Sunday, September 28, 2008
Friday, September 26, 2008
Day Three / Album Three
Kitty, Daisy and Lewis, A-Z: The Roots of Rock'n'Roll
Impeccably put together by precocious teen siblings - Kitty, Daisy and Lewis - this compilation gleefully rummages through the 1940s and 50s with such joy that both aficionados and those who wouldn't know boogie-woogie from rockabilly should be equally entertained. The high number of novelties - notably Louis Jordan's School Days and the Western Melody Makers' Who Put the Turtle in Myrtle's Girdle - heightens the impression that the trio were rocking to this stuff in the cot. But that innocence is balanced by rude sauce and sass: Rufus Thomas's Bear Cat, a hiss-spit riposte to Hound Dog, or the Swallows' It Ain't the Meat, a glorious celebration of the female body, whatever its shape. The siblings' own cover of a 1940s song, called Ooo Wee, is so authentic that only the demotic London accent gives its modernity away.
The Guardian
One word - awesome!
Impeccably put together by precocious teen siblings - Kitty, Daisy and Lewis - this compilation gleefully rummages through the 1940s and 50s with such joy that both aficionados and those who wouldn't know boogie-woogie from rockabilly should be equally entertained. The high number of novelties - notably Louis Jordan's School Days and the Western Melody Makers' Who Put the Turtle in Myrtle's Girdle - heightens the impression that the trio were rocking to this stuff in the cot. But that innocence is balanced by rude sauce and sass: Rufus Thomas's Bear Cat, a hiss-spit riposte to Hound Dog, or the Swallows' It Ain't the Meat, a glorious celebration of the female body, whatever its shape. The siblings' own cover of a 1940s song, called Ooo Wee, is so authentic that only the demotic London accent gives its modernity away.The Guardian
One word - awesome!
Thursday, September 25, 2008
Day Two / Album Two
Kitty, Daisy & Lewis - Kitty, Daisy & Lewis
Teenage brothers and sisters all over the world get together in their bedrooms and sing along to rock 'n' roll. But not all brothers and sisters are like Kitty, Daisy and Lewis, and not all siblings build a fully functional studio to record in, particularly one based on Memphis' legendary Sun studios. This is the North London family who, backed by their parents Ingrid Weiss and Graeme Durham, on double-bass and guitar respectively, raised the roof at the 2008 South By South West festival and have supported artists such as Mika and Razorlight.
R&B: they’ve got it; Swing: they've got it; Country, Blues, Hawaiian and Rock 'n' Roll... the list goes on. And, like true musicians they swap instruments as much as they swap tunes. But, despite the analogue production, what this album lacks is conviction.
The first single from the album, Mean Son Of A Gun, recorded for Rob Da Bank's Sunday Best record label, lacks pep. It just doesn’t do justice to the original honky tonker by Johnny Horton. Maybe it's the perspective of 21st century urban youth, or maybe it's fledgling musical talent that means that whilst you might want to join in the knee-slapping sing-a-long, you just don’t quite believe that these guys are: ''going to some place where [they've] never been before''.
Kudos, however for the self-penned Buggin' Blues. It brings the sounds of the 50s into contemporary teenage life with all it’s complexities and insecurities; ''Now I reconsidered darling/I want you by my side/I don’t care how I get you baby/ I’ll get you dead or alive….You made me so lonely/You made me weep and moan''. Meanwhile the band's swinging Hawaiian strains (Honolulu Rock-A Roll-A and Swinging Hawaii, complete with plucky ukulele) make you want to get up and swing your little grass skirt.
The album does, at times, recreate some great nostalgic sounds, particularly those coaxed from the harmonica (Polly Put The Kettle On and Mean Son of A Gun, for instance) and the old 88s (Buggin' Blues), but on the whole it just manages to make you want to listen to the great originals. It's an album that needs more snap, more crackle, but less pop. Elvis doesn't quite live on, but nor will he be turning in his grave.
by Susie Goldring
Not the most flattering of reviews and probably right on the mark... but saying, that this album is bloody fun and well cool. Which more than suits me.
Teenage brothers and sisters all over the world get together in their bedrooms and sing along to rock 'n' roll. But not all brothers and sisters are like Kitty, Daisy and Lewis, and not all siblings build a fully functional studio to record in, particularly one based on Memphis' legendary Sun studios. This is the North London family who, backed by their parents Ingrid Weiss and Graeme Durham, on double-bass and guitar respectively, raised the roof at the 2008 South By South West festival and have supported artists such as Mika and Razorlight.R&B: they’ve got it; Swing: they've got it; Country, Blues, Hawaiian and Rock 'n' Roll... the list goes on. And, like true musicians they swap instruments as much as they swap tunes. But, despite the analogue production, what this album lacks is conviction.
The first single from the album, Mean Son Of A Gun, recorded for Rob Da Bank's Sunday Best record label, lacks pep. It just doesn’t do justice to the original honky tonker by Johnny Horton. Maybe it's the perspective of 21st century urban youth, or maybe it's fledgling musical talent that means that whilst you might want to join in the knee-slapping sing-a-long, you just don’t quite believe that these guys are: ''going to some place where [they've] never been before''.
Kudos, however for the self-penned Buggin' Blues. It brings the sounds of the 50s into contemporary teenage life with all it’s complexities and insecurities; ''Now I reconsidered darling/I want you by my side/I don’t care how I get you baby/ I’ll get you dead or alive….You made me so lonely/You made me weep and moan''. Meanwhile the band's swinging Hawaiian strains (Honolulu Rock-A Roll-A and Swinging Hawaii, complete with plucky ukulele) make you want to get up and swing your little grass skirt.
The album does, at times, recreate some great nostalgic sounds, particularly those coaxed from the harmonica (Polly Put The Kettle On and Mean Son of A Gun, for instance) and the old 88s (Buggin' Blues), but on the whole it just manages to make you want to listen to the great originals. It's an album that needs more snap, more crackle, but less pop. Elvis doesn't quite live on, but nor will he be turning in his grave.
by Susie Goldring
Not the most flattering of reviews and probably right on the mark... but saying, that this album is bloody fun and well cool. Which more than suits me.
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
Nail & Head - another Bob speaks
That's the problem. iPods are too hard to use. You can never find a USB cable. And what's with iTunes launching automatically, that SCARES PEOPLE! And thank god you can turn off automatic sync, to make it harder. And can you PLEASE tell me how to buy from the iTunes Store! What's this credit card information they keep asking for? Do you know what that is? I don't want to borrow any money... Or is it a credit like at the Zune Store? A point? That you can use to purchase music?
Thank god we've got people like Rio Caraeff over at Universal Music to help me. To make it easy. Now selling music on micro-SD cards.
Yes, I've got a phone with a micro-SD slot. I always take the back off my GSM phone. Yes, I decided on GSM because I travel the world. I believe CDMA carriers provide better service in the States, but... Yes, I'm aware that you can buy a BlackBerry with both chips. But usually when I go to Europe I take my U.S. phone and purchase a local chip and then go on Twitter and let everybody know my overseas number. Now I can bring a collection of micro-SD albums with me overseas! I've purchased a tiny little binder to collect all of them. And I've got a special rubber glove that allows me to pick them up. I love reading the liner notes on my mobile phone. It's so informative. Then I search via 3G technology and look up all the other credits of the players. It's so great living in the material world.
ARE YOU FUCKING NUTS?
That's what's wrong with newspapers. Writing articles so neutral as to be uninformative. What's that cliche? If tomorrow Dick Cheney said the earth was flat, even the "New York Times" would write: "Roundness of the Earth in question."
I'd be happier if newspapers didn't even give any ink to this inane business concept. Or were at least more critical. The L.A. "Times" article linked below did have some negative comments, but what about the whopper they failed to contradict? That the iPod and iTunes are just too difficult to use and that the micro-SD card is the solution? That's like saying telephones are too hard to use, that's why everybody's switching to VOIP. No, it's worse... That's like saying Mac OS X is too hard to use and everybody's switching to LINUX!
Do you even know if you have a micro-SD slot in your phone? And, if you do, what are you going to do with the card inside when you buy an album? Talk about easy to lose... Let's go even worse... Can you remove the back off your phone? On the BlackBerries I've had it's nigh near impossible. As for the tiny card, you've got to raise a door, insert it just so, close the door, put the back back on... FOR EACH AND EVERY ALBUM?
Oh, it's easy on an iPhone. Which doesn't have a slot, but has built-in GIGS of memory! But that syncs to the impossible iTunes.
As for the BlackBerry itself. I won't say it's counterintuitive, but now that there's push e-mail on the iPhone, I'd switch if AT&T's connections weren't so heinous.
slotMusic is an insane idea. Dreamed up by a company that has difficulty competing with Apple because it's got no software and is a heartbeat away from being taken over by Samsung. As for the labels running with this idea... Yup, they endorse nonstarters like this, but come up with an idea to actually give people what they want, online, and they say no.
Furthermore, any success in music retail is going to come from LOWER prices, not higher. And, to quote the business cliche, companies are going to make it up on volume.
And one more thing. For those so ignorant, for those at the labels getting their music for free... The only people who care about DRM/copyright protection ARE THOSE WHO ARE STEALING THEIR MUSIC! People who pay at the iTunes Store don't give a shit. Which is why the DRM-free tracks at Amazon and eventually MySpace Music are not taking over the market. You hear a lot of noise from the Net prognosticators, but those savvy enough to bitch online are also savvy enough to use BitTorrent.
Utterly ridiculous idea doomed to failure.
Next!
Thank god we've got people like Rio Caraeff over at Universal Music to help me. To make it easy. Now selling music on micro-SD cards.
Yes, I've got a phone with a micro-SD slot. I always take the back off my GSM phone. Yes, I decided on GSM because I travel the world. I believe CDMA carriers provide better service in the States, but... Yes, I'm aware that you can buy a BlackBerry with both chips. But usually when I go to Europe I take my U.S. phone and purchase a local chip and then go on Twitter and let everybody know my overseas number. Now I can bring a collection of micro-SD albums with me overseas! I've purchased a tiny little binder to collect all of them. And I've got a special rubber glove that allows me to pick them up. I love reading the liner notes on my mobile phone. It's so informative. Then I search via 3G technology and look up all the other credits of the players. It's so great living in the material world.
ARE YOU FUCKING NUTS?
That's what's wrong with newspapers. Writing articles so neutral as to be uninformative. What's that cliche? If tomorrow Dick Cheney said the earth was flat, even the "New York Times" would write: "Roundness of the Earth in question."
I'd be happier if newspapers didn't even give any ink to this inane business concept. Or were at least more critical. The L.A. "Times" article linked below did have some negative comments, but what about the whopper they failed to contradict? That the iPod and iTunes are just too difficult to use and that the micro-SD card is the solution? That's like saying telephones are too hard to use, that's why everybody's switching to VOIP. No, it's worse... That's like saying Mac OS X is too hard to use and everybody's switching to LINUX!
Do you even know if you have a micro-SD slot in your phone? And, if you do, what are you going to do with the card inside when you buy an album? Talk about easy to lose... Let's go even worse... Can you remove the back off your phone? On the BlackBerries I've had it's nigh near impossible. As for the tiny card, you've got to raise a door, insert it just so, close the door, put the back back on... FOR EACH AND EVERY ALBUM?
Oh, it's easy on an iPhone. Which doesn't have a slot, but has built-in GIGS of memory! But that syncs to the impossible iTunes.
As for the BlackBerry itself. I won't say it's counterintuitive, but now that there's push e-mail on the iPhone, I'd switch if AT&T's connections weren't so heinous.
slotMusic is an insane idea. Dreamed up by a company that has difficulty competing with Apple because it's got no software and is a heartbeat away from being taken over by Samsung. As for the labels running with this idea... Yup, they endorse nonstarters like this, but come up with an idea to actually give people what they want, online, and they say no.
Furthermore, any success in music retail is going to come from LOWER prices, not higher. And, to quote the business cliche, companies are going to make it up on volume.
And one more thing. For those so ignorant, for those at the labels getting their music for free... The only people who care about DRM/copyright protection ARE THOSE WHO ARE STEALING THEIR MUSIC! People who pay at the iTunes Store don't give a shit. Which is why the DRM-free tracks at Amazon and eventually MySpace Music are not taking over the market. You hear a lot of noise from the Net prognosticators, but those savvy enough to bitch online are also savvy enough to use BitTorrent.
Utterly ridiculous idea doomed to failure.
Next!
Bob Lefsetz, visit the archive
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
Day One: Great additions to the CD collection
Apart from the plethoria of tracks and mixes I shall be grabbing off the net this week I am very excited about three albums I'm getting on CD - you know proper released music in the container the record company deems best to sell said music in/on.
Day One / Album One
Kimya Dawson - Alphabutt
Solo and as half of Moldy Peaches, Dawson has applied child-like wisdom and humor to adult issues like crack, romantic love, and the Iraq war. So it makes peculiar sense that she'd follow the freak success of the Juno soundtrack, which featured her on seven tracks, with a set of genuine kids songs. (She also recently became a mom.) But by the time she's halfway through the scatological title track — "C is for cat butt, D is for doo-doo" — it's clear this ain't Nickelodeon. Some songs are sneakily grown-up: On the rockabilly-ish "Bobby-O," the pink Speedo-clad hero loses his job as a water aerobics instructor because "he did something naughty/what it is, we'll never know," while the shimmering "Happy Home (Keep On Writing)" is about paying off student loans and finding your creative voice. Others are strictly inside jokes: it's hard to imagine anyone not involved with toilet-training enduring "Pee-Pee In The Potty" more than once, if that. Mostly, though, this toy-trainwreck of kazoos, building blocks, Fisher-Price pianos and acoustic guitars is childish joy for all ages. From Rolling Stone
One listen thus far - at work so it don'treally count as I couldn't focus on the lyrics. Now to transfer said album tothe bobpod foreasy listening and then afterdinner I am going to wallow in kiddylike gleeoverthis baby.
Day One / Album One
Kimya Dawson - Alphabutt
Solo and as half of Moldy Peaches, Dawson has applied child-like wisdom and humor to adult issues like crack, romantic love, and the Iraq war. So it makes peculiar sense that she'd follow the freak success of the Juno soundtrack, which featured her on seven tracks, with a set of genuine kids songs. (She also recently became a mom.) But by the time she's halfway through the scatological title track — "C is for cat butt, D is for doo-doo" — it's clear this ain't Nickelodeon. Some songs are sneakily grown-up: On the rockabilly-ish "Bobby-O," the pink Speedo-clad hero loses his job as a water aerobics instructor because "he did something naughty/what it is, we'll never know," while the shimmering "Happy Home (Keep On Writing)" is about paying off student loans and finding your creative voice. Others are strictly inside jokes: it's hard to imagine anyone not involved with toilet-training enduring "Pee-Pee In The Potty" more than once, if that. Mostly, though, this toy-trainwreck of kazoos, building blocks, Fisher-Price pianos and acoustic guitars is childish joy for all ages. From Rolling Stone
One listen thus far - at work so it don'treally count as I couldn't focus on the lyrics. Now to transfer said album tothe bobpod foreasy listening and then afterdinner I am going to wallow in kiddylike gleeoverthis baby.
On the format front, its in a cool digi pack with a foldout lyric sheet that has a picture to colour in on the back - she so knows her target market... now if I could find me crayons...
Saturday, September 20, 2008
Friday, September 19, 2008
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So I went along to the awards the other evening and had a great night - I cleverly managed to miss most of the presentations - snuck out and...
