Interview: Suzanne Vega

Image via WikipediaThis interview was originally conducted for and published by Channel24. Click here to go o the original article.

Modern music icon Suzanne Vega chats to Channel24's Anton Marshall about music, victims and the ever-changing world.

Suzanne Vega is a modern music icon.

She found international stardom with the hit single "Luka" (1987) and for over 20 years the singer-songwriter has remained at the forefront of her genre.

Vega is also an artist who has been a part of many firsts in the music business. Her song "Tom's Diner" was one of the first songs used in the development tests for the MP3 algorithm (She is affectionaltely knows as "The Mother of MP3").




In July 2011 she released the third of four albums in a series called Closer. The albums collect songs from her albums, re-recorded in new arrangements for the fans.

She was also the first artist to perform as a digital avatar in the online world "Second Life".

In this interview from London, Suzanne chats about the new albums, central themes in her work, human rights, and the "prickly" parts of life.

Listen to the 12-minute interview here.

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Six great child pop acts

Image via WikipediaOriginally published by Channel24.co.za/music

By Anton Marshall, Carli McAdorey, Dani McAdorey, Art Pereira, Lauren Hess, and Syminn Tamblyn

Many names go on the brainstorming page when you embark on a quest to mention great child pop stars. But add a few criteria and seemingly obvious choices are eliminated off the bat.

For example, specify that the child-star in question cannot be simply young. Being young but being sold as an adult eliminates the likes of Britney Spears, in this case. She was around 17 when her debut album arrived. Certainly her schoolgirl outfit in her debut video was not to allude to playtime – at least not for kids.

So we decided to keep this short list to the acts that were obviously children and meant to be seen as such. Here are six we felt deserved a mention:

Bad 4 Good

A heavy metal band formed in 1991 by guitarist Steve Vai, the band featured a quartet of teenagers, none older than 16. Of the four, drummer Brooks Wackerman had arguably the most post-Bad success, playing for Bad Religion.





Jackson 5

It's hard to argue that there was ever any other vocal or pop child group with more pure talent and appeal than the Jacksons. And it's even more scary when you observe that even amongst that lot, Michael was a standout performer by a long, long stretch.




New Edition

In the early eighties, Robert Bell of Kool and the Gang helped put together a group of talented kids and a pop sensation was born. Testimony to their enduring talent is what became of their respective careers immediately after New Edition split up, especially one Mr Bobby Brown.






Hanson

These days they're written off as a cheesy 90s schlock. But bear in mind that the brothers Hanson actually performed their own instrumentation in studio and live, and that "Mmmbop" track is pretty catchy.. for cheesy 90s schlock. Oddly, some people think they're related to Beck Hansen. Weird.




Musical Youth

In an unusual twist, UK band Musical Youth brought a reggae bent to proceedings and were nominated for a Grammy! Their wildly misinterpreted hit "Pass the Duchie" is still an anthem for stoners, and a source of outrage for concerned parent groups everywhere. Naturally, the duchie in question has nothing to do with either drugs or sports dexterity.






Willow


Precocious and born to Hollywood royalty she may be, but on the strength of her debut song – the gratingly inspired "Whip My Hair" – Willow Smith has star quality. If she remains focused into her teens, she may even buy some credibility in the music scene.







Justin Bieber

Bieber wins everything. Grammys, MTV Awards, BET (Black Entertainment) Awards, CMT (Country Music) Awards...we expect him to take home the Oscar for best supporting actress next year. So... yeah, Bieber's in. Here he collaborates with another spawn of Smith and Pinkett, Jaden.







Any more to add? Let us know in the comments below.

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Taxi Violence - Long Way From Home

Taxi Violence has taken a turn for the better.

The band's strongest claim to stardom has always been an electric live set – electric in the sense that it is high-voltage energy on a stick of short-fused dynamite – and though the album work hasn't been bad per se, it gave a muted impression of a band that's actually a lot better under lights than in a CD player.

Not so with Long Way from Home, which almost reverses the image completely. It's easily their best complete album to date, bound together more holistically than the harder singles-generating efforts from before.

If there is a track that rises out from the rest, it's the new "Devil & Pistol" and the title track "Long Way from Home", though very marginally. This is an album more about performances and effect within songs.

The rearrangements have exposed vocalist George vd Spuy to be a singer very aware of and in control of his intentions; his delivery and especially harmony constructions are a superb example for young vocalists to follow.

Rearranging the songs so strongly has also had the knock-on effect of separating them from their observable influences, most obviously for me the likes of Queens of the Stone Age, Zeppelin and so forth.

If rock n' roll's associations with whiskey are really that ingrained, perhaps it's time a band tapped Southern Comfort as its calling card. It's sweeter, smoother, and has its own sense of history. A lot like Long Way From Home, which offers hope for all SA bands attempting a third album, even if mostly as a set rearrangements.

Originally published by Channel24.co.za/music

Various Artists - Gods of Guitar

Cover of Bryan Adams

With all due respect to recent popular achievements The Killers don't fit into the track list on the first disc, and Queens of the Stone Age are worth far more than just a guitar-band label anyway.

Paul McCartney isn't really guitar god per se, and of all the U2 songs that could have showcased The Edge's contribution, "Beautiful Day" is not a great choice at all. Same with Bryan Adams, whose "In the Heat of The Night" is a better song, even if it is Keith Scott that handles they the key guitar work.

And finally, I may have a personal problem with the inclusion of The Buzzcocks and Ramones on a compilation like this – not because they're not guitar bands, but because they're also proto-punk bands, who pride themselves on evolving from a genre where you don't have to know how to play at all.

Read the full review here

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Is hard rock dead in SA?

Image via Wikipedia

With CD sales declining globally across all genres, and the further monopolising of airwaves by the Top40 playlists, certain 'genres' of music previously thought to be the staple of suburban identity have fallen by the wayside. Or have they?

In South Africa, rock is historically regarded as music played by and for the white suburban teenager. The harder brands of rock in particular have retreated into the dark corners of those suburban alleys, but can still be found thriving there, albeit on a smaller scale.

One band that happens to serve as a great example of this is Cape Town outfit STONECOLLAR, who are about to launch their debut album, and have been getting lots of positive buzz from international weblogs and such with preview and demo tracks.

But is wanting to be a hard rock band in SA really that advisable in this day and age?

"I don’t honestly see being in a full-time HARD ROCK band in SA as completely viable," says STONECOLLAR drummer Bryan Nicol. "The market is probably too small. One would realistically have to look internationally for enough support to keep the band going...which I can only imagine is a long and hard road."

International

STONECOLLAR's Myspace posts talk a bit about the international reviews they've received.

"We have put a lot of effort into trying to get people across the globe to hear our music, including SA," Nicol explains. "Clinton (Jurgens, guitarist) especially has been doing a lot of networking online with international music sites, publications, reviewers, etcetera to try and get them to hear our stuff. And it is starting to work.

"All the international reviews, of which we already have quite a few, have been very positive, especially surrounding the music itself – the feel, the song structure, composition, etc. I think that’s a great reflection of where the demand may lie…abroad.

"As a result we have had a tremendous spike in online traffic on our site with people, mostly from the USA, listening to our tracks online. We can’t say the same for the local scene…yet. The reviews have been quite varied and the interest in good old head bobbing hard rock seems to be less than our US / European buddies."

Touring in SA

But is there (still) a touring circuit in SA for a band that sits on the 'louder' side of the rock spectrum? Nicol is positive:

"We have seen that we seem to get great feedback and reception from all audiences. At festivals as well! We might play after a much mellower band and the people still seem to really dig it. We have also found that metal fans seem to appreciate what we do quite a bit...as we appreciate their music too!

"There is a rich vein of metal talent in SA and, along with them, a core of die-hard metal fans. Local bands seem to tour quite well on that circuit nationally, and we get a great vibe from metal lovers. The only thing being that we’re not a metal band per se and may not fully appeal to the ‘screamo’ / hardcore fans…but I think there are enough fans of rock and metal combined to appreciate hard rock. 

 "As for internationally, it’s to keep trying to create some form of profile overseas. Getting our stuff onto foreign radio stations, creating interest, to some extent, in STONECOLLAR in other parts of the world.

"We hope for this to pave the way, in some part, for an excursion abroad. This is part of our vision, but it’s still very early days, with the album launch still a week away. What's encouraging is that we're already getting approached by music journos and fans abroad who want to listen to and review our music. More of that would be nice."


STONECOLLAR launches its debut album on May 17. at mercury Live and Lounge in Cape Town.

The worst pop cover versions ever?

Occasionally, pop artists attempt claim a part of rock n' roll history for themselves by covering a classic track. But most times, the endeavour goes horribly wrong.

Take Britney Spears, who has on at least two occasions courted the apocalypse with her own versions of the Stones' "Satisfaction" and Joan Jett and the Black Hearts' "I Love Rock N' Roll" (Capital N required).


Madonna weighed in with a mass-murdering take on Don McClean's "American Pie", making us all wonder if the music really had died. Or maybe it was just the cat.






Still, the worst of them all for me was a nails-on-blackboard version of AC/DC's "You Shook Me All Night Long" by Celine Dion and Anastasia. And that's taking into account Dion's version of Cyndi Lauper's "I Drove All Night".







Seriously, of all the crimes perpetrated upon humanity in the 20th century, listening to either of those say the line "he was a fast machine/he kept his motor clean" is by far the worst... even worse than this:






But what were your moments of pop cover madness? Go on, share.

Five great Roxette videos

With Roxette in SA, we thought we'd take a look back at some highlights from an outstanding career of pop hits.

Marie Fredriksson and Per Gessle's project is the second most successful act out of Sweden ever (behind Abba), and they have sold around  60 million records.

Here are videos for a few of their classic hits.




Roxette – The Look







Roxette – Dangerous







Roxette – How Do You Do






Roxette - Spending My Time (Unplugged)







Roxette – It Must Have Been Love

Mango Groove - Live in Concert DVD

I remember once saying to Claire Johnston that I didn't believe that the value of music lay in how many sales you notched up. She knowingly smiled and said nothing, and I hope she took what I said to mean: That it doesn't matter if you're always on the top of the charts – if your music is honest and good-spirited, it will mean more to people and they'll treasure it for their whole lives.

Not that Mango Groove are strangers to chart-topping – they've had close on a dozen South African number one hits. And yet when I think about Mango Groove's legacy, it seems like the whole equals a lot more than the sum of its parts, so to speak.


For example, there's often a debate in the music industry about whether or not we can ever define a South African Music. It's a hotly-debated topic, but it's also one that overcomplicates a simple truth; that South African music is what it is – music made by South Africans in a spirit that reflects the (ideal) South African character, regardless of genre or style, or whatever.


Is there any better example of this than the music made by Mango Groove over the last – what is it – 25 years or so? Watching this band perform its specially-staged concert intended for DVD, it's very hard to imagine how anyone could dispute this to be a purely South African music – love it or hate it.


DVD EXTRA: Everyone's Dancing





Of course, there may be elements that won't work for everyone – I still don't fully get the iconic dancing schoolgirls so evident in all South African depictions – but that's just me. I tend to notice that the band slices through their catalogue like a seasoned professional unit, but with a specific acknowledgement of their audience's attachment and participation in their songs. And they really do seem to have fun and love what they do!


Special Stars



Mango Groove emerged from an era of deep divide and unrest in this country (John Leyden started the band in 1984 with Andy Craggs and Aaron Lerole), yet musically they managed to remain almost ethereally detached from the political and social anxieties that surrounded them. As a band they've produced a whole bag of good pop songs – and a few absolutely brilliant ones, too.





The band is as much loved by white South Africans as by black South Africans (and yes, all South Africans in between, as is evident in the shots of the crowd) – can you imagine ANY South African not recognising the opening strains of "Special Star"?


So it is fitting that this DVD is essentially a Greatest Hits effort, packaging the band's singles and hits in one epic performance (110 minutes). It is also a much-needed document of how music of one era remains critically important as a national treasure.


And so, to finish what I might have said to Claire Johnston: Mango Groove's legacy is that though we live in a country where we are very aware of how flawed things are, this music reflects the people of our country as they should be – celebratory, joyous, and above all, together.

TRACKLIST:
Track 1 - Shoo Roop        
Track 2 - Hometalk        
Track 3 - Move Up        
Track 4 - Love Is        
Track 5 - This Is Not A Party        
Track 6 - Marabi Party        
Track 7 - Moments Away        
Track 8 - Pretty        
Track 9 - Hey!        
Track 10 - My Blue Ocea        
Track 11 - Bang The Drum        
Track 12 - Penny Whistle        
Track 13 - Another Country        
Track 14 - Mbube / The Lion Sleeps Tonight        
Track 15 - Hellfire        
Track 16 - Dance Some More        
Track 17 - Everyone's Dancing        
Track 18 - Special Star        
Track 19 - Nice To See You        
Track 20 - Bang The Drum EPK        
Track 21 - This Is Not A Party - Video        
Track 22 - Belong        
Track 23 - Everyone's Dancing        
Track 24 - Give It (All Day, All Night) - Video

Roxette - Charm School

Image via Wikipedia

Roxette's appeal back in 1988 was not without merit. Marie Fredriksson and Per Gessle certainly had a knack for epic pop hooks and managed to install themselves into a world consciousness despite being that much removed from the UK and US-dominated markets.

In 2011, about a decade since they last released an album, Roxette are much the same beast. They show flare in the classic pop songwriting department, and if this were the early 90s, they'd probably have another few singles off the album on high rotation through the major channels.

But, this being 2011, the market isn't as hungry for good pop songs as it is for spectacle and flash.

Lead single "She's Got Nothing On (But The Radio)" has enjoyed a modicum of radio success despite a title that rivals Britney's "Hold It Against Me" in its groan factor.   "I'm Glad You Called" and "Dream On" also stand out for their tips to a more old-school style of writing.

The rest feel like old Roxette, and sound like old Roxette, and therein lies both the problem and the salvation. Roxette aren't exactly looking to play on the same level they did back in the day. Like Duran Duran they've decide to embrace that which originally made them famous.

And that's ok, because fans will know what they're getting, and at least in places like Germany, Austria and Switzerland those fans are still in the majority.

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Elbow - Build a Rocket Boys!

Sometimes great music is all about balance. Balance between the bombast and the economy; balance between the otherworldly and the rational; balance between the inventive and the mechanical.

Rarely does an artist find that balance on one entire album, as Elbow does on this, their fifth effort. Guy Harvey's lyrics are simultaneously esoteric and earthly, as in when he opens the album with: "The birds... are the keepers of our secrets."

An album's worth of motive-driven poetic phrasings follow, layered over steady rhythmic percussion sections. Almost all the songs contrast stark and minimal with layered and sweeping  – "With Love" is barely a kick-and-handclaps rhythm and hammered motive before it evolves into backing chorus of several voices simply emphasising the words "with love".

VIDEO: Elbow - "Lippy Kids"




Such as it is, the music of Rocket skips deftly along the divide between misery and joy, and sometimes it even achieves both emotions in the same music or lyrical phrase. "We got open arms for broken hearts" they sing, perhaps not ironically describing Elbow as a musical entity in its own words.

There's true love put into these songs... they effectively reveal the mechanics... the mathematics, if you will... of music to be incredibly liquid and affecting in their proper application. Build a Rocket Boys! is Elbow's best album to date, and that's no throwaway feat, given the calibre of the work preceding.

The King's Speech

Image by WorthingTheatres via Flickr

It's tough to judge historical dramas on their factual representation – frankly, none of us were there. So we only really have the film as an artefact upon which to try to dissect the film's craft, the emotional authenticity of the performances, and, perhaps, the interpretation of the story.

The King's Speech is widely considered among the favourites for a number of this year's Oscars, and in the case of Best Actor there's a case to be made. Colin Firth is excellent as "Bertie", conveying a thoroughly uncomfortable and probably embarrassed second son of a king - a contradiction in social emotions.

It is also fair to say Rush (as therapist Lionel Logue) and Firth play across each other superbly. Their relationship is a key motivator of the story, and it is equally powerful when injected both with humour and conflict. Both their fights and their humourous back-and-forths are compelling viewing, and often mask each other convincingly.

On another note, Nettie Chapman's glorious art direction may as well be a character in the movie, so central to the feel of the film it is. England between the wars always seems quite a difficult period to capture on film, but the sets and settings are so captivating that cinematographer Danny Cohen (another nominee) enjoys framing several shots with walls and furniture as focal points.

But whether or not all the above qualifies The King's Speech as the Best Film of the Oscar year is debatable. The film hits all the rights marks when it comes to what traditionally does well at Oscar time (historical, foreign cast, and erm... historical!) , but something about it – much like royalty – remains cold and distant.

Read full article on Channel24

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Queen - Greatest Hits I and II

Cover of Queen - Greatest Hits Vol.1/UK Version

We're in Greatest Hits Season it seems. P!nk, Jay-Z, Bon Jovi (reviewed here soon) and several others have done the new compilation thing in the past few months.

But it was quite a surprise to find a re-issue of Queen's Greatest I and II in the mail the other day. And my attention was immediately drawn to the sleeve notes, where I was curious to see whether this was the last throw of the dice for EMI Queen, or whether it was the first cash-in by the new label. "Universal" it says on the back.  Fair enough.

And good play on their part to issue the original covers emblazoned with the "digital remaster" ploy. Because in reality Queen should be reissued every ten years or so anyway, lest the younger crowd hopped up on 30 Seconds to Mars forget what number one hits sounded like back in the days of real album rock.

Read full article on 24

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Up the Creek Pics

So L and I made it to Up The Creek - all 40 degrees of it.

And I took some pics.

I could tell you the story behind the pics and their motivations, but it's Friday and I can't be bovvered.


See me gallereh of Up The Creek here on Channel24.

The Green Hornet

Image via Wikipedia

Cameron Diaz – the most high-profile star of the show – is peculiarly relegated to the role of eye candy, both in the context of the movie and for the audience. Her character has no actual role to play in the storyline other than perhaps to shoehorn some irrelevant romantic rivalry that never seems convincing.

Cringeworthy, too, is a bizarre conversation about Diaz' (movie) age. In it her character defends why she's temping for a businessman at 36, when she's clearly overqualified in terms of her knowledge and value to the business. The same question could well be asked of why she chose to be in this movie. Again, you're never sure if this is a nasty but clever intentional parallel with the real world, or if it's just ... you know... in the script.

Christoph Waltz is wasted in a ridiculous parody of a crime überboss (again, when did pantomime come into this?), and so is Edward James Olmos, who somehow retains his hard-earned dignity in his few moments of screen time.

Perhaps the confused silliness of The Green Hornet can be summed up in a quote from the movie. When Kato asks whether Britt Reid knows Shanghai, Reid answers: "Yeah, I love Japan."

Some might find that funny, but the punchline is discomfiting when delivered by a supposedly likeable rich industrialist. The film may well be saying that actually, this guy is just a dumb, rich dickhead who gets all the credit for minority labour. And then again, it may not.

Read full article here...

Shakira scores in SA in 2010

Cover of Shakira

South Africans fell in love with hip-shaking Colombian Shakira as she headed up the FIFA World Cup musical effort alongside our own Freshlyground. She also featured strongly in both music categories in the Channel 24 best of 2010 Survey.

Readers voted Waka Waka their favourite video of the year, quite possibly as much for what it represented as what is looked and sounded like. Whatever the motivations, they proved strong enough to muscle out two of the year's most controversial videos: Eminem and Rihanna's Love the Way You Lie, and Lady Gaga's Telephone.

Read full article: Shakira scores in SA in 2010: Entertainment: Music: Music Features & Interviews:

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New CT booze laws can benefit bands

Originally published byChannel24.co.za/music

Image by Aquila via Flickr

From January 1, 2011, clubs and pubs not in residential areas must close bars by 02:00. For those in such areas, the cut-off is 23:00. Outrage and debate around the logic and effect of the Western Cape's new liquor laws will probably carry on, but I see at least one opportunity for live music - if the artists, venues and bands choose to embrace it.

If ever there were reason to shift performance times, it's the new Western Cape Liquor Bill.

Many of my friends and colleagues have long-lamented the late performance times of live music in Cape Town. It seems that most artists fail to recognise that a large block of potential market – that's 25 and ups – are not particularly enamoured with the idea of waiting till past 11 o clock for them to take to the stage.

Unfortunately, this trend has persisted in Cape Town and perhaps in SA for some years now, with the result that live music is heavily targeted toward a younger audience who tend to go hell-for-leather on the party front.

Great if you're 18, young, dumb and full of shooters. Not so great if you're 35, with a job to get to tomorrow, and potentially a family (or animals) back home.

Shift

Can shifting the performance block time by two hours possibly bring back that dead sector of the market? I think it's worth a shot.

It's no surprise that there's a dramatic drop-off in the live music demographic after 25 or so. I happen to be both a musician and potential customer of other musicians.  And I like to walk out of a show before midnight at the latest in both contexts. But getting me through a show by 11 will certainly buy my return business. And in the midweek, even earlier will get me feeling like I'm a regular patron again.

When I worked in the club scene, I was often privy to discussions on why midweek shows were tough to sell, and even weekend shows weren't guaranteed gimmes. Then, being at those shows, I was often on my way out the door before the first act started up.

As another colleague remarked recently: "You walk out of work at 5... what do you do six hours between that and the first band? If you go home and get settled, do you really want to get up and out again?"

Here's a tip: 10 o' clock for the first act is way too late for me – or people like me. Maybe some enterprising artists (it may not apply to everyone) should take the leap and try marketing new performance times of 8pm for a double bill, or 9pm for a single performance. I think there are potential benefits there.

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