The results of my survey look a little bit like this!
I compared male and female spending habits to see who spent more on music per week.
Hmmm, looks like it's the men. On average, women said they spent £5 a week on music, where as men spent £15.50!
So yesterday was the anniversary of George Harrison's death and on the 8th of December it will be 21 years since John Lennon passed away. After all these years the appeal of The Beatles is no less than it was in 1963 among music lovers. I've made a time line chronicling their album releases and included links to some great videos. If you haven't known where to start, this should be a good guide.
10 years ago today. Here are some photographs, some words and a beautiful song. All of/by the great man himself. The quiet Beatle, the spiritual one and my Mum's first crush. Few people add so much to the world of popular music and culture as George did, and the world is a lonelier place without him. RIP George Harrison.
Caitlin Rose’s debut album, Own Side Now, sees the Nashville girl reigning in the restless humour of her 2008 EP, Dead Flowers, in favour of more introspective lyrics. The songs here are mellowed and earnest, but by no means inferior. Whereas Dead Flowers sounded like Patsy Cline singing Kimya Dawson songs at a honky-tonk karaoke, Own Side Now is Rose finding her own voice.
It seems a cliché to call Rose’s debut precocious, but the songs here reveal an intimate knowledge of heartbreak that seems at odds with her age; most songs were written when Rose was only 16. The Nashville twang in her pitch-perfect vocals exudes a smoky maturity and the do – wop inspired For the Rabbits nods a Stetson hat to the bleary, make-up smudged eyes of the unfulfilled country starlets of the fifties. The track evokes the ghost of Loretta Lynne against a backdrop of Bible belt gospel organs and sweeping string arrangements that edge towards the Wall of Sound but are ultimately too beautifully understated to be truly Spector-esque.
Rose has a keen ear for polished production (she co-produced alongside Skylar Wilson and Bonnie Prince Billy’s producer Mark Nevers) but elsewhere, the arrangements are kept country simple, usually backed by sprawling Stratocasters, acoustic guitar, pedal steel, the occasional harmonica and a honky-tonk piano that sounds accustomed to the odd spill of bourbon. If this seems largely traditional, don’t be fooled. Rose’s wry observations, turn her native musical heritage into something all her own. New York’s extended metaphor of the doe-eyed country girl, lost in the big city is told with raw emotion (Bleached my hair, stained my face/Made me drink just for the taste/And to burn out the monster this town has brought out in me) and a verve and brashness typically teenage (So I got lost on the lower east side/Cause i pissed off my tour guide) Scrupulously describing a young girl’s burgeoning womanhood and proclamation of independence. It’s far removed from any of traditional country and western’s syrupy platitudes or the perfunctoriness of Taylor Swift’s radio friendly pop-country banalities. Rose is, clearly, a songwriter of a different calibre.
The listener accompanies Rose at her most confessional. Own Side and Sinful Wishing Well are heart-ripped-out-of-ribcage, break-up songs imbued with so many tears and woven with so much anxiety that they seem to be constructed from pain. And yet, they manage to be both delicate and defiant. Shanghai Cigarettes, the catchy, strat-twangin’ standout track sees Rose smoking a lover’s last cigarettes as a final farewell, putting more faith in the future of her relationship with the cigs, than any other (Tryin’ to quit makes you wish you didn’t start/When the box is as empty as the hole in your heart)
Leather jackets, black jeans and a face free from any hint of make-up, the big fringed, chain smoking Rose’s mix of anguish and independence and indie-pop country, make her seem like Dolly Parton for the indie-kid generation - a hillbilly hipster. But with an album as solid and mature as Own Side Now, comparisons seem reductive. Perfectly crafted, bright and endearing, Rose has found not just her own voice, but potentially the voice of a nascent genre. If Nashville hasn’t seeped into the indie mainstream this time next year, I’ll eat my (ten gallon) hat.
A useless attempt at editing and reading news. The next Moira Stewart, I am not. But I'm sure I'll get sacked by the time I'm fifty so we'll have something in common eventually.
Happy Halloween! Here are five songs that have always creeped me out. I share them in the hope they do the same for you. Luckily, they are all also AWESOME :)
5. Legs - PJ HARVEY
A murderess's lament to her dismembered lover's corpse. "Did I tell you you're divine? Did I tell you when you were alive?...Got to ease my aching head. No other way, cut off your legs" - Lovely stuff.
4. Goddamn You, Jim - FELICE BROTHERS
Dead children, ghosts, burials, haunted parents, suicide attempts and farming the prairies. As moving, stark and atmospheric as anything you will see in film. If this doesn't send a shiver down your spine or a push a single tear from your eye, you are probably one of the undead.
3. The Fable of the Brown Ape - NICK CAVE AND THE BAD SEEDS
A farmer goes into a barn and sees one of his cows suckling a serpent and a chained up ape going batshit insane in the corner. So far, so Nick Cave. The really creepy thing about this song, is that Cave claims that it is about Blixa, his Bad Seeds bandmate. Weird kind of song to write about your friend don't you think? Freud would have had a field day. Or he'd have just given up altogether.
2. Tenderness of Wolves - COIL
Coil at their very best, which in their case means at their shit-yer-pants-scariest. Every track on this album is a three minute horror, but this particular song comes with added crying baby. Put it on, loud, when you answer the door to Trick or Treaters.
1. What's He Building? - TOM WAITS
Scariest song of all time. Waits reminds us that the scariest possibilities are always inside our own head. Or he really did live next door to Ed Gein for a while...
Amy and I talk about the biggest news story of the last twenty four hours, and I make a prick of myself by using the tautology "Killed Dead". And no, it's not about who you think...
There are many reasons why some albums slip into the ether. Usually because they are shit. Here are a few that aren't.
1. Mississippi Charles Bevel - Meet Mississippi Charles Bevel
If I could tell you anything about this man, I would, but so underrated is this gem that the poor fella doesn't even have a wikipedia page. I assume his name was Charles, I assume he was from Mississippi but I couldn't tell you much more than that. What I can tell you is that his 1973 album, Meet Mississippi Charles Bevel is a cracker. Less raw screaming blues than you'd expect from anyone with the name "Mississippi", this underrated classic sways between smooth soul sounds and slide guitars, creating a distinctive mix of country and soul, straying quite a way north of the delta. The lyrics are emotive, wise and fun and delivered in Bevel's sleek, lazy drawl. A beauty.
FOR FANS OF - B.B. King, Marvin Gaye
2. The Shortwave Set - Debt Collection
British band The Shortwave Set's debut album, Debt Collection, was released to a flurry of critical acclaim with many high profile music publications and DJ's championing it. The sales told a different story and must have left music journalists wondering if they were in the wrong business and contemplating taking up butchery or fair trade hat-making. The Shortwave Set supported some pretty big artists such as Goldfrapp, Rilo Kiley, Gnarles Barkley and Danger Mouse but Debt Collection was still gathering dust at the bottom of bargain bins up and down the country's shops. But I bought it. And I bloody loved it. It's contemporary pop music at it's absolute bonkers best and the use of samples has yet to be rivalled in the boundaries of the indie-pop genre (they use anything and everything to full effect - even Millican & Nesbitt and Engelbert Humperdinck are on there. Seriously.) Melodic and innovative, you are likely to hear ukuleles, guitars, organs, clattering laptop generated noise and percussion played on anything from a typewriter or a badger's head (ok, I made that bit up - point is, it's a weird mix of instrumentation that leaves listeners no clue as to what is actually a sample and what is well, a potential badger's head.)
FOR FANS OF:- The Beta Band, Spiritulized
3. Robert Randolph and The Family Band - Live at The Wetlands
In 2002, while everyone was busy hailing New York band The Strokes as the saviours of Rock n Roll and claiming their scruffy hair and tight jeans and jacket combo made them "look like they were from outer space" (which, incidentally, I never quite grasped. Plenty at my school, me included had a similar look, but maybe that's just what poverty and debased standards of hygiene do to you) a very real resurgence of Rock n Roll in it's most raw, bluesy form was taking place elsewhere in New York. Live at the Wetlands is the first release from Robert Randolph and The Family Band and an introduction to the front man who is possibly one of the greatest guitarists alive. Furious pedal steel playing is accompanied by gospel style vocals creating one of the most joyful rackets around. More recent albums have been steadier sellers, suggesting that Randolph and Co. may yet become a household name, but this album is their first and best.
FOR FANS OF:- Muddy Waters, Allman Brothers
NB I couldn't actually find live footage from the Wetlands. The above video is a track from Live at The Wetlands, recorded in Texas at a later date. It's a blinding performance, so get your shades on.
4. Johnny Dangerously - You, Me and The Alarm Clock
Johnny Dangerously is an alias used by John Bramwell of I Am Kloot in 1990 when he released this 'mini album'. I Am Kloot are often called 'Manchester's Best Kept Secret' and could have easily had a place on the list too although none of their recording strike me as much as this barely there recording. Just a Northern accent and a guitar, You, Me and The Alarm Clock is six delicate, despairing and at times, desperately funny songs that assert Bramwell as one of the most evocative and affecting lyricists in Britain. Bramwell's vivid vernacular creates imagery at once highly romanticised and mundane and despite I Am Kloot's recent acclaim (They were nominated for a Mercury Prize in 2010, but were "too skint to put a bet on" themselves) it still seems a shame that more people aren't listening.
FOR FANS OF :- Elbow, The Smiths
5. Kevin Coyne - Marjory Razorblade
A patronage from John Peel, acclaim from John Lydon and being The Door's first choice to replace Jim Morrisson have all done little to propel Kevin Coyne's legacy into mainstream consciousness. He's fleeting success in the early 70's mean he is someone my Mum has heard of, but none of my mates down the pub recognise when I download his tracks onto the various jukeboxes of Blackburn (which I do with alarming regularity) This 1973 release is a mix of comedy and tragedy typical of blues music but his tortured vocal delivery and insistence on rough edges over the more polished guitar sounds typical of 70's blues rock, give him a punk rock edge. He screams in a voice decidedly English, and rather than mimic the "I-was-born-with-nothing-and-i'll-die-with-nothing-unless-they-take-that-away-too" lyrics of American blues, concentrates on the tea drinking habits of croquet playing 'Eastbourne Ladies'. He is, in my opinion, the only veritable English Bluesman. In his youth, Coyne worked with the mentally ill in Preston, Lancashire and the injustices faced by those marginalised by psychiatric illness was a theme that he often muses on in his lyrics. The spoken word tracks on this album scream at the listener in affected English accents that demand to be listened to. Which you can do now :)
FOR FANS OF:- Seasick Steve, Bob Dylan
6. Electrelane - Rock it to The Moon
Sometimes creepy, sometimes pretty, always interesting. Electrelane's atmospheric instrumental début has long been a favourite of mine. Reviews of this album were largely positive at the time of release but somehow the four girls from Brighton's sound didn't transform into the token of eligibility for the hipster generation as happened with Godspeed! You Black Emporer, who take a similar approach to song writing. Some people argue that that is simply because they are not as good, but I disagree. Different? yes. Less engaging? not by a elongated keyboard solo.
7. Karen Dalton - In My Own Time
Part of the Greenwich Village folk scene that nurtured the talents of Bob Dylan and Joan Baez et. al Karen Dalton failed to make a huge name for herself in her own right. Her whiskey-soaked voice always sounds strained and as if singing was stripping her vocal chords raw - not exactly pop chart fodder. Bob Dylan said "she had a voice like Billie Holiday and played guitar like Jimmy Reed" and it is alleged she is the subject of Bob Dylan and The Band's "Katie's Been Gone". Thing is, singing really was painful for Dalton - she found the process of recording music highly embarrassing and much of her recordings only exist at all because people tricked her into performing while she played. The results are albums, mostly recorded in one take, that jostle with a live album quality, rife with authentic imperfections and genuine emotion. She covers blues and folk classics with equal integrity and left a legacy that has to be heard to be believed. Dalton suffered with alcoholism and drug abuse and died, reportedly penniless and homeless, after a long battle with AIDS.
FOR FANS OF : - Fleet Foxes, Bert Jansch
8. The Silver Jews - The Natural Bridge
The second Silver Jews album saw more favourable reviews than their first effort, Starlite Walker but hasn't gained the cult status of their third album, American Water, despite being, to my mind, the finest example of the eccentric poetic brilliance of David Berman's. His low voice wraps around lyrics that are observant, surreal and honest, creating a eerie distance between himself and the scenes that his music conjures. Unsympathetic heroes are everywhere and nowhere, and the album creates a reflection of the human condition in all it's beautiful and dull glory.
FOR FANS OF : - Pavement, Palace Bros.
9. Al Stewart - Past, Present and Future.
Al Stewart is best known for his 1975 album and single 'Year of The Cat', but he is by no means a one hit wonder. He's had a successful and varied career that neither started or ended with that album. His best work is the over-looked 1973 album Past, Present and Future which saw Al Stewart move away from earnest pop-folk songs to concentrate on creating characters and historic figures against a backdrop of multi-layered instrumentation. There's still a prog-folk (and don't be put off by that term, it's not as wizards and stonehengey as it sounds. Nearly, but in a good way) edge to this album that was lost in Year of The Cat in favour of a highly polished pop sheen and that is what makes this THE Al Stewart album to own and the greatest thing about is it that it never sounds like anyone else. Seriously. If you don't have room for it, throw out Year of The Cat and buy this instead.
FOR FANS OF :- Zombies/Colin Blunstone, Richard Thompson, John Lennon/The Beatles
10. Marty Robbins - Gunfighter Ballads and Trail Songs
For my last choice, I was in a quandary. Go for something new and obscure? A classic that you think hasn't had enough recognition? I whittled it down to Flying Burrito Brothers, Company Flow and Mark Kostelik's acoustic covers of ACDC songs. And then, remembered this! The reason that this Country and Western classic from 1959 bumped off countless other albums that could have appeared on this list, is because I AM CHANGING THE WORLD! Well, not really. But for too long have music fans been made to feel that admitting they appreciate the old western myth spinning that occurs in true country and western classics is about the same as admitting that you once let the neighbours dog lick peanut butter off your private parts ie, you should be institutionalised. Or worse, people may accuse you of not being a 'proper' music lover. But if you like something, you like it and there should be no room for snobbery in matters of taste. Country music is and has been a huge influence to popular music from Neil Young to Ryan Adams. Listening to Gunfighter Ballads and Trail Songs is to be transported to another time. You can practically hear saloon doors swinging and feel the grit kicked up from the hooves of galloping horses hit you in the eye. Robbins wrote most of the songs that appear on Gunfighter... and if you cannot appreciate the genre, you must (I implore you!) appreciate his knack for story telling - the outlaws and bar wenches, gunfights and hangmen come to life in epic narratives and minute details. How anyone can think that this isn't pure musical joy is something I can never and never want to understand. Get your spurs on and treat yourself to a strut around the prairies of your imagination. Let Marty be your guide. It's good for you.
So, what have I missed? Let me know which albums you think have been overlooked for too long. You too can CHANGE THE WORLD!
After having my arm twisted so forcefully it now resembles some sort of French pastry (by people who shall remain nameless ie. Andy Dickinson) I have resigned myself to blogging (and yes, typing is difficult with my mangled Euro-arm)
The Digital Journalism module on my MA Journalism course has today focussed on how to manage time effiently online. We looked at things that were a revelation to my techno-phobic eyes such as RSS feeds (I know! Who knew?! Well everyone, apparantly) and how to subscribe to them on Google Reader. (www.google.co.uk/reader) It's pretty simple to use (I managed it. That should give you some idea of how straightforward it is) and it is an effective way of keeping on top of the stories posted to your favourite websites. I can see how this is a useful tool and will probably continue to use it - I myself subscribed to myriad of top quality broadsheets and science and business magazines including The Stool Pigeon, Pitchfork and Rolling Stone. Because that's *just* the kind of high class woman about town I am.
I enjoyed the lesson but, that being said, there were other ways I had envisioned spending my Birthday. All of which include a significantly larger amount of Vodka than was provided in this lesson.
