David Bowie Is... You!

Today my senses were treated to an exotic feast of decadent  rock and roll at the David Bowie Is... exhibition at the Victoria and Albert Museum. The exhibition catered for the fast-paced, multi-tasking world of rock and roll that we live in, as at every turn music and visuals in the shape of video footage, Bowie's costume and personal items asked us 'David Bowie is....(what exactly?)

The vast array of costumes and original lyric sheets (seen on the right here) made me personally conclude that David Bowie is every man and every woman. The fact that an exhibition was curated for a man who is actually still alive made me realize why we are so hypnotized by his various alter-egos.  As I sat and watched Ziggy performing Rock 'n' Roll Suicide on a 20ft screen, I had my own epiphany, Bowie isn't a mythological superstar, he is simply everything David Jones had growing inside of him. Ziggy, Aladdin Sane, The Thin White Duke, Major Tom are all the people that we have inside of ourselves, they are our wildest desires, our curiosities, our lusts and passions. We all have these creative fires burning inside of ourselves which we sometimes have to repress due to the demands of our society. But David Bowie released every side he had and by exposing himself fully, he gave everyone else the courage to release their true selves, which was highly significant in the 60s/70s as homosexuality was still a highly controversial issue.

So David Bowie is the Sound and Vision that we all have inside ourselves, Bowie is the key to unlocking who we really are and want to be.

.....and then 3 come along at once!

They say all good things come in threes and today certainly has followed that rule for me, so in no particular order here's what has made my day;

1] With the current fashion of nostalgia in the music world box sets are being released everywhere we look. However I was very excited to find out that The Clash are releasing a box set in the shape of a boombox (well, at least that's new!) which will feature the remastered versions of their first five albums and tapes from Mick Jones. In addition to this the box set will also include a DVD of  previously unseen footage.
Another jump on the remastering albums bandwagon for easy money? Perhaps!
Will I be caving into this blatant act of consumer exploitation? Shamefully yes!

2] I wrote an article a while back on the Manchester indie band Bauer with a review on their album 'Sleeping Giant'. As most of you know I always route for the physical release of albums and after pestering Bauer for a while, they announced on Twitter today that the physical copy of 'Sleeping Giant' will be out Monday, available from Townsend Records online.

3] One of my close friends (the fashion guru Becky Ferris)  is completely smitten with 'The Great Gatsby' and has been waxing lyrical about all things Gatsby for weeks now. So on her recommendation I gave the soundtrack a listen to. But while she so enamored with Lana Del Rey, she forgot to tell me that Jack White features also! 'Love is Blindness' is what Jack White does best, sexy moodiness which bursts at the seams with epic guitar lines. A track I could certainly listen to for hours on end.

I'm so content with all the above that I almost forgot I have a 3 hour exam tomorrow.....

The Front Bottoms Return to London Town

Greil Marcus wrote in his publication 'Lipstick Traces' in 1989:

'At Winterland people pushed, but not, it seemed with anger or fear, but with delight, almost as a greeting.' 

This is how I greeted, and was greeted by, the punk followers of The Front Bottoms on the night of the 23rd April* at Camden's Barfly. Usually at punk concerts, I have had to nudge, elbow and tut my way into defending my small standing space on the floor, but the camaraderie at this concert was unique with it's imported all-American friendliness in terms of the unwritten rules of moshing. Although I emerged from the venue covered in bruises and feet so frequently jumped on it was painful to walk, I had a massive grin plastered across my flushed face. But the best way to begin any story,  is well, at the beginning! 

I met Matthew Uychich (AKA DJ Pumpkin...bless!) by the merchandise stand as I entered the venue and so I took the opportunity for a little chit-chat until the support act came on. The support came from a male solo artist, whose name eludes me but I will get back to you on that one! Although his music was on par, average it did include many comical elements which created a relaxed atmosphere. As The Front Bottoms opened with The Beers, I was at the back of the crowd but with the soaring, electrical pulse that suddenly filled the room I found myself unwittingly by the front of the stage in under five seconds time! For those of you who have heard the Front Bottom’s self-titled debut album you would know that the appeal is in the unpolished acoustic, scratchiness of the Punk 'record it in your bedroom' vibes. However at the gig, they managed to keep this appeal while performing the songs from their debut at a faster, electrical manic pace. Matthew and Brian were joined on stage by session musicians which gave their songs a more polished and professional edge to when I had seen them previously last year. This was demonstrated in the teasers which they gave from their next album 'Talon Of The Hawk'. I managed to catch a quick interview with the session bassist following the gig and asked him about the new, professional direction which The Front Bottoms were taking, which he replied was due to funding for a better recording studio and the new album would be a lot more refined in it's quality. 

Jumping and moshing by the front of the stage was exhausting but between songs, Brian indulged in a bit of banter with the crowd with jokes that my Grandad would have been proud of (eg: 'I was wondering why that frisbee was getting closer and closer.....and than it hit me' oh dear!) which gave us a minute or two to gasp for air.One thing that you should understand about The Front Bottoms is that their fans don't like them....they LOVE them with every sinew. This manifested itself towards the ends of the set as everyone became a crowd surfer and as they closed, we all stormed the stage and caught up in the manic euphoria, I threw my arms around Brian's neck and gave him a massive kiss on the cheek. Every kiss has a meaning and this one meant 'you are fucking awesome!!' 

Me and DJ Pumpkin 

Although The Front Bottoms are an American band, you should definitely try and catch them when they return to the UK. Their second album to be released in the UK, Talons Of The Hawk is due out next week. 

*The delay in writing this up has been due to a very hectic schedule due to final year exams so apologies

People Power: The 1p Album Club

The beauty of music is that it is a phenomenon which is accessible to all, to rich or poor, Scottish or Chinese, human or goldfish. This is due to the fact that the idea of music is on such a wide scale as it can be found from the Wembley Arena to homemade didgeridoos in the Australian Outbreak. This is why I was so interested when I found out about the 1p Album Club as it gives ordinary, everyday music fans a voice. In fact the 1p Album Club has even gained support from the likes of Bernard Butler.

The 1p Album Club's origins is a group of friends who realized that music is currently being undersold. By downloading an album for 1p from Amazon and reviewing it, readers are able to see the true value of music across the board. Although many may argue that they are practically stealing albums by purchasing them for 1p, I disagree. The reviews are aimed at not just music fans, but those who care about music. Therefore by giving the albums publicity and an honest opinion, people are more likely to purchase the album at an honest price. The 1p Album Club is open to all, and as they claim on their website, there's no clubhouse, membership fees, handshakes or uniquely striped tie. 

If you are interested in the 1p Album Club or would like to get involved then click here for info or even follow them on Twitter

Man Like Me at New Slang

It is quite difficult to write a review on a gig when many pints of alcohol were involved but I will sift through the hazy blur to try my best to remember the events of last Thursday night.

Man Like Me may be known to many from the Ikea advert as Johnny Langer walks through various kitchen designs as 'you will always find him in the kitchen at parties (at parties!)'. Man Like Me is a fun collage of many different genres with a bit of hip hop, a bit of indie and a bit of rave.
I saw Man Like Me perform at New Slang in Kingston Upon Thames last year and although I had never heard of them before that night, I became hooked. The night was full of mental energy and they performed so well that I worried that Thursday night would not live up to my expectations.

Fortunately I was so wrong.....

Man Like Me returned to New Slang in all their crazy glory with 'Yo True' as their support act and I had never seen such a crowd at New Slang since the switching of venue. Yo True as a support act was rather a let down as I felt their R&B vibe was too relaxed, something to jam to on a sunny afternoon rather then warm up a stage with.  Despite this I did like the set up of having two drummers, one on a normal set of drums and the other on a pair of bongos complete with wind chimes. They exploded with a with what I felt was a promising song halfway through their set, but after this it just seemed to fall flat again.

I acquired a spot just in front of the stage on the right hand for side for Man Like Me just as Johhny was wheeled on stage in a trolly, which I strongly suspect was nicked from the local Sainsbury's, covered in an orange sheet resembling a ghost from Essex. This set the madness for the next 40 minutes (at least I think it was 40 mins, there was no way of me telling being in a crowd of ravers). I instantly fell in love with the two men who were on saxophone and trumpet, dressed like they were members of The Specials but with all the cheekiness as though they were in Madness. Throughout their set they played a mixture of songs from both their debut self-titled album and the recently released 'Pillow Talk.' The biggest crowd pleaser seemed to be 'Squeeze' which got us all whipped up into an electric ecstasy. My favourite member of the band has to be Ade, a powerful African soul singer who has a voice so powerful he could easily conquer the world on his voice alone. At one point during the performance the cheeky Johnny came close to breaking his own neck. As he stage surfed he was pushed backwards where the ceiling suddenly lowered, putting his neck at very scary angle before being hauled safely back onto the stage.

All in all, it was a night full off immense energy both from the band and crowd alike. My own personal highlight has to be when they finished up with 'London Town' as their encore. Any fan of Man Like Me will know the dance moves that accompanies the song and the whole crowd went 'down, down, down.....'

Pillow Talk is out now. Purchase it from your local record store.

Exclusive Interview with Sean McGhee: Inspirations, Doctor Who and Same-Sex Marriage

Summer 2012 saw the emergence of an exciting music collaboration between Suede guitarist Richard Oakes and renowned music producer, songwriter and composer Sean McGhee. The duo took the form of Artmagic, creating songs which inspire and uplift the spirit. I had the pleasure of seeing Artmagic perform a discreet instore gig at Banquet Records last July with the simple set up of Oakes on his acoustic guitar and McGhee armed with nothing but his own vocal chords. Performing songs from their album 'Become The One You Love' was a perfect backdrop to the hazy, summer evening in Kingston Upon Thames. 

During the time between that summer's evening and the present day, Sean McGhee and I have exchanged a few jokes and opinions via twitter, so therefore a few days ago I plucked up the courage to ask him for a short interview, which he so kindly agreed to.
If you like what you've heard about Artmagic, then be sure to head over to their page now Click here

What was the first album which you owned?

I'm the youngest of a reasonably big family so even before I had any music of my own there were always albums and singles around the house. The two that I remember making the biggest impression were "Carrie" by Cliff Richard (which is still a tune-and-three-quarters) and "Games Without Frontiers" by Peter Gabriel, which casts such a long shadow over my musical development that it's hard to imagine my sonic landscape without it.

I can't remember specifically the first album I owned but it would have either been one of Abba's albums or "Speak And Spell by Depeche Mode. I asked for, and received, Abba's "Super Trouper" album for my fifth birthday but on cassette, not the vinyl I had hoped for. This happened again with Howard Jones's "Humans Lib" on my seventh birthday. You think I'd have let this go by now, wouldn't you? (I have them both on vinyl now. It was cheaper than therapy.)

Did this album leave a lasting impact on you?

Did it ever. Listening to Depeche Mode  was like being flung into a brash new technological world, as far removed from the granite houses and rainy farmland of  my childhood surroundings as you could get. And the same with Abba. If Mode promised a future of new sounds and electronic otherness, Abba offered a kind of child-friendly emotional complexity couched in perfect yet somehow exotic pop songwriting. I used to gaze at the credits on Abba albums and wonder, what's an engineer, what's a producer? Something in me needed to know, even then. And so, here I am.

With the closing of HMV, how do you feel the future looks for Record stores?

Well, HMV isn't gone yet, but let's face it, their panic-stricken attempts to work out what they should be doing as retailers over the last few years give some clues to why they've ended up like this. Are they a music shop, a DVD outlet, videogame retailer, secondhand merchant, hi-fi store...?  Nevertheless, they're the last bastion of music retail on the high street, so even if it's in a limited capacity, I genuinely hope they survive. When the Artmagic album came out, it was a source of great pride to us that HMV carried it, because with independent record shops also dwindling in number, where else is left for impulse purchases?

Having said that, Artmagic  did numerous instore performances last year at a host of excellent independent shops, and I made a point of saying at the end of each one, "buy our album please, but even if you don't, please don't leave without buying something, because stores like this are essential and you'll lose it if you don't use it." I genuinely love record shops, and hate to imagine a future without them. 

Summing up the future of music distribution is tough, though. Streaming is going to be a big part of it but a great record shop offers a kind of curatorship between the staff and the customers, making recommendations and bringing previously unheard music to the fore. I hope that kind of space will always exist, and I think the internet can't compete on that level. But they will only survive if we support them. And that means making an effort that may be beyond a lot of people who are used to the convenience of online shopping.


You work with a wide range of artists across different music genres, where do you find the inspiration to keep your work ‘fresh’? 

I listen to tons of music in tons of genres, especially ones I don't usually work in. And I try to leave room for improvisation when I work, and not get bogged down in theoretical questions. There's a thrill to diving into the unknown.  Also, a constant process of analysis and a hope to keep making better music.

Which artists/bands have caught your eye (ears) at the moment?

The new John Grant record, "Pale Green Ghosts", is a triumph - great to hear him taking a stylistic left turn but still retaining the love of melody and coruscating gallows humour that marked his previous work.

"Broadside" by Bellowhead, "Standing At The Sky's Edge" by Richard Hawley, "Ashore" by June Tabor, "Channel Orange" by Frank Ocean, "Awayland" by Villagers", "Mummer" by XTC and Now 83 have all been on heavy rotation of late. 
And one must not underestimate the power of Britney ("Scream And Shout"), Disclosure ("Latch", "White Noise") and Little Mix ("DNA").  

Not Jake Bugg, though. One Direction FTW.

What inspired you to embark upon the Artmagic project with Richard Oakes?

A desire to carve out a space to call my own, and to work with the most-underrated writer and guitarist of his generation.  He writes the most gorgeous chord changes; a troubled panorama of light and shade.  I can't help but respond to what he does. If Richard's music were a film, it would be "Magnolia". He's so good. It makes me chuckle to think that his 90s contemporaries ever thought they were in with a chance, really.  Not to mention the current generation of retromaniacal "indie". How I hate that word. It used to mean "independent" but nowadays it's too often a byword for relentlessly uninspiring British music in endless shades of brown.  This is why I'm so pleased that we have Everything Everything, Wild Beasts and Field Music carrying the torch for interesting guitar-based pop.

‘The Gift of Flight’ from your album ‘Become the One You Love’ was inspired by equal marriage. Do you think with the success so far of the equal marriage vote that there is new hope for the younger generation struggling to come to terms with their sexuality?

I hope so. I endured that particular struggle before civil partnerships, an equal age of consent or any sign of real equality, so it's hard for me to imagine how it would be to come out now. It seems like it might be easier but the world is still highly heteronormative. But at least now our equality is mostly enshrined in law. There's still a way to go, though. I look forward to the day when sexuality is no longer any kind of news - that's why the equal marriage vote means so much: separate but equal is no equality at all in the long run. 

Is there a second album from Artmagic on the cards?    

Most definitely, yes.

Lastly, as a Doctor Who fan, who is your favourite Doctor and why? 

Sylvester McCoy, I think. I love all of the Doctors but something about Sylvester's performance gives me a huge amount of pleasure.  The good Doctor comes up a lot so I worry that it seems like I watch little else, but there's plenty of other TV I love; Breaking Bad, Nurse Jackie, A Bit Of A Do, A Very Peculiar Practice, The West Wing and Friday Night Dinner have all been big hits round my way recently.  Mind you, I have to say that Doctor Who at its worst is usually more entertaining than most TV at its best.

Meeting Artmagic at Banquet Records. Sean McGhee second from left.

***

Celebrating Female Musicians

Happy International Women's Day! In light of this celebration of the sacrifices that have been made for equality, I shall be dedicating a post to female artists who have proven themselves forces to be reckoned with and a positive role model for all other women.

Being a 90's baby, I was thrust into the era of the Spice Girls and the whole rally cry of their slogan 'Girl Power.' As a 5 year old I would run around in a Liverpool football shirt (despite being a Chelsea fan) so I could be more like the kick-ass Sporty Spice. The era of 'Girl Power' left a lasting impression upon me and I grew up as a feminist. Music is something we listen to in our day to day lives and can influence what we wear and how we behave. Therefore I'm dedicating a post to the female artists who leave a positive message on their listeners.

Gwen Renee Stefani

Gwen Stefani rocketed to fame as the only female member of pop-rock band 'No Doubt' but being the only female member did not mean that she was just there to be a pretty face. Those who were there in the '90s will remember the punchy lyrics of 'Hey Baby' as Stefani makes it known who she is;
'I'm the kinda girl that hangs with the guys/like a fly on the wall with my secret eyes'
Despite declaring that she is a 'misfit' Stefani has grown to be the envy of all womankind. After No Doubt she stepped out by herself not only as a successful solo artist, but also as a prominent fashionista by designing her own clothing line L.A.M.B which is highly inspired by urban Japan.
It is for all these reasons that I have never outgrown Stefani as an artist as she always manages to keep a fresh image, not compromising her reputation by falling out of nightclubs.

Deborah Ann Harry 

Is there anyone who is more uber-cool then the Queen that is Debbie Harry? The face of Blondie, Debbie Harry will always go down in music history as an icon. Again, the only female in the group, Harry was still the leading force and her punk-to-the-core attitude is what arguably made Blondie a group which will never be forgotten. In addition to her musical talent, Harry has shown of her skills as an actress by appearing on Broadway shows.

Megan Martha White
Meg White was one half of 'The White Stripes' and her down to earth, shy personality has always made her so likable. While enjoying success with The White Stripes, Meg and Jack always claimed to the media that they were brother and sister as they didn't want their fans to get distracted by the fact that they were in fact, ex-husband and wife (still not brother and sister before you ask).  Meg and Jack were married in 1996 with Jack obtaining her surname White, which even in this day and age is quite revolutionary. Meg White is an inspiration for every female musician as she has never resorted to using her body image to sell her music, her and Jack were a huge success just by being themselves.