FEATURE: Spotlight: Maryze

FEATURE:

 

 

Spotlight

Maryze

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A truly tremendous name to watch…

Maryze is a queer bilingual singer-songwriter based in Montreal (originally from Vancouver). Her stunning Alt-Pop sound is so instantly affecting and memorable. She released her debut album, 8, earlier in the year. I have only just found her music. I am already really invested. There are a couple of recent interviews with Maryze that I want to bring in. I want to start with an interview from You Wanted a List. Marzye was asked about cultural recommendations; picking new albums and films that she would urge others to explore:

“What albums would you recommend others listen to?

Pang by Caroline Polachek

From Under the Cork Tree by Fall Out Boy

In the Zone by Britney Spears

Anti by Rihanna

The Fame Monster by Lady Gaga

Clandestino by Manu Chao

Ctrl by SZA

Fresh movie finds? What films do you think everybody should watch?

I got obsessed with the Fear Street trilogy this summer! The first was my fave. I think everyone should watch Mean Girls, Donnie Darko, My Neighbor Totoro, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Les Choristes, It Follows, and The Muppet Christmas Carol.

Which artists working today do you admire most?

There are so many, but I would say especially lesser-known indie artists who are so talented and always grinding. Montreal has some of the hardest-working and most interesting new artists”.

I really love 8. It is an album that everyone needs to check out. Before getting to a review for the album, there are a couple of interviews from this year. The first, from CULT MTL, introduces us to a bilingual star who has a very long future ahead of her:

“Born to an Irish-Canadian mother and a French father from Brittany, Maryze’s influences also come from some of the most disparate of musical worlds. On 8, she takes cues from hyperpop, jazz (she spent years studying the genre, and was in her high school’s jazz choir), Celtic folk (her dad’s from a Celtic region of France), soul music (Etta James and Ella Fitzgerald are favourites), Édith Piaf and the emo scene bands she loved in high school.

There’s even a song titled “Emo” on the album, and the tone of its bass parts are influenced by that of Pete Wentz from Fall Out Boy — a band she’s seen four times. She names Panic! at the Disco, My Chemical Romance, Taking Back Sunday, Bring Me the Horizon and late-aughts crunkcore duo 3OH!3 among her other favourites.

“My favourite Warped Tour was 2009 — you know, 3OH!3, Abandon All Ships. Not necessarily great music, but it makes you feel something,” she says while laughing.

Though she grew up in an anglophone majority, the community around Maryze was largely francophone, as she went to school with francophone kids who’d moved to B.C. with their families who wanted them to continue speaking French. She also went to a fully French school, where she only took about two classes in English before Grade 7.

Even at home, her father would have her watch French TV for most days of the week to ensure she’d become fully bilingual. Though she was allowed to watch Pokémon in English once a week, she’d sometimes sneak it past her dad while he wasn’t looking.

“I remember hearing my dad coming down the stairs and trying to switch back from Pokémon to the French channel,” she adds. “At the time, it was annoying, because I wanted to watch what I wanted to watch and I have to watch all these foreign films. But I’m so grateful for it now. It does give me a larger sense of identity and culture.”

Having visited Montreal multiple times as a child, Maryze decided it was a matter of when, and not if, she would relocate to the city, packing up and moving to la Belle Province during the summer of 2017. “Montreal was this kind of very magical land I always hoped to get to when I was a kid,” she adds.

For the rest of 2022, Maryze will be playing a handful of Canadian cities in May, where she’ll play the album live for the first time. Though she also intends to take time writing more music, she’s also hoping to film more music videos for the LP, and possibly play shows stateside.

When asked what she thinks her debut album says about her personally and how far she’s come artistically, she believes it’s her ability to be herself while embodying her tastes and interests without feeling any restrictions.

“It demonstrates, even to myself, that I’m also able to take on different roles as a producer, songwriter and performer, and really be my full self,” she says. “Even if the genres seem kind of disparate, I think they tie in together, and I don’t really care anymore if people think that it’s cohesive or makes sense — because it makes sense to me”.

The final interview that I am bringing in is from RANGE. They note how, even though 8 is her debut album, even before she began her run of solo singles and E.P. releases back in 2018, she had spent time in Electronic duo Seaborne; also fronting Vancouver’s Spectregates. This is an experienced young artist who is making her first big steps:

“Maryze recently announced her debut album, 8, by posting an Instagram video of herself excitedly opening up a box full of freshly-pressed CDs. The joy in the Montreal-based singer-songwriter’s voice is palpable as she pores over shrink-wrapped copies of the album; and while it’s technically her first full-length, Maryze has been excelling in the world of pop music for quite some time. Even before she began her run of solo singles and EP releases in 2018, she had spent time in electronic duo Seaborne, and fronted Vancouver’s Spectregates back when she was living on the west coast. There’s a more obscure release in Maryze’s discography, too, tracing all the way back to her childhood when she was attending a French-language school in North Vancouver.

“There is a CD from my elementary school—they recorded some of the kids who were musically inclined; I guess that was my first record,” she remembers fondly of the foundational moment, adding, “It’s so funny, because I sound so puny on that recording, singing in French.”

Building on her Francophone foundation, Maryze has since made her bilingual identity a point of pride in her artistic output, combining her English and French-speaking abilities on all three of her major musical projects. Naturally, a bilingual dialogue is woven throughout the course of 8. Maryze floats verses sung in French through “Squelettes” alongside the anglicized bars from Polaris Prize-winning rapper Backxwash, but also pivots between the two languages, stream-of-conscious-style, during the spaciously-clanked “Mutable.”

“I sang in school choirs in French, but of course growing up in Vancouver the radio was mostly English,” she says. “I was also singing to Britney Spears and *NSYNC. It was a mix of the two, just the same as my languages have always been a mix of the two.”

Fittingly enough, her music isn’t singular in its approach, either. Throughout her debut’s 10 tracks, Maryze glides through literal motor-revving hyperpop (“Unofficial”), elegiac piano balladry (“Playing Dress-Up”), and adds a Big Shiny crush of guitar distortion to the song “Emo.” The latter, partially inspired by listening to My Chemical Romance and Fall Out Boy in her youth, reflects on vintage playlists and a toxic ex.

“This person that I was dating was always sending me these playlists that he thought were really cool. I would always listen to them and report back [to] tell him the songs I really liked, and why,” Maryze explains, noting the inherent intimacy of making a mix for someone. “Then I would make playlists and send them back, and he would dismiss them. This was [indicative of] the relationship, I guess…”

“I feel like artists are told that we have to keep pushing and pushing, but it’s this sad thing: sometimes you feel like you’re just screaming into the void. Every day I’m looking at my TikToks like, ‘Wow…I feel like a fool.’ I look so ridiculous in these videos—so cringe,” Maryze says, though the artist is quick to add that she’s connected with creators and made both friends and fans through the platform. “The thing is, no one is scrutinizing you the way you are—people can tell when you’re being genuine, and [they] want to get to know you and support you”.

I want to round up with a review from Earmilk. They gave us a guide and insight into a brilliant album from an artist who is going to go on and inspire so many other people:  

“Montreal bilingual queer pop icon Maryze explores how snippets of our past actions influence our current lives for better or worse on highly-anticipated debut album 8, a ten-track collection weaving through themes of intergenerational family trauma, mental illness, identity, sexuality, ruptures, forgiveness and acceptance within an expansive electronic alt-pop instrumentation.

Opening with powerful stylings of “Mercy Key,” built on acappella harmonies, which seamlessly darts into sultry, club-ready production “Experiments,” and a classic R&B-pop track with electro-tinged sensibility on “Unofficial,” establishing a vast sonic range in just the first three offerings of the album.

Pop stand-outs on the album include the glossy pop feels of “Panoramic,” stretching into synth pop pulses of “Too Late,” as the album swiftly moves from smooth pop blends to touch on everything from emo and stripped-down ballads to Celtic folk brought to life on “Witness,” keeping our ears perked on each note.

If breakup anthem “Emo,” highlights Maryze’s explosive rock artistry rooted in anthemic guitars and live drums, before flipping into noisy and fierce hip-hop on “Squellettes,” featuring Backxwash. On closer, “Playing Dress Up,” she changes moods once again with the emotive, piano ballad, as the album fades away with a powerful message to consider our history and its impact on the present and future”.

Go and follow Maryze and show her some love. A phenomenal artist we are going to hear a lot more from, 8 showcases a very special talent! With gigs and surely more material coming out later in the year, let’s hope that we get to see her in the U.K. at some point.

WHERE she heads next.

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Follow Maryze

FEATURE: More Than Mere Background Music: Featuring New Artists in Café and Coffee Shops

FEATURE:

 

More Than Mere Background Music

PHOTO CREDIT: No Revisions/Unsplash 

Featuring New Artists in Café and Coffee Shops

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EVERY time…

 PHOTO CREDIT: @nputra/Unsplash

I sit in a coffee shop or café, I hear the same sort of music! I know each chain has a sound and soundtrack that they are mandated to play. Normally the music is lighter and has a Jazz, Classic or Folk sound. I guess this is best suited to patrons. If the music was too intrusive or loud, then it would put people off and encroach on conversation. I can appreciate how costs are involved, so using the same music means that there is a consistent vibe. The chain or coffee shop does not have to pay too much for music. The thing about music in cafés and coffee shops is that it can actually stimulate conversation and ideas. Music is very inspiring and can motivate. I do wonder how much thought it given to the importance of music in a setting like this. What occurs to me is how useful it could be for new artists to have their music featured. I know independent coffee shops can do this, but what about larger chains and facilities? Not only would it provide a different sound and variety to a café, but it would give exposure and platform to great acts. At a time when streaming still means a lot of new artists struggle to get heard and make money, there does seem to be this opportunity to hear new music in a physical setting. It is not only coffee shops where this could happen – though they are prevalent and do attract a large and eclectic crowd.

I am not sure how many new and aspiring artists can make a living from their music. They can tour and sell merchandise. Streaming hardly pays anything and, unless the artist can sell vinyl and CDs, it can be a real struggle to make profit. It is a shame to hear, as there are so many great artists around right now. Not to say cafés and coffee chains could pay artists too much to use their music. I think the benefits come when people hear these artists and are curious to follow up and buy their music. Of course, people may just go away and stream the music instead. I’d like to think that, given the setting and the fact people are listening to the café music without headphones, they would then look to replicate that experience by buying physical music. So many new artists are discovered through streaming sites. Where people are listening on phones and laptops. Given greater license to new artists in coffee shops and even cinemas would open up these artists to new audiences. I have heard of smaller and independent artists who have been played in smaller coffee shops. They can hear people react to their music. It has led to them being shared online in a way they might not have otherwise! I do get bored of the same music being played in cafés. It can appear repetitive and insipid. Maybe people don’t pay as much attention to the music in coffee shops as they should! I don’t think this is to do with the fact they are caught up. So many people come into these places and listen to their own music. Instead, a variety of great new music might influence them to listen to this and, as such, take in their surroundings more. By giving new artists this opportunity and prominent position means that what we hear in cafés and coffee shops is…

 PHOTO CREDIT: Nathan Dumlao/Unsplash

MORE than background music.

FEATURE: Show It Some Real Love: Mary J. Blige’s What’s the 411? at Thirty

FEATURE:

 

Show It Some Real Love

Mary J. Blige’s What’s the 411? at Thirty

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LOOKING ahead to 28th July…

and Mary J. Blige’s stunning album, What’s the 411?, turns thirty. A remarkable and hugely impressive debut, Blige began working on the album with producer Sean ‘Puff Daddy’ Combs after signing a record deal. Other producers came on board and, together, this important and masterful album was created. Upon its release in 1992, What’s the 411? Was met with positive reviews and acclaim. Even though some were a little hesitant to proclaim its excellence, retrospection has framed What’s the 411? as an album that helped change music. Blige’s combination of Soul and Hip-Hop saw her crowned as the Queen of Hip-Hop Soul. This is an album that deserves so much praise. The range and diversity of producers actually works to the album’s credit. There is a variety of sounds at work, yet Blige pulls them all together and is seamless throughout. Successful singles such as Real Love and Sweet Thing helped to make What’s the 411? a chart success. Reaching number six in the U.S., it has gone on to become a three-times platinum album. An amazing album that is among the best of the 1990s, it is such an expressive, huge and confident debut from an artist who has gone onto become a legend and enormously influential voice. I will end the feature with a positive review for What’s the 411? First, Albuism revisited this epic 1992 debut album in a feature from 2017:

“Rapidly gaining everyone’s attention heading into the summer of 1992 was a then 21-year-old Mary J. Blige. Signed to Uptown Records, which was quickly becoming Generation X’s Motown, her debut single “You Remind Me” immediately captured the attention of fans and critics alike, amassing enough TV and radio support to generate sizable buzz for her forthcoming freshman album. Blige’s debut LP What’s the 411? was overseen by the label’s ambitious A&R executive Sean Combs, who had recently overseen Jodeci’s big breakthrough.

Exceeding all expectations and driving her fledgling career even higher into the ascendant, Blige hit a home run with the album’s second single “Real Love.” Co-written and produced by the Fat Boys’ Prince Markie Dee, the sped-up baseline of Audio Two’s “Top Billin” provided the perfect head-nodding cadence for Blige’s soulful exploration of her Mr. Right.

As her success skyrocketed on the strength of her first two singles, every inner city girl under 25 began the process of turning into Mary J., with the “do it yourself kit” that included nose piercing, hair dye, baseball jersey, and snap-back Starter hat. Generation X had now found their voice, one profoundly influenced by the attitudes and styles of hip-hop culture. Indeed, as with the tradition of Aretha Franklin in the early ‘70s and Chaka Khan later in the decade, Blige began to grow into the archetype of her generation.

It was amidst this groundswell of support and expansion of her fan base that Mary released her third offering “Reminisce.” The song followed what seemed to be Combs’ formula for the Yonkers, NY songstress, by revolving around another ‘80s hip-hop sample, this time from Audio Two’s close associate and femcee rhyme titan MC Lyte’s “Stop, Look, and Listen.”

As arguably the first songstress to fully embody hip-hop culture, which coincidently was born just a few miles south of her own stomping grounds, sampling and recreating the soul music she was raised on during her adolescence was another major part of her repertoire. Blige’s savory rendition of “Sweet Thing” helped provide depth to her groundbreaking album, and appeared to be a sincere homage to the Queen of Funk, Chaka Khan, who released the original version 17 years earlier as a member of the legendary band Rufus. Released a month after “Sweet Thing” in May 1993, What’s the 411?’s final single was the emotional love ballad “Love No Limit,” which reinforced Blige’s versatility and ability to deliver in the more traditional R&B format”.

I know that there will be a lot of people discovering Mary J. Blige’s What’s the 411? on its thirtieth anniversary later this month. To me, it is one of those debut albums that not only introduced an iconic artist; it also ranks alongside the very best debuts. This is what AllMusic said in their review for the unforgettable and truly remarkable What’s the 411?:

“With this cutting-edge debut, Mary J. Blige became the reigning queen of her own hybrid category: hip-hop soul. The eloquence and evocativeness that comes through in her voice, could be neither borrowed nor fabricated, making What's the 411? one of the decade's most explosive, coming-out displays of pure singing prowess. "Real Love" and the gospel-thrusted "Sweet Thing" (the primary reason for all her Chaka Kahn comparisons) are and will remain timeless slices of soul even after their trendiness has worn off, and "You Remind Me" and the duet with Jodeci's K-Ci ("I Don't Want to Do Anything") are nearly as affecting in their own right. It's nevertheless unclear how much of the hip-hop swagger in her soul was a genuine expression of Blige's own vision or that of her admittedly fine collaborators (Svengali Sean "Puffy" Combs, R&B producers Dave Hall and DeVante Swing, rap beatsmith Tony Dofat, rapper Grand Puba). Certainly the singer comes across as street-savvy and tough -- "real," in the lingo of the day -- and even tries her hand at rhyming on the title track, but never again would her records lean this heavily on the sonic tricks of the rap trade.

In retrospect, it is easier to place the album into the context of her career and, as such, to pinpoint the occasions when it runs wide of the rails. For instance, the synthesizer-heavy backdrops ("Reminisce," "Love No Limit") are sometimes flatter or more plastic than either the songs or Blige's passionate performances deserve, while the answering-machine skits, much-copied in the wake of What's the 411?, haven't worn well as either stand-alone tracks or conceptual segues. In fact, those who prefer their soul more stirring, heart-on-sleeve, or close to the bone would likely find her fluid, powerfully vulnerable next recording (My Life) or one of the consistently strong subsequent efforts that followed it more to their liking. For broad appeal and historical importance, though, What's the 411? is an inarguably paramount and trailblazing achievement”.

On 28th July, fans of Mary J. Blige will celebrate her debut album. Her most-recent album, Good Morning Gorgeous, was released earlier this year to critical acclaim. I know that Blige will continue to amaze the world with her music. It will be interesting how she remembers her debut album on its thirtieth anniversary. What’s the 411? is simply magnificent and timeless. It is an album…

WITHOUT flaws or equals.

FEATURE: The Private Life of a Music Icon: Kate Bush and a Hope of More Interviews Soon

FEATURE:

 

The Private Life of a Music Icon

PHOTO CREDIT: Brian Aris 

Kate Bush and a Hope of More Interviews Soon

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LAST month…

 PHOTO CREDIT: Trinity Mirror/Mirrorpix/Alamy

there was a lot of excitement and buzz because Kate Bush gave an interview to Woman’s Hour. It was her first interview since 2016. I guess, unless you have new music or a project to promote, then it is unlikely an artist is going to speak. Today, artists go through this long promotional trail and have to keep active on social media all of the time. I think we take for granted a certain privacy and limitation. Kate Bush has gone through the hectic years of her career when she was being interviewed a lot and being dragged all around the place. Now sixty-three, she is not going to have to go through what she did when she was a teen or in her twenties. As I have written before, Bush does lead a private and normal life. In fact, I came across an article last week from the Oxford Mail where one of Bush’s neighbours talked about his interactions with her:

“In 2005, she said: "I suppose I do think I go out of my way to be a very normal person and I just find it frustrating that people think that I'm some kind of weirdo reclusive that never comes out into the world.

"Y'know, I'm a very strong person and I think that's why actually I find it really infuriating when I read, 'She had a nervous breakdown' or 'She's not very mentally stable, just a weak, frail little creature'",' she added.

Speaking to Radio France in 2005, the singer said: 'I'm not reclusive, but just try to live a normal life. And I try to just try to be... a normal person, rather than live the life of someone in the industry.

"I don't think I am weird. I just have a great sense of injustice about that because... I just work.

"I have simply chosen against the lifestyle of the music industry or the world of show-business. Excessive egos, greed for power, greed for money, neuroses, psychoses, sarcasm, cynicism ," she told a German newspaper.

Speaking to the Daily Mail more recently, postman Colin Mildenhall, 67 who delivers to Ms Bush's home almost every day said: "We talk about the garden, the weather and other normal things. She never speaks about her work and I never ask her about it.

"You would never think that she's a big star and she doesn't strike me as the sort of person who's interested in that sort of stuff. She's a very quiet person, she hardly ever leaves her home and I've never seen her walking around. She goes out to check on some of her neighbours and that's about it."

Pensioner Mr Mildenhall, who lives in a cottage opposite the main entrance to Ms Bush's house with his wife Pam, said: "She's always popping over for a chat and to see how Pam's doing, because she's not been well lately. Kate is a lovely person and completely normal. I know her music is becoming popular again, but I've never spoken to her about it or asked anything about her career. To us, she's just a delightful and kind friend and neighbour”.

It is no surprise that Bush is fondly talked about by her neighbours. I guess at the stage in her life, Bush is much more concerned with living a quiet and settled life. Bush has lived in London and been in a busier, bustling environment. Especially since having her son, Bertie (in 1998), she has lived in a more family-friendly and quieter setting. I think that it suits her. I am not sure whether new music is planned. I know that she did look around Radiohead’s studio in 2016 after she saw them on tour. That was in a period where they released A Moon Shaped Pool. It is interesting to guess whether Bush was especially impacted by this album and might be thinking about that sort of sound and direction. I guess I am going off on a tangent. I am thinking about whether we will hear from Kate Bush again. Not only did the Woman’s Hour interview delight existing fans and give us a chance to hear from someone who has been mainly communicating with fans online the past few years. Young and new listeners also got a window into her life and got a sense of what Kate Bush was like in an interview setting. Maybe, unless there is new music, she will not give an interview. She seemed genuinely comfortable and happy when talking with Woman’s Hour.  It has given fans a desire to hear more from Bush. Maybe not only in music terms: just hearing her speak. It is about time that a special programme or interview is given over to the Hounds of Love (1985) classic, Running Up That Hill (A Deal with God). After it topped charts following an appearance on Stranger Things, so many new artists have covered the song. That would provide an opportunity for Bush to be interviewed about the song. So many of her songs and albums have found new chart life. After a new resurgence and sense of relevance, I think a longer interview where Bush talks about this year and what comes next would be must-hear. It may well happen. Even though she is private and does not do interviews often, she is grateful for her fans and her recent success. More words from Kate Bush is a tantalising thought! Until it does happen, we all wait…

WITH bated breath.

FEATURE: A 100% Masterpiece: Sonic Youth’s Dirty at Thirty

FEATURE:

 

A 100% Masterpiece

Sonic Youth’s Dirty at Thirty

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ON 21st July…

one of the great albums of the 1990s turns thirty. From the mighty and legendary Sonic Youth, Dirty scored a number six on the U.K. chart. Although it only got to eighty-three on the US Billboard 200, Dirty has been retrospectively seen as a masterpiece and one of the greatest albums ever. Produced by Sonic Youth and Butch Vig, there is a mix of Grunge and Rock. In 1991, Nirvana’s Nevermind set the music world alight. It is unsurprising that many bands were influenced by Grunge after the explosion and popularity of Nevermind. To mark the upcoming thirtieth anniversary of one of the all-time best albums, I wanted to combine some reviews and a feature. Udiscovermusic.com marked twenty-nine years of Dirty last July:

“In the wake of Nirvana’s all-conquering success with Nevermind, Sonic Youth’s decision to work with producer Butch Vig seemed at first a calculated attempt to court similar mainstream ears. One listen to the album that became Dirty, however, blows all such notions out of the water.

True, the album is notable for being their first to rely largely on songs that clock in at a radio-friendly three or four minutes, and Vig’s production certainly gave the group’s abrasive guitars additional punch, but these were perhaps the only concessions towards crafting anything remotely approaching a “unit shifter.” For one, the newfound brevity in song length (an unintelligible cover of proto-hardcore DC outfit The Untouchables’ “Nic Fit” doesn’t even scrape past a minute) didn’t extend to the album as a whole, making Dirty feel sometimes like an hour-long barrage from, on one side, Thurston Moore and Lee Ranaldo’s coruscating guitars, and, from the other, Kim Gordon’s alternately breathy and scratched vocals. With hardcore icon Ian MacKaye drafted in to add extra bite to “Youth Against Fascism,” it’s clear that the group, despite releasing that song as a single (where it beat the odds the group had stacked against themselves and No.52 in the UK), were making it as difficult as possible for newcomers to see Dirty as a gateway album.

Such was the brilliance of Sonic Youth at this time. Seven albums and a decades’ worth of experimental music-making behind them, Moore and co were able to condense their more outré instincts into short, sharp attacks, seemingly piggy-backing grunge’s ascendancy without, really, compromising at all.

Undoubtedly, however, the Seattle scene’s success certainly led some to expect more of the same from Nirvana’s labelmates: released on July 21, 1992, Dirty remains their highest-charting album in the UK, reaching a remarkably successful No.6, while also making it to No.83 in the US – their best Stateside showing up to that point. However, what the uninitiated made of the likes of “Swimsuit Issue’”s frank address of sexual harassment in the workplace (coupled with a somber roll call of some of the titular magazine’s models), or the closing “Crème Brûlèe,” which was partially built around the sound of Thurston Moore trying to turn his equipment on (and features Gordon’s couplet, “Last night I dreamt I kissed Neil Young/If I was a boy I guess it would be fun”) is anyone’s guess.

What’s obvious, however, is that Sonic Youth reveled in the opportunity to hijack the grunge mainstream with some patented NYC avant-garde hijinks – and that Dirty remains a high point in a singular career”.

There may be some who are not familiar with Sonic Youth. Others might be more aware of earlier albums like 1990’s Goo. It is amazing that the band were so strong and inspired on their seventh studio album. A work that took them more to the mainstream, Dirty is an album that influenced so many other bands. This is what AllMusic said in their review of a 1992 classic:

“When DGC Records signed Nirvana in 1991, one of DGC's A&R reps expressed the opinion that, with plenty of touring and the right promotion, the new act might sell as well as its labelmate and touring partner Sonic Youth. The surprise success of Nevermind upended previous commercial expectations for Sonic Youth (among other established alternative rock bands), and when Dirty was released in 1992, it was seen by many as the band's big move toward the grunge market. Which doesn't make a lot of sense if you actually listen to the album; while Butch Vig's clean but full-bodied production certainly gave Thurston Moore and Lee Ranaldo's guitars greater punch and presence than they had in the past, and many of the songs move in the increasingly tuneful direction the band had been traveling with Daydream Nation and Goo, most of Dirty is good bit more jagged and purposefully discordant than its immediate precursors, lacking the same hallucinatory grace as Daydream Nation or the hard rock sheen of Goo. If anything, Dirty finds Sonic Youth revisiting the territory the band mapped out on Sister -- merging the propulsive structures of rock (both punk and otherwise) with the gorgeous chaos of their approach to the electric guitar -- and it shows how much better they'd gotten at it in the past five years, from the curiously beautiful "Wish Fulfillment" and "Theresa's Sound World" to the brutal "Drunken Butterfly" and "Purr." Dirty was also Sonic Youth's most overtly political album, railing against the abuses of the Reagan/Bush era on "Youth Against Fascism," "Swimsuit Issue," and "Chapel Hill," a surprising move from a band so often in love with cryptic irony. Heard today, Dirty doesn't sound like a masterpiece (like Daydream Nation) or a gesture toward the mainstream audience (like Goo) -- it just sounds like a damn good rock album, and on those terms it ranks with Sonic Youth's best work”.

To round things off, there is another review that I want to source. Rolling Stone had their say about Sonic Youth’s Dirty back in 1997. They make some interesting and valid observations:

“Rock has never seen a band quite like Sonic Youth, even if you discount the group’s innovative guitar tunings and unique slant on pop culture. For eleven years now, Sonic Youth — singer-guitarist Thurston Moore, singer-bassist Kim Gordon, guitarist Lee Ranaldo and drummer Steve Shelley — have surefootedly made their way from the New York noise-rock underground and indie labels to their present contract with Geffen, continually advancing but in increments and always retaining complete artistic control. Each album has been better recorded than the last, has further refined the band’s songwriting craft and chops, has expanded its range. Through it all, like Bob Dylan’s John Wesley Harding, they were “never known to make a foolish move.”

The Youth were early, enthusiastic supporters of Nirvana and of the whole Seattle-centered guitar-grunge scene, so it’s not surprising to find the band working with producer Butch Vig and mixer Andy Wallace of Nevermind fame on Dirty. It’s the first time the band has used an outside producer, and it works, giving this eighth SY album added richness, clarity, punch and amp-static snarl as needed. It’s more focused and harder hitting than Goo (1990), the band’s last album and its Geffen debut, but the disc-to-disc development is well within previous SY parameters, not even as radical a jump as the one from Daydream Nation (1988) to Goo.

Oh, by the way, Dirty is a great Sonic Youth disc, easily ranking with Daydream Nation and Sister (1987) among the band’s most unified and unforgettable recorded works. The aural “dirt” is one element that pulls the album together. Another is the thematic move away from the cyberpunk allegory of recent discs and squarely into a confrontation with life in America during a particularly scary election year. Sentiments along the lines of “I believe Anita Hill/The judge’ll rot in hell” and “Yeah, the president sucks,” from the coruscating “Youth Against Fascism,” dovetail with the sexual-harassment issue addressed in the skronking head-clanger “Swimsuit Issue” and with the melodically haunting, ideologically devastating “Chapel Hill,” a sharp retort to the geriatric politics of Jesse Helms and his ilk. The aura of insurgency provides a charged context for the disc’s more personal songs, upping the intensity and the emotional stakes and fusing a collection of diverse tracks into a scorched and scorching whole. Dirty is a burner”.

A masterful and hugely important album, Sonic Youth’s Dirty warrants a lot of new respect and writing ahead of its thirty anniversary on 21st July. I do not know whether the band are marking it with an anniversary release or re-release. I hope that something comes about. Even if you were not around in 1992, you can put the album on and be affected by it. It still sounds so vital and like nothing else…

THIRTY years on.




FEATURE: As One BBC Radio 2 Legend Says Goodbye… The End of Steve Wright’s Afternoon Show and the Presenters I Would Like to Hear on the Station

FEATURE:

 

 

As One BBC Radio 2 Legend Says Goodbye…

The End of Steve Wright’s Afternoon Show and the Presenters I Would Like to Hear on the Station

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THERE was a lot of reaction online…

 IN THIS PHOTO: Steve Wright at BBC Radio 1

to the news that BBC Radio 2’s Steve Wright will leave his afternoon show after over two decades. I can’t remember the first time I heard his show. It must have been in the late-1990s, not long after it started (in 1999). Wright is embarking on other projects, but he will remain on radio and take on fresh challenges. He will be replaced in his afternoon slot by BBC Radio 1’s Scott Mills. BBC reported on the news that one of their longest-serving broadcasters is departing his much-loved afternoon slot:

“BBC Radio 2 DJ Steve Wright has announced his weekday afternoon show is to end after more than 20 years.

Wright said Radio 2's boss had told him she wanted to do "something different" with his mid-afternoon slot.

He will be replaced by Scott Mills, who currently hosts afternoons on Radio 1, in a shake-up of the daytime schedule.

The new afternoon show, hosted by Mills, will be cut by an hour, while Sara Cox's drivetime show will be extended by an hour and start at 16:00.

Wright described Mills as a "brilliant and versatile" presenter.

As a result of the shake-up, Mills will leave Radio 1, which has been his home since 1998, and will also no longer present his Saturday morning show on Radio 5 Live.

Wright, who will leave afternoons in September, is not leaving the BBC completely and will continue to present Steve Wright's Sunday Love Songs on Radio 2.

IN THIS PHOTO: Scott Mills 

"At the beginning of this year, my friend and boss Helen Thomas, head of Radio 2, said she wanted to do something different in the afternoons," he explained to listeners on Friday.

"Now, I've been doing this programme for 24 years at Radio 2, and so how can I possibly complain? The support and creative freedom that I'm given is fantastic at Radio 2 and really I can't hog the slot forever, so let's give somebody else a go."

In a statement, Wright added that he was developing other projects with the corporation, including a BBC Sounds spin-off called Serious Jockin' as well as "exciting new digital programmes and podcasts, which will feature elements of the afternoon show".

"We're not done yet. Afternoons will finish in September, we'll move onto new programmes and projects in October, and Love Songs will continue every Sunday morning."

Wright made his name on Radio 1 with the original incarnation of Steve Wright in the Afternoon from 1981, bringing energy, comedy and his trusty posse - and pioneering the "zoo" format on the UK airwaves.

He moved from afternoons to the breakfast slot from 1994 to 95 before joining Radio 2 the following year, initially on Saturday mornings before resurrecting Steve Wright in the Afternoon in 1999.

Those commenting on his departure on Twitter included presenter and writer Dominik Diamond, who said Wright was "the reason I work in radio" and called him an "inspiration and legend".

IN THIS PHOTO: Sara Cox/PHOTO CREDIT: Alex Lake/The Observer 

Broadcaster Jamie East said Wright was "an absolute master", while BBC political editor Chris Mason said he was "radio royalty, a craftsman of the trade, one of our greatest broadcasters, a radio genius".

Speaking about his own move, Mills said: "Time actually does fly when you're having fun, and that's certainly been the case over the past 24 years at my beloved Radio 1.

"I really cannot believe I'm going to be calling Radio 2 my new home! I'm beyond excited to be joining the team and working alongside my radio idols and friends at the legendary Wogan House."

He described Wright as "one of the finest broadcasters in the world and someone whom I look up to so much".

Mills has worked as a cover presenter on Radio 2 in recent years, often standing in for Ken Bruce and Rylan Clark.

His popular features on Radio 1 over the years have included Laura's Diary, Flirt Divert, Badly Bleeped TV, Stupid Street, Innuendo Bingo and Oh! What's Occurring.

His departure from Radio 1 means his co-host Chris Stark will also leave the station.

Cox, who has hosted the drivetime show since 2019, said: "It's been an absolute honour following Steve Wright's Big Show and I'd like to thank him for all his support and kindness since I started Teatime."

She added: "I'm beyond chuffed to have three whole hours to hang out and have a laugh with the listeners whilst playing some of the best tunes in the world”.

 IN THIS PHOTO: Angela Scanlon

It is also great that the marvellous Sara Cox is getting more time on her show. She is one of the very best broadcasters around. I love her show. A legend who is going to stay at the station (we hope) for decades more, I look forward to seeing where her show goes and how it progresses. It must be sad for Cox to say goodbye to Steve Wright later in the year, as her show follows her during the week. I have been thinking about Steve Wright and how he has affected me. I listen more to BBC Radio 6 Music, but I also tune into BBC Radio 2 a lot for the brilliance of Zoe Ball, Sara Cox, Ken Bruce and Steve Wright. He is a consummate professional who is going to very missed. I wonder what is planned for his final show. Although there have been changes and new presenters on BBC Radio 2, there are a few names that I would love to hear more from. Shaun Keaveny (formerly of BBC Radio 6 Music) has stood in for Liza Tarbuck on her show. He is a sensational broadcaster and someone who proved very popular when standing in for Tarbuck. Whether there are more cover shifts planned I am not sure, but a more regular slot would definitely prove a popular option. He is someone that I would love to hear on a Saturday evening, say. Maybe a later Saturday slot or a couple of hours in the morning.

 IN THIS PHOTO: Cat Deeley

Two other broadcasters who have appeared on BBC Radio 2 but are not permanent fixtures are Cat Deeley and Angela Scanlon. Not that either would step into Steve Wright/Scott Mills’ position but, as there is this big change (and Sara Cox has her show extended), I do wonder whether there are plans for new additions. I love Cat Deeley and Angela Scanlon. Both were a breath of fresh air when they presented for the station. Deeley is someone I remember first seeing on television decades ago. She is such a respected and loved figure, her energy and passion is clear when she was on BBC Radio 2. The same is true of Angela Scanlon. Maybe not permanent shows, there must be room in the schedule to hear these two brilliant women back on BBC Radio 2 soon. Maybe they may feature to cover for other broadcasters on the station this year but, after hearing Deeley and Scanlon when they were last on the station, their shows and words are still in my mind! I think the current schedule and line-up at BBC Radio 2 is great but, like every station, there is always room and opportunity to broaden and change. We shall see what happens in the coming years in regards other broadcaster joining the fold.

Whilst I have been thinking about other remarkable broadcasters and how they could add to BBC Radio 2, it remains to wish Steve Wright all the very best of luck! He has a lot of other things in the pipeline, but afternoons on the station will not quite be the same. Scott Mills will do an excellent job. Sara Cox’s show is being lengthened. There was a lot of love for her on social media yesterday when we heard Steve Wright was departing his afternoon slot. Even before his BBC Radio 2 show, I was aware of Steve Wright. From his presenting on Top of the Pops to his stint on BBC Radio 1, he is a legend who has influenced so many other broadcasters! I have so much respect for those who can do the same show for so many years. Radio is a wonderful medium but putting together a three-hour show and sustaining that energy is so difficult! We will bid farewell to a master in September. It will be the end of an era but, as Steve Wright is still on the station and will be doing other things, there is that excitement of listening to him do something new. Thinking about Steve Wright, and it is not sadness and loss I (and many others) feel. It is thanks and admiration for all that he has given to us through the decades. There is no doubt that he is…

ONE of the broadcasting greats.

FEATURE: Deserving of a Full House! Why Kate Bush’s Lionheart Warrants a Long Podcast

FEATURE:

 

 

Deserving of a Full House!

Why Kate Bush’s Lionheart Warrants a Long Podcast

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AN album that I have had to defend before…

 PHOTO CREDIT: Gered Mankowitz

it seems odd and wrong to have to do that. If people are not familiar, Lionheart was Kate Bush’s second album. Released in 1978, mere months after her debut, The Kick Inside, it is an album that did not get the same great reviews. When people rank Bush’s ten studio albums, they often put Lionheart in the bottom three. I have seen it placed higher but, normally, it is down there with The Red Shoes (1993), Director’s Cut (2011) and The Sensual World (1989). Maybe some were expecting something like The Kick Inside, or they felt that Lionheart sounded a bit too like that album. As I have said before when featuring Lionheart, Bush was put in an awkward position by EMI. Her debut was a success and took her all around the world. Rather than let he rest or spend time writing new material, there was this expectation of a new album. That would not happen today! Only able to write a few new songs (including the remarkable Symphony in Blue), Bush had to use older songs for her second album – ones that might have been considered in some form for The Kick Inside. I am not sure how comfortable and assured Bush was releasing a quick follow-up to The Kick Inside. Recording at Super Bear Studios in Berre-les-Alpes, France, Bush assisted with production alongside The Kick Inside’s producer, Andrew Powell. I think that she managed to help create an album that is varied and different (compared to The Kick Inside).

There have been some positive reviews for Lionheart but, in the main, they are mixed. Running at ten tracks, it is concise and has very little weakness. The single, Wow, is the third track. Symphony in Blue opens the album. Tracks like Kashka from Baghdad are among Bush’s best tracks. Whilst she would produce a stronger and more accomplished album with 1980’s Never for Ever, Lionheart definitely deserves to be given its dues. Mixing in slightly unusual elements on songs such as Coffee Homeground and Full House, Bush did expand her sound. Full House has this sense of dread and anxiety. Coffee Homeground has an almost fairground/carnival vibe to it. In the Warm Room could have fitted on The Kick Inside, whilst Don’t Push Your Foot on the Heartbrake is a rockier song that shares vocals share similarities with Babooshka (Never for Ever). There is a lot to love on Lionheart. Bush’s voice is extraordinary and, using most of the personnel from The Kick Inside, there is a consistency and link between the albums. Released in November 1978, I hope that its forty-fifth anniversary next year gets people reassessing an album that is actually a lot stronger than it has been given credit for. Maybe releasing Hammer Horror as the first single was an error. I think that Kashka from Baghdad or Oh England My Lionheart would have been more successful. That said, the song is very strong, and it featured a particularly memorable music video! Lionheart did get to number six here in the U.K. It can be seen as a success but, if Bush was given more time, it could have been more of what she wanted.

Before moving along, I want to source the Kate Bush Encyclopaedia. They collated some great interviews where Bush talked about the album (and we discover her views). It is interesting reading what she had to say about Lionheart:

“Maybe I'm a bit too close to it at the moment, but I find it much more adventurous than the last one. I'm much more happier with the songs and the arrangements and the backing tracks. I was getting a bit worried about labels from that last album; everything being in the high register, everything being soft, and airy-fairy. That was great for the time but it's not really what I want to do now, or what I want to do, say, in the next year. I guess I want to get basically heavier in the sound sense... and I think that's on the way, which makes me really happy.

I don't really think there are any songs on the album that are as close to Wuthering Heights as there were on the last one. I mean, there's lots of songs people could draw comparisons with. I want the first single that comes out from this album to be reasonably up-tempo. That's the first thing I'm concerned with, because I want to break away from what has previously gone. I'm not pleased with being associated with such soft, romantic vibes, not for the first single anyway. If that happens again, that's what I will be to everyone. (Harry Doherty, Kate: Enigma Variations. Melody Maker, November 1978).

[Recording in France] was an amazing experience. I mean it's the first time I've ever recorded out of the country. And the environment was really quite phenomenal, I mean it was just so beautiful, it was so unlike anything I'd seen for a long while. And I think there was so many advantages to it, but there were a couple of disadvantages - the fact that it was so beautiful, you couldn't help but keep drifting off to the sun out there, you know, that sort of thing. But you just didn't feel like you needed a break, because the vibes and the weather and everyone around was just so good, you know, you didn't feel like you were working. It was really, really fun. (Lionheart Promo Cassette, EMI Canada, 1978)

It was a difficult situation because there was very little time around and I felt very squashed in by the lack of time and that's what I don't like, especially if it's concerning something as important for me as my songs are, they're really important to me. But it all seemed to come together and it was really nicely guided by something, it just happened great. And there were quite a few old songs that I managed to get the time to re-write. It's a much lighter level of work when you re-write a song because the basic inspiration is there, you just perfect upon it and that's great. And they're about four new songs so they all came together, it was great. In fact, we ended up with more then we needed again, which is fantastic. (Lionheart Promo Cassette, EMI Canada, 1978)”.

Although there have been Kate Bush podcasts, not many of them (if any) have spent time with Lionheart. 1978 was a busy and eventful year for Kate Bush. To hear about her getting Lionheart together and entering a new studio would be fascinating. I know there are fans of the album, and it would be great to hear about their thoughts and feelings. The cover’s photo (shot by Gered Mankowitz) is brilliant! I love the variety of sounds on the album - and, although it is not her finest, there is more than enough to discuss and unpick. Recorded between July and September 1978, it amazes me that she started recorded her second album only five months after her debut arrived! Given such a tight deadline, Lionheart is an amazing album with so many interesting songs. Bush was not resting after Lionheart’s release. The Tour of Life took up a lot of 1979. In 1980, she released her next album, Never for Ever. Maybe a slight track rearrangement would create an even stronger listening experience. I think a lot of people got too hung up on comparing Lionheart with The Kick Inside. If you take it on its own merits as a new album that was not trying to repeat The Kick Inside, then you will find a lot to appreciate. The 1978 gem is a fascinating album from…

A brilliant artist. 

FEATURE: Spotlight: Jesse Jo Stark

FEATURE:

 

 

Spotlight

PHOTO CREDIT: Sophia French for The Forty-Five

Jesse Jo Stark

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ONE of the most impressive young artists around…

 PHOTO CREDIT: Tom Pallant

Jesse Jo Stark should be on everybody’s minds. The thirty-one-year-old American singer-songwriter, fashion designer and artist bring so much character, beauty, rebellion, personality, and brilliance to her music. On 21st September, her album, DOOMED, is out. It is going to be one of this year’s best albums. I have only recently discovered Jesse Jo Stark, but I have been really struck and mesmerised by her music. She is fascinating to read and see interviewed. There are quite a few interviews available online. I have selected a few that give you a good idea of who Stark is. Her debut E.P., Dandelion, came out in 2018. Vogue spoke with her in 2018. She is someone who could not avoid music and its draw. In return, she has already given the world so much:

“Jesse Jo Stark was born to be a rock'n'roll star. "I believe that it has always been inside of me. I took different steps in order to water that need and experiment with it," she explained to Miss Vogue. Fresh from her first ever NYC gigs supporting The Vaccines, the LA native is hitting her musical stride with a sound and aesthetic entirely her own.

"I think the last four years have been really important in my life and I finally feel like I’m making songs that represent me and that I want to share. They've been really important to me as a musician."

This week marks the launch of a new video, Wish I Was Dead. Set against perfectly seasonal Halloween-inspired backdrop, the video is the signifier of a new era for Jesse Jo's "horrific hillbilly" sound.

It's undeniably sexy, which was a conscious choice mirroring with the way the musician has come to feel about her own body as she enters her late 20s. "I’ve been embracing the body lately and wanted the video to have a sexy element. I was a lot more hidden when I was younger. I didn’t always have so much skin out. I’m embracing my body more now and am getting a bit flirtier with what I wear. It was about recreating small movie-inspired clips of these women dancing." There's also a monster, dramatic eye make-up and a lot of skulls.

Being a young woman in the industry, Jesse Jo feels like she's come up against the challenges that that can bring but she's moving forward, much like the industry itself.

"Now, when I go into the studio I make sure that I’m saying what I want, what I don’t like and not having any fear behind that, but I think all of that comes with being able to voice it. So, the guys that I work with and the women they respect my opinion and they know that I’m not there to really just take theirs, it’s a collaborative effort. We are in a cool time where people are trying. Being on tour with the Vaccines has taught me a lot. They’re super respectful and they have my back and they’re very open”.

Her excellent E.P., A Pretty Place to Fall Apart, came out last year. In a year when the pandemic was getting in the way of promotion, maybe Jesse Jo Stark was a little restricted. For an artist who is so mobile, physical, and expressive, she must have been longing to get onto the stage. She did get to do promotion for the E.P. The Forty-Five spoke with the incredible and truly stunning Stark:

“She lived between grandparents and family friends in the LA area, but often joined her parents on their travels. Growing up in this nomadic tradition, she looked beyond the Malibu bubble from an early age and knew there was so much else to see. “It gave me such an appreciation for the world. And I love touring as a musician. You know, being on the bus, squeezing into the tight spaces,” she shares. “But at the same time, being grounded is so important to me. Even when I’m in a hotel room for a day, I have my blanket, my crystals, my little monster puppet. I’m always telling the boys in my band, ‘We need to go and stick our feet in the grass!’ They tell me I’m so weird for saying that, but I grew up by the beach and just want to feel rooted, no matter where I am.”

How did her early years shape Jesse Jo’s worldview? “There is actually something juvenile about the way I exist,” she admits, grinning at the realisation. “As a kid, I was around adults all the time; it made things feel so serious. Now, play is such a big thing for me. I really have a relationship with my inner child.” Indeed, it can feel like Jesse Jo is playing (and winning) when it comes to the art she makes. Her music dances effortlessly across genres, criss-crossing from the dreamy and ethereal ‘Tangerine’, to the dramatic and gothic ‘Die Young’, to the Bangles-inspired beach hut texture of ‘Breakfast with Lou’. Created around her song by the same name, her ‘Deadly Doll’ clothing line builds vintage comic book imagery and Liechtenstein-esque pop art motifs around a mythical, vampiric femme fatale character of her description. For Chrome Hearts, she has designed fan favourite go-go boots in every colour, from shimmering pink to leopard print. If this is recess, you get the impression that Jesse Jo is playing with every toy in the box.

PHOTO CREDIT: Sophia French for The Forty-Five 

Hearkening to old-world balladeering about haunting love and times gone by, her music sounds flung out of space, entirely unplaceable in today’s modern listening context. But Jesse Jo isn’t concerned about keeping to a timeline. “I don’t want to put out songs to catch a moment or a trend. I’ve always taken the long road with everything I do, whether it’s my music or my clothes.” Indeed, the release of Stark’s signature Sugar Jones go-go boots was contingent upon getting it all perfect, from the heel to the silhouette; on her ‘Deadly Doll’ white T-shirts (ostensibly, plain white tees), she agonised for a year over the cut, fit and fabric. She considers the gravity of each micro-interaction with what she shares with the world; how a snippet of a song or the cut of a t-shirt can change a moment, a week, a month, a life. “A young woman approached me at my boyfriend’s show recently,” she recalls. “She told me she had been inspired by a YouTube video of mine from years ago, called ‘Silver Kiss’. I was entirely shocked to hear this, as no one has seen it! But it empowered me so much. It reminded me that our craft is worth it; that spending our lives putting in effort and honing our work is worth it because of who might end up listening to it, and how it could change something for them.”

Jesse Jo keeps her family and friends close. Her relationships are deep, trusting and involved, and that extends to her collaborators. “I wanted to create a family with my band. It really changed my life when I found the right people, put together this band and had them join me on my journey. That was the point at which my music really started to evolve.” To this day, her guitar player Thomas Hunter is one of her closest collaborators. A co-writer, co-producer and co-performer on her recent releases (spanning the ‘Dandelion’ EP (2018), her last pre-quarantine projects ‘Tangerine’ and ‘Die Young’ (2020) and now her newest single ‘A Pretty Place to Fall Apart’), he is as much a part of Jesse Jo Stark’s music as she is, appearing alongside her in music videos and touring the world together”.

I want to finish up with an interview from a week ago. There is a lot of new attention around Jesse Jo Stark because of her new music. The incredible modern love and so bad are signs of an already-wonderful artist growing and producing some of her most confident and brilliant music. CLASH spoke with Stark earlier this month about an artist that everybody needs to follow and be aware of:

“Let’s chat about the latest single - ‘so bad’ is gorgeous! Can you tell me a little bit about why this ended up being selected as a single - what makes it a stand-out to you?

‘so bad’ felt like the perfect introduction to ‘DOOMED’ and the end part is one of my favourite moments on the album. This was also the first song Jesse and I ever worked on together. It felt like the start of something special.

You’re hands on in every aspect - with your own record label and involvement in promo, it’s a shock you ever find time to rest! Again, do you feel like that involvement helps you connect and feel more pride in what you’re creating?

I think everyone should feel proud whether they have a big record label behind them or not but I’m definitely taking a longer, more complex route in my artistry. Nothing I put out is because someone else told me too! I want my art to have longevity and always be an extension of who I really am. There’s just no other option…. and… I’ll sleep when I’m dead.

So, your debut ‘DOOMED’ is around the corner - why now? What made you decide that it was finally time to go all out for a full-length release?

Honey!… it was fucking time x

You’ve mentioned that ‘DOOMED’ feels like your most personal release - how has music allowed you to find yourself? How does the Jesse Jo Stark reading this right now compare to the ‘Dandelion’ Jesse Jo Stark?

Music has always allowed me to say what I haven’t been able to. It’s extremely vulnerable to be that naked when writing songs. She’s proud because she had to exist for me to be where I am right now”.

I am going to wrap up soon. It is clear that Jesse Jo Stark has progressed a lot as an artist since 2018. She was amazing then, but her music has turned into something different since then. With a series of gigs coming up in her native U.S., I hope that she does come to the U.K. and beyond soon enough. There is a fanbase here, so any live dates will sell out pretty quickly. I am looking forward to seeing what DOOMED offers in September. It is going to be a remarkable album from an artist who…

IS growing stronger by the year. 

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Follow Jesse Jo Stark

FEATURE: I Turn to My Computer…. Kate Bush: A Mix of the Modern and Traditional

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I Turn to My Computer….

IN THIS PHOTO: Kate Bush at a Fairlight CMI demonstration 

Kate Bush: A Mix of the Modern and Traditional

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AFTER hearing…

 IN THIS PHOTO: Kate Bush in 1979/PHOTO CREDIT: Trinity Mirror/Mirrorpix/Alamy Stock Photo

Kate Bush interviewed by Emma Barnett on Woman’s Hour, it got me thinking about a subject that I have explored before. Bush is this wonderful mix of qualities and people. On the one hand, she is grounded and relatable and very human. Someone that is like us and has this love of home and family. On the other, she is an extraordinary talent who has enjoyed an enormously successful career. When it comes to her music, she fused the otherworldly and heavenly with something rooted in the heart. Quite rightly, Bush is seen as a technological innovator. She was not only exploring new territory and subjects with her lyrics from her debut album, The Kick Inside (1978); Bush was also quick to embrace new technology and use it to stunning effect. At a time when the Fairlight CMI was reserved to a privileged few, she saw the benefits and possibilities of an amazing thing that could offer a world of choice. She could record basic sounds and put them into the Fairlight CMI and utilise it in the music. From the sound of breaking glass in Babooshka (Never for Ever, 1980), to a range of sounds throughout Hounds of Love (1985), this provided her music new levels and layers. Her sense of innovation and forward-thinking extended to her liver work. The Tour of Life in 1979 and 2014’s Before the Dawn were groundbreaking in terms of their concept, scope and how they incorporated so many different elements. Especially in 1979, Pop and Rock concerts were quite basic and similar. Bush brought in mime, magic, theatre, and dance into an experience that was more like a film or theatrical show.

It was wonderful hearing Bush speak to Woman’s Hour about technology. She was recognised as an innovator. Bush talked about the Fairlight CMI and how that helped her. Even though she has a laptop and uses streaming for T.V. (as she binge-watched Stranger Things), she also admitted to having an ancient mobile phone. She was speaking to Emma Barnett on a landline. If her music is renowned for being forward-pushing and innovative, there is something more traditional and oldskool when it comes to the domestic Kate Bush! Maybe it is a generational thing. Bush is not someone who lures after the latest Smartphone and checks it all the time. Wanting to detach and disconnect from technology and constant demand when she is out and about, she is someone who can cope fine with less technology in her pocket. As she observed in her song, Deeper Understanding (first appearing in 1989’s The Sensual World, it was re-recorded for 2011’s Director’s Cut), we are transfixed and obsessed by computers. Almost like friends. In 1989, at a point in history when the Internet was not a thing and computers were basic, Bush was seeing into the future. She knew how they were taking over our lives! It is not a surprise, given that observation and wariness, that she is not a technology nut. Although Deeper Understanding looks at the heroine greeting her computer and staying on it too long, Bush has said in interviews how she is not online a lot and notes how we are too obsessed with computers and social media.

One could say that Bush’s albums post-Hounds of Love were not as innovative as her earlier ones. As a producer, she has always looked at new sounds and ways of recording. Bush is a very experienced, knowing and confident producer who has this warmth and bond with her musicians. She also knows what she wants and has this way of finding possibilities and sounds others would not. A big part of this is her use of the studio and technology. There is that divide between Bush’s curiosity when it comes to technology in music and an apathy and lack of affection when it comes to modern technology (phones, social media etc.). She is not on Twitter or TikTok. One suspects she has an old-version Smartphone, and she is not someone who embraces that side of modern living. If anything, that makes it more appealing, lovable, and mysterious. Because of this, she is not overexposed. There is this constant speculation around new music because Bush is away from social media and works privately at home. Even if she has this very casual relationship with modern technology, she is still someone pushing boundaries. Even when recording to tape (which she prefers to get a warmer sound), one can listen to her albums and marvel at the way she arranges and producers her songs. From the innovative early use of the Fairlight CMI in 1980, through to the awes-inspiring Hounds of Love, the conceptual suite on the double album, Aerial (2005), her embrace of the different, technological, and original has defined her work. This sits alongside someone who would eschew modern technology for communication and remain more rooted in an older way of life. In her homelife, Bush is much more comfortable not having distraction or leaning on technology. Because of that, she is…

A magnificent contradiction!

FEATURE: Too Cool to Spool? Returning to the Sony Walkman: Why Has the Classic Device Not Been Resurrected?

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Too Cool to Spool?

Returning to the Sony Walkman: Why Has the Classic Device Not Been Resurrected?

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HAVING watched Stranger Things…

and, as it is set in the 1980s, seeing the Walkman feature, once more I am thinking about the classic device. It seems like this throwback to the 1980s and 1990s when there were limited options for listening to music on the move. Now, anyone with a smartphone can hear music when they want. The sheer excitement of being able to play a cassette or C.D. (with a Discman) when moving around cannot be overstated. It was a way to share music and make it mobile. Some may say that, because we do not really use cassettes anymore, the Walkman should stay extinct. The thing is that, not only are people digging up old cassettes. New artists release music to cassette. It is a way to appeal to a wider demographic. I don’t think it is a novelty. Many people will want to listen to an album in a physical form on the move, rather than streaming it. That is perfectly understandable and respectable. C.D.s are great, yet there is something about a cassette that cannot be beaten. They can be a less expensive option when it comes to buying albums. One of the drawbacks is that you cannot skip between tracks and have the same accessibility and ease you get with C.D.s or streaming. That is a minor complaint. The fact that there are more cassettes being produced and people are buying them means there is a need to produce technology they can be played on. I have asked before whether it might be possible to revive an old Sony Walkman design for the modern age.

In terms of profitability and popularity, I think having access to a Walkman (or other device) would help spur and increase cassette sales. I am sure that some people do have means of playing cassettes, though most of us do not. I have been looking online and seeing people discuss how they miss the Walkman and the process of loading in a tape. I am aware, as I have written before, how there are disadvantages. Tapes can become unspooled and come undone in the device. There are a lot of pluses. Having something compact where you can look at the linear notes and details is wonderfully exciting. I also like the fact that cassettes are quite tough and robust in terms of their design. Even though Walkmans were expensive when they were first released, they could be revived with a lower cost. I don’t see why they cannot be sold for less than, say, £70. That may sound expensive but, when you consider the fact they will last many years, it is a great investment. I don’t think we should assume modern music is about the digital and necessarily making things easier and less physical. The boom in vinyl sales shows there is a desire for tangible music. Whilst cassette sales are modest compared to vinyl, they are going to stay steady. Because there is not really anything to play them on, many people are buying them and essentially using them as art. If we want to encourage physical formats like cassettes to survive and remain, we need to make sure people can play them!

I think that getting the Discman going again might be flawed. People can play C.D.s more readily. Many can play them in cars and, if you have an old C.D. player, they work. Many laptops can accommodate compact discs. That is not true when it comes to cassettes. A sleek and durable version of the Sony Walkman – maybe the model that came out in 1986 – in a range of colours with a mixture of classic and modern functionality (the play, pause, stop, rewind, forward, volume functions etc., combined with a digital interface) would prove popular I feel. Given a slight resurgence in cassette sales, perhaps the profit margin would be very thin. I guess that there would need to be a vinyl-like boom to facilitate anything like a new Walkman. If there was a device already, then sales would naturally increase. It is over to manufacturers to recognise that cassettes still have a place and there is a demand. If people are struggling to play them, then they will be confined to the status of artefact or decoration. That is not something we want with cassettes or vinyl. Artists release cassettes now so that people have the option to play them. I will not labour the point too much. I am aware I have discussed this a few times already. It seems a shame that there is not really impetus from any corners to put out a 2022 version of the Sony Walkman. Hopefully series like Stranger Things (set in the 1980s), combined with a revival of the format, will make people act. It would be good to see a cassette-playing device back on the market…

AS soon as possible.

FEATURE: Paradise City: Guns N’ Roses’ Appetite for Destruction at Thirty-Five

FEATURE:

 

 

Paradise City

Guns N’ Roses’ Appetite for Destruction at Thirty-Five

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A monster of an album…

that topped charts, sold huge numbers and is considered one of the best ever, the initial reviews for Guns N’ Roses’ debut, Appetite for Destruction, were not all glowing. A sort of Hair Metal, Rock and Glam mixture from a band led by Axl Rose must have been an unexpected and hard-to-appreciate-at-the-time combination in 1987! Released on 21st July that year, I wanted to spotlight an album that is celebrating a big anniversary soon. Featuring iconic songs like Welcome to the Jungle, Paradise City, and Sweet Child o' Mine, I think that most Guns N’ Roses fans would put Appetite for Destruction at the top of their list. It is a wonderful album that has gone through reappraisal. At the time, some objected to Appetite for Destruction. Whether they felt Guns N’ Roses were a combination of other bands or were a bit cliched, it did take a while for the album to get this huge acclaim. Now seen as a watershed moment and one of the very best albums ever, Appetite for Destruction has won many more positive critical reviews since its initial batch in 1987. In a spectacular year for music – classics from Prince, Michael Jackson, Eric B. & Rakim, INXS, and U2 among them -, Guns N’ Roses debut was quite unlike anything else. I think that one reason why Appetite for Destruction remains so intriguing, durable, and popular is the fact it does not sound dated. Thanks to the varied songwrtiting from the band and excellent production from Mike Clink, here is an album that will be discovered, played and treasured for decades to come.

Like I do with album anniversary features, I am going to end with a couple of reviews of Appetite for Destruction. It is interesting reading all of the reviews for the album, as everybody has their own take on a truly awesome album. Before getting to that, Loudwire wrote about the story of Appetite of Destruction in July 2021. I have highlighted a few parts that are particularly illuminating and helpful:

“In an era of bad-boy rockers who weren’t terribly bad and wrote music that sounded too good, Guns N’ Roses were the genuine article. Their songs echoed with the love for rock and roll and the spirit of rebellion. When Geffen Records A&R man Tom Zutaut signed the band he had no idea what he had gotten into. No one else wanted GN’R because they were viewed as a liability, a band as likely to miss the show as perform a gangbuster set. Yet what Zutaut heard from vocalist Axl Rose, guitarists Slash and Izzy Stradlin, bassist Duff McKagan and drummer Steven Adler was inspiring and seemed to have the potential to be a profitable signing if they didn’t all die in an alcohol or drug related mishap.

“There are some bands that just can’t be stopped and you can sense it,” Zutaut says. “No amount of alcohol or drugs will slow them down. Guns N’ Roses were able to consume those things, yet, deliver at a live show and deliver in the studio. I don’t know if that makes them like gorilla glass on a cell phone or what, but there are plenty of bands that probably did less heroin than Guns N’ Roses and drank less alcohol, but imploded. For every Guns N’ Roses or Motley Crue that delivers, there’s probably 10 bands that are great but fall apart before they even become successful.”

Impressed by Guns N’ Roses’ ability to endure under adverse conditions, Zutaut paid producer Spencer Proffer $15,000 to record “Nightrain” and “Sweet Child of Mine,” as a test and if the chemistry was good he would stay on for the debut. He also agreed to record a few extra songs with the band for the EP Live Like a Suicide, which Geffen released in England under a different label to pique interest in the band before they toured there.

“Proffer didn’t produce those songs, his engineer just recorded them,” Canter says. “GN’R recorded those songs in two or three weeks at a time when they were totally out of control. Even Axl wasn’t in the best shape, and he was the cleanest out of all of them. But he was fooling around with whatever they were doing. Once he saw that they were totally spun out, he just stopped. But nobody showed up on time. They’d throw up or pass out in the studio. But they got the songs done. They recorded nine songs in that studio including 'Heartbreak Hotel,' 'Don’t Cry' and 'Welcome to the Jungle.' But they only used those four. And then they used 'Shadow of Your Love' as a b-side.”

The writing sessions for Appetite for Destruction were brief and frantic, largely because they band was aching to get into the studio again and record their first album, but also because they wrote many of the songs on their debut before the band got signed. McKagan had “It’s So Easy,” Stradlin presented “Think About You,” “Anything Goes" was a Hollywood Rose tune and Slash, McKagan and Adler had started “Rocket Queen” when they were in the band Road Crew. “Mr. Brownstone,” a warning of sorts about the allure of heroin, came quickly to Slash and Stradlin, largely because they wrote from experience.

“Slash once told me, ‘You know, you do heroin once and it’s such a high, that you want to do it again,” says the band’s former European publicist Arlett Vereecke. “The problem with that is, the minute you do it a second time, you’re addicted to it. Axl wasn’t really doing drugs because of the medication he was on. He was not a big drinker either. People have a misconception about that, but he was the clean and mostly sober one, really. He wanted to preserve his voice, and he was serious about it”.

I can imagine being a teen in the mid/late-1980s and getting these phenomenal albums out. It must have been exciting learning about a band like Gun N’ Roses arriving with Appetite for Destruction. It is such a confident album; it is impossible to not be affected by it. Even if it was knocked by some in 1987, critics have come around. Even if there is this sense of the lurid and overly-macho on many songs, Appetite for Destruction is more sophisticated and nuanced than it being a low and knuckle-headed album. This is what Pitchfork observed in their review back in 2017 (when the album turned thirty):

“From their grimy photo shoots that became Metal Edge pinups to their candid discussions of how they survived before hitting it big (“Strippers were our main source of income. They’d pay for booze, sometimes you could eat...” Slash told Rolling Stone), Guns N’ Roses were often portrayed as a clouded mass of debauchery with insatiable needs to simultaneously consume and destroy. “We are just being ourselves, but at the same time, these ’bad boy’ images tend to sell,” Axl told SPIN in 1988. Slash told Melody Maker something similar that same year: “We’re not mean, we’re not nasty, we’re decent people. We’re just out for a good time, like five teenagers on the loose.”

The Parents Music Resource Center panic that took hold in the mid-’80s helped fuel GNR’s reputation as “bad boys.” The band were open about their vices on record and in interviews, but their wide-ranging appeal, despite the cluck-clucking of reactionary critics, wasn’t merely the result of them wearing their indulgences on their sleeves. They had shrewd ears and wide-ranging influences, resulting in a sound that used bouncing-ball grooves with punk’s economy that vibrated with paranoia and antipathy yet could (very occasionally) settle into romantic bliss. Bassist Duff McKagan came from the Seattle punk scene, drumming for the legendary hyper-power-poppers Fastbacks; he and drummer Steven Adler would hone their rhythm-section camaraderie by listening to Cameo and Prince LPs. Slash, the London-born son of a costumer who designed for Bowie, decided to pick up the guitar when he heard Aerosmith’s 1975 opus Rocks, telling Guitar World that the album’s “drunken, chemically induced powerhouse sound just sold me and changed me forever.” Izzy Stradlin, the band’s chief songwriter who’d escaped Indiana with Axl, had a Charlie Watts air about him, being the coolest guy in the room while he laid down riffs from which Slash’s solos could take flight.

“Welcome to the Jungle,” the album’s opener, is followed by “It’s So Easy”—one of the greatest one-two punches in rock history. A snarling chronicle of the void at the center of any Dionysian orgy, it’s powered by Adler’s butterfly-bee drumming and riffs that sound like they’ve been turned into pistons. The lessons in funk taken by Adler and McKagan make the album’s most harrowing moments roll out of the speakers all throughout—the shimmying that underlies the rancid takedown of a cleaned-up bad girl on “My Michelle,” the musical portrayal of the “West Coast struttin’” by the blotto protagonist of “Nightrain.” Axl’s scorched-earth upper register is at key times doubled not just by his bandmates, but by a low-pitched version of his own voice—detailing that adds another edge to the group’s dystopian reveries.

Even with Appetite’s thick layers of grime, its path to mainstream success was shoved along by songs that reflected a bit of Southern California sunshine. “Sweet Child O’Mine” was the album’s big hit, a mushy love song set aloft by Slash’s thick arpeggiating (which, as he told Rolling Stone, was a “goofy personal exercise” overheard by Axl, who decided to write lyrics to it ) and Axl’s doe-eyed lyrics. It’s not all light-hearted—his initially muttered, eventually yelped, “Where do we go? Where do we go now?” that peppers the bridge reveals his ever-present search for more as the song resolves in a minor key.

The album’s most triumphant moment is the Jock-Jam-in-waiting “Paradise City,” a fever-dream anthem where green grass and lovely women abound, where everyone’s so cheerful that no one will give you shit if you add a synthesizer to the mix. The main riff is one of those so-simple-it’s-criminal melodies that get arenas shaking; when it double-times at the song’s end, with Slash freaking out on a solo and Axl pleading to be taken haaaawwoooooommmmeeee, it’s an invitation to exhume the toxins of the mean streets and the meaner drugs and the even meaner people and to just thrash away their residue”.

Another review I want to highlight is from Louder Sound. Packed with so many great songs and a band (Axl Rose, Slash, Izzy Stradlin, Duff ‘Rose’ McKagan and Steven Adler) so connected and electrifying, I think Appetite for Destruction is an album that will continue to find fans, influence bands, and remain high in the polls of the greatest albums of all-time:

“But at the heart of the album was a core of truly great songs: In many ways, Welcome To The Jungle is the definitive Guns N’ Roses song, and an album opener which – from Axl’s opening words, ‘Oh my God’ – warns the listener in no uncertain terms that they better buckle up tight for the road ahead. Detailing Indiana boy Rose’s first wide-eyed, open-mouthed impressions of Los Angeles, this was the first song Slash and Axl ever wrote together, and it remains the ultimate statement of Guns’ fearless, reckless, last-gang-in-town swagger.

It’s So Easy was Guns’ first UK single, a snarling, seething introduction which double-dared you to get closer to these obnoxious, aggressive, misogynist shitbags. It’s hardly the band’s most sophisticated tune, but no other early Guns song carries such bad-boy menace.

And if much of Appetite declares that Los Angeles is a dirty, depraved, dangerous shithole, Paradise City is the album’s kicker – an admission that Guns N’ Roses wouldn’t want to be anywhere else. The quintet’s first UK Top 10 single, its simplistic singalong melody is arguably a little too eager to please, though the song may have had less global appeal had the band not changed its original lyric: ‘Take me down to the paradise city, where the girls are fat and they got big titties’. Slash’s guitar playing, meanwhile, transforms the whole thing into a sleaze-rock Born To Run, all marauding riffs and elegiac solos.

Mr. Brownstone, You’re Crazy, Out Ta Get Me: the album oozes bad attitude and is littered with great lines (‘I used to do a little, but a little wouldn’t do, so the little got more and more’, ‘Some people got a chip on their shoulder/An’ some would say it was me’, ‘Welcome to the jungle it gets worse here everyday/You learn to live like an animal in the jungle where we play’). And in Sweet Child O’ Mine, Guns N’ Roses had a secret weapon: a beautiful rock ballad inspired by Southern rock icons Lynyrd Skynyrd. Slash didn’t much care for the song at first, dismissing it as “sappy” and his own lead guitar melody as “this stupid little riff”. But it topped the US chart for two weeks in September 1988, regularly tops polls to find the greatest guitar solo or riff, and it remains the best-loved song of Guns N’ Roses’ career.

Appetite For Destruction arrived at the height of the hair metal era and was born of the LA rock scene, but its roots lay in the great rock music of the 70s – in Aerosmith, Led Zeppelin, AC/DC and the Sex Pistols. It’s the newest album in the top 10 and understandably so – has anybody made a better rock’n’roll record since its release?”.

On 21st July, Appetite for Destruction turns thirty-five. I was only four when it came out, so I am not sure how people reacted. I know that, through the years, it has been afforded so much praise. It is a mighty album that has (in my view) never been bettered by the band. One of the greatest debut albums, Appetite for Destruction came fully-formed and fierce from…

THE amazing Guns N’ Roses.

FEATURE: The Kate Bush Interview Archive: Maria Montgomery Sarnoff: Option (1990)

FEATURE:

 

 

The Kate Bush Interview Archive

Maria Montgomery Sarnoff: OPTION (1990)

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ONE of the last parts…

 IN THIS PHOTO: Kate Bush in 1989/PHOTO CREDIT: Guido Harari

of The Kate Bush Interview Archive run, I wanted to look at another one around the release of The Sensual World (1989). The reason it is another one from this period is because that album is not as highly regarded as it should be. In a month or so, I am concentrating on The Kick Inside (her debut album) to mark forty-five years since it was recorded. Now, I wanted to bring in a great interview that Maria Montgomery Sarnoff conducted for OPTION in 1990. The start of a new decade for Kate Bush, there would have been this sense of pride at what she had achieved, in addition to curiosity as to what she would do next. Of course, The Red Shoes arrived in 1993. I think that The Sensual World is an album that was a maturing woman taking a different course. Perhaps more personal and sensual than 1985’s Hounds of Love, it is fascinating hearing how she shifted and changed in the space of a few years. Maybe there was this sense of ensuring The Sensual World was as good and refined as it could be. I have selected a few segments from the interview that caught my eye:

“I don't know about being a perfectionist," says Kate Bush, describing her attitude towards creating her unique brand of baroque pop music. Coming from one whose recordings demonstrate utmost control and an immaculate sense of detail, the remark seems practically modest.

Though she might not call herself a prefectionist, Kate Bush's music has achieved, over the course of her career, an unparalleled type of musical chiaroscuro - especially in her latest release, The Sensual World. As her musical development progresses, Kate Bush has found many voices beside the ethereal one featured on her initial hit,"Wuthering Heights." Her first two albums, The Kick Inside and Lionheart, were dominated by Bush's trademark soprano voice set amid finely-crafted, effervescent songs. Since then, her voice has acquired an earthy, sybaritic quality that she exploits in such new songs as "Walk Strait Down the Middle," in which she trills in Brazilian, as she alternately hums and growls to create a more sumptuous aural atmoshpere. Her lyrics are set in richly ornate musical settings which upon first listen can be almost too much to consume. But like other rich comestibles, her work is seductive in its luxuriant excess.

"It's a layered procedure. I take a lot of time writing, and thinking." She emphasizes the latter as she sits back on the couch, describing the process by which she produces her musical strata. "The actual performances from people are got very quickly. So hopefully, there's a tremendous amount of spontaneity performance-wise. But I have taken a lot of time between to change bits of the songs.

"You'll do something with people that works out really well," Bush explains. "And it works out so well it starts taking you somewhere else. You think, `I wish that worked so well that I could do THIS with the song.' Some-times I do that - take the song away and make it become something better. Working with other musicians is often the key. What worries me is that although the process is very spontaneous, I always feel that it sounds com-plicated."

It's a chilly day in Manhattan, so cold that the ice statues by the Plaza are still in their pristime state. The threat of snow hangs in the air. Kate Bush snuggles deeply into her forest green blazer as she looks out into gray sky, soaking in her wintry surrounding. Even from the comfort of the indoors, Bush is one evidently immersed in the world around her. She ponders a question as to whether she is trying to create an aural environment with her densely textured songs.

"Yes," Bush answers. "That's kind of what it feels like and I'd hate that to sound pretentious, because it could. It's like trying to paint a picture. Each song is like a little picture, and you've got to have the hill there, at the right proportion." Her hand motions toward an imaginary landscape. "When you look at a painting, even a simple painting, it's still got to have the proportions and everything that goes with that. Some songs will be so quick and easy to write. Some lyrics will be so quick. And yet on other songs they won't. They are all individual, and each one has a tricky bit.

"I suppose from a production point of view, the main thing I work toward is a sense of texture. When a song starts, you probably want it to be just sometimes quite small. And then you want it to get very big here so that there's a real sense of climax, and then bring it down again or keep it building. All these thing have shape and texture," she continues, as if visualizing her music in front of her. "I suppose that's just how I work. It's like trying to give the song the right proportions so that when it's big, it's really big and not too big and not to small. Instruments, different sounds and flavors, really affect all that.

"I think the voice is very much an instrument. Especially with backing vocals, because you don't have to have the emphasis on trying to carry the whole story. You can really treat it like an instrument. It's fun just experimenting with different sounds and shapes."

Perhaps it is Bush's preoccupation with experimentation which has kept her from breaking through to a mass audience in this country. Fame, on the scale which the English singer and composer has experienced in the United Kingdom and Europe, has so far eluded her here in the states. Despite this, there exists a huge cult following that fosters Kate Bush fan clubs and fanzines, both here and abroad. Her first two albums, The Kick Inside and Lionheart (both 1978), are filled with piano-dominated songs that hold the promise of things to come. On those early works she was already using her voice for unusual effects in the overdubbed backing vocals. Unusual instru-ments such as mandolins, beer bottles, mandocello, and panpipes were being integrated into her songwriting.

Never For Ever (1980), her third album, is in many ways a transitional one for Bush. On that LP she was introduced to the Fairlight synthesizer, which has since become integral to her compositions and arrangments. "The Fairlight was incredibly important," she relates, "because it was really what I had been looking for but had never thought possible. I used to play the piano, and the only instruments I had to work with from that were the piano and my voice. So I used to put a lot of emphasis on backing vocals and arrangements on the piano, because they were - in a way - trying to be violins and trumpets, and my voice was trying to be strings. That's all I had to work with. I was into the CS-80, but I really didn't like synthesizers as such, because they weren't natural sounds, and that's what I really loved. Discovering the Fairlight gave me a whole new writing tool as well as an arranging tool, like the difference between writing a song on a piano or on a guitar. With a Fairlight you've got everything, a tremendous range of things. It completely opened me up to sounds and textures. And I could experiment with these in a way I could never have done without it. It would have cost too much money. The Fairlight gave me a very private experimental instrument."

As an example of Bush's adventurous arrangements, the title track of Bush's latest release, The Sensual World, has a unique blending of both celtic and middle eastern sounds. The song was adapted from a traditional Macedonian piece sent to Bush by a fan, Jan Libbenga. "It was so beautiful that I was completely taken by it. So we used that piece and adapted it." The celtic flourishes are provided by uillean pipes, which Kate has also used on her previous albums The Dreaming (1982) and Hounds of Love (1985).

The text for "The Sensual World" was inspired by a completely different source: the Molly Bloom speech at the end of James Joyce's Ulysses. The lyrics were at first supposed to have been derived directly from the original; when Bush petitioned the Joyce estate, they denied permission. But this road-block, she explains, helped more than hindered the composition. "What was interesting was the fact that through their lack of cooperation, that they wouldn't let me use the lyric, the original piece, the song actually became something else. So I think in many ways them not helping us out turned the song into what it is. The song grew and changed into something more inter-esting. Certainly not lyrically, but as a piece of music."

The album, The Sensual World, is the first time Bush has worked with other female vocalists. Listeners who are surprised by her adaptation of Bulgarian harmonies into her own songs really shouldn't be. On Hounds of Love, the song "The Morning Fog" incorporates a piece of Russian choral music that was featured in the plague scene of Werner Herzog's film Nosferatu. As with "The Morning Fog," Bush is able to adapt and use ethnic music without making the result sound like a pastiche. "Rocket's Tail," on the new album, unites the acclaimed Trio Bulgarka with Bush and audaciously sends them off with a searing David Gilmour guitar solo.

"I think the hardest thing about working with the Trio Bulgarka was just having enough courage to go ahead and do it," says Bush, with charactestically self-effacing bashfulness. "Once I actually did that and I met them I and worked together, it was heaven. It was so easy, we had fantastic communi-cation. You know what the language problem is like. But in terms of music it was no problem. We just communicated emotionally and just kind of cuddled each other and sang to each other. It was just the most incredible experience to meet them as people as well as musicians, and to work with women like that - on a creative level. The whole thing was very exciting.

One of the more unusual aspects of Kate Bush's career is the degree of devotion that some of her fans have for her. "They'd drink her bath water!" was a comment by one record retailer after the release of Hounds of Love. In America and Great Britain, Bush fanzines discuss such probing issues as whether or not the song "Rocket's Tail" is dedicated to her pet cat. There are also testimonials of sorts, letters describing just how Bush has changed someone's life. And it goes far beyond that. In 1985 came the first Kate Bush convention, called a Bushcon. Her fans celebrate her birthday, calling it "Katemas," and spending the day immersed in her recordings, videotapes, and the company of other loyal followers. It's a bit twisted; such fiercely religious devotion might put off a lot of artists, especially in light of the threats that many celebrities receive from deranged fans. But Bush is comp-limented rather than concerned over her rabid following.

"My contact with them has been fantastic," she says, "I get letters, a lot of nice ones. When I'm in the middle of an album and I'm worried because it's taking so long, I'll get a letter that says, `I don't care how long it takes, I just hope you're happy with it.' They're very supportive and enthusi-astic. I'm impressed with them as people. They seem very intelligent and respectful of my privacy. I can't thank them enough for that."

"You do get the odd one or two," quipps Palmer. "But they're usually very discreet. They just want a picture or an autograph. And they're quite patient to wait almost five years for an album with no complaints!"

Privacy is something that is very important to Bush, and it is an aspect of her personality that has found its way into a few of the unauthorized bio-graphies that have come out of England. She is said to be squeamish about interviews because of her private nature, but Bush explains that her lack of interest in interviews has more to do with the manner in which the interview is held than anything else. "In England over the years, I've had alot of trouble with the interviews I've done because they haven't wanted to talk about my music. That's what I don't like. I feel that interviews should talk about my music and not me, not my life. The other thing is that I don't want to publicize myself personally. This is not why I do it. I want to publicize my work and my music. There is a fine line anyway, because obviously a person's work is an expression of what they are as a person. But I don't know if it matters what the person is like. (When I read an interview of an artist,) I don't want to know what they do on weekends, I want to hear and see their work."

Upon meeting Kate Bush, she does not seem as inordinately private so much as she strikes one as fully autonomous in her career. Few major label artists enjoy the measure of creative freedom that she does. Albums come out two to four years apart. From videos to photo shoots, Bush controls all visual images of herself. She refuses to become a star based on an acquired persona, pre-ferring her music to be the focus of her public perception. For someone who had fame thrust upon her at such a young age (she was 20 when "Wuthering Heights" became a hit), she could easily have had her career managed by others. Instead, she has worked steadily and intensely for many years in order to creat music in the manner she wishes, without compromising herself or her work. It's an unusual situation, and she knows it.

"Yeah, I'm tremendously lucky," Bush says. "The amount of creative freedom I have is extraordinary. And yet, it's still not enough. Because I don't think you can ever have enough time to create. You can be creating all the time. But just the way our lives work, the way the system works, there continually have to be big breaks in creating. Do you know what I mean? I would like to be spending even more time than I am just creating music".

I know that is quite a lot of the interview! It is an extensive and fascinating chat that I have to thank this website for archiving and publishing. From 1990, Bush would work on The Red Shoes. There were some song releases between 1989 and 1993 but, like she did after Hounds of Love, it would be four years before Bush released her seventh studio album. That album would be her last before 2005’s double album, Aerial. I think that 1989’s The Sensual World is an underrated Kate Bush album. This 1990 interview for OPTION is illuminating and revealing. It arrived during…

A brilliant period of her career.

FEATURE: Second Spin: Fatboy Slim - Better Living Through Chemistry

FEATURE:

 

 

Second Spin

Fatboy Slim - Better Living Through Chemistry

__________

THERE are a couple of reasons…

why I wanted to feature Fatboy Slim’s Better Living Through Chemistry. He recently played Glastonbury and brought his magic music to the masses. Also, I think his 1996 debut is underrated and not talked about much now. People know him more for his 1998 sophomore album, You've Come a Long Way, Baby. A few of the tracks on Fatboy Slim’s debut were from older projects. In a way, Better Living Through Chemistry is a compilation. Despite that, it is an album that hangs together and sounds coherent and flowing. The album's cover features an image of a 3.5-inch floppy disk, paying homage to the cover of New Order's Blue Monday single, which featured a 5.25-inch disk. Not that many people talk about Better Living Through Chemistry much today. You may hear the odd song played on radio, yet there is not too much else featured. I think that every track on the album is interesting and shows this incredible talent. As a producer and D.J., there is this sense of the freestyling alongside the professional and precise. Whether as Norman Cook, Fatboy Slim or part of Beats International, here is someone who is a pioneer and innovator. I love 1996’s Better Living Through Chemistry, and I feel that people should give it another spin. It has received a few mixed reviews. More than that, it is not discussed much as a truly extraordinary and important album. Listening back, and I think that this needs to change. I want to start off with a Pitchfork review from 2004. It is one of the more mixed assessments:

“Repetition. It's a integral part of most of the many segments of techno, and hey, and hey, and hey, when it's done right it can be a great way to build tension, give ya a chance to shake yer money maker, and feel the special throbbing in your head that only 10,000 watts of pounding bass can achieve.

Like the proverbial Fatboy hoarding roasted chickens and corn-nuts, Slim isn't wasting any beats. Taking a handful of samples for each track and looping them around and around one another in a decidedly uncommon dance mix, Better Living Through Chemistry is rife with guitar, funk and R&B; samples that come and go. But you're assured that you'll never hear a sample just once. Although Better Living is comparitively down to earth when compared to its Astralwerks stablemates (u-ziq, Photek, Fluke, Chemical Brothers), the closest comparison that I can offer would be Coldcut's less creative numbers on Let Us Play. Rather than trancing us out with space odyssey bloops and bleeps, Better Living prefers to offer us infinite loops of samples mutated far beyond recognition. Admittedly, the repetition can be a little maddening at home, but it's undoubtedly mad dance material. "Give The Po'man A Break" offers us a loop of a sample of someone saying (can you guess?) "Give The Po'man A Break" with every measure, over about four layers of percussive sound from heavy bass throbs to spastic, quick hi-hats and what sounds like an epileptic on a wood block. Periodically, tension builds culminating in a climactic change in aural scenery, lazer zips emerging in a whoosh from the dark to give us a break in the action. Most of the tracks on Better Living follow this general principle, with a few oddities on the mellower side. It's not bad, but it sure ain't in the top 99th percentile of its class”.

I am going to wrap up with a review from AllMusic. They were more positive when it came to an album that was released on 23rd September, 1996. I really love Better Living Through Chemistry and would urge anyone to listen to it:

“Fatboy Slim is one of DJ Norman Cook's many aliases, and has proven to be his most popular and successful yet. Although he consistently racks up dance hits in his native England (each under a different surname), he didn't achieve global success until the re-release of Better Living Through Chemistry in 1997. On the insistence of his friends the Chemical Brothers, Cook released the track "Going out of My Head" as the album's first single. Due to its popular video and instantly catchy sample from the Who classic "I Can't Explain," Cook earned his first U.S. hit. Another unlikely sample used to great effect was featured in the track "Michael Jackson," which used a snippet of Negativland's "Negativland." "The Weekend Starts Here" is similar to the Beastie Boys' funk instrumentals, featuring distant organ and lazy harmonica blowing (which sounds an awful lot like the harmonica phrase at the beginning of Black Sabbath's "The Wizard"). Recommended to those who can't get enough of the popular technoid-sampled alternative dance style of the late '90s”.

If you have not heard about Fatboy Slim’s debut album, I would advise people give it a spin. It is a remarkable and timeless album that is not just reserved to the 1990s. Although some songs have been played on the radio, I think that it is a superb and memorable work that…

NEEDS more attention.

INTERVIEW: Kate Bush and Me: James Brown

INTERVIEW:

IN THIS PHOTO: Kate Bush in 1985

Kate Bush and Me: James Brown

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FOR the next part of this series…

 PHOTO CREDIT: James Brown

where I interview big Kate Bush fans about their experiences with her music, James Brown provides his thoughts and recollections. Brown works as part of the wonderful team behind Craig Charles’ show, weekday afternoons (between 1-4) on BBC Radio 6 Music. It has been interesting learning about what Bush means to Brown personally, what he thinks of her recent success and visibility thanks to Running Up That Hill (A Deal with God) appearing on Stranger Things, and where he thinks she may head next. Here is a fascinating interview with the excellent James Brown. It is clear that he holds a lot of affection, thanks and respect for an artist…

 IN THIS PHOTO: Kate Bush in 1979/PHOTO CREDIT: Getty Images

WHO means so much to him.

____________

Hi James. Can you tell me about the first time you heard Kate Bush’s music? I heard Wuthering Heights when I was three or four. What was your entry into her music and world?

Like you, Wuthering Heights is the first Kate track I remember being exposed to. I was sat in the back of my mum’s Citroën AX en route to a holiday in Anglesey. We were driving through the dramatic North Welsh mountains, and I remember marvelling at how well the music seemed to gel with the surroundings.

What do you think it was about Kate Bush that made you hooked and invested?

The flexibility and shear aching beauty of her voice got me hooked. It wasn’t until I became a teen and actually started understanding her lyrics that I discovered a whole new dimension to her songs, affecting this love-struck adolescent. I also love the themes she chooses - motherhood and addiction in Breathing and The Kick Inside; war in Experiment IV. The Hounds of Love album covers all her worst fears, such as being trapped under water. This is someone who puts her entire self into the music, unabridged. Very few artists are able to achieve this while making something that sells. For someone of such stature in British music, she comes across as incredibly kind and humble.

“Her impact is positive for the same reason we’re talking about her now. Her music has filled the world and made it richer”.

Is it possible to say what Kate Bush means to you personally and how she has affected your life in a positive way?

She’s definitely an artist I associate with the trying times in my life, particularly when wrestling with sexuality and unrequited love. But I’m a firm believer in the importance of sad music in our lives. While those periods were not fun, they were full of meaning and emotion. It’s so essential to feel things, and as we get older, our relationship with our senses changes. Her impact is positive for the same reason we’re talking about her now. Her music has filled the world and made it richer.

It might be an impossible question, but do you have a favourite Kate Bush song and album – or ones that mean the most to you?

Ok, this ain’t easy. I’m not of the generation that particularly appreciates whole albums…

This doesn’t count, but if I could pick a compilation it would have to be The Whole Story. It has everything. Hounds of Love, The Man with the Child in His Eyes, Breathing, Wow, it goes on. It’s an incredible showcase of her innovative approach to production. I love her use of the Fairlight CMI digital synthesizer sampler in Babooshka. Music production isn’t always about having the best and most expensive gear; it’s about how you work with what you’ve got. The smashing glasses at the end of the song I believe were factory pre-sets.

If I had to pick one album it would be The Kick Inside. There are some real belters on there - The Saxophone Song especially. And following our favourite Wuthering Heights is James and the Cold Gun. A total bop. And as I kid, it felt like she was singing to me, even if it was about a gangster who got shot by his own crew.

Favourite song, damn. It depends entirely on what mood I’m in. She can make me dance or cry. For happy, I choose Hounds of Love. For sad, The Man with the Child in His Eyes.

Kate Bush is being discovered by a new generation because of Stranger Things. How important do you think T.V. shows, films and social media is getting her music to the younger audiences?

I mean, why not? We’re living in the best time to be alive as far as music is concerned. We can consume almost the entire catalogue of every recording ever made. I always used to attract condescendence from a particular generation - usually saying things like “Bit before your time, isn’t this?; What would you know, you weren’t there?”. I detest that. The fact that younger generations can discover old music with the same wonderment felt by the people who were there is mind-blowingly brilliant. And if it earns our Kate a few extra bob, all the better. Nostalgia isn’t always a good thing; it’s nice to look forwards - but isn’t that testament to the timelessness of her sound? It’s crucial that the greats of the past are exposed to new generations. With any luck, it will inspire them to pick up an instrument and create some new art of their own. She might have faded into history had it not been for Stranger Things. The sad truth is there’s a lot of incredible art out there that doesn’t always go viral.

“I wonder if she would ever consider writing a musical for the West End”.

On 30th July, Kate Bush turns sixty-four. If you had a chance to buy her a birthday present, what would you get her?

Something in the form of a bribe to do another tour. Perhaps the plushest tour bus you’ve ever seen. And trapeze lessons for the moment she lifts off stage at the start of Wow’s chorus.

One of my dreams is to interview her. If you were sat opposite her and were interviewing her, what is the first question you would ask?

Where have you been? And what are you going to buy with your new Stranger Things dough?

It is impossible to predict, but what do you think will come next for Kate Bush? Do you think we might hear new music soon?

A new album would be amazing. Although I suspect she respects the rule of showbiz: leave them wanting more. It would have to be something different. I wonder if she would ever consider writing a musical for the West End.

Finally, you can select anything Kate Bush-related. It can be a song, interview, or live performance. What shall we end the interview with?

The Alan Partridge medley for Comic Relief 1999. Pure art.

FEATURE: Spotlight: Shamir

FEATURE:

 

 

Spotlight

Shamir

__________

THIS is a Spotlight feature…

where I am highlighting an artist who has been around a while but warrants a closer look. Shamir might not be known to many. Shamir Bailey is a Las Vegas artist whose debut E.P., Northtown, was released in June 2014. He put out his debut album, Ratchet, the following year. I am going to get to his current album, Heterosexuality, soon. That was released earlier this year to rave reviews. His eighth album, Shamir has this amazing consistency. Following from the brilliant Shamir of 2020, there is no signs of the amazing artist slowing or producing anything less than phenomenal. I am going to come to a recent interview, together with a couple of reviews for the brilliant Heterosexuality. Another Mag interviewed Shamir in 2020. During the worst of the pandemic, it was a strange time to be planning and releasing a new album (Shamir):

“AK: I saw a tweet recently that asked the question about what your career would be like if you looked like Troye Sivan. You said that people weren’t ready for that conversation. That was weeks ago and a lot has happened since then. Do you think that things have changed since then that people might be willing to have that conversation?

SB: I was like, maybe I spoke too soon? [Laughs]. The world on the whole is ready to have a lot of conversations. But even then, on the grand scheme of things that seems relatively petty. Look, I toured with Troye. He’s one of my friends. The last thing I want to do is make it look like I’m pitting myself against him. But the fact stands that I do think I’m as talented as Troye. There are parts of my career where I’ve denounced pop, but part of me thinks how much more revered Troye would be if he had gone off to make weird indie-rock records that he played everything on and produced himself and released every year. I can imagine that being received better than it was received for me.


AK: Do you think you’ve become more assertive when it comes to your career in terms of the differences between artists and what you feel you’re entitled to?

SB: I can’t do that. I feel like if I do that it’ll be enough to make me go mad. I do everything just for the sake of art because that’s all I can do. I know that what I put out is always going to be undervalued. It always has been. Even when people look at Ratchet. Ratchet was a success and everything, but look at how much people have taken from that album and are still taking five years later. I made it with pennies! My whole career has been undervalued. That’s something that I’ve had to live with and [now] I put all my energy and focus into making the best possible art that I can.

AK: When Ratchet came out you said you wanted to lead the way for a slew of non-binary Black pop stars. That didn’t happen. What’s it like to still be leading the way in that respect?

SB: It’s deeply frustrating. I thought that releasing Ratchet and leaving would be enough. I really did. And the fact is, I didn’t see enough artists like me being given the platform that I had or higher. But it just didn’t happen and that frustrated me.

Realistically I wanted to be the weirdo indie rockstar making weirdo records for the rest of my life. That is me and that is still apparent in this new record, but I wanted to do whatever I wanted to do and be selfish in a way that my specifically white, specifically male and specifically straight contemporaries get to be. However, when you’re a part of not only one marginalised group but multiple marginalised groups, that weight does fall on you. It’s not fair, but it does. I think had to work through that. It’s not fair and I know it’s not fair. But I have to do this to be the change that I want to see in the world. If anything, me returning to pop and making myself accessible again isn’t for me. It’s for everyone like me.

 AK: When your identity is politicised without you even being born, it has such an impact that people don’t even understand. You can’t move without your life being a statement. You’re an activist because you exist.

SB: It’s not even that. I think that’s how I did feel. I felt like I was cosplaying activism, even though I never viewed myself as one. I was frustrated by that. But like so many things, it’s just another thing to bear: being Black, being queer, being all of these things. But being labelled an activist is put on you because you’re a public person. I have this problem because I have this platform. That is fairly easier than racism, which I’m not sure is every going to go away. As much as I want to be my own person, I think it’s incredibly reckless when people who are in the margins get a platform and don’t use it to lift up other people like themselves. So I take one for the team.

AK: If you can, how would you describe 2020’s energy?

SB: Transformative. It sucks, but transformation is hard. It’s not easy. But things have to die in order for things to be born. When people say abolish the police, we mean that. It’s not reform. You have to get rid of the old to get something new. You can’t keep trying to gloss over the old when it’s literally decaying. Everything has an expiration date. Trying to hold on to things that are past their expiration date prevents the new from coming in. These things are going to continue to happen around the world, but specifically in America. They are going to keep happening until we throw out the old, start over and allow space for the new”.

Although I have not long been a fan of Shamir, I am listening back to his previous work and catching up. I feel Heterosexuality may be his best album so far. Under thew Radar spoke with him earlier in the year about the creation and process of writing the album (among other themes):

“Do you ever write from that place of frustration, or is that something you reflect on later?

I don’t write in the heat of the moment. I can’t do that. I’d rather process my feelings first before I blow on them. I talk about that a lot. I think that’s a thing that a lot of artists need to practice, because, like, I notice that it can get really toxic when artists write in the midst of their emotions as opposed to working through their emotions and then creating after.

When and where did you actually compose the songs?

It was a really quick process. To touch on the last question again, I think a lot of my songs touch on queer rage. I think queer rage has always been a thematic throughline through all of my work. And I think anyone who follows me on Twitter knows that I often go on certain rants about that. And it was just a 3 a.m. rant, and then through the midst of that 3 a.m. rant that I was going on on Twitter, that’s when I was hit with the visual concept. I kind of just bookmarked that in my mind. I was just like, okay cool, that’s the concept for another album. I wasn’t even trying to write anything.

This was October [2020], like three weeks after my last album [self-titled] came out. After I had the visual idea, like a day or two later, that’s when Hollow Comet DM’d me about working together. And I just loved his sound so much that I was instantly inspired. I want to say literally the next day I started demo-ing, and then the record was basically written by December.

What about his sound appealed to you?

I was familiar with his band Strange Ranger, but I wasn’t too familiar with his Hollow Comet stuff. The sound of his production stuff with Hollow Comet sounded like what I had been dreaming up for myself for years, but I couldn’t do it myself and couldn’t find other people to do it. I remember just freaking out because I was like, “WHAT!? Here he is, right under my nose, doing it the entire time.” We obviously knew each other, but I think we had only met once in person before he had hit me up. We didn’t even know each other [well]. It was purely just being inspired by the music and the sound.

You’ve said previously that you want to make paths for more queer and POC voices in pop music. Were you surprised by the mainstream success of Lil Nas X’s album last year?

No, of course not. I think Lil Nas X is someone who kicked the door down. I think the door wasn’t open, and it still isn’t open, but I think he kicked it down. It’s clear that he has not had a warm welcome. Yes, he’s highly successful, but again, not without BS. And I think it goes back to what I said earlier about the freedom thing. Yes, you see that he’s living in freedom and truth within himself, but look how much he has to pay.

You said you had some concepts and titles before the record took shape. How did you land on Heterosexuality?

‘Cause I’m a troll! I just think it’s funny. And, you know, it’s not lost on me that despite being a very openly queer artist my entire career…this is my most queer album. And I think that is because there is so much trauma around me being very explicit about my queerness in my music. When I first came out during my first album cycle, I felt like nobody wanted to talk about the music and only wanted to talk about my queerness, and that record wasn’t even specifically about my queerness! So, yeah, there’s a lot of trauma around me being too explicitly queer in my music for fear that that was all that people wanted to talk about. So I think also me calling it Heterosexuality was just like extra measure to make sure that I’m not just talking about my queerness. Plus I think it’s funny. I’m a troll, what can I say?”.

Prior to getting to a couple of positive review for one of this year’s strongest albums, Atwood Magazine wrote why Heterosexuality is such an important and powerful album – from an artist who has faced resistance and oppression from the very start of his career:

“26-year-old Shamir Bailey just might be indie’s most beloved underdog. Following the breakout success of his 2015 debut album Ratchet, he struggled against a rigid and racist music industry that could not figure out how to make his unique sense of experimentalism marketable, leading him back to his DIY roots. Writing, recording, producing, and releasing music outside of the world of labels and corporate pigeonholing, he strove to explore his artistic identity with new savvy as he reckoned with his wounds, rediscovering himself in the process. A success in risk-taking, his inimitable 2020 self-titled album was a triumph of his own determination as he showcased his masterful songwriting chops and creative versatility. With his latest record, he delves deeper into the emotional territory he carved out with Shamir, honoring his ongoing transformation as he harnesses the larger-than-life power of his own authenticity.

As part of his transformation, he fashions himself as an androgynous deity of destruction, posing plainly as a display of the inherent beauty of his existence in the face of a transphobic, patriarchal system attempting to stifle and extinguish his flame. In doing so, he reframes this Baphomet-like figure as a mark of growth, rebirth, and resilience, in all its messiness and glory. He stands his ground as a nonbinary person on the bold “Cisgender,” where he doubly refuses genre conformity with crunchy industrial beats, atmospheric synths, distorted guitars, and his soaring vocal range. Tracks like “Gay Agenda” and “Abomination” examine queerness as an act of noncompliance at its core, extending the definition of “queer” to the refusal to comply with the white, cis capitalism that further ensures our collective oppression as a society. Even in his queerness, Shamir pioneers a brave new frontier that only he can.

Boundless and ever-surprising, Heterosexuality shows us a new possible future for indie music and artists—after all, Shamir is a key figure in the new vanguard. Averse to stasis, he’s not interested in being anything other than himself, which he is continuously expanding upon, reinventing, rediscovering. With his devotion to honesty, sonically and otherwise, he presents himself with the gift of being undefinable. It’s perhaps one of the greatest gifts of all”.

I will wrap up with a couple of reviews for Shamir’s Heterosexuality. It is an album that garnered a lot of praise and interest. If you are new to the music of Shamir, I would definitely recommend you check the album out. This is what DIY said in their review:

“Vegas-born Shamir has never been one to sit in a box. Breaking through with debut album ‘Ratchet’ in 2015, the multi-instrumentalist quickly parted ways with the sound that made him. A turbulent split with then-label XL, and subsequent battles with his mental health, saw Shamir release six studio albums across four years. Each presented a different facet of his creativity, underpinned by candour and an innate need to experiment.

‘Heterosexuality’, Shamir’s first to delve into his queerness, truly breaks the mould. “You’re just stuck in the box that was made for me,” he offers with both spite and vulnerability on the industrial-laden opener ‘Gay Agenda’. It sets the tone for a record that actively looks to dismantle labels. “I’m just existing on this god forsaken land,” he affirms on ‘Cisgender’, “you can take it or leave it, or you can just stay back.” It cements ‘Heterosexuality’ as an empowering acceptance of trauma largely imposed from the outside. The record bounds between unfaltering self-belief and fundamental pain. The hauntingly spiteful ‘Cold Brew’ gives way to the comparably joyful ‘Marriage’. “I’m married to me,” he exclaims, “I’m sorry to break the news that I’m taken.” At first glance contradictory, together they secure the notion that you don’t have to be fixed to be happy.

In style, Shamir mirrors his stand against the conventional. The furious ‘Abomination’ sees him rap with an otherworldly blend of power and gentleness. Across the record, the industrial tones of the opener part way for sultry R&B and indie guitars, all pulled together by Shamir’s emotive falsetto. It provides space for a poignant message, one that supersedes outdated expectations.

The queer community remains raised on trauma, and hope can only be found by facing its effects head on. With resounding beauty, ‘Heterosexuality’ deconstructs social norms through a powerful freedom of self-expression, yet also acknowledges this pain and struggle. “Things that give us life makes us question if we can take it anymore,” he laments on closer ‘Nuclear’ before defiantly concluding, “but we put up anyway”.

I will end with a review from The Line of Best Fit. Heterosexuality has this narrative cycle that takes in so many different sounds and genres. It is an album that most definitely reaps rewards upon multiple listening. I have come back to Heterosexuality a few times since I first heard it:

“Gay Agenda” begins almost like an alarm call, with Shamir’s soft voice in front of ominous strings and a crunchy, palpable beat. Touching on toxic masculinity with lines like “You’re just stuck in the box that was made for me,” the song asserts his identity – completely free to do what he pleases, a running motif though the album.

On the rap “Abomination”, Shamir reclaims slurs used against him while using a skillful strategy – softening his voice to a saccharine playfulness, heightening his ideas even more. “Say my life matters, but it’s just an option,” he tackles on the heavy, industrial beat. His musings on capitalism, exploitation, and race are tight, with only a few clunky missteps (“My words heavy on your mind like a hippopotamus”).

Lyrics from these tracks are insightful glimpses to his mind, but the true power comes from the soaring vocals he employs. On “Cisgender”, after minutes of dense electronic build-up, the words almost explode out of him: “I’m not cisgender, not binary trans / …I’m just existing on this godforsaken land.” He does the same on “Nuclear”, an easier song with a breezy, “Margaritaville” like beat, its final verse a grand finale to an album of sonic expertise and finesse.

Shamir smartly incorporates highs and lows within the album – after the barrage of the first four tracks, complex ideas swirling and evolving, we get some easy pop songs in “Cold Brew”, “Married”, and “Caught Up”. Toying with an ‘80s beat, “Stability” speaks to the anxieties of a new relationship: “I don’t want to squander / This beautiful mess.” “Caught Up” leans into indie rock, but presents a similar statement – “So cut me down, I don’t wanna be this high,” he pleads. These catchy songs pose as a welcome relief from the focused, norm-challenging songs at the front of the album.

Heterosexuality is an interesting title choice for an album for which norm-subverting is wholly within the music; it’d be like Björk titling an album “Disco.” But this album has it all, and listeners who crave forward-thinking, statement-making pop will find homes with “Gay Agenda”, “Cisgender”, and “Abomination”, while those less involved can relax with the jams of “Cold Brew", “Nuclear”, and “Stability”. His future is spread out in a number of artistic directions, but for now, he (rightfully) just wants to be”.

A major talent who I hope will release a lot more albums before his career comes to an end, the spectacular Shamir is someone who should be on everyone’s radar. If you are new or a bit hesitant about diving in, then I would suggest that you…

LISTEN now.

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Follow Shamir

FEATURE: Inspired By… Part Sixty-Eight: Faith No More

FEATURE:

 

 

Inspired By…

Part Sixty-Eight: Faith No More

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I am putting two Inspired By… features…

quite close to one another, as I am interested seeing all the varied artists who have been influenced by legendary acts. The previous feature was about Neneh Cherry. Undoubtedly one of the most iconic and important artists ever, I am not tuning my focus to Faith No More. The Californian band formed in 1979 and put out their seventh studio album, Sol Invictus, in 2015. I hope that we hear more from the band. Led by the incredible Mike Patton, one of their most important albums, Angel Dust, turned thirty earlier this month. Before getting to a playlist of songs from artists inspired by Faith No More, AllMusic provided detailed biography about the legends:

“With their fusion of heavy metal, funk, hip-hop, and progressive rock, Faith No More have earned a substantial cult following. By the time they recorded their first album in 1985, the band had already had a string of lead vocalists, including Courtney Love; their debut, We Care a Lot, featured Chuck Mosley's abrasive vocals but was driven by Jim Martin's metallic guitar. Faith No More's next album, 1987's Introduce Yourself, was a more cohesive and impressive effort; for the first time, the rap and metal elements didn't sound like they were fighting each other.

In 1988, the rest of the band fired Mosley; he was replaced by Bay Area vocalist Mike Patton during the recording of their next album, The Real Thing. Patton was a more accomplished vocalist, able to change effortlessly between rapping and singing, as well as adding a considerably more bizarre slant to the lyrics. Besides adding a new vocalist, the band had tightened its attack and the result was the genre-bending hit single "Epic," which established them as a major hard rock act.

Following up the hit wasn't as easy, however. Faith No More followed their breakthrough success with 1992's Angel Dust, one of the more complex and simply confounding records ever released by a major label. Although it sold respectably, it didn't have the crossover potential of the first album. When the band toured in support of the album, tensions between the band and Martin began to escalate; rumors that his guitar was stripped from some of the final mixes of Angel Dust began to circulate. As the band was recording its fifth album in early 1994, it was confirmed that Martin had been fired from the band.

Faith No More recorded King for a Day, Fool for a Lifetime with Mr. Bungle guitarist Trey Spruance. During tour preparations he was replaced by Dean Menta. Menta only lasted for the length of the King for a Day tour and was replaced by Jon Hudson for 1997's Album of the Year. Upon the conclusion of the album's supporting tour, Faith No More announced they were disbanding in April 1998.

 Patton, who had previously fronted Mr. Bungle and had avant-garde projects with John Zorn, formed a new band named Fantômas with Melvins guitarist Buzz Osbourne, Mr. Bungle bassist Trevor Dunn, and former Slayer drummer Dave Lombardo. Roddy Bottum continued with his band Imperial Teen, who released their first album, Seasick, in 1996. A posthumous Faith No More retrospective, Who Cares a Lot, appeared in late 1998.

In 2009, after 11 years of dissolution, Faith No More staged a reunion tour, playing festivals in Europe and scattered American dates; Jim Martin did not participate, but Jon Hudson and the rest of the band's 1988 lineup took part. As the band continued to play shows, speculation grew concerning the possibility of a new studio album, and in November 2014, the band confirmed the rumors with the release of a single, "Motherfucker," titled with their typical cheek. In May 2015, Faith No More released their first album since 1997, Sol Invictus, through Reclamation Records, a label distributed by Patton's Ipecac imprint; the band supported the release with an extensive tour of the United States, Europe, and South America”.

To show how influential and important Faith No More are, the playlist below shows which artists they have impacted. Without Faith No More, so many other artists would not exist or be the same. They are an incredibly influential act. The songs below…

PROVE their influence is far and wide-ranging.

FEATURE: Groovelines: The Byrds – Eight Miles High

FEATURE:

 

 

Groovelines

The Byrds – Eight Miles High

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WRITTEN by…

Gene Clark, Jim (Roger) McGuinn and David Crosby, I often think The Byrds’ Eight Miles High was inspired by The Beatles. Listen back to The Beatles’ work on Rubber Soul (1965) and Revolver (1966), and Eight Miles High sort of fits into that mould. One of the best and defining songs of the 1960s, Eight Miles High was released on 14th March, 1966. One of the first psychedelic Rock tracks, it definitely opened doors and minds for other artists. Eight Miles High did get banned by some radio stations because of the possible drug references in the song. The Byrds denied rumours at the time. Listening to Eight Miles High, and it is impossible to not hear the drug mentions! The title alone makes me think of the band feeling high after smoking weed. It does have this mix of the laidback and the psychedelic that one can easily link to drugs. Because of a ban, the song did struggle to make a big chart impact. It did get to fourteen on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and number twenty-four in the U.K. Appearing on The Byrds’ third studio album, Fifth Dimension, Eight Miles High became their third and final U.S. top twenty hit. It is a classic that still gets played a lot to this day. Although it does evoke the sounds and sights of the 1960s, it has not dated at all. Anyone can put the song on today and connect with it.

There are a couple of features about Eight Miles High that I want to bring together. The first, from Ultimate Classic Rock discusses the story and history of the song. Learning how it came together and was received is really interesting. Its origins are insightful:

“When the Byrds kicked off the second phase of their multistage career in March 1966 with the release of "Eight Miles High," they also happened to launch a new chapter in rock history.

The quintet pretty much spent the previous year mining the Bob Dylan songbook, fine-tuning its own collective songwriting talents and perfecting the folk-rock genre with chart-topping singles like "Mr. Tambourine Man" and "Turn! Turn! Turn!" But as their busy 1965 - which included two albums and many live appearances - started to wind down, the Byrds were getting restless.

That fall, the band participated in a tour spearheaded by American Bandstand host Dick Clark. They traveled city to city by bus and kept themselves occupied by listening to music. One day, a friend of David Crosby's played jazz great John Coltrane's 1961 album Africa/Brass, which incorporated Afro-Indian improvisations into a more traditional big-band setting.

The music "seared through the center of my chest like a white-hot poker," noted Roger McGuinn - who, like Crosby, was one of the Byrds' three singers, songwriters and guitarists - in 2006's There Is a Season box set. He recorded the album with a portable cassette deck he recently picked up, filling the other side of the tape with Indian ragas by Ravi Shankar. The band listened to the tape nonstop for the rest of the tour.

When they entered RCA Studios in Los Angeles for a session in late December, they had an idea for a new song inspired by their recent obsession. A first take of "Eight Miles High" - preferred by the group's members - was rejected by the Byrds' record company because it wasn't recorded in one of its studios. So, the band returned to an approved studio a few weeks later on Jan. 25, 1966, and completed the version that was released as a single on March 14.

From the start, the Byrds knew they were getting into something new and significant with "Eight Miles High." In early 1966, there still wasn't much that sounded like it. Even the Beatles, the most forward-thinking band of the era, had just unveiled their first real exploration of Indian music with "Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown)" from Rubber Soul, which came out in December. That classic song's key sitar line was inspired by Shankar, whose music the Byrds were immersed in during their recent tour.

But they took it even further in "Eight Miles High," capping it with a head-spinning guitar solo based on a jazz progression inspired by Coltrane. McGuinn explained in There Is a Season that his solo "wasn't mapped out"; instead, he had a "basic skeleton" borrowed from a four-note Africa/Brass riff he then improvised on”.

One of the greatest songs ever released, I can only imagine how The Byrds felt when they completed the song. It is one of these tracks that, once heard for the first time, will stay in the head. It has that hypnotic quality that you cannot escape from! In a feature for The Guardian, David Crosby and Roger McGuinn talked about writing the majestic Eight Miles High:

“Roger McGuinn, singer-songwriter/lead guitar

Eight Miles High has been called the first psychedelic record. It’s true we’d been experimenting with LSD, and the title does contain the word “high”, so if people want to say that, that’s great. But Eight Miles High actually came about as a tribute to John Coltrane. It was our attempt to play jazz.

We were on a tour of America, and someone played us the Coltrane albums Africa/Brass and Impressions. I had just picked up a cassette recorder – it was such a new thing, you couldn’t buy any tapes to play in it. But I had some blank tapes so recorded the Coltrane albums, along with some Ravi Shankar, and took them on tour. It was the only music we had, for the whole time on the bus. By the end of the tour, Coltrane and Shankar were ingrained.

There was one Coltrane track called India, where he was trying to emulate sitar music with his saxophone. It had a recurring phrase, dee da da da, which I picked up on my Rickenbacker guitar and played some jazzy stuff around it. I was in love with his saxophone playing: all those funny little notes and fast stuff at the bottom of the range.

At the same time, Gene Clark [rhythm guitar] had some chords and a vague melody, which went into the more regular structure of Eight Miles High. In later years, Gene started to fantasise that he wrote the whole song. That wasn’t the case: it was a collaborative effort between myself, Gene and David Crosby [vocals, rhythm guitar]. The previous year, 1965, we’d been on a trip to England. It was our first time on a plane, and I had the idea of writing a song about it. Gene asked: “How high do you think that plane was flying?” I thought about seven miles, but the Beatles had a song called Eight Days a Week, so we changed it to Eight Miles High because we thought that would be cooler.

When the song came out, some DJs did the sums and realised that, since commercial airliners only flew at six miles, we must have been talking about a different kind of high. And all the stations stopped playing it. We put out a statement refuting those claims, but it was the end of our commercial success. The Byrds were damaged goods.

Gene left the band the month Eight Miles High was released. He was afraid of flying. We’d get on a plane, and he’d be in a cold sweat, standing up in the aisle, saying: “I can’t stay on this plane, man. I gotta get off.” I remember saying: “You can’t be a Byrd if you can’t fly”.

For this Groovelines, I wanted to look inside a song that remains celebrated and much-played, over fifty-five years since it came out. A timeless slice of Psychedelia from The Byrds, the song was responsible for the naming of the musical subgenre, Raga Rock. Covered by numerous artists; inspirational to many others, it is one of the most important songs released. Its classic status is something that will…

NEVER change.

FEATURE: Music Made for Pleasure, Music Made to Thrill: The Overlooked Wonder of Kate Bush’s Experiment IV

FEATURE:

 

 

Music Made for Pleasure, Music Made to Thrill

The Overlooked Wonder of Kate Bush’s Experiment IV

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AS part of a run of Kate Bush features…

I am returning to various albums and songs that I feel are underrated. Of course, with the success of Running Up That Hill (A Deal with God) and its continued chart dominance, many people are streaming that track and its sister album, Hounds of Love. That is great! Any attention Bush’s music gets is great, though I wonder how many people are digging deeper and listening to other albums and tracks. One song that many people may not even be aware of is Experiment IV. Released as a single in 1986 to promote her greatest hits album, The Whole Story, here is a song that could easily fit into Stranger Things – the Netflix show that helped propel Running Up That Hill (A Deal with God) to the top of the charts as it featured – because of its tone and video. In fact, many people have noticed a resemblance between Kate Bush dressed as a ghoul/monster for that video and a Stranger Things character, Vecna. In fact, certain parts of the Experiment IV video (which Bush directed) have almost been replicated in Stranger Things. It is clear that the makers know about the song…so I wonder whether it could make an appearance on the show (as there is rumour another Kate Bush song could feature before the finale’s end). Experiment IV is a song that has a darker theme. Scientist building a machine/device that produces sound that could kill people could be lifted from a spy thriller. The video is suitably cinematic and tense! Bush showing what a visual and accomplished director she was. She does make some fleeting appearances in the song, though the likes of Dawn French and Hugh Laurie pop up among the cast!

Before going deeper into the song, the Kate Bush Encyclopedia provided information about Experiment IV. Among them is an interview, where Bush discussed the background to one of her most underrated and best singles:

“This was written as an extra track for the compilation album The Whole Story and was released as the single. I was excited at the opportunity of directing the video and not having to appear in it other than in a minor role, especially as this song told a story that could be challenging to tell visually. I chose to film it in a very handsome old military hospital that was derelict at the time. It was a huge, labyrinthine hospital with incredibly long corridors, which was one reason for choosing it. Florence Nightingale had been involved in the design of the hospital. Not something she is well known for but she actually had a huge impact on hospital design that was pioneering and changed the way hospitals were designed from then on.

The video was an intense project and not a comfortable shoot, as you can imagine - a giant of a building, damp and full of shadows with no lighting or heating but it was like a dream to work with such a talented crew and cast with Dawn French, Hugh Laurie, Peter Vaughn and Richard Vernon in the starring roles. It was a strange and eerie feeling bringing parts of the hospital to life again. Not long after our work there it was converted into luxury apartments. I can imagine that some of those glamorous rooms have uninvited soldiers and nurses dropping by for a cup of tea and a Hobnob.

We had to create a recording studio for the video, so tape machines and outboard gear were recruited from my recording studio and the mixing console was very kindly lent to us by Abbey Road Studios. It was the desk the Beatles had used - me too, when we’d made the album Never For Ever in Studio Two. It was such a characterful desk that would’ve looked right at home in any vintage aircraft. Although it was a tough shoot it was a lot of fun and everyone worked so hard for such long hours. I was really pleased with the result. (KateBush.com, February 2019)”.

I love the fact that there is this fourth experiment that the government/scientists have been working on for some secret purpose. Why would they want to kill with sound!? Bush’s voice sounds hushed at certain moments and alluring the next. It is a wonderful performance. Her lyrics discuss the nature of the machine and how, though it can appear to be a great device or breakthrough, it is a nightmare: “They told us/All they wanted/Was a sound that could kill someone/From a distance/So we go ahead/And the meters are over in the red/It's a mistake in the making/It could feel like falling in love/It could feel so bad/But it could feel so good/It could sing you to sleep/But that dream is your enemy”. With such a striking video, production by Kate Bush, and a composition that meant the song could have slotted onto Hounds of Love (her 1985 album), I wonder why Experiment IV does not get more affection, airplay and discussion. I have said before how the composition reminds me a bit of Peter Gabriel. Of course, at the same time Experiment IV was in the charts, she was also in the charts with Gabriel on his song, Don’t Give Up (from his album, So). With great violin work from Nigel Kennedy, Experiment IV is a superb track that so many more people need to know about! Given the attention around Stranger Things and how it has helped to get Running Up That Hill (A Deal with God) to the top of the charts around the world, Experiment IV seems like it is ready-made to feature on a big show like that. Who knows? Maybe it will! If you have not heard the brilliant and epic Experiment IV, go and find it now and…

PLAY it loud! 

FEATURE: Miracle Man: Elvis Costello’s My Aim Is True at Forty-Five

FEATURE:

 

 

Miracle Man

Elvis Costello’s My Aim Is True at Forty-Five

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PERHAPS his best album…

 IN THIS PHOTO: Elvis Costello in 1977/PHOTO CREDIT: Hulton-Deutsch Collection/CORBIS

Elvis Costello’s debut, My Aim Is True, definitely lived up to its title! A stunning album that was released on 22nd July, 1977, I wanted to look ahead to its forty-fifth anniversary. It is amazing to think that, shortly before he was singed to Stiff through the label's founders Dave Robinson and Jake Riviera, Costello was unsuccessful as a touring artist. His debut album is so complete and accomplished, you wonder what people were hearing and why labels ignored him to that point! With a backing band consisting of members of Clover, a California-based Country Rock act, Costello was working as a data entry clerk when recording – and he still worked at his job throughout recording! It is wonderful to think that Costello was ensuring he had security and balanced a mundane job with recording one of the best albums of the 1970s. There is a romance to this aspiring songwriter working his day job and dreaming up lyrics and melodies. It is hard to think of an artist whose first couple of albums are as impressive as Costello’s. A year after his magnificent debut, he released an album that many consider to be his masterpiece: This Year's Model. Clearly inspired and made for the music industry, My Aim Is True is filled with standout songs; it won enormous critical acclaim from the U.K. and U.S., it reached fourteen on the U.K. album chart. One of the best and most important debut albums in Rock history, the retrospective appraisal and acclaim My Aim Is True has received cements it as a classic. Amazing to hear such confidence and strength from a debut album!

I don’t know if there is a forty-fifth anniversary edition of My Aim Is True planned for next month. It would be nice to think something is happening to mark its birthday. Before getting to a couple of reviews for the immense and staggering My Aim Is True, The Young Folks wrote an article about the album - where they start out by looking at the background to the album being recorded:

“While the punk movement raged in the late ‘70s, one British singer-songwriter was channeling his frustrations into a blend of Buddy Holly-style pop music and punk soul to create what would become one of the best known new wave albums out there. Working as a data entry clerk, Elvis Costello called in sick to his day job in order to rehearse and record his debut album, My Aim is True. The album serves as a collection of life’s most relatable frustrations, marked by pretty melodies and what would become Costello’s signature verbal calisthenics.

For an album that is held up as one of the best debuts out there, My Aim is True certainly had a rough start. Since it was initially only released in the UK and available in the US as an import, American fans were slow to come to the record, while lead singles “Less Than Zero” and “Alison” were both released with very little success in the UK. However, the album eventually gained traction and popularity in England. His American fanbase boomed later that year, after a scandalous decision to play the song “Radio Radio” on Saturday Night Live got him banned from the show for twelve years”.

It is hard to find any reviews anything less than blown away and moved by Elvis Costello’s My Aim Is True. Even if you do not know his music, you can pick up My Aim Is True and bond with it. This is what Pitchfork wrote in their review of the album back in 2002:

“Once upon a time, being a bitter, frustrated male musician didn't mean being a jerkass. Perpetually wronged and rarely laid men were capable of being intelligent about their bitterness, focusing their anger not on the whole of womankind, but on particular women (usually flirts and teases) and attacking these women with a potent blend of wit and bile. Rather than self-aggrandizement, self-deprecation reigned supreme. More importantly, subtlety won out over blatant self-pity or obnoxiousness. Yeah, these gentlemen were angry, but they were smart enough to know what they were angry at-- and geeky enough to include themselves in that category.

At the helm of this trend towards new-wave geekdom was Stiff Records, a small label operating out of England with a roster including Ian Dury, Nick Lowe, and the mighty Elvis Costello. With his 1977 debut, My Aim Is True, Costello exploded onto the punk/new-wave scene like a mutant hybrid of Buddy Holly and Johnny Rotten. He had the seething contempt of a punk, but a transparent intelligence, sensitivity, and melodic sense that made him much more interesting than many of his contemporaries. Punks didn't give a fuck; Elvis was sensitive enough to not only give a fuck, but smart enough to be pissed off and disturbed by that fuck.


On My Aim Is True, Elvis' raw energy comes through in a way that's never completely recaptured on later records. While the songs range from mellow country twang to full-on, spitting assault, there's a strange cohesiveness to the album simply by virtue of its rough, rushed feel. Although it's a studio album, there's a latent energy to Nick Lowe's production that grants My Aim Is True all the immediacy of a live show.

While Lowe's blunt production certainly enhances the record, the real star here, naturally, is Elvis himself. My Aim Is True is host to some of the best songs Elvis has ever penned. The brief kick in the balls of the opening track, "Welcome to the Working Week," is perhaps the album's perfect mission statement. With poppy ooh's, a catchy melody, and an undeniably sharp edge, the song excellently captures the cyanide-laced slab of peanut brittle that is Elvis. The lyrics are rife with brilliant, subtle innuendo. From the opening line, "Now that your picture's in the paper/ Being rhythmically admired," it's clear that Costello isn't going to stumble into any cheap lyrical traps. A lesser man would have just used some goofy synonym for masturbation; Elvis went and used the phrase "rhythmically admired." It's more subtle, more original, and infinitely cooler. That's why you love him.

"Miracle Man," "No Dancing," and "Blame It on Cain" bring the album down a notch with an off-kilter punky-tonk feel. "No Dancing," the highlight of the three, introduces a Phil Spector-style effect of massive percussion and multitracked vocals. "Blame It on Cain," a typically Costello-ish tale of dissatisfaction, swaggers with twangy country guitar and pained vocals”.

There are going to be those who are new to My Aim Is True or have not heard it for many years. In the run-up to its forty-fifth anniversary on 22nd July, go and spend time with one of the absolute best debut albums. I am going to wrap up with a review from the AllMusic:

“Elvis Costello was as much a pub rocker as he was a punk rocker and nowhere is that more evident than on his debut, My Aim Is True. It's not just that Clover, a San Franciscan rock outfit led by Huey Lewis (absent here), back him here, not the Attractions; it's that his sensibility is borrowed from the pile-driving rock & roll and folksy introspection of pub rockers like Brinsley Schwarz, adding touches of cult singer/songwriters like Randy Newman and David Ackles. Then, there's the infusion of pure nastiness and cynical humor, which is pure Costello. That blend of classicist sensibilities and cleverness make this collection of shiny roots rock a punk record -- it informs his nervy performances and his prickly songs. Of all classic punk debuts, this remains perhaps the most idiosyncratic because it's not cathartic in sound, only in spirit. Which, of course, meant that it could play to a broader audience, and Linda Ronstadt did indeed cover the standout ballad "Alison." Still, there's no mistaking this for anything other than a punk record, and it's a terrific one at that, since even if he buries his singer/songwriter inclinations, they shine through as brightly as his cheerfully mean humor and immense musical skill; he sounds as comfortable with a '50s knockoff like "No Dancing" as he does on the reggae-inflected "Less Than Zero." Costello went on to more ambitious territory fairly quickly, but My Aim Is True is a phenomenal debut, capturing a songwriter and musician whose words were as rich and clever as his music”.

One of the greatest introductions in music history, I have been listening back to My Aim Is True quite a bit lately. With songs like Miracle Man, Alison (which features the album’s title in its chorus) and Less Than Zero drawing you in, even the songs people don’t hear often are strong and rich enough that they will stick in your head. Sort of resembling Elvis Presley on My Aim Is True’s cover, I am not sure whether that was a sort of joke; people hearing that same first name and thinking they might be similar somehow. Such an exceptional and complete debut, My Aim Is True proves that Elvis Costello is…

A real miracle man.

FEATURE: Do Enough People Know About One of Kate Bush’s Finest Albums? A Look Back at 2005’s Majestic and Seriously Underrated Aerial

FEATURE:

 

 

Do Enough People Know About One of Kate Bush’s Finest Albums?

A Look Back at 2005’s Majestic and Seriously Underrated Aerial

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AN album I have been discussing for a while…

 IN THIS PHOTO: Kate Bush in a publicity shot for 2005’s Aerial/PHOTO CREDIT: Trevor Leighton

I wanted to return to Kate Bush’s Aerial because of Hounds of Love. That album is back in my thoughts as Running Up That Hill (A Deal with God) reached number one in the U.K. (and other countries). It is rightly seen as a masterpiece because of its mix of the more accessible songs on the first half of the album, tied to the conceptual suite on the second, The Ninth Wave. Aerial has a lot of similarities. It is one of Bush’s favourite albums of hers. It is a double album with a conceptual suite, A Sky of Honey, takes up the second disc. It was talked about a lot when it came out in 2005, and yet Aerial is not explored much today. In terms of radio accessibility, there is plenty of it that warrants attention. The songs on the suite can be broken up, even if they are best enjoyed as a single piece. The album’s single, King of the Mountain, gets played now and then, though there are other great tracks that are either never played or very little. Alongside The Ninth Wave from Hounds of Love, Bush did bring to the stage a lot from Aerial. Both albums have a conceptual suite, and yet Hounds of Love is widely known and rising in popularity, whereas Aerial seems more hidden or rarer in people’s thoughts. At sixteen tracks, it is a lot to listen to.

I think Aerial’s strengths come in the same way as Hounds of Love’s. I love the first album, A Sea of Honey, and the songs on there. Bertie, Mrs. Bartolozzi, How to Be Invisible and A Coral Room show Bush’s range of emotions, lyrics and sounds. There is barely a weak moment through Aerial. Maybe Hounds of Love is stronger, though I think Aerial is more detailed and has this richness that should be augmented and known about. I have been thinking about how we can get an album like Aerial more known. Rather than rely on a T.V. show like Stranger Things to get one of its tracks to number one, maybe an album listening party or a podcast about it would help raise its status and boost awareness. I really love Aerial and the fact it was her first album since 1993’s The Red Shoes. Touted as this big ‘return’ after years away, Aerial received a wave of affection. Even so, I still think that some were a little too reserved or did not get to the heart of the album. One very positive review came from The Guardian:

“These days, record companies try to make every new album seem like a matter of unparalleled cultural import. The most inconsequential artists require confidentiality agreements to be faxed to journalists, the lowliest release must be delivered by hand. So it's hard not to be impressed by an album that carries a genuine sense of occasion. That's not to say EMI - which earlier this year transformed the ostensibly simple process of handing critics the Coldplay album into something resembling a particularly Byzantine episode of Spooks - haven't really pushed the boat out for Kate Bush's return after a 12-year absence. They employed a security man specifically for the purpose of staring at you while you listened to her new album. But even without his disconcerting presence, Aerial would seem like an event.

In the gap since 1993's so-so The Red Shoes, the Kate Bush myth that began fomenting when she first appeared on Top of the Pops, waving her arms and shrilly announcing that Cath-ee had come home-uh, grew to quite staggering proportions. She was variously reported to have gone bonkers, become a recluse and offered her record company some home-made biscuits instead of a new album. In reality, she seems to have been doing nothing more peculiar than bringing up a son, moving house and watching while people made up nutty stories about her.

Aerial contains a song called How to Be Invisible. It features a spell for a chorus, precisely what you would expect from the batty Kate Bush of popular myth. The spell, however, gently mocks her more obsessive fans while espousing a life of domestic contentment: "Hem of anorak, stem of wallflower, hair of doormat."

Domestic contentment runs through Aerial's 90-minute duration. Recent Bush albums have been filled with songs in which the extraordinary happened: people snogged Hitler, or were arrested for building machines that controlled the weather. Aerial, however, is packed with songs that make commonplace events sound extraordinary. It calls upon Renaissance musicians to serenade her son. Viols are bowed, arcane stringed instruments plucked, Bush sings beatifically of smiles and kisses and "luvv-er-ly Bertie". You can't help feeling that this song is going to cause a lot of door slamming and shouts of "oh-God-mum-you're-so-embarrassing" when Bertie reaches the less luvv-er-ly age of 15, but it's still delightful.

The second CD is devoted to a concept piece called A Sky of Honey in which virtually nothing happens, albeit very beautifully, with delicious string arrangements, hymnal piano chords, joyous choruses and bursts of flamenco guitar: the sun comes up, birds sing, Bush watches a pavement artist at work, it rains, Bush has a moonlight swim and watches the sun come up again. The pavement artist is played by Rolf Harris. This casting demonstrates Bush's admirable disregard for accepted notions of cool, but it's tough on anyone who grew up watching him daubing away on Rolf's Cartoon Club. "A little bit lighter there, maybe with some accents," he mutters. You keep expecting him to ask if you can guess what it is yet.

Domestic contentment even gets into the staple Bush topic of sex. Ever since her debut, The Kick Inside, with its lyrics about incest and "sticky love", Bush has given good filth: striking, often disturbing songs that, excitingly, suggest a wildly inventive approach to having it off. Here, on the lovely and moving piano ballad Mrs Bartolozzi, she turns watching a washing machine into a thing of quivering erotic wonder. "My blouse wrapping around your trousers," she sings. "Oh, and the waves are going out/ my skirt floating up around my waist." Laundry day in the Bush household must be an absolute hoot.

Aerial sounds like an album made in isolation. On the down side, that means some of it seems dated. You can't help feeling she might have thought twice about the lumpy funk of Joanni and the preponderance of fretless bass if she got out a bit more. But, on the plus side, it also means Aerial is literally incomparable. You catch a faint whiff of Pink Floyd and her old mentor Dave Gilmour on the title track, but otherwise it sounds like nothing other than Bush's own back catalogue. It is filled with things only Kate Bush would do. Some of them you rather wish she wouldn't, including imitating bird calls and doing funny voices: King of the Mountain features a passable impersonation of its subject, Elvis, which is at least less disastrous than the strewth-cobber Aussie accent she adopted on 1982's The Dreaming. But then, daring to walk the line between the sublime and the demented is the point of Kate Bush's entire oeuvre. On Aerial she achieves far, far more of the former than the latter. When she does, there is nothing you can do but willingly succumb”.

There are a few Kate Bush albums that have never really been given their fair due. Aerial ranks high when it comes to critical lists. It went to number three in the U.K. It did feature in the top fifty of the U.S. Billboard 200. Maybe it does not pack as many hits and well-known songs as Hounds of Love or another big album, but I think the beauty and real angle of Aerial is these less propulsive and big songs that arrives from an artist who was a relatively new mum (her son, Bertie, was born in 1998). It is a stunning album that unfurls and reveals colours and so many magic moments the more you listen. I think I might do another couple of features where I return to various Kate Bush albums that are not as revered as they should be. After that, I may then get down to some anniversary features around The Kick Inside (this August, it will be forty-five years since the album was recorded). Nearly seventeen years ago, the world was bracing itself for a new album from Kate Bush – something many didn’t think we would ever experience again. Maybe I have Aerial in my thoughts, as we are in a similar position. It has been ten years since 50 Words for Snow came out. With its gorgeous suite, A Sky of Honey, taking us through the course of a summer’s day, there is a lot of potential in terms of translating it to the screen. The songs on the album’s first side/vinyl are wonderful. Aerial does deserve new acclaim and having its profile raised. To me, many more people need to know about…

A simply beautiful double album.