Sound Of 2013

The BBC's Sound Of...polls are usually bang on the money; it doesn't necessarilly mean that the winning artists will be huge or be around forever (does anyone know where Little Boots has gone? She was great!), it's up to them and their management to add to the status that winning the poll gives them - Ellie Goulding, Jesie J, Adele, etc.

This year's winners are a three-girl band called Haim. As with most winners they've been around for a while, but this win pushes them further into the mainstream. They seem to be a mixture of Fleetwood Mac and the more electronic-fused bands we know of today - Friendly Fires, The xx. Their song "Don't Save Me" is catchy after a couple of listens, but shows how good songwriters they are. They're not going to write very catchy pop licks, that's not their thing.

These girls will be a quiet presence in the coming year - which is good, because they can build up more and more support by doing this.

Can I also quickly mention Sons And Lovers? A brilliant band who opened for Ellie Goulding in Brixton a couple of weeks ago. They sounded better live than they do here, but their songs seem more anthemic and even arguably youthful than Haim.

Btoh awesome groups - bring on 2013 for them.

Tis NEARLY the season...

This blog has a fondness for the festive season. In fact, it could be argued, come December 1st, this writer is the merriest person you'd ever be likely to meet. Come December 1st, every word spoken is laced with tinsel, every look flashes with electric light bulbs, every beat of the heart is pulsating with hope and Joy To The World. Come December 1st.

Sadly, in this world that we live in, you cannot escape Christmas in November. Today, upon watching television, almost every advert had a festive ring/theme to it, even if the product wasn't necessarily for Christmas. This is not unusual in the least, but it's still rather depressing.

Only two things bring joy to this blog on these occasions. The first is the fact that this season is the season where Cinema really comes alive again. This is not suggesting for a moment that the year beforehand has been disappointing - far from it, with the mega hits of The Dark Knight Rises and Skyfall tussling for the top spot in The Culture Section's annual Top Ten to be produced towards the end of the year. But as we approach the season for goodwill, we also approach the season of awards. And so, the big hitters arrive - Seven Psychopaths, Les Miserables, Life Of Pi, Silver Linings Playbook and all the rest, all filtering through as they start their long campaign just to be nominated for awards. This is very good news indeed, and brings the tidings of great joy often promised by the studios, never mind a heavenly choir of angels.

The second reason this blog finds it's ice cold heart in November slightly thawed is this year's John Lewis advert. Over the last couple of years the genius who has obviously been hired just because he/she has amazing ideas specifically for the superstore's festive commercials has produced immense works, often sound tracked by beautiful pieces of music. This year is perhaps the pinnacle, the ultimate triumph. The take of a snowman battling through the elements to buy his snow lady girlfriend the perfect gift she really needs is wonderfully shot and perfectly sound tracked by an awe inspiring cover of Frankie Goes To Hollywood's "The Power Of Love" by new star Gabrielle Aplin. The photography is gorgeous, the music simply beautiful.

This blog would therefore like to anounce two campaigns: first, if you have not seen this advert yet, watch it, NOW, even if you, like this writer, are still a Scrooge up until the December page of your calender. Secondly to John Lewis: this blog believes that you will never, EVER top the wonder of your advert this year. Therefore, this blog suggests you simply repeat it again next year, and the year after that. Make it a tradition. It reduces a friend of this blog to tears every time she watches it. Now that's magic.

Music Round Up

As promised, three reviews of three albums from the last few months.

First, Coexist, the second album from the Mercury Prize winning The xx.

From the first strains of the echoey guitar strings, this album proves to be a case of more of the same. This isn't a bad thing; the eerie sounds of The xx still push them apart from many others on the scene. But, as with their first, arguably better self-titled album, the style of the music they play starts to make all the songs sound a little samey. While their lyrics are still hauntingly beautiful, towards the end you begin to yearn for something a little more. Then again, this is still perfect chillout music.

7/10

In terms of second albums, Ellie Goulding's Halcyon is a revelation.

While Lights, her first, was full of catchy tunes and hopeful optimism, this second album is very open and honest; there's a lot more of an electronic feel to this than in her previous work, yet her gorgeous soprano vocals still cut through and soar: perfect example being "Hanging On". It then towards the end of the album changes gears into a more ballad, piano led atmosphere; the song "I Know You Care" in particular is lovely.  It's a beautiful triumph that just gets better with every listen.

9/10

When it comes to defining a feel of an album, The 2nd Law by Muse proves difficult, for the simple, brilliant reason that every track sounds and feels different.

From the Bond theme-esque opening to the glorious, over the top "Survival"; the funky kick of "Panic Station" to the moody, magnificent "Madness". If ever there wasa showcase for the talents of this band, this album is it. Towards the end the songs are soaked in dubstep, but refreshingly this does not invade the majority of the rest of the album.Muse are the perfect hybridor even, if you want, lovechild, of Queen and Radiohead. Excellent.

9/10  

Chris Moyles' Last Hurrah

Yesterday morning, Chris Moyles broadcast his last ever Breakfast Radio show on BBC Radio 1; its very likely that it was his last ever radio show period. 

This was an end of an era; the DJ who has presented this show the longest, the 38 year old built up a fan base that at its peak attracted over 7 million listeners. The fact that at least 120,000 texts were sent into the show yesterday morning alone proves his winning popularity. But, as always has been the case with Radio 1, Moyles' age caught up with him.

It's like a version of the film Logan's Run, where you are disposed of once you reach a certain age. The target is the younger audience and apparently this is only feasible with a younger DJ. What's nice in this instance is that Moyles' reign ended on his own terms; he wasn't fired, he chose to go.

But while the ambition of Radio 1 is perfectly understandable - they're looking at a target of the older teen/student market- it shouldn't matter with a breakfast show. A breakfast show is universal; a breakfast show is listened to by people on their way to work, driving their kids to school. As soon as this is over, then the listeners to the radio station - and this is any radio station, mind - will drop simply because life gets in the way; unless you're lucky enough to be able to listen to the radio where you work, the next time you listen to it is when you're back in your car.

Moyles' replacement is the perfectly likable Nick Grimshaw who, cleverly, has already announced that his breakfast show will be very different to Moyles'; his predecessor had a team to joke and chat with, while Grimshaw will be on his own. Whatever happens, however good Grimshaw is, listeners will drop. X-FM are probably rubbing their hands with glee.   

New Classics

Muse and Ellie Goulding have previewed new material recently.  Muse, always one note away from extravagance, seem to have steeped over that note and turned it into a symphony. Goulding  has embraced electronica more than even in her re-release of her debut album, Bright Lights.

Goulding's  new single, "Anything Could Happen" starts with a brace of high vocal noises on loop before launching into a march-type rejoicing that life is always surprising, no doubt influenced  by her personal life which she has admitted freely in several interviews is a very definite factor in her new album, due for release in October. Watch this blog for a review of it later in the year.


Muse's new song, "Madness", ironically starts similarly to Goulding's with avocal track on loop. Their last song too hit the public ears,the Olympics-infused "Survival" was brilliant in its epicness and almost absurdly good, suiting the occasion very well indeed. In "Madness", Muse become the band that's the hybrid child of Queen and Radiohead, something they've threatened to do for a while. It is loud, mad in places, with a real sense that the band are going in an entirely new direction.

The Brit Awards 2011

Awards season is well and truly upon us now - both the BAFTAs and the Grammys were on Sunday with few surprises, save how old Christopher Lee suddenly looks. Last night it was the turn of the BRITs. this year they had been revamped - new home (the O2 Arena), new look.

It would be fair to say that those who won awards did so because they earned them. Though the xx's brilliant Mercury-Prize winning album, XX, failed to pick up any gongs, Mumford & Sons were worthy enough winners of Album Of The Year. The Outstanding Contribution award has been ditched by the organisers, making this award now the most coveted of the evening. It had a nice twist to it, but when Roger Daltrey arrived to announce the winner of this award, you couldn't help but feel a pang of regret that we wouldn't see a classic star take to the stage and sing in celebration over their life's work for a few minutes.

Why the hell Justin Bieber was able to walk away with an award remains a mystery, and the proof that the BRITs mean business came in the announcement of several prizes for Arcade Fire, a band who would perhaps not even be nominated for something like an MTV Award, which always come from the people.

On the whole, this revamped BRITs was all about the music - stunning performances from Adele, Plan B and Tinnie Tempah, and an emotional speech from the voice of the new wave, Jessie J. Not bad - could be better.

The Electric Proms - RIP

So after five moderately successful years, the BBC has decided to end the series of concerts dubbed the Electric Proms. These were usually an eclectic mixture of old and new artists, with the majority of the performances taking place at the magnificent Roundhouse in London.

One could possibly have seen the signs that things were looking bad for the Electric Proms last year; only three artists took part - Elton John, Robert Plant and Neil Diamond - all with new albums to plug. Gone were the glory days of The Who, Shirley Bassey or even (god help us) Oasis. It didn't matter who it was; their performances on this stage were always electrifying. No pun intended.

These concerts also gave the artists the opportunity to work with groups they wouldn't normally have done so in your average, run-of-the-mill concert, working with orchestras or choirs, or sometimes both (steady now). Sadly, even these twists were lacking last time around.

The head of Radio 2, who championed the concerts, said that there was a better, more cost efficient way of staging these shows. Sadly, it has all come down to money once again. The Electric Proms haven't been with us long enough to invoke an uproar of anguish from the public over their cancellation, something that would no doubt happen if the Proms were given the same fate. It is merely sad, and hopefully something can be created out of their ashes.

John Barry - 1933-2011

John Barry made James Bond recognisable. Though legally he was never credited with writing the famous tune for one of the longest running film franchises in history, his arrangement of it for the first film, Dr.No, was to literally bring the character to life in our imaginations whenever we hear it. Like the spy himself the tune is sexy, brooding, fast, dangerous.

All in all, Barry composed the scores for 11 of the films in the series. Not all of them were masterpieces, though it is fair to say that the weakest of the films have the weakest of the scores - perhaps there is something to be said about inspiration for a film composer if the film he is composing for isn't all that good. Yet the ones that stand out are the true classics, the giants of film scores: the urgent brass of Goldfinger, the romantic, lush strings of You Only Live Twice, the sense of something new in On Her Majesty's Secret Service.

Of course, Barry didn't just work on Bond films. His haunting themes for Out Of Africa or Midnight Cowboy brilliantly sum up the moods and plots of the respective features. His last Oscar winner, Dances With Wolves, was possibly the one Oscar that the film genuinely deserved to win.

His influences are felt all over the place - his true successor, David Arnold, certainly encapsulates the Barry feel to his Bond scores. It was a shame that he could not have worked on another one, and, though exciting enough the Michael Giacchinho score is, the rumoured score that Barry could have written for The Incredibles would have given the film a lot more class.

BBC Sound Of 2011

The BBC have just announced the winner of their annual poll among the cream of music journalists and writers, the Sound Of.... Last year this was won by Ellie Goulding, whose album Lights was one of the best out there. The winner this year, Jessie J, though another female singer/songwriter couldn't be more different.

Her debut single, "Do It Like A Dude" ironically starts with the line: "Stomp, stomp, I've arrived", and she definitely announces her presence to the rest of the world. Her sound is urban, gritty, with a lot of electronic wizardry helping to add emphasis on her rather explicit lyrics. Slightly surprising words to come from a girl who write "Party In The USA" for Miley Cyrus. Seriously. She also came out of the Brit School and performed on the West End when she was 11 in Andrew Lloyd Webber's hit-and-miss Whistle Down The Wind.

The video for the single adds even more emphasis to the strength of the song. Be warned that this is the Explicit version.



This is a defiant woman, slightly scary at times, making her stand. She wears a strange black kind of lipstick, a variety of torn clothing; she looks dominating, scornfully at the men in the video. The fact that she has two girls kissing in it also probably helps to push her message across: this is Girl power for the 21st century. Stuff you, Spice Girls.

Trouble is, shocking and provocative as the song is, there doesn't seem to be a lot of difference between her and other female artists emerging out of the urban scene. Think of Katy B and her fantastic track, "Katy On A Mission", for example. If you listen to the acoustic version of "Do It Like A Dude", Jessie's voice seems more refined, slightly more US Urban, chuckling mischievously at times. You get the full range of her vocal chords too; towards the end she sounds powerful, perhaps even more so than in the studio version.



Another song by her you can find on YouTube is "Price Tag".



Another acoustic, it sounds like something you could hear Fergie or even Beyonce at a stretch performing. It sounds nice, but you can see why the studio released "Do It Like A Dude" first in the age of GaGa. Currently it's just broken the Top 10. I doubt it's going to hit the top spot by Sunday, but she is sure to be around with us for a few years.