Monthly Archives: January 2010

Paul Weller: The Unauthorised Biography (Steve Malins) – Book Review

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This Unofficial Biography Of Paul Weller Was Published In 1996 By Virgin Books. The Biographer Is Steve Malins.

This Unofficial Biography Of Paul Weller Was Published In 1996 By Virgin Books. The Biographer Is Steve Malins.

Written by Steve Malins (best known for being the biographer of Depeche Mode) and published by Virgin Books in 1996, this book chronicles Paul’s entire career until the release of the “Stanley Road” album in 1995. You also have a good overview of his early years, and the ever-present figure of his father (who was to remain Paul’s manager right until he passed away in April, 2009). That was something I really liked about the book – the way the (quite unique) partnerships in music of a father and a son that lasted for more than 30 years can be seen as it was forming, consolidating itself and then when it was tested by commercial apathy only to stand stronger than ever.

The book has 9 chapters which map out Paul’s life and career clearly enough, with the Jam having the most extensive ones as it is only suitable (pardon the pun). The Style Council’s years receive the right amount of pages, too, and the flow is very convincing – how the band lost its edge gradually, and how Paul became isolated in his own (and misguided) artistic sense. The final segment touches upon his tentative steps as a solo artist (“The Paul Weller Movement”) and the subsequent successes of “Wild Wood” and “Stanley Road”. Continue reading →

Jamendo – Where Music Is Shared For Free

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Jamendo

Name: Jamendo
URL: http://www.jamendo.com

As a musician, you have the right to decide how people will experience your work. You might feel like charging for it, and you might feel like uploading it at no cost. Both options are equally valid to me. Just because you are asking a price it does not mean that you are a despot with dollar signs rolling in your eyes. And just because you are giving it away without charging anything it does not mean that you are giving it away for nothing. The exposure is worth more than anything in the long run. And if you agree with that, I think this site will appeal to you. Continue reading →

Twt.fm – Sharing Music With Everybody On Twitter

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Twtfm

Name: Twt.fm
URL: http://www.twt.fm

Services for posting your music to Twitter are proliferating, and I think that is something that was to be expected. It has recently been reported by sites like Mashable and TechCrunch that Twitter’s stateside growth has somehow stopped, yet its numbers for international growth have begun showing some interesting patterns. I have already covered a service for tweeting out music, and another one won’t hurt given that this might as well be the year when Twitter will make headlines in every country in the world.

Twt.fm is a characteristic Twitter site even its name, which is short and abbreviated keeping in with the “micro” concept that defines the social sharing platform. The way you use it is easy enough, as all you have to do is login using both your Twitter username and your pass. Once you are in, you have to carry a search based on an artist’s name and the song you want to listen. A preview will be generated, and after listening to it you can generate a track page. This is what you will tweet to all your friends. Continue reading →

The Kids Are Alright – Biopic Review

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"The Kids Are Alright" Was Directed By Super-fan Jeff Stein. Its Theatrical Release Was In 1979.

"The Kids Are Alright" Was Directed By Super-fan Jeff Stein. Its Theatrical Release Was In 1979.

The music of The Who came from them being one of the truly unique ensembles in the history of music. If there was ever a band with a million tales to tell, it was them. The way those guys were together and constantly at odds was something that their music did not necessarily convey, until one (correctly) interpreted the outrageous volume as a telltale of bottled emotions and anger. But there was also enormous love and belief lying at the heart of it all. And that was something which just had to be told.

“The Kids Are Alright” (1979) was assembled with that objective in mind. The idea was to show what made the band so distinctive, and why it was that their fans were so loyal. The movie itself (directed by a then-young Jeff Stein, and released shortly after Keith Moon died) achieved that aim, but only in a certain sense: it captured their offstage irreverence in full flight by the inclusion of interviews and specials that were shot through the years. Continue reading →

Automatic For The People (REM) – Album Review

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"Automatic For The People" By R.E.M. Year Of Release: 1992.

"Automatic For The People" By R.E.M. Year Of Release: 1992.

The follow-up to the critically-acclaimed “Out Of Time” (1991), “Automatic For The People” (1992) feels like the perfect successor to the previous offering to me. Now a broader scope of themes is broached, and personal compositions such as “Nightswimming” are turned into wider statements about youth and the passing of time. Mortality is also another recurrent topic, with the songs “Try Not To Breathe” and “Sweetness Follows” treading heavy territory. “Try Not To Breathe” deals with an old man’s resolution to die, based on his will not to be a burden to his family any longer. And “Sweetness Follows” is a song that makes you realize that you don’t have to wait for the end to come in order to bury the hatchet and make peace with any member of your family.

The album also has the highly successful “Everybody Hurts”, with one of the best orchestrated fades of the record. The title is explicit enough, and the song on the whole is just that bit too slow for my liking. But it has “hit” written all over it. The accompanying video was also a clever one, using subtitles that matched and then moved away from the actual lyrics to drive the point home: harming others is human nature in itself. It is not a matter of superiority. Nietzsche used to say that only he who does wrong can do right. I guess he had a point. And so does R.E.M. here. Continue reading →

She Ain’t No Human Being (The Sex Pistols) – Bootleg

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Don't Ever Get Near This Line Of Bootlegs

Don't Ever Get Near This Line Of Bootlegs

I am only reviewing this bootleg in order to warn you: don’t ever, never buy a Sex Pistol bootleg. Don’t even ask to listen to it beforehand. Keep your distance. That is all I can tell you. The guys were famous for sounding bad live, and their performances were unofficially captured in the shoddiest of ways.

This particular line of bootlegs has at least three titles and I have listened both to this one (named “She Ain’t No Human Being”) and to one named “We Have Cum For Your Children” (not to be mistaken with an “official” release of the same name, put together by sound man Dave Goodman). Not only is there a huge fidelity problem, but the track listing is wrong. That is, they got the pressings all mixed up. If this album had had what it was supposed to have, it wouldn’t have made it listenable but at least it would have given it a certain retrospective value. According to the sleeve, it was to include “Watcha Gonna Do About It”, “Did You No Wrong”, “Understanding”… Instead, I have two discs that are like replica sets of “Bollocks” songs, with minor differences here and there (disc 2 has “Good Save The Queen” and a demo of “Liar”, and even the demo sounds appalling. That very same demo is available on the Spunk/Spedding discs and it sounds way better). Continue reading →

Ian Cox (DigiClef) – Interview (Part 2)

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This is the second part of my interview with Ian Cox from DigiClef. Remember to check part 1, as he introduced the company and its products there.

PART II

MUSIC & YOU


When did you become interested in music? What was the first album or single you ever purchased?

I have been interested in music since I started learning the classical guitar at the age of 10. I think my first popular music purchase was Kings of the Wild Frontier when I was 12 (the album had been out for a few years, but I liked it).
I mainly borrowed my brother’s music during my early teens which lead to an interest in goth and punk music. I think my first purchases of that genre were The Mission and The Cult.

Are you in a band yourself, or have you been in a band in the past? Is there a file on YouTube or elsewhere we could watch?

I am not currently in a band. I have been in a few bands but nothing more than just having fun with mates.
I did run an acid trance and techno night in Bristol called Lunacy in the early noughties for a while with some friends. The website for that is not available any more but you can find it on the internet archive. Continue reading →

Ian Cox (DigiClef) – Interview (Part 1)

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I have the immense pleasure to share with you the interview I conducted wth Ian Cox from DigiClef, one of the companies that were chosen for this year’s’ MidemNet Lab event. Part 1 is found below, and this is part 2.

Digiclef

Full Name: Ian Cox
Age: 38
Startup: DigiClef
Position: Technical Director

PART I

THE STARTUP

Tell us a little about your startup. How was it conceived? What are its most distinctive features in your opinion?

DigiClef was conceived by Will Lovegrove and I, founder members of Release Consulting Ltd. Release Consulting was formed at the beginning of 2008 by members of Universal Music’s Digital Initiatives team. We provide IT services and consultancy to the music industry. Later that year we started a new initiative called Release Mobile that provides bespoke mobile application development. Will had the idea one day to provide guitar music on iPhones. As a guitarist myself, I instantly realised the potential of this idea and so embarked upon a proof of concept that eventually became the early version of DigiClef.

As well as the technological challenge there has been a business challenge in getting hold of content from copyright owners. We have partnered with Faber Music using their ePartners programme to get European rights for major publishers. This catalogue has formed the basis of our initial releases. We hope to extend this to worldwide rights in the near future.

In the guitar tab on mobile devices space there aren’t many serious competitors. Where DigiClef differs from is that we are selling legal content and giving away the technology for free where as competitors are selling the application but you have to hunt for your own content on the internet. By keeping the price of the content low and guaranteeing quality (as these are official tabs) we hope to provide a compelling offering for the guitarist.

What was the original launch date?

Our first songbook (The Magic Numbers eponymous album) was published on iTunes on 1st September 2009. We have since launched about 20 songbooks for major bands. We have also launched a free app worldwide called Easy Guitar Buddy that is going to provide educational material to guitarists.

What has been the response so far? In which countries has it been more successful?

There has been a slow but steady flow of sales of the paid for apps. But bearing in mind that so far we have a very small catalogue and have not actively marketed the applications we are encouraged. We believe that once we reach a critical mass of catalogue and have completed all our planned updates that we will have a valuable offering. Continue reading →

Empty Glass (Pete Townshend) – Album Review

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The Album That Proved Pete Townshend Could Do It His Own Way And Succeed- It Was Named "Empty Glass" And It Came Out In 1980.

The Album That Proved Pete Townshend Could Do It His Own Way And Succeed - It Was Named "Empty Glass" And It Came Out In 1980.

After the critical acclaim of the discs “Who Came First” and “Rough Mix” and the state The Who was in following the death of Keith Moon, the way was paved for Pete to launch his solo career in earnest. He was to finally do so in 1980, with an album for which he saved the first ten good songs he had written (instead of keeping them for The Who as he would have done before). The record was to receive excellent reviews and sell in good enough numbers as to prove that the brain of The Who also had a lot of muscle.

The one hit of the record was “Let My Love Open The Door”, yet another “love” song that was actually inspired by Meher Baba and his teachings. There were many musicians throughout history renowned for being Baba lovers, but Pete might as well be the most popular to the public at large. It was the same love that inspired the whole “Tommy” album, and on “Empty Glass” it also resulted in the sardonic “Keep On Working”. Pete has always had an eye for touching what he loves from another angle without actually tarnishing it. He knows how to throw shadows at something without hiding it all from sight, but rather emphasizing the bits that remain uncovered until they also tell you about what was darkened. In other words: Pete knows how to suggest and insinuate a lot. Continue reading →

Tommy (Movie Review)

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The Tommy Movie Was Issued In 1975. Ken Russell Directed It And Modified Several Key Plot Aspects.

The "Tommy" Movie Saw Release In 1975. Ken Russell Directed It, And He Modified Several Key Aspects Of The Plot.

An absolute abomination of a movie, “Tommy” (1975) was directed by the ever-controversial Ken Russell. That was the director Pete Townshend actually wanted owing to his artistic background. Pete also thought having Ken along for the ride would free him for having to explain the story ever and ever again, but he was wrong – Russell needed him no less than any other director that the band and (specially) their managers had approached for years on end to get this thing together.

In any case, Ken was to rewrite the whole story, and a major shift took place, as Tommy’s drama was situated outside his family (the lover kills the father here, rather than the other way around) and the film mainly revolves around the attempt to market and sell the deaf, dumb and blind boy’s vision to the world. In other words: Ken Russell’s Tommy is the original work without any innocence or magic. I could barely enjoy the original album, and the little appreciation I had for it stemmed from those two attributes. I don’t need to tell you how much I suffered through the entire running time of this travesty of a movie. Continue reading →