Sunday 16 September 2012

London Music


I look through NME 2012 ( or Q also) and I am so bored of the music coming out from the London labels these days – the predictable rock bands, samey pop for the tweeny market, and the introspectiveness of the guitar singer songwriter. There is little original. it is all to a preset formula - like a recipe that worked before and saying ‘well let’s just stick with what we know will sell.’ It is boring and samey.

Any true creativity offering something new never happens in the mainstream but rather in the peripheral edges.
There are the performers - Let Me Entertain You Robbie - and then is there is the real side of art and music the writers and creatives and that interests me.
As Joni Mitchell said, you can’t start out wanting to be both.  Elton, Carly Simon, Dylan and Emeli Sande all started out as writers and later were performers also.

Wednesday 22 August 2012

Emeli Sande heads back up the UK Album Charts

Scottish singer songwriter, Emeli Sande heads back up the UK Album Charts - After performing at the Olympic closing ceremony Emeli Sande heads back up the UK album charts with her debut album Our Version of Events. I have followed Emeli’s (she was known as Adele oddly back in 2007) music career since she attended medical school here in Glasgow and I took photos of her ep launch gig Oran Mor in 2007.  She hails from Aberdeenshire. I have a selection of images from her gigs here in Glasgow at King Tuts, Oran Mor and Old Fruitmarket the past 5 years here -  http://www.musicfootnotes.com/2012/03/emeli-sande-photos-2006-to-2011.html
Emeli sang Lennon's Imagine at the Olympic Closing ceremony.

Tuesday 14 August 2012

Black and White Music Photography

The Head and Heart Oran Mor
Dick Gaughan Milngavie folk club

Broken Records Queens Hall
Emeli Sande Royal Albert Hall
Edinburgh Festival, Scottish Ballet, Celtic Connections, Manchester Jazz Festival (MJF) - many concerts including Elton John, Fleetwood Mac and Snow Patrol. I try to mix the old with the new and capture moods such as quiet moments of inner reflection. 
One of my interests is images of new artists and several of those I've photographed are now signed to major labels -  Emeli Sande, Hurts, Mumford, Metronomy, Broken Records, King Creoste...  My favourite photographers are Mario Testino, Eve Arnold, David Bailey.  http://pkimage.co.uk/ 

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Thursday 9 August 2012

Edinburgh International Book Festival