2013? Lou Reed is gone. Not a perfect day, but......reminds me how big his influence as an artist is, now even more.
But success in the music business is a very relative thing and Lou did his time in the rodeo.
2013? More and more people decide to try out the bumpy road to fame and fortune. They often wonder why the glamour doesn't happen or... not as quickly and sensational as on TV. You sister says it's good, so.....duh?!
2013? You have to ease down a bit and take a deep breath. I think there's a lot more pros in it for us all in the end.
Yes, create excitement! You can still play the live-circuit and sell a few cd's afterwards, but on top of that-with a little bit of healthy self-reflection and some bold determination-you can get your own fifteen minutes. You can easily spread and share the best(!) of your (musical) works in a digital way (Fandalism, Jamendo, Soundcloud, Bandcamp, Youtube) and create your own "fans". If they like your music, they can spread it for you among their buddies. Some of these potentials can become loyal listeners, others will move on. A lot of helpful recourses to try out in your favor, a great one is Tom Robinson's Fresh On The Net.
2013? Nowadays you can bring out a new album without any restrictions of a label. I know it will give the listeners way too much to listen to. But I think the level of musicianship/produktion is so way up high, you can easily filter the bad from the goody, goody stuff.
2013? So glad my humble latest "The Ballooning Brouhaha" has brought me a few more new listeners and podcasters. It got me more feedback, radioplays (Croydon radio London, Tom Robinson's BBC6 Mixtape, Radio 98Eins Germany, got reviews from loyal journalists like Nathan Norgel). Yes, times have changed. Next year there'll be a new one, right on schedule.
1975! Back in the glam/disco/pre-punk days...
As I became such a crazy, curious and fanatic music lover when I was fresh and wet behind the ears, I used to tape every new, exciting tune I heard on the radio. Saved every dime I could to spent it on the new one of Bowie, Roxy Music, Boz Scaggs, Steve Miller, Zappa, John Martyn, Steely Dan and many more just for discovery purposes. I followed and supported their careers, even if the albums got crappier. Expectations. The human factor.
The excitement of discovery. Especially Zappa albums (talking vinyl here!) were unavailable or very expensive, so I was always glad to find one in a secondhand store. I spent hours and hours of magic shopping in Amsterdam (one called Concerto, 4 stores full of rare stuff) and I' m still proud of all those rare, often unknown and often pricey (aargh!) gems I've found there.
2013? Along the years I have created my own "recordstore" (a small music library of about 13.000 cd's, 1500 vinyl). Freedom for my ears, food for the mind & soul and not least inspiration for my own creations. I shall not count a 3TB harddisk full of the rest in mp3 format though. Modern times.
2013? I have never stopped looking for another obscure album.
The discovery is everywhere, not far away, just one mouseclick....voila! Streaming is the new buy.
So here are my most spotified albums of 2013 (very close but no sigar: the magnificent and surprising stragedy (marketing!) aka comeback album of Bowie, the verrrry Beatlesesque album of McCartney or the seemingly interesting Elvis Costello/ Roots combination, all simply great to have back for their age(!), but in my opinion, not all that strong compositionwise, but what do I expect): Jonathan Wilson- Fanfare
Yes, I don' t like retro! But even if this recalls the seventies, it's is done in a very colourful, loving and organic way. The guest list, Crosby & Nash harmonies deja vuing around beautiful melodies. And there's also excitement in the playing and variety in the arrangements.
Darth Vegas- Brain Washing For Dirty Minds (Ok late 2012 release, late discovery)
10 years after their even crazier debut came this Zappa-esque slapstickrollercoaster of sounds. Full of funny musical surprises. Everytime I laugh my ass off when I play these 2 records.Long live Zappa.
Janelle Monae- Electric Lady
A grower. Had to listen again and again, it just crept under my skin.
Prefab Sprout- Crimson/Red
So glad Paddy came out of his cave! No surprises here. Songwriting to the core. And for the sensational background information, here's a few books I've read this year. As usual, mostly sleezy biographies. Recommended:
Neil Young- Waging Heavy Peace Nick Kent, Apathy for the Devil A Seventies Memoir
Ryan O'Neal - Both
of Us
Victor Bockris-
Up-Tight The Velvet Underground Story
Marc Elliot- Paul Simon
Ray Manzarek- Light My Fire
Garth Bardsley- Stop The World (Anthony Newley)
Billy James- A Dream Goes On Forever (Todd
Rundgren) Vol.1 & 2
Paul Meyers- A Wizard A True Star (Todd Rundgren In The Studio)
Al Kooper- Backstage
Passes & Backstabbing Bastards
Every year I've got a brand new batch of songs that reflect my state of affairs, my moodswings, frustrations, tribulations and the lot of everyday life. Here's the story, the inspiration behind them.
I don't want to explain what the lyrics are about though, I'll leave that open for interpretation.
"Is there a important message, theme in there then?" I hear you ask.
Maybe. Look at the cover, you can say that the balloon with the printed world stands for the bloated, forced way people treat the earth and eachother (I'm no exeption). Blowing it up. Well, what´s the brouhaha of it all?
And you see me just letting it go. Letting the world pass me by or trying to catch it with irony in 13 songs.
Well, here we go!
1.Brouhaha!
I didn't intend to leave it as an instrumental, as I found this funky chord progression easy to work with vocalwise. I just found some melodies on the keyboard. "Brouhaha", a word you hear me shout, I used to hear it in my youth, whenever someone in my neighbourhood did his hoopla (dutch=heisa) trick: "well, what´s the hoopla/ brouhaha all about boy?"
2.Stupid Song(s)
The irony. The (s) gives the songs a double meaning. I always like to play the joker. I work at night, where they always turn up the wrong station on the radio. With stupid songs creeping into my ears. Couldn´t resist to write something...stupid.
This is one of the 2 songs Wijnand Brant got his sologuitar on. At the end you hear him duel with himself. Fire!
3.A Trip Together
Wrote this one very quick on guitar, sang the melody spontanuously on top of it. One of those that wrote itself. I think it works well, because there´s a intensity and balance between the groove and the melody, a tension I often go for. You can dance to it too.
4.Talkwalk (Looking For The Boz)
Boz, we all know of Scaggs, don´t we? Wel he´s an old hero of mine. Sophisticated, cool shades. This is a musical wink, tribute to his work of the seventies. Notable is the obvious similarity in arrangement feel between his "Lowdown" and this song, but I did it all in the name of inspiration. Yeah, really.
5.Here She Goes Again (Yo Mama)
The old rock´n roll feel in this song has to do with my mother. She used to drive us kids nuts with that volume knob, when she turned up a new album she´d just bought. Loud! I mean loud. She angrily turned it off when she found out that the song she was after (but didn´t know the title of),wasn´t on it. A very intense woman with a deep rooted bluesattitude, that´s why....
Meanwhile, I played drums in the loft and my older brother played his Hendrix licks for hours in his room underneath. I mean loud!
6.Sunday train
Wrote this on piano and although I'm not classically trained, I've got just enough fingers to handle a few keys to come up with a few tunes. Couldn't do it in one take, so I rehearsed the hell out of it. Challenging stuff for me to sing it with the right power and dynamics.
7.The Route Through The Quiet Jungle
Melody, breaks combined with a steady groove and city noises, that's it.
8.Don´t Mind The Blues
Guess I don't mind that much, but blues singing especially comes from my gut. It's always a challenge to find a fresh topline to keep that blues alive. This song brought that to me.
9.Big Bad Boy
Variation in style. Never dipped in this one, but a little country keeps me upbeat. Yie-haa!
10.familiar Lines
Yes, the thin line between love and hate. I hear The Metropole Orchestra (if they ever hear this...call me) behind this, just like they did with Todd Rundgren. I play most of the orchestral stuff, except for a few sampled violins that suited and complemented the basic arrangements. Majestic.
11.Disco Scream From The Sinking Loveboat
Instrumental disco. Whatever happened to the (seventies TV) loveboat.....? As a variation of the excisting instrumental melody Wijnand Brant goes in overdrive with his guitarsolo. I had to edit and alter his stuff in order tomakeita totally. To round it off I put a titanic and desperate scream for dramatic effect.
Nope, it's not the wife..
12.Social Spy
The obsession for social media transmitted to an intense funky groove.
13.I Am Older Now
Ballad of the old kid. Sounds a bit desperate, but it expresses my lack of self confidence that sometimes bothers me. Guess it happens to most of us.
