*My Favourite Album Covers

DYLAN Freewheelin

Beatles Revolver

U2 Joshua Tree

*The Early Beatles

There’s a fascination about the early Beatles Photos and Music. What gave them that ‘magic’ – was it how they bounced off each other – how much did George Harrison (the quiet one) add. In the early days all three were front men and Lennon wanted the best in the band. 

At sixteen Lennon started his skiffle band The Quarrymen in 1957. They changed their name to The Beatles and played over in Hamburg Germany in 1960. It wasn't until 1962 that the band picked up attention for their gigs at the Cavern Club in Liverpool. After Decca Records rejected the band in early February 1962 with the comment "Guitar groups are on the way out, Mr. Epstein", George Martin signed the group to EMI's Parlophone label in May.  

I’ve been having fun looking through early Beatles images.

At a time when mods and rockers walked the streets of London, and when British youth was fascinated by the American blues records sold in back street shops and when pop music really took off here. It was fresh and exciting times for pop art culture, Mary Quant fashion, Twiggy, mini skirts and young music. 

Then it was all about the song and the instruments before the advent of the music video. (and oddly the Beatles were the first ones to make music videos, as they were so long at the number one spot they simply couldn't be on Top of the Pops every week!) 

Recommmend Life Magazine 'George Harrison Remembered'. Here's a link you might enjoy.  http://thehamburgbeatles.blogspot.com/

Todays generation is the 'fast' generation they want everything yesterday. They want to be The Beatles 1966 right away... rather than the Beatles 1957.  It took the Beatles 5 years of graft to get anywhere....

252 views 

'enLIGHTen' Edinburgh City of Literature

enLIGHTen is an exciting new project by Edinburgh City of Literature –  that will fuse words and cutting edge technology to light up the night sky during March. 

Projections of famous quotes from the Scottish Enlightenment period will illuminate buildings along George Street and Rose Street in March. The event celebrates the literary and built heritage of locations including Charlotte Square and the Melville Monument in the city’s Poetry Garden, enLIGHTen will respond to the wisdom of great Enlightenment thinkers through new fiction and poetry by Gavin Inglis, William Letford, Kirsty Logan, Ken MacLeod, James Robertson and JL Williams, specially commissioned by Edinburgh UNESCO City of Literature Trust. enLIGHTen will be the first time dynamic projection mapping has been used for cultural purposes in Scotland. 

http://www.cityofliterature.com/

Emeli Sande - My Kind Of Love - KOKO London - 25.01.12

*Music Sites Today

NEW Music Sites (digital music services) 

Hype Machine – 1m Users.  Plays on iPhone. Andorid, Windows.  

Soundcloud – 8m Users. The Flickr of Audio. Sound design.

Soundhound -  Mobile phone platform plus share features.

Mobile Roadie - Apps for Artists

Mixcloud - Radio

.MXP4 - linked to Facebook. FB has 800 Users

Spotify (2m Users) and Pandora (60m Users) - Music streaming sites. Many of the new music sites work on a sharing basis.  

The Ease of Free Access

Authors are worried where the future of book sales is heading in this age of free access. I heard an author on the radio the other day saying back in the past writers (and artists and musicians also) were given time and allowed to fail in Public but this is not the case now.  Being able to sustain popularity after a breakthrough isn’t so easy. 

In the Book World festivals matter as book experts study the world book market and carefully evaluate the best writers out there. The music business by comparison with the book world is  'over-diversified' with the ease of access and time… it takes much longer to read a book after all! 

What does a new band need to do?  Oddly with all this internet activity and more music available than ever before, it is harder than ever to get heard!  When MTV started we had ONE excellent music channel, now we have many channels that are diluted. The hard part today is finding the ‘quality’ amongst it all. That is why independent Radio, Websites, DJs, Podcasts, Blogs etc. matter a great deal.

The ‘market-driven’ approach of today's music business takes a broad ‘democratic’ look at ‘polls’ which asks the media which artists they are already supporting and inevitably some of the more innovative music gets sidelined. Marketing polls matter for the likes of Live Nation, labels and the main music festivals.

However to quote Tony Wadsworth former head of EMI Records UK.

‘I’d prefer to listen to the opinion of one trusted blog, magazine or DJ that I’m confident has a history of turning me on to good new artists, rather than the democratic view of the entire business.’ . In music some festivals matter – while some music festivals are mostly Label controlled.

Where Are Machines Taking Us - Does Being Online Control You?

‘Using’ the Internet can be a powerful tool for access and information and communication. I try to avoid getting ‘sucked’ into various online ‘tunnels’ – so I can stay in ‘control’. Once the powers that be controlled the Proletariat through wars and alcohol – today the Big Media Conglomerates control or ‘attempt to control’, through ‘Online Gaming’ and other Media.

These games are addictive just like other drugs, through the clever use of offering small rewards.

And Kindles? Well my son has a Kindle with a retro dark brown cloth cover and it actually looks rather cool. I also like the Kindle apps that offer access to libraries connected to our favourite topics. Yet my daughter prefers the feel of a hardback book under her hands. We are all different! 

We may ask ourselves where are machines taking us? Can a machine, no matter how sophisticated truly replicate the intricacies, interconnections and beauty of the Human Mind and mostly the emotions of the Human Heart. Can electronic sounds ever truly match the earthy realness of a beautifully crafted violin or flute, an Italian piano, a Gibson guitar, the scale of the clarinet or the ethereal beauty of the human voice…………?

After the World War a generation of young men was lost – today a generation is lost to Online Games. Who are the Winners?

I accidentally thought of this new verb for all this! – meaning we are numbed into this passive thinking… condoled. Stay in control!

 "Success is waking up in the morning and bounding out of bed because there's something out there that you love to do, that you believe in, that you're good at - something that's bigger than you are, and you can hardly wait to get at it again."-- Whit Hobbs

The BRITS 2012 – Some great British music while mostly mainstream and not for everyone

Coldplay, the biggest band worldwide, opened the BRITS show with their brand of colourful fun ‘Paradise’ rhythms. I am proud of British music with artists who sell well worldwide – Coldplay, Adele, Florence and the Machine, Jessie J, Laura Marling, Plan B, more.

Adele, the biggest selling British artist of the 21^st century with 17m sales, just swept the American Grammies last week with her ‘coming of age’ album 21. Back home in London Adele again won the categories Best Album and Best Female. Newcomer singer songwriter Ed Sheeran won Best Male and Best Breakthrough act. Best Band; Coldplay (50m sales worldwide); Emeli Sande won Critics Choice award.

International Female; Rhianna (20m albums), International Male; Bruno Mars (500m hits youTube), International Groupl Foo Fighters; International Breakthrough; Lana Del Rey. 

The show closed with 90s band Blur. While performers Olly Murs, Bruno Mars and Rhianna, prove this show is mostly about the mainstream.

It is not all about good vibes on the ground these days, but more importantly attention in the online stratospheres – and all about that Online Buzz now via YouTube hits, Facebook friends and Twitter friends,

The Brits may not have the extravagance and glitz of the Grammies but thank goodness, music should not be all about theatricals! Florence and the Machine put on a beautifully artistic choreographed performance. The presenter James Corden, took to the floor where some audience members walked in front of him… 
Plus quite oddly he felt it was more important the show kept to its allotted time than that Adele was given time for her acceptance speech after winning best album!  I’m all for professionalism but this seemed to be carrying things a bit too far!   

PS As respected songwriter Richard Thompson puts it, 'People in large numbers don't always have the best taste!'  Also I was reading that when Adele recorded Someone Like You simply backed with piano her label wanted the song re-recorded with a full band backing, but Adele stuck to her guns and said no! mmmm It never fails to amaze me the over-production that goes on. Surely it’s about the song and voice in the end? 

Dick Gaughan - Now Westlin Winds

*Emeil Sande 'Our Version of Events' Review

 Sande has a gripping voice that engages emotionally on many levels. Her songs have powerful timeless melodies with both classical and soul influences and her album sits astride mainstream pop and something more interesting and individual. 

I've followed Emeli Sande since 2006 when I first heard her sing at her ep launch Oran Mor Glasgow and it is  very exciting to see her reap the rewards from all her songwriting work with the successes of her recent debut album which is due to be release in America in June. I met Emeli at her King Tuts gig in 2011 and she has a natural warm smile and was very earnest about her music there.    

Our Version of Events is about her powerhouse soul voice and her distinctive song writing and we hear clearly Sande’s heart on her stronger songs -  the lyrical Daddy, Next To Me, My Kind Of Love, Clown, Maybe, Breaking the Law (which changes the albums feel and has simply guitar and her voice) and on her first single release Heaven which uses the popular energy of the Amen dance drumbeat. Her album sits astride mainstream pop and something more interesting and individual. 

Refreshingly with Emeli here is someone who has made it through hard graft and not through the Guildford School of Music or by being wealthy and privately educated. My hope is that artists are given time to develop in music. We might also wonder why would Sande, a cool, musical and clearly bright singer, wish to be aligned to Simon Cowell?  While I hope the music world is about creativity, it is also about a business. She may have written for Cowell’s X Factor winners but Sande’s music has true grit and heart to it.  

Emeli Sandé is a Scottish R & B and soul artist and songwriter. Before pursuing her musical career, Sandé studied medicine at Glasgow University. Her influences are a cross between the piano songs of Nina Simone's and rock music, and she describes her sound as ‘soul with a rockier edge.’  

I prefer not to 'over analyse' music - I prefer to follow my instinct. I ask myself would I listen to this album, would I travel to hear this artist perform? The answer with Sande’s music is a very firm yes. 

This is a strong debut album mostly receiving good reviews. How many albums are perfect without a few weaker songs, not many that I can name. Emeli has a gripping voice that is both soothing and edgy and engages emotionally on many levels. She plays piano well and breaks her set with several piano slower tempo songs. It seems to me she has paid her dues and delivered a fine album.

Sande at her Old Fruitmarket Glasgow April 2012

 

Emeli had to change her name as in 2007 as she was known as 'Adele' her first name! There are comparisons here as both have powerful voices. Adele just swept the Grammies 2012 -  then again 21 is Adele's third album.

I first heard Sande at her CD launch gig Oran Mor Glasgow December 2006 when she had picked up attention for her strong distinctive voice at university. She has changed her hair since then also from big and brown to a peroxide quiff, which certainly makes her stand out!  I met her also at her King Tuts gigs in 2010 where she kindly signed Prints. Sande has had hit songs since then with -  Professor Green’s on "Read All About It” (number one UK singles chart), rapper Chipmunk’s, “Diamond Rings” and Wiley’s “Never Be Your Woman”. 
I first heard Sande's album songs at her Oran Mor 2011 and I was impressed with how her songwriting had developed with many catchy hooks and good variety of rhythms. 

259 views