On this day, back in 1985, Lili Allen was born from illustrious parents and some 24 years later she would have one of her songs being a hit (hey, number ONE in Belgium, no less) with " F**k You Very Much", a song she wrote thinking of either the British National Party (a racist and homophobic extreme right wing party) or Georges W. Bush (the working title of the song was after all GWB...).
Some interesting numbers were gathered by Venture Harbour about music related companies on social networks.
Well, these numbers have to be taken with a pinch of salt as we all know by now that robots and fake accounts have taken over the asylum and social networks had to suppress A LOT OF fake likes and followers: Lady Gaga was recently downgraded by 66.000 but hey, she still has a few millions on the counter. So, who are those companies attracting attention and followers?
Once upon a time, in a country far far away, there were two minstrels that had heavenly voices and who's touch on their dulcimer was paved with gold and enchantment. They came drapped in mysteries and many strange stories were about them, where they come from, who they really were and what they looked like. And then, there were the magic sounds and the magic moving pictures, how do you call it, ah yes, videos. Done by a genious called Michel Gondry, he of the same country far far away. Their sound was magic and they illuminated the country with their music.
The European Commission has recently released a report ( Digital Music Consumption on the Internet: Evidence from Clickstream Data) which is generating fury from many sides of the music industry (labels, IFPI,...) as it shows numbers that don't quite match the ones we all were accustomed to: piracy, it seems, doesn't hurt much digital sales.
Years ago, I had the chance to write a song on an album that went platinum. The excellence of the artist, the magnificients songs (the others, mine wasn't. Hum, we composers we're all the same, aren't we ? ;), the marketing campaign of that album, everything made that album a gigantic hit in France and french speaking territories. It gave me the possibility to renegociate my publishing contract and get real money. I used all that money to put together a (rather comfy home) studio in my lovely attic.
Well, we're not going to lash out on Maggie Tatcher and her politics, let's concentrate on her influence on the music scene in the UK and OMG she was very good at that !
Sometimes, you're just a lost sailor on a demented sea and you just don't see the what's and the why's of what's happening to you And sometimes you do. You have a very, very clear view of what you want, you're no longer battling desesperately, you know what you're aiming. Just like when I wanted to play with Frank Tovey, more known as Fad Gadget, cos it felt so damn right.
I was once the proud owner of a black ARP 2600, the one with the alledgely infamous Moog filter, i did broke my piggie to get one and I had to go to the UK to buy it second-hand. It was love at first sight but I wouldn't say it was the amazing synth people think now it is (a great sfx machine tho) and all the producer of the first recording i ever made wanted was "bullets", the not-so-gloryfying syndrum type of sound that was to be found on many disco records of the time ( it was a cover version of Radioactivity with a band called Digital Dance).
I'm still not bought by what i've heard from Delta Machine. While all the elements could be interesting (analog synths, blues backbone, great songwriter, great vocalist), there's something too sketchy for me, too heterogeneous, the sounds aren't blending to my taste.
But what do i know? Martin L. Gore is a fabulous songwriter, Dave Gahan is a brilliant singer and it should work, shouldn't it ? Still, doesn't do it to me and I'm actually pushing back buying Delta Machine cos I don't want to be disappointed but I have the guts feeling I would....
Drugs are a bloody waste of times and if one doesn't realize it soon enough, (bad) chances are drugs will win and kill him or, probably worst, leave only an empty shell of a man.
