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Ironic Host Peter Kaye
Watching the annual BRIT awards last week, a few thoughts struck me which I thought I would share with you.
Firstly, in the current economic climate, is it really a good idea to have the event sponsored by Mastercard? The majority of the audience demographic for the Brits is surely young people and students, who are already likely to be swamped with debts like student loans. If we are meant to be tightening our belts and addressing the issue of irresponsible borrowing, this is not an appropriate message.
The recipients of the awards this year came as no great surprise; I have no complaints about Kasabian receiving their just desserts as best British Group.. its been a long time since a band of this quality came to prominence. Dizzee Rascal, Florence and the Machine, Lily Allen, JLS and Lady Gaga have also all proved themselves over the past year and display a good variety of talent. However, there did seem to be a disproportionate number of female victors and nominees this year which prompted me to wonder why?
Could the increase of female artists in recent times also be related to the economic climate? Personally, I believe this to be the case. Due to the changes in the music industry over the last few years, there is now much less money to be made by the artists. Being a rock and roll star or a pop star is no longer a guarantee of millions in the bank, with sales being a tiny fraction of what they were 20 years ago. A number one single will no longer make you rich overnight. So is the preponderance of females to do with the fact that music is now seen as a more suitable career for girls? The issues that make women lower paid in the workplace compared to males, like the risk they will leave to have babies, or be less reliable due to childcare issues mean that women in the music industry are less likely to complain about the lower rewards. Also the majority of female pop acts keep a whole host of other people in work, from songwriters and producers to stylists and hairdressers. The traditional male band is likely to do much more of the writing and producing themselves, and have less need or desire for hair and make-up!
I could be way off the mark here; the other possibilty is that the large amount of women is merely a reflection of the band-waggon jumping done by A&R men following the success of Lily Allen and other female artists like Little Boots. If that is the case, I can reliably inform you that A&R departments everywhere have currently been briefed to seek out ‘proper bands’ rather than solo artists, so in the next couple of years the Brits should be full of young mixed sex bands.
Finally, a word about poor old Robbie Williams (as he shall be known in future!). Is it just me, or has he completely lost it? In the past I would be the first to defend Robbie against his critics, on the grounds that he had charisma and showmanship if nothing else, but now he seems to have lost these qualities and has been reduced to providing a Karaoke backing track for the audience to sing along to. The look in his eyes is a bit desperate; he acts like a parody of himself and the conviction he used to have seems to have evapourated, as though he knows he’s selling us a crock of s**t. Poor old Robbie!
This year’s Celebrity Big Brother is allegedly the last so I’ve been watching it despite my best intentions. For once, it’s quite an interesting group of people; some of them actually have brains, and are quite famous! Interestingly enough this particular group seem to be responding to the format in a similar way to the first ever Big Brother contestants in that they seem aware that the objective is to conduct a social experiment, based on the concept in George Orwell’s book 1984.
The group very quickly started behaving like a group of apes; Vinnie Jones is the undisputed alpha male and his directives are usually obeyed unquestioningly, with the exception of the now evicted Lady Sovereign. ‘Sov’ was a bit of a rogue element, and a not particularly good advert for her generation, which is a shame as she initially had a lot of support outside the house. Stephanie and Ivana are both contenders for the position of matriarch, with Ivana playing the ‘trump’ card of greater wealth and notoriety to consolidate her status.
Poor old Alex looks set to become this year’s casualty; I will be very surprised if he escapes with his sanity intact as Stephen Baldwin seems determined to f**k with his head at every available opportunity.
On the subject or Mr Baldwin, I find it interesting that the former addict, like many others, only managed to clean up his act by replacing his addiction to drugs and alcohol with an addiction to religion. This seems to be a common phenomenon; the addictive personality cannot be easily cured, it merely transfers the addiction to something ‘safer’. It is truly cringeworthy watching him justify his petty gripes and surpressed anger by finding validation in passages of bible scripture. Hopefully he’ll be the next to go and Alex will escape a prime-time tv conversion… not sure what Jordan would think of that!
The other contestants are an amiable enough bunch, though their celebrity status is considerably less. It will be interesting to see their reactions when they leave the house on finding that their fees for the programme are about 10% of what Vinnie Jones is allegedly getting. So far it looks like a forgone conclusion that Vinnie will win, but he seems increasingly irritable and nit-picking, so maybe one of the more happy-go-lucky contestants will pip him at the post.
It is interesting how the eviction process works; it doesn’t seem to be based on keeping in the most fascinating characters. If that was the case, Heidi would still be there. I think the public vote ends up being a mixture of factors ranging from pure popularity to a kind of surge in irrational emotion that gains momentum through the media.
Finally, let’s hope that the non-celebrity Big Brother comes to an end in the near future as the original concept does not factor in it any more; its just a showcase for sad, attention seeking losers who will do anything to get on TV!
I’ve been wondering something lately; as computer technology and the internet develop, are they impacting on our mentality and physiology in ways we didn’t envisage? Humans originally developed as a pack animal, designed to give their optimum performance in extended family groups of around 20, where each individual would have designated tasks, which were to some extent interchangeable because the group was small enough for everyone to know everything.
In today’s society, knowledge and information have become increasingly specialised in every field; there will never be another renaissance man like Leonardo Da Vinci who knows all the latest science, mathematics and art simultaneously… now we are more like the blind men who each know a different part of the elephant but none can describe the whole.
Perhaps as societies increase in size we are starting to resemble insect colonies where individuals have specialised tasks, eg. workers, nurses and soldiers as in an ant colony. This leads me on to the question of who or what takes the role of the ‘hive mind’, directing, linking and co-ordinating the drones? The only contender I can see is the internet, the web which links us all together in a global community.
The development of technology can be seen as the next stage of human evolution, so how long before this provokes physical and psychological changes in us as people. Just as the need to gather food and survive harsh conditions caused us to evolve to our present state, will we mutate further and develop a shared consciousness now that we all spend so much time logged on to a global network?
Power To The People!
A big thank you and congratulations to everyone who bought the Rage Against The Machine single ‘Killing In The Name’ thus ensuring it reached number one in time for Christmas 2009. This unprecedented event seemed to have everyone involved; even radio dj’s seemed to have the tone of naughty schoolboys and girls as they announced the winner. Sales far exceeded the amount necessary to hit the number one spot, outselling the X Factor single by about 50,000 copies. This is the first download only number one in the UK charts, and the first that has been a record not recently released (the Rage track is 17 years old).
So what is the lesson or the victory here? A good summary of the intention behind the campaign can be seen at http://saveourmusicindustry.com/ stressing that this was not a campaign directed at Simon Cowell personally, or little Joe and his distinctly average single. The whole point was to break the monopoly the X Factor has had in recent years when it comes to the Xmas number one single, and to re-introduce the fun we traditionally had, waiting to see who the winner would be.
Simon Cowell appeared on Newsnight last week, doing his best ‘I’m a nice person really’ impression, which he then completely spoiled by showing his total ignorance. To my horror (and the horror of the presenter) he suggested that a future project could well be a political show where issues are debated then voted for by the public. We all know already that ‘lowest common denominator’ politics would be a disaster; sometimes the correct political decisions are not necessarily the popular ones. Surely we pay our politicians to be experts in matters we don’t fully understand, and vote them in to make difficult decisions that they are more qualified than us to make. Cowell’s proposed format could result in scary scenarios such as a campaign to bring back capital punishment, or deport recent emigrees. We all know that ‘public opinion’ can be fickle and easily swayed or brought to hysteria by recent news stories or media over-sensationalist tactics, so anyone who thinks this is a good idea is frankly stupid!
Finally, the whole ratm4xmas campaign has given food for thought. Although people are already suggesting records to rival next years’ X Factor release, I am unsure as to whether this could work again, or whether it was a one-off. RATM’s track is an extremely potent song that captured the imagination of thousands because it somehow had the ‘Zeitgeist’… the right title, sentiment and lyrics to unite everyone behind it. It does provoke the question of what we could do en masse if we could only all agree on other matters so easily; perhaps we could actually effect some real political changes or stop the war in Afghanistan, for example. We just need people with the imagination to start the campaigns and generate the passion.
Until then, let’s just celebrate this small victory and enjoy the fact that sometimes, the people will have their say, and look forward to the promised free gig that Rage are set to play in 2010. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
In the continuing battle for the Xmas number one between Rage Against the Machine and The X Factor’s Joe, latest figures show RATM to be about 10% ahead. However, Joe’s single ‘The Climb’ will be available in shops tomorrow as a physical release, enabling shoppers to purchase it, so the battle is far from over.
Meanwhile, Tom Morello of RATM has said he will donate earnings from the single to Youth Music, a scheme helping young musicians in the UK. In addition to this, the RATM 4 Xmas campaign is asking for donations to homeless charity Shelter; so far £38508.66 has been raised.
So the choice is clear.. line the pockets of Satan Cowell and Miley Cirus (who originally recorded ‘the climb’) or make your presence felt and benefit 2 charities at the same time. And don’t worry about Joe, remember that he will be having so much money spent on his record and promotion that he won’t see a penny from sales, possibly ever, as he will remain unrecouped for a long time to come.
Current chart information shows the two tracks to be neck and neck at the moment, so keep buying the Rage Against the Machine single! Some people have pointed out that both tracks are through Sony BMG, but that isn’t the point. The point is to show that we can think for ourselves, and will not be dictated to or act like sheep. Also, bear in mind that X factor winners will be on a terrible royalty rate, and that they are a completely manufactured act. Rage Against the Machine paid their dues and wrote all their own songs. So don’t forget to buy the track!
support the rage factor!
At last! join the campaign to stop the X Factor xmas number one! I found this through the Kerrang! page on Myspace: http://ragefactor.co.uk/
It’s a campaign to get everyone to buy Rage Against the Machine’s ‘Killing In The Name’ in order to prevent the x factor from manipulating our minds and wallets into parting with our hard earned cash for the usual xmas dross they produce.
Kerrang have the following to say about it:
X Factor mogul Simon Cowell has blasted the campaign to make Rage Against The Machine the Christmas Number One calling it “stupid.”
A few weeks ago Rage fan Jon Morter set up a FaceBook group to encourage fans to buy the Rage Against The Machine classic Killing In The Name – made famous by it’s Fuck you I won’t do what you tell me refrain – digitally through iTunes or We7 between Sunday, December 13 and Saturday December 19 to try and prevent the winner of this year’s X Factor from going to Number One at Christmas. The group currently has over 550,000 members.
“If there’s a campaign, and I think the campaign’s aimed directly at me, it’s stupid,” said Cowell at press conference in London this afternoon (Thursday, December 10).
“Me having a Number One record at Christmas is not going to change my life particularly,” he added. “It does however change these guys’ lives and we put this opportunity there so that the winner of The X Factor gets the chance of having a big hit record. I think it’s quite a cynical campaign geared at me which is actually going to spoil the party for [the three X Factor finalists]. I also think it’s incredibly dismissive of the people who watch and enjoy the show to treat our audiences as if they’re stupid and I don’t like that.”
“The X-Factor has bagged the last four Christmas Number Ones and I think it’s killing one of our country’s great traditions,” Jon Morter told Kerrang!. “I’m totally fed up with this and during a chance viewing of the show, I snapped. I made a Facebook group to see if there were any others who agreed with me.”
“The response has been incredible,” he added. “Killing In The Name is the perfect song. How good would it be to have Rage Against The Machine at the top of the charts instead of a Simon Cowell act?”
We wholeheartedly agree Jon. The time to act is now, people! Join the revolution at www.ragefactor.co.uk.
I’ve done a lot of recording over the years; back in the old days it was mostly in a 24 or 48 track studio, but more recently it’s been at home on Logic, one of the many good software packages available for the would-be recording artist. It occurred to me that there are a few basic rules and guidelines you need to follow to get good, professional sounding results on the vocals, so here are a few tips for the inexperienced producer and vocalist.
The first thing you should be aware of is that on a recording, the vocals are the most important thing. This may sound obvious, but if you think about it, when you do a gig, the drums and bass are much more important; primarily because they are the most audible thing, as guitar and vocal frequencies are high and are the first thing to go from your hearing when you are deafened by loud music, but also because getting people to feel the rhythm is an important ingredient in winning over the audience. Also live, the odd dodgy bit of tuning on the vocal won’t be remembered if the visual performance is good. However, on a recording, non-musicians will be listening primarily to the vocal and can play your tune repeatedly, so any imperfections will be noticed and preserved for all time! So don’t spend hours, days or weeks on the instruments and run out of time on the vocals; a good vocal will cover a multitude of sins on the musical backing.
It’s a good idea to set up a good vibe before you start; some soft lighting and pleasant surroundings can go a long way to getting you in the mood. Do a few warm-ups to make sure your mouth shapes will be properly annunciated, and tight to the beat. People forget that vocals need to groove just as much as the music.. tight timing on your delivery is very important. Rehearse your vocal several times before you record it; practice where you are going to take breaths, and the exact vowel shapes you are going to use.
A good mic to use is the Shure SM57, but an SM58 or good copy will do. Sometimes you can get interesting results using old microphones, like the ones that came with old-fashioned tape recorders. I even knew a singer who recorded vocals through a telephone rigged up with a jack lead!. If possible, put the mic through a mixer with phantom power.
When you’re ready to start, record a couple of run-throughs just to check the sound, and to see if you want to change the delivery in any way. Then just go for it; do several takes, as the beauty of recording on a computer is that you can ‘comp’ the vocal, ie. take the best lines from each take and compile a perfect rendition. Don’t forget to really try and put emotion and expression into the vocal; in some ways singing is like theatrical rather than tv acting, as in what seems like an over-the-top delivery to you will seem like a tiny variation on the recording, so go for it! When you’ve done a few takes and you think you have some good versions, do one more take with extra exaggerated delivery, you never know, the odd bit might sound amazing like that.
If you think your voice doesn’t sound full enough, you can get good results by double tracking; that’s why it’s a good idea to always breath in the same places and have your timings rehearsed; then all your takes should fit together if you want to comp two tracks for the double track effect. It can be a good idea to have the main vocal louder, and the double track lower in the mix. This gives the effect of thickening up the sound without sounding like Bananarama!
When you are mixing the track, don’t bury the vocals in the music… you may feel embarrassed to start with and cringe when you hear them back, but this will soon wear off and is preferable to not being able to hear the words.. you’re a lead singer, so go ahead and lead! If you want to hear more of the tiny inflections it’s a good idea to slightly over compress the vocal track, and add some top to the EQ. You can get that classic ‘radio’ sound that Muse use a lot by adding lots of top mid and treble frequencies, and removing the bottom end completely. A bit of reverb will help to sit the vocal in the track nicely, but don’t overdo it unless you are going for an extreme. Finally, don’t let the experience destroy your confidence; a famous producer once told me ‘it doesn’t matter if you’re the best singer in the world or one of the worst; the most important thing is to sound like yourself and no-one else… that’s what will get you known’!
Cowell aka Satan, raking in the cash again
So here we are, nearly at the culmination of this year’s X factor, and is it just me or does anyone really care any more? Haven’t our heartstrings been tugged at so many times in the recent past that they are now dangling loosely around our knees, incapable of responding to the incessant plucking by Simon ‘Satan’ Cowell? And what about Cheryl Cole? Has she lost the plot or what? So many things are wrong with the format that I can’t resist having a rant.
Firstly, re Miss Cole; surely half the attraction to a pop star is an aura of mystique and a certain elusive quality? That gets blown out of the water when we see and hear too much of someone, not to mention the ridiculous dresses.
Secondly, if there’s one thing the recent ‘Subo’ fiasco proves, (backed up by the success of JLS) is that it is completely irrelevant who wins the X factor, or Britain’s Got Talent because longer term market forces will determine whether there is an appetite for something, not a contrived arena like a prime-time tv show.
I fear that Simon Cowell is in danger of destroying what’s left of the music industry at this point; by subjecting potential stars to a one-shot-at-the-big-time in front of baying crowds, he is deterring real stars form even trying; traditionally many of our best musical stars have been shy, retiring and uncompromising individuals who magically come to life in front of an audience; who have something to say and a message to convey. The X factor hand-fistedly weeds out any glimmer of individuality by forcing the contestants to cover a variety of tacky genres, erasing any uniqueness they may have had to start with…. Can you imagine Johnny Rotten being asked to sing a Michael Jackson song?
And what about the title of the show? Its called the X factor, which by definition refers to an elusive, unquantifiable quality, but a couple of weeks ago, Danni Minogue was asking in confusion ‘is this a singing competition?’ before eliminating the vocally poor but x factor rich Jedward. Actually that’s all the X factor is now, a great big Butlins style singing competition, and it should be renamed accordingly. Perhaps something like ‘Britain’s most inoffensive singers’ would be more appropriate!
Which brings me to this year’s contestants. I’m sure they are all very nice people but I’m struggling to remember any of their names. I’ve never seen such an average bunch, with the possible exception of Stacey, who would be perfectly happy with a career singing in hotel bars or on a cruise ship, and who seems somewhat overwhelmed by the position she finds herself in. Sure, she has a lovely voice, but seems ill equipped for life as a sleb. The most likely winner is probably Joe, who does indeed have a beautiful voice, but who seems vacuous and bland. But then that’s probably what Mr Cowell prefers; someone he can manipulate and squash into whatever hole he perceives needs filling in the industry this week.
I have a dream.. one in which Simon Cowell wakes up and realises that he has turned us all into a bunch of cynical, instant gratification junkies with the attention span of a goldfish. Then he apologises to the world and gives up the music business to work with deprived orphans…… fat chance!!
the famous Pop Group t shirt, recently sported by Agyness Deyn
The word ‘punk’ embraces many genres of music, united primarily by their DIY ethic and rejection of the mainstream, major record label way of doing things.
The godfathers of punk as we know it today came from the USA in the 1960’s and 70’s; bands like Iggy and the Stooges, the MC5, Patti Smith, Richard Hell and the Voidoids, the Velvet Underground, Television, the Ramones and the New York Dolls all pioneered the raw, agressive sound and rebellious stance that came to be known as punk.
The British punk scene was born in London in 1976; teenagers began rejecting the old rock ‘dinosaurs’ that had been dominating the band scene with their virtuoso musicianship, and forming their own bands where the only qualification to join was the right attitude. The fanzine ‘Sniffing Glue’ produced by Danny Baker with Mark Perry of early punk band ATV proved highly influential and spawned many imitations. Punk music itself had no rules although usually it was loud, aggressive and amphetamine-fuelled.
The Sex Pistols were born in Chelsea where a young John Lydon, Paul Cook and Glen Matlock used to hang out at Vivienne Westwood’s boutique, and met Malcom McLaren who had previously managed the New York Dolls. Under his direction, the band was formed and the rest is history. Other faces on this new scene included Siouxie Sioux (later of the Banshees), Adam Ant , and Billy Idol to name but a few. Also worth a mention are X-Ray Spex, The Slits, Crass and Bristol punk band The Pop Group whose famous t shirt bore a picture of Margaret Thatcher with the words ‘We are all prostitutes’ emblazened across it. The Pop Group’s Mark Stuart went on to collaborate with producer Adrian Sherwood as Mark Stuart’s Mafia and is credited with inventing the ‘Bristol Sound’, still alive today in the music of Massive Attack.
Many independent record labels sprung up at this time to release the new music, creating a whole new infrastructure to record, release and distribute records without involving major corporations. Artists have frequently found themselves much more fairly treated by these indie labels. However, some punk bands maintained a non-conformist stance whilst signing big deals with major labels.. eg the Sex Pistols and the Clash. Quite a few bands gained recognition through the punk scene by adopting the style and attitiude of punk, including the Police, the Jam and the Stranglers, even though their excellent musicianship had more in common with the old school musos that punk supposedly rejected.
The ‘anything goes’ attitude of punk also paved the way for a rich and diverse post-punk DIY music scene. In the late 1970’s, the Industrial Records label was set up by experimental band Throbbing Gristle which in turn spawned a whole scene of its own that still exists today in the music of bands like Sonic Youth. More side effects of punk could be seen when Rough Trade records signed Joy Division, the Fall and the Smiths and Fiction records released proto-goths the Cure.
The Grunge music scene evolved in America in the late 1980’s in much the same way as punk; young bands unconcerned with commercial sucess playing music to entertain themselves and each other and releasing their material on small independent labels. Influenced by late 70’s/early 80’s punk acts like the Ruts, the Butthole Surfers, NOFX, Swans and the Dead Kennedys as well as British post-punk, the Pixies were one of the first grunge bands and inspired many bands that followed; from Nirvana to Dinosaur Junior to L7. More recently, Green Day have achieved massive success with their own brand of pop punk, inspiring hoards of youngsters to pick up a guitar and learn those first 3 chords.