Just a quickie today containing two new tracks of frankly epic power and proportions!
First of all:
Jaguar Skills
This guy has been in the background of music for a while now. Like the genius who makes all the weapons for an insane madman's regime, he's a background figure but really of importance.
A month or two back, he mixed an album for TOOLROOM KNIGHTS, a clubnight relating to Toolroom records.
Giving this audio treat a whirl, I found the standout track for me (out of many) was the kung-fu sample spun '9 Levels of Power'. This song is a badman piece, certainly if you had a test on the 9 levels of power, this song would be of 100% importance in your revision schedule.
Listen:
Riding of the back of that beast I bring to you:
Hudson Mohawke
Warp Records's glitch-tastic nerd wonder boy. Usually not to my tastes but many people I know (at least 2 of them) are major fans, he's got talent for sure, but his songs usually don't do anything to me when I've listened to his material.
Earlier in the week, our boy Mohawke and his Warp Records warped a record out called SATIN PANTHERS, on this record is a song so good, my ears inverted to hug my brain for coming up with the idea of listening to the song.
This is 'Thunder Bay'. Brand spanking new for Hudson Mohawke.
Give this dose of notes a roast and let your ears love you too!
Right!
That your two for now.
I need to dash quick sharp unfortunately, firstly because there are big things I'm working on (that you'll soon see!) and secondly, some bugger slipped horseradish sauce into a sandwich I'm eating so I'm trying to find some scissors so I can cut out my own tongue to avoid tasting it anymore.
In the often quoted biblical story, Noah's Ark was built by God's command to save Noah, his family and world's animals from a lethal deluge.
ARK Music Factory is literally nothing like that, I may use the image of a deluge later in a metaphorical sense but ARK is, in fact, quite distinct from Noah's Ark.
Anyway, ARK Music Factory is an LA based 'indie' record label (that is, independant of larger record labels rather than releasing 'indie' music), which specialises in 'discovering and recruiting' young singers. The label has been thrust into the spotlight recently due to the viral status of the song 'Friday' by 13 year old Rebecca Black. If the saying is true that there is no bad publicity, it's is equally as true to say that ARK Music Factory has been getting a shitload of publicity, although most of it is negative.
A face more familiar than David Beckham and Kate Moss put together.
Most of the negative press levelled at the label accuse it of exploiting rich kids and gullible parents. An accusation I don't find entirely fair. Whilst I am very much freaked out by the hypersexualisation of the young teenagers, if you asked any thirteen year old girl if she wanted to be a pop star and be in a music video, she'd leap at the idea. The label just fills a market that is the sign of something possibly much more modern and sinister.
Who do we blame for this new trend? Celebrity? Society?
No.
Blame Canada.
(sort of)
Yes, thanks to the incredibly documented rise of one little Canadian known as Justin Bieber, the internet and music is now seen as being a potential claim to fame for any prepubescent prancing pisshole.
So a company like ARK Music Factory charges parents a few thousand dollars to let their daughters sing a pre-written song and appear in a music video and generally be a pop princess for a few days. A reasonable service. The singer owns the master recording of the song but the company owns the publishing rights so whilst the girl owns the song, if it's published, ARK makes the buck. Quite a sensible business model as there are all manner of pampered girls whose parents would be more than willing to shell out some green for their precious offspring.
One of the main issues I find is that most of these girls probably have at least a small amount of talent but ARK twists them into 'hit machines', songs that contain all the elements of a high-selling pop song but with little of the skill of better music. The short rap verse by a guest which breaks up the flow of the song and is one of the better handled elements of the songs and whilst the videos are functional and not appalling, there is usally something a little off about them. If you look at a video from an artist of a similar age, such as Willow Smith, she seems a lot less awkward and I don't know whether it's the video, the artist or me as a viewer. Finally, whilst auto-tuned vocals are now a staple of pop music, ARK overuses the technique so much you may as well replace the vocalist with a Cylon.
Which seat shall I take?
I suppose my main issue with this influx of pre-teen pop crap is the anger levelled at the artists. A few weeks back Charlie Brooker wrote an excellent piece for the Guardian about the insane levels of anger directed at this 13 year old. It just seems that the parents are completely naive in this situation, as I said earlier, I don't think the girls are to blame at all. The naivity comes from being unaware of just how unpoliced and volatile 'the internet' is. That 13 year olds could receive death threats from a song released on Youtube is frankly shocking and rightly so. I doubt that in any crazed anti-universe could the parents expect a reaction so vivid for such a small action. A deluge of hatred (see, I told you I'd use the Noah's Ark metaphor).
Maybe Rebecca Black, as well as Jenna Rose and others are the first; the chimps thrown into a hostile and little understood space to gauge the effects on them. Perhaps other parents will see the 'fame' that ARK bestowes upon its chosen artists and continue to expose their children to the wrath of an unrestrained internet, perhaps ARK's business will slow down because of the negative blacklash. All I really know is, ARK is fulfilling a niche in the market, the kids just wanna play popstars and the parents had no idea of how violent and stunning the backlash is.
P.S.
Here for your 'enjoyment' is a few of ARK's releases.
First of all, the beast, the world famous Rebecca Black.
Just a little update to keep you appraised of 'the week in news' courtesy of Audio Flare.
I have three entries lined up for the next seven days.
1) A piece on the ARK Music Factory, the label that has becomes more infamous of late thanks to Rebecca Black. But there are worse songs and I'll be exploring if this is a perverse new fad or the future of music.
2) Bringing the fine, super sweet tunes of The Herbaliser to your ears. If you haven't heard of them yet, fret not, until a week ago, neither had I. However, they are very talented and I'll be running through their evolution and back catalogue.
3) And finally, with Spotify restricting its free content. Not only will I (very) briefly look at whether this was a good move or not but also, I will be listing a few online sites that serve a similar purpose.
Not a bad omen. After their album '†' was released in 2007 it literally propelled Justice to the top of their game, which is where they remain to this day. After several live albums, remixes and projects, Justice are finally shifting gears and pounding ears in preparation for another (as yet untitled album).
Civilisation (the single is out tomorrow 4th April):
I've had this on replay non-stop today. Perfect company alongside a sunny day.
I'll also show this charming link to a song I've heard but until yesterday had no idea who made the song. Ladies and Gentlemen, this is the peak of 80's New Wave.
April Fools or no, I still can't bring myself to play Rebecca Black's song on here, it's a respectable blog after all. If you really want to find it, i'll subtly link it here. To be fair to her, I have heard worse songs (this gem for instance) and she's donating all the proceeds to the Japanese effort, which is sweet of her.
You need to watch the 'this gem for instance' video to get any idea of the horror this picture brings to mind.
So I'm playing Radiohead instead. Because they are good and this recording is good too.
The rain and lightning are surrounding Audio Flare castle here at the top of blog mountain. The single winding dirt track to the castle is slick with mud and water, wolves howl in the near distance and I think I hear gunshots.
Mwah hah hah haaaaa!
What a perfect scenario to write about gothic rock in the late 1970s and 80s. Specifically two bands in particular, selected on the basis that I love both of them. One I started to like a long time ago and one more recently, The Sisters of Mercy and Siouxsie and the Banshees.
I'll start out with Siouxsie and the Banshees.
I first listened to Siouxsie a few years back when I was strongly recommended to listen to their version of 'Helter Skelter'.
This isn't any Beatles bullshit, nor that crazy-ass Charles Manson race war scenario (Wait. What?). This is punk. Discordant, vivid and catchy. I was hooked. By this time I was already a fan of music incorporating bizarrely tuned guitars and so on from Sonic Youth but I liked the stronger vocals and the re-imagining of a song I previously thought of as 'toss'. (An official Audio Flare rating)
So I listened to more. And I loved it all. I should also point out at this stage (before I link any more videos) that Siouxsie and the Banshees was a huge focal point of alternative British music when they formed in '76 and have influenced so many bands from so many genres it's amazing. Both Sid Vicious (of Sex Pistols infamy) and Robert Smith (of Cure fame) both were in The Banshees during their time. Bands influenced by them include U2, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Radiohead, Massive Attack and many more musicians.
Here are a few other fine S&tB songs which I find simply enchanting.
1) Hong Kong Garden. (Recently redone by Uffie, not as good) A piece of music made as a tribute to the Chinese takaway staff who got terrorised by Skinheads.
2) Metal Postcard. A song remade by Massive Attack as 'Superpredators (Metal Postcard).
3) Happy House.
Anyways, moving on now to another band I am a huge fan of, Sisters of Mercy. I first listened to their third and final album 'Vision Thing', which was a great experience. From the deep vocals (which I'm sure inspired the (now deceased) Type O Negative vocalist Peter Steele), the guitar work and the track More which appeared on the album was an exquisite 8:22 long opus.
A lot more gothic, industrial and rather less punk than S&tB as I'm sure you can hear. However, only after learning of their earlier two albums did I come across a selection of incredible (INCREDIBLE!) tracks.
1) This Corrosion. An utter bastard of a track incorperating a 40 piece orchestra. A song so industrial, so gothic, the video looks like Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome if directed by King Diamond.
Another track from the very same album 'Floodland' is the achingly haunted 1959. A song that utterly removs all the rock, all the industrial edge and leaves a bare, piano piece with deep, barely more than whispered vocals and it's pretty potent stuff.
Today I was meant to be bringing you some fine-ass gothic rock but that'll have to wait until tomorrow.
Because I found this:
I am (as I'm sure you're aware) a huge Lupe fan but this is mad!
You can occasionally find some good freestyles on Tim Westwood's Youtube channel but this is so good.
You may be wondering why I'm bombarding the everloving crap out of you with music like Nato jets over a Tripoli compound (very topical, look it up on Wikipedia if it's over when you read this). It's all heading up for a return to regular Audio Flare posts starting at the weekend.
