instruments performed by Baker”.

Tennessee-born Baker has received widespread critical acclaim for her music. Her songs often tackle issues of spirituality, addiction, mental illness, and human nature. In addition to her solo work, Baker is known as a member of Boygenius alongside Phoebe Bridgers and Lucy Dacus. I think she is one of the finest artists on the scene and, on her remarkable third solo album, she has hit new levels of brilliance. I haven’t heard songs from Little Oblivions played a lot on radio since its release. It is a pity, as it is such a fine record with so many highlights. The single, Hardline, is one of my favourite of the year. I think that Baker will continue to grow as an artist. With three terrific solo albums under her belt, one can see and hear that quality.

The reviews for Little Oblivions have been largely positive. In their review of the album, DIY observed the following:

“I’m telling my own fortune, something I cannot escape,” offers Julien Baker on ‘Hardline’, the opening track on her expansive third studio album; a step away from the acoustic led singer-songwriter affair of her first two outings. Her words perfectly establish what’s to follow across the record’s twelve tracks, songs that continue to make often self-deprecating observations about herself and others that feel as vital as they are inescapable. Julien has forged a space from laying her demons bare and the hunt for some semblance of solace, and ‘Little Oblivions’ is no different.

Like slow-burning debut ‘Sprained Ankle’ and 2017’s ‘Turn Out The Lights’, Julien’s latest doesn’t attest to look for answers. By closer ‘Ziptie’, her outlook is as bleak as it has largely always been. “Tired of collecting my scars,” she sings, “somebody’s got my head in a ziptie.” The lyrics are accompanied by an expanse of instrumentation previously absent from her sound, and drums drive ‘Little Oblivions’ forward with a disarming urgency. At times, the hushed subtlety of the two previous records is all-but forgotten, not least as ‘Ringside’ leans on heavy reverb and ‘Repeat’ turns to electronic pulses and distorted vocals. It’s new territory for Julien, but one she traverses with ease, complementing her more overt tales of faith, inebriation and inter-personal relationships”.

I would encourage everyone to buy the album. Although the lyrics are very honest and, at times, brutal, it does not make for an uncomfortable listen. The songs are revealing and captivating – something many critics have picked up on. This is what CLASH said in their review:

“You say it isn’t cut and dry, oh it’s not all black and white,” Julien Baker sings at the outset of ‘Little Oblivions’. “What if it’s all black, baby, all the time?”

Since 2015’s ‘Sprained Ankle’, appropriately, the Tennessee songwriter has built a catalogue of songs that explore the range of coloured bruises, grey zones, and emotional fractures sustained across a lifetime, observed up close in painful detail. On her third album, the view has swung from microcosm to breathtaking panorama.

It’s also louder. ‘Ringside’ is all soft-rock euphoria, while the bass-drum that arrives during ‘Repeat’ evokes her boygenius bandmate Phoebe Bridgers’ ‘I Know The End’. On ‘Hardline’, the effect is overwhelming; crushingly beautiful, it is perhaps Baker’s finest moment.

There are periods of reprieve: ‘Heatwave’ and ‘Favor’ feel simultaneously darker and cosier than the rest of the record. But it’s hard not to long for that dazzling brightness again, the hearts-on-sleeves yearning, as if one day the greys might finally wash away forever”.

The more I listen to Little Oblivions the more it affects me. I think Julien Baker is one of the most interesting and accomplished young songwriters in the world. I look forward to seeing how her career progresses.

There were a few interviews released around the time the album came out in February. Apologies for slightly mangling the VICE interview, but there were a few segments that caught my attention:

“Many who’ve found themselves out of work, furloughed, or otherwise marooned from their ordinary lives will have identified with such dissatisfaction at some point over the past year, left with only time and the inside of their minds, once the trappings of social life were stripped away by lockdowns. For Baker, however, this feeling is not an entirely new one – she remembers a time when something similar set in a couple of years ago. “2019, for me, was a lot of the exercise I hear people describing in quarantine, because I had come off of the road,” she tells me. “It wasn't healthy for me to be touring anymore. And I just had to exist in this new, unfamiliar space where I was not constantly collapsing my own identity with the persona that I and other people had cultivated for me as a performer.”

This “persona” developed because Baker’s profile grew exponentially around her second full-length record, the rapturous and critically beloved Turn Out the Lights, which came out in 2017. The album built on her more lo-fi 2015 debut Sprained Ankle, in an unexpected manner. Over email, Baker’s contemporary and bandmate Phoebe Bridgers describes her ambition and innovation: “People loved that first record, myself included,” Bridgers writes. “If Julien wanted to, she could have stayed in her lane and made that same kind of record over and over. Instead she decided to play drums and deconstruct guitar pedals and scream. By the time people (me) were trying to copy the way she sounded on Sprained Ankle, she didn’t even sound like that anymore.”

What Baker had created instead, using organs, loop pedals, and cavernous-sounding production, was a new canvas upon which to display her almost unmatched gift for facing down the parts of the psyche that many of us shy away from. Indeed, the most accurate description I have heard of what Baker does comes courtesy of the poet and critic Hanif Abdurraqib, who accurately describes her as a master of “what whispers in through the cracks of a person’s time alone.”

Detailing this feeling on “Relative Fiction,” a song on Little Oblivions, she describes herself as “A character of somebody's invention / A martyr in another passion play.” “I guess I don't mind losing my conviction / If it's all relative fiction anyway,” Baker sings, addressing the disconnect she was beginning to feel between the way she was written about, and the facts of her reality. The track, then – as most of those on the album do – explores this period in Baker’s life as one when she had to, in her words, “re-approach” her “relationship to sobriety.”

“Saying that I was sober for a really long time, and that I went through a period of being deeply, destructively involved with substances again – it felt like a failure at first,” she tells me. “But now, it feels like understanding that recovery, growth, or any sort of ideal of self improvement isn't linear helps your world not implode when something goes wrong.”

Little Oblivions sounds like a record made by someone who has had that realisation, and is comfortable and even happy in it. This emotional progression is mirrored sonically, as the record builds out from Baker’s catalogue so far. Some songs feel like direct continuations – second track “Heatwave,” for example, recalls the simplicity of Sprained Ankle’s “Everybody Does,” before swelling into a full band ending, while “Favor” employs the backing vocals of her boygenius bandmates. Others, like the first single “Faith Healer,” with its electronic inflections, try something new, though Baker’s voice – by turns delicate and powerful, so gilded-sounding that to hear it on these new songs still feels, in a manner, holy – remains its guiding principle.

Comparing the process of making the new album with her older work (wherein, she says “there was something about the essentialism of making very stripped back music with very few instruments that felt like a good exercise at the time”), Baker describes a more free-flowing process: “I wanted to have less arbitrary perimeters around music,” she tells me. “I tried to use sounds very conceptually on previous records. And on this record, I think it was more about just collecting noises that sounded interesting to me.”

Like Baker’s previous music, however, the album does not shy away from self-recrimination or accounts of hurt caused, though it does seem that perhaps she has gained something different from displaying such candour this time. “Although it is pretty masochistic to make a record that is like a laundry list of my failings to myself and others,” she laughs, “it’s relieving. It’s relieving to like, disappoint, in a way. It builds a more earnest relationship with someone, when you allow yourself not to be perfect. And I think it also makes you more merciful, with yourself and with others”.

I will end things there. Little Oblivions is, in my view, one of this year’s best albums. Do yourself a favour and go and check it out. I really love the album and, as I said, I am interested to see where Baker goes next in her career. Four years after the excellent Turn Out the Lights, Julien Baker released what could be her best album to date. Little Oblivions is yet another stunning release from…

THE multi-talented songwriter.

FEATURE: Suicide Blonde: Margot Robbie and Music

FEATURE:

 

Suicide Blonde

PHOTO CREDIT: Getty Images

Margot Robbie and Music

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APART from a little bit of self-indulgence on my part…

 IN THIS PHOTO: Margot Robbie as Harley Quinn/PHOTO CREDIT: Warner Bros. Entertainment

there is another reason for writing about Margot Robbie. This is a music blog, though I occasionally go off-course and look at film (there is a long and rich romance between film and music; I have covered everything from film soundtracks to music’s integral importance in film before). This feature’s title is also the name of a song by the Australian band, INXS (it is the first single from their 1990 album, X). Margot Robbie was born in Australia (in Dalby, Queensland), as were INXS (they hailed from Sydney). Also, Robbie appeared in the 2016 film, Suicide Squad, as the electrifying Harley Quinn (she starred in the spin-off, Birds of Prey (And the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn), in 2020; this will be followed by the standalone sequel, The Suicide Squad, in August). Apart from some semi-clever wordplay, I have seen many films Margot Robbie has appeared in, and she has this incredible spirit and hugely natural and arresting chameleon-like ability! I am going to come on to the music tastes of Robbie and a planned/rumoured project. I know that she works with dialect and movement coaches for her films. Robbie told Vogue in 2019 that she would particularly love to do a Brooklyn accent for a film – or that it was her favourite dialect. I think that it is only a matter of time before Robbie produces a music-heavy film or plays an artist. She has a production company, LuckyChap Entertainment, that she Tom Ackerley (her husband), Josey McNamara and Sophia Kerr founded in 2014. There will be a lot of exciting projects coming from the company. I wonder whether there are any plans for a film where music plays a very big part?

 IN THIS PHOTO: The peerless and iconic Debbie Harry of Blondie in 1978/PHOTO CREDIT: Mick Rock

Through her varied and exceptional career, Robbie has proven herself as one of the most versatile and skilled actors in the business (I especially like her in I, Tonya and Once Upon a Time in Hollywood). She can convey this Punk spirit or something more grounded, nuanced and soulful. One of my big complaints is that there are not that many music films. Whether it is a coming-of-age story or a musical, they are not that overly-common (though there have been a few music biopics as of late). I would love to see a film set during the Punk era in 1970s New York. This would allow Robbie to affect a Brooklyn accent. I actually think that she could perfectly nail Debbie Harry, the legendary lead of Blondie. Though Harry was born in Miami, Florida, Blondie based themselves in New York. Harry turns seventy-six on 1st July, and she is one of the most inspiring and indominable figures in music history. I think that Robbie would be a perfect fit to play Debbie Harry in a film/biopic - either a Blondie film or a wider arc where Debbie Harry is key. Though Robbie is a bit taller than Harry (about an inch-and-a-half if the Internet is to be trusted), it is a not a big thing. Margot Robbie is thirty. At thirty, Blondie recorded their eponymous debut. Showing Robbie as Debbie Harry prior to that album and through the early years of the band would be interesting. Maybe adapting Harry’s memoir, Face It, would make for an intriguing and evocative project. I am just spit-balling - though I can easily see Robbie assuming the mantle of Debbie Harry and delivering an award-winning turn! Debbie Harry was in Margot Robbie’s mind when creating the look for Harley Quinn:

“Everybody has his or her own idea of what certain DC characters should look like, which is why Suicide Squad jarred so many fans. David Ayer took serious liberties with many of the characters, and it ultimately paid off. The movie went in an entirely new visual direction, while maintaining fidelity to the characters' personalities. One such villainess who looked incredibly different from her origins was none other than Harley Quinn, and as it turns out: the filmmakers based much of her look off of legendary rock star Debbie Harry. Margot Robbie elaborated:

I tried on like 100 different variations of the costume but when I saw a picture of - we found this picture of Debbie Harry - and I was like, 'That's it, that is dope.'

During a recent interview with the 2DAY FM's Rove And Sam radio show, Margot Robbie explained the intense search for Harley Quinn's Suicide Squad outfit. She says she tried on at least 100 different versions of the costume, but ultimately decided on one inspired by a photo of rock star Debbie Harry of Blondie. Once she saw that photo, she instantly knew the direction to take the costume -- although she did also reveal that the skimpiness of the costume did make her uncomfortable at times.

Taking inspiration from Debbie Harry makes sense in the long run. Much like Margot Robbie's own take on Harley Quinn, Harry had (and still has) a very punk rock aura, while still maintaining certain, distinct qualities of feminine beauty. They're both tough, but they're both also incredibly magnetic individuals”

So far, Robbie has not really appeared in a music film/biopic. I hope that it is something she is going to realise in years to come. Not only is she a great actor who one could see in a New York-set biopic/music film or a British music film set during the 1980s, say; she has a great music knowledge and really knows her onions!

In 2020, as NME reported, Robbie’s mettle was tested when she was asked about here admiration of Metal by Jimmy Fallon:

“Margot Robbie has once again shown off her love for all things metal – this time on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon.

The Suicide Squad and Birds of Prey star took part in the show’s ‘Know It All’ quiz section alongside Fallon. Divided into different knowledge categories, Robbie’s love of metal shone as she referenced bands including Aerosmith, KISS, Slipknot, Metallica and more.

At one point, Robbie missed the opportunity to mention AC/DC. “Oh, I should have got that one,” she joked with Fallon”.

In 2018, as another NME article outlines, Robbie said she would like to produce a music video for the innovative and extrardinary OK Go:

“Margot Robbie has revealed that she’d love to produce a music video for OK Go. Watch our video interview with Robbie above.

Speaking to NME about producing her latest film ‘Terminal’, the Oscar nominee discussed the music that she loved.

When asked which band she’d be keen to work with, Robbie replied: “Who’s the band, they always do rad video clips and they did the zero gravity plane one?” referring to OK Go’s video for ‘Upside Down’.

“I feel like they always do fun video clips that involve some sort of extreme sports or something or really bizarre, that’d be really fun!”

They are a band who create such interesting and memorable videos. I hope that collaboration takes place at some point. I can see Robbie getting more involved with the music world in some capacity. Between her love of Metal and the fact that she is no stranger to a tattoo gun (I have been on the receiving end of one a few times), I can envisage something akin to a Debbie Harry biopic or, like I said, Robbie in Brooklyn - where she gets to utilise her range and indulge in her love of music. I am not sure what Robbie’s singing voice is like. I suspect that she has the ability to adapt and take on a great singing voice very quick. If not, perhaps playing a free spirit in the U.S. during the 1960s or 1970s would be best - and there are many musi-based ideas that spring to my mind. Not to play a ‘virtual agent’, but I feel there is plenty of ammunition in the theory of a Margot Robbie-music biopic/film.

As I try to get my own music documentary about Kate Bush off of the ground (a lot of brick walls being put in the way!), I have been thinking about bringing music to film and, for several reasons, Margot Robbie came to mind. There were plans, as this 2019 article explains, for Robbie and her production company to bring a musical to the screen:

“The Hollywood Reporter has reported that Margot Robbie has signed on to produce a gay, comedy musical titled Big Gay Jamboree. She will be producing the film under her LuckyChap Entertainment company.

This won’t be Margot’s first time producing, as she has previously produced Terminal, and the Oscar-winning film I, Tonya. However, it looks like Margot’s role will only be behind the cameras, and she isn’t likely to act in the film.

Alethea Jones, who has directed award-winning films like When the Wind Changes and Lemonade Stand, is set to direct the film. Marla Mindelle and Jonathan Parks-Ramage, who both wrote The Devil’s Bitch, are linked to the project as writers.

Big Gay Jamboree will follow a woman who one day awakens on the set of a 1940s musical. She will begin to make friends while attempting to find her way back to her actual time.

The film is said to be a mixture of both The Book of Mormon and Oklahoma!, at least in tone”.

I am not sure whether that is still happening or has been held back for now. From Debbie Harry to, maybe Stevie Nicks during Fleetwood Mac’s Rumours era (a film that explores the turbulent recording of that genius album and the strained relationship between Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham (and everyone else in the band) would be ace. I do not think one has made it to the big or small screen yet) to a host of fascinating characters in the music world, I hope that – when she gets a moment to breathe! – there is something in the back of Margot Robbie’s mind that has a musical connotation. LuckyChap Entertainment have a lot of irons in the fire and things brewing, so seeing Robbie produce a project of appear in a music film might be a way off! Not only would it be fascinating for me (as a big fan of hers and knowing she is a massive music-head); so many other people around the world…

WOULD love to see it come to fruition.

FEATURE: A Fair Slice: Will An Upcoming Parliamentary Report Help Reverse Revenue Disparity on Streaming Sites?

FEATURE:

 

 

A Fair Slice

PHOTO CREDIT: @sgcreative/Unsplash 

Will An Upcoming Parliamentary Report Help Reverse Revenue Disparity on Streaming Sites?

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THIS is a debate and question…

 PHOTO CREDIT: Patrick Perkins/Unsplash

that has been asked and argued for years now. I think the fact the pandemic has not only helped expose and intensify the revenue earnings of smaller/less mainstream artists and some of the biggest acts; very few artists have been able to play live and earn money that way – one of the biggest revenue streams for most artists. Streaming sites offer a way for artists to earn money until venues reopen but, as most of us know, there is this gulf between the money going to artists and the labels. Songwriters and musicians on tracks earn less than the artists themselves. What artists are earning is still shockingly low. Unless you are a huge artist who commands millions of streams with each track, the reality is that you’re probably not going to make a lot from streaming sites - if anything at all. The reality is that most artists are not expecting to earn a large amount of money. More than anything, they want to ensure that they are being paid more fairly and are not seeing potential earnings go to labels; ensure they do not get a larger slice than is necessary.  A parliamentary report is due that should help to address the inequality and issues inherent on streaming sites. I hope that it paves the way for actual change and a permanent solution to a problem that is weighting heavy on the minds of many artists. The Guardian recently published an article where they spoke to musicians and various figures in the industry to gauge their reaction to the upcoming report.

 PHOTO CREDIT: @briant_raw/Unsplash

They asked how they feel things are working right now and what changes need to be implemented:  

“Ahead of the release of a parliamentary report into the issue, notable figures from the industry have told the Guardian that music labels were perpetuating issues that need to be urgently addressed, including a system that still prioritises rights owners over artists.

The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) Commons select committee has been examining whether the business models used by major streaming platforms are fair to songwriters and performers. From witnesses expressing fear that speaking up could harm their careers, to the boss of a major record label being described as “living in cloud cuckoo land”, the hearings have been full of testy exchanges.

Senior figures from Spotify, Apple and other streaming services have commended the virtues of streaming, and few in the world of music would dispute that the platforms saved the music industry. Music streaming in the UK now brings in more than £1bn a year in revenue. But the fact remains that artists can be paid as little as 13% of the income generated, receiving as little as £0.002 to about £0.0038 per stream on Spotify and about £0.0059 on Apple Music.

Many have been asking whether it is right that the split in streaming revenues means about 50% go to labels, 30% to streamers and the rest divided among all other interested parties”.

IN THIS PHOTO: Nadine Shah 

Nadine Shah, musician

I may have been misunderstood before: I love streaming. I stream a lot of music myself. The access we have to all kinds of music from all over the world is incredible. But I believe streaming must be fixed. The three major labels are bragging about record profits while thousands of musicians are seeing virtually nothing coming back to them. Streaming is here to stay, as it should. What then can fix it and make it better for artists? A user-centric system whereby the artists you choose to play see direct payment from your subscription fee?

Subscription fees for the likes of Spotify have stayed the same for nearly 10 years, £9.99. Increasing this fee may not be so popular during a pandemic, but it does need to go up. We need a fairer system in place. We need more transparency. I wish it was the case that all artists would realise their power and all stand together and unite and strike, but so many of us are so scared to lose favour with major labels and the streaming platforms. Surely we can find a way to make streaming work for all of us, labels, DSPs [digital streaming platforms], and artists and writers.

Ayanna Witter-Johnson, singer-songwriter, cellist and composer

As an independent, self-releasing artist, streaming platforms have been incredibly useful in enabling me to more easily reach and build a global audience. At this time, with the near total disappearance of my primary income from live performance, my streaming income has become much more important to me. During lockdown streaming has soared, but the reality is that a single stream only amounts to 0.003p, which means I would need millions of streams to earn at least the minimum wage. Unfortunately, the majority of the income from streaming doesn’t trickle down to independent artists. The lion’s share goes to the streaming platforms instead of going to the creators, who are the lifeblood of the music industry. The current split of income is unfair, dangerous and needs to change because the people who will suffer the most are ultimately music creators like me.

IN THIS PHOTO: Tom Gray 

Tom Gray, #BrokenRecord campaign and Gomez

Many performers currently receive no income from much of their streamed work. We change this by closing a loophole in UK copyright law to give an unwaivable right to equitable remuneration. The major rights holders were able to define the market on their terms without thought for balancing the rewards. This is market failure. However, songwriters and composers need the market domination of the major music groups to be directly addressed. The value of the song is suppressed. A referral to the Competition and Markets Authority would seem the correct starting point to address this.

Milk is a loss leader for supermarkets, so dairy farmers have the protection of the Groceries Code Adjudicator. Music is a lossleader for tech companies like Apple and Amazon. We need the same protection: a regulator to ensure the lawful and fair treatment of music creators. Lastly, we need a limit of 25 years on recording contracts.

Elena Segal, global senior director of music publishing at Apple Music

We believe very strongly that creators should be paid for their art and we have done that ever since 2003 when we came into this business. Artists should be paid for their work, creators should be paid for their work and it’s what we’re committed to do every single day. We’re very happy to have a discussion about what is and is not fair, because it’s not a straightforward question”.

IN THIS PHOTO: Elena Segal

Whilst the solution may not be quick or simple, the need for progress and overhaul is crucial. I don’t think it will be as easy as making a sweeping change across the broad. There will need to be discussion and dissection to ensure that everyone gets a fair cut. Labels should not earn more than artists; songwriter, backing vocalists and session musicians also deserve more. I think Nadine Shah was right when they said people should pay more for subscriptions on sites such as Spotify. At the moment, for a monthly cost of £9.99, one can have unlimited access to music and podcasts. It is great for the consumer but, at such a low cost, there is possibly not enough money being generated to ensure that every artist, musician and producer gets a decent revenue cut. Even upping the monthly price to £15 would afford greater flexibility and would not put too many people off. Even when venues do reopen, it is not going to be a quick recovery. Gigs will start tentatively and, ensuring venues can remain safe and COVID-compliant, it will take a while before there is recovery and any sense of normality. Let’s hope that this year is one where there is improvement regarding the lack of parity on streaming sites. For all the pleasure and comfort artists have brought us during the pandemic (and do through their entire careers) it is…

 PHOTO CREDIT: Jusdevoyage/Unsplash

NO less than they deserve.

FEATURE: Pressed to Play: Looking Inside the 33 1/3 Series

FEATURE:

 

Pressed to Play

PHOTO CREDIT: Bloomsbury 

Looking Inside the 33 1/3 Series

___________

I saw someone post a tweet this week…

IMAGE COMPOSITE: Slate

that pertained to the 33 1⁄3 series. Each book in the series is written about a single album. The series title refers to the rotation speed of a vinyl L.P., ​33 1⁄3 R.P.M. It is a novel and fascinating way to bond with an album and discover more. I have written before how we do not really have classic album series where we get to dive deep into an album like we used to. It is hard to learn about an album and its backstory. I think that books where we can get a real understanding of how an album came together and its specifications helps us to bond more with that work. The 33 1⁄3 collection has grown and expanded through the years:

“Originally published by Continuum, the series was founded by editor David Barker in 2003. At the time, Continuum published books on philosophers; series editor Ally-Jane Grossan mentioned that Barker was "an obsessive music fan who thought, 'This is a really cool idea, why don't we apply this to albums'." PopMatters wrote that the range consists of "obscure classics to more usual suspects by the Beach Boys, the Beatles, and the Rolling Stones".

In 2010, Continuum was bought out by Bloomsbury Publishing, which continues to publish the series. Following a leave, Barker was replaced by Grossan in January 2013. In 2016, Daphne Brooks, Kevin Dettmar, Amanda Petrusich, and Gayle Wald assumed co-editorial duties.

PHOTO CREDIT: Bloomsbury 

Several independent books have been spun off of the series. The first, Carl Wilson's 2007 entry on Celine Dion's Let's Talk About Love, was expanded for a 2014 Bloomsbury reissue with material not specifically pertaining to the Dion album and retitled Let's Talk About Love: Why Other People Have Such Bad Taste. Joe Bonomo, at the invitation of Barker, expanded his ​33 1⁄3 proposal on Jerry Lee Lewis's Live at the Star Club, Hamburg album into a full-length book about Lewis, the album, and his career titled Jerry Lee Lewis: Lost and Found, published by Continuum in 2009. A rejected proposal from writer Brett Milano for an entry on Game Theory's 1987 album Lolita Nation was instead expanded by Milano into a biography on the band's leader Scott Miller; that project, titled Don't All Thank Me at Once: The Lost Genius of Scott Miller was released by 125 Books in 2015.

In August 2017, Bloomsbury announced the launch of ​33 1⁄3 Global, an extension of the ​33 1⁄3 series to popular music from around the world. The first two sub-series launched were ​33 1⁄3 Brazil, edited by Jason Stanyek, and ​33 1⁄3 Japan, edited by Noriko Manabe. The first book for ​33 1⁄3 Brazil was Caetano Veloso's A Foreign Sound by Barbara Browning. The first books for ​33 1⁄3 Japan were Supercell ft. Hatsune Miku by Keisuke Yamada and Yoko Kanno's Cowboy Bebop Soundtrack by Rose Bridges”.

You can have a look to see the books already released in the series and which ones are upcoming. Rather than write a biography about an artist, one can concentrate on an album. The books differ in length, though most are at least 130 pages-long and explore the selected album in real depth. I would advise people to check out the series, as I know there are books that discuss albums that you really love. I am excited because it is the time of the year where one can submit an idea for consideration:

“Be sure to follow the submission guidelines below, and only submit if you are able to complete your manuscript within 6-12 months from acceptance. We’ll work out individual timelines for books, and some may have longer deadlines, but we’ll need an initial commitment to a fairly quick turnaround.

If you would like to submit a proposal for a 33 1/3 volume, please submit all of the following to 333submissions@gmail.com.

The deadline is May 17th, 2021 at 11:59 PM EST.

Submit the content below in one single document as either .doc, .docx or .pdf. No .rtf files will be accepted.

Important: Please use this exact format for both the subject line of your e-mail and the name of your document: Artist name, album name, your initials.

Once the submission window closes, it will take us a couple of months to sift through proposals. We will alert the authors of successful proposals through e-mail, as well as post the final list to the blog.

For a full list of albums already covered in the series, please see our published and forthcoming pages.

PHOTO CREDIT: Marcos Paulo Prado/Unsplash 

Proposal requirements:
1. 2–3 pages that describe the book.
2. A concise description of the book (up to 200 words).
3. A 5-page sample from anywhere in the book.
4. *New to this submission round*: A one-line description of the book summing up its scope and content.

5. 3 short points that emphasize the unique aspects of your proposed book.
6. A 1-page table of contents for the book with chapter titles and light annotation if desired.

7. Your professional CV/resume, including full contact details and 200 word bio.
8. A 1-page marketing plan (with comparable titles and suggestions for finding an audience).
9. The amount of time it will take you to complete your manuscript.

FAQ
Q: Do you have examples of successful pitches to share?
A: Yes, in our textbook How To Write About Music there is a chapter titled “How To Pitch a 33 1/3″ that is worth reading.

Q: I would really like some advice on which album to write on, or constructive criticism on my proposal. Can I write to you about this?
A: We’re very sorry but we just don’t have the time or resources to do that.

Q: There is already a book in the series by the same artist as the one I’m proposing, will you consider two albums by the same artist?
A: Yes. There are two albums by Radiohead, two by the Beach Boys, two by David Bowie, and two by The Rolling Stones in the series already.

Q: I submitted a proposal previously that didn’t make it. Can I re-submit?
A: This time around we’re asking that you do not re-submit proposals. However, feel free to submit one on a different album.

Q: Can I submit multiple proposals?
A: Just one proposal per person per open call, please!

Can’t wait to see what you’ve got!”.

Although it sounds like one needs to be an author and have experience of writing books in order to pitch, it is something that interests me. Some of the series is even available as audiobooks, so it is a growing product. I would be interested in doing a book about a Kate Bush album, as I am not aware of any of her albums being covered already. If I had to choose, I would write about either Never for Ever, The Dreaming or Hounds of Love. My favourite album is The Kick Inside, though a new book has not long come out about that. I am surprised that nobody has covered her albums. There is a lot to discuss regarding the albums I have mentioned - though I am not sure whether I am qualified or have the discipline to pitch in the new round of submissions. I think that everyone should check out the 33 1/3 books, as they offer a fascinating windows into great albums. At a time when most music books tend to be about artists or general subjects, focusing in on an album in such detail and passion is much-needed. I am interested to see how the series progresses and…

 PHOTO CREDIT: Bloomsbury 

WHICH albums are covered next.

FEATURE: The Lockdown Playlist: Great Trip-Hop Cuts

FEATURE:

 

 

The Lockdown Playlist

IN THIS PHOTO: Tricky and Martina Topley-Bird in 1994 (the 1995 debut album from Tricky, Maxinquaye, is seen as a classic Trip-Hop record)/PHOTO CREDIT: Steve Double/Retna UK 

Great Trip-Hop Cuts

___________

BECAUSE Massive Attack’s Blue Lines…

turned thirty on 8th April, I wanted to make this Lockdown Playlist a collection of Trip-Hop cuts. That album, to many, is a Trip-Hop classic. Whether you see the album as Trip-Hop or British Hip-Hop, it is a sound and scene that produced some incredible albums. I think that Blue Lines still sound amazing after three decades – even if people at the time wondered whether that sound would endure and be remembered down the line. The early-1990s was a great time for genres like Trip-Hop, Dance and Electronica. To mark the thirtieth anniversary of Blue Lines and bring in some other terrific Trip-Hop gems, this Lockdown Playlist combines some amazing…

 PHOTO CREDIT: @krysamon/Unsplash

TRACKS from that incredible world.

FEATURE: A Buyer’s Guide: Part Fifty: Everything But the Girl

FEATURE:

 

 

A Buyer’s Guide

Part Fifty: Everything But the Girl

___________

FOR this A Buyer’s Guide…

I am including a duo who I was a big fan of in the 1990s (and am now). With such chemistry and incredible songs, Everything But the Girl are among my favourite acts ever. Here are some more details about them:

“Everything but the Girl (occasionally referred to as EBTG) were an English musical duo, formed in Kingston upon Hull, England in 1982, consisting of lead singer and occasional guitarist Tracey Thorn and guitarist, keyboardist, producer and singer Ben Watt. Everything but the Girl received eight gold and two platinum album BPI Certifications in the UK, and one gold album RIAA Certification in the US. They had four top ten singles and twelve top forty singles in the UK. Their biggest hit song "Missing" charted high in several countries and reached number two on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 in 1995 and spent over seven months on the UK Singles Chart thanks to an extremely popular remix by Todd Terry which later led to a Brit Award nomination for Best British Single.

The duo have also been nominated for MTV, EMA and Ivor Novello Awards and received an award from the BMI for sales of over 3 million in the UK alone.

Watt and Thorn are also a couple, though they are very private about their relationship and personal life. While their relationship started during their time at university, it was not a publicised fact that they were romantically involved, or that they had subsequently married.

They are currently inactive, and have not performed publicly since 2000. Thorn has said in interviews she dislikes performing live and will no longer sing in front of a live audience. Both Thorn and Watt have released several solo albums, but have expressed that it's unlikely that they'll record again as EBTG”.

If you need some guidance regarding the Everything But the Girl works to own, then I hope that the suggestions below are of use. I love their music, so it is a great pleasure to include a simply fabulous duo…

IN this feature.

_______________

The Four Essential Albums

 

Eden

Release Date: 4th June, 1984

Label: Blanco y Negro

Producer: Robin Millar

Standout Tracks: Bittersweet/I Must Confess/Soft Touch

Buy: https://www.discogs.com/sell/list?master_id=72503&ev=mb

Stream: https://open.spotify.com/album/7kDeU3rzFCvV1fVilPRKTu?si=-MdhBCrJQ32VH1IwHIrAHQ

Review:

“The debut effort by multi-instrumentalist Ben Watt and vocalist and songwriter Tracey Thorn took the alterna-pop world by surprise in 1985. And rightfully so. Watt's lush chamber orchestra jazzscapes, full of Brazilian bossa nova structures and airy horn charts, combined with Thorn's throaty alto singing her generation's version of the torch song, was a sure attraction for fans of sophisticated pop and vocal jazz. Featuring 12 tracks, the album has deeply influenced popular song structures since that time; this is evidenced in the work of more R&B-oriented acts such as Swing Out Sister and Tuck and Patti. The set opens with "Each and Everyone," a slow samba-flavored pop song. The song comes from the broken side of love, with Thorn entreating from the heart: "You try to show me heaven but then close the door...Being kind is just a way to keep me under your thumb/And I can cry because that's something we've always done." A trumpet fills her lines and makes them glide above Watt's Latin mix. Elsewhere, the folk bossa of "Fascination" is all the architecture Thorn needs to sink deep into her protagonist's brokenness. Guitars chime and stagger one another, slipping and sliding just above the bassline, and vanish into thin air. On "I Must Confess," a riff similar to "The Girl From Ipanema" locates Thorn next to a deep ringing upright bass and Watt's glissando guitar, played Charlie Byrd-style, before Nigel Nash punctures Thorn's vocal with a velvety tenor solo. Once again, the notion of loss, memory, and the resolve of the left half of a relationship to go on, carrying regret but not remorse, is absolutely breathtaking. Thorn continually meditated on broken relationships here, and that extended tome, which echoes through every song on the record, seems to have resonated with everyone who heard it. The set closes with Watt's vocal on "Soft Touch," a folksy pop song, illustrated with guitars, a fretless bass, and piano, that sounds like something from Supertramp in their better moments -- and no, that's not a bad thing. His voice -- while not nearly as dramatic as Thorn's -- is wonderfully expressive, and his lyrics extend the feeling of Eden to its final whisper. This set proved itself to be an auspicious debut that testified to the beginning of a long and creatively rewarding partnership that has endured” – AllMusic

Choice Cut: Each and Every One

Idlewild

Release Date: 29th February, 1988

Labels: Blanco y Negro/Sire

Producer: Ben Watt

Standout Tracks: Love Is Here Where I Live/These Early Days/I Always Was Your Girl

Buy: https://www.discogs.com/sell/list?master_id=72558&ev=mb

Stream: https://open.spotify.com/album/4zhqDQd41cAkGg7EJVezvx?si=NlYCSTAmSOuL4zi6wSgzZA

Review:

“Thorn and Watt made a couple of albums with a cocktail-jazz backup and one with strings before trying a small unit for the intimate songs of their most accessible recording. The setting is perfect for such moving compositions as "Love Is Here Where I Live" and "Apron Strings." Start here, then go on to the rest of this remarkable group's catalog” – AllMusic

Choice Cut: I Don’t Want to Talk About It

Amplified Heart

Release Date: 13th June, 1996

Labels: Atlantic/Blanco y Negro

Producers: Tracey Thorn/Ben Watt/John Coxon

Standout Tracks: Rollercoaster/I Don't Understand Anything/Disenchanted

Buy: https://www.discogs.com/sell/list?master_id=72193&ev=mb

Stream: https://open.spotify.com/album/6ZMxoed3JJVjSzDQ2iVeYN?si=wYcPl1qIQi67QZ24SrLawg

Review:

“The album’s first side is the stronger, with a stellar three-song opening run (“Rollercoaster,” “Troubled Mind,” and “I Don’t Understand Anything”), a charming (if slightly cloying) he-said/she-said duet (“Walking to You”), and, finally, “Get Me,” an understated love song flecked with the faintest trace of house music. But the second half’s few failings—namely the jump from the maudlin “Two Star” to the perky “We Walk the Same Line”—are more than compensated for by “Missing.”

What, 25 years later, is left to say about “Missing”? For a song that has largely been eclipsed by its most famous remix—and Todd Terry’s rework is a masterpiece—the original stands out in part for its quirks. The time-keeping cowbell is louder than you might have remembered it, and at first seems almost out of place; the first few notes of the bassline are dead ringers for the Human League’s “Don’t You Want Me.” Almost immediately, though, Thorn draws you into one of her typically detailed vignettes, as the song’s narrator steps off the train and stands beneath the window of a lover from years ago, long gone, maybe dead. The song’s chorus—“And I miss you/Like the deserts miss the rain”—shouldn’t work; on paper, it’s just a hair too much. But singing it, their voices twinned in close harmony, they sell it. Thorn’s voice, in particular, is the very incarnation of yearning. At regular intervals, an eerie, synthetic siren sound—a key element of the remix that gets its start in the original—drives home the hurt. In the face of such emotion, any corniness in the metaphor falls away. Of course it’s a desert, it had to have been rain—these things are elemental, fundamental, and so is the feeling the song captures” – Pitchfork

Choice Cut: Missing

Walking Wounded

Release Date: 6th May, 1996

Labels: Atlantic/Virgin

Producers: Ben Watt/Spring Heel Jack/Howie B/Todd Terry/Rob Haigh

Standout Tracks: Before Today/Single/Walking Wounded

Buy: https://www.discogs.com/sell/list?master_id=72865&ev=mb

Stream: https://open.spotify.com/album/459tNoDnuv0bL9ue9pENVz?si=mt7-1iJjRTeQWwpYzVNAlg

Review:

“Expanding on those revolutionary records, Walking Wounded floats Thorn’s wan vocals over a soundscape of sputtering, hissing, and clacking beats. A clutch of eccentric rhythms turn up, from the funk rumblings of ”Single” to the ambient sway of ”Big Deal.” Watt’s sparse and spacious production lets all these sounds sparkle in air, creating a dizzying 3-D effect.

Watt also coaxes an incredible range of textures from his synthesizers — from the trampoline-bounce bass of the title track to the bedspring explosion of drums in ”Good Cop, Bad Cop.” Such sonic gymnastics comprise their own new subgenre in the U.K., called drum ‘n’ bass, a form whose celebrated ace, Spring Heel Jack, collaborated on some tracks here.

To help ground the sound, Watt and Thorn offer an array of gorgeous melodies. All undulate with a sensuality perfectly suited to Thorn’s burgundy voice. In her lilting style, Thorn recalls the sophistication of Dionne Warwick at her peak; she comes across as both haunted and aloof. By juxtaposing her woozy cadences with the brusque clatter of the beats, EBTG create a great counterpoint — the musical equivalent of manic depression

This excited sense of melancholy fleshes out the group’s pining lyrics. Every song follows a ruinous love. ”I’m eating less and drinking more,” moans Thorn in a song that recalls the aftermath of a particularly bad affair. Another love proves painful enough to reduce her to childhood, causing the singer to plaintively ask, ”Is this as grown-up as we ever get?”

Coupled with the probing and pulsing music, these torchy sentiments achieve a psychological resonance, putting EBTG way above the campiness of most neo-lounge acts. In fact, their synthesized whooshes and bleats provide modern pop’s first corollary to the weird sounds cooked up by the early ’60s’ most avant-garde lounge stylists: Esquivel and Martin Denny.

By marrying such musical leaps to their sterling pop sensibilities, Everything But The Girl provide a classic service: They offer an ideal conduit between today’s chic underground and pop fans everywhere” – Entertainment Weekly

Choice Cut: Wrong

The Underrated Gem

 

Baby, the Stars Shine Bright

Release Date: 25th August, 1986

Label: Blanco y Negro

Producers: Everything But the Girl/Mike Hedges

Standout Tracks: Don't Leave Me Behind/Cross My Heart/Careless

Buy: https://www.discogs.com/sell/list?master_id=72204&ev=mb

Stream: https://open.spotify.com/album/4VZRS2iKvzaBASmIrWl99n?si=Gnv78InIS_ut4_Z4bTYLcQ

Review:

“On their third album, Baby, the Stars Shine Bright, Everything But the Girl tries another departure on their craftsmanlike ballad style, hiring a full orchestra to give a lush backing to songs usually concerned more with sexual than national politics. Their last album, Love Not Money, may have boasted a considerable social agenda, but here Tracey Thorn sings of romantic disappointment and illicit liaisons, only occasionally bowing to such favorite themes as the lure of fame ("Country Mile"), fantasies about American movie stars ("Sugar Finney," which is "for Marilyn Monroe," and has the chorus, "America is free, cheap and easy"), and fears of fascism ("Little Hitler"). Thorn's throbbing voice is well-suited to the emotional concerns of the lyrics, and Ben Watt creates attractive, string- and horn-filled backings for them. So, Everything But the Girl has found yet another way to effectively vary what would have seemed to be a limited musical style” – AllMusic

Choice Cut: Come on Home

The Final Album

Temperamental

Release Date: 27th September, 1999

Labels: Atlantic/Virgin

Producers: Ben Watt/Andy Bradfield/Deep Dish/J Majik/Danny Jay

Standout Tracks: Five Fathoms/Blame/The Future of the Future (Stay Gold) (with Deep Dish)

Buy: https://www.discogs.com/sell/list?master_id=72673&ev=mb

Stream: https://open.spotify.com/album/4Geaebqk6nJC78Agw6VXG9?si=id_OLdbiSfeOIfx6M3tsaw

Review:

“Gorgeous sound washes by producer-arranger Ben Watt; self-assured yet vulnerable vocals from Tracey Thorn. House-music purists will call Everything but the Girl’s latest, ”Temperamental,” watered-down, but pop fans will appreciate the way Watt loosens house’s relentless thud. And if EBTG are broadening the appeal of an underground sound — well, that’s how music develops, isn’t it?” – Entertainment Weekly

Choice Cut: Temperamental

The Tracey Thorn Book

 

Another Planet: A Teenager in Suburbia

Author: Tracey Thorn

Publication Date: 6th February, 2020

Publisher: Canongate Books Ltd  

Synopsis:

“THE SUNDAY TIMES TOP TEN BESTSELLER

SHORTLISTED FOR THE PENDERYN MUSIC BOOK PRIZE

'Tender, wise and funny' Sunday Express

'Beautifully observed, deadly funny' Max Porter

Before becoming an acclaimed musician and writer, Tracey Thorn was a typical teenager: bored and cynical, despairing of her aspirational parents. Her only comfort came from house parties and the female pop icons who hinted at a new kind of living.

Returning to the scene of her childhood, Thorn takes us beyond the bus shelters, the pub car parks and the weekly discos, to the parents who wanted so much for their children and the children who wanted none of it. With great wit and insight, Thorn reconsiders the Green Belt post-war dream so many artists have mocked, and yet so many artists have come from” – Waterstones

Buy: https://www.waterstones.com/book/another-planet/tracey-thorn/9781786892584

FEATURE: Spotlight: Ferris & Sylvester

FEATURE:

 

 

Spotlight

Ferris & Sylvester

___________

I don’t think I have…

featured Ferris & Sylvester in Spotlight before. I have been following the duo of Issy Ferris and Archie Sylvester for a few years now. I have watched them grow and continue to put out great music. I will end with a review of their E.P. of last year, I Should Be on a Train. I think a little introduction and background is necessary. I cannot see too many recent interviews (published over the past year), so I want to draw from one that is a little older. If you are not familiar with the incredible duo, their story and rise is one that should hook you in:

“Things are going very well for London based songwriting duo Ferris & Sylvester, yet one-and-a-half years ago they hadn't even met. Back in the summer of 2017, Camden's Spiritual Bar featured a young Issy Ferris playing the weekly folk nights whilst the big-voiced Archie Sylvester headlined Saturday nights with his blues band. The two shared the same stage for six months, but never played the same night. Our story may have been very different had fate (and Raf, the venue booker) not brought them together. A hundred gigs later, Ferris & Sylvester are a force to be reckoned with. Many industry veterans are already backing them as stars of the future and 'Ones To Watch' in 2019 and beyond. And what makes for a star? Classic songs, standout voices, excellent stagecraft and drive, all of which Ferris & Sylvester have by the bucketload.

With clear references to the mid-60s sounds of Greenwich Village, the canny combination of blues, folk and indie-rock 'n' roll that emerged from their solo selves is spellbinding, sitting somewhere between the riff-driven energy of Jack White and the expansive melodies of First Aid Kit ("Alt-Simon & Garfunkel" -- The Guardian). Determined to get their music out there and with next to no budget, the duo recorded and self-produced their 'Made In Streatham' EP (Feb 2018), in the kitc­­­hen of their South London flat. Released through their own label Archtop Records, the EP has clocked up millions of streams on Spotify, risen to No.1 on the iTunes Singer-Songwriter chart, No.14 on the Spotify UK Viral Top 50 and received widespread acclaim ("A masterpiece of Brit Folk" -- MOJO). BBC Radio have given Ferris & Sylvester outstanding early affirmation, most notably from Cerys Matthews on her BBC Radio 2 Blues Show and BBC Introducing. Most recently the duo have recorded a prestigious BBC Maida Vale Session, which aired nationally in January across BBC Radio 2 and BBC 6 Music. In the press, Rolling Stone tipped them in their 'Top 10 Country Acts to Watch' list, noting "a rich and fully realised sound that leaves one pining for a full length."

Their summer was filled to the brim with choice festival slots including BST in Hyde Park with Eric Clapton, Bath Festival with Robert Plant, the main stage at Wilderness Festival with BBC Music Introducing, and a sold-out show at The Imperial Theatre at their first Reeperbahn festival. Their gig calendar surrounding summer was equally as full and impressive with performances alongside George Ezra, James Blunt, Gary Barlow, Tom Odell, Liza Anne, Anderson East, Tyler Childers and a UK tour opening for old friend Jade Bird. And all this while recording their next project at The Pool Studios with producer Michael Rendall (Pink Floyd, Paul McCartney).

With the dawn of a new year, Ferris & Sylvester are hard at work promoting latest release 'Sickness,' which introduces the sound of their new project: bigger, darker and more ambitious than before. 2019 began strongly with three sold-out showcases at Eurosonic Festival and the confirmation that they would be showcasing with the BBC at the prestigious SXSW festival in Austin, Texas. The momentum has continued to build with a sold-out debut headline tour around the UK and plays on BBC Radio 1 with Huw Stephens. A second headline tour (April/May) is in the diary alongside more singles set for release in the second quarter. In short, there's a lot, lot more to come from Ferris & Sylvester”.

There is a lot of great Ferris & Sylvester music to check out. 2017’s The Yellow Line EP won some positive reviews; they released the excellent Made In Streatham E.P. in 2018. I will come to that in a minute. One reason why the music is so connective and engaging is the connection and closeness of the duo themselves. There is a harmony and understanding that goes into their work and enforces their music. This was sort of touched upon in a 2018 interview with Building Our Own Nashville:

“Yes, made it! So then how would you describe your sound to our readers?

Issy: To be honest it’s a bit of a mish of everything. I think we’ve made a genre of our own in a way.

Archie: I would say, correct me if you disagree, one thing about our music is we’re coming at it from different angles so it’s always meeting and moving.

Issy started off as quite a folky singer and I was quite a bluesy singer and songwriter and then we came together and now we’ve got something that’s somewhere in the middle, with a little rock and roll maybe.

How did you meet and become a band?

Issy: We actually met through the Spiritual Bar community. It’s a little folk/blues bar in Camden which has a family of musicians. Archie had been playing there for quite a few years and I had been playing there for several months but we hadn’t really met.

We had a mutual friend and I was doing a gig in West London and he came along and bought Archie, I think Archie was basically dragged there.

Archie: I was dragged there as a wing man actually. This is the full story. My mate dragged me out to a gig on a random Wednesday night and said “I really need you to come because I fancy this girl called Issy Ferris and I need a wing-man”.

So obviously I was a really good wing-man because I went along and then stole his bird, so he was really happy.

PHOTO CREDIT: Dan Wilberforce 

What a good story! and you’re still friends?

Issy: Yes, still friends! We all play at Spiritual Bar and that’s kind of where we grew. I wanted to be Archie’s backing singer so I joined his band.

Archie: And then kicked out the other members.

Issy: (laughing) So we started writing together and since then, we’ve kind of had our home up in Camden to rehearse and grow and develop and it’s been a bit of a whirlwind nearly two years”/

When you write songs how does the process go? Do you go in together or do you come with different ideas?

Issy: We really don’t have a formula. Sometimes we’ll sit down and we won’t have anything in mind and the two of us will work at it and something will happen. Or Archie will say “Ah I’ve got these lyrics” or “this guitar part” or I’ve written a poem and that’s all it is at the moment.

The only thing we do make sure of is that we get the song to a point where it’s sounding great on acoustic guitar and vocals before any other instrumentation or production is done. We’ve got a make shift studio at home but before we go in there we make sure that we’re really happy with it, just the two of us.

Everything has to embellish the core. You can’t put smoke and mirrors around something that you’re not happy with.

Archie: That’s what we’ve been trying to do for our recent projects. That’s not the only way to write a song, who knows in a couple of years we could become a drum and base outlet”.

I think the Made In Streatham E.P. was their first real high. Songs like Better in Yellow and London’s Blues are among their very best songs. I am going to finish with a review of their latest E.P. I wanted to pick up an interesting interview Ferris & Sylvester gave to SW Londoner, where they were asked about the influence and importance of the capital:

“While Issy Ferris comes from the Midlands and Archie Sylvester comes from the south west of England, both have been vocal about their love of where they now call home. They recorded their 2018 EP in their kitchen and named it ‘Made in Streatham’.

Archie said: “I think London feels like home to us. It’s stressful getting in and out sometimes, but when we’re at home, we feel really comfortable. We’re not there enough at the moment. It probably won’t be until 2020 that we’ll get some time to spend at home which we are looking forward to.”

Their music takes traditional American influences and gives them a British twist. Archie said: “We have a lot of American influences, but we try and make sure we’re writing songs from a British angle. It wouldn’t feel genuine writing about pick-up trucks and cowboy boots.”

Place is integral to the duo’s lyrics. Issy explained: “You write about what you know. When we started writing, south west London was our backdrop, that’s where our friends were.

“It’s where our stories have been set. As we toured more, we’ve been broadened but London has definitely been an inspiration while writing together.”

Issy said “We get quite homesick on tour. South west London is a great place to be. We live near Streatham Hill. It’s a place with lots of hustle and bustle but it really is our home.”

She lists her favourite places in south west London as the Hood restaurant, the Hamlet bar and Tooting Bec Common. She also misses the ‘lovely little fox’ that lives in their garden, although Archie disagrees vehemently.

Issy said: “This year, we’ve done two headline tours, released new music, and played 101 shows. We didn’t plan it.

“I’m a massive fan of 101 Dalmatians but there’s no correlation. We just keep a tally of the shows that we’ve done and that’s the grand total.”

Issy declared the two nights at London Bridge’s Omeara in early September as her favourite shows of the year. Issy said: “We were lucky enough to do two nights as the first sold out pretty quickly.

“Those shows were insanely special. We couldn’t believe in six months, we went from The Lexington to playing two nights at Omeara.”

They were especially pleased to have been selected for the Emerging Artist Award by Bob Harris, known for championing young acts throughout nearly 50 years in broadcasting.

Issy said: “Bob and his family have been really amazing to us. We’ve done gigs with Under The Apple Tree, the company he runs with his son to promote new Americana music.

“He’s watched our writing develop, he’s watched us go from not selling any tickets to selling 600 in London. He’s seen that progression.”

It’s hard to pin down the sound of Ferris & Sylvester, but they accept the Americana term with grace.

Archie said: “It’s difficult to define what Americana is, and it’s difficult to define what our music is. There’s blues, folk, rock and soul influences, maybe a tiny bit of country too.

“That’s generally how people define Americana music too. As songwriters, it’s very important to not pigeon hole ourselves into one specific genre, but we feel comfortable in the Americana world”.

I think that everyone should keep an eye out for Ferris & Sylvester as they have a bright future looming. Check out their social media channels to see when they are on the road next (although the image above gives you some guidance). I have been listening back to their E.P. from last year, I Should Be on a Train. At the Barrier had this to say about a remarkable work:

“Ferris & Sylvester are making some pretty significant waves.  Already lauded by such luminaries as Bob Harris, who premiered the title track from this new collection on his BBC Radio 2 Country Show, they’ve also been praised widely in the music press. In early 2020, were awarded the Emerging Artist Award at the UK Americana Awards.

The duo are Issy Ferris and Archie Sylvester, and their sound is American West, via South London and takes in touches of folk, blues, pop, psychedelia and, at least on Good Man, one of the tracks on this excellent EP, Eastern influences.  They switch interestingly and effectively between up-close intimacy and in-your-face riffing and, on the evidence of I Should Be On A Train, their growing reputation is well-justified.

As noted above, the EP’s title track has already received airplay and is available as a download single or on limited edition 12-inch vinyl.  It’s a song that grows from its intimate beginnings into a full-blown power ballad with some nice guitar flourishes and lyrics that articulate the confusion of someone seeking, but for lack of courage failing, to end a relationship.  The second track, Knock You Down has a 60s feel to it. Indeed, the intro wouldn’t be out of place on a Donovan album. The song, once again, builds nicely into a riff-heavy chorus which implores the listener “not to let the system knock you down.”

Everyone is Home, a contemplation of the loneliness of COVID isolation, is probably my favourite track on the EP.  Again, it’s a song that has already had a degree of exposure and, whilst it starts by lamenting the isolation from a loved one, it does convey a message of hope  as the refrain switches from “everyone is lonely, everyone is scared” to “everyone is lonely, everyone is brave” and makes the observation that “we learned what it is to be human again.”  Powerful and reassuring messages in these confused times!

On Good Man, the duo get solidly electric, particularly during the chorus, which builds on a strong, insistent riff.  The song also incorporates an eastern feel – Indian, or is it Arabian? – in a way that recalls Richard Thompson.  The closing track is an enchanting version of With a Little Help From My Friends.  Ferris and Sylvester’s version leans more towards the Joe Cocker interpretation than towards The Beatles’ original, but essentially the sound and emphasis is all their own.   Issy, in particular, takes the opportunity to give her vocal chords a good workout and the overall effect is admirable, fresh, and utterly enjoyable.

Ferris and Sylvester’s last recorded output, the 2018 EP, Made in Streatham, made a lasting impression. It even managed to hit the number one spot on the iTunes singer-songwriter chart.  There’s something stronger than a mere impression that suggests that this new offering is also destined for big things”.

I wonder if we will see a Ferris & Sylvester album later this year. With some incredible E.P.s under their belt, many will look to see whether the duo put out an album. Of course, when things start to get back to normal, there will be a chance to see Ferris & Sylvester on the stage. I have been following them for a few years now and, with every release, they seem to get stronger and reveal new layers. Ferris & Sylvester are definitely…

ONE of my favourite acts.

_________________

Follow Ferris & Sylvester

Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/FerrisandSylvester

Twitter:

https://twitter.com/ferrissylvester

Instagram:

https://www.instagram.com/ferrisandsylvestermusic/

Spotify:

https://open.spotify.com/artist/1LnhhjMNydIGawXsnfNhCf?si=J5aMAnNjTR-DYJIT5M2wfw

YouTube:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCnwh5bFthR6r-X0jQTZuFcA

FEATURE: More Room for the Life: What Could the Rest of 2021 Hold in Terms of Kate Bush Treats?

FEATURE:

 

 

More Room for the Life

PHOTO CREDIT: Colin Davey/Getty Images 

What Could the Rest of 2021 Hold in Terms of Kate Bush Treats?

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THIS is another case of speculation…

 PHOTO CREDIT: Rex USA

when it comes to Kate Bush-related products. It seems that every time I put a feature of this nature, there is an announcement regarding a book or something else. Completely coincidental, though I like how there are people on the same wavelength! Rather than tread over ground I have covered regarding books, it does seem like this year will deliver more in the way of Kate Bush news – if not new music then definitely people paying tribute in their own way. Her fabulous single, Sat in Your Lap, is forty in June. Whilst we have not seen many singles re-released through the years, I feel Sat in Your Lap is such an important one in terms of Bush stepping into new territory and releasing a sound that we had not heard from before. I think that the book and magazine releases may be a bit limited for the remainder of 2021. I know we are only in April yet, with few big anniversaries this year, I would be surprised if anything came out. I know there is a photobook in the pipeline that we might see later in the year. I want to go back to my point regarding a documentary and a lack of appropriate love in that respect. Again, not to rehash old rants; I do think that there is a stumbling block and myopia when it comes to commissioners and taking on a new Kate Bush documentary. I recently pitched a radio documentary intended for the BBC that is different to the T.V. documentary that was broadcast back in 2014.

Rather than take a straight and chronological approach to her music, I was going to focus on her innovation, production and style. Much in the same way David Bowie has been covered in documentaries, this was going to be a deeper look at a musical genius. I came up against a response I have received many times: there is already a documentary out there so it is unlikely the BBC will take on another. With it being costly to self-finance such a project, I do feel that we will get something in the way of a documentary (whether on radio or T.V.) this year. This is me guessing, though the volume of books and magazine features about Bush this last year leads me to think that we will see a documentary. I think that it has a timeliness. Not only would the fortieth anniversary of Sat in Your Lap allow one to explore its parent album, The Dreaming (released in 1982), but the greatest hits collection, The Whole Story, is thirty-five later in the year. I don’t think that things need to be pegged to an anniversary. Not only are there going to be new article from journalists explaining why Bush means a lot to them; artists will tackle songs from her catalogue in their own inimitable manner. Gizelle Smith recently covered Bush’s 2005 single, King of the Mountain. I have suggested that a covers album would be a good idea. Not that I can spearhead it myself, although I think there will be a few more Bush’s covers that brings her work to new people.

In  terms of what else could come, album re-releases is most likely. I have suggested that there are no big anniversaries. The Whole Story’s thirty-fifth anniversary is an important one, so I would not be shocked if there was a new version or an expended edition. The last time Bush released all of her albums in a package was back in 2018. As there has been a recent surge in interest and new evaluation of her work, one cannot write off the chance that there will be more packages. I am a hopeful fan when I predict what might arrive. Given the influx of books and magazine features about Bush this and last year, it would be unusual if there was a halt. It is exciting to think what comes next and whether we will get something in the way of an album or documentary. Nearly a decade since her last studio album, 50 Words for Snow, came out, there is this endless wave of love and fascination. It is unlikely anything new in the way of Bush music will come before the end of the year, though one can never rule it out! For hardcore fans and new converts, it is very exciting to…

 PHOTO CREDIT: EMI/Fish People

LOOK forward to see what comes next.

FEATURE: The Lockdown Playlist: Friends-Themed Artists/Tracks

FEATURE:

 

 

The Lockdown Playlist

IN THIS PHOTO: The main cast of the U.S. sitcom, Friends/PHOTO CREDIT: NBC/Getty Images 

Friends-Themed Artists/Tracks

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IT has been rumoured for a long time…

 PHOTO CREDIT: NBC Universal

but it looks like a Friends reunion is taking place. The long-running sitcom is a favourite for many of us, so the prospect of its six lead actors getting together again is exciting! Digital Spy reported recently that a reunion looks imminent:

“It's been over a year now since the Friends reunion was officially confirmed to be happening with all six original cast members. Due to the coronavirus pandemic and subsequent filming delays though, we hadn't heard all that much about it since.

That is until recently, when David Schwimmer appeared to hint that he'd be recording the HBO Max special with Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Matt LeBlanc, Lisa Kudrow and Matthew Perry in April this year.

Now, Greg Grande, set designer for the beloved '90s sitcom, has offered up a clue as to where the reunion get-together is going to take place too.

Taking to Instagram on Wednesday (March 31), Greg shared a photo of Monica Geller's New York City apartment set, with some of its most recognisable features – like the purple walls, the orange armchair and the turquoise kitchen – in clear view.

"Sssh! Somethings happening, deja vu... coming alive once again! ❤️ #friends #monicasapt #friendsreunion," Grande wrote as the caption”.

To celebrate the (brief) return of the iconic sitcom, this Lockdown Playlist combines songs that mention the word ‘friends’ or a band name contains that word. I hope that you enjoy the…

 PHOTO CREDIT: @gemmachuatran/Unsplash

SELECTION of tracks below.

FEATURE: Modern Heroines: Part Forty-One: Chloe x Halle

FEATURE:

 

 

Modern Heroines

Part Forty-One: Chloe x Halle

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I have included the amazing…

 PHOTO CREDIT: Kenneth Cappello/HIGHSNOBIOETY

Chloe x Halle on my blog before. They are an stunning duo that I feel are going to be icons of the future – there are some who say they are icons already. In their early-twenties, it might be a lot to put on their shoulders. That said, they are definite role models and have given voice and strength to say many young fans. In terms of providing a little bit of biography, here is some background:

“Chloe x Halle is an R&B duo composed of sisters Chloe and Halle Bailey. At a young age, the sisters performed in minor acting roles before moving from Mableton, Georgia, to Los Angeles in 2012. The two began posting music covers to YouTube and were acknowledged by Beyoncé, who became their mentor and later signed them to her label, Parkwood Entertainment. They subsequently released the EP Sugar Symphony (2016) and the mixtape The Two of Us (2017).

The duo gained further prominence after starring in the sitcom Grown-ish (2018–present) and releasing their debut album The Kids Are Alright (2018), for which they earned two Grammy Award nominations including Best New Artist. In 2020, they released their second studio album Ungodly Hour to critical acclaim, earning them another three Grammy Award nominations. The album's lead single "Do It" became the duo's first song to chart on the Billboard Hot 100”.

One big oversight was that Chloe x Halle lost out at this year’s GRAMMYs. I thought they would walk away with at least one award! As Teen Vogue explained, it was quite a big snub:

“The 2021 Grammys were a historic night for many artists. But that doesn't free the Recording Academy from all criticism. And Chloe x Halle fans have a legitimate reason to be upset after Sunday night's telecast. After being snubbed from the main R&B album category, the young music duo, consisting of sisters Chloe and Halle Bailey, didn't take home a single Grammy award.

Their sophomore album, Ungodly Hour, was nominated for Best Progressive R&B Album, they also scored noms for Best Traditional R&B Performance ("Wonder What She Thinks Of Me") and Best R&B Song ("Do It"). For every category there are winners and losers, but that doesn't mean people have to agree with the Recording Academy's choices, especially given how Black women are often shut out from major awards and, well, relegated to categories like “Best Progressive R&B Album” versus Pop or general categories.

There's also the fact that Chloe x Halle have uniquely adapted to an unprecedented time for live music, finding creative new ways to perform their songs at every opportunity and mastering the art of the at-home performance. They work hard and somehow they make it look not only effortless but undeniably fun. For Chloe, 22, and Halle, 20, every performance is its own visual world, and in 2020, a year that was so hard for so many, they created a whole universe”.

I am going to get to their new album, Ungodly Hour, in a minute. I want to bring in a few interviews before getting to that. It is an amazing record that marks Chloe x Halle for huge things. It is worth discovering more about the sisters and how they have progressed and why they are so important. Not only is Ungodly Hour a step forward from their debut, The Kids Are Alright; they promoted the album during the pandemic – and did so in a hugely impactful and effective! We learn more in this interview from The Guardian in September 2020:

“The release of their second album, the presciently titled Ungodly Hour, has seen the pair school the world in the art of pandemic promo. “I feel like we’ve been making the best of what we have,” says Chloe, casually evoking the cluster of visually spectacular performances and photoshoots – including an entire high-fashion ad campaign – they’ve staged from the tennis court of their family home (admittedly, having a good lockdown requires certain advantages).

Their graft has not gone unnoticed. Until recently, the sisters were primarily known as Beyoncé proteges, the pop giant having signed them to her management company in 2015 off the back of their YouTube covers of her own tracks (the duo also racked up views for versions of songs by Adele, Ariana Grande and Lorde). They appeared in the Lemonade visual album and opened for their mentor on tour, all the while producing a stream of music that, while impressive, never quite elevated them to superstar territory – until now.

Whereas their debut album, The Kids Are Alright, focused on the agony and ecstasy of mid-adolescence, Ungodly Hour sees the pair sift through their love lives, calling out cheaters, playboys and prolific booty-callers. But it’s not simply good girls versus bad boys; the album is suffused with a compelling moral ambiguity. Wonder What She Thinks of Me is told from the perspective of the “other woman”, while on the darkly comic Tipsy, the pair fantasise about murdering flaky love interests. (“It is such a shame that they went missing, they can’t find ’em now / Oh, I wonder how I accidentally put them in the ground.”) “We were pissed off writing that song!” insists Halle. “Sometimes when people mess with your heart, you’re like: ‘Dude I gotta do something about it.’” Chloe is keen to clarify that “we never would kill somebody. But I feel like if everything’s so general, the song gets boring.”

Fantasising about offing errant boyfriends is one form of catharsis, but there is also more wholesome consolation to be found on the album. “When we write these songs it’s to make ourselves feel better, so when we listen back, it continues to make us feel better,” says Chloe. “I laugh at myself because there’s been so many times when I’m feeling like I don’t have too many friends or a relationship didn’t work out, I’ll play Lonely and instantly feel better.”

Entering the music industry as teens, the pair say they were routinely patronised in the studio. “Low key and high key at the same time,” nods Chloe. “People would tell us what we were creating was too complex for the average ear. I feel like that’s so not cool to tell two young creatives who are pushing the boundaries, especially when we’re in a world where everything’s so manufactured exactly the same.”

One person who did not underestimate them was Beyoncé. “Just knowing that she appreciated how complex it was and [hearing her] go on about how beautiful something was truly meant a lot,” says Chloe. The pair still run all their work by her, although she didn’t end up having much input into Ungodly Hour. “She listened to the album and she had close to no notes, which is pretty rare because she’s such a perfectionist!” she beams”.

Ungodly Hour came out in June of last year and, in my view, it was one of the best albums of the year. I wanted to source from an interview from Billboard, where Chloe x Halle discussed working alongside Beyoncé:

“This industry can be hypercritical of young women. How have you managed evolving as artists — and people — in that environment?

Chloe: A lot of people think of us as little perfect angels that don’t have any problems, and that’s not true. We really wanted to show the imperfect side of us on this project. We have fallen in love, fallen out of love, had our hearts broken. We’re still learning to love our insecurities. That’s what this album symbolizes for us: “Will you love me at the ungodly hour?” We have to give a lot of that credit to our parents too. It’s so funny, when we were playing the songs for them, our dad almost had a heart attack...

Halle: ...because we expose ourselves in the music. A lot of the things we don’t tell our parents, it’s in the songs. When they hear them, they’re like, “Oh, this is what’s happening? OK.”

What kind of direction does Beyoncé give you?

Chloe: What’s really cool is that she gives us complete freedom. She has been in this game since she was so young, and she knows what it feels like to be able to use her voice. She doesn’t take that away from us, and she lets us create the art we want to create.

Halle: It’s freeing when you have full creative control and you don’t have to rely on anyone else. We truly feel that it is our story to tell. We don’t want anybody else to tell our story.

Chloe: We’ll just do whatever the hell we want and see if it sticks. Then we’ll go back the next day and listen to it and be like, “We really like this!”

Halle: Or, “This is shit.”

Both: “This is bad.” (Both laugh.)”.

As young Black women in the music industry, the Bailey sisters have had to face more obstacles than most artists. I think there has been a lot of discussion since the Black Lives Matter protests that we saw last year (and this). Releasing an album when the murder of George Floyd sparked so much anger and desire for change must have been emotional. The duo discussed this with GQ last August:

“There's been so much going on this year, from coronavirus to Black Lives Matter. What has it been like releasing Ungodly Hour against that backdrop?

C: It's been interesting, but we're so grateful that, through this chaotic time, we can still try to find the beauty in it. I hope that that's what we did with our album, that we brought some light into people's lives. I feel like everything happens for a reason and this truly is the “ungodly hour”. In an odd way, the time when we put it out, it's exactly when it was supposed to come.

H: Normally when we release an album or a project, we do the press tour in New York, then we go back home and do the press tour in LA. Then we normally travel all over and go to all the radio stations and do interviews there. Doing it from home has been interesting, but it's been really positive actually too. It's amazing what you can do from home, with the performances and interviews. It's wild. Maybe we've never even needed to actually meet up and stuff. We can just do it through our computer.

You have also always had so much creative control over your work. Entering the industry at such a young age, was it ever a struggle for you to get that freedom?

H: What I think we got really lucky and blessed with is our parents, who have always instilled in us that we can do anything we put our minds to. We've always had a hand in our creativity because we feel like it's our story to tell. We write and produce everything that we touch, because it's so important. I feel like that's never been something that we've had to fight for, because we've just been like, “No, this is it. This is what we're doing.” When we were ten and eight years old, our dad sat us down and taught us the basics of how to write a song. Just knowing that we have the power within has been a theme and lesson that our parents have always instilled in our brains. Collaboration has also always been exciting and interesting for us, because we're used to working with one another. That's our safe space. With my sister, I can be truthful and honest. When you're working with somebody new, you're scared to step on their toes. That's why creativity for us has always been like, “Yes, we're going to do it.”

Do you have any favourite memories from working on the album?

H: Mine would be writing the song “Baby Girl”. It was one of the first songs we wrote for Ungodly Hour and it was the day after Christmas. We decided to rent an Airbnb in Malibu right by the beach – the house was literally in the water. It was no parents allowed, just Chloe and I and our brother. We made 15 to 20 songs in that weekend, because we were just really inspired being by the water. “Baby Girl" was a really beautiful message that was really healing to me and my sister. Sometimes when you're feeling down, you need those empowering, encouraging words and that was like a conversation with ourselves throughout the whole album. After making it, I remember we just both felt like it instantly made us feel calmer and better.

C: I just feel like the whole project really embodies strength in a sonic form. I love how the themes, whether we're coming from a pretty vulnerable state, like we do in “Lonely” and “Forgive Me”, it still comes from a place of power. I'm happy that the music represents strong women in showing all of our layers in every way. It's pretty cool how my sister and I have two completely different lives and two different perspectives, because I feel like that's helped layer it not only musically, but lyrically”.

 PHOTO CREDIT: Chris Pizzello/AP Photo

I will get to some reviews for Ungodly Hour soon. It has been really interesting reading up about Chloe x Halle and bonding with a remarkable duo. What I like about an album like Ungodly Hour is how much the pair have grown and how confident they sound. They are so mature, innovative and inspiring with regards their music and how they compose themselves. In an interview with HIGHSNOBIETY, they were asked about their musical evolution:

“Let’s get into the album: In the past, your music has had an innocence about it, but this album is pretty grown.

C: You know, with anything in life, we never like to force it. Halle just turned 20. I'll be 22 in July. Naturally, the music will just grow with that. We're sharing our experiences, sharing what we're going through, whether it's heartbreak or falling in love or our insecurities — what makes us tick. People only really know us as, like, little sweet angels and all of that. And everyone is multi-layered.

“Busy Boy” is about a guy who sleeps around and sends you unsolicited late night photos of, well, a very particular body part of his. Are lines like this born from real life?

H: Absolutely. All the songs on the album are pulled from real-life experiences, real-life relationships. And for “Busy Boy,” everyone can relate to knowing this guy who is just so hot, he is just A+ everywhere. But everyone knows him as a player. They know he jumps around from girl to girl. It was funny to talk about that because in our little girl group [of friends], sometimes we do find that one dude who has tried to talk to all of us. And we laugh about it and we kiki about it.

Are you able to find time to date and have fun, and do what young people do?

H: Of course!

C: You know, we explore. We date around. We're learning as we experience life. And it helps stimulate the lyrics.

You taught yourselves how to produce, arrange, write, and record your music at a very young age, but now that there is this bigger spotlight, is it important to still create in that more organic way?

C: Absolutely. Yeah. If we didn't keep that, I don't think we would even have finished this album. We love creating at home so much. You know, [our first album] The Kids Are Alright, we created the whole thing in our living room. [For this album], we converted the garage and carpeted it up and made it into our little studio here. We always prefer home and working on our laptop and arranging all the weird harmonies together and recording each other.

We worked with so many amazing producers and songwriters on this album, but at the end of every session, we would take the stems, and we would revamp them up and really add, like, our sauce to the songs afterward so it really felt like us. But also, half the album is strictly just us and our production and writing as well. We executive produced it. That's the only way to do it. If it starts to feel forced or bad, we walk away.

When I see you two on camera and in interviews, I’m struck by how poised you both are, from such a young age. You present yourself almost perfectly. But I wonder if that ever feels like pressure? You’ve had to be really mature since before most kids ever really do.

H: It's not a persona. It's not something that we turn on and we turn off. It's just the way that our parents raised us. Sometimes, we do get compliments, like, "Oh my gosh. You guys are always so happy and positive. You guys are angels!" And, you know, that’s one side of it, of course. I know some people put us on a pedestal. And I think that what hones us in on continuing to just be positive beings and lights is the way we grew up, our parents constantly reminding us that all of these things don't matter. All of these grand things don't matter”.

 PHOTO CREDIT: Campbell Addy for Teen Vogue

To finish up, I am going to pull in a couple of positive reviews for Ungodly Hour. It is an album that I loved when it came out nearly a year ago – I am still listening to it now. This is what The Line of Best Fit observed when they reviewed Ungodly Hour:

“Take, for example, the angsty “Don’t Make It Harder On Me”, which sounds like a deep-cut by The Supremes turned on its head: “Don’t make it harder on me. / Don’t make it harder on me / I told you not to love me / And now you’re growing on me”. Channelling late '60s doo-wop and contemporary urban pop, the song is as much a kiss-off as it is an unabashed love-song, with the duo sounding off on the ramifications of a potential romance against an edgy, orchestral backdrop. Make no mistake though, the sisterhood draw power from their previous heartaches, crafting anthems across the rest of the album that speak to their self-confidence, such as the empowering “Do It” (“I’m just with the crew / We ain’t out here lookin’ for boo / ‘Cause some nights be better with you…”) and the playful “Forgive Me” (“Movin’ too fast, now you caught in the middle / Try so hard to keep up, now you single / Bettin’ you’ll regret what you did just a little / Ah, ah”).

Elsewhere, the duo channel early-nineties Sade on the jazzy “Busy Boy” before trading off kisses with Swae Lee on the Mike WiLL Made-It-produced “Catch Up”, concluding this one-two punch with the confessional “Overwhelmed”, which sees Chloe and Halle ruminate on the pressures of their newly-found stardom: “Holdin’ my breath ‘til my face turns blue / Head under water / Breathe deeply, they said / I need a weekend again”. At odds with the otherwise up-tempo sound of the record, this moment of vulnerability speaks to the strength drawn by the duo in their togetherness – a theme that emerges most prominently on the album’s title track: “When you decide to love yourself / When you decide you need someone / When you don’t have to think about it / Love me at the ungodly hour”. Acting as both sultry invitation and empowered self-confession, the song is a clarion call for all those who deign to diminish the duo’s talents – talents that blaze through on Ungodly Hour with a full and unrelenting force”.

When Our Culture sat down with Ungodly Hour, they were definitely impressed with that they heard:

“Across the album, Chloe x Halle deliver lavish, confident R&B tunes that boast a winning combination of angelic vocal harmonies and frequently audacious lyrics. “Better, baby, better treat me better/ Better than those other guys who change up like the weather/ It is such a shame that they went missing, they can’t find ’em now/ Oh, I wonder how I accidentally put them in the ground,” they sing on the bouncy, infectious ‘Tipsy’, while ‘Busy Boy’ is fearless yet funny in its depiction of more mature themes, with the line “It’s four o’clock/ You sendin’ me too many pictures of your…” immediately sticking out. The album’s cover perfectly encapsulates the tone of the record – deceptively innocent on the surface, but self-empowering and playfully salacious at its core.

Ungodly Hour might not be the most original R&B album out there, but it’s so well-executed that it’s hard not to revel in its joys. It helps that the production, much of which is handled by Chloe herself, occasionally adds a bit more punch to the album’s gently unassuming qualities – small details like the finger-snaps on the Latin-inspired ‘Baby Girl’ or the pounding drums  on ‘Tipsy’. Meanwhile, the Disclosure-assisted title track packs a killer of a chorus as the duo coil effortlessly around the song’s dreamy instrumental. “When you don’t have to think about it/ Love me at the ungodly hour,” they proclaim.

While part of the album’s strength lies in the singers’ self-determination, Chloe x Halle aren’t afraid to express a softer side, particularly on the stripped-down interlude ‘Overwhelmed’ and the tender follow-up ‘Lonely’, which pulls you in to offer a warm, comforting embrace. While the album’s second half falters slightly – ‘Catch Up’ feat. Swae Lee being the record’s one big misstep – ‘Don’t Make it Harder On Me’ is a soulful late-album highlight that showcases the duo’s classic R&B influences. Nothing on Ungodly Hour is particularly new, but the way Chloe x Halle tiptoe around those superficial binaries – classy and modern, innocent and sultry, angelic and sinful – gives it a refreshing edge. And besides, they pull it off with such grace and charisma that you can’t help but succumb to its rhythm”.

I will end up with a short playlist containing the best Chloe x Halle cuts so far. Even though they are young and their career is in its infancy, they are going to go a long way and release a lot of amazing music. Role models to so many people around the world, I feel the duo are going to be icons of the future. You only need to read interviews they have conducted and listen to their music…

TO know that.

FEATURE: Second Spin: Craig David - Born to Do It

FEATURE:

 

 

Second Spin

Craig David - Born to Do It

___________

I want to include this album…

of 2000, as I remember there was this great movement of 2-Step Garage that was coming though at that time. The Garage movement in general was exciting and something I had not heard before. Craig David’s Born to Do It, to me, was one of the forerunners of that movement. It was released on 14th August, 2000 in the U.K. and later in 2001 in the U.S. Before his debut album, many people would have heard David performing vocals with Artful Dodger. I think that his debut album is a confident and appealing set of songs that marked him as a talent to watch. Craig David is forty on 1st May, and it seems strange that he released Born to Do It over twenty years ago! I really like the album, yet there have been some mixed reviews. I think the U.K. audiences bonded with the album more than the U.S. ones. That seems to be the divide in terms of critical reaction if not sales. With classics like 7 Days, Fill Me In and Rendezvous, Born to Do It is a terrific album. With David writing most of the songs together with Mark Hill (who is one half of Artful Dodger), one gets to hear an authentic voice and lyrical approach. I wonder why 2-Tone Garage sort of dissipated or whether it evolved into Grime or another genre. It was an exciting time for British music and, as such, I think Craig David should be given some respect.

I will bring in a positive review for Born to Do It but, first, this 2007 review from Rolling Stone is not entirely glowing:

“The mantle of "next big thing" has been placed heavily on the shoulders of Craig David, the twenty-year-old British soul singer whose debut album, Born to Do It, is already a massive hit around the world. But David doesn't just have the burden of making a name for himself; he's also supposed to be the one who finally introduces to U.S. shores the knotted, electro-rouged beats of two-step - a.k.a. U.K. garage, the club music of choice for Brits. The problem is, to American ears already shaped by the sonic wizardry of people like Teddy Riley and Timbaland (two big influences on two-step producers), the sound isn't quite so revolutionary. It's actually kind of familiar. What ultimately distinguishes Born to Do It from the stuff currently clogging the radio is the way it strikes a balance between traditional pop and R&B;, using modern production flash as the bridge. David's music is crammed to overflowing with acoustic guitar and prominently placed strings, layered just so over the insistent thump of beats and bass, even in the ballads. The result has more pop savvy than most contemporary American urban fare but is more authentically urban than the blue-eyed soul of MTV-friendly boy bands.

Tracks like "7 Days," "Fill Me In" (the first U.S. single) and "Can't Be Messing 'Round" have steel-plated hooks that burrow into your head and won't let go, while David ad-libs such hip-hop cliches as "Money ain't a thing" and "[I'm] getting' jiggy just for fun." Still, the slick Born to Do It is dragged down by an overabundance of ballads ranging from the kind of sappy fare that lovesick teenagers play for one another late at night over the phone ("Rendezvous," "Key to My Heart") to self-consciously risque fare like "Booty Man."

David has a creamy voice that's given texture by a palpable libidinous yearning; it's the sound of a horny boy becoming a smooth player. His vocals are layered and treated with effects on almost all the tracks, and he has the ability to flutter his voice atop stuttering beats or to race ahead of those same beats while still keeping time. Though he's undoubtedly talented, it's only on the Artful Dodger-produced U.K. club classic "Rewind" that David really makes a lasting impression. There - with his singing chopped up and edited into riffs and hooks - David is sexy, commanding and vibrant in a way that the rest of the album only sometimes achieves”.

I don’t think Born to Do It gets played that much on the radio or, when it does, it is singles like 7 Days. Dig deeper and other tracks strike you. I like Can't Be Messing 'Round, Time to Party and You Know What. Of course, Walking Away was another big hit. The album has some real gems and hidden treasures!

As Wikipedia outlines, Born to Do It has a huge legacy and was a massively important album that turned Craig David into a star:

“At the 2001 Brit Awards, the music video for the album's second single, "7 Days" was nominated for the Best Music Video award, but lost out to the music video for "Rock DJ" by Robbie Williams. Following the album's release, David was nominated for three MOBO Awards, including best newcomer and best album for Born to Do It. David was also nominated for four Brit Awards in 2001, including Best British Album. Born to Do It became the fastest-selling debut album ever by a British male solo act, a record the album still holds. The album has since been listed as the 45th fastest-selling album ever.

With the album's lead single going to number one in the UK, David (at 18 years and 334 days old), became the youngest British male to have a UK number-one single since Jimmy Osmond, and was the youngest solo artist at the time to have his debut single go to number one in the UK. This record has since been surpassed by Gareth Gates, who was 17 years and 255 days old when he debuted at number one with "Unchained Melody" in March 2002. The album would serve as a musical inspiration to producer Rodney Jerkins during his work on Brandy's third studio album, Full Moon, following a gig in London, England, months before where he was exposed to the UK garage collaborations between David and Artful Dodger”.

Before wrapping things up, I want to bring in a positive review from AllMusic. This is what they wrote when they listened to Born to Do It:

“In his 2000 debut album, Craig David merges smooth-soul crooning with a cascade of glistening keyboards, circling guitars, and sophisticated rhythms. Displaying a healthy marriage of current R&B vocal stylings and U.K. club/dance fused beats, David's music skillfully evades feeling robotic and cold, while still sounding pristine and immaculate. As an artist who is in his late teens, he conjures up a personal and revealing work that delves into both his mature sound and youthful attitude. Co-writing and co-producing with Mark Hill of the British garage act the Artful Dodger, David wraps his scorching-cool vocals around a mellow attack of keyboards and drums, while distinctly focusing on romance, relationships, and clubbing. Guitars simmer on "7 Days," a day by day account of an adventurous first week with a woman he magically encounters while in a subway. In "Can't Be Messing 'Round," the performer's razor sharp vocals heat-seek while a keyboard hammers before being covered by a high-sounding whirlpool of strings. With the dance anthem "Time to Party," drums sting and a whispering guitar is faintly heard while he optimistically sings "Friday, payday/Ready to do the things we love." The lyrics do sometimes sound underdeveloped due to David's age, and the music can occasionally lack distinctiveness, yet those two factors do not hinder the celebratory power of Born to Do It. The album features an effortless presentation of limber and carefully articulated vocal talents by the singer that seamlessly glide through the polished collage of songs”.

Actually, before finishing up, I want to borrow from a Stereogum article that was published last year to mark twenty years of Born to Do It. It makes for interesting reading. I have selected some segments that stood out to me:

“David’s breakout was intertwined with that of 2-step, a club-born lovechild of house and R&B, and a kind of fraternal twin with UK garage, which took over as the new dance trend in late ’90s Britain after the jungle and drum and bass waves had crested. David was making regional rounds as a DJ by the age of 15, and connected with a pair of local producers, Mark Hill and Pete Deveraux, who were going by the name Artful Dodger (readers may remember that name from the Streets’ “Let’s Push Things Forward”: “I make bangers not anthems/ Leave that to the Artful Dodger”). Speaking to the Los Angeles Times in 2001, David succinctly demystified 2-step’s inner workings. “It’s a hybrid of R&B and house-garage where you take the bass drum off the second and fourth beats of the bar,” he explained. “That gives a unique skipping feel.”

Born To Do It asserted David’s influences as being more in tune with R&B and hip-hop and the depth of personality and storytelling that one can bring to those forms. Abandoning 2-step altogether, though, would have been turning his back on the crowd that established him. A conscious decision was made to write a transitional song that would satisfy the old clubland guard but also ease into David’s broader vision. “Fill Me In” mixed controlled-burst verses, honeyed production and that fleet-footed beat, and it exceeded expectations by becoming David’s first #1 record.

David’s delivery on “Fill Me In” is impeccable, and the music’s hooks are subtle yet insistent, but the meanest feat that it pulls off is lyrical. Recounting a young lover’s house call, no time is wasted getting down to business: The suitor is summoned by phone and arrives to find his lady dressed in a long negligee already pouring glasses of red wine. Next thing you know, they’re fooling around a bit, switching on the answering machine, and hitting the hot tub. But instead of the scene reaching an obvious conclusion, the young man’s mind turns to the young woman’s parents, who, while nosy and a little controlling, are actually decent folks.

“7 Days” was David’s second consecutive #1 in the UK. He was two for two, and Born To Do It was selling by the truck load. Despite that, David looked at the American market with a grounded mindset. “Going over to America,” he explained in a 2002 episode of the British television program The South Bank Show documenting his rise to fame, “I felt, I’m gonna put down the bags of all my success in the UK and Europe, and I’m gonna approach this like I’m a newcomer who wants to show that it’s about songs, and it’s not about trying to please certain people and trying to make everyone enjoy every aspect of my music.”

David, too, liked to point out his differences as much as his similarities with American artists. “I’m influenced vocally by R&B music,” he told Billboard. “As for rap and hip-hop, it comes from the UK’s garage scene, while my production leans into different genres. Being brought up in the UK and coming from a mixed-race family, it’s hard to put my style into a category. It’s left-field music that incorporates all my flavors.” While Born To Do It went platinum here, David’s popularity wasn’t enough to bring wider attention to all of 2-step. For one, it was already losing steam in its home country, where dance genres had to quickly evolve or die out, and the popularity of “Re-Rewind” had turned out to be as much a peak as it was a breakthrough.

If you have not heard Born to Do It or listened to a bit when it came out, go and listen again and enjoy. I think that it should be played more on radio and, whilst I have seen some mixed reviews, a lot of people were positive when it came out in 2000. All these years later and it still sounds…

SO accomplished and compelling.

FEATURE: Inspired By... Part Five: Jimi Hendrix

FEATURE:

 

 

Inspired By...

Part Five: Jimi Hendrix

___________

I will broaden out my Inspired By… features…

 PHOTO CREDIT: Bent Rej

because there may be one or two artists in the playlist at the end that have appeared in other parts. Today, I am featuring the incredible Jimi Hendrix. Not only is he a genius guitar; he is one of the most influential artists ever. His legacy is huge. Before ending with a playlist of artists who have cited Hendrix as important to them, here is some biography from the Jimi Hendrix official website:

“Jimi Hendrix, born Johnny Allen Hendrix at 10:15 a.m. on November 27, 1942, at Seattle’s King County Hospital, was later renamed James Marshall by his father, James “Al” Hendrix. Young Jimmy (as he was referred to at the time) took an interest in music, drawing influence from virtually every major artist at the time, including B.B. King, Muddy Waters, Howlin’ Wolf, Buddy Holly, and Robert Johnson. Entirely self-taught, Jimmy’s inability to read music made him concentrate even harder on the music he heard.

Al took notice of Jimmy’s interest in the guitar, recalling, “I used to have Jimmy clean up the bedroom all the time while I was gone, and when I would come home I would find a lot of broom straws around the foot of the bed. I’d say to him, `Well didn’t you sweep up the floor?’ and he’d say, `Oh yeah,’ he did. But I’d find out later that he used to be sitting at the end of the bed there and strumming the broom like he was playing a guitar.” Al found an old one-string ukulele, which he gave to Jimmy to play a huge improvement over the broom.

By the summer of 1958, Al had purchased Jimmy a five-dollar, second-hand acoustic guitar from one of his friends. Shortly thereafter, Jimmy joined his first band, The Velvetones. After a three-month stint with the group, Jimmy left to pursue his own interests. The following summer, Al purchased Jimmy his first electric guitar, a Supro Ozark 1560S; Jimi used it when he joined The Rocking Kings.

In 1961, Jimmy left home to enlist in the United States Army and in November 1962 earned the right to wear the “Screaming Eagles” patch for the paratroop division. While stationed at Fort Campbell, Kentucky, Jimmy formed The King Casuals with bassist Billy Cox. After being discharged due to an injury he received during a parachute jump, Jimmy began working as a session guitarist under the name Jimmy James. By the end of 1965, Jimmy had played with several marquee acts, including Ike and Tina Turner, Sam Cooke, the Isley Brothers, and Little Richard. Jimmy parted ways with Little Richard to form his own band, Jimmy James and the Blue Flames, shedding the role of back-line guitarist for the spotlight of lead guitar.

Throughout the latter half of 1965, and into the first part of 1966, Jimmy played the rounds of smaller venues throughout Greenwich Village, catching up with Animals’ bassist Chas Chandler during a July performance at Caf‚ Wha? Chandler was impressed with Jimmy’s performance and returned again in September 1966 to sign Hendrix to an agreement that would have him move to London to form a new band.

Switching gears from bass player to manager, Chandler’s first task was to change Hendrix’s name to “Jimi.” Featuring drummer Mitch Mitchell and bassist Noel Redding, the newly formed Jimi Hendrix Experience quickly became the talk of London in the fall of 1966.

PHOTO CREDIT: Gered Mankowitz/Iconic Images

The Experience’s first single, “Hey Joe,” spent ten weeks on the UK charts, topping out at spot No. 6 in early 1967. The debut single was quickly followed by the release of a full-length album Are You Experienced, a psychedelic musical compilation featuring anthems of a generation. Are You Experienced has remained one of the most popular rock albums of all time, featuring tracks like “Purple Haze,” “The Wind Cries Mary,” “Foxey Lady,” “Fire,” and “Are You Experienced?”

Although Hendrix experienced overwhelming success in Britain, it wasn’t until he returned to America in June 1967 that he ignited the crowd at the Monterey International Pop Festival with his incendiary performance of “Wild Thing.” Literally overnight, The Jimi Hendrix Experience became one of most popular and highest grossing touring acts in the world.

Hendrix followed Are You Experienced with Axis: Bold As Love. By 1968, Hendrix had taken greater control over the direction of his music; he spent considerable time working the consoles in the studio, with each turn of a knob or flick of the switch bringing clarity to his vision”.

To reflect the impact and ability of one of the finest artists that has ever lived, the playlist below is a selection of musicians who hold Hendrix dear. As you can see, he has touched and inspired a lot of other artists. I know that he will continue to influence musicians…

FOR many more generations.