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The Beats is back

I've been away for quite some time, folks. I'm back.

You've really done it now, Prince.

Artificially used Fender telecasters.

Rolling Stone's picks for the 5 best singers ever:
- Aretha Franklin
- Frank Sinatra
- Dusty Springfield
- Thom Yorke
- Billie Holiday

Q Magazine's picks for the 10 best singers ever:
1. Elvis Presley
2. Aretha Franklin
3. Frank Sinatra
4. Otis Redding
5. John Lennon
6. Marvin Gaye
7. Kurt Cobain
8. Robert Plant
9. Mick Jagger
10. Jeff Buckley

A time-lapse video of somebody painting a portrait in Photoshop of Thom Yorke.

Bowie sings for the little fat man.

Changes in the US/UK Music Scenes

The great Steve Phipps (in London, England) posted the following comment in response to "Favorite Studio Albums: 2000-2006":

"What a great list, Pete.

As a music fan, I really appreciate the sound music qualities of the albums you have mentioned. However, I must admit that I have not listened to many of them, and who the hell are/is Bright Eyes (wasn't that an animated film about rabbits???)

It got me thinking about how the view from this side of the pond is separating from your side of the pond. After years of manufactured pop (yuck!!) from cynical producers such as the infamous Simon Cowell (spit!) and bottom feeding record companies like EMI, the times are indeed a changing, possibly.

The recent BRIT awards here in the UK revealed a growing chasm between traditional business and music making and changing cultural tastes, and the increasing influence of technology and the use of word of mouth (using email and mobiles/cells). Sad to reveal, Madonna was the only US artist to get a mention, probably because she has been based here for several years.

So what's up?

I would guess that is you asked many of the under twenties, music does not form a major part of their interests anymore - compared to gaming, choosing the latest model of mobile phone, or even setting up a wireless network at home. Music is not cool. Trust me, I have a teenage son.

On the other hand the "podders" (Pete, would you put yourself in this category?) are increasingly using technology to share "finds" and are now selecting artists who are obviously non-mainstream, or even completely unheard of by 99% of anyone. This is a sort of technology fuelled underground movement, reminiscent of the late sixties when groups like Led Zeppelin could come from nowhere to unseat the Beatles as the major influence over music.

Here's a few examples:

The Arctic Monkeys are now the biggest act in the UK, having developed a large internet following even before they got a record deal. The result, their first album - Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I Am Not - was released and went straight to number 1, selling more copies than a first release by a new artist *ever*!

KT Tunstall, one of the most successful performers over the past couple of years (she is picking up a number of serious music awards), is riding the increasingly influential "New Folk" movement. Hold on a sec - the "New Folk" what? Exactly. Where did that come from? Think Carly Simon, with a much smaller mouth, or Joan Baez without a very famous boyfriend.

Sandi Thom (don't worry if you have never heard of her over there, as no one has heard of her over here either), but she is web broadcasting to nightly audiences of 60,000 or more! All from her Victorian terraced house in Tooting, London. According to the Sunday Times yesterday she has played to 250,000 people alone, in the past eight days. She has been likened to Janis Joplin. In contrast, in her live performances she rarely plays to more than 60. Check her out on Streaming Tank, the web broadcaster. By the way, 24% of her audience was from America.

Corinne Bailey Rae, until very recently a cloakroom girl at a Jazz club in Leeds, has just gone straight to number one after selling 180,000 copies in her first week of release of her first album., it seems mostly from word of mouth. Her voice has been likened to Billie Holiday.

Then there are the group of older, more traditional buyers like myself perhaps, who are still looking for quality music, or at least music that has at least some authenticity about it. Dare I mention James Blunt at this point? The best selling album in the UK last year, just went to number one in America last week. Perhaps the first tank commander to have done so? In the same week, his album was voted worst album of the year at the very same BRIT awards mentioned earlier.

What is going on? Not sure really, but it is at least more interesting here, musically at least, than for the past 10 years.

Last year the BBC radio-broadcast a two part documentary on the life of Nick Drake, narrated by Brad Pitt, one of his biggest fans. Yes, Mr Jolie himself (you can still listen to it if you go to the bbc.co.uk website). The fact that this programme got made at all is perhaps an indication of the cultural zeitgeist over here. US acts that seem in tune with the times include Jack Johnson (was at number one until Rae knocked him of the top spot), and XXX Gonzalez.

At the same time, US Hip Hop is being anglicised far from its original roots, by people such as The Streets (contrary to the name it is a single individual). It sounds like a slower, more poetic, mournful, odd and far less aggressive version of the US original. For example one of the songs is about how good it is to be a star, as you can get girlfriends more easily - sung in a happy, almost.

Postscript

One of the most amazing things to have happened recently is the re-emergence of a 1960's folk singer called Vashti Bunyan (quite an odd name, I think). She made one album (just another Diamond Day) in the late 1960's. It seems to have almost been completely ignored by everyone at the time. Vashti was never heard of for 40 years. She became a travelling gypsy, had a family, and gave up singing entirely. Then, out of nowhere her album was picked out of total obscurity and has become a bit of a redeemed and revered figure in the folk music of today.

She has a very clear but girlish singing voice, that you either will think is pure, or rather too childish. You can listen to her sing on her website, and also read her somewhat amazing story here http://www.anotherday.co.uk/."

Thanks again to Steve for this...

iPod: The CD Killer

A guest post by Steve Phipps, a good friend of mine.

Will the iPod kill the album and the record store?

Evidence suggests that CDs are becoming increasingly used as coasters.

Music fans that once had a reputation for obsessively assembling their CDs into neat alphabetised rows (including me), but I am increasingly in the minority as the iPod generation puts all of its music on to computers.

In the UK the charity Scope has said that its 300 stores were being inundated with donated CDs, as more and more people trim their collections - or even get rid of them altogether to free up space.

Meanwhile, the online auction site eBay said a "CD mountain" was fast being created and that the average person could make hundreds of pounds by selling their collections.

After surveying 1,000 UK households, eBay estimated music from CDs worth £16.2bn will have been transferred to MP3 players in Britain by December this year.

It said there were 7.38 billion CDs in the UK, with an average of 164 CDs per person.

"People might have a certain attachment to the CDs in their collection. But once you've replaced your favourite albums with their MP3 counterparts, CDs become little more than tea coasters," Mr Coney from eBay has said.