FEATURE: The Alchemy: The Generation Differences of Experiencing the Rise and Dominance of the Music Icon

FEATURE:

 

 

The Alchemy

IN THIS PHOTO: Madonna photographed for Rolling Stone in 1984/PHOTO CREDIT: Steven Meisel

The Generation Differences of Experiencing the Rise and Dominance of the Music Icon

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THERE has been a lot written…

IN THIS PHOTO: Taylor Swift/PHOTO CREDIT: Beth Garrabrant

about Taylor Swift’s latest album, THE TORTURED POETS DEPARTMENT. Some see the album as not breaking ground and the same as her other albums. There have been big reviews like this. This is another one. A double album, some argue it could be edited better. Many fans love the album, though many have come out to say that it is not that interesting or different. One cannot argue against the fact that its creator is an icon. The biggest artist of her generation. There is almost this hegemony where Taylor Swift is dominant. Having won so many awards, broken records and been a part of one of the biggest tours of all time – her Eras Tour -, she is someone who has a legion of fans. Every one of her albums get so much hype and explosion. So many features and discussion. You can do your research, but there are so many articles written that dissect and discuss THE TORTURED POETS DEPARTMENT. I am not a massive Taylor Swift fan myself, though I admire her as an artist. She is a tremendous songwriter. Someone who is hugely inspiring and a modern icon. She will put out many more albums and no doubt appear in and direct films. I think we get to a point where each album she puts out will get more and more attention and scrutiny. It will break streaming records, sell massive units and then scoop loads of awards. Some would say that is deserved, though some would counter that it is because it is Taylor Swift: it would be wrong not to garner an artist and album with that much acclaim. One of the of the downsides of all this fame and focus means that Swift cannot really enjoy a private life in the way she would. I think she is also subjected to much more criticism than many artists. Also, a sense of pressure that future albums need to top what came before.

Taylor Swift is breaking records that Madonna previously held. Perhaps the two most successful female artists ever, Swift wants to distance herself from Madonna. That said, it won’t be long until the two collaborate on something. Madonna is in mind, as she is still touring. The Celebration Tour is a phenomenon. Sitting alongside Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour and Beyoncé's Renaissance World Tour as the biggest and most successful. Full of spectacle and wonder. Three music queens producing something history-making. I think Taylor Swift very much reminds people of Madonna. Not just in terms of the fact they are blonde Americans. In terms of what they have achieved in their golden days. One could say Madonna was the biggest artist in the world from the 1980s through to the 1990s. Her 1980s was hugely successful. Taylor Swift enjoying the same acclaim and peaks in the 2020s. I have been thinking about Madonna as more than one of her albums celebrates a big anniversary this year (Like a Virgin turns forty later in the year). I grew up listening to Madonna, so I am experiencing two music icons in different times. Comparing the experience of the modern icon and ones from the past. Both Taylor Swift and Madonna are massively acclaimed and brilliant artist, yet they have risen and reached their peak at very different times. In terms of how Madonna rose and became an icon. How Taylor Swift has today. It takes nothing away from the achievements of each, yet I feel the feeling and sensations you feel now are perhaps not as potent and enduring as they were back in the 1980s and 1990s.

One could say that Taylor Swift will go on to become more celebrated and successful than Madonna. This would have seemed inconceivable a few years ago even though, with her streaming figures and album sales rising – not to mention her huge wealth -, we are in a position where we may be witnessing an artist who is going to be the most successful woman of all time. Not that Madonna can be dethroned as the Queen of Pop – I am not sure whether Swift would call he music ‘Pop’ -, but we might be living through a time that we will never see again. In terms of a single artist achieving as much. When I was young, I experienced Madonna through traditional sources of the time: MTV, music T.V in general, radio and print media/music magazines. I was born in the same year her eponymous debut came out (1983), so I was very young watching her go from this promising artist to a world-straddling legend. Maybe 1989’s Like a Prayer was the moment where she was untouchable and unstoppable. Today, on tour and inspiring countless artists, she is still this amazingly important person and icon. Her impact will never fade. There are differences in how icons are made and how we make them today. In terms of the past, a lot of the reason Madonna became an icon – apart from the music – was because of her distinct music videos, the innovative nature of her tours, in addition to the fact her music was played on radio and we read interviews about her. All forms of media sharing their opinions on her. Pre-Internet, there was a slower build but one that was more exciting and enduing. I am not sure, if Madonna came through now, there would be quite the same affect and feeling now.

It is hard to explain. I think the Internet and social media now can make an icon faster. Taylor Swift able to share clips of songs and teasers. So much of the marketing and feedback is done online. You do see her music videos played, though I think the role of radio and music T.V. is far less important than social media and digital reviews. Her tours are also important. I think most of her acclaim and popularity has come in a shorter time. Swift has always been popular; the past few years have been particularly busy and eventful. A real explosion. Building from albums such as 2020’s folklore, this acceleration has been fuelled by social media, momentum and, obviously, a gifted and wonderful artist evolving and going from strength to strength. In decades to come, we will talk of Taylor Swift and think of her as one of the best artists of all time. Swift might well endure as long as Madonna, though I think it is less likely she may be touring like Madonna is now at the age of sixty-five. Swift has re-recorded some of her studio albums. I think it is easier to make an icon now, as there is so many more media outlets now. A much bigger network who can share music really fast. Does this take something away from the phenomenon of crowning and celebrating an icon?! I suppose the more we go digital and the more the Internet takes charge, things are going to feel different. I wanted to use Taylor Swift and Madonna as two icons from different times – though both are touring and recording at the same time. Growing up between Madonna albums and seeing this evolution and transformation. Different looks and sounds. The magazine articles and press discussion around her. She faced criticism and sexism, yet Madonna always came out fighting and was this indomitable artist who was in a league of her own.

Today, we have Taylor Swift. The embodiment of a modern-day icon. Someone who has the same fame and popularity as Madonna in her regency. It is wonderful seeing her get good press and doing so well. Whilst it is exciting and like we are part of history, there is something a little numb about it. Maybe it is the sheer amount of press and wave of acclaim that seems overwhelming. I think that the way an icon was constructed and defined decades ago was more impactful and dug deeper than it does today. Whether things are more mechanical. There is definitely something missing. I look back at old photos of Madonna and some early clips. That rush of nostalgia and warmth. In many ways, it is a great and strange time to be around. Remembering days where icons like Madonna and Prince were made. How that made us feel. How they endure and influence to this day. Being around now to see Taylor Swift rule and break records. It made me think about those differences and what separates them. Everything now is so much faster and full-on. Not that this is necessarily a bad thing. Maybe good in some ways as we can see and hear more from an artist a lot faster. What is clear that two living icons (look at what Madonna is still capable of doing - over four decades since her debut album came out!), Madonna and Taylor Swift, are going to be adored and revered…

FOR decades more.

FEATURE: Generation X-Why-ZZZZ: How Ageism Against Women Is a Form of Discrimination That the Music Industry Is Slow to Eradicate

FEATURE:

 

 

Generation X-Why-ZZZZ

IN THIS PHOTO: Kylie Minogue

How Ageism Against Women Is a Form of Discrimination That the Music Industry Is Slow to Eradicate

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I know that it applies to…

PHOTO CREDIT: Elena Rubtsova/Pexels

all genders, though ageism is a form of discrimination that affects women most. This is not a new or surprising conversation. I think that there are a lot of forms of discrimination that still exist. Misogyny and sexism has not really radically shifted and improved. I guess we can say there is more awareness and acceptance of L.G.B.T.Q.I.A.+ artists. I still think that women are the recipients of most of the discrimination and marginalisation. Black women perhaps the least exposed and celebrated. Women still the minority when it comes to radio playlists. Festivals not fast enough to create balance. In terms of representation, celebration and equality, men in music are still seen as superior. There have been a few discussions over the past year or two that have centred around ageism. Perhaps not as talked about as sexism or misogyny, I remember Kylie Minogue acknowledging the fact that ageism is no longer seen as cool. This would have come after she was left off of BBC Radio 1’s playlist. Padam Padam was the first single from her acclaimed album, TENSION. It was not played by BBC Radio 1 – until complaints and people highlighting this changed that. I agree that ageism is not cool though, as Minogue – who is in her fifties – highlighted, it clearly was present. That does not mean that it has gone away. In fact, radio stations especially are still championing and including more younger female and male artists. Male artists do encounter ageism too, though it has always been something much more common regarding female artists.

Earlier this year, Pet Shop Boys claimed how there is no longer ageism in music. Their logic being that acts like that can still be popular. That there is this embrace of older acts. They are short of the mark. They can sell albums and get played on radio because they are established. And a male act. I don’t think that there is the same sort of security and visibility for older female artists. Women over the age of thirty or forty who are making steps into the industry struggle so much more than younger artists to get noticed and played. Recently, actor Kate Hudson revealed how she faced sexism when she tried to go into the music industry – at a shockingly young age. At the age of forty-five, Hudson is now launching a career in music:

“At the age of 45, Kate Hudson is launching her music career. That chapter of her career almost didn’t happen, though, because she was discouraged from even going down that path over a decade ago. Her shocking ageism experience probably isn’t the only story in Hollywood, but The Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery star has the clout and the power to make her dreams become a reality.

Husdon admitted that the unhelpful advice she received “jarred” her at the time. “It was in my early 30s and they basically said, ‘It’s done. Past. You’re too old,'” she told CBS Sunday Morning. “And for me, it wasn’t just about being a performer, it was about wanting to write music.” She admitted that “it kind of resonated for a bit” until she was ready to say, “Nah, f**k you. No, no one tells me what to do!” That brings her to this stage of her career and the launch of her debut album, Glorious.

Kate Hudson performs onstage at the 35th Annual GLAAD Media Awards held at the Beverly Hilton Hotel on March 14, 2024 in Beverly Hills, California.

It took a long time for her music to reach the public, but not because of the music executive who tried to thwart her career — Hudson sometimes got in her own way. “I guess I wasn’t ready for it until now,” she revealed. “I just don’t care anymore what people think. It was never right whether it was my own stuff or feeling afraid to mess up my movie career. It just never felt right…until now. I’m just doing it”.

James lead Tim Booth recently told Channel 4 how he has faced ageism. A successful band who have been making albums for decades, they are not immune to that discrimination. I think it highlights how there is this preference for younger artists. How relevance is defined by age. Artists in their teens, twenties and early-thirties seen as cool and current, whereas any artist over that is ‘past it’. Will Young, in the video for his song, Falling Deep, worked with dancers his age (he is forty-five). He recognised how there is this desire and allure for young and fresh artist. If you are established and should be played because of that legacy, it seems less important to the industry. Will Young, in this article, acknowledged how there is particular discrimination against women. Ageism plays into a wider narrative and spectrum of discrimination. One that is affecting women more than anyone else. A recent report about gender equality also highlighted how there was age discrimination. Younger women in the industry less likely to face discrimination than those of a different generation:

“Prepared by MIDiA Research and featuring a forward by Melissa Etheridge, the report — available here — aggregates responses from 4,146 creators and professionals in the music industry. This research was done through an online global survey translated into 14 languages and executed in November and December of 2023.

Of these respondents, 64% were men, 32% were women and 6% were gender expansive, with this segment indicating that they identify as nonbinary, agender, transgender or other. One-on-one interviews were also conducted with women and gender expansive creators in the U.S., South Africa, France, Mexico, and India.

Among the key findings, the survey found that — despite some recently documented gains for women in music creation and representation — women and gender expansive people are far more likely than men to experience the music industry as “generally discriminative” based on gender, with 49% of women and 41% of gender expansive individuals expressing this belief, compared to only 16% of men.

Age plays a factor in regard to this finding, with Gen Z less likely to perceive gender discrimination than older generations. 31% of 16-24-yea- old women view the industry as generally discriminative based on gender, compared to 54% of 25-34 year olds and 42% of women 55 and older. The report notes that this finding “could reflect improving conditions” but could also be a function of younger women not yet being in the industry long enough to experience discrimination.

The study also found that three in five women in music have experienced sexual harassment, and that one in five have experienced sexual assault.

More than 70% of women who have these experiences do not report them, the study says, “due to fear of retaliation and not believing anything would change being the most common reasons.” The study also notes that 53% of men who witnessed sexual harassment and/or assault did not report it, with 37% of these men saying that they “did not feel it was their place.”

Additionally, 56% of women who reported sexual assault responded that their claims were ignored or dismissed. The study found that nearly one-third were told to “keep quiet about it” while 12% were terminated from their job after reporting an incident.

As such, the study states, “the burden is on women to adapt their behavior to avoid misconduct, rather than on perpetrators and the wider industry to stop it happening in the first place.”

In terms of money, the study found that women and gender expansive people “are twice as likely as men to discover they are paid less than colleagues in the same or similar roles.” Identity compounds this issue, with 49% of women of a marginalized race or ethnicity having learned they’re paid less than colleagues. The study advises that the pay gap “is likely even more widespread than these statistics indicate, as individuals may be subjected to unequal pay without knowledge of it”.

Even if ageism against women has slightly moved and there has had to be some evolution, there is still this barrier. Artist LT (Leanne Tennant) told me how she has faced ageism and continues to do so. Many other women facing barriers and fewer opportunities when they reach thirty. Things are even bleaker when they hit forty. I do feel that there is this thing where artists over thirty and forty are only seen as relevant and worthy for particular radio stations and demographics. Even if bigger festivals like Glastonbury will book women over the age of thirty and forty, there is still a reliance and dominance of male acts and younger artists. Kylie Minogue’s third imperial phase shows that there is still ageism in the industry. Women baring the brunt of this. Things can change and get better. I don’t feel enough is being done from those in the industry. Like sexism and gender imbalance in general, few are keen to move the dial when it comes to embracing women of ‘a certain age’. I think about this article. Artist Lola Blanc, who was twenty-seven at the time, wrote how ageism is something she constantly faced:

“In a culture where artists and actresses and writers alike are either fibbing or withholding the truth of their birth dates, because everyone around us is telling us we're only as valuable as we are young, the impulse makes sense. It might mean fewer acting roles, or less interest from labels or agencies, or no longer having a "thing." And that's extremely daunting. But maybe it's only the norm until it's not. Sia and Tina Fey—women known for the merit of their talent rather than the size of the boners they induce (though they're both totally boner-worthy)—give me hope.

Yes, I am getting older. In a few years, I'll be 30, and maybe I'll be tempted to email all the websites that have ever listed how old I am and ask them to erase any evidence that I'm human. Tempted, perhaps, to do my darnedest to make the world believe that I am still young and fresh and sparkly and dumb and infantile and fuckable, available for the defiling, even as my humanity pulls me, faster and faster, into smarter, stronger adulthood. Tempted, as it were, to be a part of the problem.

Except I do believe it's a problem. Time is moving, and it's happening to all of us, no matter how well we conceal the shrinking lips and deepening lines that come with its passage, and what I can't quite wrap my head around is why women are supposed to be so goddamn ashamed of it.

The truth is, I'm thrilled to be beyond much of the insecurity and ignorance of my teenage years and early 20s. I feel beautiful. I'm doing the best work I've ever done, I know more than I've ever known, and I'm excited at the thought that, with every passing year, my work will improve and I'll know infinitely more than I do now. I believe that I am valuable. So why am I, along with countless other women, being told to feel like I'm not? I'm only in my 20s. What happens in ten years? Twenty?”.

Recently, J-Pop artist kiki vivi lily discussed her experiences with ageism. Many women are making the best music of their career when they are in their late-twenties and thirties. That experience and time means that they have richer and more personal stories. Music that is stronger than what they were making in their teens and twenties. Legends like Madonna and Rita Ora have recently responded to ageism in the industry. One can also say that platforms like TikTok have not helped. How there is lookism and an obsession with beauty standards. If women are over thirty or forty, they are not seen as desirable or worthy as younger contemporaries. As I say, things are better now than years ago, though we are nowhere near the point where ageism against women has ended. Male artists do face it, though you can look at playlists, festival line-ups and further afield and see how things are easier for men who are part of Generation X or older. Career highs from the likes of Kylie Minogue show that you can never write off an artist or define them by age. Minogue’s recent album far stronger than most of the work being put out by modern and younger Pop artists. I am hearing of incredible women who are struggling to get heard and respected because they are not in their twenties. Music should be ageless and barrier-less. However, when it comes to female artists, they are facing so many pushbacks and issues. It is evident that…

NEEDS to change.

FEATURE: The Digital Mixtape: Cuts from Twenty Golden Albums of 1979

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The Digital Mixtape

IN THIS PHOTO: This photo of The Clash’s bassist Paul Simonen smashing his bass guitar onstage was taken from the wings backstage at The Palladium in New York City on 21st September, 1979, during the band’s Take The Fifth U.S. Tour (their seminal album, London Calling, was released on 14th December, 1979, and it features this iconic image on the cover)/PHOTO CREDIT: Pennie Smith
 

Cuts from Twenty Golden Albums of 1979

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LATE last year…

IN THIS PHOTO: David Bowie in Kyoto, Japan in 1980/PHOTO CREDIT: Masayoti Sukita

I put together a series of playlists that collated songs from albums celebrating big anniversaries in 2024. One of them related to 1979 and albums turning forty-five this year. I want to come back, as there are some real classics in the pack. Rather than include a song from each of the great albums of 1979, I have narrowed it down to twenty. Albums from amazing bands and iconic solo artists. I think 1979 is one of the greatest years for music ever. A real turning point between what was popular until the late-1970s (including Disco) and the Pop and various sounds that defined the 1980s. From a Fleetwood Mac album that followed on from their finest release, through to one of David Bowie’s more underrated albums, below are a selection of the very best from 1979. If you want a flavour of what defined the year, then the mixtape below should give you…

IN THIS PHOTO: Fleetwood Mac circa 1979/PHOTO CREDIT: Norman Seeff

A good idea.

FEATURE: One for the Record Collection! Essential June Releases

FEATURE:

 

 

One for the Record Collection!

IN THIS PHOTO: Peggy Gou

Essential June Releases

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I am looking ahead…

IN THIS PHOTO: Charli XCX/PHOTO CREDIT: Harley Weir

to next month and albums out that you will want to pre-order. I am going to highlight a dozen or so albums that you will want to investigate. Maybe not quite as packed as May when it comes to standout albums, there are still plenty that are worth keeping your eye out for. You can see what else is out via this website. I am going to start with albums from 7th June. It is quite an interesting week for album releases. I will start with Alfie Templeman and his new album, Radiosoul. This is an album that you will want to pre-order. One of our finest young songwriters, this is going to be among the most fascinating and brilliant albums of this year:

“Radiosoul, Alfie Templeman's second studio album, is an ambitious suite of tracks that showcase a bold new acid-pop direction for the Bedfordshire-born polymath. The record features production from Templeman as well as Nile Rodgers, Dan Carey, Karma Kid, Oscar Scheller, Will Bloomfield, Justin Young, Josh Scarbrow and Charlie J Perry. It is an album of self-discovery, one that zips between genres at whim and showcases a newfound incisiveness and acerbic humour to Templeman’s lyricism, whilst retaining the sense of joy that defined his previous releases. It is the work of a prodigiously talented songwriter truly coming into his own”.

Let’s get to one of the most anticipated albums of this year. One of our most popular and influential Pop artists, Charli XCX’s Brat is out on 7th June. Even though the album cover – I am not sure if it is the final one – is awful, the music inside is going to be terrific. It is a very interesting and fertile time for great Pop. Dua Lipa recently released her album, Radical Optimism. It will be interesting to see what Charli XCX offers with Brat. Following the underrated CRASH of 2022, I think that we will get one of Charli XCX’s best albums yet in June. It is going to be exciting to see what she puts out into the world. Go and pre-order the album if you can:

“Charli XCX’s sixth studio album Brat is the eagerly awaited follow up to 2022’s Crash, which reached number 1 on the UK’s official album chart. Brat is an exhilarating club record built around high art references and social commentary. Avant-pop and electronic superstar Charli XCX has become an iconic figure in the arts, having helped expand the landscape of popular music over the last decade by seamlessly traversing the underground and mainstream with her artistic output. Over the course of a trailblazing career, the multi-hyphenate creative has earned critical acclaim for her innovative style and entrepreneurial spirit and seen her forward-thinking approach reshape pop culture in the process”.

I am going to move to an album I am really looking forward to. Goat Girl release Below the Waste on 7th June. I would encourage people to pre-order the album, as it is going to be remarkable. They are an incredible and truly original band that always release the most interesting and engaging music. I am keen to see what comes from Below the Waste. From what has come from the album so far suggests that we are going to witness something amazing. Go and check out songs such as motorway and ride around:

“Goat Girl - Lottie Pendlebury (she/her), Rosy Jones (they/them) and Holly Mullineaux (she/her) release their third album Below The Waste on Rough Trade Records. The album was co–produced by the band and John Spud Murphy (Lankum and black midi).

Pieced together like a collage over an extended period of time, the instrumentation was tracked mostly over a ten-day stint in Ireland at Hellfire Studios, in the shadow of the infamous Hellfire Club itself. They also used Damon Albans, Studio 13. Additional strings (Reuben Kyriakides and Nic Pendlebury), woodwind instruments (Alex McKenzie) and vocals (including a choir made up of family and friends) were added to this framework at a number of locations, from a barn in Essex to Goat Girl’s own studio in South London.

Singer Lottie on lead track: “I was listening to lots of music at the time by Phillip Glass and Deerhoof that plays with the relationship between tension and resolution which definitely influenced this song. I was yearning for honesty and authenticity in relationships I held with people, probably partly because at the time, like everyone, we were so isolated from one another. But it also felt deeper than that, like the conversations I dreamt of stripped away all of the etiquettes we desperately clung onto and went below the surface to where the most interesting parts of ourselves tend to be suppressed”.

An album that might pass some people by but you certainly need to be aware of is from Peggy Gou. I Hear You is an album I am tempted to pre-order. One of the most iconic and important artists and D.J.s today, I Hear You is the debut from the sensational Peggy Gou. Such a phenomenal talent, I think this will bring her work to a wider audience. Someone is who is known more as an underground D.J., producer and artist, this will take her to the mainstream and around the world. If you have not heard of Peggy Gou and are not familiar with her work then do go and check her out:

“Artist, producer, DJ and cultural trailblazer Peggy Gou releases her long-awaited debut album. One of the most hotly-anticipated debut records in recent years, I Hear You is released via XL Recordings. The ten track album is the culmination of years of work for the Korean-born artist, who’s uniquely revered as both an underground icon and global sensation, sticking by her own unwavering vision to become one of the most in-demand electronic music artists and DJs in the world. Featuring previous singles, the 2023 chart-topping global hit “(It Goes Like) Nanana” and her Lenny Kravitz collaboration “I Believe in Love Again”, the LP sees Gou stepping into the next level of her artistry and boldly claiming her voice through the kaleidoscopic lens of ‘90s house music.

Talking about I Hear You, Peggy Gou says:

“I Hear You is more than just my debut album. It embodies countless hours of dedication in my journey to create something timeless, and is a testament to the power of listening, to ourselves and to each other”.

I will wrap up with albums from 7th June by concentrating on The Mysterines’ Afraid of Tomorrows. One of our hottest and brightest bands, go and pre-order this album. I am a fan of the band, so I am really interested to hear Afraid of Tomorrows. It is going to be another tremendous album from the Liverpool quartet:

“The Mysterines are a four piece alternative rock band from Liverpool, England. Formed in 2016, the angst-ridden, grunge-inspired indie quartet are fronted by vocalist, guitarist, and primary songwriter Lia Metcalfe. Their imposing frontwoman melds together more than her lifetime’s worth of experiences with the kind of deep, impassioned vocal you won’t forget in a hurry. In her songs and stagecraft you’ll see and hear everything from PJ Harvey’s raw and ragged stomp to the crazed carnival energy of Tom Waits and eviscerating poetics of Patti Smith.

The first great British rock band of the post-pandemic era, The Mysterines let us in on Lia’s unfiltered look at life, the universe and everything, complete with serious riffs and an unflinching honesty.

Recorded and produced by Grammy Award winning producer John Congleton (St. Vincent, Angel Olsen) in LA, Afraid of Tomorrows is a deeper and darker foray into The Mysterines’ psyche than its predecessor, and reflects the maturity and growth of the band”.

There are three albums from 14th June that are worth bringing to your attention. I will get to them soon enough. I will finish with the last from 7th June that is of interest. It is Carly Pearce’s Hummingbird. If you have not heard of this album, then this album might be for you. A perfect introduction to an astonishing talent. Go and pre-order Hummingbird:

“Carly Pearce’s highly anticipated fourth studio album hummingbird via Big Machine Records. Produced by Pearce, Shane McAnally, and Josh Osborne, hummingbird marks Pearce’s debut as a co-producer and fully represents her new musical chapter – one of forward motion. Following the success of her last studio album 29: Written In Stone, Pearce fully leans into her authentic country sound encompassed by the symbolism of the hummingbird which represents the album’s themes of growth, humility, understanding, playfulness, and optimism. Discussing her inspirations for the hummingbird album, Pearce says, “I have lived a lot of life in the last few years. Entering a new decade has brought a lot of maturity, growth, heartache, and healing. I am still a work in progress, but these songs represent my honesty, playfulness, and openness to keep growing”.

There are two albums from 14th, 21st and 28th June I will finish off with. Moving on to 14th and I want to illuminate Normani’s Dopamine. You can pre-order/save it here. There is not a lot of information out there as to what to expect from the album. I found this article from back in February, where Rolling Stone reacted to the news that Normani’s long-awaited album would be coming this year. Now that we have a date, there is a lot of anticipation and intrigue:

“Normani’s debut album is finally coming! Fans went into a frenzy on Feb. 21 when the R&B star announced that she’ll be releasing her debut album. It’s called Dopamine. While an exact release date has yet to be announced, the singer teased that fans can expect the new music at some point this year.

“Cryingg typing this rn,” she wrote on Twitter with an image of the album cover. “DOPAMINE THE ALBUM.”

The cover art sees Normani posing atop a large black rocket in a two-piece swimsuit as she looks into the distance. With the album artwork, she also shared a short snippet of her singing a R&B song, showcasing her luscious vocals.

“It’s a representation of my evolution. It’s the version of me that’s been through some things over the course of the last few years,” Normani told Who What Wear.

And while fans are certainly excited at the idea of Normani’s long-awaited solo album finally coming out, they’ve been here before. Since launching her solo career in 2018, around the time that Fifth Harmony disbanded, Normani has built up immense anticipation for her upcoming LP: she’s teased about having an album title ready, dropped numerous A-list collaborations, and has hinted that it was almost done for nearly six years.

Through the years of musical drought — she has 15ish songs out, most of which are collaborations — fans have been asking her (and themselves): “Where is the album?” Well, it looks like it’s finally (almost) here.

“I end up having certain conversations with myself where I’m thinking, ‘Is what everybody is saying true? Did I miss my moment? Did I wait too long? Do they still care?’” Normani told Who What Wear”.

Actually, there is one more from 14th June that I want to mention prior to moving on. The Decemberists’ As It Ever Was, So It Will Be Again is an album you’ll want to look out for. Go and pre-order if you can. With a beautiful album cover and some amazing music within, I think that fans of the band and new converts alike will want to grab their new album. I would recommend it to those who have not heard of The Decemberists. A band well worth investing in:

“For over 20 years, The Decemberists have been one of the most original, daring, and thrilling American rock bands. Their distinctive brand of hyperliterate folk-rock set them apart from the start, releasing nine full-length albums that are unbound by genre and highly ambitious. Now the beloved indie band is back with their first new album in six years, As It Ever Was, So It Will Be Again - not only the longest Decemberists album to date (and their first intentional, proper double-LP) but also their most empathetic and accessible, its 13 songs like semaphores of mutual recognition for our fraught times and faint hope.

Reuniting with producer Tucker Martine (R.E.M., Neko Case, Sufjan Stevens) who began working with the band on The Crane Wife, the album features R.E.M.’s Mike Mills, The Shins’ James Mercer and Lizzie Ellison on background vocals.This, songwriter Colin Meloy will tell you proudly, is the best Decemberists albums and perhaps the ultimate realization of 22 years of work. In many ways, As It Ever Was, So It Will Be Again feels like an aptly titled renewal for The Decemberists. The first full-length release on YABB Records, the band’s own label, after a run of nearly two decades with Capitol. As they were once, here are the Decemberists again, now an independent band empowered by singing stories that sound instantly familiar and convey some bit of hard-won wisdom”.

Two great albums from 21st June that are worth pre-ordering. I want to start with Gracie Abrams‘ The Secret of Us. A stunning young artist who is about to release her second album. It looks like it is going to be a step up and expansion from her remarkable debut album, Good Riddance. I would encourage people to go and pre-order The Secret Life of Us:

“Gracie Abrams returns with her sophomore album, The Secret of Us released via Interscope Records. This is Gracie's most expansive body of work both sonically and narratively.  Coming off the heels of her hugely successful debut Good Riddance Gracie shows us how much she has accomplished in one short year. Gracie's growth as a songwriter and vocalist is showcased in her most extroverted album yet, as she continues to work with longtime collaborator Aaron Dessner. A portion of these songs were also written with Gracie's best friend, Audrey Hobert. This album was written with the urgency with which you run home to detail every moment of a night to your friend, with her live experiences over the past year having deeply shaped the identity of this album”.

The tremendous Kate Nash is someone who I have been listening to for years. I am looking forward to 9 Sad Symphonies. It is out on 21st June. It sounds like her new album is going to be a step away from those who remember her early work. There is going to be a mix of emotional depth, elegance and the distinct vocal and lyrical voice of the amazing Kate Nash. Go and pre-order her album here. She is a wonderful artist who always puts out great albums. A very distinct artist:

“Kate Nash's new album 9 Sad Symphonies is her first signed to the legendary Kill Rock Stars label - The album was produced and mixed by Grammy winning Danish producer Frederik Thaae (K Flay, Jada, Crown The Empire) - Marking a new chapter in Kate's illustrious career, the album's lyrical scope is both deeply personal and achingly relatable, whilst its orchestral arrangements and melodies draw from Kate's experience in the world of musical theatre.

Kate Nash is a Brit Award-winning singer-songwriter, musician and actress known for her fearless approach to music and unapologetic storytelling. A platinum selling artist with a career spanning over a decade, she has garnered critical acclaim for her chart-topping hits and electrifying live performances. From her debut album Made of Bricks to her latest releases, Kate's artistry continues to resonate with audiences and has earned her a dedicated fanbase. She also captivated audiences as Rhonda in Netflix's Emmy-nominated GLOW”.

There are two from 28th June I will round up with. The first is Hiatus Kaiyote’s Love Heart Cheat Code. This might be a new name to you, so it is fair enough it may be a harder sell. I would say to go and stream songs by Hiatus Kaiyote. Released through the Brainfeeder label, I would genuinely encourage people to go and order Love Heart Cheat Code. It is going to be a wonderful work that will stay in the mind and memory for a long time:

“Melbourne-based, 3 x Grammy-nominated band Hiatus Kaiyote release Love Heart Cheat Code via Brainfeeder Records / Ninja Tune. Love Heart Cheat Code is a snapshot of four musicians dancing together on the edge, 11 playful, exuberant tracks that shine light. Yet, for a band that made a name for itself with its complexity and received critical praise and multiple Grammy nominations for their embrace of maximalism, one of the most striking things about Love Heart Cheat Code is its simplicity. Recommended if you like… BADBADNOTGOOD, Moonchild, Jordan Rakei, Kamasi Washington, Yussef Dayes”.

I am going to end with another slightly more obscure album. Nathaniel Rateliff & the Night Sweats’ South of Here. I am quite new to the band, but I am now compelled to listen back before their new album comes out. I would definitely encourage others to take a listen. Very much worth pre-ordering South of Here. An album that is going to make an impact when you hear it. From what I have heard from the band, they are likely to give the world something truly special on 28th June:

“South of Here, the fourth full-length studio release from Nathaniel Rateliff and The Night Sweats, reckons with a lifetime of pain and trauma and transforms it into a stirring and soul- baring rumination on love, loss, hope and resolve. Following And It’s Still Alright, Rateliff’s beloved 2020 solo LP, and The Future, The Night Sweat’s acclaimed 2021 release, the new album blends both sides of his immense talent: emotionally potent, vivid storytelling and the rugged, R&B revivalism that has powered the band to world-wide acclaim over the past decade.

Produced by Brad Cook (Bon Iver, Waxahatchee, Kevin Morby) with principle recording at Sonic Ranch outside of El Paso, TX, South of Here was written by Nathaniel Rateliff and performed by The Night Sweats: Nathaniel Rateliff (vocals, guitar), Luke Mossman (guitar), Joseph Pope III (bass), Mark Shusterman, (Hammond B3, piano), Patrick Meese (drums, piano), Daniel Hardaway (trumpet), Jeff Dazey (tenor sax), and Andreas Wild (baritone sax). Playing with intuitive beauty all in service of the song, the Sweats are in peak form, while Cook’s production captures the group’s soulful fire with immediacy and purpose.

Songs such as “David and Goliath,” “Heartless,” “Get Used to the Night,” and “South of Here” reach across damaged connections with brutal honesty, and others like “Remember I Was a Dancer,” “The Center of Me,” “Everybody Wants Something,” and “Times Makes Fools of Us All,” are cinematic portrayals of self-doubt and innocence lost.

Walking a line between cutting truths and joyful noise, the band delivers 11 original tracks with exquisite warmth and empathy. Bound by the struggle for identity and the search for belonging, South of Here reverberates with the understanding that we’re all in this beautiful mess together”.

Those are albums from next month I think you should pre-order. You might have others you want to check out. Maybe none of the above. The point of this feature is to give a guidance and heads-up as to what has been announced so far. Of course, like every month, we may get some surprise releases for June. Things can change between now and then. There should be enough to get started with if you consider the albums above. I hope that my guide has provided you with…

SOME useful suggestions.

FEATURE: The Kate Bush Interview Archive: 1989: Lesley-Ann Jones (You Magazine)

FEATURE:

 

 

The Kate Bush Interview Archive

IN THIS PHOTO: Kate Bush in 1989/PHOTO CREDIT: John Carder Bush

1989: Lesley-Ann Jones (You Magazine)

_________

I am retiring this feature now…

but I must offer eternal thanks to this website for providing a huge and astonishing array of Kate Bush interviews throughout the years. Ones that I have selected and included in various features. It has contributed to so much of what I have written over the past year or two. I feel like I have spotlighted as many of the interviews as I feel worth mentioning. I am finishing with a good one. I am ending this feature run with an interview from 1989. The reason I chose it is because it was published shortly after The Sensual World came out. An important time in Kate Bush’s career, there are some interesting areas of focus. Lesley-Ann Jones – who I follow on Twitter and whose work I respect – was writing for You Magazine. I guess there is more leaning on her personality and personality rather than the album. Kate Bush, from 1978 through most of her career, has faced some combative interviewers and others who have given her short shrift. Many I have featured in this series show what she had to endure as an artist. How professional and calm she was at all times. It is testament to her professionalism and resolve that she navigated some rather unusual or overly-personal questions and comes out with dignity and poise:

“Under The Burning Bush

... is just an ordinary woman very much in control of her life. But in front of the camera Kate Bush ignites and the release of her latest album, The Sensual World, is bound to start the sparks flying again.

She looks like any other young student making the best of a bad grant. Her uniform - jeans, sweatshirt and trainers - is on overtime. A plum-rinsed, disorderly mane. Kate Bush is a 31-year-old millionairess.

The pure unearthly quality in her voice has made a mockery of musical fashion and made Kate Bush a platinum-selling artist for over a decade. In the flesh she is nice, kind, pretty and she smiles a lot. And that's about it. Confront her with a lens though and she ignites. In the 11 years since she made `Wuthering Heights' she's learned about the potency of her image and the sexual invitations it gives out.

"I never really understood the power of photography. As a dancer, I was incredibly at home in my body. I simply didn't see it the way other people did. Pictures give such immediate impressions. In all the early photo sessions I did, we experimented with dancers' clothes, discovering how interesting and versatile dance garments can be. This was all well before the leotard era.

"Subsequently, EMI produced a large poster of me in which you can clearly see the outline of my breasts through a rather skimpy vest. It seemed innocent enough, rather nice, even - at the time. But with hindsight, I completely understand why people said I was overtly sexual. It stood out a mile. Then it didn't seem the least bit suggestive. Now, I would definitely have the picture cropped."

Today she says, almost sadly, that she is now much more aware of the darker side of life. And, just as sexuality must not be confused with things sensual, there is a great difference between innocence and naivety.

"You can retain your innocence throughout life," she believes, bless her. "It never really goes away. No, innocence has nothing to do with being childlike. No, I'm not a child-woman. No, I'm not reluctant to grow up. God. What is this world for if you can't always appreciate the innocence in life?"

Kate Bush is not exactly the archetypal rock star. When she hasn't got a new album out, she disappears off the face of the earth (I mean Eltham). While most rock 'n' rollers seize every photo opportunity, from falling out of Langan's Brasserie to cropping up at every showbiz bash going, Kate has not even been on the road for ten years.

"I did a tour once," she remembers, squinting into the distant past. "I haven't wanted to do one since. Consequently a lot of people think that I hate touring, but that's not so. I absolutely loved it. But it was so exhausting mentally and physically that I was literally drained, wasted, afterwards. It took a long time to recover."

She gets away with murder when you think about it. One tour in a decade, then she retreats into her personal recording studio, leaps about in her own dance studio to her heart's content, evaporates into thin air for years at a time, then comes belting back into the charts like she's never been away. In any other artist this would be intensely annoying, sickening even. In Kate, it is endearing.

You could say she has well and truly screwed the system. She is doing it still. It is four years since Kate's last album, Hounds of Love. Last week saw the release of her sixth, The Sensual World, which features, so I'm told, Bulgarian backing singers, and Pink Floyd's Dave Gilmour, the man who discovered Kate.

Theirs was an unlikely encounter: she the shy, 15-year-old, violin- and piano-playing doctor's daughter, he the wild and wicked lead guitarist with 70s supergroup Pink Floyd.

"A friend of the family, Rickie Hopper, introduced us", Kate recalls. "Absolutely terrified and trembling like a leaf, I sat down and played for him. But Dave liked my songs very much. He put up some money, sent me into the studio to make three really well-produced tracks. I did "The Man With the Child in His Eyes", "The Saxophone Song", plus some obscure thing which ended up on a B side somewhere."

By 16, Kate was signed to Pink Floyd's own record company EMI. She has been there ever since. To gain live experience, she sang in a three-piece rock 'n' roll band, the KT Bush Band, playing pub gigs around the Lewisham area. At the same time she started dance and mime classes.

She now has a string of top ten hits and five huge selling albums under her belt. "It's all thanks to Dave," says Kate, modestly. "He's such a lovely person. So generous. So ... yummy! He did it out of love, you know. I paid the money back, of course, eventually - but I couldn't have done it without his backing. For me to work with him on this album was a real honour."

Not half the honour it must have been for a gauche South London schoolgirl to be heard by one of the world's most respected rock guitarists. "I don't know," says Kate. "I wasn't really into Pink Floyd at the time."

She wasn't really into school either. Not exactly academically thick, but "the idea of university just loomed like a really sinister thing. I couldn't face it. I was lucky - something came up and took my mind off it."

Kate would be the first to admit she has led a sheltered life. She emerged from a tightly-knit, middle-class family environment (mum, dad, two older brothers - John, a photographer, Paddy, a musician) to share her life with the same boyfriend, bass player and music engineer Del Palmer, for the past ten years.

She says she was incredibly close to her father. "My mother, to whom I have always been very close also, was a muse. But my eye was almost always on what my father was up to. Don't you think that, as a child, your aspirations are out into the world?"

"You take the whole domestic situation, including your mother, for granted. Little did I know it was mum who was holding it all together.

"My relationship with Del is very stable. We work together, we live together. It works so well for us. That can be a very intense set-up, but I wouldn't have it any other way. It's all very close and direct. After ten years, maybe we ought to be restless, but we're not. Some say the decade between 20 and 30 is a very telling time in terms of human development, but I believe that the whole of life is like that.

"Del and I argue a great deal - over songs. But we consider it healthy. Who wins? Normally, I do. I'm not the shy, retiring, fragile butterfly creature you sometimes read about. I'm tough as nails."

She's still rather shy and home-loving. Kate laughs openly when you call her a recluse, but then admits that, yes, she is happiest behind closed doors. Preferably those of her elegant, unostentatious South London Victorian mansion. Beautifully decorated, with shades of blue predominant, her home is Kate's absolute refuge.

"I don't go on holiday," she says. "I'd rather stay at home. I went to Jamaica once years ago. It was a real culture shock. I went from a dingy little London studio with no windows to this absolute paradise. I could barely stand it. Even the sound of the birds was deafening.

"People go on and on about me being a recluse, but it doesn't bother me. To me, a recluse is just someone who gets on with what they want to do. If that's me, then I'm happy to be one.

"A large part of this business is so false, isn't it? You hear such a lot about the rock 'n' roll life-style, but I really don't know what that is meant to be about any more. The showbusiness life has simply never appealed to me. I wasn't attracted to the music business by the idea of wearing a black leather mini and getting legless at all the right parties every night. What I wanted to do was make music. That's all I want to do now."

She makes music, she makes millions. She would be making babies had she the time and the immediate inclination, being a gently maternal soul, but she will make do with cats for now. She is kind to animals, refusing to eat or wear them, but gives in to a fish dish occasionally.

"Once, that would have been impossible for me," she says. "But later I decided we have not to be so hard on ourselves or other people in terms of eating habits or anything else. It's like me and smoking. It's such an awful thing to do, it's so obviously bad for us, but we gaily carry on. I've cut down a bit, but I can't kick the habit."

Some call Kate obsessive, claiming that her work is the most important thing in her life, and that everyone around her gets dragged in with her. "It's true," she smiles. "I'm obsessive about most things which take my fancy. I'm just like that. Once I start something, I'm committed. I just can't put it down.

"It's very hard for example, to stand back from an album, allow it to be finished and then let people evaluate it for what it is. It's a terrifying process for me. And consequently making the album in the first place gets harder and harder for me. This one took me over two years to make, so I had about two years `off' after the last one. So I come back to writing completely cold. It's like, I sing, do I? Every time it's like I've never done it before. Is it good enough? Is it rubbish? I've had to train myself to listen to that internal voice, the one I go to sleep with. I've had to learn to believe in myself and in my own judgement.

"Most of the new songs are about relationships again. Maybe I'm saying, "If things get rough, it's OK really." And, it takes me two years to say that! I have to sweat blood and shed real tears before I know I've put everything into it. That's why I worry that the creative process is getting harder and more painful for me every time. At what point will I find that I've used it all up? That there are no more albums left inside me?"

That's a thought. What will she do then?

"I think I'd like to make a little film. Being a movie actress is not something I have craved, but the right thing might tempt me. If there comes a time when I can only manage one album a decade, it would be good to have something else to keep me busy. And anyway, you learn so much just by jumping in at the deep end."

And jump she intends to”.

I may resurrect The Kate Bush Interview Archive but, for now, I bid it farewell. I have ended with one from 1989, as we celebrate thirty-five years of The Sensual World in October. One of her very best albums, it was a turning point. In terms of the narrative and lyrical trajectory. Perhaps more personal than 1985’s Hounds of Love. A more female-sounding record with more feminine energy. As she was in her mid-thirties when it came out, maybe Bush was thinking ahead to starting a family or wanted to take her music to new places. The incredible reviews showed that it is an album adored and respected! I think that there are some good and respectful interviews from 1989, though the success earned from Hounds of Love did not earn her interview where she was given more respect and time to talk about her music. It has been fascinating delving into interviews Bush was involved in between 1978 and 2011. Let’s hope that we have not seen the last of them! That she will be back at some point and we get to learn even more about the icon. One of the greatest songwriters ever, there is something about a Kate Bush interview that is arresting and insightful. I wanted to finish with a bit of an underrated classic in that sense. I am closing it there. Who knows, I may return to The Kate Bush Interview Archive…

IN the future.

FEATURE: Spotlight: Ludmilla

FEATURE:

 

 

Spotlight

PHOTO CREDIT: João Maia

Ludmilla

_________

AN artist that some people…

PHOTO CREDIT: Ygor Marques

might not have heard of, I wanted to spend some time with Ludmilla. The Brazilian artist is a sensation and role model. She released her latest studio album, Vilã, last year. Married to Brunna Gonçalves, this L.G.B.T.Q.I.A.+ modern-day icon, in 2020, became the first Afro-Latin American female musician to reach one billion streams on Spotify. I want to start with an interview from last year. Billboard spoke with her last year. The Queen of the Favela, she has this amazing and versatile sound; an enigmatic flow in Portuguese. This Rio de Janeiro native is ready to conquer the globe:

“When Ludmilla stepped onstage to headline Palco Sunset at Rock in Rio in September 2022 — an all-star lineup boasting the likes of Megan Thee Stallion, Guns N’ Roses, and Dua Lipa — the Rainha da Favela boldly announced her arrival. Donning a black lace one-piece and a fur cropped coat, her long black shiny hair looking splendidly, the Rio de Janeiro native oozed confidence, and proceeded to belt out the words to baile funk banger “Favela Chegou” (or Favela has arrived), a single from her 2019 full-length Hello Mundo.

Rock in Rio is one of the world’s largest music festivals, drawing in roughly 700K attendees annually, and the performer had hordes of fans losing their minds over her captivating vocal range and powerful stage presence — and, to keep it real, her twerking dexterity. In March, she will appear in Lollapalooza Brasil, the same month that her next album drops. Her prior studio release, Numanice #2 (2022), garnered the singer her first Latin Grammy for best samba/pagode album.

Ludmila Oliveira da Silva was born to sing. It’s something that comes “from inside my soul,” she tells Billboard Español over Zoom. The artist had just returned home to Rio from a business trip to Argentina. She mentions proudly that she writes most of her songs, and began to do so at an early age. Her inspiration? Seeing The Beyoncé Experience Live (2007) on DVD, a game-changer for the pre adolescent. “I saw her so free on stage, so happy, so confident, and I wanted to do that too,” she recalls. “That’s how I found myself in music.”

For a short stint in her early career, Ludmilla dubbed herself MC Beyoncé, and released her breakout hit “Fala Mal de Mim” (2013) under that stage name —  a viral YouTube release that clocked in at 15 million views at the time. While Queen Bey has been her number one idol, she also takes cues from SZA, Kehlani, and Rihanna. “They caused all this, you know?” she muses. “I really wanted to externalize these things that I feel inside me.”

Although Ludmilla’s admiration for American neo-soul, pop and R&B have helped fuel her creative wanderlust, her love for homegrown sounds is unparalleled. She built her artistic persona embracing Brazilian art forms, from samba to pagode and funk carioca, with an enigmatic flow that’s all in Portuguese where she reps life in the favelas, self empowerment anthems, and rendezvous encounters. She’s a household name in her native country, who’s widely recognized as the Rainha da Favela (or Queen of the Favela).

“I come from the favela here in Rio de Janeiro, where funk is a very strong genre. It’s a musical genre that saves lives,” she asserts. “In these communities, you have a lot of connections with funk and Black music.” Favelas have become synonymous with the slums, and although poverty and crime abound, music and culture are potent agents of change (think the roots of hip-hop in the Bronx).

“I started singing and began appearing in the media through funk. I saw that my musical range was wide, that I could do everything I dreamed of, everything I wanted to do. So I started to invest more in this, and now I am at this moment,” she says.

With a highly versatile ability to create riveting pop that spans Latin trap, funk, soul and more, coupled with her alluring stage presence, Ludmilla is poised for her Stateside breakthrough.

Name: Ludmila Oliveira da Silva

Age: 27

Recommended Song: “I would recommend ‘Rainha da Favela’ because it describes who I am as a person, where I come from, and what I’m about. It’s about me, and it encapsulates the image I want to deliver.”

Biggest achievement: “First my fans, and second is that now I have the power to control my own career because people want to hear what I have to say. I now have full artistic control in my own market and a management team that’s helping me on this path. “

What’s Next: The public can expect lots of different things, like private shows, called Lud Sessions, which have become pretty notorious. Lots of collabs with people from Brazil and beyond, and a new album due in March”.

I want to move on to some more recent interviews. I think that Ludmilla is going to be a worldwide name very soon. She is perhaps not as known in the U.K. as the U.S. perhaps. This is going to change as we head through this year. Remezcla talked to Ludmilla about singing in Spanish and performing with Beyoncé:

“After an outstanding year, 2024 feels like the right time for Ludmilla to embrace her dreams of an international career fully. And if she needed a sign, the invitation to perform at the main stage of Coachella came just at the right time. “If I’ve been given such a cool stage to start an international career, I might as well take the chance to do something I’ve always wanted and been asked to do [by fans]: to sing in another language,” she shares.

Though Ludmilla humbly admits she is not fluent in Spanish, she is dedicating herself to studying the language. “I know I will have to take risks and I will make mistakes [while trying to speak in Spanish], but that’s how we learn,” she adds.

But singing in a second language and performing at arguably the most famous festival in the world are minor challenges for someone who has overcome several hardships related to racism and homophobia back home. As a Black woman starting as a funk MC in the favelas of Rio de Janeiro in 2012, she had a hard time being taken seriously as an artist. And after she broke that barrier, more hate and prejudice came in 2019 after revealing she was in a relationship with a woman, her now wife Brunna Gonçalves.

Only I know what I go through in my own country, let alone [what can happen] in a different country. But I am brave. Even if I’m scared, I go on anyway.

Though there’s no assurance that Ludmilla won’t face the same prejudices abroad, she’s ready to take on anything. “Only I know what I go through in my own country, let alone [what can happen] in a different country,” she shares. “But I am brave. Even if I’m scared, I go on anyway.”

Despite the sour side of fame, fulfilling her younger self’s dreams gives her strength. In November 2023, Ludmilla was among a select group of Brazilian personalities who met Beyoncé during her surprise appearance in Salvador to promote Renaissance: A Film by Beyoncé. It was a meeting that would’ve seemed unthinkable for teenage Ludmilla, who went by MC Beyoncé before her first album release in 2014.

“Beyoncé is my biggest influence in music. To meet her had always seemed [like such a] distant [possibility]. But to know that she knows me and was excited to meet me? I was so surprised,” she exclaims.

Looking back, meeting Beyoncé feels even more special, given the recent release of the Houstonian singer’s latest album, Cowboy Carter. As Brazilian funk conquers more fans across the world, Beyoncé included a sample of DJ Mandrake on “SPAGUETTII.” Merely hours after its release, we ask Ludmilla about this culture clash. “I know Beyoncé is very attentive, does a lot of research, and looks for new music and producers across the world,” she says. “It would be pretentious to think I presented Brazilian funk to her. Perhaps I have shown her different ways of singing and dancing funk, but when I started my career, she was already dancing to funk in Rock in Rio [in 2013].”

While grateful and proud of her origins, Ludmilla’s sound and brand are no longer restricted to funk or any genre or label in Brazil. “I am a singer. If I have a purpose, if I want to do something [in a different genre], I won’t hold back. I consider myself an artist. That’s it,” she says.

Now, it’s time for the rest of the world to know all of her sides. “I’ve dedicated myself so much to ‘Piña Colada,’ and the outcome is amazing. The video is fun, it’s sarcastic, it has a double entendre. And there’s so much more to come. I’m rehearsing for Coachella, and after that, there’ll be an international leg of Numanice, a new pop tour in Brazil, more international songs… I am very excited about this moment of my career,” Ludmilla exclaims”.

I am going to end with a new interview from The Guardian. Some important British press that will bringing Ludmilla’s name to more people here. I hope that she gets booked for a lot of U.K. festivals going forward. If you have not heard her music or know much about Ludmilla, then I would encourage you to seek her out. She is a phenomenal artist who is going to have a very long career:

“Already the most listened-to Black artist in Brazil and a favourite of Beyoncé, Ludmilla has a whole new audience after her viral Coachella show. She discusses the racism and homophobia she’s had to face getting this far

In between her two-weekend debut at Coachella earlier this month, while the first concert was going viral, the Brazilian singer Ludmilla did business meetings, spent a day in Miami and kicked off new music projects. This interview took place on her way back from a short trip to the mountains surrounding the Hollywood sign, a call squeezed into a schedule that will end with a party: “I deserve some fun too,” she says.

She is following the guidebook to pop stardom, with her sights on an international career. Performing a repertoire of Portuguese-language songs, drawing from Brazil’s raw baile funk sound as well as pagode (a modern branch of samba), Ludmilla has already won a Latin Grammy and become the most listened-to Black artist in Brazil, and one of the only women of Afro-Latin heritage anywhere to reach a billion streams on Spotify and do a set on Coachella’s main stage. One of her admirers, Beyoncé, sent over a voice note to introduce it: “From Rio to Coachella, ladies and gentleman, Ludmilla!”

“This is a new, strange scenario to me,” she says. “To me it’s not possible that in a country like Brazil, with so many Black women and more than 500 years of history, I am the first Black woman to sell out a stadium; the first one to reach one billion streams.”

Born in 1995, Ludmilla was raised in Duque de Caxias, one of the most populous suburbs of Rio de Janeiro. Baile funk was filling every corner of Rio by the end of the 90s, and became her bread and butter. In 2012, she released her first single, Fala Mal de Mim, under the moniker MC Beyoncé. She dropped the alias two years later, but never left the Bey-hive – hence the Coachella shoutout.

IN THIS PHOTO: Ludmilla kissing her wife Brunna Gonçalves on stage/PHOTO CREDIT: Steff Lima

“Today, I’m more secure of who I am,” she says, while stressing her beginnings. “I’m a pagodeira, and I love R&B, but I’m also a funkeira. Baile funk comes from our communities, from people like me who started singing because we were trying to have a better life. We weren’t worried about what gringos wanted from us. Black people must take the baile funk movement by the hands.”

Fifty-five per cent of Brazilians are Black or mixed race, but white people occupy many of the prominent positions in music, from performers to executives. “When I first started as a singer, I was a victim of racism and I used to suffer in silence,” she says. “But now I know how important I am and how I can help women like me. After I performed at Coachella, on the first weekend, I saw many Brazilian people crucifying me on social media, just because of racism. This is a struggle I can’t just give up. But it’s annoying – a white singer doesn’t need to speak out about this.”

The day after Ludmilla’s second Coachella performance, Brazilian social media flooded with further controversy: sharp-eyed viewers noted a quick frame projected on Ludmilla’s stage backdrop displaying a street sign that championed Jesus Christ over Tranca-Rua, a key figure of Afro-Brazilian candomblé and umbanda religions. Some people accused her of propagating religious intolerance – violence towards Afro-Brazilian religions has been growing as evangelical Christianity becomes more and more popular – while others argued the picture was just a raw, real glimpse of today’s Brazil.

She defended herself robustly on Twitter and referred to Erika Hilton, a Black and transgender Brazilian MP whose words also introduced Ludmilla’s concert at Coachella: “This is my house and in my house I will not tolerate any kind of hatred.” When I ask her about it, she’s now guarded – “I don’t have a religion, and I believe that prejudice is profoundly sad” – but opens up a little more when discussing Brazilian politics.

Ludmilla has been married to Gonçalves for four years, a wedding that took place in Bolsonaro’s Brazil. Despite same-sex unions having been ruled as legal by the Brazilian supreme court in 2011, the country’s lower house MPs drafted a bill in 2023 stating they would be contracts rather than marriages. “It’s not the best scenario, but we have evolved and we can’t step back in this matter,” she says. “Lots of bisexual and lesbian women told me after my Coachella concert that they felt represented”.

A truly awesome and inspirational artist, the amazing Ludmilla is someone that everyone should know. Do add her to your playlist and follow her career. I am fairly new to her, yet I am compelled to follow her closely. It only takes a few seconds of listening to her music before you…

ARE truly hooked.

____________

Follow Ludmilla

Instagram:

https://www.instagram.com/ludmilla/

TikTok:

https://www.tiktok.com/@ludmilla

Twitter:

https://twitter.com/ludmilla

Spotify:

https://open.spotify.com/artist/3CDoRporvSjdzTrm99a3gi?si=A31wqmgJQAeZ9Ws0IWkVBA

YouTube:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCSCB1IQUmNa8Gn5VfSUAUpg

FEATURE: Change The Tune: Highlighting the Impact Online Abuse Has on Artists

FEATURE:

 

 

Change The Tune

IN THIS PHOTO: BBC Radio 6 Music presenter Afrodeutsche

Highlighting the Impact Online Abuse Has on Artists

_________

WE live in a time…

PHOTO CREDIT: Tracy Le Blanc/Pexels

when it is so hard to police and eradicate online abuse. We can identify when it happens, though it is always tough to completely ban. People can be blocked from social media, yet there are so many fake accounts and ways that trolls and abusers can make their way back. It is an impossible situation. I don’t think that social media platforms do quite enough to ensure that those responsible for harassment and abuse are not allowed to do it again. Artists are not immune to abuse. It turns my attention to an initiative that BBC Radio 6 Music are launching as part of BBC’s Mental Health Awareness season. I wanted to bring it to focus:

“As part of the BBC’s Mental Wellbeing season, BBC Radio 6 Music will launch Change The Tune - an on-air, digital and social media initiative to raise awareness of the impact that online abuse has on the lives of artists.

We will hear from musicians and presenters, who will share their online experiences, as well as from mental health professionals about the effects that personal attacks online can have on individuals and their lives.

In response, 6 Music will launch a clear code of conduct and a new means of reporting comments of concern on its own social media platforms.

The initiative will feature:

·        A Journeys In Sound special on 6 Music (Monday 13th May, 11pm-12am), presented by 6 Music broadcaster and psychotherapist Nemone and featuring Rebecca Lucy Taylor (Self Esteem), Lauren Mayberry of CHVRCHES, Nitin Sawhney CBE and SHERELLE.

·        Lauren Mayberry: I Change Shapes – a 1 x 15 minute documentary for BBC iPlayer (live from 6am on Monday 13th May).

·        A social media initiative across 6 Music’s platforms (from 10am on Monday 13th May) which will see the station share: a clear code of conduct for its online community; a new means of reporting comments of concern; and films from 6 Music’s AFRODEUTSCHE, Craig Charles, Deb Grant, Jamz Supernova and SHERELLE, as well as Gossip and Hak Baker about their own online experiences.

Working in partnership with 6 Music for Change The Tune is Music Minds Matter – sister charity of Help Musicians, which supports the mental health of everyone working in music in the UK.

Lauren Mayberry says: "The internet has been such an intrinsic part of my career, positively and negatively. Social media was really baked into the way that CHVRCHES first got discovered but there were consistent side effects to that which I don't think I would ever have anticipated. We know a lot more now in terms of the impact that can have on people but I'm not sure how we change that behaviour, or the conversation around it." 

In support of Change The Tune, 6 Music presenter Guy Garvey says: “Our social media is for celebrating artists. It celebrates the people listening as well. By tuning into 6 Music, you're already part of this community. I'd say the rule should be, support good ideas, and if you don't like something, keep it to yourself.”

Nemone says: “It’s been really thought-provoking speaking to artists about their lived experience with social media and to hear first-hand about the impact that online comments of a personal nature have. It brought home to me how important it is for us all to reflect on how we show up online and the kind of community we want to shape.”

Samantha Moy, Head of BBC Radio 6 Music says: “6 Music has always aimed to be a positive and uplifting place for artists and fans alike, where we celebrate the widest range of music possible, both on-air and across platforms. With Change The Tune, we want to give musicians the space to share their online experiences, the good and the bad. At the same time, we will put measures in place that we hope will make our corner of the internet a kinder, encouraging and more supportive place for musicians’ work. I’d like to thank all the artists, presenters and our colleagues across the music industry who have contributed so openly to Change The Tune, as well as to Music Minds Matter for their support.” 

Laurie Oliva, Director of Services and Research, Help Musicians and sister charity Music Minds Matter says: “Musicians pour their souls into their performances and records in a uniquely personal way, which means sharing their music is an inherently vulnerable endeavour. At Music Minds Matter, we understand the mental health pressure that can come with a job in music, especially for artists who often need to be on social media to grow their fanbases and build sustainable careers. However, being online should be a place to find your tribe, not to divide. We’re so pleased to partner with 6 Music on this important series and ensure those who may be struggling know they have a charity that will listen, understand and help.”

Journeys In Sound (6 Music)

On Monday 13th May (11pm-12pm), 6 Music will broadcast a Journeys In Sound special, in which 6 Music presenter and psychotherapist Nemone hears from Rebecca Lucy Taylor, otherwise known as Self Esteem, Lauren Mayberry of the synth-pop band CHVRCHES, composer, producer and multi-instrumentalist Nitin Sawhney CBE, the BBC’s disinformation and social media correspondent Marianna Spring, 6 Music presenter, DJ and artist SHERELLE, as well as psychotherapist and former Babyshambles member Dr Adam Ficek about their perspectives on online abuse and the challenges they have faced in the digital space.

IN THIS PHOTO: SHERELLE

Rebecca, Lauren, Nitin and SHERELLE talk openly and frankly in the programme about their use of social media as a tool to promote their music and connect with fans, and reveal how such platforms have made them a target for shocking misogynistic and racial abuse.

Marianna comments on the digital world in which we find ourselves now. She shares her own experiences of receiving extreme hate online, the repercussions it has on her everyday life as an investigative reporter and the importance of shining a light on the darker areas of the internet.

Nemone also explores the subject with Dr Adam, the founder of Music & Mind, an independent service that helps musicians, creatives and music industry workers navigate their mental health and wellness.

Lauren Mayberry and Nemone will also discuss Change The Tune on Lauren Laverne’s BBC Radio 6 Music show on Monday 13th May (7.30am-10.30am) and Jeremy Vine’s BBC Radio 2 show on Wednesday 15th May (12pm-2pm).

A BBC Audio production.

All radio programming will be available on BBC Sounds.

Lauren Mayberry: I Change Shapes (BBC iPlayer)

Live on BBC iPlayer from 6am on Monday 13th May, CHVRCHES frontwoman Lauren reflects on the highs and lows of her journey in music as she launches her solo career.

From worldwide success to online trolling and misogyny, the singer-songwriter speaks candidly about putting negative experiences as an artist behind her - including online threats – and the cathartic nature of her solo writing, which she describes as ‘psychological unstitching’.

Before her time as the frontwoman of CHVRCHES, multi-instrumentalist Lauren made an impact locally in the Glasgow music scene and was surrounded by a group of like-minded friends, who she met through TYCI: a DIY feminist fanzine that she co-founded to address gender imbalance in music.

National and international success followed and Lauren was quickly thrust into an exciting new world, however, there was a darker side. Lauren recalls how the narrative around her success was often centered on gender and image, rather than musicianship, and how she frequently faced abuse online, including misogynistic comments and violent threats.

This documentary will see Lauren explain how her fight against abuse made its way into her writing and how her experiences motivated her to move forward in an empowering and progressive way.

Commissioned by BBC Scotland and produced by BBC Scotland Productions.

IN THIS PHOTO: Jamz Supernova/PHOTO CREDIT: Alex Lambert

Social media

On Monday 13th May from 10am, 6 Music will launch Change The Tune across its social media platforms.

The station will reaffirm its mission for its online spaces - which includes the support and celebration of artists - and outline a clear code of conduct for its online community. The code of conduct is as follows:

In addition, there will be a new and simplified method for reporting comments of concern, with artists and fans alike able to contact the station via an email address that will be available on 6 Music’s social media platforms from 10am on Monday 13th May.

Across the week, (Monday 13th – Friday 17th May) 6 Music’s social media accounts will post films from artists and 6 Music presenters - AFRODEUTSCHE, Craig Charles, Deb Grant, Gossip, Hak Baker, Jamz Supernova and SHERELLE - in which they’ll share their personal experiences of online abuse.

Music Minds Matter

Partnering with 6 Music on Change The Tune is Help Musicians’ sister charity Music Minds Matter – its range of services include a 24/7 support line, available for free to everyone working in music in the UK.

Audiences can visit BBC Action Line for more information about how to get in touch with Music Minds Matter, from Monday 13th May onwards.

The BBC’s Mental Wellbeing season

Change The Tune is part of the BBC’s Mental Wellbeing season, which takes place throughout May. The BBC will be bringing audiences a range of mental health and wellbeing content across its platforms and services, highlighting stories of those who have faced mental health struggles as well as helping audiences understand how to look after their mental wellbeing, and where to go for support. More information is available at bbc.co.uk/mental wellbeing.

Journeys In Sound

The Change The Tune special of Journeys In Sound marks the start of a new four-part series of the returning programme (Monday 13th – Thursday 16th May, 11pm-12am). Journeys In Sound sees 6 Music’s Nemone explore the link between music and the mind and combine her role as broadcaster and integrative psychotherapist to find out how music really affects us.

IN THIS PHOTO: Alison Mosshart/PHOTO CREDIT: David James Swanson

Further episodes will see Nemone in conversation with Alison Mosshart (Tuesday 14th May), Paul Weller (Wednesday 15th May) and Jane Weaver (Thursday 16th May) about the songs that have soundtracked the ups and downs of their lives. 

Alison Mosshart, artist and one half of enigmatic duo The Kills, discusses: growing up in the sleepy town of Vero Beach in Florida; how she convinced her parents to let her travel abroad as a young teenager with her first band Discount; her surprising love of Annie the musical; how she met her bandmate Jamie Hince on a trip to London; letting go on stage; long car journeys as a form of self-care; and how she has maintained a level of mystique in a world of social media. Featuring music from Led Zeppelin, Gang Green, PJ Harvey, Fugazi, The Dead Weather and Captain Beefheart. 

Speaking about whether she feels it’s difficult to maintain distance in the era of social media, Alison Mosshart says: “I don’t really think it is, you just have to not post every day. I think it is up to you. I get it, I get the pressure, especially with work, especially with the way things are, having to brand yourself on such an extreme level to actually have a career in music and it’s really sad. It’s horrible. I hope I never have to do that because I will be the worst at it. It’s not going to come naturally to me.” 

Paul Weller, the prolific, award-winning singer and songwriter affectionally known as “The Modfather” by his fans, reveals: what life growing up with the Wellers in Woking was like; the impact of The Jam’s success and subsequent split had on him; working with his musical ‘brother’ Steve Cradock of Ocean Colour Scene; the joy he feels playing live; how his life has changed since giving up alcohol; and how he tries to look after himself. Featuring music from The Beatles, Little Richard, The Four Tops, The Who, The Sex Pistols and The Clash. 

Speaking in the programme, Paul Weller says: “Music was my escape […] I used to peer over the city walls and think ‘yeah one day I’m going to escape this and I’m going to go and do something else’. And that’s what music’s enabled me to do. But also in the first place, music made me realise there were other possibilities as well.”

Jane Weaver, who has performed as part of the Britpop group Kill Laura, the folktronica project Misty Dixon and as a solo artist, talks to Nemone about: growing up in Widnes; the influence the Liverpool music scene had on her as a teenager; the pitfalls of the music industry; living with coeliac disease and the long road to a diagnosis; overcoming an eating disorder and postnatal depression; and the tragic disappearance of her Misty Dixon band mate, Dave Tyack. Featuring music from Prince, U2, OMD, 10,000 Maniacs, The Icicle Works, Hawkwind and The Velvet Underground. 

Speaking in the programme, Jane Weaver says: “It’s made me kind of resilient but I have experienced quite a lot of sexism in my time. Just people treat me differently because I’m a woman […]. I seem to get some kind of Columbo-style detective people who will interview you and say ‘exactly what did you do on your record’ […]. I’m fine being a nerd and talking about process or talking about instruments or technical things or things I did or didn’t do. I’m quite happy to do that but a long few minutes in I realise ah, you’re only asking me that because you think a man is behind everything.” 

About BBC Radio 6 Music 

With a reach of 2.52m listeners (Rajar Q4, 2023), 6 Music brings a broad range of music and culture beyond the mainstream to music lovers with a curious spirit, combining the cutting-edge music of today with the iconic, ground-breaking sounds of the past 50 years. Presenters include: AFRODEUTSCHE, Amy Lamé, Cerys Matthews, Chris Hawkins, Craig Charles, Deb Grant, Don Letts, Emily Pilbeam, Gideon Coe, Gilles Peterson, Guy Garvey, Huw Stephens, Huey Morgan, Iggy Pop, Jamz Supernova, Lauren Laverne, Marc Riley, Mark Radcliffe, Mary Anne Hobbs, Nathan Shepherd, SHERELLE, Steve Lamacq, Stuart Maconie, Tom Ravenscroft and Tom Robinson. 

About Help Musicians and Music Minds Matter

Help Musicians and sister charity Music Minds Matter are powered by a love of music, which is why they empower and support those who create it and make it happen.

Music Minds Matter puts mental wellbeing centre stage in music. It works proactively to help prevent mental health crises, providing everybody who works in music with the early support, knowledge and tools they need, at exactly the time they need them.

For over 100 years, Help Musicians has been working hard to make a meaningful difference to the lives of musicians across the UK. It offers a broad range of help to support music creators in times of crisis and opportunity - ensuring musicians across the UK can achieve their creative potential and sustain a career in music”.

It is going to be amazing and important hearing BBC Radio 6 Music’s Change The Tune. If you were not aware of it, I hope that the press release above gives you motivation to listen. I also hope that it opens up conversations about online abuse and how it affects artists. I follow so many who have experienced it. It is always devastating and unacceptable. It can have such a massive impact. For that reason, it is so important that the like of Change The Tune exists. I hope that it can genuinely lead to change online. Artists deserve to feel safe and respected online (as does everyone). Let’s hope that we can see improvement and change…

PHOTO CREDIT: cottonbro studio/Pexels

VERY soon.

FEATURE: Dream of… Red Hot Chili Peppers’ Californication at Twenty-Five

FEATURE:

 

 

Dream of…

Red Hot Chili Peppers’ Californication at Twenty-Five

_________

ONE of the most popular…

and successful albums of the late-1990s, I have been thinking particularly of albums that turns twenty-five this year. Those great albums that were released in 1999. At the end of the decade (century and millennium), it was a fascinating time for music. Some really timeless and extraordinary albums came out. I think one of the best was from Red Hot Chili Peppers. On 8th June, 1999, the band released their seventh studio album. I think that it might be their finest work. Some might argue. Others might not like the band. I have to admit I am not a huge fan, though I do really like Californication. It came out as I was about to leave high school. A few months later, I would leave a school I had been for five years and was about to embark on the next step. I was embracing music and connecting with it in a different way. It was s source of comfort, guidance and inspiration. I am going to come to some features and reviews for the mighty Californication. Produced by Rick Rubin, the album was a number one in several countries, though not the U.S. and U.K. Even so, it was a top-five in both nations. Big singles like Scar Tissue and Californication are indelible and classic. Incredible tracks that have stood the test of time. I think Californication has aged well. It still pops and has a real sense of gravitas. Not only because Rick Rubin is producing. The fact the band are still going today gives the album a real and true sense of relevance. I wonder whether there is anything planned for its twenty-fifth anniversary. You can go and pick up a copy of the album. I wonder if a new vinyl reissue will come about. There is a Deluxe Edition with some extra tracks. I think that a new reissue or expanded edition would be great.

There will be some twenty-fifth anniversary features. Before coming to some reviews, I will look at twentieth anniversary features that came out in 2019. I would seriously urge anyone who has not heard the album to check it out. I discovered it new and carried it through sixth form college. I remember when Californication’s follow-up, By the Way, came out in 2002. It was a big album for my during university. A band I heard earlier in the 1990s, they made a big impression in 1999. I remember buying the Scar Tissue single when it came out in May 1999. It was a real revelation! Even though I do not love all of the tracks, there are at least four or five songs on the album that rank alongside the band’s best. I will start out with Albumism and their 2019 anniversary feature:

“Happy 20th Anniversary to Red Hot Chili Peppers’ seventh studio album Californication, originally released June 8, 1999.

The anecdote goes something like this. In September 1991, L.A funk rockers Red Hot Chili Peppers released their now classic record Blood Sugar Sex Magik. This record was the band’s fifth and took them from a cult concern to international superstardom mainly thanks to the single releases of the mega anthem “Give It Away” and the beautiful rock ballad “Under The Bridge.” The band toured the record globally for years. The strain on the band was immense and the period ended with the band’s genius guitarist, John Frusciante, leaving to pursue a heroin addiction and an undercooked solo career.

In tatters but maintaining a united front (the Chilis’ had a knack for losing members), the band marched on, releasing a series of compilation records and live recordings, and in late 1995 eventually releasing another studio album titled One Hot Minute. Frusciante's replacement, former Jane’s Addiction guitarist Dave Narvarro offered the band a darker more metal edge to their funk rock sound. Though popular and offering another round of well-received singles (“Warped,” “Aeroplane”), One Hot Minute was not deemed a reputable follow-up to Blood Sugar Sex Magik. The record today is mostly discarded by fans and the bank alike.

Chili Peppers drummer Chad Smith later said of the record, “We don't really feel that connected to that record anymore.” And perhaps it’s clear to see why. Musically it was a departure, but on a personal level, Narvarro and the band’s vocalist, Anthony Kiedis, were heavily into drug use. The record affiliates itself with a dark moment in the band’s personal lives.

A pause of several years for reflection and recovery whilst personal issues were ironed out followed. And then in 1999 came Californication, the return of a now fully recovered and clean John Frusciante to the band fold, and a renewed sense of purpose and unity. Californication scored the Chili Peppers a bunch of worldwide hits and saw tours of massive arenas the world over. They were redeemed.

In 2002, the band released their eighth studio record By the Way, which is something of a masterpiece in my own opinion. The record continues the sunny vibes of Californication and adds Beach Boy style harmonies and even more introspective lyricism to the mix. But we’re getting ahead of ourselves.

In terms of artistry, musical direction, lyrical themes, and stylistics, the distance between Blood Sugar Sex Magik and Californication may as well be light years. The band were older and wiser for having experienced everything that had come within that decade. Even in terms of aesthetics, the band appears so very different from their 1991 funk-boy incarnation.

Sure enough, compare Blood Sugar Sex Magik’s more risque risqué songs such as “Apache Rose Peacock” and “Sir Psycho Sexy” with anything on Californication and you’ll see the appetite for the carnal has been replaced with a yearning for the spiritual, though there are examples such as the throwaway “Get on Top” and the perverse “Purple Stain” that hollaback to the band’s early primal urges but they don’t gel as well.

Californication spouts enough new-age pop-psychology in its lyrics to make even the most money-grabbing practitioner blush. The song “Californication” itself is a dark meditative reflection on the cheap and tacky underbelly of the sunny side of Hollywood lifestyles. Like Hole’s Celebrity Skin, released a year before, it lays waste to the idea that fame and fortune in Hollywood is a noble endeavor. But it does this in a series of couplets such as, “space may be the final frontier but it’s made in a Hollywood basement,” that capture the absurdity perfectly.

So here’s the crux: the distance in time between the two records is just under a decade. 1991 to 1999. This doesn’t seem a huge leap of time, but the artistic jump the band achieved during that period feels extraordinary. And here’s the other, quite extraordinary thing, the distance in time, as of writing, between Californication and now is twenty years (hence this anniversary article) and every day that time period is lengthening.

Yet, to my mind the band is perpetually stuck in this short artistic timeframe. I haven’t experienced enough post-Californication Red Hot Chili Peppers—with the exception of By the Way—enough to shake them out of what I perceive as a golden period. 1991 to 1999 will always remain the same distance and a brilliant example of an artistic evolution.

But I also feel that the Chili Peppers have hardly evolved from the point of Californication. To my mind they appear to be the same band now—at least in sound—as they were then. I know in some respects I’m wrong. Their current guitarist, Josh Klinghoffer, who has been with the band since 2007 (when Frusciante vacated again), has brought a whole new set of talents to the overall sound of the band. But without experiencing that youthful rush, I’m lost.

Back to the record for a moment. The evolution in sound was not met with overall praise from critics. In its review, NME joked, “Can we have our brain-dead, half-dressed funk-hop rock animals back now, please?” and in some respects the reaction to this can be explained.  Because of the lack of albums to reveal the sonic/lyrical evolution, the Chili Peppers made big leaps that were not fully understood by critics or listeners. This is the Chili Peppers in the lost 1990s. A band that should have, much like they did in the 1980s, released a cluster of records that improved continuously on their sound in a more progressive sense. A band that should have dominated the landscape of rock and funk and MTV culture. Instead we only got one relatively mediocre record bookmarked by two brilliant, yet very different records.

For me and no doubt many others of my generation, the 1990s are an incredible stretch of time. I started the decade still in primary school, by the decade’s end I was legally drinking, I’d had numerous girlfriends, and I’d even had sex, I was staying out late, I was contemplating leaving home. My personality, my very identity was forged during this decade. It took many attempts and many failures to find the rudimentary person I would become in adulthood.

This is the way every generation, at least in the post-war era in which teenage responsibility was vanquished, feels about their youth. The Baby Boomers long for the idealism of the Sixties, Generation X has a deep fondness for the Reaganite Eighties and older millennials like myself long for the ‘90s. It will be the same for future generations I’m sure.

The era in which one finds themselves, in which one grows, will be ingrained as deeply affecting, and these chops and changes will feel like they happen within an eternity whilst experiencing it, but when time stretches away from those moments it all feels incredibly short. Anything after this blissful era is just surplus time. An article by Marc Wittmann in Psychology Today posits that, “It is probably true that life cannot be experienced with the same freshness we felt when we were much younger. That is what ‘experience’ means: losing the sense of novelty.”

As I get older I’m experiencing this loss of novelty and by all accounts so are the Red Hot Chili Peppers. Californication is the Chili Peppers as grown-ups. We would never experience them in any other way again”.

I will move to a feature from Stereogum. They take a deep dive into a classic from the 1990s. Perhaps the defining work from Red Hot Chili Peppers. I listen back to Californication now and memories flood through. Listening to these songs for the first time. It summons so many vivid moments and scenes:

“For many young people around the country, the Red Hot Chili Peppers were a gateway band — a popular group through the ’90s alt-rock boom from whom you could trace the paths back to different progenitors than those of their peers. (Plenty ’90s rock acts could point you to Hendrix, but RHCP could also point you to Parliament.) And as such, they were also the first impression of a lot of things for those young listeners, whether you were a teenager when Mother’s Milk came out or whether you were of the next generation, RHCP one part of your introduction by way of their massively successful late ’90s singles.

If you were part of the latter group, Californication might live on as their definitive work, rivaled only by their 1991 breakthrough Blood Sugar Sex Magik. This, in some ways, was the album that seemed to capture everything this band was always supposed to be. It made them feel, at the time and aided by a clutch of singles destined to soon be ubiquitous in every small town shopping mall and on every small town alt-rock station, as the embodiment of a certain kind of late ’90s iconography. Extreme sports and artificial energy drinks and turn of the millennium graphic fonts attendant to both. The same sun-drenched place glimpsed in ’90s alt-rock videos, where everything seemed more saturated than it could possibly look in real life.

It didn’t matter if this was authentic or the stuff of skateboard video games and sunglasses stores. This was yet another small chapter in America’s long history of mythologizing California, the Golden Coast and the frontier and the full realization of this country’s identity. The Peppers, for better or for worse, felt like the total fulfillment of that promise, a vaguely cartoonish one for the end of a century.

“Californication,” the song, despite being named with a very characteristically RHCP pun, was actually about the darker side of things. You see that name, and you’d immediately assume it was another piece of ribald funk with Anthony Kiedis offering up a semi-juvenile rap. Instead, it’s a fairly mournful, balladic composition. There are still some clunkier lines, naturally, but there are also some truly poignant ones. Rather than a celebration of their hometown and its mythology, “Californication” echoed the addiction, alienation, and self-destruction that had actually colored the individual lives of the Chili Peppers’ members.

Californication, the album, is not exactly “dark.” But it is more consistently gentle and somber than they had ever been before. At this point, this band, and its individual members, had been through it. And you could hear that in the music. Californication represented a previously hard-to-imagine prospect: an older, ever so slightly wiser Red Hot Chili Peppers.

The Chili Peppers had already come back from horrible circumstances. They had already lost one guitarist and friend to drug addiction, when Hillel Slovak overdosed in 1988. It compelled Kiedis — whose tumultuous upbringing and relationship with substances would be further detailed in his 2004 memoir Scar Tissue, named for one of Californication’s key tracks — to get clean. His struggle would continue on through the ’90s, with one relapse casting a shadow over 1995’s already-troubled One Hot Minute. After Slovak’s death, they’d hired a kid named John Frusciante, and the band went on to release albums that started to gain wider and wider traction, initially peaking with Blood Sugar Sex Magik. The explosion of fame proved a lot to process, and Frusciante departed the band and subsequently battled a brutal heroin and cocaine addiction through the middle of the decade.

The ensuing years were not easy for the rest of RHCP either. Aside from Kiedis’ personal struggles, the prospect of following Blood Sugar Sex Magik was challenging, especially as they tried to find a groove with their new guitarist, Dave Navarro. The chemistry never quite developed, and despite having some strange, enduring RHCP tunes, One Hot Minute was regarded as a disappointment by every metric — the hits weren’t big, it didn’t sell as well, neither critics nor fans embraced it. Navarro would leave the band, and Flea convinced Frusciante to rejoin the fold.

It was a strange place to be. RHCP had already been around since the early days of the ’80s, but they were now approaching the other side of another decade, one that had granted them stardom. They had already undergone runaway popularity, the valleys that can follow; they had already undergone addiction and recovery and loss in multiple cycles. The only album they had released since their breakthrough had been written off as a failure. And so, going into the late ’90s, they had rebuilt what in hindsight can easily be called the definitive Chili Peppers lineup — Kiedis, Flea, Frusciante, and Chad Smith. And they were positioned for, in need of, a comeback moment. They got one.

Whether it was the travails of life or having Frusciante back, RHCP returned with an album that broke new ground for them artistically. Softer, more introspective, more tasteful. Kiedis, suddenly, could really, really sing when he wanted to. (There’re plenty of annoying honks across the album still, but there’s also singing.) It was a rebirth for the band creatively, personally, and narratively. Californication became a huge success, surpassing the heights of its predecessors and unleashing a series of singles that became some of the band’s pivotal tracks.

Along with the aforementioned title track and “Scar Tissue,” Californication also featured “Otherside” — a genuinely pretty and cathartic composition that ranks amongst the band’s very best. It’s hard not to hear the reintroduction of Frusciante as being crucial to songs like these. In his second run with RHCP, there was always something odd about seeing him onstage. He seemed sadder and weirder than the rest of the band, or at least than the music they made. And that in turn pushed RHCP in this era, Frusciante’s guitar work effortlessly shifting between clean and fluid, then percussively funky and precise, classicist then wildly creative. Say what you will about the resulting sounds they made collectively, but RHCP could always boast a small collection of musicians who played off each other perfectly. Frusciante was vey much a part of that, his guitars adding just the right textures to the rhythms of Flea and Smith, his background keens lacing Kiedis’ melodies with melancholy.

All of which is to say that, the more mature iteration of RHCP some of us saw in this stretch of their career wasn’t ever 100% true, nor was the aging/soft version decried by those who missed the partying goofball pranksters of the past. If you still wanted RHCP to be fun and silly and puerile, there was a bit of that on Californication. If you had been curious what would happen if earlier, mellower tracks like “Under The Bridge” and “Breaking The Girl” had not been outliers, you got your answer on Californication. Across its 15 tracks, the album had a whole lot of room for all the moods and sounds this band wanted.

And oftentimes, those explorations, those sounds of a just-about-middle-aged Red Hot Chili Peppers, resulted in some of their best songs, including but also beyond those major singles. “Parallel Universe” remains one of their nimblest and most propulsive rock songs. Working off an inverted structure, “Savior” flipped between thunderous verses and dreamlike, wispy choruses (or chorus stand-ins).

It was fitting that Californication concluded with a tribute to journeys taken together, to the endurance of close bonds amidst trials and defeats. After their respective battles through the middle of the ’90s, Californication was the sound of four guys coming back together, still with some unspoken musical connection between them in their bloodstreams, and revitalizing each other. They crafted themselves a turning point.

From here, their magnitude was confirmed. Rather than continuing a potential decline set off by One Hot Minute, Californication redirected the path upward, to sustained status as one of the world’s last gigantic rock bands, to Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame inductions, to a striking amount of albums sold.

But more important than material metrics, Californication remains one of the prime arguments in a messy, surprisingly convoluted career if you are going to try and make your case for the Red Hot Chili Peppers. As popular as this band has been and will remain, debates will never go away regarding their actual quality. There is certainly a lot of embarrassing output to their name, and they’re being one of those bands you can get into easily at 13 years old always seems to saddle them with a guilty pleasure status as you get older.

Chances are none of that was on the mind of kids who found this album in 1999, though. They weren’t on mine, at least. At the time, it was the sound of these four guys reunited, at the height of their powers, not without missteps but able to evoke some fantasy place somewhere else. Later, you could decipher the darkness hanging at the edges, too. But for a while, the Red Hot Chili Peppers offered music that sounded like a transmission from the West Coast that was just as glamorous as more respectable Californian legends. Whatever you think of this band, that world they created resonated for a lot of young people then. And because of that, there’s something about Californication that still resonates today”.

I am going to end with a couple of reviews for the globe-straddling Californication. This is what Entertainment Weekly had to say in their positive review of Red Hot Chili Peppers’ smash seventh studio album. One that is still played and revered to this day. I hear singles from the album played regularly across multiple radio stations:

“The Red Hot Chili Peppers couldn’t have picked a better year for an attempted comeback. Way back in the ’80s, the Chili Peppers’ overflowing keg of metal, rap, and funk pioneered the funky-white-boy pose, at both its best and worst. After the stumble of 1995’s almost-there One Hot Minute, though, they laid conspicuously low (thanks, in part, to accidents and recurring drug habits), and maybe that wasn’t such a bad idea: How much longer could they have carried on the horny-shirtless-stud shtick before descending into self-parody?

Starting with its elbow-in-ribs title (which makes one think they’ve been spending quality time with fellow sex-pun groaners Van Halen), Californication has the whiff of desperation. And when Anthony Kiedis opens his mouth, the situation grows even more dire: ”All around the world, we could make time/Rompin’ and a-stompin’, ’cause I’m in my prime,” he raps on the first track, ”Around the World.” You’re tempted to hit the stop button on your stereo then and there.

But then something startling happens. Perhaps it’s the return of guitarist John Frusciante, who played such an integral role in 1991’s Blood Sugar Sex Magik. For the bulk of Californication, the Peppers sound more relaxed, less grating, and, in their own way, more introspective than ever before. The soul-searching sentiments of ”Otherside,” ”Californication” (which appears to take digs at Courtney Love and ”celebrity skin”), and the sobriety-imbued ”This Velvet Glove” are set to music that’s lilting and freshly scrubbed.

The rockers are powerful but not obnoxious (or clotted with popping bass lines), and the whirlybird pulse of ”Parallel Universe” also marks new turf for them. The Chili Peppers — Kiedis, in particular — can’t refrain from sub-beat-poetry lyrics, throwaways like ”I Like Dirt,” and the naughty finger-painting ode ”Purple Stain.” But those tendencies are kept to a minimum. Californication is the sound of aging party animals who sense the room is emptying out and that they’d better look for another, healthier buzz”.

I am going to end with a review from Rolling Stone. Although some have been mixed or a bit sniffy towards the album, there are those who find plenty of positives about Californication. It is an album with so much variety and depth. Some incredible and compelling songs that still sound so essential twenty-five years later:

“LET’S KEEP IT real: white boys do not have to be funky; they only have to rock, and that the Red Hot Chili Peppers do quite wickedly, thank you. Historically, though, RHCP albums have been long on sock-it-to-me passion but short on the songcraft that made their hero George Clinton’s most acid-addled experiments lyrically haunting and melodically infectious. Up until this new Peppers joint, Californication, that is. For Lord knows what reasons — age, sobriety, Blonde on Blonde ambitions or worship at the altar of Billy Corgan — they’ve settled down and written a whole album’s worth of tunes that tickle the ear, romance the booty, swell the heart, moisten the tear ducts and dilate the third eye. All this inside of song forms and production that reveal sublime new facets upon each hearing.

Back in the revolving-guitar saddle is John Frusciante, of Blood Sugar Sex Magik fame, who replaces the outgoing Dave Navarro (who, of course, replaced Frusciante himself not so long ago) and proves once again why he’s the only ax slinger God ever wanted to be a Pepper, too. As in days of yore, Frusciante continually hits the mark with slithery chicken licks, ingenious power chording, Axis: Bold as Love grace notes and sublimely syncopated noises that allow the nimble Flea to freely bounce back and forth between bombastic lead and architectonic rhythm parts on the bass. If there were a Most Valuable Bass Player award given out in rock, Flea could have laid claim to that bitch ten years running.

The real star turn on this disc, though, is by Anthony Kiedis, whose vocal cords have apparently been down to some crossroads and over the rehab, and returned with heretofore unheard-of range, body, pitch, soulfulness and melodic sensibility. On “Scar Tissue” he laces out a falsetto purple enough to have made Jeff Buckley swoon with envy; on “Savior” he croons and belts with enough chest-thumping pride to suggest that Vegas is just a kiss away, sustaining supple, buoyant tones with such ease, you know he must be amazing himself, too. (As a friend observed, if she didn’t know it was Kiedis, she would have thought the vocalist a Kiedis clone who could actually sing.) The point being that until you hear Californication, you haven’t ever heard Kiedis truly sang, as they say in the church, nor prove himself so adept and moving in the lyrics department, either. Just in time for Matrix fever, “Parallel Universe” speaks of an “underwater where thoughts can breathe easily/Far away you were made in a sea, just like me” to the beat of a track that hybridinally splits the difference between the Yardbirds and Eurodisco. (Flea and Frusciante’s remarkable handheld trillings on that one are more than a little technically impressive, we should add.)

The band treads more-familiar funk-rap ground on cuts like “Get on Top” and “Right on Time,” and on this album’s “Under the Bridge” reduxes — the title track and the aforementioned “Scar Tissue,” a dreamy Venice Beach pimp stroll with lullaby-lovely slide guitar. But songs like “Otherside” and “Porcelain” are delicate, vulnerable and volatile enough to earn the rubric Pumpkins-esque, while the baroque progressions and contrapuntal maneuvers heard on the hook-drunk “Easily” could have one thinking that the Chili Peppers car-jacked Elvis Costello and made off like musical bandits. The poetry found on “Easily” is no joke: “The story of a woman on the morning of a war/Remind me, if you will, exactly what we’re fighting for/Throw me to the wolves, because there’s order in the pack/Throw me to the sky, because I know I’m coming back.” As dope as all of the above are, however, they’re only the setup for the glistening simplicity and serenity displayed on the disc’s denouement, “Road Trippin’,” a finger-picked Olde English tyle number that ties the album up in a bow while gently inferring that Californication is the recovering singer’s way of reminding himself to wake up and live and be “a mirror for the sun.”

While all previous Chili Peppers projects have been highly spirited, Californication dares to be spiritual and epiphanal, proposing that these evolved RHCP furthermuckers are now moving toward funk’s real Holy Grail: that salty marriage of esoteric mythology and insatiable musicality that salvages souls, binds communities and heals the sick. Not exactly your average white band”.

On 8th June, the fantastic Californication turns twenty-five. Few bands can hit a new peak and level on their seventh studio album. A consistency and sense of importance that is pretty impressive. One of the finest albums from the final years of the twentieth century, I wanted to salute Californication ahead of its twenty-fifth anniversary. It is an album that I would recommend everyone listens to…

RIGHT away.

FEATURE: Every Second Counts: Will the Album Make a Full Comeback?

FEATURE:

 

 

Every Second Counts

IN THIS PHOTO: The cover for Billie Eilish’s forthcoming album, Hit Me Hard and Soft (out on 17th May) 

Will the Album Make a Full Comeback?

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I want to use an entire…

IN THIS PHOTO: Taylor Swift/PHOTO CREDIT: Beth Garrabrant

BBC article as a focus for an interesting conversation. They looked at artists like Billie Eilish and Taylor Swift and recent albums. In fact, Billie Eilish does not release Hit Me Hard and Soft until 17th May. Even though artists like Eilish have a couple of albums under their belt, it is not the case that they will put out a string of singles prior the release date. I think we have gotten so use to artists releasing three, four or five singles over the course of an album’s release and marketing campaign. I guess we have artists like Dua Lipa who are still going down the singles route. Regardless, Taylor Swift put out very little before The Tortured Poets Department recently. Billie Eilish is going to release her album without putting out singles. Swift and Eilish releasing an album without any singles coming out. It means that fans experience the album as it arrives without any preconceptions or guidance in terms of sound. I think singles can often be red herrings. Too many singles can be overwhelming and a bit full-on! It seems exhausting when you get so very much released from an album. I do know that mainly massive artists can afford releasing an album without singles coming. They will get huge sales and acclaim if an album comes out with no singles. The BBC look at a run of recent albums and how they have been promoted in regards single releases:

“Beyoncé released two in one go, Dua Lipa let her fans have three. Taylor Swift? She kept everything under wraps.

The Tortured Poets Department dropped last week with no singles released in advance and, next month, Billie Eilish says she'll be doing the same.

For years, commentators have been warning that the album is dead and the single reigns supreme.

That's partly down to streaming apps like Spotify and Apple Music which let fans pick and choose their favourite tracks from artists and curate personalised playlists.

But could two of the world's biggest stars opting to ditch singles breathe life back into albums?

Announcing Hit Me Hard and Soft, Billie said she wanted her fans to hear the album in one go.

And in an interview with Rolling Stone, she explained why.

"Every single time an artist I love puts out a single without the context of the album, I'm just already prone to hating on it," she said.

"I really don't like when things are out of context. This album is like a family: I don't want one little kid to be in the middle of the room alone."

Even though he's responsible for the weekly Official Singles Chart, Martin Talbot, the chief executive of the Official Charts Company, admits he's more of an album fan himself.

"It's fantastic that Billie Eilish and Taylor Swift are doing what appears to be something designed to push music fans back to the concept of an album," he tells BBC Newsbeat.

"There is a danger that music fans lose sight of what an album is and what an album represents.

"The album represents the kind of apex of the creative vision of a particular artist.

"And it's really important for the creative health of music and the cultural environment we preserve that."

PHOTO CREDIT: Stas Knop/Pexels

Fans take control

In the 70-year history of the charts, Martin says collating the top 40 singles has changed dramatically.

It started with calling around a few record stores each week to ask which singles - specially selected and released by musicians - were their bestsellers.

Now, thanks to streaming platforms, anything can be a single - and anything can enter the chart.

"The great thing about the digital environment is that it puts the control in the hands of the consumer, in the hands of music fans," Martin tells Newsbeat.

"Billie Eilish and Taylor Swift, they may just be releasing albums, but each of those tracks that make up those albums is available to stream in isolation," he says.

"And if those tracks get enough streams, they will go into the singles chart, regardless of whether the artist deems them to be singles or not."

That decision could be a thing of the past for artists as big as Taylor and Billie, although Taylor did release a music video for one song - Fortnight - on the day her album dropped.

That went straight to number one, but other tracks that weren't officially promoted, including Down Bad and the eponymous The Tortured Poets Department, also debuted in the top five.

But for up and coming talents like Beth McCarthy singles are as important as ever.

Beth McCarthy performing on stage. Beth is a 26-year-old white woman with blonde hair dyed pink. She wears a grey denim crop top with a pink tartan tie around her neck. She holds a microphone to her face with her right hand, revealing a black line tattoo on her inner upper arm. Beth's eyes are closed as she sings, holding the microphone stand with her left hand. The staging behind her is lit purple

Singer Beth McCarthy says singles are still important for artists establishing their sound

"Singles are a massive part of what starts your career," the singer tells Newsbeat.

"It creates a way to release music without the pressure of making a whole body of work and figuring out an entire sound.

"It lets people get to know you but in short, little bits rather than having to do the whole big thing."

Beth, from London, will be performing at Radio 1's Big Weekend in May on the Introducing stage, and hopes to release her first album soon.

"I've been doing singles and EPs because they're a shorter way to create something that isn't going full pelt into an album," she says.

"And for me, making an album, I want it to be done properly and done in a way that really works together and feels like art."

Album art for Beyoncé's album, Cowboy Carter. Beyoncé is a 42-year-old black woman. She's styled in a red, white and blue patent cowboy-themed outfit including a cowboy hat, chaps and a buttoned up shirt. She's pictured sitting side-saddle on a white horse, her long silver hair flowing behind her. In her right hand, she holds the horse's reigns and in her left she holds aloft the American flag.

Beyoncé dropped two singles from Cowboy Carter in one go

Aside from refining an artist's sound, another good thing about releasing singles is how they can get fans excited for a new album.

"The single is still one of the most powerful promotional tools for an album," says Martin.

He gives Texas Hold 'Em as an example, one of two singles Beyoncé released from Cowboy Carter which he says "fed directly into the success of her album" - which debuted at number one.

But Martin says for most artists, singles have an important role to play in keeping album sales high.

"Part of the job of releasing singles is to keep the album in the public eye and to continue to ensure that people are reminded it exists," he says.

Vanishing from the limelight might not be a worry for Taylor, who within five days of releasing The Tortured Poets Department broke Spotify records with more than a billion streams.

She also broke UK chart records, with the album reaching number one and outselling the rest of the top 10 combined.

Could it be the start of a comeback for the album?

Billie's brother and collaborator Finneas suggested a return to listening to albums in full was due a comeback.

"We're not even at 'song' anymore," he told the magazine, saying music was increasingly being consumed in trending soundbites on TikTok.

But "everything's a counter-movement to the movement," he added.

"I think that's going to lead back to immersing yourself in an album. I really do”.

I don’t think that we will see a day where every major artists releases an album with no/one single beforehand. It can be quite risky and backfire! What is pleasing is that we have artists such as Billie Eilish keen to let fans experience an album. Not going down the route of singles coming out and there being this endless promotion and cycle. Even Beyoncé, with COWBOY CARTER, took an unusual path with her album. Not quite the same way of doing things. I feel there is a demand, against the brevity and ephemeral nature of platforms like TikTok, for albums and something fuller. Beth McCarthy is right when she says that artists need to release albums to establish their sound. New artists especially need to get singles out so that albums can get some traction and context. It is a complex debate and conversation. It is clear that the rise in vinyl sales and the fact physical music is doing so well is seeing artists react. Maybe they do not want to give too much away. An album is a very special and personal thing. Artists want fans to feel and absorb it as a single thing. If you take it apart and release singles, often people can listen to those singles and maybe skip album tracks. If you only have the album, then you are hearing it fresh and have no bias/favourite songs going in. I do hope that the desire for full albums and some big artists not releasing singles leads to others following suit. I don’t think that any new or rising artists should risk not releasing singles if they can’t afford to.

PHOTO CREDIT: Andrea Piacquadio/Pexels

Vinyl sales are booming and we are also seeing cassettes and CDs taking off – though not hugely. I hope that manufacturers will put out devices so that people can listen to cassettes and CDs. That opportunity to listen to albums on the go. There is still a place for TikTok and artists putting out songs and snippets. Many may still want to release a string of singles before an album. There is nothing wrong with that. I feel that this reliance and way of doing things will fade slightly. Artists maybe not seeing the benefit of releasing singles. Too few views or videos not being embraced the way they once were. Instead, we will get the element of surprise. Not knowing what Billie Eilish’s album will sound like. I think it will result in more album sales and streams that otherwise would have been the case because people have that curiosity and blank canvas. Rather than it being a marketing ploy or anything cynical, these amazing young artists realise how important albums are. They do not want to take them apart or distil them. Albums have always been popular. The art of releasing an album with no singles and prioritising that has not been common with major artists. We will see others do this. Although not every one can or will do the same, there are positive steps towards artists eschewing releasing multiple singles and only doing one or two – or none at all! It is pleasing and exciting discovering artists such as Billie Eilish and Taylor Swift not releasing singles and instead putting out an album. It means that fans get…

A fulsome and dedicated listen.

FEATURE: New Waves of Appreciation: Why Kate Bush Being Discussed More in the U.S. Now Is Especially Timely

FEATURE:

 

 

New Waves of Appreciation

IN THIS PHOTO: Kate Bush photographed in Advision Studio, where she recorded and produced her fourth album, The Dreaming, London - April 1982/PHOTO CREDIT: George Bodnar/Archive/IconicPix

Why Kate Bush Being Discussed More in the U.S. Now Is Especially Timely

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I have been compelled…

IN THIS PHOTO: Kate Bush in a promotional photo for 2011’s 50 Words for Snow

by a recent video in which Kate Bush was being discussed by Rolling Stone contributors. On 24th April, they shared a video where one of her classics, Running Up That Hill (A Deal with God), was being dissected. More than that, they dissected and explored Kate Bush’s legacy and how her music has impacted through the years. They also speculated on her future in music. It interested me watching. How this U.S. source/video has come at a very interesting time. As part of their 500 Greatest Songs series, they looked deep into Kate Bush’s most popular track:

“Kate Bush has always been a fiercely original art-pop icon. But with “Running Up That Hill,” she achieved a new kind of feat. “Running Up That Hill” was a massive Top Ten hit, dominating U.S. radio all over the summer of 2022—even though it was a song she released back in 1985. Her classic synth-goth anthem sounded ahead of its time in the Eighties, but only Kate Bush could make it a song that STILL sounds ahead of its time nearly 40 years later.

In this week’s episode of Rolling Stone’s 500 Greatest Songs, hosts Brittany Spanos and Rob Sheffield discuss the long, incredible legacy of Kate Bush and “Running Up That Hill.” They’re joined by their brilliant Rolling Stone colleague Julyssa Lopez, a Kate Bush expert and longtime hardcore fan, to discuss why “Running Up That Hill” speaks to our moment”.

There has been a lot going on recently regarding Kate Bush. I think a lot has shifted and changed since she was inducted (finally!) into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame last year. I feel that was a moment when Kate Bush was finally embraced and accepted by the U.S. Maybe a lot of that particular heavy lifting was done when Running Up That Hill (A Deal with God) was used in Stranger Things a couple of years ago. That led the song to top charts – including the U.K. – and connect with a new audience in America. Until very recently, Kate Bush had not really been embraced in the U.S. She never wanted to crack the country and be a success there. She never toured in America. Even so, in the past decade or two, she has had her music used in T.V. and film. It has been a very interesting time. The last few years has been a bit of a rolling ball that has grown larger. I am hearing new and rising artists around the world – and not only in the U.S. – who are inspired by Kate Bush and are discovering her fresh. Rolling Stone sitting down and spending some time talking about how iconic Kate Bush is. Beside some great placement in U.S. media and screen, there is this discussion and debate. I do think that things will accelerate and expand in the next couple of years. I am not saying this response and respect in the U.S. will compel Bush to record a new album. She will see that any album she brings out now will have a larger and more willing U.S. audience – even if 2011’s 50 Words for Snow was quite successful there. I do think that the U.S. could be one of Bush’s most warm and biggest markets. Looking on social media, there are so many followers I have in the U.S. who are either finding her music now or are familiar with her but are discovering new sides and layers. This could have a bigger impact and wave of possibility.

ILLUSTRATION CREDIT: Jon McCormack

It is humbling and a relief that her music has reached the U.S. in a very real and massive way. A lot of fairly recent documentaries about Kate Bush have come from the U.K. I do think that something could come from a U.S. source. As Bush’s music and career has reached new heights in America, this will lead to other documentaries and projects. Something that unites musicians and well-known fans of Kate Bush. Documents her start but brings things up to date. In the U.K., there have been recent magazine articles and there are books coming up about Kate Bush. Graeme Thomson is producing another issue of Under the Ivy: The Life & Music of Kate Bush. I think that we are going to see some U.S. books and a lot more spotlight here. Not that America is the be all and end all. I am curious how it will affect the rest of the world. I am musing here. It was just a nice surprise to see that Rolling Stone video. So much detail and discussion around Kate Bush. Some interesting exchanges and points. I feel like we are going to see Kate Bush love and representation come from all corners. Not only will there be a lot of new material – books and articles – published about Kate Bush. You can feel and see her legacy through so many artists coming through right now. That will only increase. I also think that major artists will pay tribute to Kate Bush in their own way. Whether that means covering one of her songs or being influenced and incorporating some of Bush’s sounds in their own work. I am hearing shades of Kate Bush in new work from artists such as St. Vincent and The Last Dinner Party.

Through all of this, I wonder how Kate Bush feels. I am not sure how much she sees when it comes to these videos and articles. She has posted updates to her websites and knows that there are so many new fans picking up her music. We are in a moment when there is perhaps more attention and detail analyses of her music than recent decades. Perhaps more than back in 1985 when Hounds of Love came out. I do have this sense of something incredible coming along. Maybe not from Kate Bush herself but the wider world. You can feel and see all these dedicated fans old and new more in love with her music and legacy than ever before. Great discussions and new books. We don’t know what the future holds, though I do think about how the U.S. is finally on board. How generations Z and Alpha are invested and finding the music. Maybe they are still quite narrow when it comes to the albums and songs. I do think one of the drawbacks of an album like Hounds of Love getting most of the focus is that so much of the listenership and streams goes there. That said, we have recently seen Army Dreamers go viral. That is from 1980’s Never for Ever. This album could well get some big moments. In that a song or songs from it could make their way to T.V. and film. I always think that there are albums of Bush’s that are ignored or not as regarded as they should be. I guess this is my thinking out loud. 2024 is a year where so much has happened already. There is this crackle and buzz in the air. More love and respect for Kate Bush than I have witnessed in years. This will only increase. I am fascinated what else is going to arrive this year. The more that comes in the way of Kate Bush appreciation, it does the beg the question as to…

WHAT might come next.

FEATURE: A Wonderful Blast from the Past… The Online Return of the Iconic Our Price

FEATURE:

 

 

A Wonderful Blast from the Past…

IMAGE CREDIT: Our Price

The Online Return of the Iconic Our Price

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THERE are signs of reversal and return…

PHOTO CREDIT: Alax Matias/Pexels

to a time that we thought had past. I mean, in the early-‘00s, few people would have predicted record shops would survive long. Also, when digital music started to take more of a hold and charge, it was understandable that physical music formats would prove less popular. Not only have compact discs and cassettes survived and continue to rise (slightly) in sale. We have a booming vinyl market and chains like HMV remain strong. The flagship HMV store on London’s Oxford Street was resurrected and reopened last year. It does seem there are leaves and shoots when it comes to returning – in a small way – to the prosperity of physical music and record shops in the 1990s. Another happy piece of news highlights how Our Price have returned. They will start online, though there is hope that stores will reopen soon. NME report how there the chain is back in business. It is a positive sign that their online presence could return to the high street:

“The classic UK music shop Our Price is set to relaunch later this month.

Our Price was a popular chain of record stores across the UK and Ireland, which launched in the early ‘70s and became a famous presence on high streets across the country up until the early ‘00s.

Founded in 1971 by Gary Nesbitt, Edward Stollins and Mike Isaacs, the first branch was located on London’s Finchley Road and, for the first five years, the six stores were branded The Tape Revolution and concentrated on selling CDs and eight-track tapes.

From 1976 onwards, the chain was rebranded as Our Price Records, in response to higher demand for vinyl records, then rebranded once again as Our Price Music in 1988, before landing on Our Price in 1993. By this point, over 300 branches had been opened across the UK and Ireland.

Despite having branches in locations such as Kings Road, Chelsea and being named as the second-largest retailer of records and tapes in the ‘80s – with Woolworths benign the first – the business was put under threat by the expansion of HMV.

PHOTO CREDIT: Our Price

After a plethora of issues, the business gradually declined, and closed its final branch in 2004. However, it has now confirmed that it will be relaunching, and set to open its doors again next week.

“For two decades Our Price has held a special place in the heart of many. Today, we’re thrilled to announce we’re making a comeback! Get ready to discover the value and excitement you loved about Our Price as we gear up for a grand re-launch on the 30th April 2024,” reads a post on the store’s website.

Similarly, the shop posted an update on Facebook, building anticipation for the return – two decades after it closed.

“Countdown’s ticking and we’re pumped. And (if I’m honest) pretty jittery. We’re a crew of musos, DJs and enthusiasts reviving a beloved brand,” it began. “We’re not exactly swimming in cash, so no flashy launch. We’re doing things organically, adding new lines every month. For us, it’s all about good vibes and keeping it personal.”

It continued: “Also (and this isn’t PR speak) we want you to be part of the journey. Tell us what you’re into. We want to hear from you. Drop us a line once the site is live telling us what you want from Our Price.

“For day 1 we’ve got about 20,000 vinyl, some very cool tees, and the beginnings of what will ultimately be a carefully curated range of hi-fi and audio equipment. It’s going to be great.”

You can sign up to the store via the official website ahead of its launch on April 30. Those who sign up are offered “free shipping and all the pre-orders, product updates and comp news”.

News of the brand’s comeback comes after it was reported last December that sales of vinyl records in the UK had hit their highest level since 1990.

It marked the 16th consecutive year of rising sales, according to the British Phonographic Industry (BPI), which also added that the vinyl market had increased more than four times as fast with an 11.7 per cent rise to 5.9 million units in 2023”. 

PHOTO CREDIT: Vlada Karpovich/Pexels

Our Price was a big part of my childhood and teenage years. Alongside HMV, I would get singles and albums here. Whilst I mainly bought physical music, there were also posters and other bits of music merchandise. At a time when there was not Internet options to order music, these shops were invaluable. One could say they lack purpose and place now. As physical music survives and thrives, Our Price prepares to relaunch. Today (30th April), we will see a once-iconic and legendary name come back. This new success story shows that there is a place for independent and chain stores. It is not only vinyl sales that is responsible for Our Price coming back. Physical music has found a new generation and renewed purpose. I am excited to see how that develops and grows. We end April welcoming back Our Price. One cannot rule out the possibility of its branches appearing on the high street. I wonder whether cassettes albums will play a part. Whether singles will make a comeback. If once-dissolved chains can come back, it does mean there will be questions around expansion and survival. How will Our Price differ from HMV. I feel a lot of music lovers would like to see a mix of multiple physical music formats together with merchandise and electronics. Giving customers options and the likes of Our Price being able to co-exist with independent chains. You can go to Our Price’s website here. Rejoice in the fact that we have another reason to cheer. Think back a few years or so when there was fear that the pandemic was going to threaten the existence and possibility of many record stores. Now, in 2024, we are in a healthy position.

Even though there is a long way to go until we return to the golden days of years past, I think we will see further improvement. The hope that we see waves of people visit Our Price and ensure that they are trading for many years to come. If the website is a success and flourishes, it will lead to a call for stores to open. For people like me who relied on them and would often discover new albums that would stay with me for years, it is a chance for music lovers older and young to have the same experience. Not to take anything away from the Internet, though there is something different about browsing and shopping on the high street. Going into a branch of Our Price and seeing what is in stock. I think it is important now more than ever that we encourage as many people to come into music stores. If you know Our Price or are new to them, go and check out the website today. It is the start of an exciting and promising new path. I think that we will slowly start to see chains return. That would give options regarding layout and stock. Maybe getting ahead of myself, it is good that sites like What Hi-Fi? are sharing the news. It is amazing to think how the industry has seen this revival and growth post-pandemic. The lust and demand for physical music many felt would never happen. I am so pleased. It is very early days, though there is every reason to suggest Our Price will be back in force and have a real stake and physical presence on the high street. Today, online, we wish Our Price all the best. It is very much…

PHOTO CREDIT: Our Price

A welcome return!

FEATURE: Sure Shot: Beastie Boys’ Ill Communication at Thirty

FEATURE:

 

 

Sure Shot

Beastie Boys’ Ill Communication at Thirty

_________

THERE is not a lot written…

 IN THIS PHOTO: Beastie Boys’ Adam Yauch (MCA), Adam Horovitz (Ad-Rock) and Mike Diamond (Mike D) in London in 1994/PHOTO CREDIT: Martyn Goodacre/Getty Images

about a hugely important Hip-Hop album. Beastie Boys’ glorious fourth studio album, Ill Communication, was released on 31st May, 1994. It is coming up to its thirtieth anniversary. A wonderful album that is among the best the trio ever release, I wonder why there has not been more celebration and retrospection. Produced by Beastie Boys and Mario Caldato, Jr., it is a hugely varied and eclectic album. The album draws in elements of Rock, Punk and Jazz. Compared to the more sample-based first two albums, Beastie Boys’ Adam ‘Ad-Rock’ Horovitz, Adam ‘MCA’ Yauch, and Michael ‘Mike D’ Diamond relied more on live instruments from 1992’s Check My Head and 1994’s Ill Communication. Featuring collaboration and contributions from Money Mark, Eric Bobo and Amery ‘AWOL’ Smith, Q-Tip and Biz Markie, this is a fascinating and hugely wide-ranging album. One of the most impressive and nuanced that Beastie Boys ever released. Ill Communication reached number one on the U.S. Billboard 200 chart. It was also their second triple platinum album. One of my favourite tracks on Ill Communication is Sure Shot. It is a hypnotic and amazing track, though it is one where Beastie Boys shout at women and offer salute. They were accused or misogyny and sexism in earlier songs, so this was sort of a correct and musical apology. Perhaps the most famous song from Ill Communication is the majestic and towering Sabotage. With its Spike Jonze-directed video – one of the best of all time -, it is the pearl in a golden album. I will get to a couple of reviews for Ill Communication. I will start out with a feature from The Conversation. They write how the album is “an artistic statement, a swag of songs greater than the sum of its parts”:

“The album itself is a kaleidoscope of jazz-infused break-beats (where Herbie Hancock meets the Chemical Brothers), smooth instrumentals, bratty punk interludes and gritty, guitar-driven monsters. These unwittingly expose the group’s musical influences, and define its fundamental essence. This is the Beastie Boys in their natural state, where they have nothing left to prove and only critical appreciation to gain. Ill Communication differed from the band’s usual anarchistic and boyish flavours by gliding into a realm with a deeper appreciation for sampling, musicianship, musical arrangement and storytelling.

With a jazz flute sample taken from Jeremy Steig’s Howlin’ for Judy, and a layered drum break taken from Run-DMC’s Rock the House, the opening track of the album, Sure Shot, bounces into an energetic myriad of break beat drums and lyrically fragmented phrases referencing music and pop culture icons:

‘Cause you can’t, you won’t and you don’t stop

Mike D come and rock the sure shot

I’ve got the brand new doo-doo guaranteed like Yoo Hoo [a popular, chocolate-flavoured soft drink]

I’m on like Dr John, yeah, Mr Zu Zu [Zu Zu Man by New Orleans musician Dr. John]

I’m a newlywed, I’m not a divorcee

And everything I do is funky like Lee Dorsey [Everything I Do Is Gonh Be Funky by Allen Toussaint, recorded by Lee Dorsey]

Cultural obsessions are nothing new for the Beastie Boys, but the breadth of material and the diversity of lyrical citation found here far outstripped their previous work on Licensed to Ill (1986), Paul’s Boutique (1989) and Check Your Head (1992).

The album features tracks such as Tough Guy, a short and sharp interlude reminiscent of their early punk roots referencing Bill Laimbeer (a tough NBA basketballer of the Detroit Pistons) and Root Down, a slippery deviation laced with a Jimmy Smith sample of the same title.

Before too long, the album peaks, reaching the infamous Sabotage. With bone-crunching guitars and fuzz bass, this lyrically and rhythmically heavy song takes aim at the media and paparazzi with the band expressing its disapproval of the constant barrage of propaganda being spread to discredit musicians and celebrities. Their tongue-in-cheek, ’70s cop show, parody video clip, directed by Spike Jonze, received numerous MTV awards.

While Sabotage is now rightly famous, it’s the collaboration between the Beastie Boys and A Tribe Called Quest’s Q-Tip, Get It Together, that for me represents the pinnacle of this album. Teaming up with arguably one of the smoothest and most influential rappers of the era significantly enhances the album’s aesthetic appeal and offers a point of differentiation amid so many nasally driven raps.

Get It Together samples Aquarius/Let The Sun Shine In by the Moog Machine, Headless Heroes by Eugene McDaniels, Escape-Ism by James Brown, Four Play by Fred Wesley and The Horny Horns and A One Two by Biz Markie to create a distinct, misty blend of soul-jazz and funk-infused hip-hop that can be now considered quintessentially Beastie Boys.

The instrumental component of this album is nothing short of exquisite. Songs such as Sabrosa, Futterman’s Rule, Ricky’s Theme and Shambala all contribute to its flow.

Where other hip-hop artists couldn’t offer such diversity in live musicianship, the Beastie Boys led the way in adding this instrumental flare to their sound. They left their stamp as innovators, crossing the boundaries of multiple genres.

To conclude, I must draw attention to the album’s final track Transitions. The secret is in the title. Could this be the finale that subtly outlines their sonic signature and confirms that behind all good music is thought, emotion and purpose?

Transitions closes out Ill Communication by providing a moment of instrumental solace with its alluring, harmonic charm, but more so, the absence of the Beastie Boys’ trademark vocals deliberately draws attention to the quality of their musicianship. Ill Communication is undoubtedly a landmark recording for the Beastie Boys and one that defines the end of the Golden Age”.

As there is not a lot in terms of anniversary features and retrospectives about Ill Communication, I will come to a couple of reviews. Assessed by Rolling Stone in 1994, it is a wonderful and legendary album that sounds timeless. You can put it on now to someone not familiar with Beastie Boys and they would be able to connect with it. So varied is Ill Communication, you get so many different angles, stories, moods and highlights. I think that it is still so important and powerful thirty years after its release:

“WHY NOT A Beastie revolution?” proposed the B side of the Beastie Boys‘ first 12 inch back in 1983; 11 years later, it has happened — it’s time to get ill in ’94. Since their comeback in 1992 with Check Your Head, the Beasties — Mike D (Mike Diamond), MCA (Adam Yauch), Adrock (Adam Horovitz) and various cohorts — have bum-rushed nearly every media outlet, starting their own studio, record label, magazine and line of merchandise. Still, the core of the Beasties’ appeal remains their music — as funky as the Ohio Players’, as experimental as Sonic Youth’s.

Ill Communication continues the formula established on Check — home-grown jams powered by live instruments; speedy hardcore rants; and insane rhyme styles buried under the warm hiss of vintage analog studio equipment. (An old-school distrust of the digital age pervades Ill: As Mike D states on “Sure Shot,” “I listen to wax/I’m not using the CD.”) Since the Beasties’ earliest recordings, recently compiled on Some Old Bullshit, their mission remains intact: to explore the unifying threads between hip-hop and punk, taking their basic elements — the scratch of a needle across a vinyl groove, a pounding snare-bass thump, the crunch of a power chord — and slicing them up with a Ginsu knife. The resulting B-boy bouillabaisse blends both genres, living up to Mike D’s boast that he’ll “freak a fucking beat like the shit was in a blender.” Ill maintains the Beasties’ consistency of style, but underneath its goofy, dope-smokin’ antics lies — gasp! — an artistic maturity that reveals how the Boys have grown since they began as pimply New York punks making anarchic noise.

The Beasties’ fourth album lives up to its title — layers of distortion and echo often render the vocals unintelligible, reducing them to yet another rhythmic element. A reggae influence also pops up on Ill, but instead of the stuttering dancehall pulse pervading hip-hop, the Beasties look to the reverb effects of dub innovators like Lee “Scratch” Perry (name-checked in “Sure Shot”) for sonic inspiration. Elsewhere, the Beasties show their roots in “Root Down” — in this case, the strutting bass undertow, organ fills and wah-wah, chicken-scratch guitar of ’70s blaxploitation-era funk. Throughout, the Beasties demonstrate their musical diversity, ranging from the Gang Starr-style minimalist piano loop of “Get It Together” (featuring a virtuoso freestyle cameo by Q-Tip from A Tribe Called Quest) to “Sabotage,” a bass-driven metallic rapfest. Only on the hardcore punk of “Tough Guy” and “Heart Attack Man” do the Beasties falter. While these tracks have visceral power, they ultimately show the Beasties to be punk classicists, unable to transcend the now reactionary sounding influences of ’80s thrash pioneers like Black Flag, Minor Threat and the Germs. Indeed, if the Beasties gave their hardcore the same sonic complexity they give their funk, they would prove truly dangerous.

The Beasties’ funk emanates from the flow of their call-and-response rhymes, from the play of MCA’s rasp against Adrock’s freaky nasal cadence. Unafraid of the ridiculous, the Beasties remain masters of the absurdist rap lyric, such as when Adrock comes “steppin’ to the party in the Fila fresh/People lookin’ at me like I was David Koresh — yeah!” (“The Scoop”). The Beasties detail their expected obsessions with basketball (“Tough Guy”), golf (Mike D’s “wearing funky fly golf gear from head to toe”) and smoking pot (“Legalize the weed, and I’ll say, ‘Thank heavens,’ ” proclaims Adrock on “Freak Freak”).

Ill also conveys the Beasties’ more serious side as they pay homage to hip-hop’s New York roots. Constantly hyping that “motherfuckin’ old-school flavor,” they drop references like Busy Bee and the Zulu Beat show, romanticizing New York as a mythic rap Mecca. Despite their current status as residents of Los Angeles, MCA states in “The Scoop” that “New York City is the place that I feel at home in,” while Adrock claims in “Do It” that he “got the beats in Manhattan/You can hear the texture.” Even more surprising is MCA’s growing role as the Beasties’ social conscience: On “Sure Shot,” he states that “disrespecting women has got to reduce” and details his interest in Buddhism on “Bodhisattva Vow” and “The Update.”

Amazingly, the early-’80s material compiled on Bullshit prefigures nearly every musical development on Ill, moving from the blaring hardcore of “Transit Cop” to “Jimi,” an anti-drug song (!) whose narrator moans, “Let’s, like, get my bong and do up some heavy weed” over midtempo funky drums and psychedelic guitar. “Cooky Puss,” the Beasties’ first hip-hop release, sounds remarkably contemporary — its references to women as “bitches” predate gangsta rap, and it was a successful phoneprank record long before the Jerky Boys.

Bullshit ultimately demonstrates the nascent Beastie philosophy, which Adrock articulates for ’94 on “Alright Hear This”: “I brought a microphone/And I pick it up/And then I fuck it up/And then I turn it up … with the mighty rockin’ sound/And you know my culture — I came to get down”.

I am going to end with a more contemporary review from the BBC. following on from a third studio album that seemed less impactful and accomplished as 1989’s Paul’s Boutique, form and critical acclaim was restored:

“While it was far from disappointing, the Beasties’ third LP, 1992’s Check Your Head, lacked a lot of the wow-factor that’d graced their sampladelic masterpiece of 1989, Paul’s Boutique. A return to the New York trio’s scrappy punk sound, prominent on early demos, Check Your Head was solid, competent, mixing the band’s trademark rhyme schemes with bombastic percussion and over-amplified riffs. But for their next set, messrs Mike D, Ad-Rock and MCA would have to step their game up.

And didn’t they just. 1994’s Ill Communication mixed together elements of the preceding pair of long-players – the bratty sneer of the group’s 86 debut, Licensed to Ill, was by now forgotten – to present 20 tracks fluttering from low-slung funk to caustic rock’n’roll via bona-fide mega-hits and jazz-tinged instrumentals. Trading lines with such liquidity that, at times, the three voices blend into a perfectly unprecedented stew of consciousness, our protagonists were promptly re-established as both a rap force and a commercially viable proposition. In the UK, Sabotage – this album’s lead single – charted higher than any Beasties cut had since 1987’s No Sleep ‘Til Brooklyn, buoyed by its now-iconic cop show-spoofing video. But one track alone couldn’t come close to representing the full spectrum of sounds on its parent LP.

Opening with a canine squeal before breaking into a flute loop cribbed from Jeremy Steig, Sure Shot wastes no time in setting a tone for what’s to follow: pop culture references, in-jokes, shout-outs to the Beasties’ supporting cast, all atop the sort of bread-and-butter hip hop beat that’s backed the dropping of science since day dot. Tough Guy’s a Check Your Head hangover, but at less than a minute it’s over as soon as the racket’s begun. From there, the Beasties slip back into hip hop mindsets – B-Boys Makin’ With the Freak Freak brings distorted vocals to the fore, ahead of Root Down’s appearance as a scratchy partner piece to Sure Shot, its reappropriated sample also drawn from jazz circles, namely Jimmy Smith’s Root Down (And Get It). Sabotage sits at track six – one of this set’s heavier numbers, with an opening riff that’s immediately recognisable (name that tune? Two seconds, max…), it’ll forever be heard with its video firmly in mind.

The album’s numerous instrumentals help to break up the dizzying cavalcade of rhymes coming at the listener from all sides – performed by the Beasties, they’re rooted in lounge-jazz territory, and the likes of Sabrosa and Eugene’s Lament would later feature on an all-instrumental collection, 1996’s The In Sound from Way Out! (the trio has since released a ‘sequel’, 2007’s Grammy-winning The Mix-Up). Of the rap numbers in the record’s second half, Do It welcomes long-standing Beasties buddy Biz Markie for its disyllabic ‘chorus’, and The Scoop positions the three MCs behind the same fuzzy production front erected by B-Boys… several tracks earlier. Heart Attack Man is a two-minute thrash-about introduced by a laughing-himself-apart Mike D; and the penultimate number Bodhisattva Vow is a showcase for MCA’s Buddhist philosophy, tumbling forth over Om-like drones.]

Ill Communication returned the Beasties to the number one position on the US Billboard 200 – the first time they’d topped the chart since Licensed to Ill – and their next two albums, 1998’s Hello Nasty and 2004’s To the 5 Boroughs, would repeat the feat. Clearly, this is the collection that steadied the Beasties after a minor commercial wobble – that, and it represents the moment when three brats from the other side of the Pond properly grew up, developed attitudes that looked to the future rather than live for the present, and became global superstars for all the right reasons. It remains to this day the quintessential Beastie Boys collection – perhaps not the most influential, nor the most critically celebrated; but certainly the most concisely encapsulating”.

Such an important album in the history of Hip-Hop and the legacy of Beastie Boys, the wonderful Ill Communication turns thirty on 31st May. It is still so vital to me. It came out not long after my tenth birthday. I think it was the first Beastie Boys album I heard. If you have not heard the album before then make sure that you check it out. The fourth studio album from Beastie Boys still sounds extraordinary…

THREE decades later.

FEATURE: Spotlight: Leyla McCalla

FEATURE:

 

 

Spotlight

 PHOTO CREDIT: Christopher Scheurich

Leyla McCalla

_________

I am going to go back a year or so…

before I come up to date with interviews with the remarkable Leyla McCalla. She is an extraordinary artist that everyone should know about. Maybe you do already know about her. Now a successful solo artist, she formerly played with the GRAMMY-winning band, Chocolate Drops. In terms of genre, she can be placed somewhere before Folk and Bluegrass, though that might be too niche or definitive. I think that her music is far more expansive and genre-less as that. I want to actually head back to 2022. That is where Leyla McCalla was speaking about then-new album, Breaking the Thermometer. Holler. spotlighted an amazing and compelling Americana (so many genres described depending on the interview) artist. We hear how eclectic she is. In terms of her sounds and where her music emanates and originates from:

“While country music remains stubbornly wedded to a narrow set of aesthetic practices, Americana has often taken a more open-ended approach. What began as a rootsier alternative to the mainstream has expanded in recent years to include a vast swath of different sounds and styles, in the process becoming much more inclusive of voices that country music has historically marginalized.

For Leyla McCalla — a singer and multi-instrumentalist whose bonafides include recording and touring with The Carolina Chocolate Drops and co-founding Our Native Daughters with Rhiannon Giddens, Allison Russell and Amythyst Kiah — these are welcome changes. In her solo work, McCalla is as apt to draw from trad jazz and zydeco as from folk and old-time, treating her cello and tenor banjo as portals to vastly different musical worlds. The daughter of Haitian immigrants and human rights activists, McCalla also draws deeply from Haitian folk music, taking inspiration from styles like rara and twoubadou and frequently singing in Creole.

On Breaking the Thermometer, her assured fourth LP, McCalla traces a fragmented history of Haiti, beginning in the present and working backwards. A companion of sorts to a theater performance commissioned by Duke University — who acquired the archives of Radio Haiti, the first independent radio station in Haiti, in 2016 — the album weaves voice recordings from new and historical interviews into traditional songs and original compositions.

The result is multilingual melange that offers an evocative and layered interrogation of identity, belonging and the freedoms that we too often take for granted. Holler spoke with McCalla about her creative process, the timeliness of her message and how she learned to embrace the different genre labels people put on her music.

Let’s talk about the title of the album, Breaking the Thermometer, which I understand takes its name from a proverb. Why did that resonate with you?

Sean Dominique, who was the director of Radio Haiti until he was assassinated in 2000, used that metaphor to describe the role of the independent press in a free society. He was saying that the press is the thermometer of the people. You can crack down on the press, you can repress freedom of speech, but it won’t hide the fever — it won’t fix any of the underlying problems. I love that proverb, because I feel like it sums up the research I was doing on Radio Haiti and also speaks to the human rights violations and attacks on democracy that continue to happen in Haiti and around the world.

Why did you feel like the story of Radio Haiti was important to tell at this particular moment?

In the United States, we tend to think of ourselves as immune from the struggles with the Democratic process that have afflicted places like Haiti. We like to think of ourselves as very far away from things that happen in so-called “shithold countries” — to use a phrase that we’re all familiar with. But if the Trump years taught us anything, it’s that we’re not. We need to recognize that we’re not immune from losing our freedom of speech or otherwise having our civil rights violated, and I feel that the story of Radio Haiti helps us to see our vulnerabilities as well as our strength as people.

There are stories of incredible suffering on the album as well as moments of joy and hope. Why was it important for you to tell both sides of this story?

There hasn’t been a lot of space for nuance in U.S. media and the Western imagination. In the early part of the 20th century, Hollywood films depicted voodoo — which I feel is the ultimate expression of Haitian spirituality — as “black magic”, something evil and bad. Then during the AIDS epidemic in the 80s, the CDC said that there were “Four H’s” that increased your risk of contracting HIV: hemophiliacs, heroin addicts, homosexuals and Haitians. Throughout its history, Haiti has been subject to a misinformation campaign that’s really tied up in racism. In the last 10 years, I’ve been part of a movement of people in New Orleans who are trying to acknowledge the Haitian roots of a lot of our cultural traditions here. Haiti is a big part of U.S. history and continues to be, but we never think of it that way. I also just think that Haiti is beautiful in an extremely nuanced way, in the same way that the United States is beautiful in a nuanced way. There is so much activism and resistance happening at every level of society, and I find that fascinating.

How did you approach turning these historical records into songs?

It’s been a super intuitive process of listening to the material and pulling out the elements that are interesting to me. Sometimes it takes the form of actual music recordings, and other times it’s just the sound of someone’s voice or a particular phrase that catches my attention. I’m not a fluent Haitian creole speaker, so I’ve often had to listen over and over again and really work through what was being said. I’d basically take what I heard and what I felt like I could play along with on my instruments, and that became the basis for the songs. It’s been a lot of experimenting and feeling the natural curves of the music.

One thing I find interesting about this album is how much it pushes against and expands the sonic boundaries of what is considered Americana. Is that something you set out to do?

For me, making music is very intuitive. I wasn’t thinking, I want to expand what Americana is. Honestly, I find it remarkable that this music is considered Americana, and I think that’s more reflective of the times than it is necessarily of the music. Genre lines seem to be getting blurrier, and there are also strategic things that the industry is doing to make the listenership more inclusive. They know that more people need to see themselves in this music, and that means it has to include more than just white guys with guitars. I feel like I still think like a folk musician, even if I’m using electric guitars and a drumset and evolving to a much bigger sound. That's the heart of where we’re coming from, and maybe being so inspired by different folk traditions and traditions in Haiti is what makes it Americana. The other thing is, people will just call your music whatever they want to call it, and I’m coming around to the idea that it’s all good. Maybe none of it completely tells the story of what your music is, but that’s okay — none of it is wrong. I guess my thing is like, if I can fit into your categories, isn't that a good thing?”.

I am going to come to a couple of reviews for Leyla McCalla’s new album, Sun Without the Heat. KLOF chatted with McCalla about her most personal album to date. I am quite new to her music, though I would really recommend it to everyone. She is an artist that you definitely need to know about and have on your playlist. One does not need to know about Bluegrass, Americana or Folk to appreciate the wonderful Leyla McCalla:

“McCalla’s previous outings have embraced Haitian folk music, Latin licks, Creole swing and the nostalgic old-time magic of New Orleans. She’s not been averse to some revved up rock riffs either. Her songs never flinch from reality, hardship or anxiety despite their heartwarming vocals and honey-laced melodies. Sun Without the Heat is perhaps McCalla’s most emphatic album yet, both musically and lyrically. Full of sensual ecstasy, twangy strums and hip-rolling dances, it’s nourished by African roots music but often glides into a mystic herbal haze. Explaining her narrative approach to this project, McCalla says, “I always look to writers and poets, to philosophers and thinkers for inspiration, to help wrap my head around stuff. My friend jackie sumell runs a social sculpture project called The Solitary Gardens in New Orleans, highlighting solitary confinement in US prisons, especially at Angola in Louisiana. I told her I was thinking of songs about the overwhelm of life and she gave me this book called Undrowned by Alexis Pauline Gumbs. It’s basically about black feminist lessons learned from marine mammals. I’m naturally existentialist so I’m always going, like, why are we here? That book helped me see myself and the challenges in our society, the devastation of this planet, the separation from ourselves in nature. I also read Liberated to the Bone by Susan Raffo. She talks about the original wounds of our society – colonisation, genocide, taking land from people and using the ‘colour’ line to justify it all. All these things resonated as I’ve been studying Haitian history for years. This was the storm of research that went into writing the album.”

PHOTO CREDIT: Christopher Scheurich

McCalla’s symbolism is kept simple, yet her songs can embody both joy and suffering. “It comes from trying not to mince words, trying to be specific and not confused about what’s coming through. Sometimes it appears in more figurative language, but this record came out as quite prayerful. A lot of these songs were written in the studio, I arrived with some words here or a verse there, but didn’t know the gaps. There’s a few phrases adapted from other writers, including Frederick Douglass’s poetry from the 1850s.” One source for the new songs was Duke Ellington, whose Far East Suite inspired the stunning track Tree. “I’d been listening to Mount Harissa from that album, trying to remake it with words. Tree is about a woman who feels unloved and turns herself into a tree, isolating herself. I wanted to liberate this woman, maybe myself, from feeling that way. And to push it musically to the edge, make it a little scary. Women are powerful! And trees have these incredible root systems, they’re connected to all of life. They host life.” McCalla came into this album hoping to get an Afrofuturistic angle on the diasporic music that’s been in her mind. “I had some highlife things on the guitar, I was also mining West African grooves and banjo lines. The last album was so much about Haiti and its ancient rhythms, many of which derive from African drumming traditions. It’s not something I hear a lot of in the ‘folk’ world, maybe more in a global music context.” McCalla’s drummer, Shawn Myers, is well-versed in diasporic styles of music, notably from Haiti and Brazil. He plays a key role in building the album’s energy and healing frequencies. McCalla also credits producer Maryam Qudus with ideas and choices about guitar textures. “I played her a lot of music I appreciate from the 60s, or stuff made to sound like that. I love fuzzy trebly guitars and Maryam had lots of pedals and studio tricks.”

PHOTO CREDIT: Christopher Scheurich

The stark and moving Give Yourself A Break has some celestial plucking from guitarist Nahum Zdybel. It’s a song tribute to McCalla’s late brother, written from varied perspectives. “I used to call my brother and ask him for advice, or vent to him about what was going on. He was always gentle with me, never judgmental or reproachful. I imagined the song as a lullaby and thought about my daughter while writing it. I wondered what my brother would tell me while I’m parenting this child? It became unclear whether it was my brother singing to me, or me singing to my daughter. Or even my daughter singing to herself. Who knows? I was thinking about the impermanence of life. Give yourself a break while you’re here on this planet. We weren’t born to be just suffering and reckoning with our decisions all the time. We have to rest and allow ourselves some space.” In her media notes for the album, McCalla says she wanted to write a song that could’ve been sung at marches during the civil rights era. The record’s closing cut, I Want To Believe, is that song, a hopeful hymnal backed by the dignified richness of cello and piano. “I Want To Believe came about when I was thinking of the 60s activist Fannie Lou Hamer and the modern BLM protests,” she says. “Then you look at what’s happening at Columbia University right now where students have set up on the grounds, saying they won’t leave until the school divests itself of Israeli institutions that profit from apartheid and genocide. When I think about my life comparatively I’m glad to be in 2024 and not 1963. There has been progress made but there’s more to come. I think of it as a circle, or a spiral, it’s not a linear path. We can never rest on our laurels and say we’ve solved racism.”

PHOTO CREDIT: Christopher Scheurich

McCalla is among an incredible generation of black female artists in the UK, US, South Africa and elsewhere. Naming some, she recalls, “I met Matana Roberts when I was a cocktail waitress at a venue she played. To me she’s like a friend, an elder, a hero, an amazing thinker. She gave me one of the original transcripts of her Coin Coin project that I found in a house-moving box recently. It’s like a piece of treasure. I saw Aja Monet perform this year at the Big Ears festival in Knoxville, Tennessee. Kadhja Bonet is the little sister of my friend Bria who plays viola in my band. I feel part of this incredible web of black artistry. And yet it’s like we need more spaces to connect more directly. There has to be an opening for that. It is different to interact with a black woman’s work for me. I feel like I understand where they’re coming from. I don’t think that’s projection, I think it’s experience.” Away from music, McCalla has been busy in her garden. “I just planted so many seeds and I’m really praying it all works out how I’ve imagined,” she says, laughing. “I’m trying to do a wildflower sanctuary for bees and for tracking pollinators. Then I have tomatillos, basil, Thai basil, sweet peppers called Jimmy Nardello’s, some eggplants, bush beans. I’m a real crazy person, I have a garden at home but also a community plot. I got really obsessed about the health food movement in my early twenties. I was a waitress at this vegan and raw food restaurant in the East Village called Caravan Of Dreams. So I was always into cooking healthily and learning about it. When the pandemic hit I got even more into fermented food, sourdough bread and catering at home. I went all in. That’s when my gardening really took off and I learned about things like soil health too. I’ve been away travelling for a week, so I’m in the ‘missing my kids’ part of the cycle. But I love cooking for the family, I’m a real homebody”.

Such a wonderful artist, SPIN shared their take on the magnificent Sun Without the Heat. This is an album that everyone needs to hear. One of the most powerful and memorable that I have heard this year. Even though I am quite new to Leyla McCalla, I am going to follow her and see where she heads next. The New York-born artist is so fascinating. Such a beautiful and rich voice that takes you directed into the music:

“Leyla McCalla, erstwhile Carolina Chocolate Drop and occasional Our Native Daughter, is on a search: “I am trying to be free … I’m trying to find me,” she sings at the start of this album’s first song, “Open the Road.” Then later, near the end of Sun Without the Heat, she delivers herself a message: “Give yourself a break.” In between, she depicts a struggle to balance life as a single mom with her mission as an artist and activist. It’s not that explicit, of course. On multiple levels, the album is an imaginative weave: With her deft band, the New York-raised, New Orleans-based musician (on cello, banjo, and guitar) pairs music from her Haitian-American roots with threads of its Caribbean, Latin-American, and African family tree. She also echoes her past explorations of economic disparity, cultural identity, and colonialism’s pernicious persistence while adding frank, poetic looks at her own heartbreaks, doubts, determination, and hope for renewal. As such, it’s the most engaging, dynamic and, crucially, personal of her five solo albums. She’d recently hinted at this fusion with her gripping multi-media theater work Breaking the Thermometer, which drew both from the violent history of Radio Haiti’s defiance of the nation’s dictatorships and from conversations with her own Haitian grandmother. Heat is something different, though. Even when she sings “Can’t have the sun without the heat,” a line from an 1857 Frederick Douglass speech meaning that anything good comes with struggle and work, she’s covering both cultural history and her own life. But overall, as on the torchy “So I’ll Go” and the quasi-rhumba “Tower,” the latter with a stinging guitar solo from guitarist Nahum Zdybel, McCalla is grappling with matters of her own heart. Does she give herself a break? Well, kinda. The album closes with a prayer in “I Want to Believe.” Emphasis on the want. The struggles—personal and otherwise—will never be over. No sun without the heat. – GRADE: A”.

I am going to end with a review from MOJO. They gave a very positive and interesting review to the wonderful Sun Without the Heat. Ten years on from her debut solo album, Vari-Colored Songs: A Tribute to Langston Hughes, I think that Layla McCalla has produced her finest work to date. An artist always building, growing and evolving. I really love what she is putting out into the world:

“LEYLA McCALLA’S previous album, the Obama-approved Breaking The Thermometer, was a song cycle about Radio Haiti-Inter and how the station’s journalists chronicled the suffering of the country’s marginalised people in the face of political instability, corruption and bloodshed. It’s testament to her inventiveness, her deftness, that such weighty material translated to so uplifting a listening experience. The Haitian-American cellist/singer/songwriter pulls off a similarly impressive feat on this follow-up, inspired by Undrowned: Black Feminist Lessons From Marine Mammals, a text by academic Alexis Pauline Gumbs that explores the historic mistreatment of sea life as a metaphor for society’s abuse of oppressed people. Again, heavy stuff. But McCalla once more works her alchemical magic, her Caribbean-rooted folksong engaging with the overriding message of Gumbs’ work: that change is always possible. So there are songs here to soothe, to reassure. Her honeyed vocal is often in comfort mode, as on Give Yourself A Break, where she strings her words of compassion across simple ukulele strum and Pete Olynciw’s contemplative bass. On the keening, closing track I Want To Believe, her tentative optimism is cushioned by reverb-heavy piano chords and a melody retracing Desperado’s steps, the warmth of the familiar offering strength. But these aren’t simply lullabies to pacify. Scaled To Survive is a rumination on the bond between parent and child and the importance of joy, McCalla directly quoting Gumbs’ text when she sings, “Thank you for laughing me into this portal”, over upbeat guitar chimes, an undertow of cello and the chirping of birds. On lines like “What you learned drowning taught me how to breathe” and “How do you let yourself feel all the pain?”, she’s also keenly aware of her parents’ sacrifices as first-generation immigrants, pushing the song into a darker space.

McCalla and her musicians pursue this tension throughout. On Tree, a woman metamorphoses into a sapling for want of love, while another throws herself into the ocean, searching for escape. As if to mirror these turbulent journeys, the song’s shimmering acid-folk itself shifts into intense psychedelic freak-out, Nahum Zdybel’s volcanic fuzz guitar and Shawn Myers’ brittle snare as abrasive as some sublime Zamrock jam. Take Me Away’s yearning for transfiguration – its earnest plea of “Make me unafraid, make me brave” – is soundtracked by guitars that sound like thumb pianos, set to charged, Fela-worthy Afrobeat shuffle. These are songs of hope and transformation. But as on the title track, dedicated to former slave and abolitionist Frederick Douglass, Mc-Calla knows you can’t have that hope without fear, and she never ignores that the act of transformation can itself be traumatic. This edge, this acknowledgment of the stakes at play behind her messages of faith, pushes these songs past any risk of empty sentimentalism, and makes Sun Without The Heat truly uplifting”.

For anyone who does not know about Layla McCalla, then do yourself a favour and listen to her music. Her latest album is a wonderful and accomplished album that is very open and moving. A sensational and unforgettable listening experience. The stunning Sun Without the Heat is surely one of the best albums…

OF the year.

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Follow Leyla McCalla

PHOTO CREDIT: Christopher Scheurich

Official:

https://leylamccalla.com/

Instagram:

https://www.instagram.com/leylacello/

Twitter:

https://twitter.com/leylamccalla

Spotify:

https://open.spotify.com/artist/2Roq56H3IIvY3DZUKrGO7Y

YouTube:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCLU2ydZ3FX_UXICRPMDatDA

Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/leylamccallamusic/

FEATURE: A Growing Army: Kate Bush’s Ongoing Viral Success and Signs of What Comes Next

FEATURE:

 

 

A Growing Army

PHOTO CREDIT: John Carder Bush 

Kate Bush’s Ongoing Viral Success and Signs of What Comes Next

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THERE has been some great news…

PHOTO CREDIT: John Carder Bush

recently regarding Kate Bush and her music. One of her lesser-known tracks, Army Dreamers, has found success through streaming services. In fact, it has experienced this explosion over the past few weeks. I know that a lot of Kate Bush fans already know the song, yet there is this new band of recruits who have discovered. Beginning its rise and visibility through TikTok, it is a bit of a mystery how it all started. I do think that there is a case of anime videos using the song and then people latching onto that. Normally, when there is this rise and new popularity for a Kate Bush tracks, it is because it appears in a film or T.V. show. I wanted to look more widely at Kate Bush and her viral success. Before getting to some more success and signs of future potential, it is worth looking at Army Dreamers and how it has made the news recently. Forbes report how Army Dreamers has enjoyed this surge and new lease of life:

“Kate Bush hasn’t released a completely new single in well over a decade at this point. The singer-songwriter seems to have largely retired, but the world isn’t done with her music. Years after one of her most recognizable smashes became a hit all over again, another one of her tunes is surging in popularity, and she may be looking at her next chart win.

The British singer-songwriter’s tune “Army Dreamers” has been going viral for some time now. Snippets of the song and the music video have been racking up plays for weeks, and those views have translated to people heading to platforms like Spotify and AppleApple 0.0% Music to hear the cut in full.

All that attention has led to a massive gain in terms of total streams for “Army Dreamers” in the U.S. Those plays could potentially lead to Bush collecting another hit in the United States, if the tune can keep up its exciting trajectory.

Billboard reports that in the last week, “Army Dreamers” earned 1.1 million plays on streaming sites. That’s up from just 80,000 about a month prior in the U.S.

For those who don’t want to do the math, that’s a growth of 1,291% in just one month, according to Billboard. 1,000-plus-% gains are unusual for any older track, and it takes something very special for any title to explode in popularity in that fashion…but this is an experience that Bush has enjoyed before.

In 2022, Bush’s single “Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God)” went much more viral than “Army Dreamers”—at least so far. The tune was featured in Netflix’sNetflix 0.0% Stranger Things, and that placement helped millions of people hear the ‘80s classic for the first time, and they couldn’t get enough of the single.

“Running Up That Hill” rose into the top 10 on charts all around the world, becoming a late-in-life smash that nobody could have expected. It peaked at No. 3 on the Hot 100, easily outpacing its original No. 30 high point, which had stood as her best placement until the track’s revival. The single also rose to No. 1 in her home country of the U.K. for the first time, doubling her total number of champions on that tally”.

PHOTO CREDIT: Keef (Keith MacMillan)/John Carder Bush via Dreams of Orgonon

Kate Bush News raised a few theories as to why Army Dreamers has got this new boom and surge on streaming. There is a mix of this protest and celebration. In 2016, Norwegian artist Moddi covered Army Dreamers. At a time when there is genocide in Palestine and an ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine, it is understandable that the song would strike a chord. We are in a time when there are countless people being displaced, killed and injured through conflict and genocide. Even though Kate Bush’s 1980 single – which was on the album, Never for Ever -, was a modest success when it was released (it got to number sixteen in the U.K.), it has now grown in stature. When Kate Bush wrote the original, she was maybe reacting to people who thought she was not serious enough. Not political or engaging with serious subject matter. Bush has always been invested in deeper issues, yet it was not perhaps the right time to put it onto her albums. Army Dreamers was a reaction to war in general, though there were conflicts around the time of the album’s release that could be seen as references – including The Sino-Vietnamese War and The Soviet-Afghan War. Bush was concerned about the wastefulness of war and how men so young were being conscripted and led to death. Now, although the dynamic and situations are different, we are seeing the devastation of violence. It seems bleak that Army Dreamers is successful and catching a new thread because of that. There is some of that. Also, I know there might be some scepticism around TikTok and its impact. The fact that a few videos featuring Army Dreamers then creates this wave.

At the time of writing this feature (27th April), Kate Bush’s Army Dreamers has 37,629,930 streams on Spotify. It has 8.5 million views on YouTube. Evren though Army Dreamers has got this new rise in streaming figures, it is still way behind a lot of other songs. I think it is the sixth most-streamed song at the moment. Think about Running Up That Hill (A Deal with God) and the way that it got this new life and lease after it was featured during Stranger Things. It got to number one in the U.K. in 2022. Not that the song was ever as ‘obscure’ as Army Dreamers, yet it was helped by this spotlight on a big U.S. show. It is always exciting seeing a Kate Bush viral moment! Regardless of where it came from, you get a new sense of people discovering her music. One hopes that the albums the songs are from gets focus. I would like to think that Never for Ever gets some boost and traction now that Army Dreamers is receiving such attention. Kate Bush has not spoken about the latest news about her 1980 track. It is one that she performed live on T.V., though it was not one that is often spoken about as highly as those who admire her biggest songs. The recent Record Store Day saw a 10” release of Bush’s song, Eat the Music, come out. That appeared on her 1993 album, The Red Shoes. It was originally a single in the U.S., though it did not really make much of an impression here. Since it was reissued for RSD, it has found new success in the U.K. Kate Bush News reveal the good news:

“Who needs streaming?! While it didn’t make it on to the main official UK chart (where streaming now dominates), Kate’s brisk sales all across the UK of her limited edition Record Store Day single Eat The Music, on 10″ pic disc vinyl has secured a brand new entry at the No.2 position of two of the other UK singles charts – the Official Singles Sales Chart AND the Official Physical Singles Chart (beating out new entries from Paul Weller, Daft Punk and Queen). Congratulations to Kate! We will be celebrating this weekend with a montage of photos of YOU with your Eat The Music discs – thank you for sending them in, we are sure Kate will love to see it!”.

Other Kate Bush songs have enjoyed success and popularity. Think about This Woman’s Work and how it has appeared in film and T.V. I know that there are many people who do not know about this track. It originally was written for the 1988 film, She’s Having a Baby, and then appeared on Kate Bush’s The Sensual World. It recently appeared in the 2023’s Jennifer Lopez film, The Mother. This is one of those tracks that is going to get used a lot more. Even if it moves away from the intention and meaning of the lyrics – the woman about to give birth but breaching so that the husband/father has to step in and take responsibility; many see it more as motherhood in general and its importance -, it is pleasing that the song is being exposed more widely. Despite the fact no song has enjoyed the same boom as Running Up That Hill (A Deal with God) and how that took over, we can see examples of where other tracks have got new success. All for different reasons. The lyrics and themes of the song resonating in the modern age. Army Dreamers’ renewed focus and this contemporary popularity could have happened for a number of reasons. The Last Dinner Party covered it recently.  The track related to warfare and how we are wasting young lives for no reason.

I think, more than anything, there is a curiosity and adaptability regarding Kate Bush’s music. How it is finding an audience on platforms like TikTok. I guess, when one of her song becomes better-known, then people will dig a little deeper and that means other tracks get noticed. It makes me wonder what comes next. I would like to think too that people will dig deeper and there will be fonder regard of some hidden gems. I think that there are clear songs that will get new life very soon. Hounds of Love’s Cloudbusting and Hounds of Love are overdue being feature don our screens. I also think that singles such as Babooshka could get used and see the streaming numbers rise. In truth, Kate Bush’s music is connecting with people like never before. We have platforms that means a track can go from sort of unknown or overlooked to a big success. If some are cynical about the way her songs do get back into the charts, one cannot deny that it is a good thing. It really is. It is wonderful that Army Dreamers has found fresh airs. It is a new salute to…

MAMMY’S hero.

INTERVIEW: SARA

INTERVIEW:

SARA

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IT has been a real thrill…

PHOTO CREDIT: Aury Hernandez

getting to know a terrific and awe-inspiring young artist. London-based, German-born SARA is someone that everyone needs to know! I think that she is a modern-day role model and someone who will quickly become one of our most arresting, intriguing and wonderous talents. I have been chatting with SARA about her stunning and instantly memorable debut single, Runaway. It is such an original and fantastic Pop-Rock anthem that will resonate and connect with so many people. It is inspired by her journey from living a German small-town life to pursuing dreams in creative and buzzing hubs. SARA wrote and recorded the track – and upcoming releases – with GRAMMY award-winning Chris Sclafani (Ed Sheeran, Halsey, Selena Gomez). Jerry Barnes, who has performed for and written with artists such as Roberta Flack, Stevie Wonder, and Nile Rodgers, is a music legend who took an immediate liking to SARA’s huge and unmistakable musical talent. Watching her videos on TikTok, SARA is such a warm and beguiling human! You can feel the passion she has for music and how appreciative she is of the support from fans. Take some time to check out this interview with a phenomenal artist with…

A bright and golden future.

__________

Hi SARA. How are you? How has your week been?

Hi Sam! I’m doing great. Super excited for the release! Not gonna lie: my week has been quite stressful. It’s really cool to see all work from the last few months slowly coming together though. How are you?

Can you tell me more about Runaway. What was the inspiration behind the lyrics, and what was your reaction hearing it back for the first time?

The lyrics are inspired by my own journey. I grew up in a small German town where I’ve always felt judged and watched. Everyone knows each other there and word travels fast, so if you don’t comply with the small-town culture’s standards, you’re quickly made fun of or treated as an outcast. I spent my childhood and teenage years supressing so much of myself and holding back what I really wanted to put out in the world because I was surrounded by people who thought they had the right to tell me what I should and shouldn’t be doing. The older I got, the more I felt the need to break free and start a new life somewhere where no one knows me. I ended up doing exactly that and it’s the best decision I’ve ever made. I now see the people that used to be mean to me in school and some of those people seem really unhappy with the life they’re living now just because they’ve built it according to other people’s expectations of them. I think a lot of hate is based on jealousy. My theory is that people who try to discourage you from making your dreams come true secretly have the same dreams but they are too scared to take a risk and follow them themselves. So with Runaway, I’m trying to encourage people to go for what they know will make them happy, no matter what others say.

There wasn’t really a ‘first time’ listening back to Runaway, because we built the song and the production gradually. I wrote the first lyrics draft by myself and presented it to Chris (Sclafani), who then came up with some guitar ideas. I wrote a topline on top of those and then we started working on the production together. Chris did all the work in terms of production but he was kind enough to let me give feedback on every step along the way. So with every time I listened to it, the song came more and more together. When we decided the production was finally finished, I had already listened to it so many times that what I mostly felt was relief that we actually managed to get it done after having worked on it for quite a long time, and excitement because it meant it was finally ready to share it with the world.

You wrote the song with Chris Sclafani (who also produced Runaway). What was it like working with him?

A mutual friend of ours, Jerry Barnes, connected us and I remember I was scared shitless the first time I went to Chris’s studio! You’d think given the fact that he’s worked with so many big artists, his ego would be huge, but I quickly got convinced of the opposite. Chris makes it super easy to feel comfortable in a session with him, which is how he managed to really push me out of my comfort zone in terms of songwriting. Before working with him, I had only written ballads because they’re what came easiest to me. One of the first things he said to me is that most of the demos I had sent him sounded the same and that he wants us to explore a genre I’ve never written in before. So we did that and wrote a song in the span of like two days that now ended up being one of my upcoming singles. At first, I didn’t like the song because the lyrics I wrote to it were quite silly and I didn’t take the writing process as serious as I usually would, but now I recognized that exactly that is the beauty of the song. So Chris really helped me to embrace that more and have a bit more fun in the writing process.

“I guess that ended up leading to me wanting to make music that serves as a soundtrack to other people’s lives now and wanting to make them feel like a true main character when they listen to my songs”

I understand there is more to come this year. Can you give a hint as to what we might expect in the way of songs and themes?

Well the song I just talked about is actually the second single! It’s a fun one that encourages to go crazy, let loose and scream along. It’s leaning into a noughties sound. I’d say it has a little bit of a Punk-Rock feel to it. It’s the song I think will be most fun to perform live!

You have got the respect and ear of some music icons and modern legends. How does it feel knowing that your music has resonated with the likes of Harry Styles?

Oh I wish it was my music that he noticed! It was a cover of one of his songs actually. I posted it on Twitter a few years ago and he ended up giving it a like. He doesn’t like tweets often and is rarely active on social media, so it was a huge honor for me! Getting my own original songs noticed by him would be a dream!

Take me back to your earliest years. Can you remember when music first touched you and the sort of artists and sounds you grew up around?

I wish I could say I grew up with really cool music influences, but my parents are quite clueless when it comes to the music world. I recently had to explain to my dad who Ed Sheeran is and my mom still doesn’t know who Fleetwood Mac are haha! The first time I realized how music can make you feel and how powerful it can be was when I was around 14 and started really getting into movie soundtracks. I used to spend hours researching which songs played during my favorite movie and TV show scenes and listening to these songs on repeat while trying to romanticize my life as a form of escapism, because I felt so comfortable in the environment I spent my teenage years in. I guess that ended up leading to me wanting to make music that serves as a soundtrack to other people’s lives now and wanting to make them feel like a true main character when they listen to my songs.

Having spent a lot of time in cities like London, how influential and important are the people and dynamics when it comes to your music?

Quite important I’d say! I’ve definitely been majorly influenced by living in London because the live music scene is so vibrant here and Brit Rock is such a big part of the culture. Apart from my sound, my lyrics are also quite inspired by London life. I love observing people and I find the Brits and their behavior very interesting. There’s quite a few people and groups I’ve watched from afar or have hung out with in London that have served as amazing songwriting material.

“The goal is definitely to put on headline shows in the future, but I’ll have to wait for the demand to build a bit more I’m afraid”

I can see you working on film scores and writing music for big films. Do you see you feel like you will work in other mediums and take your music to new places?

Oh my gosh, thank you so much! That’s a huge compliment; I’ve always dreamt of having my music being used in a movie soundtrack. I don’t have anything else in mind at the moment, but I’m the kind of person that says ‘yes’ to every opportunity that comes her way, so I’m open for anything!

Do you have any gigs coming up? Might we see you on the road later in the year?

Right now I’m still very much in the figuring out phase. I’m hoping my upcoming releases will attract a few listeners that would be happy to see me perform live. The goal is definitely to put on headline shows in the future, but I’ll have to wait for the demand to build a bit more I’m afraid. Until then, it’d be lovely to do a few support slots, but I don’t have anything planned as of right now.

Finally, and for being a good sport, you can choose any song (other than your own) and we’ll end with it. What do you want to go with?

Mhhh… Since I’ve spoken about music that makes you feel like a main character a lot, I’m gonna go with New Shoes by Paolo Nutini. That song was one of the soundtracks to my teenage years and is one of my favorites to listen to on a warm summer day!

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Follow SARA

Instagram:

https://www.instagram.com/sara_mxsic/

TikTok:

https://www.tiktok.com/@sara_mxsic

Spotify:

 https://open.spotify.com/artist/3Vg3hy2RD7UkQOwVhW01fj?si=LmwHCx4XSF6InaJ9BPFv9Q

YouTube:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCgYoViuodPx7lhvcqAlFj1A

FEATURE: Enticed by the Mysterious Woman: Kate Bush’s The Line, The Cross and the Curve at Thirty

FEATURE:

 

 

Enticed by the Mysterious Woman

Kate Bush’s The Line, The Cross and the Curve at Thirty

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EVEN though I have recently…

published a feature about Kate Bush’s short film, The Line, the Cross and the Curve, I am compelled to return to it. It was released originally in 1993. In fact, it was premiered at the London Film Festival on 13th November, 1993. It was released in the U.K. on 6th May, 1994. I am counting that as its thirtieth anniversary because the premiere was for a selected few. Many fans might not know about this chapter in Kate Bush’s career. It was part of a larger promotional angle for 1993’s album, The Red Shoes. A short film which combined eight music videos. Eight tracks from The Red Shoes. This was a rarity for Bush. No album before that had seen so many of its songs get videos and visually representation. For those who overlook The Red Shoes, I would pass them through The Line, the Cross and the Curve. With Kate Bush writing and starring in the film, she also directed it. Although a fairly inexperienced director – she directed several of her music videos to this point through nothing as complex as this -, she adds some wonder sequences and distinct touches. She has said how she took on too much. Her language changed through the years to the point where she has almost dismissed and disowned this film. I think it is far stronger than that! Produced Margarita Doyle and co-starring Miranda Richardson and Lindsay Kemp, The Line, the Cross and the Curve should get more acclaim. It is a shame there is not any anniversary reissuing or showing of the film. I have always felt how it needs an official HD reissue and some extras. Maybe tying together interviews from the time, it would be fascinating to see this film on the big screen. To mark its thirtieth anniversary, I am going to bring in part of a great feature. Before getting down to it, there are some interesting facts and things to note. All of the tracks from The Line, the Cross and the Curve were promotional videos for the singles from The Red Shoes. Excerpt Lily. There are different versions of Eat the Music’s video.

The film version is different from the one released alongside the single. That single has been reissued for this year’s Record Store Day – Kate Bush was this year’s Ambassador – and has made a modest dent in the U.K. singles chart. I can see The Line, the Cross and the Curve making its way to Curzon cinemas and showing for a passionate and small audience. The Line, the Cross and the Curve was released direct-to-video. Many note how the release of the film coincided with Kate Bush fading from public view for many years. Released in May 1994, she was not done with promotion around The Red Shoes. And So Is Love was released in November 1994. The end of 1994 was very much Kate Bush’s going on hiatus. Even though there were public appearances and the odd bit here and there, she did not fully come back until 2005’s double album, Aerial. There is not a great deal out there about the film. I wrote a feature back in November. I may repeat myself here. A thirtieth anniversary of any sort relating to Kate Bush warrants celebration and investigation. The Line, the Cross and the Curve is her only short film. It is an important yet underrated part of her career. A sign that she wanted to direct film and be a bit more hands-on and ambitious as a director. It is a shame that she never attempted anything like this later in her career. I could have seen an Aerial short film coming to light. Maybe one where she conceptualised one of the two discs. A series of tracks forming a story. I recently wrote how Hounds of Love’s (1985) The Ninth Wave has not been brought to the screen. As it stands, The Red Shoes is the album that has been visually represented the most if you see what I mean. Maybe The Line, the Criss and the Curve was one of the first visual albums.. One can definitely compare it to some visual albums that have been released in the past decade or so.

Once more, I am going drop in an invaluable and detailed feature about the film. Kate Bush often said how she was a big fan of director Michael Powell and the film, The Red Shoes. Forty-five years before Kate Bush released her film, The Red Shoes was released in cinemas. The 1948 classic was a directing collaboration between Emeric Pressburger and Michael Powell. Based off of a story by Hans Christian Andersen, Bush’s love of that film not only influenced the album, The Red Shoes, but the film that followed. I feel she would have been to have an album based around that film and inspired by it. When recording the songs, it was until she would have thought about doing a short film and paying visual tribute to her own music and the 1948 The Red Shoes film:

“Created as a promotional tool for her 1993 studio album The Red Shoes, this short film is a spin on the classic fairy tale of the same name, in which a young woman puts on a pair of enchanted shoes that cause her to dance unceasingly until and unless she can find a way to remove them. Here, we open on Bush's character in rehearsal with her band until a power outage causes them to take a break. Left alone in the studio, Bush is suddenly confronted by a dark and mystical dancer played by two-time Oscar nominee Miranda Richardson, who implores Bush to help her break the curse of the red shoes by drawing three symbols—the titular line, cross, and curve. However, Richardson's ulterior motive soon becomes clear—by receiving the symbols, she passes the curse onto Bush, and flees through a mirror. Bush pursues her and finds herself in another dimension (an Upside Down, if you will), soon greeted by an otherworldly figure portrayed by British dance legend Lindsay Kemp. He tells her she must "sing back the symbols" to break the curse. After visiting an elderly woman named Lily who gives her advice and comfort, Bush draws on the memories of her loved ones to guide her closer to Richardson's twisted prima ballerina. Giving herself over to the sounds of a jubilant choir, Bush is able to regain the symbols, rid herself of the curse, and escape through the mirror, leaving Richardson crushed under the weight of a cave in with only her feet, once again bearing the accursed shoes, sticking out.

IN THIS PHOTO: Kate Bush in 1993/PHOTO CREDIT: John Stoddart

Bush had long expressed a desire to collaborate with famed British director Michael Powell, director of 1948's The Red Shoes, itself an interpretation of the classic tale told through the lens of a modern ballet company. However, the two were unable to work together before his death in February 1990, though the inspiration she drew from the film is clear. In essence, the film is en extended music video; it would end up receiving a 1996 Grammy nomination for Best Long Form Video. A recording artist first, Bush's primary storytelling convention is the music itself, and her material is successful in helping express the short's larger narrative arc, taking us through sonic and visual peaks and valleys.

Lead single "Rubberband Girl" kicks off the film—its percussive, steady beat catches the viewer's attention immediately, accompanied by Bush being virtually puppeted by a fellow dancer through a series of simple but effective movements. The whole setup is decidedly unglamorous, a stark contrast to what awaits us shortly. Following the power outage, Bush lights a single candle, drawing us into the atmospheric and moody timbre of "And So Is Love," which also features first-rate guitar work by Eric Clapton. Sensual and dark, it's in direct opposition to the chaotic energy of Richardson's character, a vision in red and black who we meet at the song's end. As she woos and convinces Bush to help her, we hear the album's title track, "The Red Shoes," all Irish jig and pan flute, filled with frenetic and enticing rhythm. Soon, Bush is cursed with the shoes, becoming her own red and black vision, venturing into the mirror dimension and pleading for help. "Lily," named after the wise elderly woman who helps guide Bush on her journey, is a prayer of strength, promising to help Bush "protect herself with fire." Soon, we hear the instrumental strings of the title track once more, and all hope seems lost until Kemp's specter implores Bush to "call on the strength of the ones you love." This leads to the most beautiful song in the film, "Moments of Pleasure," whose lyrics about, "Just being alive/It can really hurt/And these moments given/Are a gift from time" hold perhaps even more significance in light of a world still in the clutches of a pandemic. The final track, "Eat the Music," is a joyous ode to self-expression, self-love, and falling under the spell of the drum, accompanied by Bush swaying along to the sound of an ebullient chorus and visuals of abundant fruit—a signal that the spirit has once again bloomed in her, breaking the curse and allowing her to return to this mortal coil”.

I think that a lot of people ignore or write off The Line, the Cross and the Curve. Perhaps it was a turning point. Bush feeling she was exhausted and maybe was a little overstretched doing so much for the film. Maybe if it was filmed in 1994 and Bush co-directed or she had was guided by a more experienced screenwriter or outsider, then something stronger would have emerged. I know that she experienced headaches and some draining days when making the film. It was quite intense. Regardless, there are some wonderful moments. The fact it exists to start with is brilliant! I love the fact that we got to see so many tracks from The Red Shoes brought to life. A truly underrated album, I would urge people to listen to it and also watch The Line, the Cross and the Curve. You can see it through YouTube but, as I say, there has not been an official HD release. It would sit well on a cinema channel or streaming service. As it stands, here is a minor gem that warrants some upgrade and new attention. It was released in the U.K. on 6th May, 1994. Because of that, I was keen to highlight the thirtieth anniversary. I would be interested to know what other people think about the film. Flicks of Bush’s acting ability. She would have made a film actor, yet maybe one where she was helmed by another director. The directing itself is interesting and contains some wonderful scenes and routines. Miranda Richardson is wonderful throughout. The storyline itself is quite interesting. Bush adapting The Red Shoes film in a way, she is enticed by Richardson’s Mysterious Woman to put on magic ballet slippers. The shoes soon cast a spell, and Bush’s character then is in a battle to free herself from their spell. It was a great endeavour and natural move for Kate Bush. For someone who admired the 1948 original film, she was entitled and perfectly suited to film her own, sized-down and smaller version. I really like it and feel that it stands up thirty years later. If you have not seen it before, then I would suggest that you…

SEEK it out.

FEATURE: Reverb and Amplify: The Need for Greater Action and Allyship Against Sexual Assault in Live Music

FEATURE:

 

 

Reverb and Amplify

 IN THIS PHOTO: Dublin band SPRINTS’ Karla Chubb was recently sexually assaulted during their Letter to Self tour (the second time she experienced this on the tour)

The Need for Greater Action and Allyship Against Sexual Assault in Live Music

_________

AFTER reading a shocking and disturbing post…

IMAGE CREDIT: SPRINTS 

from the band SPRINTS last weekend really moved and appalled me. It relates to their lead, Karla Chubb, being sexually assaulted for a second time on their Letter to Self tour (I would recommend that you check out their hugely acclaimed debut album, Letter to Self). Reported in the music press, it is horrifying that she had to experience something so appealing and unacceptable twice on the same tour. The Irish band are continuing to tour, though it must be unnerving and a real shock that will affect her going forward. Not knowing which audiences to trust and whether she will be assaulted again. One of our very best bands, everyone’s hope is that those culpable for the assaults are named and banned from watching live music. That there are criminal charges. The sad truth is that may not happen. Those who committed the assaults might be free to do the same to other women. Sexual assault and abuse is shockingly common and widespread through the music industry. When it comes to executives and those in power both here and the U.S., there are continuing cases of women being harassed, abused and attacked. There is a misogyny and sense of entitlement that runs through music. An industry that is a boys’ club, there is an assumption from men – though it very rarely applies to women too – that they can do what they want. That women are objects or subservient. Even if the industry is not as toxic and problematic as it was years and decades ago, the fact that SPRINTS have revealed how their lead was assaulted twice on tour proves that something needs to be done. There are no excuses for what is happening. Regardless of the clamour and packed nature of gigs, these attacks are not accidental. Those going out of their way to assault women. Like that is part of the deal. I have heard about so many cases of women being assaulted at gigs. Whether they are the artist, part of the venue or a gig-goer.

PHOTO CREDIT: Pixabay/Pexels

One of the reasons why it is so prevalent is because it is hard to police venues. Making sure that this sort of thing is weeded out. When there are so many people in a smaller or large space, it can be hard to shield women from this. That is not an excuse. Also, there are not adequate punishments for those culpable of assault. Those who do this are not often arrested and banned from venues. That leaves them out there to do it. Without repercussions or any sort of wider outrage, this pattern and undying wave of assaults is not going to stop. It is happening around the world, yet it seems to be particularly common in the U.K. and U.S. Here, we have some wonderful venues that are proudly staging some amazing artists. These artists rely on these venues to get their work heard and to hone their craft. It is also essential for towns and cities. At a time when so many venues are threatened and live music is in danger, they are a lifeline for so many. People communing to these spaces to share their love of an artist. It is so important that the safety of venues is protected, so that we can preserve these vital arenas. Creating the black marks, I know not every venue experiences an artist being sexually assaulted. Women are leaving the industry because they feel this threat and vulnerability. Alongside misogyny and the fact there is gender bias still at festivals and radio playlists, we are risking losing so many amazing artists because of this. More needs to be done by so many people. Venues do need to make sure that they have security and security cameras that can identify and hopefully deter abusers. For anyone caught and named, they need to be banned from venues and punished accordingly. Police taking these cases very seriously.

At a wider level, the industry needs to address a real plight and horrific side. Something that is far more prevalent than it should be. I know we may never see a day when there are no cases of sexual assault in the industry. That women everywhere at live gigs are safe and will not be assaulted. We are so far from that today. The fact that Karla Chubb was assaulted twice in our tour and not over the course of her entire career should be a massive wakeup call! The industry is still male-focused and a patriarchy. One feels that if men were being sexually assaulted so regularly then there would be greater outcry and action from those in power. It is mainly the women themselves who are speaking out and calling for change. A recent misogyny in music report was spearheaded by women. Although there is outcry on social media when we hear cases of women being sexually assaulted, where are the male allies through the industry?! One rarely hears of artists, executives, journalists or anyone else who is speaking out. As with misogyny and gender inequality, there is a need for men to get together and demand change. It is women mainly who are the ones highlighting the problems and doing all the work. More men need to get involved. Especially those who have the power. They can help ensure that the live music circuit is safer for women. That there are serious repercussions for anyone who commits sexual assault. Campaigns can be published and aired that spotlight the statistics and highlight how prevalent sexual assault is across venues. Ways in which gig-goers can do their part and look out for signs. There are great and important organisations such as Safe Gigs for Women and Safe Gigs that do so much amazing work. They need all the allyship, support and funding possible so that they can continue and create a wider and bigger wave. Thinking about what SPRINTS’ Karla Chubb had to face is both hugely shocking but also common today. Many other women will identify and will share their stories. Many have already. It is a moment when the music industry needs to do more. Where allyship needs to happen and venues need to make commitments. We can not let women feel unsafe doing a career that they love. The industry and every music fan needs to come together to support women and ensure that they are respected and not subjected to sexual assault. The worse we can do is…

PHOTO CREDIT: Marina Pechnikova/Pexels

LET them down.

FEATURE: The Ninth Wave: Revisiting the Promise of a Visual Realisation of Kate Bush’s Hounds of Love Masterpiece

FEATURE:

 

 

The Ninth Wave

PHOTO CREDIT: John Carder Bush

Revisiting the Promise of a Visual Realisation of Kate Bush’s Hounds of Love Masterpiece

_________

THIS is something…

that I pitched earlier in the year. The idea of Kate Bush’s The Ninth Wave being brought to the screen. It has not happened yet. Bush was toying with the idea of realising it not long after Hounds of Love was released in 1985. When she was writing this seven-song suite, one imagines they were envisaged as screen songs. Part of a narrative that would make their way onto the small or big screen. I do not have much to add to the feature I wrote previously in terms of plot and narrative. I am going to add and update it. It is worth contextualising the song suite and what it is about. What Kate Bush said about it. I am going to end by asking how easy or hard it might be to bring it to the screen. It is interesting how The Ninth Wave, in its title and concept, links to art and classic poetry. It  is a story and concept that is timeless in a way. A woman getting lost at sea and stranded. Waiting to be rescued. Having to battle the darkness, waves and what lies beneath. Whether a modern horror film or a poem like The Lady of Shalott, there have been countless depictions of heroines doomed or endangered on the water. I am going to start with this feature. An explanation of a concept and idea that is terrifying and is a common fear: being lost at sea and vulnerable to the elements:

“Intensely powerful music, strong imagery of a vast ocean, and the emotions that come with it, there’s a lot to love about Kate Bush’s The Ninth Wave Suite. Found on the second side of her 1985 album Hounds of Love, The Ninth Wave consists of seven tracks focussed on the story of a person lost at sea, in Kate’s own words:

“The Ninth Wave was a film, that’s how I thought of it. It’s the idea of this person being in the water, how they’ve got there, we don’t know. But the idea is that they’ve been on a ship and they’ve been washed over the side so they’re alone in this water. And I find that horrific imagery, the thought of being completely alone in all this water.”

In my opinion, Kate is overwhelmingly successful in portraying this narrative, and manages to produce a whole host of other ideas and experiences in a relatively short time. To understand why, and start dissecting the suite, I think it helps to look into how other artists have approached the subject.

In the world of art, seascapes have long been an intriguing subject, and one of the true masters of painting the sea is Ivan Aivazovsky, who also has a painting entitled The Ninth Wave. This work depicts a group of sailors stranded at sea, clutching a piece of their wrecked ship. Their despair is juxtaposed against a beautiful setting sun, bouncing off the waves that build up before them.

Poetry too has often drawn from the sea. An example included by Kate in the Hounds of Love liner notes is from Tennyson’s “The Holy Grail:”

“Wave after wave, each mightier than the last,

Till last, a ninth one, gathering half the deep

And full of voices, slowly rose and plunged

Roaring, and all the wave was in a flame”

The subject has always been a favourite amongst British artists, being an island nation with a strong history with the ocean. Kate certainly had much material to draw inspiration from.

So in which direction did Kate Bush take her ocean story? Well, many. The tracks do play out like the film which was in Kate’s imagination, beginning with the wonderfully lonely “And Dream of Sheep,” in which the narrator floats alone in their life jacket, drifting in and out of consciousness. As the character falls into the “warmth” of a hallucinatory state, the scene is set for Kate to experiment with their mental state and the dreams they experience.

Beginning with “Under Ice,” the music becomes much darker and more intense. The lyrics of the track give a warped impression of the cold and hypothermia that the narrator is likely experiencing. We transition to the sudden direction to “wake up,” the theme of the track “Waking the Witch” (my personal favourite,) where things start to get more chaotic, the calm voices of the introduction being replaced by broken, fragmented jitters of speech — “Help me, listen to me, listen to me, tell them baby!”

IN THIS IMAGE: Ivan Aivazovsky’s The Ninth Wave

With the most intense section of the suite over, Kate continues her experimentation into mental states, where in “Watching You Without Me” she describes an out of body experience — as a ghost in her own home, watching her loved ones worry. A third hallucination appears with “Jig of Life,” and we are suddenly enveloped in the sounds of Irish folk music — violin, fiddle, pipes, and drums. Confronted by her future self, the narrator is persuaded to fight for their life — the relentless, powerful instrumental driving the story forward.

The final tracks of the suite lead to and take us through the serenity and relief of the narrator’s ambiguous rescue. “Hello Earth” is Kate floating away further and further from the life she knows. We hear samples of NASA communications, conveying the feeling of being so far from human contact.

The iconic “The Morning Fog” is the final track of the album, in which Kate is rescued. The joyful tone highlights the journey we have been through, loss, mental states, hope, and finally the serene, joyous feeling of being safe. Kate stated in interviews that the suite was always intended to end in rescue, but it could be argued that “The Morning Fog” is instead the narrator succumbing to the water, experiencing the final moments of life.

As a concept, being lost at sea is so terrifyingly simple and effective. Kate took the idea to so many different places, and it is a project I truly treasure. Kate has recently experimented more with Ninth Wave. It formed the focus of her Hammersmith shows in 2014, where costumes and sets were made to accompany the music. She also released a video for “And Dream of Sheep” in 2016, where she floats in her lifejacket, her little light blinking”.

There are a couple of other features I need to address before getting to the film idea. Here, we discover more about the links between Kate Bush’s The Ninth Wave and the poems of Alfred, Lord Tennyson. I always listen to The Ninth Wave and think there is something quite gothic and ancient about it. A feel and sound that one could apply to a classic opera or a classic film. It is also a narrative that could be adapted for the modern age:

“‘Wave after wave, each mightier than the last,
Till last, a ninth one, gathering half the deep
And full of voices, slowly rose and plunged
Roaring, and all the wave was in a flame’ – ‘The Coming of Arthur’

The second part of Kate Bush’s ‘The Hounds of Love’ album takes its title from the first poem of Tennyson’s ‘The Idylls of the King’, ‘the ninth wave’.

Kate Bush uses ‘the ninth wave’, inspired by ‘The Coming of Arthur’, as well Aivazovsky's iconic 1850 painting ‘The ninth wave’ which shows a group of people shipwrecked at sea, as a metaphor for the final wave before drowning, a moment which becomes the anchor of the album and provides its framing narrative. Bush’s referencing to ‘the ninth wave’ doesn’t stop there, during her most recent tour ‘Before the Dawn’ she dropped confetti inscribed with this quotation from ‘The Coming of Arthur’ in Tennyson’s handwriting. Bush’s use of ‘The Coming of Arthur’ has gone on to influence pop generally, such as in ‘Waves’ by the Dutch singer Mr Probz, as ‘wave after wave’ became an iconic phrase.

‘Drifting away
Wave after wave, wave after wave
I'm slowly drifting (drifting away)
And it feels like I'm drowning
Pulling against the stream
Pulling against the wave’ – ‘Waves’

However, what if it’s possible to read ‘The Idylls of the King’ as having more than a passing influence on Bush’s album? The promotional photography for both the tour, ‘Before the Dawn’, and the original album ‘Hounds of Love’, both feature Bush floating amongst flowers wearing a life jacket, in what fans have noted, is a pose that self-consciously echoes that of Shakespeare’s ‘Ophelia’, but perhaps it also echoes that of Tennyson’s ‘Elaine’ in ‘Lancelot and Elaine’ from ‘The Idylls of the King’.

‘And Lancelot answered nothing, but he went,
And at the inrunning of a little brook
Sat by the river in a cove, and watched
The high reed wave, and lifted up his eyes
And saw the barge that brought her moving down,
Far-off, a blot upon the stream, and said
Low in himself, "Ah simple heart and sweet,
Ye loved me, damsel, surely with a love
Far tenderer than my Queen's. Pray for thy soul?
Ay, that will I. Farewell too--now at last--
Farewell, fair lily.’ – ‘Lancelot and Elaine’

PHOTO CREDIT: John Carder Bush

If Bush’s songs do reference the fates of Elaine and Ophelia, both popular figures during the Tennysonian or Pre-Raphelite period, then it also sees the water that envelopes them as a feminine space, containing possibilities for power (a power on display in the song ‘Waking the Witch’, for example), and rebirth, as in ‘Morning Fog’. In ‘The Idylls of the King’ water is also a realm that is guarded by and controlled by the feminine.

And there was no gate like it under heaven.
For barefoot on the keystone, which was lined
And rippled like an ever-fleeting wave,
The Lady of the Lake stood: all her dress
Wept from her sides as water flowing away’ – ‘Gareth and Lynette’

Bush’s command in the title track ‘Hounds of Love’ to ‘Take your shoes off and throw them in a lake!’ therefore becomes a command that links the first part of the album to the second part, a command that demands the acceptance of the power of the feminine, which both the listener and the subject must give themselves up to in the album’s second part. Throwing the accoutrements of life into a ‘lake’ is, of course, an act taken directly from the death of King Arthur, where he asks Sir Bevidere to throw his sword ‘Excalibur’ into the lake, an indication that he is letting go of his own grip on life.

‘Then quickly rose Sir Bedivere, and ran,
And, leaping down the ridges lightly, plunged
Among the bulrush beds, and clutched the sword,
And strongly wheeled and threw it. The great brand
Made lightnings in the splendour of the moon,
And flashing round and round, and whirled in an arch,
Shot like a streamer of the northern morn,
Seen where the moving isles of winter shock
By night, with noises of the Northern Sea.
So flashed and fell the brand Excalibur:
But ere he dipt the surface, rose an arm
Clothed in white samite, mystic, wonderful,
And caught him by the hilt, and brandished him
Three times, and drew him under in the mere.
And lightly went the other to the King.’ – ‘The Passing of Arthur’

That the final and twelfth track of the album, ‘Morning Fog’ references the last and twelfth poem of the ‘The Idylls of the King’, ‘The Passing of Arthur’, will therefore come as no surprise. The song’s lyrics read:

‘The light
Begin to bleed
Begin to breathe
Begin to speak
D'you know what?
I love you better now

I am falling
Like a stone
Like a storm
Being born again
Into the sweet morning fog’ – ‘Morning Fog’

The Death of Arthur is described by Tennyson:

‘Last, as by some one deathbed after wail
Of suffering, silence follows, or through death
Or deathlike swoon, thus over all that shore,
Save for some whisper of the seething seas,
A dead hush fell; but when the dolorous day
Grew drearier toward twilight falling, came
A bitter wind, clear from the North, and blew
The mist aside, and with that wind the tide
Rose, and the pale King glanced across the field
Of battle: but no man was moving there;
Nor any cry of Christian heard thereon,
Nor yet of heathen; only the wan wave
Brake in among dead faces, to and fro
Swaying the helpless hands, and up and down
Tumbling the hollow helmets of the fallen,
And shivered brands that once had fought with Rome,
And rolling far along the gloomy shores
The voice of days of old and days to be.

Then spake King Arthur to Sir Bedivere,
And whiter than the mist that all day long
Had held the field of battle was the King’ – ‘The Passing of Arthur’

The morning fog and the last ‘wan wave’ are described as arriving whilst Arthur dies, and at the end of the poem, he, like Elaine, is pushed out on a boat into the middle of the lake, and the ‘new year’ is born.

‘he saw, the speck that bare the King,
Down that long water opening on the deep
Somewhere far off, pass on and on, and go
From less to less and vanish into light.
And the new sun rose bringing the new year.’ – ‘The Passing of Arthur’”.

In 1992, BBC Radio 1 broadcast an interview with Kate Bush. She talked about Hounds of Love and its tracks. The Ninth Wave is the second side of this renowned and commercially successful album. The first side has more conventional songs, including singles Running Up That Hill (A Deal with God), Cloudbusting and Hounds of Love. The Ninth Wave is the second side. An ambitious and engrossing suite that draws the listener in:

“A: The continuous flow of music on a compact disk masks the fact that Hounds of Love and The Ninth Wave were conceived as two quite separate sides to the album.

K: Yes they were. I started off writing, I think, "Running Up That Hill", "Hounds of Love", and then I think probably "Dream of Sheep." And once I wrote that, that was it, that was the beginning of what then became the concept. And really, for me, from the beginning, The Ninth Wave was a film, that's how I thought of it. It's the idea of this person being in the water, how they've got there, we don't know. But the idea is that they've been on a ship and they've been washed over the side so they're alone in this water. And I find that horrific imagery, the thought of being completely alone in all this water. And they've got a life jacket with a little light so that if anyone should be traveling at night they'll see the light and know they're there. And they're absolutely terrified, and they're completely alone at the mercy of their imagination, which again I personally find such a terrifying thing, the power of ones own imagination being let loose on something like that. And the idea that they've got it in their head that they mustn't fall asleep, because if you fall asleep when you're in the water, I've heard that you roll over and so you drown, so they're trying to keep themselves awake.

K: Well at this point, although they didn't want to go to sleep, of course they do. [Laughs] And this is the dream, and it's really meant to be quite nightmarish. And this was all kinda coming together by itself, I didn't have much to do with this, I just sat down and wrote this little tune on the Fairlight with the cello sound. And it sounded very operatic and I thought "well, great" because it, you know, it conjured up the image of ice and was really simple to record. I mean we did the whole thing in a day, I guess.

K: Again it's very lonely, it's terribly lonely, they're all alone on like this frozen lake. And at the end of it, it's the idea of seeing themselves under the ice in the river, so I mean we're talking real nightmare stuff here. And at this point, when they say, you know, "my god, it's me," you know, "it's me under the ice. Ahhhh" [laughs] These sort of visitors come to wake them up, to bring them out of this dream so that they don't drown.

My mother's in there, my father, my brothers Paddy and John, Brian Tench - the guy that mixed the album with us - is in the there, Del is in there, Robbie Coltrane does one of the voices. It was just trying to get lots of different characters and all the ways that people wake you up, like you know, you sorta fall asleep at your desk at school and the teacher says [song cut's in at "Wake up child, pay attention!" line]

K: Couldn't get a helicopter anywhere and in the end I asked permission to use the helicopter from The Wall from The Floyd, it was the best helicopter I'd heard for years for years [laughs].

I think it's very interesting the whole concept of witch-hunting and the fear of women's power. In a way it's very sexist behavior, and I feel that female intuition and instincts are very strong, and are still put down, really. And in this song, this women is being persecuted by the witch-hunter and the whole jury, although she's committed no crime, and they're trying to push her under the water to see if she'll sink or float. Uooo, ah. [Laughs]

A: And the next track on "Hounds of Love" is "Watching You Without Me".

K: Now, this poor sod [laughs], has been in the water for hours and been witch-hunted and everything. Suddenly, they're kind of at home, in spirit, seeing their loved one sitting there waiting for them to come home. And, you know, watching the clock, and obviously very worried about where they are, maybe making phone calls and things. But there's no way that you can actually communicate, because they can't see you, they can't you. And I find this really horrific, [laughs] these are all like my own personal worst nightmares, I guess, put into song.

And when we started putting the track together, I had the idea for these backing vocals, you know, [sings] "you can't hear me". And I thought that maybe to disguise them so that, you know, you couldn't actually hear what the backing vocals were saying.

A: "Watching You Without Me". Next is "The Jig of Life".

K: At this point in the story, it's the future self of this person coming to visit them to give them a bit of help here. I mean, it's about time they have a bit of help. So it's their future self saying, "look," you know, "don't give up, you've got to stay alive, 'cause if you don't stay alive, that means I don't." You know, "and I'm alive, I've had kids [laughs]. I've been through years and years of life, so you have to survive, you mustn't give up."

K: This was written in Ireland. At one point I did quite a lot of writing, you know, I mean lyrically, particularly. And again it was a tremendous sort of elemental dose I was getting, you know, all this beautiful countryside. Spending a lot of time outside and walking, so it had this tremendous sort of stimulus from the outside. And this was one of the tracks that the Irish musicians that we worked with was featured on.

There was a tune that my brother Paddy found which... he said "you've got to hear this, you'll love it." And he was right [laughs], he played it to me and I just thought, you know, "this would be fantastic somehow to incorporate here."

Was just sort of, pull this person up out of despair.

"Hello Earth" was a very difficult track to write, as well, because it was... in some ways it was too big for me. [Laughs] And I ended up with this song that had two huge great holes in the choruses, where the drums stopped, and everything stopped, and people would say to me, "what's going to happen in these choruses," and I hadn't got a clue.

We had the whole song, it was all there, but these huge, great holes in the choruses. And I knew I wanted to put something in there, and I'd had this idea to put a vocal piece in there, that was like this traditional tune I'd heard used in the film Nosferatu. And really everything I came up with, it with was rubbish really compared to what this piece was saying. So we did some research to find out if it was possible to use it. And it was, so that's what we did, we re-recorded the piece and I kind of made up words that sounded like what I could hear was happening on the original. And suddenly there was these beautiful voices in these chorus that had just been like two black holes.

In some ways I thought of it as a lullaby for the Earth. And it was the idea of turning the whole thing upside down and looking at it from completely above. You know, that image of if you were lying in water at night and you were looking up at the sky all the time, I wonder if you wouldn't get the sense of as the stars were reflected in the water, you know, a sense of like, you could be looking up at water that's reflecting the stars from the sky that you're in. And the idea of them looking down at the earth and seeing these storms forming over America and moving around the globe, and they have this like huge fantasticly overseeing view of everything, everything is in total perspective. And way, way down there somewhere there's this little dot in the ocean that is them.

IN THIS PHOTO: Kate Bush in 1985/PHOTO CREDIT: Dave Hogan/Getty Images

A: The Ninth Wave song sequence concludes with "The Morning Fog"

K: Well, that's really meant to be the rescue of the whole situation, where now suddenly out of all this darkness and weight comes light. You know, the weightiness is gone and here's the morning, and it's meant to feel very positive and bright and uplifting from the rest of dense, darkness of the previous track. And although it doesn't say so, in my mind this was the song where they were rescued, where they get pulled out of the water. And it's very much a song of seeing perspective, of really, you know, of being so grateful for everything that you have, that you're never grateful of in ordinary life because you just abuse it totally. And it was also meant to be one of those kind of "thank you and goodnight" songs. You know, the little finale where everyone does a little dance and then the bow and then they leave the stage. [laughs]

K: I never was so pleased to finish anything if my life. There were times I never thought it would be finished. It was just such a lot of work, all of it was so much work, you know, the lyrics, trying to piece the thing together. But I did love it, I did enjoy it and everyone that worked on the album was wonderful. And it was really, in some ways, I think, the happiest I've been when I'd been writing and making an album. And I know there's a big theory that goes 'round that you must suffer for your art, you know, "it's not real art unless you suffer." And I don't believe this, because I think in some ways this is the most complete work that I've done, in some ways it is the best and I was the happiest that I'd been compared to making other albums”.

I do think that we are long overdue The Ninth Wave coming to the screen. Bush did perform the suite at her Before the Dawn residency. That will only be seen by those who were at one of the dates in 2014. There has not been any representation of The Ninth Wave that can be accessed by the public. Aside from a Before the Dawn promotional video for And Dream of Sheep, it is all in the imagination of the listener. In my feature from January, I pitched a single drama that would star Saoirse Ronan as the heroine. As the women who gets lost at sea. I wanted to add and muse. I think it could be set in New York in the modern day. The New York-born Irish actor would be a perfect choice. She can do comedy and drama very well. The Ninth Wave film would have comedic moments. I like the idea of Kate Bush doing an audio cameo. Either as a voice on the end of a phone that gets a bit profane, or something like an audio guide at a museum of some description. I see this being a story of two recently married people going on a late honeymoon. That is how we get them onto a ship. It would leave from New York and be bound for the Caribbean. Playing opposite Domhnal Gleeson, Ronan’s character would work in New York (set in New York City/Manhattan) as a director. I think of her character as someone being loosely based around Greta Gerwig (a director she has worked with before). The first third of the film would see her in her job – there would be drama and comedy (I imagine a physical scene that is left for a couple of minutes to build an unfold; like getting stuck in a rotating door or on a conveyor belt and there being this awkwardness) – and conversations around her latest project. Back after her wedding and feeling stress in her job, she is angry that her husband ruined their planned honeymoon.

PHOTO CREDIT: Saoirse Ronan/PHOTO CREDIT: Agata Pospieszynska for Harper’s Bazaar

We do see his life and work. How the two interact and their lives together. The main focus is on Saoirse Ronan and her life. How she interacts with her parents (her mother played by Gillian Anderson) and sisters. Her character is experiencing an illness too, so there is an extra strain. The main body of the film takes us to the water and her struggle to be rescued. The songs would be played out though, between them, there are flashbacks and cuts. A mixture of backstory and some stylised pieces. A mixture of fantasy and dream-like sequences. The final act/part of the film takes us back to land and the end. It seems like everything worked out and she was rescued, though there is that potential of twists and possibilities. Is it a dream? Is this a film project of hers? Did Saoirse Ronan’s character die at sea and this is a fantasy? Is it simply straightforward and she is okay, or is the end of the film actually taking us back to the beginning and the narrative and timeline is skewed? I want it to be a mystery. Bush said around the time of Hounds of Love’s release that the ending was happy and the woman was rescued. The Before the Dawn mounting is more ambiguous. Maybe the heroine sadly died. I think Kate Bush would suggest it is a happy ending, though fans have always debated the truth of The Ninth Wave and how it ends. I would love to see this film come to life. Maybe a Netflix or Amazon Prime production. I am keen for there to be a female director. I am not sure who, though.

IN THIS PHOTO: The award-winning composer and musician, Hannah Peel

I see a soundtrack existing for the first and third part of the film. A score too that could be composed by both Hannah Peel and Anna Calvi. Maybe a joint collaboration that would bring their talents to a rich and ambitious production. More than anything, I feel there would be a definite audience for a film. The budget might be quite high – especially the scenes at sea and on the ship -, though no more expensive than most medium-budget films. Getting the idea to Kate Bush is key. I have no reason to suggest she would turn it down. Once was the time she would refuse the idea, though she has been revising her old work and knows how much people connect with Hounds of Love. As she has reissued the album recently and an additional Baskerville Edition, there is no doubt how much she loves her fifth studio album. Also, Hounds of Love turns forty next year. It would be great to have something like a film to accompany it. In terms of title, I think The Ninth Wave would be simple enough. Though that is subject to change. With another writer, it would be a pleasure to start in New York and then take us to the sea (The Caribbean Sea). A 2025 film about The Ninth Wave would be epic and filled with potential. If there was a willing production company, producer, director and writer who could help make it a reality, it would be the first time that this suite has been brought to the screen – forty years after it was first released. I also feel that it is something that Kate Bush…

WOULD love to see.

FEATURE: A Portable Revolution: Looking Ahead to Forty-Five Years of the Sony Walkman

FEATURE:

 

 

A Portable Revolution

IMAGE CREDIT: Richard Jorge

Looking Ahead to Forty-Five Years of the Sony Walkman

_________

I would advise people to read…

PHOTO CREDIT: Stefan/Pexels

articles like this that provide facts about the iconic Sony Walkman. It was released in Japan on 1st July, 1979. I wanted to mark its forty-fifth anniversary. There are those who will say that it seems outdated in the modern age. Even though it went through evolution and was fairly cumbersome and expensive at first, it was refined and more accessible as the years progressed. So many different models and variations were released. In 1979, and for years after, it was a portable revolution. A way of listening to music on the move. Something that was not possible before. Despite the fact its ‘replacement’, the Sony Discman, was flawed, it did allow the same portability for CDs as with cassettes – and that turns forty later in the year. The Sony Walkman was not instantly affordable to all, as it was new technology and it did price many out. However, soon, it was something that became available more to the masses. Enjoying a huge wave of popularity during the 1980s and even into the 1990s, there is something rare and prized about the Sony Walkman today. Original models and pristine versions can go for a lot of money. At a time when people could only listen to music at home or on things that were large and very much not for taking with you, the Sony Walkman was launched in Japan and must have seemed futuristic! It was a definite revelation that forever altered how we would enjoy music. I want to finish with arguing why it was not about isolation. One cannot blame the Walkman for streaming services and more negative aspects of modern music. I will start with a feature from The Verge about the legendary Walkman. On its fortieth anniversary (2019), this feature explored the introduction and legacy of the Sony Walkman:

“The world changed on July 1st, 1979: the day that Sony released the iconic Walkman TPS-L2, the first real portable music player that would revolutionize the way we listened to music in a way that no other device really had ever done before. Boomboxes and portable radios had been around for a while, but the Walkman made portable music private, ushering in a whole new era of people listening to music away from home.

Forty years later and Walkmans aren’t exactly popular to use anymore (outside of things like Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy films, anyway), but the sea change that the Walkman caused in our lives is more apparent than ever.

We don’t use cassettes or CDs anymore. Nearly every mobile device we carry now can play music, storing thousands of songs and streaming tens of thousands more from the internet anywhere in the world. But the whole idea of taking music with you — that you could listen to your favorite songs on the go, without subjecting everyone nearby to your music — started with the Walkman.

And make no mistake, the Walkman was designed mainly for music. It was a simple product in that regard: according to Sony’s photo history, the original device was ridiculed at the time for lacking the ability to record tapes, but it didn’t need that feature. It even offered two 3.5mm headphone jacks (the same hardware that, until recently, was found on our far more advanced hardware today), allowing you to listen with a friend in lieu of a speaker.

The Walkman would go on to see numerous hardware iterations over the years, including “Discman” CD models and MiniDisc players, as well as more modern portable media player devices that Sony still sells today. It’s not quite the powerhouse of a brand as it once was, but 40 years on, the changes the Walkman caused in our lives and in how we relate to both music and technology are still as relevant as ever”.

I do hope that there is proper recognition of the Sony Walkman ahead of its forty-fifth anniversary. I know I am a couple of months early! I will write more about it closer to 1st July. One reason I wanted to get in this early is that there is a real lack of modern-day equivalents. Something that is a sleek and affordable version of the original. I will highlight a few similar models that are on the market – yet none quite like the Sony Walkman. This feature from The Guardian from earlier in the year talked about the collectability and nostalgic currency of something like the Sony Walkman:

“One of the Tiffany Walkmans, originally presented to the Who, was later sold by the ex-wife of the band’s late bassist John Entwistle on a 2011 episode of the US TV show Pawn Stars. After some haggling, the traders at Gold & Silver Pawn in Las Vegas agreed to pay $1,250 for it. “This is one of those weird things that I think someone’s willing to buy just to say they have it,” ­reasoned Pawn Stars’ Corey Harrison to his father, Rick.

But who would spend thousands on a tape player in the age of Spotify and YouTube, when virtually all your entertainment needs can be concentrated into one device in your pocket?

“Time can make easy fetishists of us all,” remarked the culture writer Niko Stratis on seeing news stories reporting that branches of Urban Outfitters in the US were selling iPods for $350 (not far off the price they were on release in the early 2000s). There is plenty of such backward-gazing trading to be found online: eBay seller Retrogadgets-UK offers a “factory-sealed” third-generation iPhone “sold for collectors only” listed at £2,499.99. US brand Retrospekt sells all manner of refurbished old tech. “Our mission is to give you a product with years of history that works like it was made yesterday,” it declares. Elsewhere you can find camcorders and digital cameras, VHS and DVD players, “vintage” Game Boys, clock radios, and everything in between – including the soundtrack to classic teen soap Beverly Hills 90210 on cassette (yours for £15.39, if that’s your thing). And a surprisingly large number of Walkmans.

You never know what treasures may be sitting in your attic. A classic yellow “sports” Walkman, for example, is a popular item among collectors. The WM-F5 from 1983 was the first designed to be “splash-proof” and came with a built-in FM radio. The sharp colour and weather-proofing led to sales soaring, Walkman collector Mark Ip tells me. “I have many of them,” he adds.

Walkmans in general are Ip’s thing. He has more than a thousand, and on his Instagram account @boxedwalkman he displays them to more than 16,000 fellow enthusiasts. The important word there is boxed: he focuses his vast collection on pristine Walkmans housed in their original packaging – though he also has several hundred unboxed ones, too. He bills himself as “cassette Walkman collector on a mission to bring back the long-lost memories of the past”. Ip also owns three Tiffany Walkmans, for which he estimates he spent $10,000.

“I’m a little bit OCD,” Ip tells me from his home in Hong Kong. “Because I’m not satisfied with only single units. I want packaging, user manuals, original headphones.” He has about 20 single Walkmans that he keeps out for personal use. The rest are in storage – they have to be kept dry, otherwise Hong Kong’s humid climate will damage the boxes. “I don’t know exactly how many boxes are in my warehouse. When I die, I’ll leave it to my son maybe,” Ip adds, though he says his son cares more about modern Apple products.

He ties his obsession to his youth. “When I was in high school, a classmate had the first model, the TPS-L2. The stereo sounded so good. And it was portable,” he says, but his family couldn’t afford it at the time (originally the cost was about $150). Later, he was able to get his hands on a Walkman, but it was only about 15 years ago, when the devices were cheap and essentially obsolete, that he began building his collection.

Ip, who is 60, and co-founded an IT and audiovisual company specialising in workplace technologies in 2004, rarely sells anything from his collection. The wider region – Hong Kong, China, Japan, South Korea – remains a hotbed of interest in ageing tech, including boomboxes, component audio systems, old analogue and 2G mobile phones and pagers. There is also a big local trade in old camera lenses, Ip says, from manufacturers such as Leica and Zeiss. Ip buys and swaps with others to fill gaps in his Walkman collection, while also finding some further afield, in the US and Europe. “Like all collectors, you are seeking perfection,” he says. “What is perfect is a new box, never touched, no scratches, no dust. It’s almost impossible, but I will do my best to patiently wait.”

PHOTO CREDIT: A Sony Walkman WM-2/PHOTO CREDIT: Felicity McCabe/The Guardian

Last year, Ip mounted an exhibition in Hong Kong displaying many of his boxed Walkmans. “This is one of my missions in Walkman collecting,” he says – to let a new generation experience it. At the exhibition, many young attenders were “seeing a cassette player for the first time”, and often had only a vague idea of them from films or their parents. “Most were genuinely curious. They were intrigued by its mechanics.”

Walkman-collecting, it seems, conforms to most tech-collector stereotypes: men in their 40s, 50s and 60s, recalling their youthful encounters with a then-nascent, exciting technology. As Ip says, “When you have a Walkman, and you have a cassette to play on it, you can go out to the street to listen to the music, and all the memories come back.”

On Stephen Ho’s eBay page, he lists old but pristine Walkmans for up to £2,999. Though, he admits, he rarely expects to sell his most expensive wares. They are largely on the site to display the extent of his vast collection and to signal the quality of what he has on offer. Mainly he sells cheaper ones when he has duplicates.

Ho, who is in his late 50s, is also from Hong Kong. He is retired now, but in the 1990s he had a job in Sony’s marketing department, working on the launch of the MiniDisc during the great “format war” between that product and Philips’s DCC player.

“Because I grew up with Sony products and I worked for Sony, I have a passion for their products,” he says. Electronic gadgets from his teenage years in the 80s are his poison. “During those years, Sony was like Apple nowadays. I was a normal teenager. I had Sony Walkman, Sony radio, everything Sony.”

In 2020, he moved to the UK under the BNO visa, allowing Hongkongers to resettle after the Chinese government crackdown on the city’s semi-autonomous status. He brought his collection, which includes hundreds of Walkmans, Discmans and MiniDisc players. He rarely pays more than £500 for an item, but he also owns one of the Tiffany special editions, for which he was willing to go higher (“Less than £2,000,” he says). But he says he’ll never put that up for sale.

He claims to be downsizing and shows me a loft room in his home in Reading, Berkshire, with drawers filled with Sony products. And yet, “I’m buying more than I’m selling,” he jokes. When we speak, he is shortly due to take a trip to Japan to find more at street ­markets.

There are models that were only sold in Japan, while DIY makers in China are keeping the old products alive. “Since the price of Walkmans has gone so high, people are making spare parts, which makes their lifespan longer.” There are curious ways in which older products can outlast newer, more hi-tech ones. “New things use built-in rechargeable batteries,” he says. “Once the battery is dead, the machine is dead. For old stuff they use normal batteries.”

He also likens it to older and classic cars: the mechanics were simpler, more analogue, so it is easier to tinker with and make spare parts for older models. Similarly with complex modern devices, the tech “is so tiny, so small, you can’t do it by yourself”. But with Walkmans “because of 3D-printing technology, they can print those parts. Which also extends the lifespan.”

Ho puts potential buyers into two categories. Younger people jumping on to a new trend for something old, and, inevitably, an older group that grew up with the technology. “Before social media, it was limited to older generations,” he says. “But since social media –Instagram, Facebook, whatever – teenagers have been exposed to old stuff. Old guys are buying for their memories. Young people are buying to try. They think it’s trendy, it’s interesting. It’s not limited to the Walkman; the prices for CCD [digital] cameras are rocket-high on eBay”.

There is a lot to discuss regarding the legacy of the Sony Walkman. How it could be brought up to date. I guess you can get something pretty close to the Sony Walkman today. I would love to see Sony bring out a new range that people could buy for a reasonable price. As cassettes are still around and many people are buying them, they are struggling to find devices to play them on. Rolling out a new Walkman would not seem strange of retro. Instead, it is necessary and would provide popular. Even if it is quite expensive, this cassette player is on the market. There are some more affordable options here. Look on eBay, and you can get some pretty cool options like this. There are guides like this that are useful. None really are abut Sony and a cheaper and cooler version of the original Walkman. Something that could sell for around £50, be available in a range of colours and designs. It does not need to be too high-tech. Something that could come onto the market that is sustainable, environmentally conscious and enduring. Many would say that listening to cassettes on the move is quite a solitary endeavour. Not that it is a bad thing. We are in a society where we are more isolated regarding listening to music. Not as communal as it once was. The original Sony Walkman was never about that. It provided freedom. The chance to listen to music on the move.

PHOTO CREDIT: Beyzaa Yurtkuran/Pexels

What I found, when I owned a Walkman and a Discman, is that it was great sharing music with people. Giving them an earbud and them listening to a cassette or CD that I was playing. Streaming and smartphones do not seem to be about that. I feel that a modern Walkman would perhaps not reverse that. I think it would prompt people to share music. Swap cassettes and be more engaged with one another than they might otherwise have been. On 1st July, it will be forty-five years since the Sony Walkman was introduced. It was a real breakthrough. We have modern equivalents out there, yet none that really match the original. Cassette sales are not booming, though they are steady and attracting new generations. Because of that, there is a place for cassette-playing devices. As we look ahead to an important anniversary for an iconic piece of music history, I feel it is appropriate that a new model comes out. I would definitely be interested in it. You may not be familiar with the Sony Walkman or know what it was about. I would suggest people check it out and do some reading. It was unlike anything else when it arrived in 1979. All these years later, there is this feeling it could slot right back into the marketplace. At any rate, it is well deserving of some salute. We have streaming these days. I don’t think we can blame the Walkman as starting this. Being responsible for making music ephemeral or a more isolating experience. Instead, streaming naturally came from the emergence of digital music. The Sony Walkman was always about buying cassettes and paying for music. It is true that it is at the start of a line that led to streaming, although it would be unfair to say that it killed physical music or can be blamed for what we have today. Instead, it was this explosion and wonderful piece of technology that gave people the option to enjoy music…

ON the go.

FEATURE: The Craft of Life: Kate Bush in 1974: Discovery, Progress and Transition

FEATURE:

 

The Craft of Life

PHGOTO CREDIT: John Carder Bush

 

Kate Bush in 1974: Discovery, Progress and Transition

_________

I want to travel back fifty years…

PHOTO CREDIT: Alamy

and a very important time in the career of the wonderful Kate Bush. I say ‘ career’, but it was really before her career started. With Kate Bush fifteen/sixteen, it was a big time in her life. In 1974, there was no real progress in her music ambitions. There had been some movement and plans prior to 1974, yet that year also provided an encounter that would change her life. Even if Bush did not officially sign with EMI until the summer of 1976, she did meet with them there and there was a definite plan for her. An unofficial signing perhaps. She was seen as a little young at the time and needed a period for maturation. Noticing her talent, her signature was captured a couple of years later. I am thinking back to 1974 and what Kate Bush was writing. We know that her debut album, 1978’s The Kick Inside, was cut down from a mass of songs that she already had recorded or written. Think about Home-Recorded Demos (1974) & Studio Demo’s (sic) and possible songs that could have appeared on the album. There are the Cathy Demos. Bush had recorded music with David Gilmour prior to 1974. It will all make sense in a minute. 1974 was a particular turning point. Before getting there, let’s look at Kate Bush’s 1972-1974:

“1972

At the suggestion of Kate's family, Ricky Hopper, a friend with music business connections, tries to place "demo tapes" of Kate's songs with a record company, with a publishing deal in mind. At this stage Kate considers herself more of a writer than a singer. These original tapes have over thirty songs on each. [An unfortunate wording, since it may mean that there was one collection of thirty songs which was duplicated, and of which one copy was sent to each publisher; or that there were actually several different thirty-song collections.] All the major companies are approached. None accepts. Kate's songs are described as "morbid", "boring" and "uncommercial".

Kate feels that she cannot pursue a career in music and considers the alternatives: psychiatry or social work.

Unable to help further, Ricky Hopper makes contact with Dave Gilmour of Pink Floyd, whom he knew at Cambridge University. Gilmour, who at this time is spotting for talent that he can assist, is persuaded to listen to the demos and then to hear Kate perform. He is impressed, and agrees to help.

1973

Kate records at Gilmour's home studio. The backing band is comprised of Gilmour himself on guitar, and Peter Perrier and Pat Martin of Unicorn on drums and bass, respectively. The songs recorded at this stage include Passing Through Air (later to surface on the b-side of the 1980 single Army Dreamers) and a song now known as Maybe.

[Again, a bit more detail would have been welcome here. There is no mention of how many songs were recorded during these recording sessions. Incidentally, an excerpt of this version of the so-called Maybe, which presumably first appeared on Kate's original demos, was played by Kate during a radio programme called Personal Call. It should not be confused with the presumably more professional version of the recording which was made the following year (see below) but which has never been heard by fans.]

The new demos are again circulated to record companies with no result.

1974

With no progress in her musical ambitions, Kate seriously considers a career in psychiatry.

Kate takes her "O Level" examination and obtains ten "Pass" grades, with best results in English, music and Latin”.

Bush got signed to EMI on the strength of her demo tapes. On the recommendation and sponsorship of David Gilmour. It was not really realised and truly official until 1976. In July, Bush gets £3000 from EMI Records and a further £500 to finance her for a year of personal and professional development. The period from 1974 and 1976 is important. Bush sort of being discovered and fostered more by David Gilmour. Her taking up mime and dance. Going from someone who was not yet known widely and officially in music but had that clear potential and gift. Before going forward, I want to bring in a feature from Far Out Magazine, who wrote about Kate Bush’s discovery and that important relationship with David Gilmour:

“How was Kate Bush discovered?

The old music industry adage, ‘it’s who you know’, is very true – there is a reason for why people say that.

“She was the sister of a friend of mine’s friend. My friend came to me and said, ‘listen, my friend has a little sister who’s very groovy – have a listen’,” the famed guitarist and composer, David Gilmour of the seminal experimental rock band, Pink Floyd said – indeed, it was, in fact, Gilmour who helped get her signed to EMI.

In his own words, Gilmour has described the story in the past. Gilmour was given a tape of demos of the young songwriter, from a mutual friend whose sister was the one and only Kate Bush. Of course, at the time, she was only 15-16 years old. While it was clear that Bush possessed a unique sensibility and creative mind, it was Gilmour who picked up on this, and more than that, he knew what it took to capture her sound.

“When we started her off, I put her together with an engineer and a producer and an arranger in a top studio, and I chose the songs. She had about 40 or 50 songs and I picked three. And I have a friend of mine who’s an arranger and producer and I gave him the songs and said ‘listen, get this all fixed up, take her in the studio and do these songs as masters, not as demos. I said, ‘I already got demos.'”

Gilmour was busy at the time working on Pink Floyd’s The Dark Side of the Moon, but he was no less determined to help her. Gilmour worked with Bush to get 3-4 solid songs of hers down to get mastered with a producer that Gilmour chose. He added: “So I just spent some time listening to the tapes and doing some demo tapes with her, picked out songs and sent her into a studio, made three masters, which I then took to EMI studios and said, ‘do you want this?’ And they said, yes, we’ll have it, please.'”

“I was kind of busy at the time doing other things, I didn’t really have the time to get deeply involved with it.”

While Gilmour struck gold with discovering Bush, things wouldn’t exactly go off without a hitch with EMI.

Was Kate Bush too young to release her debut record?

The rumour, as Gilmour put it to rest sometime later, was in fact, false. While Gilmour pretty much set everything up perfectly; he paid for the recording time; he picked the three right songs from Bush’s 40 songs at the time; he found a producer and an arranger to help her record – all EMI had to do was step in, take over for Gilmour, and hit it home.

Well, unfortunately, the money-go-round mechanism of the recording industry and the red tape that this entails, didn’t allow for a smooth process. Gilmour commented on this, saying, “And they took two of those tracks which were those demos for her first album which were recorded a few years before. And what they were doing was, they were looking for different producers, they didn’t want to use the guy that I originally used, for some reason.”

Gilmour continued to say, “I think the delay was because of them thinking she didn’t have enough good songs and the producer’s just not getting the right thing out of her because they were putting her with the wrong people.”

It got to the point where EMI nearly gave up on the ordeal. “Eventually, a guy from EMI came to me and said, ‘C’mon David, it’s alright, but admit it, you sold us a dud here.’

Gilmour wasn’t about to back down or give up. He replied to EMI, saying: “I said ‘give me a fucking break, this girl’s really talented.’ And they said, ‘well, we just can’t get anything right.’ So I said, ‘why didn’t you go back to the guy that I put her with originally?’

Adding, “It’s plain and silly, but they wasted two years pissing around with the wrong producers and claimed they were waiting for her to mature, that’s all bullshit.”

How old was Kate Bush when she was discovered?

Kate Bush was only 16-years-old when she was discovered by David Gilmour, in 1974. If her debut record came out in 1978, what happened during this period and why did it take so long?

One of the things that happened was a rumour was created: That Bush was too young at the time and EMI were waiting for her to ‘mature’ before releasing her first record”.

Look ahead to 1975, and everything changed. In that June, Dave Gilmour pays for Kate to record at London’s AIR Studios. The Man With The Child In His Eyes, The Saxophone Song and Maybe are selected to be recorded. The first two are released on The Kick Inside. In the summer of 1975, Bush attends dance classes run by Lindsay Kemp. By that July, EMI start negotiating to sign this young talent. Bush leaves school with an interest in music and dance. I am really fascinated in 1973 and those demos and recordings happening. 1975 is when Bush recorded professionally and was a year away from EMI signing her with an advance. Fifty years ago, there was this bridge and transition moment. On the one hand, the school-age Bush was a bit despondent about her career not happening as quick as she might have liked. On the other hand, David Gilmour had discovered her and was working alongside her. Seeing that huge potential, she was signed to his label. An important fiftieth anniversary. I don’t think people really discuss Kate Bush pre-The Kick Inside. I am going to come to the period leading up to that at the end. I am fascinated by Kate Bush in 1974. There is some ambiguity in terms of exact events. Graeme Thomson goes more in depth about that time in his soon-to-be-reissued biography, Under the Ivy: The Life & Music of Kate Bush. When exactly EMI signed her. I guess David Gilmour discovered and mentored her as early as 1973, yet it does seem that 1974 was when that mentorship and discovery went up a step and got to the attention of a label. As it is fifty years ago, it is important to mark that. Turning sixteen on 30th July, it was a changing time of growth and discovery. Even if Kate Bush did not quite know it, 1974 was a year that was to change her life forever! I guess it was right she was given time to grow and have space. To take up mime dance and vocal lessons. When she was ready and right, that is when EMI gave her an advance and then into AIR Studios. This Wikipedia feature takes us from 1975 through to 1977:

“Bush attended St Joseph's Convent Grammar School, a Catholic girls' school in nearby Abbey Wood. During this time, her family produced a demo tape with over 50 of her compositions, which was turned down by record labels. David Gilmour of Pink Floyd received the demo from Ricky Hopper, a mutual friend of Gilmour and the Bush family. Impressed, Gilmour financed the 16-year-old Bush's recording of a more professional demo tape. The tape consisted of three tracks, produced by Gilmour's friend Andrew Powell and sound engineer Geoff Emerick, who had worked with the Beatles. Powell later produced Bush's first two albums, The tape was sent to EMI executive Terry Slater who signed Bush.

"Every female you see at a piano is either Lynsey de Paul or Carole King. And most male music–not all of it but the good stuff–really lays it on you. It really puts you against the wall and that's what I like to do. I'd like my music to intrude. Not many females succeed with that."

Bush, speaking to Melody Maker magazine in 1977.

IN THIS PHOTO: Kate Bush in 1977/PHOTO CREDIT: John Carder Bush

The British record industry was reaching a point of stagnation. Progressive rock was very popular and visually oriented rock performers were growing in popularity, thus record labels looking for the next big thing were considering experimental acts. Bush was put on retainer for two years by Bob Mercer, managing director of EMI's group-repertoire division. Mercer believed that Bush's material was good enough to release, but he also believed that should the album fail it would be demoralising and if it were successful Bush was too young to handle this. In a 1987 interview, Gilmour disputed this version of events, blaming EMI for initially using the "wrong" producers.

EMI gave Bush a large advance, which she used to enroll in interpretive dance classes taught by Lindsay Kemp, a former teacher of David Bowie, and mime training with Adam Darius. For the first two years of her contract, Bush spent more time on schoolwork than recording. She left school after doing her mock A-Levels and having gained ten GCE O-Level qualifications.

Bush wrote and recorded demos of almost 200 songs, some of which circulated as bootlegs. From March to August 1977, she fronted the KT Bush Band at public houses in London. The band included Del Palmer (bass), Brian Bath (guitar), and Vic King (drums). She began recording her first album in August 1977”.

I have been thinking about Kate Bush in 1974. A strange yet remarkable time. A few years before she recorded her debut album, she had rough songs and some potential jewels in her locker. It would not be too long until she heading into the studio to record The Man with the Child in His Eyes. Look forward to now, and I am not sure whether Kate Bush in 1974 would have realised all that she’d achieve. A Record Store Ambassador and someone who has had number one albums and influenced countless artists. I am so intrigued by those early years. Living at home at East Wickham Farm. Discovering all sorts of music and bonding with her brothers, Paddy and Jay (whose photographs of her when she was a child are so wonderful). Where she definitely wanted to go into music but was not quite there yet. Even so, she had this broad body of work that would soon be honed and narrowed into the songs that went into The Kick Inside. Back in 1974, there was this period of discovery – of Kate Bush and from her – and the seeds of something truly phenomenal. EMI knew her potential and promise. Very soon, that would truly…

COME to life.