So, I never write anymore and that's a bit tragic honestly. Think I've lost the knack of writing, or maybe I've had to unlearn the bullshit before my mind has been free to write some sense again. It seems like as good a time as any to get into the habit again. I became formulaic and trite and arse-licking. I became everything I think good journalism and good writing should not be. So, in advance of the new year, here's a new start.
Haven't been to enough shows lately, but poverty has something to do with that. And yes, I know that there are endless free shows, but let's face it, in London no show is truly free. There's food and drink and transport. After that's set you back, if you have to buy a ticket too then you're out a decent amount for shows. Having said that... on the horizon is a show I am insanely excited about which is Roy Ayers.
Got into Roy Ayers when I was producing a radio show called Broomhill Mix up in Glasgow. Was producing this for a guy called Alan. I was head of programming at subcity radio at the time so every two weeks I would get up early on a Saturday and head to the studio to produce Alan's show. Alan was blind, so unlike most presenters at the station he couldn't produce the show himself. He introduced me to jazz properly for the first time and Roy Ayers was one of the artists that stood out the most for me, especially "Everybody loves the sunshine".
Alan still presents "Broomhill Mix" once a week and you can check it out on subcity.org
I'd get to the studio and we'd spend two hours eating twixes, drinking tango and irn-bru and playing tunes to whoever happened to be listening. Alan's show was after a programme called soulful all sorts and was followed by a crazy industrial show if I remember correctly. I really miss my student radio days sometimes.
It pushed me to find new music and learn more about new bands and genres. Spending those 2 hours a fortnight locked up in the studio with Alan meant I discovered a whole new world of music that I had never engaged with before. I didn't like all of it, but the Roy Ayers tracks and some D Train Williams stayed with me years afterwards.
I can't wait to see Roy Ayers next month and I can't wait to spend time finding new bands either. Here's to the next musical adventure. If you know any bands, albums or genres you think it'd be worth exploring, just let me know and I'll add them to my list.
Friday, December 21, 2012
Wednesday, July 18, 2012
New albums
Been enjoying some great new music tonight despite my cynical cold heart doubting that such a thing still existed.
Bought the following new albums at the weekend...
Modeselektor "Modeselektor Vol 2"
Garbage "Not My Kind Of People"
and tonight I also got hooked on the iTunes previews of Nas' new album "Life Is Good".
Shit, I forgot how good music could be when you looked for what you loved. This Nas album is tugging at my insides from the get go. I think It'll have to be bought on payday (or before if I can swing it!) Beautiful mix of soulfulness and tight precise lyricism, I actually can't wait to own the album.
Almost tempted to buy from iTunes, but I fuckin hate digital downloads. I need something in my hand that I can put in a machine. Anything else is cold and soulless and takes all the love out of playing an album.
This was going to be about the albums I'd bought but now it's about what I want to buy. My favourite track off the Modeselektor album so far is "Sudaka Invasor". Nice balance of hip-hop and glitch. This is the territory where I think the Germans shine brightest. Taking something really simple and making it beautifully complicated and intricate. Twisting sounds around themselves.
The album I've most wanted is the one that I haven't even opened yet and is lying there untouched in it's plastic wrapped glory. I need special time for a new Garbage album and I can't wait to savour it properly (from what I saw live in Brixton, I don't think I'll be disappointed.)
I also want to buy Sigur Ros "Valtari" desperately...damn. No food then this month. Just music, which is actually better than food.
I'm off now to feast my ears...
Saturday, February 4, 2012
Friday, February 3, 2012
Mister music man
Wow...hadn't realised it'd been so long since I last posted. To be honest, it's a sad day when life becomes too busy to share your passion for music.
Thankfully my every day life is full of people that are deeply passionate about music and that is a rare and extremely priviledged situation to be in.
I may work for a trance and progressive house label, but the people I work with aren't boxed in by genre. The richness and diversity of their musical taste fill the office with a symphony of different sounds and melodies.
Whether it's Wiley's Christmas tune from the garage officionado on my left, or the sound of PJ & Duncan from the cheesy, cheerful pop-fanatics behind me, the love of music is so clear and so honest that it makes you think, shit yeah, let's get ready to rhumble.
One of the guys in my office is a fellow punk (with a separate but equal passion for DnB as it happens) and when we both listened to 'Prison Song' by System Of A Down for the first time in years last week, I think it brought the same smile to his face that it brought to mine.
It's not just work though. My ex, and one of my closest friends to boot, taught me what real hip-hop is about. His love of hip-hop and jazz is religious. His flow is sick when he rhymes and some of my happiest memories are of going to shows with him. The best of those being when we went to a tiny jazz club in Harlem.
A speakeasy throw back to the days of prohibition. A room no bigger than your average living room and a BYOB policy. This was where a young Billie Holliday sang, it was a spot for Lena Horne too and the man name Bill who owned the joint took to the stage and played the finest jazz I've ever heard. The wild turkey was flowing and the music was almost like a drug, that could transport you to new realms and planes of reality. It enveloped you completely.
Every person in my life brings more music, more passion to it. When I was younger, I always thought that if I was alone on a desert island with no one for company, all I would need was my music and I would be happy. Music is life and life is music. So my question to you is, what does your soundtrack sound like?
Thankfully my every day life is full of people that are deeply passionate about music and that is a rare and extremely priviledged situation to be in.
I may work for a trance and progressive house label, but the people I work with aren't boxed in by genre. The richness and diversity of their musical taste fill the office with a symphony of different sounds and melodies.
Whether it's Wiley's Christmas tune from the garage officionado on my left, or the sound of PJ & Duncan from the cheesy, cheerful pop-fanatics behind me, the love of music is so clear and so honest that it makes you think, shit yeah, let's get ready to rhumble.
One of the guys in my office is a fellow punk (with a separate but equal passion for DnB as it happens) and when we both listened to 'Prison Song' by System Of A Down for the first time in years last week, I think it brought the same smile to his face that it brought to mine.
It's not just work though. My ex, and one of my closest friends to boot, taught me what real hip-hop is about. His love of hip-hop and jazz is religious. His flow is sick when he rhymes and some of my happiest memories are of going to shows with him. The best of those being when we went to a tiny jazz club in Harlem.
A speakeasy throw back to the days of prohibition. A room no bigger than your average living room and a BYOB policy. This was where a young Billie Holliday sang, it was a spot for Lena Horne too and the man name Bill who owned the joint took to the stage and played the finest jazz I've ever heard. The wild turkey was flowing and the music was almost like a drug, that could transport you to new realms and planes of reality. It enveloped you completely.
Every person in my life brings more music, more passion to it. When I was younger, I always thought that if I was alone on a desert island with no one for company, all I would need was my music and I would be happy. Music is life and life is music. So my question to you is, what does your soundtrack sound like?
Tuesday, September 27, 2011
Immortal Technique Interview on Russia Today
Immortal Technique discussing Obama, 9/11 truth & Corporate America far more eloquently, intelligently and, most of all, honestly, than any politician I have come across.
Part 2
Part 2
Wednesday, July 6, 2011
Matti Roots Interview
Matti Roots comes across as a slightly nervous but very affable guy, always smiling and always with a look that hints at the cogs working overtime beyond that smile. His musical virtuosity is matched by an intense desire for knowledge in a far broader sense. Just as he needs to understand music to the fullest extent, his fascination with the universe as a whole is just as passionate.
We met up with him in a fashionable Camden gastro pub and, over tea and laughter, opened up his slightly guarded outer shell and found out why his love of music is so strong.
What, in your opinion, is the most beautiful sound in the world?
Oh my god. I'm going to start with a very, very hard question, the most beautiful sound in the world… There are quite a lot of nice sounds; do I have to pick one? I can't prejudice sound really, it is what it is. Obviously there are nice sounds, there are horrible sounds but you can appreciate them all for what they are I suppose.
I've never been asked that question, that's funny [water runs into a glass as the waiter pours Matti's drink] See, that's a nice sound. The sound of someone doing something that you want them to do, that's also a nice sound. There are soothing sounds, there's the sea you know, and you've got birdsong, silence and ambient noise.
I would imagine that to be in an absolute vacuum would be quite interesting because there's literally no sound and all you're left with is the sound that's in your mind so you would probably start almost sonically hallucinating. Or then there's the sound of your girlfriend when you're making love or a child of yours laughing or crying.
In terms of instruments, I love strings, funnily enough [just as classical strings music comes on over the sound system in the bar]. I really like the Sarangi which is like an Indian violin, it's supposed to be the instrument nearest to the human voice and it kind of sounds like crying. I could list a whole load of instruments that sound great for their own reasons, but I won't. I hope that adequately answers your question.
What's your favourite album and why?
These probing questions! My favourite album and why…probably either 'Here My Dear' or 'I Want You' from Marvin Gaye, 'Music Of My Mind' and 'Songs In The Key Of Life' from Stevie, or '1999', Prince. There's just too many. Miles Davies' 'Bitch's Brew' or 'In A Silent Way' maybe, it depends what mood I'm in. 'Off The Wall' is a pretty dope album.
It's a hard one because I have to judge it on the basis of how you view an entire album from beginning to end, you can just enjoy the whole thing, like a masterwork. Even though there are some amazing artists out there, they don't all create those types of albums. So even though I could say James Brown or Fela Kuti, or all these people who inspire me massively, I couldn't think of an album, for me, that compares to that era of constructing a work of art.
I really like Lewis Taylor's first album, which I think is an untitled album. I know I'm missing a whole load of stuff out as well. We'd be here for a long time if I went through them all I guess. I'm just trying to picture my album collection right now in my head. There's just too many, I could go through all my different favourite artists and tell you the albums of theirs that I like, like early Tribe Called Quest albums, you know 'Midnight Marauders' and those things, but I'll stop there. I just feel bad that I'm going to leave someone out.
What inspired you to become a musician?
Nothing really inspired me to become a musician, I think I just was one. From an early age, like when I was three, music was the most important thing to me, even from that young age. I started learning the piano and it was the biggest focus in my life. Everything related back to that, it was the most important thing to me. Learning my instruments and then just learning about music, studying music, that's what I did with my free time. I didn't question it and never have really. It's just part of me I guess.
If you hadn't been a musician, what would you have liked to do with your life?
I think I would have liked to have done something scientific, because the universe itself, human beings, thought, consciousness, that kind of thing really fascinates me. So I would probably be in a white jacket somewhere, hitting my head against the wall, dribbling, trying to understand everything and anything. I probably would have gone to study science, philosophy, physics, that kind of thing.
You've worked across a lot of different genres, from classical to grime, how do you think class divisions can impact on people's engagement with different genres of music? Do you think that it can close some types of music off to different people?
Yes and no, it depends on the individual I think. Can you be a bit more specific?
For example, traditionally speaking, classical music could be seen as the preserve of the upper classes, something like grime would be seen as more working class. Do you think that those kinds of perceptions could stop say a working class kid from really getting engaged with classical music because of a traditionally held perception of who should be listening to different types of music?
Yes it can, I'm sure it can. But I've seen enough examples of, and worked with enough people who do make grime music, for example, who when they hear music, just close their eyes and it's just music so it resonates with them and they have a feeling about it.
I don't think that, just because you're wealthy, it means that you are necessarily the one that's even created that music with that sort of depth. For example, Mozart was one of the poorest and yet greatest composers that ever lived. He died in a box, no one knows where he lived, no one knows where he's buried. So, I think the establishment makes it what it is, but the musicians are the ones who make the music and they make it for the reasons that are far deeper and far more universal than just a class divide.
I read that you teach music to children, can you tell us a little bit more about that work?
I've been teaching kids for about seven or eight years. It's all just private tuition, I teach, on a one to one basis, piano and saxophone and a bit of computer stuff as well if they have computer programmes at home. I've got some amazing pupils, some that are now going on to make music.
In fact, one of my students is an up and coming dubstep producer, and is making some really incredible music. He's gone from a year ago just sort of mucking around on his mac, to now creating stuff which anyone, of any age, would be proud of making. I'm going to bring him through, because I just think he's got a hell of a lot of talent and I've actually got him to remix my track 'Lust' which is the next track which I'm releasing.
I've got a few pupils who are studying composition at the Guildhall. I've got a couple of pupils that have got music scholarships in their schools, some of whom I've been teaching for like eight or nine years. Yeah, I really enjoy it.
Tell us more about the album Beatroot and double single 'Lust' and 'Don't Worry'.
I'll start with the singles. Basically, the track 'Lust' is more of a funk, Prince inspired track. That one was actually written after a massive session of listening to 1999. For about three of four hours, I was just listening to that album over and over again and then I just started making this tune and 'Lust' came out.
'Don't Worry' is a bit more of a mainstream sort of track. It started off its life as a track called 'I Ain't Got No Girlfriend' and then I changed the lyrics. It was one of these songs that I had chord-wise and was messing around with for a couple of years.
I don't know why, but I just ended up turning it into a track about trying to understand the world around you and trying to make empirical statements on existence and just kind of saying 'don't worry' because, like I was saying before, it could drive you crazy to try and really know everything. There are times when you have to throw up your hands and just let it go. So that's really what that track's about, as much written for myself as for anything else.
Beatroot, the album, I would probably describe as a collection of influences. Just a combination of four or five years worth of songs which I'd written in between all the other stuff that I was doing. I hadn't actually sat down and said 'I'm making an album'. It was only after that period of time, of having all these songs and feeling that I wanted to have a full product that represented my music that it became an album.
So I actually went and I reproduced everything and I remade all the tracks and I tried to create a kind of homogenised group of tracks that worked well together. I did it all in the same studio, used a lot of the same musicians, the same mix engineer. The end result is…online now, for you to download.
What type of music do you hate?
If you'd have asked me years ago, I would have given you a massive list, but now I find it difficult to give you any list at all to be honest. Hate is a very strong word. There are times when I can't listen to a certain type of music because I'm not in the mood for it, but I've always got time to listen to something, because it interests me what people make. I will listen to anything if I'm in the right mood.
I'm not necessarily just talking about genres, are there any attitudes towards making music that irritate you?
I would say that people love to hate, in some senses. Where would we be if we didn't have something to poke fun at, or look down at, or criticise. Everything has its place and purpose in life. Some people might frown on Katy Perry, millions of people might not.
Do you frown on Katy Perry?
I don't do anything with Katy Perry to be honest [laughs]. I accept Katy Perry.
Do you accept people like 'Lil Wayne?
[Smiling] Yeah, I accept 'Lil Wayne, he's got his moments. He's quite amusing, quite entertaining. You know, music has the ability to do a massive variety of things. It can entertain you in the most superficial way, and it can take you somewhere very, very deep. No one is one or other of those things all the time. Music reflects the moods and the attitudes of the society in which it exists.
Do you think pain is necessary to make honest music?
Only if you're writing honestly about a painful experience. If you're writing about happiness then you've just got to be honest with the feeling that you're trying to express I suppose. There's a hell of a lot of good music that's been written through painful experiences, that's for sure. But, conversely, great music's been written through joy as well.
What's coming up next for you? The album came out on the 4th of April, the double singles are coming up, what else is out there for you?
I'm producing some music with a number of different artists. I've just started doing a little project with a Bermudan MC, kind of an underground hip-hop sort of thing. I'm quite excited about it because I really enjoy writing with him, he's really musical and has got a lot of depth, his name's Bento. That's his actual, real name.
Then, there are a few songwriters that I've been working with, trying to write songs for different artists. I'm doing a few bits of advert music and I've started doing some film stuff as well which I'm really excited about.
In terms of my own music, I have another, probably, two albums worth of material which I'm deciding what to do with at the moment. I'm trying to decide whether I want to produce it in a different way, if I want to just scrap it all and start again, if I want to keep the same sort of sound as I did for this album, which I think is unlikely actually because I'd feel as if I was just sticking in one place. So yeah, that's about it really. Thank you for having me [grins].
We met up with him in a fashionable Camden gastro pub and, over tea and laughter, opened up his slightly guarded outer shell and found out why his love of music is so strong.
What, in your opinion, is the most beautiful sound in the world?
Oh my god. I'm going to start with a very, very hard question, the most beautiful sound in the world… There are quite a lot of nice sounds; do I have to pick one? I can't prejudice sound really, it is what it is. Obviously there are nice sounds, there are horrible sounds but you can appreciate them all for what they are I suppose.
I've never been asked that question, that's funny [water runs into a glass as the waiter pours Matti's drink] See, that's a nice sound. The sound of someone doing something that you want them to do, that's also a nice sound. There are soothing sounds, there's the sea you know, and you've got birdsong, silence and ambient noise.
I would imagine that to be in an absolute vacuum would be quite interesting because there's literally no sound and all you're left with is the sound that's in your mind so you would probably start almost sonically hallucinating. Or then there's the sound of your girlfriend when you're making love or a child of yours laughing or crying.
In terms of instruments, I love strings, funnily enough [just as classical strings music comes on over the sound system in the bar]. I really like the Sarangi which is like an Indian violin, it's supposed to be the instrument nearest to the human voice and it kind of sounds like crying. I could list a whole load of instruments that sound great for their own reasons, but I won't. I hope that adequately answers your question.
What's your favourite album and why?
These probing questions! My favourite album and why…probably either 'Here My Dear' or 'I Want You' from Marvin Gaye, 'Music Of My Mind' and 'Songs In The Key Of Life' from Stevie, or '1999', Prince. There's just too many. Miles Davies' 'Bitch's Brew' or 'In A Silent Way' maybe, it depends what mood I'm in. 'Off The Wall' is a pretty dope album.
It's a hard one because I have to judge it on the basis of how you view an entire album from beginning to end, you can just enjoy the whole thing, like a masterwork. Even though there are some amazing artists out there, they don't all create those types of albums. So even though I could say James Brown or Fela Kuti, or all these people who inspire me massively, I couldn't think of an album, for me, that compares to that era of constructing a work of art.
I really like Lewis Taylor's first album, which I think is an untitled album. I know I'm missing a whole load of stuff out as well. We'd be here for a long time if I went through them all I guess. I'm just trying to picture my album collection right now in my head. There's just too many, I could go through all my different favourite artists and tell you the albums of theirs that I like, like early Tribe Called Quest albums, you know 'Midnight Marauders' and those things, but I'll stop there. I just feel bad that I'm going to leave someone out.
What inspired you to become a musician?
Nothing really inspired me to become a musician, I think I just was one. From an early age, like when I was three, music was the most important thing to me, even from that young age. I started learning the piano and it was the biggest focus in my life. Everything related back to that, it was the most important thing to me. Learning my instruments and then just learning about music, studying music, that's what I did with my free time. I didn't question it and never have really. It's just part of me I guess.
If you hadn't been a musician, what would you have liked to do with your life?
I think I would have liked to have done something scientific, because the universe itself, human beings, thought, consciousness, that kind of thing really fascinates me. So I would probably be in a white jacket somewhere, hitting my head against the wall, dribbling, trying to understand everything and anything. I probably would have gone to study science, philosophy, physics, that kind of thing.
You've worked across a lot of different genres, from classical to grime, how do you think class divisions can impact on people's engagement with different genres of music? Do you think that it can close some types of music off to different people?
Yes and no, it depends on the individual I think. Can you be a bit more specific?
For example, traditionally speaking, classical music could be seen as the preserve of the upper classes, something like grime would be seen as more working class. Do you think that those kinds of perceptions could stop say a working class kid from really getting engaged with classical music because of a traditionally held perception of who should be listening to different types of music?
Yes it can, I'm sure it can. But I've seen enough examples of, and worked with enough people who do make grime music, for example, who when they hear music, just close their eyes and it's just music so it resonates with them and they have a feeling about it.
I don't think that, just because you're wealthy, it means that you are necessarily the one that's even created that music with that sort of depth. For example, Mozart was one of the poorest and yet greatest composers that ever lived. He died in a box, no one knows where he lived, no one knows where he's buried. So, I think the establishment makes it what it is, but the musicians are the ones who make the music and they make it for the reasons that are far deeper and far more universal than just a class divide.
I read that you teach music to children, can you tell us a little bit more about that work?
I've been teaching kids for about seven or eight years. It's all just private tuition, I teach, on a one to one basis, piano and saxophone and a bit of computer stuff as well if they have computer programmes at home. I've got some amazing pupils, some that are now going on to make music.
In fact, one of my students is an up and coming dubstep producer, and is making some really incredible music. He's gone from a year ago just sort of mucking around on his mac, to now creating stuff which anyone, of any age, would be proud of making. I'm going to bring him through, because I just think he's got a hell of a lot of talent and I've actually got him to remix my track 'Lust' which is the next track which I'm releasing.
I've got a few pupils who are studying composition at the Guildhall. I've got a couple of pupils that have got music scholarships in their schools, some of whom I've been teaching for like eight or nine years. Yeah, I really enjoy it.
Tell us more about the album Beatroot and double single 'Lust' and 'Don't Worry'.
I'll start with the singles. Basically, the track 'Lust' is more of a funk, Prince inspired track. That one was actually written after a massive session of listening to 1999. For about three of four hours, I was just listening to that album over and over again and then I just started making this tune and 'Lust' came out.
'Don't Worry' is a bit more of a mainstream sort of track. It started off its life as a track called 'I Ain't Got No Girlfriend' and then I changed the lyrics. It was one of these songs that I had chord-wise and was messing around with for a couple of years.
I don't know why, but I just ended up turning it into a track about trying to understand the world around you and trying to make empirical statements on existence and just kind of saying 'don't worry' because, like I was saying before, it could drive you crazy to try and really know everything. There are times when you have to throw up your hands and just let it go. So that's really what that track's about, as much written for myself as for anything else.
Beatroot, the album, I would probably describe as a collection of influences. Just a combination of four or five years worth of songs which I'd written in between all the other stuff that I was doing. I hadn't actually sat down and said 'I'm making an album'. It was only after that period of time, of having all these songs and feeling that I wanted to have a full product that represented my music that it became an album.
So I actually went and I reproduced everything and I remade all the tracks and I tried to create a kind of homogenised group of tracks that worked well together. I did it all in the same studio, used a lot of the same musicians, the same mix engineer. The end result is…online now, for you to download.
What type of music do you hate?
If you'd have asked me years ago, I would have given you a massive list, but now I find it difficult to give you any list at all to be honest. Hate is a very strong word. There are times when I can't listen to a certain type of music because I'm not in the mood for it, but I've always got time to listen to something, because it interests me what people make. I will listen to anything if I'm in the right mood.
I'm not necessarily just talking about genres, are there any attitudes towards making music that irritate you?
I would say that people love to hate, in some senses. Where would we be if we didn't have something to poke fun at, or look down at, or criticise. Everything has its place and purpose in life. Some people might frown on Katy Perry, millions of people might not.
Do you frown on Katy Perry?
I don't do anything with Katy Perry to be honest [laughs]. I accept Katy Perry.
Do you accept people like 'Lil Wayne?
[Smiling] Yeah, I accept 'Lil Wayne, he's got his moments. He's quite amusing, quite entertaining. You know, music has the ability to do a massive variety of things. It can entertain you in the most superficial way, and it can take you somewhere very, very deep. No one is one or other of those things all the time. Music reflects the moods and the attitudes of the society in which it exists.
Do you think pain is necessary to make honest music?
Only if you're writing honestly about a painful experience. If you're writing about happiness then you've just got to be honest with the feeling that you're trying to express I suppose. There's a hell of a lot of good music that's been written through painful experiences, that's for sure. But, conversely, great music's been written through joy as well.
What's coming up next for you? The album came out on the 4th of April, the double singles are coming up, what else is out there for you?
I'm producing some music with a number of different artists. I've just started doing a little project with a Bermudan MC, kind of an underground hip-hop sort of thing. I'm quite excited about it because I really enjoy writing with him, he's really musical and has got a lot of depth, his name's Bento. That's his actual, real name.
Then, there are a few songwriters that I've been working with, trying to write songs for different artists. I'm doing a few bits of advert music and I've started doing some film stuff as well which I'm really excited about.
In terms of my own music, I have another, probably, two albums worth of material which I'm deciding what to do with at the moment. I'm trying to decide whether I want to produce it in a different way, if I want to just scrap it all and start again, if I want to keep the same sort of sound as I did for this album, which I think is unlikely actually because I'd feel as if I was just sticking in one place. So yeah, that's about it really. Thank you for having me [grins].
Originally published on the Daily Music Guide HERE.
Change of format
There will be a distinct change in style as I will no longer just be providing links to articles I have written but publishing them here directly as well and crediting the site where they were originally published with a link.
Thanks.
Caspa & Rod Azlan (Dub Police's 50th Release Party) - BM Soho, London (16/06/2011)
Headlining the celebration were Caspa and Rod Azlan, but before they took to the decks we were treated to a set from a couple of the label's rising stars, a mixture of one of The Others and one of Subscape. Displaying a good cross section of the label's talent, it was a pleasure to see the comfortable way they controlled the music. Though perhaps not the most exciting of sets, the bass was solid and they got the punters well warmed for the main event.
Dubstep is founded on a strong principle of bass, and Caspa brought some truly tasty and fulfilling basslines that throbbed in our bellies. Bass growled under every track and drove the tunes forward. The powerful force emanating from the sub-woofer caused a chain reaction which made it impossible for the crowd's movements not to be taken over by the pounding vibrations.
If anyone knows how to get a crowd going it's Caspa and the crowd was lapping it up. Where Caspa holds an edge over many of his competitors is in his partnership with Rod Azlan and other vocalists. Having a talent like Rod Azlan on the mic made Caspa's set a performance rather than a demonstration.
Mixing up the timbres, Caspa introduced some Balearic trance high end to the bass to celebrate the start of the season in Spain. Whilst his set was in many ways a celebration of blissed out summer, he managed to keep his signature London style and the dirty bass balanced out perfectly with the euphoric highs.
Towards the end of his set, Caspa dropped his new single 'Fulham to Waterloo', Dub Police's 50th release but, sadly, it was rather underwhelming compared to his back catalogue. Whilst certainly a solid release, it seemed too simplistic for Caspa and didn't have that extra edge he is known for. It seems that the 50th release just can't measure up to the party thrown in its honour.
Rating: 4/5
Originally published on the Daily Music Guide HERE.
Tuesday, June 7, 2011
Record Collector
I wrote a review of Matti Roots that's in this month's Record Collector!
It's my first piece in print!
In other news, I finished that ONB review which is now available to view on DMG here,
Let me know what you think of them both guys.
Monday, May 30, 2011
Rachael Sage and rainy days
I'm sitting indoors at the moment working on a review of Orchestre National de Barbes and listening to Rachael Sage's stunningly poignant album Delancey Street which is now going to be distributed worldwide. Outside the skies are grey and dreary, but inside where it's warm my mind is being flooded with Rachael's honest and tender vocals.
That's what I love about Rachael's music, some people probably dismiss the ballads as cheesy and trite but to me they strike a real chord. They're not gritty and harsh but they tug at your emotions and express something very fundamental about the inner working of the human psyche. She shows such vulnerability and willingness to be exposed in the interest of making that essential human connection with another person.
Sometimes, at moments of great joy or sorrow we need to know that we are not alone and, for me at least, Rachael provides that comfort. Her songs talk about emotions that we keep hidden most of the time and allows us the space to admit them, at least to ourselves.
If you don't enjoy songs about lost loves and struggling to get through the human condition then you won't like Rachael's music, but if you've ever felt totally alone and wanted to run away from everything that you were tearing out your hair about then just maybe you should give her a try.
Her music isn't anger, revenge or rousing, it's heart-wrenching empathy instead. Her voice lilts over soft chord progressions that run through the wilderness in your mind. It can give you strength or comfort and it can just make you contemplative if you like.
On another note, if you ever get a chance to see her live, please do! It's more than worth it and often involves kazoos and audience participation.
Rachael's playing The Enterprise in Chalk Farm tomorrow night (31/05/2011) at 9:30pm if any of you fancy checking her out. If you make it down, I'll see you there.
For now, here's a slightly silly video for one of her more upbeat numbers 'Big Star' which is an indictment of the reality of the entertainment industry.
Saturday, May 28, 2011
Gil Scott-Heron and music that matters
So, I'm sure we've all heard the news today about Gil Scott-Heron passing away. Of all the times for it to happen. He spent years abusing drugs and alcohol and spent over a year in prison and when he finally cleans up, starts making incredible music again, starts touring the world and restarting his career, he gets sick and he dies. I'm sure the tragedy for us is nothing compared to that for his friends and family and my thoughts go out to them, but we are all going to be missing out on a world that includes an artist that really meant something.
His critiques of discrimination, poverty and all of society's ills were open, honest and revolutionary. He told it how it was and didn't need to sugar coat a single word. He was a poet and musician and social commentator. That didn't change with age and his album I'm New Here from last year continued the trend. He also had an appreciation for the importance of music and verse as communicatory tools. He respected them. If you look at the sleeve notes to I'm New Here, he gives instructions on how to listen to the album, not in a condescending or patronising preachy way, but as a reminder that music is more than just something to have on in the background and neither is it just a quick fix, it should be savoured when it's good. That album was good.
I feel priviledged that I got to see Gil Scott-Heron perform last year in Brooklyn, NYC. I feel even luckier that it was a small, intimate show at Littlefields as part of the final night of entertainment for the National Black Writers' Conference that had been taking place all week and had been chaired by the incomparable Toni Morrison. Some might argue that Gil Scott-Heron deserved a nobel prize for literature just as much as she did. On the line-up alongside him was another poet of our age, Talib Kweli, who gave shoutouts to his parents in the audience and came up on stage for a couple of songs with Gil Scott-Heron too.
It was a gig that mattered with people that made music that mattered and it feels like that might be becoming a rarer commodity these days. This is clearly a very niave statement from me as there has always been a mountain of chaff to sort through till you get to the wheat, but history has performed a filtering process for us and (for the most part) only the cream has risen to the top of our memories. However, it can be easy to lose sight of that fact when you are hit from all sides by endless waves of meaningless drivel puporting to be the 'next big thing'. I hope history forgets Justin Beiber, I really really do.
Even though he has passed, the lessons and inspiration he gave out should not be forgotten. His music will rise to the top and last for generations and our children will listen to Winter In America and understand just what it means, they will relate their own struggles to those of the past.
"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." - George Santayana
RIP Gil Scott-Heron
April 1, 1949 – May 27, 2011
His critiques of discrimination, poverty and all of society's ills were open, honest and revolutionary. He told it how it was and didn't need to sugar coat a single word. He was a poet and musician and social commentator. That didn't change with age and his album I'm New Here from last year continued the trend. He also had an appreciation for the importance of music and verse as communicatory tools. He respected them. If you look at the sleeve notes to I'm New Here, he gives instructions on how to listen to the album, not in a condescending or patronising preachy way, but as a reminder that music is more than just something to have on in the background and neither is it just a quick fix, it should be savoured when it's good. That album was good.
I feel priviledged that I got to see Gil Scott-Heron perform last year in Brooklyn, NYC. I feel even luckier that it was a small, intimate show at Littlefields as part of the final night of entertainment for the National Black Writers' Conference that had been taking place all week and had been chaired by the incomparable Toni Morrison. Some might argue that Gil Scott-Heron deserved a nobel prize for literature just as much as she did. On the line-up alongside him was another poet of our age, Talib Kweli, who gave shoutouts to his parents in the audience and came up on stage for a couple of songs with Gil Scott-Heron too.
It was a gig that mattered with people that made music that mattered and it feels like that might be becoming a rarer commodity these days. This is clearly a very niave statement from me as there has always been a mountain of chaff to sort through till you get to the wheat, but history has performed a filtering process for us and (for the most part) only the cream has risen to the top of our memories. However, it can be easy to lose sight of that fact when you are hit from all sides by endless waves of meaningless drivel puporting to be the 'next big thing'. I hope history forgets Justin Beiber, I really really do.
Even though he has passed, the lessons and inspiration he gave out should not be forgotten. His music will rise to the top and last for generations and our children will listen to Winter In America and understand just what it means, they will relate their own struggles to those of the past.
"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." - George Santayana
RIP Gil Scott-Heron
April 1, 1949 – May 27, 2011
Wednesday, December 22, 2010
Idlewild's 100 Broken Windows
Listening to music from your past when in a moment of turmoil always seems to take you back to a simpler, more secure moment in your timeline. Undoubtedly, this is in part down to hindsight being an exacting art but it's more than that. Music can work as a touchstone in this world ever in flux. It reminds you of something stable at the centre of your core. If you still love this band you listened to as a kid then you haven't lost everything of who you were back then too.
This is what springs to mind as I revisit 100 Broken Windows by Idlewild. 'It's a better way to feel when you're not real, you're post modern'. I wonder if the hipsters I see wandering about my neighbourhood in Shoreditch follow this mantra. The first time I ever heard of Gertrude Stein was when I listened to Roseability and even when I studied her at university in Glasgow, Roddy Woomble's words followed me back up to Scotland and floated around my head all day after lectures.
A truly great album is one that can sit untouched for years and then when you do dust it off and put it on it has transformative power. As much as I want to skip through to my favourite tracks, every time the next song comes on I am reminded of why I loved it in the first place even if it had faded in my mind and I think to myself 'oh, I'll just wait until this one's over until I put on Actually It's Darkness'. In the end I know it'll come all in it's own time. Probably just the way they engineered it to in the first place.
I challenge anyone who grew up with 90s/early 00s indie (you know, before Fran Healy and co. spoilt it with The Invisible Band - I was going to say The Man Who but then I remembered I really like Writing To Reach You) to listen to this album and not break out into a giant heart-warming smile as you remember the good times.
Even the interruptions of the incessant Spotify ads can do little to dampen the enjoyment of listening to this album from start to finish (incidentally the best way to listen to almost every album). A touchstone like this can help you to take stock of your life and your position within it. You can see how far you've come, changed, (even evolved perhaps?) and you might even get a clearer vision of how far you've got left to go and the way in which you might get there.
Even if it doesn't quite send you on a mystical quest, I would recommend that everyone who reads this stops everything they're doing right now and finds an album that they haven't listened to in years from an earlier era in their life and put it on from start to finish and just simply enjoy. My Christmas present to you all, if I could give one, is that I make you remember how good music can be and how fantastic it can make you feel. Be a kid again for an hour or so and love it.
Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night.
This is what springs to mind as I revisit 100 Broken Windows by Idlewild. 'It's a better way to feel when you're not real, you're post modern'. I wonder if the hipsters I see wandering about my neighbourhood in Shoreditch follow this mantra. The first time I ever heard of Gertrude Stein was when I listened to Roseability and even when I studied her at university in Glasgow, Roddy Woomble's words followed me back up to Scotland and floated around my head all day after lectures.
A truly great album is one that can sit untouched for years and then when you do dust it off and put it on it has transformative power. As much as I want to skip through to my favourite tracks, every time the next song comes on I am reminded of why I loved it in the first place even if it had faded in my mind and I think to myself 'oh, I'll just wait until this one's over until I put on Actually It's Darkness'. In the end I know it'll come all in it's own time. Probably just the way they engineered it to in the first place.
I challenge anyone who grew up with 90s/early 00s indie (you know, before Fran Healy and co. spoilt it with The Invisible Band - I was going to say The Man Who but then I remembered I really like Writing To Reach You) to listen to this album and not break out into a giant heart-warming smile as you remember the good times.
Even the interruptions of the incessant Spotify ads can do little to dampen the enjoyment of listening to this album from start to finish (incidentally the best way to listen to almost every album). A touchstone like this can help you to take stock of your life and your position within it. You can see how far you've come, changed, (even evolved perhaps?) and you might even get a clearer vision of how far you've got left to go and the way in which you might get there.
Even if it doesn't quite send you on a mystical quest, I would recommend that everyone who reads this stops everything they're doing right now and finds an album that they haven't listened to in years from an earlier era in their life and put it on from start to finish and just simply enjoy. My Christmas present to you all, if I could give one, is that I make you remember how good music can be and how fantastic it can make you feel. Be a kid again for an hour or so and love it.
Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night.
Tuesday, November 23, 2010
Radio Silence...
Apologies for my online absence over the last 6 months, it's been an exceptionally busy time and I just dropped off the radar whilst I've been engaged in other things. However, you may or may not be happy to hear that I'm back to stay. It'd take me too long to catch you up on all the individual links to articles so instead here's a permanent one to all of my DMG work past, present and future...
DMG ARTICLES
There's about 11 new ones up there but my newest is a review of Trail's new single 'Killing Sun'. You may remember that I reviewed their single 'Prism' last year. Check out the new review to see how far they've evolved in that time (or how far my opinion of their music has evolved at least).
Keep your eyes peeled for plenty of new articles on the horizon guys!
DMG ARTICLES
There's about 11 new ones up there but my newest is a review of Trail's new single 'Killing Sun'. You may remember that I reviewed their single 'Prism' last year. Check out the new review to see how far they've evolved in that time (or how far my opinion of their music has evolved at least).
Keep your eyes peeled for plenty of new articles on the horizon guys!
Saturday, May 29, 2010
So much done and so little time to tell you about it...
It's been a long time since I've posted and for that I am eternally apologetic. I've published a couple of articles on Suite101 in this time but I don't really think the site is for me. Still, I've included links to them below for your viewing pleasure,
Is Urban Farming a Tenable Solution for UK City Dwellers? (Suite101)
Roll Deep Ft. Jodie Connor – Good Times (single - Suite101)
Apart from these little beauties, I've been down in Brighton, covering The Great Escape Festival 2010 for the Daily Music Guide. The whole experience was fairly intense and I met some incredible people whilst I was there. For a full run down of all 3 days, check out my reviews below,
The Great Escape 2010 - Day One (13/05/2010)
The Great Escape 2010 - Day Two (14/05/2010)
The Great Escape 2010 - Day Three (15/05/2010)
As always, comments and feedback are very much appreciated! I should be posting up some new writing soon, but in the meantime I hope you enjoy this little lot.
Is Urban Farming a Tenable Solution for UK City Dwellers? (Suite101)
Roll Deep Ft. Jodie Connor – Good Times (single - Suite101)
Apart from these little beauties, I've been down in Brighton, covering The Great Escape Festival 2010 for the Daily Music Guide. The whole experience was fairly intense and I met some incredible people whilst I was there. For a full run down of all 3 days, check out my reviews below,
The Great Escape 2010 - Day One (13/05/2010)
The Great Escape 2010 - Day Two (14/05/2010)
The Great Escape 2010 - Day Three (15/05/2010)
As always, comments and feedback are very much appreciated! I should be posting up some new writing soon, but in the meantime I hope you enjoy this little lot.
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
New music and Dan Le Sac Vs Scroobius Pip.
Hey guys.
Sadly back in the bad old UK again. On the plus side there are some tasty new articles abounding for you to sink your teeth into. Check out my first features article on DMG,
The Rise and Fall of New Music
I've also been scrutinising the new album from Dan Le Sac Vs Scroobius Pip,
Dan Le Sac Vs Scroobius Pip - The Logic of Chance (album)
Overall, it's been a busy time lately. I'm also starting to write some more politically focused articles for Suite 101 but I'll set you up with a link to my profile once my first article has been published. The first one should be about urban farming so keep your eyes peeled.
Sadly back in the bad old UK again. On the plus side there are some tasty new articles abounding for you to sink your teeth into. Check out my first features article on DMG,
The Rise and Fall of New Music
I've also been scrutinising the new album from Dan Le Sac Vs Scroobius Pip,
Dan Le Sac Vs Scroobius Pip - The Logic of Chance (album)
Overall, it's been a busy time lately. I'm also starting to write some more politically focused articles for Suite 101 but I'll set you up with a link to my profile once my first article has been published. The first one should be about urban farming so keep your eyes peeled.
Monday, March 29, 2010
Gil Scott-Heron
I went to see Gil Scott-Heron with Talib Kweli on Friday night in downtown Brooklyn as part of the Black Writers' Convention that was taking place this weekend. It was an incredible experience. One that I want to write more about soon in fact, but in the mean time I thought I'd post something that I wrote about Gil about a month back, having just listened to 'I'm New Here' for the first time. I hope you all enjoy my strange rambling tangents in this piece.
---
At some points in musical history, special attention must be paid, and this is one of those times. The release of Gil Scott-Heron’s first album in 15 years heralds a return to some sense of the genuine which seems to have been lost in these shiftless times of horror stories and vacuous, paper thin excuses for recording artists that will do what they are told and force feed you sludge until it spills out of your mouth in a stream of putrid, broken crotchets and quavers, indistinguishable from each other in a droning mess.
‘I’m New Here’, well aren’t we all? After the circle turns so far don’t we all feel new again when someone reawakens us with songs to agitate the soul. Gil’s heart has started to beat again in our breasts and he is calling his soldiers to war and the revolution we bring will not be televised, the revolution will NOT be televised. Broken up through the decades but never truly destroyed, the strength of Gil was forged from what he was given by those the state call broken though he was not from a ‘broken’ home. Bitter sweet smells of the streets and the South emanate from the strings and the bars on which hang the delicate protraction of notes tugging at the cat guts from inside us, used to be plucked and create our screams.
We are ready for our commands that come from the first. Of unfolding gently, with pride and respect, the covers of the box like the body of a lover, parting their legs,
"There is a proper procedure for taking advantage of any investment.
Music, for example. Buying a CD is an investment.
To get the maximum you must
LISTEN TO IT FOR THE FIRST TIME UNDER OPTIMUM CONDITIONS."
Yes sir. Would you ignore orders from such a man, such a man.
There is a travel in his words that transports us further than a bus, train, plane, automobile ever could. Far beyond the realms of our imagination and the stars whom, after all, are nothing more than burning clouds of gas and rock and one day will die just as all of us will, and one day so will Gil. As he reminds us on this album, that is why parents give birth, give life to follow their lives with some semblance of themselves and educate you with the ideas they feel fit to be carried forth unto your world.
Soul claps enunciate the power of running down the street towards the trouble. Trouble you know is there but draws you further in to their mesmerizing swirls of pain like a magnet draws that metal home even when it sure as hell doesn’t want to go from its own world of contentment. This is the power of words. This is the power of Gil Scott-Heron, and don’t you ever forget it.
---
At some points in musical history, special attention must be paid, and this is one of those times. The release of Gil Scott-Heron’s first album in 15 years heralds a return to some sense of the genuine which seems to have been lost in these shiftless times of horror stories and vacuous, paper thin excuses for recording artists that will do what they are told and force feed you sludge until it spills out of your mouth in a stream of putrid, broken crotchets and quavers, indistinguishable from each other in a droning mess.
‘I’m New Here’, well aren’t we all? After the circle turns so far don’t we all feel new again when someone reawakens us with songs to agitate the soul. Gil’s heart has started to beat again in our breasts and he is calling his soldiers to war and the revolution we bring will not be televised, the revolution will NOT be televised. Broken up through the decades but never truly destroyed, the strength of Gil was forged from what he was given by those the state call broken though he was not from a ‘broken’ home. Bitter sweet smells of the streets and the South emanate from the strings and the bars on which hang the delicate protraction of notes tugging at the cat guts from inside us, used to be plucked and create our screams.
We are ready for our commands that come from the first. Of unfolding gently, with pride and respect, the covers of the box like the body of a lover, parting their legs,
"There is a proper procedure for taking advantage of any investment.
Music, for example. Buying a CD is an investment.
To get the maximum you must
LISTEN TO IT FOR THE FIRST TIME UNDER OPTIMUM CONDITIONS."
Yes sir. Would you ignore orders from such a man, such a man.
There is a travel in his words that transports us further than a bus, train, plane, automobile ever could. Far beyond the realms of our imagination and the stars whom, after all, are nothing more than burning clouds of gas and rock and one day will die just as all of us will, and one day so will Gil. As he reminds us on this album, that is why parents give birth, give life to follow their lives with some semblance of themselves and educate you with the ideas they feel fit to be carried forth unto your world.
Soul claps enunciate the power of running down the street towards the trouble. Trouble you know is there but draws you further in to their mesmerizing swirls of pain like a magnet draws that metal home even when it sure as hell doesn’t want to go from its own world of contentment. This is the power of words. This is the power of Gil Scott-Heron, and don’t you ever forget it.
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
Feeling sparkly and sore.
My first week in New York City is drawing to a close and the city's been kicking my ass and giving me all kinds of aural joy at the same time. Sunday night saw me head on down to the Jazz Standard with my boyfriend to watch Charles McPherson do his thing with four other very talented gentlemen. Willie Jones III in particular provided some mad drum solos that blew our tiny little minds to smithereens. Even better than that he turned out to be a really sound bloke that was happy to shoot the breeze with us after his performance. The smell of BBQ pervading the air in that joint was intoxicating but we were already filled to the brim with soul food and spaghetti (I tell you if I continue living here I'm going to gain at least 5 stone!)
I'm really interested as to why jazz has such a strong grip on this city more than anywhere else I've ever been. Not just that it was created in the States, but the fact that it still encapsulates a mood and a feeling that is so present here. It's as if Jazz is able to breathe in the smell of the New York streets and express the anguishes and celebrations of its people almost in the same breathe out. I'm looking to explore this further in a feature piece but I'll let you know when I've had some more time to mull it over.
Dragging us back to the life of London, my review of Putney born Four Tet's new single is now up for your hungry eyes on DMG.
Four Tet - Sing (single)
Let me know what your thoughts are on both the review and the single itself. On the listening front, I've been digging the new Gorillaz album, Plastic Beach, and I've been hitting up an old Gil Scott-Heron album, Bridges, a fair bit too.
For my sins, I watched the new Lady Gaga video on YouTube and remembered why I don't watch music television. Read into it whatever you will, but to me it just seems to me to be a weak excuse to have scantily clad women dancing about in a jail, and then a diner. Not that I mind beautiful women gyrating in, well very little to be honest, but those who put Gaga up on a pedestal of women's liberation, fighting for trans and female rights against male oppression are deluding themselves. Be honest about it. If you like the video, it's not because symbols of the patriarchal system are being poisoned or that Gaga is burning sunglasses made of cigarettes as a sign of monetary wealth to oppose American imperialism, it's because the thought of Beyonce and Lady Gaga being 'very bad girls' does naughty things to you or you like the clothes and drama or maybe you just dig the beat. In its own way it's fairly entertaining, but let's leave it at that shall we?
I'm really interested as to why jazz has such a strong grip on this city more than anywhere else I've ever been. Not just that it was created in the States, but the fact that it still encapsulates a mood and a feeling that is so present here. It's as if Jazz is able to breathe in the smell of the New York streets and express the anguishes and celebrations of its people almost in the same breathe out. I'm looking to explore this further in a feature piece but I'll let you know when I've had some more time to mull it over.
Dragging us back to the life of London, my review of Putney born Four Tet's new single is now up for your hungry eyes on DMG.
Four Tet - Sing (single)
Let me know what your thoughts are on both the review and the single itself. On the listening front, I've been digging the new Gorillaz album, Plastic Beach, and I've been hitting up an old Gil Scott-Heron album, Bridges, a fair bit too.
For my sins, I watched the new Lady Gaga video on YouTube and remembered why I don't watch music television. Read into it whatever you will, but to me it just seems to me to be a weak excuse to have scantily clad women dancing about in a jail, and then a diner. Not that I mind beautiful women gyrating in, well very little to be honest, but those who put Gaga up on a pedestal of women's liberation, fighting for trans and female rights against male oppression are deluding themselves. Be honest about it. If you like the video, it's not because symbols of the patriarchal system are being poisoned or that Gaga is burning sunglasses made of cigarettes as a sign of monetary wealth to oppose American imperialism, it's because the thought of Beyonce and Lady Gaga being 'very bad girls' does naughty things to you or you like the clothes and drama or maybe you just dig the beat. In its own way it's fairly entertaining, but let's leave it at that shall we?
Friday, March 12, 2010
We live in Brooklyn baby!
Back in the Big Apple and I just can't wait to get back into the music scene over here. Should be going out tonight for some Jazz, Hip Hop or maybe a bit of both (if I'm lucky!) I'll be sure to report back about that, but in the meantime check out these reviews I got published just before I left the LDN.
David Guetta ft. Kid Cudi - Memories (single)
Goldfrapp - Rocket (single)
Remember how I was feeling a bit mean not long ago? When you read the David Guetta review you'll see why!
Let me know what you think guys and I'll be checking back in with you soon.
David Guetta ft. Kid Cudi - Memories (single)
Goldfrapp - Rocket (single)
Remember how I was feeling a bit mean not long ago? When you read the David Guetta review you'll see why!
Let me know what you think guys and I'll be checking back in with you soon.
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
I'm feeling mean tonight.
So unsuspecting artists beware. It's about 2am and I've been up all night writing but I feel oddly satisfied. There's something about the dark and the night that seems to get the words flowing through me (I'm not sure why that is but it definitely beats getting blocked!) So, whilst I wait for 3 new single reviews to get published, here's a link to my review of Wiley's new single which has just gone up.
Wiley ft. Emeli Sande - Never Be Your Woman (single)
If you like grime, it's probably worth your while at least having a listen. Hope you enjoy and, as always, let me know what you think!
Wiley ft. Emeli Sande - Never Be Your Woman (single)
If you like grime, it's probably worth your while at least having a listen. Hope you enjoy and, as always, let me know what you think!
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