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In defence of this year's most controversial music video. Plus, the latest from Ghostpoet, Wolf People, Her Royal Harness and how Savages blew my mind. Again.
David Bowie
Track: The Next Day
From: The Next Day, ISO Records, Out Now
It's just not a proper week in 2013 without a guerrilla David Bowie attack, is it? The latest heat-seeking missile he unleashed into his unsuspecting fan base was this controversial new music video for album title track The Next Day, which stars Marion Cotillard as a stigmata-suffering nun of ill repute and Gary Oldman as a religious nut with a booze problem. Bowie? The priest overseeing the debauched action as it unfolds in the sinful watering hole he resides over. Not really all that shocking considering the year we are currently in, but shocking enough for YouTube to ban it, only to reinstate it hours later after realising what utter numpties they'd been. Oh, and for the Catholic church to get hot under the collar, claiming that Bowie's promo is not only blasphemous to the extreme, but immoral. Aren't we past all this by now? Aren't we, as UK-dwelling citizens, free to express ourselves artistically? Didn't Madonna do something similar like, I don't know, 30 years ago? It's ruddy Bowie. He thinks he's from outer space, for crying out loud. Get over it and realise it's another wonderful surprise from a slighly mad musical god. Yes, I said God.
Ghostpoet
Track: Various
From: Some Say I So I Say Light, Play It Again Sam, Out Now
It's been a while since we heard the bleak urban soundscape of a one Obaro Ejimiwe (Ghostpoet to his mates), whose intelligent wordsplay and unsettlingly atmospheric British hip hop won him a Mercury Prize nomination in 2011 for his debut album, Peanut Butter Jelly & Melancholy Jam. Some Say I So I Say Light further affirms that GP is not only standing in an incomparable genre all of his own (perhaps the closest I can get to the attitude and feel of his music is Burial), but he's pretty unbeatable, too. Essentially, what we have here is a forlorn love story: an ode to the emotional noir of failed romances and broken relationships, brought to dim life with skitish digital rhymths and down-trodden metaphors. The perfect example? Check out Meltdown below, which features the Aluna-esque vocals of Brighton-based avant-folk artist Woodpecker Wooliams.
Her Royal Harness
Track: Blood + Fire
From: The Hunting Room, Out 24 June 2013
No, I've no idea what Her Royal Harness was thinking when she picked her name either. Some sort of queenly/muzzle/saddle-based association it's hard to put a finger on without a bit of context. And, seeing as, apart from this webpage, there is a distinct lack of information about this artist, I'd say that was a bit of a challenge. What I do know about HRH, however, is that she isn't a she, but two people: Norwegian singer/songwriter Helene Jaegar and producer Dylan Long. I know that they met on an internet forum (standard 10s behaviour). And a Google search concluded that their debut album, The Hunting Room, is about 'Someone not quite at home' (read: bluddy mental). I also know that the lone track on her SoundCloud page, Blood + Fire, is awesome: a scaling, dark, folk-influenced vocal line layered over heavily synthesised electronic pop in that quirky, off-beat style Nordic music is so famous for. I'm desperate to know more. Will report back with any findings.
Wolf People
Track: Empty Vessel
From: Fain, Jagjaguwar, Out Now
This. Makes. Me. Unbelievably. Happy. Because, aside from all this malarky, my musical background is steeped in the eclectic mix of music my dad played me as a child. A large dose of that was 60s psych rock and 70s prog. I am unashamed to admit that Jethro Tull and King Crimson are two of my favourite bands EVER (The list is long, but still. They're up there). And I love that this London four-piece has reinterpreted the jazz-infused, fret-noodling, technical wizardry of the aforementioned, and reshaped it within a modern indie framework. Yes, second album in, I'm massively late to the Wolf People party. But indulge me. I love this.
I'M ALSO LOVING…
… That I got the opportunity to see my new favourite band, Savages, live at the Ministry of Sound in London last night. I genuinely didn't think it was possible for me to become more of a gushing fan than I already am but, in the misty, spotlight-lit round situated right in the middle of the audience, their musical velocity, powerful delivery and dark, emotional performance blew me away. They felt every word, they meant every beat and melodic chord, and we, the audience (nice to see the odd old school punks among the sea of spectacle-wearing musos - an omnipresent menace of today's gig-going society) totally believed it. I didn't notice until after the show the MASSIVE sign outside the toilet door asking politely, as it was a filmed show, for there to be no photography. So I, er, took a few awesome shots, which you can see via my Instagram page here. Without flash, I might add! But still. Bit embarrassing.
Just go and buy their album, OK? It's ace.
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