The Music Fix Blog October 2009
 | Britney's new video Posted by Colin Polonowski on 30-10-2009 14:51 | 0 comment(s) |
| Check out the video for Britney Spears' latest - 3.
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 | Soft Toy Emergency Live Posted by Colin Polonowski on 29-10-2009 11:23 | 0 comment(s) |
| Check out Soft Toy Emergency's live set for BBC Introducing at Maida Vale... It's a great performance.
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 | John Peel - 5 years on Posted by Adrian Mules on 25-10-2009 06:00 | 0 comment(s) |
| Maybe I’m a heartless bastard but I’ve never felt much sadness when a celebrity dies. I find the public outpouring of grief for someone they don’t know and whose personality and public persona is managed by armies of branding consultants a little hollow. But on the 25th October 2004 I read the news that John Peel had died; I felt the colour drain from my cheeks and tears well up in my eyes.
For those people who grew up with John he wasn’t just a DJ on the Radio, he was a member of your family and you were a member of his. The exploits of his wife and kids formed a part of his show and made his listeners feel they were sitting down for Sunday lunch at Peel Acres. Even his frequent inability to play the correct track at the correct speed just made him more human and loveable. Playing happy-hardcore flowing into death-metal - actions today would make Spotify servers blow a gasket! I can say without any shadow of a doubt that I wouldn’t be who I am or where I am today if it wasn’t for John. He opened my mind up to thousands of musicians who in turn introduced concepts, cultures, politics, authors and ideas that I consumed feverishly and allowed to enter my life. I still have pads of paper littered with lists of artists to check out. Over the years I’ve discovered hundred of albums from these biro scribblings. But there are those elusive singles that maybe I didn’t write down properly or only sold abut nine copies that I’ve never managed to track down. But I’m still looking, 'cos if Peely played them, they're almost certainly worth a re-spin. It’s also hard to think of current radio DJs being as influential to the music that is made. But with John his affect on the world of music was immeasurable. Not only did he play records you simply could not hear anywhere else, he also played records that inspired multiple generations to pick up instruments and make their own music - which he would then play in turn, often giving these bands the opportunity to record their material in his legendary Peel sessions. The cycle began again. He was a champion of great music and many bands owe their career to him. Incredibly, five years have passed since his untimely demise but he lives on through thousands of record collections - made infinitely richer for his influence. The world is undoubtedly a darker place without his dulcet tones and no-one else has been able to so actively champion genuinely alternative music. Make sure today you find some suitable disorientating racket to play and raise a toast to John. | |
 | The Golden Age of Video Posted by Douglas Baptie on 14-10-2009 11:35 | 0 comment(s) |
| "Bueller? Bueller?"
Of course, this will get old by, oh ... tomorrow, but it's fun today. | |
 | The Hickey Underworld Posted by Steven Burnett on 12-10-2009 19:06 | 0 comment(s) |
| The Hickey Underworld have made waves all over the globe with the intense video to their Blonde Fire track. Joe Vanhouttegem talks candidly about his vision and creation:
Here's what all the fuss is about: | |
 | This Is It Posted by Colin Polonowski on 12-10-2009 11:07 | 0 comment(s) |
| He may have passed away, but even death can't stop Michael Jackson from releasing a new track...
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 | Paper Planes - Doris Day Posted by Jon Kane on 06-10-2009 20:34 | 0 comment(s) |
| And so here's the latest from the Say Dirty Records stable, a one part American, three parts Scottish act named Paper Planes. Since Paper Planes started out in January 2009 they've been working away seeing what comes out their melting pot.
With a snap, crackle and pop, a debut single comes out fully formed. Titled 'Doris Day', it takes the essence of the late 70's New York Punk scene and distils it into a stomping track full of meaty bass runs and scuzzy riffs tailored to the New Jersey drawl and yelps of vocalist Jennifer Paley. The second track 'Restless', takes on Hole at their own game being a peppy rock affair with the "Same old, same old" Chrissie Hynde-like vocal refrain juxtaposed with lingering guitars recalling the heady heights of The Pixies at their finest. Paper Planes may yet grow arms and legs indeed. We'll see what comes to the boil for their next release. 'Doris Day' is a promising start for a band you don't often see emerging from Glasgow. | |
 | Sound of Guns: Elementary of Youth Posted by Steven Burnett on 05-10-2009 23:43 | 0 comment(s) |
Sound of Guns release an EP, entitled ‘Elementary of Youth’ on October 26th through Distiller Records. The EP will be available on a 7” gatefold single, which will include a CD and the band’s own fanzine ‘Retail Rodeo’ and digital download. Comprising of four tracks, ‘Elementary of Youth’, ‘Lightspeed’ (both mixed by Dave Eringa (Manic Street Preachers/Idlewild), ‘Dead Sea Scrolls’ and ‘Gallantry’. Wed 7th Southampton Joiners w/Little Comets Thur 8th Cardiff Barfly Fri 9th London Barfly w/ Doll & The Kicks Sat 10th Birmingham Flapper Sun 11th York Fibbers | |
 | Kylie's new song - sneak preview Posted by Colin Polonowski on 01-10-2009 13:54 | 0 comment(s) |
| This is an interesting one - at Kylie's San Francisco show she played a song from her upcoming album for the first time. The song was written by TMF favourite, Nerina Pallot and her husband Andy Chatterley. We're liking it a lot and it's a must for both fans of Kylie and Nerina, so enjoy...
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 | Left For Dead: even more broadsides from the seas of piracy Posted by Douglas Baptie on 01-10-2009 10:15 | 3 comment(s) |
| Only days after noting we didn't care much about the whole file-sharing fuss, comes the news that UK Music, the umbrella organisation supposedly representing labels, songwriters, musicians and producers have chosen this week to place an advert in The Guardian about the issue, almost a decade after Metallica went after Napster and with an end to the hand-wringing no nearer in sight.
With the Labour party conference in full swing, no doubt the advert has been designed to catch policy makers at their most enthused and, coming on the back of Lily Allen's much-publicised postings on the subject, may lead to pirate-bashing legislation being introduced sooner rather than later. The advert reprints a blog post from Future of the Left's Andrew Falkous, originally uploaded in April after the band's new album was leaked online more than two months before the planned street date. Most genuine music fans will sympathise with his frustration at a year's worth of creative work being distributed freely without financial reward to its authors, and despair at the sneering tone that many leakers trumpet, as if distro-ing any release - even minor ones like this - is some kind of two-fingers in the eyes of The Man. Falkous' post has been used to highlight that those most affected by piracy are the little guys, the bands just starting out - and not the Radioheads and AC/DCs of the world, which is essentially what Allen was trying to say too. But what's slightly disingenuous of UK Music in taking this tack is that it perpetuates the notion that acts like FotL can make a living through music. And that, for the most part, is a lie. In his posting, Falkous states "Some of us, in all honestly, just want to make the music we love and play it around the world without living in poverty," which, on the face of it, doesn't seem like an outrageous ambition. And yet, let's think about where they fit into the scheme of things historically. Who were 4AD's (FotL's label) hopes ten years ago, before filesharing became as much of an issue? Gus Gus, Lakuna, The Hope Blister. Who were the acts storming the stages at Reading Festival 1999? Symposium, Kent, Ultrasound. Artists just as ambitious as 4AD's current roster but almost certainly not making any money from their music either. Of the 33 bands listed as playing the Radio 1 tent that year, no more than six are still making music under their original moniker - and one was a bottom-of-the bill Coldplay. That's not due to piracy: that's the result of 'musical differences', boredom, the demands of family life, the creative well running dry ... and the endless grind of financial penury that comes with having 'musician' stamped on your passport. Only 4AD will know the sales forecasts and the reality, but what UK Music have done is peddle the lie that low and mid-grade indie musicians can spend the rest of their lives living the dream. For sure, CD sales are down and musicians are probably making less from their recordings than they used to, but 50% less of nothing is still nothing - the past 30 years of 'indie' music prove as much. For those of us of a certain age, we've spent years watching our favourite acts fall apart due to the merry-go-round of recording and touring and where still having enough of an audience to justify album number three was the exception rather than the rule. I know one musician who had deals in the UK, USA and Japan and probably sold four times as many records as today's moderately successful indie acts. Having been thoroughly stiffed by the managers and accountants, he was back on the dole within nine months of their debut album being released. Our schools, our colleges, our hospitals, our Social Work departments - all staffed by ex-musicians who maybe did a couple of Reading Festivals back in the 90s and got one cover of Melody Maker. If you want a house in London, a nice car and a holiday with the kids once a year, become a teacher. Don't flog yourself in an indie band - 'cos it'll never fucking happen. Bands with three, four, five members can't survive on the scraps from 79p i-Tunes downloads, just like they've never been able to live comfortably sharing out the spoils from the few pennies due to them from a £10 CD. So that's the reality of being a musician. A couple of years in the spotlight. A couple of albums. An audience ultimately so indifferent that you will find copies of your life's work at a car boot. Piracy? A short-term discomfort that will be dwarfed by the pain of realising that those who used to hang on your every word have left you behind for the real world of dirty nappies and MOTs. Please don't plan on making a career in music. It will almost certainly end in tears for you - and broken hearts for us. We've seen it before and we'll see it again. But please never stop making music. It makes the world a better place. | |
