Sheep, Dog & Wolf - Egospect (2013)

Egospect is the debut album by twenty year old Wellington-based multi-instrumentalist and singer Daniel McBride, more commonly known as Sheep, Dog & Wolf. This album has to be one of the hardest I have ever reviewed, mainly because there is so much going on musically across the album and even within single tracks. McBride certainly knows no boundaries when it comes to musical composition and exploring different sounds and on this album he certainly goes all out to make a significant musical statement straight off the bat.

The sound of this album is quite hard to describe, but I will give it a go and describe the instrumentation side of things as alt-folk experimental jazz, while vocally McBride sounds like a mash up of Gregorian chant and early-70s Queen in what is a heavily layered kind of classical/opera vocal sound which also comes across like vocal exercises in small bursts of flourishes. I also here a bit of prog rock in the music, with Yes coming to mind in the vocals and King Crimson in the instrumentation. Aside from the theatrical vocals, it is the quality of the instrumentation and McBride’s quite breath-taking ability to play every instrument on this album which makes this album worth a listen. According to the liner notes of the CD, McBride plays electric and acoustic guitar, saxophone, drums, bass guitar, clarinet, violin, cello, euphonium and French horn, a list of instruments that appears like a min-orchestra of type and leaves one gasping as to how much music ability and talent it requires to play such a diverse array of instruments. Aside from the unique vocals and smorgasbord of instruments, what makes this album even more spectacular is how McBride recorded it pretty much in his bedroom, something which gives the music quite a low-fi sound and jagged appearance, which all in all suits the stylistic diversity of the music on here.

As for the tracks themselves, well the albums kicks off with the track “Breathe”, which does a good job in encompassing the overall sound of the album and all of the key elements which appear throughout. This track to my ears sound like alt-jazz set to Gregorian chant and builds up nicely from an instrumental section at the start into a gigantic climax with a multi-tracked vocal section, before a decrescendo in the second half. “Breathe” is followed by the standout track for me “Glare”, which has a bit of a neo-psychedelic feel to it but without losing the jazz and classical influences. Again this track is brilliant in building up to an enormous crescendo of vocals which sound as if they are going to burst through the speakers. “Problems/Canvas” is a folky sort of track which floats along in a low-key sort of way before out of nowhere those layered vocals return to push the song to another level and in yet another completely different direction. It is these sorts of twists and turns within tracks that in many ways makes Egospect the album that is it and such an intriguing album to listen to.

The middle of the album moves swiftly along with “Not Aquatic”, which is quite an experimental track that appears quite loose structurally, with McBride playing around with different textures, layers and song structure in general. At this point I think it is important to note the skill and ability of McBride as a composer willing to takes risks with different song structures and sounds within single tracks, ensuring that no single track sounds the same. “Ablutophobia” is another track that showcases little moments of stylistic diversity, moving from jazz to folk to classical all on one track, while “Nothing, Probably” is an acoustic folk track which allows the listener to have a breather from the intense nature of some of the other bigger sounding tracks on the album. This track also showcases McBride’s softer side and how he can also play the singer-songwriter role as well as the jazz composer extraordinaire. The album comes to an end with acoustic ballad “An Incomprehensive Catalogue” and finally the piece de resistance, title track “Egospect” which is like the “A Day in the Life” of the album. “Egospect” starts off with a chorus of vocals chants, before kicking in to another alt-folk prog-jazz track, finishing the album as it began with a diverse range of styles and sounds confined within the limits of a six minute composition.

Egospect is an amazingly complex album musically with some incredible instrumentation and vocals, while the composition and structure of the songs on display is incredible. This album really should not work as the music appears as a mash-up of several diverse styles incorporated together in combination with classical sounding vocals and topped off by the fact it was recorded in a bedroom. But amazingly, it does, keeping the listener intrigued about where a track will go next. A complex, unusual but clever debut by McBride, that showcases his musical abilities and ear for sound, making me very interested to see where he will go next on. 

A-

- Sam 

Unknown Mortal Orchestra - Unknown Mortal Orchestra II (2013)

Unknown Mortal Orchestra are an American-New Zealand indie, psychedelic, alternative band which was started by ex-Mint Chicks singer Ruban Neilson in 2010. Neilson is accompanied on this venture by Jacob Portrait on bass and Greg Rogove on drums. And, after a solid debut in 2011 with their self-titled first album, the band has gone from strength to strength on their second outing, 2013s Unknown Mortal Orchestra II.

The band’s sound is what I would describe as being trippy neo-indie pscyhedelia, which comes right in the middle of a psychedelic rock/pop revival that seems to be in vogue these days. Although this album is not just about psychedelic music, and the music seems to go in all sorts of directions with funk, soul, prog rock and folk just some of the styles that have a heavy presence on the record, while a steady hip hop backbeat appears on most of the tracks as well. With quite an eclectic mix of styles, it is probably also suitable that the production of the album is quite lo-fi overall, something which brings to the fore the wonderful pop melodies, multi-layered psychedelic sounds and melancholic tones in Neilson’s falsetto vocals. Aside from his great vocals, Neilson’s guitar playing is also a strong feature on this album and although he is in no way a virtuoso, he does manage to mix his playing up between a more delicate textured style of playing, with a heavily distorted attack and the occasional baroque sounding flourishes.

As for the tracks themselves, well the album starts off brilliantly with “From the Sun”, a song which has an indie folk feel to it initially with some acoustic finger picking, before moving into a psychedelic pop track setting the tone for the direction of the rest of the album. This is followed by “Swim and Sleep” another psychedelic pop track which this time showcases Neilson’s diverse guitar playing with a baroque sounding guitar motif. The triple-whammy of great songs to start the album ends with one of the album’s best tracks in “So Good at Being in Trouble” which has a prog-rock undertone to it and as a song just floats along effortlessly allowing the listener to get lost in its melancholic beauty.

Things change direction again on “One at a Time” which has a bit of a funky feel to it with its heavily distorted funky guitar riff and drums, and sounds as if it could easily have been a demo for an early Funkadelic album or something similar. And, then its back again to psychedelia on the next track “The Opposite of Afternoon” which has more of a jam feel to it compared to the other tracks on the album with an extended instrumental break during the second half of the track. It is then at this point that the album begins to drift a little bit with a couple of lengthy psychedelic tracks which appear to just fill space more than anything in “Monki” and “No Need for a Leader”. This slight lul in the album is followed by the totally unnecessary token one minute instrumental “Dawn”. It is fair to say I have never understood why artists decide to include on albums totally pointless short instrumentals like this one, as they don’t add anything musically, while leaving the listener confused as to what they are hearing as they reach for the skip button. Luckily this slight drop in the middle of the album is not permanent and the album ends on a high with the psychedelic riff lade track “Faded in the Morning” which wouldn’t have sounded out of place in 1967, and finally album closer and candidate for song of the album “Secret Xtians” which has a very infectious groove especially in the bass and drum parts.

Overall, in conclusion I would say this album is a fantastic psychedelic pop album and betters the group’s first up effort which in itself was a great album. The tracks here are groovy and melodic, and combine psychedelic pop with other styles such as folk and even classical brilliantly in a blender of musical goodness. Unknown Mortal Orchestra II is perfect listening material for summer, but would also do very nicely as a tonic through the cold winter months. Definitely one of the albums of 2013, and I cannot wait to see where they go to next. 

A-

- Sam 

Neil Young - Live at the Cellar Door (2013)

Live at the Cellar Door is the latest release in the Neil Young Archive Series, a series of releases which similarly to the highly successful Bob Dylan Bootleg Series features a mixture of already released, as well as unreleased remastered studio and live recordings. This latest offering is a live recording containing performances from the six concerts Young performed in 1970 at Washington DCs. Cellar Door.

On here Young treats the smallish audience to some acoustic performances of tracks off his then just released album “After the Gold Rush”, mixed in with some old Crazy Horse and Buffalo Springfield favourites, as well as some earlier renditions of songs which he had yet released namely “Old Man” and “See the Sky About to Rain”. The performances on this album feature just Young by himself playing acoustic guitar and occasionally piano, giving the audience present an unplugged minimalist interpretation of his country and folk rock compositions. This in itself works well as his early-70s output was mainly made up of acoustic folk tracks meant for smaller live settings like the Cellar Door club. It is also very interesting to hear laidback acoustic versions of songs such as “Cinnamon Girl” and “Down by the River” of which the original recordings done with Crazy Horse were exercises in heavily distorted guitar madness.

Live at the Cellar Door all and all has much the same feel as the 2007 released “Live at Massey Hall 1971”, just not as good. “Massey Hall” had an intimacy and a performer-audience connection which I think is lacking a bit on this album. This seems to have something to do with the production on “Cellar Door”, with the songs themselves sounding as if Young could have been sitting in a studio booth playing to himself, with some overdubbed audience applause thrown in for good measure to make it appear like it’s live. That’s not to say that all of the tracks on here are bad performances, or are lacking in quality. There are gorgeous versions of the Buffalo Springfield song “I Am A Child” and “Only Love Can Break Your Heart” from “After the Gold Rush” among other gems dotted across the album, it’s just that if you liked “Live at Massey Hall” which was a brilliant live album recorded around the same time, you won’t really be missing out if you don’t hear this one. Live at Cellar Door is probably best left for Neil Young fanatics and album collectors, or those into historical and archival recordings.

 

B

 

- Sam

Twenty Feet from Stardom - Morgan Neville (2013)

Twenty Feet from Stardom is a documentary film which delves into the life of the backing singer, and represents in some way a long overdue attempt to give backup singers the recognition and attention they so richly deserve. The idea for this Morgan Neville directed film came from the film’s producer Gil Friesen, whose curiosity to find out more about the lives of backing singers within the music industry influenced it’s making. The film focuses mainly on prominent backing singers Darlene Love, Judith Hill, Merry Clayton, Lisa Fischer, Tata Vega, Jo Lawry and Claudia Lennear among others, combining new interviews with the singers themselves, as well as recent and archival footage, and interviews with some of the acts they have performed with including Sting, Mick Jagger and Stevie Wonder.

Twenty Feet from Stardom offers a fascinating insight into the singing lives of these amazingly talented people in what is a role within music which is seemingly confined to the shadows. These are the people whose names we don’t really know, but whose voices have appeared on hundreds of notable recordings at various times over the last fifty years. Many of the predominantly women in this film have arguably more musical talent than the artists they have performed for, or at least equally so, while they would walk all over some of the pop artists who call themselves singers these days. The purity of some of the voices on display in the film beggars belief, leading me to think as to why many of them could not successfully make the walk out of the shadows and into the spotlight as a solo artist.

The sad undercurrent to these singer’s stories is that many of them had aspirations to make it as solo artists. Some of them did end up at least attempting the move from backup singer to solo artist, moves which they could not, in the end, sustain for long within the cut-throat nature of the music industry. Most of the women featured in this film ended up returning to singing backup, while one in particular Claudia Lennear ended up quitting singing all together to become a Spanish teacher. As a film, I guess it conjures up both a triumphant and heartbreaking story, triumphant in that these women had great success touring and recording with some great musicians, but equally heartbreaking in that they could not carve out their own careers as solo singers.

 

One of the singers whose story is featured in the film and who suffered from both triumph and heartbreak was Darlene Love, who started singing as a backup vocalist on Phil Spector produced recordings in the 1960s. She thought she had made it in 1964 when she sang lead on the Spector record “He’s a Rebel”, but Spector cut her off at the knees in deciding to release “He’s a Rebel” under the Crystals name without crediting Love. The girl group went on to tour and promote the number one hit, miming to the original recording with Love left on the sidelines to ponder what could have been. This shattered her confidence and at one stage she even quit the music industry completely during the 1970s whilst ending up cleaning houses to make ends meet. Love returned to singing in the 1980s and has subsequently had a taste of the success she richly deserved, carving her own successful solo career, whilst also continuing to sing backup for other artists. She also ended up getting recognised by being inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2011.

Twenty Feet from Stardom is a very intimate look into the lives of some incredible singers who soldiered on through highs and lows to forge successful careers singing backup to some of the biggest names in popular music. It is also an informative look into some of the wider issues within the music industry including issues of gender, appearance, power, and the struggle for singers to make it. This film is really quite a beautiful take on a very much overlooked area in popular music and is a must see for any music fan, those interested in singing or singers, as well as those who like a good documentary.

 

A

 

- Sam

2013 Album's of the year

Well what a year it has been for music. 2013 has thrown up plenty of surprises, controversy, some good things and some bad; there have been some really good albums and the odd good song too, and some amazing tours. It’s also at this time of year where people like the good folks at NME, or Rolling Stone are paid, or in a few cases not paid to give their opinion on what the highlights of the year were musically. You get the annual end of year best albums and best song lists, all of which tend to follow a similar pattern. British magazines and online sites will root for British artists, while their American equivalents will do the same for their own acts. The end result being that these lists really don’t go anywhere in establishing a definitive list of best albums and best songs of the year, and that apart from a select few top rating selections such as Daft Punk’s “Random Access Memories”, or Kanye’s “Yeezus” these lists are a matter of opinion and taste on the part of the reviewer, editor, or writer.

Which brings me to my album highlights for 2013. Now I am not going to follow the norm of all the music publications and bore you to death delving into the merits of my twenty favourite albums, but instead I will keep it nice and short in giving you my New Zealand album of the year, international album of the year, and what I like to describe as my two eye-catching surprises of the year on the album front.

New Zealand album of the year

Fat Freddy’s Drop – Blackbird

What a fantastic comeback album this was for the Wellington band. Now initially I hadn’t been too excited at the prospect of listening to their new album as it had been so long since their last, but curiosity in the end got the better of me and boy oh boy am I glad I did decide to give it a whirl. This album was fantastically good, their best in my opinion, with some great songs combining reggae, jazz, R&B, and electronica. The songs on “Blackbird” had more body and soul than a lot of their other work, which I find at times can get a bit too laboured for my liking. Here they got the formula spot on in what turned out to be a super listen and my New Zealand album of the year.

Key Tracks: Blackbird, Mother Mother

International album of the year

David Bowie – The Next Day

When I heard Bowie was coming out of the wilderness and releasing a new album I was shocked, surprised and excited all at once, as the announcement came completely out of the blue. After hearing the first single off the new album “Where Are We Now” I didn’t know what to expect to hear on the album, as I thought the new track was good without being amazing.  Thankfully the album was beyond anything I could have fathomed, as Bowie came back with an album as good as anything he has released in thirty years, and arguably what is now his best album since 1980s “Scary Monsters”. This album had everything from dance pop, rock, keyboard laced new wave, while some tracks even conveyed shades of his wonderful Berlin period, in fact as I listened I was convinced I was listening to a remake of “Heroes” (cover included). For a man who had supposedly been out of music for a decade to come back with such a strong offering, it makes me hope that there is more to come from this music genius,  and that any more material Bowie decides to release will be just as good as this.

Key tracks: Love is Lost, Boss of Me

Surprises of the Year

Bob Dylan – The Bootleg Series Vol. 10 - Another Self Portrait (1969-1971)

The latest release in the Bob Dylan Bootleg Series “Another Self Portrait” is my first candidate for surprise of the year, a release which focussed mainly on Dylan’s ill-fated “Self Portrait” album. This great compilation is made up re-released tracks, demos, new mixes and some unreleased songs and does a brilliant job in conjuring up a new sense of life to a period in Dylan’s career which has its detractors. Many of the tracks are superior to the originals, while some of the unheard tracks are gems highlighting why the late-60s and early-70s period for Dylan was arguably his best despite the initial mixed reaction to “Self Portrait”. A definite candidate for compilation of the year, with plenty of variety on display and heaps of songs to keep you interested across the two discs.

Key Tracks: Bring me a little Water, This Evening So Soon

Wise Up Ghost – Elvis Costello and The Roots

My second choice for surprise of the year goes to “Wise Up Ghost”, the album which came out of the unusual collaboration between Elvis Costello and The Roots. When I first heard about this collaboration occurring I was a bit unsure how it would go and what the results would be like. It would either be a confused train wreck and an example of how often famous collaborations never work, or it would be a genius paring of two completely different artists. Thankfully, and from my own perspective surprisingly the latter came through, with the album being a wonderful concoction of R&B, jazz, pop and experimental, and with both artists equally bringing their own styles and influences to the table on the songs. The end result was a fantastic chill-out groove-laden album, with some tender moments from Elvis thrown in for good measure. If there was a category in all the big awards ceremonies for hipster album of the year, “Wise Up Ghost” would stand a good chance of winning, as this beauty of an album certainly had me pleasantly surprised.

Key Tracks: Walk Us Uptown, Stick Out Your Tongue

 

- Sam

 

 

 

 

Jake Bugg - Shangri La (2013)

19 year old British singer-songwriter Jake Bugg’s rapid rise from obscurity over the last year has surprised many people, most of all the man himself. So quick has his music career gotten up and running he is already releasing his second studio album Shangri La. Bugg had been working in Malibu, California re-recording a song off his self-titled debut album with renowned American producer Rick Rubin when the sessions for Shangri la began. There was no plan to record an album, simply to play around with some songs and record them, something which ultimately developed into the recording of an album.

After the massive success of his self-titled debut which saw him being compared with Bob Dylan, Donovan and others, whilst also being seen as a saviour for music, Shangri La takes the folk sound of his debut but expands it to include other influencesThe Dylanesque folk is still there across the album, but Bugg also delves into punk rock, Brit pop, indie, rockabilly and even folk-jazz. The production on this album is also much greater; something that I guess comes with the territory of working with Rick Rubin, with a much bigger sound overall including a full backing band on most of the tracks. With his move towards a more electric sound, Bugg also had the opportunity to showcase more of his ability on the guitar, proving that he is just as good on the electric as he is on the acoustic. Although his delicate acoustic playing drew plenty of comment on his debut, the guitar remains almost a hidden bow within his repertoire and his playing often appears in the shadow of his vocal performances and song-writing which draws most of the attention. Speaking of his vocals, they continue to standout on this latest offering, if not sounding more mature and complete. Although that folk twang is still there in patches, Bugg also shows off his skills as a ballad singer showing there is a softer side to him as well.

This brings me then to the songs themselves of which many standout. The album begins with the interestingly named “There’s a Beast and We All Feed It”, a song which is similar in style to the more folk-oriented tracks on his debut and has a “Subterranean Homesick Blues” feel to it. This is followed by “Slumville Sunrise”, an electric rockabilly number that contains immense riffage and a pounding rhythm section. Already you can tell after these first two tracks how this album will be quite different from his first album in terms of its greater electric sound. As we head in to the middle part of the album, Bugg begins to change gear and spice things up a bit starting with the sweet indie-folk of “Me and You”. On this track Bugg combines some soothing acoustic playing with a delicate vocal that shows off his softer side, while proving his music isn’t all just built around a hard-edged country twang. This is followed by the anthemic “Messed Up Kids” which is sure to be a live favourite, and the beautiful ballad “A Song About Love” which in my mind could go down as Bugg’s best song to date. This beautiful ballad has a Nick Drake feel to it especially in the verses and sees Bugg show off his vocal range in the chorus proving he can belt out a ballad just as good as a folk rocker. The final part of the album continues the theme across the album where quality overrides filler on most occasions. “Kitchen Table” is a folk-jazz number similar in nature to John Martyn’s Solid Air and combines some great acoustic folk licks with jazzy electric piano flourishes and a great drum track. Then there is the gorgeous “Pine Tree”, an alt-country ballad featuring Bugg on his own singing and playing acoustic guitar in what is one of the more heart felt tender moments on the album. Finally, the album ends with the Neil Young sounding electric folk rocker “Simple Pleasures” and “Storm Passes Away” which sees Bugg end as he started with folk, this time in a similar mould to Woody Guthrie with this very rootsy country number.

Shangri La is a massive step forward for Bugg musically and showcases quite a lot of growth and progression from his first album. It is not a straight out country folk album and contains a lot more musical diversity on it than his debut. The greater role of electric instruments also adds another dimension to proceedings and gives Bugg’s sound that extra maturity, allowing him to play around more with musical ideas and different musical styles. He showcases a greater depth to his vocals, while the added bonus of having an greater electric sound allows him the chance to showcase his guitar playing more than he did on his debut. My only real criticism would be around some of the production which at times I feel Ruben overdoes. This is particularly the case in the adding of a rhythm section and a big drum sound to songs which would have sounded better stripped back with just Bugg playing guitar. However this is just a fussy observation more than anything and the production doesn’t take away from the quality of the song-writing. In conclusion then, I feel Shangri La is a more rounded album and improves on his debut, showing Bugg’s maturity as an artist and offering more versatility musically. All in all a very good album with some really well constructed and nice sounding songs by this great talent, showing that Bugg won’t be a one album flash in the pan.

 

A-

 

- Sam

Jazz

 

This year I finally rediscovered my love of jazz. This comes after jazz as a genre spent many years in the wilderness in terms of my musical muse. I first heard jazz as a child and remember listening to the Bossa nova of Stan Getz and the gypsy jazz of Stephanne Grappelli and just how amazing that music sounded to me then. But as I entered my teenage years jazz largely disappeared out of my life, as I gravitated towards blues, rock, indie and other styles. In fact I completely went off jazz and remember feeling quite bored by it.

Well that has all changed now and I have fallen back in love with the mastery and mystery that comes with great jazz music and the players who make it. In the last twelve months or so three great jazz musicians in particular have enthralled me and represent some of the best music I have ever heard. Dave Brubeck, John Coltrane, and Miles Davis have captivated me significantly and in particular the albums Time Out (Brubeck), Blue Train (Coltrane), and Kind of Blue (Davis), all of them jazz classics and some of the best albums of all time. Davis is arguably the most influential and important jazz musician of all time and was at the forefront of key developments in jazz from the 1950s to the 80s, helping especially in the development of bebop, cool jazz and jazz fusion. Coltrane was a key player in the development of free jazz and helped to pioneer the use of modes in jazz music, while Brubeck was the pioneer of cool jazz and experimented significantly with unusual time signatures, as well as using contrasting rhythms and tonalities in his music.

To me these people and their compositional abilities, not to mention their abilities on their instruments are the jazz equivalents of Mozart, Bach, and Beethoven. Much like those composers were geniuses in their time, the likes of Davis and Coltrane are the musical geniuses of the 20^th century and had they been around alongside the greats of classical music they would have been right up there with those greats. In many ways jazz is very similar to classical music in that it can be highly sophisticated musically, structurally complex, while the emphasis on composition is at the centre of the jazz process. Not just anyone can compose and play jazz, while the great jazz players are set apart from their peers because of their un-matched genius musically much like the Bach’s of this world.

So what is it about this music and in particular these albums that makes it so amazing. Well for me this music has beauty, beauty in the way the pieces are carefully crafted and constructed with great attention to the smallest details like most great art is. This music is calming and has the ability to relax you completely after a few seconds, helping also to eliminate the stresses of life in one listen. This music has mystery and intrigue in that when you listen to a great Miles Davis track such as “So What”, or Coltrane’s version of “I’m Old Fashioned” you don’t know where it is going to go next and what direction it will head in. Dave Brubeck’s “Blue Rondo a la Turk” starts as a fast paced Middle-Eastern styled piano flourish before developing into a downbeat cool jazz number. It’s this intrigue which makes you want to listen and helps to draw you in even if the piece itself is seventeen minutes long. Finally, for me what makes this music amazing is the strong emphasis placed on improvisation and how jazz players are encouraged to play up a storm and showcase their skill and mastery of their instrument. Players like Coltrane in particular have this incredible ability to freestyle, an ability that is based on intuition, feeling and skill of which the results are incredible and make listening to jazz just that more interesting.

I’m glad I came back to jazz all these years later and I am now probably more into jazz than I ever have been. The great thing about jazz is that anybody can listen to it and get some appreciation out of what they hear. It transcends all ages and all musical tastes, while the enjoyment one can get out of jazz music shouldn’t be restricted by misguided views that its music for old people, or high brow in nature. Jazz is one of the best musical styles and can be enjoyed at all times irrespective of the mood, whether one is feeling down or up. It draws you in and once you’re hooked it becomes very difficult to escape its hold. I tried to but failed and I have a feeling now that that hold will not relinquish any time soon.

 

- Sam

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Paul McCartney - Save Us (2013)

Paul McCartney - NEW (2013)

Paul McCartney’s new album “NEW” is his sixteenth solo studio release and his first album of new material in six years. This release sees McCartney trying different things and experimenting a lot more than he has done in recent years both in terms of the recording of the album, as well as the overall sound. What is different about this album is that McCartney used four different producers to help him produce this record, after he initially set out to trial his favourite producers before eventually deciding to use them all. Giles Martin (son of George), Mark Ronson, Ethan Johns, and Paul Epworth all appear on this record helping Paul behind the mixing desk, with their presence being highly noticeable and having a significant impact in the creation of the overall feel and sound of the album.

“NEW” musically speaking is very varied and probably represents McCartney’s most diverse release in years. Although many of the tracks retain a pop/rock feel to them, some of the recordings are not typical of the traditional pop/rock style that has served McCartney well as a solo artist over the years, a style which instead has largely been replaced with a noticeably strong electronic pop sound and some unusual arrangements as well. The presence of four of the best producers in the business has also ensured that all the material whatever the style has a contemporary slickness to it and a heavily produced feel.

As for the material itself, well the album begins with a full on pop-rocker called “Save Us" which contains some Queen-inspired backing vocals in the chorus in what is a highly charged ferocious start to the album. This is followed by the alternative pop of “Alligator” and “On My Way to Work”, both of which are largely in the traditional McCartney mould all be it with a bit of contemporary pop production to spice things up. “Queenie Eye” is another stomping pop-rocker with a very catchy chorus, while “Early Days” an acoustic folk number is one of Paul’s best songs in recent years and captures him in a tender reflective mood as he sings about the pre-Beatle days and in particular his friendship with John Lennon. This is followed by title track “New” which is probably the most Beatles-sounding song on the album, with its psychedelic pop feel resembling “Got to Get You into My Life” and “Penny Lane”. This is definitely one of the standout songs on the album and captures Paul having fun musically with a brilliant acapella doo wop vocal outro. At the latter end of the record Paul returns to the guitar pop/rock which he is most familiar with in the form of “Everybody Out There” and “I Can Bet”, before he really begins to experiment with a more electronic pop sound. Songs such as “Appreciate”, “Road”, and “Looking at Her” are very adventurous in terms of their arrangements and overly produced electronic sound, but unfortunately it is here where this album falls down and begins to lag. I am sure he had the right intent and I applaud him for experimenting and trying new things, but these songs to me represent a bit of a bore considering some of the quality that appears on the first half of the album.

In conclusion then, overall I would say that this album represents a pretty ambitious offering from Paul and I compliment him for mixing it up stylistically when other established acts of a similar ilk would be more likely to stick with a tried and tested formula at this stage of their career. Although the injection of electronic and contemporary pop influences offer mixed results, there are definitely a few songs on here that show Paul at his strongest musically and represent some of his best work in years. Considering he is still recording and touring at age 71, as well as the fact that his last record was an indifferent collection of old standards this album is a pretty good effort. Paul’s attempt on “NEW” to rework his sound to suit a more modern audience, while also his decision to experiment with some more modern influences shows he at least still has plenty of musical ideas to play with, not to mention the energy and desire to turn those ideas into a reality, something that I applaud and marvel at.

B

- Sam

 

 

 

 

Bob Dylan - Pretty Saro (2013)

Bob Dylan - Another Self Portrait (1969-1971) The Bootleg Series Vol. 10 (2013)

Another Self Portrait (1969-1971) is the tenth release in the long running Bob Dylan bootleg series, focussing this time on Dylan’s transitional period between 1969 and 1971 and in particular the albums Self Portrait and New Morning. This two disc compilation has plenty of variety and is made up of a mixture of unreleased recordings, demos, alternative takes, as well as a couple of live performances from Dylan’s 1969 performance at the Isle of White Festival.

What is interesting about this latest bootleg release was the decision to focus on the material recorded around the release of Self Portrait, an album which has garnered its fair shear of critics, and at the time of its release left fans and reviewers confused to say the least. The original album was made up mostly of covers of pop standards and traditional folk songs of varying quality, and contained hardly any new original material from Dylan. The reaction to this was poor despite the album still selling in the millions, with many expecting yet another Dylan masterpiece after his return post his serious motorcycle accident saw him release two of his finest albums John Wesley Harding in 1968 and Nashville Skyline in 1969. The story behind this inconsistent and confusing release is that Dylan had had enough of being in the spotlight and wanted to escape in order to live a normal life. To achieve this he thought that by releasing a sub-standard album people would go off him and his celebrity would die down allowing him to raise his family in peace. In the end this decision ultimately failed and the album still sold well despite receiving a lot of negative press. This album seemingly didn’t do Dylan any favours and simply had the effect of increasing the spotlight around him as people became more expectant for the real Dylan to stand up. So it seems in focussing on the period around Self Portrait on this latest compilation, Columbia Records who produces these official bootleg releases is partaking in an act of music revisionism, going back to an album and period which was initially panned (mostly by critics) and seeing if was actually as bad as made out. In response I can say that after having listened to this compilation, this period of Dylan’s career was not as bad as has been made out and in fact I think that many of these new recordings and alternative takes have done justice to the music Dylan was making at the time.

The recordings on this compilation are very simplistic with minimal production that conveys a very warm homely feel. Most of the tracks on here which are performed in a country and folk style are just Dylan singing and playing acoustic guitar and piano, accompanied only by David Bromberg on lead acoustic. Bromberg is one of the highlights of this compilation with his delicate folk touches and country flourishes really contributing nicely to the recordings and acting as a nice counter to Dylan’s strumming and rhythm playing. In listening to this material although they are all old recordings from 1969 and 1970, many of them sound fresh and new as if they could have been recorded yesterday, while at the same time despite the fact that the majority of this material in its varying forms has not been released until now it feels as if you could have been listening to these recordings for years as they portray a comforting familiarity which feeds the soul. Much of this I put down to how Dylan sounded at this time, with his voice in my opinion sounding at its best during the years between 1968 and 1970. A lot of people were put off by his country croon that he put on at times especially on Nashville Skyline, but I feel this added another dimension to his voice which suited tremendously the music he was beginning to record giving it a richly soft country feel as opposed to his early work where his voice could often could come across as a bit jagged and hard-edged.

Coming in at thirty-five tracks I don’t have enough room to focus on all the material on here, but I will mention some of my favourites from the two discs. “Pretty Saro” is a traditional English folk ballad from the 1700s which was recorded by Dylan for Self Portrait and has until now remained unreleased. It is done in a beautifully simplistic folk style and features one of Dylan’s best vocal performances, a definite highlight on this compilation. “Spanish is the Loving Tongue” is a song which was based on a poem from the early 1900s and was set to music in the 1920s. Here, Dylan’s recording is just him on piano delivering yet again another brilliant vocal performance, showing also that at times he had a mellower vulnerable side to his voice and could sing a love song just as well as a protest anthem. “Time Passes Slowly” is a Dylan original which was originally released on New Morning. This recording is an alternative take that features George Harrison on guitar and backing vocals (one of two tracks that Harrison appears on) and comes across as vastly superior to the original album version of this track. “This Evening So Soon” is another traditional folk song that Dylan makes his own and one where he is accompanied by Broomberg on guitar and Al Kooper on piano. Finally, “Bring Me a Little Water” is another unreleased recording this time from the New Morning sessions which sees Dylan mix it up a bit with something I like to call folk gospel. On this recording Dylan plays piano and sings with a soulful edge to his voice, while being accompanied by some female backing singers in what is one of the best songs on this compilation.  Why this recording was passed over for the original album I don’t know, but I sure am glad we get to hear it now forty-odd years later.

All in all this is a pretty good release and for me does well to somewhat destroy the myth about the Self Portrait period being a dud for Dylan. There is some occasional filler and the odd recording that could have been passed over such as an unreleased Basement Tapes recording which sounds almost inaudible, as well as a version of “All the Tired Horses” from Self Portrait which sounded as bad now as it did then, but if you sift through this there is definitely plenty of worthy material and stuff to capture your interest. I would also not that much like most compilations this is not a coherent consistent release and as a listener you should be prepared to go full circle from one style to the next, with Dylan taking you from folk to country to Americana and back again. This however does not take away from what is an overall highly satisfying and magical compilation which does a great job in highlighting just how wonderful this period was for Dylan musically.

A-

- Sam

 

 

 

 

Elvis Costello & The Roots - "Walk Us Uptown" (2013)

Elvis Costello and The Roots - Wise Up Ghost (2013)

When I first heard that Elvis Costello and The Roots were going to collaborate together and record an album of new material I was a number of things. Surprised, curious, sceptical just to name a few, but for one sure thing I was very intrigued to find out how these two completely different artists would sound together and what they would ultimately come up with on record. The result was Wise Up Ghost, which has just been released in the past week or so.

I would describe the sound of Wise Up Ghost as being a mixture of styles. It seems to have a bit of everything from funk to R&B, dub to straight out pop, and even jazz influences. Some of the more Roots-influenced tracks on the album also have a similar groove based feel to them to the 1970s experimental funk of Parliament/Funkadelic and Sly and the Family Stone. That’s just what I think, Costello himself however is more descriptive in describing the sound of the album stating that it is a “cauldron full of powders and potions, frogs and fingers, and that’s what I call rock and roll”. With this unusual description I kind of guess where he is coming from in that he is basically saying that it is everything and anything, and doesn’t necessarily need to be labelled in anyway. The songs themselves were written from scratch in the studio and started as skeletons before gradually being built up into actual compositions. Considering that the album was initially made with no record label, or indeed deadline attached, there was no pressure on them during the recording process letting them focus entirely on the music and experimenting with sounds.

The Roots themselves as a standalone act are a huge standout on this album and contribute significantly to the overall feel of the album. Just their presence alone transforms Costello’s sound completely, taking it into the realm of funk and R&B to the point where it’s unrecognisable for Costello. Listening to this album you become even more amazed at the musical talents and abilities of The Roots as a band and as musicians, and just how revolutionary they were as a predominantly hip-hop act that played their own instruments. Their ability to adapt their style of playing to suit different artists and styles is simply incredible, and it shows on here as they fit so well with Costello. This might have been a surprise to me at first, but then you realise that a lot of Costello’s early 80s work with the Attractions was influenced by R&B and soul, therefore the fact they work so well together on this release should probably not be entirely surprising in the end.

I’ve talked a bit about the actual collaboration between the two artists, but what about the songs themselves, what actually stands out? Well the songs are an eclectic mix overall, but do not stray too far from the R&B/funk area. “Walk Us Uptown” is a groovy R&B styled track complete with horns and a funky rhythm section, while “Refused to Be Saved” and “Wake Me Up” are both funk influenced with some nice Herbie Hancock like keyboard playing. “Trip Wire”, one of the standout tracks on the album is a beautifully sweet pop ballad and offers a nice counter to the more groove based tracks, while “Cinco Minutos Con Vos” has a slow trip hop feel to it. In fact if Costello wasn’t singing you could be forgiven for thinking this song was a lost Massive Attack track. Finally, album closer “If I Could Believe” is a track which is reminiscent of the work Costello did in the late 90s with Burt Bacharach, and has a sort of slow piano based pop-jazz sound to it. This track is one the standouts on the album and is also a nice tender way to close the album when you consider the albums overall complexity and the immense detail of some of the tracks.

So far Wise Up Ghost has had a positive response from music critics and has been well received for its imaginative nature and detail, while Costello’s chameleon knack of going from style to style across releases has also gotten a favourable mention. Some criticisms I would have of the album would be that there are a couple of lesser tracks which didn’t really appeal to me, most notably “She Might Be a Grenade” and title track “Wise Up Ghost”, but these are the exception rather than the rule. Some of the tracks are also a bit labour-intensive to listen to and tend to go on too long without doing much of interest to the listener. Such criticisms however do not take away from the overall feel of the album and the depth of quality on display. In conclusion I would say this collaboration was a success, and I applaud both The Roots and Elvis Costello for attempting something that initially to me seemed quite radical. This album took quite an effort to listen to at first as the material is quite complex in places and at times can tend to waver a bit from any particular formula or song structure, but it does get better with each listen and with this comes even greater appreciation. So overall an interesting and probably worthwhile collaborative experiment by these two artists and in the end all I can say is that if you give this album a fair go it is definitely a grower.

A-

- Sam

 

Arctic Monkeys - Snap Out of It (2013)

Arctic Monkeys - AM (2013)

AM is the fifth studio release in seven years by the Arctic Monkeys, a pretty impressive feat for a band these days, while as an album it is their most diverse yet if not being the most un-Arctic Monkeys of their releases. On this new album the band have moved head first into a completely new area of music far removed from the indie rock sound which made them one of the best British bands of the 21^st century so far. The music on AM is heavily influenced by hard rock, contemporary R&B and even hip-hop which ensured the listening experience for me was in many ways one of confusion. At times I could have been mistaken for thinking this was the new Queens of the Stone Age album, with a strong current of heavy guitars, pounding riffs and high falsetto vocals scattered throughout the album. Interestingly enough Josh Homme does in fact make an appearance on this album as a guest backing vocalist, and of course helped to produce the bands third album Humbug.

The album stars in a very heavy fashion with opening track “Do I Wanna Know?” a guitar driven psychedelic rock track and “R U Mine?” a fast paced song reminiscent of classic Black Sabbath. The influence of Sabbath and hard rock continues on “Arabella”, a song that includes a seismic-like guitar riff during the chorus that thunders through the speakers at you. At this point I found myself thinking since when were the Arctic Monkeys influenced by heavy metal, an influence that continues on “I Want It All” which contains a very heavy guitar riff in the vein of early Metallica. After an incredibly fierce start to the album, the middle section is much softer and melodic. “No. 1 Party Anthem” is a John Lennon (circa 1974) sounding song that features acoustic guitar and piano accompanying what is quite a beautiful soulful vocal delivery from Alex Turner. I would bet my bottom dollar this will be a cigarette lighter in the air song during concerts. This song is followed by “Mad Sounds” which is the softest song on the album a midst a haze of heavy rock and R&B styled tracks. This song to me felt like it could have come from David Bowie’s “Young Americans” and has an underlying Philly soul feel to it complete with a chorus full of ooh-la-la’s. The final section of the album begins with my favourite track the poppy psychedelic stomp “Snap Out of It” with its hand claps and incredibly catchy chorus, “Knee Socks” which as a song has a new wave feel to it with echoey guitars and yet more falsetto vocals, and finally album closer the R&B laced “I Wanna Be Yours” which is my least favourite song on the album and where I had a what were they thinking moment.

As far as criticisms go, there are a few aspects of this album which did not do it for me namely the R&B/hip-hop influences which in my opinion did not suit them and hopefully will not be seen again on future albums. I also found myself at times getting annoyed by the falsetto vocals which are dotted across the album. Yes they work well on several tracks, but I do feel they ended up overdoing this a bit across the album as a whole. Finally, I also think this album is over-produced especially with the layers and layers of heavy guitars and multi-tracked vocals, which together at times feel like they are battling with each for supremacy on a particular song. There is a lot going on, on most of these songs and I feel many of them could have sounded better had they been a little less busy in places, and if the band had focussed more on getting the timbre right rather than the production.

So far AM has been well received by the critics on its release and has garnered plenty of positive reviews and ratings, with many in the music press commenting on the albums musically diverse nature and incorporation of styles that you wouldn’t usually associate with the Arctic Monkeys. Some have even gone on to say it is the bands best album, something I would not agree with as I still think their last release Suck It and See was better. However I do applaud the band for trying to evolve their sound and attempt new things on this release, even if the results are not always perfect. There are some very good songs on here and a lot of interesting things going on in what is by in large a consistent album, but all in all I am yet to be completely sold on the bands new sound. Despite this, I still think overall AM was an interesting listen and I would still recommend it if at least to see where the Arctic Monkeys are at after five albums, and what direction they could potentially be heading in the future.

B

- Sam

Ministry of Sound vs Spotify: Is making playlists ok?

Spotify has been in the news a lot recently, especially after Thom Yorke’s comments around whether up in coming artists get any significant financial reward from having their music available to be streamed on the site. And, just this last week, I was intrigued to read that dance music empire Ministry of Sound is suing Spotify for copyright infringement due to users of the online streaming service creating playlists that mirror Ministry of Sound compilation albums. When I first read this I was quite amazed as I had never heard of a case quite like it in music. Copyright issues have become more and more common within the music industry in the last decade or so, from the early days of digital downloading to just last month when members of Marvin Gaye’s family got embroiled in a copyright dispute with Robin Thicke over the song “Blurred Lines” of which they argued copied Gaye’s song “Got To Give it Up”, but suing a company because their users made playlists which copied official releases is something new all together.

The success of this particular case will be dependent on whether a case can be made for compilation albums to qualify for copyright protection because of the effort that goes in to arranging the track listing and putting the albums together, while also whether the actual order of tracks on a compilation album can be copyrighted. Compilation albums are a significant money earner for the mainstream music industry, especially if they are compiled and released through a major label or a brand such as Ministry of Sound. This makes me believe that in pursuing this case against Spotify, Ministry of Sound are simply out to protect their financial interests with no real care for the satisfaction of the casual music fan, users of Spotify, and indeed it seems Ministry of Sound fans.

To me this case is just another attempt from a music mogul to control how music is distributed, and in doing so control that distribution process so it is favourable to them and their financial interest, interests that are worth within the multi-million dollar range annually. Music streaming is quickly becoming one of the most popular ways in which people are listening to music in an increasingly diversified music listening landscape. And with sites like Spotify offering their services for free, or cheap subscriptions, major labels and other influential organisations such as Ministry of Sound will become more concerned as to whether their historically strong monopoly on music distribution will remain. Such concerns will only increase if they believe that the popularity of online streaming and other ‘free’ or cheap listening music services will affect their record sales and therefore the profit margins of the big global conglomerates.

This brings me back on to the issue of making playlists, something that is very popular amongst users of Spotify and iTunes. At the end of the day one must ask what is actually wrong with music fans compiling their favourite tracks into playlists for their own pleasure. Music and the act of listening to music is one of the most pleasurable experiences one can have, and if a music fan has the opportunity to enhance this experience through making themed playlists then surly that’s a good thing and should be encouraged not prevented. People have been compiling music for their own personal use for decades, you only need to think of bootlegging and tape making for starters, while ITunes is also in the business of allowing users to make their own personal playlists. The mind actually boggles as to where Ministry of Sound is coming from on this issue in what to me is simply an attempt by them to control how music fans listen to music, and from Ministry of Sounds point of view how they listen to their music. Surly they should be happy people are listening to their product in the first place and indeed getting enjoyment from it through the act of making their own playlists. Spotify and music streaming in general is just the latest example in a long list where music fans have beaten the moguls to the pump in changing the music listening and music consuming landscape. When these moguls realise their financial interests are threatened they target the copyright loophole that tends to come with the distribution of information online in an attempt to try and stamp out such activity, forcing people to resort to traditional means of acquiring music, which in the case of Ministry of Sound  means buying their fifty-thousand compilation albums.

At the end of the day the major players in the music industry have for too long now been behind the times when it comes to music distribution and the news ways in which people are getting their music today. Ultimately it is their responsibility to catch up with the developments of things such as music streaming and other forms of online music distribution in the digital age, because  If they don’t they will continue to lose out financially and the music fan will continue to rule the roost as to how and where they listen to music. Ultimately it is about options and giving music fans more diversity in how they can listen to their music without restricting what they can and can’t do. Making playlists is a harmless activity and should in reality have no significant effect on the compilation sales of Ministry of Sound. But when you consider the profit over product and capital over culture ideals that exist amongst the hegemons of the music industry, a harmless activity such as making a playlist on Spotify can evidently get heads turning.

- Sam

Franz Ferdinand - Love Illumination (2013)

Franz Ferdinand - Right Thoughts, Right Words, Right Actions (2013)

Right Thoughts, Right Words, Right Actions is the newly released album by Scottish indie-rock band Franz Ferdinand. It is their forth studio release overall and first since 2009, a long gap between offerings when you consider that most indie bands release an album every two years at the very least. I must say that since their second album You Could Have It So Much Better, Franz Ferdinand drifted off my musical radar and were seemingly ready to be forever known to me as the band who released that really artsy video in 2004 accompanying arguably their most well known song “Take Me Out”. However I found myself pleasantly surprised after listening to their latest release, in what appears to be a very strong comeback for the band.

The sound of this album is not to dissimilar to their last album which had an underlying dance feel to it, although all in all the band tends to mix up the material between traditional indie-rock and dosses of 80s new wave. Album opener the guitar driven “Right Thoughts” is probably the track which resembles their earlier work the most and is notably accompanied by a “Take Me Out” inspired music video, while “Evil Eye” has a sort of 80s post-punk feel to it including a thumping Duran Duran bass line. There are shades of Bowie on “Love Illumination” which channels his 80s work along with latest release The Next Day and includes driving guitars, a catchy melody and even drowning-like horns; there is no doubting that “Love Illumination” will be a live favourite among fans, whilst it is also for me a candidate for best track on the album. Other tracks that stood out for me on the album included the Supergrass-sounding “Bullet” with its high pitch vocals and surfer guitar, and the Beatlesque “Fresh Strawberries” with its lovely harmonies and glowing melody. “Fresh Strawberries” appealed to me as it is not your typical Franz Ferdinand track in that it is a slower more mellow number and is less guitar-driven.  Another candidate for best song on the album and nice to see them try something different. The only real negatives for me on this album were the tracks “Treason Animals” and “The Universe Expanded” of which both seemed to me as being annoying exercises in psychedelic synth pop. For me these were clearly the weakest tracks on the album and definitely don’t fit in with the up-tempo and melodic nature of the rest of the material. However, at ten songs it is a very short album and therefore a couple of lesser tracks can be excused. Yes they don’t add anything to the album, but at the same time they don’t take anything away from the rest of the material.

So far this album has been well received by critics with many giving it four stars and 8/10 ratings. I definitely concur with the critics and view the album as a strong comeback for the group especially after their last album was a bit uneven in places. I also probably view this release more favourably as I wasn’t expecting much out of it and was tossing up whether to even bother listening to it. In the end I’m glad I did and the surprise in the form of some quality songs was well worth it. I do recommend this latest offering from Franz Ferdinand especially if you enjoyed their earlier work, or are simply just an indie-rock nerd. I would also recommend it to those people like myself of which Franz Ferdinand had drifted out of consciousness within the overcrowded scene of indie bands that exist these days. You also might just be pleasantly surprised like I was.

B+

- Sam

25 Albums That Changed Hip-Hop Forever

NME are celebrating hip-hop in their latest edition, and in support of this, they have compiled a list of 25 game changing albums in the genre.
http://www.nme.com/photos/25-albums-that-changed-hip-hop-forever/315600/1/1#25

- Sam

The saturation that is music reality television

So it’s over, New Zealand finally has its first X Factor winner in Jackie Thomas. No real surprise as she was the most consistent singer throughout the show right from her first up audition, an amazing version of the Bon Iver song “Skinny Love”. But I am not here to review the first season of X Factor in New Zealand but to talk in general about reality television music shows. Music reality TV has become completely saturated to the point of overkill. There seems to be so many different variations of essentially the same concept, that is pick someone out of obscurity and launch them into one of the craziest and toughest industries the music industry. This saturation in what is an already saturated reality TV decade lent me to the pondering of such questions as after twelve seasons of American Idol is there really that much more undiscovered talent in the US? And are these shows really about music?

Well essentially these shows aren’t really about music but are instead largely money generating activities for profit-driven television companies. Yeah sure occasionally someone can come out of one of these shows and be a success such as Kelly Clarkson, Carrie Underwood, and dare I say it One Direction, and yes I’m sure by going on these television shows you can get yourself good exposure as an artist even if you don’t make it “big”, whatever that means. However, the reality of these reality shows is that it is not about music. Television companies would not be pumping money in to them if they didn’t think they could get money out of them, or generate ratings in a highly competitive television market in the form of advertising, sponsorship deals etc. While major record labels such as Sony tend to play it safe with these shows by tailoring them (the shows) and the artists on them towards the mainstream pop market, meaning musical diversity is often lacking especially at the crunch stage of the competition. If you look at the majority of the winners of these shows they tend to be safe pop acts, while often the more musically interesting or out there acts tend to finish lower down. This in itself lends me to pose the idea of how these shows aren’t at all about who is the best musician or who has the best voice, but are instead about who is the most popular among the watching and voting public. But then again I guess the mainstream music industry has always been about who is the most popular.

There is also the question that with all this saturation (The Voice, X Factor, Idol, Talent) it becomes impossible that all the contestants on these shows will be able to make it in what is such a challenging industry anyway. I mean Sony and other labels only have so much money they are willing to spend and it won’t be on everyone who comes through the reality music show doors. You only have to look at people like Ruben Studdard and Ben Lummis to figure that out, both who simply faded away after winning American and New Zealand Idol respectively. Many of the singers (if you can call some of them that) on these shows would probably stand a better chance just continuing to hone their skills in bars and at small public events/festivals, while maybe going down the route of independent labels. At least this way their musical journey is largely in their own hands, while it very much becomes all about the music, and just the music. In winning these sorts of shows therein lies the risk of being constricted in what you can do as a musician under the realm of a greedy major label whose main objective is profit making.  This can often lead to the music suffering as a result and even the risk if you do not deliver financially of being dropped by the label, a move labels are prepared for as to them musicians tend to be dispensable especially when you consider that many acts turn in a loss.

In concluding this piece on reality music television, I’m not saying I hate music reality TV shows in fact they can actually be quite entertaining in parts and they do at times find some good talent. The Voice in particular I quite like with its unique format of blind auditions, constructive criticism from judges, and cross-judge support for acts unlike the heated rivalries you tend to see in shows like the X Factor. I just think there are too many of these shows and their position in society needs to be placed firmly in perspective, especially when the media and social media jump up and down when the latest winner is announced.

- Sam