About time for another edition of commute tunes. I should probably just start a Spotify playlist, but who would listen? Not me, no time. And then there'd be no writing for company. I do find myself slightly overwhelmed by all the media choices I have right now. Especially as I'm driving, which makes it a bit tuffer to take notes, or do searches right there and then. First world problems, as Ian Brown would say (follow the link to the Ian Brown song that sounds like he took a Bontempi version of Primal Scream's Loaded and changed the words).
In fact, I just looked at my notes, and they're so bad that there's only one track to highlight. Hardly seems worth it, but I will do it anyway. It's "Offence" by Little Simz, and I love the way the drums bang and the tune's elements are pretty minimal but so effective.
Here's a bit of news your may have missed -- Mike Skinner and The Streets are back, and you can hear their album on Spotify. Not sure if it's elsewhere, his twitter linked to Spotify.
The new David Bowie release got me thinking about streaming this past week. I was discussing the album, and how certain reviewers make me feel like just going out and buying albums before I've even heard a single track. The same thing was happening with the Bowie album: All the chatter about it, and the positive press, got me considering just going and getting it and listening to it afterwards. Something good may have come of that decision as I may have given it more attention if I'd went through with a proper purchase -- I was looking forward to going to the record shop, picking it up, listening in the car, and so on. But instead I decided to listen to whatever tracks were up on youtube and ended up finding the whole album there. So then I just streamed it, and it was OK, but, for now at least, I lost the urge to buy it. I think that streaming cheapens music too much in that regard -- with streaming I literally invest nothing in the music, so I can just take it or leave it, not really pay it a whole lot of attention. I think some very good work probably gets short-changed that way.
As for the Bowie, Petridis says it's proper jazz, not just a band with some horns. He also thinks the music is quite avante garde. This is another possible problem with reviews, they can really send your expectations in a certain direction. Thankfully, in this case I think Petridis overstates the case a bit -- to me this sounds exactly like a good but normal band trying a little too hard to be "different" -- or maybe the spectrum of pop music is so wide now that something like this album ends up sounding quite normal, in a good way.
I may have issues with streaming, but I'd say modern changes to the way I consume music have overall made things better. I heard this BC Camplight track on 6 music via my phone, and then found it on Soundcloud for this blog. Because of that I heard the rather nice track by Amason, who I'd never heard of otherwise.
Speaking of 6 music, the Chemical Brothers were on that over Christmas for a three hour show. It was good, just a nice show with chatting and music and mixes. The Chemical Brothers came across as very current, which is kind of remarkable for a 20 year old dance music act. But even though they talked about things from the past, to me they didn't seem like one of those nostalgia acts that are around. They seemed like a relevant act who happen to have been around for a long time. It was good, made me happy for them. The show's worth checking out for some of the mixes and remixes, especially the Tom Rowlands remix of Doves' Kingdom of Rust. Six years in the making apparently! That mix is the last half hour of the show, or you can hear it by itself here. The old tracks have held up very well -- I'd love to see these guys live again. Fun fact: I ended up buying Q tip's solo album after listening to the show; you'll have to listen to the show to find out why though.
Lastly, earlier today my wife and I were discussing the lack of diversity amongst Islamic scholars, the best known of whom are basically all men. We agreed that there must be well qualified women out there who just aren't being given the opportunities that men are, which is very problematic, for multiple reasons. I think when someone like my wife identities a problem like this, they have to act. Which, of course, brings to mind the Streets:
That's right, some Dauwd for your listening pleasure. I'm sure I wrote about him before, but I couldn't find anything when I searched. Oh well, came across this today a bit randomly and it is excellent! I love the main keyboard line. Dauwd's definitely grown as an artist in the year or so since I first heard his music -- this track just sounds more mature, more put together, than his earlier material. I'm glad he's still around and doing well, and I'd love to hear an album if this is any indication of where it could go. Dauwd was born in the US, grew up in Wales, and his real name is Dauwd al-Hilali. Oh, and he's put out at least one EP on Michigan dance label, Ghostly. Peak your interest?
Also, here's a video on a pretty obscure UK dance scene. It's short but interesting. When I say obscure, I mean to most of our readership -- UK Garage reached the heights of the top 40, and inspiredthe Streets! That's when I heard about it, but it had a much longer history before that. UKG followed what is basically the rise-and-fall template of just about every dance music type, from early acid to dubstep, so watch the video to get an idea of how a scene comes to be, peaks, and then fades away (before the inevitable nostalgia). There'll be a larger TV series starting next month in the UK -- it's already on my to-download list.
Aah, yes, the Streets are no more. Other than a few remaining tour dates, Mike Skinner's musical project are all but done with. 'Computers & Blues' came and went, and it was a mixed affair, like most recent Streets albums. Having said that I think I prefer it to the last few albums; there are some thoughtful and melancholy tracks that are well put together, but perhaps it's the knowledge that that's it that is adding some poignancy for me. Still, I think Mike is one of the best at reproducing the garagey sound with the female vocals added for an extra touch of sweetness -- street music that's for more than dancing to. The last track on the album is 'Lock the Lock's and it's one of the standouts. Here's a video that uses various Streets video-art to make a video -- proving that not only is Mike a great musician, he's a pretty good visual artist too. There's talk of him doing video and soundtrack work in the future, I just hope I hear about it and get to check it out. Only one US tour date has been announced so far -- it's in New York, in August, which is also when my baby is due, so I don't think I'll be going to that...
The two videos below summarise what I think is the Mike Skinner conundrum. The first vid is the new official vid for what'll be the first single off the next Streets album, Computers and Blues. The second vid is something Skinner apparently threw together on a whim with collaborator Robert Harvey (see if you can guess what band he used to be in). To my ears and eyes, the first song and vid are kind of not-very-good -- the music isn't too great and the vid is just a Pop Video, and a pretty low concept one at that (this is on first listen and view). The other song and vid, though, is, I think, much better -- some funny lyrics, a pleasant tune, and some nice wintery imagery. It probably cost a tenth of the official single's video but it's much nicer to look at. Granted I've heard the song more than once so that repeat listening effect might play a part, but I just find the track to be much more likable. Anyway, so the conundrum is that Skinner can make some great tracks when he does it very fast and they are seemingly throwaway, while the stuff that gets worked on for ages and then sits around waiting to be released doesn't seem as good. I think a new release model is needed here, but sadly most of the tracks he puts on his blog aren't downloadable. He does deride the way release schedules work himself and perhaps this is one of the reasons he's saying that the next Streets album will be the last? If you can put out new tunes every day quite easily it must be annoying to put 12 together for an album and then let them get stale for months before they're out.
PS Just listened to 'Going Through Hell' again and it's already growing on me, but still think it has a slightly over-produced sound
Coupla things. First is a comment after reading this article. To summarise, Jack White runs Third Man records; Third Man releases limited edition stuff by the White Stripes and other bands Jack White is involved in; usually that stuff is a weird vinyl version of an already existing record; now instead of selling at a normal price and letting people flip the records on ebay, Third Man is selling directly through ebay itself and keeping all the extra money. Fans are moaning that it's not fair but I think it's totally legit -- musicians need to make money and White argues that by selling through ebay it's the artist getting the extra cash rather than some random flipper. The music itself is available in other formats for cheap/free, so it's not like fans can't access the actual tunes -- they just can't get the special versions without shelling out extra. And why not? Hasn't it always been that way any way -- limited and special editions cost more but you don't have to buy them. When bands are only making money now from concerts and merchandise I think a strategy like this is actually very clever -- leverage your fame to make some extra money and thus an income. It's better than having your tunes in an advert.
In other news, Mike Skinner is blogging again and this blog is the best one I've come across in a long time. It's updated pretty much every day and he's usually responding to an actual person off twitter, or he's giving us his thoughts on creativity, boredom, fame, etc. Posts are usually accompanied by music or really good imagery -- all the music is coupled to a freshly made video. The tunes are very good which makes me wonder why his last couple of albums have been a bit crap? Sadly they don't seem to be downloadable. There are podcasts which I haven't checked out yet, perhaps the songs are included in those. There's a link to a blog that's supposedly by the Streets' manager, Ted Mayhem, which is also worth a read. He's already influenced my choice of TV to purchase... Skinner only start blogging again in October so if you hurry you can catch up on all his posts without it being too much of a hassle!
I was listening to a Mike Skinner podcast the other day and suddenly had a mid-80's flashback. Was it? Could it be? Yes! He'd put on an extended version of "Together in Electric Dreams" by Phil Oakey and Giorgio Moroder! The last time I heard that song was in my cousin's car in Harlow, probably shortly before/after getting a hard slap on the thigh while in the passenger seat on the way to Muslim sunday school. For a few weeks there we'd hear it every time he gave us a lift, and something about the sadness of the song stood out even back then when I was but a wee fat lad dreading the mullana's cane. The cousin (actually cousin's cousin, an angry and terrifying teenager when I was under ten) had it on cassette and we probably heard it in his mum's VW polo with a cool cassette case carrier thing sliding around on the passenger floor (I always wanted one of those). I'm sticking in a link to the song as I only ever heard it, never saw the video until earlier today. You can see a vid of the extended version here -- check out Phil Oakey's hair! He didn't look like that in the Human League. It was nice to hear this song again and be reminded of those Epping-Harlow trips; in my mind Feraz is in the back seat, the weather is nice, and it's after sunday school, so there's no caning to be afraid of. Good times!
[Just a note: I'm pretty sure this was the first Human League-related song I ever heard, and I never did get round to seeing 'Electric Dreams' the film.]
[Note two: Imeem was being weird so I changed to a Youtube link:]
