Tag Archives: music

Oct 5 2011

Music – a sense of deja vu?

As you may guess, if you are a regular reader, I am a big fan of music. My iTunes library comprises 6,328 albums or 52,640 tracks. If I had 145.2 days I could listen to it all (that would take me until Saturday 15th February around 11am).

But my oldest son has recently bought a turntable (and has spent a small fortune on LP’s!)

And this has got me thinking…

I have about 150 albums at the back of my garage (somewhere) – these were bought at the time when music was not just great – it was brilliant. The Boomtown Rats, Bowie, Blondie, more Bowie, The Clash, Sex Pistols et al.

So I am wondering, should I get a turntable again? iPods celebrated their 10th birthday recently, and digital music has changed our lives – millions now wander round with those little white ear buds in. Oblivious to the world around them. I have thousands of tracks of music in my car. Thousands on my phone, another load on my iPad.

But I think I listen to music differently now. I used to actually listen to it, now I wonder if it is just on as background stuff? Some of it isn’t – but a lot of the time, I use it to help me concentrate / avoid distractions.

But when I used to listen to music I’m not sure this was the case?

Will the turntable make me listen to the music again? If I do, I have a feeling I will be reverting to the stuff I bought 30 years ago though!

May 16 2011

Eurovision – why?

The Eurovision Song Contest has not been the same since Abba won in 1974 with Waterloo.

It has to be the most pointless of TV in the entire year.

Firstly we always have a rubbish entry – this year’s was no different. Although I was amused that the boys in Blue had been quite stroppy with the UK (and Radio stations) in the run up to the competition. Simon Webbe, singer with the group, said, “We’re trying to do this for our country and our country isn’t backing us”. That’s not true. The song is rubbish and Blue are some way past their sell-by date. Oh, and you are doing it to revive your one-hit-wonder career.

I caught some of the show, but wished I hadn’t. It was the usual drivel, but somehow worse. Anything with Jedward must be considered some form of talent-less show. And they beat the UK?

But that’s not the point to this post. The point is that there is no point to the competition. It is simply a vote for your mates. And in Europe we don’t have any. Quite a lot of the votes seem to be for neighbours. Is this for fear of them attacking?

In Europe they take the competition seriously. Here we treat it with the contempt it deserves. Other Countries can’t understand why we have a sarcastic tone. Do they not realise that we know what the game is? It’s a bit like the world Cup Committee – we get sucked into a welcome party and are encouraged to spend millions to get our ‘dead cert’ to the race line, only to have our hopes dashed at the death.

I have no idea why we bother entering. We would be better spending the money on real talent here in the UK – and let Europe have their little “mates” show to themselves? That would get my vote.

Apr 30 2011

CD’s the dilemma

I have blogged before about my music collection – and the fact that I buy CD’s not downloaded music. But it looks like I am in the minority. The major multiple retailers like HMV are struggling as sales of CD’s plummet.

Conversely Vinyl is making a comeback – especially as artists realise that this is a great way of making money out of ‘record’ sales.

Coupled with this is the expansion of space I need for my CD collection. I have lost count of the number, the rack is full – and they are beginning to pile up on top of it. They represent a lot of history and many happy memories. I know what I have in the collection – I doubt any of it is worth anything in reality – just sentimental value.

Downloading isn’t quite the same. That’s even ignoring the lower quality.

MY entire music collection is now held on itunes – and amounts to 300gB of data. Too much for the ipods I have. It is backed up three times (the thought of re-digitising it doesn’t appeal!)

I have seen a Brennan system which might be the answer. It looks great – and it is British! But it too looks like it wants to compress the music (like itunes does). So if I buy it, what do I do with all of those CD’s. Do I box them up and put them in the corner of the loft which doesn’t have stuff piled up? Will I even fetch them down again?

Any ideas? (please don’t say buy another CD rack…)

Apr 10 2011

What I’m listening to…

I get through quite a lot of music; in the last month I have spent hours on planes and in my car – perfect time to disappear in music.

I tend to wear out an album before moving on – and one album that has really caught my ear is The View’s Bread and Circuses. I have it in the car, office, phone and ipod. It is my album of the year (so far).

I saw them at The Isle of Wight in 2009 (it’s only 61 days to the 2011 event – I need to get the febreze ready for the tent).

It’s their third album and, I think, their best. The Scottish accents are really obvious on the record. They hail from Dundee (where my wife Lesley’s parents are from). My favourite track is ‘the best last forever’ – but in reality there are few weak tracks!

I wonder what I will be listening to next? I have a feeling it may the Guillemots new album Walk the River – out on the 18th April….

Dec 18 2010

Springsteen – at his best!

I have seen Sprinsteen twice – recently on his Seeger Sessions tour on a cold winter night in Sheffield, but before that in 1993 at The Milton Keynes Bowl. He was brilliant on both occasions – although I went with low expectations frst time round.

I bought his new album from HMV a couple of weeks ago, but when I got home ready to burn onto itunes the CD’s were missing! I emailed HMV who were really helpful and posted out a new CD. The Post Office managed to take eight days to deliver them, but that’s not HMV’s fault!

But I digress. The ‘new’ album is brilliant. It’s brilliant partly because it’s not really new. It might be his 17th studio album, but the material is from the ‘Darkness on the edge of town’ sessions 1976-78. And this is a great period in music – probably my favourite. These were formative years…

The music has some of the late 70′s influences – including punk. There is a superb cover of Patti Smith’s Because The Night – which I featured in my top ten songs of all time just over a year ago here. I hadn’t realised that the song was written by Smith and Springsteen – so ‘cover’ is perhaps the wrong word!

Springsteen has said that the sounds are “Lean”, “angry” and “relentless”. This pretty much sums it up!

So, if you are looking for a Christmas present for someone – or just yourself – I can whole heartedly recommend this as a perfect solution!

Nov 20 2010

The list of bands I have seen

Some time ago, I thought it would be good to try and write down who I have seen play live – over the last thirty years or so!

This is a herculean task! But I have today started it. I have created a new page here – which will add to as and when I get the chance – and my grey cells recall exactly who I have seen. There are quite a few bands!

This might take some time…

Nov 7 2010

The state of the music industry?

I was in HMV in Nottingham last week and couldn’t help but notice that the shop floor has changed. The humble CD (of which I have rather a lot) is being squeezed and marginalised into a smaller and smaller place. In fact it is now almost invisible when you walk in.

It seems that the sales of CD’s are crumbling. The internet has probably played quite a big part in this shift. File-sharing has changed the Industry – although there is evidence that suggests that illegal downloaders actually spend more money on music than other fans!

The live music scene is changing – probably boosted by a fairly massive festival scene in the UK. But gigs generally are now easier to find (I only have to look at my forthcoming ticket list – Gorillaz, Squeeze, Faithless and The Kings of Leon. And thats without the Isle of Wight Festival… Groups have realised that they can make more from touring than the old ways of sitting back on a completed album. Mumford and Sons played recently in New York – to 4,000 people. This was in spite of a lack of airplay! These bands have learned that they must tour ceaselessly and they connect with their fans using Facebook, Twitter and their own fan pages.

They have also learned to give away the base level material – and then offer bonus tracks at a premium – either as ‘special editions’ or ‘signed’. Offering something unique can then put them back in the black.

New York is an interesting barometer. The last time I was there the Virgin Megastore in Times Square had closed – which left them with no big music outlets left. There are some cool small indies left – particularly in the Village.

The music scene is changing – but I still like my CD’s – they are a bit like having a back up – just in case I lose / break my various ipods / applemacs!

Aug 21 2010

Music – having a good time!

Last week the PRS released some interesting facts about the state of the UK music industry – up to the end of 2009.

Clockwork Lights - the next big thing?

They found that the UK music industry was worth £3.9bn in 2009, up 4.7% on 2008. Retail spend stabilised on recorded music including CDs, downloads, music DVDs and streaming. Live music revenues have increased 9.4% to £1.5bn including direct ticket sales, secondary ticketing and ‘on the night’ spend. And recorded music revenues in the UK are shown to be larger than the US when expressed per head of population.

At last the price of a CD is coming down with the average now at £7.99, but often lower prices can be found by shopping around.

So the music industry is having a good time!

But the gap is widening between the superstars at the top and grass roots bands. With AC/DC rumoured to have been paid £3.5m for their Download appearance in 2010 and the closure of many pubs where bands start out – this may be a trend for some time to come. My sons band know this all too well. Setting out is tough – they have released an EP here – which they paid for themselves. It’s a far cry from the supergroups. But everyone starts somewhere!

It is interesting that music bucks the general economic situation – perhaps we still need cheering up from time to time. If I am not listening to Radio 4 in my car I am generally plugged into my itunes library. I am slowly working through the 14,200 songs!

I still buy CD’s as I see it as DRM free, of the highest quality and with its own back up! I do occasionally download music, but not from the itunes store anymore – generally from the Amazon MP3 store.

I am looking forward to the day when Jack’s band play the Isle of Wight…and I can hang around backstage….

Jun 14 2010

Slumming it on the Isle of Wight …

Well I am back home after a long weekend – on the Isle of Wight and close to nature! In my tent! After a very smooth cruise-liner type crossing courtesy of Red Funnel and a short drive to the mother of all car parks!

Pink flies at the Isle of Wight 2010

As I blogged about last week, I went to my seventh Isle of Wight Music Festival. This is the highlight of the musical calendar! I go with my old mate Jeremy – and we do this properly!

In the preceding six years we had minutes of rain – but the record was bound to be broken. It rained when we arrived and on the last night – leaving Glastonbury type mud in the ‘high traffic’ areas.

The portable luxury hotel (mine has two rooms) is home for four days. Showers are sponsored by Evian. The toilets at the festival site are not exactly ‘Fairtrade‘. They are quite basic – actually just below basic. Think hole in the ground – but worse. So the top gear top tip is to walk into Newport and get a healthy breakfast at Quay Arts – and use their fine facilities!

As for the music – the brilliant included The Members, Squeeze, Suzi Quatro (utterly brilliant!), Spandau Ballet (no really!), Florence & The Machine (barking mad), Bombay Bicycle Club, Biiffy Clyro, Vampire Weekend, Blondie and James.

Blondie struts her stuff

The average included Crowded House (who despite having one, lost the crowd) and The Editors (who were a bit too sure of themselves). The very average, for me, was Jay-Z. I did listen for 10 minutes and that is my ration for a lifetime!

There has always been a surprise at the show – and the surprise was Pink. It’s not my kind of music, but I have to admit that the ‘show’ she puts on is amazing. It is pure theatre – and she clearly has some issues with getting a ‘rush’. The show starts when she drops out of a box suspended above the stage, she comes out into the crown in a giant hamster wheel and then at the end of the show ‘flies out into the crowd! Great fun – I have no idea what the music was like though.

The headline was Sir Paul McCartney. After a slow start he seemed to hit the spot with some Beatles numbers and the show then got going. The high point was ‘Live & Let Die‘ which was fantastic. I promised myself not to come away singing ‘Hey Jude’…

The whole line-up was an eclectic mix, but overall one of the best.

Oren, Ginger and Jez at the Isle of Wight

The great news is that although we are a little bit older than the average person there – we met a great couple who were over from Mexico. They were staying on the Island with friends – and had pushed their way to the front before Spandau Ballet. It was Oren’s 80th birthday – and his stainless steel knee and ‘pinned and screwed’ spine didn’t stop him and his wife, Ginger, dancing around.

Fantastic – and there is hope for me (and Jez) yet!

2010 – the year of the ageing rockers – and their fans?

Jun 2 2010

where were you when….

As the clock ticks down to my Isle of Wight trip I was thinking about music. It plays quite a big part in my life. I love watching live music and have really lost count of who I have seen (I keep promising to write myself a list!). I also use music when I am working – it helps me concentrate in my open plan office – it also gives other people a clue that I am concentrating (thus would prefer not to be disturbed…)

Little Boots in New York - photographed by me!

I heard someone remark on the radio about where people where when things happened (notably Kennedy’s Assassination – which rocked various Nations). The next item was about schools and I wondered if the schools and places I had been to had particular songs attributable…

So here goes!

Firbeck Infants and Junior Wollaton Nottingham – Long Haired Lover from Liverpool – Little Jimmy Osmond
Arnold Hill Comprehensive Nottingham- Abba Waterloo
Ainsdale Comprehensive Southport – Ca Plane Pour Moi – Plastic Betrand
Southport Technical College – Blondie – Sunday Girl
Bilborough College Nottingham – The Boomtown Rats (generally!)
Basford Hall College – Ian Dury – Reasons to be Cheerful (Part 3)
Trent Polytechnic (1st time) – The Jam – Going Underground
Trent Polytechnic (2nd time) – New Order – Blue Monday

I will put my thinking cap on for workplaces and music…

p.s. I didn’t say I liked all the above songs!