FEATURE: A Powerful Voice: The Importance of Black Music and Artists

FEATURE:

 

A Powerful Voice

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IN THIS PHOTO: Beyoncé/PHOTO CREDIT: Kevin Mazur/Getty Images

The Importance of Black Music and Artists

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THIS past week or so…

PHOTO CREDIT: Sean Gallup/Getty Images

has been one of the most upsetting and shocking in living memory. Protests have led to riots in the U.S., and people have been taking to the streets to demand action after the killing of George Floyd by a white officer. Normally, music companies and artists are filling social media with promotion and such but, last Tuesday (2nd June), there was a blackout – a show of solidarity across the industry. This is how NPR reported the news on Tuesday:

 “As protests demanding racial justice have multiplied since the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis police custody last week, the spirit of reckoning has also spread across America, including within the music industry. One initiative seeks to redress the historical inequities of the music business by declaring Tuesday to be a one-day moratorium on business as usual — alternately known as #TheShowMustBePaused, Blackout Tuesday and Black Out Tuesday — as a means of identifying with protesters and considering how the music business can become more accountable to the black communities from which it profits.

As the initiative gained traction over the weekend, especially on social media, companies and organizations, including major record labels such as Columbia, Interscope and Republic Records, announced their participation. Just as quickly, some wondered what participation would mean, and many questioned whether the effort, embraced so quickly by huge corporations, would end up being an empty gesture rather than a sincere effort to counteract a history of exploitation”.

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Not only were people in the music industry refraining from the usual business and promotional cycle; many were sharing links to organisations dedicated to black equality and fighting racism. I donated to a few charities and signed petitions. We were being encouraged, not to be silent but use the day as a proactive chance to become more educated and aware. Also, rather than everything intensifying on Tuesday and dying down through the week, the movement and wave of information has continued to appear on social media. There is hope that this anger and universal togetherness will continue and, as demonstrations and protests continue around the world, politicians will react. With Donald Trump in the U.S. fanning flames of hatred and division, it is a scary future, but the people are reacting and not remaining silent in the quest for justice and change – especially when it comes to police brutality. One of the reasons for publishing this feature was to highlight how important black musicians are, not only to me but so many music lovers. Before I continue on, I want to bring in a news story from Rolling Stone, where The Weeknd talked about how black artists are overlooked and there is a disparity; so many profit from Black music without fully respecting it and realising its true value:

“The Weeknd, aka Abel Tesfaye, is urging “industry partners and execs” to support causes that address racial equality as he has through giving $500,000 to a number of organizations.

On Tuesday, a bevy of companies in the music business participated in a day of silent protest dubbed #BlackoutTuesday and #TheShowMustBePaused, which asked the industry to “not conduct business as usual” and instead spend time reflecting on how to support the black community.

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IN THIS PHOTO: The Weeknd/PHOTO CREDIT: Duncan Loudon

“To my fellow respected industry partners and execs — no one profits off of black music more than the labels and streaming services,” the Weeknd wrote on Twitter on Tuesday. “I gave yesterday and I urge you to go big and public with yours this week. It would mean the world to me and the community if you can join us.”

On Monday, the singer donated $200,000 to Black Lives Matter Global Network, $200,000 to Colin Kaepernick’s Know Your Rights Camp Legal Defense initiative and $100,000 to National Bail Out, which he shared on Instagram.

“Keep supporting our brothers and sisters out there risking everything to push for actual change for our black lives,” he wrote. “Urging everyone with big pockets to give and give big and if you have less please give what you can even if it’s a small amount”.

I grew up around so many black artists – in terms of the music I loved. From Michael Jackson and Stevie Wonder through to Marvin Gaye, De La Soul and Donna Summer, these artists are still hugely important to me. I remember the early days of MTV when black artists were not being played; artists like Michael Jackson took a stand and, slowly, things began to change. I think we all take for granted how important music from black artists is. Whether you are a fan of Bob Marley, Beyoncé, Dizzee Rascal or Curtis Mayfield, every one of us has had their lives changed by these incredible artists. Looking back at childhood and the artists who were featured on music T.V. and played on the radio, it is such a shame and dishonour that there was this racial inequality. It has never been the case that black artists are limited to certain genres. From Rock to Pop, through to Soul and Rap, black artists have helped change and shape the world. Think about the best albums from the last decade (2010s), and masterpieces from Beyoncé (Lemonade), Kendrick Lamar (To Pimp a Butterfly), Frank Ocean (Channel Orange), D’Angelo and the Vanguard (Black Messiah), Solange (A Seat at the Table) and SZA (Ctrl) have resonated louder and harder than any other album.

Personally, I have so much respect and love for black artists and how they have had to fight for decades. The music industry should be a level and equal platform where quality is the measure-stick; a place where black artists do not have to call for equal pay, attention and prominence. I am not going to get into a debate regarding racism in music but, even in 2020, black artists have to lobby for equality. Right now, there are more demonstrations planned in the U.S. and the U.K., and I hope we see some real social and political change this year. That goes for the music industry, too. Not only was Tuesday a chance to show some respect for those black lives taken, but to promote black artists and their voices; to do more than merely remain silent. I have become more aware of black charities and have done some reading; I am looking to do more offline to do something meaningful in my community. When I think of music and how it has enriched me and continues to do so, I give my heart and love to black artists of all genres. Jamila Woods, Solange, Lizzo, Brittany Howard, Little Simz, Dave, Eve, Moses Sumney, J Hus, Donald Glover, Moses Sumney, Thundercat and Kamasi Washington have delivered some of the most profound and moving work over the past couple of years. Not only should we assure that black artists are seen in a different, equal light, but we all need to realise that we take so much from their music, stories and truths, but do we truly go beyond listening on Spotify and think about black lives and what is being sung in the songs? I think we can all do more, but I have been especially affected by recent events and have vowed to do more and to change my listening ways. In this feature, I have mentioned some brilliant modern-day black artists making a change, and I wanted to include a couple of playlists that features some of the truly phenomenal songs black artists have given us through the years. Let’s hope that, from now on, music fans and those in the industry give their support to…

A powerful voice.

FEATURE: Turn Up the Radio: Bringing Us Together, Keeping Us Strong: The Continuing Lifeline of Radio

FEATURE:

 

Turn Up the Radio

PHOTO CREDIT: @willfrancis/Unsplash

Bringing Us Together, Keeping Us Strong: The Continuing Lifeline of Radio

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I realise…

PHOTO CREDIT: @harryjamesgrout/Unsplash

that I have written quite a bit about radio and how it is uniting us all. I apologise for repeating myself but, as we are still in lockdown and many of us are home for the time being, the additional passing of time is putting pressure on people; not just in terms of missing their families and friends, but not being able to integrate, work or experience life how they used to. I don’t think any of us are used to this situation, and the boredom factor is something that is hard to combat – even if we do have podcasts and streaming to keep us occupied. I think things will only start to return to near-normal in a couple of months and, in the meantime, we are all looking for something to keep us connected and upbeat. Music itself is able to do that, but radio provides something very different. I think it (radio) is more like being in the room with someone and having a conversation, whereas music and television seems to be less direct and more passive. Radio is interactive and involved. Even if you are on your own, radio provides a community spirit and warmth that makes you feel involved and united. I read an article on The Observer’s website that highlighted the ongoing popularity and necessity of radio. The article brought in various broadcasters, and I love the interview conducted with Lauren Laverne (BBC Radio 6 Music, BBC Radio 4), where she talked about her role and how she brings the listeners into her world:

“Nothing, except radio. Radio gives us, as it always has, a constantly live event, familiar but ever changing. Whether you’re a news junkie, a music fiend, or you just like silly chat, there are stations for you. There are phone-ins if you want to vent, pop quizzes for distraction, sing-alongs, help with schoolwork. Plus, if you find a show you like, a DJ can become a replacement friend – a warm presence chuntering in the kitchen corner, cracking quips over your headphones, blasting tunes out of speakers you’ve put on the window ledge.

Listener interaction is a big part of the show – Laverne alternates between asking her listeners “big emotional questions” and having “daft, fun moments”. She mentions a recent “lockdown hair” slot, and a picture she’d been sent of a father who’d given both sides of his hair for different children to cut (“I was in stitches”). She also gets sent pictures every day from a listener of his elderly mum. “She’s 89, she’s self-isolating, called Annelise, and there she is on a Tuesday, waving to me in an amazing hat!” Laverne doesn’t seem to think this is peculiar at all: quite the contrary. “That’s the really nice thing about the job. You’re a part of people’s everyday lives.”

She has also heard from listeners who have come to the show for the first time, and more families listening. Does she think people want an escape from the news? “I don’t think they necessarily want an alternative – they want a counterpoint. We don’t ignore what is happening. We just try to provide the right emotional cushion.”

IN THIS PHOTO: Lauren Laverne

Nothing illustrates this better than the slot every Thursday that the show dedicates to different key workers. These have included groups rarely celebrated in the media: charity fundraisers; delivery drivers; shop workers. Many have got in touch to thank her for remembering them, which has moved her profoundly. “When you’re sitting there in your little studio you’re quite sequestered from the world, but your voice is reaching out to places you can’t even imagine. And to think of those people wiping the trolleys, putting the bread on the shelves, messaging you to say thank you for thanking them… it reminds you what public service broadcasting is here for.”

Laverne knows live radio can do this like nothing else can. “It’s one person broadcasting to one another person, and that intimacy, but it’s also community. And to be doing it at breakfast time, and getting people up to face the day…” She laughs. “Well, above all, you’ve got to make sure you’re playing the right tunes”.

I do think that it is the community spirit that makes radio so necessary and valuable. No matter what station you listen to – I tune in to BBC Radio 6 Music and BBC Radio 2 -, there is something for everyone. Whether it is a powerful playlist, a listener feature or a station reacting to what is happening in the news – such as the unlawful killing of George Floyd in the U.S. -, radio reacts speaks to us in so many different ways. I tend to find T.V. and streaming can get a bit boring, and one finds themselves flicking through channels, trying to find something good to watch. Your favourite radio station is that reliable home and source of consistency. Even if you do return the dial to a different station, I do think there is more to keep you hooked and involved compared to television. When we are out of the other side of the pandemic, I know radio will be seen in a different light; even more loved and appreciated than it was several months ago. Just having a warm and friendly voice in the ears every day has provided so much to so many of us. Now, more than at any other time in recent memory, the brilliance of radio is a…

PHOTO CREDIT: @neilgodding/Unsplash

LIFELINE for many of us.

FEATURE: More Than Your Average Pub Singer: Kate Bush and The KT Bush Band

FEATURE:

 

More Than Your Average Pub Singer

IN THIS PHOTO: Kate Bush performing at the Rose of Lee in Lewisham in 1977/PHOTO CREDIT: Vic King

Kate Bush and The KT Bush Band

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THIS will be…

IN THIS PHOTO: Kate Bush at her family home in East Wickham in 1978/PHOTO CREDIT: Getty Images

a properly short feature, as there is not a lot of information out there regarding Kate Bush’s gigs performed with The KT Bush band before she recorded her debut album in 1977. Also, in terms of photos, there are not that many out there! Although members of the original band (excluding Kate Bush) are still performing, I am fascinated by the early incarnation. I am going to give the reasons for mentioning The KT Bush band in a minute but, before I do, I want to provide a couple of sources (I will also take some guidance from Graeme Thomson’s Kate Bush autobiography, Under the Ivy: The Life and Music of Kate Bush). This article from The Kate Bush Encyclopedia gives a bit of history about The KT Bush band:

“Band formed in 1977 by Brian Bath, Vic King, Del Palmer and Kate Bush. After practicing in Greenwich and East Wickham Farm, they made their live debut in April 1977 at the Rose Of Lee in Lewisham. The set list consisted of standards like Come Together, 'I Heard It Through The Grapevine', 'Tracks Of My Tears', but also early versions of Kate Bush songs like James And The Cold Gun, Saxophone Song and Them Heavy People. During the summer of 1977 the band played various venues in and around London, a grand total of 20 gigs.

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IN THIS PHOTO: Kate Bush with her mother, Hannah, and her brothers Paddy (left) and John (right) at their home in East Wickham on 26th September, 1978/PHOTO CREDIT: Chris Moorhouse/Evening Standard/Hulton Archive/Getty Images

When Kate Bush started recording her debut album The Kick Inside, she actually recorded versions of 'Them Heavy People' and 'James And The Cold Gun' at De Wolfe Studios in London with the KT Bush Band, but in the end, the band members were not used for the album recordings. Also, an attempt to release a single of the KT Bush Band's version of Johnny Winter's 'Shame Shame Shame', recorded at Graphic Sound studios in Catford was halted either by Kate's family or EMI Records. Although many of the band's gigs were filmed, photographed and recorded, none of these have surfaced”.

Brian Bath, an old friend of Bush’s (he also played on several of her albums), still performs in The KT Bush band, and he recalls when the band started, and what a ‘modest’ foundation they had in terms of those initial gigs:

“Rehearsals for the KT Bush Band began in earnest. After a first try in a room at the swimming baths, we cleared out and set up our equipment in the Barn over at Kate’s home, The Farm. It was midwinter and absolutely freezing.

I remember setting my amp up in the old disused fireplace. Maybe if I played loud enough it would warm us up! Things began well. Kate spoilt us all with gallons of tea and biscuits, and fun was had by all.

We needed a gig to try the band out on, so I went to the Rose of Lee pub in Lee Green, London, one evening, and got the guvnor interested in the band. I said we would guarantee 20 people in the first week, bodies up to the bar the second, down to the other end the third, and packed on the fourth! This is precisely what happened.  What a gig it became – dry ice during “James and the Cold Gun” at the end of the evening where Kate went around with a pretend rifle, mock shooting at the audience!”.

IN THIS PHOTO: The KT Bush Band pictured in 2016

When we look at Kate Bush’s start, we do not often talk about her musical experiences prior to the release of The Kick Inside in 1978. Though the first iteration of The KT Bush band was pretty brief, I do love the fact that Bush continued to work with most of the band after she started releasing albums – Vic King is the only member that does not really feature in Bush’s music. Most people do not even realise that Bush had performed live prior to 1979 – when she travelled with her Tour of Life -, but it is fascinating charting the timeline from 1975 to the release of The Kick Inside. In 1972, when Bush was thirteen, David Gilmour (Pink Floyd) had been passed tapes of Kate Bush’s music. He was fascinated and wanted to hear more. He financed some better-quality demos and Gilmour played the tapes for record company executives. EMI Records signed Bush, and two of the demos recorded in June 1975 were included on her debut album three years later: The Man with the Child in His Eyes and The Saxophone Song. The following year, Bush knew that she was destined for the studio and would soon be recording more. Maybe she felt she needed some live experience to sharpen her voice, gain more confidence or put in some groundwork for inevitable live performances that would be required when she would begin promoting her albums and singles.

According to Paddy Bush (her brother), the initial gigs were pretty small, but The KT Bush Band’s popularity grew, and soon they were packing out pubs – people queuing and spilling into the street in a desire to see Bush and the band perform! By the time Bush headed to record her debut album in 1977, she was keen to keep the line-up of the KT Bush Band for the recordings, but EMI insisted that she use properly experienced session musicians. There is a fascinating website that charts Bush’s career and mentions some of the venues she performed in during the early days – including The Black Cat in Catford, The Railway Hotel in Putney, and The Half Moon, Putney. Though the band’s sphere was largely based in South London – though they did perform in other parts -, one can only imagine what it was like seeing the group play. In 1977, Punk was raging, and the sight of a band fronted by Kate Bush would have been foreign and quite strange. In Graeme Thomson’s biography of Bush, he dedicates quite a lot of space to the brief-but-beautiful KT Bush Band. Though Bush did not talk about the band much when interviewed through her career, she is not dismissive of the time or the band. The reason I want to mention it is because it is this anomaly; one that is hugely important in regards her early career path.

IN THIS PHOTO: Brian Bath

With Vic King on drums, Del Palmer on bass and Brian Bath on guitar, these three friends bonded over their shared musical love – they were particularly fond of Free and the classic track, All Right Now. It is amazing to see how far Bush came from 1977 and the types of performances she was delivering, and the extravaganza of 1979’s Tour of Life. Versions of events differ as to how Bush started singing with a band – some say Paddy Bush got in touch with Brian Bath and said his sister wanted to start a band as she needed the experience -, but it was clear that she had that desire to brings her songs from her home and small confines to a wider world. I will move things on soon, but I want to spend some time considering the band and their start. They rehearsed at the barn at the bottom of Bush’s family home – the old rehearsal space in a boiler room at some swimming baths in Greenwich was not conducive to creativity and progress -, and they rehearsed a series of songs; working up a set of twenty-or-so songs, I think this experience and time was instrumental when it came to Bush and how she would approach recording and her career from 1977. Bolstered by Hannah Bush’s (Kate’s mum) great hospitality (as Thomson reveals in his book), the young singer-songwriter was readying herself and taking a big step. Though the gigs she performed were pretty small, Bush was very shy, but she made a big impact on her band members.

IN THIS PHOTO: Kate Bush in 1977

The then-eighteen-year-old Bush was very different to other singers out there; Del Palmer, in fact, was so taken by her that he fell in love – the two started dating not long after they met, and would be in a relationship until 1993. Though the band were not aware of how deep Bush’s involvements with EMI was at this point, I guess the benefit was that they did not have to use a lot of their own money for petrol and various costs. The label was not interfering and saying where the band should perform and what songs they should play – I think they were fairly hands-off at that point. Regardless, there were debates between Bush and the boys as to which songs they should perform. I think The KT Bush Band is a vital element of Bush’s history, as she would perform songs with them that featured on her debut album. There were also debates as to what the band would be called – Bush was not keen on ‘The KT Bush Band’ when Brian Bath suggested it -, and Bush was a little reluctant to leave home and hearth and bring her music to the people (albeit, a select few in some local pubs), though, as I mentioned, she was eager to get her music heard. The proposition of performing live was a pretty scary one. The KT Bush Band’s residency at the Rose of Lee pub (in Lewisham) began in April 1977, and they did not command much of an audience at the start – as word got out, they could not move for punters soon enough!

It was clear that Bush was not overly-keen to perform because she was nervous and shy. She did not talk with the audience much, but she needed to learn stagecraft and rack up some performance miles! It is interesting to speculate what path Bush’s career would have taken if she performed earlier. It was clear that The KT Bush Band was a refreshing change to the rather routine and samey pub bands that you got in 1976 and 1977. People were used to all-male bands performing rawer and less imaginative songs. Faced with the prospect of the fantastic-looking Bush and that magical voice, how many would have predicted they’d soon be watching her on Top of the Pops?! I suppose the smoke-filled pubs were not ideal for Bush, but she knew performing and getting that experience was what needed to happen. Buzz emanated from venues like the Rose of Lee and the Royal Albert (in South East London); Bush was never an overly-enthusiastic band member, but she did dedicate a lot of time and effort into performing and honing her craft. It is obvious that Bush wanted to push the limits of live performance, even in those early days. I think those pub gigs whetted her appetite; songs like James and the Cold Gun (from The Kick Inside) were being played back then, and Bush’s unique and characterful voice was being exposed and strengthened. It is amazing to think of the songs Bush wrote and the band played back then; those that have never been committed to tape – I am not sure whether there are any tapes of them playing unreleased songs, but there might be some hidden away.

IN THIS PHOTO: Del Palmer with Kate Bush in the 1980s

I would have loved to have been in attendance when Bush – probably dressed in a beautiful dress with a flower in her hair or something – was performing tracks like Them Heavy People alongside cover versions of stuff from The Beatles, The Rolling Stones and Marvin Gaye. Whilst Bush was nervous regarding crowd interaction and being ‘the star’, she was able to use some of her dance training during the pub gigs. Costume changes were often part of the set, and a real element of theatre and spectacle was being witnessed in these tiny pubs around London! I do think that the gigs with The KT Bush Band gained Bush a dedicated and large London following. Those gigs where she was performing in different costumes and using the stage as a way to perform rather than to sing; I feel these were invaluable foundation blocks that led to the Tour of Life and what we heard on albums like The Kick Inside. I think Del Palmer’s role was especially important and instrumental. Not only was he a member of the band, but he and Bush had this real connection that would blossom into a relationship. Palmer was very honest with Bush – who was not always welcoming of constructive criticism -, but the feedback and honesty he gave to her was wonderful. The fact Palmer and Bush are still working with each other goes right back to that early days in the band where Palmer was not only enamoured of the beguiling Bush, but he was able to give her this guidance and feedback that she was not necessarily getting from her family.

IN THIS PHOTO: Kate Bush during her Tour of Life in 1979/PHOTO CREDIT: Max Browne

The KT Bush Band played only twenty gigs, but it seems like there was plenty of drama and wonder on offer! Bush was seducing with her incredible voice and looks. The band played a gig at the Half Moon in Putney when England and Scotland played a football match on 3rd June, 1977. Perhaps more concerned with the match and not the band, some of the patrons were a bit oiled and took to the stage, creating this mini-riot; Bush keeping her cool whilst some rather rowdy blokes were all over her! It is clear Bush would have recorded an album soon enough, but EMI checked her and the band out and knew that Bush was ready to get into the studio. A lot of what Bush learned and did with The KT Bush Band fed into her debut album and subsequent live performances in 1979. It is a bit of a pity that other members of The KT Bush Band did not play on The Kick Inside – Bush was keen for them to play -, but one cannot underestimate the importance of the band and this wonderfully magical and strange time! I think EMI were reluctant for any live recordings and photos to go out in the world. They had this star and did not really want anything getting in the way. Many fans would kill to hear some of those recordings put on an album, and for a more expansive KT Bush Band project to come out in the world. I think Bush herself is not overly-eager to revisit those KT Bush Band days, but I think it is an important chapter, and one that is not often talked about. I keep thinking back to those gigs and wondering what it would be like being a fly on the wall/boozed-up punter seeing Kate Bush take to the stage! It is clear that she made an instant impact and left people spellbound. This is something that, to be fair, she has been…

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IN THIS PHOTO: Kate Bush in 1978/PHOTO CREDIT: Gered Mankowitz

DOING ever since!

FEATURE: Spotlight: Arlo Parks

FEATURE:

 

Spotlight

Arlo Parks

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AS we are still in lockdown…

I am not really thinking about gigs and seeing artists play live. Instead, I am looking at new artists coming through and digging some brilliant music. Arlo Parks is someone I have been aware of for a while now, but she is starting to attract the attention of big radio stations. The nineteen-year-old songwriter was predicted as a breakthrough act of 2020 in an annual BBC poll of music critics, Sound of 2020. Her voice and songs are arresting, and there is nobody else who has her incredible blend of sounds and talents. She is a magnificent artist, and I remember her getting a lot of press focus last year – I will source from a couple of those articles. I do want to quote this (excellent) DIY article from last year, as it reveals a bit about Parks’ start and route into music:

“Recently signed to Transgressive Records following the release of last year’s breakthrough single ‘Cola’ and its following EP ‘Super Sad Generation’, the musician’s blend of nuanced, observational poetry and smooth bedroom beats straddle the line between youth and something far more timeless. Case in point, recent single ‘george’ – a lilting summer jam that riffs on cad-about-town early 18th century poet George Byron and transposes his womanising ways into a modern playboy who woos ladies by playing MF Doom.

“Books and words were always my refuge,” she explains. “I was quite a loner when I was younger, and if there was a story with people who were super popular and going on adventures, then I’d read about it and feel like a part of it.”

Taking up poetry-writing at the start of her teens, Arlo soon also picked up a guitar and began writing songs, cribbing influence equally from the wordsmiths that informed her increasing literary passions and a series of “really intense genre phases” of musical love. “I totally had my emo phase,” she laughs, “and I was super into really hard rap as well. I say that to people and they’re like, ‘But you make the softest songs?!’ It’s like, yeah, but everything I listen to, I take something out of it”.

I recall discovering Arlo Parks last year and being amazed when reading interviews about her. The music itself is wonderful and rich, but she is such an engaging, compelling and inspiring person. Not only is Parks an artist who creates these wonderful and powerful songs; she has spoken about subjects such as mental-health and L.G.B.T.Q.I.A.+ issues. In this interview (from last year) with The Line of Best Fit, she spoke more about mental illness and the L.G.B.T.Q.I.A.+ voice:

 “Parks sits at the forefront of Generation Z – the digital natives born into the uneasy wreckage of this new millennium. Unlike their burnt out millennial forbears, Gen Z are fiercely individual: dreamers, optimists, creators. All this, in spite of the global uncertainty and chaos they’re faced with every day. It’s this contrast that Parks encapsulates in upcoming single “Super Sad Generation”.

“In my age group, there’s a lot of prevalence of mental health [problems], being self-destructive, and quite hopeless,” she explains of the track’s inspiration. “I’m not sure if it’s social media, or what it is, but we’re all fucking sad!

“A year ago, my friend took his life. It shocked me, and ever since I’ve been trying to encapsulate that feeling into a song: kind of lost, but also hopeful. It was quite an important song, I felt, for me to make.”

When probed, Parks elaborates on from exactly where her generation’s well of hope springs.

“There’s so much talent, so much vibrancy, and we still have that youth. If you look at LGBTQ issues, there’s more awareness, and I feel like – obviously not in all places ­– there is more acceptance. More people are talking about depression and anxiety; it’s been made more okay to look for help. Even though online communities can be quite toxic, there’s more space to get support. In some places it’s not as accessible as others – it’s not there yet – but it’s growing.”

Having touched upon the LGBTQ theme, it seems pertinent to mention that Parks is openly bisexual. This is perhaps less surprising than it might have been even just five or 10 years ago, as Generation Z is by far the queerest generation in recent history. However, Parks speaks maturely on the importance of providing role models to those yet to come out, particularly given her identity as a black woman”.

The past year has been a busy and successful one for Parks. She released two E.P.s, Simply Sad Generation, and Sophie. Both E.P.s are really strong, and I think – as I say with so many artists – Parks is growing in confidence and quality as her career goes on.

If you have not heard Simply Sad Generation, go and check it out, as the songwriting and production is incredible; the E.P. caught the ear of the press, who were keen to share some positive words. This is what Vinyl Chapters wrote in their review:

“The lyrics of the title track exemplify the disorderliness and tumult portrayed throughout a record whose currency is that of getting wasted, falling in and out of love and holding out for optimism amidst the enveloping gloom: “When did we get so skinny/Started doing ketamine on weekends/ Getting wasted at the station/Trying to keep our friends from death”.

The morose lope of Sophie and the prettily acoustic Angel’s Song are stand-outs of an album which operates as a canvas for the ominous and unsettling outpourings of a self-described outsider, a loner who started off moulding scratchy spoken-word pieces which morphed into fully-formed nuggets of lo-fi pop. Elliptical traces of Portishead, Denai Moore, Lily Allen and Corinne Bailey Rae hover into view intermittently, but this is very much the work of a fascinating and singular talent. Beset by a wounded insecurity that’s both pained and intoxicating, Arlo Parks has created a brilliantly tense and brooding record in Sweet Sad Generation”.

Sophie came out in November and, again, it got some good reviews: an artist who was pushing forward and making a big impression.

This year has seen her music reach new people, but touring is, obviously, off of the table right now. Keep an eye on her social media channels, as there will be some rescheduled dates. If you can see her live at some point, I would recommend you do. It has been a busy year already, and Parks is being spotlighted as an artist to watch closely. She spoke with DORK in April, and talked about collaborating with other artists:

“Reflecting on the whirlwind that her life has become, Parks recognises the power of a good network to keep her grounded. A keen collaborator, her smooth vocal tones can be found on Easy Life's 'Sangria', and old tourmate Loyle Carner pitched in with his brother to direct the music video for 'Eugene', a gentle lament to watching the friend you secretly fancy fall in love with somebody else.

"Working with the Coyle-Larner brothers was just the best - to have a director who is a musical artist themselves, it's a very special thing," she says. "The crew was quite big and a bit overwhelming, and it was my first time doing any acting, so it was really nice to have that familiar, calming presence. With 'Sangria', Murray [Easy Life's Frontman] just reached out to me over Instagram. We'd been fans of each other, and were going around the same festival circuits but always just missing each other and never meeting. He sent me the demo and asked if I'd like to jump on it, and I just recorded it on my little mic at home. They're such lovely boys – we got to play it live for BBC Sounds at Maida Vale, and then at the Roundhouse, it was all so nice. Always work with your friends, I'd say!"

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PHOTO CREDIT: @laurengharris

Arlo Parks is standing out because her music is so hard to pin down. One could call her music Indie-Pop/Indie-Folk, but it is so much broader and more original than that. The last interview I will bring in is from the Manchester Evening News, who exposed a talent who was keen not to be easily predicted and had these big ambitions:

"I’d hate my music to be easily categorised," she insists. "I'm of a generation that doesn't see boundaries when it comes to music. I'm just as likely to be influenced by a 70s funk tune as I am a modern electronic tune. My favourite albums are ones like A Seat At The Table ( by Solange ) or Channel Orange ( by Frank Ocean ) - albums that played about with genres, but also had a strong sense of the artist’s identity."

Given her life-long love affair with words, it's no surprise that Parks has ambitions beyond the world of music. She already has plans to publish a book of her poems and, one day, she'd love nothing more than to "write a novel. I know I've got one within me."

For now, though, Arlo Parks is firmly focused on her music career. Her debut LP, which she's currently in the process of writing, is scheduled for release later this year. And this month, she embarks on her biggest UK tour to date – a prospect which she's clearly relishing.

"Being on stage is where I'm at my happiest," she enthuses. "I feel confident when I'm stood up there. When I'm singing my own songs, telling my truth, that's where I feel most in control”.

This year is strange in terms of live music, but there are some seriously brilliant artists emerging we need to look out for now; those who will be riding high on festival bills next summer. I think the best way to experience the wonder of Parks is to listen to her music – buy it if you can -, and reveal in its beauty and potency. Last year and this year have been exciting and memorable for Arlo Parks, but 2021 is going to be a year where she is primed to…

MAKE an even bigger footprint.

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Follow Arlo Parks

FEATURE: Vinyl Corner: Alanis Morissette – Jagged Little Pill

FEATURE:

 

Vinyl Corner

Alanis Morissette – Jagged Little Pill

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THIS feature is quite timely…

IN THIS PHOTO: Alanis Morissette in 1995/PHOTO CREDIT: Kevin Cummins/Getty Images

as there is a lot going on regarding Alanis Morissette’s Jagged Little Pill. Morissette hosted/was involved with a livestream of the album a few weeks back, and the album itself turns twenty-five on 13th June. Morissette was due to tour the iconic album later this year but, as you can imagine, plans have changed radically. NME reported the news:

 “The multiple Grammy award-winning singer revealed details of a world tour celebrating her landmark album’s 25th anniversary last year, with shows kicking off with support from Garbage and Liz Phair on June 2 in Portland, Oregon.

Today (May 9), Morissette revealed that the US leg of the tour has been postponed due to the ongoing coronavirus crisis.

“hi everyone,” she wrote on Twitter. “my North American Tour scheduled to begin in a few weeks is being rescheduled to Summer 2021 out of an abundance of caution. please hold on to your tickets as they will be honored for the new dates which we hope to announce very soon”.

Although Jagged Little Pill is Alanis Morissette’s third album, I sort of feel like it is a debut. Now Is the Time was released in 1992, but hardly anyone knows about it; Morissette was not really involved with the songwriting, and many people have not heard of the record; before that, in 1991, Alanis was released.

Jagged Little Pill was her debut international release. Like Radiohead following Pablo Honey with The Bends and Nirvana releasing Nevermind after Bleach, Jagged Little Pill was a seismic leap for Morissette and broke her into the mainstream. Released through Maverick, Morissette’s first album released outside of Canada was pretty much everywhere in 1995! I recall buying the album back then, and singles like You Oughta Know, Ironic, Head Over Feet and All I Really Want (released between 1995-1996) were ubiquitous. I had never heard of a voice like Morissette’s; her very honest songwriting and incredible powerful voice divided some, but I was transfixed. It seems strange to think that such a classic album received some mixed reviews back in 1995. I think it has found greater favour years on, as a lot of songwriters have been inspired by Jagged Little Pill, and the popularity and exposure of the songs have resonated through the years. It is a pity Morissette cannot tour the album on its twenty-fifth anniversary, but the Broadway musical received rave reviews, and there is still so much love and fascination for this remarkable record. If you can buy it on viny, then do so, as I think it is one of those albums that you need to experience in this format. It is amazing to think how far Morissette developed since her first two albums – these were mainly Dance, Pop and New Jack Swing-influenced albums. The fact that Morissette travelled to Los Angeles and met Glen Ballard opened up her horizons and was a hugely important move.

In a year when Grunge was in its final stages and Britpop was ruling the charts in the U.K., Jagged Little Pill does stand out. That said, artists like The Smashing Pumpkins and PJ Harvey were producing these quite raw and different-sounding records (it is hard to explain what I mean), and Morissette (with Ballard) spliced angsty lyrics and Post-Grunge sounds with a Pop flavour and sensibility. I feel Jagged Little Pill connected with so many people in 1995 because it sort of united the anger and energy of Grunge with the new wave of Post-Grunge and Pop that was prevalent; Jagged Little Pill is a very personal album, yet it is one that spoke to many people. Despite some slightly underwhelming reviews, Jagged Little Pill topped the charts in thirteen countries, and it is one of the best-selling albums of all-time. I will finish off with a couple of features/reviews that show why Jagged Little Pill is so celebrated and regarded. Out of the thirteen tracks on the album, seven were released as singles, but the remaining songs are very strong. I especially love Right Through You and Mary Jane, and I feel they could have been released as singles – maybe Maverick (and Reprise) felt that the album had seen enough singles spawned, and they were keen to leave it at that. Though Alanis Morissette followed up Jagged Little Pill with the incredible Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie in 1998, I still think Jagged Little Pill is her defining album.

This is what AllMusic wrote in their review:

“It's remarkable that Alanis Morissette's Jagged Little Pill struck a sympathetic chord with millions of listeners, because it's so doggedly, determinedly insular. This, after all, plays like an emotional purging, prompted by a bitter relationship -- and, according to all the lyrical hints, that's likely a record executive who took advantage of a young Alanis. She never disguises her outright rage and disgust, whether it's the vengeful wrath of "You Oughta Know" or asking him "you scan the credits for your name and wonder why it's not there." This is such insider information that it's hard to believe that millions of listeners not just bought it, but embraced it, turning Alanis Morisette into a mid-'90s phenomenon. Perhaps it was the individuality that made it appealing, since its specificity lent it genuineness -- and, even if this is clearly an attempt to embrace the "women in rock" movement in alterna-rock, Morissette's intentions are genuine. Often, it seems like Glen Ballard's pop inclinations fight against Alanis' exorcisms, as her bitter diary entries are given a pop gloss that gives them entry to the pop charts. What's all the more remarkable is that Alanis isn't a particularly good singer, stretching the limits of pitch and credibility with her octave-skipping caterwauling. At its core, this is the work of an ambitious but sophomoric 19-year-old, once burned by love, but still willing to open her heart a second time. All of this adds up to a record that's surprisingly effective, an utterly fascinating exploration of a young woman's psyche. As slick as the music is, the lyrics are unvarnished and Morissette unflinchingly explores emotions so common, most people would be ashamed to articulate them. This doesn't make Jagged Little Pill great, but it does make it a fascinating record, a phenomenon that's intensely personal”.

I will wrap this up soon but, just as Jagged Little Pill prepares to celebrate twenty-five years, I think it is a great time to grab it on vinyl and, if you weren’t a fan in 1995, re-assess a brilliant album. I want to quote a snippet of an NME article from 2014 that was defending Jagged Little Pill; the feeling, I think, that some were still unsure about the album’s stature and brilliance:

“One of the reasons the album so struck a chord with millions is its broad thematic content. Morrissette tackles the rollercoaster of life head on, exploring religious hypocrisy, jealousy, parental expectations, drinking, mental illness, co-dependence, the patriarchy, friendship, self-esteem, infidelity and on. For the “young and the underpaid, who haven’t got it figured out just yet,” there was a ton of identification. And even though Morrisette was a middle-class white girl with a comfortable upbringing in a strict Catholic family, these themes are pretty universal. Everyone’s gone in the “wrong direction” at some time or other”.

I love Jagged Little Pill, and not only is it one of the best albums of the 1990s; I think it is one of the very best albums of all-time – I would put it in my top-fifty, for sure. I love its power and the instant appeal of the songs. Jagged Little Pill hasn’t dated, and, in fact, I do wonder why more artists have not been inspired by the record – even though quite a few have. Maybe it is so individual that it feels quite tricky to replicate. Although Alanis Morissette cannot take Jagged Little Pill on the road this year, we will be able to see the songs brought to life on stage…

IN 2021.

FEATURE: From Kitchen Discos to the Radio? Hearing More of Sophie Ellis-Bextor on the Airwaves

FEATURE:

From Kitchen Discos to the Radio?

Hearing More of Sophie Ellis-Bextor on the Airwaves

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I tuned in pretty late…

PHOTO CREDIT: Sophie Ellis-Bextor

but a lot of people have been posting on social media their reactions to Sophie Ellis-Bextor’s Friday night kitchen disco posts. We are all finding ways to get through lockdown and stay upbeat. I have seen many celebrities and musicians use their platform to help people. On Friday, the extremely popular Friday posts from Ellis-Bextor came to an end:

“Sophie Ellis-Bextor has been cheering up her fans in lockdown by sharing videos of disco parties at her home - but she hung up her disco ball last night.

Each Friday during lockdown Sophie, 41, has dressed up to the nines for the parties with her kids.

Promote health. Save lives. Serve the vulnerable. Visit who.int

The singer has performed some of her biggest hits such as The Murder On The Dancefloor as her kids dance around her.

But she called time after last night's stream where she was seen wearing a dazzling multi-coloured top, leather skirt and heels.

It comes after Sophie shared a rare picture of her 16-year-old son Sonny last month as he celebrated his birthday during lockdown”.

I guess that, if you have children home and it can get quite claustrophobic, putting on a kitchen disco is a rather good way to get them involved and melt away some stress at the same time! For Ellis-Bextor, she was not only making her time in lockdown a bit more fun, but she has also connected with many other people and inspired them to set up their own kitchen disco.

When she spoke with The Guardian earlier in the week, Ellis-Bextor explained the importance of the kitchen discos:

“Doing the kitchen discos has meant an incredible amount to us. It’s been an anchor for each week, but also escapism. I’ve been singing songs I haven’t sung for years. It’s a portal – suddenly you’re 17 and in an indie club. I discovered disco in my early 20s once I started listening to dance music. As someone who sings along to stuff, I like stories, and disco is the first place that dance music told stories.

When I do the last one today I’m pretty sure I’m gonna cry because it’s been so special. When lockdown first started, we felt there would be a big distinction between lockdown and “out you go into the world again”. It became apparent that’s there’s going to be a slow re-emergence into a new normal. I wanted to keep the discos going until there was a change in the wind”.

As an artist, Sophie Ellis-Bextor has had a long and successful solo career – though I still think one of her finest moments was on Spiller’s Groovejet (If This Ain't Love). Disco, Dance and Pop has been a part of her work since the beginning, and there is a certain energy and snap in her music that draws fans in. Her last studio album, Familia (2016), was produced by Ed Harcourt – the two are working together for Ellis-Bextor’s forthcoming album I understand.

As soon as word of Sophie Ellis-Bextor’s kitchen discos started to gain traction and buzz on social media, I felt that she would very naturally translate to radio. On Monday, Ellis-Bextor put together two hours of Disco and Dance tunes for BBC Radio 2. I could have done some more research but, so far as I know, this was the first time Ellis-Bextor has presented a show for BBC Radio 2. Also, I think, the Bank Holiday Monday show is going to be a one-off, but I have listened to the show, and I wonder whether it could be something more permanent. The response she got was tremendous, and so many people were eager to express their praise. It was an excellent broadcast, and Ellis-Bextor has a natural flair and affinity for radio! Her selection of tunes was top-notch (it would be good to see them listed on the show’s page on the BBC Radio 2 website), and it made me wonder whether we could see her return. On stations like BBC Radio 6 Music, they have series where well-known faces present a selection of their favourite tracks (in Paperback Writers). They have actor Cillian Murphy presenting shows on a semi-regular basis, and I think Sophie Ellis-Bextor is someone who could gain a big fanbase at BBC Radio 2. Whether she would have a show entirely about Disco and Dance, I am not sure, but her Bank Holiday show seems too good to leave there. This is me thinking aloud, but I think Ellis-Bextor’s Friday kitchen disco shows buoyed many people around the world, and it was great she was given an opportunity to get onto the airwaves and lay down some top-notch cuts. I hope that, given Sophie Ellis-Bextor’s recent kitchen discos and her impressive radio stint, a weekly position on BBC Radio 2 becomes…

A permanent appointment.

FEATURE: The Lockdown Playlist: Alternative Rock Smashes

FEATURE:

 

The Lockdown Playlist

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PHOTO CREDIT: @natalieparham/Unsplash

Alternative Rock Smashes

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ALTHOUGH the lockdown is easing…

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PHOTO CREDIT: @rakhmatsuwandi/Unsplash

we are still being encouraged to stay at home, and we are very far from the end of all of this. I do know things are getting better, but we are still having to keep inside and be good. Because of that, I think the Lockdown Playlists are needed! I have covered quite a few genres already and, this time around, I will cover some of the best Alternative Rock hits. If you do require a playlist with a big of energy, grit and electricity, then I think I have the one for you! This weekend is going to be a bright and warm one so, if you need some tunes to accompany you whilst you get some exercise, then turn the volume up (but not too loud). One thing that has kept a lot of us going through the last few weeks is music. For me, it has been a great form of distraction and energy. It is amazing to consider the universal…

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PHOTO CREDIT: @marcishere/Unsplash

POWER of music.

TRACK REVIEW: Courtney Marie Andrews - It Must Be Someone Else's Fault

TRACK REVIEW:

 

Courtney Marie Andrews

It Must Be Someone Else's Fault

9.4/10

 

The track, It Must Be Someone Else's Fault, is available from:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ueCQX67wHYo

GENRES:

Indie/Country/Americana

ORIGIN:

Arizona, U.S.A.

LABEL:

Fat Possum Records

RELEASE DATE:

27th May, 2020

The album, Old Flowers, is released on 24th July, 2020 through Loose Music. Pre-order here:

https://www.roughtrade.com/gb/courtney-marie-andrews/old-flowers

TRACKLISTING:

1. Burlap String

2. Guilty

3. If I Told

4. Together or Alone

5. Carnival Dream

6. Old Flowers

7. Break the Spell

8. It Must Be Someone Else’s Fault

9. How You Get Hurt

10. Ships in the Night

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IT has been enjoyable writing reviews…

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PHOTO CREDIT: Lindsey Grace Whiddon

over various weekends, as it allows me a chance to delve deep into a particular song/artist. Other sites are putting out reviews which are quite brief, but I do prefer to be expansive and look at more than just the song itself. In the case of Courtney Marie Andrews, there is a lot of fascinating stuff that I want to look into; I will come to her new song, It Must Be Someone Else’s Fault, but I am relatively new to Andrews and her music. The first subject I want to look at is Andrews’ upbringing and her early life. The American songwriter has come a log way over the past few years, and I am fascinated seeing how she started out and which artists have moved her. When she spoke with Songwriting Magazine in 2018, we learned more about her rise and formative years:

“Hailing from Phoenix, Arizona, award-winning singer-songwriter Courtney Marie Andrews is an authentic voice in the flourishing Americana scene. With a sound that has elements of folk, country, indie-folk – and, more recently, gospel, R ‘n’ B and soul on latest album May Your Kindness Remain – her emotionally raw songs and honest heartfelt lyrics have received major acclaim including winning International Artist of the Year at the 2018 Americana UK Awards.

Having toured extensively over the past decade since leaving her hometown at 16, Courtney has been a backing singer and session guitarist for established artists, including Damien Jurado and Jimmy Eat World and brought out a number of solo releases since 2008. The self-produced Honest Life, released in 2016 was a breakthrough record earning widespread critical acclaim. Recalling the classic troubadours of the past, the album’s 10 songs are full of beautiful arrangements, exemplary confessional storytelling and tender emotion.

How did you discover your gift for songwriting?

“I’ve always really loved literature and poetry. It’s funny because as a kid I liked both writing. I wanted to be both an author and I wanted to be a singer and I didn’t realise that you could both in one career. When I found that out it was really, really nice.”

Your songs have that timeless storytelling quality of the great songwriters from the Laurel Canyon era. Who were your music heroes growing up? Any there any particular songs or records from that period you admire?

“Pretty much all my biggest heroes are the songwriters; Joni Mitchell and Lucinda Williams. I mean Blue, of course, is like one of the all-time records and obviously Neil Young has a handful of really incredible records. Carly Simon. [Carole King’s seminal album] Tapestry. There are so many classic records I’m inspired by”.

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PHOTO CREDIT: Kendall Rock

I do not want to take too much from others when giving my opinions on Courtney Marie Andrews, but there are some great interviews around, and she is a brilliant artist that warrants deeper exploration and affection. It is that start in life and earlier years that really interests me. I think we all sort of take artists for granted and assume that they grew up in quite comfortable and ordinary circumstances. When reading an interview Andrews gave to FADER in 2018, it is amazing to think of what Andrews went through and how her life changed at a young age:

“Andrews grew up outside of Phoenix, Arizona with her mom, who worked two jobs, and a rotating cast of cousins. Early on, she learned a lot about the relationship between mental illness and poverty; she’s lost several family members to suicide. “I’ve always known I was a feminist,” she says. “Then a girlfriend in middle school introduced me to riot grrrl.” Andrews’s first band was called Massacre in a Miniskirt; they debuted live in a carport. “I was the one in the band who’d come with full songs written, and someone said that, stripped-down, they sounded folk-y,” she recalls. “I thought folk was boring old people music, then I realized it’s a platform to tell stories, emotionally and politically. Then I was like, ‘This is my music — I never knew’”.

Although Andrews is in her late-twenties now, she has been in the music industry for a while, and she had that passionate and determination as a teenager. Not only was Courtney Marie Andrews’ childhood quite challenging at times; it seems like some of her earliest gigs and touring days were quite difficult. Taking from this article at the Killing Moon website in 2018, I smiled at a question Andrews was asked about a tour she embarked upon at the age of sixteen:

“KM: At the tender age of sixteen you embarked on your first tour, even sleeping under bridges to make ends meet. What was that like?

C: Those years were pretty magical because it wasn’t a business. It was an adventure, and I was still so young with so much to learn about music. I wouldn’t trade those years for anything. They still cling to my core and define me in a lot of ways. The free-ness of the open road, and the endless well of friends and stories. They taught me how to be a road warrior and how to be grateful for whatever opportunities come my way”.

It is wonderful seeing how far Andrews has come and how hard she has worked! America has changed rapidly over the past few days, and riots have been happening all over the country. After the murder of George Floyd, we have seen so much anger and disgust. Floyd’s murder once again brought the problem of racism to the fore; a man who was killed for no other reasons beside the fact that he was black. I mention this, as Courtney Marie Andrews has always written about hope in her song, even when her country is being led by the disreputable Donald Trump. I wonder how she is reacting to the current situation, especially in the midst of the Covid-19 crisis. Her previous studio album, May Your Kindness Remain, discussed the idea of big dreams and hopes in an America that battles with poverty and struggle. In this interview with The Telegraph, Andrews discussed hopefulness and struggle in America:

“There’s a prominent stamp of hopefulness in America, even in the midst of poverty and depression,” she says. “I mean, that sounds really sad but it’s like a lot of Americans have these larger-than-life dreams. I see it in my family, and the places I tour. It’s double-edged. So many people buying lottery tickets, or getting addicted to the casino, like one day they’ll have all this money and it will solve everything. And somehow forgetting the values that already make them rich, which are kindness and love. There’s a kind of shadow culture, that I guess Trump represents, an illusion that distracts us from what we really want out of life”.

Andrews has a new album, Old Flowers, out very soon, and I wonder whether there will be a lot of reaction to the continued controversy of Donald Trump and how, in 2020, there is this ambition among a lot of Americans to escape a harder life and dream big. I mention her previous album, as it was celebrated, and it is a moving and profound record that has almost taken on greater relevance a couple of years later.

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May Your Kindness Remain, I feel, is an album that seems more powerful this week than it did back in 2018; like Andrews knew that things in America would intensify and Trump would not make any real progress and radical change! When she spoke with FADER , Andrews talked about the compassionate spirit against adversity and trouble. It is almost, in a way, like she was discussing America during the war of The Great Depression. Instead, this was a reflection on modern politics and a divide running through her nation, where one of the world’s most powerful humans was leading the country in an awfully bad way:

“Ultimately, Andrews says May Your Kindness Remain is about loving through depression in the age of Donald Trump. “Border,” the oldest song on the new record, is inspired by former Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio, a bigot and sadist who Andrews used to protest against in Phoenix. She’s also influenced by Hillbilly Elegy, the memoir of crisis-stricken Appalachia that made J.D. Vance an in-demand explainer of impoverished whites’ attraction to Trump. Not that her style is so didactic; “Two Cold Nights in Buffalo” is about how municipal disinvestment destroys communities, but it lures listeners with a rich, seemingly apolitical stanza: “Stuck in nickel city on the tainted side of a coin / El Niño brought a blizzard, Greyhound brought a boy”.

There are lots of things to love about Courtney Marie Andrews, but I listen back to her albums – especially May Your Kindness Remain -, and I adore her observations and the characters we find in her song. I have not mentioned genre and her style of music, but it sort of sits between Country and Americana. In that spirit, Andrews reflects ordinary, everyday America in extraordinary detail. You listen to her songs and they are so vivid and rich. The song I am about to review, It Must Be Someone Else’s Fault, has these wonderful lyrics and this sense of immersion, and I think Old Flowers will follow from May Your Kindness Remain in its narratives and lyrical nature.

I want to nod, as I will a few more times, back to Andrews’ previous album and how incredible it was. In her interview with The Telegraph, we discover more about Andrews’ style and how she approaches songwriting:

“Andrews has a gift for building character and narrative through everyday observations on such affecting songs as Two Cold Nights in Buffalo, Rough Around the Edges and I’ve Hurt Worse. “You can find songs anywhere. I look for stories in my family and the people I meet. I feel better every time I write a song. It’s sort of this balancing mechanism for my mind.” She doesn’t think of herself as a political writer, though, more a chronicler of “the downhome America” that she loves. “You always have to have a little bit of yourself in something for it to be real. If you’re just pulling things out of a hat people can tell it’s forced. I feel like audiences know if you’re being honest.”

Andrews is a major talent, in this for the long haul. “I’m an old man when it comes to music,” she says, citing the influence of Bob Dylan, Tom Waits, John Prine and Neil Young. “Songs don’t have a gender,” she says, though she is also a huge fan of Lucinda Williams, Joni Mitchell and Carly Simon. She feels she has suffered from sexism and chauvinism throughout her career, and is thrilled about the #MeToo movement. “I’ve been hit on in inappropriate ways, in working situations, like it was just to be expected. I’ve been talked down to for so long, you barely even notice. But finally, I think there’s been an awakening of the collective consciousness. Change is happening. It’s pretty cool”.

There are a couple of other subjects I want to strike off the list before I get to reviewing Andrews’ new track. There is a new album on its way, and I was keen to discover more about this hotly-anticipated release. I am a big fan of May Your Kindness Remain, so I was eager to know what inspired Old Flowers and how it differs from its predecessor. In this article, we discover more about the forthcoming record:

“Created in the aftermath of a long-term relationship, Old Flowers features Andrews’ most vulnerable writing to date on ten new songs that chronicle her journey through heartbreak, loneliness and finding herself again after it all. Produced by Andrew Sarlo (Bon Iver, Big Thief), the album was recorded at Sound Space Studio and features only three musicians: Andrews (vocals, acoustic guitar, piano), Twain’s Matthew Davidson (bass, celeste, mellotron, pedal steel, piano, pump organ, wurlitzer, background vocals) and Big Thief’s James Krivchenia (drums, percussion). Already receiving critical acclaim, MOJO Magazine declares, “With the voice of Linda Ronstadt and the songwriting gifts of Joni Mitchell, there simply isn’t anything to dislike about Old Flowers”

It seems that Old Flowers, as the title suggests, is about loving people who have been in your life a while; people you cannot be with. Whereas a lot of mainstream artists describe love in a very cliched and unambitious manner, Andrews has this incredible talent, as she can make subjects of love, desire, and loss sound fresh and completely hypnotic. I cannot wait to hear Old Flowers, as it sounds like it is shaping up to be one of Andrews’ most moving and brilliant works. Alongside producer Andrew Sarlo, it seems like we are in for a real treat! This Rolling Stone article reveals more about Old Flowers’ themes and how it differs from May Your Kindness Remain:  

“Old Flowers is about heartbreak,” she says. “There are a million records and songs about that, but I did not lie when writing these songs. This album is about loving and caring for the person you know you can’t be with. It’s about being afraid to be vulnerable after you’ve been hurt. It’s about a woman who is alone, but okay with that, if it means truth. This was my truth this year — my nine-year relationship ended and I’m a woman alone in the world, but happy to know herself.”

Sarlo added, “Before we got to the studio, we agreed to prioritize making this record as cathartic and minimal as possible — focusing on Courtney’s voice and her intention behind the songs. Because of this, the record is all about performance. I believe a great recording is the chemistry between everything during basics and the ability to feel something happening instead of obsessing over the perfect take. Courtney embraced this approach and we ended up with a raw, natural and human record”.

I want to finish this pre-review segment by bringing in a quote Andrews provided regarding audiences from different parts of the world; we will hopefully see Andrews come to the U.K. very soon - and there is a lot of love for her here.

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Andrews’ music takes in Indie and Americana, but I think, at its heart, there is this Country flavour. The Country music scene is fantastic, but it has always had a problem with sexism. Maybe things are improving, but the statistic are still not great. I am not sure what the situation is like for Andrews, but I am sure she has faced discrimination like many of her peers in Country music. Looking at an article on the U.S.A. Today website, and it is unsettling seeing what a discrepancy there is:

“Songs recorded by women constitute just 10% of all songs played on country radio stations, according to a report published last week. That has women in country music and all who care about fairness on the airwaves up in arms.

“Depending on the time of day a listener tunes in to their station, (10% is) barely enough to be heard. It’s certainly not enough exposure to become known, to build a fan base, to climb charts, to gain enough recognition to have access to opportunities and resources within the industry,” wrote University of Ottawa professor Jada Watson, who partnered with cable network CMT on the report.

In addition, female artists tend to get that airplay in off-hours when a station’s audience is smaller, according to Watson.

A recent USC Annenberg journalism school study also found that the average age of top male performing artists was 42; the average for the top female artists was 29.

While many country music institutions appear to be rallying for women — this year’s Country Music Association Awards was an example — country radio isn’t budging.

It was early in 2015 that a group of women in the recording industry in Nashville held the first meeting of “Change the Conversation,” dedicated to giving women an equal voice in country radio.

“Male artists have always dominated country radio 70/30, but over the last decade, the percentages for females have dropped dramatically,” Leslie Fram, a member of the group and senior vice president of music strategy for CMT, told me in an interview. “It leads to a cycle of fewer women getting signed, fewer female songwriters getting publishing deals and fewer women on tours. it’s tough to get on a tour if you don’t have a song on the radio”.

PHOTO CREDIT: Jacob Bickenstaff

There are women in the industry fighting back, but I do wonder why, in 2020, there is still this problem. It does appear like there is hope of improvement on the horizon, but so many women in Country have to face barriers and resistance. Courtney Marie Andrews is an artist who has faced sexism through her career, and I wonder whether an album like Old Flowers will get the exposure it deserves when it arrives in July. Feminism has played a role in Andrews’ music for a long time; she has faced these problems, but Andrews is definitely in control and not someone who accepts prejudice lying down. She was asked about sexism and feminism in an interview with Student Newspaper:

“Feminism especially has always been an important part of your music. How does it feel to be a woman in the music business?

A lot of times people just assumed that I couldn’t set up my guitar or mike. I heard ‘What do we have to do for you?’. Even when it wasn’t outspoken, I felt the vibe ‘you can’t do this.’ I’m really stubborn, I wanted to do everything myself and prove that I could. I’m in a band with guys and it often goes straight to them when it’s me who’s headlining. I’m just as capable as men. We’re hitting US and Europe now – with me as a girl boss”.

I was going to talk about her touring and coming to the U.K., but I will leave that until the end, as I have put quite a bit of information out there, and I am keen to review It Must Be Someone Else’s Fault. The reason, as I mentioned earlier, why I have included interviews and various different details is to get a bigger picture of the artist and where she came from; to give more context to her music and, hopefully, draw more people the way of Courtney Marie Andrews. I am excited about the upcoming album, Old Flowers, and the new track, It Must Be Someone Else’s Fault, is fantastic.

I love the introduction to It Must Be Someone Else’s Fault. We get this heartbeat of a drum and some gorgeous, plaintive yearning vibes that gives the track so much atmosphere and promise early on. Before Andrews has delivered a note, I was drifting into the song and imagining various scenes unfold. Andrews has such a fantastic voice, where she is able to elicit so many emotions and aspects pretty naturally. “Hollywood and Vine/Passing through your neighbourhood” is how the song starts out, and it made me wonder what the lyrics refer to. I know that Hollywood and Vine is the intersection of Hollywood Boulevard and Vine Street in Hollywood, and maybe it represents a loftier, more starry setting passing through quite a rural or suburban location - a clash of the glitzy and the mundane. Andrews explains how she had a feeling she should have stopped by; to “Feed you a line from someone old romance book”. It made me wonder whether Andrews was referring to an old friend or someone that she used to be close to. It seems like the two have not spoken for years, and the way Andrews delivers the lines makes me think that, perhaps, this is a former friend and the two drifted because they are in different parts of the country. I love how she casually tosses in a line asking whether he/she still plays in a Rock band, or whether they have taken up a new love. It does appear like these two were close and on the same page, but something has pushed them in different directions. I was thinking more about a friendship rather than a relationship, and the quite minimalist composition allows Andrews’ voice to deliver without too much encroachment. I do like how the composition adds some pace and texture, but the vocal is very much at the front. Just before we get to the chorus, I was convinced of my opinions regarding the lyrical origins and meanings.

In the chorus, Andrews says that it must be someone else’s fault; someone else’s heart “who tainted mine”. Maybe there is some blame coming the way of our heroine. Perhaps there was this relationship a while ago; one that seemed quite strong but, for some reason, things have gone sour. In the video, we see Andrews moving and reaching out. We cut to a girl who is sort of mirroring her actions, which made me wonder whether that was representing Andrews now and then; maybe this was a childhood friendship or love that has been lost? It is a fascinating video that raises some theories and makes you wonder. In the chorus, Andrews’ voice is at its most impassioned and powerful. Her delivery is beautiful throughout, and I was really immersed in the song and trying to get to the bottom of the ‘mystery’. The more I played It Must Be Someone Else’s Fault, the more I learn.

PHOTO CREDIT: @mlesprg

The second verse is incredible, and Andrews’ songwriting style and language is so powerful. “Feels like I’ve gone crazy/Like the women in my family usually do/We can’t seem to keep our heads on/Long enough to make it through”, on paper, makes you smile a bit, but Andrews delivers the words in such a potent and emotional manner. Those words make me feel like there is a history in her family of relationships and friendships imploding because of an impatience or a restlessness. I keep switching between feelings that Andrews is trying to rekindle a childhood friendship, or this is a former lover who slipped away for silly reasons. Andrews is incredibly honest and open through the song. Whereas a lot of songwriters go on the attack or point fingers, Andrews is looking at her faults and taking some responsibility – even if it seems like the other party has not been entirely good-natured and loyal.

PHOTO CREDIT: Lindsey Grace Whiddon

“But I’m still sensitive and stubborn/Still cry more than a person should” are lyrics that really make an impact, but I was thinking whether Andrews was talking directly about herself, or maybe putting words in the mouth of the other person; maybe suggesting they have been a bit over-sensitive. I do feel like Andrews is referring to herself, which makes those words all the more stirring! There is a feeling inside her that has changed. Maybe she is not the woman she was, and she cannot go back to how things were. It is striking to hear how Andrews is sort of beating herself up a bit, or she is just at a point where she cannot keep her feelings and flaws buried away. I wonder who the other person is who seems to have tainted her heart and has caused a lot of pain. In the video, an older woman is seen on a stage, as she, like the girl from earlier, moves her arms and dances. Perhaps this woman represents someone in Andrews’ family, or it is an older version of the heroine; knowing she might not change and will always carry problems with her. I might be misreading the lyrics, but I have listened back a few times and really tried to dig deep. Courtney Marie Andrews’ voice is amazingly evocative and stunning throughout, and I cannot wait to see what else comes from Old Flowers. It is clearly going to be an amazing album, and I feel Andrews grows as a writer and performer with every album. There is nobody quite like her out there, and I know there are other artists out there who are being inspired and want to follow in her footsteps. It Must Be Someone Else’s Fault is another extraordinary song from one of the music world’s most special talents.

PHOTO CREDIT: Laura E. Partain

I am not sure what Courtney Marie Andrews has planned regarding gigs this year, but there are some dates that I think she will be able to perform. There is a lot of appreciation for her music here, so I wonder whether we will get to see her music this year and next. When she spoke with Guitar Girl Magazine in 2018, she was asked about the U.K. audiences and how they differ to U.S. ones:

“Do you find that the UK audiences are more responsive to your performances, or do you find it the same or actually opposite?

Courtney: I think it changes city to city. I do feel like there is a fascination with foreigners in general, just anywhere you go.

Just being an American, going over there is sort of exciting. But, based on this tour that we just did, the audiences were just as attentive and sweet over here [US]. I do definitely feel like the caliber with which the hospitality and the treating of artists tends to be better over there. They take care of you a little bit more, just in general. I feel like, of course, there are exceptions to that statement, but people are more hungry for music over there, for live music. I think people go out to shows more and enjoy that more. It’s a social event.

I will say that the audiences that I had on this last US tour were really just great, attentive, and supportive, and sweet”.

It is a very strange time at the moment, and we are going through a challenging time that, eventually, will pass. I hope that things are okay with Courtney Marie Andrews. She is living in a country that is experiencing riots and so much hatred at the moment. Things are escalating quite badly, and I am not sure what will happen in the coming days. She will be looking ahead to Old Flowers’ release in July, and I think it will be one of 2020’s best releases. Andrews is one of the best artists around, and I love everything about her music. I have dug back into her back catalogue, and I am finding Andrews’ songs sticking in the head; they keeping coming up in my mind, as they have that addictive and nuanced quality that you do not find with every artist! Make sure you follow Courtney Marie Andrews on social media and go and pre-order Old Flowers. Andrews is a musical treasure, an inspiring human, and a simply…

PHOTO CREDIT: Lindsey Grace Whiddon

SENSATIONAL songwriter.

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Follow Courtney Marie Andrews

FEATURE: We All Have a Favourite Set: Looking Ahead to a Classic, Unique Experience

FEATURE:

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IN THIS PHOTO: David Bowie at Glastonbury in 2000/PHOTO CREDIT: Julian Makey/REX/Shutterstock

We All Have a Favourite Set: Looking Ahead to a Classic, Unique Experience

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THERE has been great loss this year…

IMAGE CREDIT: Glastonbury Festival

in terms of festivals and gigs being cancelled. The music industry has suffered a lot, and I think Glastonbury Festival’s cancellation was one of the most heartbreaking. As this year was their fiftieth, many people were looking forward to seeing Paul McCartney, Taylor Swift and Kendrick Lamar headlining, alongside a host of brilliant acts. We are being treated to a selecting of Glastonbury sets over the weekend this year’s festival should have taken place. The BBC explains in more detail:

“The BBC is to broadcast classic Glastonbury performances this year in the music festival's absence.

Previous headline sets from Beyoncé, Adele, Coldplay, David Bowie and Jay-Z will be shown on BBC Two and BBC Four.

A new pop-up channel will also appear on BBC iPlayer, which will feature more than 60 historic sets.

This year's festival, which was due to feature Taylor Swift, Kendrick Lamar and Sir Paul McCartney, was cancelled amid the coronavirus pandemic.

More than 200,000 people, including 135,000 ticket-holders, would have descended on Worthy Farm in Somerset if the festival had gone ahead from 25 to 28 June.

Clara Amfo, Edith Bowman, Jo Whiley, Lauren Laverne and Mark Radcliffe will host four days of programming across the BBC.

At the centre of the BBC coverage will be three 90-minute programmes on BBC Two, broadcast on Friday 26, Saturday 27 and Sunday 28 June.

They will feature performances from Amy Winehouse, Arctic Monkeys, Blur, Dizzee Rascal, Lady Gaga, PJ Harvey, R.E.M. and The Rolling Stones.

Additional programming on BBC Four will feature some of the most memorable acoustic performances filmed in the BBC compound at previous festivals - including Ed Sheeran, Dua Lipa, Kano, Leon Bridges, Patti Smith, Richie Havens and Youssou N'Dour.

There was a lot of disappointment when Glastonbury was cancelled, but there was no alternative. Instead of being at Worthy Farm and witnessing a historic festival go down, we can stay safe at home and watch some truly incredible performances. There are some interesting articles that rank the best headline Glastonbury sets ever. I have been looking at UDiscoverMusic’s rundown of the best Glastonbury performances, and it has brought back some memories. I think many people agree David Bowie’s 2000 set at Glastonbury tops the pile; I think Beyoncé’s 2011 headline set and Radiohead’s epic 1997 set are in the top-three. I have selected passages where UDiscoverMusic highlighted these performances:

 “Radiohead also turned in sterling Glastonbury performances in 2003 and 2017, but as yet they’ve been unable to beat their 1997 show – a watershed moment in their career, which Michael Eavis himself has described as “the best Glastonbury performance ever”. In 1997, Thom Yorke and company appeared just a fortnight after the release of their landmark third album, OK Computer, and sent the festival audience into raptures with stunning performances of its standout tracks, including ‘Karma Police’, ‘No Surprises’ and a mind-bogglingly intense ‘Paranoid Android’.

Another triumph for pop in the rock arena, Beyoncé’s superbly-paced 2011 set was stuffed with hits including ‘Crazy In Love’, ‘Single Ladies’, ‘Independent Women’, ‘Halo’ and ‘If I Was A Boy’, along with surprise covers of Kings Of Leon’s ‘Sex On Fire’ and Alanis Morrisette’s ‘You Oughta Know’. The star later confessed she’d asked Coldplay’s Chris Martin for a little help with her setlist, but her 90-minute performance was rapturously received and, as she told the BBC’s Jo Whiley afterwards, “I am just so honoured – this is a highlight of my career.”

David Bowie first featured on a Glastonbury bill in 1971, in the festival’s second year. It was then known as the Glastonbury Free Festival and the event was still cultivating its identity. If that low-key appearance has largely been overlooked, the same won’t ever be said for Bowie’s return in 2000: a truly tumultuous event and arguably one of the greatest rock and pop headlining shows ever, wherein the chameleonic star played just about everything of significance from his catalogue, from ‘Wild Is The Wind’ to ‘Ashes To Ashes’, ‘Changes’, ‘Rebel Rebel’, ‘“Heroes”’, ‘The Man Who Sold The World’ and so many more. In a nutshell: showmanship, superb pacing and timeless music. His Glastonbury triumph shows exactly why we won’t ever see the likes of him again”.

I have always wondered why we haven’t had access to the full treasure trove of Glastonbury performances, because it would be great to look back at the classics – unless there is a place on the Internet one can access them. I am looking forward to experiencing Glastonbury’s best sets at the end of June, and I think many of us will be able to get together – albeit, at a distance – and celebrate some tremendous highlights. Bowie’s 2000 set will be brilliant to see, but I cannot wait to see what else is on offer. I read on the official Glastonbury Twitter page that loads of acts will be announced as we get closer to the date. Although seeing these beloved artists on the screen is not the same as being at Glastonbury in the flesh, I think the bonanza the BBC are offering is…

NOT a bad compensation!

FEATURE: Second Spin: The Smiths – Meat Is Murder

FEATURE:

 

Second Spin

The Smiths – Meat Is Murder

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IN this feature…

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IN THIS PHOTO: The Smiths in 1985/PHOTO CREDIT: Pictorial Press Ltd./Alamy

the idea is to shed new light on an album that was either underrated when it was released or has not been given the attention it deserves since. The Smiths’ second album is not often seen as their best. When people compile a list of the top-three Smiths albums, people often put The Queen Is Dead (1986), The Smiths (1984) and Strangeways, Here We Come (1987) ahead of Meat Is Murder. Although my favourite album from The Smiths is Strangeways, Here We Come, I think Meat Is Murder is a lost classic. I have seen reviews from the album – from those published at the time and those since – and there is a mix of the slightly disappointed and positive. I think Strangeways, Here We Come warrants more acclaim, because it is a fantastic album. Maybe it was the fact that there was not a song as instant and accessible, perhaps, as This Charming Man (from their debut) on Strangeways, Here We Come; maybe the more political tone of the record was a bit jarring or unexpected. Since Meat Is Murder, Morrissey (the band’s lead and now-solo artist) has spoken frequently and passionately – and sometimes controversially – about his vegetarianism and political beliefs. I think Meat Is Murder manages to combine accessible and nuanced tracks with serious messages. The Headmaster Ritual is one of my favourite Smiths songs, but it is a track that is ant-corporal punishment.

I love the fact that the band – including guitarist and composer Johnny Marr (lead guitar), Andy Rourke (bass) and Mike Joyce (percussion) – were more muscular and adventurous on The Smiths’ second album. Barbarism Begins at Home has this incredibly catchy riff that makes the song spring and pop. Although the track is almost seven minutes in length, you are hooked until the end. Nowhere Fast is a Smiths classic, whilst the opening two tracks – The Headmaster Ritual and Rusholme Ruffians – are incredibly memorable and have that classic sound. The band sound more confident and adventurous than they did on The Smiths, and they were definitely keen to create a bolder album than the debut. Some say that Meat Is Murder’s title track (which ends the album) is filler; others think it is more noise than a song, but I think it is a hugely arresting and striking song that, appropriately, comes right at the very last. In fact, I do not think there is a weak track on the album, and it bemuses me that there were some mixed reviews back in 1985. At just nine tracks, Meat Is Murder has longer songs rather than a series of shorter songs. Most tracks on Meat Is Murder are three/four minutes in length, and I think the track listing is perfect – opening with those two incredible tracks and ending with a real punch. Although there have been some less-than-impassioned reviews for Meat Is Murder, it has been included in many lists that celebrate the finest albums ever. I want to bring in a review from Rolling Stone from 1985 that is among the more positive and constructive reviews from the time:

“Lead singer and wordsmith Stephen Morrissey (who goes by his surname professionally) is a man on a mission, a forlorn and brooding crusader with an arsenal of personal axes to grind. Drawing on British literary and cinematic tradition (he cites influences ranging from Thomas Hardy and Oscar Wilde to Saturday Night and Sunday Morning), Morrissey speaks out for protection of the innocent, railing against human cruelty in all its guises. Three of the songs on Meat Is Murder deal with saving our children — from the educational system (“The Headmaster Ritual”), from brutalizing homes (“Barbarism Begins at Home”), from one another (“Rusholme Ruffians”). The title track, “Meat Is Murder,” with its simulated bovine cries and buzz-saw guitars, takes vegetarianism to new heights of hysterical carniphobia.

A man of deadly serious sensitivity, Morrissey recognizes emotional as well as physical brutality, assailing the cynicism that laughs at loneliness (“That Joke Isn’t Funny Anymore”). Despite feeling trapped in an unfeeling world, Morrissey can still declare, “My faith in love is still devout,” with a sincerity so deadpan as to be completely believable.

Though he waves the standard for romance and sexual liberation, Morrissey has a curiously puritanical concept of love. He’s conscious of thwarted passion and inappropriate response, yet remains oddly distant from his own self-absorption. The simple pleasures of others make him uncomfortable, as if these activities were the cause of his own grand existential suffering. Morrissey’s uptight romanticism wears the black mantle of a new Inquisition.

In contrast to Morrissey’s censorious lyrical attitudes is the expansive musical vision of guitarist and tunesmith Johnny Marr. When these two are brought into alignment, the results transcend and transform Morrissey’s concerns. The brightest example is the shimmering twelve-inch “How Soon Is Now?” (included as a bonus on U.S. copies of Meat Is Murder). Marr’s version of the Bo Diddley beat and his somber, reptilian guitars propel Morrissey’s heartfelt plea — “I am human, and I need to be loved, just like everybody else does” — into the realm of universal compassion and postcool poetry. At this point, his needs seem real, his concerns nonjudgmental, and his otherwise pious persona truly sympathetic”.

I want to source from a couple of reviews, just to give a flavour and tone of what people think of Meat Is Murder. There are a few four-star reviews for the album, but most seem to be two or three-star ones; since 1985, I have not heard Meat Is Murder talked about in the same terms as The Smiths’ debut or The Queen Is Dead. Meat Is Murder turned thirty-five back in February, and I think now is a perfect time to reassess and rediscover a brilliant album.

A lot of reviews for Meat Is Murder laud songs like The Headmaster Ritual, but they tend to turn their noses up at many of the other tracks. (I have not even mentioned the epic How Soon Is Now?, as it appears on the U.S. edition of Meat Is Murder and was not part of the U.K. version). A lot of reviews for Meat Is Murder are a bit unfair to the tracks, which I think are full of life, variation and depth. This review from AllMusic sort of underlines what I mean:

“With their second proper album Meat Is Murder, the Smiths begin to branch out and diversify, while refining the jangling guitar pop of their debut. In other words, it catches the group at a crossroads, unsure quite how to proceed. Taking the epic, layered "How Soon Is Now?" as a starting point (the single, which is darker and more dance-oriented than the remainder of the album, was haphazardly inserted into the middle of the album for its American release), the group crafts more sweeping, mid-tempo numbers, whether it's the melancholy "That Joke Isn't Funny Anymore" or the failed, self-absorbed protest of the title track.

While the production is more detailed than before, the Smiths are at their best when they stick to their strengths -- "The Headmaster Ritual" and "I Want the One I Can't Have" are fine elaborations of the formula they laid out on the debut, while "Rusholme Ruffians" is an infectious stab at rockabilly.

However, the rest of Meat Is Murder is muddled, repeating lyrical and musical ideas of before without significantly expanding them or offering enough hooks or melodies to make it the equal of The Smiths or Hatful of Hollow”.

Some will argue that Meat Is Murder has either been celebrated adequately or is underserving of bigger focus – I would disagree on both fronts! Even if you are not a fan of The Smiths, I would encourage people to investigate Meat Is Murder, as it is a fantastic album with many classic moments. Maybe it is not quite as jaw-dropping and accessible as The Queen Is Dead, but it is an album that will linger in the mind. I shall leave things here…but take a moment to spin The Smiths’ second album, because it is a real treasure trove. Meat Is Murder is a record that contains more than its fair share…

OF wonder.

FEATURE: The Lockdown Playlist: Club Classics

FEATURE:

 

The Lockdown Playlist

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PHOTO CREDIT: @aditya_ali/Unsplash

Club Classics

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WHEN I have done previous playlists…

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PHOTO CREDIT: @z5a1nt/Unsplash

I have covered Club music from different decades. I have not dedicated one entirely to the Club classics that manage to energise and uplift us all, regardless of our musical tastes. The sheer exuberance and thrill of the Club anthems is what we all require right now - everything from ‘90s classics to some R&B to the more hardcore mixes! Whilst lockdown still continues, we are allowed out for more exercise and, with that, we can take music with us. A great playlist can add something to our daily exercise, and I have been rooting around for the best Club gems to soundtrack your movements. If you require some additional kick this week, I think I have some selections that will give you plenty of…

PHOTO CREDIT: @bantersnaps/Unsplash

STAMNINA and buzz.

FEATURE: The Red Shoes, The Line, the Cross and the Curve and Beyond… Kate Bush and the Year 1993

FEATURE:

 

The Red Shoes, The Line, the Cross and the Curve and Beyond…

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IN THIS PHOTO: Kate Bush in a promotional photo for Eat the Music in 1993

Kate Bush and the Year 1993

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AS with many of my Kate Bush features…

I want to bring in a couple of reviews and bits from the media, as I think it adds context and colour. I was only nine when 1993 began, and I think The Red Shoes was the first Kate Bush album I recall upon its release. I have looked at the years 1978 and 1983 when talking about Bush and pivotal moments in her career. The reason I wanted to spotlight 1993 is, when many people talk about her work, 1993 sort of gets glossed over. Maybe that is not entirely true, but The Red Shoes is often considered the weakest Kate Bush album, we do not talk about her interviews from the time or the film, The Line, the Cross and the Curve. Hounds of Love (in 1985) is the peak of her career; 1989’s The Sensual World, whilst a less-acclaimed follow-up, was still an ambitious work. I think, by 1993, Bush was looking to return to a simpler way of working that she might not have experienced since the very start of her career. Recording for The Red Shoes began in 1990 but, like so many Kate Bush albums, the writing was pretty quick, whereas the recording takes the longest time. Bush’s mother, Hannah, passed away on 14th February, 1992, and The Red Shoes is dedicated to her memory. Of course, we would not see another album Kate Bush (after The Red Shoes) for another twelve years – the double-album, Aerial, saw Bush return to the spotlight with aplomb (and a new son, Bertie, who was born in 1998).

Whilst we might like back at 1993 as a hard year where she would soon hibernate from the music scene, at the time, I think there was this sort of deterioration in terms of the appreciation her music deserved. Certainly, The Sensual World was a very different record to Hounds of Love, and I think – although it won a lot of positive reviews – many people in the media wrote Bush off. To me, I think 1993 was a year where she produced a lot of great music and, actually, The Line, the Cross and the Curve deserves new inspection and attention. I think The Red Shoes is very underrated, and I actually prefer it to albums like The Sensual World and Director’s Cut (2011). Whilst many of the songs for The Red Shoes were written before Bush’s mother died, she was going through a break-up (or more than one) with her long-time boyfriend, Del Palmer (who she met in the 1970s and works with until this day), and maybe that mars her memories of the album and she was not able to produce her best work. I don’t know. I think The Red Shoes has a couple of week tracks, but it is overloaded with life and textures. There are a couple of cameos that were misguided, but I love how the Trio Bulgarka (who had contributed to The Sensual World) appeared on three songs: You're the One, The Song of Solomon, and Why Should I Love You?.

Bush revisited seven songs from The Red Shoes for Director’s Cut, as she was not happy with the digital production; she wanted the songs to breathe more and get stripped back. The problem is, I think only Top of the City sounds superior in its new setting: the remainder of the tracks are not improved upon. I can appreciate how Bush wanted to right some perceived wrongs on The Red Shoes, but I think there is a lot to love about The Red Shoes. Although some of the overly-glossy and compacted production does harm some tracks, I think it brings songs to life on the album in a way that Bush didn’t manage in 2011. I actually have no big beef with the sounds of the early-1990s – in terms of production and adapting to the compact disc -, and The Red Shoes has a lot going for it. The track listing is brilliant, so that one of the strongest tracks (and my favourite), Rubberband Girl, kicks things off, and that leads into the more emotive and softer And So Is Love – both tracks, I feel, rank alongside Bush’s best. Eat the Music is a feast of Worldbeat rhythms; it was the lead-off single in the U.S. – Rubberband Girl was the lead single elsewhere in the world -, and the video is wonderful. Although some of the lyrics on this song, and the album, are a bit lumpen and daft, I think Eat the Music charms and moves you with its energy and performance.

Moments of Pleasure – a top-thirty hit in the U.K. -, and Lily are wonderful tracks, and end a fabulous side. Look at the video for Moments of Pleasure, and it is one of Bush’s best videos; she was still producing stunning visuals in 1993 – something I will expand upon a bit later. I think the first side to The Red Shoes is among the strongest of Bush’s career, and I think a lot of critics were a bit harsh towards the album in 1993. I want to quote from a Pitchfork review because, although it is constructive in its criticism, it does offer some positives:

“The record’s personal themes of loss, perseverance, and memory coalesce on “Moments of Pleasure,” one of Bush’s most affecting ballads. She sings of the small memories of life—laughing at dumb jokes, snowy evenings high above New York City, a piece of wisdom from her mother—as Oscar-nominated composer Michael Kamen builds these quiet moments into monuments with a heroic string arrangement. Bush ends the song with a series of mini eulogies: for her aunt, her longtime guitarist, her dance partner. “Just being alive, it can really hurt,” she belts at the center of the track, stating the obvious with such conviction that it sounds revelatory”. 

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IN THIS PHOTO: Kate Bush during filming for The Line, The Cross and the Curve in 1993/PHOTO CREDIT: Guido Harari

Bush was sort of doing everything herself, and definitely wanted to please only herself and nobody else. Perhaps that stubborn work ethic did take a big toll when we consider how long it would take Bush to follow The Red Shoes, but I think she should be commended for producing an album that is incredibly open, diverse and under-respected. In 1993, The Chicago Tribune had this to say:

“With a siren's voice and a taste for the eccentric, Bush has built a significant cult following over the past decade. With "The Red Shoes," she edges closer to the mainstream; her obsession with transcendence is now focused on affairs of the heart as opposed to the fairy tales of earlier work, she jump-cuts musical genres as voraciously as Prince (one of many guest stars she enlists), and her voice is more direct and soulful-check out the raspy belting on "Constellation of the Heart" and "You're the One." But there's still a touch of the strange, as when Bush compares her lover to a pomegranate on "Eat the Music." There's fruity imagery of a different stripe on "Moments of Pleasure," which announces, "Just being alive, it can really hurt!" But the variety of musical settings, from Celtic romp on the title track and the Latin rhythms of "Eat the Music" to the funky "Rubberband Girl" and arty skronk of "Big Stripey Lie," undercuts the melodrama. Bush has pulled it off: Her most accessible album has arrived without sacrificing her ravishing, quirky essence”

One can look at some obvious downsides – certain tracks are too long; a few songs suffer clunky and uninspired lyrics – and dismiss the album on that basis. Though The Red Shoes’ second side is not as strong as the first, there are some great cuts! I really love The Red Shoes, Top of the City and You’re the One. Bush’s voice is stunning and dedicated throughout The Red Shoes, and the album is certainly not the disaster many people paint it as – and I would urge people to give it some time when they can. There are two songs which, sadly, sap a lot of the good from The Red Shoes. Big Stripey Lie features some of Bush’s least impactful lyrics (“Oh my God it's a jungle in here/You've got wild animals loose in here”), and I think Why Should I Love You? suffers from there being too many cooks in the kitchen. Not only do we hear from Lenny Henry; there is a lot of input from Prince who, sadly, does not turn in his greatest performance and adds too many layers to the song – Prince was a much more impressive artist when working on his own (and his band) rather than collaborating with others. I will admit that an artist who was experiencing romantic and personal struggle was probably not in the best mindset to record her clearest and most consistent album, and a couple of tracks could have been trimmed and we would have seen a stronger album.

There are so many different moods explored, and there’s a nice range of sounds on The Red Shoes that stands up to repeated listens. I don’t think the compositions are too busy and stuffed, and Bush’s voice sounds wonderful from the first to last. I can understand her desire to reexplore the songs on Director’s Cut, but I think she (and many others) have been too dismissive of the album. It was evident that, in 1993, Bush was on the precipice of a major decision regarding her career and her relationship with the press. Even up to The Sensual World, she was conducting a fair few interviews, but there are relatively few from 1993 – there are a couple of good T.V. ones and one particularly interesting interview from Q – which I shall quote from shortly. Bush was worried, prior to The Red Shoes, that her music was too complicated, and she wanted to return to a more rooted sound. There was also the plan to record the album quickly and tour it but, as we know, other things got in the way. For someone who experienced the death of her mother and the break-up of a serious relationship so close together, it is amazing that she managed to finish an album at all! I concede that there are some clichés and similar-sounding songs on the album but, looking back, I think there is a lot to love about The Red Shoes.

The Line, the Cross and the Curve, which Bush has distanced herself from and dismissed in ensuing years, is a short film/extended music video that features songs from The Red Shoes – inspired by the 1948 classic film, The Red Shoes, which was directed by Michael Powell (and it is a favourite film of Bush’s). In the film, Bush plays a frustrated singer-dancer who is enticed by a mysterious woman (played by Miranda Richardson) into putting on a pair of magical ballet slippers. Once on her feet, the shoes start dancing on their own, and Bush's character must battle Richardson to free herself from the spell of the shoes. Her guide on this strange journey is played by Lindsey Kemp (the famous choreographer and dancer who was instrumental in fostering Bush’s love of dance in the 1970s). Though the film was toured and made its way to cinemas, it was not a success with critics and Bush suffered ill health through the shooting of The Line, the Cross and the Curve. The fact she performed in it, wrote the script and directed meant that, perhaps, she was biting off more than she could chew – perhaps an outside director could have taken some of the pressure off of Bush and given her advice regarding her acting performance (which is inferior when compared to Miranda Richardson’s). Bush did decide to stop performing and working not long after promoting The Line, the Cross and the Curve, but I see the film in the same manner as The Red Shoes: it is given flack and snubbed, but there is a lot to love.

IN THIS PHOTO: Kate Bush in 1993/PHOTO CREDIT: Guido Harari

I know Bush was hoping to tour again, and she definitely did want to make a visual statement, in the manner of her 1979 Tour of Life. Unable to get back to the stage – it would be 2014 when we saw her return -, The Line, the Cross and the Curve does sport some wonderful visual moments, and it is nice to see Bush and Richardson on screen together – they connect and play off of each other well, even if the more experienced Richardson has the superior acting chops. The songs used during the film (from The Red Shoes) are wonderful, and I especially admire the visuals for Rubberband Girl and Eat the Music. I wanted to write this feature, as many people write off The Red Shoes and The Line, the Cross and the Curve too quickly without offering many positives. The always-ambitious Bush had to shoulder a lot of loss and struggle, but I think The Red Shoes and The Line, the Cross and the Curve are a lot stronger than people give them credit for. I want to round off with a couple of interviews Bush was involved with in 1993. She was slowly pulling away from promotion and publicity – when she returned in 2005, there were relatively few interviews conducted to promote Aerial -, but I love hearing her thoughts and what people were asking her at different points in her career.

Looking back at an  interview from Melody Maker, this passage caught my eye:

“With its mix of acoustic instruments (mandola, whistles, valiha) and synth-like keyboard textures, "The Red Shoes" immediately made me think Bush was trying to make a link between ancient and modern ideas of dance, pagan rites and techno-pagan raving. The way that these primal modes of ecstatic trance-endence have resurfaced in an ultra-modern hi-tech context --lasers, strobes, 50 K sub-bass sound--suggests that these impulses lie dormant in our collective unconscious or even genetic code.  People have instinctively reinvented these rituals despite, or perhaps because, our culture in impoverished when it comes to forms of communal release.

"Something very similar was on my mind, the idea of trance, delirium, as a way of transcending the normal.  Maybe human beings actually need that. Things are very hard for people in this country, maybe they instinctively need to transcend it. It's very much that ancient call".

One of the biggest and more in-depth Kate Bush interviews of 1993 happened in Q. The magazine’s cover in December 1993 featured a portrait of Bush looking contemplative-but-stunning with this quote: “Booze, Fags, Blokes And Me”. That might suggest a salacious, controversial or edgy interview but, in fact, it was Bush being open in a way she hadn’t been for a while – new sides were revealed, and I love reading her responses to the questions asked.

I have selected a few exerts that really interested me; it sounds like Bush was a very willing and responsive interviewee, too:

 “Kate Bush's career falls neatly in half like a well-thumbed book, the broken spine in this instance being The Dreaming, 1982's "difficult" album. Prior to this, Bush had established her stellar reputation with a debut Number 1 single at 19 with Wuthering Heights and a trio of albums that revealed her as rock's premier ingenue --precocious (she apparently wrote The Man With the Child In His Eyes at 12), beautiful, talented and with the ability to turn everything from incest, sexual yearning towards infants, the threat of nuclear incineration and Delius into limpid ballads and new-minted pop-rockers. Grown men and women alike cooed, DJs said "Great Lady!" and Bobby Davro and Faith Brown clogged up Saturday evening TV with unfunny impressions of her unrestricted performing style (although, weirdly, Kate once wrote a four-page letter of congratulation to Faith Brown).

She is oddly disparaging of albums like Lionheart and Never For Ever now and even then seemed keen to leave this phase behind, perhaps understandably -- she had been given two years to write the songs for The Kick Inside and, allegedly, four weeks to come up with Lionheart. By 1982 she was under the influence of Peter Gabriel and the revolutionary drum sound of Phil Collins's In The Air Tonight. Determined to do something like this herself, she became locked into a hellishly expensive round of aborted studio stints, finally emerging with The Dreaming, easily her weirdest effort and one that effectively stalled her career, peaking at Number 3 (Never For Ever entered at Number 1) and spawning a batch of flop singles. Wild rumours abounded, including the choice story advanced by the Daily Mail that she had ballooned up to 18 stone. This was patently untrue but she *had* ground herself down into a state of nervous fatigue, not helped by a reputed diet of junk food and chocolate. It was not the happiest of times.

"I look back at that record and it seems mad," she says now. "I heard it about three years ago and couldn't believe it. There's a lot of anger in it. There's a lot of 'I'm an artist, right!'" Fingers burned by the experience of The Dreaming, she decided that a studio of her own and a retreat into her domestic shell was a priority. Thus was ushered in a period of stability from whence came the enormously successful Hounds of Love and, in 1990 [1989], The Sensual World. These later records reflected her growing interest in the studio as a compositional tool and her growing desire to stay well out of the public eye.

Do you get stopped in the street?

"No, not really. Sometimes people will come up, but I don't generally get stopped in the street. People tend to just smile at you. But you may have your trousers on back to front. It may not be anything to do with fame."

You don't go out in Michael Jackson-style disguise?

(Laughing:) No, I'm not sure people care that much. Occasionally I see them nudging each other, but I feel it's more part of American culture, that idea of TV fame and celebrity. It's more of a laugh here, isn't it? 'Look, there's that bloke off the telly!'"

Are you into sport?

"Not really. I sometimes wish I was. I see friends getting enormous pleasure out of watching Wimbledon or something, but no, not for me, I'm afraid. Sometimes I enjoy watching athletes and gymnasts. But that's maybe because of dancing. I like dancing because there's the combination of music and athleticism without the competition that's integral to sport." 

IN THIS PHOTO: Kate Bush during filming for The Line, The Cross and the Curve in 1993/PHOTO CREDIT: Guido Harari

Do you go out dancing?

"I used to for a very short phase. Of course, when I was little the aunts would drag me up and get me to dance, and I'd love that. I had a phase as a teenager when a group of us would go dancing. But then I got famous after my first record and I'm not sure I had the desire to do it any more. It was something I did in my teens. But I've never felt very comfortable with it. Not unless I'm really drunk."

Do you get drunk often?

(Pause, smile:) "No, not really. I don't go out clubbing and all that. I don't make an exhibition of myself out on the floor".

I think Kate Bush produced some great work – and some of her best songs – for 1993’s The Red Shoes, and I don’t think that year was quite the car crash many (Bush included) talk about. It was a transformative year where she had sort of reached a barrier and needed to move away from the limelight for a while. I would encourage people to listen to The Red Shoes again (or for the first time) and watch The Line, the Cross and the Curve, as there are a lot of highlights. Whilst Kate Bush was active between 1993-2005, we did not see or hear too much from her. I look back at 1993 and wonder what would have happened if she had left an album on the shelf for a couple more years or personal circumstances had not played such a big role. The Red Shoes is a great-yet-flawed album, and one that she would not follow…

FOR another twelve years.

FEATURE: The May Playlist: Vol. 5: This Sheela-Na-Gig Walk

FEATURE:

 

The May Playlist

IN THIS PHOTO: PJ Harvey 

Vol. 5: This Sheela-Na-Gig Walk

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IN this week’s Playlist…

IN THIS PHOTO: Nubya Garcia

there are some seriously good tunes in the pack! Not only is there material from PJ Harvey and Georgia Anne Muldrow; some ace material from Nubya Garcia, Cigarettes After Sex, Dolly Parton, The Lemon Twigs, Liela Moss, Bright Eyes and Courtney Marie Andrews is in there for good measure! It is another busy week, and one full of diversity and brilliance! If you need some great music to give you a kick and some boost this weekend, then settle in with some of the best tunes out there. Have a listen to a playlist that is crammed…

IN THIS PHOTO: The Lemon Twigs

WITH gold.

ALL PHOTOS/IMAGES (unless credited otherwise): Artists

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PJ Harvey - Sheela-Na-Gig (Demo)

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IN THIS PHOTO: Georgia Anne Muldrow

Jyoti, Georgia Anne Muldrow - This Walk

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PHOTO CREDIT: Fabrice Bourgelle Photography

Nubya Garcia  - Pace

Desire - Cold as Ice

Liela Moss  - Atoms at Me

IN THIS PHOTO: Lady Gaga

Lady Gaga (with BLACKPINK) – Sour Candy

Cigarettes After Sex - You're All I Want

PHOTO CREDIT: Max Knight

Dan Croll - So Dark

Maverick Sabre - Don’t You Know by Now

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PHOTO CREDIT: Ben Semisch

Bright Eyes - One and Done

Dolly Parton - When Life Is Good Again

Daughters of Reykjavík – Sweets

PHOTO CREDIT: Robin Joris Dullers for Enfnts Terribles

Celeste – I Can See the Change

Gang of Four - Forever Starts Now

The Lemon Twigs – Moon

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The Raconteurs – Black Generation (Studio Version – Recorded at Electric Lady Studios)

PHOTO CREDIT: Agatha Powa

Baker Grace - Bottle of Wine

Courtney Marie Andrews - It Must Be Someone Else's Fault

Melanie C – Blame It on Me

Aitch – 30

Baby Queen – Internet Religion

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BLOXX – Thinking About Yourself

Jake Bugg – Rabbit Hole

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Winona Oak, Robin Schulz – Oxygen

Skip Marley – No Love

Winnie Raeder – A Quiet Way

Four of Diamonds, Mr Eazi – The Writer

Ward Thomas, Dan Owen – Someone to Someone

Matt Maltese – Queen Bee

Sody – Bedroom Ceiling

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PHOTO CREDIT: Emmanuel Olunkwa

Kelsey Lu – Morning Dew

Destiny Rogers – On 11

Remi Wolf – Disco Man

Sarah Barrios – Mourn the Living

FEATURE: A Buyer’s Guide: Part Four: Queens of the Stone Age

FEATURE:

 

A Buyer’s Guide

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Part Four: Queens of the Stone Age

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WHEN I was thinking about an artist…

for the next part of this feature, I wanted to move back into band territory. There are groups like Fleetwood Mac and Beastie Boys who I will address in the coming weeks but, right now, I wanted to take a closer look at one of my favourite bands ever: the mighty Queens of the Stone Age. I have been listening to them since the 1990s, and they continue to produce sensational music. I am not sure what the future holds for them, but I do hope we get more albums from the American group. If you are new to Queens of the Stone Age, I have compiled a list that should help you get to the bottom of their brilliant sound. Here is my guide to a band who, on every album, bring something…

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IN THIS PHOTO: Queens of the Stone Age in 2018/PHOTO CREDIT: Oliver Halfin

TRULY awesome.

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The Four Essential Albums

Rated R

Release Date: 6th June, 2000

Label: Interscope

Producers: Chris Goss/Joshua Homme

Standout Tracks: Feel Good Hit of the Summer/The Lost Art of Keeping a Secret/Tension Head

Buy: https://ukstore.qotsa.com/products/rated-r-reissue-l

Stream: https://open.spotify.com/album/05tJhGl52X4zGe0ySlcBk6

Review:

“The second Queens of the Stone Age album, Rated R (as in the movie rating; its title was changed from II at the last minute before release), makes its stoner rock affiliations clear right from the opening track. The lyrics of "Feel Good Hit of the Summer" consist entirely of a one-line list of recreational drugs that Josh Homme rattles off over and over, a gag that gets pretty tiresome by the end of the song (and certainly doesn't need the reprise that follows "In the Fade"). Fortunately, the rest of the material is up to snuff. R is mellower, trippier, and more arranged than its predecessor, making its point through warm fuzz-guitar tones, ethereal harmonies, vibraphones, horns, and even the odd steel drum. That might alienate listeners who have come to expect a crunchier guitar attack, but even though it's not really aggro, R is still far heavier than the garage punk and grunge that inform much of the record. It's still got the vaunted California-desert vibes of Kyuss, but it evokes a more relaxed, spacious, twilight feel, as opposed to a high-noon meltdown. Mark Lanegan and Barrett Martin of the Screaming Trees both appear on multiple tracks, and their band's psychedelic grunge -- in its warmer, less noisy moments -- is actually not a bad point of comparison. Longtime Kyuss fans might be disappointed at the relative lack of heaviness, but R's direction was hinted at on the first QOTSA album, and Homme's experimentation really opens up the band's sound, pointing to exciting new directions for heavy guitar rock in the new millennium” – AllMusic

Choice Cut: Monsters in the Parasol

Songs for the Deaf

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Release Date: 27th August, 2002

Label: Interscope

Producers: Josh Homme/Adam Kasper/Eric Valentine

Standout Tracks: A Song for the Dead/Go with the Flow/God Is In the Radio

Buy: https://ukstore.qotsa.com/products/songs-for-deaf-reissue

Stream: https://open.spotify.com/album/4w3NeXtywU398NYW4903rY

Review:

“What crazies Queens of the Stone Age are. With one perv-dwarf (Nick Oliveri: bass, cock-flashing) and one freak-Elvis (Josh Homme: guitar/vocals, spookiness), they became almost famous in 2000 with Rated R, a psychedelic-retro hard-rock masterwork. Their “nicotine, Valium, Vicodin, marijuana, Ecstasy and alcohol” chant in “Feel Good Hit of the Summer” made them critics’ faves, a cheeky diversion from the hand-wringing moan of millennial nü-metal. With Songs for the Deaf — dudes, you’re killing us! — the odd couple will be taken much more seriously. QOTSA 2002 have added former Nirvana drummer Dave Grohl, ex–Screaming Trees singer Mark Lanegan and comedy-rock dweeb Dean Ween. Pushed by Grohl, the Greatest Living Rock Drummer, this post-grunge commune utterly revels in classic-rock gestures. Deaf kicks off by resurrecting the robo-punker “Millionaire” (previously on the fifth volume of their Desert Sessions side project), then stretches out with “No One Knows” (a Britpop strut/fuzz-rock hybrid) and “First It Giveth” (tumbling with falsetto verses and a pummeling chorus), which demonstrate QOTSA’s canny songwriting. While clichés abound, from druggy references (“We get these pills to swallow/How they stick in your throat/Taste like gold”) to ballistic drum breaks that seem to arise from John Bonham’s coffin, this huge music is delivered with panache. By the time Lanegan croaks “Song for the Dead” and “Song for the Deaf,” both Arabic-gone-goth grooves that conjure visions of Black Sabbath rockin’ the pyramids, you can only smile. Bong-blitzed teens will still dig Queens, but the pop smarts of “Go With the Flow” and “Another Love Song” (a pristine slice of ’60s psychedelia-lite) could also position Songs for the Deaf as crossover metal, if the world is willing to embrace Homme and Oliveri’s freaky faces. QOTSA execute their hoary AOR moves with irony and conviction, having fun while making fun, creating a world where every month is Rocktober” – Blender

Choice Cut: No One Knows

Lullabies to Paralyze

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Release Date: 21st March, 2005

Label: Interscope

Producers: Joe Barresi/Joshua Homme

Standout Tracks: Everybody Knows That You Are Insane/In My Head/The Blood Is Love

Buy: https://thesoundofvinyl.com/*/*/Lullabies-To-Paralyze-Deluxe-Reissue/6A6L0000000

Stream: https://open.spotify.com/album/2OMdsA2I4RxrHCyogwKGvF

Review:

“The blurb for Lullabies to Paralyse compares it to a pagan ritual involving woodland dancing around a campfire. If anything, the album is more disturbing. Full of unsettling undercurrents, it is something like Bowie's Diamond Dogs fused with Blair Witch Project.

Ostensibly, this follow-up to 2002's fab Songs for the Deaf documents the bitter split between frontman Josh Homme and his childhood friend/creative foil Nick Olivieri, best known for performing naked; it's not difficult to guess who is the target of the chorus of Everybody Knows That You're Insane. However, Homme has emerged with the best songs of his career.

Lullabies splits between twisted, skewed rock anthems and eerie reveries such as the whispery Someone's in the Wolf. The songs' interest level is heightened by aural mind games: sounds of what could be devil worship, and at least one audible "stabbing".

Play it loud and hold on to the seat of your pants” – The Guardian

Choice Cut: Burn the Witch

…Like Clockwork

Release Date: 3rd June, 2013

Label: Matador

Producers: Dean Fertita/Josh Homme/James Lavelle/Michael Shuman/Troy Van Leeuwen

Standout Tracks: I Sat by the Ocean/Smooth Sailing/I Appear Missing

Buy: https://ukstore.qotsa.com/products/copy-of-like-clockwork-standard-vinyl

Stream: https://open.spotify.com/album/06S2JBsr4U1Dz3YaenPdVq

Review:

“The same filthy feeling abounds on the ferocious but perfectly polished ‘Smooth Sailing’. “I’m in flagrante/In every way”, confesses Josh, before adding, almost as an afterthought, “I blow my load over the status quo”. Quite. Yet there’s also a more meditative flipside to ‘…Like Clockwork’. ‘The Vampyre Of Time And Memory’ is a startlingly low-key piano hymnal, even with its flashes of Giorgio Moroder synths and cocaine-soul guitar solo. Its confessional lyrics, set against a twisted power ballad melody, come on like an even more fucked-up Fleetwood Mac. “Does anyone ever get this right?/I feel no love”, purrs Josh. ‘Kalopsia’, featuring Reznor, is another haunting slow jam, but pulls a flick-knife chorus on you, amping up the menace with eerie backing vocals that echo the melancholy “sha-bop- sha-bop”s of The Flamingos’ version of skulking doo-wop ode ‘I Only Have Eyes For You’.

‘…Like Clockwork’ closes with the title track, perhaps the least QOTSA-sounding song ever. If MGM are hunting the next Bond movie theme creator, this should swing it for Josh, as he indulges his dexterous falsetto, channelling the sweeping, string-laden ’60s scores of John Barry, with production help with the man from UNKLE, James Lavelle. Last year, Biffy Clyro’s Simon Neil praised Queens Of The Stone Age for their ability to make sexy records. “Which I think is hard to do in a rock band,” he said. That’s because Queens Of The Stone Age aren’t most rock bands – they’re the rock band” – NME

Choice Cut: My God Is the Sun

The Underrated Gem

 

Era Vulgaris

Release Date: 12th June, 2007

Labels: Interscope/Rekords Rekords

Producers: The Fififf Teeners (Chris Goss & Josh Homme)

Standout Tracks: Misfit Love/Make It wit Chu/Suture Up Your Future

Buy: https://ukstore.qotsa.com/products/era-vulgaris-lp

Stream: https://open.spotify.com/album/1w71aBHYJ1zTOsSsmr2Fca

Review:

“This is a band, after all, who have made a virtue of trying everything. A heavy rock band whose personal mythology is built on songs like their excellent Feel Good Hit Of The Summer (essentially a list of drugs Homme had consumed), and whose music has encompassed jazz and polka, Queens are a group whose superb music is the product of enquiring, if hedonistic minds.

It’s a policy that has brought them great success (the triumphant Songs For The Deaf Album, anchored around contributions from then-singer Mark Lanegan), and personal upheaval (founder member Nick Oliveri was sacked for transgressing too far into unacceptable behaviour), but this flexible attitude towards nearly everything is maintained rigidly here.

Produced by long-time associate and godfather figure of Californian desert rock Chris Goss, there are textbook moments of monolithic rock music here - the hypnotic ‘Turning On The Screw’, the woozy ‘Suture Up Your Future’ and seduction slow jam ‘Make It Witchu’.

Perversely, though, Homme calls this a dance record – and Battery ‘Acid” and “Misfit Love” are both shot through with the band’s own noisy interpretation of the genre.

Whatever the sources they plunder, though, here Queens Of The Stone Age perform in the same way they have throughout their career: they continue to find some clever ways to do a pretty dumb thing. It’s true, our generation may occasionally be clouded by indecision, and have its palette jaded by too much choice. Era Vulgaris, though, is a demonstration in how originality can still find a way to shine through” – Uncut

Choice Cut: Sick, Sick, Sick

The Latest/Final Album

Villains

Release Date: 25th August, 2017

Label: Matador

Producers: Mark Ronson/Mark Rankin

Standout Tracks: The Way You Used to Do/Head Like a Haunted House/The Evil Has Landed

Buy: https://ukstore.qotsa.com/products/villains

Stream: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2BYzDMKPFvl3ie7ci5G6wk

Review:

“The first place he moves to is a complete surprise. The rasping, buzzy riff of “The Way You Used To Do” has serious offhand cool, a snazzy sort of sound punctuated with handclaps, all handled with a swingy panache that even Elvis would recognise as rock’n’roll – which wouldn’t usually be the case with heavy rock. The strut-stomp “Domesticated Animals” and moody “Fortress” head back to the darkness, the former’s warning that “today is the day the wilderness comes to reclaim everything” segueing via strings into the latter’s equally cheery observation that “everyone faces darkness on their own”. But gloom is swiftly dispelled by the frantic “Head Like A Haunted House”, which bristles with euphoric determination. With a wheedling theremin squeal chasing its shrill riff, it’s the most headlong, pell-mell piece here.

Towards the album’s end, a trio of songs hint at influences lurking beneath the surface. The complex, heavy riff of “The Evil Has Landed” is pure “Trampled Underfoot”, but ultimately subsumed by a slicker funk-rock groove. Less expected is “Villains Of Circumstance”, a heavy-hearted separation plaint sung by Homme with a wan vulnerability that recall Bernard Sumner. “Miss you now, what’s come over me/Hostages of geography,” he laments, over an arrangement of subdued trepidation occasionally teetering into furtive hope. It’s quite charming, and its winsome modesty provides a pleasing counterbalance to the brash “Un-Reborn Again”, which, I kid you not, is like a slowed-down “Telegram Sam” sung by the Bowie of “The Man Who Sold The World”. Extraordinary!” – The Independent

Choice Cut: Domesticated Animals

The Queens of the Stone Age Book

Queens of the Stone Age: No One Knows

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Author: Joel McIver

Publication Date: 18th March, 2015

Publisher: Omnibus Press

Synopsis:

“This updated edition of the first ever book about Queens Of The Stone Age takes in nine years of chaos. Since the first edition appeared in 2005, Josh Homme's band has undergone multiple line-up changes, toured the world and released two acclaimed albums. They have taken on a new version of Homme's old band Kyuss in court and helped to spawn multiple projects such as Them Crooked Vultures and a supergroup featuring Homme, Foo Fighters singer Dave Grohl and Led Zeppelin bassist John Paul Jones. Along the way there have been death, near-death and physical confrontations of all kinds, with Homme's near-fatal asphyxiation during a knee operation in 2010 almost ending the band. Want to know about the pitfalls of being in a rock band? Read it all here...” – Waterstones

Buy: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00OQEA58I/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&btkr=1  

FEATURE: Early Forecast: Predicting the Hyundai Mercury Prize 2020 Runners and Riders

FEATURE:

 

Early Forecast

IN THIS PHOTO: Michael Kiwanuka

Predicting the Hyundai Mercury Prize 2020 Runners and Riders

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IT might seem a bit premature…

IN THIS PHOTO: Dave won the Mercury Prize for PSYCHODRAMA in 2019/PHOTO CREDIT: Getty Image

to start forecasting the shortlist for this year’s Hyundai Mercury Prize, but I am looking forward to hearing which artists have made the cut. Before I continue, here is some information about this year’s event:

 “We, along with BBC Music, the Prize’s broadcast partner, believe that it is important in the current crisis to continue to showcase and celebrate the achievements of British & Irish artists and musicians.

The Shortlist of 12 Hyundai Mercury Prize Albums of the Year will be revealed on Thursday 23 July.

The overall winner of the 2020 Hyundai Mercury Prize will be announced on Thursday 10 September at the Awards Show, which is being held at the Eventim Apollo in Hammersmith. The event will celebrate the twelve shortlisted artists and their albums, with BBC Music providing live television and radio coverage of the event.

Hyundai Motor, the Mercury Prize’s title partner, will be celebrating the shortlisted artists and continuing to support innovations in British & Irish music”.

I hope that everything does go ahead as planned because, although gigs have been cancelled and a lot of musicians have had to stream from home, there is the hope that the Mercury Prize will go ahead. So long as things continue as they are, it can take place – though it may have to be socially distanced and take on a different feel this year. It has been a brilliant past year for music from the U.K. and E.I.R.E.

I have been thinking about the albums that are likely to feature when the shortlist is announced on 23rd July. Though there is a couple of months to go, artists who want to be considered had to get their nominations in last week. I have looked ahead at albums yet to be released and, with a few reviews sprinkled here and there, I will make some predictions. Although I will mention thirty artists/albums, I will start off with the albums that I feel are the favourites. In terms of ones to beat, I think Dua Lipa’s Future Nostalgia, Michael Kiwanuka’s KIWANUKA and Laura Marling’s Song for Our Daughter will be favourites. KIWANUKA was released on 1st November, 2019, and it is an album that is more than worthy of inclusion. This is what NME wrote when they reviewed the album:

“Where ‘Love & Hate’ was a tentative step forward into identity politics, ‘Kiwanuka’ is a daring leap of self-affirmation. It’s Kiwanuka at his most vulnerable and exposed, as he unpacks the causes of his identity crisis and ultimately finds catharsis by holding a candid mirror up to a world that still relentlessly maligns and mistreats its minorities. “No need to blame myself,” he emotively sings on rebellious opener ‘You Ain’t The Problem’: for the first time in his career, Kiwanuka seems to have something that resembles peace as he navigates personal doubts via political observation. His technique is similar to that of poets Jackie Kay and Lemn Sissay; we see prejudice through Kiwanuka’s eyes. The fact it’s taken him so long to release a self-titled album suddenly starts to make sense: his plea of “Help me carry on” on ‘I’ve Been Dazed’ is gut-wrenching to hear”.

Although the Mercury Prize has been accused of bias towards London artists, I feel this year will be a broader one – even though Kiwanuka resides in North London. Laura Marling and Dua Lipa are sure to be on the Mercury shortlist. Marling has been nominated before – for her 2008 debut, Alas, I Cannot Swim, and 2013’s Once I Was an Eagle -, and I think Song for Our Daughter is one of the best albums of the past year. It is always hard to make predictions regarding the shortlist, as each year throws up surprises and, even if you think you know which album will win, there is a twist. Dua Lipa’s Future Nostalgia is a brilliant album, and she released it early whilst in lockdown; it gave fans a treat and, with it, resounded with critics. It is a bold and brilliant album full of superb cuts, and I think it will be among the shortlisted artists. Although the past few years have seen other genres take home the award, I reckon Pop has been overlooked and, with Future Nostalgia, here is an album that cannot be ignored! I think Nadine Shah should have won the prize in 2018 with Holiday Destination – Wolf Alice won for Visions of a Life -, but I predict the forthcoming Kitchen Sink is a hot favourite. Though the album is not out until 26th June, I feel the album is shaping up to one of this year’s very best. Singles like Ladies For Babies (Goats For Love) are among her best work and, to be fair, it would be nice to see an artist from the North (Shah was born in Whitburn, Tyne and Wear) win the Mercury. Though I am not picking an outright winner, I do think Kitchen Sink deserves to be in the mix.

IN THIS PHOTO: Nadine Shah/PHOTO CREDIT: Michael Clement Photography

In terms of the remainder of the top-ten, there are some masterful albums that just have to be included in the Mercury shortlist! FKA twigs’ MAGDALENE is one of 2019’s finest albums (released back in November), and it scored huge reviews. Here is what AllMusic wrote:

“On her early EPs and LP1, FKA twigs' Tahliah Barnett expressed the intersections of love, pain, fragility and strength with remarkable eloquence. While making Magdalene, she embodied them. Not only did she endure the end of a long-term relationship, she had surgery to remove six large uterine fibroids (colorfully described by her as a "fruit bowl of pain"). These events became the heart of her second album, which uses the duality of Mary Magdalene as a lens for its wounded yet resilient feminine energy. An herbalist and confidante of Jesus portrayed as a prostitute in the Bible, Mary Magdalene's gifts were overshadowed by her ties to a great man. Barnett digs into and subverts this relationship on Magdalene, most prominently on "Holy Terrain," a dramatic, erotic duet with Future. While she wonders if she'll ever find a man who can support her the way she's supported men in her past over its trap beats, warping metallic tones, and Bulgarian folk chants, the way she's assisted on the track by A-list co-producers like Skrillex and Jack Antonoff -- as well as by Future's repentant bars -- is a small step in the right direction. On "Mary Magdalene," she draws on both sides of her archetype, bridging women's sensual and healing powers with a heroic dose of independence”

I would be very surprised if MAGDALENE was ignored, as it is a stunning achievement. Mystery Jets put out A Billion Heartbeats in April, and it is, in my view, the best album so far from the London band. It is their most ambitious, confidence and expansive record, and I feel it deserves a Mercury nomination. J Hus’s Big Conspiracy is another terrific album and, although my predictions so far include a lot of London acts, it would be a shame if an album as celebrated and wonderful as Big Conspiracy was overlooked. Richard Dawson’s 2020 is an album a lot of people might not have heard of but is a magnificent record. This is how 2020 is described on Richard Dawson’s Bandcamp page:

“2020 is the sixth solo album from Richard Dawson, the black-humoured bard of Newcastle. The album is an utterly contemporary state-of-the-nation study that uncovers a tumultuous and bleak time. Here is an island country in a state of flux; a society on the edge of mental meltdown”.

What about the last two albums in a theorised top-ten? I think Charli XCV’s how I’m feeling now is another accomplished and hugely arresting Pop album – like Dua Lipa’s Future Nostalgia – that sort of takes the breath and stays with you long after you have heard it. Beatrice Dillon’s Workaround was released in February and, similar to Richard Dawson’s 2020, it is an album few people will instantly recognise. It received a lot of praise; this is how the album is described on her Bandcamp page:  

“‘Workaround’ is the lucidly playful and ambitious solo debut album by rhythm-obsessive musician and DJ, Beatrice Dillon for PAN. It combines her love of UK club music’s syncopated suss and Afro-Caribbean influences with a gamely experimental approach to modern composition and stylistic fusion, using inventive sampling and luminous mixing techniques adapted from modern pop to express fresh ideas about groove-driven music and perpetuate its form with timeless, future-proofed clarity”.

There are many other British and Irish albums from the past year that have made a big impact and are worthy of consideration by the Mercury panel. Albums that will definitely be on the minds of many include The Murder Capital’s When I Have Fears. Although it was released in August, I think it is still fresh in the minds of many. The Dublin five-piece have been compared to the likes Joy Division to IDLES, but their sound is very much their own; they are one of the finest bands on the scene at the moment. When I Have Fears is their debut, and it would be great to see the album on the shortlist. Whilst some might find it unlikely, I would not be shocked if Harry Styles’ Fine Line was considered too. It is another strong Pop album and, although it is more commercial than others I have mentioned, the Mercury Prize has never been averse to more mainstream Pop – Ed Sheeran’s ÷ was shortlisted in 2017. The Big Moon’s Walking Like We Do is a terrific album, and I think the London quartet are in with a shot. Lanterns on the Lakes delivered the tremendous Spook the Herd in February. This is what The Line of Best Fit wrote when they reviewed the album:

“Even in the quietest moments on Beings, it felt as if there was always something ringing out, from Angela Chan’s violin to Wilde’s effect-laden vocals. There were no gaps left unfilled, as if there was anxiousness on the band’s part about giving the sound too much room to breathe, tomeander.

That’s dissipated on Spook the Herd, and they sound so much freer as a result; if there’s a throughline, it’s Ol Ketteringham's drumming, which has always had a cascading, jazzy feel to it but this time out, he anchors the group in a way he hasn't previously.

The overarching effect is one of the calm during the storm, as if the realisation of some of the band’s worst fears has cleared their heads, sharpened their senses, and compelled them to look for the light breaking through the clouds, however dim. The results are musically elegant, emotionally eloquent, and absolutely vital”.

The 1975’s Notes on a Conditional Form arrived on 24th April and, whilst it received a mix of very positive and slightly mixed reviews, I would not bet against the band being nominated for a second year running – they were nominated for A Brief Inquiry into Online Relationships last year; Dave won for PSYCHODRAMA. Whoever is in the shortlist this year, it will be one of the most varied and close-run lists for many years. So much tremendous music has arrived since last year’s Mercury Prize, so expect July’s shortlist to be full of gold. There are other albums that have impressed me that could be in with a shout of receiving a nomination. This all a bit of fun and speculation and, whilst it is a way off, I think this year’s Mercury Prize will be an important one. I hope the event can be held and, if so, I feel more people will be tuned in than ever before. I will come to albums that, whilst they might not be in the eventual shortlist, are still worthy of selection.

IN THIS PHOTO: The 1975

A few other albums that I feel are in with a decent chance of being nominated are Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs’ Viscerals, Four Tet’s Sixteen Oceans and Tim Burgess’ I Love the New Sky. Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs hail from Newcastle Upon Tyne, and they are one of the most popular and impressive new bands coming through. I wanted to select this passage from a Music OMH review that shows how the band have evolved since their earliest days:

“Still, they have evolved with each of their albums; their songs have become faster and tighter. Their 2017 debut, Feed The Rats, consisted of two 15-minute tracks that sandwiched between them a single piece of lean meat. 2018’s King Of Cowards managed twice as many tracks in a similar run time but maintained a hazy, stoned vibe; more weight was provided in the form of an aromatic cloud of smoke that you had to wade through in order to get to the riffs”

Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs definitely deserve a Mercury nod, and it would be great to see an act from the North East like Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs or Nadine Shah win. I think Tim Burgess’ I Love the New Sky will be in the mind of the Mercury panel/judges, and the universally positive reviews the album has accrued means it is another album that one should not discount when it comes to the Mercury Prize. Porridge Radio and Georgia are two fairly new British acts. Porridge Radio are a superb band, and their Every Bad album gained a lot of love when it came out in March. Led by Dana Margolin, the fantastically instant-yet-nuanced songs signal them out as a band to watch closely. Every Bad is their debut album and, although they have been putting out music for a few years now, I think this year is one that has truly put them on the map. Similarly, Georgia (Georgia Barnes) is not brand-new, but her second album, Seeking Thrills, is her finest work. She co-wrote all twelve tracks on the album, and I would love to see her get a Mercury nomination.

There are albums that, whilst impressive and worthy, are probably a little less likely to get onto the shortlist – though one can never make concrete predictions, as the Mercury Prize is always unpredictable! Every year, you find an album on the shortlist that is less conventional than most. Whether you want to call the albums outsiders or experimental, it is refreshing to find these usually smaller artists recognised for their work. Shabaka and The Ancestors is fronted by London saxophonist Shabaka Hutchings, and the We Are Sent Here by History album is terrific. The Guardian and many others gave it a positive review, but it is a record that was not as covered and talked-about as many others I have mentioned in this feature. Glass Animals’ Dreamland, Dream Wife’s forthcoming album, So When You Gonna…, and Ultraista’s Sister are definitely albums to keep an eye out when we get closer to July. Although Dream Wife’s new album is not out until 3rd July, their eponymous debut of 2018 was not nominated for a Mercury Prize, and I think that was an oversight! They are an incredible live band, and one can learn more about their upcoming album through their Bandcamp page:

“Dream Wife (Alice Go, Bella Podpadec and Rakel Mjöll) are back with their second album and just like the title suggests, this is a record brimming with adrenaline and playful excitement (“It’s an invitation, a challenge, a call to action,” says Rakel). From the jagged, CSS-like guitar of “So When You Gonna…” to the hooky brightness of album opener “Sports!” and the whip-smart lyrical asides of “Validation”, these are moreish, pumped up, sparkling tracks that feel like newer, dynamic evolutions of debut standouts, like “F.U.U.” and “Hey Heartbreaker.”

But they often lean into sweeter, softer, more emotional moments too. “Temporary” and “After the Rain” in particular – songs about miscarriage and abortion, respectively – are complicated, painful stories told through a soft and hopeful lens. These were difficult subjects to write about, but Dream Wife think it’s important to bring these conversations into the public sphere, to refuse to brush things under the rug, to empower and support others in the process”.

Bombay Bicycle Club put out Everything Else Has Gone Wrong in January, and I wonder whether it will be one of those albums that sort of surprises people and gets onto the shortlist. Although it received mainly positive reviews, I still think it is an outside bet. Two of my favourite albums from this year have come from Cornershop and Baxter Dury. Cornershop’s England Is a Garden is their ninth studio album, and it is amazing to see how consistent the band are - considering their debut arrived in 1994! I love how much detail there is in their music, and I think their latest album is one of their most fully-realised and memorable. Baxter Dury’s The Night Chancer is a very different beast, yet it is filled with incredible characters, lyrics and performances. Dury’s sixth studio album gained him some of the best reviews of his career. This is what Gigwise wrote in their review:

“A man of many faces, Dury is able to shrug on the sheep’s clothing of any number of modern fiends. ‘Slumlord’ drags its way through a mire of underworld slime, ‘Saliva Hog’ grovels for attention and ‘Sleep People’ slurs about the bittersweet life of being a fashion blogger. Whether hammy, Disney villain or sincere, Dury’s performance is eminently believable - and enjoyable - in each.

As ever, the female vocals that feature throughout Dury’s tunes serve to counteract his own coarse drawl. The effect is magnificent, drawing out the landscape in which Dury operates and colouring it in. Slinky bass, soaring orchestra and trilling synths also serve to lift the mood, adding stage dressing, hair and make-up, and mise-en-scene to Dury’s acting masterclass.

The Night Chancers presents a storyboard of modern-day villains, but does not smirk or gloat at them. It merely watches and assimilates. Alongside its pleasing soundtrack of French pop, electronica and disco, Baxter Dury has settled on a unique formula that works”.

Three more albums are in my thoughts; ones that might well be in with a shout come July. Again, Jessie Ware has not released her latest studio album. What’s Your Pleasure is out on 19th June, and I think Ware is producing her best work to date right now. Even though the album is not out in the world, the fact we have heard quite a few tracks from it - Adore You, Mirage (Don’t Stop), Spotlight, Ooh La La, and Save a Kiss – means that many of us are familiar with her new sound and are eagerly awaiting an album. Pet Shop Boys are among the old guard, but they are one of these bands/duos that continue to innovate and surprise. Hotspot is a reliably packed and stunning album from Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe, and I think it is strong enough to be a consideration for a Mercury shortlist place. This is AllMusic’s take on Hotspot:

“Pet Shop Boys resume their exceptional late-period run with Hotspot, their third in a series of high quality collaborations with producer/engineer Stuart Price. Recorded at Berlin's legendary Hansa Studios, the acclaimed duo's 14th album finds them firmly in their element, delivering crisp electro-pop invocations, wry dance bangers, and melodic gems both sunny and stormy. Still more or less in the self-described "electronic purist" mode of 2013's Electric and 2016's Super, Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe make a few allowances here, particularly on the melancholic standout, "Burning the Heather," which features some crafty psych-inspired guitar work from Suede guitarist Bernard Butler. Opening volley "Will-O-the-Wisp" is all hard synth bite and rippling tension, possessing a specific kind of dark energy that few acts can summon so well, let alone after nearly four decades together.

Its intensity is offset by brighter dance cuts like the wry "Monkey Business" and the buoyant "Happy People" with its infectious chorus threaded with Tennant's distinctive spoken-word rhymes. Lightly cloaked political stabs pop up here and there like on "Dreamland," a collaboration with Years and Years' Olly Alexander, that imagines a borderless world free of Brexit fears and immigration policies. The clever melodic shifts that are one of Pet Shop Boys' hallmarks remain in evidence across Hotspot, giving songs like the tender "Only the Dark" a dreamy sense of uplift. Through it all, Tennant and Lowe feel as confident and progressive as ever, honoring their signature sound while continuing to push it into the future”.

Shopping are a Post-Punk band and their fourth album, All or Nothing, ranks alongside the best of this year so far. The band have pushed on and expanded since 2018’s The Official Body; All or Northing mixes in a range of genres. Often, when a band evolve and try something new, it can result in something patchy and less than what came before. In the case of Shopping, I think they are hitting a peak, and it would be nice to see that rewarded with a Mercury nod! We have to wait until 23rd July to see which twelve albums make the shortlist. I am pretty sure that most of the twelve have been covered in this feature, and I will be interested to see the albums rank alongside one another. Whilst I want Nadine Shah’s Kitchen Sink to win the Mercury, it has been such a strong last year for British and Irish music, so the competition will be hot! In a year that has been tough for the music industry, the 2020 Hyundai Mercury Prize is something we can…

IN THIS PHOTO: Shopping

ALL look forward to.

FEATURE: Love at First Sight: The Kylie Minogue Playlist

FEATURE:

Love at First Sight

The Kylie Minogue Playlist

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I am doing a series of…

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PHOTO CREDIT: Rankin and Katie Grand

birthday playlists over the next couple of months to celebrate certain artists. As it is Kylie Minogue’s birthday today (28th May), I thought it was a good time to put together a collection of her best songs in a playlist. In future weeks, I will explore some other much-loved artists but, today, I want to feature one of the greatest Pop artists of all-time. I was familiar with Minogue’s music from the age of about six (in 1989), and I have followed her ever since. Through her career, Minogue has evolved and explored numerous genres. It is amazing to think how much ground Minogue has explored in her three-and-a-bit-decade career! In honour of her birthday, here is an ultimate playlist that celebrates one of music’s most-loved and…

CELEBRATED artists.

FEATURE: Inside of Every Line: The Kate Bush Fanzine, HomeGround, and a Truly Passionate Fanbase

FEATURE:

Inside of Every Line

The Kate Bush Fanzine, HomeGround, and a Truly Passionate Fanbase

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THIS will be a fairly short feature…

but I have been reading a lot about Kate Bush and trying to get a view of how other people worship her. I was born in 1983, so my experience of Kate Bush’s music is largely in the form of looking back and sort of catching up. I missed out on many of her studio albums when they were new because of my age, but I started to pick up on her music pretty early. Bush means something different to everyone, and there are so many sides to her. One only needs to think about the people who attended her long-awaited return to the stage in 2014 – with her Before the Dawn residency – to realise the sort of love there is out there for her. Among those who saw Bush live in 2014 includes Kylie Minogue, Annie Lennox and Anna Calvi; Stephen Fry, Jude Law, Miranda Richardson and Terry Gilliam. Actor Gemma Arterton also saw Bush perform and, back in 2010, she explained how she’d love to play Kate Bush on the screen one day:

“Gemma Arterton has admitted that she would love to play Kate Bush on the big screen.

However the actress is worried about playing a living artist as they may not like her portrayal of them. And, without giving anything away, she revealed that there were quite a few people that she would like to play in a movie.

Speaking to ITN she said: "Kate Bush, maybe, in the future. There are a few people [I'd like to play], but they're still living. I just think it's weird playing someone who's still alive. If they're rock stars they can be quite scary, people like Courtney Love. 

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IN THIS PHOTO: Gemma Arterton/PHOTO CREDIT: Philip Gay/The Guardian

"I love Kate Bush and I reckon I could do a good Kate Bush impression but she's still alive - good!"

"I feel like I'm a rock star trapped in an actress's body, I'm just rubbish, but luckily I might play a rock star one time. I don't have to worry about writing music."

Arterton is back on the big screen this week in comedy Tamara Drewe, which is the new movie for The Queen filmmaker Stephen Frears, as the title character”.

I look online now, and there is so much love for Bush’s music still. Unlike most artists, Bush is seen almost as a deity: there is this camp that see her as something akin to a goddess or supernatural talent. I have covered the cult of Kate Bush and her army of fans before, but I wanted to circle back, as I have been reading a lot of books relating to Kate. Not only are there excellent books like Adventures in Kate Bush and Theory by Deborah M. Withers, My Life With Kate Bush by Riaz Ali and Kate Bush: Under the Ivy by Graeme Thomson; there is the incredible photographic book, Kate: Inside the Rainbow, from her older brother, John Carder Bush. It is wonderfully touching to see authors and fans write books about her and ensure that this stunning and hugely inspiring musician is given the respect and love she deserves.

Over forty years from her debut album, Kate Bush commands the sort of adulation and admiration reserved for a precious few. Every day, I see someone post online some sort of paen to Bush; a song shared here or a tweet that expresses devout dedication to a true original. I wonder whether it is a product of the pre-social media age, but I recall the days when there were fanzines and clubs for various artists. Maybe the quick and wide access we have to digital resources means that people would feel a bit lumbered having to subscribe to a magazine or taking the trouble to read a magazine. That said, the printed music press is still strong, though it is being threatened by the current situation and climate. I love the fact that there was a long-running and lovingly-curated fanzine dedicated to Kate Bush: the magnificent HomeGround. Actor Guy Pearce is one of the legions of fans who felt that their week was only made relevant and bright by the arrival of a new edition of HomeGround – a treasure trove of information and news. Pearce actually spoke about his love of Kate Bush with The Telegraph back in 2018:

“Do you have any of your old movie memorabilia?

I don't usually take something from a film, to be honest. Chris Nolan [the director of Memento] gave me one of those Polaroid cameras that folds out. Not the one that we use in the film, he's got that. But a new one... I do own a dress that Kate Bush wore in a video. From The Sensual World. I bought it at a charity auction. Capital Radio were doing a charity auction and I'm a huge Kate Bush fan. And my friend, who runs the Kate Bush fan magazine said to me, "You should buy it". So we rang up and bought it.

IN THIS PHOTO: Guy Pearce

Where do you keep it?

Well for some years my ex-girlfriend had it, because she was a huge Kate Bush fan as well, but I've now got it back. So it's just hanging up in the cupboard. It needs to be out on one of these [he gestures to a dressmakers' dummy that happens to be in the corner of the room]. It is pretty amazing. I remember Shaney, my old girlfriend, getting hold of it and there was a little sweat mark in the armpit and Shaney was [excitedly] going "Ohhh it's Kate Bush's sweat!"

I am digressing a bit but, for those who are unfamiliar with the Kate Bush fanzine, here are some details regarding HomeGround:

“The longest running Kate Bush fanzine, which started in 1982. The final printed issue, number 79, was published in 2011. It was run by Krystyna Fitzgerald-Morris, Peter Fitzgerald-Morris and Dave Cross from the UK.

The fanzine was conceived in Dave Cross's flat in May 1982. 25 copies were run off an office photocopier. Through the years, the fanzine was produced with ever more professionality and in fact got the support of Kate and the people around her. Fans contributed stories, artwork and poetry, while the editors followed every detail about Kate in the press worldwide, even during quieter times.

In 2014, two big books summarizing the impressive output of the fanzine were released by Crescent Moon Publishing: HomeGround Anthology volumes 1 and 2. It is a detailed look at Kate's career through the eyes of fans around the world, along with the aforementioned artwork, poetry and prose from fans”.

PHOTO CREDIT: Mondadori Portfolio/Getty Images

I have both editions of the published HomeGround books. Volume one and two can be purchased and enjoyed, and here is some more information about them – starting off with a quote from Guy Pearce:

“For a Kate Bush fan there was nothing more satisfying, other than perhaps Kate herself dropping around for a quick cup of tea, than the arrival of a much awaited issue of HomeGround. Just as the illusion of being the one and only devotee reaches overwhelming heights a surprise package is delivered as a joyous reminder of Kate Bush’s hold over, not just me, but many of us.”

… so Emmy Award winning actor Guy Pearce introduces HomeGround: The Kate Bush Magazine Anthology 1982-2012, a project we have worked on for over five years, and which we are delighted to say, is now available to order.

The first issue of HomeGround appeared in 1982, four years after Kate Bush’s dramatic debut with Wuthering Heights. Starting with an ancient manual typewriter, real scissors and a pot of genuine paste, we mounted articles on recycled backing sheets and added hand-drawn artwork to fill the gaps. The first issue was photocopied, the pages hand-stapled together and twenty-five copies were given away to fans we knew. Only later did we discover the magic of word processing, and then desktop publishing. 

From those beginnings HomeGround became a cornerstone of the ‘Kate-speaking world’, going on to co-organise with the official fan club four fan conventions and events at which Kate Bush and members of her family and band appeared; arrange at her request a team of fans to be extras in two of her videos, and organise annual informal fan gatherings on Glastonbury Tor, and at Top Withens, the storm-blown ruin on Haworth Moor thought to be the place which inspired the creation of Emily Brontë’s Wuthering Heights. Years before the internet, HomeGround became a place where fans could discuss Kate’s music, and a place where they could publish creative writing and artwork inspired by that music.

Built around the thread of HomeGround’s retracing of the scenes of Kate’s musical career, these unique books include material from over 400 HomeGround contributors from the thirty-year existence of the magazine, and include material inspired by all periods of Kate’s musical progression.

This is a two-volume set published both in hardcover and paperback. Volume 1 covers Kate’s career from the late 1970s to the late 1980s – from before Wuthering Heights to The Sensual World and the box set set This Woman’s Work. Volume 2 covers Kate’s career from the 1990s to date – from The Red Shoes to 2011’s 50 Words for Snow. Both volumes include a detailed Kate timeline and discography and a “who’s who” of people involved in the story. 

IN THIS PHOTO: Kate Bush in 1985

These volumes also contain a definitive collection of the beautiful Kate-related artwork from professional artists Paulina Stuckey-Cassidy and Steven Brown, the riotous Cosmic Kate graphic stories of Chris Tilley, the Kate-related extemporary photography of Rob Assenberg, Paul Camilleri, and Jules Angel and the work of published poets John Carder Bush, Collin Kelley, Kyla Clay-Fox, Antonello Saeli, and Jeff Side”.

I thought I knew everything about Kate Bush before I read the HomeGround books, but it has been a voyage of discovering looking through these pages! I am not sure whether other artists have had fanzines of such quality and depth, but HomeGround is replete with illustrations and poems about Bush; collated reviews of her albums and interviews. It is a shame HomeGround printed its last edition in 2011, because there is still a voracious appetite out there for Bush’s music – in an age where we get most of our music content online, I think a fanzine would be a wonderfully archaic and welcomed thing! HomeGround has given me a wonderfully vivid and variegated view of Kate Bush’s biggest fans and how, since 1982, she has commanded such dedication from so many people. One can glean a certain amount from biographies and archived interviews. HomeGround provides this incredibly detailed and rich documentation of Bush’s career and the sheer loyalty of her fanbase. I am just finishing the second edition, and I have been wondering whether a third stage of HomeGround could be started.

Bush has not released another studio album since 2011’s 50 Words for Snow, though she cannot be done yet – one suspects there are another couple of albums left! Also, as social media is so vast and predominant, we can collate articles and pieces concerning Kate Bush from 2011 to now. Her 2014 Before the Dawn residency is ripe for inclusion, and there has been some Bush activity since then – including the remastering of her back catalogue and the release of a book of lyrics, How to Be Invisible, in 2018. So many artists have been inspired by Bush – including St. Vincent and Bat for Lashes -, and I think a new compendium of HomeGround would take Bush’s story from 2011-2020 and introduce a new line of fans to her work. Regardless, I love the HomeGround fanzine, and the books of the magazines (if you follow?) are essential purchases for diehards and casual Bush fans alike. The sort of intense and fascinating chronicling of Bush’s work and fan/media appreciation has not really been seen since 2011, but she continues to have articles and books written about her – there are two upcoming books of photographing arriving fairly soon. I have read through the illuminating and fascinating pages of HomeGround (the books) and it is so moving to see so much love on the pages and inside of every line! One can question whether an artist warrants such lofty and fulsome appreciation but, when you listen to the music of Kate Bush and explore her visual and audio world, it is…

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IN THIS PHOTO: Kate Bush in front of Royal Liver Building in Liverpool while on the Tour of Life/PHOTO CREDIT: Getty Images

NOT hard to see why.

FEATURE: Spotlight: Public Practice

FEATURE:

Spotlight

Public Practice

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THIS is a part of the year…

where festivals are offering stages and platforms to the best new artists around. I think it is a shame that so many acts who were hoping to play to new fans and get more exposure might have to wait until next year. Hailing from New York, Public Practice (Sam York: Vocals, Vince McClelland: Guitar, Drew Citron: Bass/Synth/Vocals, Scott Rosenthal: Drums) have delivered one of this year’s best albums in the form of Gentle Grip. The List published an article earlier in the year that discussed the album’s upcoming arrival and what went into the recording:

“New album Gentle Grip, out on Fri 15 May, deals with tension and release, both musically (danceable rhythm sections cut through with angular guitars) and in the lyrics. Lead lyricist York tells us that 'the overarching themes surround essential "moral gymnastics" – how do we function in society? How do you walk through your daily life trying to be good when everything is so corrupt?' This constant questioning and lack of certainty adds to the group's unpredictability, with songs taking unexpected turns and wrong-footing the listeners. 'You don't always get the chorus when you want it,' York says, 'and some songs will leave you questioning what the chorus actually is'.

The group recorded the majority of Gentle Grip in their own practice space and studio, something that York feels they were extremely fortunate to be able to do. 'Getting to do it ourselves, and pick and choose how we wanted songs to sound, allowed us to make them exactly what we wanted them to be'. A major exception to this is the album's blistering opening track 'Moon', which was recorded live in another larger studio. Recording it live allowed Public Practice to introduce themselves to the world on their terms, as a formidable unit, weaving together sounds to create an uncompromising sound.

In terms of their live gigs, York says the band very much enjoy what they're doing and want the audience to feel and understand that. Discussing how they put on a show, she says, 'we don't shy away from the fact that we are performers, we don't shy away from the theatrics', referencing not only key post-punk/new wave inspirations like Talking Heads but also traditional pop music. 'The music is how we got to the stage, but when you have that stage you should use it'”.

I have listened to Gentle Grip quite a lot, and I am finding new things to enjoy each time I visit. In terms of sound and influence, I think people have comparted Public Practice to everyone from Blondie to The B-52’s. In their review, NME had this to say:

“‘Gentle Grip’ presents some conundrums for both listeners and the band themselves. In its subject matter, it ruminates on the “moral gymnastics” of life in 2020 – one where we’re trying to do our best for the world around us, but are also still driven by material wants and desires. The early Blondie gleam of ‘Compromised’ finds York torn between the two sides over tumbling guitar hooks, spinning circles around herself as she whispers: “House is important/Car is important/Shoes are important […] Trees are important.”

Sonically, though, the album is also a puzzle – namely, where on earth is it going to go next? That unpredictability exists as it changes from track to track but also within each individual song themselves. Opener ‘Moon’ is a dark, swirling piece that puts Public Practice’s love of the theatrical at the forefront, York presiding like a mythical higher being over a thunderstorm of drummer Scott Rosenthal’s beats and McClelland and Citron’s spiralling, spiky accompaniments. Later, ‘Disposable’ metamorphoses from chunky Rapture riffs ready to soundtrack the grimiest of DIY discos to something more fragmented and eerie, like morning sun piercing through warehouse windows and shaking you out of party mode.

‘Gentle Grip’ doesn’t let you return to the real world for too long though, continuing on its ever-surprising journey through irresistible grooves and glittering masterpieces of invention. We might not be able to hit a proper dancefloor for some time but, with their debut album, Public Practice are urging us all to push the furniture aside and find relief in the space we’ve got. Don’t let their call go unanswered”.

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I would encourage people to go and listen to Gentle Grip, as Public Practice have many years in the music industry ahead of them. That is where they are now and, without knowing when they can tour and get out and see people, I want to head back to last year when many sites and magazines were starting to pick up on this remarkable band. There aren’t too many features/interviews online relating to the band, but DIY featured them in 2019. I have picked out a couple of questions that I feel are important when it comes to understanding the band: which artists inspired them and how important New York is:

“Who were some artists that inspired you when you were just starting out (and why)?

The U2 album that they installed in everyone’s phone, unsolicited. Every time we plug in my phone in the van on tour this record we didn’t even know existed plays through the speakers and now we all inadvertently know the words to the first song.

You’re based in New York - what’s the music scene like there at the moment? Are there other artists breaking through at the same time that you take inspiration from?

We are very lucky to be a part of such a vibrant music scene in NYC where basically any night of the week there are bands worth seeing playing near by. We have a little family of bands that we play with often including Pill, Bodega, Future Punx, B Boys and Gustaf”.

I do love the band, and I appreciate how fresh and uplifting their music sounds whilst, at the same time, providing plenty of nuance and interesting angles. It is a pity they will not get to tour for a while, but I encourage people to follow them online and go and buy their music. I wanted to end with a recent interview from NME, as they were keen to catch up with one of the hottest rising bands of the moment. The interview is fascinating – I did not want to include the whole thing -, but they were asked about the future and touring:

“We’re going through a big cultural shift, which is a pretty weird time to be releasing records,” frontwoman Sam York sighs from her apartment. “We put a lot of work into this record and I’m excited to share it any way we can, but not being able to do shows is pretty heartbreaking as a performer.”

Over the last couple of years, Public Practice have made themselves an integral part of the New York DIY scene alongside the likes of Bodega, Future Punx and Pill. This isn’t any of the members’ first rodeo – York and guitarist Vince McClelland were formerly a part of promising post-punk group WALL, while bassist Drew Citron and drummer Scott Rosenthal were bandmates in Beverly. Given those projects, it’s unsurprising that this current outfit have become quietly renowned as one of the most exciting bands in the city, both on and off stage. Their songs and performances are theatrical and compelling, and are always ready to fuel a good time.

While other artists have been going live online, the New Yorkers have mixed opinions about doing it themselves. York concedes that there are “a lot of cool, creative things that can be done with live-streaming”, but she can’t reconcile the idea of performing to a screen with the feeling of an actual gig. “Being on stage with lights and the energy of a room full of people is incredibly powerful,” she says. “That’s something that that simply does not happen with this kind of online interaction. I don’t think it’s comparable.”

As for what lies ahead for Public Practice beyond the next few months, the band themselves aren’t sure. McClelland has been using the time in isolation to work on new music, while York has been struggling to access her creativity. They’re also aware of how slow the return to physically being able to take in culture will be. “I genuinely can’t picture what the cultural landscape is gonna look like,” York sighs again. One thing she can promise is the band will “keep making music we believe in and feel happy and excited to perform and share.” No matter what the future looks like, at least we’ll have that”.

I have high hopes for Public Practice, as they have a magnificent sound and have released a belting album. I hope they get to come to the U.K. later this year or next year, and I would really love to see them play. The New York band are definitely worth keeping an eye out for, as they are going to be…

PRETTY big very soon.

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Follow Public Practice

FEATURE: Vinyl Corner: Rod Stewart – Atlantic Crossing

FEATURE:

 

Vinyl Corner

Rod Stewart – Atlantic Crossing

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IN the 1970s…

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Rod Stewart’s career went through a couple of different phases. It was a bit of a mixed and slow start to the decade. 1974’s Smiler – his fifth solo album – gained some mixed reviews, and it was not one of his best works. Things change drastically the following year when Atlantic Crossing arrived. Though it is hard to buy the album on vinyl in perfect condition, there are options around, and you can pick up a pretty good copy. Stewart’s sixth solo album went to number-one on the U.K. charts, and Atlantic Crossing was his bid to gain some new commercial success; Stewart changed direction on Atlantic Crossing (and he signed to Warner Brothers), and the album was divided into two different sides:

“Fast Half (Side One)

1.    "Three Time Loser" (Rod Stewart) – 4:03

2.    "Alright for an Hour" (Stewart, Jesse Ed Davis) – 4:17

3.    "All in the Name of Rock 'N' Roll" (Stewart) – 5:02

4.    "Drift Away" (Mentor Williams) – 3:43

5.    "Stone Cold Sober" (Stewart, Steve Cropper) – 4:12

Slow Half (Side Two)

1.    "I Don't Want to Talk About It" (Danny Whitten) – 4:47

2.    "It's Not The Spotlight" (Barry Goldberg, Gerry Goffin) – 4:21

3.    "This Old Heart of Mine" (Lamont Dozier, Brian Holland, Eddie Holland, Sylvia Moy) – 4:04

4.    "Still Love You" (Stewart) – 5:08

5.    "Sailing" (Gavin Sutherland) – 4:37”.

I love Rod Stewart’s voice through Atlantic Crossing, and I think the album contains some of his best tracks. I grew up listening to songs like Sailing, I Don’t Want to Talk About It, Three Time Loser and Drift Away. During this album, Stewart cut ties with long-time associates such as Ronnie Wood and the musicians he had worked with when he was signed to Mercury Records. Completely overhauling his sound and working practice, Stewart recruited The Memphis Horns and three-quarters of Booker T and the MG’s. Rod Stewart left The Faces by the end of 1975. The group disliked his change of sound, and it seemed like Stewart and the rest of the group were moving in different directions. This article from Ultimate Classic Rock sheds more light on the success of Atlantic Crossing and Rod Stewart’s view on the album:

 “Although Stewart continued to struggle to gain traction on American radio stations, Atlantic Crossing was a sizable hit the U.S. as well as the U.K., breaking the Top 10 and going gold in the States while hitting No. 1 in Britain and spinning off a pair of Top Five singles ("Sailing," No. 1, and "This Old Heart of Mine," No. 4). Two years later, Crossing would deliver yet another hit, when "I Don't Want to Talk About It" was released as a two-sided single with "The First Cut Is the Deepest," a cut from his follow-up effort A Night on the Town.

Although some listeners, missed the Faces-style rootsy charm of his previous records, Crossing's success — coupled with guitarist Ron Wood joining the Rolling Stones — put the writing on the wall for the band, as well as Stewart's increasingly commercial focus on subsequent efforts.

"The world is a lot bigger than Great Britain and the Faces. A lot bigger," he told Creem. "I must have had blinkers on these last five years. I must have been mad using the same musicians over and over again. I should have branched out a long time ago. All the fun has come back into recording for me at last. I've never liked going into the studio and now I can't wait to go back. I'd always used the Faces on my albums so for that reason I've wanted to keep the band together. But now I know I can stand on my own two feet."

That attitude spilled over into the Faces' final round of dates, a tumultuous U.S. tour booked through the fall of 1975, and by the end of the year, the group announced it was splitting up — leaving Stewart to get right back to work on his next solo album.

"It only took three weeks' solid recording time to do it," he laughed. "When an album is only 40 minutes long, I'm a firm believer that it shouldn't take a year to make. I think I could make another one before Christmas".

Although many of the songs on Atlantic Crossing were not written by Rod Stewart, I think he makes the tracks his own. Stewart would find further success with 1976’s A Night on the Town; an album that contains classics like The First Cut Is the Deepest. The 1970s was a changeable and mixed decade for Stewart in terms of success, but I think Atlantic Crossing is a great album and one of his best solo efforts. In their review, this is what AllMusic had to say:

“Rod Stewart's sixth album was called Atlantic Crossing because the singer was literally crossing the Atlantic, making America his new home for reasons of the heart (he was fully enamored with actress Britt Ekland at the time) and the wallet (he was eager to escape Britain's restrictive tax rates). As it happens, 1975 was a perfect time for a new beginning for Stewart: the Faces were falling apart, his last LP, Smiler, wasn't roundly loved, and he had wrapped up his contract with Mercury and signed with Warner, so he completely rebooted, hiring legendary producer Tom Dowd to steer him through a slick, streamlined revamping of his signature sound. The first thing to be ditched were any traces of the ragged folkie who had popped up on all his first five solo albums, including on his career-making hit "Maggie May," a move that may partially have been due to Stewart's longtime writing partner Martin Quittenton deciding to sever ties with him.

Without those ringing acoustic guitars, Dowd and Stewart ratcheted up the rock & roll, soul, and whiskey-soaked ballads, first taking a stab at recording the album with the MG's (outtakes of which popped up on Warner's 2009 double-disc Collector's Edition of the album), then expanding this core group with other studio pros who could easily settle into a smooth, polished groove. The results were splashy without being glitzy, soulful without being gritty, an impressive big-budget revamp of Stewart that benefited enormously from a clutch of great songs, both originals and covers. Tellingly, all the great originals arrive on the first side dubbed "The Fast Half," with Rod writing blistering, funny rockers about being laid up three times with VD ("Three Time Loser") and suffering through an unwanted sobriety ("Stone Cold Sober"), then easing back for a quick romance on the Jesse Ed Davis co-written "Alright for an Hour" -- all good indications that his heart was still at a party. But the "Slow Half" did reveal that Stewart had lost none of his fine, nuanced interpretive skills, as he tore into Danny Whitten's "I Don't Want to Talk About It," took his first stab at "This Old Heart of Mine," and kept "Sailing" from drifting away into sentimentality. When taken together, the two halves might have showcased a somewhat slicker Stewart, but he was still the same old Rod with a big, oversized heart and an irresistible bad boy smirk. He may have crossed the Atlantic, but he was none worse for the wear for his journey, at least not yet.

Even if you are not a Rod Stewart fan, I think Atlantic Crossing is a fantastic album with plenty of variety and standouts. It is brilliantly produced (by Tom Dowd), and Stewart gives every song his all. Atlantic Crossing is not often talked about, but I think that it is a great album…

WORTH some serious exploration.

FEATURE: An Underrated Genius: A Perfect Ten: Ringo Starr’s Best Beats

FEATURE:

 

An Underrated Genius

IN THIS PHOTO: Ringo Starr captured in London in 1963/PHOTO CREDIT: Cyrus Andrews/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images

A Perfect Ten: Ringo Starr’s Best Beats

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I will try not to step on my own toes…

PHOTO CREDIT: Bent Rej

and repeat myself in this feature. Excitedly over-eager and prepared for Ringo Starr’s eightieth birthday on 7th July, I composed a piece about him back in March. Although it has been less than two months since I last wrote about the mighty Ringo Starr, I will try and approach things from a different angle this time around. There will be some similarities: the word ‘genius’ appears on both features; I will be highlighting his finest drumming performances with The Beatles; I want to bring in words from other people, too – those who are far more qualified to explain why a particular bit of drumming is spellbinding and reveal some of the technical aspects of the performance. I do not need to give even casual fans of The Beatles details about when Starr (Richard Starkey) joined the band and what he brought. One reason why I have decided to revisit Starr’s percussive prowess – aside from the fact that the master turns eighty in a matter of weeks – is to satisfy a passion I have for his playing, whilst simultaneously dispelling any notions that he was a bad drummer! Though there was a time when people joked about Starr’s talent and did not give his drumming proper respect, there are still people today who see Starr as hugely inferior to other members of The Beatles.

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IN THIS PHOTO: Ringo Starr with the rest of The Beatles/PHOTO CREDIT: Getty Images

Sure, John Lennon and Paul McCartney wrote the majority of the band’s songs and they must be regarded as two of the finest songwriters who have ever graced the planet. It sort of irks me that there are some who deride Starr’s brilliance or feel he was, in any way, a minimal and minor player in The Beatles’ story. I think so many of the band’s best songs are heightened and defined by Starr’s unique and wonderful playing – as I underlined and explained in my last feature. I will be quoting heavily from other articles, as I can only really describe why a performance hits me, rather than giving you any real technical specifications or proper explanation. I think Starr is not only an underrated genius; he has also inspired pretty much every drummer who has come since him – whether they know it or have just subconsciously absorbed Starr’s magnetic and phenomenal work. I think Starr’s drumming chops should not be doubted or undervalued, and there are articles that explain why Starr is such a terrific player. There is a magnificent feature that was published a few years back that goes into detail regarding Ringo Starr’s style, the kit he used and why he remains so distinct. Before I move on to selecting ten songs that perfectly epitomise Starr’s wide-ranging and undeniable gifts, I want to quote a few bits from the (excellent) article:

“He’s not a technical drummer. Men like Buddy Rich and Gene Krupa would run rings around him, but he is a good solid rock drummer with a steady beat, and he knows how to get the right sound out of his drums.”

That’s how Sir George Martin, the man who produced The Beatles into existence, summed up the magic of Ringo’s drumming genius. No, it wasn’t technically perfect, but it had an intuitive soul that all truly great musicians have. So how did he do it?

PHOTO CREDIT: Express Newspapers/Getty Images

Ringo was also known for “painting” his hi-hat with an unorthodox swing. He swung his stick at a more horizontal angle, glancing back and forth off of the hi-hat. He would also aim to hit the middle of the stick, not the tip. The beauty of this technique is that he could add more sound without expending more energy, simply by adjusting the angle of his swing and how close to the tip he would hit. This technique is easy to spot in early hits like “I Saw Her Standing There.”

Ringo’s drum sound was a collaboration between Ringo and master producer George Martin. It began with Ringo’s unorthodox approach to drum tuning. Up to that time, many of the early rock ‘n’ roll drummers were still aiming for the same tones produced by jazz, swing and bebop players.

Ringo wanted deeper, more resonant tones. He started by tightening his top heads and loosening the bottom heads. He also tinkered with the bass, removing the front head and adding blankets or pillows to muffle the sound. Ringo would also play with thin tea towels draped over the toms and a pack of cigarettes or roll of masking tape resting on the snare. As a final touch, Ringo removed the resonant heads from his toms, creating a louder, flatter effect”.

IN THIS PHOTO: Ringo Starr in 1964

Whilst it might be reductive to distil Starr’s awe-inspiring drummer to just ten songs, I would suggest people dig the back catalogue of The Beatles and listen to everything Starr played on. Whilst not every Starr turn is hugely memorable, there are certain albums that are raised to God-like levels because of Starr’s beats – Rubber Soul (1965) and Abbey Road (1969) stand out to me. Whilst every Beatles fan will have differing opinions as to Ringo Starr’s best drumming turns, I think there is some consensus as to songs that are simply impossible to ignore! I will be quoting some passages from a DRUM! Magazine article from last year that goes into detail about Starr’s best performances – I will not present my favourite songs in chronological order (as I am pretty annoying like that!). I think the finest Ringo Starr drumming performance is on Rain – which was a B-side on Paperback Writer (a non-album track) in 1966. When it comes to placing the other nine songs, it can be tough; for that reason, I am not going to rank his best drumming turns. I am also thankful to Goldmine Magazine, as they also provide some great insight into Ringo Starr’s choice tracks…

Rain (1966)

This is The Beatles song that, to me, really defines why Ringo Starr is a genius. If anyone is under the impression Starr was a crap drummer – silly, idiotic people -, then Rain should silence any doubts – whilst simultaneously blowing your mind wide fuck*ng open!

“Generally acknowledged as one of the percussive highlights of Starr’s Beatles career — by critics, fans, and Ringo himself — the 1966 B-side found Ringo moving all around the kit with precision while still remaining firmly in the pocket.“It was the first time and last time I ever played that busy,” Starr has said, although he actually had played in a not dissimilar fashion a few months earlier when he recorded the almost-as-wonderful drums for“She Said She Said” on “Revolver”  - Goldmine Magazine

“For those who disparage Starr as an unadventurous drummer, “Rain” should prove to be an ear-opener. After firing off bracing snare shots, he’s all over the kit by the halfway point of the first verse, and he stays that way through the entire song, free-forming fills and never repeating a phrase. The Beatles cut five takes of the rhythm track, recording them at a fast tempo but then slowing down the tape, which resulted in lower tones and a more disorienting drum sound.

Rather than a standard-issue guitar solo, there’s a break at 2:24 during which McCartney performs a booming, squiggly run. Starr locks in with him, matching every note on the snare before taking off wildly into the song’s psychedelic coda, replete with Lennon’s drug-induced backward chants. Summing up his own work on the track, Starr is anything but humble, at one point calling it “the best out of all the records I’ve ever made” – DRUM! Magazine

Tomorrow Never Knows (1966)

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There are plenty of golden Ringo Starr performances on 1966’s Revolver – I’m Only Sleeping, She Said She Said (which I will talk about later), in addition to And Your Bird Can Sing among them -, but the album’s final track takes some beating! The Beatles produced more their fair share of epic album closers (they would end their next album, Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, with A Day in the Life; another genius Starr performance!), and Tomorrow Never Knows ranks alongside the best. The power and technique from Ringo Starr throughout the song is spinetingling!

“There are tape loops galore—seagull sounds, an orchestra droning on a B-flat chord, a finger rubbing the rim of a wine glass—along with backward guitar solos and other bits of aural experimentation. Underneath Lennon’s almost unrecognizable sneer (altered by a Leslie speaker and artificial double-tracking) is a pounding, hypnotic, and utterly sensational drum performance by Starr. Playing on slackened tom heads, his minimalist pattern of eighth-notes on the crash (with a subtle variation on his snare-and-tom work from “Ticket To Ride”) barely waivers. Paired with McCartney’s equally repetitive bass line, it’s the perfect underpinning for this daring musical free-for-all” – DRUM! Magazine

Something (1969)

Whilst some would not include Something in the list of the top-ten Ringo Starr drumming performances, I think it should be. The George Harrison-written highlight from Abbey Road (alongside his other track, Here Comes the Sun) is almost perfect! From the sublime vocal to the gorgeous and deeply personal lyrics, I think Starr takes it over the top with his wonderfully-judged and phenomenal drumming.

“Ringo once described his drumming on “Abbey Road” as “tom-tom madness” — due to the fact that he had just obtained a marvelous-sounding new kit with calf skin drum heads — and that madness is in full effect on this song. At first blush the drums might sound simple, but once the bridge kicks in, Starr elevates the track to another level by upping the dynamics considerably. There’s a version of the song on YouTube that has the drums isolated — hearing that bridge section is absolutely mind blowing” – Goldmine Magazine

In My Life (1965)

There are so, so many Rubber Soul tracks that stand in the mind, but I think John Lennon’s In My Life is the best of them all! It is such an emotional and beautiful song that, to be honest, could take the breath with no drumming at all. It was quite brave adding percussion in, but Starr’s playing adds something extra to the song; it seems to have its own voice that transforms In My Life from a wonderful song to a masterpiece.

“The instrumentation on “In My Life” matched the song’s gentle Baroque pop—Lennon on softly strummed electric rhythm, Harrison playing lattice-like riffs, McCartney performing understated bass lines. As for Starr, he provided a subtle rhythmic underpinning that is perhaps the song’s greatest sonic asset. Rather than keep a straight 2 and 4 beat, he composed an arresting and memorable soft-funk rhythm based around the hi-hat, snare, and bass drum—he doesn’t even touch his toms and crashes—and only attends to the ride during the tune’s captivating bridges (“In my life, I’ve loved them all”) where he splits his time between quarter- and eighth-note patterns.

Starr later overdubbed a tasteful tambourine part that underscored the song’s wistful lyrics, and Martin added a brilliantly composed, Bach-influenced piano solo section that sounded remarkably like a harpsichord. Everything came together to complete what Lennon would later call his “first real major piece of work” – DRUM! Magazine

She Said She Said (1966)

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Revolver is an album that is packed with exceptional drumming performances. Whilst Starr does not top the work he did on Tomorrow Never Knows on She Said She Said, I just adore what he did to the track and how he brings so much passion, texture and nuance to the song. Take a listen to the song and concentrate on Starr’s percussion: it is a masterclass in how sparsity and subtlety can make as big an impression as power, potency and loads of layers.

“Ringo’s unorthodox drumming style has given the band some of the most memorable moments in their songs. Take, for instance, the John Lennon-written bluesy classic ‘Come Together’. Starr’s drums on this single are a testament to his laconic style. His style is swinging and cultured, as he “plays with his shoulder”—it leads to some off-beat and unique fills. It’s a style that is almost impossible to replicate.

The song ‘She Said She Said’, a track penned by Lennon for the 1966 album Revolver, was once described as “an ‘acidy’ song” by Lennon. It was the beginning of the band’s rejection of their popstar tagline. They were now expanding not only their sound but their minds.

The lyrics were inspired by actor Peter Fonda’s comments during an LSD trip in August 1965. The striking opening lines “She said, she said, I know what it’s like to be dead,” were attributed by Lennon after a particular night with acid took place with members of The Beatles and The Byrds.

‘She Said, She Said’ is also a contentious song for the fact it doesn’t feature Paul McCartney at all on the record. Macca allegedly stormed out of the recording sessions after an argument over the arrangement of the tune. But Ringo Starr more than makes up for his departure bringing an understated rhythm to this psychedelic number” – Far Out Magazine

Strawberry Fields Forever (1967)

This is another Beatles masterpiece, and it is part of the double A-side (with Penny Lane) that dropped in 1967 which still sounds out of this world today! Of course, we all know John Lennon wrote the track and, whilst the rest of the band definitely bring their A-game, it is, again, Starr’s drumming that transforms the song into this biblical, transcendent thing.

“With each new verse, he opens the kit up more, laying down a furious sixteenth-note groove on the floor tom while increasing the intensity of his fills. By the final verse, taken from the “harder” second take, he’s bearing down like he’s in a drum line. After the innovative fade-out/fade-in fake, Starr is in full freak-out mode, performing some of his most flamboyant and sophisticated licks before the whole thing ebbs away with Lennon’s infamous “cranberry sauce” line, which many listeners thought was “I bury Paul,” one more element of the “Paul is dead” hoax” – DRUM! Magazine

I Feel Fine (1964)

There are two camps of Beatles fans: those who prefer their tighter and more Pop-y songs pre-1966, and those who gravitate towards the more experimental songs that appeared on Revolver and albums after that. I think Ringo Starr’s drumming went up a notch on Rubber Soul in 1965, but there are some cuts pre-1965 where he really brought the heat! I Feel Fine is a prime example from 1964. This Lennon-penned single features one of Starr’s most joyous and accomplished performances – it is definitely in my top-five!

“Paul McCartney: “The drumming is what we used to think of as ‘What’d I Say’ drumming…sort of a Latin R&B that Ray Charles’ drummer played on the original record, and we used to love it. One of the big clinching factors about Ringo as the drummer in the band was that he could really play that so well” – Goldmine Magazine

“And so “I Feel Fine” starts, and after Harrison’s splendid, arpeggiated opening riff, Starr grabs hold. Although the song is in 4/4 time, Starr performs the verses as something of a subtle hybrid of mambo and R&B, the main influence being the Latin feel in Ray Charles’ hit “What’d I Say.” While teasing the ride cymbal with a groovy, heavily accented “stuttering” pattern, he alternates between the tom and snare rim clicks as if they were conga drums—a sexy and stylish flow that works as the perfect counterpoint to Harrison’s distinctive lead lines” - DRUM! Magazine

She Loves You (1963)

There is not much I can say about this iconic single that has not been said before! Released in the U.K. on 23rd August, 1963, She Loves You is one of the greatest singles ever released. It is quintessential 1960s Pop, albeit on a different plain to anything else. The fact the song has inspired and survived for nearly sixty years is down to the band giving it their all – including a tremendous bit of drumming from Ringo Starr!

“Beginning with rolling toms followed by a staccato beat during the chorus and the open hi-hat that became a Starr trademark in the early years, the drive, passion and pure energy here is undeniable” – Goldmine Magazine

A Day in the Life (1967)

I do not think any album has ended as memorably as Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. A Day in the Life is a symphony in itself, and it could not have appeared in any other position on the album – it ends so dramatically, any song that follows it would have sounded pale in comparison. By 1967, Starr was near the top of his game, and A Day in the Life is full of so much detail and nuance. The lyrics, vocals and compositions make A Day in the Life a true masterpiece; Starr’s unbelievable drumming, again, turns a piece of near-genius into an unbeatable and untouchable epic.

“Lesser drummers might have approached Lennon’s folk-flavored first verses with a straight beat or even a soft shuffle, but Starr treats them as musical theater, dispensing with the idea of rhythm in favor of those well-placed, well-spaced tom flurries. Played on low-tuned calfskin heads and drenched with echo, they sound like timpani in a concert hall, contrasting with the spine-tingling effect of Lennon’s detached, almost otherworldly vocals.

After an orchestral crescendo and the ring of an alarm clock, Starr keeps militaristic pace with McCartney through the cheeky “woke up, fell out of bed/dragged a comb across my head” section, and then we’re plunged back into Lennon’s kaleidoscopic vision. Here, Starr is in full bloom, working double-duty as a peerless timekeeper and a virtuoso pit drummer, providing ingeniously propulsive tom licks that rise up to meet Lennon as the song spirits away to its shattering conclusion” – DRUM! Magazine

Come Together (1969)

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The reason I have only quoted from Goldmine Magazine and DRUM! Magazine is because, between them, they have chosen the very finest Ringo Starr performances in their lists. There are one or two songs that are exclusive to each – ones they do not both mention -, but I am not being lazy by only selecting onr song outside of that (She Said She Said), as I agree with what they say. There are some notable omissions – I have only selected ten tracks to show you the tip of the Starr iceberg of drumming genius -, but I could not ignore Abbey Road’s Come Together. Like Rubber Soul, Abbey Road is a brilliant percussion album where Starr turns every song into something golden. I could have selected I Want You (She’s So Heavy) and The End in addition to Come Together and Something. I feel bad fort leaving out Here Comes the Sun, but it just shows how many staggering performances from Starr there were on Abbey Road alone – let alone every other Beatles album.  

“Emerick’s innovations worked wonders on the minimalistic drum figures Starr employed on “Come Together.” Coming off a sixteenth-note triplet on the hi-hat, Starr plays what is now one of his signature licks, a melodic triplet roll across the toms—“tapita tapita tapita tap”—that segues into the backbone of the song, a floor tom–led pattern that sounds both groovy and ominous. On the next two choruses, he transcends the “less is more” ethos with beautifully placed snare cracks on the 2 and 4, and it is not until the organ/guitar solo section that he opens the kit up, laying down a driving rhythm on the crash and snare. For the final chorus, he reduces his playing to a single quarter-note bass drum pattern before taking flight once again.

All in all, it’s a masterful performance that once again underscores Starr’s ability to compose the perfect hooks and to play exactly what is needed at exactly the right point in a song” – DRUM! Magazine