FEATURE: Best of British: Why Kate Bush Is the Finest Female Artist This Country Has Ever Produced

FEATURE:

 

 

Best of British

IN THIS PHOTO: Bush performing Room for the Life on the Tour of Life in 1979/PHOTO CREDIT: Max Browne 

Why Kate Bush Is the Finest Female Artist This Country Has Ever Produced

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I have sort of touched upon this…

 IN THIS PHOTO: Kate Bush on the Hounds of Love music video shoot in 1985/PHOTO CREDIT: John Carder Bush

in other Kate Bush features. I have argued why Bush needs to be made a Dame and how, over forty-five year since her first professional recording, she is one of the most influential artists in the world. Some might say that it is a bit of a no-brainer in terms of Bush being the greatest British female artist ever. Maybe it would be more contentious taking it international as some would say Joni Mitchell is a more influential and successful artist. I could argue against that but, when it comes to British women, we have some stunning talent. I am a huge fan of Annie Lennox, Amy Winehouse, and Dusty Springfield. There have been so many terrific and influential British women through the musical years; we have so many stunning female artists coming through right now. I am going to finish with a playlist of Bush’s greatest tracks. Before then, I want to bring in a Wikipedia segment that highlights the artists who Bush has inspired. I have already highlighted the awards Bush has won but, through the years, she has been nominated for thirteen  British Phonographic Industry accolades (winning for Best British Female Artist in 1987) and has been nominated for three Grammy Awards. In 2002, Bush was recognised with an Ivor Novello Award for Outstanding Contribution to British Music. Bush was also appointed a C.B.E. in the 2013 New Year Honours for services to music. In 2017, she was nominated for induction in the 2018 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame - she has also been nominated this year. I think every award she has been nominated for and won has been very much deserved as her music has impacted so many people through the years!

In terms of those who have been inspired by Kate Bush, it does make for very varied and impressive reading:

“Musicians who have cited Bush as an influence include Beverley Craven, Regina Spektor,Ellie Goulding, Charli XCX, Tegan and Sara, k.d. lang, Paula Cole, Kate Nash, Bat for Lashes, Erasure, Alison Goldfrapp of Goldfrapp, Rosalía, Tim Bowness of No-Man, Chris Braide, Kyros, Aisles, Neil Hannon of The Divine Comedy, Darren Hayes, Grimes, and Solange Knowles. Nerina Pallot was inspired to become a songwriter after seeing Bush play "This Woman's Work" on Wogan. Coldplay took inspiration from "Running Up That Hill" to compose their single "Speed of Sound". In 2015, Adele stated that the release of her third studio album was inspired by Bush's 2014 comeback to the stage.

In addition to those artists who state that Bush has been a direct influence on their own careers, other artists have been quoted expressing admiration for her work including Tori Amos, Annie Lennox, Björk, Florence Welch, Little Boots, Elizabeth Fraser of Cocteau Twins, Dido, Sky Ferreira, St. Vincent, Lily Allen, Anohni of Antony and the Johnsons, Big Boi of OutKast, Stevie Nicks, Steven Wilson, Steve Rothery of Marillion, and André Matos. According to an unauthorised biography, Courtney Love of Hole listened to Bush among other artists as a teenager. Tricky wrote an article about The Kick Inside, saying: "Her music has always sounded like dreamland to me.... I don't believe in God, but if I did, her music would be my bible".

IN THIS PHOTO: Florence Welch (Florence and the Machine )

Suede front-man Brett Anderson stated about Hounds of Love: "I love the way it's a record of two halves, and the second half is a concept record about fear of drowning. It's an amazing record to listen to really late at night, unsettling and really jarring". John Lydon, better known as Johnny Rotten of the Sex Pistols, declared her work to be "beauty beyond belief. Rotten once wrote a song for her, titled "Bird in Hand" (about exploitation of parrots) that Bush rejected. Bush was one of the singers whom Prince thanked in the liner notes of 1991's Diamonds and Pearls. In December 1989, Robert Smith of The Cure chose "The Sensual World" as his favourite single of the year, The Sensual World as his favourite album of the year and included "all of Kate Bush" plus other artists in his list, "the best things about the eighties".

Apologies if I repeat myself in terms of articles sources and points raised, but I am thinking about the fact that Bush has influenced so many artists and people through her career! Even though Bush has Irish roots (her mother was Irish), many think of her as a quintessentially British artist. One might ask why now I am making a case for Kate Bush being the all-time greatest British female artist. I keep coming back to this absence of documentaries about her and a real disservice. It seems remiss that there has not been more attention about Bush because, the more you know about, the more one understands how varied and original her music is!

I am going to wrap things up soon, but I want to quote from an article from The New Yorker from 2018. I have sourced from it before, but I think Margaret Talbot raises really great cases. Not just in terms of influence but, as someone who is not necessarily a completist, she has rediscovered new layers in Bush’s music:

“Kate Bush, the English singer-songwriter, is one of those who have held fast without shrinking, so it is curious and instructive to see how certain cultural signifiers have been trotted out over the years to diminish her. Certainly, she’s had her share of respect and even adoration. Prince, Peter Gabriel, and Elton John collaborated on songs with her, and she has inspired younger talents; Tori Amos, Björk, Joanna Newsom, St. Vincent, Perfume Genius, and Mitski are all heirs. Every year, around the world, people get together by the hundreds to dance in public to Bush’s “Wuthering Heights”—a goofy but heartfelt tribute to her interpretive dance moves in the song’s glorious freak flag of a video. She’s got credit for her pioneering use of the Fairlight synthesizer, in the eighties, and the headset microphone onstage, for producing her own albums, and for evolving an ahead-of-its-time sound that combined heavy bass with the ethereal high notes, swoops, and screeches of her own remarkable voice. She is a dark-haired, dark-eyed beauty, and critics have always noticed that.

Yet, with this listen, I discovered that I really liked the animalistic cacophony of “Get Out of My House”—for all it suggested about how few fucks Bush gave when it came to getting radio play or charming people in any conventionally girlish way, and for its brazen strangeness. And I loved a song called “Suspended in Gaffa.” It starts with a tinny music-hall bounce that swells into a rich, chunky rhythm, accented with a chirping, distorted vocal that sounds trippy and modern. The lyrics, about seeing God or achieving some creative peak, only to have the vision snatched away, were inspired by Bush’s Catholic upbringing. The title is a reference to sticky black gaffer tape—a metaphor for frustrating ensnarement. But it also sounds, marvellously, like a geographical location in which a character from a Paul Bowles novel might be immured.

And then there was the extraordinary “Hounds of Love.” Bush’s voice is deeper and more resonant than on earlier records, the use of the synthesizer is more assured, and the experiments are never awkward, as Bush’s sometimes can be. When “Hounds of Love” came out, in 1985, I was in graduate school, at Harvard, and my mother had just had a stroke that robbed her of most of her speech. I’d soon be leaving school for a year to help take care of her. But, in the meantime, I’d walk home from Widener Library every day in a pen-and-ink drawing of a Cambridge November, the metallic smell of incipient snow permanently in the air, and when I got to my apartment with the sloping floors in Central Square—sometimes before I’d removed my winter coat or said more than hello to my boyfriend—I’d put “Hounds of Love” on the turntable, turn it up very, very loud, and wait for the galloping drum loops and the salty-sweet emotional rush of Bush’s vocals to comfort and exalt me.

When it got to the end of the first side, I’d lift the needle up and put it right back at the first track, “Running Up That Hill,” the song with the pounding beat and irresistible synthesizer hook about “making a deal with God” so that men and women might “swap our places” and feel what it was like to be one another. Those songs always evoked the possibility of a headlong happiness that seemed, at that moment, wholly out of reach. Something about the particular way that they projected roiling human emotions onto images from the natural world—thunder, the big sky, clouds that looked like Ireland, the little fox, caught by dogs, who let her take him in her hands—was liberating and uplifting to me. I don’t think that I ever listened to the second side, the song cycle “The Ninth Wave,” and maybe that’s just as well, for, as gorgeous as it is, it’s also about the saddest set of songs that I have ever heard.

One secret of Bush’s artistry is that she has never feared the ludicrous—she tries things that other musicians would be too careful or cool to go near. That was apparent from the very first lines of “Wuthering Heights”—“Out on the wiley, windy moors / we’d roll and fall in green / You had a temper like my jealousy / too hot, too greedy.” When she wrote that song, she hadn’t yet read the Emily Brontë novel; she’d only caught the end of a TV adaptation. But of course she got the essence of the book, sucked it in, and transmogrified it in her teen-aged soul, and she knew how to keen those lyrics like a ghost ceaselessly yearning”.

Because Bush is our greatest British female artist, I do hope that there is more media attention and love. Not just in terms of documentaries, but texts and albums that explore her work and enormous legacy in greater depth. I think that Kate Bush is our most esteemed and amazing female artist; a status that will…

NEVER change.

 

FEATURE: A Buyer’s Guide: Part Forty-Three: Green Day

FEATURE:

 

 

A Buyer’s Guide

PHOTO CREDIT: Pamela Littky

Part Forty-Three: Green Day

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THIS edition of A Buyer’s Guide…

 PHOTO CREDIT: Catherine McGann/Getty Images

concerns a band that I listened to a lot when I was in sixth-form college. I really like what Green Day have done through their career. They formed thirty-five years ago, so I thought that it is a perfect opportunity to explore their work! Here is some information regarding the iconic Rock/Pop-Punk band:

“Green Day is an American rock band formed in the East Bay of California in 1986 by lead vocalist and guitarist Billie Joe Armstrong and bassist and backing vocalist Mike Dirnt. For much of the band's career, they have been a trio with drummer Tré Cool, who replaced John Kiffmeyer in 1990 before the recording of the band's second studio album, Kerplunk (1991). Touring guitarist Jason White became a full-time member in 2012, but returned to his role as a touring member in 2016. Green Day was originally part of the late-'80s/early-'90s punk scene at the DIY 924 Gilman Street club in Berkeley, California. The band's early releases were with the independent record label Lookout! Records. In 1994, their major-label debut Dookie, released through Reprise Records, became a breakout success and eventually shipped over 10 million copies in the U.S. Green Day is credited alongside fellow California punk bands NOFX, Sublime, Bad Religion, the Offspring, Rancid, and Jawbreaker with popularizing mainstream interest in punk rock in the U.S.

PHOTO CREDIT: Talia Herman/The Guardian

Though the albums Insomniac (1995), Nimrod (1997), and Warning (2000) did not match the success of Dookie, they were still successful with the former two reaching double platinum status while the latter achieved gold. Green Day's seventh album, a rock opera called American Idiot (2004), found popularity with a younger generation, selling six million copies in the U.S. Their next album, 21st Century Breakdown, was released in 2009 and achieved the band's best chart performance. It was followed by a trilogy of albums, ¡Uno!, ¡Dos!, and ¡Tré!, released in September, November, and December 2012, respectively. The trilogy did not perform as well as expected commercially in comparison to their previous albums largely due to lack of promotion and Armstrong entering rehab. Their twelfth studio album, Revolution Radio, was released in October 2016 and became their third to debut at No. 1 on the Billboard 200. The band's thirteenth studio album, Father of All Motherfuckers, was released on February 7, 2020”.

Here are my suggestions of the band’s essential albums; one that is underrated and warrants some new light. I also list their current album and suggest a book that is worth exploring. If you need some guidance regarding Green Day, then I hope my tips…

 PHOTO CREDIT: Frank Maddocks

HELP out in some way.

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The Four Essential Album

 

Dookie

Release Date: 1st February, 1994

Label: Reprise

Producers: Rob Cavallo/Green Day

Standout Tracks: Longview/Welcome to Paradise/When I Come Around

Buy: https://www.roughtrade.com/gb/green-day/dookie-cb1abe0a-5341-4f91-9399-bc4028d57fa1

Stream: https://open.spotify.com/album/4uG8q3GPuWHQlRbswMIRS6?si=MOGk_yYkSqGDuTD90_ir_Q

Review:

“Green Day couldn't have had a blockbuster without Nirvana, but Dookie wound up being nearly as revolutionary as Nevermind, sending a wave of imitators up the charts and setting the tone for the mainstream rock of the mid-'90s. Like Nevermind, this was accidental success, the sound of a promising underground group suddenly hitting its stride just as they got their first professional, big-budget, big-label production. Really, that's where the similarities end, since if Nirvana were indebted to the weirdness of indie rock, Green Day were straight-ahead punk revivalists through and through. They were products of the underground pop scene kept alive by such protagonists as All, yet what they really loved was the original punk, particularly such British punkers as the Jam and Buzzcocks. On their first couple records, they showed promise, but with Dookie, they delivered a record that found Billie Joe Armstrong bursting into full flower as a songwriter, spitting out melodic ravers that could have comfortably sat alongside Singles Going Steady, but infused with an ironic self-loathing popularized by Nirvana, whose clean sound on Nevermind is also emulated here. Where Nirvana had weight, Green Day are deliberately adolescent here, treating nearly everything as joke and having as much fun as snotty punkers should. They demonstrate a bit of depth with "When I Come Around," but that just varies the pace slightly, since the key to this is their flippant, infectious attitude -- something they maintain throughout the record, making Dookie a stellar piece of modern punk that many tried to emulate but nobody bettered” – AllMusic

Choice Cut: Basket Case

Nimrod

Release Date: 14th October, 1997

Label: Reprise

Producers: Rob Cavallo/Green Day

Standout Tracks: Nice Guys Finish Last/Hitchin’ a Ride/Walking Alone

Buy: https://www.roughtrade.com/gb/green-day/nimrod

Stream: https://open.spotify.com/album/3x2uer6Xh0d5rF8toWpRDA?si=B80pMCFKQjeLTVD_yHQ0IQ

Review:

“And those aren’t even the hits – the booze-hound’s lament of Hitchin’ A Ride, Nice Guys Finish Last’s cynical punk rush, the gooey, ​’50s-tinged love ballad that is Redundant, all songs that sum up and show off each of Green Day’s various sides at their very strongest. Then there’s the ridiculous parp-fest of King For A Day, a song that’s become a 15-minute chunk of their live show, involving a brass section dressed as fruit, because fruit. You almost forget that the acoustic Good Riddance (Time Of Your Life) – a song used as the reflective soundtrack to everything from England getting knocked out of the 1998 World Cup, to newsreels of Princess Diana after her death – is on there, tucked away one track from the end.

Most of all, Nimrod is Green Day’s best album because of where it found them. It’s still got the scrappy, street-smart songwriting and caustic bar philosopher’s songwriting of Dookie, but there’s also the overpowering confidence that would – eventually – give the world something as ambitious as American Idiot” - Kerrang!

Choice Cut: Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)

Warning

Release Date: 3rd October, 2000

Label: Reprise

Producers: Green Day/Rob Cavallo (exec.)

Standout Tracks: Waiting/Minority/Macy’s Day Parade

Buy: https://www.discogs.com/sell/list?master_id=68821&ev=mb

Stream: https://open.spotify.com/album/3ifIxGNsG1XmLdoanRRIWB?si=ro49EmOKR9e81Q4wQOGDEg

Review:

“By 2000, Green Day had long been spurned as unhip by the fourth-generation punks they popularized, and they didn't seem likely to replicate the MOR success of the fluke smash "Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)." Apparently, the success of that ballad freed the band from any classifications or stigmas, letting them feel like they could do anything they wanted on their fifth album, Warning. They responded by embracing their fondness for pop and making the best damn album they'd ever made. There's a sense of fearlessness on Warning, as if the band didn't care if the album wasn't punk enough, or whether it produced a cross-platform hit. There are no ballads here, actually, and while there are a number of punchy, infectious rockers, the tempo is never recklessly breakneck. Instead, the focus is squarely on the songs, with the instrumentation and arrangements serving their needs. It's easy to say that Green Day have matured with this album, since they've never produced a better, more tuneful set of songs, or tried so many studio tricks and clever arrangements. However, that has the wrong connotation, since "mature" would indicate that Warning is a studious, carefully assembled album that's easier to admire than to love. That's not the case at all. This is gleeful, unabashed fun, even when Billie Joe Armstrong is getting a little cranky in his lyrics. It's fun to hear Green Day adopt a Beatlesque harmonica on "Hold On" or try out Kinks-ian music hall on "Misery," while still knocking out punk-pop gems and displaying melodic ingenuity and imaginative arrangements. Warning may not be an innovative record per se, but it's tremendously satisfying; it finds the band at a peak of songcraft and performance, doing it all without a trace of self-consciousness. It's the first great pure pop album of the new millennium” – AllMusic

Choice Cut: Warning

American Idiot

Release Date: 21st September, 2004

Label: Reprise

Producers: Rob Cavallo/Green Day

Standout Tracks: Jesus of Suburbia; Give Me Novacaine/She’s a Rebel/Wake Me Up When September Ends

Buy: https://www.discogs.com/sell/list?master_id=33161&ev=mb

Stream: https://open.spotify.com/album/5Qhn2FpGWmTjCuntF09j7g?si=2vxZ8iupSJiGHQ6zcuem5g

Review:

“"Nobody cares," Armstrong screams shrilly in "Homecoming", one of the album's two extended set pieces, and the line gets at American Idiot's greatest feat, besides its revitalization of Green Day's songwriting. Rather than preach, it digs out the fuse buried under mountains of 7-Eleven styrofoam trash, the cultural livewire that's grown cold in the shadow of strip-mall economics. Armstrong's characters are just misunderstood and disaffected individuals, told to get lost by a nation of fair and balanced sitcom watchers. They're apathetic suburbanite kids, grown up to find that life in the longview sucks.

"Jesus of Suburbia" and the accompanying epic "Homecoming" are American Idiot's summarizing ideological and musical statements. Bookends, they respectively establish and bitterly conclude the record's storyline. Musically, they roll rapid-fire through vignettes of enormous drum fill rock, plaintive piano, Johnny Rotten impressions, and surprisingly strong harmonies. "Suburbia" references the melodies of "All the Young Dudes" and "Ring of Fire"; "Homecoming" surveys both the Ramones and the Police's "Born in the 50s"; and both songs owe their form and pacing to The Who. The album does drag on occasion-- the labored pacing of "Wake Me Up When September Ends" is a little too much, the price of ambition. But then there's "She's a Rebel", a simplistically perfect anthem of the sort the band's vapid followers (or their handlers) would likely muck up with string sections.

For all its grandiosity, American Idiot keeps its mood and method deliberately, tenaciously, and angrily on point. Music in 2004 is full of well-meaning but pan-flashing sloganeers whose tirades against the government-- whether right or wrong-- are ultimately flat, with an overarching sense that what they're saying comes packaged with a spoil date of November '04. Though they do fling their share of surface insults, Green Day frequently look deeper here, not just railing against the political climate, but also striving to show how that climate has negatively impacted American culture. Ultimately, American Idiot screams at us to do something, anything-- a wake-up call from those were once shared our apathy” – Pitchfork

Choice Cut: American Idiot

The Underrated Gem

Insomniac

Release Date: 10th October, 1995

Label: Reprise

Producers: Rob Cavallo/Green Day

Standout Tracks: Stuck with Me/Geek Stink Breath/Walking Contradiction

Buy: https://www.discogs.com/sell/list?master_id=68787&ev=mb

Stream: https://open.spotify.com/album/7d3nOmFvL51roNElAdpi9d?si=wZzWI3JBRLGnvtCO3tlBrA

Review:

“After Dookie, Green Day were faced with a variety of options. Poised to take over the world if only they re-wrote another alterna-anthem like “Basket Case,” the band took a step back and looked through their back catalog. In order to fill the stadiums they were about to play with a full sound, the band bumped up their guitars, streamlined their songs and looked back to stadium rocking power-pop/hard-rock acts like Cheap Trick. Each song on Insomniac is catchy in its own right, the harmonies are near surgical in their precision and the band tightened their playing immensely. If Dookie was the band’s emotional and intellectual breakthrough, Insomniac is their big rock record, and never is it more apparent than in opener “Armatage Shanks” or the extended, speed-riffing, grandiose intro of “Panic Song.” Once again, however, it’s the band’s branching out into a more general ’90s alternative blend of punk, hard rock and metal that gain the most attention. “Geek Stink Breath” is a gritty tribute to the band’s meager past, and “Brain Stew” is their antisocial, self-loathing, tongue-in-cheek simple rocker, with its stop-time riffage. While the band would have been hard-pressed to top Dookie, the album coalesces with the perfect pop chorus of “Walking Contradiction,” cementing the album permanently in the history of rock ’n’roll” – Alternative Press

Choice Cut: Brain Stew/Jaded

The Latest Album

Release Date: 7th February, 2020

Label: Reprise

Producers: Butch Walker/Chris Dugan/Green Day

Standout Tracks: Fire, Ready, Aim/Oh Yeah!/Meet Me on the Roof

Buy: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Father-All-Green-Day/dp/B07XGMY4PT

Stream: https://open.spotify.com/album/7ij8wQxCAexZiXZbMOHcxE?si=ylPmh6buTRq159vn8UUV-w

Review:

“Fitting this bright palette, Green Day revel in a decidedly lighthearted vision of teenage wasteland, piling on razor hooks, corn-syrup guitar crunch, and hand-clap drum bash, rarely stooping to inject these oft-blazing tunes with much in the way of bile or ballast. When they do channel all-American angst, the tone is winking and wistfully matter-of-fact, rendering adolescent rage as a fun, formal gesture. “Graffitia” riffs on Eddie Cochran’s “Summertime Blues” and Summer of Love pop as it looks back longingly at the glory days of Bay Area punk; the album’s big anthem is knowingly titled “I Was a Teenage Teenager”; its catchiest tune is called “Sugar Youth,” and sugar-sharp it is, an absolute masterclass in Cali-core hooksmanship.

Things slow down for “Junkies on a High,” a torpid, bluesy grind that brings out the incipient fear and loathing that still lurks just below the surface of one of Green Day’s most fun albums. Father of All… is a bountiful act of recovered rock memory, an effortlessly affirming argument that the first mosh pit or car radio contact high you get when you’re 13 years old can be enough to sustain you long into life. It’s a deep, deep thing, and, in a sense, a defiant and subtly political statement, too: Even after the coup that installs Ivanka Trump as president for life, James Brown and the Buzzcocks will still be there for you” – Rolling Stone

Choice Cut: Father of All…

The Green Day Book

 

Nobody Likes You: Inside the Turbulent Life, Times, and Music of Green Day

Author: Marc Spitz

Publication Date: 2nd December, 2010

Publisher: Sphere

Synopsis:

“Attempting to track Green Day's career trajectory can be a very tedious, a very obvious task. You can touch upon the surprises, the fall-outs, the backlashes, and you'd still be treading well-worn ground. Maybe this is why Marc Spitz is due acknowledgement for not only profiling the band's long, arduous journey through the mainstream and up from their Bay Area upbringing in some refreshing views and detailed accounts -- but for doing this all within 200 pages, roughly.

Nobody Likes You: Inside the Turbulent Life, Time, and Music of Green Day talks to an awful lot of people not named Mike Dirnt, Tre Cool, and Billie Joe Armstrong -- and as the book progresses you realize this is perfect. Who better to tell the tales than the characters that surrounded them through everything? Everyone from Jello Biafra and Fat Mike (and Punknews.org's own illustrious editor Aubin!) to family members and ex-girlfriends are quoted, giving their takes on the Bay Area punk scene or Billie Joe's star power or what have you. Plenty material here provides thorough insight into the members' personal upbringings, including interesting tidbits like Billie Joe's singing lessons in his early childhood and even an eventual 7" the pre-pubescent frontman put out on his teacher's record label.

With the band's mainstream success providing plenty press already, the book focuses a nice portion of the story on their Lookout! days. A brief history of the band's first label is given but with enough detail to give a healthy scope on the situation of the time. Fair regards are made towards some of the band's first tours, as well as the hometown following they amassed after a number of shows and EPs -- a popularity that hit a stunning peak at Kerplunk!'s release, probably even greater than fans developed after the fact realize.

From there we're granted constant behind-the-scenes access to the band's record label dealings and studio recordings, with the struggle between the family life and the rock star life always looming over the pages, something Spitz pulls down occasionally to give the story its obligatory tension. We're taken all the way through American Idiot and that album acting as the catalyst for the band's second (or so) explosion of popularity. Even the lost album recorded between Warning: and American Idiot -- a supposed return to the band's roots -- is mentioned with some quotes from sources close to the band/recording; unfortunately the book gives no hint as to whether those recordings will ever see a public release” – Punknews.org

Order:  https://www.amazon.co.uk/Nobody-Likes-You-Inside-Turbulent/dp/0751538655

FEATURE: The Lockdown Playlist: The Best of Nina Simone

FEATURE:

 

The Lockdown Playlist

The Best of Nina Simone

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THIS Lockdown Playlist…

 PHOTO CREDIT: Jack Robinson/Hulton Archive - Getty Images

is a nod to a legend of music. Although Nina Simone died in 2003, she has this enormous legacy. As today (21st February) would have been her eighty-eighth birthday, I wanted to compile some of her greatest songs. I am not going to go into a lot of depth regarding Nina Simone as I might do that in another feature down the line. In any case, here is a little bit of biography and background:

“The sixth of eight children born to a poor family in Tryon, North Carolina, Simone initially aspired to be a concert pianist. With the help of a few supporters in her hometown, she enrolled in the Juilliard School of Music in New York City. She then applied for a scholarship to study at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, where she was denied admission despite a well-received audition, which she attributed to racial discrimination. In 2003, just days before her death, the Institute awarded her an honorary degree.

To make a living, Simone started playing piano at a nightclub in Atlantic City. She changed her name to "Nina Simone" to disguise herself from family members, having chosen to play "the devil's music" or so-called "cocktail piano". She was told in the nightclub that she would have to sing to her own accompaniment, which effectively launched her career as a jazz vocalist. She went on to record more than 40 albums between 1958 and 1974, making her debut with Little Girl Blue. She had a hit single in the United States in 1958 with "I Loves You, Porgy". Her musical style fused gospel and pop with classical music, in particular Johann Sebastian Bach, and accompanied expressive, jazz-like singing in her contralto voice”.

To mark the birthday of a music icon, this Lockdown Playlist is a selection of amazing Nina Simone songs. In my view, she is one of the greatest singers who ever lived – something that is proven in songs I have chosen! If you have heard of Nina Simone before but have not really checked out many of her albums, I would urge people to…

DO some further exploring.

FEATURE: Modern Heroines Part Thirty-Two: Kate Stables of This Is the Kit

FEATURE:

 

Modern Heroines

PHOTO CREDIT: Philippe Lebruman

Part Thirty-Two: Kate Stables of This Is the Kit

___________

FOR this part of…

Modern Heroines, I had to clarify in the title. This Is the Kit is the project of Kate Stables but, as she has other musicians in the band, I didn’t want there to be ambiguity. This feature is dedicated to women in music who are going to go on to inspire a lot of other musicians and enjoy great success. I will come to focus on This Is the Kit’s fifth studio album, Off Off On – it was released in October of last year. This Is the Kit perform regularly in various configurations from duo to quintet, with the core band consisting of Kate Stables (vocals/guitar/banjo), Rozi Plain (bass/vocals), Neil Smith (guitar), and Jamie Whitby-Coles (drums). I was a big fan of This Is the Kit’s fourth studio album, Moonshine Freeze, of 2017. I am going to concentrate on Off Off On, as it is the new album. That said, as I do with every Modern Heroines subject, there will be a playlist at the end that collates the best songs from all of their albums. In terms of sound, This Is the Kit are a mix of Folk and Alternative. The band have won praise from BBC Radio 6 Music heavily. Various broadcasters have featured the brilliant music of Kate Stables but, going forward, I think This Is the Kit’s albums will get wider exposure. The reason I have included This Is the Kit in Modern Heroines is because Stables is one of the most exciting and engaging songwriters in music.

She has a great voice, but I think her songwriting digs deeper than most. She has this ability to conjure music that sounds simple of the surface but, the more you listen, the more comes to the fore. Before bringing in a couple of reviews for Off Off On, it is worth getting some interview context. Stables spoke with CLASH last year and was asked about getting the record finished with lockdown looming:

“The new album was recorded at Real World studios near Bath in March. You must have been cutting it fine ahead of the national lockdown?

We just skidded our way in under the garage door, but I didn’t really even see it coming. I think everyone else in the band - they’re a bit better at reading newspapers than me - every morning would be like ‘this is looking a bit weird guys’ and I’d be all ‘ah it’s alright, it’s just another flu, let’s get on with it.’ And then I was really proved wrong and it was a real shock. We were just kind of in studio bubble world and not thinking about the outside world very much and then look what happened.

Given the way it took you by surprise, did you manage to actually complete the record before the world just stopped?

We finished the recording session. We did the full number of days we’d planned to do and got 97% of it done. All that remained was mixing and editing, and a few overdubs which I could do at home. We also sent it to a few friends [Aaron Dessner of The National and Thomas Bartlett, better known as Doveman] to add some touches, so the bulk of it was all done. It was just the mixing, the final phase, that had to happen long distance. It feels like some unlikely car chase scenario where you just miss the tree falling onto you. We’ve been quite lucky.

You have a different producer this time around, Josh Kaufman, and would it be fair to say that the vocal sound is pretty different for you?

I’m someone that always makes a fuss about reverb but Josh, god bless him, put his foot down. There are less effects than there were - we sort of came to a compromise - but I’m really pleased that he insisted because it makes it different. I think my main problem with reverb is that at a gig, when the sound engineer doesn’t know your music, they just decide to put loads on because you’re a female. That’s where my reflex against reverb comes from, but when it’s used carefully and thoughtfully it’s obviously a really great tool.

As ‘Off Off On’ nudges 2018’s ‘Moonshine Freeze’ into the distance, I wonder how you feel about past records? Do you listen back to them at all or consign them to the past?

Well, they’re all like time capsules or family photo albums; there’s these nice documents of what you did with these people at that time, but I don’t listen much to my past albums.

Obviously there’s the fact that I’ve just been working on this new album and so I’ve been listening to it because of that, but I also feel like I’ve been listening to it a bit more than I usually do because I miss the band and it’s just nice to hear them”.

As much as I love the music and vocals of This Is the Kit, I think it is the lyrics that leave the biggest impression. There is this obliqueness that some could see as evasive – Stables does write from a personal space but a lot of the lines are not as direct as one might expect. When she spoke with NME, Stables discussed her lyrical approach:

“Your lyrics are quite abstract. Is that a protective layer – because you don’t want to divulge specifics – or just how you naturally express yourself?

“I think it’s how I naturally express myself. Anyone who’s ever asked me to write something that isn’t a song – anyone who’s ever received a letter or an email from me – knows that I’m not a tidy writer, it’s lists of words and gobbledegook. But there is an element of privacy. I think a songwriter shouldn’t have to explain themselves or explain their songs. I just like being left to interpret a song, and I like leaving people to interpret my songs.”

‘This Is What You Did’ mirrors the circularity of an anxiety attack. What can you tell us about that track?

“‘Why am I putting everyone through the stressful experience of listening to this song?’ For a lot of people – me included – writing songs is a kind of exorcism. You say things out loud to get them said and out of the way, and then they almost don’t exist anymore. It breaks whatever power they had over you. So that song is about looking at the voices you hear and trying to work out how much of it is other people’s judgements, and how much is our own negativity. Anxiety is a circular thing – there is that vortex we can get trapped in sometimes – and the song has these loops that mirror the mind-loops in the words.”

The title track deals with the death of a friend…

“Yes, in part it’s about this experience in a hospital and the idea of someone leaving and how we come to terms with that – putting ourselves in that position: what it would be like to know you’re on your way out. And the rhythms and the routines that happen in and out of a hospital room, and the light that changes, and the daily cycles of being in this one place. Places or images are often my inspiration for songs. For me, I just see this particular hospital, and the kind of light in it, and the bulbs that blink on the machinery”.

I think that Off Off On was one of last year’s best albums. It is definitely worth buying if you do not have it already. I am not sure what the future holds for This Is the Kit, but I think we will see many more albums and huge international recognition. Just before moving on to some reviews, there was an interesting interview from NBHAP that delved deeper into themes explored on the record – including modern day living, imagery and spirituality:

“The ‘identity disease’ has been a prominent feature of our society since forever and the need for people to define themselves has hit its peak when branding personalities became the new goal of advertising. Humans like to categorise and build systems to put other people into. It is a necessary action to stay healthy since otherwise we would constantly be overwhelmed by the amount of uncategorised information we receive on a daily basis through our interactions with strangers, colleagues or friends and the amount of digital information but right now, and times before, it is also one of the most problematic issues we have.

 “I think probably everyone carries experiences and knowledge and know-how within but sometimes it needs to be unlocked or woken up by a certain situation and sometimes we have to re-learn stuff. Quite often as human beings we forget the lessons we learn and we forget the skills we’ve acquired through our lives but also throughout the history of mankind. I feel like there are so many things that we could be doing and be aware of but we choose not to.

It’s really easy to feel like it’s futile and we’re just going around in circles but I actually think that it’s a spiral: we sort of come back to the same point as before but we’re a little bit further along. We go round and we’re kind of in the same place but we have made some progress. It does feel quite repetitive, though and we’re like ‘Oh god, really?! We’re in this political situation again, hasn’t anyone learned how to do this yet”.

I should really move on and introduce some reviews for the remarkable Off Off On. It is an album that deserves a lot of love and listening.

In their review, this is what The Independent noted:

“The fifth album from Kate Stables’ This is the Kit was crafted with the band at an isolated cottage in the Brecon Beacons, before being recorded in Wiltshire. So far, so 2020. Except this was before Covid took hold.

It’s uncanny, then, just how appropriate the title of the album, Off Off On, feels given the stop-start nature of lockdowns in this Covid year. The themes too, of resilience and starting again (“Started Again”), homesickness, needing space, and the perennial question of the work/life balance (“Slider”), love and solitude (“Shinbone Soap”), and anxiety (“This is What You Did”) could not be more pertinent.

“This is What You Did” is, to me, the single of the year, and not just for its conception as a “panic attack kind of song”, but for its brilliantly infectious melody and distinct folk-flavoured groove. While the hypnotically circling banjo and relentlessly propulsive beat create a feeling of unease, Stables’ overlapping vocals cleverly conjure the negative voices that can be hard to shake. Flourishes of saxophone and off-beat electric guitar add to the suffocation, which she evocatively describes, “Is it holding you down, this great weight? And it’s flattening/ And it’s breaking you up, all your frequency shattering”.

Fascinatingly, Stables tends to gauge what her songs need from playing them at gigs, and you can hear how much those rehearsal sessions in Wales gained the album: an energy harnessed straight from the live setting”.

Just before bringing things to a close and giving you a playlist featuring the best This Is the Kit cuts, I will quote from a review from The Line of Best Fit:

“This Is The Kit have always been connoisseurs of creating slow building tension. In a song that feels reminiscent of 2017’s Moonshine Freeze, the band crescendo into a chant of “rocks and water” - again a nod to the location the album was created in, but also an example of finding the beauty in simplicity. This is the way the album has been produced - simply but magnificently. Producer Josh Kaufman - New York-based musician, Hold Steady collaborator and member of Bonny Light Horseman and Muzz - has elevated the album, finding the perfect mix of chaotic and smooth.

An exciting cacophony of instruments pop up throughout the record - on “Slider” there’s subtle saxophone from Lorenzo Prati, on “No Such Thing” brass creates a jazzy and elegant tone, and woodwind springs up in “Coming To Get You Nowhere” as Stables repeats the line “energy, energy, please”.

The themes are as diverse as the instruments, ranging from sadness to power. “Slider” is a tribute to a friend who passed away after being ill in hospital. Delicate vocals overlay a melancholic saxophone, as lyrics explore both sides of every phrase, revealing the new perspective that arrives after trauma: “Making time / losing time”, “To be held / and to hold”. In antithesis, “Was Magician” is a story of a young woman reaching her full powers. Based on the books of author Ursula K. Le Guin, Stables has delivered a quietly compelling call to action for her generation.

The album ends on a nearly seven minute reminder to “Keep Going”, a sentimental and heartening song that encourages hope and the promise of a better future. It is at its core, the message everyone needs to hear this year”.

Make sure you familiarise yourself with the work of Kate Stables and This Is the Kit. Her music is amazing; I do feel that she has a very long and interesting career ahead of her. Her sound is very much her own but, at the same time, it can be appreciated by everyone – as you will hear…

IN the playlist.

TRACK REVIEW: Ghetts - Fine Wine

TRACK REVIEW:

 

 

Ghetts

Fine Wine

9.7/10

The track, Fine Wine, is available from:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ujccvlvrdU

GENRES:

Hip-Hop/Grime/Rap

ORIGIN:

London, U.K.

The album, Conflict of Interest, is available via:

https://open.spotify.com/album/4GJnb2XwVlS2HrVsBa9fI4?si=9WPeQQ7iRfCdswXfHRZKWA

RELEASE DATE:

19th February, 2021

LABEL:

Warner Records UK

TRACKLISTING:

Fine Wine

Mozambique (ft. Jaykae & Moonchild Sanelly)

Fire and Brimstone

Hop Out

IC3 (ft. Skepta)

Autobiography

Good Hearts (ft. Aida Lae)

Dead to Me

10,000 Tears (ft. Ed Sheeran)

Sonya (ft. Emeli Sandé)

Proud Family

Skengman (ft. Stormzy)

No Mercy (ft. BackRoad Gee & Pa Salieu)

Crud (ft. Giggs)

Squeeze (ft. Miraa May)

Little Bo Peep (ft. Dave, Hamzaa & Wretch 32)

__________

ALTHOUGH this year is still pretty fresh…

 PHOTO CREDIT: Adama Jalloh

there have been some albums released that could challenge for the best of 2021 already. I think that Ghetts’ Conflict of Interest is one such album. Released on 19th February, it is a fantastic album! I will come to Conflict of Interest and a song that I wish to review. Before then, I thought it would be wise to expose some story and background regarding the London Grime artist. I will discuss Ghetts’ previous album, 2018’s Ghetto Gospel: The New Testament, in a bit too as I feel that gives us some runup to Conflict of Interest and how he has progressed as an artist. As we learn from a NOTION interview Ghetts conducted at the end of last year, he was defined and readily labelled early in his career:

“Paving a lane for many of the new generation emcees, the Newham native, over the years, has excelled above and beyond the Grime barriers he was once boxed into, and proved his versatility like no other. Delivering a slew of impressive projects, all whilst maintaining his indisputable quality, Ghetts is no stranger to tackling an assortment of politically and socially charged topics and in turn has become a powerful testament to British Rap.

Stepping onto the scene back in the early 2000’s when Grime rose to prominence, Ghetts went from being a part of grime collective The Movement, to becoming an artist in his own right. In boasting his dexterous approach, projects like ‘Ghetto Gospel’, ‘Rebel with A Cause’ and the 2018 release of ‘Ghetto Gospel: The New Testament’, have only certified his position and trajectory in the game. Collaborating with the likes of Kano, Chip, Wretch 32, Giggs, Youngs Teflon, Devlin and Skepta to name a few, Ghetts has harvested a legendary status that will go down in the history books. Posing as an inspirational figure to many across the world, the heavy-weight emcee hopes to inspire the masses through pushing artistic boundaries and amplifying his timeless sound”.

It may seem rather random, but I want to mention the moment I discovered Ghetts’ music. The debut album, Rebel with a Cause (2014), is quite different to subsequent releases. I love the fact that there was this shift and change from his earlier work. Not wanting to be limited, I feel this sort of musical curiosity can be seen on Conflict of Interest. In a Gig Slutz interview, that album is discussed further:

“MT: On Rebel With A Cause, the instrumentation that you used wasn’t as traditionally ‘grime’ as your music has been in the past and there were a lot more guitars etc.

Ghetts: I wanted to learn and I’ve got this hunger to learn. I feel like although we love the traditional sound of grime, the reason why grime has never really evolved is because we’ve been scared of the evolution and we haven’t embraced what it might sound like if someone adds a real instrument. With grime being one of the youngest genres in the world, how do we know what it sounds like? Imagine if hip hop just stayed how it started. We’re lazy when it comes to grime and we think it’s ok to do what we were doing ten years ago. Although I get the nostalgia tunes, I go to Rapid’s and say “Raps, you see what trumpets you’re using, can I get real trumpets in to do that sound?” because I believe in music. You know what, I listen to Michael Jackson Thriller and I think “f*cking hell bruv, to this day it’s one of the best mixes I’ve heard and look when that was done!”. With all this technology now it’s still not helping anyone compete with that. It made me realise that the team that he was working with were a team of very serious musicians and people that were taking pride in something sounding amazing. It’s the product of people not being lazy and trying new things. It’s weird because people look at me as an MC and that I am, but if they could see me in the studio, I’m not, because I just start doing loads. Someone doesn’t play me a track and I spit on it and the track goes out, it’s just not happening. I sit there and work out the structure, I might change the BPM by two slightly, I might want something added or something taken out and I basically executively produce my own tunes. One day there’s gonna be someone that’s gonna bring something new to grime and they’re gonna be sick! I can’t wait til that day comes. When someone brings something to the table and we think “why didn’t we do that?”, I’m gonna embrace him or her with open arms”.

If you are new to Ghetts and are not sure how he has developed and the role he has played in Grime’s progress, there are a couple of interviews that will assist. Even though Rebel with a Cause is a brilliant album, I feel that Ghetto Gospel: The New Testament was a big step forward for Ghetts. That album was a sort of follow-up/response to the 2007 mixtape, Ghetto Gospel - and it is a work I would encourage people to seek out. In this interview with Loud and Quiet, we learn how Ghetts has evolved since his debut mixtape to 2018’s Ghetto Gospel: The New Testament:

“While he may not have enjoyed the commercial success of Dizzee, Skepta or, more recently, Stormzy, he’s a lynchpin in grime’s history and although he argues otherwise, Ghetts has been as important to the genre’s development and progression as any MC: a member of the legendary grime collective NATSY Crew back in the day, alongside the likes of D Double E, Kano and Jammer, and a founding member of The Movement with Devlin, Wretch 32 and more.

On his debut mixtape, ‘2000 & Life’, he was Ghetto, a whirlwind of an rapper, riled up and ready to take on the world, the emerging grime establishment and anything else that got between him and a mic. A study in ferocious, wheel-up inducing grime, it’s still considered one of the most important projects in the genre by those who know what they’re talking about.

Then came ‘Ghetto Gospel’, a more mature, reflective mixtape that saw Clark musing on his relationships with the women in his life and delving deeper than the tear-out grime of his debut. Ghetts had evolved again, an unrecognisable MC from the man who just a year earlier had unintentionally made grime history by asking for Carlos. Well, almost unrecognisable – as well as playing host to a more thoughtful Ghetts, ‘Ghetto Gospel’ also helped launch his career, with tracks like ‘Top 3 Selected’ and ‘Stage Show Don’ taking off in the underground.

His latest album ‘Ghetto Gospel: New Testament’ is the follow up to that 2007 mixtape and sees the Plaistow MC on incredible form. An expansive project, it’s his second studio album and without a doubt his best project in years, tackling a diversity of styles and subjects with the help of a roll call of grime and British rap’s best talents. On tracks like ‘Black Rose’ and ‘Next Of Kin’ he gets political, exploring anti-blackness, misogynoir and inner city violence, engaging with each without getting bogged down in the mire of ‘conscious’ rap. Elsewhere, on tracks like ‘Pick Up The Phone’ and ‘Shellington Crescent’, he teams up with fellow veterans President T and Chip, respectively, for a case study in gas-up grime, switching into his old school Ghetto persona with a blink of his eye”.

Following up on this, and I wanted to source another interview that highlights how confident and direct Ghetto Gospel: The New Testament is. I feel (as I have said) that Ghetts has carried this into Conflict of Interest/. Whilst this album might have more range and it is a little more subdued, it is still hugely sophisticated and accomplished:

“Like its predecessor, The New Testament delivers some straight up bangers like Pick Up the Phone and Shellington Crescent, but on the whole deals heavily in themes of street violence, gang mentality, colourism and misogynoir.

It might be his new testament, but Ghetts doesn’t preach or tell us what to do. He calls it as he sees it, as he’s always done, but this time through the eyes of an older, wiser man. Black Rose calls out colourism within black communities and frustratedly preempts the double standards and discrimination his dark-skinned daughter will face as she grows up, promising to be a source of love and support for her. Next of Kin takes on gun crime not with a call for armistice, but instead dealing in perspectives – of a mother, a shooter and a son who’s passed away.

‘I’m at an age now where some of my friends have sons that are 16. The other day a 14 year old died in Walthamstow and I just remember hearing it on the radio and thinking “wow”. Because I’m not 16 now and I’m not around it, I’m not thinking “that happens all the time, man”. At that age I was desensitised by a lot of things that I was around. So I wanted to write a song where I didn’t judge anybody, because I know what some of these kids are going through and it’s much easier said than done when you’re outside of it.’

‘I really feel like people should just make what they want. As I’ve grown I just feel like there are so many boxes and categories, and it was those same boxes and categories that really stifled me into playing up to a perception. As soon as I was free of those things, I really excelled musically because I didn’t care about how people think something is meant to sound.

‘I always say you can conform both ways. People only really acknowledge if you conform to the mainstream, but what about all the people who conform to the underground?”.

I am going to concentrate on the opening track from Conflict of Interest, Fine Wine, for a review in a bit. First, I wanted to discuss Rap lyrics and how there has been a revival and shift. Returning to that interview from NOTION,  and Ghetts discusses his lyrical style and approach:

“There have been a few conversations over the course of the year about quality over quantity, and the return of real Rap. The word lyricist or wordsmith can get thrown around a lot.

It gets thrown about! *laughs*

I can definitely hold my hands up from time to time! *laughs* What to you is being a proper lyricist?

It’s somebody who is able to paint a clear picture and make it seem like you were there whilst it was happening, without the repeating of words you may have used in the same 16 or 32. Also, to be witty, to have metaphors and explain things that have layers – double or triple entendre’s. It’s very technical but I guess music is very subjective, it’s always up for debate!

Yeah! When people think of the word lyricist or wordsmith, they tend to jump straight to techniques and punchlines, but I also think it feeds into creating timeless music and actually doing something, rather than just saying it?

Yeah! I agree, 100%!”.

I think Ghetts’ lyrics and incredible ability with words is one of the reasons he is considered among the finest Rap/Grime artists of today. Not only has Ghetts gone his craft through various albums and mixtapes; his time with various crews freestyling has definitely contributed – as we discover from the NITELIFE interview I quoted from earlier:

“Ghetts comes from a culture of crews, rolling with Nasty Crew, before starting The Movement with Devlin, Wretch 32 and others; which at the time came hand in hand with MC battles. Fortunately, Ghetts’ ability to freestyle has never been called into question, building his reputation on clashing and holding several historic Fire in the Booths to his name. However, it seems this reputation as one of the best freestyle MCs is a byproduct of a man obsessed with lyricism.

‘Naturally, I’d say I’m not a battle MC. The time that I come from was a dangerous time to be on the radio, so you had to write lyrics just in case somebody would come in for you and embarrass you. Naturally, my thing is to treat music like a therapy session. I’d rather talk about what’s happening in my life or the world, or write something story-based than write for another MC”.

I think that Ghetts’ style and lyrical approach has changed since he started out. It has got more striking and brilliant. I feel that him becoming a father has altered how he approaches his writing and what he discusses through his music. Going back to that Loud and Quite interview, Ghetts reveals more on that subject:

“Having a daughter has changed how I write”

My daughter’s aware of who I am and what I do so I want her to be proud and not live a double standard. I need to be able to raise her in the correct way and also lead by example. It’s affected my music a lot. She listens to my music now, she’s six, she can sing along to everything. It’s very weird, but she is me.

“I wrote ‘Black Rose’ for my daughter”

One day I went in the booth and I never said, ‘this is what I’m going to talk about’. I started a line, I don’t write things down ever, I just went in the booth and said, ‘my daughter, she a princess, the world ain’t slaughtering her skin yet,’ and there you have it. Those two lines built the concept. My agenda behind ‘Black Rose’, in all honesty, and truth, I’m speaking for my daughter, first and foremost, so that in the future if she faces these things she’ll be strengthened by what her dad did with his platform at a certain time when nobody else did. That’s why I did that. Other women have been able to relate, which is beautiful.

“But I don’t feel like I need to speak on other people’s behalf”

Now I’ve made ‘Black Rose’ people are, like, coming at me, like, ‘what’s next’, but to me, it’s a concept, it’s one instalment. Tomorrow I’m going to make another tune about something else. I still believe it, but it’s not something I’m gravitating towards because people have taken a like to that. That’s not who I am; I can talk about so many different things because that’s how I live my life”.

One could say that some artists distil and become softer when they become parents; it can take away a certain edge. Debatably, fatherhood has brought new characteristics and emotions into Ghetts’ music. In the Gig Slutz interview, Ghetts talks about how being a parent has changed him as an artist:

“MT: It’s not only music that’s been a big part of your life over the last few years as you’ve also become a father. How has that changed the way you write and your whole outlook on making music?

Ghetts: It’s affected it because you get people saying I’m not as hard as I was and they’re right, I’m not as hard as I was; more skilful, maybe; a better artist, maybe, but there’s hardly a sign of what might have drawn people to me in the earlier stages of my career. Obviously you get ‘Gas Mark 9’ and a few oneaways but when I’m writing stuff like that I feel guilty, if I’m being totally honest, because I’m not as active as I was when I was young, not even as active, I’m not active. So when I write, even though I’ve got to write to say certain things because I’ve done certain things, I feel like it’s not a reflection of what’s going on now, but then I do it because I also appreciate the fact that when someone is listening to me they’re looking for that, so I don’t leave it out of the album even though the album might not be centered around it. But I also feel guilty because in this current world right now, I care about where my daughter is gonna be growing up and how she grows up and so I feel very guilty. People can probably hear that from when I talk and from some of the music on my album, so it has affected my writing a lot. It’s weird because I love hearing the hard stuff and I love writing it but at the same time I’ve got this little girl that I wanna be a role model for, so I doubt I’m ever gonna be as hard as I was before”.

There are a couple of other subjects I want to cross off of the list before getting down to reviewing Fine Wine. Ghetts is not exclusively a Grime artist…though it is a genre that can be applied to his music. I think all great Grime artists are asked about whether the movement is dying or has lost a lot of its impact. Ghetts reacted to this often-proffered view when he spoke with The Independent in 2018:

“Ghetts scoffs at the mention of news articles asking whether grime is either dead or struggling to survive as the drill and Afrobeats genres grow in popularity .

“I feel that it’s weird that grime MCs even react to it,” Ghetts says, pretending to huff, and leaning back in his chair, arms folded. “I’ve seen people reacting to something that’s not true.”

“I love grime with my heart,” he continues. “I know a lot of people in the culture have love for me, but I’ve always deemed myself more of a tempo specialist. I’m not defined by a genre – a genre cannot define the artist. I respect grime enough to represent it because that’s what made me, that gave me my first listeners, and I will never deny being grime. Grime itself will never die.”

“I can see a culture. Loads of people complain but I’m really into evolution.” He gives a bashful smile at the mention of how he once considered pursuing a career in science.

“Drill is an evolution of grime, grime is an evolution of garage, garage is an evolution of drum and bass,” he says, voice rising enthusiastically. “And when you’ve got different characters coming in, putting things in the pot, and one day it goes BANG!” He throws his hands apart to demonstrate. “It’s the same energy”.

Just before getting to assessing the excellent opening track off of Conflict of Interest, I want to sort of fill a gap between the time of Ghetto Gospel: The New Testament arriving and Ghetts looking ahead to the future. I think that album opened horizons for him and, as we discover from the Loud and Quiet interview, it imbued Ghetts with a lot of confidence:

“I feel like the possibilities of what I can do are endless”

People ask me how I transition into certain things, but you have to understand, one day I’m in jail telling everybody in jail that I’m going to be me today. That transition is the biggest transition, everything after that is just whatever. Not whatever – I’m grateful for the opportunities that come – but every transition from being in jail and you’re a repeat offender, and you’re surrounded by repeat offenders, and you’re saying, ‘see when I get home, watch what I’m going to do.’ To everybody in that place that sounds wild. When you leave that place, and you tell the guv ‘I’m not coming back’. He hears that everyday someone leaves, how does he know how to take this one guy seriously? Until, oh shit, this guy’s not actually been back. So many people I was in jail with have reached out and said I don’t know what you’ve done to be it but well done. For someone to make it from that place to where I am, you have to follow rules and be disciplined. I’m one of the most disciplined people you’ll meet. If I say I ain’t smoking, I ain’t smoking. If I say I ain’t drinking, I ain’t drinking. That’s it. There’s nowhere that that level of discipline can’t take you”.

I should come to reviewing Fine Wine. It is a song that really struck me! There are quite a few collaborators through Conflict of Interest. Whilst it is good to hear other artists in the mix, I wanted to review a song with just Ghetts on it. I think he is strongest when he is on his own and has that sort of focus.

With a sense of swell and romance, Fine Wine sweeps open Conflict of Interest. It is an evocative and wonderful opening to the album. I love how Ghetts delivers his lines. He is never rushed and too frantic; there is this consideration for pace and resonance. The way he articulate the lines makes them stand out. The first verse starts with plenty of confidence – and an example of the unique language and wordplay of Ghetts: “Rudeboy, I'm the certiest/A thank-you ain't enough for my services/I was probably an accident, but I know what my purpose is/My skin is immaculate, but I've done some dirty tings”. I will not quote too many lyrics but, as Ghetts is such an accomplished writer, I wanted to bring in some examples of his raw talent! Ghetts punctuates his lines and has this very conversational style of delivery., As we go into the second verse, Ghetts talks about his struggles and hard times: “Fast forward, one foot in the industry door/Which way should I go? Can't call it, same time they gave thing twentyfour/I wish you could ask Stormin, but I can't give him a ring anymore/You see when I feel cornered, all I do is think of bеfore/I drive back to the housе I struggled in/(What was that like?)/The one bed with a bathroom, the kitchen in the front room/My front room had a oven in/We was suffering (We was suffering)/Still loading, just buffering/I'm upstairs writing bars and my daughter's colouring/Embarrassed/Had a bill to pay and my girl had to cover it”. We sort of get this backstory and history of Ghetts and where he has come from. Now, he is settled and happier; but Fine Wine sort of acts like a nod back to his younger days and where he came from. Whereas other Grime artists would put explosion, klaxons and huge bass into their compositions, there is a choir and strings in Fine Wine. Whilst the first two verses see Ghetts keep his composure and narrate his story, there is a sense of anger and the first signs of aggression that come out in the third verse.

One can hear Ghetts get angrier and feel the sting of things: “Had to remember myself like mum said/Where'd you get that vibe from?/I went back to the essence/It's not only bars, my brudda/I'm a man with a message/It's much more than slapping and cheffings/What about family settings?/What about actual blessings?/That new-year-new-me talk/What about January lessons?/The mic is my therapist/I'm just having a session/Them man there won't tell you this/They're capping, I'm shelling”. It is quite moving hearing Ghetts become more animated as he recalls and recites his lines! The central vocal is excellent, but I really love what is happening in the background. The strong and choral rush adds something very spiritual and powerful; there are some tight beats, and Ghetts’ vocal delivery changes and sharpens. His voice becomes tenser and more urgent as Ghetts discusses his doubters and how his future ahead is golden: “Let' talk about legacy/I don't care about nostalgia/My best years are ahead of me (Ahead of me)/When I signed to Warner, brudda/I was already me/That's fifteen years hard work, no breaks or therapy/A cappella on DVDs, no beats, no bass or melodies/What the fuck you telling me?/Most my peers in the cemetery/Can't do an album, putting out mixtapes/Can't do a thousand, whatever they do does terribly (Terribly)/Can't do a show, can't do a tour/Same lyrics from 2004/And these are the bruddas that you rate heavily/Lowe me please/Just crown me please”. I love how matter-of-fact and casual Ghetts is when he says he will convert non-believers. It is not arrogant or too bold: instead, he knows that his music is great and, after having to battle so many cynics, his new music is sure to turn people around! One is invested in Fine Wine from the start to the end as it is such a compelling and packed song. With so much story and great lines, you will come back to Fine Wine time and time again. In the outro, Ghetts sings “Party, yeah/I'ma go up and away, and just have a party, yeah/I'ma go up and away, and just have a party, yeah”. He rides this thought to the end and, with the strings coming to the fore and adding something resplendent, dignified and stirring, it is a wonderful way to end the opening track from Conflict of Interest.

To round things off, I wanted to bring in an interview from The Quietus of 2018. I have covered a few subjects when discussing Ghetts but I did not realty touch on albums and artists who have inspired him. Ghetts revealed a selection of albums that are very important to him. I have chosen a few to highlight:

“Michael Jackson - Thriller

Do you know what's crazy? At the time, because I'm from a very religious background, and I never had cable either, I never saw the videos for this. But I did watch that series about the come up of The Jacksons, The American Dream, that starts before even Michael was born. So you see that Billie Jean performance, when he first does the moonwalk – and I just remember watching that and feeling a certain energy at the show. No matter how good you think a show is, have you ever seen something that's never been done before!? There was a time when I could do the moonwalk, and I tried the lean forward thing but... I can't do that.  Everything's been said about Thriller already. Groundbreaking. Not just the numbers – I chose these albums not based on numbers, but based on sound and how it marked a time. The sonics of it still hit me to this day. 'PYT' was a bad tune – the vibes, everything! Mike's hard to talk about because it's hard to really pick out the songs – overall, I just felt he was sick.

Jay Z - The Blueprint

That's my guy. That's my favourite rapper of all time. To tell you the honest truth, I was incarcerated and my mum bought me Blueprint. I'd heard 'Izzo' on the radio and I thought it was alright - I wasn't thinking it was sick or anything, but I thought it was a good single. When I got the album, I was blown away. 'Takeover', 'Renegade' – hard songs. Hard shit. That was my CD! It was comforting, listening to my music and getting to pass the time.

 The Notorious B.I.G. - Life After Death

Crazy album! 'Sky's The Limit' and 'Miss U'. I didn't even know 'Miss U' was sampled, the other day I was in the car and I heard the original one! I have Tupac on this list too - in the same way I have Jay Z and Nas, because what happens when people are warring is that the fan, subliminally - whether they like it or not, even if they choose sides - they take an interest in the other person as well. But me being musical as well, and understanding it's not my war, I don't have to take sides – I can like one more than the other but I'm not going to hate the other one, I don't have to. Biggie is the man for flows and vibes - he's just got that swagger, that's undeniable. It's weird because I think Biggie is a better rapper than Tupac, but Tupac had so many different other pockets and reasons for me to like him.

SWV - Greatest Hits

If someone could search my brain and find out what I've ever listened to the most, it's this.  I felt like The Greatest Hits were actually all of their best tunes, rather than a specific album. It was perfect. I was probably introduced to them by my aunt, and I think 'Rain' is probably my favourite track. The harmonies are always on point on SWV's work, but 'Rain' has got some different powers in. Coko, I think is the name of the lead singer - she's bad. The way she opens that tune up! Crazy”.

Go and listen to Conflict of Interest if you can, as it is a terrific album from one of the greatest names in Rap and Grime! It is hard to categorise and limit the genres Ghetts’ material covers. I think that is one reason why he is so celebrated and interesting. I reckon that Conflict of Interest is Ghett’s most rounded and realised work in the sense that it is very sharp and urgent, yet there is a broadness and diversity that means his music will reach new audiences. At thirty-six, Ghetts can be considered one of the elder statesman of Grime and Rap. I think we will see many more albums from him and, after such a stunning release with Conflict of Interest, it will be interesting to see where he…

GOES from here.

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PHOTO CREDIT: Adama Jalloh 

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FEATURE: Too Good to Be Forgotten: Songs That Are Much More Than a Guilty Pleasure: Robbie Williams – No Regrets

FEATURE:

 

 

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

Robbie Williams – No Regrets

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THIS is going to be a fairly short…

edition of Too Good to Be Forgotten: Songs That Are Much More Than a Guilty Pleasure. I am featuring Robbie Williams’ 1998 single, No Regrets. There is not a lot of information regarding the song, but I know that a lot of people think of Williams’ music as a guilty pleasure. I have seen No Regrets included as a guilty pleasure on some lists. I am a fan of his first two solo albums. I think I bought his debut, Life Thru a Lens, in 1997. It was a confident and accomplished album from the former Take That member. It must have been hard stepping away from such a successful and big band to go alone. Co-writing with Guy Chambers on most songs on the album, I think that album is one worth exploring if you have not done already. With singles like Angels, and Let Me Entertain You scoring high chart positions, Life Thru a Lens was a commercial success for Williams. There was no real sophomore slump on his follow-up, I've Been Expecting You. If the cover for his debut saw Williams drowned in cameras and looking quite serious, I've Been Expecting You featured Williams as a James Bond-like figure with a cheeky look. I do think that I've Been Expecting You is a more confident album than his debut in fact. There are great songs right through the album. From Strong, Millennium, to She’s the One, there are so many moods and highlights to be discovered!

In their review of the album, this is what AllMusic had to say:

“A more mature, calculated album from a pop star who's often gloried in being immature and spontaneous, I've Been Expecting You may suffer from comparisons to its excellent predecessor, but it also finds Robbie Williams weathering the sophomore storm quite well. While Williams' debut was infectious and outrageous, the second is indeed a more studied album. The opener, "Strong," begins very well, with the spot-on lyrics: "My breath smells of a thousand fags/And when I'm drunk I dance like me Dad," and "Early morning when I wake up/I look like Kiss but without the makeup." Many of the tracks on I've Been Expecting You show an undeniable growth, both in songwriting and in artistic expression; two of the highlights, "No Regrets" and "Phoenix From the Flames," are sensitive, unapologetically emotional songs that may not be as immediately catchy as those on his debut, but pack a greater punch down the road. Williams does indulge his sense of fun occasionally, playing up James Bond during the transcontinental hand-waver "Millennium" (which samples Nancy Sinatra's theme for You Only Live Twice), and simply roaring through "Win Some Lose Some" and "Jesus in a Camper Van”.

No Regrets was released on 30th November, 1998 as the second single from I've Been Expecting You. This song is in particular about his time in (and departure from) his former band Take That. It is also about past relationships. The single reached number-four in the U.K. and it went on to sell over 200,000 copies, being certified Silver by the BPI. It must have been hard putting out a single about his time with Take That. There would have been critics compared Williams to the band; others who were noting his solo material was not quite as strong. That said, I think Williams’ material matched the best of Take That. No Regrets seems like a song that sees Williams comfortable with his decisions and enjoying no freedom and success. If you have been a bit hesitant to embrace Robbie Williams’ music in the past, I would say that I've Been Expecting You is a good album to get involved with. No Regrets is my favourite song from the album, as it is one of Williams’ best vocal performances and strongest set of lyrics. Written with Guy Chambers, No Regrets is one of the finest songs from the 1990s in my view. So many people dislike the song or feel that, as it is from Williams, it is a bit naff and lightweight. The fact he had Neil Hannon and Neil Tennant providing backing vocals shows that No Regrets is a strong song with plenty to appreciate – the two legendary artists add something wonderful on their brief turns. Rather than it being a guilty pleasure, No Regrets is a fantastic track that should be played more. Take a moment to set No Regrets aside and…

GIVE it some time and love.

FEATURE: Music Technology Breakthroughs: Part Ten: The Tape Recorder

FEATURE:

 

 

Music Technology Breakthroughs

IN THIS PHOTO: EMI BTR2 machines in a BBC recording room (12th November, 1961)

Part Ten: The Tape Recorder

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IN the tenth part…

of Music Technology Breakthroughs, I wanted to look an older and quite basic piece of technology that revolutionised music consumption. The tape recorder is obsolete and taken for granted now, but  it was a game-changer. I have already covered compact discs and the Sony Walkman an in this feature. I think that, alongside them, the tape recorder was instrumental in changing how we view and listen to music. I will move on and bring in an article that discusses how magnetic tape has impacted music. Before then, an article from Wikipedia that provides some history and detail regarding the tape recorder:

“An audio tape recorder, also known as a tape deck, tape player or tape machine or simply a tape recorder, is a sound recording and reproduction device that records and plays back sounds usually using magnetic tape for storage. In its present-day form, it records a fluctuating signal by moving the tape across a tape head that polarizes the magnetic domains in the tape in proportion to the audio signal. Tape-recording devices include the reel-to-reel tape deck and the cassette deck, which uses a cassette for storage.

The use of magnetic tape for sound recording originated around 1930 in Germany as paper tape with oxide lacquered to it. Prior to the development of magnetic tape, magnetic wire recorders had successfully demonstrated the concept of magnetic recording, but they never offered audio quality comparable to the other recording and broadcast standards of the time. This German invention was the start of a long string of innovations that have led to present-day magnetic tape recordings.

Magnetic tape revolutionized both the radio broadcast and music recording industries. It gave artists and producers the power to record and re-record audio with minimal loss in quality as well as edit and rearrange recordings with ease. The alternative recording technologies of the era, transcription discs and wire recorders, could not provide anywhere near this level of quality and functionality.

Since some early refinements improved the fidelity of the reproduced sound, magnetic tape has been the highest quality analog recording medium available. As of the first decade of the 21st century, analog magnetic tape has been largely replaced by digital recording technologies”.

Magnetic tape brought about sweeping changes in both radio and the recording industry. Sound could be recorded, erased and re-recorded on the same tape many times, sounds could be duplicated from tape to tape with only minor loss of quality, and recordings could now be very precisely edited by physically cutting the tape and rejoining it. In August 1948, Los Angeles-based Capitol Records became the first recording company to use the new process.[25]

Within a few years of the introduction of the first commercial tape recorder, the Ampex 200 model, launched in 1948, American musician-inventor Les Paul had invented the first multitrack tape recorder, bringing about another technical revolution in the recording industry. Tape made possible the first sound recordings totally created by electronic means, opening the way for the bold sonic experiments of the Musique Concrète school and avant garde composers like Karlheinz Stockhausen, which in turn led to the innovative pop music studio-as-an-instrument recordings of artists such as Frank Zappa, The Beatles and The Beach Boys.

Tape enabled the radio industry for the first time to pre-record many sections of program content such as advertising, which formerly had to be presented live, and it also enabled the creation and duplication of complex, high-fidelity, long-duration recordings of entire programs. It also, for the first time, allowed broadcasters, regulators and other interested parties to undertake comprehensive logging of radio broadcasts for legislative and commercial purposes, leading to the growth of the modern media monitoring industry.

Innovations, like multitrack recording and tape echo, enabled radio programs and advertisements to be pre-produced to a level of complexity and sophistication that was previously unattainable and tape also led to significant changes to the pacing of program content, thanks to the introduction of the endless-loop tape cartridge.

While they are primarily used for sound recording, tape machines were also important for data storage before the advent of floppy disks and CDs, and are still used today, although primarily to provide an offline backup to hard disk drives”.

Not only was the tape recorder used in music; it as utilised in politics, broadcasting and so many other spheres and industries. Some criticise cassettes and tape as a format, but they are still being used today. Despite the dreaded problem of tapes being caught in recorders and players, I think they are pretty sturdy and compact. I want to draw from an interesting article that charted the beginnings of the tape recorder and how it evolved and became more commonplace:

“When electrical equipment manufacturer AEG introduced the Magnetophon K1 in Berlin in 1935, more than five decades had passed since Thomas Edison's groundbreaking phonograph. Many had explored the idea of recording sound electromagnetically, however it was the development of a unique tape head, in concert with a plastic tape coated in iron powder, that proved the breakthrough.

Although the first recordings were noisy and didn't sound any better than shellac records, AEG and tape manufacturer IG Farben were encouraged by a new possibility: the ability to cut and splice. Recordings could thus be edited and altered unlike ever before. In 1936 the first-ever concert was committed to magnetic tape in Ludwigshafen: a recording of the London Symphony Orchestra.

Radio manufacturer Max Grundig soon recognized the potential of the tape recorder, namely on the mass market. In 1951, his company introduced the first affordable home tape recorder, the Reporter 500L. The innovation earned the admiration of the man known as the father of the German economic miracle and Finance Minister Ludwig Erhard, pictured here with Grundig (left).

The new tape recorder aimed at everyday consumers - the Telefunken Magnetophon 300, pictured here in 1963 - soon became battery powered and cable free, making it possible for people to enjoy their music anywhere, anytime.

With no commercial interests, music fans could now record concerts for repeated home listening, and then share the recordings with friends - like this young man at an open air festival at Burg Alsfeld in central Germany in the 1970s.

German pop star Nicole had a hi-fi reel-to-reel tape recorder in her living room. The Eurovision Song Contest winner from 1982 was able to listen to demo songs presented to her for consideration in the comfort of her own home.

Tape recording was now common place and other companies worldwide began to develop and manufacture their own equipment. In 1974 American singer Neil Sedaka planned to record in Frankfurt, however when the engineer played the piano accompaniment - recorded previously in the US - it sounded muffled and distorted, as the tape from the US was incompatible with the European device.

Meanwhile, digital recording supplanted the analogue tape machine. Even the digital audio tape (DAT) faded from studios and living rooms, as the CD and then MP3 took over - rendering the old "tape salad" to the attic and the history books”.

Magnetic tape and the tape recorder developed through the years. I think it directly lead to the MP3 and more portable forms of music listening that we use widely today. I guess this sort of ties in with my examination of the compact disc and the Sony Walkman. They are evolutions of the tape recorder and the cassette/magnetic tape. The tape recorder not only changed music and the way we digested it, but it provided so many people and industries…

SO many possibilities.

FEATURE: To Where the Mellow Wallows: Kate Bush’s Underrated In the Warm Room

FEATURE:

 

 

To Where the Mellow Wallows

IN THIS PHOTO: Kate Bush in an outtake from the Lionheart cover shoot/PHOTO CREDIT: Gered Mankowitz

Kate Bush’s Underrated In the Warm Room

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IN a future feature…

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

I am looking ahead to the thirty-fifth anniversary of the Kate Bush greatest hits album, The Whole Story. I am positing an alternate greatest hits collection and one that has a selection of lesser-heard tracks - and ones that are worthy of more love. I have talked about underrated Bush tracks that some overlook or do not mention. In the Warm Room is from 1978’s Lionheart. On an underrated albums, I think some have been unkind regarding In the Warm Room. It is not as accomplished as Symphony in Blue, but I like the fact that, as she did on The Kick Inside, there is this sensual song that mixes some great lyrics with some that are sillier and a bit more unusual. Before bringing in an article that is a little mixed towards the song, the Kate Bush Encyclopaedia provides some background:

“Kate was asked to perform on the children's TV programme Ask Aspel, where she wanted to present the new song 'In The Warm Room', but the BBC felt this song was too explicitly sexual, so she opted for Kashka From Baghdad instead. As a result, there are no televised performances of 'In The Warm Room'. The song, however, was performed during the Tour of Life and one of these performances ended up in the Live In Germany TV special.

“I'm always getting accused of being a feminist. Really I do write a lot of my songs for men, actually. In fact, 'In The Warm Room' is written for men because there are so many songs for women about wonderful men that come up and chat you up when you're in the disco and I thought it would be nice to write a song for men about this amazing female. And I think that I am probably female-oriented with my songs because I'm a female and have very female emotions but I do try to aim a lot of the psychology, if you like, at men. (Personal Call, BBC Radio 1, 1979)”.

I do like the fact that Bush had this positive attitude towards men and wrote songs from the male gaze. Some might accuse her of not being a feminist, but that would be unfair. I feel many of Bush’s earlier tracks were unconventional and were very much from her perspective. The language on In the Warm Room mixes elements of the tender and absurd. I really love Bush’s vocal on the song and, whilst it is not strong enough to consider a lost single, it is a track that one does not hear a lot – one of those cuts that we should reinspect. Dreams of Orgonon had this to say about In the Warm Room:

“One of the quietest songs on the album is “In the Warm Room,” also one of the album’s acoustic songs. It fills the “Feel It” spot on the album, the one exclusively-piano song. “Feel It” used its slot on the album to explore sexual desire and seeking pleasure in ambiguous circumstances. “In the Warm Room” is just a dead end — a treacly, inept dirge of a love song. It actually is what male rock critics (a tautology if ever there was one) said her other songs were. It’s the nadir of the album, and a self-evident career low for Bush.

If this song sounds male gazey, that is intentional. Bush claimed she often wrote songs for men, giving them what they want, specifically citing “In the Warm Room.” Such a decision is backwards for Bush, who’s always been a tad conservative in her outlook but manages to hides it behind radically conceptual songwriting (she’s stronger at navigating aesthetics than politics). And it’s just banal here — it’s depressing to see someone who once wrote a musical suicide note for an incestuous woman settling for writing a song about a dude who likes to get laid with spooky dames.

Bush plays it with such po-facedness too: the song crawls, shapelessly wandering in various modes of A (switching between major and minor) as Bush croons the lyrics in a warmed over Billie Holiday impression. It’s terribly lumpy too — it’s difficult to outline a verse-and-chorus structure for this because there’s no tension or reward. “In the Warm Room” is trying incredibly hard to do nothing at all, while coming across as extremely self-serious.

This is what tips it over into the sublimely ridiculous. I mean, who can sing these lyrics with a straight face? How can you make “you’ll fall into her like a pillow/her thighs as soft as marshmallows/say hello to the warm musk of her hollows” work? This is a patently awful lyric and the best singer in the world couldn’t (and indeed can’t) make it work. It doesn’t help that the rest of the lyrics are nonsense like “but when you do/it’ll feel like kicking a habit.” “In the Warm Room” crawls, but it’s gobsmackingly silly”.

 COVER PHOTO CREDIT: Gered Mankowitz

I do agree that there are some silly lyrics, but I think that gives the song its charm! Bush was a teenager when she wrote the song, so one could not expect the same sort of language and maturity we heard on albums like Hounds of Love, and The Sensual World. The simplicity of the composition allows the vocals to take the spotlight. I feel In the Warm Room is a far stronger song than it is given credit for. As I say, I will be putting some of the undervalued songs together in a feature - I feel many people focus on Kate Bush’s hits and do not spend time with deeper cuts. If you are a Kate Bush fan and have not listened to In the Warm Room, then give it a spin. The Lionheart album is a brilliant one; it never really gets the respect it has earned. Listening to In the Warm Room, and one rarely hears songs as charged and sensual as this today. We have the odd love song like it, but there has been a tempering over the years. I have a lot of love and time for Bush’s first couple of albums; I appreciate her use of language and how she articulates passion and lust. In the Warm Room is this immersive asnd tingling song that, despite a few weaker thoughts, is a terrific track! I am not sure what the eponymous room is or where it is located, but it does sound…

QUITE a special and beguiling place.

FEATURE: Groovelines: Whitney Houston - I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me)

FEATURE:

 

 

Groovelines

Whitney Houston - I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me)

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THERE are a couple of reasons why…

I want to include Whitney Houston’s I Want to Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me) in Groovelines. For one, there is a planned biopic that has the same title (albeit without the parentheses included). Also, it comes from an album that is very underrated. Her Whitney album arrives on 2nd June, 1987, and it features huge hits like I Want to Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me), and So Emotional. Not only does one hear Houston’s full emotional and vocal range through the album; I also think that the non-singles are very strong and get overlooked. Whitney is one of those great albums that deserves more love. I think I Want to Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me) is one of the standout tracks of the 1980s. The track was a huge success, topping the charts in thirteen countries including Australia, Italy, Germany and the U.K. In the U.S., it became her fourth consecutive number-one single and sold over one million copies - making it her first Platinum single in the U.S. and her biggest hit in that country at the time. The single was released on 2nd May  1987. I don’t think that it has aged at all. It still sound so compelling and uplifting. I will round off by looking ahead to the biopic and Houston’s legacy. I wanted to bring in some information regarding the success and popularity of one of Whitney Houston’s greatest tracks:

“"I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me)" was released as the first single from Houston's second studio album at the beginning of May 1987. It entered the Billboard Hot 100, the issue dated May 16, 1987, at number 38, her highest debut in the 1980s. Six weeks later, it reached the top spot of the chart, making it Houston's fourth number-one single in the United States, the issue date of June 27, 1987 ― the same day that Houston's album Whitney debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 (formerly "Top Pop Albums") the first time ever by a female artist. It remained there for two weeks, spent nine weeks in the top ten (more than any other song that year) and spent 18 weeks on the chart. The song reached number one on the Hot 100 Single Sales chart for two weeks, and on the Hot 100 Airplay chart for three weeks, her longest run at that time. The single also peaked at number one on the Hot Adult Contemporary and the remixed dance / club version by Steve Thompson and Michael Barbiero became Houston's first chart-topper on the Billboard Hot Dance/Club Play Songs, staying on the top position of the charts for three weeks and two weeks, respectively. In addition, it reached a peak of two on the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart (formerly "Hot Black Singles"), the issue date of July 4, 1987. It remained at that position for two weeks, behind "I Feel Good All Over" by Stephanie Mills (which never made the Hot 100), and spent 15 weeks on the R&B chart.

 On July 28, 1987, the single was certified Gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), for shipment of 1,000,000 copies of the single, and re-certified Platinum, making it Houston's first single to achieve that feat, for the same shipment on February 13, 1989, with the change of the RIAA certification criteria for singles. (The number of sales required to qualify for gold and platinum discs was higher prior to January 1, 1989. The thresholds were 1,000,000 units (gold) and 2,000,000 units (platinum), reflecting a decrease in sales of singles. It placed at number four on the Billboard Year-End Top Pop Singles chart for 1987. In Canada, the song debuted at 74 on the RPM Top 100 Singles chart, the issue dated May 9, 1987, and reached the top of the chart on July 4, 1987. It was ranked second on the RPM Year-End Top 100 Singles chart for 1987. The single was later certified Gold by the Canadian Recording Industry Association (CRIA) on February 29, 1988”.

Whitney Houston died on 11th February, 2012 - so it has been just over nine years since we lost her. It was a huge blow to the music world as Houston has inspired so many other artists. I will talk more about I Want to Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me) to end, but many are looking ahead to the biopic. Hollywood Reporter give us more details:

“Anthony McCarten, the writer behind Queen biopic 'Bohemian Rhapsody,' will pen the screenplay, while Stella Meghie, who was behind the Issa Rae romance 'The Photograph,' will direct.

Where do broken hearts go? To Sony Pictures.

After a protracted bidding war, Sony and its TriStar division have won rights to I Wanna Dance With Somebody, the musical biopic of singer Whitney Houston.

PHOTO CREDIT: Ebet Roberts/Redferns/Getty Images

A theatrical commitment was part of the deal, and Sony is setting a Thanksgiving 2022 release.

Anthony McCarten, the writer behind Queen biopic Bohemian Rhapsody, will pen the screenplay, while Stella Meghie, who was behind the Issa Rae romance The Photograph, will direct.

The project has the backing of Houston’s estate as well as music producer Clive Davis. Pat Houston will produce the movie on behalf of the Houston Estate, along with Davis, Primary Wave Music’s Larry Mestel, Denis O’Sullivan and McCarten.

Houston is one of the best-known recording artists of all time, selling more than 200 million records worldwide, with hit songs that include "Saving All My Love for You," "How Will I Know" and "I Wanna Dance With Somebody." She also starred in and recorded original music for 1992 blockbuster hit The Bodyguard. She died in 2012 at 48.

“Whitney just makes you want to get out of your seat and sing and dance!" said TriStar head Nicole Brown in Tueday’s announcement. “She is anthemic in every way. Anthony McCarten has bottled that up in his masterful screenplay bringing this beloved legend to life in a way we’ve never seen her - funny, exhilarating, aspirational, complex and incredibly human. Add to that Stella Meghie, a diehard fan, who is so gifted at telling beautiful, modern, feminine tales. With the guidance of Pat Houston, the legendary Clive Davis, Larry Mestel, Denis O’Sullivan, and Jeff Kalligheri, we have the absolute dream team to create the ultimate celebration of Whitney’s incredible life and musical achievements.”

Sony made it a point to underline that importance of keeping this movie project in theaters.

“Musically driven films have always held a special place in theaters and this remarkable story will help further our fierce commitment to the theatrical experience,” said Josh Greenstein, president of Sony Motion Picture Group.

While it’s unclear how deep the biopic will go into Houston’s many personal issues, Davis said the biopic will go far.

“From all my personal and professional experience with Whitney from her late teenage years to her tragic, premature death, I know the full Whitney Houston story has not yet been told,” said Davis. “I am so glad that Anthony McCarten has committed to a no-holds-barred, musically rich screenplay that finally reveals the whole Whitney, whose vocal genius deeply affected the world while she bravely battled the demons that were to be her undoing”.

I really love I Want to Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me), and it is my favourite Whitney Houston song. It is one of the 1980s’ finest singles and, as I said, a song that sounds great now. I do not hear I Want to Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me) played on too many radio stations. It does get played now and then, but not as much as it should be. It is a song that everyone can feel joyed by and, as a display of Whitney Houston’s talent, she is near her peak. Written by George Merrill Shannon Rubicam and released to huge acclaim, go and listen to this magnificent song! The more one listens to and dives deep into I Want to Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me), the more one understand it is…

SUCH an infectious gem.

FEATURE: A Third Summer of Love? Looking Ahead to Live Music in 2022

FEATURE:

 

 

A Third Summer of Love?

PHOTO CREDIT: @michaelbenz/Unsplash 

Looking Ahead to Live Music in 2022

___________

I think that we can all agree…

 PHOTO CREDIT: @dwell_in/Unsplash

that live music is unlikely to return in any major way this year. I think there are plans for socially-distanced gigs and some smaller-scale gigs a bit later this year. Whatever happens from the summer onwards, I don’t think it will be a proper or satisfactory return to live music. So many festivals will be called off, and it seems probable many venues will be operating at a seriously reduced capacity until next year. Although there is a lot of uncertainty, stress and struggle in the live music sector, many are looking to next year and imagining a much more prosperous 2022. It would be nice to think that we could all get back to gigs by the autumn, though things are looking shaky on that front. I feel that, as next year will be the first full year since 2019 where live music and festivals have occurred, there should be some sort of larger celebration. Musicians, venues and festivals organisers will be raring to go, that is for sure! If the Government can provide financing and support for the live music industry to ensure that we can have a full 2022, then I think there will be this explosion of gigs and festivals. That said, what with the ongoing issues with visa-free touring for musicians on the continent, maybe there will be a spanner in the works before then. The BBC reported on the story recently:

“The EU has insisted it was the UK government's choice to end visa-free touring for musicians on the continent, following an outcry from performers.

Officials in Brussels told the BBC that the UK "refused" a plan that would have let musicians tour without visas.

PHOTO CREDIT: @josephtpearson/Unsplash 

The response came after Downing Street re-affirmed that its own "ambitious" proposals had been rejected by the EU.

The EU's Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier said the result was one of the "inevitable consequences" of Brexit.

"I very much regretted that the British didn't have more ambition for people's mobility," Mr Barnier told reporters on Thursday.

From last March, we made fairly ambitious proposals in terms of mobility, including for specific categories such as journalists, performers, musicians and others," he went on. "But you need to be two to make a deal."

Pressure has been mounting on the two sides to negotiate an exemption to the new restrictions for musicians, with performers and crews saying livelihoods could be at risk.

Since Brexit, British musicians and crews are no longer guaranteed visa-free travel and may need extra work permits to play in certain European countries.

Under the terms of the deal, British bands can tour Europe for up to 90 days in a 180-day period. But tours in Germany and Spain, for instance, will now require extra visas for paid work, while those in France and The Netherlands will not.

An EU spokesperson told the BBC: "The UK has chosen to no longer allow the free movement of EU citizens to the UK. It also refused to include a chapter on mobility in the agreement.

"These choices inevitably mean that travel between the EU and the UK - including for business purposes - will no longer be as easy as it was while the UK was a member state."

He added that the UK "refused to include a commitment on visa-free short stays", which could have meant people like musicians, sportspeople and journalists would not have needed individual visas”.

 PHOTO CREDIT: Gie Knaeps/Getty Images

Not to detour away from the more positive, but there is some doubt regarding musicians in the E.U. and what damage will be caused to the music industry after Brexit. Radiohead’s Colin Greenwood wrote a feature for The Guardian explaining how vital European touring was for his band – and how vital it is for musicians at the moment:

“What will playing in Europe be like now, after Brexit? I spoke to several old friends who’ve had years of experience planning Radiohead tours. Adrian, our touring accountant, said it will be more clunky and expensive. Before Brexit, a carnet (a list of goods going in and out of the country) was just needed for Norway and Switzerland. Now it would be more like playing South America, where each country has its systems for dealing with “third countries” like us. Adrian said a £10,000 guitar would need a carnet that would cost about £650 plus VAT. The costs of travel and accommodation are already high, and the extra paperwork and expenses would rise quickly for a touring orchestra.

Reading this as a musician who wants to jump on the Eurostar and go play, my heart sinks at all the new costs and kerfuffle – and I’m lucky enough to afford it. I’m worried for all the brilliant crew who have carried us as a band for nearly 30 years. They are our family on tour, many from Europe themselves, and need to be able to travel freely and work with companies across the world. All the incredible staging, sound and lighting companies from the UK that drive lots of the European festivals might find it that much harder to compete with EU alternatives. And the Dutch, German and French technicians we’ve used for decades might find it’s not worth the candle to work here.

What about the solo cellist who is going to play in Berlin for a couple of hundred euros, and sees her carnet will cost more than the fee? Will the promoter in Berlin think twice about the costs and hassle of booking her rather than an artist from the EU? What about a young violinist from Vienna who dreams of studying at one of the prestigious UK music schools, and now feels discouraged to tangle with Brexit’s “specialised expertise”? This is a tragedy of deferred dreams”.

 PHOTO CREDIT: Getty Images

I hope we do not see that much sacrifice and loss when it comes to valued musicians and technical crew. I think that it is paramount live music is allowed to return as strongly as possible next year! It all gets me to thinking how best to mark a year that will be like no other. I am not sure how many venues and festivals will be lost between now and next year, but I would like to think there will be a pretty strong scene raring to go. It has been over thirty years since the second Summer of Love. I feel that 2022 could be this Summer of Love – some fifty-five years since the first. There will be the delight and relief of getting back to normal life. The appetite for live music will be headier than ever before, and we will see more live events than at any other time. On top of that, I feel a lot of the anger we feel right now towards the Government will manifest itself in a huge amount of connection between the public. Maybe the circumstances of the speculative 2022 Summer of Love will not be the same as the other two – in the sense that there is quite a bit of drug-taking and controversy. What I can see is a similar sense of ecstasy and abandonment, but done in a more lawful way. It is clear that the fever at live gigs will be immense. I can see a lot of underground clubs opening up - summer 2022 could be one of the most electric and explosive ever. Of course, this is just my prediction…so it might be way off of the mark. In any case, after such a terrible last year, many are already looking ahead to next year and picturing the scenes and possibilities! Maybe there will be a few gigs here and there before we get back to normal. I don’t think we can realistically make big plans until next year. A 2022 Summer of Love would be amazing. For music lovers – who have been without a fix of gigs for a long time -, a massive celebration and busy year for live music is...

 PHOTO CREDIT: @kristsll/Unsplash

WHAT we all need and hope for!

FEATURE: Melody Maker: Modern Music and a Deficit of Memorable Hooks and Big Choruses

FEATURE:

 

 

Melody Maker

PHOTO CREDIT: @dollargill/Unsplash 

Modern Music and a Deficit of Memorable Hooks and Big Choruses

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SOME may argue against my assertion…

 PHOTO CREDIT: @brucemars/Unsplash

that modern music is missing something in the way of memorable hooks and catchy choruses. I do not feel that Pop music alone is to blame. Whilst I feel that modern music is hugely impressive and vastly varied, I can struggle to name too many songs that have grabbed me with a great melody or a beefy chorus! Maybe this is to do with the flood of new music and how it is harder to process everything. When I was young, I was buying more music than I do now, debatably. I was experiencing artists purely through the radio and music T.V., so it was easier to narrow down and focus; it was harder for artists to get a stoplight and listenership compared to today. I think that music now is as interesting as any time in history. Streaming and social media means that pretty much anyone can post any music. This means, for the music love, that there is so much choice! One need not exclusively listen to radio to find their new favourite artists. I guess there is an argument to suggest that quantity has sacrificed some form of quality. I am not arguing against the quality of modern music. I think that is a subjective thing. One can debate modern music is stronger than any other year; someone else can have an opposite viewpoint. I do think that Pop music especially has strengthened over the past couple of years in some ways. Whilst there is not a return to the more joyful sound we experienced years ago – maybe going back to the mid-‘00s for the end of that period -, there is slightly more positivity and less introspection (though there is still not enough upbeat).

 PHOTO CREDIT: @dustintramel/Unsplash

Perhaps artists have to feel they have to be more personal or immediate in order to get attention in a hugely competitive market. I have no end of appreciation for the inventiveness of modern music and how artists continue to push boundaries. I am not sure about other people, but most of the music I remember from my childhood and teenager years possessed a U.S.P. Whether that was a joyful chorus that made you sing along or a melodic sensibility that instantly lodged in the memory, I feel there is less of that now. I cannot recall many songs from the past few years that have provided me a joyful rush or I keep spinning because there is this addictive hook. There are articles that suggest modern Pop is dreadful; others point to research that says Pop is sadder and slower. I do think that, since these articles were published, there has been a minor recovery and rehabilitation in Pop music. Look wider afield to other genres and tastes and one is not short of fast and fresh music that aims to get the listener engaged and moving. I feel one of the big issues is that there is so much music around today, one can miss a genuinely captivating track in a sea of alternative options. In a wider sense, there has been a turn away from more joyful and positive music. This article of 2018 talks about music becoming wordier and more homogenous.  

 PHOTO CREDIT: @musichq/Unsplash

To me, Pop music is still suffering from a lack of diversity, whereas the rest of the sound spectrum is pretty broad and eclectic. My big downer on modern music is the disappearance and decline of genres that were synonymous with hooks and insatiably melodies. There are great modern artists injecting Disco into their work but, as a scene, that sort of died out in the 1980s. The same is true of Funk and Soul. Comparing Pop trends, and the 1980s and 1990s were more uplifting and hook-rich than, say, most of the Pop music from the past twenty years (I would argue Pop was still golden until about 2005; there was a distinct drop after that). You could argue that modern politics and the state of the world is hardly the best inspiration for music that is bright and optimistic! The world has always been in a bad state and, through every decade, we have had to face challenges and enormous upheaval! Also, I am not strictly talking about Pop music and upbeat sounds. Time was when Rock music was at the forefront and one could find plenty of catchy licks and riffs. My main reason for writing this feature was to see whether, twenty years from now, a lot of what we are listening to now will be passed down to the next generation. I think the best albums of the past couple of decades will endure and inspire. I think albums such as To Pimp a Butterfly by Kendrick Lamar (released in 2015) is one of the greatest records ever.

I think songs like Only for Tonight by Pearl Charles are examples of shining lights. I would love to hear more tracks like this - as this lodges in the head and has plenty of energy and delight! I know there are other similar songs around, but I would say that this track is one of the more memorable, melodically-pleasing and hook-fantastic of recent times. I shall wrap things up soon. Many might disagree with what I have said regarding modern music. Maybe an evolution and shift is a good thing. I like how artists have put sounds of 1980s Pop and classic Disco into their songs but, with this being fairly uncommon, I do think there is a bit of a void. There is nothing to suggest that a post-pandemic music scene will continue as it is now. We might see a new sort of Britpop wave or an interesting new movement that catches us all by surprise. I wanted to discuss melody, hooks and choruses, as I have not seen many current articles that investigate it. If anyone has examples of songs that might give me pause for thought then let me know. As I say, it can be hard keeping abreast of everything and discovering new gems. Perhaps we will see new styles, genres and sounds pop up in the next few years that place greater emphasis on classic melodies and choruses that you recall years from now. One can never rule this out so, if that were to happen, it would be…

 PHOTO CREDIT: @omarlopez1/Unsplash

VERY interesting to see.

FEATURE: Too Good to Be Forgotten: Songs That Are Much More Than a Guilty Pleasure: Girls Aloud - Sound of the Underground

FEATURE:

 

 

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

Girls Aloud - Sound of the Underground

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ONE may point out that…

Girls Aloud’s debut single, Sound of the Underground, is celebrated and not a song that is considered to be a guilty pleasure. I would disagree. I have seen it included on Amazon’s top guilty pleasure songs, and it has popped up in a couple of other articles regarding songs that are, perhaps, not ones you want to shout about loving. Sound of the Underground featured on the band’s debut album of the same name – and I will bring in a review of that album soon. Following Girls Aloud's (Cheryl Cole, Nadine Coyle, Sarah Harding, Nicola Roberts and Kimberley Walsh) formation on the ITV1 reality television show, Popstars: The Rivals, Sound of the Underground was released just sixteen days later on 16th December 2002. The song became 2002’s Christmas number-one in the U.K., spending four consecutive weeks at the top. The song also reached number-one in Ireland. I will bring in some reaction and reception for the song soon. I wanted to mention the music video. It was recorded in an empty London warehouse days after Girls Aloud were formed. I think it is a really striking and powerful video, in spite of the fact that it is quite simple. Sound of the Underground, far from being a guilty pleasure, is one of the best songs from the early-2000s. I think that girl groups were probably past their most relevant and extraordinary by 2002, so it would not have been a shock if Girls Aloud failed or produced music that was quite generic and bland.

I think Girls Aloud succeeded right from the off and provided this song that has so much vim and pizzazz. Written by Miranda Cooper, Niara Scarlett and Brian Higgins, I feel Sound of the Underground is a tremendous track. There was criticism and controversy when the song was released, as some felt it was a cover song and others, including Pete Waterman, felt that the group had not sung on the track. Maybe it is a compliment regarding the strength of the track and the performances. It was pretty tough for them having to navigate backlash and questions so early on but, nineteen years after its release, and Sound of the Underground stands as one of the great Pop debut singles:

“"Sound of the Underground" received a positive response from most music critics. It "proved a first: it was a reality pop record that didn't make you want to do physical harm to everyone involved in its manufacture." A review for Girls Aloud's debut album stated that the song has "become a pulsating pop classic with a modern, metallic beat, catchy chorus and just the right amount of sleaze." The song was further described as "an enticing blend of spiky guitars and Fatboy Slim beats topped off with an irresistibly catchy chorus." Michael Osborn said that "Sound of the Underground" offers "a fresh tune that has no intentions of following the road to seasonal schmaltzville." An article from The Guardian called the song "an icy confection very different from the normal run of girl-band things."

"Sound of the Underground" and another Xenomania production, Sugababes' "Round Round", have been called "two huge groundbreaking hits", credited with reshaping British pop music for the 2000s. Peter Robinson wrote, "Instead of what would become the predictable 'victory lap' ballad, here was an upbeat attitude-soaked celebration of life, partying, and being young." In 2003, "Sound of the Underground" was voted Best Single at the Disney Channel Kids Awards. The Telegraph placed the song at number 15 on a list of 100 songs that defined the 2000s, while NME included it at number 39. Spinner.com named "Sound of the Underground" the eighth best British song of the 2000s”.

I do not want to detour too far from Sound of the Underground but, considering their debut album of the same name, and I think it should have received some better reviews. I am not a massive fan of Girls Aloud, although I can identify their debut album is stronger than many people gave it credit for. In their review, this is what the BBC said:

“Girls Aloud totally trounced their boyband rivals One True Voice with their debut the single (and album opener) "Sound Of The Underground", which sounded better than anyone could have expected. Punchy, sassed-up pop over driving neo drum and bass beats captured the formula of the day and has set the tone for much of what's to come next.

The follow up, "No Good Advice", chases hot on its heels with more brassy and in-your-face lyrics of defiance and determination. They may not have written the tracks themselves but someone made the right choice of writer.Sugababes collaborator Brian Higgins injects an element of instant-catchy-cool to the songs without going overboard in trying to shape uber-chic dance floor hits.

Starting an album with your first two singles can be a sign to expect a rapid decline in qualitysoon after, but again the Girls prove us wrong."Some Kind Of Miracle" is superficial pop at its purest.With a vocal hook that gnaws its way into your brain and leaves you afflicted with a tendency to repeat it again and again in your head, it must qualify for future chart success.

Alison Clarkson, a.k.a. 90s popstar Betty Boo, also gets roped in on song scribing duties for "Mars Attack" and the electro stomping "Boogie Down Love". She stamps her trademark quirky 60s style sound effects over rocking beats for two of the album's finer moments.

At 15 tracks long, Sound Of The Underground does seem drag on towards the end but don't let that detract you from the fact that this really is an impressive debut. Only time will tell if they are set to take the mantle as the new Spice Girls or slip rapidly down pops dumper as the new Hear'Say. But their debut album is sure to shut up at least some of their cynics, myself included”.

Even though Girls Aloud disbanded in 2013, I think they enjoyed a long and successful career and, no doubt, inspired modern girl groups like Little Mix. I think that 2002 was an interesting year for Pop music. There was a definite transition and shift and, whilst some feel that year cannot compete with the best of the 1990s, songs such as Sound of the Underground make a case for the defence. Rather than judge the track as a guilty pleasure – maybe because people inherently think girl groups are a bit weaker and plastic -, have a listen to it again. The song gets inside the head pretty quickly, but there is plenty of depth and nuance that will keep you coming back – also check out Girls Aloud’s debut album to get a bigger impression of what they were about back then. When it comes to songs that mark you out as a great group, then Sound of the Underground is…

A pretty impressive debut.

FEATURE: The February Playlist: Vol. 3: Fill A Gasoline-Fuelled Test Drive of Jealousy

FEATURE:

 

 

The February Playlist

IN THIS PHOTO: Mahalia 

Vol. 3: Fill A Gasoline-Fuelled Test Drive of Jealousy

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THIS is yet one more week…

IN THIS PHOTO: Haim 

where there are not that many huge songs and major artists in the pack. There are a lot of great songs out this week but, among the big hitters is Mahalia (ft. Rico Nasty), Haim (ft. Taylor Swift), Ariana Grande, Kelly Rowland, Ghetts (ft. Dave, Hamzaa and Wretch 32), Crowded House, Arab Strap, and ANDREW W.K. There are also top tracks from José González, Matt Berninger, The Lottery Winners (ft. Sleeper), Wyvern Lingo, Tash Sultana, Black Honey, and Dawn Richard. There is plenty of variation for everyone. If you need some awesome music to get you into the weekend, then have a listen to the songs and I am sure they will give you a proper kick! It is going to be a warmer weekend than ones of recent weeks, so enjoy it with some new tunes from some…

 IN THIS PHOTO: Ariana Grande

FANTASTIC artists.

ALL PHOTOS/IMAGES (unless credited otherwise): Artists

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 PHOTO CREDIT: Katie McCurdy for FADER

Mahalia (ft. Rico Nasty) - Jealous

Haim (ft. Taylor Swift) - Gasoline

Ariana Grande - test drive

Kelly Rowland – Flowers

The Lottery Winners (ft. Sleeper) – Bad Things

Arab Strap - Here Comes Comus!

Ghetts (ft. Dave, Hamzaa and Wretch 32) - Little Bo Peep

ANDREW W.K. – Babalon

PHOTO CREDIT: Shervin Lainez

The Antlers - Just One Sec

José González - El Invento

Ella Henderson, Tom Grennan – Let’s Go Home Together

The Lounge Society - Cain's Heresy

Will Joseph Cook (ft. chloe moriondo) - Be Around Me

Wyvern Lingo – Sydney

Crowded House - To the Island

PHOTO CREDIT: GG McG

Tash Sultana – Blame It on Society

Lainey Wilson - Sayin' What I'm Thinkin'

Carly Pearce – 29

PHOTO CREDIT: Dylan Johnson

Samantha Crain – Bloomsday

Field Music – No Pressure

Alfie Templeman - Everybody’s Gonna Love Somebody

Black Honey – Disinfect

Hayley Mary - Would You Throw a Diamond?

PHOTO CREDIT: Tré Koch

Rodé – Are You Thinking of Me?

SG Lewis – Fall

Yoshi Flower - Faking Sleep

Lost Girls – Menneskekollektivet

PHOITO CREDIT: Memorials of Distinction

Porridge Radio x Piglet - Let's Not Fight !

Dawn Richard – Bussifame

Camden Cox – Under the Water

Amy Shark (ft. Keith Urban) - Love Songs Ain't for Us

Olivia Holt – Do You Miss Me

Sarah Proctor – The Breaks

Grace Davies – i met a boy online

Matt Berninger - Let It Be

PHOTO CREDIT: Jack McKain

Paul Woolford, Amber Mark - HEAT

FEATURE: Do It Again: The Lockdown Playlist: The Best Steely Dan Covers

FEATURE:

 

 

Do It Again

IN THIS PHOTO: Walter Becker (left) and Donald Fagen of Steely Dan 

The Lockdown Playlist: The Best Steely Dan Covers

___________

AS it would have been…

 IN THIS PHOTO: Walter Becker performing at Madison Square Garden, New York on 18th August, 1993/PHOTO CREDIT: David Corio/Redferns

the seventy-first birthday of Steely Dan’s Walter Becker today (20th February), I wanted to mark his memory – he sadly died in 2017. Before getting to a very special playlist, I want to bring in some information regarding Steely Dan:

“Once upon a time, there were two boomers, Donald and Walter, who both grew up in slightly different parts of the Greater New York Metropolitan Area. That being said, the neighborhoods they were from should not be confused with the Manhattan of Broadway shows, Wall Street, Greenwich Village and Harlem. The streets of their youth, though just a few miles from these wonders, were for the most part, placid and suburban.

Nevertheless, like many folks back then, they were afflicted with a needling agitation just below the surface of everyday reality. This was, at least in part, because of the Cold War and the constant, looming threat of a global, nuclear holocaust.

Unlike many schoolboys of their place and time - the late 1950s and early 1960s - Donald and Walter liked to read literary novels and listen to jazz records. Sports, not so much. On the other hand, like many American boys of their time, they had a healthy enthusiasm for baseball, baseball players and Topps bubble gum, the gum that came with baseball cards in each package: Flip ‘em, scale ‘em. trade ‘em, collect ‘em.

Music, though, was the thing. Before they were out of high school, Donald had taught himself jazz piano and Walter had become adept at both bass and guitar.

After meeting as students at Bard College in upstate New York, they began writing songs together on the piano in the common room of Walter’s dormitory. By then, in addition to jazz music, they had independently become enamoured of Chicago blues, soul music and, to an extent, the vibrant subculture that embraced the British Invasion, Bob Dylan and, as the Coen brothers have put it, the “new freedoms”. All these things, plus, for good or ill, a natural, shared drollery, were already apparent in their music and lyrics.

When classmate Terence (Boona) Boylan scored an album contract with Columbia Records, he asked the boys to join his session band at Jerry Ragovoy’s midtown Manhattan studio, the Hit Factory, where they got to work with the legendary drummer Herb Lovelle and listen to the “Ragman” tell funny stories about his life in the music business.

In 1968, the duo found cheap digs in pre-gentrification Brooklyn, on President Street in Park Slope, where they sat around on ancient, shabby couches and plotted their assault on the music business. Amazingly, they soon got a gig touring as part of the backup band for early sixties hitmakers Jay and the Americans. The group had a production company, whatever that is, in the famous Brill Building, a once vibrant hive of songwriting talent that had now transitioned into a skeevy, decadent phase. Working with the group on the road and in the studio, the boys got to hear Jay and the fellows tell some even raunchier, funnier stories about the music business and also meet some actual gangsters.

One of the Americans, Kenny Vance, managed to place one of their tunes on a Barbara Streisand album that featured songs by the new, groovy generation of writers. Donald and Walter also played sessions for Vance’s Brooklyn crony Gary Katz. By the early seventies, they had worked with many top NYC session pros including drummer Buddy Saltzman, bassist Chuck Rainey, pianists Paul Griffin and Artie Butler, and guitarists Elliot Randall, Dom Troiano, Ricky Zehringer (later Derringer) and Jeff “Skunk” Baxter. The boys had come a long way from lower middle class suburbia to an even lower, hustler-class existence in the now extinct and forgotten commercial studio culture of midtown.

In 1971, with the city degenerating into a vile Gomorrah of debt and porn, the lads relocated to sunny Los Angeles where Gary Katz, now an A&R man for ABC/Dunhill Records, had secured them a sweet though under-paid job as staff songwriters for the label, one of the last to employ house writers to develop material for the artists on the roster. At that time, ABC was concentrating on “singles acts” aimed at the pre-teen and teen markets with artists such as Tommy Roe, The Grass Roots and Hamilton, Joe Frank and Reynolds. Officially tasked with writing pop tunes for these artists, Donald and Walter secretly began to the assemble a band to act as a vehicle for their “special material”. With Katz’s help, they began to import players from the east coast.

PHOTO CREDIT: Michael Ochs Archives 

Early in 1972, the original Steely Dan group - guitarist Denny Dias, guitarist Jeff Baxter, drummer Jim Hodder, and with Donald and Walter on keyboards and bass respectively - started rehearsing in an unfinished wing of the ABC building. Several weeks later, the group began recording their first album at Village Recorders in West Hollywood with engineer Roger Nichols, whose previous job was as a “pile walker” at the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station. After being informed that ABC expected the group to tour extensively upon the album’s completion, Donald, whose intermittent panic disorder precluded him from fronting a band at that time, insisted on finding another singer/frontman, and David Palmer was added to the group.

Can’t Buy A Thrill, released that November, hit right out of the box, yielding two hit singles, “Do It Again” and “Reelin’ In The Years”, which featured a notable solo by guest guitarist Elliot Randall. A third single, “Dirty Work”, with a vocal by David Palmer, also got a lot of airplay. Steely Dan was on its way to fame and, after a few more years of penury and forced servitude, fortune”.

In memory of Walter Becker, rather than put out a collection of Steely Dan’s best songs – which I have done more than once -, I thought I would compile some awesome cover versions of their songs. This is a Lockdown Playlist where other artists tackled the beloved music of one of the music world’s finest ever acts. I think it is an appropriate nod to the magnificent and much-missed genius…

THAT was Walter Becker.

FEATURE: Second Spin: Lenny Kravitz - Are You Gonna Go My Way

FEATURE:

 

 

Second Spin

Lenny Kravitz - Are You Gonna Go My Way

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I have featured Lenny Kravitz before …

when I included his 1991 album, Mama Said, in Vinyl Corner. It is, perhaps, his greatest album and one that includes incredible songs such as It Ain't Over 'til It's Over, and Always on the Run. I think that the follow-up, Are You Gonna Go My Way, of 1993 is less regarded and seen as weaker than Mama Said. I feel that it has been positively reviewed by some, though others feel it lacks the importance and consistency of Mama Said. I think the first Lenny Kravitz album I experienced when growing up was Are You Gonna Go My Way. Its title track was a single I remember fondly and, before I bring in a couple of reviews for the album, a little background is required. Recorded at Waterfront Studios, Hoboken, New Jersey, whilst some fee that Are You Gonna Go My Way is one of Kravitz’s best works, there are reviews that are pretty mixed. Apart from the title track, one does not hear too much from the album. Believe, and Just Be a Woman are other particularly strong cuts from the album. Are You Gonna Go My Way has been very successful, not only in the United States but also worldwide - particularly in Europe and South America. It reached number-twelve on the Billboard 200 and number-one in the U.K. It is a shame that there has been some mixed reception among the acclaim for Kravitz’s third studio album.

I think it is the non-singles that strike hardest on Are You Gonna Go My Way. Sugar, and Sister are sublime, whilst My Love is one of his very finest tracks. I think 1993 was one of the most important years for music in my view. That is when I was really immersing myself in the sounds of the times. Released on 9th March, 1993, Are You Gonna Go My Way was a big album when I was at middle school. Pop Matters reviewed the Deluxe edition of Are You Gonna Go My Way in 2013 – they gave it a mixed review:

“The ghost of Led Zeppelin appears now and then on the actual album, but its presence is strongest on these demos and b-sides. The non-album single/Reality Bites soundtrack cut "Spinning Around Over You" has such a characteristically Jimmy Page riff, it's surprising he didn't sue for royalties. Maybe the irony of it might have been too much even for him. Not all of this can be laid on Kravitz' door, as guitarist Craig Ross certainly added his own Page-isms to the mix. On b-side "Someone Like You", Kravitz, Ross, and company use a guitar tone straight out of Page's book to pay homage to the Beatles, with a huge dollop of "She Said She Said", Lennonesque vocal doubling, and a dash of the "I got blisters on my fingers" echoed background voicing from "Helter Skelter". It works because the sources are so strong, not because the resulting song is a masterpiece on its own.

On Are You Gonna Go My Way, those steps happened again and again. Listen to the organ work and arrangements by Henry Hirsch and Kravitz on "Believe"; they're straight out of the John Paul Jones handbook, but Led Zeppelin never went for that sort of deep soul. Same with that Jimmy Page guitar from Craig Ross on "Is There Any Love in Your Heart" -- those ultra-talented Brits could play funk, but the meld here is Kravitz's own kind of nasty beast. The debt to John Lennon on a song like "My Love" is a little different, as the vocal tricks, doubling, and range make it harder to hear that the mix of blues rock and Beatlesque harmonies Lenny Kravitz crafts is one of his own.

This was not a perfect album in 1993, and its problems remain the same 20 years later. There are still some songs that feel half-baked if beautifully played and recorded; "Eleutheria", for instance, has one of the strongest vocal performances on any of his records, but the limp reggae backing track is a nightmare. Even the sublime organ from Michael "Ibo" Cooper of genre stalwarts Third World can't rescue it from Maxi Priest b-side territory. To close the record with it was criminal”.

I have a lot of respect for Lenny Kravitz. I think some of his later work lacks a certain depth and memorability, but his first three albums are sublime. From his masterful 1989 debut, Let Love Rule, to Mama Said (which is thirty in April), and 1993’s Are You Gonna Go My Way, the New York-based Kravitz was in incredible form!

I want to bring in a review from AllMusic. Although they note clear influences for Kravitz, they highlight positives on Are You Gonna Go My Way:

“The cover indicates that Are You Gonna Go My Way is Lenny Kravitz's bid for rock stardom. Designed in the style of an early-'70s record, it features Kravitz in hippie clothing, apparently exposing himself to a photographer -- in other words, he's a dangerously sexy counterculture rebel. That may have been true in 1970, but in 1993, he simply sounds like a weird sideshow exhibit, the man who never lived past 1973. Of course, it's easy to make such potshots, but Kravitz opens himself up to such attacks. No other artist, especially a successful one, has been quite so devoted to the past and ignorant of the present. Since he has considerable talent for songcraft and production, Kravitz isn't nearly as bad as he could be, and Are You Gonna Go My Way is just as enjoyable and more accomplished than its predecessors. This time around, Hendrix is his chief influence, as evidenced by the roaring title track, and he does expand that with his traditional Lennon, Curtis Mayfield, and Prince obsessions. Song for song, it's his most consistent album, although by the end of the record, his painstaking reproduction of classic rock sounds begins to appear a bit too studied, suggesting that Kravitz may have hit a creative wall. Nevertheless, that does nothing to diminish the enjoyment of this record”.

I will end up by sourcing from a great article from udiscovermusic from last year:

“In many ways, his third studio album, Are You Gonna Go My Way, released on 9 March 1993, is a homage record. In much the same way that poets write homages in tribute to their mentors, Are You Gonna Go My Way takes the very best of 60s and 70s rock, soul, R&B and reggae, from Jimi Hendrix and Led Zeppelin to The Beatles and Al Green, Bill Withers and Curtis Mayfield, to craft a tight, compelling album.

Even with his penchant for vintage analogue equipment, clothing and musical styles, Are You Gonna Go My Way is very much a product of the sampling culture of the 90s. And while Kravitz had already tasted success with his first two albums, Are You Gonna Go My Way – and its title track – proved he was no mere nostalgia merchant.

As a black musician who wailed on guitar, Kravitz was faced with immediate comparisons to Jimi Hendrix. With his phase-shifter guitar in hand, declaring himself “the chosen, the one come to save the day” in the indelible music video, it was hard to argue otherwise.

Comparisons aside, from the infectious opening riffage over a pounding snare drum, to the fuzz lead over phased-out guitars during the coda, it was clear that Kravitz had penned a rock classic with ‘Are You Gonna Go My Way’.

Hailed as the new Gen Xer rock star, Kravitz didn’t confine his talents to guitar-driven rock. The chameleonic multi-instrumentalist, who produced, wrote and arranged the album, also paid tribute to his soul, funk and R&B heroes. ‘Come On And Love Me’ has a funky Prince vibe, while ‘Heaven Help’ has the sparse instrumentation and hopeful hopelessness of Bill Withers. Elsewhere, the subtle horns on ‘Sugar’ bring to mind Al Green, while the strings on both ‘Sugar’ and ’Sister‘ evoke Curtis Mayfield. Kravitz even dabbles with reggae on ‘Eleutheria’, a tribute to the Bahamian island Eleuthera, to which he would eventually move.

Kravitz continues his homage with the album’s second track and single ‘Believe’. The song begins with an organ intro reminiscent of John Paul Jones’ Hammond coda on Led Zeppelin’s ‘Your Time Is Gonna Come’, and also features that chime-like, Beatles guitar tone you can hear so much of on Abbey Road”.

If you have not heard Lenny Kravitz’s Are You Gonna Go My Way, ensure that you check out an album that boasts some terrific songs. Maybe it is best-known for its titular single, but there is not a weak or wasted moment on Are You Gonna Go My Way. I feel that it is an album that has received some unfair criticism and, in some cases, a half-hearted pat on the back. The more you listen to Are You Gonna Go My Way, the more phenomenal it gets! I feel that Lenny Kravitz’s third studio album is deserving of…

NEW evaluation.

FEATURE: The Lockdown Playlist: Kurt Cobain at Fifty-Four: Prime Nirvana

FEATURE:

 

 

The Lockdown Playlist

IN THIS PHOTO: Kurt Cobain (left) with his Nirvana bandmates, Krist Novoselic (back) and Dave Grohl (right) in New York City on 11th January, 1992/PHOTO CREDIT: Michael Lavine

Kurt Cobain at Fifty-Four: Prime Nirvana

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I have been doing a few…

birthday Lockdown Playlists lately. It is always bittersweet marking the birthday of artists who are no longer with us. Because it would have been Kurt Cobain’s fifty-fourth birthday on 20th February, I wanted to put together some of his best work together. Here is some information about the iconic Nirvana frontman:

“Kurt Donald Cobain (February 20, 1967 – April 5, 1994) was an American singer-songwriter and musician, best known as the guitarist, primary songwriter and frontman of the rock band Nirvana. Through his angst-fueled songwriting and anti-establishment persona, Cobain's compositions widened the thematic conventions of mainstream rock music. He was often heralded as a spokesman of Generation X and is considered to be one of the most influential musicians in the history of alternative rock.

Born in Aberdeen, Washington, Cobain formed the band Nirvana with Krist Novoselic and Aaron Burckhard in 1987 and established it as part of the Seattle music scene which later became known as grunge. After signing with major label DGC Records, Nirvana found global success with "Smells Like Teen Spirit" from their critically acclaimed second album Nevermind (1991). Although Cobain was hailed as the voice of his generation following Nirvana's sudden success, he resented this, believing his message and artistic vision had been misinterpreted by the public. In addition to "Smells Like Teen Spirit", Cobain wrote many notable songs for Nirvana, including "About a Girl", "In Bloom", "Come as You Are", "Lithium", "Polly", "Something in the Way", "All Apologies", and "Heart-Shaped Box".

During the last years of his life, Cobain struggled with heroin addiction and chronic health problems such as depression. He also struggled with the personal and professional pressures of fame, as well as his marriage to musician Courtney Love. In March 1994, Cobain overdosed on a combination of champagne and Rohypnol, and subsequently entered an intervention and underwent a detox program. On April 8, 1994, Cobain was found dead at his home in Seattle at the age of 27; police concluded he had died on April 5 from a self-inflicted shotgun wound to the head.

Cobain was posthumously inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, along with Nirvana bandmates Krist Novoselic and Dave Grohl, in their first year of eligibility in 2014. Rolling Stone included Cobain in its lists of the 100 Greatest Songwriters of All Time, 100 Greatest Guitarists, and 100 Greatest Singers of All Time. He was ranked 7th by MTV in the "22 Greatest Voices in Music". In 2006, he was placed 20th by Hit Parader on their list of the "100 Greatest Metal Singers of All Time”.

To mark his birthday and give a salute to a musician who is still sorely missed, this is an assortment of prime Nirvana tracks. Maybe you will discover a couple of new tracks you have not heard. Not only was Kurt Cobain one of the greatest songwriters of his generation, but he is a hugely inspiring and important human who many looked up to – so many people still do. To honour that, this is a Lockdown Playlist packed…

WITH Nirvana gold.

FEATURE: Come Into My World: Super Eight: The Greatest Videos of Michel Gondry

FEATURE:

 

 

Come Into My World

Super Eight: The Greatest Videos of Michel Gondry

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IN this feature…

I am spotlighting one of the most innovative and stunning music video directors ever. I am looking at the sensational and hugely imaginative videos of the fifty-seven-year-old French genius, Michel Gondry. I am going to finish by bringing in his best eight music videos. Before then, I want to introduce some Wikipedia information:

“His career as a filmmaker began with creating music videos for the French rock band Oui Oui, in which he also served as a drummer. The style of his videos for Oui Oui caught the attention of music artist Björk, who asked him to direct the video for her song "Human Behaviour". The collaboration proved long-lasting, with Gondry directing a total of eight music videos for Björk.

Other artists who have collaborated with Gondry on more than one occasion include Daft Punk, The White Stripes, The Chemical Brothers, The Vines, Steriogram, Radiohead, and Beck. Gondry's video for Lucas Secon's "Lucas with the Lid Off" was nominated in the Best Music Video (short form) category at the 37th Grammy Awards, (one of two Gondry music videos nominated that year along with Sinéad O'Connor's Fire On Babylon).

Gondry has also created numerous television commercials. He pioneered the "bullet time" technique later adapted in The Matrix in the 1996 "Smarienberg" commercial for Smirnoff vodka, as well as directing a trio of inventive holiday-themed advertisements for clothing retailer Gap”.

I sort of explored music video directors in 2019; I have featured Gondry before. Rather than merely repeat myself, I wanted focus in on his very best videos - in addition to providing a little bit of interview information.

In this interview from 2004, we learn more about Gondry’s musical tastes – he also speaks about his filmmaking experiences and influences:

“Much of the world at large has been introduced to Michel Gondry via the quirky visual stylings he has instilled in music videos by the likes of Beck, Bjork, The Foo Fighters, Massive Attack, Daft Punk, Kylie Minogue, The Rolling Stones, The White Stripes, and others. He also has two feature length films under his belt, 2001's Human Nature and Eternal Sunshine of the spotless mind, both of which have been collaborations with screenwriter Charlie Kaufman.

Yet despite his visual prowess, Gondry actually has quite an interesting musical background that goes far beyond the dreamlike visages of his videos and films. His father was a jazz musician, his mother plays piano, and his grandfather invented the Clavoline, one of the earliest synthesizers. Oh yeah, Gondry himself is a rather adept drummer and formed the '80s French indie-New Wave combo Oui Oui. In fact, he still breaks out on the downbeat from time to time, although now his rhythm making has become more of a hobby. "Yeah, yeah, although I admit that a couple of years ago I tried to invent a rhythm. Which I did, but it's not very interesting," he laughs. "I was just happy to sit down [behind the drums] and invent something new”.

 Gondry's failure to create a new, life changing rhythmic interlude aside, has the director taken anything from his eclectic musical background and applied it to his filmmaking experiences? "I don't know," he says with a gleam in his eye and a sly grin on his face. "I mean it's all in me. The fact that you mentioned my parents; it must be what's in my genes. I guess it's there. I think my brother and I, when we were little kids our parents immersed us into pop culture. Duke Ellington and Serge Gainsbourg were like the heroes of our family. And I think ultimately it made us, when we got to an age when we could make a living, we could say what we remembered, only we'd kind of mesh with the culture around us. I don't know if that makes sense, but I think it helped us. Sometimes it's good that you have a background that has nothing to do with you, 'cause you create your own world. And sometimes it's good that there is nothing to conflict at this moment. But in terms of music, maybe you would see more of that in my work with music videos than film. It's more about my input in the film would be more how to shoot people in a way…when I started to do music video, I hated the music videos with people showing off or being like macho or like a pop star. I think when I try to shoot people, I try to be on an equal level with them and get that feeling of connecting. So it's more on that level in terms of my background influences”.

Because I am such a fan of Gondry’s work, I wanted to come back to his videos and highlight a director with an imagination and mind like no other! I have not ranked these seven videos in order of which I think is best. Instead, it is a spread of his best work that shows what an immense talent he is! If you like these videos, then take some time online investigating Michel Gondry’s work. Here are some exceptional examples from one…

THE greatest music video director ever.

____________

Kylie Minogue – Come Into My World (2002)

Lucas – Lucas with the Lid Off (1994)

Björk – Army of Me (1995)

Daft Punk – Around the World (1997)

The White Stripes – The Hardest Button to Button (2003)

Cibo Matto - Sugar Water (1996)

Radiohead – Knives Out (2001)

The Chemical Brothers – Star Guitar (2002)

FEATURE: Old Ideas: The Ways We Pigeonhole Music Lovers of a Certain Age

FEATURE:

 

 

Old Ideas

PHOTO CREDIT: @raflfc/Unsplash

The Ways We Pigeonhole Music Lovers of a Certain Age

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I was listening to Lauren Laverne’s BBC Radio 6 Music…

 PHOTO CREDIT: @tkirkgoz/Unsplash

show recently, and she had a guest on in his eighties that was invited to select songs. During the conversion, it became clear that we judge music fans of a certain age. The caller explained how, even though he was older, he enjoyed music from different years and artists. I guess, technically, older people are getting younger in terms of their tastes. What I mean is that someone in their eighties now would have grown up on newer music than the generation before - so it means a lot of the old-age clichés are redundant. I think we feel older people like easy-going music and artists like Frank Sinatra. That is true for some but, in a wider sense, why do we assume older people only listen to music from the 1940s and 1950s and do not have any consciousness of music since then?! In the same vein, we do not pigeonhole young people when it comes to their tastes. Maybe some feel that younger people only listen to BBC Radio 1 and middle-aged solely BBC Radio 2. The sort of ageism prejudice persist to this day, and it makes for interesting exploration. I do not think any artists explicitly markets their music for a specific demographic. Maybe a lot of the fresh Pop artists aim for a younger market, but even they would say that their music should not be limited in such a way. In the same way, artists who appear on radio stations with an older demographic are not limiting themselves to that age band.

 IN THIS PHOTO: Rhianna/PHOTO CREDIT: James Devaney/GC Images

It is a shame that there is still this sort of patronising attitude around. I shall explore older people and musical tastes soon. There is some rationale as to why people rigidly define older people and their tastes. Drawing from an article in The Verge from 2018, and they discussed research that revealed when our most important age is when it comes to musical exploration and admiration:

“A New York Times analysis of Spotify data has found that the songs we listen to during our teen years set our musical taste as adults.

For men, the most important period for forming musical taste is between the ages of 13 to 16. Men were, on average, aged 14 when their favorite song was released. For women, the most important period is between 11 and 14, with 13 being the most likely age for when their favorite song came out. It also found that childhood influences were stronger for women than men and the key years for shaping taste were tied to the end of puberty.

The NYT analyzed every Billboard chart-topping song released between 1960 and 2000. Citing Radiohead’s “Creep” as an example, the NYT found the song is the 164th most popular song among 38-year-old men. These men would have been around 14 years old at the time the song was released in 1993, making that selection consistent with the analysis. “Creep” isn’t even in the top 300 songs for those born 10 years earlier or 10 years later. Meanwhile, “Just Like Heaven” by The Cure was released in 1987 and is popular with women aged 41, who would have been 11 at the time of the song’s release.

PHOTO CREDIT: @kurbanova/Unsplash 

There is some very interesting data that discusses why we gravitate towards certain genres depending on our age:

“"Whereas the first musical age is about asserting independence, the next appears to be more about gaining acceptance from others."

As we settle down and middle age begins to creep in, the last musical age, as identified by the researchers, is dominated by 'sophisticated' -- such as jazz and classical -- and 'unpretentious' -- such as country, folk and blues.

Researchers write that both these dimensions are seen as "positive and relaxing" -- with 'sophisticated' indicating the complex aesthetic of high culture that could be linked to social status and perceived intellect, while 'unpretentious' echoes sentiments of family, love and loss -- emotionally direct music that speaks to the experiences most will have had by this life stage.

"As we settle into ourselves and acquire more resources to express ourselves -- career, home, family, car -- music remains an extension of this, and at this stage there are aspects of wanting to promote social status, intellect and wealth that play into the increased gravitation towards 'sophisticated' music," said Rentfrow, "as social standing is seen as a key 'life challenge' to be achieved by this point."

"At the same time, for many this life stage is frequently exhausted by work and family, and there is a requirement for relaxing, emotive music for those rare down times that reflects the other major 'life challenge' of this stage -- that of nurturing a family and maintaining long-term relationships, perhaps the hardest of all”.

 PHOTO CREDIT: @vladizlo/Unsplash

Given that most of us lionise and preserve music of our teenage years and return there, there is some sense in thinking that older music fans would gravitate towards music from their youth. I think the misperception of the older person shaking their fists at new music and chiding youngster for their rubbish tastes needs to be evaluated. I think, as radio stations and the Internet exposes us all to more music and new avenues, it does mean that many older music lovers are as inquisitive and broad-minded as younger people. Stations like BBC Radio 6 Music provides an eclectic playlist. It has no business model when it comes to age and the type of listener it wants to attract. It is open to everyone and, for that reason, listening to Lauren Laverne’s show and her conversation with an older caller with cool tastes was no shock. There is definite ageism in the music industry and, to compound that, I think many radio stations are ageist regarding including certain artists. I feel we need to have more respect for older artists and older listeners. Consider how important music is regarding memory and keeping out past alive. We all, consciously or not, soundtrack various years and moments with songs. For those who suffer from fading memory, music can provide an invaluable key to unlock their past – without music, there is debate as to whether we would store so many memories. I have explored the connection between music and memory before. A lot of older music fans have a much wider passion and sense of musical knowledge than we could appreciate. Modern music offers so much choice and quality…so it is natural that listeners of all ages would open their eyes and ears to it! When it comes to older people, we need to get out of the mindset that they only love old music and have limited tastes. They are, in fact, as cool, passionate and surprising…

PHOTO CREDIT: @brett_jordan/Unsplash

AS music lovers of all ages.

FEATURE: The Lockdown Playlist: The Best of the 2010s

FEATURE:

 

 

The Lockdown Playlist

PHOTO CREDIT: Kendrick Lamar/PHOTO CREDIT: Ellis Parrinder/Camara Press/Redux 

The Best of the 2010s

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I have been looking through my Lockdown Playlists…

 IN THIS PHOTO: Beyoncé

and I can’t recall having done one containing the best tracks of the 2010s. Maybe I have and it has got lost but, in any case, I am doing it now. I think many overlook the last decade in terms of the range and quality of music. There was so much brilliant music released. I have compiled some of the very best tracks from the decade; proof that there was more than enough genius to be found. If you are a bit listless and need some energy and motivation, I hope that these songs help out. Here are some pearls from the 2010s that should keep you uplifted or, when the mood is slightly more down, provide some form of comfort or reflection. If you have forgotten the tracks that scored and soundtracked the 2010s, then have a listen to the playlist and you’ll discover…

 IN THIS PHOTO: Robyn

SOME real treats.

FEATURE: Room to Leave It Open: Kate Bush and the Long-Held Misconception of Perfectionism

FEATURE:

 

 

Room to Leave It Open

PHOTO CREDIT: Brian Aris 

Kate Bush and the Long-Held Misconception of Perfectionism

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THIS is a slightly different angle…

when it comes to a Kate Bush feature. I cannot recall whether I have explored this in depth but, through the years, there has been this label applied to Bush: the idea that she is a perfectionist, and that is why albums take so long to arrive and come together. Bush has said herself how she is not a perfectionist. One of the reasons why she recorded Director’s Cut (2011) and redid songs from The Sensual World (1989), and The Red Shoes (1993), was because she was dissatisfied with elements of those albums. Maybe it was the production sound or something lacking from the original recordings. It is interesting that people consider Bush to be a perfectionist. Her music is exceptional and hugely accomplished, but I think the reason why she does quite a few takes and spends a long time on songs is to get the sound right. That might sound like perfectionism, but I don’t think music can be seen as perfect or without flaws. Bush’s lyrics and music is unique and has so much depth, so it is only natural that she would spend a lot of time working on the music and making sure the final product is as good as it could be! If she was honest with herself, Bush would say that all of her albums could be improved or changed in some form. I want to bring in a few articles where terms of like ‘perfectionist’ have been used to describe Kate Bush.

Every time there is a delay between albums, people always feel that Bush is crafting away at every song meticulously in order to achieve that golden sound. She has said how lyrics come together pretty fast; it is the production and recording that takes the longest time. Rather than an overly-precise approach to music, I think Bush is trying to make her music as rich and interesting as possible. She has a great love of sound and how one experiences an album. As we can see from this BBC article in 2011, Bush has addressed the idea that she is a perfectionist:

“An album of reworked songs, Director's Cut, is released later this month.

The collection features material from her Sensual World and Red Shoes albums, released in 1989 and 1993 respectively.

A new version of Deeper Understanding was released as a single in April, with a video starring Robbie Coltrane, Noel Fielding and Frances Barber.

Speaking to Radio Four's Front Row arts programme, the singer denied she was a perfectionist in the recording studio.

"I don't think I am," she said. "People have said this, but I don't think I really want anything to be perfect.

"I think it's important that things are flawed," she continued”.

"That's what makes a piece of art interesting sometimes - the bit that's wrong or the mistake you've made that's led onto an idea you wouldn't have had otherwise."

Bush described her new material as "work in progress", but was unwilling to say when it might see the light of day.

"Even if I was able to talk about it now, it might completely change in a few weeks and so would no longer be relevant”.

I think Bush picked up on something interesting. Songs change all the time and, maybe, it is that constant sense of curiosity that keeps her going. She will start with an idea of a song and, as time goes on, she will notice things not working or ideas that could heighten a particular track. Rather than trying to make her music sound perfect, Bush wants to record music that is different and memorable. I wonder whether Bush will do another Director’s Cut, where she reworks other albums and gives them a new take. When The Guardian provided recommendations of Bush’s albums, they used the P-word when highlighting 1986’s greatest hits, The Whole Story:

“Ever the perfectionist, Bush is constantly rearranging her catalogue, her oeuvre ever-evolving like a living, breathing organism, and here there is Wuthering Heights with a newly recorded vocal, as well as a new song, Experiment IV, whose scary sci-fi video Bush directed (and which was subsequently banned by Top of the Pops)”.

Another article from The Guardian highlighted the 2007 track, Lyra, and noted how it was a song that came together quickly:

“A single by default, not design: it charted on downloads from the soundtrack album of The Golden Compass alone. Belying Bush’s reputation as a pernickety studio perfectionist, it apparently took 10 days to write and record. It’s not her greatest song, but its ambient synth and choral backing is luscious and enveloping”.

I think, rather than Kate Bush being a perfectionist, there is a confidence that means her music does take longer to coalesce. In an article from The Independent, a couple of interesting passages stood out:

““She was fastidious about getting things right,” recalls The Dubliners’ John Sheahan. “I remember playing the [tin] whistle. She was saying ‘this is absolutely beautiful but when you get to this note can you just slide up’. She was a real perfectionist.”

“Kate is quite secure in her own self-confidence,” Palmer told me in 2018. “But with many artists you have to make them feel loved. If you want them to do something again you’ll say, ‘oh it’s my fault’. You want to turn any comment you might have into something positive”.

Bush has said how she wants to create interesting music, hence this quest and sense of experimentation. I guess it is not a bad thing to be called a perfectionist – as Bush is often incorrectly referred to as being reclusive more -, but I think that word gets used too much to explain why albums take a long time to come out. One cannot say perfectionism is the reason why there has not been a follow-up to 2011’s 50 Words for Snow. One can argue that, were it not for Bush’s approach and confidence, we would not get the same quality. That said, were the writing and recording quicker and looser, then we might have seen more albums from her. Even though Bush kicks herself when it comes to album releases, knowing how good her music is, we wouldn’t have it…

 PHOTO CREDIT: Rex

ANY other way.