Anthemic Rock Anthem? Yes. Ballads? Yes. Hit Album? Oh Yes. July 22, 2007
Posted by admin in : Reviews , add a commentSnow Patrol – Final Straw
Labelled "this years Coldplay" (despite the fact that the Irish band have been releasing albums for 2 years longer), the anthemic single "Run" crashed into both the Irish & UK charts, and with it increased sales of their 2003 album, Final Straw, along with inspiring a re-release of the album.
Allegedly named Final Straw due to the fact that neither of their previous releases, 1998's “Songs For Polar Bears” and 2001's "When This Is All Over, We Still Have To Clear Up" managed to break the band into the big time, band leader Gary Lightbody saw this as the last chance for the band to make it big – and succeeded. Final Straw is bigger, bolder, and ever-so-slightly more mainstream than their previous releases.
Lightbody’s Scottish/Northern Irish superband side-project, the Reindeer Section, has seemingly had a huge influence on Final Straw. Gone are the indie undertones, the disjointed rhythms of their last album, to be replaced by big choruses (the aforementioned “Run”), beautiful ballads (the moving “Grazed Knees”), and guitar-led pop gems (“Wow”).
The Reinder Section's previous album, Son of Evil Reindeer, was a haunting, acoustic-guitar-oriented stunning piece of work, pulling in members of such luminaries as Belle & Sebastian, and Idlewild. Lightbody has moved some of this acoustica to Snow Patrol, and it has brought with it a more mass-audience appeal.
"How To Be Dead", the first single off the album, deals with the calm acceptance of the ending of a relationship, and this is followed up by "Wow", a pounding insistence that everything will be okay. "Gleaming Auction" is a bitter riposte to a demanding partner, buried in reverb and electronica. Other album highlights include "Chocolate" (a slow-building, sweet-melodied admission of fear & lies), the aforementioned "Run" (dealing with the promises made & broken over the course of a relationship), and the album closer "Same" (the aural equivalent of the old excuse "It's not you, it's me" – "maybe somewhere else will not be half as cold as me").
Each song on Final Straw, although from different stables, deals with the same thing – heartache, pure & simple. Lightbody & company have relationship issues, and have leveraged this to produce a masterpiece. If this is Snow Patrol's last album, then they've left us with quite a swansong. But I, for one, hope that we'll be seeing more of these Northern Ireland bitter-sweet romantics.
One-Hit Wonder In Greatest Hits Shocker! July 22, 2007
Posted by admin in : Reviews , add a commentBabybird – Best Of
If I say to you Babybird, chances are that the first (and only) thing to spring to mind is the 1996 hit single “You’re Gorgeous”. And that’d be it.
Stephen Jones, the one man band that is behind the Babybird moniker, is in fact responsible for 5 albums to date, and has a back catalogue of over 400 songs, but is destined to only be remembered for that one hit.
Which is a shame, as this collection shows that Jones is a criminally under-rated singer-songwriter, blessed with a good voice, and a sharp eye for lyrical twists.
This is typified by “You’re Gorgeous”, the song that is on the soundtrack to hundreds of Irish relationships. The first song on the album, it’s a lush, heartfelt song, which, contrary to popular belief, deals with the exploitation of a young woman by a seedy photographer, and his false promises to convince her to do what she doesn’t feel comfortable doing (“You paid me 20 pounds/You promised to put me in a magazine, on every table, in every lounge”).
Quickly following this, second song (and sometime minor hit) “Bad Old Man” is an acerbic, bitter rant dealing with parental abuse over time, and its outcome – what it forces people to become (“He drowned his stepson in the duck pond”/”He put razorblades in the ice-cream”).
“Back Together” is a dichotic call for the return of a lover – referring to her return and the fact that the songs protagonist can’t cope, and is breaking to pieces (“Give me all that you have; if you don’t I will steal it”/“I’m falling apart every minute of every day, but you’re there to put me back together again”)
“Goodnight” lightens the tone of the album somewhat. A guitar-driven gem, it deals with a relationship in which the two participants just can’t get on, at all (“I’m like a TV learning to swim”), but the chorus storms in with one’s acceptance of their flaws (“But I don’t blame you, you’re always right, I’m like a bad day, on your good, good night”).
“In The Country” continues the light tone of the album, but with an undercurrent of fear (“Let the sun make us believe, that everything is true”).
“Candy Girl” describes Jones questioning of a partner – what is she to him (“Are you the tornado in my sails?/Are you Paris without snails?”); and his acceptance she’s not everything he’s looking for (“Of course you’re not, you’re not, you’re not”).
“If You’ll Be Mine” is an orchestral-led journey through Jones’ acceptance that the relationship the song describes doesn’t give him what he wants (“Built like a house, A little house that’s peeling, As it peels away you’ll see, There’s no feeling, there’s no feeling at all”), but his willingness to stay in it, and make a future if he has to ( “I burn like a tree, at the end of the garden, We put up a swing for the children”/ “If you’ll be mine, I’ll be yours”).
The remainder of the album can be divided into two general groups of songs: pop songs dealing with everything from acceptance (“The Way You Are”) to materialism (“Cornershop”); and experimental harsher soundscapes (“The F-Word”, “Atomic Soda”, “One Dead Groove”).
Each and every song of the 17 on this Best Of highlights just how good Jones is, and answers the question “Where do some one-hit wonders go?”
(Answer: They continue making absolutely amazing music).
Heartbreak = Hit? July 22, 2007
Posted by admin in : Articles , add a commentI was listening to Josh Rouses latest album "Nashville", thinking to myself that, while not as immediately accessible as 2003's "1972", thinking to myself that it was definitely a grower, when it occured to me – this album, dealing with Rouses' move away from the town he called home for 12 years, and where he made his greatest music, and the breakup of his marriage, has guaranteed this man SHOULD become one of the greatest singer-songwriters of the last decade. Another broken relationship makes another hit album.
Having recently come out of a relationship myself, I went searching through my collection for albums inspired by relationships gone wrong. Snow Patrol's "Final Straw", Ryan Adam's "Heartbreaker", Tom McRae's eponymous debut album…the list goes on. All albums that made the careers of the people that made the albums, and all a catharsis for the artist in question.
Now, if only I had some musical talent, production skills, and a singing voice…
Music Downloading – Does It Harm The Artist? July 22, 2007
Posted by admin in : Articles , add a commentOne of the main arguments against downloading music off the Internet is that it takes money away from the artist. Really? Lets have a look, and thanks to Steve Albini for this (read the entire article at http://www.downhillbattle.org)
Advance: $ 250,000
Manager’s cut: $ 37,500
Legal fees: $ 10,000
Recording Budget: $ 150,000
Producer’s advance: $ 50,000
Studio fee: $ 52,500
Drum Amp, Mic and Phase “Doctors”: $ 3,000
Recording tape: $ 8,000
Equipment rental: $ 5,000
Cartage and Transportation: $ 5,000
Lodgings while in studio: $ 10,000
Catering: $ 3,000
Mastering: $ 10,000
Tape copies, reference CDs, shipping tapes, misc. expenses: $ 2,000
Video budget: $ 30,000 Cameras: $ 8,000
Crew: $ 5,000
Processing and transfers: $ 3,000
Off-line: $ 2,000 On-line editing: $ 3,000
Catering: $ 1,000 Stage and construction: $ 3,000
Copies, couriers, transportation: $ 2,000
Director’s fee: $ 3,000
Album Artwork: $ 5,000
Promotional photo shoot and duplication: $ 2,000
Band fund: $ 15,000
New fancy professional drum kit: $ 5,000
New fancy professional guitars [2]: $ 3,000
New fancy professional guitar amp rigs [2]: $ 4,000
New fancy potato-shaped bass guitar: $ 1,000
New fancy rack of lights bass amp: $ 1,000
Rehearsal space rental: $ 500
Big blowout party for their friends: $ 500
Tour expense [5 weeks]: $ 50,875
Bus: $ 25,000
Crew [3]: $ 7,500
Food and per diems: $ 7,875
Fuel: $ 3,000
Consumable supplies: $ 3,500
Wardrobe: $ 1,000
Promotion: $ 3,000
Tour gross income: $ 50,000
Agent’s cut: $ 7,500
Manager’s cut: $ 7,500
Merchandising advance: $ 20,000
Manager’s cut: $ 3,000
Lawyer’s fee: $ 1,000
Publishing advance: $ 20,000
Manager’s cut: $ 3,000
Lawyer’s fee: $ 1,000
Record sales: 250,000 @ $12 =$3,000,000
Gross retail revenue Royalty: [13% of 90% of retail]:$ 351,000
Less advance: $ 250,000
Producer’s points: [3% less $50,000 advance]:$ 40,000
Promotional budget: $ 25,000
Recoupable buyout from previous label: $ 50,000
Net royalty: $ -14,000
Record company income:
Record wholesale price: $6.50 x 250,000 =$1,625,000 gross income
Artist Royalties: $ 351,000
Deficit from royalties: $ 14,000
Manufacturing, packaging and distribution: @ $2.20 per record: $ 550,000
Gross profit: $ 7l0,000
So, who got what?
Record company: $ 710,000
Producer: $ 90,000
Manager: $ 51,000
Studio: $ 52,500
Previous label: $ 50,000
Agent: $ 7,500
Lawyer: $ 12,000
Band member net income each: $ 4,031.25
The answer? Be a record company when you grow up.
