Paul Rees.

The world loves a list

Lists are everywhere these days. You can’t pick up a magazine or visit a website or watch TV without seeing a greatest 100 this or a top 50 that. Making lists can even lead to a role in an Oscar-winning film, just ask Liam Neeson.



Lists are made about anything and everything, from the banal to the bizarre, the funny to the fascinating. We are all obsessed with, somewhat unnecessarily, ordering things and seeing how others do the same, especially when it comes to music.

This isn’t a new phenomenon, Desert Island Discs, the ever-popular radio programme in which a guest is asked to pick only a few pieces of music to be stranded with, is the second longest running factual programme on the radio, first being broadcast in January 1942.

Lists on music aren’t new, though the Internet has given people a voice to answer back, and they often do, with vitriol, ridicule and adulation, depending on their own viewpoint.

So how important are lists in modern music journalism? I spoke to Paul Rees, Editor of Q, about his own thoughts on lists, how the magazine uses them and what goes into producing their most important list of the year, the Top 50 Albums of the Year.

“My personal opinion is that done right, lists can be fascinating, provocative and useful. Done badly, they're lazy and boring,” Paul says, alluding to the problem of lists being used as quick and easy filler, hence their domination in modern journalism.

However, Paul admits to finding bad lists almost as engrossing as good ones. “I will still watch something as wretched as, say, the ‘100 Greatest TV Comedy Shows’ at Christmas, ostensibly to vent my spleen at the epic stupidity of the world at large for their choices. But also, even then, to be reminded of and relive flickering moments of magic,” he admits.

So, other than finding a sense of superiority in knowing that we, the reader or viewer, are right and they are wrong, what is it about lists that make them endlessly readable?

“I think lists simply carry an enduring fascination to people that isn't specific to journalism – but the media as whole and indeed life in general,” he says.

“It's one of the reasons Desert Island Discs is eternally popular: the notion of finding out how a person pares something down and the attendant debate it sparks is an engaging process. Q tries to make lists that are either useful, like the 50 Albums of the Year, and/or entertaining. Like everyone though we have been guilty in the past of over-using them,” he admits.

Paul has a rare viewpoint, having been on both sides of the judgement as someone who both compiles important and widely-read lists, and reads those of others. Does this position lead to a desire to please and avoid criticism from others, or does it only increase your conviction?

“In any event, you're never, ever going to please everybody. And that would also defeat the object to a certain extent,” Paul says.

“All lists provoke the same reaction, I suspect. People agree with anything that validates their own viewpoint and fulminate when it doesn't – and, often as not, do both together.

“I remember us copping an epic amount of flak one year for the temerity of having a Coldplay record as our album of the year. It was a record that had been bought, and enjoyed, by several million people. The implicit suggestion being that they, and we, were all wrong.

“By the way, I hasten to add that this flak came from other folk in the media – not readers. The readers/online users generally debate the whole of a list: the merits of what’s on it, what’s missing. That being precisely what you’d hope for – that on some level the content engages people.”

As alluded to, end of year lists are the most important in music journalism, Paul says of them, “I think they’re important in the sense that it's Q's chance to crystallise our view of music – and, increasingly so this year, that of the artists we write about and the readers.”

While creating a list yourself may be difficult, imagine trying to make a list that encompasses a magazine’s whole outlook on music, while also taking on board the individuality of each member of staff. As passionate as fans are, journos make a living from being obsessive and opinionated, and one who has championed a band in reviews and features throughout the year may feel a personal involvement in seeing said band placed high up the list. Is compiling a list that the staff are happy with even more difficult than one that readers are happy with?

“In my experience, compiling year-end lists for magazines is an enjoyable experience. Everyone has their say, debates can be heated, but it’s rare indeed that people don’t recognise the fact that the list should – and ultimately does – reflect the magazine’s view over individual choice.

“With Q, the list itself is compiled from mid-October by polling all the magazine's staff and its writers. That process is concluded in mid-November and the results of the poll are then debated by the editorial team. We take a final view on the standings. In my experience we haven’t had anyone take issue with the final outcome of any such poll.”

Paul’s favourite album of the year? “Bon Iver - Bon Iver. Without a doubt. A work of beauty.” To see where Paul’s choice makes it on this year’s list, buy the 50 Albums of the Year issue, available on 29 November. After wholly agreeing with their choice last year (The Suburbs), I’m keen to see which side I will fall on this year. And my own list will appear nearer to Christmas. Thanks Paul.

Three for all.

Because I was raised properly, I learned to share. When it comes to music, I live to share.

Over half of my Facebook statuses are links to songs on Spotify, Soundcloud or YouTube that I hope someone, somewhere listens to, though I doubt it. I’d say 90% of all my statuses and tweets are music related.

A friend recently mentioned she would like to know more new music. Without her saying anymore, I made her three CD’s worth. Across them there were just under 60 songs, with no band featuring twice. The total run time came in at a just under 4 hours and honestly that was only because of the limitations of CDs. It's an obsession really. It’s the reason I enjoyed being on student radio so much.

So, to satisfy my need to share further, this is the first of a new feature where every Friday, I will aim to share a few songs I’ve been enjoying that week. My Friday 'Three for all'. Clever eh?

First up is I See New Things Every Day by Pandas and People. I saw this young band in Kings Heath on Wednesday, and their brand of indie pop is certainly catchy, in the same vein as Two Door Cinema Club. They’ve already had exposure on 6 Music and recorded their debut album, also available on Soundcloud, so keep an eye out for this exciting four-piece from Redditch.

 I See New Things Everyday by Pandas and People

Next up is Sidewalk Safari by Chairlift, which I heard on 6 Music this week. I’ll admit I hadn’t heard of them before, but this Brooklyn based electro pop duo have been around since 2005 and have a successful album under their belt, with a track featured in an iPod advert in 2008, which is a pretty big deal in this day and age. This track, the opener from their upcoming third album Something, is an offbeat frenzy of synth noise with excellently delivered and disturbing lyrics, including ‘I am bad with bows and arrows, I’m not so good at guns, poison seems old fashioned […] but I do know how to drive a car faster than a man can run’.
 

 CHAIRLIFT - Sidewalk Safari by Young Turks 

Last up this week is Waiting for My Chance to Come by Noah and the Whale. Since their ‘fun fun fun’ hit 5 Years Time got overplayed in 2008, I haven’t given them much attention, hearing more about frontman Charlie Fink’s troubles getting over Laura Marling (which I admit must be difficult) than their music. But seeing this song performed on Jools a while ago and hearing it on the radio a bit, it’s a really good tune. And the album it’s taken from is a solid listen too.

Anna Calvi.

The perfect gig?

I had the pleasure of seeing the rather wonderful Anna Calvi at Birmingham’s HMV Institute on Friday night (4^th November). During the gig, in a semi-mesmerised state brought on by her spell-binding presence, a thought entered my head that slowly grew into this very blog. The idea crossed my mind that the evening was one of those occasions when all the elements that make up live music had come together to form something rare, something special. The perfect gig.

As I walked away from the venue, I mentally listed all the things that have to be in place for a gig to be great in my eyes, and as I put this gig through the gauntlet of my own expectations, it came out the other end smiling.

So what are the elements that all play a part in making a gig special?

The first is obvious, the music. Seeing an artist or band you care about on top of their game is the foundation of a great gig, with the ability to play the songs as they sound on the recording or make them even better required to impress.

What songs they play and the order they play them is equally important as how well they play the songs too. A well-balanced set list, with a mixture of singles, album tracks, covers and rarities can make a gig great. Refusing to play your biggest song or ignoring one of your albums completely (unless it’s been advertised in advance) is a sure-fire way of ruining a gig for someone, there are bound to be people there who want to hear it even if you don’t want to play it, and you’re nothing without your audience.

It’s not only the music they play or don’t play that is important, the way they act is another stickler for me. Certain bands can pull off arrogance, some cannot. Arriving onstage late can build suspense or annoy. Humility is a particularly endearing quality for me. It’s great to see a humble artist, who thanks the audience at every possible occasion, and look as pleased to be playing in Birmingham on a wet Friday as they did on the Glastonbury TV highlights.

Between song banter is a tricky subject too. I don’t mind an artist who just sticks to the music, it’s what we came to see, but a few good one-liners or amusing anecdotes can definitely make an impression. However, if you come out of a gig and say the most memorable thing about it was the talking between the songs (i.e. Badly Drawn Boy at Moseley Folk), that speaks volumes about the music.

There is also the fact that the band you go to see won’t be the only band you do see, and while expectations should never be too high for support bands, a surprisingly good support band, that does more than just pass the time, can improve the atmosphere and take a gig up another notch.

Unfortunately, and sometimes unfairly, the people on stage aren’t the only people who can make or ruin a gig. An annoying audience is a particular pet peeve of mine, to the point where the people around me annoy me so much I can no longer focus on the music at all.

A great audience for me has to be the right size and volume, and be attentive. A gig that has sold a few too many tickets can feel like a cattle market, a gig that has sold too few can be an uncomfortable experience, especially if you make too much eye contact with the disappointed people on stage. The audience have to be quiet, silent even, during the right moments of the gig, and be loud with applause and cheering to keep the band encouraged and enthusiastic.

An audience who know and appreciate the songs are great, as long as they don’t sing over the band, try to start too many clap-a-long or sing guitar parts.

On to the surroundings, choice of venue is difficult again, sometimes bands are clearly in the wrong venue but can hardly be blamed if they’ve never played a gig there before. Sound quality and acoustics vary in importance depending on the band. A band with quiet, intricate sounds need a venue with good acoustics, whereas a loud, distorted band can make an atmosphere in even the shittiest hellhole.

The venues with the best sound quality in Birmingham are the Town Hall or The Alexandra, but unfortunately not many bands seem to realise this and play the Academy or Institute instead, both of which are adequate venues.

So back to where we started, Anna Calvi at the aforementioned Institute and why it was a perfect gig.

Firstly, when we arrived the audience was small, giving us a choice of standing place and allowing us to get not only a place on a balcony, already unheard of, but a couple of seats on the balcony, with great views of the stage and little chance of pushing and shoving.

The support band Halloween, Alaska were good, enough to get me to find out their name so I could check them out later. Their music was well suited to the gig and they got the audience, which was by then a decent size, warmed up nicely.

Anna and her band, an excellent drummer providing backing vocals and a perfectly eccentric percussionist playing all manner of instruments, took to the stage at the expected time. They played a set perfect in length, between too short and too long, with all the songs I wanted to hear and a few interesting covers (Elvis Presley, Edith Piaf), played in an order that balanced her quiet/loud moments, building an atmosphere from the first notes.

Every song was a highlight, from opener Rider To The Sea, where Anna warmed up her fingers with some virtuoso playing, to a prolonged version of album-closer Love Won't Be Leaving ending the set before the encore of Edith Piaf cover Jezebel with its pounding beat ensuring the gig maintained its intensity to the last second.

Anna is an arresting presence on stage, in her male flamenco dancer outfit of high-waisted trousers and a red silk shirt, her hair slicked back, dark eye makeup making her eyes bright and alarming, and her Telecaster worn high up her chest. And she has the talent to match the theatrics. She hit every note heard on her record, while simultaneously coaxing some beautiful notes from either of her two guitars.

The venue suited her intricate, quiet moments of delicate guitars and breathy vocals, as well as allowing her more boisterous strumming and booming vocals to soar. You could hear a pin drop during the quiet moments, but the applause was raucous and lengthy when the songs ended.

Anna said thank you after every song and seemed to genuinely enjoy the performance as much as the audience clearly did.

This gig ticked all the boxes. The only thing that wasn’t perfect about the evening was my lack of a camera to document it, but we can’t really blame Anna for that. So what makes your perfect gig?

Lana Del Rey.

No such thing as bad publicity.

Lana Del Rey is currently the third most blogged about artist in the world, so Lauren Laverne told me on 6 Music earlier.

What a success story. An unestablished artist going global with only one song and the power of the internet to get her there, right?

Over the last month she, and her still yet to be released debut single Video Games have exploded onto the music scene, garnering almost 1.7 million YouTube views and a seldom seen reaction from the music public.

Her record label must be salivating at the attention she has received, despite the fact her actual musical output, granted only a couple of songs, has been almost overshadowed by her authenticity and appearance. In an age where we must know everything about everyone, and a detailed Wikipedia entry or comprehensive website is expected of every artist, no matter their size, are we meant to think this hasn’t all been a carefully orchestrating publicity stunt?

If you’re unaware, Lana Del Rey is the alter ego of Lizzie Grant, who was a struggling pop singer until what she describes as a ‘series of managers and lawyers’ came up with Lana, a bona fide, vintage-clad bombshell with just a hint of cosmetic surgery about her.

It’s nothing new, every artist has a carefully considered image and more than we imagine are probably created by someone other than the artist. So why the fuss over this particular girl?

Is it because Video Games is actually a really good song? A song deserving of attention, no matter how the attention is achieved. A song people want to love and shout about in their blogs but now feel they can’t because of some misplaced ideology about being set up or marketed to.

While anyone who thinks that image has nothing to do with music is naïve, in reality her image is no more important to the quality of the song than Jonathan Pierce’s dodgy haircut is to The Drums.

So is it because she has been aimed specifically at the people who are writing the blogs that have been so quick to savage her? People who may believe they are only interested in the music and not the marketing. Someone like myself even. I’ll admit to feeling a slight unease at the cosmetic surgery aspect, if it proves true, but other than that, I congratulate whoever created this character, they know what we want and have done their job well.

I still like the song, and in an age where music is in my headphones more than in front of my eyes, I honestly don’t find it that important what she looks like. A colleague went as far to say that I’d ruined the song for him when I told him the furor around her, but he still turns up the volume when it comes on.

So now they’ve got my attention and the attention of millions of others, and most people won’t care at all about the back story of an artist for a song they really like, their exercise has obviously worked. A great song has great awareness. Job done. A few bloggers are pissed off, but who cares about them?

Their excessive posting and sniping has been counterproductive in that she is now the third most blogged about artist in the world. That’s a great statistic, a statistic that doesn’t in any way indicate the general consensus of the blogs that have mentioned her. Likewise, she will probably have a number one single soon, maybe because of the attention their negativity has given her, but a number one none the less.

And for a group who would probably argue that they only care about the music, they’ve ignored a great song because of its back story.

She is a lesson in the upside of marketing and the downside of blogging. By blogging, they’ve only drawn attention to something that they wanted to receive none. Maybe if you’ve got nothing nice to blog, don’t blog anything at all.

Nevermind.

Twenty years ago today, Nirvana’s seminal Nevermind was released, I was three years old.

By the time I discovered it properly, Nevermind was 13 years old and Kurt Cobain had been dead for ten years. I was aware of Nirvana before then, in particular Smells Like Teen Spirit, which was, and still is, on heavy rotation across my choice of music channels.

But it was MTV’s flurry of documentaries, countdowns and interviews around the ten year anniversary of his death in April 2004 that really caught my attention. Within weeks, I had bought every album they released, along with DVDs and biographies of Nirvana, Kurt, Dave Grohl and Kurt’s diaries. On a trip to purchase my first guitar not long after, I trekked to the other side of London to hold Kurt’s guitar and wear his sunglasses at the Hard Rock Café. It would be fair to say I became fairly obsessed with Nirvana, they were my first musical love, and at the heart of that was Nevermind, their complexly simple masterpiece.

When I got to uni and started knocking out reviews and making magazines to amuse myself, Nevermind was the first classic album I reviewed. I thought about reusing my review for this blog, but having reviewed my own review now, it isn’t good enough to see the light of day again.

So what can I say about this album that hasn’t been said thousands of times since its release now twenty years ago? Probably not a lot. But that doesn’t mean I shouldn’t say anything. It’s a cliché, but Nirvana mean a lot to me, and millions of others, because they taught us nothing if not that everyone has a voice and can use it.

Simply, Nevermind deserves to have sold every one of the 30 million copies it has to date. While hipsters and snobs say that In Utero is a better album, there would be no In Utero without Nevermind, as the whole rock scene even today would be different without it. It was a game changer, a breakthrough, and not just for music.

Musically, it is a strong album from start to finish. Every song is a blast of noise, distortion and power, yet always anchored with melody, hooks and catchy turns of phrase. The singles are legendary, from the obvious punch of Smells Like Teen Spirit, to the watery, chill of Come As You Are, to the bounce of Lithium. Drain You, Breed and On A Plain rank amongst the best album tracks ever recorded. Polly and Something In The Way showed they weren’t hiding behind the distortion, displaying quiet composure and depth that few of their peers managed.

The rhythm section of Grohl’s pounding drums and Krist Novoselic’s fuzzy, lively basslines keep the songs moving throughout the 40 minute runtime, counterbalancing the chaos of Kurt’s incendiary vocals and guitar. While many questioned the meaning of his lyrics, his ability to craft a memorable line or rhyme was never in doubt. And his delivery could knock you over or break your heart.

Technically speaking, while he may not have been the most gifted guitarist, he wrote some of the most famously catchy riffs in rock history, that a thousand kids could learn, and learn from. For a three piece, the guitar is solid throughout, always packing a punch and complementing his lyrics.

Sure, it’s a commercial alt-rock album, the songs follow a quiet/loud pattern that Cobain admitted he worried was too much like the Pixies, but so what, without Nirvana, the Pixies and hundreds of other bands would not be so well known today, which is a great thing. This album brought heavy rock back into the mainstream, and launched Grunge as a genre worthy of attention.

Away from the music itself and the effect this album has had on other music, it put Seattle on the map as a genuine hub for alternative music, which it remains to this day. It made heroes of the outcasts. And it spawned a thousand other bands, inspiring slackers around the world and giving them a real belief that they could become the biggest band in the world.

In many ways, it’s the sort of album, and the sort of band, that hard rock is crying out for as much in 2011 as it was twenty years ago.

For more from the players involved, hear an excellent 6 Music special here, featuring Dave Grohl, Krist Novoselic and producer Butch Vig.

For the final words, as Kurt sang, ‘Our little group has always been and always will until the end.’ I’m in the group, and this album is the group’s treasure.

Villagers.

Friday at Moseley Folk Festival 2011 was a sundrenched day of acoustic delights and organic cider, soundtracked by Crystal Fighters, Gruff Rhys, Badly Drawn Boy and Villagers.

The high point was Villagers, the stage name of Irish singer-songwriter Conor O’Brien. As the sun began to set, he and his touring band gave a stirring performance of songs from his Mercury-nominated debut Becoming A Jackal, and previewed several songs which could feature on its follow up, expected next year.

After their hour-long performance, I chatted to Conor about the gig, his year of relentless touring and his plans for following up an acclaimed debut.

“It was a bit of a revelation for us. We've always had exciting shows in Birmingham, a few times in the Glee Club and once in the HMV Institute," he said of the show.

“We weren't necessarily expecting this show to be as good, considering the fact that it was a festival and not all of the audience were there to see us particularly. We were surprised and astounded at the response. A lot of love for Moseley Folk Fest.”

Amongst minimal onstage talk, Conor had announced that the gig was their last UK gig for a while, with just a handful of European dates left to play on the tour. 

“I'm writing a new album at the moment. I'm pretty sure I've got the title already. It's just exciting to have the time to write again after all of the madness. I forgot how good it feels to have time to digest,” Conor said.

“I’ve written quite a lot of songs, especially in the last few months,” he revealed, referring back to the new songs the band played, one of which was finished only days before the festival. “I want to make dance music, in the widest possible sense of the term. I'm sort of bored of introspective-sounding music. I'm sure I'll fall in love with it again, but I'm being pulled in a different direction. I think the lyrics will continue up the path but the music is going travelling. I'm listening to a lot of Meters and Allen Toussaint.”

On the question of following up a debut featuring an Ivor Novello winning song, Conor laughed off any notion of pressure.

“I enjoy it. No nerves, no challenge. Just a lot of little self-created challenges,” he said.

Mercury Prize.

It’s Mercury day again. What kind of blogger would I be without chucking in my two cents.

Last year’s winners The xx were the first winners since Portishead in 1995 that I actually agreed with, which may show you how my taste differs from the eclectic (or sometimes bizarre) choices of the judging panel.

Even last year The xx wouldn’t have been my first choice (Laura Marling or Villagers FYI) but still, they deserved it more than Speech Debelle or Ms Dynamite.

While I have enjoyed individual songs from quite a few of the albums nominated, Metronomy, Everything Everything, this year there are three artists from the 12 that I would be happy to see win. First up, and the album I would most like to win, is Anna Calvi’s self-titled debut.

Her blend of guitar prowess, theatrics and an impressive vocal range – from force of nature to gentle chanteuse – set her apart in a market dominated by female solo artists, and would make her a worthy winner.

Album opener Rider to the Sea builds nicely into a perfect encapsulation of her technical ability, while her soft, breathy vocals on No More Words show she can do sultry as well as she can power, which is then evident on Desire and Suzanne and I.

The second nominee I would be happy to see win would be James Blake. His album, also a self-titled debut, is innovative and yet soulful, sparse but emotive. The use of his own crooned vocals as samples, layered over trippy, dubstep beats, is an unexpected but winning formula. A win could see him conquer the mainstream.

Next up is a woman many have compared Anna Calvi to, somewhat due to Calvi’s work with producer Rob Ellis, PJ Harvey, who could become the first artist to win the Mercury Prize twice, with her brilliant Let England Shake album.

The war-themed concept album is a modern classic, and deserves to be recognised as so, however, the boost the award would give to Calvi or Blake makes me favour them.

After The xx, who were the bookies favourites last year, I reckon the panel will go obscure again, which I hope will benefit Calvi, but unfortunately, I doubt it. I will stick my neck out and say it could be Metronomy or Ghostpoet who triumph.