Monday 31 August 2009
Music and Politics
I feel compelled to write about this considering just reading the news on Madonna rearing her wrinkly head in going to Eastern Europe (ever been there before Madonna???) and preach to Romanian residents at a concert that they’ve probably paid a lot of Leu (Romanian currency) for to be told you are prejudice against Romanian Gypsy’s (or Roma people), what right does she have to do this, play your songs and get the extortionate amount of money you get paid to do and lets be honest if it wasn’t for a line of ‘in’ producers and collaborators you’d still be using really bad synth lines talking about holidays.
Not withstanding the abuse of Roma people is wrong in many contexts not just in Romania but also in Eastern Europe, but isn’t this the problem of a nation and its people and not some pop act who calls it upon herself to get involved (even if you musicians are Roma people, lets just say there’s always a PR spin on that account). Long introduction I know but politics, most people hate the word yet many musicians feel it necessary to fight a cause they have no say and if anything boosts careers once it hits a plateau of endless riffs, choruses and never ending sell out concerts.
Case studies please…. The pioneer of Bob Geldof (ever heard of Midge Urie hmmmm?) and his famous ‘give us your money (I’m actually adopting an Irish accent when writing this), in July of 1985, this from a joke of a star who wrote famously about not liking Mondays (good thing this was on a Saturday). Not to give the impression that the intentions aren’t good, of course they are, but to think that high attendance levels and music will change things is very naïve at best.
Live 8 concert 2 July 2005, a special spectacle in which it showed stars care about the 3rd world, to raise awareness of the G8 summit, a summit in which to all purposes is an informal meeting between nations to discuss world issues, how can musicians shape the way these meetings are held, I doubt through Razorlight singing Golden Touch or Snoop Dogg rapping through his back catalogue (but it was good seeing Pink Floyd reunite), the point is again that Music and Politics should be parallel in their intentions, to raise awareness to influence is definitely a good thing but when do we draw the line.
Now to the fans who these artists are trying to influence, I would ask how many of them who got picked to go to Live 8 wanted to see The Who or wanted to see awareness issues of Civil unrest in Rwanda and The Congo, I think publicly we would get the first but privately I feel a different answer lays. To get the full picture its not about showing disturbing images in front of a mass audience, its trying to understand these issues, these nations in Africa, Central Asia and South America, the lack of infrastructure, civil unrest, dictatorship (some may call communism) and trade deals with developed countries, these are the issues people need to understand not giving £3 a month because people have seen a harrowing image on the T.V screen, once a nation has an understanding then maybe it can help, but to have Bono go on about the struggles while he’s a millionaire doesn’t speak to those people of intelligence.
A new breed of stars have got on the case like Bono, Chris Martin to name a few and others who practice philanthropy (which will no doubt end up with a cause to save the world), but with politics comes difficulties, a difficulty which these ‘stars’ don’t understand and are ultimately contradicting by living such extravagant millionaire lifestyles, when you see Bono ask him to govern a country with political ties or give his millions away?? Tone it down stars, tone it down, your message is not without merit but attempting mass artistic fortitude makes you seem like your going to far.
Current listen – Beak: Iron Action (Geoff Barrow)
Not withstanding the abuse of Roma people is wrong in many contexts not just in Romania but also in Eastern Europe, but isn’t this the problem of a nation and its people and not some pop act who calls it upon herself to get involved (even if you musicians are Roma people, lets just say there’s always a PR spin on that account). Long introduction I know but politics, most people hate the word yet many musicians feel it necessary to fight a cause they have no say and if anything boosts careers once it hits a plateau of endless riffs, choruses and never ending sell out concerts.
Case studies please…. The pioneer of Bob Geldof (ever heard of Midge Urie hmmmm?) and his famous ‘give us your money (I’m actually adopting an Irish accent when writing this), in July of 1985, this from a joke of a star who wrote famously about not liking Mondays (good thing this was on a Saturday). Not to give the impression that the intentions aren’t good, of course they are, but to think that high attendance levels and music will change things is very naïve at best.
Live 8 concert 2 July 2005, a special spectacle in which it showed stars care about the 3rd world, to raise awareness of the G8 summit, a summit in which to all purposes is an informal meeting between nations to discuss world issues, how can musicians shape the way these meetings are held, I doubt through Razorlight singing Golden Touch or Snoop Dogg rapping through his back catalogue (but it was good seeing Pink Floyd reunite), the point is again that Music and Politics should be parallel in their intentions, to raise awareness to influence is definitely a good thing but when do we draw the line.
Now to the fans who these artists are trying to influence, I would ask how many of them who got picked to go to Live 8 wanted to see The Who or wanted to see awareness issues of Civil unrest in Rwanda and The Congo, I think publicly we would get the first but privately I feel a different answer lays. To get the full picture its not about showing disturbing images in front of a mass audience, its trying to understand these issues, these nations in Africa, Central Asia and South America, the lack of infrastructure, civil unrest, dictatorship (some may call communism) and trade deals with developed countries, these are the issues people need to understand not giving £3 a month because people have seen a harrowing image on the T.V screen, once a nation has an understanding then maybe it can help, but to have Bono go on about the struggles while he’s a millionaire doesn’t speak to those people of intelligence.
A new breed of stars have got on the case like Bono, Chris Martin to name a few and others who practice philanthropy (which will no doubt end up with a cause to save the world), but with politics comes difficulties, a difficulty which these ‘stars’ don’t understand and are ultimately contradicting by living such extravagant millionaire lifestyles, when you see Bono ask him to govern a country with political ties or give his millions away?? Tone it down stars, tone it down, your message is not without merit but attempting mass artistic fortitude makes you seem like your going to far.
Current listen – Beak: Iron Action (Geoff Barrow)
Sunday 16 August 2009
Further a field
I feel limiting blogs to music is not going to happen so from now on this blog will encompass all things that are on my mind, mainly business, music and politics.
Monday 3 August 2009
Hip-hop, Society........and The Entrepreneur
Hip hop, Society and….. The Entrepreneur
For reasons unknown (a famous song in a entirely different context) but for now we shall use it for this title, the reason for the said title is the plethora of difference between what we associate with hip-hop, society and business (for this instance we’ll use the entrepreneur) since the republican ramshackles of Bush and Reagan(nomics) and present day liberalisation which has seen public angst against prejudice turn into a popularity contest on MTV on who shall reach number 1 (less we forget over sampled beats).
Parties on all sides have noted the vulgarity of which hip-hop has been cited, lyrics at a time were seen to be merely provocative and merely suggestive has turned into being blatant and overly obscene in my opinion. To use a quote ‘Music videos have become machismo fairy tales that have more "ogre and ass" scenes than the Shrek trilogy’. But the problem is for what demographic (which in all intents and purposes are not supposed to purchase ‘read the extreme lyrics tab in black and white) are picking up the latest album by what we call today’s hip-hop stars.
Now I’m no person supporting a cause for anything (that’ll be judged by the 22 people that will brush across this and form an opinion, lets just say not enough for a revolution….or a pay cheque for that matter!), but I look back to hip-hop in the 80’s and early 90’s especially in the USA where a new spark was being lit, music that had been underground since the black panther movement was starting to surface, to this we look at the revelation of N.W.A, Grandmaster flash, Public Enemy, Rakim, early producers like Marley Mal and for business the ‘Don’ shall we say that was and still is Russell Simmons and co-founder and uber producer Rick Rubin.
Now with this we had a message that spread the problems in inner city America (and lets be honest not the most clean cut of lyrics) but it gave people a voice not just of problems but also opportunity in a society for people
Now that being looked at we have heard a voice and people (I say people not to typecast an overriding sense to a particular race). This voice being heard gave power, new opportunity and a new sense of hope and posterity to new voices wanting to spread this message.
I say this but looking at hip-hop nowadays watching Chris Rock who in one of his comedy shows stated that ‘Women don’t give a fuck about the song, as long as the beat is good, she’s gonna dance!’ (then went on to give his version of such a song, something along the lines of something in ears and eyes), but this although funny statement does bring about the sense of what hip-hop means to people nowadays and what it means to artists.
‘I’m reporting from the streets’ is the common argument for hip-hop artists these days and it appears it always has been but I get more and more critical when reporting from the streets gives credence to a continuous stream of pointless lyrics that pertain to a diamond necklace, a Bentley, a lady’s ass or how she gave good felacio last night.
Now this is not a problem for me(my opinion SHALL BE HEARD! In this Google blogger!), for the millions of dollars companies are willing to pay and media which strives for a celebrity story it seems the norm nowadays, but from what hip hop was about to what it is now it’s a sad indictment of what is means to people.
The power used to be with the artist also, this new sense of excitement gave a wheel to the entrepreneur, lets talk Suge Knight at Deathrow Records (granted a very power hungry individual who had since paid his dues), Damon Dash, Shawn Carter and Kareem ‘Biggs’ Burke who started Roca-a-Fella records in 1996, Irv Gotti with Murder Inc Records, Master P with No Limit Records, with many more artists getting their share of power (all of which started in the early to mid 90’s).
This doesn’t happen anymore and its quite sad that the message being spread is not one of being smart, being entrepreneurial and mixing this with talent, but with artists these days I feel its basically you’ve got one or the other not all 3, what started off with artists having all 3 has been blinded by media spotlight giving a sense of one or the other to an artist and never all three.
For this we can call upon the greed of record labels, the greed of the artists, the greed of the media to have a story…..or we can look at a foundation that began as a movement and gave people a voice being lost in the wind, can we get this back? Who knows but with hip-hop at the moment the same message which has been spread (be interesting to see what you think that is) since the dawn of high media interest, as many artists say ‘we don’t give a fuck’, well maybe you should and ask yourself what your genre used to represent.
P.S The first ever hip-hop song I listened to properly was Deep Cover in 1991 by Dr Dre and his young mentor Snoop Doggy Dogg.
For reasons unknown (a famous song in a entirely different context) but for now we shall use it for this title, the reason for the said title is the plethora of difference between what we associate with hip-hop, society and business (for this instance we’ll use the entrepreneur) since the republican ramshackles of Bush and Reagan(nomics) and present day liberalisation which has seen public angst against prejudice turn into a popularity contest on MTV on who shall reach number 1 (less we forget over sampled beats).
Parties on all sides have noted the vulgarity of which hip-hop has been cited, lyrics at a time were seen to be merely provocative and merely suggestive has turned into being blatant and overly obscene in my opinion. To use a quote ‘Music videos have become machismo fairy tales that have more "ogre and ass" scenes than the Shrek trilogy’. But the problem is for what demographic (which in all intents and purposes are not supposed to purchase ‘read the extreme lyrics tab in black and white) are picking up the latest album by what we call today’s hip-hop stars.
Now I’m no person supporting a cause for anything (that’ll be judged by the 22 people that will brush across this and form an opinion, lets just say not enough for a revolution….or a pay cheque for that matter!), but I look back to hip-hop in the 80’s and early 90’s especially in the USA where a new spark was being lit, music that had been underground since the black panther movement was starting to surface, to this we look at the revelation of N.W.A, Grandmaster flash, Public Enemy, Rakim, early producers like Marley Mal and for business the ‘Don’ shall we say that was and still is Russell Simmons and co-founder and uber producer Rick Rubin.
Now with this we had a message that spread the problems in inner city America (and lets be honest not the most clean cut of lyrics) but it gave people a voice not just of problems but also opportunity in a society for people
Now that being looked at we have heard a voice and people (I say people not to typecast an overriding sense to a particular race). This voice being heard gave power, new opportunity and a new sense of hope and posterity to new voices wanting to spread this message.
I say this but looking at hip-hop nowadays watching Chris Rock who in one of his comedy shows stated that ‘Women don’t give a fuck about the song, as long as the beat is good, she’s gonna dance!’ (then went on to give his version of such a song, something along the lines of something in ears and eyes), but this although funny statement does bring about the sense of what hip-hop means to people nowadays and what it means to artists.
‘I’m reporting from the streets’ is the common argument for hip-hop artists these days and it appears it always has been but I get more and more critical when reporting from the streets gives credence to a continuous stream of pointless lyrics that pertain to a diamond necklace, a Bentley, a lady’s ass or how she gave good felacio last night.
Now this is not a problem for me(my opinion SHALL BE HEARD! In this Google blogger!), for the millions of dollars companies are willing to pay and media which strives for a celebrity story it seems the norm nowadays, but from what hip hop was about to what it is now it’s a sad indictment of what is means to people.
The power used to be with the artist also, this new sense of excitement gave a wheel to the entrepreneur, lets talk Suge Knight at Deathrow Records (granted a very power hungry individual who had since paid his dues), Damon Dash, Shawn Carter and Kareem ‘Biggs’ Burke who started Roca-a-Fella records in 1996, Irv Gotti with Murder Inc Records, Master P with No Limit Records, with many more artists getting their share of power (all of which started in the early to mid 90’s).
This doesn’t happen anymore and its quite sad that the message being spread is not one of being smart, being entrepreneurial and mixing this with talent, but with artists these days I feel its basically you’ve got one or the other not all 3, what started off with artists having all 3 has been blinded by media spotlight giving a sense of one or the other to an artist and never all three.
For this we can call upon the greed of record labels, the greed of the artists, the greed of the media to have a story…..or we can look at a foundation that began as a movement and gave people a voice being lost in the wind, can we get this back? Who knows but with hip-hop at the moment the same message which has been spread (be interesting to see what you think that is) since the dawn of high media interest, as many artists say ‘we don’t give a fuck’, well maybe you should and ask yourself what your genre used to represent.
P.S The first ever hip-hop song I listened to properly was Deep Cover in 1991 by Dr Dre and his young mentor Snoop Doggy Dogg.
Sunday 5 July 2009
The difficult second album syndrome
Should start with something simple I suppose but with many explanations for differing results of the somewhat (but not always) second album.
Picture the scenario if you will----- Band is underground, band/Artist(s) is cool, band/Artists(s) signs record deal (is a major or indepedent prevelant in these situations), band/Artist(s) releases classic first album and then what happens???
Down the years we've seen so many classic albums it hurts on so many different music genre's, whether its Public enemy's It takes a nation of millions to hold us back' to The Strokes 'Is this it' which pioneered an indie slew of followers (who lets say haven't quite lived up to such heights) but for so many bands debut album heighs are a paradox to the usual second album lows.
Getting inspiration from this, I watched 'Meeting people is easy', a dark look into the band Radiohead as they released 2 career defining albums in 'The Bends' and 'OK computer', the meteriocal rise as seen in the film caused lead singer Thom Yorke to nearly have a breakdown, is the complex nature of going from local heroes to national greats and possible international superstars a culprit in this?
Can we blame the record labels (as mentioned earlier), the platform is laid with a solid debut album, the second album gives the band/artist(s) a chance to transcend their original fanbase and usually infiltrate the mainstream, is the pressure from major labels a factor in this seemingly endless reign of lacklustre second albums.
If we look at the schedule the bands/artists hit with a debut classic especially in today's modern world of sucking every last ounce of performance, the chance to cultivate and prepare a classic second record could be heralded as to much to bear when champagne parties, after party antics, money and tour bus stories take to the forefront (front page or otherwise).
Not sounding too miserable though as over the years we have seen some classic second albums which have made ordinary folk like you and me have some faith in the magic of talent such as 'aha shake heartbreak(i must take a modern appraoch)', R.E.M's 'The Reckoning', 'The Freewheeling Bob Dylan', Closer (R.I.P Mr Curtis), 'The Bends' (thank you Yorke, Greenwood(s)), Selway and Etheridge, 'Loveless' (yes Shields!) and inevitably the rightful ego of the Gallaghers on 'what's the story morning glory'.
I think the justification of naming these bands/artists is that they have stood the test of time through their sheer brilliance of writing, recording (and yes if you can afford Nigel Godrich then it helps) and balancing touring with the need to fulfill us music dracula's thurst for more.
Today though through the eyes of media a truly classic second album is never going to happen(in my opnion). People need something fresh and the media feeds this with ridiculously overhyped column inches to how this band will SAVE THE WORLD!!! with a quick note on the 'much anticipated' second album to which they have found the next SAVE THE WORLD!! band.
There many probable reasons for an apparent lacklustre amount of great or even good second albums in this year 2009 (cheap shot cough*The Enemy*cough, im sure talking about the closure of steel works and how your Peugout doesnt start seems like a distant memory). I put this down in today's modern culture obsession with the mainstream (cliche i know but the truth hurts) aswell as many other reasons, share???
I'll leave you with this thought, Primary Colours by the Horrors, a true innovative stance on a second album (80's Kraut-rock redefined) with the producing tweaks of Geoff Barrow and seemingly Kevin Shields (all we needed was the elegance of Bilinda Butcher), but will this album get the credit it truly deserves, we shall see.
Leon x
Picture the scenario if you will----- Band is underground, band/Artist(s) is cool, band/Artists(s) signs record deal (is a major or indepedent prevelant in these situations), band/Artist(s) releases classic first album and then what happens???
Down the years we've seen so many classic albums it hurts on so many different music genre's, whether its Public enemy's It takes a nation of millions to hold us back' to The Strokes 'Is this it' which pioneered an indie slew of followers (who lets say haven't quite lived up to such heights) but for so many bands debut album heighs are a paradox to the usual second album lows.
Getting inspiration from this, I watched 'Meeting people is easy', a dark look into the band Radiohead as they released 2 career defining albums in 'The Bends' and 'OK computer', the meteriocal rise as seen in the film caused lead singer Thom Yorke to nearly have a breakdown, is the complex nature of going from local heroes to national greats and possible international superstars a culprit in this?
Can we blame the record labels (as mentioned earlier), the platform is laid with a solid debut album, the second album gives the band/artist(s) a chance to transcend their original fanbase and usually infiltrate the mainstream, is the pressure from major labels a factor in this seemingly endless reign of lacklustre second albums.
If we look at the schedule the bands/artists hit with a debut classic especially in today's modern world of sucking every last ounce of performance, the chance to cultivate and prepare a classic second record could be heralded as to much to bear when champagne parties, after party antics, money and tour bus stories take to the forefront (front page or otherwise).
Not sounding too miserable though as over the years we have seen some classic second albums which have made ordinary folk like you and me have some faith in the magic of talent such as 'aha shake heartbreak(i must take a modern appraoch)', R.E.M's 'The Reckoning', 'The Freewheeling Bob Dylan', Closer (R.I.P Mr Curtis), 'The Bends' (thank you Yorke, Greenwood(s)), Selway and Etheridge, 'Loveless' (yes Shields!) and inevitably the rightful ego of the Gallaghers on 'what's the story morning glory'.
I think the justification of naming these bands/artists is that they have stood the test of time through their sheer brilliance of writing, recording (and yes if you can afford Nigel Godrich then it helps) and balancing touring with the need to fulfill us music dracula's thurst for more.
Today though through the eyes of media a truly classic second album is never going to happen(in my opnion). People need something fresh and the media feeds this with ridiculously overhyped column inches to how this band will SAVE THE WORLD!!! with a quick note on the 'much anticipated' second album to which they have found the next SAVE THE WORLD!! band.
There many probable reasons for an apparent lacklustre amount of great or even good second albums in this year 2009 (cheap shot cough*The Enemy*cough, im sure talking about the closure of steel works and how your Peugout doesnt start seems like a distant memory). I put this down in today's modern culture obsession with the mainstream (cliche i know but the truth hurts) aswell as many other reasons, share???
I'll leave you with this thought, Primary Colours by the Horrors, a true innovative stance on a second album (80's Kraut-rock redefined) with the producing tweaks of Geoff Barrow and seemingly Kevin Shields (all we needed was the elegance of Bilinda Butcher), but will this album get the credit it truly deserves, we shall see.
Leon x
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