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Back to the Factory’s floor
8th February 2010 | 2 comments | 1 person likes this
Much excitement in Manchester this weekend as a fabled name returns to the city’s music scene. Factory is a club/venue complex fronted by Peter Hook, New Order’s former bassist and co-funder of another Manc icon, The Hacienda.
Its site is the same premises that became home in 1990 to Factory Records, the label set up by Tony Wilson in the late seventies that signed up, among many others, Hooky’s band, their... -
Delphic and the Nerdchester sound
21st January 2010 | 5 comments | 0 votes yet, click here to agree or disagree
Anyone who tipped Delphic as hot for 2010 can pat themselves on the back, as the Manc trio have burst out of the traps with indecent haste. Released last week, their debut album Acolyte slam dunked into the album charts top 10.
They are obviously indebted to Manchester predecessors New Order, something I found off putting on the first couple of listens, though gradually the group’s futurist sheen and fizzing positivity... -
Top 10 musical highlights of the decade
9th December 2009 | 0 comments | 2 people like this
Whatever happened to the death of the album? The download was supposed to consign LPs to the dustbin of history. Instead, we would graze iTunes for tracks we liked then happily press shuffle on our MP3 players.
Yet lists for the best of the past decade are dominated by albums, proving they remain valid biggest possible statement for an artist to make. Looking back over the past 10 years, certain songs as... -
We love you Kevin, we do
27th November 2009 | 0 comments | 0 votes yet, click here to agree or disagree
Ouch. The party season started with a bang last night and I am still feeling the after effects. The occasion was the annual Record Of The Day Awards for Music Journalism & PR, when a motley crew of scribes and PR officers gossip, drink copiously and ignore the speeches.
A helpful invention in its own right, Record Of The Day is both daily music news digest and talking shop. Now in... -
Don’t stop the music
20th November 2009 | 2 comments | 1 person likes this
Over the past five years, St Cecilia’s feast day has taken new importance for a growing number of non-believers as Bill Drummond has called for a No Music Day ahead of the commemoration of the art form’s patron saint.
His thesis is there is too much music that is too readily available – and we are taking it for granted. So what better way to remind us of the art form’s... -
Remember Memory Tapes
13th November 2009 | 0 comments | 0 votes yet, click here to agree or disagree
Last month, British Asian artist Jay Sean became the first UK performer to top the Billboard Hot 100 since Leona Lewis in 2008.
Sean was knocked off his perch by another intriguing phenomenon – Owl City. This is the moniker of one Adam Young, a resident of Owatonna, Minnesota. The shy only child has burst out of his bedroom set-up with the delicate filigree of ‘Fireflies’, a fusion of subtle keyboard... -
Moby, Underworld and Massey: what dance veterans do next
6th November 2009 | 1 comments | 0 votes yet, click here to agree or disagree
Hyde Park’s Wireless Festival, 2008: not the most vibrantly countercultural happening of the summer. That would be Glastonbury, or the July general meeting of Heckmondwike Women’s Institute.
On the main stage, Deadmau5 manfully attempts to rouse a chilled Saturday evening crowd politely awaiting the arrival of Fatboy Slim. Meanwhile, in a marquee behind it, several hundred wide-eyed hedonists are threatening to raise the canvas roof to the strains of Underworld’s Born... -
Robbie Williams’ latest outstanding achievement
29th October 2009 | 1 comments | 0 votes yet, click here to agree or disagree
So next year’s Brit Awards is all set to celebrate the career of Robbie Williams.
As has been the custom in recent years, organisers have revealed several months ahead who will win its Outstanding Achievement Award.You can argue it is a bit previous giving him the gong now, when his career might well have a long way to run. Williams holds the record for most Brit Awards even before you take... -
Cadbury’s sweet music – but is it Fairtrade?
22nd October 2009 | 0 comments | 1 person likes this
Cadbury’s recent TV ads have been among the most memorable, if frequently annoying, of recent memory: the gorilla drumming to Phil Collins, the incessant use of Queen to soundtrack racing trucks - though who could resist the kids’ eyebrow acrobatics to Freestyle’s Don’t Stop The Rock.
Now their advertising agency has gone one better and commissioned original music to highlight the firm’s use of Fairtrade cocoa beans. The ad, replete with...
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