I think I echo many critics when I say this has been a funny year musically. The ebb and flow of coverage has centred around 'impact' releases, at times it seemed that labels had colluded more than normal to ensure that everyone got a bite of that month long blanket coverage for their showcase release. Leading the pack on wall to wall media was Bowie, who made the cover of every music title for his release and even infiltrated radio programming without actually saying a word. Earl Slick had a very good middle of year as the official spokesman for all things David. Nick Cave, Daft Punk, Arcade Fire, Arctic Monkeys and Haim all became part of this whirl of blitzkrieg media, squeezing the oxygen supply to such an extent that there was precious little room for anything else to breathe around their album releases.
And yet, looking back over the year my favourite records and stand out moments are notably without any of these 'must-have' releases. Parquet Courts, Matthew E White, Daughter and Lorde all crept up on us a little but have ended the year lined up as things to notice for 2014.
As ever my list includes precisely no bands on the roster. this is for two reasons. Firstly it seems churlish to suggest that I like the music and bands that Loudhailer represents, that is very much a given and secondly, were I to include them there would be no room for anyone else. That said, and here's the little plug, particular Loudhailer highlights of 2013 were Night Engine's sold out Borderline show, Editors UK tour and a fourth album of quite remarkable consistency and daring, returning to the fold of The Polyphonic Spree after a long time away and their phenomenal Village Underground show and working with Matt Berry on 'Kill The Wolf', an album I fully expect to be attracting attention for years to come.
The summer took me to Glastonbury (which provides some of my live highlights of this year), Latitude (which supplies the rest and which will forever be remembered by me for Molly headbanging along to Bloc Party on my shoulders) and Reading (which has none, though Night Engine were remarkable - rules, schmules).
So, in time honoured fashion and to add to a teetering pile of 'Best Ofs' here we go
Albums of 2013
1. Savages - Silence Yourself
I have kept coming back to this throughout the year. A rare new band that seemed to have more than a fleeting agenda, whilst some of their interviews made me cringe at times (a Guardian chat in particular sticks in my mind), for a debut 'Silence Yourself' is genuinely remarkable, a musical statement of intent unrivalled by any.
2. Parquet Courts - 'Light Up Gold'
Big thanks to Tim Hall of (then) PIAS for turning me on to this. The first three songs are the best opener to an album I have heard all year and 'Socrates died in the fucking gutter' still makes me smile.
3. Laura Marling - Once I Was An Eagle
Loved her since the debut album. Amazing to watch this career progression and this is, to my mind, her best yet. Wonderful, talented long term artist that the whole country should be proud of. A genius in the making.
4. Primal Scream - More Light
I grew up with Primal Scream. I wanted to be Bobby Gillespie in JAMC days. I own 'Velocity Girl' and its one of those things I would save in a fire. But I thought me and the Scream had parted company of recent times. Then I heard '2013' and I was back in the club immediately. Please god let this be a run of good stuff and not a one-off.....
5. John Grant - Pale Green Ghosts
I liked The Czars and vaguely knew his solo stuff but this, well this was quite an eye opener.
Shows of 2013
1. The Rolling Stones at Glastonbury
Fuck being clever here. I was so excited about this i didn't quite believe I was going to see it until I was in the field and then I don't remember much apart from grinning and dancing until the end of the set. 'Happy', Jumping Jack Flash' 'Paint It Black' were particular highlights, reminding me of my dear departed mum but the whole thing was a proper moment to remember and tell the grandkids. Others thought it was flat, guess we stood in the right place - noatble thanks to Tom Smith for the suicidal but successful (how did he get back into the field?) drinks run - God was on our side etc. Or perhaps my mum had a little hand in it....
2. Bobby Womack at Latitude
It's not often you get to put your four year old daughter in a position where, in later years, she can say 'I saw that legend'. Latitude Sunday afternoon offered just that chance and Bobby Womack was immense. The family Jamieson had a good dance, the kids field didn't matter and everyone had smiles on their faces. Legend.
3. I Am Kloot at Glastonbury
I still say there's no justice that this set wasn't in all the reviews of the weekend. Kloot were stately, funny, thought provoking and downright groovy that afternoon. But those of us who saw it know and that's what really counts. Fuck lost gems, this lot should be up there every album.
4. Savages at Electrowerkz
Like their debut Savages shows are an exercise in totality. The most compelling new band I have seen (outside Loudhailer) by a country mile.
5. Matthew E White at Latitude
I like 'Big Inner' a lot but I like it live a lot more. Country soul revue time. Made our afternoon.
The single that got me this year
Lorde - 'Royals'
Out of nowhere, no hype as such, just a great track with sharp lyrics and a real sense of self. Proof that good music can cut through.
The book I loved
Morrissey - Autobiography
Possibly the least controversial thing I will ever say (if you know me, you'll know this was no contest). the opening 20 pages are some of the finest writing period, the rest is genuinely engaging, even the court stuff has a certain interest to it. Much as I try I can't let go of my love for Morrissey, now Molly is stealing my Smiths cds it seems like the curse has been passed down a generation.
Friday, 13 December 2013
Tuesday, 3 December 2013
Sound And Fury Signifying Nothing
Bands are dead. Critics are dead. Music is dead. And so on. After the dissection of the Mercury Prize we move on to the BBC Sound Of list in the annual carnival that is the death grip relationship between the media and the music industry.
I’ve been part of the shrug dressed up as fanfare that is the Sound Of List on a couple of occasions. Times were different when The Ordinary Boys and then The Twang found themselves part of the list. Both bands went on to healthy sales, in the case of the (then) much maligned Twang more than healthy sales and two of the biggest radio hits of the year in ‘Wide Awake’ and ‘Either Way’. Would either have succeeded without their inclusion? Yes. Did their inclusion make a major difference? Not at press, in my world, the press were already on it hence the inclusion. Possibly at radio. What you can say without any shadow of doubt is that their inclusion was a small part of the first stage of what, for want of a better word we shall call their ‘career’. And wildly divergent their paths were since then. The Ordinary Boys went on to a singer on celeb tv, a massive hit and then a void, one that I understand all have come out of ok, which is good news. The Twang were hung out to dry but have simply continued and now find themselves out of the other side, happily making records (Rory Attwell produced the latest one so clearly they aren’t poison in the way that some would imagine) and touring to a dedicated and loyal fanbase, playing to numbers that many of those in later Sound Of Polls could only dream of at their height and certainly will never see in the future.
The debate this time is centred around the make up of the list. Bands are notable by their absence, QED bands are dead. The media loves to declare extinction in music, in the last decade or so I can recall dance music, hip hop, rock and indie all being ‘dead’ at some point, normally just before the chosen corpse rises Lazarus like to dominate the discussion if not the charts. The Sound Of List is, to a greater degree, no better or worse than all the other ‘Tips for the next year’ pieces that drop like portents of doom / the chimes of the future (*delete according to pessimism) around the close of one year and the start of the next. No great surprise there given that many of the writers and broadcasters of such pieces are themselves part of the quasi illuminati voting panel that declare the 15 to watch for the national broadcaster.
What ‘The Sound Of’ and its ilk really represent is an agenda setter for the media to fill up the first month or so of any given new year. In essence, and despite many ‘failures’ across the lists over the years, the bulk of those chosen are guaranteed airplay on Radio One and therefore will undoubtedly achieve some kind of position within the national consciousness for that short window of time. Clever record companies will tie their appearance into the release of debut albums in a quiet month scoring higher chart placings than would otherwise be the case on lower sales allowing folk like me to add the epithet ‘Top Ten album’ to the press release announcing the post album single release. To pretend otherwise is to amplify a media construct to national discussion.
As for bands being dead, a dispassionate look across the music landscape reveals this to be, frankly, utter bollocks. Chvrches look very much like a band to me, as do Palma Violets, Parquet Courts, Savages, Fat White Family etc ad nauseum. One commentator on The Guardian’s outlet for bile and tosh suggested that record companies had devised some Machiavellian pact to stop signing bands on the basis that they are ‘too expensive’. He has clearly never paid session musicians to replicate the job of a signed (and therefore free) musician. What the list may reveal to us is that Radio One are not particularly keen on bands but when did we ever look to Radio One to break anything of note? Those writing obituaries should beware, history tells us that premature declarations of ‘facts’ often leave their makers looking less than intelligent.
I’ve been part of the shrug dressed up as fanfare that is the Sound Of List on a couple of occasions. Times were different when The Ordinary Boys and then The Twang found themselves part of the list. Both bands went on to healthy sales, in the case of the (then) much maligned Twang more than healthy sales and two of the biggest radio hits of the year in ‘Wide Awake’ and ‘Either Way’. Would either have succeeded without their inclusion? Yes. Did their inclusion make a major difference? Not at press, in my world, the press were already on it hence the inclusion. Possibly at radio. What you can say without any shadow of doubt is that their inclusion was a small part of the first stage of what, for want of a better word we shall call their ‘career’. And wildly divergent their paths were since then. The Ordinary Boys went on to a singer on celeb tv, a massive hit and then a void, one that I understand all have come out of ok, which is good news. The Twang were hung out to dry but have simply continued and now find themselves out of the other side, happily making records (Rory Attwell produced the latest one so clearly they aren’t poison in the way that some would imagine) and touring to a dedicated and loyal fanbase, playing to numbers that many of those in later Sound Of Polls could only dream of at their height and certainly will never see in the future.
The debate this time is centred around the make up of the list. Bands are notable by their absence, QED bands are dead. The media loves to declare extinction in music, in the last decade or so I can recall dance music, hip hop, rock and indie all being ‘dead’ at some point, normally just before the chosen corpse rises Lazarus like to dominate the discussion if not the charts. The Sound Of List is, to a greater degree, no better or worse than all the other ‘Tips for the next year’ pieces that drop like portents of doom / the chimes of the future (*delete according to pessimism) around the close of one year and the start of the next. No great surprise there given that many of the writers and broadcasters of such pieces are themselves part of the quasi illuminati voting panel that declare the 15 to watch for the national broadcaster.
What ‘The Sound Of’ and its ilk really represent is an agenda setter for the media to fill up the first month or so of any given new year. In essence, and despite many ‘failures’ across the lists over the years, the bulk of those chosen are guaranteed airplay on Radio One and therefore will undoubtedly achieve some kind of position within the national consciousness for that short window of time. Clever record companies will tie their appearance into the release of debut albums in a quiet month scoring higher chart placings than would otherwise be the case on lower sales allowing folk like me to add the epithet ‘Top Ten album’ to the press release announcing the post album single release. To pretend otherwise is to amplify a media construct to national discussion.
As for bands being dead, a dispassionate look across the music landscape reveals this to be, frankly, utter bollocks. Chvrches look very much like a band to me, as do Palma Violets, Parquet Courts, Savages, Fat White Family etc ad nauseum. One commentator on The Guardian’s outlet for bile and tosh suggested that record companies had devised some Machiavellian pact to stop signing bands on the basis that they are ‘too expensive’. He has clearly never paid session musicians to replicate the job of a signed (and therefore free) musician. What the list may reveal to us is that Radio One are not particularly keen on bands but when did we ever look to Radio One to break anything of note? Those writing obituaries should beware, history tells us that premature declarations of ‘facts’ often leave their makers looking less than intelligent.
Tuesday, 12 November 2013
Welcome to the age of Buzzfeed politics
It had to happen I guess. I have just finished reading a Buzzfeed post by walking hate figure Grant Shapps explaining in the standard 12 points why the Tories are looking after our energy bills and how horrid Labour are to blame for the mess we are in.
Aside from the nonsense points ('Ed Milliband switched his bill, the hypocrite', 'switching is the way to do it') that can be either dismissed or knocked down in a second - on the latter, switching within a closed market really doesn't help much) the very existence of this post both challenges Buzzfeed's validity as anything other than a glorified Twitter come Instagram AND marks yet another moment where the idea of political debate as a meaningful exercise capable of change takes another step towards the exit.
In 24 hours we have had our Prime Minister in white tie and tails pronounce the endless drive of austerity whilst sitting down to a god knows how many courses meal with the business masters of our country, Iain Duncan Smith fail to show up to face the music of his miserable (and counter productive) bedroom tax to discuss youth unemployment across a Europe his party want to leave and now this piece of pseudo youth culture grabbing nakedly corporate pr nonsense splashed across social media.
Meanwhile, George Monbiot in the last two weeks has explained in calm, reasoned and, crucially, researched pieces how our country and our money is being taken from us by business interests in cahoots with the very politicians that push defence of corporate interests, austerity for the poor and ethnic cleansing of high cost residential areas. Even that Tory hate figure, the EU, is part of the problem.
Its an age of Buzzfeed politics. 12 Reasons why you should vote Douche. Or Turd
Aside from the nonsense points ('Ed Milliband switched his bill, the hypocrite', 'switching is the way to do it') that can be either dismissed or knocked down in a second - on the latter, switching within a closed market really doesn't help much) the very existence of this post both challenges Buzzfeed's validity as anything other than a glorified Twitter come Instagram AND marks yet another moment where the idea of political debate as a meaningful exercise capable of change takes another step towards the exit.
In 24 hours we have had our Prime Minister in white tie and tails pronounce the endless drive of austerity whilst sitting down to a god knows how many courses meal with the business masters of our country, Iain Duncan Smith fail to show up to face the music of his miserable (and counter productive) bedroom tax to discuss youth unemployment across a Europe his party want to leave and now this piece of pseudo youth culture grabbing nakedly corporate pr nonsense splashed across social media.
Meanwhile, George Monbiot in the last two weeks has explained in calm, reasoned and, crucially, researched pieces how our country and our money is being taken from us by business interests in cahoots with the very politicians that push defence of corporate interests, austerity for the poor and ethnic cleansing of high cost residential areas. Even that Tory hate figure, the EU, is part of the problem.
Its an age of Buzzfeed politics. 12 Reasons why you should vote Douche. Or Turd
Thursday, 3 October 2013
In defence of music critics
A fascinating exchange over Twitter today with Angus Batey, Dan Cairns and Martyn Young has got me thinking about where critical writing is headed.
The basic tone of the conversation travelled from the low quality of some music criticism on well known music sites raised by Dan into the lack of support (financial in the main) available to writers by Angus to my thoughts on the 'first not best' culture driving so much of the media in general these days. See The Mail calling the Amanda Fox verdict early in big newspaper world or my comments on the mistaken identity of Matt Willis of Busted / Matt Willis who manages Tricky for a music version of that. We were bemoaning the lack of sub-editors leading to inferior copy in print and on the web via lack of strict editorial controls (especially on the web) when Martyn; not one of those I would bracket in the poor online writers, popped up to shine a light on the lack of actual wages or payment available to those who generate much of the copy about popular music in all its forms. What really surprised me was his assertion that he 'has never been paid for any work'. Leaving aside an observation about the Tories new under 25's 'work or get fucked' policy and the wider culture of 'free work' I will merely permit myself to look at this in context of the music criticism.
Critical appreciation is a necessary part of a civilised society. Like many roles in society it is easy to demean, critics serve no immediate quantifiable purpose to society (nor do half the City Of London but we will refrain from going into that) and so, in a culture defined by 'usefulness' as a unit of production, the serious critic is not a figure that engenders immediate massive public support. Yet the history of public art in all its forms is one that travels from the margins to the centre of society with the aide of critics. This is as true of the novel as it is jazz and is especially true of popular music.
The process of critical unravelling, in essence the devaluation of music criticism and discussion to mere 'content', has been gathering pace for the last decade. No one in the process, from the critics themselves through the magazines and papers that employ them to the music industry and prs that supply them is blameless in this journey to the hole in which we now find ourselves.
The first misconception was that the internet would be a place for greater critical appreciation. The monetisation of the internet, driven by access and non word based delivery forms has resulted in a landscape of untrained enthusiasts mingled with sites that are more interested in traffic driving than unique content delivery. This is not a catch all, there are many great writers and devoted sites out there as previously there were fanzines, but the sheer scale of the financial opportunities involved for the large media companies and their ability to push into markets has both marginalised the 'enthusiast' community and driven down standards as a whole. Alongside the 'first not best' dictum has come churnalism and a slackening of editorial oversight that delivers not just massive clangers (see the Vampire Weekend album sleeve story for a more amusing example) but a steady drip drip of 'print it as soon as you can' stories that range from puff piece press releases to half baked 'news' featuring a big hit name in the middle. Competition being what it is, it is inevitable that standards across the board dive as sales of print fall, endless new players enter the market undercutting the existing players and margins disappear. The internet will not be the saviour of the written word.
The second misconception was that to survive the written word had to compete on the same platform with video and audio. Video in particular cannot deliver serious and considered critical opinion. Those of us who love culture can count on the fingers of one hand the cultural discussion programs that have worked over the years. As a starting point to considering any art they serve a purpose but I cannot accept that to come to a considered opinion on a work of art (and I firmly place my chosen popular music in that category) a video can deliver that experience. Similarly audio is limited by delivery. Only the written word can really allow you to consider and appreciate a work of art outside of the work itself. The ability to return to the arguments and opinions, to pause and consider, to control the pace of your understanding and to internally rebuke or concur with the critic, all these are only possible with the written word. Thus, the music website template, of video this and on tour that detracts from the writing and devalues it, delivering a portion of your attention span to the work that should demand such attention in its entirety.
The third misconception is that of the role of the critic and their relationship with the music industry. Dan highlighted the label's schedules and concerns over album delivery to critics in our discussion. Whilst I have sympathy with the labels and the artists given their product is so insecure and those stealing are unlikely to face any sanction, the work of the critic should be based on immersion, not casual acquaintance. We need critics to be ahead of us in their thoughts and reasoning. As a pr I despise an ill thought out review, I accept a bad one well argued. As a human, I accept that receipt of an album days before copy is due is not a position of strength from which to deliver the perfect prose. Further, the increased reliance on digital delivery of albums may well be a money saver and deliver some vague ecological message on a par with those 'please do not print out this email...' footers but the truth is that listening to a well crafted album on a compressed stream or a download does not give the music its best setting at the very least. As for the other elements of an album that matter, cover image, sleevenotes, its very existence as a physical thing, these are long since casualties of that 'quantifiable value' theory that permeates our culture.
The fourth misconception is that the public are better at choosing art than critics. Whether a product of human ego or, more likely, the logical endpoint of an individualism that encompasses Ann Raynd, 'Because You're Worth It', 'There is no such thing as society' or the 'respect' agenda of the stereotypical UK gangsta, the truth is that if you choose art on the basis of public appreciation your culture will undoubtedly wither. The list of things that now define the UK that were outside public taste, indeed hated by the public, is so obvious I won't bother to list it. Further, releasing albums by massive acts one week early only feeds into this idea that the public should be on a par with the critics. That is a nonsense. As Angus pointed out, if the web is awash with fan reviews of a record the week before release why would a publisher bother to pay for a reviewer to do it properly?
The best critic is, with no exaggeration, a prophet. If you feel uncomfortable with that in the current context of music criticism, choose one of the obvious past masters and reconsider that phrase. Their actions give deeper meaning and understanding to the music that, for many, is more than just a background. Their words can help to build new communities of strength that take music as the starting point for a meaningful cultural journey that can (and does) change the very way that society works; its relationships, power structures, values and behaviour, for the better. Their slow removal from our music culture leaves it with less meaning and depth and weakens the foundations of our wider culture. Whilst we celebrate the stories of the past we risk the destruction of the stories of the future, whilst we point to the generational progress soundtracked by popular music but interpreted by its critics and celebrants we risk reducing new expression to a clutch of short lived headlines and ill thought out reaction, devoid of wider meaning.
The basic tone of the conversation travelled from the low quality of some music criticism on well known music sites raised by Dan into the lack of support (financial in the main) available to writers by Angus to my thoughts on the 'first not best' culture driving so much of the media in general these days. See The Mail calling the Amanda Fox verdict early in big newspaper world or my comments on the mistaken identity of Matt Willis of Busted / Matt Willis who manages Tricky for a music version of that. We were bemoaning the lack of sub-editors leading to inferior copy in print and on the web via lack of strict editorial controls (especially on the web) when Martyn; not one of those I would bracket in the poor online writers, popped up to shine a light on the lack of actual wages or payment available to those who generate much of the copy about popular music in all its forms. What really surprised me was his assertion that he 'has never been paid for any work'. Leaving aside an observation about the Tories new under 25's 'work or get fucked' policy and the wider culture of 'free work' I will merely permit myself to look at this in context of the music criticism.
Critical appreciation is a necessary part of a civilised society. Like many roles in society it is easy to demean, critics serve no immediate quantifiable purpose to society (nor do half the City Of London but we will refrain from going into that) and so, in a culture defined by 'usefulness' as a unit of production, the serious critic is not a figure that engenders immediate massive public support. Yet the history of public art in all its forms is one that travels from the margins to the centre of society with the aide of critics. This is as true of the novel as it is jazz and is especially true of popular music.
The process of critical unravelling, in essence the devaluation of music criticism and discussion to mere 'content', has been gathering pace for the last decade. No one in the process, from the critics themselves through the magazines and papers that employ them to the music industry and prs that supply them is blameless in this journey to the hole in which we now find ourselves.
The first misconception was that the internet would be a place for greater critical appreciation. The monetisation of the internet, driven by access and non word based delivery forms has resulted in a landscape of untrained enthusiasts mingled with sites that are more interested in traffic driving than unique content delivery. This is not a catch all, there are many great writers and devoted sites out there as previously there were fanzines, but the sheer scale of the financial opportunities involved for the large media companies and their ability to push into markets has both marginalised the 'enthusiast' community and driven down standards as a whole. Alongside the 'first not best' dictum has come churnalism and a slackening of editorial oversight that delivers not just massive clangers (see the Vampire Weekend album sleeve story for a more amusing example) but a steady drip drip of 'print it as soon as you can' stories that range from puff piece press releases to half baked 'news' featuring a big hit name in the middle. Competition being what it is, it is inevitable that standards across the board dive as sales of print fall, endless new players enter the market undercutting the existing players and margins disappear. The internet will not be the saviour of the written word.
The second misconception was that to survive the written word had to compete on the same platform with video and audio. Video in particular cannot deliver serious and considered critical opinion. Those of us who love culture can count on the fingers of one hand the cultural discussion programs that have worked over the years. As a starting point to considering any art they serve a purpose but I cannot accept that to come to a considered opinion on a work of art (and I firmly place my chosen popular music in that category) a video can deliver that experience. Similarly audio is limited by delivery. Only the written word can really allow you to consider and appreciate a work of art outside of the work itself. The ability to return to the arguments and opinions, to pause and consider, to control the pace of your understanding and to internally rebuke or concur with the critic, all these are only possible with the written word. Thus, the music website template, of video this and on tour that detracts from the writing and devalues it, delivering a portion of your attention span to the work that should demand such attention in its entirety.
The third misconception is that of the role of the critic and their relationship with the music industry. Dan highlighted the label's schedules and concerns over album delivery to critics in our discussion. Whilst I have sympathy with the labels and the artists given their product is so insecure and those stealing are unlikely to face any sanction, the work of the critic should be based on immersion, not casual acquaintance. We need critics to be ahead of us in their thoughts and reasoning. As a pr I despise an ill thought out review, I accept a bad one well argued. As a human, I accept that receipt of an album days before copy is due is not a position of strength from which to deliver the perfect prose. Further, the increased reliance on digital delivery of albums may well be a money saver and deliver some vague ecological message on a par with those 'please do not print out this email...' footers but the truth is that listening to a well crafted album on a compressed stream or a download does not give the music its best setting at the very least. As for the other elements of an album that matter, cover image, sleevenotes, its very existence as a physical thing, these are long since casualties of that 'quantifiable value' theory that permeates our culture.
The fourth misconception is that the public are better at choosing art than critics. Whether a product of human ego or, more likely, the logical endpoint of an individualism that encompasses Ann Raynd, 'Because You're Worth It', 'There is no such thing as society' or the 'respect' agenda of the stereotypical UK gangsta, the truth is that if you choose art on the basis of public appreciation your culture will undoubtedly wither. The list of things that now define the UK that were outside public taste, indeed hated by the public, is so obvious I won't bother to list it. Further, releasing albums by massive acts one week early only feeds into this idea that the public should be on a par with the critics. That is a nonsense. As Angus pointed out, if the web is awash with fan reviews of a record the week before release why would a publisher bother to pay for a reviewer to do it properly?
The best critic is, with no exaggeration, a prophet. If you feel uncomfortable with that in the current context of music criticism, choose one of the obvious past masters and reconsider that phrase. Their actions give deeper meaning and understanding to the music that, for many, is more than just a background. Their words can help to build new communities of strength that take music as the starting point for a meaningful cultural journey that can (and does) change the very way that society works; its relationships, power structures, values and behaviour, for the better. Their slow removal from our music culture leaves it with less meaning and depth and weakens the foundations of our wider culture. Whilst we celebrate the stories of the past we risk the destruction of the stories of the future, whilst we point to the generational progress soundtracked by popular music but interpreted by its critics and celebrants we risk reducing new expression to a clutch of short lived headlines and ill thought out reaction, devoid of wider meaning.
Wednesday, 29 May 2013
Anyone for Kool AId?
It was always strange. That first night in the UK at the Royal Festival Hall when the power cut and they played on and the power cut back in at exactly the right moment. The endless festivals where rainclouds would part as they walked onstage to dazzling sunshine, the guy who crashed his bike watching them being pictured in Hyde Park and woke up surrounded by people in white robes with Texan accents. It was always strange and it was always brilliant.
It was many of the things I thought rock n roll should be. The cultish vibe, the drive of Tim Delaughter and Julie, the choir's endless energy, the post rave vibe of the shows. The Union Chapel with Tim walking over the pews in suitably challenging mode, collisions of cult and God and irony, the humour and intelligence at the heart of it all. And a sense of family, 23 really good friends rolling into town and making everything technicolour.
So I am most pleased to say, once again, that I am the pr for The Polyphonic Spree.
News on album and tour soon.
Monday, 20 May 2013
Here Comes The Summer
Been a trying week so let's start with something to cheer me up then I will tell you all about what Loudhailer folk are up to in the next few weeks.
So now that it's all a bit cheerier, what's happening?
Half the roster was in Brighton last weekend for The Great Escape. Loudhailer was unfortunately called to sick child duties so missed such great moments as the Towns / Velcro Hooks joint show, Tripwires getting Sticky at Mike's, Night Engine wowing The Guardian and The Independent's Sunday and daily alongside four rather sweaty shows, Balthazar bringing the wonders of 'Rats' to the south coast, The Elwins making their first seaside steps and Mary Epworth on a Saturday afternoon, which sounds a hell of a lot more fun than my actual Saturday afternoon.
Back in London town, Matt Berry was ending his UK tour with a big show at Islington's Academy, another which duties cancelled for us but which is all over Youtube.
Looking forwards brings two album in June. Matt Berry's quite astounding 'Kill The Wolf' which remains one of the most musically unafraid albums I have heard this year, a rare case of going for the tune rather than an approved approach and all the better for it and Tripwires melding of US alt rock, late 60's whiteout and 90's sonics into whole new shapes on their debut 'Spacehopper'. Both are out on the 17th June. July shapes up with another two, Editors 'best yet' 'The Weight Of Your Love' and The Elwins 'And I Thank You' debut of sparkling pop with a dark underbelly. On the former I remain open mouthed. Having worked with the band since the beginning, the progression to this album underpins both why I continue to do this (sometimes stupid) job and my continual awe at the abilities of some musicians and writers. The latter has a purity which shines through its arrangements, taking traditional sounds but playing them with such dedication and joy that it renders the album timeless.
Editors debut their live shows at Glastonbury in June as well. Now that's something to look forward to i would suggest.
Let's pretend they didn't cancel Snub TV and play video half hour
So now that it's all a bit cheerier, what's happening?
Half the roster was in Brighton last weekend for The Great Escape. Loudhailer was unfortunately called to sick child duties so missed such great moments as the Towns / Velcro Hooks joint show, Tripwires getting Sticky at Mike's, Night Engine wowing The Guardian and The Independent's Sunday and daily alongside four rather sweaty shows, Balthazar bringing the wonders of 'Rats' to the south coast, The Elwins making their first seaside steps and Mary Epworth on a Saturday afternoon, which sounds a hell of a lot more fun than my actual Saturday afternoon.
Back in London town, Matt Berry was ending his UK tour with a big show at Islington's Academy, another which duties cancelled for us but which is all over Youtube.
Looking forwards brings two album in June. Matt Berry's quite astounding 'Kill The Wolf' which remains one of the most musically unafraid albums I have heard this year, a rare case of going for the tune rather than an approved approach and all the better for it and Tripwires melding of US alt rock, late 60's whiteout and 90's sonics into whole new shapes on their debut 'Spacehopper'. Both are out on the 17th June. July shapes up with another two, Editors 'best yet' 'The Weight Of Your Love' and The Elwins 'And I Thank You' debut of sparkling pop with a dark underbelly. On the former I remain open mouthed. Having worked with the band since the beginning, the progression to this album underpins both why I continue to do this (sometimes stupid) job and my continual awe at the abilities of some musicians and writers. The latter has a purity which shines through its arrangements, taking traditional sounds but playing them with such dedication and joy that it renders the album timeless.
Editors debut their live shows at Glastonbury in June as well. Now that's something to look forward to i would suggest.
Let's pretend they didn't cancel Snub TV and play video half hour
Monday, 13 May 2013
Will we ever see their like again - what happened to the pop star?
Of course it was all so much simpler at the beginning. If you were a boy like Elvis, dirt poor, and the world opened up for you like that, you’d take it. More to the point if you saw it happen to Elvis, it could happen to you. That story didn’t change for some time, by 1962 The Beatles had set the prototype for the ‘hard working’ band with their sojourn in Hamburg. Rock ‘n’ roll was born on a very specific promise. That of not living like your parents, of breaking moulds and redefining what was important. An immediacy, an us (youth) against them (squares and parents), that was about modernity, newness, glamour and fun. Until the late ‘60’s that didn’t change much. The fans wanted to see their band at the top of the charts, their band kicking against the pricks and changing their world.
When the likes of Pink Floyd came along to queer the ‘working class boy’ (or girl once Motown really got into swing and the likes of Dusty and Sandie Shaw got into gear in the UK) made good story there was a new narrative. This was pushing the boundaries, not about making money but about making art. Nonetheless the fans wanted the band to succeed, even if, with many of the late 60’s into early 70’s middle class art bands (see King Crimson and friends for starters) it was in a cult sense, an ‘I’m cleverer than you with your pop stars and their big houses and their big cars and jets’. Some, like the Stones and more so The Beatles, managed the two in tandem now and then (but then the former had Keith and Charlie and a whole sense of mixed bag ‘rags to riches’ meets ‘art school boy’ to play with). Perhaps we should have seen what was coming when Dylan was called ‘Judas’ but for now, fans still wanted bands to succeed, the media wanted bands to get bigger, it made sense. Bigger bands equals more fans equals more buyers for stories about and interviews with those bands.
Quite where that story ran out of steam is hard to tell. You want to say punk but then think about the likes of Soft Cell , Human League, Echo & The Bunnymen and Smiths of the 80’s. They were ‘art’ and ‘big’. Even Spaundau Ballet got their name from a dark corner of post war history whilst Duran Duran cited Barbarella, an art house film. Intelligence and fame could still co-exist for the media, one did not preclude the other. Heaven 17 covered ‘Temptation’, made an album mocking London’s mythologizing of city boys and delivered a Northern, socialist swipe to the chops of the Tories whilst soundtracking their coke and champagne fuelled disco nights. The city boys that is, not the Tories..(perhaps). Certainly the last time the ‘working class lads done good’ to general favour happened around these parts was Oasis for the UK and probably Nirvana, in a much different way, in the US. And we all know how that turned out for both parties. As for big and art, Radiohead probably put the kybosh on that when the resolutely ‘art’ ‘Kid A’ signalled the end of ‘big’ Radiohead and the beginning of ‘you don’t like the old stuff do you?’ Radiohead.
Quite when did we start to equate success with selling out again after its brief, post punk nonsense blip that a combination of real post punk (Banshees psychedelia, Cure popness, Crucial Three splintering into wonderful myriad pop moments) and new romanticism blew away? Artists these days are left in a straightened position. The vagaries and sharp edges of the blog world at its pinnacles demand an almost monastic approach to gaining money and an obsession with the micro that has altered mainstream media interaction with album artists to a situation that resembles a very very big U at the top on the left the new bands, unproven but given large spaces to talk about how they formed and their first, media wide approved single release, in the dip everyone else and on the right the monolithic likes of The Killers, Muse, Coldplay, The Stones etc; guaranteed can’t go wrong so big they are beyond criticism behemoths.
Where once we had the steady rise we now have the vertiginous ascent and lemming like drop. Witness the delight in the sub scene world that permeates the internet where music is concerned, the need for demos not releases, just formed, not toured for a year or so. The crèche of the music world transformed into its research and development arm, a nonsense disguised by marketing and desperation in equal measure, a chase for an elixir that never existed, a perversion of what actually made rock ‘n’ roll, that hackneyed overused phrase, so vital in the first place. There is little of the romance that once went with the ascent of a band even as wedded to ideas of art as REM. For a band to be successful, and by this I mean genuinely successful, not feted in East London and the East Coast of the USA, successful is to say goodbye to serious appreciation from critics. Is it really that band’s albums get worse as they get bigger? Is it really that, once they are beyond a certain point, those very albums get better again? As with politics the centre crumbles and we are left to look from indie purist cliff over the depths of misery for the majority to the nirvana of the chosen few.
But these online quibbles are both representative and indicative of what has been done to our pop music by cultural forces. As the plethora of entertainment options has widened, following the industry’s inability to deal with the advent of online distribution and dissemination and powered by a ‘last dance on the Titanic’ attitude with the advent of cd, the music industry lost the key to what made it so powerful whilst it was pulled away from its outstretched hand by the forces of economics. See, there aren’t many kids like Elvis in the Western world as there once were. There are not towns of field hands plucking acoustic guitars nor Scouse kids playing in bombed out terraces dreaming of turning a monochrome world technicolour.
The aspiration to be a pop star has, at one side, been trodden over by an increasing government ability to deliver minimum level aspiration and comforting surroundings that flatten ambition and preclude wild dreaming and, at the other, by the sense that so many other ‘extreme futures’ are both more glamorous and more profitable. Such theory can range from local drug dealer at the darkest end through minor TV celebrity to Premier League footballer. It is not that such things are necessarily attainable, they are as removed from likelihood as the 60’s / 70’s pop star dream, rather that they are desirable. Exactly in the way that the pop star dream once was.
We are now sold quicker versions of notoriety. Why learn to play an instrument when you can get on tv without being able to sing? In fact, if you are really awful you will get your moment on X Factor or the other one, or the one that is like them but I can’t remember the name of. It will be fleeting but not that much less fleeting than winning it and you’ll have to put in a micro percent of the effort of a real musician, none of that gigs to one man and a dog, none of that tricky creation of music thing. Just go, be an arse and there you go. Quick shot of notoriety. Or you can use Twitter to slag people off, get a ‘reputation’ as somebody who is ‘funny’ and, who knows, you may even get a book deal. You won’t be the next Wilde, even the next Banks, but you will get a moment where your book is talked about for nano-seconds before you disappear again.
In a world where the average civil servant can party like the classic (male) 60’s pop star; the drug use, the casual sex, the all night parties and so on, another facet of the rock star is removed, the concept of the ‘free spirit’. In a world where there is no chart, no Top Of The Pops, no national conversation about pop music, there is no more notoriety nor adulation. Remove the mega brand stars, the Beyonces and the Jay-Z’s and the next level down, those scaling that right hand incline of the ‘U’ are likely not to set armies of teenage girls screaming or legions of teenagers up and down the country safety pinning their school tie. No wonder an increasing amount of our successful bands are (reputedly) middle class. This isn’t about having to be anything anymore, it’s a gap year approach to music, a little stop that may or may not lead to something before moving on if it doesn’t succeed. The age of the pop star may well be past.
This is not to say that the age of music is past. History suggests that this will never be. As far as we know where there has been man there has been music. All cultures have music deeply embedded within them. In a way this isn’t about music, it’s about the appeal of pop music to youth and its slow decline. Beethoven caused riots once too. It’s just a shame that we seem to be living through the first moment in recent history where music is a soundtrack to outrage, rather than its cause.
When the likes of Pink Floyd came along to queer the ‘working class boy’ (or girl once Motown really got into swing and the likes of Dusty and Sandie Shaw got into gear in the UK) made good story there was a new narrative. This was pushing the boundaries, not about making money but about making art. Nonetheless the fans wanted the band to succeed, even if, with many of the late 60’s into early 70’s middle class art bands (see King Crimson and friends for starters) it was in a cult sense, an ‘I’m cleverer than you with your pop stars and their big houses and their big cars and jets’. Some, like the Stones and more so The Beatles, managed the two in tandem now and then (but then the former had Keith and Charlie and a whole sense of mixed bag ‘rags to riches’ meets ‘art school boy’ to play with). Perhaps we should have seen what was coming when Dylan was called ‘Judas’ but for now, fans still wanted bands to succeed, the media wanted bands to get bigger, it made sense. Bigger bands equals more fans equals more buyers for stories about and interviews with those bands.
Quite where that story ran out of steam is hard to tell. You want to say punk but then think about the likes of Soft Cell , Human League, Echo & The Bunnymen and Smiths of the 80’s. They were ‘art’ and ‘big’. Even Spaundau Ballet got their name from a dark corner of post war history whilst Duran Duran cited Barbarella, an art house film. Intelligence and fame could still co-exist for the media, one did not preclude the other. Heaven 17 covered ‘Temptation’, made an album mocking London’s mythologizing of city boys and delivered a Northern, socialist swipe to the chops of the Tories whilst soundtracking their coke and champagne fuelled disco nights. The city boys that is, not the Tories..(perhaps). Certainly the last time the ‘working class lads done good’ to general favour happened around these parts was Oasis for the UK and probably Nirvana, in a much different way, in the US. And we all know how that turned out for both parties. As for big and art, Radiohead probably put the kybosh on that when the resolutely ‘art’ ‘Kid A’ signalled the end of ‘big’ Radiohead and the beginning of ‘you don’t like the old stuff do you?’ Radiohead.
Quite when did we start to equate success with selling out again after its brief, post punk nonsense blip that a combination of real post punk (Banshees psychedelia, Cure popness, Crucial Three splintering into wonderful myriad pop moments) and new romanticism blew away? Artists these days are left in a straightened position. The vagaries and sharp edges of the blog world at its pinnacles demand an almost monastic approach to gaining money and an obsession with the micro that has altered mainstream media interaction with album artists to a situation that resembles a very very big U at the top on the left the new bands, unproven but given large spaces to talk about how they formed and their first, media wide approved single release, in the dip everyone else and on the right the monolithic likes of The Killers, Muse, Coldplay, The Stones etc; guaranteed can’t go wrong so big they are beyond criticism behemoths.
Where once we had the steady rise we now have the vertiginous ascent and lemming like drop. Witness the delight in the sub scene world that permeates the internet where music is concerned, the need for demos not releases, just formed, not toured for a year or so. The crèche of the music world transformed into its research and development arm, a nonsense disguised by marketing and desperation in equal measure, a chase for an elixir that never existed, a perversion of what actually made rock ‘n’ roll, that hackneyed overused phrase, so vital in the first place. There is little of the romance that once went with the ascent of a band even as wedded to ideas of art as REM. For a band to be successful, and by this I mean genuinely successful, not feted in East London and the East Coast of the USA, successful is to say goodbye to serious appreciation from critics. Is it really that band’s albums get worse as they get bigger? Is it really that, once they are beyond a certain point, those very albums get better again? As with politics the centre crumbles and we are left to look from indie purist cliff over the depths of misery for the majority to the nirvana of the chosen few.
But these online quibbles are both representative and indicative of what has been done to our pop music by cultural forces. As the plethora of entertainment options has widened, following the industry’s inability to deal with the advent of online distribution and dissemination and powered by a ‘last dance on the Titanic’ attitude with the advent of cd, the music industry lost the key to what made it so powerful whilst it was pulled away from its outstretched hand by the forces of economics. See, there aren’t many kids like Elvis in the Western world as there once were. There are not towns of field hands plucking acoustic guitars nor Scouse kids playing in bombed out terraces dreaming of turning a monochrome world technicolour.
The aspiration to be a pop star has, at one side, been trodden over by an increasing government ability to deliver minimum level aspiration and comforting surroundings that flatten ambition and preclude wild dreaming and, at the other, by the sense that so many other ‘extreme futures’ are both more glamorous and more profitable. Such theory can range from local drug dealer at the darkest end through minor TV celebrity to Premier League footballer. It is not that such things are necessarily attainable, they are as removed from likelihood as the 60’s / 70’s pop star dream, rather that they are desirable. Exactly in the way that the pop star dream once was.
We are now sold quicker versions of notoriety. Why learn to play an instrument when you can get on tv without being able to sing? In fact, if you are really awful you will get your moment on X Factor or the other one, or the one that is like them but I can’t remember the name of. It will be fleeting but not that much less fleeting than winning it and you’ll have to put in a micro percent of the effort of a real musician, none of that gigs to one man and a dog, none of that tricky creation of music thing. Just go, be an arse and there you go. Quick shot of notoriety. Or you can use Twitter to slag people off, get a ‘reputation’ as somebody who is ‘funny’ and, who knows, you may even get a book deal. You won’t be the next Wilde, even the next Banks, but you will get a moment where your book is talked about for nano-seconds before you disappear again.
In a world where the average civil servant can party like the classic (male) 60’s pop star; the drug use, the casual sex, the all night parties and so on, another facet of the rock star is removed, the concept of the ‘free spirit’. In a world where there is no chart, no Top Of The Pops, no national conversation about pop music, there is no more notoriety nor adulation. Remove the mega brand stars, the Beyonces and the Jay-Z’s and the next level down, those scaling that right hand incline of the ‘U’ are likely not to set armies of teenage girls screaming or legions of teenagers up and down the country safety pinning their school tie. No wonder an increasing amount of our successful bands are (reputedly) middle class. This isn’t about having to be anything anymore, it’s a gap year approach to music, a little stop that may or may not lead to something before moving on if it doesn’t succeed. The age of the pop star may well be past.
This is not to say that the age of music is past. History suggests that this will never be. As far as we know where there has been man there has been music. All cultures have music deeply embedded within them. In a way this isn’t about music, it’s about the appeal of pop music to youth and its slow decline. Beethoven caused riots once too. It’s just a shame that we seem to be living through the first moment in recent history where music is a soundtrack to outrage, rather than its cause.
Loudhailer at The Great Escape
Brighton beckons for a lot of the roster this week so, in one handy list, here is who is playing where
LOUDHAILER PRESS AT THE GREAT ESCAPE
BALTHAZAR
Thurs May 16th Prince Albert @ 10.15pm
THE ELWINS
Thurs May 16th Blind Tiger @ 12.30pm / Sticky Mike's Frog Bar @ 7.45pm
NIGHT ENGINE
Thurs May 16th Sticky Mike’s @ 10.45pm
Fri May 17th Republic of Music’s Courtyard @ 1.15pm / Above Audio @ 3.10pm
Sat May 18th The Mesmerist @10.20pm
TRIPWIRES
Fri May 17th Sticky Mikes Frog Bar @ 8pm
LOUDHAILER PRESS AT THE GREAT ESCAPE
BALTHAZAR
Thurs May 16th Prince Albert @ 10.15pm
THE ELWINS
Thurs May 16th Blind Tiger @ 12.30pm / Sticky Mike's Frog Bar @ 7.45pm
NIGHT ENGINE
Thurs May 16th Sticky Mike’s @ 10.45pm
Fri May 17th Republic of Music’s Courtyard @ 1.15pm / Above Audio @ 3.10pm
Sat May 18th The Mesmerist @10.20pm
TRIPWIRES
Fri May 17th Sticky Mikes Frog Bar @ 8pm
Thursday, 4 April 2013
When One Makes Many - the new relativism
You couldn’t have scripted it better. Just as the furore over the welfare reorganisation comes into force up pops the epitome of the ‘scrounger’ trailing dead children, sexual depravity and a host of other large and small push points for the majority for the Mail and, by extension, those who support the changes, to point and say ‘See, that’s the kind of people we are funding’. So it was no surprise that Today featured Mail journalist AN Wilson using the case as an outrider to support the changes nor that the Telegraph has joined in the fun.
One point to hypocrisy. On the same program two days earlier Iain Duncan Smith had rolled out the familiar (and repeated in reference to his interview ever since) line that he would not discuss the matter on the basis of the one quoted example of a gentleman living on £53 a week. This position was thought eminently reasonable by both the Mail and The Telegraph, yet here we were on the flip side of the argument doing just that. Whilst the challenge to IDS to live on £53 a week is indeed facile, the use of the Philpott case as a battering ram for cutting welfare transcends the usual bullshit rough and tumble that has become UK politics and marches straight into offensive.
At heart the British public is being conned. Sometimes I think the British public likes to be conned, more comfortable with shouting at each other from fixed positions than thinking about the problem and debating the merits of different approaches. The middle class laugh at the Jeremy Kyle show but every day on Twitter their version is played out, entrenched views flying backwards and forwards making equally invalid claims and strident statements that move our culture nowhere and create a vista of hate and bile that seemingly grows day on day.
In one respect this should not be a huge surprise. Any viewer of Adam Curtis’ excellent ‘Century Of The Self’ can discern a move towards the primacy of the individual without resorting to that tired Thatcher quote about society. An investigation of social media postings reinforces this truism; that the majority now believe, somewhat perversely, in the triumph of their own views over those of any other sans debate. Never mind that those views are formed by download from the media organisation of their choice and are therefore 'borrowed' rather than created. Hence a family member of mixed race posts on her Facebook an article from ‘The English Patriot’ about immigrants without seeing an irony, fully inside the tent for now until those she support gain power and send her back to where she came from. (Which, given the answer is Essex would be interesting). The quality and depth of debate from the Commons to the pub have been downgraded to such an extent that it is not alarmist to suggest that we are heading towards a society where single issue politics are decided by an unholy combination of Facebook likes, Retweets and glib soundbite scoring from those in power who really should know better. The caricaturing and reduction of the role of the civil service in the political process is just one facet of this culture that allows reasoned thought to exit as public relations policy and U-turns under apparent ‘public’ pressure take hold.
This leaves us with a poor culture and a poorer society. It is irrefutable that societies with less social division and a smaller gap between the richest and the poorest function more productively and deliver a better quality of life and sense of fulfilment to their members. The current welfare debate ignores such facts to score quick political gain in those areas where votes can be harvested, all parties are engaged in a struggle for power rather than a quest for a better society for all. Ultimately, that approach leaves us all poorer, whether by cash in pocket or the wreck of the society that those of us with money negotiate. Spending power does not equate to happiness, if we could step back for a moment and consider and think before opening our mouths it is not that fanciful to think that we could yet rediscover a collective way to deal with the problems that we face.
Thursday, 28 March 2013
Pyschedelic noise explosions
I'm very happy to announce the return of the excellent Tripwires to the Loudhailer roster. Having been with the band at the beginning when this still quite astounding video for 'Cinnamon' got a few folk in a twist nearly two years ago, the lads made the (currently) extremely brave decision to decamp to New York to make their debut album and snag a deal with French Kiss. The album will be with us in June and my totally unbiased decision is that it was time well spent as it has all the hallmarks of a record that we will still be talking about in a decade. Big claim? Sure, but sometimes these things are true. The band go on tour with another Loudhailer member, Towns, throughout April and May in what can only be billed as a psychedelic noise pop explosion.
As if having one new band wasn't enough Loudhailer also welcomes Matt Berry to the fold. His debut 'Witchazel' was a revelatory delight to me given that I knew him, as many did, for his comedy work, in particular his repeated scene stealing moments in 'The IT Crowd'. If you haven't seen his first appearance on the show then I heartily recommend stopping what you are doing for a few minutes and clicking here. The new album, 'Kill The Wolf' maintains his interest in the pysche sounds of the late 60's, making him a fellow traveller to the wonderful Mary Epworth who recently returned from the clusterfuck of South By South West and will tour the UK from next week. Mary dates are here and Matt's UK tour (featuring Mark Morriss of The Bluetones in his band, a friendly face from my Hall Or Nothing days) are here.
I was lucky enough to spend some time in the studio with Editors last week. It has been a while since we last heard from them but the album is pretty much in the bag now and announcements on the debut single will be with all very soon. I have heard it. It rocks. I can also now say that they are playing Glastonbury. More on this soon.
Monday, 4 March 2013
It's all about the money, money, money
This week's seemingly unrelated comparison brings me to my two favourite things (after my daughter and my wife), football and music. As a young football fan I fondly remember the days when the then First Division was, to some degree, an open book. Within the likes of Liverpool and Arsenal and (later into the 90s) Man United, the likes of Watford, Everton, Spurs and more could challenge for the top and come close if not be successful. Not winning the league wasn't seen as a devastating indictment of the manager or team, even relegation (and as a Man City fan you got used to that) wasn't the end of the world. How things change.
Strangely, the alteration of music and football seem to have run in parallel. Britpop forever changed the expectations of what an 'alternative' band should manage, the Premier League similarly ruined the idea of skill and teamwork triumphing over money. Where Watford could achieve a second place with Graham Taylor in the 82-83 season, Swansea, who strike me as their modern equivalent, will be aiming for 8th or 9th. Post Britpop every new band was either 'destined to be huge' or chucked on a scrap heap, the days of My Bloody Valentine not grazing the charts but being respected are long gone, the same could be said of football players.
Listening to Radio 5 in their hysterical build up to yesterday's North London derby, probably a fight to the death for who finishes somewhere between 3rd and 6th (!), an interview with Theo Walcott brought this all into focus. Walcott was, like so many indie bands, heralded as the future, in footballing terms somewhere between the second coming of Christ and George Best at the age of 17, brought into the England squad for the World Cup to sit and watch. He's never truly recovered because, even in this excellent season, expectation will always run ahead of what he can do. Any reader of the indie runes will recognise this as a pattern that repeats endlessly for bands, I still recall someone telling me that The Twang's debut album sales in excess of 200,00 in the UK must have been a 'disappointment' given the hype with which they had arrived. Beggars belief doesn't it?
This led me to consider a debate that is once again whirling around my circles, why do so many bands fail at the second album? Partly, as well documented, this is down to pressure and that age old trueism that bands first albums tend to be made up of songs that they have had time away from the glare of public expectation to write and refine but it occurs to me that a pattern seems to be in place that is not often discussed.
As with Premier League football, the team around a successful first album band are often poached before the second album comes into view. Thus second album artists can find themselves in a room of unfamiliar faces come second album time, all those who were instrumental in building their public profile and advising them on how to negotiate the perils of being in a band departed to a new 'club' and the chance of more 'titles'. This may explain why we currently look to the likes of XL with their settled management team (the Man United of the record industry if you will) as paragons of best practice. Further, as with football as any Chelsea fan in particular will be aware, no one is allowed to fail. All this hype around Bowie and yet we seem to forget that the career we are lauding would simply not be possible now. Given his up and down critical path he would have been dropped before he even became famous.
Quite how you change this I don't know. Certainly a little more proportionality across the board would be a start, the space hogged by the five or so 'must see' bands could be apportioned across a lot more acts of interest (and this applies as much to radio as print and online) giving a better picture of the music scene. More focus on allowing musicians to create and experiment, to fail and recover, is a necessity if you want to create any more long terms artists. You can't expect people to turn down better jobs in a climate of instability but, again, perhaps a little less 'shit or bust' and a little more career long perspective from those in the labels wouldn't go amiss. If that culture was more prevalent then you have to believe that some would forgo the bigger pay packet to create something long lasting.
In Loudhailer world Spring seems to be here with a lot of the acts already on tour or putting in dates.
Velcro Hooks, whose exceptional video for 'A Love Song For TS Eliot' premiered on Artrocker Tv last week come to London with the Howling Owl massive on Thursday and The Joy Formidable end another massively successful UK jaunt at the Roundhouse on Friday in the company of Night Engine. The coming weeks and months bring newcomers The Elwins to the UK for the first time, Mary Epworth tours in the wake of last year's very well received 'Dream Life' debut and there are dates for Glasvegas and Editors in the pipeline. More on those when they are confirmed.
Strangely, the alteration of music and football seem to have run in parallel. Britpop forever changed the expectations of what an 'alternative' band should manage, the Premier League similarly ruined the idea of skill and teamwork triumphing over money. Where Watford could achieve a second place with Graham Taylor in the 82-83 season, Swansea, who strike me as their modern equivalent, will be aiming for 8th or 9th. Post Britpop every new band was either 'destined to be huge' or chucked on a scrap heap, the days of My Bloody Valentine not grazing the charts but being respected are long gone, the same could be said of football players.
Listening to Radio 5 in their hysterical build up to yesterday's North London derby, probably a fight to the death for who finishes somewhere between 3rd and 6th (!), an interview with Theo Walcott brought this all into focus. Walcott was, like so many indie bands, heralded as the future, in footballing terms somewhere between the second coming of Christ and George Best at the age of 17, brought into the England squad for the World Cup to sit and watch. He's never truly recovered because, even in this excellent season, expectation will always run ahead of what he can do. Any reader of the indie runes will recognise this as a pattern that repeats endlessly for bands, I still recall someone telling me that The Twang's debut album sales in excess of 200,00 in the UK must have been a 'disappointment' given the hype with which they had arrived. Beggars belief doesn't it?
This led me to consider a debate that is once again whirling around my circles, why do so many bands fail at the second album? Partly, as well documented, this is down to pressure and that age old trueism that bands first albums tend to be made up of songs that they have had time away from the glare of public expectation to write and refine but it occurs to me that a pattern seems to be in place that is not often discussed.
As with Premier League football, the team around a successful first album band are often poached before the second album comes into view. Thus second album artists can find themselves in a room of unfamiliar faces come second album time, all those who were instrumental in building their public profile and advising them on how to negotiate the perils of being in a band departed to a new 'club' and the chance of more 'titles'. This may explain why we currently look to the likes of XL with their settled management team (the Man United of the record industry if you will) as paragons of best practice. Further, as with football as any Chelsea fan in particular will be aware, no one is allowed to fail. All this hype around Bowie and yet we seem to forget that the career we are lauding would simply not be possible now. Given his up and down critical path he would have been dropped before he even became famous.
Quite how you change this I don't know. Certainly a little more proportionality across the board would be a start, the space hogged by the five or so 'must see' bands could be apportioned across a lot more acts of interest (and this applies as much to radio as print and online) giving a better picture of the music scene. More focus on allowing musicians to create and experiment, to fail and recover, is a necessity if you want to create any more long terms artists. You can't expect people to turn down better jobs in a climate of instability but, again, perhaps a little less 'shit or bust' and a little more career long perspective from those in the labels wouldn't go amiss. If that culture was more prevalent then you have to believe that some would forgo the bigger pay packet to create something long lasting.
In Loudhailer world Spring seems to be here with a lot of the acts already on tour or putting in dates.
Velcro Hooks, whose exceptional video for 'A Love Song For TS Eliot' premiered on Artrocker Tv last week come to London with the Howling Owl massive on Thursday and The Joy Formidable end another massively successful UK jaunt at the Roundhouse on Friday in the company of Night Engine. The coming weeks and months bring newcomers The Elwins to the UK for the first time, Mary Epworth tours in the wake of last year's very well received 'Dream Life' debut and there are dates for Glasvegas and Editors in the pipeline. More on those when they are confirmed.
Tuesday, 19 February 2013
I'm A Believer (and what's happening this week)
Two very different pieces of writing have led me to a single conclusion this week. The likelihood of a link between Alexis Petridis' review of the Palma Violets debut album and the Daily Mail's vicious response to Hilary Mantel's thoughtful dissection of the role of Princesses in history would appear slim and yet looking at both examples there it is, pure and simple; an inability to accept truth. In the case of the review, Alexis' rejection of the band as the saviours of indie, in the case of the Mail, a desire to represent a thoughtful look at media presentations of royal women as an attack on an individual. In both cases, the only loser is truth.
Granted, the Palma Violets review is somewhat out of the ordinary. Using half of the review to discuss other reviews and presentations of the band may seem out of kilter to some but given that the 'story' of Palma Violets is as much about the hype as the music, (and the need of the UK music media to acclaim something every year as the saviour of something), for a broadsheet cultural section to discuss this in the context of the album does not seem particularly odd. Further, with that review following the music monthlies and weeklies, Alexis has put a new voice into the debate and opened up a forum for discussion that is sorely needed as we watch potentially excellent bands put to the sword year on year by unrealistic expectations. This is what I want the upper end of music criticism to do; remove the 'will they, won't they' approach to coverage of bands and instead focus on the meaning of their music and their presentation within the context of culture.
Any discussion of the Daily Mail distorting the truth is, frankly, a waste of words. However, the fuss that has been generated by a two week old Hilary Mantel lecture following the Mail's undoubtedly opportunistic decision to front page it a fortnight later reveals a similar unwillingness to look at something in depth. Whilst the blogosphere abounds with outraged Mail-ites (and more) buying into the wholesale idea that Mantel launched a personal attack on the princess few seem to have bothered to both read and THINK ABOUT the lecture she delivered. As with the Palma Violets there is a refusal to engage with an argument, its simply easier to shout and point and, ultimately, miss the point. Somewhere in all of that is a delicious irony given that a piece about the reduction of women to vessels for the projection of meaning and power has seen a response based on the ugliness of its female author.
Britain has never been easy with intellectual debate. For all our Shakespeare's and our Dicken's from country gossip and witch hunts to penny dreadfuls and the tabloids the overriding culture of this island, whilst complicated, has revolved around a mistrust of anyone who wants to think about things too hard or pull away from the consensus to suggest that the Wizard may actually be a little man behind a curtain. Whilst Mantel's piece about royalty (and therefore power) may be more important in the grand scheme of things, to those of us who care about nurturing and encouraging a truly interesting alternative music scene Alexis' review was equally important. If there is no truth, there is no meaning......
Aside from making tenuous connections between historical novelists and up and coming indie bands this week sees our own new hopes play a very special gig tomorrow. Night Engine's achievement in selling out the Borderline is notable, few new bands manage such a thing so early in their lives. Night Engine are NOT the saviours of indie, no one is or should be, but they are a fantastic band with a wonderful attitude to and engagement with their music and I am very much looking forward to seeing another milestone in their story tomorrow evening. This lovely interview with Fader is a good way to get started for those new to the band.
Monday sees Balthazar release their album, 'Rats'. Another excellent live band, this album continues to reveal little mysteries to me on repeated listens and I love the way that Jinte and Maarten, the two songwriters, have created a world with their music, evocative of smoky bars and stolen looks.
Elsewhere, The Joy Formidable end the week with a support to Bloc Party at Earls Court before setting off for the second leg of their UK tour, more on that next week and there will be news on Jack Daniel's plans for this year in music and, hopefully, a couple of new additions to the Loudhailer family to announce next week. And a new Velcro Hooks video. What more could you want?
Wednesday, 6 February 2013
Come Back To Camden?
As an A & R in the mid to late 90's I spent nearly all my life in Camden and Kentish Town. Between the Monarch and Dublin Castle and up the road to the Bull & Gate I saw many of the bands that defined the Britpop years in their formative moments. Add in The Falcon and you had the circular motion of A & R's most weeknights. It's pretty much all gone now, no George and Nicki's for pre gig food, no gathering of the clans at The Good Mixer, no Blow Up at the Laurel Tree.
The Falcon went years ago and The Monarch is no longer the jewel in the crown of London's small live venues in terms of pulling power. That pull has gradually shifted east over the last decade to Hoxton Bar & Kitchen, The Old Blue Last and, now Birthdays and the Shacklewell Arms. That's the nature of London, as the demographics and property prices shift, the scenes move with them.
So whilst to me it is sad to hear of the closure of the Bull & Gate as a live music venue it doesn't represent a failure of live music at grassroots in London. If anything there seem to be more venues in London at that level than ever. What is interesting in the statement from Fandango published in Music Week is the crack at a 'storm of free gigs' in East London. As with discussions of freeness, the increasing expectation that gigs should be free is far more dangerous than where they happen. Whilst a 'Save The Bull & Gate' campaign may have emotional pull, a more useful approach would be to win the argument that bands starting out need investment and, at a basic level, paying to watch them is a necessity.
The Falcon went years ago and The Monarch is no longer the jewel in the crown of London's small live venues in terms of pulling power. That pull has gradually shifted east over the last decade to Hoxton Bar & Kitchen, The Old Blue Last and, now Birthdays and the Shacklewell Arms. That's the nature of London, as the demographics and property prices shift, the scenes move with them.
So whilst to me it is sad to hear of the closure of the Bull & Gate as a live music venue it doesn't represent a failure of live music at grassroots in London. If anything there seem to be more venues in London at that level than ever. What is interesting in the statement from Fandango published in Music Week is the crack at a 'storm of free gigs' in East London. As with discussions of freeness, the increasing expectation that gigs should be free is far more dangerous than where they happen. Whilst a 'Save The Bull & Gate' campaign may have emotional pull, a more useful approach would be to win the argument that bands starting out need investment and, at a basic level, paying to watch them is a necessity.
Tuesday, 5 February 2013
NOW IS THE WINTER OF OUR DISS COMMENT
As a child growing up in Lancashire I had fond memories of the 'stick' that exists (still) between Lancashire and Yorkshire over the Wars Of The Roses. This persisted to my student days in Leeds where, working in a city centre pub over the summer, I took great delight in our cricketing triumph over the White Rose. It was only when I looked into the real history of the wars and the central figure of 'crookback' Richard that I realised that the Wars Of The Roses were less Lancashire / Yorkshire than North v South, a situation that has defined large parts of my life for good and bad.
Growing up in Blackpool in the 80's the North / South divide was ever present. We sat watching mobile phone wielding yuppies drinking champagne on the news whilst around us friend's parents lost their jobs and, in some cases, their homes to the ravages of a recession that seemingly didn't touch the South East. But we had The Smiths, The Tube, Brookside and Yosser Hughes. If nothing else, we were being heard and, more importantly, whilst the South East handed us Wham and Spandau Ballet we held the big cards, the cultural powerhouses that would define popular culture for the next generation, The Smiths, Joy Division, Factory Records, The Housemartins and Kitchenware Records. It happened again in the late 80's when the Stone Roses and Happy Mondays joined forces with the Hacienda, our cousins over the Pennines at Back To Basics and Gatecrasher and changed clothes and behaviour irrevocably. And again when Oasis did it in the mid 90s. We may have been poorer economically but we were streets ahead culturally.
Contrary to the efforts (and pr) of the Blair government, the North / South divide has never gone away. From an economic divide it has widened to a cultural divide and seems now to have become so entrenched that the travails of the North's culture are not even worthy of comment. This excellent piece in The New Statesman details the destruction of arts funding in the North East whilst a more trivial example has been playing out on Twitter today.
The shock and disgust of some that The Courteeners should have secured a midweek Number One with their new album is revealing. Empirically, this is a band that can comfortably sell out the MEN Arena in Manchester, an 18,000+ capacity barn whose audience buying one copy each would easily put them in the end of week Top Ten on current sales. This makes such comments ill informed at best. However, it is the deeper conviction that this music does not 'deserve' such exposure that highlights the cultural disconnect between the critical elite and the tastes of 'ordinary' people, especially when such people tend to be from outside of the South East 'hub'.
For the record I used to work with The Courteeners (on their debut album) and saw this story play out in a slightly different context. The band won the inaugral Guardian Album Of The Year award, due almost totally to the efforts of their fanbase in a public vote. The howls of derision from the commentators on the paper's notoriously deranged CiF focused on such obvious targets as 'landfill indie' and 'bloke rock' and leaned heavily on a stereotyped view of the band and their fans as beery, stupid and, crucially, Northern. Like 'hilarious' transcripts of the Gallagher's - 'ey oop r kid, how's it going mi lad' etc - all the posting massive really revealed was their prejudice towards anything that originated or succeeded North of Watford.
So, the tale repeats. It seems appropriate that a Northern band should stand at the top of the charts on the week that the much maligned, critically destroyed monarch from the Middle Ages should return. No crookback King, a victim of Tudor propaganda, the reverberations of the war remained for a century, leading to the rape of the North under Henry VIII following the pilgrimage of grace, a further Northern attempt to have their culture heard and respected by the powers that be at Westminster and in the City. misrepresented by the arch propagandist Thomas Cromwell. As the new rape of the North gathers pace under Thatcher's children it has to be hoped that, in adversity as ever, the North will continue to excel at projecting their limited power to greater levels.
Monday, 28 January 2013
Northern Exposure and Southern Clubs
Another name adds itself to the Loudhailer roster this week in the shape of The Elwins. From Canada the band are gearing up to release their first single and album in the UK via Shellshock later in the year and are planning a visit to the UK to coincide with that first burst of activity around May time. More to follow here as plans firm up but a welcome addition to the gang given their penchant for perfect pop songs and wry humour that reminds me of some of my favourite mid 80s bands. For now you can get ahead of the pack by visiting their website.
The Elwins will be playing SxSW this year along with a few more of the roster. I haven't had the opportunity to go to Austin for a few years but I have fond memories of past visits; Elbow supporting The Black Crowes may not be the most obvious double bill but was one hell of a night at Stubbs, still my favourite Austin venue, The White Stripes in the back of a pool hall was a life changer and The Polyphonic Spree's rampage across the city demonstrated how to seize the agenda in five short days.
One of the Loudhailer mob already making massive waves in the USA are The Joy Formidable. Just released album 'Wolf's Law' has racked up the positives in reviews terms on both sides of the Atlantic and it is nice to see critics note the progression from the debut album. Ritzy, Rhydian and Matt represent many of the values I recognise in a truly great band; a desire to push their art to the limit on each recording, a willingness to try and engage with the wider world in their themes and lyrics, a healthy disdain for the shortcuts that sometimes deliver fame more quickly (if only fleetingly). With reports from friends in the UK regions suggesting that they have returned for their UK dates in even more imperial form than I remember it is somewhat annoying that current commitments don't allow me to make a jaunt to one of the shows in my native North. As with many I guess I will just have to wait for the Roundhouse show on 8th March to see the band in full flight but it seems a hell of a long way away at the moment. Their Cardiff show tonight is almost guaranteed to be a stormer. If you are going, much envy from this direction.
Presents continue to drop into my world. As I was writing this the latest version of the new Night Engine video for 'Seventeen' dropped into my inbox. I can't overstate how excited I remain about this lot. Back in the early days of last year I went to a rehearsal in Putney and ever since I have been imagining a world in which their music takes over. Being old enough to have seen that happen with bands more than once I figure I have as good an assessment of how that can take place as the next man. Of course it really isn't vital that they achieve the immediate uplift of the Strokes or Roses before them but they tick many of the same boxes; running counter to the prevailing wind, completely sure in themselves of what they are doing, already possessed of a band culture created from not just their music but an overall world view and, in each member, containing personalities and abilities that far outweigh many of 'minimum requirements' for a successful band. All that aside though, 'Seventeen' makes me want to dance and the unreleased as yet 'On And On' comes with a chorus that stirs my heart in a way akin to Blake's visions . If you haven't already I would suggest spending a few minutes listening to some of their music, which can be found here.
As ever there is much more going on here than the above. From last week's post if you haven't searched out Balthazar you really should, back in the UK on tour with Local Natives in February, all dates and more info here, Golden Fable, who are increasingly owning the blogosphere are on the road through February with details here and Dark Flowers turned up on The Quietus for a wonderful Q & A which gives a lot more insight into their 'Radioland' album which can be read here alongside picking up a lovely album review from Rob Fitzpatrick in this month's Q.
The week's question for me has revolved around how to regenerate the sense of excitement in music. The whispers of festival headliners led me to think about how we have now completely lost the sense of division in music and how that is making the progress of new bands far more difficult than it once was. To add to that The Rolling Stones popped up in the NME Awards list. I may be a big fan of the band (well, up to and including 'Goats Head Soup') but there is something that doesn't quite sit right for me in their inclusion.
We seem to have removed all the barriers that once allowed progression for artists from their beginnings to mass acceptance via a series of steps. Thinking back to The Beatles much of their initial appeal to kids was the very fact that the establishment, forever embodied in the person of the Decca A & R who rejected signing them, thought their music was faddish and destined to disappear as fast as it had appeared. Living in a world where any new artist, however controversial (see OFWKTA as the most extreme recent example) gains critical acceptance and scrutiny at the outset from the broadsheets alongside the more expected likes of NME and music sites has led to a new world in which the old dividers of 'grandads' not being welcome at shows had vanished. It sometimes feels like our generation won't let go of the zeitgeist and the cynic in me feels that we often repackage 'our' version of great music and sell it on to the new generation by controlling the media agenda, leading to a repetition of musical norms that have now become so cliched as to be almost meaningless. As a writer said to me last week 'is 'Band takes drugs' really that much of s atory anymore?'. It would seem it is if you scan the coverage of some of the new names for 2013.
Can music really be cutting edge when it is being discussed by a 40 something writer to a 40 something audience and is based on rock 'n' roll conventions that have been around since the late 60's? Would NWA have carried the same menace had The Times interviewed them rather than been appalled by them on the release of 'Straight Outta Compton'? I am not necessarily a subscriber to the whole 'teen dream' approach to popular music but I did feel my heart sink a little last year at a Savages show when I realised that I wasn't in the minority as a 40 something audience member. You could argue its a desire to retain an old way of being but I miss the sense of a youth driven and youth exclusive culture that pisses off older people in the main. And, yes, I realise I wouldn't be invited were it to happen.....
Friday, 18 January 2013
Hooks, Rats And Sinking. Plus something of the Night
A New Year brings a new start to the blog and a resolution to make sure it is actually updated every Friday afternoon, work permitting. It will happen ;-)
New Year's bring new things generally in our artificial music world. Bands that were signed in April of last year have been held in captivity in order to ensure their appearance in the Sound of 2013 list and so, as every year, we have a plethora of 'new' acts to enjoy. Co-incidentally Loudhailer has taken on a few new things of its own for this bizarre sounding year (2013 just doesn't look right to me on the page, possibly superstition coming from a family where hanging out the washing on New Year's Day was a no-no as you will 'wash someone out of the family before the year is over').
Two of these new contenders played London this week and a good time was undoubtedly had by all who saw them. They are as alike as an orange and an apple but there you go, I always did hate mono-rosters.
Wednesday was the first night out post New Year when Balthazar played a sold out Lexington. Their second album, 'Rats', which is, somewhat confusingly their debut UK release comes out on Feb 25th and they tour with Local Natives in February but it was a pleasure to see a full show from them in the company of Edith Bowman (a big fan) and Gary Lightbody amongst others. Channeling a Gainsbourg spirit but creating a modern groove based chanson the album has that Loudhailer defining quality of being a complete body of work rather than a few songs chucked together and was undoubtedly a big favourite on the Jamieson stereo over Christmas. The show was no departure, building an atmosphere of intensity that grew throughout to the final note. This is probably not something I should do with the album not being out but here's a link to 'Sinking Ship', my favourite track from the album and, hopefully, a post album single.
Last night was a return Northwards to see Velcro Hooks play Artrocker's New Blood Festival. I first saw them last year at a Howling Owl night that Towns played. They were a revelation. I won't easily forget walking in to a packed room at 830 and spending half an hour transfixed by this transmission of the spirit of Pixies channeling Television, Sex Pistols and who knows what else (but most of it noisy and off kilter). To have them on the roster is a big honour and I truly believe that, along with Towns, they will put not just Howling Owl but Bristol on the map. They also have the best 'how we formed' story I have ever heard which involves Guatemala, moustaches, Canadian fishing boats and more. But more of that soon. For now, enjoy the genius of 'Girlfren' from last year's sold out 'Gymnophoria' Ep and already something of a live legend.More soon on this, if you don't have the EP you really are missing out.
The third of the new generation actually got moving at the close of 2012. Night Engine's rise to prominence is suprising even me, which shouldn't really be the case I suppose. Or at least I shouldn't be saying that but there you go. We knew they had tunes and we knew they were clear what they wanted to do, what we didn't bank on was two pages in The Guardian as a tip for 2013, a sold out London debut show last year and reams and reams of online coverage marking them as ones to watch for this year. Not that we're complaining and not that we don't think its deserved. If you caught 'I'll Make It Worth Your While' last year on its journey around the web then you'll know why there's the fuss but the debut single drops 18th February and The Borderline headline follows on the 20th so very exciting times. If you missed it, here's a link to the Guardian piece
and here is 'I'll Make It Worth Your While' for your listening pleasure
Aside from Loudhailer stuff and noting that The Joy Formidable's 'Wolf's Law' album is getting the great reviews it deserves, Glasvegas plans for their album are shaping up nicely and Editors are back in the studio there has been much of interest already in 2013, not all of it happy.
When I first started buying records, HMV was my destination of choice. It felt more real than Our Price and Virgin, probably as a result of the heritage and the staff (at least in the Preston and Blackpool stores) knew about music. I still have a set of Bauhaus albums bought there with Christmas money in 1983 in their protective plastic sleeves. It's demise should be a source of sadness for me but I just can't get there. Watching my brother work for ten years at first the Cardiff store and then the Preston store and become increasingly disillusioned with the way it was being run didn't help. Managing Larrikin Love and being told that their local store had taken 6 copies of the debut single (which sold out in one hour and weren't restocked until the Monday following) definitely added to it. Walking into the Oxford St store last year and being overwhelmed by an immediate urge to go to Fopp or Rough Trade or anywhere nearly sealed the deal. Then being told I couldn't try a pair of noise cancelling headphones (£250) at the London Victoria store and would need to go to 'a bigger store' did it. Run down by bean counters, deprived of genuine music lovers within its staff, chopped and changed from a music store to an entertainment store to an entertainment conglomerate it shared many of its problems with the labels that serviced it; out of touch management living in the past assuming that because they had always been there they were untouchable. Now, like those labels, they are toast. That's capitalism. Here's hoping that the space created is filled by real music stores staffed by people who give a shit and know what they are talking about. In the meantime this excellent piece by Bob Stanley, a year old though it is, says it all. Thought - music once drove fashion, currently fashion drives music. That's what we have to change.
Christmas was an excellent (and rare) opportunity to read. CJ Sansom's Shardlake series now has me hooked. As does his other, non medieval novel, 'Winter In Madrid'. As a fan of Faulks and Carlos Ruiz Zafon he could have been made for me. One of the fascinating things about his Shardlake series, set in Tudor England, is the constant feeling that the nature of power and those who wield it has never changed, nor will it. If you like a decent 600 page cleverly written but readable novel then give it a go. And if you happen to work for a tv or film company surely this is made for an adaptation. Beats the living shit out of Mr Selfridge anyhow (which is possibly the biggest piece of dross I've sat through in some time).
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