Frank Ocean - "Blonde" first listen notes

After weeks of rumor, speculation, release dates and non-release dates we finally have the new Frank Ocean record. It is called “Blonde” and it comes off the back of his visual release “Endless”. So as I sat down to take a listen, I decided to take notes as I went, jotting down things that immediately came to me as I listened.

Here is the un-edited version of my first time listening experience to “Blonde”

“Nikes”

The first single off the album. Video dropped yesterday and is amazing. Really cool warped vocals.

“Ivy”

Nice soulful track. Classic Frank Ocean.

“Pink + White”

Soulful R&B with a nice beat.

“Be Yourself”

Spoken word track addressing socio-economic issues. Really cool public service piece.

“Solo”

Again very soulful with the addition of some beautiful organ.

“Skyline To”

Very melancholy and slow. What sounds like a Rhodes Piano is a nice addition.

“Self Control”

Really cool bluesy guitar throughout. Soulful vocals make this one of the album’s highlights.

“Good Guy”

Another short track with more Rhodes Piano.

“Nights”

Contemporary R&B with a solid beat. Changes tempo halfway through with an interesting guitar segue.

“Solo (Reprise)”

Andre3000 spitting mad bars. Fuck yes!!!

“Pretty Sweet”

Choir-like vocals, storming electric start. Changes tempo again halfway through.

“Facebook Story”

Another spoken word track. This time it sounds like a French guy talking about Facebook.

“Close to You”

A Carpenters cover? Again, very short with auto-tuned vocals.

“White Ferrari”

Absolutely gorgeous double tracked vocals. Very melancholy with a delicate acoustic guitar.

“Seigfried”

Atmospheric soul track. The first track where I lost interest. A bit boring.

“Godspeed”

Some nice organ appears again. Very soulful/gospel vocals. Is that Beyonce at the end?

“Futura Free”

Starts off with someone rapping, I think it is Frank. Slow start, but then the beat kicks in around 3mins. Silence around 5min before what appears to be a hidden track made up of audio of someone asking personal questions to other people.

- Sam 

Why 2016 is a Revolutionary Time for Music Distribution and Consumption

If 2016 is remembered for anything, aside of course from the great music released, it will be the year that music distribution and consumption changed forever. Streaming has pretty much overtaken CD’s and digital downloads in terms of how we consume our music and also how artists release their music. More and more artists are turning to streaming platforms to release their music, including many with exclusive releases on particular platforms. I am thinking Beyonce and Kanye on Tidal, and when, and if it is released Frank Ocean’s latest album “Boys Don’t Cry”. With this, many are also bypassing the physical release including Kanye who thinks the album is dead, and Chance the Rapper, the mixtape master whose latest release “Coloring Book” is only available online. The rise of streaming also comes with the news that Apple supposedly will phase out their digital download iTunes store in a few years choosing instead to invest all their effort into ensuring the success of Apple Music and Beats 1 Radio.

The smaller artists are also staying online when it comes to releasing their work. Bandcamp and SoundCloud every year seem to become bigger and bigger with artists releasing more of their work through these sites and regularly to. Take Auckland’s Grow Room, a music collective based on Karangahape Road. They have a Bandcamp page where they drop their official releases, while the artists involved also have their own individual SoundCloud pages where they drop beats and unreleased tracks every week it seems. This avalanche of new music makes it very hard to keep up at times with their being too much music and not enough time to digest it all. You get round to familiarizing yourself with an artist’s latest E.P. or mixtape and then they drop something else.

So what does this mean? Well, the idea of music ownership is slowly disappearing. Yes CD’s and digital downloads are not done yet, people still want to own their music, while the vinyl revival won’t die any time soon. But with the prominence of subscription-based streaming platforms and artists taking control over how and when they release their music, it won’t be too long before the idea of owning “most” of your music will become a foreign concept for most. With streaming you are paying a company which allows you access to their collection, while previously when you bought a CD or paid for a download you then had ownership of that product. As someone who grew up during both the CD boom and the high-water mark of the digital download, as well as a person who has embraced streaming, I am still coming to terms with this idea as music ownership is still a concept that means something to me. I don’t think I will be able to let go of my CD’s, of my downloads, of my iTunes collection as I have spent ten years building my collection and curating it within the knowledge that something like a music stream was never going to become as big as it has done. I love streaming, Spotify has changed the way I consume music, but I am not 100% supportive of the idea that I have to use an online platform to listen to my music, and that the music I am listening does not come in a physical form whether mp3, tape, record or CD.

With changes in the way we consume music, we are also seeing artists become more inventive when it comes to how they release music. Now I am not saying inventive releases have never happened before, but it seems to becoming the norm for artists to keep audiences guessing when it comes to release dates, and indeed how their music drops. This year alone, Beyonce dropped her release “Lemonade” out of the blue with an accompanying film, Radiohead teased fans with snippets from their music video for “Burn The Witch” before dropping the song and then the album, while David Bowie released his record “Blackstar” several days before he tragically passed away. Then, there was Kanye. There was an expected release date for “The Life Of Pablo” under a different name, then the name changed again, then the album was pushed back, then it was released exclusively on Tidal and then he continued to update it even after it was released. Has thing ever happened before? An artist making changes to their music even after the release of the record. And if you thought Kanye playing with people was big, what about Frank Ocean. His second studio release is one of the most anticipated in recent years, but after two rumored release dates which had the effect of whipping social media into frenzies we are still waiting. Ocean updated his website with a mysterious library card showing possible release dates, while just last week a stream appeared that suggested the album was near and would be exclusive to Apple Music. After questions around the survival of the album, 2016 has seen the album release as an event return, something that had not really been the case since the 1990s. With interest high and hype through the roof for albums such as “A Moon Shaped Pool”, “The Life of Pablo”, and “Boys Don’t Cry”, one thing is for certain, people might not be buying albums as much as they used to, but the interest is still there for the long player. Testament to this is how album releases or indeed non-releases have been received in 2016 so far. .

In concluding this piece, we are living in changing, but interesting times when it comes to music consumption and distribution. No one quite knows what is going to happen next, or indeed which direction the industry is going in. But, one thing is sure, things are moving quickly and everyone is watching each other carefully. With this the case,  as a keen observer of the industry it keeps me hooked on the goings on knowing that we really are living in a revolutionary time for music. 

- Sam 

January - June 2016: In Memoriam

We are halfway through the year and unfortunately it has been a year of losses in the music world. An unusually large number of musicians have passed away this year leading many to label 2016 as an unlucky year. As we mark the halfway point of 2016, it feels an appropriate moment to remember those in the music world who have gone. 

David Bowie – solo artist (UK) – January 10, aged 69

Glenn Frey – The Eagles (USA) – January 18, aged 67

Paul Kantner – Jefferson Airplane, Jefferson Starship (USA) – January 28, aged 74

Maurice White – Earth, Wind & Fire (USA) – February 3, aged 74

George Martin – Producer (UK) – March 8, aged 90

Keith Emerson – The Nice, ELP (UK) – March 10, aged 71

Phife Dawg – A Tribe Called Quest (USA) – March 22, aged 45

Merle Haggard – solo artist (USA) – April 6, aged 79

Prince – solo artist (USA) – April 21, aged 57

Bill Sevesi – solo artist (NZ) – April 23, aged 82

Guy Clark – solo artist (USA) – May 17, aged 74

Dave Swarbrick – Fairport Convention (UK) – June 3, aged 75

Bernie Worrell – Parliament-Funkadelic (USA) – June 24, aged 72

Scotty Moore – Guitarist (Elvis Presley) (USA) – June 28, aged 84 

- Sam 

Review: Auckland City Limits

As you might have read over on our facebook page, yesterday I was the “mole” on the ground at the inaugural edition of Auckland City Limits. This was actually my first experience of a major music festival, Big Day Out had never been my thing. But Kendrick Lamar? Headlining? There was no way I was missing this. I got in quick with an earlybird ticket, which wasn’t even that much cheaper than the regular GA ticket. Didn’t matter to me. Kendrick was the centrepiece, everything else was a bonus. And there were certainly a few bonus highlights from the very first Auckland City Limits. I arrived at about midday, amongst a small stream of attendees. I’d estimate there were less than 5000 people when I got there, it wasn’t until 5pm that the crowd really started to fill up Western Springs Park. But first things first.

After wandering and exploring somewhat aimlessly around the venue, the first act I saw was Canadian-born, New Zealand-based Tami Neilson, and it was a rousing, rollicking beginning to my experience at the festival. Her band was smooth, particularly the trumpet and saxophone sections which wandered in and out during her set as needed – “It’s so difficult being surrounded by so many gorgeous men”, she quipped a few times during the show. “Walk (Back to Your Arms)” and “Texas” sounded superb live, but I loved the closing rendition of “Hound Dog”, or as Neilson put it “this one’s by Big Mama Thornton, but it was also sung by this obscure guy called Elvis”. Plenty of soul and countrified pedal steel guitar goodness.

I heard snippets of Kinetic while looking for something to eat, and what stuck out to me was their participation and banter with quite a smallish crowd, “Okay now touch somebody’s bum”, “Smoke weed every day, hey I smell weed guys! Oh no it’s on stage, sorry everyone” and closing their set with 2Pac’s “California Love” was an unexpected but pleasant bass-heavy jam to hear rolling through Western Springs Park. Most likely it was as a tribute to the West Coast-based headliner.

I have to admit to partially forgetting much of Che Fu’s musical output since The Navigator came out, so getting to rediscover that album again live was a massive nostalgia trip. His skills as a rapper, smooth singer and DJ – yes, he was scratching and mixing like mad – have not waned in the slightest. It was essentially the matinee performance to the main hip hop spectacle later in the night, but Che Fu rocked the house, pity that he wasn’t scheduled at a later time when he could’ve done so with a bigger crowd.

Arguably the finest performance, and undoubtedly my personal favourite was by the jazz saxophonist maestro himself, Kamasi Washington. Joined by Miles Mosley on acoustic bass, who extracted some of the funkiest plucked notes I’ve ever heard from a stand-up instrument. Kamasi was also accompanied by his father Rickey Washington on soprano saxophone, and soulstress Patrice Quinn who sang spectacularly on “The Rhythm Changes”, which might’ve been my top moment of the festival. Unfortunately Quinn’s mic was set too low for the first half of the performance, meaning she was drowned out by the additional instrumentation, only noticed by Rickey Washington who managed to alert the sound crew. I was a little confused by that, surely it would’ve been noticed during the sound check. Otherwise it was a flawless spectacle by Kamasi and his band which just completely floored me. I’ve never heard live jazz quite as powerful or passionate in my life, it genuinely shook me. In a good way.

At the end of the night I asked someone what they made of Action Bronson – “he swears a lot, doesn’t he?” Yes he certainly does. After chants of “Bronson, Bronson!” from a crowd that had swelled following Broods’ synthpop and electronic anthems at the adjacent Spark stage, the man with the beard & the belly swaggered on as casually as ever, opening with the piano-rocker “Brand New Car” from Mr. Wonderful. Bronson was solid – he didn’t disappoint, but I wasn’t blown away either. His stage antics were arguably more memorable, lighting a joint and throwing it into the crowd, (security dealt to it, much to Bronson’s chagrin) tossing his hat into the mob of people and saturating himself with water multiple times – the guy must be burning some serious calories on stage.

Getting towards the business end of proceedings, I prepared myself to endure the indie rock trifecta of The Phoenix Foundation, Cold War Kids and The National. In hindsight I probably made it worse for myself by going to see those particular three in a row (I kind of regret not seeing Girl Talk, by all accounts it was a festive occasion involving confetti and people being invited on stage to dance) but it felt like an incredibly long wait to see the man that I came to see in the first place. I’ve got nothing bad to say about those bands, but they just weren’t my cup of tea. It was definitely better being amongst the crowds for all three, the attendees were incredibly energetic and psyched, which made it all somewhat more bearable.

Then it was finally time. The man, the king, Compton’s own, Kendrick Lamar. I deliberately evacuated the final 15 minutes of The National’s set to try and reach a decent vantage point at the adjacent Spark stage – think it made a difference? Hell no. It was sardines no matter how hard you tried, manoeuvring was just about impossible. I had to make do with a completely blocked view of the stage/screen. Suddenly it was 9.30. The National had bowed out. 9.35. Crowd still buzzing in expectation. 9.45. Where was Kendrick? His band was already on stage. All sorts of chants broke out, “We gon’ be alright!”, “Pimp pimp! Hooray!” to no avail. 9.50, people were starting to get restless. But not long after 9.55, his four-piece band spontaneously came to life, and Kendrick entered the stage. “For Free?” opened proceedings, followed by “Wesley’s Theory”, an inversion of the sequence on To Pimp a Butterfly. Everything about Kendrick’s act was brilliant – the funkified jams of “These Walls” and “Complexion” made us all swerve and groove, the crowd-pleasers “Backseat Freestyle”, “m.A.A.d city” and “King Kunta” had everyone yelling, waving their arms around and snapping fingers, unified in a journey through these explosive renditions of tracks from good kid, m.A.A.d city and To Pimp a Butterfly. It was a shame that technical difficulties had cut short his act by 25 minutes – he had planned to invite a crowd member on stage to freestyle, and given how many times he made reference to the “day one fans” I expected to hear something from Section.80, likewise there were no “untitled” songs either. “i” was Kendrick’s closing statement – or was it? Something was missing, and we knew what it was. Within seconds, that iconic chant which has been adopted by protest movements spread across the ground – “we gon’ be alright” and sure enough that was the encore. And it BANGED like nothing I’ve heard, the ground was literally shaking as Kendrick treated us to the hook over and over, and then with one final burst it was done. But the vibrations and energy from the performance continued to linger on, even as I write this 24 hours later. It couldn’t have been a better finale, courtesy of one of the best live acts going around.

So in closing - the bar has certainly been set for next year’s edition. Hip hop and indie rock fans certainly got their fill this year, so where the next edition goes will be interesting to see. 25,000 is the reported attendance figure, which is respectable. I came for the music and the festive atmosphere, and that’s what I got – so there’s no major complaints from me. Kamasi Washington and Kendrick Lamar were the standouts from my perspective. If 2017’s version can fill the lineup with musicians of their calibre, it should be in good stead for a while.

- Karl

Top 5 Kanye West beats from non-Kanye West songs

 In a matter of hours, Kanye West’s upcoming studio album The Life of Pablo (fourth title and counting!) will be released. Even though West has had an impressive and significant solo career spanning 12 years, he also contributed beats and worked as a producer long before he recorded The College Dropout, and will always be regarded as producer first, rapper second. Here are five of my favourite Kanye West beats from non-Kanye West songs, arranged chronologically.

Jay Z – “Izzo (H.O.V.A.)” (The Blueprint, 2001)

 

 One of Kanye’s earliest beats to be featured by a major artist (this predates The College Dropout by three years) and arguably his first major stepping stone towards further commercial success as a producer. Still to this day one of Jay Z’s most popular songs, utilising the intro from the Jackson 5’s “I Want You Back” coupled with a catchy vocal hook. The use of 1960s & 1970s soul music would become something of a trademark for Kanye’s beats throughout his career.

Talib Kweli – “Get By” (Quality, 2003)

 This is among my all-time favourite beats, period. I think it’s sampling and beat crafting at its best, though the source material is typical Kanye (Nina Simone’s “Sinnerman” from 1965) it’s how he took three, separate and isolated segments from a 10-minute bluesy soul piece and transformed them into a pulsating gospel-infused banger. Tie in Talib Kweli’s superb verses articulating the day-to-day struggles of working-class Americans with the empowering, uplifting soulful hook, bam it’s a Kanye classic.

Common – “Be (Intro)” (Be, 2005)

 This 2-minute introductory piece is a Kanye gem, from Common’s Be which was primarily West-produced (J Dilla produced 2 tracks). It’s a brief but beautiful composition, utilising a live double bass (reminds me of A Tribe Called Quest’s “Buggin’ Out”) overlayed with some groovy keyboards and Albert Jones’ string-heavy and soulful “Mother Nature”. It lays the platform for the rest of the album, as all good intro tracks should, a swirling mix of soulful production and poetic lyricism.

The Game – “Wouldn’t Get Far” (Doctor’s Advocate, 2006)

 This is probably the catchiest of the lot – with the primary sample being “I’d Find You Anywhere” from 1970’s soul group Creative Source, the vocal loops of “baby, I’d find you”, “wouldn’t get far” and “it’d be just a waste of time” have been circulating around in my head for the past 24 hours! Kanye even drops a short but humorous verse on this track, “Pop quiz, how many topless black foxes / Did I have under my belt, like boxers”.

Travi$ Scott – “Piss On Your Grave” (Rodeo, 2015)

 Apparently this track was slated to appear on The Life of Pablo, and it does share a few stylistic elements with Yeezus. The upbeat, cheery soul samples are nowhere to be heard in this emphatic diss track to corporate America, the wailing blues-rock riff courtesy of Jimi Hendrix’s “Machine Gun” gives it a darker, menacing edge, similar to “Black Skinhead”. Likewise, the thumping rhythm track turns it into an absolute banger, admittedly with one of strangest hooks you’ll ever hear – “Piss on your grave / Piss on your grave”.

 - Karl

Tribute to David Bowie

As I sit down to write this tribute to one of my artistic heroes, David Bowie, 20 hours have passed since news broke of his death. In that time, countless messages and tributes have flowed in from artists in every musical category you could imagine. I feel obliged to write this because I owe a lot to his passion and bravery, as he continued to experiment and redefine what popular music was, we as fans went along for the ride. I’m sure I’m not alone when I say that it’s been the most exhilarating and profound experience to make the journey through his immense catalogue spanning over four decades. Every era, or shift in style that Bowie so brilliantly executed, acted as a gateway to new and exciting sounds that hadn’t been accessible to me before.

My first introduction to Bowie, as I suspect will be similar to others who were born at the end of the 1980s, was in the film Labyrinth. I still firmly remember being captivated by its spectacle, the result of three titans of creative art – Jim Henson, George Lucas and David Bowie. My sister had a copy of the original soundtrack, and I became obsessed with Bowie’s contributions to the score – “Underground”, “As the World Falls Down” and of course the iconic “Magic Dance”. That was my gateway into 1980s pop music, specifically art pop and new wave, music which is still very close to my heart.

In high school, I was introduced to Ziggy Stardust. I couldn’t believe this was the same artist, his voice was distinctly different and the crisp rock & roll instrumentation sounded nothing like the man who sang “Let’s Dance”. At the time I was only aware of a few of Bowie’s radio singles, as I moved into my 20s I started to realise his artistic contributions stretched further than I could have ever imagined. I began to approach his albums chronologically. Hunky Dory, Aladdin Sane and Diamond Dogs blew me away. They still do. Thanks to these albums, I suddenly acquired an appreciation for the overtly theatrical and raucous style that is glam rock, and artists such as T. Rex and Lou Reed became mainstays in my music collection.

Then came Station to Station and the three albums dubbed as the ‘Berlin Trilogy’ – Low, Heroes and Lodger. It’s almost an indescribable experience when you encounter something so radically different and challenging, it completely changes your perception on what music actually is. That’s what happened after I heard Low, thanks to its mix of rhythm & blues, funk, rock, German progressive & experimental music (known as ‘krautrock’) and atmospheric ambient music, I’ve now tragically become enraptured by anything with an experimental tinge. I guess that’s why I love Blackstar so much. With experimental music, the journey never ends. Boundaries are continually pushed, conventions are reshaped and structures are demolished. These are all concepts and approaches which have carried over into other aspects in my life. This is the world Bowie has left me, and everyone else with. It's something I can never be thankful enough for.

Above all, David Bowie introduced me to the concept of music having a distinct artistic merit. Yet he somehow made it all accessible. He even managed to get avant-garde music on the radio! Just look at the video for “Ashes to Ashes”. Bowie took surreal, abstract concepts and not only made them commercially viable but extremely catchy, inspiring millions of people. It’s almost certain that sales of Blackstar will skyrocket, propelling an experimental, progressive jazz piece to #1. Another remarkable feat by the great man, but one that nobody should be surprised by. As a result, a current generation will be lucky enough to be introduced to his music and go through remarkable journeys just as I did, as will generations in the future.

Thank you for everything, David.

- Karl

David Bowie: 1947 - 2016

It’s the news I was not expecting, it was as shocking as it was devastating. David Bowie died. I could not believe it, I didn’t want to believe it, but then it hit me and I shed some tears, well more than some, I bawled my eyes out. He was supposed to be immortal, a part of your life that would always be there and now he is gone. There are probably only a handful of musicians who transcend everything in music, that cut across both genre boundaries and audience boundaries and had an influence that was perhaps bigger than the artist themselves, David Bowie was one of them. Throughout his nearly fifty year career he has influenced the rock crowd, the pop crowd, the indie crowd, the alternative crowd, the electronic crowd, pretty much every crowd in music. After years in the wilderness his late career comeback with “The Next Day” and “Blackstar” suggested he was revitalized and more music was on the way. Well, now we know that with “Blackstar” it was his goodbye, one last statement, one last piece of art, one last moment to show us how much of a genius he was. And what a statement it was, a dark, experimental jazz masterpiece which now takes on new meaning which at this is stage is too early to digest. He will be remembered as one of the greatest musicians of the modern age, a true artist and performer. He will not be matched as he did it all, including things that no one had ever done. There can be only one David Bowie, and it is so sad he is gone.

Rest in peace Ziggy 

- Sam 

2015: In Memoriam

In 2015 we lost some amazing musicians. 

Rest in peace. 

Cilla Black – British singer (72)

John Bradbury - Drummer with the Specials (62)

Graham Brazier – Hello Sailor lead singer (63)

Andy Fraser – bass player with Free (62)

B.B. King – American blues guitarist and singer (89)

Ben E. King – American solo singer, singer with the Drifters (76)

Lemmy – Motorhead singer and bass player (70)

Cynthia Robinson – trumpter player and singer in Sly & The Family Stone (71)

Percy Sledge – American soul singer (74)

Chris Squire – bass player with Yes (67)

Allen Toussaint – New Orleans songwriter, piano player and producer (77)

Scott Weiland – Stone Stemple Pilots and Velvet Revolver singer (48)

- Sam 

Why I won't care if Kendrick loses at the Grammys

Last year, Kendrick Lamar’s good kid, m.A.A.d city was nominated for Best Rap Album at the Grammys. He lost out to Macklemore’s The Heist. Kendrick fans were enraged, and I was one of them. It was a farce, Macklemore even felt it necessary to apologise to Kendrick. It didn’t make sense to me.

Back then, Kendrick was still an up-and-coming rapper. He put out a really solid debut album in 2011 called Section.80, a year later he dropped a few singles for his follow-up record, which performed well on the R&B and Rap charts, but failed to crack the top 10 on the Hot 100. However, the album was a success, hitting #2 on the Hot 100. A remarkable achievement for anyone, let alone a 25 year old making a commercially successful Hip Hop concept album. How often do we see concept albums anywhere nowadays, let alone those which hit #2 on the charts?

When I first heard good kid, m.A.A.d city, I reckoned it was a game-changer. Subtitled “A short film by Kendrick Lamar”, the album is an overwhelmingly ambitious piece of art, with first-person narratives of Kendrick’s experiences growing up in Compton, dealing with issues such as gang violence, drinking culture and drug addiction, and crucially the incredible production handled by Dr. Dre gave it the substance it needed. Hip Hop hadn’t seen anything like it since the golden era. Yet it still lost. This is nothing new when it comes to institutionalised award ceremonies, commercial success is often the deciding factor. What deserves to win doesn’t always win.

Things are different this time around. Kendrick’s no longer an up-and-comer. He’s established himself. He’s the King of New York. Hip Hop fans don’t hesitate when calling him the best rapper going around. He collaborates with his closest rivals, there’s no animosity between them. In fact, come next year we could see a project between Kendrick and J. Cole, if the “Black Friday” release is anything to go by. More importantly, To Pimp a Butterfly has had much more of a significant impact, not just commercially, but in terms of affecting cultural consciousness. The singles are wildly infectious, and for the most part, preach positive, uplifting and hopeful messages. People are singing “I love myself” and chanting “we gon’ be alright”. The same couldn’t be said about the singles from good kid, m.A.A.d city, as great as they were.

For the 58th Grammy Awards, Kendrick has received a staggering 11 nominations, including Album of the Year, Song of the Year (“Alright”) and Best Rap Album. He might win all of these. He should win at least one. Does that mean he’ll win any? No. I’ve learned my lesson from last time. He could easily lose Album of the Year, most likely to Taylor Swift or The Weeknd. I won’t care. Kendrick’s well past the point where getting one or many small replica gramophones actually means anything. He’s attained a far greater achievement – the hearts and minds of his listeners, and judging from the interviews I’ve seen of Kendrick talking about the album, that’s exactly what he set out to do. In that sense, he’s already won.

- Karl

The Ultimate DJ Playlist - 2015

Ever wondered what it would be like to be a professional DJ just for one day? What would you play, what would your playlist be like? Well, I have had a think about this and have come up with my ultimate DJ playlist for one night only. In compiling this playlist, I thought about what would keep people interested, what would get people dancing, and what styles would suit a party environment. So, with this in mind, on my ultimate DJ playlist there is a mixture of dance, hip hop, R&B, soul, funk, techno and a few fusion tracks. It was a lot of fun coming up with this list and figuring out what would work well together in a playlist. DJing is not about just lumping a few random songs together or trying to please people, although you hope what you select will please people, it is about matching songs together and selecting the right mix of tracks. And, with this in mind, I feel I have managed to come up with a good three hour or so set that would be awesome to unleash for one night only.

Sam’s One Night Only Ultimate DJ Playlist

Wairunga Blues – Fat Freddy’s Drop

Step On – Happy Mondays

Blue Monday – New Order

Fools Gold – Stone Roses

Rapture – Blondie

Stylo – Gorillaz

Respect Yourself – The Staple Singers

Kiss – Prince

You Keep Me Hanging On – The Supremes

Monkey Man – Amy Winehouse

You Haven’t Done Nothing – Stevie Wonder

What’s My Name – Snoop Dog

Rose Rogue – St Germain

Let Me Ride – Dr Dre

Cortina Motors – Fat Freddy’s Drop

Funk In The Hole – Roy Ayers

California love – 2Pac

Fashion – David Bowie

Creation (Eastern LA) – Quantic presents The Western Transient

Players Ball – Outkast

Cabbage Alley – The Meters

How Do I let A Good Man Down – Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings

When You Are Who You Are – Gill Scott Heron

Dare – Gorillaz

Stoned Love – The Supremes

Lebanese Blonde – Thievery Corporation

Tutti Frutti – New Order

Rock The Casbah – The Clash

Dont Fight It Feel It – Primal Scream

The Jungle – Black Heat

Get It Together – Solar Rosa

I Know I’m Losing You  - The Temptations

I Know There’s Gonna Be Good Times – Jamie XX

Walk On By – Isaac Hayes

Mother Mary – Average Rap Band

Passing Me By – The Pharcyde

Heartbreaker – Rolling Stones

Hot Love – Leisure

Necessary Evil - UMO

Give Up The Funk – Parliament

Chameleon – Herbie Hancock

Do It Again – Steely Dan

If It Ain’t Rough – NWA

Mother Mother – Fat Freddy’s Drop 

- Sam 

Is Guitar Music Dying? (2015)

Is guitar music dead? This seems to be a never ending question for music critics and scholars alike. This exact question was asked when disco arrived on the scene, when house music took over, and when pop music reigned supreme at the turn of the century. The good news, was that the answer was no with each of those three examples. However, I am asking the question again, this time in 2015, and at this point, to be quite frank I am not optimistic.

I will give my reasons as to why I think guitar music is in a precarious state right now, but just before you think I am an anti-rock type, I will declare my biases straight away. I love rock music, I love guitar music, I am a guitarist. In fact, there was a time in my teen years when I refused to listen to anything that didn’t have a guitar solo in it. Thankfully I have evolved and expanded my musical tastes since then, but I have always had a love for great guitar music. So why then, do I think it is “endangered” so to speak?

Here are my reasons...

Well, firstly, I think guitar music has failed to evolve musically, and since grunge and alternative rock, it has continued to rely heavily on quite a one-dimensional template of distorted guitars, very simple drum patterns, and overall not leaving much room for experimentation or exploration musically. This is especially the case I find with American, Australian and New Zealand groups. The same thing could also be said about British indie rock, with bands in this style seemingly stuck within the Strokes/Libertines formula which was big twelve years ago. In comparison, at the same time, other genres seem to be evolving and moving forward more quickly than guitar-based forms, especially alternative, indie pop and electronica.

Secondly, I think more so than other genres, guitar music or rock seems to be tied more heavily to its past. Nostalgia is big with guitar music and you see it in the music press with Rolling Stone, Mojo Magazine and the like, and the booming popularity of the live nostalgia circuit, “dad rock” to use a favourite cliche.  The rock nostalgia think rakes in the cash every year with high profile reunions, sold out tours and re-issues. While at the same time most of the attention gets given to dinosaur bands which refuse to die such as the Rolling Stones and U2. With this, in turn, less attention is given to the new bands on the scene. Part of this also comes back to identity and how guitar music, or rock is significantly linked with its past rather than trying to create a new and fresh identity for the 21st century. Now I know that music was great and will always be great, but surely it is time to move on?  

Along with this, a valid question could also be asked that the best of guitar music is done. Guitar forms such as rock are quite simplistic musically and what started sixty years ago with rock and roll, what more can guitar bands do that hasn’t already been done before? And, at the same time, realistically speaking how can anyone top the music that was written and performed between 1968 and 1978 especially, and then again with revivals in the 1980s and 1990s. Is it just because this form of music is so simple musically that it automatically limits itself in terms of what can be done, hence why it is failing to match what is being done with others styles.

Thirdly, I don’t think you can underestimate the role of the music industry in the situation guitar music finds itself in. After championing rock for decades, for the past fifteen years the industry and big label executives have neglected guitar music in favor of an obsession with churning out a lot of shit pop music and at times quite average R&B and hip hop. With this, guitar music has been left floundering and has fallen off the charts and out of sight for a lot of people. So when the industry doesn’t even care about it, what hope is there for it.

Finally, probably the most simplistic reason for the average state guitar music is in is that every genre has its time in the sun. Rock and guitar music peaked years ago and now you could argue is the time for other genres such as alternative, indie pop, electronica, as well as funk and soul revivals to have their moment. The evidence for this is probably clear in how a lot of the best music from this year has come out of these genres. In line with this, you could argue it is up to guitar bands and musicians to lift their game and match what is happening with other styles. This could also involve maybe taking elements from other styles and using them to create more fusion-like guitar music, or hybrid genres, something which a lot of the best guitar music from the past did.

In conclusion then, this opinion peace has painted a pretty bleak picture for guitar music in 2015. However, all is not lost and it is not entirely all doom and gloom. There are at least a few acts continuing to wave the flag for guitar music. Anything by Dan Auerbach is worth paying attention to, and his new collaborative project The Arcs have just released a very good album “Yours Dreamily”. Meanwhile, acts such as Alabama Shakes and Gary Clark jr have made some terrific music with their soul and blues-infused style of rock, including a couple of very solid albums this year. So, these acts do offer some hope. But, alas, they are the exception rather than the general rule and it will take more than a small handful of artists to keep guitar music afloat. Unless more artists come out of the wood-works and offer something different to standard indie or alt-rock, then guitar music could go from endangered status to extinct very quickly, something guitar and rock fans the world over squirm at the prospect. Now of course you might think what I have just hypothesised is all bullshit and that’s fine to, but from my own perspective knowing how good guitar music and rock forms can be, I feel there is so much more that can be done to move these forms out of the 20th century and into a fresh new direction. 

Sam 

2016 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Nominees: My Thoughts

The 2016 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame nominees have been announced.

And they are as followed

Yes

Deep purple

The Smiths

NWA

Chic

Janet Jackson

The Cars

Cheap Trick

The J.Bs

The Spinners

Los Lobos

Steve Miller

Chicago

Chaka Khan

Nine Inch Nails

Six of these acts will be inducted in April next year.

As happens every year with this sham of an organisation, controversy emerges around who receives a nomination, as well as who is left out. One particular thing that gets my goat is how some of last year’s nominees do not receive a nomination again this time around. What then becomes the point of the nomination process? There is also the problem of continuously nominating people and not inducting them e.g. Chic, who have been nominated a record ten times. I also feel certain genres constantly get ignored such as metal, prog rock and indie/new wave, and US acts appear to be nominated more often than UK acts. This year, only three of the fifteen nominees are from the UK.

For the fourth year running, the public will be able to vote for their favourites at the Hall of Fame website until the 9th of December. The top five acts from the fan vote will compromise a fan’s ballot that will count as one of the ballots that determines the inductees.

I hope The Smiths, Yes, Deep Purple and NWA get inducted, along with one of Cheap Trick, The Cars, Chic or Chaka Khan. But my gut feeling is that both Janet Jackson and Nine Inch Nails will get the nod.

Now with this year’s nominees announced, it is another year where many artists have been passed over for induction yet again. The list of some of the artists not in the hall is extraordinary and could quite possibility pass as a list of hall of fame inductees. This list takes on even more significance when you consider some of the names who got inducted ahead of them. The question remains will they ever get inducted? And, if so when?

The List of who the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame have snubbed

Free

Big Star

Billy Bragg

The Cure

De La Soul

Dire Straits

Doobie Brothers

Fairport Convention

Gary Numan

Gipsy Kings

Grace Jones

Harry Nilsson

Joe Cocker

John Mayall and the Bluesbrekares

King Crimson

Love

The Meters

Joy Division

New Order

Nick Drake

The Jam

Pixies

Procol Harum

The Replacements

Roxy Music

Shangri Las

The Specials

T Rex

Television

Warren Zevon

The Zombies

Devo

Todd Rundgren

Depeche Mode

Willie Nelson

Dick Dale

Iron Maiden 

- Sam