Higgs Boson Blog » Music

Pat Metheny

higgsboson — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 22:12:57 +0000

The following is Pat Metheny’s rant on Kenny G. The rant get’s surprisingly nasty when Pat discovered that Kenny G had overdubbed his playing on a classic Louis Armstrong track entitled ‘What A Wonderful World’. Whilst I have a certain sympathy with Pat’s view, and I would like to emphasise that I am no particular fan of Kenny G, I think Pat goes a little to far here. I can think of far worse music on the planet, I’m afraid! Maybe I am subjected to more crap music than Pat? After all, a recent BBC Radio4 interview with Pat Metheny revealed that prior to working on his film soundtrack to the Falcon and the Snowman he had never heard of David Bowie! Where does Pat live for Christ sake, the Moon? Another thing is, and I say this with a heavy heart because I do respect Metheny as a musician, one of his albums is in my top ten favourites, BUT, there have been albums of his where I’ve thought – hang on a minute, this is definitely stretching jazz into the realms of mediocrity. Higgs Boson

Question: Pat, could you tell us your opinion about Kenny G? It appears you were quoted as being less than enthusiastic about him and his music. I would say that most of the serious music listeners in the world would not find your opinion surprising or unlikely, but you were vocal about it for the first time. You are generally supportive of other musicians it seems.

Pat’s Answer: Kenny G is not a musician I really had much of an opinion about at all until recently. There was not much about the way he played that interested me one way or the other either live or on records. I first heard him a number of years ago playing as a sideman with Jeff Lorber when they opened a concert for my band. My impression was that he was someone who had spent a fair amount of time listening to the more pop oriented sax players of that time, like Grover Washington or David Sanborn, but was not really an advanced player, even in that style. He had major rhythmic problems and his harmonic and melodic vocabulary was extremely limited, mostly to pentatonic based and blues-lick derived patterns, and he basically exhibited only a rudimentary understanding of how to function as a professional soloist in an ensemble; Lorber was basically playing him off the bandstand in terms of actual music. But he did show a knack for connecting to the basest impulses of the large crowd by deploying his two or three most effective licks (holding long notes and playing fast runs; never mind that there were lots of harmonic clams in them) at the key moments to elicit a powerful crowd reaction (over and over again).

The other main thing I noticed was that he also, as he does to this day, play horribly out of tune—consistently sharp. Of course, I am aware of what he has played since, the success it has had, and the controversy that has surrounded him among musicians and serious listeners. This controversy seems to be largely fueled by the fact that he sells an enormous amount of records while not being anywhere near a really great player in relation to the standards that have been set on his instrument over the past sixty or seventy years. And honestly, there is no small amount of envy involved from musicians who see one of their fellow players doing so well financially, especially when so many of them who are far superior as improvisers and musicians in general have trouble just making a living.

There must be hundreds, if not thousands of sax players around the world who are simply better improvising musicians than Kenny G on his chosen instruments. It would really surprise me if even he disagreed with that statement. Having said that, it has gotten me to thinking lately why so many jazz musicians (myself included, given the right “bait” of a question, as I will explain later) and audiences have gone so far as to say that what he is playing is not even jazz at all. Stepping back for a minute, if we examine the way he plays, especially if one can remove the actual improvising from the often mundane background environment that it is delivered in, we see that his saxophone style is in fact clearly in the tradition of the kind of playing that most reasonably objective listeners WOULD normally quantify as being jazz.

It’s just that as jazz or even as music in a general sense, with these standards in mind, it is simply not up to the level of playing that we historically associate with professional improvising musicians. So, lately I have been advocating that we go ahead and just include it under the word jazz, since pretty much of the rest of the world OUTSIDE of the jazz community does anyway, and let the chips fall where they may. And after all, why he should be judged by any other standard, why he should be exempt from that that all other serious musicians on his instrument are judged by if they attempt to use their abilities in an improvisational context playing with a rhythm section as he does?

He SHOULD be compared to John Coltrane or Wayne Shorter, for instance, on his abilities (or lack thereof) to play the soprano saxophone and his success (or lack thereof) at finding a way to deploy that instrument in an ensemble in order to accurately gauge his abilities and put them in the context of his instrument’s legacy and potential. As a composer of even eighth note based music, he SHOULD be compared to Herbie Hancock, Horace Silver or even Grover Washington. Suffice it to say, on all above counts, at this point in his development, he wouldn’t fare well. But, like I said at the top, this relatively benign view was all until recently.

Not long ago, Kenny G put out a recording where he overdubbed himself on top of a 30+ year old Louis Armstrong record, the track “What a wonderful world.” With this single move, Kenny G became one of the few people on earth I can say that I really can’t use at all—as a man, for his incredible arrogance to even consider such a thing, and as a musician, for presuming to share the stage with the single most important figure in our music.

This type of musical necrophilia—the technique of overdubbing on the preexisting tracks of already dead performers—was weird when Natalie Cole did it with her dad on “Unforgettable” a few years ago, but it was her dad. When Tony Bennett did it with Billie Holiday it was bizarre, but we are talking about two of the greatest singers of the 20th century who were on roughly the same level of artistic accomplishment. When Larry Coryell presumed to overdub himself on top of a Wes Montgomery track, I lost a lot of the respect that I ever had for him, and I have to seriously question the fact that I did have respect for someone who could turn out to have have such unbelievably bad taste and be that disrespectful to one of my personal heroes. But when Kenny G decided that it was appropriate for him to defile the music of the man who is probably the greatest jazz musician that has ever lived by spewing his lame-ass, jive, pseudo-bluesy, out-of-tune, noodling, wimped out, fucked up playing all over one of the great Louis’ tracks (even one of his lesser ones), he did something that I would not have imagined possible. He, in one move, through his unbelievably pretentious and calloused musical decision to embark on this most cynical of musical paths, shit all over the graves of all the musicians past and present who have risked their lives by going out there on the road for years and years developing their own music inspired by the standards of grace that Louis Armstrong brought to every single note he played over an amazing lifetime as a musician.

By disrespecting Louis, his legacy and by default, everyone who has ever tried to do something positive with improvised music and what it can be, Kenny G has created a new low point in modern culture—something that we all should be totally embarrassed about—and afraid of. We ignore this, “let it slide,” at our own peril. His callous disregard for the larger issues of what this crass gesture implies is exacerbated by the fact that the only reason he possibly have for doing something this inherently wrong (on both human and musical terms) was for the record sales and the money it would bring. Since that record came out, in protest, as insignificant as it may be, I encourage everyone to boycott Kenny G recordings, concerts and anything he is associated with. If asked about Kenny G, I will diss him and his music with the same passion that is in evidence in this little essay. Normally, I feel that musicians all have a hard enough time, regardless of their level, just trying to play good and don’t really benefit from public criticism, particularly from their fellow players. But, this is different. There ARE some things that are sacred, and amongst any musician that has ever attempted to address jazz at even the most basic of levels, Louis Armstrong and his music is hallowed ground. To ignore this trespass is to agree that NOTHING any musician has attempted to do with their life in music has any intrinsic value, and I refuse to do that. (I am also amazed that there HASN’T already been an outcry against this among music critics—where ARE they on this?????!?!?!?!- , magazines, etc.). Everything I said here is exactly the same as what I would say to Gorelick if I ever saw him in person. And if I ever DO see him anywhere, at any function, he WILL get a piece of my mind and maybe a guitar wrapped around his head.

Jazz legend Johnny Dankworth

higgsboson — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 10:04:48 +0000

Jazz legend Johnny Dankworth dies aged 82.

Sir John Dankworth, a mainstay of the British jazz scene for over 60 years, has died, his family has confirmed. Saxophonist Sir John, 82, served as musical director to the likes of Nat King Cole and Ella Fitzgerald. Sir John, known as Johnny, was knighted in 2006 for services to music. He died at the King Edward VII Hospital in London on Saturday. His wife, the singer Dame Cleo Laine, announced his death at a concert at their theatre in Buckinghamshire. The concert was celebrating 40 years of the theatre, which the couple founded in the grounds of their home in Wavendon. In a statement, his agent said: “The all-star concert, featuring numerous British stars of stage, screen and recordings, became a tribute to John.” He was hailed by Jazzwise magazine as “one of the totemic figures of British jazz” and the UK’s “first major jazz musician”.

‘International figure’

His agent Jim Murtha, speaking from New York, told the BBC it was “a sad day”. Mr Murtha added: “For British jazz and jazz around the world, I believe John has become such an international figure, particularly since he became Sir John Dankworth a few years ago.” On his Twitter page, jazz singer Jamie Cullum hailed Sir John as a “genius”. He wrote: “Sir John Dankworth, a great man and one of our finest musicians and composers, has died. Rest in peace sir.”

In brief:

Sir John and Dame Cleo met in 1950 while he was auditioning for singers with his band, the Dankworth Seven.
He also leaves a son and a daughter, both jazz musicians.

In 1993 Sir John formed the Dankworth Generation Band, with his son Alec.

After winning a place at the Royal Academy of Music aged 17, and following a short spell in the Army, the young Sir John was voted British Musician of the Year in 1949.

The same year he attended the Paris Jazz Festival, where he played with the legendary Charlie Parker.

In the 1960s, Sir John scored such films as Saturday Night and Sunday Morning, The Servant and Modesty Blaise and wrote the theme tunes for The Avengers and Tomorrow’s World.

Sir John and Dame Cleo founded their charity, the Wavendon Allmusic Plan, in 1969, which led to the establishment of the Stables.

He was appointed CBE in 1974 and founded the London Symphony Orchestra Summer Pops in 1985.

Sir John was a fellow of the Royal Academy of Music and received the Freedom of the City of London in 1994.

Higgs Boson

The Gig

admin — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 22:25:58 +0000

The Gig

Unceremoniously dumped by an English harridan (I’m being kind), completely and utterly broken/depressed/down-trodden, and that’s just her, imagine how I felt, I decided to throw caution to the wind and mingle with some ‘local’ musicians. I ended up playing with a couple of guys who I actually respected; including the late Fred Davis (guitarist). He had a fantastic finger-picking style and was a formidable pedal steel player. Anyway, to cut a long story, at the behest of another local muso I took a very nice/beautiful girl out for a day in my car, thinking that this would alleviate some of the pain. Of course it didn’t, we broke down (the car that is), but to the rescue came help in the form of Mervyn Beaver (artist) who I’d never met but nevertheless he very kindly offered to take us back to his place and feed us. I have to say that for this to happen in England these days is highly unusual. Usually, if you break down, it’s fuck-off and die!

Anyway, Mervyn being an artist instantly recognised that I was different in some way and could somehow sense that I was a musician, so we had certain things in common as twer. Problems, problems and more fucking problems, of course we were unable to fix my car and as I had a piano gig that evening Mervyn offered to sell me a cheap car, which got us home safely and me onto the gig, much to my surprise.

After this we kept in touch and I went down to Cornwall to see him and his family again, we became good friends. He eventually introduced me to a number of Cornish musicians amongst which was John Fry aka Chuck Scirocco. I ended up playing quite a lot with John in his studio mainly; this inevitably led to a number of other encounters. Through John I did some session work for Sentinel Records where Gareth Young worked as a sound engineer.

Anyroadup, one day John phones me and said that he’s heard of a possible piano/keyboard gig in Denmark would I be interested? Does a bear shit in the woods? I thought, of course, what’s the deal? Apparently I had to go and see someone called Damian Rodd who was at that time working as a drummer in a cabaret band. The arrangements were made and I went to meet him at some god-awful holiday camp where he was playing. Anyway there were clearly some very good musicians playing in this cabaret band and although they were playing what I would describe as complete crap (theme to the A-Team etc..) I could tell that Rodd was different, yes he was going through the motions but occasionally there would be a flash of brilliance, a touch of the Vinnies about him, if you know what I mean. So, we met, and we arranged a rehearsal.

However, unbeknown to me John had completely exaggerated my abilities by telling them I played like Chic Corea!!!You have to imagine that being said in a slight Cornish accent. How should I say, one’s credibility took a sudden nosedive.

Despite this, they all seemed reasonably impressed with my abilities when said rehearsal took place and we agreed to start rehearsals in preparation for this Danish 5 star hotel gig. I say gig, the contract was for one month, six nights a week, five hours per night.

I immediately liked the other guys; to me they seemed a very happy bunch despite living in what you could only describe as errr not exactly salubrious conditions lets put it that way. In fact they were living in caravans on the holiday camp site where they were playing and our rehearsals were confined to these caravans, to start with at any rate. They kept referring to one another as ‘Ted’ I thought this was some strange Cornish custom but it was simply there way of not having to bother remembering each others names. You have to say it in a certain way as well, with your tongue curled upwards. This gives you the local buffoon edge, so to speak. So, I became Ted for the duration.

The preparations for this gig for me was a welcome diversion from dwelling on the misery of a relationship break-up, however in the event no matter how far you run, no matter how busy you make yourself the pain barrier has to be negotiated, otherwise you’re in denial, that’s bad!

So, the final rehearsal took place and I ventured back to my hovel in my little Fiat 128. I say hovel, with the pant and sock fairy disappearance I don’t mind admitting the place was starting to look a bit sad not to mention untidy. Anyway I forgot to say, I crashed the car on the way back, disaster already. I had to have some major repair work (chassis welding) done if my little Fiat was to make it all the way to Copenhagen. Yes, we were driving all the way, never mind Top Gear; this was an excursion that would make Jeremy Clarkson proud.

Watch this space for Part Two…

Higgs Boson

Copyright: Higgs Boson 2009

Let Me Entertain You! Higgs on Myspace

admin — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 16:00:49 +0000

Let Me Entertain You part II
Category: Music

Let Me Entertain You!

part II

(follow-up to a recent bulletin on Myspace)

To be honest I half expected to lose enormous numbers of friends in my self induced mass rapper-cull frenzy bulletin but to my delight and surprise most people seem to agree with the general sentiment.

That said….

Why crap all over poor old Tom? Well, my reference to Tom was more or less metaphorical, and please bear in mind I did pay tribute to the fact that Myspace has its uses for which we should be grateful. It’s just that to me there’s a certain irony at play here because Tom, believe it or not, is in fact a musician of sorts, played in a band called ‘Swank’. I can’t believe it. Of course here in the UK that’s only one short of calling yourselves Lumpy Cum and the Tossers! I’m not joking btw this was the actual name of a local band where I live. There debut gig is something that is irrevocably etched on my mind for all time!

Anyway, despite this I am still of the opinion, rightly or wrongly that Tom’s A&R dept has appalling taste in music. Mind you, I say this about Tom having never met him. For all I know he might go home and listen to Chic Corea and or Waltons first symphony and his web presence here on Myspace may well be a front to make yet more money for dear old Rupert Murdoch who has Tom’s testicles trapped in a mangle for which the handle is ratcheted with the customary Myspace aggression unless he promotes P. Diddly-Squat?

Tom also has a degree in Rhetoric – this explains a lot! Tom is clearly a product of his apparent education. Just goes to show – education – not always a good thing. For someone to end up with such power/influence and effectively only promote one style of music is a tragedy of biblical proportions in my view. Not only for Myspace but for the rest of the planet because it perpetuates the closed-shop mentality that the major labels suffer with!

I say one style of music, they do claim to promote several different genres but they all conform to their particular commercial model, if you know what I mean? And don’t tell me they are only trying to make a living! Otherwise, as John Cleese said I shall come and visit you in the small hours and put a large venomous bat up ya nightdress!

I don’t know how many bands reading this will have asked Myspace if they could be a ‘Featured Artist’. There can be no doubt that this certainly bumps-up the profile hits if you are accepted. But here we are again; you are at the mercy of their discretion. So, if you’ve been successful in this department and you have somehow impressed the Myspace music dept, well done! Three gold stars! Of course this has all the credibility of being told “you’re f….kin brilliant you are” by an alcoholic with gonnersyphaherpeaids, but well done nonetheless.

I do children’s parties by the way….lol

Their chart system still remains one of the unsolved mysteries of the universe too. Myspace claim to be taking a discretionary editorial approach to Featured artists. If the same process is applied to their charts then this would certainly explain why Allan Holdsworth (greatest fusion guitarist, ever) lags way behind. Utterly baffling. I’m up and down the Myspace chart like a prostitutes drawers! Not that I’m taking much notice you understand. And not that I have in any way experienced the rapid movements of prostitutes smalls, details, thingamajigs’!

Am I embittered? No. Is there any other style of music I like other than my own? This is a ridiculous question; of course there is. It has obviously escaped some peoples notice that my stuff is FUSION, fusion being a mixture of all genres. I say all genres’, in my case I usually draw the line at rap and reggae, and surely I can be forgiven for that! Notwithstanding, I have said on my site that I am influenced by everything I come into contact with – so I guess I am subconsciously affected by all that I dislike just as much as I like.

Leaving purity to one side for a minute; —- it has occurred to me that people who just stick to one genre to the exclusion of all others are simply pandering to a market? Of course it could be the product of a closed mind rather than the implied dishonesty; we’re entering Worzell territory here! Take Blues or Folk music….the local folk club here is full of purists…I get critically bored by all the reminiscing of who did what where how etc. which is, in my humble opinion the cleverest aspect of folk music. btw that’s not to say I am not influenced by folk music. And, that’s not to say I don’t like some folk music, after all Joni Mitchell in her early years was very folk en-orientated and her album ‘Blue’ is one of my favourites. It’s all the bollocks n’ politics that goes with it that causes me to get my arse in my hands.

No, I recently found myself goose-stepping to the local folk club, ended up propping up the bar eating a bag of dried rats arses and having to listen to the most god-awful din…..believe me nothing can prepare you for someone who cannot play the firkin bagpipes!

Incidentally, cats-ball on a biscuit tin was a reference to some teenagers living opposite me who have a “band”. I use the word band in its most basic form. One day they were “rehearsing” and I’m not kidding, I nearly called the police because I honestly thought someone was actually being murdered! There we are, a new genre is born (Stabba-Rap)

I would imagine that in the not to distant future the purists of this genre will have their own club whereby communication would be limited to using a series of subtle shoulder shrugs and grunts- eerhgg urghs kzzz paaah! He didn’t reach b3 coz yooz didn’t stab him hard enough! The purist gangsta rappers will be up in arms “you can’t call this f***ng music”…Open warfare with the new stabba-rappers would then ensue. Mark my words in a few years from now Brits 2010 will have more in common with Baghdad than with any form of recognizable music.

Anyway, I dare say there will come a time when even the gangsta rappers of today find themselves being appalled by something, but how far down the road is this going to go is my question? I mean just how long is it going to be before the people that are into this shit, think its shit? Probably never..I believe in free speech btw unlike the rappers who seem to be of the opinion that I’m completely ‘out of order’ for criticising anything or anyone. And, that this somehow means I am unhappy and unfulfilled, au bloody contraire!

Don’t get me started…..

Now, I’m no aficionado of the “official way of doing things” but people these days do seem to take the easy way out or the least line of resistance, no matter what there line of business; why bother to learn anything about a particular subject when people’s expectations are so low? And, what’s the point in learning or getting qualified in your chosen subject when the qualifications themselves have had to be dumbed-down to such a degree that anyone with the intellectual capacity of a deranged flea could pass? Don’t take my word for it, this was recently on the BBC national news about so-called A levels.

I’m going way off subject here, but who cares. Now I don’t know what the state of affairs is in the good old U S of A but here in the UK things are absolutely dire! Here you can now get a degree in ‘surfing’, what pray does this entail? Well, I would imagine the first year would be ‘how to role a splif on the beach? The second, how to lay as many women or men as possible and the third, well I suppose some study would be a requirement, I mean standing on a surf board does promulgate a degree of concentration?

I am absolutely bewildered by what Britain has become, a nation of mouth-breathers who need to go on a course to learn how to put up a shelf. How fucking stupid do you have to be? I noticed back along that the local college were advertising a course on ‘how to celebrate Christmas. I’m lost for words. Well, what kind of knuckle-dragging buffoon enrols on such a course? Britain it seems is bursting with over qualified mouth-breathers, educated to well beyond their intelligence and what’s more they’re in well paid employment and all because some bewildered overpaid college lecturer thinks he’s dealing with some form of higher intelligence. Is there any justice? If my experience is anything to go by, no. There are enormous numbers working in high paid jobs that simply shouldn’t be in those jobs. There are lawyers who should have been carpet fitters and vice versa, Builders who should have taken up comedy and last but not least people in the Myspace A&R dept who should be cleaning out dog-shit bins!

It’s a good job I’m not a politician! Vote for Higgs, and get shot!

No offence….

Higgs Boson

http://www.higgsboson.com

Higgs Boson Myspace Site

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Copyright: Higgs Boson – 2009

Let Me Entertain You! Higgs on the Brit Awards

admin — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 22:06:35 +0000

Let Me Entertain You!

part one

Oh dear! I seem to have incurred rapper-wroth. I hope I’m not going to be shot! I therefore apologise if my message was in any way misunderstood.

Apparently I have a thing or two to learn about the subject of music and production! I very much look forward to this. However, there are a couple of points I would like to make before my education begins!

There are people on here who seem to think they are dealing with some form of high-art? In saying that I have been told not to count out all Hip-Hop practitioners, and I accept this criticism. However, I know of several producers churning this stuff out like a sausage factory and it just amazes me just how many people buy into it. Take it from me, they work in a very cynical way. When people talk about an ‘evolving culture’ the creators of this nepotistic detritus are simply second-guessing what their so-called fans will swallow/buy next..no matter how you look at it there is a question of perceived integrity. I suppose everyone finds their level don’t they. My father for instance use to go on about how brilliant the ‘Worzells’ were, they were in fact completely crap, but who was I to argue? A Myspacer has left some poem/verse on my page, now to me it looks quite good, but then again I’m not a poet so it might well be crap, again who am I? Some of this stuff may have taken talent, then again I knew someone who could fart ‘god save the queen’ in b-flat. Talented…Maybe, but would you buy it? Actually I think I might, just for a laugh! Some people think that ‘Dirty Dancing’ is the best movie of all time! I think you get the point.

We live in a frustrating world, whilst much of it to me sounds like cats-balls on a biscuit tin – don’t ask! to the general populous it’s all wonderful and short of compulsory brain surgery there’s nothing much we can do about it because the Toms of this world are sinking vast sums of money into what is essentially low-art.
Actually I do think there is a place for everything in the universe, I couldn’t really call myself Higgs Boson and think otherwise. I suppose what agitates me about the accountant friendly genre’s is the apparent ease in which they seem to achieve success/kudos, and lets face it, it’s success that is largely dependent upon ignorance rather than a genuine understanding of what is or isn’t any good. In respect of my own music you can say what you like. In a perverse way I almost derive as much pleasure from people who absolutely hate it than I do people who love it, but say what you like, it has integrity! My music was not borne out of a desire to make money. The same philosophy can be applied to all the musicians I have worked with who like me have devoted their lives to being the best they can be.

Notwithstanding, if I ever found myself in front of the likes of Simon Cowell, which lets face it is about as likely as getting a knee-trembler from prince Philip, I would simply get booed off-stage.

Don’t get me started!
too late…

Now did anyone happen to witness Brits 2007? (award cere-money)
They seem to be handing out awards to various bands voted for by people who are quite literally dead from the neck up.

Winners 2007
* British Male Solo Artist – James Morrison
* British Female Solo Artist – Amy Winehouse
* British Group – Arctic Monkeys
* MasterCard British Album – Arctic Monkeys
“Whatever people say I am, that’s what I’m not”
* British Single – Take That “Patience”
* British Breakthrough Act – Fratellis
* British Live Act – Muse
* International Male Solo Artist – Justin Timbertrousers
* International Female Solo Artist – Nelly Furtado
* International Group – The Killers
* International Album – Killers “Sam’s Town”
* International Breakthrough Act – Orson
* Outstanding Contribution to Music – Oasis

This is going to sound very much like the inate ramblings of an old muso wallowing in obscurity, and to a certain extent that’s true. However, I’m afraid that’s not going to stop me..
Perhaps a more appropriate or should I say obvious title would be ‘Shits 2007′. Although I only watched the last hour of the show I have to say it almost had me frothing at the mouth, after which I very nearly threw the TV out the window in rage!! I know, I know, this probably says more about me than the actual show..anyroad…

Lets start with my main gripe ‘Oasis’, they won the ‘Outstanding Contribution To Music’ award. I’m sorry, I just don’t get this either, perhaps that’s because I’m not snorting a bucket of cocaine every half-hour. I can’t believe that Oasis were voted for by people who are in any way still alive. They must have a huge warehouse somewhere, similar to or as in the Matrix have millions of barely alive brains in a jam-jar wired up to their voting system.

Musically Oasis are not doing anything that other far superior bands weren’t doing during the 1970′s. For me it’s just root-note Status Quo with attitude. If that deserves an Outstanding Contribution To Music award then will someone please give Dubya a ring, wrap me up in explosives and call me Osama!
I have a dream….that one day people suddenly wake up from their accountant induced coma and realise that Liam can’t sing and his brother can’t play a fucking guitar. No offense – I don’t wish to deny anyones rightful place in music history but in the case of Oasis, come on! One or two memorable tunes/songs if you can call them that, does not entitle you to be mentioned in the same breath as The Beatles, for fuck sake!

My wife has an Oasis album, I think it’s called ‘Definitely Maybe’? or Definitely Shite? Unless I am labouring under some gross misapprehension and have yet to be introduced to some magnificent Oasis music can someone please explain to me in what form does this outstanding contribution to music take? Are there some monumental new chord progressions? Come on..Thrill me, chill me!!

The MasterCard British Album was won by Arctic Monkeys with “Whatever people say I am, that’s what I’m not”. Ok then, you’re a bunch of amazing musicians with blistering technique and a terrific sense of humour….I mean, did you see their contribution to the show? Talk about humourless, although they were dressed in what I presumed to be joke costumes not one of them raised a smile…in fact the spokesperson looked very much like someone had just shat in his pocket and he’d just found out! I cannot believe what I am about to say, considering the fact that boy-bands during the 1980′s were one of my absolute pet-hates, but blow me down, ‘Take That’ were the only group/collection of people there with a modicum of integrity.

It is absolutely clear to me, if Myspace is anything to go by, and incidentally Myspace does have it’s good points I mean how else would I have interested so many people in my music and with people as far a field as Alaska? Anyway it’s clear that I and many others are truly up against it because rappers and the like totally dominate the industry. So getting a mainstream distribution deal, which is the only real way to promote an album btw, that is being on the radio/television and in the shops simultaneously is now almost a ridiculous fantasy, especially for musicians who strive to push the envelope beyond the intellectual limits of people like Tom.

Happy days

No offence…..

Higgs Boson

Music is ALIVE!! Or is it?

admin — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 09:16:20 +0000

Roger Daltrey said that “CDs have destroyed the music business and that vinyl sounds better”. After hearing Roger say this on television I got to thinking that although there are clearly other factors that deserve consideration in respect of the affect CDs have had on the music industry, maybe he’s got a point.

I have been buying CDs ever since they became available and at that time I remember thinking that this was definitely the future; they are cleaner/sharper sounding, more convenient, last forever etc. or so I was led to believe…It was a no-brainer. However, I recently acquired a Lin Sondek (LP12) turntable and with the aid of a well-to-do friend put together a relatively high-end bespoke Hi-Fi system so I could re-visit and hopefully enjoy that ‘vinyl experience’ once again.

Following this I set about trying to make contact with some of my old LPs. Unfortunately due to the interim years and fluctuating storage conditions they were not in the best of health. Notwithstanding, one or two did stand up to scrutiny and I have to say I was pleasantly surprised with how good they sounded, this unfortunately gave me further impetus.

I then set off to see if I could buy some of the old stuff I used to have, and for me, here started the whole ‘vinyl experience’. To start with, when you walk into the shop you are confronted with an altogether different look/feel, obviously vinyl takes up more space but more importantly when you browse through a stack of vinyl LPs it just seems more natural, and easier to look at. To my surprise there was a ‘new’ section, I immediately turned to the shopkeeper “fuck me! NEW, when did this happen”? He replied that it had never gone away sir.

Anyway, I ended up buying David Gilmour’s new album ‘On an Island’ and a couple of albums that I already had on CD. The Gilmour in particular had a real feel of quality about it, thick cardboard construction foldout with a massive poster tucked in one side and a heavy duty 180g vinyl LP in the other. You really felt you’d bought something special with your money. Right from the moment you leave the shop the vinyl experience continued because you know you have to take care of the albums you’ve bought, this forms a certain bond/relationship as it were with the product as apposed to a CD which you can just throw in the back of the car and forget about it, you know what I mean.

On returning home I could hardly contain myself. The Gilmour sounded really good; I’m tempted to say amazing. If I had to choose between the LP and the CD, I don’t know. I would say that if I had to listen to music all day long the vinyl would have the edge because it’s warmer and more pleasant to the ear. In saying that, when I tried to directly compare, switching between the two formats the LPs, to my astonishment sounded much better. The CDs sounded thin and unsatisfying is the best way I can describe it.

I suppose the bottom-line is, CDs will always sound better on poor quality systems, which unfortunately is what most people have and as I’ve said they are more convenient. Size and convenience is a key factor when you consider that houses are getting smaller, so small in fact that they reckon in years to come they will be building houses with no toilets and we will all have to get in our cars and travel out to ‘World of Shit’.

This, uncomfortable segue leads me onto Daltrey’s main contention, that CDs have “destroyed the music business”. Of course at the time CD’s were first on sale it was not possible to duplicate CDs without a warehouse full of equipment. Now all it takes is a cheap computer with a CD writer, easy. It was possible however to record onto cassette which was the method of choice during the reign of LP’s. Cassette tape was always considered an inferior recording compared to an original LP or CD.

Because of the poor method of copying I nearly always ended up buying two or three legitimate copies of the same album. If you copied a friend’s album and liked it, in the end after the tape wears out you would just go and buy it anyway. Surely then it could be argued that the problem is the method and ease in which you can copy music rather than the medium itself, I suppose the two go hand in hand.

In the early years this ability to make an exact copy of any album was not envisaged by the powers that be. The major record companies have always been very uncomfortable with people being able to copy music, be it cassette or anything else. Because they feel it affects sales, hence copyright laws. The majors see the real threat in MP3 and the Internet. The free availability of music over the web via p2p Napster etc. has changed people’s attitude in that they expect music to be free, especially on the net. Look at Myspace, yes a wonderful way of direct marketing for free, but look at the consequences. It is a fact; music is very difficult to sell here on Myspace and perhaps it’s because it still perpetuates this idea that music is somehow free.

On one hand, yes it’s wonderful to be able to get yourself out there on the world stage but at the same time you have to shoot yourself in the foot by giving away what you’ve worked for! This makes life very difficult for any artist, let alone unknown artists who have spent great deals of money on recording an album in the first place.

It also seems to me that many of the major acts do not really bother with Myspace simply because they don’t need to be on it in first place and besides they already have mainstream worldwide distribution in place. Well, they do bother but in a very slippery way. Usually they are not giving you anything new and in the case of David Gilmour up to very recently he was only allowing just one track from his new album here on Myspace.

This tells us something. Maybe too much initial Myspace exposure leads to reduced sales? I mean if you have to give away half of your album in order to promote yourself why would this then induce anyone to buy it? Myspace is not quite the level playing field you might think it is. Already established acts will always have the upper hand.

Interestingly the Arctic Monkeys were originally purported to have gained all their initial exposure and indeed owe their success to Myspace. This is denied by the Arctic Monkeys who as I understand it claim that there were other more significant factors. Well of course! I would imagine it has something to do with being signed to a major and thereby getting almost ad finitum radio play and their product appearing in Tesco and Sainsbury’s?

I think the reason why Roger claims that CD’s have destroyed the music business is because CDs and the digitization of music have caused the music market to be flooded with product. Look at Myspace, there are two million plus musicians/bands on here trying to sell their stuff. The independent sector must have a dramatic affect on the mainstream. Whilst we all say that this is probably a good thing, the other side of the coin is that the money is then spread to thinly and thereby reducing the quality of music overall. I mean bands are no longer given carte blanche in an expensive recording studio as they were in Roger’s day are they, unless of course you’re backed by the Sultan of Brunei! Yes, it is possible to record an album in your bedroom, but you cannot compete with recording in a proper studio surrounded by audio engineers and producers, and this costs!

If you ask me the rot started with Punk. The reason why the majors latched onto that was that it was cheap to record! You did not have to be Alphonse Mouzon to play the stuff! Another point to ponder is that the Roger’s of this world keep flooding the market with re-releases, box sets and special anniversary editions. Pink Floyd have just released a 40th anniversary edition Piper at the Gates of Dawn box set and the very first Amazon review says, and I quote; Another anniversary of another classic album and once again, a record company decides that it is yet another opportunity to fleece the public. The major companies have huge back catalogues to sell, they leave literally no stone unturned when comes to marketing their products. Just the other day, I wandered aimlessly into a major shop retailer and discovered that they were giving away the new Jamiroquai album with every Hewlett Packard printer. Try getting that sort of deal as an independent. While larger record companies with bigger budgets may rely more on traditional marketing (videos/TV, print advertising, radio promotion, product tie-ups, cross-marketing), smaller independents must rely on continuous touring and online tools to get the most out of their tiny marketing and promotion budgets. It is still a risky business as less than 10% of all releases are profitable and less than 1% ever sell more than 10,000 units.

The internet still only accounts for 10% of worldwide CD sales. Clearly the majors are struggling but I still think that mainstream distribution is the best way forward. FACT; with non mainstream minority interest music you need to expose your product to millions of people. If that’s true for Pop music it’s doubly true for non commercial stuff. Take this relatively new phenomenon the X-Factor. The object is to make these people as famous as possible before they start recording, put simply it’s limiting the risk. This is not being done through the Internet, no it’s the television.

Let’s take Stings new Lute album as a case in point;

I think it’s fair to say that any Lute album would be regarded as a minority interest. Did Sting choose to promote this album online? No he did not. It may be online but his main objective over a number of weeks was to get as many people as possible to hear about it via traditional means, TV, radio interviews newspapers etc. He was all over the place! Of course, being a multi-millionaire helps.

I rest my case, for now…..

Higgs Boson