Welcome to my World
Questions…
Filed in Welcome to my World by Tom Artrocker at 19.15pm on 01 March 10ARTROCKERS,
Some questions for you;
Is it possible to be a cat person and a dog person at the same time?
Do The Tories have ANY policies? If so, will they ever tell us what they are?
Does Paul Weller put on his accent?
Is SxSW the power it once was?
If my company makes a multi-billion pound loss can I expect a bonus?
Am I alone in finding Lady Gaga as vacuous as the scene she comes from?
What's with all the vampires?
Have the global warming lobby given up and gone home?
Has illegal downloading lost it's appeal?
Are we still multi-cultural or has the concept gone out of fashion?
Will the BBC spend millions of our money this summer broadcasting a handful of artists from Glastonbury and ignoring the rest of the festival (film, theatre, comedy etc) like last year?
Did Paul Morley expose himself as a middle aged git in his recent UK Hip Hop feature?
Do people really snort coke that's cut with dog worming tablets?
Easter - when is it again?Yeasayer, The Cribs, Ministry Of Sound
Filed in Welcome to my World by Tom Artrocker at 18.33pm on 18 February 10Artrockers,
what's in a name? Would a rose by any other name smell so sweet? Can you judge a band by its name? It's certainly true that the naming of bands is about the most painful part of the 'forming a band' process, get it wrong and your screwed. Form a Folk band called Cancer Ward, Infernal Death or MC Yardee and you may experience a little difficulty in getting a gig on the 'finger in the ear' circuit. And then you run the risk of thinking up a great band name only to find out that there's a band with that moniker residing in Utah; they haven't released a record for ten years but that doesn't matter, should you ever head out stateside you'll be adding 'UK' to your name, and the only thing UK spells is 'uk!'
Where am I going with this? Well, have a little patience and I'll tell you: Last night I was driving home from a New Heavy Sounds gig at the Gaff with wonderful Radio 1 as company (note to self, must get DAB for the car so I don't have to listen to wonderful Radio 1), mein host was that northern geezer who used to present Sound, you know him, sounds like a member of The Cribs so is probably from Wigan. After a couple of tracks of inconsequential nonsense (wonderful Radio 1) he announced that he was now going to play a track from the most talked about band today - Yeasayer. "Aha!" I thought to myself, "he's right they are the most talked about band today", which is why I've avoided them like the clap, that and the fact that, to me at least, in my delusional state, the name shouted 'prog doom metal' (and yes, I'm sure such a genre exists) from Brooklyn, which is, of course, a ridiculous concept, like Country and Western from The Bronx (oh, hang on a minute, I think they call that Alt Country...). So I turned up the radio and apologised in advance to my companion that this was going to be "a bit heavy and maybe just a tad pretentious". She smiled sweetly, touched my hand and said: "Of course you're not Dear." "Not me, the music" I rejoined, slightly miffed, "Have a listen." And we did, we listened to the new Yeasayer single that the northern chappie was getting Pavlovian about, and, dear reader, we couldn't believe our ears. It turns out that Yeasayer are traders in inconsequential pop froth, they are, in fact, the new Scissor Sisters...like one wasn't enough. Yeasayer? Camp disco? How does that work?
I felt like such a fool, the evening was ruined, my companion cooly asked to be dropped off at her place and, on leaving, slammed the car door just a little too hard.
And I have learned a lesson: what's in a name? Nowt!
PS: I see The Ministry Of Sound is under threat. There is good news out there after all.Emmy The Great, Pink Floyd, Ozric Tentacles and The Single Transferable Purchase
Filed in Welcome to my World by Tom Artrocker at 20.00pm on 11 February 10Artrockers, A new way of buying music is on the horizon - it's called 'Alternative Buying' or 'Single Transferable Purchase'. Here's how it works: You choose the genre of music you're after, with a second choice just in case they don't have you first choice. You can't specify the artist or release, you just have to hope for the best. So, you tick 'Singer Songwriter' because you're after an Emmy The Great CD and tick 'Psychedelia' as your second choice cos your Piper at The Gates has finally worn through to the other side. Then you cross your fingers. After a few days a package arrives containing an Ozric Tentacles album. See how that works? Oh, you're right, it doesn't work at all does it? You wanted Emmy, or the Floyd , and you ended up with Tentacles. Who would be mad enough to think this was a good idea? Ultimately you have no say about what music you're buying, can't specify artist or title, just genre, and even then you'll probably get something awful from your second choice. It's nuts! Just imagine using a similar system to elect Parliament...that really would be bonkers.
ps Nice to see naughty music Bloggers getting a good kickingLOU REED, LESTER BANGS, BLACK GRAPE AND GORRILAZ, DOWNLOAD FESTIVAL (GETS HEAVY)
Filed in Welcome to my World by Tom Artrocker at 18.15pm on 04 February 10Artrockers,
here at Artrocker Towers we're more than a little excited about the launch of our new website today, have a butchers here. You'll find all the usual Artrocker delights plus some new blog action and all sorts of groovy stuff. Our thanks to Stephen and Emma, you've done a great job. Meantime there's lots of daft stuff going on right now. Let's start with the return of Black Grape : "It's great, it's interesting, it's part two. I've had a break and now I'm back to do it. Danny Saber and I have a great working relationship and the time is right". Says Mr Ryder. But is the time right? Could there ever be a time when this sounds like a good idea? And Download Festival have outlawed flags, maybe under the prevention of terrorism act, which seems to be used with wild abandon against everybody but terrorists: "They will be stopped at the entrance to the arena and anyone who breaks the rule will be ejected from the festival, it's a rule and if someone thinks they can be funny by smuggling in a stick up their ass then they should expect swift action." Of course, if somebody has a flagpole up their jacksy I'd say they'd probably seen all the action they could handle(!) for one day. And the week that we Artrockers got all excited about Lou Reed's return with his Metal Machine Music Trio we discover that he's been collaborating with Gorillaz...proving once again that heroes too have feet of clay. Reviews editor Ric Rawlins is interviewing Lou this week - he's a brave man. "Just don't mention Lester Bangs" was my advice: "Would you like to do the interview Tom?" was Ric's reply, but I was already out of the building and running hard. Chances are that this trio of his won't deliver the visceral noise of the original album, but it'll be interesting nonetheless. You can read Bangs on Metal Machine Music here.
Some say that MMM was simply a way of running out his contract with a double album of feedback, Lester and I disgaree, it might be noise to you but this Artrocker listens to it on a regualr basis. Why? Cos it's fantastic, and the logical conclusion to The Velvets obsession with 'The Drone'.
Laters.Shuffleoffagus
Filed in Welcome to my World by Tom Artrocker at 22.23pm on 08 June 09It's all about re-shuffles today (funny old word - shuffle) so I thought I'd take a look at the shuffle in music. Wikipedia defines it thus: 'In music, a swung note or shuffle note is a performance practice, mainly in jazz-influenced music, in which some notes with equal written time values are performed with unequal durations, usually as alternating long and short. In shuffle rhythm, the first note in the pair is exactly twice the duration of the second note.'
Got that? Me neither. Maybe it'll help if I memntiion a few 'Shuffle Hits'; Tears For Fears' Everybody Wants to Rule The World, Buddy Holly's That'll Be The Day, The Doors Roadhouse Blues - helpful? Can you hear those rhythms in your head? (If not you can check them out without buying (!) at Spotify.)
Can you hear the way it literally 'shuffles'? Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go's another, as is Diana Ross' Bee Gee penned Chain Reaction. The lazy nature of the shuffle beat evokes (for me at any rate) hot, steamy days by the bayou (not that I'd know a bayou if it hit me in the face, but you get my drift), mint juleps (never had one) and grits (absolutely no idea whatsoever what grits might be but as a name for a foodstuff it leaves some room for improvement). In fact it evokes, as I have just proved, a world that is completely alien to me. Now THAT's a beat!
As to what a re-shuffle beat might sound like we can only speculate, but judging by today's goings on I reckon it's a death march, a dirge, a requiem that eventually stops mid-phrase leaving us all hanging in space waiting for a new drummer.
And a brand new beat.
News RSS Feed
