FEATURE: Flow, Rhyme, and Style: A Modern Film About the Birth and Rise of Hip-Hop

FEATURE:

 

 

Flow, Rhyme, and Style

IN THIS PHOTO DJ Kool Herc, who is considered to have invented Hip-Hop (the origins of Hip-Hop can be traced back to 11th August, 1973, at Cindy Campbell’s back to school party at 1520 Sedgwick Avenue in the Bronx)/PHOTO CREDIT: DJ Kool Herc for Vanity Fair via Huck

A Modern Film About the Birth and Rise of Hip-Hop

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I will do other features…

around the approaching fiftieth anniversary of the birth of Hip-Hop. That happens in August. There have been many films through the years about Hip-Hop. Whether it is 1983’s Wild Style, or the 1997 documentary-film, Rhyme & Reason, there has been representation and exploration of the genre. The birth of Hip-Hop might sound quite modest, but it started a revolution. Here is some background regarding how Hip-Hop got its start:

“DJ Kool Herc is credited with throwing the switch at an August 1973 dance bash. He spun the same record on twin turntables, toggling between them to isolate and extend percussion breaks—the most danceable sections of a song. It was a technique that filled the floor with dancers who had spent days and weeks polishing their moves. 

The effect that night was electric, and soon other DJs in the Bronx were trying to outdo Herc. It was a code that has flowed through Hip Hop ever since: 1) Use skills and whatever resources are available to create something new and cool; 2) Emulate and imitate the genius of others but inject personal style until the freshness glows. Competition was, and remains, a prime motivator in the Hip Hop realm.

Like a powerful star, this dance-party scene quickly drew other art forms into its orbit. A growing movement of hopeful poets, visual artists, and urban philosophers added their visions and voices by whatever means available. They got the word out about what was happening in their neighborhoods—neighborhoods much of mainstream, middle-class America was doing its best to ignore or run down. Hip Hop kept coming, kept pushing, kept playing until that was no longer possible.

Today, some Hip Hop scholars fold as many as six elements into Hip Hop culture. They include:

• DJing—the artistic handling of beats and music

• MCing, aka rapping—putting spoken-word poetry to a beat

• Breaking—Hip Hop’s dance form

• Writing—the painting of highly stylized graffiti

• Theater and literature—combining Hip Hop elements and themes in drama, poetry, and stories

• Knowledge of self—the moral, social, and spiritual principles that inform and inspire Hip Hop ways of being.

From its work-with-what-you-got epicenter in the Bronx, Hip Hop has rolled outward to become a multibillion-dollar business. Its sounds, styles, and fashions are now in play around the world. DJs spin turntables in Sao Paulo, Brazil. MCs rap Arabic in the clubs of Qatar. B-boys and b-girls bust baby freezes in Finland. Graffiti rises on the Great Wall of China. Young poets slam poetry in D.C.”.

 IN THIS PHOTO: Viola Davis/PHOTO CREDIT: Dario Calmese for Vanity Fair

I don’t think there have been many recent films around the birth and rise of Hip-Hop. There are some great Hip-Hop documentaries. The BBC produced a documentary about how Hip-Hop changed the world. In the same way it would be good to see a modern film that harks back to the golden days of Disco or Studio 54 in New York – 54 was released in 1998, but it received mixed reviews -, it would be great to see something that goes back to August 1973, and then maybe looks forward at youths or aspiring Hip-Hop artists. Maybe focusing on the queens of the genre or Hip-Hop D.J.s, it could be based in New York or Los Angeles. I have been particularly struck by the recent film, AIR. It may sound random, but there is a lot in the film – The film is based on true events about the origin of Air Jordan, a basketball shoeline, of which a Nike employee seeks to strike a business deal with rookie player Michael Jordan – that struck me. For a start, the always-incredible Viola Davis appears in AIR. She is someone I love as an actor, and it would be terrific to have her in a new film. One about the foundations and growth of Hip-Hop. She brings so much to each role, and it would be amazing having her on board. Of course, this feature is a suggestion to have this sort of film made, so I won’t be writing or directing it. It is the passion you feel through AIR that drew me in. That desire to achieve something almost impossible. I kind of feel that with Hip-Hop. Taking something quite small and building this incredible and burgeoning new type of music.

I don’t think there has been anything like this before. Most Hip-Hop films have been about a particular period (a single year or few months), or they have looked at specific artists from the scene. I am interesting in the roots. As Hip-Hop is fifty in the summer, it is fascinating to sort of visit that time and, from there, build this story around how Hip-Hop changed the world. Maybe using actors to portray real Hip-Hop artists, there would be a central storyline. Maybe bringing together troubled teens in New York in 1973. I am interested in how Hip-Hop captured something and arrived at a time when there were communities in America lost, abandoned and neglected. When reviewing Fight the Power: How Hip-Hop Changed the World, this is what Jack Searle wrote for The Guardian:

“The 1970s began with The Last Poets and Gil Scott-Heron prefacing hip-hop by talking, not singing, about black power on records with “revolution” in the title. Fight the Power’s fine roster of contributors – KRS-One, Grandmaster Caz, Melle Mel, Darryl McDaniels of Run-DMC, and indeed Abiodun Oyewole of The Last Poets – recall a decade in which black consciousness continued to rise, boosted by Shirley Chisholm’s run for the presidency in 1972 under the slogan “unbought and unbossed”, and in reaction less to overt state violence and more to administrative oppression. The documentary cites the phrase “a period of benign neglect”, used by one of Richard Nixon’s advisers in a January 1970 memo to the president and taken here as summing up the period when, with social programmes persistently underfunded and the South Bronx bisected by a new expressway that seemed designed to hasten urban decay, richer New Yorkers fled the city’s astronomical crime rates and left the poor black and Hispanic folk to it.

Fight the Power’s central observation is that hip-hop comes from a community that has been abandoned. The New York police, no longer minded to intervene in poor neighbourhoods, happily allowed hundreds of working-class youths to attend block parties, at which a generation that hadn’t had the money to buy or learn to play instruments made a new kind of music by setting up two turntables, so that a funky horn motif from one record could be segued into a tight drum break from another. The documentary makes the point that one of hip-hop’s most important influences wasn’t musical: at the end of the 70s, no effort was made to stop graffiti covering every inch of the New York subway, so spray-painted slogans and art became an ocean of protest and propaganda, impenetrable to some observers but vital as a form of expression for artists and activists with no other outlet.

Graffiti was, in other words, exactly what hip-hop lyrics would soon become, and was one of the four phenomena – along with rap, breakdance and DJing – brought together by DJ Kool Herc, credited here as hip-hop’s great pioneer. Then, as the 80s began, Ronald Reagan campaigned for the presidency by visiting the Bronx – we see him verbally jousting with angry residents in the rubble – and promising more federal aid, before gaining power and instead beginning the further systematic redistribution of wealth from poor to rich. Conditions are now perfect for a fierce new genre of music to take hold, as Chuck D explains: “Hip-hop is creativity and activity that comes out of the black neighbourhood when everything has been stripped away”.

The documentaries and films that have come before are great, but I have not really seen a film that takes us back to that moment in August 1973 when DJ Kool Herc started a revolution. It would be about telling his story and recognising him. Also a chance to show how Hip-Hop transformed the cultural landscape; see portrayed some of the leaders and innovators who made the genre what it is. In 1973, a fuse was lit. Hip-Hop started and burned a fire that gave voice to those previously forgotten or silenced. Over five decades, Hip-Hop has changed the world. It is a fire that is…

BURNING bright to this day.

FEATURE: Don’t Like Me? The Mixture of Struggle and Fulfilment from New Mothers in Music

FEATURE:

 

 

Don’t Like Me?

IN THIS PHOTO: U.S. rapper Rico Nasty in 2020 (she gave birth to her son, Cameron, while in her senior year of high school, and she explained how there is this mixture of fulfilment and struggle balancing music and motherhood)/PHOTO CREDIT: Myles Loftin for The New York Times

The Mixture of Struggle and Fulfilment from New Mothers in Music

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I owe a massive tip of the hat…

 IN THIS PHOTO: Charlotte Adigéry and Bolis Pupul/PHOTO CREDIT: Garry Jones via The Line of Best Fit

to Allison Hussey, who recently wrote a feature for Pitchfork about the struggles new mothers in music face. I write about this subject a while back, when thinking about the difficulty of female artists especially balancing parenthood and touring. With little to no childcare and that new responsibility, it can often be an impossibility balancing the two worlds. Also, when sufficient time has passed, it is not necessarily a case of them slipping into this old routine like things had not changed. There is transition. Physical and emotional changes post-pregnancy can be quite noticeable. The fulfilment and sense of pride from becoming as mother is an obvious reason why the risks and struggles are worth it. So many artists can draw inspiration from a new child, and it can provide a stability and sense of directional focus that was previously lacking. I don’t think music should be an industry where women are weighing up whether to have a child because they feel like, if they do, then that will cost them too much. As Hussey uncovers in her article, speaking to female musicians, you get this sense that the industry is image obsessed to the point where mothers are seen as maybe far less bankable and sexy than bright and fresh young artists:

“The image-obsessed world of entertainment has been exceptionally grievous in minimizing the demands of motherhood, with children long considered “career killers.” While that perception has changed over the years—just look at Beyoncé and Cardi B’s wildly successful (and joyously explicit) work since they had kids—many modern musician moms still experience undue pressure amid an industry that’s always in search of the shiny new thing. “It’s ingrained in the back of our heads that we have some kind of shelf life, and if you’re not fuckable, no one’s going to want to see you perform or hear what you have to say,” says the country singer-songwriter Margo Price, who has two children. “We objectify young women and youth, and then set them out to pasture.”

The electro-pop singer, songwriter, and producer Charlotte Adigéry remembers signing a record contract in December 2020, on the same day she found out she was pregnant. The coincidental revelation clouded her with doubt, and she considered terminating the pregnancy. “I didn’t think that the music industry would support it or even be interested in what I had to say after becoming a mother,” she says. Adigéry ultimately had her son the following year, and her pregnant belly curves outward on the cover of her breakout 2022 album with multi-instrumentalist Bolis Pupul, Topical Dancer. “For the first time, I really learned to love my body, and I wanted to celebrate that,” she says of the black-and-white image.

Price had her own reservations about her second pregnancy. Nearly a decade earlier, one of her twin boys died in infancy as the result of a rare genetic heart condition, leaving her awash in grief. When she unexpectedly found herself pregnant again in 2018, Price wasn’t sure if she was ready for another baby. Early in her pregnancy, Price says she talked to country legend Loretta Lynn’s daughter, Patsy, pressing for answers: Did she resent her mom for being gone all the time on tour? Was she still angry? Patsy reassured her, and not long after, Loretta called her directly to say, “I just think you should have as many babies as you want.”

This reassurance held particular weight for Price, who idolized the late singer of songs like 1971’s “One’s on the Way” (which ends with Loretta quipping, “Oh gee, I hope it ain’t twins again”) and 1975’s “The Pill,” an ode to birth control and women’s freedom. Price delivers a stark pro-choice ballad on her latest album with “Lydia,” where she describes a down-and-out pregnant woman contemplating her future in a clinic. “Make a decision, it’s yours,” she sings.

Many of the challenges that women in the music industry face echo broader fights against inequity, such as the struggles for paid maternal leave and universal healthcare in the United States. “If something isn’t good for your average musician, it’s not good for your average mother musician,” notes Meg Remy, a Torontonian who was lucky enough to not bring home a five-figure hospital bill along with her two babies thanks to Canada’s universal healthcare system.

The general lack of paid leave contributes to many women—including touring musicians—working through physical discomfort and other health risks all the way up to their due date. Corin Tucker had a rude awakening while carrying her first child during a tour with her band Sleater-Kinney in the early 2000s. “I was pretty young, and there was this feminist mentality of like, ‘Women can do anything, it doesn’t matter if you’re pregnant,’” she says. “But it was pretty horrible. I was so sick and exhausted. I would just sleep in the van all day, play the show, and drag myself to the hotel.”

There’s no paid maternity leave for the vast majority of musicians, which can leave new mothers with precious little downtime. Raquel Berrios got pregnant unexpectedly around the same time that she had begun making dreamy electro-pop with her partner, Luis Alfredo Del Valle, as Buscabulla. She gave birth to her daughter at home in New York in 2013, on the same day she listened to the masters to Buscabulla’s debut EP for the first time. As Buscabulla picked up momentum, Berrios found her burgeoning music career growing inextricably alongside her baby.

IN THIS PHOTO: Raquel Berrios (Buscabulla)/PHOTO CREDIT: Tom Newton

“The first three years were really, really hard,” she says. “It took a toll on me.” There were times when she felt that she was living a “triple life”: going to the full-time day job that gave her family financial stability and health insurance, playing shows at night, mothering most of the hours in between. On some occasions, she’d go to breastfeed her daughter in the morning only to find the baby dusted with glitter and makeup that had rubbed off during a post-show feeding. Meanwhile, Berrios’ health was taking a serious hit from the long-term pressure, creating issues with allergies and digestion that dragged on for about eight years”.

Rico Nasty has been raising her son on her own for most of her music career, with stints of assistance from her divorced parents. She gave birth when she was 18; her baby’s father died of a severe asthma attack during her pregnancy. Being a single parent has had a significant impact on her music: Would-be collaborators had to be flexible with remote work long before it became a norm. Part of the rebellious streak that courses through her music comes from, as she puts it, “being young and having everyone tell you that your life was over because you’ve made such a life-changing ‘mistake.’” That doubt helped steel Rico’s resolve, and she released her first major-label studio album, Nightmare Vacation, in 2020.

But there’s no such thing as free childcare, really, and Rico found that having her parents in rotation at her home was not always relaxing. Last year, she was able to hire a nanny for the first time, and she says she’s never going back. “I was literally burning myself out for years,” she says. “It’s a whole new ballgame”.

There are a couple of other features I want to reference to sort of back up this point that the music industry is not as accommodating and flexible to new mothers as it should. Whereas there are many powerful and inspiring female artists who have children and can return to work and there is not too much loss or massive accommodations needed, there are many more women who are finding they have very little support. Rolling Stone’s Laura Lane looked deeper into this issue in 2021:

“The music industry is not set up for motherhood.

Across occupations, a general “motherhood penalty” — a social phenomenon describing how mothers are perceived to be less committed or competent than working fathers, leading to disadvantages in pay and advancement — is widely documented. Across the board, researchers have found, women seem to be hit with a 4 percent pay cut per child while men receive a 6 percent bump. A 2019 study found that 21 percent of working moms are nervous to tell their bosses they are pregnant. Per a rather blunt summary of the gendered penalty from the New York Times: “One of the worst career moves a woman can make is to have children.”

While it’s difficult to calculate the financial losses for female artists who have kids, the music business’s fast-fluctuating and project-driven nature means that the motherhood penalty can be especially swift and severe.

“Everyone works so hard and it’s so rare to have the kind of momentum and income that you need to equal the amount of effort that goes into making a career in music viable, so for me to introduce another complication — ” says Lynn, pausing to take a breath, “I had a lot of guilt around it and I still do.”

IN THIS PHOTO: Oh Land (Nanna Øland Fabricius)/PHOTO CREDIT: Shervin Lainez for Elle

Whether female artists bring children on the road, ask friends or family watch kids at home, pause their careers, or choose not to have children for the sake of their careers, the decisions in every circumstance are difficult and require endless resilience. This is partly due to the nature of the work, living and dying by erratic tour schedules and unstructured work hours — but it doesn’t help that the vast majority of contemporary record executives, tour managers, or other decision-makers of artist careers are male. Artists from varying backgrounds, success, genre and recognizability agree that there is little support in the industry for female musicians who become mothers.

When Danish musician Oh Land got pregnant five years ago with her first son, Svend, she, like Lynn, worried how it would change her image within the industry. The “youth-focused” music industry can feel totally at odds with parenthood or the idea of mothers, she says: “So I was definitely scared that people will be like, ‘Oh, now she’s done.’” Oh Land toured up until week 38 of her pregnancy. “My pregnancy was very, very easy the first time,” says Oh Land, whose son would kick her belly when she got off stage because he was so accustomed to the noise and movement. “And I think because the pregnancy was so easy it kind of gave me a little bit of a false impression of what it is to be a parent.”

After having their child, she and her then-husband, artist Eske Kath, moved from Brooklyn back home to Copenhagen, largely because Denmark offers tremendously more institutional support to parents. “I don’t need to talk too much about the American healthcare system and all that,” says Oh Land. “Also, being an independent musician where you don’t have a nine to five job, you have to make your own existence every day… It was very hard in the beginning and very overwhelming because I wasn’t prepared on how full-on it was to become a parent for the first time. It takes over your world like it’s a tsunami.” Oh Land is currently a judge on the Danish X Factor and her most recent album, Family Tree, chronicles her family journey”.

Ray Sang wrote for gal-dem in 2021. She also looked at how the industry is not set up to accommodate and support new mothers. Also, that idea that pregnant female artists or mothers are not marketable and they have passed their time. In an industry that is still ageist and places so much stock in promoting young and ‘trendy’ female artists, there is that lack of respect and value placed towards maternity and women with children in music. I think more conversation has opened up incentive and some small changes since 2021 but, as Pitchfork have shown, there is still a long way to go. Are many women going to avoid having children because they feel like their star will wane or they will be pushed aside when they return to their career? Can women realistically go on tour and record like they did before having children? There are artists like Beyonce or Cardi B who have had children and determinedly have continued strong with their career arc trending upwards, that is not to say this is a common experience:

“Speaking to 20 women working across the UK industry, it became clear many of the challenges mothers in music face are structural and will require a complete overhaul of the systems that have lost their ability to function adequately – or, as with every other industry dominated by men, systems that were never built to accommodate women in the first place. These include – but are not limited to – the cost of childcare, low pay in the industry (particularly for artists) and setting realistic expectations around touring and working hours.

Some artists have successfully been able to find workarounds as singer-songwriter Cilla Rae explains, “I remember asking Rebecca Ferguson, ‘how do you manage going on tour and having kids at the same time when they’re all of school age?’ And she just said that she schedules all her tours around half-term and brings a nanny with her.” But this course of action is only viable for those who have the financial means to do so, not everyone.

IN THIS PHOTO: Satnam Galsian/PHOTO CREDIT: Nathan Robinson

Then there are the actual attitudes and views held towards mothers themselves. In addition to adverse feelings towards pregnancy in the industry, there is a tendency to believe that, due to the inability to be always readily available, mothers who work in music are somehow less dedicated to the cause.

But why is this? For artists, motherhood and responsibility isn’t looked upon as marketable, especially for those who already have children. Singer Alika shares that she was told “men have to want to fuck you and women have to want to be like you”. Women in the industry – especially Black women and women of colour – are sold the idea that they need to be sex symbols to sell their records, and anything that deviates from that mould is less than desirable. Across my conversations, it becomes clear that the music industry perception is that becoming a mother suddenly means you can no longer like hip-hop, relate to an under-25 audience or leave your child at home to go and work; ideas that are laughable at best.

As a result, many mothers in the industry are not afforded the privilege of being themselves, with many subsequently hiding the fact that they have children.

Structural changes may take a while to happen, but there’s no reason why a shift in attitude cannot begin now. Women shouldn’t have to base such life-changing decisions around work schedules, yet when talking to gal-dem, several interviewees mentioned women who had ended up having to leave the music industry to focus on raising their children; though understandably no one wanted to give names.

While the decision to do so is admirable, it’s likely that also seeing women do the opposite and balancing both would normalise the idea that women can in fact have successful careers in the music industry whilst being parents. Lead vocalist of Kinaara, Satnam Galsian says, “Mainstream representation would show that it’s possible; the potential impact of which shouldn’t be underestimated.” Visibility is absolutely key. People need to see others successfully balancing being a mother and working within the industry reflected back at them enough to know that, if they are then in that position, the support and lack of judgement exists for them to do the same”.

I was struck by Allison Hussey’s longform feature for Pitchfork. Titled ‘The Invisible Work of Mothers in Music’, it spotlights Sharon Van Etten, Rico Nasty, Corin Tucker, who say how new motherhood can make touring even tougher. At a time when so many artists are either pushing too hard on the road or they are suffering mental-health issues, there does need to be more protection in general across the live sector. Do we discuss women and the fact that women are becoming mothers but are having to make huge sacrifices. Maybe only touring or recording at certain times – so that they can be at home with their children -, or it is a case that they hold off having children until their career has reached a certain point. The Pitchfork feature does have that hopeful message: there is huge fulfilment in becoming a mother, which can inspire new work. The art is always a driving force. That energy and catharsis from music. The industry needs to make it easier for women to become mothers and continue their careers knowing they are supported and appreciated. Let’s hope that we…

WILL see some changes soon.

FEATURE: Second Spin: Missy Elliott - The Cookbook

FEATURE:

 

 

Second Spin

Missy Elliott - The Cookbook

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THERE are a couple of reasons…

why I am featuring Missy Elliott’s The Cookbook in this feature. For one, we found out earlier in the month that she has been inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. She is the first female Hip-Hop artists to receive that honour. It is a bit shameful that it has taken this long for the organisation to recognise Elliott and female Hip-Hop artists, but it is good that she has been acknowledged. Also, The Cookbook is her most recent album. Released on 4th July, 2005, let us hope that it is not her final album! I think that it is underrated. It did get some positive reviews, but there were some that were more mixed. The Cookbook has a different vibe and feel to albums that we associate with Missy Elliott like her 1997 debut, Supa Dupa Fly, or 1999’s Da Real World. The Cookbook got its title due to the fact Elliott feels that no two records of hers is the same. Each one is made in a different kitchen with different ingredients. The eclectic nature of the album can also be applied to ingredients. The black-and-white cover of Elliott in a 1920s jukejoint is her bringing music to its roots. This elemental approach results in one of her very best albums. I feel that it is one that people need to give a second spin. I am going to bring in a couple of reviews for The Cookbook.

AllMusic were among those who gave The Cookbook a positive review. The sixth and most recent album from the Queen of Rap, we all hope that she puts out some new material soon. She appeared on the FLO single, Fly Girl, back in March. I am sure that we will hear more from her soon:

“Critics and fans were praising Missy Elliott and Timbaland so much during 2002-2003 that the hottest production combo in hip-hop may have started believing that a great production is synonomous with a great song. This Is Not a Test!, her first major mistake, featured cutting-edge tracks in abundance, but virtually nothing in the way of heavyweight material. Its follow-up, The Cookbook, brings the focus back to Missy the rapper and songwriter, wisely (in most cases) leaving the productions to a more varied cast than any of her previous records. Ironically though, Elliott herself produced the lead single, "Lose Control," giving it a tight electro feel (courtesy of some vintage '80s samples from Cybotron and Hot Streak). It's only the first nod to the type of old-school party jam that Elliott does better than ever here; "We Run This" resurrects the "Apache" break and a classic Sugarhill Gang track for one of the best club tunes of the year, Rich Harrison gives a bright, brassy production to another party song, "Can't Stop," and "Irresistible Delicious" featuring Slick Rick sounds at least 15 years removed from contemporary rap (yes, that's a good thing).

In a few spots The Cookbook isn't too far removed from This Is Not a Test! -- Elliott forces a few rhymes, plays to type with her themes, and uses those outside producers to follow trends in hip-hop (she could have easily accompanied a 12-track record of her usual solid material with a watered-down "New Sounds in Hip-Hop & R&B EP" that would kick off with the syrupy Houston retread "Click Clack," the Neptunes' tired "On & On," and the bland pop-idol duet "My Man" featuring Fantasia). What's different here is how relaxed Elliott is, how willing she seems to simply go with what comes naturally and sounds best. "My Struggles" isn't the myopic confessional suggested by the title, but an East Coast all-stars jam that features one of her best raps ever and deftly switches in midstream to allow Mary J. Blige to reprise her "What's the 411?" classic (to say nothing of Grand Puba's verse). And the final track, "Bad Man," sees one of the most welcome collaborations seen in rap for some time, as Elliott joins dancehall heroes M.I.A. and Vybz Kartel (plus a drumline from Atlanta A&T)”.

I am going to round off with a review from The Guardian. Even if there are some weaker or questionable moments on The Cookbook, it is very much business as usual from a legendary artist who is always evolving. I hope that people who have not heard this album check it out, as it is full of incredible moments and astonishing songs:

“Elsewhere, however, The Cookbook is a convincing return to form. The ballads Elliott takes charge of are too bizarre to be boring: for reasons known only to herself she punctuates Remember When's lachrymose lyrics and electric piano with wildly inappropriate shrieks, whoops and triumphant cries of "yes!" The Neptunes-produced On and On is a sexy racket featuring military drums, electronic buzzing and a bizarre effect somewhere between a record scratching and a submarine's sonar ping. We Run This and Can't Stop - the latter the work of Crazy in Love producer Rich Harrison - are both unreasonably exciting, wrapping ferocious old funk horns around futuristic beats. Sampling Cybotron's 1982 proto-techno classic Clear, Lose Control shows Elliott's ongoing willingness to search further than any other hip-hop artist for inspiration. House and techno are still inexorably entwined with gay culture in the US: most rappers would eschew them out of sheer prejudice.

Most thrilling of all is Irresistible Delicious, a collaboration with veteran rapper "Slick Rick" Rogers, last heard enlivening an album by coffee table trip-hoppers Morcheeba with a guest rap that cheerily suggested fat women should be murdered. He has met his match here. Elliott twists his two most famously offensive tracks to her own ends - stealing the riff from Lick the Balls and subverting the lyrics of Treat Her Like a Prostitute - then mimics his distinctive sly, sing-song delivery to perform a rap so sexually predatory that even Rogers sounds a bit disconcerted at its close. "Uh-huh," he interjects, but he sounds like he's anxiously crossing his legs as he does it. And well he might: back on top, sounding as unique and startling and formidable as ever, Missy Elliott is clearly not a woman to be messed with”.

After her long-overdue induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, new eyes and fans will be led to her incredible music. A Hip-Hop pioneer and one of the most important artists who has ever lived, long may her music inspire! It would be a shame to think that 2005’s The Cookbook is the last album we will get from Missy Elliott. Let’s hope not. It is one of her more underrated releases, so I do hope that people approach it. I think that Elliott’s sixth studio album is…

WELL worth a deeper listen.

FEATURE: One for the Record Collection! Essential June Releases

FEATURE:

 

 

One for the Record Collection!

IN THIS PHOTO: Jenny Lewis

Essential June Releases

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FLIPPING ahead to June…

 IN THIS PHOTO: Foo Fighters (including their late drummer, Taylor Hawkins, far left)/PHOTO CREDIT: Danny Clinch

and I can see a lot of terrific albums approaching on the horizon. I wanted to bring them up so that people can pre-order and look forward. There are a fair few to get through, so I shall start with great albums due on 2nd June. This week and the next (9th June) are especially packed. Starting with 2nd June, and there are a few albums that you will want to pre-order. The first is from Baxter Dury, in the form of I Thought I Was Better Than You. A masterful and poetic lyricist with a truly distinct voice, go and get your copy of this gem:

“Musician, writer and Renaissance man Baxter Dury returns with a brand new album, I Thought I Was Better Than You, his seventh studio album and is produced by Paul White, celebrated for his work in Golden Rules and with the likes of Charlie XCX and Danny Brown. Hotly-tipped new singer-songwriters Eska and JGrrey feature in addition to Baxter’s regular vocalist Madeline Hart.

I Thought I Was Better Than You marks a new era for Baxter, and with this new era comes a new character. “Faux- confrontational,” Baxter calls him. Here, not only is he recounting his childhood, but he’s also reckoning with it. Instead of just swinging at his past blindfolded with a baseball bat, he talks openly about the toxic cocktail of being born into unfortunately fortunate circumstances, with a persuasive surname but no structure or sense of responsibility with which reap the rewards of it. “Really, it’s about being trapped in an awkward place between something you’re actually quite good at, and somebody else’s success.” That ‘somebody else’ being his dad, Ian Dury. As one of the album centrepieces – Shadow – agonisingly puts it: “But no one will get over that you’re someone’s son/Even though you want to be like Frank Ocean/But you don’t sound like him, you sound just like Ian.”

The record also serves as a kind of extension to Baxter’s 2021 book, Chaise Lounge, in which he winningly recounted the story of his unique childhood. Not only does he expand the language of the book, using words to paint disconnected images rather than to string sentences (a kind of cockney hieroglyphics), but he often revisits moments within the book. Characters like ‘Tricksy’ re-appear in ‘Aylesbury Boy’ and ‘Pale White Nissan’, for example, but mainly it’s the abstracted tales of a young Baxter, troubled and in trouble, a victim of circumstance, straddling between a world of ‘Fuck you Leon…/ You stole the sunglasses and I got busted’ and a desire for ‘Porridge in the morning and be normal’”.

Another treat out on 2nd June is from Bully. The now-solo project of guitarist and singer Alicia Bognanno, this Nashville-born artist is someone everyone should look out for. Lucky for You is an album that you will want to pre-order. If you need some more information about an album I feel will sit alongside the very best of 2023, then Rough Trade have it covered:

“Lucky For You is Bully’s most close-to-the-bone album yet. It’s an album that’s searing and unmistakably marked by its creator’s experiences, while still retaining the massive sound that Alicia Bognanno has become known for over the last decade. Her fourth album draws from personal pain and the universal struggle that is existing, learning, and moving on - and it’s all soundtracked by Bognanno’s rock-solid melodic sensibilities and a widescreen sound that’s impossible to pin down when it comes to the textures explored. These ten songs are simply the most irresistible Bognanno’s put to tape yet, making Lucky For You her greatest triumph to date in a career already packed with them.

Work on Lucky For You began last year, when Bognanno brought some in-progress demos to producer J.T. Daly in his Nashville studio to see if they could strike creative kismet. “Authenticity is always on my mind, without even knowing it,” she explains while discussing their recording process together. “It was great with J.T., because I could tell he was a genuine fan who wanted to emphasize what’s actually good about my writing instead of changing it. I could tell how much he cared about the project, and it meant alot to me.” The album came together over the course of seven months, the longest gestation process for a Bully record to date, but that time allowed inspiration to emerge in new ways.

The result is a kaleidoscopic rock record spanning punk’s grit, the crunchy bliss of shoegaze, explosive Britpop, and the type of classic anthems Bully has been known for. Lucky For You’s thematic focus zooms in on grief and loss: The record is largely inspired by Bognanno’s dog and best friend Mezzi passing away, at a time when her life already felt as if in metamorphosis. The oceanic first single “Days Move Slow” was written shortly after Mezzi’s passing, reflecting the persistence of Bognanno’s incisive wit in the face of adversity. “There was nothing I could do except sit down and write it, and it felt so good.” And then there’s the passionate opening track “All I Do,” which kicks in the door with huge riffs atop her lyrical reflections on three years of sobriety. “Once I stopped drinking, I felt like I was still haunted by mistakes and things that had happened when I was drinking, and it’s still taking me a long time to forget about that while existing in this house. How do I shed the skin from a path I’ve moved on from?”

In that vein, Lucky For You is a document of perseverance in the face of the big and the small stuff. “I’m so overly emotional and sensitive, it’s a blessing and a curse” she says with a laugh, but there’s no downside to her expressions of vulnerability on this record; it’s the latest bit of evidence that nothing can hold Bognanno back”.

One of the most anticipated and emotional albums of the year is coming from Foo Fighters. Out on 2nd June, But Here We Are’s title says it all. Recovering and moving on following the death of their drummer Taylor Hawkins last year, there is going to be a mix of catharsis ands remembrance. Powerful, revealing and open, this is an album that you will want to pre-order if you can. The eleventh album from Foo Fighters is going to be their most important to date:

“But Here We Are is the new album from Foo Fighters, and marks the band's return after a year of staggering losses, personal introspection and bittersweet remembrances. A brutally honest and emotionally raw response to everything Foo Fighters have endured recently, But Here We Are is a testament to the healing powers of music, friendship and family. Courageous, damaged and unflinchingly authentic, the album opens with “Rescued,” the first of 10 songs that run the emotional gamut from rage and sorrow to serenity and acceptance, and myriad points in between.

But Here We Are is in nearly equal measure the 11th Foo Fighters album and the first chapter of the band’s new life. Sonically channeling the naiveté of Foo Fighters’ 1995 debut, informed by decades of maturity and depth, But Here We Are is the sound of brothers finding refuge in the music that brought them together in the first place 28 years ago, a process that was as therapeutic as it was about a continuation of life”.

Go and pre-order Body Type’s upcoming album, Expired Candy. The Australian band are among my favourites, so this is going to be one that you will not want to miss out on. Some might not have heard the band, but I would urge you to pre-order their album and dive in:

“Your new favourite Australian underground gems, Body Type are back with their hotly anticipated second album Expired Candy via Poison City Records. Body Type assert there's no time like the present and reveal Expired Candy is filled with hope, love, and danger, dancing with delicious uncertainty. In pursuit of joy they dreamed up songs about mothers, sisters, dogs, nans; family tantrums, forward motion, falling in love, platonic or romantic, with someone or self.

Following recent national tours supporting Fontaines D.C and the Pixies, the first peek of Expired Candy arrived with ‘Miss The World’. Born out of their time during COVID, 'Miss the World' is a pummelling lament, concerned with citizens’ unquestioning compliance and the ascent of tyrants, told through pre-teen anarchists, bichon frises, and a drum beat based on a Gwen Stefani song. Acting less as a commentary on the pandemic but rather the realisations, both personal and collective that occurred during that time.  ‘Miss The World’ is the first taste of new music from the band since the release of their independently released, Australian Music Prize-nominated debut album Everything Is Dangerous But Nothing’s Surprising. Featuring tracks like 'Buoyancy' ‘The Charm’ and 'Sex and Rage', the 11-track record is a sharp, and invigorating listen packed with gentle contemplation and righteous fury”.

There are a few more I want to come to before getting to 9th June. The first of the remaining three I will spotlight fully is from Lanterns on the Lake. Versions of Us is out on 2nd June. It is the fifth album from the Mercury-nominated band. You will definitely want to pre-order it:

“Tyneside’s Lanterns on the Lake release their much-anticipated album, Versions of Us. This self-produced fifth studio album follows 2020’s Mercury nominated Spook the Herd. Its nine songs are existential meditations examining life’s possibilities, facing the hand we’ve been dealt and the question of whether we can change our individual and collective destinies.

Singer and songwriter Hazel Wilde has no doubt that motherhood fundamentally shifted her perspective. “Writing songs requires a certain level of self-indulgence, and songwriters can be prone to dwelling on themselves,” she says. “Motherhood made me aware at having a different stake in the world. I’ve got to believe that there’s a better way and an alternative future to the one we’ve been hurtling towards. I’ve also got to believe that I could be better as a person, too.”


Mixed by the band’s guitarist Paul Gregory, in the bedroom of his home in North Shields, there is a sense of time and place that runs deep throughout this record.

Given some of its themes, a biting irony is found in an entire previous version of the record being discarded. Mental health struggles and personal problems in the band had a big impact on how the initial version took shape. “Despite trying everything we could to make it work we reached the point where we just had to stop” Wilde explains. Drummer Ol Ketteringham parted ways with the band, something Wilde says was “heartbreakingly difficult as we were and still are extremely close”. 

The band scrapped nearly a year’s worth of work, regressing to song demos with just Wilde performing with a single instrument as they began again with Radiohead’s Philip Selway joining the album sessions on drums. “Philip brought an energy to the songs that reignited our belief in them,” says Wilde. “Within a few weeks we had a whole other version of the album and things felt very different,” Wilde continues. “We had changed the destiny of the record.”

It’s a heartening idea. Despite the difficulties in its genesis, Versions of Us is the most empowering album yet from the band. In exploring whether we can change fate or are doomed to repeat the same mistakes in life, this powerful collection of songs ultimately alights on hope”.

Also well worth investigation is Sophie Ellis-Bextor’ HANA. The legendary artist – who has brought to much joy with her Kitchen Discos - is going to deliver a stunning album. there is not a great deal of information online about the album yet. It is bound to be terrific and full of life, so do make sure you pre-order a copy. Ellis-Bextor is one of our very best artists, and I feel that HANA is going to be among her best releases. She always brings something very special indeed.

“Sophie Ellis-Bextor releases her seventh studio album Hana via Cooking Vinyl.

A pensive and spirited track with a euphoric chorus, ‘Breaking The Circle’ is the first introduction to Sophie’s new album She says; “Breaking The Circle is inspired by those late-night moments you have, where you question everything and feel a buzz of adrenaline about what tomorrow might bring. It’s urgent and dramatic and optimistic… the perfect introduction to the new album”.

The final album that I want to expand upon is The Aces’ I’ve Loved You For So Long. I think The Aces are one of the most underrated bands out there. The American outfit release their latest album on 2nd June, and I would encourage everyone to grab a copy. Go and pre-order an album that is going to be among the most essential of the year:

“Provo Utah's The Aces release their latest studio album I've Loved You For So Long via Red Bull Records. The 11-track album produced by Keith Varon. In the years since The Aces released their Billboard& MRc/Luminate Top 10 charting, and acclaimed second album, Under My Influence, in 2020, the band has been on a journey of self-discovery. Faced with the realities of a global pandemic, sisters Cristal and Alisa Ramirez (lead vocals/guitar and drums, respectively), Katie Henderson (lead guitar/vocals), and McKenna Petty (bass) used quarantine as a time to reflect, confronting personal mental health issues as well as processing experiences they’d had growing up together in Provo, Utah, as part of the Mormon church. When The Aces returned to the studio, their vision — and the honesty and trust between them — felt stronger than ever. The result of this growth period is I’ve Loved You For So Long, the band’s third studio album - a sparkling indie-rock record that’s by far their most personal and self-assured work to date. Written and executive-produced by the group (along with Keith Varon, the sole producer / collaborator on the project), the album is like time-traveling through their most intimate moments. From tracks that ruminate on mental health and self-sabotage to searing anthems about love, longing, and heartbreak, I’ve Love You For So Long is a record that’ll work its way into your head and heart — and will have you singing along all the way through”.

Let’s move to 9th June, as there are a few that I want to cover off. One of this year’s absolutely best and most anticipated comes out this week. I think that Janelle Monáe’s The Age of Pleasure is one that you will want to pre-order. I was going to embed the video for its second single, Lipstick Love (following Float), here, but it is age restricted by YouTube (I have included the Spotify version). The always remarkable Monáe is preparing her fourth studio album. It is just over five years since Computer Blues came out, so it is nice to have another album on the horizon. Here is a quote about the album:

“As we enter into The Age Of Pleasure, “Lipstick Lover” is our freeassmothafucka anthem inspired by f.a.m. for f.a.m. This is our oasis made with love, rooted in self acceptance, throbbing in self discovery, and signed with cherry red kisses from me to you. ”- Janelle Monáe”.

Before moving onto the next album from 9th June that you need to have in your sights, therfe is some further information and insight about The Age of Pleasure from Wikipedia. I am really looking forward to seeing what comes from a new and exciting Janelle Monáe:

“In an interview with Zane Lowe, Monáe explained that the songs "were written from such an honest space" and she hoped listeners "feel that when they listen to the music", as she feels she has "had an opportunity to evolve and grow and to tap into the things that bring [her] pleasure". Monáe worked on the songs and played them at parties, including her Met Gala after-party, to see how her friends would respond to the music, and told Lowe that her thought process was, "If the songs can't work at the party, they're not going on the album". She explained that she wanted the album to be "so specific to this Pan-African crowd who are my friends. I want it to be a love letter to the diaspora. And if they fuck with it, it's good. I'm great”.

The next is Christine and the Queens’ PARANOÏA, ANGELS, TRUE LOVE. This is one that you will definitely want to pre-order. Rough Trade provide us with details of a jewel that you need to add to your collection. I am definitely going to add this to my collection:

“PARANOÏA, ANGELS, TRUE LOVE is written, performed and produced by Christine and the Queens, with co-production by Mike Dean (Lana Del Rey, Beyonce) and guest appearances from 070 Shake and Madonna. Chris explains: “This new record is the second part of an operatic gesture that also encompassed 2022’s Redcar Les Adorables Etoiles. Taking inspiration from the glorious dramaturgy of Tony Kushner’s iconic play, Angels in America, Redcar felt colourful and absurd like Prior sent to his insane dream-space. The follow-up PARANOÏA, ANGELS, TRUE LOVE is a key towards heart-opening transformation, a prayer towards the self - the one that breathes through all the loves it is made of. Prior’s real agony in 'Angels in America' is a deep, painful becoming, a shedding of all waters and memories, that then allows angels to immerse deep too, and offer back profound, narrative-altering love - a rest in true love”.

There are some other great albums out on 9th June you can check out, but the next one I want to spotlight is Dream Wife’s Social Lubrication. In a busy month for great music, the new release from the London trio is one to get excited about. Go and pre-order an album that is sure to deliver gold:

“The return of Dream Wife is a moment worth savouring, with the band in electrifying form with an entirely self-written and self-produced third album. The only outside influence being the heavyweight mixing duo of Alan Moulder (Nine Inch Nails, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, The Killers, Depeche Mode) and Caesar Edmunds (Wet Leg, Beach House). The incendiary and riotous record finds the trio once again tackling big subjects in their trademark unapologetic manner where, with the band being adept at merging the political with the playful, vital statements are hidden within hot and heavy anthems about making out, having fun and staying curious.

Social Lubrication, in the bands words, is “Hyper lusty rock and roll with a political punch, exploring the alchemy of attraction, the lust for life, embracing community and calling out the patriarchy. With a heathy dose of playfulness and fun thrown in”.

There are four more due on 9th June that I want to shout out. Jayda G’s Guy is released through Nina Tune. Go and pre-order this album. There is so much to admire about Jayda G as an artist and human being. She is another artist that everyone should have in their sights. Such a wonderous and spellbinding talent, this will all come to the fore through Guy:

“Jayda G, the Grammy-nominated writer, producer, DJ, environmental toxicologist, campaigner and broadcaster, returns with her new full length album Guy. Co-produced with Jack Peñate (who has previously worked with the likes of Sault, David Byrne and Adele), with contributions from Lisa-Kaindé Diaz (of Ibeyi), Ed Thomas (Stormzy, Nia Archives, Jorja Smith) and more.

Guy brings Jayda’s own voice and words more prominently into focus than ever before, across 13 tracks that draw on her House, Disco, RnB and Soul roots while emphasizing her pop songwriting sensibilities, interspersed with archival recordings of her late father, the eponymous William Richard Guy”.

An album you will definitely need to check out is Jenny Lewis’ Joy'All. Boasting a magnificent cover, go and pre-order your copy of an album that has an interesting backstory. Lewis is another one of these artists that everyone needs to know about and follow. Her upcoming release is set to be among her very best. Here are some more details:

“Joy’All, the fifth solo album from Jenny Lewis and follow up to 2019’s critically acclaimed On The Line (Warner Records) finds the singer-songwriter embarking on a new era in a new town—and on a new label, as she joins the iconic roster of Blue Note / Capitol Records.

“I started writing some of these songs on the road, pre-pandemic... and then put them aside as the world shut down, and then from my home in Nashville in early 2021, I joined a week-long virtual songwriting workshop with a handful of amazing artists, hosted by Beck. The challenge was to write one song every day for seven days, with guidelines from Beck. The guidelines would be prompts like ‘write a song with 1-4-5 chord progression,’ ‘write a song with only cliches,’ or ‘write in free form style.’ The first song I submitted to the group was ‘Puppy and a Truck.’” As the days progressed, the assignments kept coming in and Jenny ended up writing a good portion of Joy’All.

While Joy’All pulls from a bounty of sonic inspiration–from soul to 90’s R&B, as well as country and classic singer-songwriter records the album’s rich and intimate, live sound is the hallmark of eight-time Grammy winning producer Dave Cobb (John Prine, Brandi Carlile, Chris Stapleton, Jason Isbell), whom Jenny met by chance while visiting Lucius at the Historic RCA Studio A in Nashville. A natural kinship developed between the two, and with her arsenal of songs that she had demoed on her iPhone ready to roll, Jenny texted Dave and asked him to produce her new album.

Joy’All is a beacon of enlightenment that could only come from embracing life, taking the good with the bad; it’s a ten-song overture that invites the listener to find their own path to joy”.

The penultimate album due on 9th June is Jonny Greenwood & Dudu Tassa’s Jarak Qaribak. This is another album where there is not a great deal of background information or any real insight, but I confident about recommending it. It is going to be an engrossing and beautiful album that you will want to pre-order. You will know Jonny Greenwood through Radiohead, but many might not know about Dudu Tassa. Their partnership is a magnificent one. Greenwood is an exceptional and innovative composer. Tassa is a brilliant producer that deserves a lot of investigation and fondness:

“Celebrated singer, musician and producer Dudu Tassa teams up with award-winning composer and guitarist Jonny Greenwood (Radiohead, The Smile) for a new album Jarak Qaribak (Arabic for ‘Your Friend Is Your Neighbour’), bringing together vocalists and musicians from throughout the Middle East for a very special album of cross-border collaborations”.

With another four or five albums I need to highlight that arrive in June, I will get there after This Is the Kit’s Careful of Your Keepers. One that you need to pre-order, this is going to be another one of the must-hears of the year. I love This Is the Kit, and I am really looking forwarding to discovering what Careful of Your Keepers has to offer up:

“This Is The Kit, the group led by Paris-based bandleader Kate Stables, today announced the band’s new album Careful of Your Keepers –produced by Gruff Rhys (Super Furry Animals)–will be released on June 9th, 2023, via Rough Trade Records. The album’s propulsive yet introspective lead single “Inside Outside” finds Stables as magnetic as ever, joined once again by her stalwart band of Rozi Plain(bass/vocals), Neil Smith (guitar), and Jamie Whitby-Coles (drums), and accented by a cascading horn quartet arrangement by Jesse Vernon.

Careful Of Your Keepers is daring and soft, cutting and warm–a wild feat of complexity and combined dispositions. There’s a shared language of the band’s family experience that is as audible as ever in these recordings, which boast beautiful instrumental performances that still leave the nuanced space required for Stables’ vocals to live at the forefront. “The album was nearly called Goodbye Bite. And in a way it still is,” says Stables. “I went for Careful of Your Keepers in the end. It’s one of my favourite songs on the album, a song that for me holds the general feeling of the album as a whole. The fragility of things. Of situations. Of relationships. Of humans. What we do to look after each other and ourselves. The passing of time and what that does to us, and how we live our lives going forward.”

Guiding the ship through changing seas is producer Rhys. Stables described his role as being a “tonesetter,” watchful and attentive to the band dynamics while making sure to always follow a hunch for where a new sound could find its place in the recording. “I’ve always loved the idea of working with him somehow, and when this album started getting planned, I realized that maybe this was my chance to reach out and see if he was up for working together,” Stables explains. “And he was! As if that wasn’t enough, he was also up for doing a bit of singing on the record, which totally blew my mind and made my year. His way with harmony and melody and the tone and quality of his voice is a totally killer combo.”

“They are so ridiculously talented–and every member is a great producer in their own right–so it was just a matter of trying to capture the magic they make when playing live together,” Rhys says of the recording process. “Their playing is by default so thoughtful and complimentary in terms of respect to each other’s parts and to the integrity of the songs themselves that it creates a beautiful foundation of often cosmic interplay that’s always in aid of Kate’s voice and vision as a songwriter”.

There are two albums from 16th June that I want to mention. The first is Django Django’s Off Planet. A remarkable band, this is going to be an expansive album that you will want to pre-order. The twenty-one-track release is shaping up to be one that you will not want to miss out on. Rough Trade provide a little bit of background when it comes to Django Django’s forthcoming album:

“Entitled Off Planet, the 5th studio album from Django Django is a 21 track album. Originally destined to be four experimental EPs but quickly transformed into an album proper when they realised the potential of the recording session,  Off Planet features some of the most exciting and dynamic music Django Django have ever produced.  Harking back to their more experimental and electronic roots, the album also features exciting guest appearances from Self Esteem, Jack Penate, Toya Delazy and others”.

The second 16th June-due album for you is Maisie Peters’ The Good Witch. One of our most impressive rising artists, Peter is someone who will have a very long career ahead. Set to be a truly terrific and fascinating album, make sure that you pre-order your copy. I wonder whether The Good Witch will also come out on cassette:

“After a year of scheming and crafting, building and destroying, Maisie Peters releases her brand new album The Good Witch, arriving via Gingerbread Man Records / Asylum. Recently heralded by vulnerable lead single, ‘Body Better’, Maisie’s second studio album The Good Witch, is the official follow-up to her No. 2 BRIT Breakthrough certified debut, ‘You Signed Up For This’, and in many ways the older, wise and scorned counterpart.

Exhibiting a newfound confidence, sharper storytelling and greater artistic ambition, Maisie created The Good Witch across London, Suffolk, Stockholm, Bergen and LA, alongside the likes of, Oscar Görres (Taylor Swift, Troye Sivan), Two Inch Punch (Sam Smith, Jessie Ware), Matias Tellez (girl in red), Brad Ellis (Jorja Smith, Little Mix), Joe Rubel (Ed Sheeran, Tom Grennan) and Elvira Anderfjärd (Tove Lo, Katy Perry)”.

Actually, before going on, one of the year’s biggest comes out on 16th June. Queens of the Stone Age’s In Times New Roman… is their eighth. They have shared the lead single, Emotion Sickness, and it seems like this is going to be among their best work. Make sure you pre-order this album:

“Queens of the Stone Age release their long-awaited 8th studio album, In Times New Roman... on Matador. 

In Times New Roman... is raw, at times brutal and not recommended for the faint of heart. And yet, it’s perhaps the most beautiful and definitely the most rewarding album in their epic discography. Founder Joshua Homme's most acerbic lyrics to date are buoyed by the instantly identifiable QOTSA sonic signature, expanded and embellished with new and unprecedented twists in virtually every song. With In Times New Roman… we see that sometimes one needs to look beneath scars and scabs to see beauty, and sometimes the scabs and scars are the beauty. 

Feeling a bit out of place, and having difficulty finding music they could relate to, the members of QOTSA did as they are wont to do:  In Times New Roman… is the sound of a band creating the music its own members want to hear, while giving the rest of us a sonic forum in which to congregate. “The world’s gonna end in a month or two," sings Homme, begging the question: What do you want to do to with the time you’ve got left? Homme, Troy Van Leeuwen, Dean Fertita, Michael Shuman and Jon Theodore may not be able to save us, but they’re giving us a place to ride it out. 

In Times New Roman… was recorded and mixed at Homme’s own Pink Duck (RIP), with additional recording at Shangri-La. The album was produced by Queens of the Stone Age and mixed by Mark Rankin. Artwork and double LP gatefold packaging designed by long time collaborator Boneface”.

Moving ahead, and I think I will end with a couple of albums from 20th June. I am writing this on 3rd May so, between now and June, other albums might be announced. Something could come out of the blue, so keep your eyes peeled! I want to suggest people pre-order. The Japanese House’s In the End It Always Does. Here is what you need to know:

“The Japanese House releases her second studio album In the End It Always Does. Featuring recent single ‘Boyhood’, much of the album lives in the contradictory: beginnings and endings, obsession and mundanity, falling in love and falling apart. Another standout is ‘Sad to Breathe’, an upbeat sounding heartbreaker co-produced by TJH’s Amber Bain with The 1975’s George Daniel and Chloe Kraemer accompanied by a beautiful live alternate version of the track directed by Sheila Johansson which sees Amber and her extended live band strip the track back to its bare bones. “I wrote Sad To Breathe some time ago, it’s one of the oldest songs on the record.” tells Amber. “It was very different back then; it’s gone from being solely electronic to what it is now, mostly live/ acoustic instrumentation. It’s about that desperate feeling when someone leaves you and the disbelief that they could. It’s funny you could have those kind of insane dramatic thoughts, that feel so real at the time, but can by some miracle look back in fondness to your entire life being ruined. It all circles back around.” Four years after her widely celebrated debut Good at Falling, this album sees Bain lean even further into the pop realm–with help from Matty Healy and George Daniel from The 1975, Katie Gavin from Muna and Bon Iver’s Justin Vernon among others. Bain credits Gavin especially with injecting her with creative energy and inspiration throughout. The album also sees Bain work alongside producer and engineer Chloe Kraemer (Rex Orange County, Lava La Rue, Glass Animals), an experience she describes as “life changing” due to the unspoken, shared understanding between marginalised genders in a creative space. “I’d never worked with a woman or queer person [in that way] before,” Bain says. “It’s nice to have someone who completely understands your standpoint and shared experience. Also, I say ‘she’ in every song... so it’s important that someone understands that”.

I am going to end with is Olivia Dean and Messy. Rough Trade says it is out on 23rd June, but Dean’s official website says 30th. In any case, you will want to pre-order this album, as Olivia Dean is an amazing artist. Someone who is also going to enjoy many more years in the industry:

“Fast rising UK soul-pop star Olivia Dean releases her long-awaited debut album Messy. Featuring the singles ‘Danger’ and ‘UFO’, Messy cements Dean as one of the most original and versatile voices in UK pop. Crafting classic yet conversational hooks with genre-fluid tinges, she’s honed a way of exploring universal themes of love, loss and everything in between with razor-sharp but open-hearted storytelling. Of her debut album, Olivia shares, “Going into making the record, I'd just done this ‘Growth’ project. And for ages, I was like, well, my debut album needs to be what I've grown into, I need to have the answer. And that really confused me for a while. Then I realised, I'm always going to be growing. So this doesn't have to be a destination, it's just where I’m at now”.

There is bound to be another few albums announced for June before the month arrives, but those above I would recommend to everyone. From Sophie Ellis-Bextor to Foo Fighters, right the way along to The Japanese House, there is an array of interesting album that should suit any taste. If you are looking for suggestions for which June albums are worth saving up for, then I hope that the above…

HAS been of some assistance.

FEATURE: Pigs in the House, a Wolf at the Door: Radiohead’s Hail to the Thief at Twenty

FEATURE:

 

 

Pigs in the House, a Wolf at the Door

Radiohead’s Hail to the Thief at Twenty

_________

I am coming in early…

marking the anniversary of Radiohead’s most underrated album. Hail to the Thief is the sixth studio album from the Oxford band. Released on 9th June, 2003, I wonder whether a twentieth anniversary will come out. I feel that there were a lot of positive reviews for Hail to the Thief in 2003, but there were others who did not bond with it. In 2000, Radiohead released Kid A. That remains one of their most important albums. The year after, Amnesiac came out. With songs from that album recorded during the same sessions as Kid A, it did not get the same sort of celebration. Even if there were a load of positive reviews, I think people do not really speak about Hail to the Thief as one of the classics. To me, it is right up there with the likes of The Bends, OK Computer and In Rainbows. I have been listening back to the album and I wonder whether there will be anything announced ahead of its twentieth anniversary next month. A Special Collectors Edition did come out in 2009, but it would be good to think that an anniversary edition could be announced. Producer with their long-term collaborator Nigel Godrich, Hail to the Thief contains some of Radiohead’s best work. In fact, the best song of their career is in there. I don’t think anything tops There, There! If one can look at some of the political messages and anger on the album as reference to what was happening in the U.K. prior to 2003, then you could also think about America. Whether Thom Yoke was aiming his lyrics at those in the House of Commons or the U.S. President, George W. Bush, that is up to the listener. Songs that documented the unfolding war on terror and the surrounding political discourse, Hail to the Thief was one of the most political releases of Radiohead’s career to that point. Maybe that is why some were not instantly enamoured of the album.

Although Hail to the Thief is quite a dark and eerie album, it feature some truly beautiful moments. Sail to the Moon (subtitled Brush the Cobwebs Out of the Sky) is a paen to York’s young son. I love the fact that the songs all had alternate names. Like titles of books. 2 + 2 = 5 (The Lukewarm) and Sit Down Stand Up (Snakes & Ladders) precedes Sail to the Moon, and it is one of the band’s strongest opening two songs. Where I End and You Begin is one of their great deep cuts; The Gloaming points back to the sort of sound and experimentation on Kid A and Amnesiac, whilst A Punchup at a Wedding is full of vivid imagery and incredible groove. Ending with A Wolf at the Door (It Girl. Rag Doll), Hail to the Thief sticks in the memory. At fourteen tracks, maybe there are one or two songs that could have been cut – though I think everything earns its place. I know that the band might disagree. Thom Yorke has said how he would like to edit things down. Maybe there was this anger that meant the band had to get everything out. Wanting to be experimental but also accessible, perhaps that meant songs such as There, There sat alongside The Gloaming and Myxomatosis. I want to come to a couple of features before ending with some reviews.

In June 2018, Albumism marked fifteen years of a Radiohead album that remains vital is divisive. I think that Hail to the Thief deserves more love than it has been afforded by some (the band included. If you have not heard the album, then go and spend some time with it:

“Tracks like album opener “2+2=5” are charged with angst, paranoia, and amps dialed all the way up. With callouts to 1984 Doublethink, Dante’s Inferno and even Chicken Little, “2+2=5” is a rollicking post-election diatribe on the way that the world is spinning off kilter. As Yorke warns, “You have not been paying attention” in the chorus, the song acts as a rebellious wake up call to a sleeping populace. It’s all steam ahead as the band blast their way through the short 3-minute runtime, packing the song with energy and bluster.

The album is a fever dream that shape shifts with each passing bar. Songs like “Sit Down. Stand Up” and “The Gloaming” are haunting and dark, whilst songs like “Sail to the Moon,” “I Will,” “Scatterbrain” and “A Punchup at a Wedding” offer softer moments and allow a little bit of light in.

The album’s most exciting moments are when the band is at its most experimental. Tracks like “Myxomatosis” with its shuffling off-beat groove, the merging of man and machine on “Backdrifts,” and the two minds of “Where I End And You Begin” all demonstrate why Radiohead are vital listening to anyone interested in the deconstruction of songwriting.

That’s not to say that the album is without its moments of sublime songcraft. Standouts like “There There” and “Go To Sleep” exemplify the band’s ability to write blissful musical journeys.

Perhaps overly long, the album does occasionally suffer from too many ideas squeezed into its fourteen tracks and misses the mark from time to time. In fact, after its release, Thom Yorke famously posted his preferred sequencing of the album cutting it down to a solid 10-track outing. It might be a hard road to tread, and it can feel at times like it's a little unfocused, but 15 years on, Hail to the Thief remains a journey worth taking”.

I want to move onto a fascinating and perceptive feature from The Mancunion. Daniel Galloway wrote that, whilst some of the songs and themes can be heavy and terrifying, there are as snapshot and documentation of our childhoods and youth. A time when things were pretty scary and intense, Hail to the Thief has relevance today:

“Hail to the Thief  is stated by the members of Radiohead to be their least favourite project, to them feeling clunky and unedited. However, this album’s subject matter, execution, and blend of styles culminated to become a beautiful interpretation of the modern world, that is more relevant than ever. After 20 years, what relevance does this project have today?

This album is drenched in fear and uncertainty, directly reflective of the surrounding world at the turn of the millennium. Over 14 songs, rich harmonic and melodic work festers into a furious breakdown of anger and helplessness that overtakes any individual in a world lurching towards ever darker crevasses. From outbursts of fury in ‘2 + 2 = 5’, to the raw vulnerability of ‘I Will’, or the final awakening in ‘A Wolf at the Door’, Hail to the Thief charts the growing insignificance of the individual.

Musically, this album reflects on the rocky styles of earlier Radiohead, yet we feel the abstract dystopia of Radiohead’s Kid A and Amnesiac remain. Modular synths, drum machines, and digitally altered guitars are presented as permanent, nagging doubts and fears to the arrangements of piano, percussion, guitar, and vocal parts.

‘2 + 2 = 5’ opens the album, with a nod to Orwell’s 1984, the themes of political control, and the futility of resistance, are already as plain as day. Screams of “Paying Attention” during the breakdown create a sudden draw to this album that reveals the severity of the situation at hand. The juxtaposition between the drum machine underlay, while guitars soar overhead is reflective of a fundamental change in the world, a feeling of dystopia that lurks ever-present. These themes are furthered by the programmed march of “Backdrifts”, that hints at the Western world’s slide away from democracy and liberty at the time of the War on Terror.

There is also a vulnerability and humanity to this album. ‘Sail to the Moon’ is emotionally straining and evocative, as haunting piano accompanies lyrics that contemplate the unfortunate fate of humanity if nothing changes. This is also reflected in ‘I Will’, a song about the Gulf war, in which the anger of the lyrical content is allowed to shine through the simplicity of guitar, and beautiful, yet tense, vocal harmonies. Having recently become a father at the time of recording, Yorke’s deep-rooted fears about what awaited humanity come to the fore here, and become a touchstone for us all to reflect on what we want the future to hold.

Despite the abstract nature of many of the themes already touched upon, the end of the album brings the listener back down to earth. In three-and-a-half minutes we hear the true fury of Yorke come to fruition, with references to contemporary political events, dystopian fiction, and the ignorance of privileged upper classes. Selway’s drumming ranges from a subdued, rhythmic pattern to the beating of the crash cymbals and snare runs that follow the call to action that this song is. Layers of strings, synths, and guitar parts build to a swell that really makes you stand to attention as we are told all that we need to know about the world in which we live.

Going to Los Angeles and recording the album in two weeks, this project was a departure from the agonising process of Kid A and Amnesiac, a burst of creativity that is heavily reflected in the album through a great impetus and urgency to shout its message as loud as possible.

Overall, at the heart of this album, is fear; the logical consequence of these existential issues. As climate change threatens to drown us, starve us or boil us, as war and extremism grow in places we never expected to see them again, as the fundamental values we took for granted become undermined, Yorke’s lullabies, written to his son, inspired by the childlike innocence of Bagpuss, may be all the hope we can cling on to. Maybe our presidents will find right from wrong, but if not, we will need that Ark.

Yet, this is not to fall into the nihilistic trope that surrounds Radiohead. This album is particularly poignant for young people today as it encapsulates the world we have grown up in. The fear of the millennium had gone from the esoteric and mysterious unknown of Kid A, to the sadistic beauty of the 21st century. By encapsulating the feelings that have surrounded us, I find this work a tool for introspection, to reflect on these issues and question them”.

As I said, most of the reviews for Hail to the Thief have been positive. Whilst there is a lot of the personal in there, strangely I see Radiohead’s sixth album as being American. Recorded there, one feels Thom Yorke, Jonny Greenwood, Colin Greenwood, Ed O'Brien and Philip Selway talking aim at the White House and President. For sure, there was also some anger aimed at Tony Blair. Two years after the terrorist attacks in the U.S., Hail to the Thief felt relevant, sobering, and vital! It still does twenty years later. This is what Rolling Stone observed in their review from 2003:

“Radiohead’s Hail To the Thief is a product of its moment: recorded in late 2002, during the American and British governments’ slow, inevitable march to Iraq, of which lead singer Thom Yorke was an outspoken opponent. Hail is filled with images of monstrous, Orwellian force from which there is no escape. On “Sit down. Stand up,” Yorke assumes the voice of Big Brother, giving rote, meaningless orders — “Sit down/Stand up” — over and over. With equal parts whine and sneer, he says, “We can wipe you out anytime.” Radiohead have always been paranoid and pessimistic, but thanks to recent history, people who used to seem paranoid now seem prudent.

Hail begins with “2+2=5,” a brooding indictment of an apathetic public; the title is pulled directly from George Orwell’s 1984. While the world was being ruined, Yorke says, you were at home, allowing yourself to believe the lies. Now it’s too late. In a precious falsetto a boy might use in church, he sings, “It’s the devil’s way now/There is no way out.” But a moment later he’s manic, screaming, “Because you have not been paying attention!” Yorke then meditates on the words paying attention, repeating them until he sounds like he’s shaking with rage as he sings.

Despite the anger and bitterness, Hail to the Thief is more musically inviting than Radiohead’s last two outings. The album’s fourteen tracks — particularly the percussive, mesmerizing “There There” — are more tuneful and song-focused than 2000’s Kid A or 2001’s Amnesiac. Electronic textures still abound amid the guitars and piano — there’s still synth-y sonic schmutz and squiggles that seem like data transmitted from another plane of sound. But there are so many delicious melodies here, so much that’s both soothing and twisted and catchy, so much to sing along with, even if our prognosis is grim.

Consider “Myxomatosis,” definitely the best song ever about a diseased mongrel cat. The feline protagonist has just returned from outside and has possibly had sex, but now he’s confused, and he stammers against a tense heartbeat drum, “I don’t know why I feel so tongue-tied.” Thanks to the funky fuzzed-out guitar, somehow the name of the disgusting five-syllable rabbit disease flows from Yorke’s lips like poetry.

“A Punch-up at a Wedding” is a soulful, melancholy groove anchored by a snarling bass line and Yorke’s efficiency with lyrics. The imagery is so clear that the song becomes a short story. You can hear the family, dysfunctional beyond repair, hurling leftover anger at one another after perhaps the worst moment of their collective life: “You had to piss on our parade/You had to shred our bigday.” And yet the beautiful piano chords and Yorke yelling, “It’s a drunken punch-up at a wedding!” make it difficult not to sing along.

Hail‘s final song, “A Wolf at the Door,” asserts the impossibility of escaping your demons. “I keep the wolf from the door,” Yorke sings, “But he calls me up/Calls me on the phone/Tells me all the ways that he’s gonna mess me up.” It’s sad, dark, witty and hilarious all at once. Yorke has no answer for the wolf but to try and coo himself to peace. And the rest of us have Radiohead to help us get through”.

I will end with a review from Pitchfork. Not ones to often hand out big scores and glowing reviews, they were definitely impressed and moved by Radiohead’s Hail to the Thief. As this epic album turns twenty on 9th June, I wanted to spend some time with it. There is so much eclecticism and range through Hail to the Thief when it comes to sounds and lyrics. Such a rewarding and fascinating listen:

“We Suck Young Blood" returns to the piano mode the band has explored increasingly since Kid A, a sort of drunken New Orleans death dirge that embodies its vampiric title, creeping along at a measured, sickly pace punctuated only by languid, distanced handclaps. The approach pays off hugely, as Yorke's gorgeous, metallic whinny embraces the stumbling progression with harmony after harmony, and moments of depressed, gentle wistfulness.

Along with "Backdrifts", "The Gloaming" exposes the band's potential future. Simple, looping glitches and obstinate digital blurts dash all expectations, remaining resolutely compact, borrowing huge synthetic reverb plates such that Yorke can sing over his own voice. It's arguably academic in its basic composition-- a theoretical dare-- but "The Gloaming" is one of few risks on this relatively sociable record, a wink to the more studious members of their audience.

Which is where the advance single "There There" picks up, embodying the unification of Radiohead's recently mixed aims. Jonny wants to play with analog synths, Ed and Colin want to bash guitars, Thom wants to change music forever, and they finally meet up in this terrifically strange, yet structurally straightforward anthem. "There There" builds on more universal lyrics, soaring harmonies and a thundering crescendo the band wisely trimmed from its concert length (it originally began after Yorke's midpoint scream). Yorke said he wept uncontrollably when he heard the first mix of it, and the unmastered MP3s of Hail to the Thief which leaked in March support his professed reaction: Unlike the rest of the album, "There There" is essentially unchanged.

Possibly even more inspiring (and enduring) are "Myxomatosis" and "A Wolf at the Door", two of the last tracks on the album. The former is a buzzing prog redux of OK Computer's "Airbag" that shows how the simplicity Radiohead strive for can work wonders with tempo; drums fall all over the track until Thom winds up a layered, head-spinning (intoxicated?) verse that spills the rhythm onto the floor. It's a dizzying stereo-panned stomp, and one of Hail to the Thief's finest moments.

As usual, Radiohead save a masterstroke for the closing slot: "A Wolf at the Door" continues in the peculiarly Slavic jazz-blues mode first explored in Amnesiac's Russo-Bayou parlor waltz "Life in a Glasshouse". But "A Wolf at the Door" is more thorough, refined and consequently potent-- almost slick-- in comparison with its drunken, ephemeral predecessor. It's here, at the end of things, that Yorke most openly deals with the impact of his physical assault three years ago and his still-maddening fears of role-playing traps in society and relationships (nicely summarized in a quick nod to Bryan Forbes' terrifying The Stepford Wives). Evil is out there-- he's suffered its wrath-- and like a terrified Chechnyan matriarch, he relies on tangible protection from the fuckers and future come to ransom his child.

For its moments of gravity and excellence, Hail to the Thief is an arrow, pointing toward the clearly darker, more frenetic territory the band have up to now only poked at curiously. Experimentation fueled the creativity that gave us Kid A and Amnesiac, but that's old hat to Radiohead, who are trying-- and largely succeeding-- in their efforts to shape pop music into as boundless and possible a medium as it should be. Without succumbing to dilettantism, they continue to absorb and refract simpler posits from the underground, ideas that are usually satisfied to wallow in their mere novelty. The syncretic mania of Radiohead continues unabated, and though Hail to the Thief will likely fade into their catalog as a slight placeholder once their promissory transformation is complete, most of us will long cherish the view from this bridge”.

One of Radiohead’s best and most important albums, I wonder if the band members will mark Hail to the Thief’s twentieth anniversary next month. Maybe they still feel it is bloated - though an anniversary release could trim the tracks down and have a new disc or vinyl with demos and tracks that didn’t make the cut. At under an hour, and with very few tracks lasting that long, I feel Hail to the Thief is an easy enough listen when it comes to length. It is wonderfully sequenced and produced, and there is some world-class songwriting and performances throughout. A very different album to 2001’s Amnesic, Radiohead would follow Hail to the Thief with 2007’s In Rainbows. Again, a very different album, this was more about love and the personal. It goes to show that, when it comes to Radiohead, you could…

NEVER quite predict them!

FEATURE: In the Frame: Phoebe Fox

FEATURE:

 

 

In the Frame

 IN THIS PHOTO: Phoebe Fox

Phoebe Fox

_________

I am not sure how many…

 IN THIS PHOTO: Holly Humberstone/ALL PHOTOS: Phoebe Fox

of these features I will do, but I wanted to celebrate some wonderful music photographers. To be fair, I am a huge fan of two womxn in the industry who I wanted to spend some more time with. In an upcoming feature, I will celebrate the work of Pooneh Ghana. Today, I am putting into focus the magnificent Phoebe Fox. One of the best and most talented music photographers there is, I have been thinking about the industry at large. The pandemic halted live performances so, for photographers, that was also a really challenging thing. It was a lot harder to photograph musicians when there was social distancing and no live events going on. Even if you specialise in portraits and do not photograph live music, it was still a scary time. Many have argued how music videos are far less relevant now than they ever was. I am not sure how much they are heralded now, but I am still a big fan of the medium – and I may well explore the best music videos of the year at a later date. The importance of videos and how they connect to the song. You will never replace or diminish that. The same goes with photography. You will always need music photographers, but I think some say it is quite easy and intuitive. Like anyone can rock up and be one. Whilst it may be an industry everyone can enter and pick up; a truly inspiring and notable music photographer is someone who goes far beyond capturing a shot.

 IN THIS PHOTO: Bree Runway

There is a lot of talent needed to be able to get the composition right. To create a shot that catches the eye and is original. Whereas a live shot might be about the instancy of capturing a perfect moment on stage, there is a different set of disciplines needed when it comes to posed/press photos. I am not sure which is hardest, but music photographers often have to switch between the two. The adrenaline and nerves of getting that awesome live shot, compared to the thought and planning required to pull of this wonderful portrait or a band or artist. I am including a few shots from Phoebe Fox throughout this feature. If you want to follow where, then you can go to her Instagram, Twitter, and you can see many of her photos here. She is someone who can capture these phenomenal live shots, but she also takes amazing portraits. I think she can easily move into music video direction. Fox has examples of moving image, but I feel she could step into filmmaking in general. Maybe becoming a film director too. Somebody whose work is very distinct yet broad, she is one of the finest in the business. Fox has been awarded campaigns with, among others, Vevo, and Cartier. She does festival and press shots, and she has photographed the likes of Bree Runway, Arlo Parks, HAIM, Madison Beer, Maggie Rogers, and Sigrid. Fox is someone who wants her subjects to be relaxed and not feel like their privacy is being invaded. To make them feel at ease and get that natural shot – where the artists are comfortable and at ease.

@bbcradio1 what it’s like to shoot photos backstage at #bigweekend with @Phoebe Fox ♬ original sound - BBC Radio 1

Before round things off, there is an interview that I want to drop in. Actually, there are a couple. I will start with a 2020 interview between University for the Creative Arts and Phoebe Fox. It is clear that she was born to do. The passion she puts into her work really shows. Some of the most striking and memorable music photography has come from Fox:

“The road to success isn’t always linear — sometimes it takes a leap of faith, a bit of luck, knowing the right people and having a lot of initiative. Someone who knows all about that is UCA graduate Phoebe Fox, who switched degree courses, collaborated with students on other degrees, networked throughout the industry and worked photography jobs in the middle of her studies to achieve her dreams.

Today, she’s travelling the world and touring with some of the hottest musical acts — from The Amazons to Anne Marie — to capture their most important moments, from preparing backstage to performing in front of thousands.

We caught up with Phoebe to find out how she became a photographer to the stars.

Did you always set out to do the job you do, or did it happen by chance?

Since the start of high school, my focus was definitely on photography, but I didn't have a clear idea of which area to specialise in. I went to the BRIT School for sixth form and became friends with a bunch of music students. That pushed me towards portraiture, but I didn’t consider music photography as an option itself until I’d networked enough to see the work opportunities.

Back then, there wasn’t the large online music photography community that there is now. After joining Music Marketing and Promotion, I spent three years balancing touring, festivals, shows and portraits with university commitments and deadlines. There’s no way I would have been able to do that without the support and flexibility given to me by the UCA lecturers. By the end of those three years, I handed in the final major project, went home to pack and got straight on a tour bus for a six-week run with Anne Marie.

IN THIS PHOTO: Anne-Marie

When you’re photographing someone in the public eye, how do you work with them to create that perfect shot?

How you photograph someone changes with every job, obviously some people hate having their photo taken and you just adapt to that. I always make sure that the person being photographed feels understood and respected.

There’s a line between getting a great personal shot and invading someone’s privacy.

You have to find where that line is and learn how they want to be perceived, then use your own creative eye to capture it.

What are your ambitions for the future? And who is the dream artist or band you’d most like to model for you?

Honestly, I don’t have set ambitions — just to keep growing as a creative, getting better as a photographer and finding more ways to have fun with work. The absolute dream would be to shoot for Avril Lavigne: the icon”.

This is another great interview you should check out - but I am going to round off with an interview from Buzzkill Magazine. Talking to her during the pandemic, it must have been stressful and strange time for Fox. They asked her about the first camera that she picked up, and whether there was gender equality when it came to music photography; whether womxn were getting the same opportunities and platform:

“Did you always want to be a photographer or did it just happen?

I always wanted to be a photographer, what I didn’t know was what I wanted to specialise in, that part just happened.

What was the first camera you ever picked up? Do you still use it?

A family digital point and shoot haha, I wish it was way cooler than that like an old film camera passed down or something but it wasn’t. I’d just go for a walk around the block and take photos of flowers or whatever. It’s in a cupboard and kept for sentiment but definitely not being used.

What is your current go to equipment?

If there’s no time pressure then a medium format, Mamiya RZ67 and a reflector, if there is then a 35mm or my digital.

You’ve gone onto photographing some of the biggest and most exciting names in British music. What’s been one of the most unreal experiences you’ve had so far?

I honestly find every UK festival unreal, just bumping into extremely talented people and being able to chat as well as document them is something I’ll never take for granted. It's places where the pressure levels are lowered like that that you enjoy everything more.

IN THIS PHOTO: Matt Healy (The 1975)

What does photography mean to you?

Capturing and documenting the way you view something, that you can't explain to others by using words.

What is the one thing you wish you knew when you started taking environment?

Single point focusing .

What do you think is the most difficult thing about being a music photographer?

You can’t replay a moment to shoot it again, you have your shot and that’s it.

What drives your determination and ambition when it comes to your creativity when taking photos?

My love for a song or artist, it’s another way of being a fan with the ability to express that collaboratively.

IN THIS PHOTO: Maggie Rogers

Do you believe that traveling has helped you discover your style at all?

100% but more so, I think having less time because you’re travelling forces you to make decisions faster and when you do get the time, you know how you want to practice or need to figure out in order to develop.

There’s so many new bands/artists popping up right now! If you could photograph any of them who would it be?

Gonna have to name a bunch, there’s a band called Sorry who’s album 925 I listen to constantly. They’re based in London and I just think everything they do is so slick and creative. They have a real dark spark.

Katy J Pearson, based in Bristol, has this like Florence and the Machine meets Stevie Nicks voice and writes timeless, beautiful music, I really recommend her album Return which came out last year.

I’m obsessed with this band from Copenhagen called Iceage right now, they’ve been around for like 10 years creating their legacy and have released a few singles recently, with an album on the way.

And Phoebe Bridgers, not only for her discography of instant classics and perfect self aware emo branding (that would be really fun to express through photography), but because I’m a big Elliott Smith fan and she knows some real obscure info.

IN THIS PHOTO: Arlo Parks

What bands/artists are you currently listening to right now?

How long can this list be? haha!

Aside the ones I just mentioned, Arlo Parks, Phoebe Green, Hand Habits, Grace Carter, Yard Act, Do Nothing, Sunglasses For Jaws, Shame, Fontaines DC, Holly Humberstone, Beabadoobee, Malady. SO MANY MORE.

What is your ultimate goal as a music photographer?

To document the people I admire and understand them more. I’d love to be able to make a book someday.

Do you feel as time goes by there’s more of a female presence in music photography?

100%, when I started the ratios were very different to what they are in a photo pit now, I think there’s been a lot of progression in making womxn feel safer at live shows in particular, but there’s still a long way to go.

What advice would you give someone who wants to start music photography?

Learn how to use your camera in your own time, when you feel comfortable with your equipment then dive in and learn the rest as you go. As long as you know what you’re doing in your role, the rest you’ll pick up”.

A phenomenal photography who is inspiring so many people (and young womxn coming through who want to get into music photography), there is nobody in the industry quite like Phoebe Fox. One of the very best out there, the London-based photographer is someone to watch very closely. I think, as years go by, her portfolio will grow even larger and more impressive! Perhaps she will direct and think about film and that side of things. It seems that music is where her heart is – and that comes out in every shot that she takes. Her photographs are ones that always…

STAY in the memory.

FEATURE: The Digital Mixtape: Incredible R&B Jams

FEATURE:

 

 

The Digital Mixtape

PHOTO CREDIT: freepik

Incredible R&B Jams

_________

I have been getting more…

 IN THIS PHOTO: Donell Jones

into older R&B tracks, as I am seeking something that is missing from modern music. Whether it is that sense of cool or a groove that you do not really get nowadays, I have been spinning songs by Donell Jones (ft. Lisa ‘Left Eye’ Lopes), Toni Braxton, Destiny's Child, and Aaliyah. There is a swagger and smoothness that is so intoxicating. I know many of the songs in my playlist might trip into other genres, but we can tie them to R&B and associate them with the genre. If you need some hip-moving and great songs to get you in a better mood, then the tracks in my playlist should do the job! I am excited to get these songs out there, as they showcase why R&B is such a magnificent and legendary genre. It has changed since the '90s and '00s, but you have a raft of incredible artists putting their stamp on R&B. The cuts below are cool, sexy, sassy, energetic, slinky, and guaranteed to…

 IN THIS PHOTO: Destiny’s Child (Kelly Rowland, Beyoncé, and Michelle Williams)

MOVE the body.

FEATURE: If the Red Shoe Doesn’t Fit… Kate Bush’s Director’s Cut at Twelve: Why She Might Have Selected the Songs She Did

FEATURE:

 

 

If the Red Shoe Doesn’t Fit…

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

Kate Bush’s Director’s Cut at Twelve: Why She Might Have Selected the Songs She Did

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ONE interesting thing…

about Kate Bush’s Director’s Cut is the songs Kate Bush selected to rework. The reason behind Director’s Cut is because Bush wanted to rework and update songs from The Sensual World (1989) and The Red Shoes (1993). Because of the production sound or they felt too tinny and unnatural, she stripped them down and recorded them with her deeper voice. Released on 16th May, 2011, Director’s Cut did get positive reviews, although it split a lot of fans – those pleased that she reworked these songs, and there were others who felt that the album is unessential. She gave radio interviews to Mark Radcliffe, and to Ken Bruce, and there were some online interviews. I think that, in spite of some really positive reviews, you do not hear songs from Director’s Cut on the radio. I have already written an anniversary feature. I spotlighted the album’s many strengths, and explored what the general reaction was. I can understand why some were not keen on the album. Maybe thinking it was not new or necessary, I do reckon people need to listen again, as it brings to the spotlight some songs that had been ignored or not heard. Thanks to the Kate Bush Encylopedia for providing this interview snippet where Bush revealed the intention of Director’s Cut:

“For some time I have felt that I wanted to revisit tracks from these two albums and that they could benefit from having new life breathed into them. Lots of work had gone into the two original albums and now these songs have another layer of work woven into their fabric. I think of this as a new album. (Sean Michaels, 'Kate Bush reveals guest lyricist on new album - James Joyce'. The Guardian (UK), 5 April 2011. Retrieved 31 January 2015)”.

I wonder how Bush decided which of the tracks form The Sensual World and The Red Shoes needed to be re-recorded. There are twenty-three tracks between the original two albums – Bush recorded eleven tracks for Director’s Cut. I always feel like The Sensual World was great in terms of the production and sound. Only four songs from The Sensual World were selected for re-examination. Even so, I think the selections are the most interesting and divisive. Director’s Cut opens with The Sensual World’s title track, only it was renamed Flower of the Mountain. As we know, Bush originally wanted to use Molly Bloom’s soliloquy from James Joyce’s Ulysses for the song, but she was denied permission. I think the novel was out of copyright by the time she approached the estate, but they said ‘yes’ anyone (give a read to this article if you want to know about the background and history of the soliloquy). That sense of being able to record the song with lyrics she had always wanted must have been the catalyst for Director’s Cut. Perhaps Bush knew the Joyce permission would give her access to the text, so she may have felt like other songs could now be reworked. Deeper Understanding and This Woman’s Work are interesting selections. I think that the former was one of the missteps in terms of inclusion; the other was one of the most interesting and appropriate. This Woman’s Work’s lyrics seem very apt. In the original song, Bush sings from an expectant father’s perspective where he rues things he should have said and did when the life of his unborn child seems in danger. Bush explained how the father was childish to this point and, when something mature and real was before him, he had to grow up. Maybe that sense of reconfiguration and maturation is a reason why Bush wanted to sing that classic song with a deeper and more mature voice. Perhaps given it new gravitas and dimensions. Rather then Deeper Understanding being the video and single from Director’s Cut, I think This Woman’s Work would have been a better choice – and Bush would have directed a less divisive  music video.

The tracklisting of Director’s Cut consists of Flower of the Mountain, Song of Solomon, Lily, Deeper Understanding, The Red Shoes, This Woman's Work, Moments of Pleasure, Never Be Mine, Top of the City, And So Is Love and Rubberband Girl. Aside from the fact it would have been good to get some more interviews from Bush about Director’s Cut – she had a new album, 50 Words for Snow, that was released six months after Director’s Cut, so you can forgive her keeping her powder dry! -, the sequencing is a little odd. Rubberband Girl seems like it should be higher in the mix, whereas Top of the City could have been the final track. This Woman’s Work should have been a bit lower down the listing in my view. Deeper Understanding seemed like an error. The original is perfect and prescient – Bush discussing the way computers were dominating lives in 1989 was positively psychic when we think about today -, so the reworking in 2011 lost a lot of meaning and purpose. It just seemed like a way of Bush to react to the dominance of social media and the way we stare at our phones, but it could have best been done with a new track. Before thinking about The Red Shoes, I wonder why more songs from The Sensual World were not selected. I love the 1989 album, but I wonder why it was only a few songs that she felt were not quite right. Lesser-known cuts like The Fog or Love and Anger could have been given a reworking and introduced them to a new audience. I love This Woman’s Work and Deeper Understanding in their original place though, as they were singles, I can appreciate why Bush wanted to update and reconsider these tracks.

In terms of songs from The Sensual World where either the production or vocal could have been slightly improved or changed, I would say Rocket’s Tail would have been apt for new light and recording. Expanding Director’s Cut to twelve tracks might have been a bit flabby – but a director’s cut of a movie is often longer than the cinematic release -, though I would be fascinated to see what Bush would have done. Maybe happier with The Sensual World, she wanted an older/more mature vocal for the devastating and touching This Woman’s Work; a chance to use Joyce’s Ulysses text on Flowers of the Mountain; re-recording Deeper Understanding as her prophecy about computer obsession had come to fruition. I think Never Be Mine is a song from The Sensual World people overlooked or didn’t discuss much – in spite of it being fantastic and worthy. By re-recording it for her 2011 album, it brought it to the spotlight. That was a great decision! She adds something new to the Director’s Cut version. Making an underappreciated song even stronger! If the final three tracks of Director’s Cut are songs that originally appeared on The Red Shoes, she did arrange The Sensual World’s re-versioned songs so that they were not in a clump together. Bush’s instincts as a producer in 2011 were just as strong and keen as they were when she made those two brilliant albums!

Seven of the twelve tracks from The Red Shoes made their way back into the studio for Director’s Cut. Like The Sensual World, I can see why Bush decided to rework certain songs from The Red Shoes. She always disliked Rubberband Girl – as she felt it was throwaway and a silly Pop song -, so she gave it a slower and more Rolling Stones vibe. Lesser-appreciated songs like The Sensual World’s Never Be Mine were repped from The Red Shoes by Song of Solomon and Top of the City. Even if Top of the City sounds improved, I am not sure she could have been that dissatisfied with the original versions. Maybe songs that were not discussed when The Red Shoes came out in 1993 – and have barely been played on radio since -, they were reconsidered and feel like new songs. Two highlights of Director’s Cut in my view. There are also a couple of controversial or dubious choices. If Deeper Understanding seemed like it should have been left and was not improved in 2011, one could also argue that with The Red Shoes. I think the original is a bright, bold and hypnotic track that could not be bettered in any way. The Director’s Cut version is similar in many ways – the vocals are the new element – but it loses a lot of the fizz from the original. I should have said that most of the tracks on Director’s Cut are complete re-records. All the lead vocals on Director's Cut and some of the backing vocals have been entirely re-recorded, with some of the songs transposed to a lower key to accommodate Bush's matured voice. The drum tracks have been reconceived and re-recorded. A few of the tracks featuring Steve Gadd. Bassist Danny Thompson appears. Mica Paris provides backing vocals. Three songs were completely re-recorded: This Woman's Work, Rubberband Girl and Moments of Pleasure. The first was re-recorded in full because of Bush being older and wanting to give the song a sense of new lease and interpretation. Rubberband Girl because she was displeased with everything on the 1993 version I feel. Whereas Moments of Pleasure could have been that Deeper Understanding moment of taking a song that was perfect and re-working it and denting it slightly, I think she got it right here.

Like This Woman’s Work, perhaps stripping out and then completely rebuilding Moments of Pleasure gives it a whole new dimension. Originally sung by a woman in her thirties about a changing period in her life – her mother died on 14th February, 1992, so Bush knew that she was ill and maybe not long for the world (she wrote Moments of Pleasure before her mother died); her long relationship with Del Palmer was cracking, and Bush was exhausted and getting tired with music to an extent -, the newer version had this new relevance. I found this from the Kate Bush Encylopedia. They provided interview archives where Bush discussed both versions:

“I think the problem is that during [the recording of] that album there were a lot of unhappy things going on in my life, but when the songs were written none of that had really happened yet. I think a lot of people presume that particularly that song was written after my mother had died for instance, which wasn't so at all. There's a line in there that mentions a phrase that she used to say, 'every old sock meets an old shoe', and when I recorded it and played it to her she just thought it was hilarious! She couldn't stop laughing, she just thought it was so funny that I'd put it into this song. So I don't see it as a sad song. I think there's a sort of reflective quality, but I guess I think of it more as a celebration of life. (Interview with Ken Bruce, BBC Radio 2, 9 May 2011)

I wasn't really quite sure how "Moments of Pleasure" was going to come together, so I just sat down and tried to play it again-- I hadn't played it for about 20 years. I immediately wanted to get a sense of the fact that it was more of a narrative now than the original version; getting rid of the chorus sections somehow made it more of a narrative than a straightforward song. (Ryan Dombai, 'Kate Bush: The elusive art-rock originator on her time-travelling new LP, Director's Cut'. Pitchfork, May 16, 2011)”

To finish off, it makes me think about The Red Shoes and, as Bush wanted to re-record seven of its songs, then was she completely happy with the rest. Kudos to her for not touching the supreme Eat the Music…but two songs were begging for the treatment Director’s Cut gave to the other songs. Apologies if I repeat myself from other features, but I love The Red Shoes. I feel it is among Bush’s least appreciated and understood albums. It is far stronger than many give it credit for. The idea behind Director’s Cut was to redo songs that she was not happy with first time. If one could not see why she re-recorded The Red Shoe’s title track or even Lily (which is marvellous in 1993), then why not Big Stripey Lie and Why Should I Love You? The former is an excellent song (where Bush plays electric guitar on record for the first time), but it could have benefited from a new version that is less Grunge-like and maybe has a Blues/Soul take. It is a fascinating song that barely anyone knows. One that Bush probably didn’t think too much of when it was finished. Surely that was viable for new inspection! The most glaring omission from Director’s Cut is Why Should I Love You? As Prince added so much to that song (the demo is vastly different from the album version), so maybe Bush felt it was disrespectful to him by re-recording it. As that song is so layered, busy and unfocused, taking it apart and giving it more room to breathe would have seem too good to miss!

I am not sure why she didn’t do that, but it seems like an opportunity missed. I hope that The Red Shoes gets love ahead of its thirtieth anniversary in November but, as Director’s Cut is twelve on 16th May, I wanted to use this feature to try and figure out why she selected the songs she did from The Sensual World and The Red Shoes for it – and why she left others on the cutting room floor. Even if it did get a lot of positive reviews in 2011, I see many fans and reviews that are more tepid and questioning – as to what purpose the album serves and whether there are any superior versions compared to the originals (one can argue there are three or four where that is the case). Whatever you think, do spend time with a rare album. This was Kate Bush looking back – something she had done much of before. Did recording Director’s Cut (a forty-two-year-old Bush had more depth and gravel in her voice as she did when she was in her early/mid-thirties) and seeing people appreciate these vocals and new versions inspire her to get back on stage for Before the Dawn in 2014 (thanks to Donna Rees for planting that seed). It definitely cleared a path for a new album (2011’s 50 Words for Snow), and it showed that these songs had potential and promise that may not have been apparent decades before. If she was taken some classics and giving them a modern lick of paint, you can applaud that dare and sense of determination – even if it did split some fans as to what the benefits and points were. I think that everyone needs to spend time with the…

SIMPLY wonderful Director’s Cut.

FEATURE: Spotlight: Lauren Daigle

FEATURE:

 

 

Spotlight

Lauren Daigle

_________

AS her fourth studio album…

 PHOTO CREDIT: Jeremy Cowart

is out today (12th May), Lauren Daigle should be very proud! Her eponymous album follows 2018’s Look Up Child. Recording her first album with a major label (Atlantic), it will draw division. As a Contemporary Christian Music (CCM) artist, there is something about independence and staying true to faith and God. It is a passionate fanbase, but one that is quite divisive and critical when artists break from the traditional. Lauren Daigle is the first album of non-faith-based love songs. Whereas the music is ruminations on the modern world, fans will interpret the tracks to be personal. There is a certain rigidity when it comes to what Christin artists can do. Maybe seen as selling out or corrupt if they cross into Pop or sign to a major label, there is going to be a mixture of applause and backlash regarding the new album. It is a shame. If it will polarise some of the fans, it will bring Daigle’s work more into the mainstream. Releasing her most personal and best album to date, I wanted to shine a spotlight on the biggest artist in CCM. She is someone who has faced some bad press in the past. On 7th November, 2020, Daigle performed as part of Sean Feucht's Let Us Worship tour protesting COVID-19 restrictions. This drew criticism from New Orleans mayor LaToya Cantrell, including requesting that Dick Clark Productions not book her to perform for its annual New Year's Eve television special, New Year's Rockin' Eve (which has included segments broadcast from New Orleans). Whilst it is hard to be a true Christian and a major artist – as certain views and stances might draw criticism and judgement -, Daigle deserves a lot of praise and love.

Her music is definitely worth seeking out. I am going to pull in a few interviews with the incredible Lauren Daigle. The Louisiana-born artist is someone that you should look out for. You do not need to be a Christian or interested in the genre to appreciate what she is putting out. Lauren Daigle is an album that is broader and more accessible than her previous work – which, in itself, was amazing and worth digging out. The Guardian spoke with Daigle this month. It is clear that she has had quite a hard past and road to prominence:

“When Daigle was 15, she contracted cytomegalovirus, an enervating condition that required her to complete her education at home. First a creative outlet, singing soon became a religious calling – she has described having prophetic visions of “stages and tour buses” while a teenager. After competing in the audition rounds of American Idol, she signed to the CCM label Centricity Music in 2013. Two years later her debut album, How Can It Be, topped the Christian charts. Her 2018 album, Look Up Child, was a blockbuster hit, reaching No 3 on the mainstream US albums chart.

But her popularity was contingent on a Christian audience who were not always as forgiving as they ought to be. “The microscope of people always looking at your life, feeling people will take your best intentions and turn them on you, and doing that in the public eye – that’s a lot,” she says. Attempting to immunise herself from criticism, Daigle kept her private life hidden to the point that she became a self-professed control freak – until the panic attack. “I learned that if I’m going to constantly keep myself contained then I am going to combust.”

PHOTO CREDIT: PR

There’s more than a glimpse of the personal in her new album: Waiting celebrates holding out for a romantic relationship. Being single as a famous Christian doesn’t make dating easy – Daigle can’t do dating apps, and she’s only willing to be set up by trustworthy close friends. “People will shame you for it, judge you for it, make you think you’re being too picky,” said Daigle. “But being patient, that type of longing, I think is really fruitful.”

She finds it “shocking” that Trump is still in the headlines – “it’s wild that there’s this gravitational pull to constantly talk about him” – in a way that suggests a certain naivety. The 45th president’s legacy remains encoded in the country’s current legislative agenda: what about the near-total ban on abortion that went into effect in Louisiana last year, with no exceptions even for rape or incest? “I have no idea, I’m terrible,” says Daigle. “I know that we have a Democrat governor but I don’t know where our abortion laws are in Louisiana.”

There can’t be many thirtysomething women who can afford to remain similarly uninformed. Her US representative steps in to change the subject. But the repeated message of Daigle’s album is to keep listening to other points of view. “It’s a tricky line that we’re walking,” she sings on the gothic Don’t Believe Them. “We got so many people talking, and nobody thinks that they’re wrong”.

Before getting to a great interview from The New York Times, I want to bring in another terrific interview. This one is from The Tennessean. In terms of the lyrics and sounds explored through her self-titled album, this is going to be one you will not want to miss. Lauren Daigle is a distinct and original artist that very much has her own aesthetic and sound. Make sure that you check her out:

“Instead, her forthcoming self-titled album digs into a world where kalaidacospic folk tunes, jazz grooves and R&B influence — anchored by Daigle's rich voice and tales of faith — take center stage. As she eyes an arena tour and major label debut, the next chapter for Daigle may prove that "You Say" was only the first stop on a creative climb fueled by freewheeling artistry.

But for the new album, she simply focused on making good songs, period. Part one of the self-titled release is out May 12 via Atlantic Records/Centricity Music.

"I needed to have a little distance between all the noise," Daigle said. "Ironically, I didn't know we would all experience a pandemic at the same time. That isolation was actually really good for me. I got to sit and learn what are the things I actually want to communicate on this record.

"Who am I? And how do I write from that place? ... What's the thing that's the truest to me? What's the purest? What's the most authentic? Instead of coming off the inflammation and the excitement of the previous season, it's giving the most recent revelation, versus riding the buzz of what was before."

The 'heart' of self-titled

"This might be the wrong thing to say," Daigle said behind a bright smile on a warm weekday afternoon in April. Sitting in a music management office on the edge of Nashville's Hillsboro Village neighborhood, wearing an outfit doused in a rainbow of colors and matching accessories to-boot, she continued: "But people always say, with the success of ["You Say"], with the success of "Look Up Child," did you feel pressure going into this? And it is so funny, I'm so one-track minded. ... I was genuinely hyper-focused on what we were working on."

Alongside Elizondo, she enlisted a cohort of co-writers and collaborators who make hitmaking look pretty easy. The album includes co-writes with Natalie Hemby — a tenured Nashville hitmaker and Highwaywomen member who's worked with Miranda Lambert, Kacey Musgraves and Lady Gaga — and Jon Green, a London and Nashville-based writer who's penned tunes for Little Big Town and Linkin Park.

After writing sessions, Daigle and her band cut most of the album live on the floor in Elizondo's studio, she said.

"All these other people have worked on records that've gone way bigger than 'You Say,'" Daigle said. "For them, seeing their ease and their approach to this, like, 'Come on, let's just make more music.' It was the epicenter — the heart — behind how we tracked everything."

Self-titled songwriting

Songs on part one of Daigle's self-titled project take listeners on a sonic hop-scotch, from the soft-touch 1960s pop on "Waiting" to feel-good jam "These Are The Days," introspective ballad "To Know Me," R&B-infused "New" and the roots-inspired standout "St. Ferdinand."

She sings nuanced stories — sometimes pulling from a longtime fascination with creating fictional backstories from passersby. On "New," Daigle teams a real-life story of addition recovery with ubiquitous scene-setting and storybuilding.

She sings, "You say you used to hang around Diablo's every night/ Tryin' to fit with the crowd/ Makin' bets and pickin' fights/ But that was your story before me ... 'Cause old habits die, when you wanna live/ I don't see the old you, I just see the new."

These storytelling elements feel "new and different compared to some of the other records I've been part of," she said.

And on "St. Ferdinand," Daigle co-wrote a blissful folk nod to New Orleans born out of a newfound appreciation of Nashville's country-folk scene. After years in Music City, she found herself brought to tears one night after hearing Holly Williams — grandaughter of Hank Williams — sing "Waiting On June," a seven-minute song about her maternal grandparents that left Daigle in tears”.

I am going to finish with an interview from The New York Times. More than any genre, I think Christina/CCM artists have that difficulty when it comes to broadening out. Daigle might be seen as backing away from her faith, diluting her music, or betraying her roots. She is someone who, as a person, is Christian…but she is growing in popularity and it is confining in terms of themes. She wants to expand her songwriting. It is a shame that there are some who will judge her harshly:

“She wrote some songs with Shane McAnally, a Nashville hitmaker who is gay. And because the themes on her album are less faith-based than in the past, she knows some will count what’s referred to in the CCM world as JPMs (mentions of Jesus Per Minute) and find the music too worldly.

“I’ve seen people ask, ‘Is Lauren Daigle even a Christian anymore?,’” she said. “At this point, it’s to be expected, so it doesn’t bother me.”

In a radio interview after the DeGeneres fracas, Daigle summed up her view of Scripture. Anyone who expected her to shun gay people had “completely missed the heart of God,” she said. “Be who Christ was to everyone as well.” This brought more opprobrium, including a Christian Post column that scoffed, “Lauren, dear sister in Christ, you failed this test.”

Does Daigle, who identifies as nondenominational, feel that Christ’s messages have been widely corrupted? “Oh, absolutely. I have seen people use what He said to promote an agenda and keep people controlled. You have a lot of power if you’re telling someone their eternal destiny.”

Grant, a friend, praised Daigle’s “lovely” voice, adding that “the dynamics of her own life give her a deep compassion for other people.” As for the criticisms Daigle has faced, “My response is, God is good, people are a mess — all of us.”

PHOTO CREDIT: Olivia Crumm for The New York Times

“Dealing with post-Covid symptoms paired with the animosity that plagued our nation brought me to one of the lowest points of my life,” Daigle said. “I had to do a deep dive on who I was.”Credit...Olivia Crumm for The New York Times

Christian rock began in the late 1960s and early ’70s, when it was known as “Jesus Music,” a grass-roots movement led by longhaired hippie outsiders. It gradually built its own infrastructure of record stores, media, festivals and radio stations. Major labels took notice, and began to buy up Christian labels or start imprints of their own.

The first schism came over the Amy Grant generation of crossover artists who played songs that could be interpreted as devout or romantic, a middle ground known derisively in some CCM circles as the “Jesus is my boyfriend” or the “God or a girl” phenomenon. But Daigle’s crossover, close observers say, was different.

“Lauren represented a new type of stardom on unapologetically confessional terms,” said Joshua Kalin Busman, an assistant professor of music history at the University of North Carolina at Pembroke. “She left no ambiguity in her music and spoke transparently about her personal relationship to God.”

As a child, Daigle dismissed Christian music as cheesy. She was raised in a religious home that welcomed secular music, as long as there “weren’t F-bombs every five seconds,” she said. She got in trouble a lot at school, for cheating or talking too much. She believes she has ADHD, and also mentions “some OCD” and a few episodes of depression.

As her interest in music grew, she cleaned her church choir director’s bathroom in exchange for singing lessons. But she also became ill, with symptoms that included extreme fatigue, jaundice and worsening vision. She eventually learned she had cytomegalovirus, a chronic illness, and began home-schooling using a syllabus and a set of VHS tapes as her guide: “That was the season that changed the trajectory of my life.”

She started reading the Bible and had visions of herself as a music star. “I could literally see stages and tour buses. I said, ‘God, are you showing me this, or am I losing my mind?’ I think it was God, because everything I saw has come to pass”.

A wonderful artist who is going to continue to release albums and grow in popularity, I hope that she has some U.K. dates in the future. At the moment, there are only U.S. dates in the diary but, as her music gets international traction, that will change! As she is now a major-label artist and getting press in the U.K., there will be people here who want to see her play far and wide. Lauren Daigle is a great album that deserves positivity and praise – although she is going to court some despondency, flack and approbation from a more hardcore or strict Christian community. Her loyal fans embrace and follow her more Pop-based direction, but it is a pity that Daigle always has this shadow or disappointment from some. A magnificent talent who you should know about, go and follow…

THE brilliant Lauren Daigle.

____________

Follow Lauren Daigle

 Official:

https://www.laurendaigle.com/

Instagram:

https://www.instagram.com/lauren_daigle/

TikTok:

https://www.tiktok.com/@lauren_daigle

Twitter:

https://twitter.com/Lauren_Daigle

Spotify:

https://open.spotify.com/artist/40LHVA5BTQp9RxHOQ9JPYj

YouTube:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCPJFvbf8tNE9-_aYgeXfdKA

Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/laurendaiglemusic/

FEATURE: Revisiting... Remi Wolf - Juno

FEATURE:

 

 

Revisiting...

Remi Wolf - Juno

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ONE of the best albums of 2021…

 PHOTO CREDIT: Jessie Morgan for NME

and undoubtedly one of the finest debut albums, Remi Wolf’s Juno is an aural delight. So colourful, original and bursting with brilliance, it got plenty of great reviews when it was released. Since it was released on 15th October, 2021, I wonder how many people still discuss it. You occasionally hear songs from it on the radio, but Juno warrants more wider appreciation and focus. I will come to two very positive reviews for the album in a minute. First, I want to highlight some interviews. NOTION chatted with Wolf about “her dreams of getting rained on at Glastonbury, the electricity of the New York City music scene, recording her songs in Simlish, and her mental struggles during the pandemic”:

“So, you’re allergic to dogs. How long have you had Juno for – I’m assuming he’s hypoallergenic?

He’s not. I’ve had him since, like, the first week of Covid. So, beginning of 2020. He’s been with my parents for the past two months because I’ve been touring, and they love him so it’s an easy little trade-off. And I’m going back on the road again in like five days, so he stayed with them because they’re all the way up in the Bay Area and I’m working a lot right now. Hopefully I’ll see him really soon. I am allergic to him; it’s kind of a bummer. I kind of just power through it. He’s a beautiful baby.

And were you always going to name the album after him?

No. It was kind of all formulated during the middle of the album process. We kind of got to the end of the album and I was like, ‘damn, what am I gonna name this?’ and Juno was like, there, the whole time. He was with me for every single song I wrote on this record. His name was always in my head. I was screaming his name over and over. And then I just decided that I was gonna name it “Juno”.

You’ve mentioned in a few of your interviews that you’re a perfectionist, yet your music has been described as sort of “hippie chaotic”. How do you find perfectionism in chaos? Or how would you define it?

First of all, I don’t think the perfectionism thing is a good thing. I think it’s something that holds me back a lot of the time. But also, I just hear specific things and I know how I want things to sound and maybe to other people what I hear is chaotic but to me it’s very organised. It’s like a very organised chaos in my head. There’s a certain point within the song creation process when I have a very clear vision in terms of how I want it to sound. I’ll run myself crazy trying to get that. You never really quite nail it, at all. My brain goes a little nuts. I see and hear it and I try to get that into the song and into the computer as quickly as possible. It’s not chaotic in my brain. My brain moves really quickly. The musical ideas and the lyrics and what I’m trying to talk about in my head is very organised. In my head it’s all makin’ sense! 

Do you think the tension and isolation of recording during the pandemic helped to birth or hinder Juno?

Definitely birth. I mean, it was horrible. Isolation was awful. I was really, super depressed and super existential which luckily, I was able to channel into something. I’m so much happier being out of isolation right now, it’s insane. When we were all in it, it was hard to attribute the bad feelings and the spinout. For me, it was hard to attribute it to the quarantine, I was like – what’s wrong with me? Why am I not able to feel OK when everybody online is so fucking positive? Everybody was on this weird toxic positive health shit. It felt like I was doing something wrong because I felt so bad. But now that I’m out, it was all quarantine. We’re not built to live like that as humans, we need contact – we need to go outside and experience things. So yeah, I think it was great for my art – horrible for me personally. It got bad online. People were a little preach-y. It was hard to wake up and do anything or get anything done. I felt so defeated.

Are you already working on your next album? Can you tell us anything about it?

I’m putting together a Deluxe album right now which will have some new tunes. I’m working on a lot of music right now. Who knows how it’s all going to formulate? I’m pumped. I’m trying to find myself again with my writing. I’m shooting my shot at a lot of different stuff and I’m working with a lot of different people and I’m trying to re-figure out what feels good to me. I’m in my experimental phase of life. A lot of fun to be had and so many things to learn. This whole year, I’m touring in a bunch of places I’ve never been before in my life. I’m going into waters I’ve never been in. I think it’s gonna be a big learning year for me”.

Charmingly, whilst spending a day decorating cakes in London (as you do!), DAZED caught up with Remi Wolf. She talked about the ups and downs of growing up, music-making, and her time in rehab. It is more insight into an artist who created a simply magnificent debut album in 2021 with Juno:

“The original record, Juno, was largely written over the pandemic. “I didn’t really have the typical sit and stew for two years,” she says; instead, the musician dove head-first into her work after a meteoric rise to fame. In February, she signed her first record deal with Island Records and Virgin EMI Records; in April, she released the funky soul-pop banger “Photo ID” which immediately went viral on TikTok; and in June, she dropped her second EP I’m Allergic to Dogs and wrote Juno’s first two tracks. “In the height of COVID lockdown and fear… my career was a career all (of) the sudden,” she wrote on Twitter. At the same time – after recognising that she had a drinking problem – she checked herself into rehab for four months, got sober, and moved back to LA to finish the record.

PHOTO CREDIT: Hannah Bertolino

“It’s a very transitional album,” Wolf tells me, explaining how all the thoughts, feelings, and inner turmoils that were going on at that time are reflected in the music. “The songs are just pure depictions of my life changing in real time… everything went into (it).” In fact, the record’s opening track “Liquor Store” – which depicts the pop star’s fear of abandonment and dependencies on alcohol through colourful harmonies and groovy guitar licks – was written and recorded with friend and co-producer Jared Solomon (Solomonophonic) mid-way through experiencing a mental health episode linked to her newfound sobriety.

“The beginning of the day I wrote ‘Liquor Store’ were some of the worst, most necessary hours I had ever lived through,” Wolf wrote in a series of journal entry-style graphics posted on social media, commemorating the song’s first birthday by providing candid context behind its lyrics and resources for those struggling with addiction, themselves. “It was that day that I really started to understand on a deeper level the healing power that music had on me and how much I need it.” In the next two days, Wolf and Jared wrote three more Juno tracks – “Anthony Kiedis”, “wyd”, and “Grumpy Old Man” – injecting the same explosive, pent-up energy used to create “Liquor Store” into each song”.

I shall round it off with a couple of reviews. Critics were hugely positive of this amazing album. Juno is definitely one of the best albums from 2021. Remi Wolf is a spectacular talent who I can’t wait to hear what she does on her second album (there has been no announcement yet). This is what DORK noted in their review:

“Generally, new artists will still be trying to establish who they are. The confidence of getting over those early bars might persuade them it’s okay to put more of themselves forwards. Open up creatively. Maybe even get a bit weird. With her debut album ‘Juno’, Remi is leaving nothing out. Sass, swagger and a choice bit of swearing, it’s not just her music that’s an absolute riot.

Opening track ‘Liquor Store’ sets the scene perfectly. Bold, bright and brash, it throws around ‘motherfuckers’ like good cuss words are on buy one get two free. From the word go, Remi’s here for an infectiously good time. ‘wyd’ hip-shakes like a beachfront tango after a round of fruity cocktails, while ‘Guerrilla’ fizzes like popping candy. There’s no step off the gas, no boring pause for breath.

It’s this always on neon-glare that sets Remi Wolf apart from her peers. Gen Z’s pop troupe is packed with potential future icons. They’re vocal, vibrant and unconcerned with putting it all on the table – but nobody else does it with quite the same panache. Even when sticking closer to the group – take ‘Volkiano’’s hi-fi pop middle section, for example – there’s still a twinkle in the eye that suggests it won’t be long until we’re back cursing like sailors and making anyone with earshot blush beetroot red. Like that friend that always makes everyone else feel great, Remi Wolf is the seretonin shot 2021 needed. The next greatest pop star on the planet has arrived.

5/5”.

 

I’ll end with The Line of Best Fit’s take on the mighty Juno. It is an album that I loved when it came out in 2021. I still listen to it now, and I feel more people should too. It certainly warrants more time on radio stations’ schedules:

“A colourful kick to the face, there’s nothing junior about Remi Wolf’s debut album. Riding on the viral waves of TikTok, “Photo ID” brought the vibrant energy of Wolf to the masses. Now, Juno plays with the parameters of pop, combining traditional structures with experimental upbeat melodies and funk. 

Wolf’s debut veers into hyper indie. She toys with space as hi-hats echo on “Anthony Kiedis”. Proclaiming her love for the Red Hot Chilli Pepper lead singer as well as her family, her vocals are completely encapsulating. The production is super tight and creativity seeps into the mix with funky licks of guitar and infectious drums. The alt vibe rears its head again on “Buttermilk” which floats along as easily as an old Vampire Weekend B-side. The record’s more gentle closing tracks may not be as energetic but aren’t any less danceable. In any case, they highlight the honest streak that is prevalent in the more relaxed tracks.

Juno’s playfulness defines Wolf’s first record. Parallels can be drawn between Wolf and Doja Cat whose take on pop has consisted of balancing honest real life experiences with fun buoyant music. Soundbytes bring a smile to your face as dolphins’ chatter, superheroes throw punches and camera shutters click. Wolf doesn’t shy away from humour especially in her lyrics. Comparing a fight to being in the ring with Conor McGregor on “Front Tooth” and including a kid’s monologue of being kidnapped on “Quiet on Set” is surreal but these moments make Juno shine. 

The scope of Juno is massive. She takes on a Texan persona on one verse followed by a space cowboy on “Grumpy Old Man”. Charli XCX-inspired auto tune sneakily slips in on ‘Sally’ and “Quiet on Set” could fit right in with MTV’s coverage of R&B classics like Missy Elliot and Ludacris. Dub bass grinds up against slink synths and shows Wolf’s versatility. Charistmatically stepping onto the scene with an unmistakable presence in an era of reclaiming confidence is not an easy feat but Remi Wolf has delivered a debut that is powered by a true liveliness to be fun and real”. 

I wanted to return to Juno for this Revisiting…, as it is an album that I really love and has so much terrific moments. Quiet on Set was one of my favourite songs of 2021. A song that hits you when you listen to it and does not let go! It is swaggering and cool. Even ending with some baby-like vocal impressions (I wonder whether Wolf was inspired by Prince’s 1999, as the track ends with a similar sound). If you have not discovered Juno, take some time out and give this magnificent album…

A fresh spin.

FEATURE: “There Really Is a Lot in Vegetables!” When Kate Bush Met Delia Smith

FEATURE:

 

 

“There Really Is a Lot in Vegetables!”

IN THIS PHOTO: Kate Bush at East Wickham Farm appearing on an edition of Delia Smith’s Cookery Course in 1980/PHOTO CREDIT: BBC

When Kate Bush Met Delia Smith

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I allude to and featured…

this interview when I discussed Kate Bush and her vegetarianism back in 2020. One reason why I was compelled to explore her vegetarianism is because, very early in her career, she spoke with the iconic Delia Smith. I want to reintroduce (reheat?) this incredible meeting. This is going to be a fairly short feature, but there are a few reasons as to why I wanted to return to this interview. It happens a lot more now but, back in 1980 (when the interview was broadcast), you wouldn’t often have got big artists specifically talking about things not related to music and promotion. Not least their diet and cooking. It seems rather ordinary now but, at a time in her career when she was being interviewed by so many different people around the world and was in this whirlwind of record, promotion, and everything else that comes with the industry, this seems like a pleasant and much-needed departure. For the Delia Smith's Cookery Course show, Kate Bush was relaxed and spoke passionately and personally about something important to her. Before carrying on, the Kate Bush Encyclopedia provide a little more details about the programme, and what Bush spoke to Smith about:

“A series of TV programmes, accompanied by 3 volumes of books, in which Delia Smith describes all sorts of cooking. In an episode broadcast on 29 February 1980 she was joined by Kate Bush in an item filmed at East Wickham Farm. In it, she describes the task of cooking rice ('You just add it to salt water, really'),  adding Marmite to vegetables and discussing the benefits of leaving apple skins in a Waldorf Salad and explaining how to eat seeds. Kate makes a touching case for vegetarianism, concluding: 'I hope people will think about it, because there really is a lot in vegetables!”.

Although the broadcast was in 1980, the visit to Bush’s East Wickham Farm home seems to have taken place in 1979. It looks like the weather was quite pleasant, so I am thinking that it was maybe around the summer. In any case, I wanted to expand a bit more on this and the 1979 tour Bush undertook. Without repeating too much of what I published in 2020, it is interesting that Bush dedicated herself to vegetarianism as a child and spoke about it. Many might not consider it but, when it comes to her health and outlook on life, vegetarianism is important. Bush’s outlook when it comes to people is very positive and curious, but she also cares deeply about the planet and environment. Someone who loves the natural world and has this huge appreciation for animals, it is no surprise that she would want to speak with Delia Smith. I think that the show showed a side of Bush many did not know about. Still portrayed by the media as a sex symbol or someone who was kooky and weird, this added something to the perception about. Emerging more as a serious artist with that wider conscientiousness, it is clear that this was a very serious young woman who was not as easily defined the media made out. I do love the interview with Delia Smith. In that idyllic and calm setting, Bush not only widened the conversation on vegetarianism  - big musicians like Paul McCartney was a vegetarian by that point, but there were not too many -, but she also showed different sides and elements of her personality. It almost revealed more than a standard interview!

One of the interview highlights of Kate Bush’s career, I have been thinking about her time with Delia Smith. In 1979, probably shortly after Bush returned from tour, she was discussing a diet and lifestyle that no doubt contributed to her amazing performances through The Tour of Life. There is a documentary around that tour where the menu and food was actually discussed. I love how Bush was very dedicated when it comes to her vegetarianism. I think that one reason why she was such a compelling dancer and performer is because of that. Given her thew good health and nutrients needed, I do often wonder whether her career and tour would have been the same if she was not a vegetarian. In any case, I love the Delia Smith chat, as it stands out as this moment where Kate Bush literally said how there is a lot in vegetables. Her compassion is infectious. As I said, 1979 and 1980 was a time in her career when there was very little rest and Bush was still below what many critics considered to be her best. After two studio albums and a tour, she was working on a third album. Taking some time out to do a rather unconventional interview that perhaps meant more to her than any other recent one, this is such a fascinating and unique part of Bush’s career. Always such a compelling and arresting interviewee, let’s hope that we…

HEAR from her again soon.

FEATURE: God Only Knows: The Benefits and Negatives of AI-Created Musical Mashups

FEATURE:

 

 

God Only Knows

IN THIS PHOTO: The Beach Boys during the Pet Sounds photoshoot by George Jerman at San Diego Zoo, California, in February 1966/PHOTO CREDIT: Capitol Photo Archives 

The Benefits and Negatives of AI-Created Musical Mashups

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IT seems to be the weekly news thing…

 PHOTO CREDIT: cottonbro studio via Pexels

where we hear of another AI-created song. Artificial intelligence is becoming more prevalent and notable. Previously, I used to associate it with something in science or science fiction. I know it has been part of music for a while, but it has never had this sort of attention and dominance. Now, one can create tracks with other artists featuring on them. You can take a classic song and then have another singer providing the vocals – without them having to do anything. I admit that the technology is clever and impressive, but is it a little creepy and pointless? I will explore that more. As I say, there are these weekly reports of a new song coming about where it has been mashed up, so that the original artist is either performing alongside someone else, or another famous artist is singing it. As NME recently reported, The Beach Boys’ most beautiful and beloved song has seen The Beatles’ Paul McCartney and John Lennon singing together. The majestic God Only Knows has been given the AI treatment:

“Over recent months, music lovers have been using AI methods to create “new music” and collaborations with their favourite artists, including The Weeknd, Drake, Kanye West and more. However, one of the latest projects shared shows that fans can also bring some of their nostalgic favourites back to life, and create new versions of iconic 1960s tracks.

One of the most recent covers, shared last month, shows just that — depicting the iconic 1966 Beach Boys track, ‘God Only Knows’ being played in the style of The Beatles.

Starting with AI-generated vocals, the track also features a dreamy duet with Paul McCartney and John Lennon, as well as backing harmonies from drummer Ringo Starr and an a cappella ending. Check out the track below.

While the creator of the video doesn’t offer much explanation into what inspired the project or what tools he used to develop the track, McCartney has previously described the song as “one of the few songs that reduces me to tears every time I hear it”.

“It’s really just a love song, but it’s brilliantly done. It shows the genius of Brian [Wilson],” he said (via Far Out). 

IN THIS PHOTO: The Beatles photographed during a press conference in New York on 6th August, 1966/PHOTO CREDIT: Santi Visalli/Getty Images

While AI-generated mashups can often be conceived as controversial by fans, The Beatles and Beach Boys collaboration has received mostly positive reactions online. At the time of writing, the video has over 1,100 likes on YouTube, versus just 10 “thumbs-down” reactions.

“Paul and John are finally reconciled in the chorus, it’s the most beautiful thing I’ve heard. Thank you,” wrote one fan in the comments, while another added: “This is incredible. I have dreamed of hearing Paul sing this for my whole life. Amazing.”

Last month, an AI-generated “lost” Oasis album also emerged online and also received a wave of praise from fans online. The project — which imagined how Oasis would sound if they reformed and created music reminiscent of their ‘90s heyday — also gained recognition from the former frontman, Liam Gallagher, who described it as “mega” and “better than all the other snizzle out there.”

Earlier this week, however, fans had a less than optimistic view towards another AI project, which saw Kurt Cobain performing the 1998 Hole song, ‘Celebrity Skin’.

While it was labelled as nothing more than an “elaborate mashup” by the creator, fans were quick to criticise the project and call it out as being inappropriate.

“Call it what you want, but this is copyright infringement, totally distasteful, poorly executed, and subtextual misogyny that panders to bigoted whisperings that Kurt wrote [Courtney Love Cobain’s] hits,” wrote one person on Twitter. “Let them both rest.”

Bad Seeds frontman Nick Cave also shared his lack of support for songwriting using artificial intelligence earlier this year — labelling it as “a grotesque mockery of what it is to be human”. He also commented on the issue later, explaining that he wished AI programmes such as ChatGPT would “fuck off and leave songwriting alone”.

Whilst I do like the idea of not having to imagine what it would sound like it McCartney and Lennon sung God Only Knows, there is that thing about taking control away. Artists almost forced to perform that song. Maybe it does take something away from the original. If the AI songs and albums are not really superior to the originals or they lose that genuine, human element, it is interesting technology none the less. In years gone, there is often discussion as to what it would be like it another artist covered a song. Maybe someone no longer with us. If a band like The Beatles took on The Beach Boys’ stunning material. I would like to imagine what a new Radiohead album would sound like with AI’s intervention. It would be neat to think about, say, a new Beastie Boys track. Whilst that can happen, you have to ask how far it will go. As I say, the AI-produced music is not advanced enough so that you can replace the human voice. That said, we need to be cautious about its rise and impact. It is machine-driven, so you do not get the emotions, nuances and spontaneities that the human voice can produce. It is fallible and restricted in that sense. Fans will always prefer music that is created by real artists! I do wonder whether we will get a series of albums released that you could buy that are created by AI. Maybe deceased artists being ‘brought back to life’ by AI.

We bring artists back through holograms. People actually go and watch concerts of departed artists who now are on the stage in this hologram form. Maybe that is a little weird and unsettling, but it does at least show that you can push the boundaries of what a live music concert is. It is that issue of respect and whether an estate or artists would ever want that. In terms of the new slew of AI songs and albums, how many of the artists approached have given consent?! Even if fans like the songs that are posted, how about those who made the music?! I hope we do not get to a time when people are drawn to the AI versions of songs rather than the original! It is wonderful that we have technology that can mashup and give us these possibilities. It is causing no harm right now to the industry and, if these AI-produced songs are getting a lot of buzz, they will never take the place of actual musicians. The quality of these AI songs are hit and miss. The ‘lost’ Oasis album is pretty weak. Even if the God Only Knows with Macca and Lennon in the chorus is quite emotional and cool, the original is far far superior! I have not really heard anything by AI that either surpasses the original song or is seen as needed. No situation where I have thought that AI has improved something. That being said, as the technology becomes more advanced and talked about, will it start delivering albums that are actually pretty decent?

I am not sure what other music fans think, because artists who have spoken out are divided. There are those – such as Nick Cave and Peter Gabriel – who have provided warning and profanity towards something seen as both dangerous and completely unnecessary. In an industry thriving because of its multitudinous and variegated music, do we need AI at all? Grimes has given her blessing, so you wonder whether we might see a day when her back catalogue is mashed up. Either that, or we get an AI Grimes releasing music from now on. I think, it was Massive Attack that said one reason why AI exists and is seen as so spooky is because modern music is homogeneous and boring. If machines can fool people because it is so close to the original, then is music quite anodyne and repetitious? Have we lost the sort of invention and originality that we had years ago? I don’t think that is true. Maybe some of the Pop mainstream is becoming samey and predictable, but the industry is so vast that you cannot call it all boring, predictable or lacking in originality. As I write this, I know that somewhere another mashup is being created. There will be no stopping it. If there is a certain impressiveness about AI’s ability to do this, I struggle to see the value and purpose of it all! If it realises dreams and what-ifs of fans, I think that there are more artists than not who would prefer AI to scale back and stay away. Even if these mashups and new albums from AI will never really sustain and replace music as we know it, I suppose there are various songs and moments that take you by surprise in a good way. A new version of The Beach Boys’ classic features band members they were in friendly competition with in the 1960s. Maybe this AI-generated song has won some people over, but it seems to be the best of a rather shaky bunch. When will all of this stop?! Will it stop?! When it comes to that question…

GOD only knows!

FEATURE: Second Spin: Lupe Fiasco - Lupe Fiasco's Food & Liquor

FEATURE:

 

 

Second Spin

Lupe Fiasco - Lupe Fiasco's Food & Liquor

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A remarkable artist…

whose latest album, 2022’s Drill Music in Zion, ranks alongside his best, Chicago rapper Lupe Fiasco hit this incredible stride and high on his debut, Lupe Fiasco's Food & Liquor. Released on 19th September, 2006, I do think that there are many people who might not know about Lupe Fiasco or have heard his music. I feel his debut is the peak. A stunning introduction, I will bring in a few positive reviews for this innovative and hugely original Hip-Hop album. Recorded between the hugely cool-sounding studios 1st & 15th (Chicago), Record Plant (Hollywood), and Right Track (New York City), maybe a lot of people associate Lupe Fiasco's Food & Liquor with the stunning lead single, Kick, Push. That song took on a life of its own. Even though Lupe Fiasco is not a skater, the song describes a love story between a male and a female misfit skateboarders. There is not a lot of promotional material around the album in terms of interviews. That is a shame, as it would have been nice to get some more context and personal insight from Lupe Fiasco. What I do know is that Lupe Fiasco's Food & Liquor reached eight in the U.S. and thirty-one in the U.K. Kick, Push was a more successful single here than the U.S., but I think since its release in 2006, the wonderous Lupe Fiasco's Food & Liquor has grown in stature and reputation. Like many of the classic Hip-Hop albums, there are plenty of well-chosen and impactful samples to be found here. For example, Kick, Push contains a sample of Magtaksil Man Ikaw (Bolero Medley) by Celeste Legaspi.

I will come to a few reviews. The first, from the A.V. Club notices how one of the most important aspects of the album is how it covers new ground and pushed forward a genre slightly dogged and defined by a narrow lyrical palette. In terms of sounds and stories, Lupe Fiasco's Food & Liquor is so different to everything that was out there at the time – and it still sounds fresh and in its own league to this day:

“Considering how long hip-hop has dominated the pop charts and popular culture, it's remarkable how little thematic ground most of it has covered. But on his eagerly anticipated debut, Lupe Fiasco boldly goes where few, if any, rappers have gone before. On the album's best tracks, Fiasco masterfully melds his peerless storytelling gifts with his idiosyncratic passion for skateboarding, fantasy, and incisive sociopolitical commentary.

Fiasco's deafening buzz began after his attention-grabbing verse on Kanye West's "Touch The Sky," but kicked into high gear with the release of "Kick, Push." Only surpassed by Gnarls Barkley's "Crazy" for this summer's dominant single, "Kick, Push" is a propulsive love song equally enraptured by the freedom, exhilaration, and outlaw allure of skateboarding culture—in it, a simpatico skater girl takes the kicking, pushing hero from skater boy to skater man. With its cinematic horns and manic drums, "Kick, Push" soars deliriously on a wave of teen romanticism seldom explored in hip-hop: It's like Rebel Without A Cause reconceived as a skateboarding anthem. Stylistically, Fiasco's flow, fussy pronunciation, and wordplay owe a sizable debt to Jay-Z, who executive produces and guests on "Pressure." But thematically and lyrically, there is no father to Fiasco's style”.

The magnificent Fiasco released one of the best debut albums of the first decade of this century. Lupe Fiasco's Food & Liquor is a staggering album that I would recommend to everyone – even if you are not normally a fan of Hip-Hop. Rolling Stone had their say about a sensational and eclectic album:

“For many fans, the first sign that Chicago MC Lupe Fiasco's long-delayed debut album might be something special was the single "Kick, Push." Over smooth, jazzy horn samples, Fiasco tells the story of a kid learning to ride a skateboard as a metaphor for struggling to find one's way in life and love ("He said, 'I would marry you/But I'm engaged to these aerials and varials/And I don't think this board is strong enough to carry two' "). It's a creative, well-told tale that Pharrell wishes he could have written, and it sets expectations high.

Lupe exceeds them on Food & Liquor. Without dipping his toes into violent imagery, wanton obscenity or other hip-hop cliches, Fiasco reflects on the personal and the political, and reminds fans of everything hip-hop can be. It's full of surprising, creative moments that recall Nas and Kanye West -- the latter of whom gave Fiasco his biggest exposure as a guest on "Touch the Sky" and who produced one track here. "He Say She Say" details the woes of growing up without a father ("Asks me if his daddy was sick of us/'Cause you ain't never pick him up"), set to swelling strings, and "Hurt Me Soul" describes the Muslim MC's struggle to come to terms with hip-hop's darker side ("I used to hate hip-hop, yup, because of the women degraded/But Too $hort made me laugh, like a hypocrite I played it"). "Pressure" features a killer beat populated by stabbing piano, guitar and hawk squawks, plus a golden cameo from Jay-Z, who, amazingly, crossed label lines to executive-produce the project -- an indication of how strongly Jigga feels about the kid. His faith is well-placed”.

I am going to round things off with a review from AllMusic. There is no denying the brilliance and creativity that runs right through Lupe Fiasco's Food & Liquor. Like other albums released from 2006, I don’t think that it is dated and only relevant at the time it came out. Here is an album that still offers up layers and joys after seventeen years:

“A few years in the making, Lupe Fiasco's Food and Liquor follows a fruitless association with Epic (as a member of da Pak), an aborted solo deal with Arista (which yielded one promo single), a handful of guest appearances (tha Rayne's "Kiss Me," Kanye West's "Touch the Sky"), and a leak of an unfinished version of the album that set the official release back to September 2006. Still only 25 years old, Fiasco -- a Chicagoan of Islamic faith who owns a number of black belts -- sounds wise beyond his age, rarely raises his voice, projects different emotions with slight inflections, and is confident enough to openly admit his inspirations while building on them. It Was Written is his touchstone, and there are traces of numerous MCs in his rhymes, from Intelligent Hoodlum and Ed O.G. to Nas and Jay-Z. Pharrell (aka Skate Board P) might've considered suffocating himself out of envy with his Bathing Ape sweatshirt when he first heard the album's lead single, "Kick, Push," dubbed a skate-rap classic well before Food and Liquor hit shelves. Like nothing else in the mainstream or underground, its subject matter -- skater boy meets skater girl -- and appealing early-'90s throwback production finally broke the doors down for Fiasco's solo career. Wisely enough, Fiasco doesn't turn the skating thing into a gimmick and excels at spinning varying narratives over a mostly strong set of productions from 1st & 15th affiliates Soundtrakk and Prolyfic, as well as the Neptunes, West, Needlz, and Mike Shinoda. There are strings, smeary synthesized textures, and dramatic keyboard vamps galore -- templates that befit heartbreaking tales like "He Say She Say" and casually deep-thinking reflections like "Hurt Me Soul," where the MC confronts some of his conflicting emotions: "I had a ghetto boy boppa/Jay-Z boycott/'Cause he said that he never prayed to God, he prayed to Gotti/I'm thinking golly, God, guard me from the ungodly/But by my 30th watchin' of Streets Is Watching, I was back to givin' props again/And that was botherin'/'Bout as comfortable as a untouchable touching you." Deserving of as much consideration as the other high-profile debuts of the past few years, up to and including The College Dropout, Food and Liquor just might be the steadiest and most compelling rap album of 2006”.

Go and listen to Lupe Fiasco's Food & Liquor if you have not heard it before. It is a wonderful album that I have been spinning again in preparation for this feature. It got acclaim when it came out, but I don’t think many people explore it now. Maybe I am wrong. With Lupe Fiasco still releasing music, his incredible career…

KEEPS going strong.

FEATURE: NOW That's What I Call Music at Forty: Rewind/Fast Forward: A Time to Revive the Archive and Think to the Future

FEATURE:

 

 

NOW That's What I Call Music at Forty

Rewind/Fast Forward: A Time to Revive the Archive and Think to the Future

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LET us start off…

with some information and background from Wikipedia when it comes to an iconic and hugely popular album series. The NOW That’s What I Call Music series is forty later in the year. I know I am looking ahead and the anniversary is not until 28th November, but I do wonder whether there are going to be anniversary celebrations or a new album. The numbered series has reached 114 (released on 14th April). Maybe they will do a special compilation for the fortieth anniversary. Before going on, here is some background to the compilation series:

“Now That's What I Call Music! (often shortened to Now!) is a series of various artists compilation albums released in the United Kingdom and Ireland by Sony Music and Universal Music (Universal/Sony Music) which began in 1983. Spinoff series began for other countries the following year, starting with South Africa, and many other countries worldwide soon followed, expanding into Asia in 1995, then the United States in 1998.

The compilation series was conceived in the office of Virgin Records in London and took its name from a 1920s British advertising poster for Danish Bacon featuring a pig saying "Now. That's What I Call Music" as it listened to a chicken singing. Richard Branson, owner of Virgin, had bought the poster for his cousin, Simon Draper, to hang behind Draper's desk at the Virgin Records office. The pig became the mascot for the series, making its last regular appearance on Now That's What I Call Music 5, before reappearing in 2018, 2021 and 2022”.

You can get some of the ‘Yearbook’ series on vinyl, but I don’t think you can for the numbered series. Maybe there are some second hand, but I would love the possibility of the series coming to vinyl. Cassettes would be awesome too. Maybe it would cost too much and not be practical, but I bought NOW That’s What I Call Music 24 on cassette when it came out in 1993. I have written about this before – and I will do again -, but a cool NOW That’s What I Call Music pop-up shop with a vending machine that dispenses cassettes of the series. Old adverts of the albums running, and merchandise and C.D.s. That would be pretty cool! It may be an impossible task but I wanted to expand on that a little.

I was originally going to do a feature that selects the ten best NOW That’s What I Call Music compilations. That is a tough choice, but there are some classics that everyone should hear. Other articles like this that rank the U.S. series (it started later there, and there are different artists featured on the compilations each year compared to the U.K. version); this that decides NOW That’s What I Call Music 44 (1999) is best; this one, that holds a special place in its heart for NOW That’s What I Call Music 50 (2001), and this interesting feature. The U.K. website used to have a feature whereby you could select every album in the series by number or the year it came out. That made it easy if you had to put together a compilation – as there are not necessarily Wikipedia entries for each or tracklistings online -, and you could also see adverts relating to each of the albums. I know that special series’ and compilations are now working alongside the yearly numbered ones, but I do wonder why the archive and that essential resource has been retired. Maybe it is somewhere but, as it is such a useful and crucial source of information and archive for those maybe new to the compilations series, it is a shame that it is not available online. I do hope that run the series and maintain the website think about returning that incredible portal.

It is wonderful that NOW That’s What I Call Music has expanded and you get these yearbooks that compile the best tracks from a previous year. That is what the numbered series does too, but here you get a slightly different take. In so much as I think it is important to have the archives restored and make it easy to navigate back to old albums and find detail about them, it would also be nice to have some of the best examples of the series committed to tape and vinyl. I guess it comes back to that argument that, as people have nothing to play cassettes on, what is the point of manufacturing them? It seems like the NOW That’s What I Call Music compilation is almost born to be on cassette! I would love to see every one of the series on the format, but I realise that could be unfeasibly foolish. However, there is definitely now a demand for cassettes, and the NOW That’s What I Call Music series is not going to dwindle or lose any of its audience. In fact, with its Yearbook editions and people snapping up the latest editions of the numbered series, the empire is expanding. I do not think that it is retro and people only like it for nostalgia. For those who were not alive when particular edition of NOW That’s What I Call Music were released, it is a useful and accessible introduction to popular music of the time. Of course, there is an element of nostalgia, but it is a way of preserving the best music moments from throughout the years.

As this legendary series turns forty in November, it makes me thinking about the past and how we need that important archive where one can look at details about every NOW That’s What I Call Music album from the numbered series. The release date and the advert that went with it, in addition to the tracklisting. I hope that we do get some restoration. Also, as it will soon be forty years, there is likely to be anniversary retrospection and some new releases. I know that NOW That’s What I Call Music will keep going for decades more. It is so wonderful that it continues to resonate with music lovers. Buying the physical album when they could stream songs from it instead, clearly people have that need for physical music - and they also love that treat of having so many quality songs on the one album. Keeping that album in their collection, years from now, they can revisit the time they bought it and get a vivid sense of what the music scene was like. I have done that myself. I would snap up any opportunity to order any of the great NOW That’s What I Call Music albums from the past, as I would keep them for years and really treasure them. A cherished compilation series that has provided conversation, connection, and delight for four decades, we all have particular albums in the series that…

MEAN so much to us.

FEATURE: Inspired By… Part Ninety-Six: Dolly Parton

FEATURE:

 

 

Inspired By…

Part Ninety-Six: Dolly Parton

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AS I get closer to…

 PHOTO CREDIT: Mark Seliger/ABC/GI

the one-hundredth edition of this feature, it occurs to me that I have not included Dolly Parton. A hugely influential and legendary artist, I am keen to get to a playlist of songs from artists who are inspired by Parton. Before getting to that playlist, AllMusic provide a thorough and really interesting biography of the Country icon:

“It's difficult to find a country performer who has moved from her country roots to international fame more successfully than Dolly Parton. Her autobiographical single "Coat of Many Colors" reveals the poverty of growing up one of 12 children on a rundown farm in Locust Ridge, Tennessee. At the age of 12, she was appearing on Knoxville television; at 13, she was recording on a small label and appearing on the Grand Ole Opry. Her 1967 hit "Dumb Blonde" (which she's not) caught Porter Wagoner's ear, and he hired Parton to appear on his television show, where their duet numbers became famous. By the time her song "Joshua" reached number one in 1970, Parton's fame had overshadowed her boss' and she struck out on her own. During the mid-'70s, she established herself as a country superstar, and crossed over into the pop mainstream in the early '80s when she smoothed out the rough edges in her music and began singing pop as well as country. At the same time, she also began appearing in movies, most notably the hit 9 to 5. Over the ensuing decades, Parton maintained mainstream stardom, balancing records and stage shows with film, books, and other multimedia projects, alongside charitable activities. When country radio turned away from veterans, she started to regularly record albums that reconnected with her bluegrass and country roots, while still occasionally returning to country-pop, as on 2022's Run, Rose, Run. Throughout it all, her core songbook -- including such classics as "Coat of Many Colors," "Jolene," "Kentucky Gambler" and "I Will Always Love You" -- maintained its power, attracting new generations of listeners.

The fourth of 12 children, Parton was born and raised in Locust Ridge, Tennessee, just next to the Smoky Mountains National Forest. Parton's family struggled to survive throughout her childhood, and she was often ridiculed for her poverty, yet music soothed their worries. Though her farming father did not play, her half-Cherokee mother played guitar and her grandfather, Rev. Jake Owens, was a fiddler and songwriter (his "Singing His Praise" was recorded by Kitty Wells). When she was seven, her uncle Bill Owens gave her a guitar, and within three years, she became a regular on WIVK Knoxville's The Cas Walker Farm and Home Hour. Over the next two years, her career steadily flourished, and in 1959 she made her debut on the Grand Ole Opry; the following year, she recorded her first single, "Puppy Love," for Goldband.

When she was 14 years old, Parton signed to Mercury Records, but her 1962 debut for the label, "It's Sure Gonna Hurt," was a bomb, and the label immediately dropped her. Over the next five years, she shopped for a new contract and did indeed record a number of songs, which were later reissued on budget-line records. She continued to attend high school, playing snare drum in the marching band. After she graduated, she moved to Nashville, where she stayed with Bill Owens. Both songwriters pitched songs across Nashville with no success, and Parton began singing on demos. Early in 1965, both Parton and Owens finally found work when Fred Foster signed them to his publishing house, Combine Music; Foster subsequently signed her to Monument Records. Parton's first records for Monument were marketed to pop audiences, and her second record, "Happy, Happy Birthday Baby," nearly made the charts. In 1966, Bill Phillips took two of Parton's and Owens' songs -- "Put It Off Until Tomorrow" and "The Company You Keep" -- to the Top Ten, setting the stage for Parton's breakthrough single "Dumb Blonde." Released early in 1967, the record climbed to number 24, followed shortly afterward by the number 17 "Something Fishy."

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The two hit Monument singles attracted the attention of country star Porter Wagoner, who was looking to hire a new female singer for his syndicated television show. Parton accepted the offer and began appearing on the show on September 5, 1967. Initially, Wagoner's audience was slow to warm to Parton and chanted for Norma Jean, the singer she replaced, but with Wagoner's assistance, she was soon accepted. Wagoner also convinced his label, RCA, to sign Parton. Since female performers were not particularly popular in the late '60s, the label decided to protect their investment by releasing her first single as a duet with Wagoner. "The Last Thing on My Mind" reached the country Top Ten early in 1968, launching a six-year streak of virtually uninterrupted Top Ten singles. Parton's first solo single, "Just Because I'm a Woman," was released in the summer of 1968 and was a moderate hit, reaching number 17. For the remainder of the decade, none of her solo efforts -- even "In the Good Old Days (When Times Were Bad)," which would later become a standard -- were as successful as her duets. The duo was named Vocal Group of the Year in 1968 by the Country Music Association, but Parton's solo records were continually ignored. Wagoner and Parton were both frustrated by her lack of solo success, Porter because he had a significant financial stake in her future; as of 1969, he was her co-producer and owned nearly half of the publishing company Owepar.

In 1970, Porter had her sing Jimmie Rodgers' "Mule Skinner Blues (Blue Yodel No. 8)," a gimmick that worked. The record shot to number three on the charts, followed closely by her first number one single, "Joshua." For the next two years, she had a number of solo hits -- including her signature song "Coat of Many Colors" (number four, 1971) -- in addition to her duets. Though she had successful singles, none of them were blockbusters until "Jolene" reached number one in early 1974. Parton stopped traveling with Wagoner after its release, but continued to appear on television and sing duets with him until 1976.

Once she left Wagoner, Parton's records became more eclectic and diverse, ranging from the ballad "I Will Always Love You" (number one, 1974) and the racy "The Bargain Store" (number one, 1975) to the crossover pop of "Here You Come Again" (number one, 1977) and the disco experiment of "Baby I'm Burning" (number 25 pop, 1978). From 1974 to 1980, she consistently charted in the country Top Ten, with no less than eight singles reaching number one. Parton had her own syndicated television show, Dolly, in 1976, and by the next year had gained the right to produce her own albums, which immediately resulted in diverse efforts like 1977's New Harvest...First Gathering. In addition to her own hits during the late '70s, many artists, from Rose Maddox and Kitty Wells to Olivia Newton-John, Emmylou Harris, and Linda Ronstadt, covered her songs, and her siblings Randy and Stella received recording contracts of their own.

Though she was quite popular, Parton became a genuine superstar in 1977, when the Barry Mann/Cynthia Weil song "Here You Come Again" became a huge crossover hit, reaching number three on the pop charts, spending five weeks at the top of the country charts, and going gold. Its accompanying album went platinum and the follow-up, Heartbreaker, went gold. Soon she was on the cover of country and mainstream publications alike. With the new financial windfall, a lawsuit against Wagoner -- he had received a significant portion of her royalties -- ensued. By the time it was settled, she regained her copyrights while Wagoner was given a nominal fee and the studio the duo shared. In the wake of the lawsuit, a delayed duet album, Making Plans, appeared in 1980; its title track hit number two on the country charts.

Parton's commercial success continued to grow during 1980, as she had three number one hits in a row: the Donna Summer-written "Starting Over Again," "Old Flames (Can't Hold a Candle to You)," and "9 to 5." The latter was the theme song to Parton's acting debut, 9 to 5. Also starring Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin, the movie became a huge success, establishing Parton as a movie star. The song became her first number one pop single as well. 9 to 5 gave Parton's career momentum that lasted throughout the early '80s. She began appearing in more films, including the Burt Reynolds musical The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas (1982) and the Sylvester Stallone comedy Rhinestone (1984). Parton's singles continued to appear consistently in the country Top Ten: between 1981 and 1985, she had 12 Top Ten hits and half of those were number one singles. Parton continued to make inroads on the pop charts as well with a re-recorded version of "I Will Always Love You" from The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas scraping the Top 50 and her Kenny Rogers duet "Islands in the Stream" (which was written by the Bee Gees and produced by Barry Gibb) spending two weeks at number one.

However, by 1985 many old-time fans felt that Parton was spending too much time courting the mainstream. Most of her albums were dominated by the adult contemporary pop of songs like "Islands in the Stream," and it had been years since she had sung straightforward country. She also continued to explore new business and entertainment ventures such as her Dollywood theme park, which opened in 1985. Despite these misgivings, she had continued to chart well until 1986, when none of her singles reached the Top Ten. RCA Records didn't renew her contract after it expired that year, and she signed with Columbia in 1987.

Before she released her Columbia debut, Parton joined forces with Linda Ronstadt and Emmylou Harris to record the rootsy Trio album. Trio became a huge hit, earning both critical and popular acclaim, selling over a million copies, and peaking at number six on the pop charts; it also spawned three Top Ten country singles: "To Know Him Is to Love Him," "Telling Me Lies," and "Those Memories of You." Following the success of the album, she had a weekly variety television show, Dolly, on ABC that lasted only one season. Trio also provided a perfect launching pad for her first Columbia album, 1989's White Limozeen, which produced two number one hits in "Why'd You Come in Here Lookin' Like That" and "Yellow Roses."

Though it looked like Parton's career had been revived, it was actually just a brief revival before contemporary country came along in the early '90s and pushed all veteran artists out of the charts. Parton had a number one duet with Ricky Van Shelton, "Rockin' Years," in 1991, but after that single, she slowly crept out of the Top Ten and later the Top 40. Parton was one of the most outspoken critics of radio's treatment of older stars. While her sales had declined, she didn't disappear. Parton remained an iconic figure in country music, appearing in films (the 1991 TV movie Wild Texas Wind, 1992's Straight Talk), selling out concerts, and releasing a series of acclaimed albums -- including 1993's Honky Tonk Angels, a collaboration with Tammy Wynette and Loretta Lynn -- that all sold respectably. Furthermore, "I Will Always Love You" was covered in 1992 by Whitney Houston, who took it to number one on the pop charts; the single spent 14 weeks at number one, becoming the biggest pop hit of the rock & roll era (it was unseated four years later by Mariah Carey and Boyz II Men's "One Sweet Day").

In 1994, Parton published her autobiography, My Life and Other Unfinished Business. Treasures, her 1996 album, was a highly praised collection of unusual covers, ranging from Merle Haggard to Neil Young. Hungry Again followed in 1998, and early the following year she reunited with Ronstadt and Harris for a second Trio collection in addition to releasing the solo The Grass Is Blue. A rootsy effort, it was well-received and prompted the release of more recordings like it on Little Sparrow in 2001 and Halos & Horns in 2002. The patriotic For God and Country appeared in 2003 and was followed by the CD and DVD Live and Well a year later. Those Were the Days, from 2005, found Parton covering her favorite pop songs from the '60s and '70s. Backwoods Barbie, Parton's first mainstream country album in nearly 20 years, arrived on her own Dolly Records imprint in 2008. Live from London followed in 2009. An album of all Parton-written material, Better Day, appeared from Dolly Records in 2011, the 41st studio release of her long career. Three years later, Blue Smoke was released, appearing first in Australia and New Zealand in January, then in other territories, including America, in May.

In 2015, Parton's classic song "Coat of Many Colors" was adapted into a made-for-TV movie, which featured Alyvia Alyn Lind as the young Dolly Parton and Jennifer Nettles (from the group Sugarland) as her mother. Parton was a producer on the film, which became a major success, and a Christmas-themed sequel was put into production for the 2016 holiday season. In the summer of 2016, Parton announced that she was headlining a 60-date North American concert tour, her most extensive run of shows in 25 years. The jaunt was being billed as the Pure & Simple Tour, and not coincidentally, she also revealed she was releasing a new album in August 2016, a set of ten original love songs also called Pure & Simple.

In October 2017, Parton released her first children's album, I Believe in You; the album debuted at 20 on Billboard's Country charts. A year later, she returned with the soundtrack to Dumplin', a comedy where her music plays a pivotal role. On the soundtrack, Parton collaborated with Linda Perry on three songs, while duetting with Sia, Elle King, Mavis Staples, and Miranda Lambert on new tunes and a handful of her classics. In 2019, Parton was the subject of a popular podcast series produced by Jad Abumrad, host of NPR's Radiolab. Titled Dolly Parton's America, it explored her uniting influence within American culture from a variety of different angles. The following year she released the single "When Life Gets Good Again," produced and co-written by Kent Wells. A response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the song arrived on the heels of her ten-week web series Goodnight with Dolly, in which she read bedtime stories culled from her non-profit children's literacy book club Imagination Library. Along with the single, Parton donated one-million dollars to Vanderbilt Medical Center to help aid in coronavirus vaccination research. Later in 2020, she released her third holiday-themed album, the Grammy-nominated A Holly Dolly Christmas, which featured an eclectic array of guests including Jimmy Fallon, Michael Bublé, and Miley Cyrus.

Dolly Parton teamed up with crime novelist James Patterson to author Run, Rose, Run, a thriller about an aspiring singer/songwriter on the lam. Parton released a companion album of the same name in March 2022, a record that featured duets with Ben Haggard and Joe Nichols”.

Her latest studio album, 2022’s Run, Rose, Run, was her forty-eighth studio album. Her next, Rock Star, is out this year. To celebrate that and mark Dolly Parton’s legacy, I wanted to show how many other great artists are inspired by her. The playlist below contains songs from those who owe a nod…

TO music royalty.

FEATURE: 40 Not Out: Why Music Is Still Fascinating Me As I Head Into My Fifth Decade of Life

FEATURE:

 

40 Not Out

IMAGE CREDIT: dgim-studio via freepik

Why Music Is Still Fascinating Me As I Head Into My Fifth Decade of Life

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MORE and more…

 IN THIS PHOTO: Grimes

we are hearing about AI (Artificial Intelligence) playing a bigger role in music. Whether it is an artist like Grimes saying she is all for AI replicating her singing, and she’d split the royalties, or an AI-replicating Oasis tribute making a ‘lost’ album, it is all quite bizarre and frightening. It does seem like there is this curiosity with how machinery and technology can ‘replace’ artists. I don’t think it will ever become a reality. The point of AI, to me, is to provide back-up. Rather than completely replace the human voice, it could add to a song. Give an extra layer perhaps. At the moment, we are in a situation where AI is recording albums and songs that many cannot distinguish from the artists they are copying. Of course, as this is music, creativity and humans will win out. AI is limited in the fact that it does not have the emotional range and personality of a human. Every AI-generated piece of music I have heard feel soulless and flat. If it does do a good impression of an artist, it cannot create the nuances a human voice can. Even so, the fact AI is able to do an uncanny impersonation of different artists has led some to ask whether modern music is too homogenised and lacks this impenetrable and untouchable complexity and originality. I am hitting forty on 9th May, and it is an opportunity to look back at the music of my childhood and how it has influenced me.

For sure, things are very different now in so many ways. Entire genres have either lost their dominance or changed their sound radically. Pop music goes through these shifts of being diverse and full of interesting songs, to rather mediocre and homogeneous. Rap and Hip-Hop have a very different feel now, as does Rock and other genres. Even if, objectively, I would say the high watermarks of musical inventiveness and genius are in the past, that is not to say that modern music is a pale second. You will get some homogenisation as there is simply so much music around today. Thousands of artists around the world are putting out music! That was something I could not envisage or comprehend when I was a child. When I was growing up, the music I bought and heard played on the radio was by artists who had either been signed or were well-known. You did not have all these interesting and independent artists doing their own thing. If the music of my youth and childhood was breaking new ground and forming who I am today, there were limitations. I do think that there were plenty of duff artists. We tend to over-romanticise the ‘good old days’. For sure, the music of the '80s, '90s and early-'00s was tremendous and is so hard to equal. I don’t hold onto this notion that it is easy for AI to have such an eerie impact now because music sounds the same or lacks distinction. I think it would be easy enough for AI to go back in time and do the same thing. It is not that modern music is less interesting and original: technology and what it can do it more advanced.

I do not look ahead to my birthday and think that all of the best music has been and gone. Today, there is more choice than ever. You do not have to be part of any particular scene or tribe. Whilst those tribes could be very close-knit and incredible, there is less of that musical segregation. In terms of sound and genre, modern music is so much harder to define and limit. Even modern Pop has more dexterity and a wider palette than it used to. Maybe it is not as hooky or as indelible than it was, but I think modern artists are more personal and revealing. You feel more connected to artists than you would have been decades ago, and it is awesome that every type of music lover is accommodated for. There have been some definite changes and positive moves through the years. I think women are ruling music and, whilst there is still gender inequality in the industry, the best music today is made by them. That was true in decades past, but I think that there was less opportunity for many female artists. Many not getting signed or being overlooked when it came to radio airplay. Today, there are platforms and social media that means these incredible artists are more easily able to connect with their audiences and be heard. AI, whilst it seems like it will be the new normal, will never replace music. It is the personality and humanity of the artist that we are drawn to. I don’t look at a milestone age and feel that music very best is in the past. Instead, there are so many artists out there today that let me know that the future is in very good hands. The past year alone has seen so many phenomenal albums and artists come through. As we move ahead, I do feel like there will be even more choice and diversity in terms of sounds and options. This can only be a good thing. Rather than being too stuck in the past and relying too much on childhood favourites, I am embracing modern music and everything it has to offer. As much as technology will try, the brilliant artists and sounds of today will…

NEVER be replaced.

FEATURE: That! Feels Good! Sex-Positivity in Music

FEATURE:

 

 

That! Feels Good!

IN THIS PHOTO: Jessie Ware/PHOTO CREDIT: Jack Grange/Press 

Sex-Positivity in Music

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WHILST the title…

 PHOTO CREDIT: Ikon Republik/Pexels

of Jessie Ware’s new album, That! Feels Good! Applies to a few different things, one could also link it to a satisfaction when it comes to love and sex. The album is euphoric and uplifting, but there is plenty of personal insight. This is Jessie Ware’s best album to date, and the reviews it has accrued so far suggest that it could be among the very best albums of this year. There is not a whole lot that will topple it. It seems that Ware has found where she needs to be, musically – and the artist that she really wants to be. There is definite sex-positivity through the album. I think there is difference between using sexuality and sex appeal to sell music and comply with what a label wants you to do, and using sex-positivity because it feels right and it is something that you want to say. It still happens today, but there was a time in music not that long ago where you wondered whether artists were using sex and sexuality because it was something they were comfortable With, or whether it was the label and other songwriters doing that because it sells and would be provocative. Maybe this applied to women more, but you always wondered if some of the big Pop and R&B artists of the '90s and early-'00s were releasing this sexual and very charged songs because this was true to them and something they needed to say. Was this marketing and a way for the label to make them commercial and standout right away?!

Sex and sexuality are used and discussed in different ways. There was a time when there were these songs that courted press attention because of their content and vibe. If some saw them as too risqué and sexualised, I think it was a combination of artists claiming independence and pushing boundaries. There was also a bit of the labels leaning too heavy on sex to sell records. Things have progressed in many ways, but I think there are still artists signed to major labels where their sexuality and attractiveness is used more as a way to sell rather than it being okay with the artist. Alongside this, we are seeing incredible artists putting out sex-positive messages and expounding the joys of feeling good and embracing something very natural and affirmative! There are artists too where the agenda is a bit more raw and direct. Perhaps more to do with brief flings and instant satisfaction, that is perfectly valid and inspiring too. I think, if the message is bad and something reckless and potentially unsafe is said through song, then that is when things get complicated. Also, if artists are not comfortable singing about sex – but it is something that they have been directed to do – then that is also a dangerous area. In February, Kai Goulder wrote a piece for The Courier (The Voice of Newcastle Students) and discussed whether using sex in music is a good or a bad thing:

“Artist’s using their bodies to sell music, such as by making a raunchy music video, or giving a provocative live performance is nothing new, and when it is done, it’s commonly met with criticism.

We’re living in an era where sex positivity is much more embraced, and the sex positive movement tells us that we should have no shame in enjoying sex and finding sexual pleasure in whatever we find attractive or seductive, so why shouldn’t artists use their sex appeal in the way that they want to? It can arguably be good for fans to help them explore their own sexuality and take pleasure from it.

This could help fans who are discovering their own sexuality to explore it and possibly come to terms with it, if they come from a background that hasn’t allowed them to do so yet.

There are always going to be artists that don’t use sex appeal to sell music, for example Joni Mitchell has made it clear that she is somewhat against artists sexualising themselves and using it to sell music. There’s also the option to just listen to an artist’s music and not interact with them otherwise, and therefore the only aspect of their sex appeal being used that you might notice is on an album cover, for example.

However, there tends to be a lack of diversity in the way that celebrity sex appeal is displayed. Only seeing a certain type of body sexualised can make people feel as though they aren’t sexy if they don’t look that way, but this is changing! Lizzo, for example, quite simply said “I know I’m fat. It doesn’t bother me”. There’s always the assumption that being fat is automatically unhealthy and bad. Larger bodies exist, and therefore should be able to be admired and self-sexualised in the same way.  On the subject of Lizzo, a prominent black artist, there is also the issues surrounding the way that black artists tend to be over sexualised and fetishised.

Some artists may feel pressured to use sex appeal and feel it is the best way to sell their music, particularly women. There is a difference in the way that male and female artists are sexualised, and women see a lot more pressure to look and behave younger compared to male artists.

Using sex appeal to sell music is not inherently bad and can be extremely healthy and positive, and of course many of us find artists attractive and enjoy their sex appeal. However, the use of sex appeal should not be something that artists are pressured into, and only done by choice, if they feel comfortable”’.

When thinking about an artist like Jessie Ware, there is another interesting point. Being a mother to too young children, maybe society and the industry feels this is something not conducive with sex-positive and being sexual in any way. I do wonder whether there is a perception that women who have children cannot talk about sex! Jessie Ware, as she explained to People recently, is a sex-positive artist. She revealed how she is prudish too, but there is this importance to promote this progressive, open and unashamed attitude towards sex. It does not too be lurid or controversial. Rather, this is an artist having fun. No doubt that her That! Feels Good! Will influence many other artists and listeners alike:

“I was going to say — are all those sexual conquests in "Shake the Bottle" real?

Come on, I've been with my husband for 20 years! [Laughs] But it's fun. I think it's fun to put on an outfit. Whereas my mask, before, would be a strong suit and some makeup and a double hair bun in the first record; now, it's characters. Creating characters has opened up songwriting and storytelling for me. It's inspired by people like Grace Jones, RuPaul, B-52's. It's meant to be fun. And it is quite camp.

And your music is very sex-positive.

It's funny — it's like I'm having sex all the time. I'm definitely not! I'm really quite prudish.

Where does that come from then?

Probably wanting to have sex more! [Laughs] But there's power in feeling confident and proud of who you are. I think I feel very comfortable with myself. And so it's about pushing it a bit further. And I think that that's probably something that I've had to tell myself to be, and now I've said it enough times, it's drilled into my brain being sex-positive, and it's fun. It's what I enjoy writing about. It's what I think other people enjoy, too. It's not meant to be taken too seriously. It's meant to be enjoyed, with a nudge-nudge, wink-wink, you know?

There's a line in "Pearls" that says, "I'm a lady / I'm a lover, a freak and a mother." I'm curious, is that because when you have kids, society kind of says you can't be a sexual being anymore?

I think you're right. I mean, I've never thought about it like that... It's almost like a rebellion against all the kind of stereotypes we're given as being mothers, as being women in music and mothers — and me to own it. And whilst I try to own it in album three [2017's Glasshouse], where actually I was really struggling trying to straddle both worlds, now I'm like, "Take it or leave it. This is me, and I feel good, and I know what I'm doing." It felt quite fun and powerful to say that. And I do wear many hats, so it felt right to have a nod to all of them; I'm all these things”.

Maybe the dynamic and narrative has changed. When you see many mainstream Pop artists, you get the feeling that their songs about sex and sexual liberation are more from them and they are comfortable with – rather than it being something the label have made them do. There are male artists discussing sex in a positive and empowering way. An artist like Sam Smith can talk about hook-ups and the thrill and satisfaction of a brief tryst without it sending a bad message. Smith has revealed how they are a sexual being, and it is empowering for them and their audience to hear these body and sex-positive messages! This wave of sex-positive songs is not new. In 2021, Varsity wrote how artists such as Doja Cat and Janelle Monáe are helping to empower their female audience:

“In “Body Language”, Doja Cat croons ‘We ain’t afraid of sexuality’. A quick glance at her song names, including the tracks “Down Low”, “Cyber Sex”, “Bottom Bitch” and “Talk Dirty”, confirms this. The 25-year-old-rapper and singer always sounds like she is enjoying herself, revelling both in her sexual prowess and her musical virtuosity. Punning irreverently about her vagina and breasts in “Rules”, she reaches an impressive flow, which has led to comparisons with Kendrick Lamar: ‘you don’t dive in that pussy like dolphins If he don’t dive in that pussy like oceans, Twins look identically like Olsens’. Her songs express her desires with confidence and poise. “Addictions” is a disco bonanza of lust about ‘an itch I just can’t scratch’, while the rap chorus of “Rules” asserts her boundaries: ‘Play with my pussy, but don’t play with my emotions.’ Female masturbation, often taboo in pop-culture, inspires a gleeful rap verse in “Cyber Sex”. The singer also embraces the theatricality of sexuality and its rich potential as a source of self-expression in her often elaborately-costumed music videos and the playful song “Freak”. This is just one of many of her hits which has gone viral on Tik-Tok. Hopefully, the millions of teenagers dancing along to her unashamed celebrations of sexuality will grow to see their sexuality as she represents hers: under their control and for their own pleasure.

Janelle Monae also fuses pop and rap to celebrate sexuality’s fun and empowering potential. The 35-year-old actor, rapper, singer and activist is so committed to sex-positivity that she provided the voiceover for Netflix’s 2020 educational docuseries ‘Sex, Explained’. Her musical pride in her sexuality intersects with her celebration of blackness and femininity. The non-binary singer’s Twitter bio reads ‘pro nows they/she/them/her/freeassmuthafucka’, because in 2018 she came out as pansexual in a Rolling Stone cover story by declaring “I consider myself to be a free-ass motherfucker.” Her 2018 album Dirty Computer was accompanied by a 48-minute-long ‘emotion picture’ depicting a fantasy world where rebels and misfits, mostly the young, black, sexually empowered and queer, are hunted down as ‘dirty computers.’

Monae’s music vocally protests societal stigmatisation of female and queer sexualities and is far more political than Doja Cat. In “Q.U.E.E.N” (originally entitled Q.U.E.E.R) she chants: ‘Even if it makes others uncomfortable, I will love who I am’ like a mantra. At shows, she encourages her audience, often composed primarily of adolescent girls, to shout: ‘I’m dirty and I’m proud!’. “Screwed” shifts from carefree sexual hedonism to anger against financial and corporeal oppression of women: ‘Hundred men telling me to cover up my areolas/ while they’re blocking equal pay.’

Sexuality in Monae’s music can also be playful. “Make me feel!” is an upbeat romp through lust and love, with catchy synth and a tongue-click beat that was produced by her mentor Prince: ‘It’s like I’m powerful with a little bit of tender! An emotional sexual bender.’ The verse of “Pynk” alludes erotically to different parts of the female anatomy, before bursting into a chorus of ‘I like that!’ The music video epitomises feminine pride: Janelle and her backing dancers wear elaborate pink ‘vagina’ trousers. Monae is extremely aware of the empowering influence of her music, particularly for the culturally underrepresented black queer community. In conversation with the New York Times, she said “I’m proud when everybody is taking agency over their image and their bodies.” When she tells us to ‘Hit the mute button. Let the vagina have a monologue’, we should listen because what she has to say is well worth our time.

By giving sexuality an infectious new soundtrack, Doja Cat and Janelle Monae allow their predominately young listeners to see sex and sexuality positively: something to sing, dance and rap proudly about in the public eye, rather than a taboo to be hushed up. With Doja Cat and Janelle playing , we can rap in defiance of stigma, and celebrate our desires on the dance floor. As Doja Cat sings in “Cyber Sex”, ‘What a time to be alive!”.

 PHOTO CREDIT: Polina Tankilevitch/Pexels

Body and sex-positivity often works hand in hand. Being free to explore sex and confidently talk about the body and the physical without it being needlessly X-rated or doing it just for shock value. Also, sex-positivity in music is a wide prism. It can be accompanied by a Disco or Pop background. It can be more intense and explicit in terms of its lyrics, but it can be a positive message where there are no barriers or strings. Sending out the message – to women and non-binary fans – to be proud of your body and not be ashamed of sex. Fizzy Mag wrote about Kim Petras’ music and how it is bringing sex-positivity to the forefront and the masses. The German-born artist is definitely inspiring a huge number of people:

“All this sex positivity goes even further when it comes to Petras’ fans. A white, drop-arm sleeveless tank top donned by a fan reads, ‘I like Kim Petras and sucking cock.’ To the point and on the nose, just like Petras herself. This sex-positive attitude is empowering and changes attitudes generally towards sex and pleasure. In particular for the queer community. It seems tongue-in-cheek and funny, but the fact that a woman that has just scored a top 5 spot on the Billboard Hot 100 is promoting sex- and body-positive attitudes for everyone, regardless of gender and sexuality is a monumental step forward. Not to mention that she looks absolutely amazing while doing so. Go stream Slut Pop. Do it for the future.

 Everyone’s heard UNHOLY by Sam Smith ft. Kim Petras. It’s been playing everywhere since it came out. But religious imagery, sin, and sex have been on brand for Kim Petras long before this song blessed us.

For example, her most recent album release is titled Slut Pop, featuring tracks such as Treat Me Like A Slut, and Throat Goat. While initially amusing, it’s very empowering to hear women coming forward and embracing their sexuality directly, with no airs or graces about it. However, it’s not just her music that Kim Petras has been using to promote sex-positive attitudes but also her fashion and style.

For example, her most recent musical release was the single If Jesus Was A Rockstar. Not only does this put sexual themes into religious contexts, but all of the promo and album artwork shows Petras in mini-skirts, American flag wrap tops, crop tops, and knee-high boots, all from different angles. This body positivity and, frankly, the strike back at religious conservatism via music and fashion is refreshing to see. The song absolutely slaps, by the way”.

I wanted to look at sex-positivity in music, as it is becoming more common and talked-about. As I said, I think attitudes and perceptions about sex have changed through the years. It has always been an essential part of music, but there have been periods where artists were seen as too revealing or using sex to sell music. You can use sex to sell music without it being a bad thing. If a label is guiding their artist in a bad direction and using them as a tool in that sense, then that is really bad. Whether sex-positivity is a cipher or out there and proud, it is encouraging and amazing seeing artists like Petras and Ware use sex-positivity in different and interesting ways. It is so important to spotlight sex-positivity…

IF it feels good!

FEATURE: That’s the Way Love Goes: Janet Jackson's janet. at Thirty

FEATURE:

 

 

That’s the Way Love Goes

Janet Jackson's janet. at Thirty

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RELEASED during…

 IN THIS PHOTO: Janet Jackson in 1993/PHOTO CREDIT: Ebet Roberts via Billboard

one of the finest ever years for music, 1993’s janet. was the fifth studio album from the legendary Janet Jackson. This masterpiece came out on 18th May through Virgin Records America. I wanted to mark the approaching thirtieth anniversary of a hugely important album that broke barriers. Giving more sexual confidence and power to women – and inspiring so many Black women around the world -, janet. transformed her from a rising and sometimes shy Pop artists to this confidence icon. An album that provided liberation and power to so many, janet. promotes safe sex and respect, but there is this more risk-taking element. A feminist who was sending out positive messages but, in the process, experiencing this awakening and transformation. Janet Jackson has truly announced herself as an icon. Prior to the 1993 album’s release, Jackson was at the centre of a high-profile bidding war over her recording contract. Look back to 1991, where her original label A&M wanted to renew her contract. At the same time, Atlantic, Capitol, and Virgin all tried to sign her. After meeting with Virgin owner Richard Branson, Jackson signed with the label. The contract was worth an estimated $40 million - making her the world's then-highest paid musical act. There was criticism that Jackson was getting acclaimed and opportunities because she was part of the Jackson family. Not beholden to or reliant on Michael Jackson – who, in the early-1990s, was receiving a lot of press backlash and his best recording years were behind him -, Janet Jackson wrote the lyrics for janet. and co-produced every track.

The fact that the album drops her family name and makes her seem separate from that association showed that she was independent and was not good or popular because she was a Jackson. She was a sensation and success because of her raw and innate talent. In terms of its lyrics, janet. is very much about sexual intimacy and safety – this was a departure from her conservative image. Highlighting safe sex, but also confident and unabashed in its intentions and passion, the album set a record for the highest first week sales for a female artist at that time. It has since been certified sixfold platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). An album that definitely inspired future Pop superstars like Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera, and P!nk, janet. ensured that she was a worldwide success and one of the most important artists in the world. Albumism looked back at janet. on its twenty-fifth anniversary in 2018:

“If they’re doing it right, album covers should tell the story of an artist’s development. Janet Jackson’s album covers—at least through 1997’s The Velvet Rope—most definitely reflect her development from coy, shy ingénue to empowered familial chain-breaker to the militaristic activism of Rhythm Nation (1989).

By the time janet (commonly stylized as janet.) surfaced in May 1993, the cover explained more than adequately that any shyness had vanished entirely from Miss Jackson’s artistic expression. Tousled curls tumbled in front of a doe-eyed come hither look that could lure a blind priest to turn their back on God and, though the shot featured only arms, neck and shoulders, it was clear that her days of hiding behind black boiler suits and baseball caps were long gone.

In the years prior to the release Jackson became the subject of a bidding war to secure her services for record labels. A&M had been her home and wanted to renew their arrangement (unsurprisingly given the enormous success of Rhythm Nation), but others wooed her. She eventually signed with Richard Branson’s Virgin label for what was (at that time) a record-breaking contract valued somewhere in the region of $40 million.

Making her the highest paid musical act in the world, it drew a line under those nepotistic notions and set her up as another member of the club that required only a first name for recognition. It also meant that there would have to be some payback, but in the US alone janet sold nearly 8 million copies and worldwide it reached 14 million. Swift and immediate was the payback.

What marks janet as different from its predecessors is the expanded musical palette served up. Having practically invented New Jack Swing and further established the Minneapolis sound on Control (1986) and Rhythm Nation, Jam & Lewis’ same formula wouldn’t necessarily work in the musical landscape of the time.

A couple of collaborations stand out immediately as compelling and interesting. Chuck D of Public Enemy lends his sonorous, pile-driving vocals to “New Agenda,” while even more intriguing is the presence of Kathleen Battle (an operatic soprano) on “This Time.” But beyond imaginative guests, Jam, Lewis and Jackson created an intimate atmosphere that allows Jackson’s lyrics and vocals to breathe life into their sensual soundscape.

“If” is a pounding, fuzzed-up, nasty-sounding track that drips with the thrill of lust at first sight. The verses paint an intimate picture of what she imagines that she and the object of her imagination get up to: “You on the rise as you’re touching my thighs / And let me know what you like, if you like I’ll go / Down, down, down, down.” Yet the chorus banishes any thought of making the imaginary real, as the thought of infidelity proves a Rubicon not to be crossed: “If I was your woman, the things I’d do to you / But I’m not, so I can’t, then I won’t but if I was your girl.” Evidence that although a desire for sexual release runs through the album, the heart of the family girl remains intact.

The other gem that stands proud is “This Time.” Bristling with hurt and betrayal, it stands as further testament to the chorus of “If”—sexual self-expression may be the name of the game, but not at the expense of her humanity. Gentle acoustic guitar leads the way before the eerie and totally unexpected sound of Kathleen Battle’s operatic vocals float as if by regal decree. And then the beat drops in a moment that is as memorable and spine-tingling as any in Jackson’s extensive and memorable back catalogue.

The second half of the album is mainly given over to whispered, breathy ballads. Jackson may not have the strongest voice in the world, but she serves them up with natural aplomb and style. Although “Again” topped the Billboard chart for two weeks late in 1993, its saccharine sound proved too cute for some, but this was the exception to the rule.

Among the rest of the album lies the steamy, sensual sensation “Anytime, Anyplace.” Offering proof, if proof were needed, that a freedom of sexual expression runs through the album, its seductively slow syncopation envelopes and whispers sweet nothings of an explicit kind: “In the thundering rain / you stare into my eyes / I can feel your hand / Moving up my thighs / Skirt around my waist / Wall against my face.”

Although this can be characterized as Jackson’s sexual awakening, it should be noted that the vast majority of the scenarios presented are sexual within the confines of a safe, consenting, exclusive adult relationship. There are no Bacchanalian orgies or 23 positions in a one night stand, rather she gives voice to the needs and desires of millions of “ordinary” women in relationships. By voicing them so successfully she enables the same conversations to occur in bedrooms the world over—she empowers as she sings.

It would seem that beneath the surface of the sexual sheen lay the same sweet natured ingénue, albeit one ready to get what she desired. How long that sweetness would last would be revealed on her next album The Velvet Rope (1997). But for now the sweetness remained allied to a sexual confidence that sent the album into the stratosphere”.

Alongside Janet Jackson, there were incredible female artists like Madonna who were giving us these albums full of intimacy, sexuality and sweat. Madonna released Erotica in 1992. In 1993, when janet. arrived, there were these inspiring and trailblazing women taking control and, in the process, influencing and connecting with so many other women. I want to finish with a review from Rolling Stone from 1993. There was no doubt that, in that year, Janet Jackson was one of the most important artists in the world. She still is, but from her 1980s success with albums like Janet Jackson's Rhythm Nation 1814 (1989) to the regency of janet. and 1997’s The Velvet Rope, this was a superstar in a league of her own:

“As princess of America’s black royal family, everything Janet Jackson does is important. WHETHER PROCLAIMING herself in charge of her life, as she did on Control (1986), or commander in chief of a rhythm army dancing to fight society’s problems (Rhythm Nation 1814, from 1989), she’s influential. And when she announces her sexual maturity, as she does on her new album, Janet., it’s a cultural moment. Start the clock: Janet Jackson, who suggested, “Let’s Wait Awhile,” and cooed, “Someday Is Tonight,” has been to the mountaintop and is ready for mo’!

Where “Someday Is Tonight” — the nervous breathiness of a virgin about to take the plunge — left off, Janet. picks up: in postorgasmic bliss. From the warm bed of soul sounds backing “That’s the Way Love Goes” to the “Come for me!” command that kicks off “Throb” to the love-filled exhibitionism of “Any Time, Any Place,” Janet. declares this woman ready to love and make love — and fuck.

Underrated but never under-bought, Jackson’s MTV-friendly image and in-concert lip-syncing have earned her more undeserved blows than Robin Givens. Janet.‘s complex sexual and diverse musical statements should win her critical respect along with pleasing her octillion fans. Janet.‘s Janet is a more complete sexual being than most of pop’s black women are allowed or allow themselves to be. No Hottentot Venus (an objectified, sexually available black female) exploiting her legs (Tina Turner), hair (Neneh Cherry) or blackness (black drag queen Madonna), Jackson evades reductive sexuality by demanding love and respect from both her partner and herself. She wants you to touch her, and love’s got to do with it because “that’s the way love goes.” Janet won’t stand for a trade-off — she wants love and sex.

Dignity firmly in pocket, Jackson is ready to try anything. You can view her various styles as a plethora of different positions. Janet. touches R&B, hip-hop, soul, funk, rock, house, jazz and opera with the singer’s pop sensibility. The mix may lack purity, but the ambitious choices and flexibility leave a bold impression.

Bold indeed are the juxtapositions of Jackson with opera star Kathleen Battle and Public Enemy’s Chuck D. Battle’s voice soars and sounds like an instrument imitating the human voice on “This Time,” while “New Agenda” finds Jackson gliding over hip-hop-inspired beats as Chuck bursts through. The lyrics of “Agenda” follow that same pattern: It fits a Jackson to write a song demanding a new program and leave the rapper to propose the plan.

On Control and Rhythm Nation, Jackson’s collaborators, producers Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, were hotter than a flame’s bright yellow center. Those albums are exemplary late-Eighties state-of-the-art R&B. But the Jam and Lewis fire no longer cracks and roars as it once did. Predictably, Janet shares the bill this time as coproducer, resulting in a less groundbreaking sound but a wider-ranging album.

The seventy-five minutes of Janet. are less long than long overdue. A significant, even revolutionary transition in the sexual history and popular iconography of black women — who have historically needed to do nothing to be considered overtly sexual — is struck as the what-have-you-done-for-me-lately? girl declares herself the what-I’ll-do-to-you-baby! woman. The princess of America’s black royal family has announced herself sexually mature and surrendered none of her crown’s luster in the process. Black women and their friends, lovers and children have a victory in Janet”.

As it turns thirty on 18th May, I wanted to spend some time with a truly astonishing album. The magnificent and timeless janet. is an album that is so widely played and enjoyed to this day. With gems and classics like That’s the Way Love Goes, Because of Love and (hidden track) Whoops Now, there is no denying that this album will be talked about for years to come as…

ONE of the best ever.

FEATURE: Spotlight: Connie Constance

FEATURE:

 

Spotlight

  PHOTO CREDIT: Holly McCandless-Desmond for NOTION

Connie Constance

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A phenomenal voice in music…

 PHOTO CREDIT: Joel Palmer

who had a particularly huge year last year with her album, Miss Power, I wanted to spotlight the amazing Connie Constance. I am going to come to some recent interviews – and one older one – to show why we should follow and support Constance. First, and from her official website, here is some biography about the Watford-born artist:

“In recent years, Connie Constance (real name Constance Rose Power) has been on a journey of self discovery. Though she is notably mild mannered, prone to fits of giggles and a self-described “fairy bitch”, she recently got her full astrological chart which described her personality type as an aggravator and it really resonated with her. “I’ve been doing that without realising it,” she says before her tone becomes incredulous. “I never knew it would be such a big thing to want to make indie music”.

Over the last few years she’s had to make bold moves like leaving major labels behind to carve her own path. She spent the last two years releasing on her independent label Jump The Fence and has now signed with indie label PIAS, she has been busy creating create indie pop tracks infused with punk and soul that feel true to her riotous roots. It’s taken some strength and convictions in her own voice. “I feel like I’m finally being treated as an adult and creative partner versus a young crazy creative girl,” she says. It’s a stark contrast from the days where she was making songs that didn’t sound like what she listened to. However as a Nigerian-British artist, she believes the UK music industry struggled to understand alternative women of colour as previous label staff likened her to other mixed race British singers Corinne Bailey Rae, Mabel and Jorja Smith (“I was like dude let them do their thing”) and told her “we don’t know how to market you with braids”.

The Watford-born 27-year-old has remained laser focussed on putting out music that fits how she sees the world rather than how the world sees her. And she takes her place among rising alternative black girls from WILLOW to Nova Twins who have proved that natural hair and underground sounds don’t make you too niche.

Her new album, Miss Power, is both nostalgic and zeitgeist, imbued with powerful drums, playful guitar riffs, and anthemic feminist rage via playful lyricism like: “I’m not your perfect little princess and I have my own unique vagina”. These lyrics hint at the way women have to rally against external voices.

She says that this album is the first time she’s felt she’s done exactly what she wanted to do, dubbing her sound “a fairy bitch genre” as that’s the vibe she feels when she wakes up in the morning. The concept record was written as if an ancient fairy from tens of thousands of years ago was frozen in time and they woke up today. It starts with being wowed by the excitement, the shining lights, the buzz and how fun it is to be young right now, but then it spirals downward as signposted by titles like ‘Hurt You’ and ‘Kamikaze’, which she calls a “feminist anthem”.

Connie’s excitement to venture out into the world as her authentic self is palpable, and by the sounds of it, she’s ready to step into her power”.

I want to go back to an interview from 2016. In Spotlight, I normally highlight artists who are fairly new to the industry. Even if Connie Constance has been putting out amazing music since her late-teens/early-twenties, she is starting to get a lot more focus after the release of her second studio album. Someone who is rising through and showing why she is going to be releasing music for years to come:

“Your debut was around a year ago with the song Stars. In its music video we can see your dancing skills, as well as in that for Books, which doesn’t come as a surprise considering that you studied for a year in the Urdang Academy. When did you realise you didn't want to continue in the dancing scene?

It was a number of things. I was working front of house at the Lyceum Theatre, where the Lion King is shown; after watching the show over 100 times I realised that if I was to graduate The Urdang Academy, not only was this show one of the few West End musicals that I’d even be considered for (due to being mixed raced), I also couldn’t face the repetition of performing the same movements and singing the same songs 8 times a week.

I had always loved dancers that no one could copy, that were incomparable. At dance school you’re taught to become a blank canvas, someone who can copy movement precisely and powerfully. I do not disagree with this, as this is what you need to be in order to be successful in the dance industry. However, it's just not the path I want to follow in any creative industry.

It was a decision that changed your whole life. How do you feel when looking back at this past year?

I’m forever in and out of shock but always grateful for this past year. I have realised how naive I was to decide to leave one of the greatest performing arts schools in the country to pursue a career I knew nothing about. Naivety can be harmful in most cases, but without it I don’t think I would have had the self-belief in my work, my lyrics, my scruffy messy notepads, needed to achieve any dream.
I have learnt many lessons this year, one of them being that If you look at the world in wonder, with eyes of freedom to do anything, then you can build a new reality step by step, one change at a time. I’m going to be forever grateful for this 21st year, as I’ve met some of the most incredible dreamers and go-getters in the world. The type of people that make you feel guilty for being less than you could be!

You come from a town called Watford, in the northwest of London. How does living in the city affect the music you create?

London is so hectic, by the end of each hour of waking life I’ve probably felt over ten emotions. If I had a studio, a band and an audio engineer in my head I could probably write an album a day. I don’t think I know one twenty year old in London that doesn’t have some kind of mental or social health issue. Very harsh, but very rewarding if you work hard. Everything I feel, see, conversations I have, situations of love and conflict that I get into, I write about.

PHOTO CREDIT: Christian Cassiel

You take part of an historical movement in which black women are empowering themselves to do whatever they want to do. But do you feel like historically jazz is the only genre they can rule in the music industry?

In the past and present, black women absolutely shake the world with their ownership vocally of those genres. But no, I’m pretty sure black women already rule them all, with Beyoncé and Rihanna fronting the pop industry for females worldwide.

I think the hardest place for black women is actually England. I don’t think England quite understands how to have a black female ruling the pop or indie industry, or just black people in general. The last black woman with an afro that got any exposure was Mel B, and she was called “Scary Spice” – so you know there is every ceiling in the British music industry to be broken right now.

I assume that growing up as a mixed-raced kid in a white family wasn't easy, especially when there weren't a lot of black women referents in ‘90s Europe. But, as you’ve just mentioned, you found someone to look up to in Mel B. Have you thought of yourself as a potential referent for girls nowadays?

Definitely, the boundaries are there to be broken and for a much bigger picture than myself. Every young girl and boy deserves a representative in the limelight, and I’m more than happy to take that responsibility if the opportunity comes.

If you could give an advice to young females trying to pursue a career the music industry, which would it be?

Find yourself first. Don’t let anyone tell you how you need to be in order to be successful. You're a perfect circle”.

I am going to move to The Line of Best Fit. Isabella Miller spoke with Connie Constance about her album, Miss Power. It is an album for those who crave power and want to take control. It deals also with breaks-ups, mental-health, and healing. Constance is one of the most fascinating and inspiring artists we have in our midst:

“Constance's goal to create a record that not only invites recognition of her own internal power, but also asks the listener to do the same, was made possible through the help of producer Samuel Knowles. Known professionally as Karma Kid, Knowles has worked with the likes of Shygirl and Ms Banks and was also behind Constance’s 2021 track “Prim & Propa.”

“After Sam and I made [that track], I had a moment where I was like ‘this sums everything up’. It was the first time I had made a song that had real depth to the lyrics but also the chaos,” Constance reflects. “The soundscape made sense as well with the funky guitars recorded really close to the mic. It has this feeling of being a tune played round a fire but also outside in a festival. After we made that track, we decided that this was the time to make an album. We didn’t put any time stamp on it or any deadlines… We just decided to do two sessions a week and see what flowed. We had curveball sessions as well which allowed us to explore more and begin experimenting.”

PHOTO CREDIT: Phoebe Fox

At the time, she was without a label, having made the difficult decision to go independent before joining indie group PIAS. This shift, she explains, was integral to the record’s formation. “Going independent meant I had regained my freedom. I love being with my indie label because it really is a freeing experience and has allowed me to feel even more empowered,” she says of the change. “My gratitude levels are through the roof, and I just feel so grateful to have a team of people who have allowed me to feel like I have a promising career in music.”

Although her time with previous label AMF records meant she felt unable to achieve her musical goals, Constance remains proud of debut record English Rose, and confident now in the direction of her career. “The thing is, although the previous label was trying to push a certain sound from me, I still managed to make an album with them that I am really proud of,” she admits. “As much as I knew that it wasn’t the right place for me and that I needed to get out because I wasn’t being seen how I wanted to be seen, I still managed to get a great album out of it… I feel [the move] has taught me how to grow not only as a musician but as a businesswoman. I know what works now and who I need to work with to elevate me. [I like] working with people who are sick at what they do.”

 Another example of the magic that has come from this shift is latest single “Hurt You”, which Constance coins her ‘revenge song’. Fusing indie-pop guitars with her soulful voice and clever lyricism, the track again unpacks emotions and experiences that have served as writing fuel. “This song is more reflective,” she divulges, “it’s about recognising things that have happened that made me feel trapped. If I’m in a place where I don’t feel strong, this song seems to help me find strength and reminds me that I’m thriving.”

Nearly four years since her debut album, Constance has established herself as one of the UK’s most exciting indie-pop goddesses, releasing material that takes inspiration from a host of British alternative music titans like Bloc Party and The Arctic Monkeys, while not limiting herself to one sound and constantly exploring new ways to create.

As she continues to rise through the ranks, the last couple years have seen her opening for Yard Act and recently finishing a tour with Nova Twins. With a catalogue of dance-ready material, she creates a space for people to relate, feel represented and, of course, empowered. Accruing a loyal fanbase, her upcoming UK tour has already sold out way in advance. Considering how her music has connected with people, Constance says, “I find it really exciting that people mess with the tunes. Sometimes I feel like I am building my own little warrior army. I love it.” 

The list of reasons as to why Constance has become a darling of indie pop are endless, whether it be her ability to not tie herself to one sound, write lyrics that inspire, express a level of vulnerability, and the self-reflection in her distinct, soulful vocal. Yet what is often highlighted, is how she stands amongst a legion of Black women in alternative music who have changed preconceived perceptions of genres such as indie, rock and punk.

Debunking these stereotypes is something Constance not only aims to do with her music, but also through an event she runs called Black Punk Party. “It’s a way to cultivate a world for Black punk and indie artists. It’s a freeing experience for everyone who comes and everyone who plays,” she says of the initiative. “I also do a mail out called Black Punk Mail where I put loads of Black, mixed-race, and ethnic alternative artists in a mail out, artists from future, past and present. I think it’s important for us to know what’s going on in our community”.

There are a couple of other interviews that I want to bring in. DORK chatted with Connie Constance back in November. I discovered her work a few years ago, but I sort of dipped in and out. That is my bad! Miss Power firmly reintroduced me to someone that I need to hold close. Whereas she may not be a ‘rising artist’ anymore, it is a definitely a moment where she deserves spotlighting – and she is moving to a new level and plain:

“In practical terms, Connie centred the album around a typically idiosyncratic and fantastical story. “I wanted to tell a story of what a fairy might feel like if they woke up a million years later and were in our world today and what they would see and find out about,” she illustrates. “I wanted to use my experiences to write about those situations. That was the overall concept and how we structured the album. It starts off with ‘In The Beginning’, where the fairies come here. I wanted the fairy to be non-binary, so anyone could put their head on and be that person, and the next song is like woahhh, this place is sick. Like when you first come to London. I was like, oh my god, this food looks so good. Everything is so overstimulating and exciting. Everything I want to do in my life, I can do here. Then it takes a deeper turn and gets darker when obviously it’s not all glitz and glam, and then at the end, the finale is this arghhh this was so crazy, but I think it’s going to be ok.”

The record is a swirling mass of emotions and feelings. A roller coaster in the best possible way. One of the many highlights is a raging feverish out-of-control rampage of a track called ‘Kamikaze’ that highlights Connie’s anger at some of the treatment she has faced. “The only way I can express ‘Kamikaze’ is just punk,” she says. “It’s the only genre or energy that this could be in. I’m meant to be this perfect human, but I’m just not. No one is a perfect being. ‘Kamikaze’ is just pure ‘fuck you’ anger. It’s the purest form of, I’m out. I’m done. I cannot do this anymore. I cannot be pulled this way or that way. It’s a reflection, sadly, of some of the recent things. I hate talking about people passing, but in the media, people drag females left, right and centre and expect them to just get on with their day like it’s not going to affect their mental health and sadly, it does, and it can be catastrophic.”

At times it was overwhelming as Connie explored some of the darker themes and personal traumas contained on the album. “It can be hard unpicking a wound. You kind of think, no, I don’t want to talk about that, but for me, I know that I have to. I can have fun with the upbeat indie festival tunes, then it’s going to get to the point where I’m going to have to say ok, let’s unpick. There were definite tears in the making of the album.”

Having created a career-defining album tailor-made for captivating audiences on every level on the biggest stages, Connie is very much conscious of her position as an inspiring figure for people seeing a young black woman making indie music on their own terms, something Connie found in herself discovering Santigold (“She’s my queen”) and X-Ray Spex. “Every voice is important,” says Connie passionately. “It’s important that young people growing up making music can look up and think I can do whatever I want. I can make free jazz if I want to. Skin tone and my upbringing will not dictate the music that I make.” Perhaps when she takes ‘Miss Power’ out on tour and brings it to life on stage both on her own shows next year and supporting Yard Act, there will be a whole new generation inspired to follow their own path. “That’s the dream, that’s the goal. To take over the world with more Connie Constances,” she laughs”.

I am going to finish off with DIY. They spoke with her about her second studio album, and why she is a huge contender in modern music. We all look forward to seeing where she heads next – but go and follow her if you do not know about her and that awesome music:

“That confident, no fucks given attitude is most notable on thunderous album track ‘Kamikaze’, with its screaming intro reminiscent of The 1975’s ‘People’. On it, Connie tells the listener: “I’m not your perfect little princess, I have my own unique vagina”. “Sometimes, something will come into my head and I’m like, that’s really funny but should I put it in a song or just enjoy it in my own head?” she giggles. “I was actually making the song with two of my boys and they were like ‘What, Connie?! Are you really gonna say that?’ And I was like, ‘Yes, we’re gonna say that!’

“I knew that I wanted a feminist anthem, that was essential,” she continues. “I’m surrounded by super strong, feisty women, and I needed that energy to be out there and I needed to represent that in my music. That was a strong thing throughout the album - if someone is getting ready in the morning and they put on that tune and they’re like, ‘Yes, I am a bad bitch!’. That was really important.”

Elsewhere, Connie gets more personal, pinpointing ‘Heavyweight Champion’ with its bridge of “I don’t know why I wait for something new/ When I will change but you’ll always be you” as a prime example of her letting the listener in. “I’ve been wanting to write a song about my dad for ages,” she notes. “I wanted to write this song about how we’ll never actually be able to forgive because of mental health. What he’s going through, we’ll never be able to be great, which is sad. But we can be in this other state, and that’s kind of good.”

Including her favourite lyric - “Mental illness in a feather boa” - she continues: “There’s so much talk about how everyone wants to love themselves and self-love is so important, and it’s good, it’s healthy, but when you’re in that bad place it’s not that glamorous and a self-help book really isn’t going to solve the issue. The feather boa is like, ‘Yeah, self-love!’, but actually, mental illness fucking sucks.”

Taking the listener on a magical journey from start to finish, ‘Miss Power’ finds Connie embracing her freedom and creating a raw body of work that’s not afraid to get deep whilst making you dance. “With my music I want people to listen to it when they’re going through something and not feel the pressure to feel better if they’re not ready,” she explains. “That’s why I write songs, because sometimes I just need something to soundtrack this space and not shift me out of it.

“[The album] has quite a scope of energy,” she adds. “I do want [the listener] to go through this journey, but I feel like it’s more about feeling. I want the naughtiness, and also this euphoric sense of freedom”.

An artist that I could and will definitely recommend to everybody, go and listen to Connie Constance’s music and especially her latest album, Miss Power. Here is an artist who has built her foundations and empire and is absolutely crushing it! Such an inspiration for other artists and Black women reclaiming their power and purpose, she is a hugely strong and compelling presence. We all need to ensure that we give her music…

MASSIVE respect.

____________

Follow Connie Constance

 Official:

https://www.itsconniesworld.com/

Instagram:

https://www.instagram.com/itsconniesworld/

Twitter:

https://twitter.com/Itsconniesworld

Spotify:

https://open.spotify.com/artist/4RB2kk5dmocmMiHFBlmOEt?si=BdN66FO9SgOFvTscMA5bAw&nd=1

YouTube:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCg64aZCIFtsW2LHcJABU7hw

Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/itsconniesworld

FEATURE: The Digital Mixtape: Ladies First: Songs from Rising Hip-Hop and Rap Queens

FEATURE:

 

 

The Digital Mixtape

IN THIS PHOTO: Omeretta the Great/PHOTO CREDIT: Arnelle Yvette via Bleu Magazine

Ladies First: Songs from Rising Hip-Hop and Rap Queens

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I won’t be able to include…

 IN THIS PHOTO: Bree Runway/PHOTO CREDIT: Lucero Glow

every incredible name here, but I wanted to compile a playlist of the best female rappers coming through. There are a couple of reasons. In addition to highlighting their talent and strength, I also wanted to continue a run of feature ahead of the fiftieth anniversary of Hip-Hop’s birthday. That happens in August. Here are details and history as to how this amazing genre started life:

“Like any style of music, hip hop has roots in other forms, and its evolution was shaped by many different artists, but there’s a case to be made that it came to life precisely on August 11, 1973, at a birthday party in the recreation room of an apartment building in the west Bronx, New York City. The location of that birthplace was 1520 Sedgwick Avenue, and the man who presided over that historic party was the birthday girl’s brother, Clive Campbell—better known to history as DJ Kool Herc, founding father of hip hop.

Born and raised to the age of 10 in Kingston, Jamaica, DJ Kool Herc began spinning records at parties and between sets his father’s band played while he was a teenager in the Bronx in the early 1970s. Herc often emulated the style of Jamaican “selectors” (DJs) by “toasting” (i.e., talking) over the records he spun, but his historical significance has nothing to do with rapping. Kool Herc’s contribution to hip hop was even more fundamental.

DJ Kool Herc’s signature innovation came from observing how the crowds would react to different parts of whatever record he happened to be playing: “I was noticing people used to wait for particular parts of the record to dance, maybe [to] do their specialty move.” Those moments tended to occur at the drum breaks—the moments in a record when the vocals and other instruments would drop out completely for a measure or two of pure rhythm. What Kool Herc decided to do was to use the two turntables in a typical DJ setup not as a way to make a smooth transition between two records, but as a way to switch back and forth repeatedly between two copies of the same record, extending the short drum break that the crowd most wanted to hear. He called his trick the Merry Go-Round. Today, it is known as the “break beat.”

By the summer of 1973, DJ Kool Herc had been using and refining his break-beat style for the better part of a year. His sister’s party on August 11, however, put him before his biggest crowd ever and with the most powerful sound system he’d ever worked. It was the success of that party that would begin a grassroots musical revolution, fully six years before the term “hip hop” even entered the popular vocabulary”.

To celebrate incredible queens who are adding their stamp to Hip-Hop and Rap (with some awesome MCs in the mix), below is a playlist featuring some of the finest songs from the genres. As Hip-Hop is fifty in August, I know that the women who were pioneers and hugely influential will be covered. They are so important when it comes to the conversation around Hip-Hop and how it broke through and has evolved through the years. The generation of women in Hip-Hop coming through will add their stamp and be remembered years from now. Take a listen to tracks from…

THE awesome artists we need to watch.