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Friday 23 July 2010
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Last summer Ornette Coleman, the then 79 year-old saxophonist, violinist, trumpeter and composer from Forth Worth, curated the annual Meltdown Festival of mixed-genre music at London's South Bank. Flea from the Red Hot Chilli Peppers was there to play his respects, Patti Smith was there, Baaba Maal was there, Bill Frisell turned up for a jam, and the eclectic programmes buzzed with beatboxers, traditional Moroccan drum-choirs, hip-hop bands, big-bands and a lot more. On the final night, the Royal Festival Hall crowd wouldn't let the avuncular and very contented-looking Coleman go – and even after a fast and furious (not to mention lengthy) set with his band, the saxophonist was happy to wander endlessly up and down the edge of the stage, reaching out to the forest of hands waving to greet him as the audience pressed ecstatically to the front. It was a spontaneous show of gratitude not only for Coleman's still remarkably vivacious playing on the night, but for the previous half-century of unswervingly independent creativity he represented.
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So, what do we know about Chad Valley? Well, we know from his MySpace that he's from Oxford, that his – much more exotic – real name is Hugo Manuel and that he's one sixth of the band, Jonquil. Now, this is all very well in a This Is Your Life kind of way, but what's the music like? Up and Down is a slinky Hot Chip on downers, a disco-infused summer "joint" featuring some shimmering synths, padded drum beats and Manuel's impressive croon. You know when Big Brother contestants say, "it was like some mad rollercoaster ride in that house, Davina"? Well, this song sums that sentiment up perfectly.
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Pedal power ... a bicycle made for two. Photograph: Yadid Levy/Alamy
Tinkle Tinkle! Mind out, mate! What's that? A red light? Ha, means nothing to me. Check me out! SQUISH.
Yes, it's the mad, bad and dangerous world of bicycles up for nomination and donderisation in this week's readers recommend. You may want to ride your bicycle, you may want to ride it where you like, but first you must negotiate the Songs About Manual Labour A-list (and the column, with commentability etc): Hugh Masekela – Stimela; Loretta Lynn – Coalminer's Daughter; Van Morrison – Cleaning Windows; Jimmie Rodgers – Blue Yodel No 8; Junior Murvin – Working In the Cornfield; Bruce Springsteen – Working On the Highway; The Imagined Village – The Handweaver and the Factory Maid; The Decemberists – Eli, the Barrow Boy; Sir Vincent Lone – The Potato Pickers; Björk – Cvalda.
Here too, is your B-list. Continue reading...
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Thursday 22 July 2010
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Wiley … fans need a strategy to hear all of his output. Photograph: Atlantic Records
Modern music marketing is closer in spirit to the Native American practice of potlatch than you might think
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Up in flames ... Win Butler, left, and Richard Parry of Arcade Fire during a performance in London on 7 July. Photograph: Barney Britton/Redferns
Pop has always loved a visit to the suburbs, whether in the sleazy undertow of Suede's eponymous debut album or the high-street hellraisers of Pet Shops Boys' Suburbia.
It's fitting, then, that Arcade Fire should share this fascination so much as to name their third album The Suburbs. Listening to the jangly, back-room piano-bar intro of the title track, the need to escape is immediately evident: "I long to drive, you told me we'd never survive ... grab another's keys, we're leaving." As in Hanif Kureshi's novel, The Buddha of Suburbia, where Karim obsesses about the otherworldly David Bowie and leaving his south London borough for the glamour of the city, suburbia for Arcade Fire clearly represents a place of repressed emotions and stifled potential. Continue reading...
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Feargal Sharkey ... could be about to shake up the music debate in the Lords. Photograph: Brian Rasic / Rex Features
Last week I had tea with Lord Lucas in the House of Lords (I know – whodathought?). He wanted to have a chat about what the Lords could do to help artists and music creators. As soon as we sat down, he brought up the Digital Economy Act, a subject that had been discussed at length during the Westminster eForum, which he attended, a few days earlier. It was the part pertaining to the possible temporary disconnection of persistent illegal downloaders that had created heated discussions among indie labels and ISPs. "It's dead in the water," he proclaimed. "There's no way we will alienate our voters and punish individuals." Continue reading...
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Wednesday 21 July 2010
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Contenders for the Mercury prize … the xx at the Latitude festival. Photograph: Yui Mok/PA
After years in the shadow of Brooklyn bands, the British album is stronger than ever. Rosie Swash salutes a Mercury shortlist that reflects the boom in homegrown talent
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Tuesday 20 July 2010
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Dizzee Rascal is one of several 'safe' nominations on the Mercury Prize shortlist. Photograph: Andrew Milligan/PA
Towards the end of 2009, long-term Mercury-watchers breathed a sigh of relief. After a few drearily uneventful years in which the committee doled out the gong to artists the public had either already clasped to their hearts or would go on to clasp to their hearts – Franz Ferdinand, Dizzee Rascal, Arctic Monkeys, Elbow – last year saw the Mercury prize happily return to its traditional role as the music industry's equivalent of the black spot. Continue reading...
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Tom Jones dares you to listen to his new dubstep direction
It was the album that "horrified" the label releasing it, although let's face it, that was clearly a PR stunt. More significant are the murmurings that Praise and Blame may well be the Welsh crooner's "Johnny Cash moment". So what do you hear? The sound of a man stripping back his sound and baring his soul? The same old same old? Or a "sick joke" designed to infuriate the label? Have a listen on this widget brought to you by free music sharing service We7, and let us know your thoughts below. Continue reading... -
Monday 19 July 2010
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Manchester guardians ... Joy Division. Photograph: Rex Features
If your question wasn't answered this week (I was excited to see there were hundreds to go through) don't worry, I'm keeping them all in my old-fashioned spiral notebook. And if you've got a new question, please post below (or send to theindieprofessor@gmail.com). Continue reading...
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A largely female crowd watches Vampire Weekend at Latitude on Sunday. Photograph: Matt Crossick/Empics
No amount of Suffolk sunshine could prevent the long shadow being cast over Latitude festival this weekend: a reported gang rape on Thursday and another unrelated rape allegation on Friday meant that the five-year-old festival's carefully cultivated image as a family-friendly idyll has been seriously jeopardised.
The festival felt different to the one I went to in 2007. Atmosphere is, of course, a hard thing to quantify – or indeed regulate – but this year's proceedings seemed to have an unexpected stag-weekend vibe. The big groups of shirtless lads jostling past the babystrollers were a bit of a shock after the laid-back, genteel mood of three years ago. Continue reading...
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Friday 16 July 2010
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Taken from Kano's forthcoming album, Method to the Maadness, Upside sees the rapper teaming up with Why Why Peaches vocalist Michelle Breeze. "One of the key lyrics that inspired the video is: 'If I lose my head, I lose my focus, but I'll lose my dough before I lose my soul.'" explains Kano. The video, directed by Henry Schofield and shot in Canning Town, east London, sees the rapper playing a boxer cornered by two fixers who want him to throw a fight. Method to the Maadness is out on 30 August and features contributions from Boys Noize, Hot Chip, Diplo, and Damon Albarn.
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Forgotten folk siren? ... Laura Nyro in 1968. Photograph: Michael Ochs Archives/Getty
Pop music is full of secret histories. It's not just about the canon, the critically approved history that takes us from Elvis to the Beatles and the Stones, through the supposedly barren years of the early 70s, into punk and beyond, with diversions for soul and funk and hip-hop and house. Pop feeds off itself in strange and unexpected ways, and its story isn't as straightforward as the canonical telling suggests. Continue reading...
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Last week it was all about a coming together of hands. This week, it's hands again; but hands that are hard at work Continue reading...
Men at work ... send us your songs about manual labour. Photograph: Channel 4
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