Showing posts with label albums. Show all posts
Showing posts with label albums. Show all posts

Thursday 28 April 2016

Scottish Music 2016


 
Kathryn Joseph
Findlay Napier – Top reviews for this singer songwriter. On tour April/ May 2016.  http://www.findlaynapier.com
Kris Drever – Scottish folk guitarist and songwriter. New album 2016 - If Wishes Were Horses. http://krisdrever.com
Chvrches. - One of the most exciting new Scottish bands. New album 2016 - Every Open Eye.  http://www.chvrch.es

Kris Drever
Idlewild
Idlewild. -  Scottish indie folk-rock band, Great show live. Album, Everything Ever Written..

Kathryn Joseph – New album. bones you have thrown me and blood i've spilled. Winner of SAY award 2015.  http://www.kathrynjoseph.co.uk
I met her briefly going into play at the Edinburgh book festival where her vintage piano was carefully being lifted over the stone steps via the backstage entrance into the Charlotte square gardens.  
Rachel Sermanni –  Young singer songwriter, excellent subtle voice. Album Tied to the Moon - http://rachelsermanni.net

Rachel Sermanni
Karen Matheson
Julie Fowlis. - .Perfect Gaelic voice, excellent live.. Album Gach seugl – Every Story.
http://www.juliefowlis.com

Blue Rose Code - aka Ross Wilson from Edinburgh, reminds one of a young John Martyn, even toured with bassist Danny Thompson. New album The Bird is on the Wing - http://www.bluerosecode.com
Karen Matheson -  Beautiful Gaelic singer. New album 2016 –  Urram
Singer with the band Capercaillie.  - http://www.karenmatheson.com

Julie Fowlis
Rob Noakes
Rab Noakes - Some of Noakes best work. He played with Gerry Rafferty.  New Album - I'm Walkin Here -  http://rabnoakes.com
C Duncan - Short listed for Mercury prize 2015.  Album, Architect -  http://c-duncan.co.uk


Sunday 10 November 2013

Music Today 2013


The biggest issue we have today in music is to be able to keep pace with change, as the formats by which music is delivered keeps changing at a rapid pace. Along with this is the hankering for the past with the re-emergence of aisles of vinyls. 
The Album Rebirth. Artists today feel that 'music streaming' (such as on Spotify) is limiting for them artistically - while the album format offers them the more classic format to display their craft and the sales of vinyl have surged in recent years.
                                      
Live Music. People today are also listening to more music than ever and the live gig scene is meeting a growing demand, maybe in part because at a live performance we are able to hear the full rich dynamic range of sound - from the deepest bass to the highest vocal detail.

By comparison the drawback with the compressed MP3 sound that most of us travel with, is that we only get to hear about 5% of the sound. The problem is that producers yank up the sound to full blast, so that when we listen to recorded music on the MP3 format it becomes distorted to our ears.

Often it makes me long for the quality richness and depth of a full orchestra - with the violins at the front and the brass and percussion behind. I had the wonderful pleasure of this in January at the City halls when the Scottish Chamber Orchestra played with Cara Dillon’s beautiful voice. The sound was cinematic and blew your senses away.    

The Big Question. Is the music industry shrinking as a whole while the demand for live gigs are flourishing - and as the demand for music for games, apps, movies and tv productions continues to grow too.

New artists these days have to build a base online – and then decide do they take that on to a label or stay independent?  Good management is essential. When is an artist ready and are they good enough? I have seen several young talent in recent years get picked up and signed by the industry and then sidelined and no one can afford to take chances these days. The BBC Sound of the year makes its predictions.  

My son, who is a musician, remarked at a large stadium gig for one of the old-time rockers holding thousands, how hard it was for young musicians these days to fill those large stadiums with the older demographic top heavy audiences.  
 For the future we need the new life blood of the younger generation. Our older heads offer experience but the young bring their fresh outlook and energy and enthusiasms. I'd like to see more older artists work with and encourage new talents.   
                                                                                                     
 As song copyright gets extended to 75 years, we have to wonder why and no other art form has such an extended copyright. A songwriter and his children can now live for decades off a successful composers work (example Schumann). It means the Labels can live off their Song Back Catalogues - which means they don't need new artists. And while outfits like iTunes gives nothing back to the artists or to music..  

Saturday 11 June 2011

*The Beatles

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My best friends brother had all the Beatles vinyl albums and they used to come in those lovely sleeves when we could enjoy the art work as we listened to the latest one.  I also remember those times singing intimate harmonies to their songs back in my twenties..... it always worked perfectly. 

There was some magic thing going on there between them all. Some special 'synergy.' 

McCartney's 'Let It Be' is a totally life-affirming love song. Paul's piano melodies are the heart of his work, even without the words - but then the words sit on top as if they arrived at the same time. He clearly 'feels' in music. My piano lifts us up..

Lennon on the other hand had more energy and thought outward. 'Imagine' about our shared humanity is perhaps the best song ever written about love. Lennon's words ring very true.  
My words might heal...

Harrison, the often overlooked Beatle, wrote some of the most loved Beatles songs - 'Something' and 'Here Comes the Sun'. His guitar playing was highly expressive and admired by other guitarists. He added more to the Beatles sound than many realized.
And my guitar gently weeps.....

My Favourite Beatles songs in no particular order -  Let It Be, Strawberry Fields, Another Day, A Day in the Life, If I Fell, The long and Winding Road, If I Needed Someone, Things We Said,  You Wont' See Me, Because, Two of Us, Carry That Weight, Penny Lane, Eleanor Rigby, News Today, Day Tripper, Lucy in the Sky, Here Comes The Sun, Something,
... The Beatles prove that genius can come from anywhere, perhaps that is the key thing. And it doesn't have to be complicated.     

Ok have to admit to loving McCartney's' songs -  The Long and Winding Road (except for Phil Spector's dreadful plonking OTT production) and Let It Be. Here's the real natural version of The Long and Winding Road. 

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Tuesday 4 January 2011

MUSIC 2010


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Music 2010 has taken some exciting new turns - subtle electronic to retro yet contemporary folk. The genres are blurring more and more and I see this as a positive.

The biggest band of 2010 was Arcade Fire who earned their place at the top end of stadium rock, and their sound reminds me of 70s rock tunes. Their gig Glasgow Barrowlands was one of the top live gigs of all time. 2010 was a year of many great gigs and albums - both large and small scale. Here are some of my thoughts on my own personal views on the biggest sounds of 2010. It is all hard to define now with the complexity of the media - is it about the ticket sales, the album sales, the downloads or the youtube hits...

My favourite new albums anyway, which I hope also represents a slice of the variety of sounds out there. *The biggest Albums - 'Suburbia' by Arcade Fire (indie rock); 'High Violet' The National (indie rock); 'Total Life Forever' the Foals ; ' The XX' won the Mercury with their album 'Crystallized' (Romy has an unforgettable vocal and look - new wave rock); 'I Speak Because I Can' Laura Marling (folk alternative); 'Hill of Thieves' Cara Dillon (folk, released 2009).