January 2019 Playlist

It's taken almost all month, but here it is; my first post for 2019. Happy new year to you all, by the way. 

I feel good about the year to come. The future's so bright, I gotta wear shades. The shades also stop the scorching, Australian sun from burning my eyes out. Seriously, it has been so freaking hot. Temperatures of the likes we've never seen before. No such thing as climate change, my arse!

So, the Roxy talks Music January Playlist has a very positive vibe. It wasn't intentional, it just turned out that way. But it's definitely reflective of my current outlook. It's crazy that it's taken me so long to put some Roxy Music on a playlist, but I really have been listening to them a lot lately, and I have to say, there's no better way to start the year. Aaaaand.... Weezer's version of TLC's 'No Scrubs' from their recently released Teal album of covers makes me laugh. 

July Playlist - For Cahl

Last night, one of my dearest, most treasured friends passed away. It still doesn't seem quite real. It's hard to imagine a world without him in it. 

He was a special sort of person. So incredibly talented and good at everything he tried his hand at. I was jealous of that. He had a tough as nails exterior and got a kick out of pushing people's buttons. He loved to shock. But underneath all of that, he was a big softy. A hopeless romantic with a heart as big as the moon. As a friend he was all in, always had your back, never let you down. And he gave very sage and very blunt advice. He never judged me, even when I acted like a butt-head, and was always there for me through thick and thin. I never doubted that for a second.

This month's playlist is for you, my friend. To Strudel Head from Parmesan Dwarf. I'll always love you and never forget you.

May Playlist

I've been listening to a lot of new (and new to me) stuff lately and this month's playlist definitely reflects that. At the moment I can't get enough of the new album Blue Poles by Jack Ladder & The Dreamlanders. Jack Ladder is a singer/songwriter/guitarist from Sydney with a very new wave, Bryan Ferry sound (his real name is actually Tim Rogers, but there's already a Tim Rogers and, like the Highlander, there can only be one). 

When I'm not listening to Jack Ladder, it's got to be the glam/southern rock stylings of Kyle Craft, the post post punk rockers Parquet Courts or New Yorker, Shilpa Ray who blends punk rock with a 1960's pop sound similar to the The Shangri-Las or The Ronettes, but with a razor sharp edge.

And as the weather gets steadily colder, I'm embracing my fast approaching middle age by enjoying a glass of sherry in the evenings before bed. And with my glass of sherry, the smooth soulful sounds of Donny Hathway, or the great lady, Dusty Springfield. So pour yourself a glass of sherry, get comfortable, and tune into the Roxy talks Music - May Playlist...

Album Review: St.Vincent's 'Masseduction'

2017
13 songs
Length: 41:37
Available to buy on vinyl or CD, Apple Music or Spotify

St.Vincent had been on my radar for awhile now. Some months ago, reading SPIN’s 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time I came across Annie Clark (St.Vincent is Clark’s stage name) at number 93. I made a mental note to check her out. Not long after that, I listened to her critically acclaimed fourth album ‘St.Vincent’ and my interest was piqued. Then my record club, Vinyl, Me Please, hinted it would be releasing a club edition of St.Vincent’s fifth album ‘Masseduction’ as its November album of the month. This has now been confirmed. ‘Masseduction’ was released publicly last week (well ahead of the Vinyl, Me Please special release), so naturally I was very eager to hear it.

Clark has a knack for making really interesting sounds with her guitar. And they mesh perfectly with a whole host of other sounds to make for some really catchy rhythms. Her songs are never boring, often morphing into different styles part way through. ’Pills,’ is an excellent example of this; beginning with a catchy electro beat, which becomes peppered with Clark’s squalling guitar, before finding a wistfully Bowiesque conclusion.

David Bowie is clearly a major influence on Clark, and the album has a sound reminiscent of Bowie’s 1990’s industrial albums ‘Outside’ and ‘Earthling.’ At that time, Bowie’s work was heavily influenced by Nine Inch Nails, which is another band that springs to mind while listening to ‘Masseduction.’ But this isn’t to say that Clark’s album is a cheap reproduction of something that’s been done before. On the contrary, she wears her influences on her sleeve while adding her own fresh stamp.

Clark gives us elements of synth pop, with retro, chiptune sounds. ‘Sugarboy’ with its pulsing beat, ‘Los Ageless,’ a touch more sultry, and ‘Savior,’ along with the album’s title track, ‘Masseduction,’ both have a somewhat Prince feel about them.

The album also sports some beautiful melancholy ballads. ’Happy Birthday, Johnny,’ with it’s understated piano is an earnest dedication, and ‘New York,’ speaks of personal loss. Both bear striking similarities to Tori Amos in parts. The celestial sound of ‘Slow Disco,’ makes me think of Annie Lennox on the similarly ethereal Eurythmics tune, ‘Miracle of Love.’

‘Masseduction’ is a masterful album. Every track is so interesting and every time I listen, I hear something or make a connection that I hadn’t before. ‘Masseduction’ has inspired me to go back and listen to all of St.Vincent’s albums in depth. Call me a newly minted St.Vincent fan!  I’d say that’s an indication of a successful album.

The Punk Rock/Hip Hop Alliance: A Short History

The connection between hip hop and punk music may come as a surprise to some, but it is one that runs deep. Both movements were a reaction to commercialised music and the social climate of the time and embody the same anti-establishment ideals; championing free-thought, rejection of the corporate mass culture, and non-conformity. So when punk rock merged with hip hop in early 1980’s New York, it was a natural progression.

By the mid 1970’s, rock and roll had lost touch with the people. It had become commercially-oriented, radio friendly and increasingly inaccessible to the masses. Successful rock bands were playing at larger venues to tens of thousands of fans with increasingly elaborate set ups and ‘arena rock’ became the norm. The backlash to this began in Britain with the pub rock movement and was led by musicians like Elvis Costello, Joe Strummer and Nick Lowe, who played in bands at small pubs, reverting back to a raw sound that rejected commercialism and spoke to the disaffected youth. Punk rock came soon after.

Times were tough in Britain. Unemployment among young people was high, and dissent among the working class was rife. A number of protest marches and strikes lead to clashes with police, and police racism seemed to be at an all-time high, which lead to rioting and a widening class divide. From this social climate, punk rock was born. Bands like the Sex Pistols and The Clash played in small, poorly lit clubs to crowds who became less like spectators and more like active participants.

Punk rock was also gaining traction in New York in the late 1970’s. Rock and Roll had become tame and sentimental, and punk rock was a move back towards rock in its more rebellious form. Music journalist Robert Christgau described it as ‘a subculture that scornfully rejected the political idealism and Californian flower-power silliness of hippie myth’. Punk music’s ‘DIY’ culture emerged; promoting the idea that anybody could make their own music. Many bands were self-recorded and self-produced. Punk gave music back to the people.

Hip hop also stems from a ‘DIY’ culture. It began as an African-American movement in the economically depressed inner city South Bronx neighbourhood in New York City in the late 1970’s. Hip hop music was only one element of the movement, which also encompassed graffiti art and ‘B-Boying’ also known as breakdancing. Like punk music, hip hop music was a reaction to the creeping opulence in popular music; the disco scene particularly. Disco had infiltrated the mainstream by the late 1970’s and was playing in all the New York nightclubs. Studio 54 had opened in Manhattan and was the place to be seen for celebrities. It was a subculture characterised by extravagance and decadence and discotheque-goers often wore expensive, extravagant and sexy fashions.

The disco scene was a contrast to the reality of life in the Bronx. Property values were at a record low, crime and unemployment were high and poverty was widespread. DJs began to play at block parties, sampling percussive breaks of popular songs using two turntables and a DJ Mixer to create ‘breakbeats’. Soon afterwards, rapping developed and MCs would accompany DJs with their lyrical stylings. Artists like DJ Kool Herc, Grandmaster Flash and Afrika Bambaataa were some of the pioneers of hip hop.

The similarities between hip hop and punk did not go unnoticed. In the late 70’s/early 80’s, ‘b-boys’ from the South Bronx were rubbing shoulders with new wave/punk kids in downtown Manhattan. Acts like Grandmaster Flash and Afrika Bambaataa started playing at clubs like the Mudd Club or the Roxy, which were popular with new wave and punk kids. There was a cultural exchange going on. While hip hop was starting to get played in the punk/new wave clubs, punks were given safe passage to the Bronx. This was a big deal and marked the mutual respect between members of both subcultures.

The influence of both subcultures on each other was beginning to be heard in the music. In 1980, while The Clash were in New York recording their fourth album ‘Sandinista!’, Mick Jones and Joe Strummer caught the hip hop bug. The album’s third single ‘The Magnificent Seven,’ with its funky beats and Strummer’s rap about the human machinery of capitalism was one of the first rap songs produced by a rock band, and one of the first instances of a hip hop song with socio-political content.

Blondie’s ‘Rapture,’ which debuted in 1981 and is featured on their album Autoamerican, was ground-breaking for being the first rap video ever broadcast on MTV. Set in the East Village section of Manhattan, the video portrays Blondie frontwoman, Debbie Harry, at a ‘b-boy’ party where Grandmaster Flash is playing. In the song she performs a rap in which she expresses respect for Grandmaster Flash and rapper Fab 5 Freddy, another of hip hop’s pioneers.

Soon afterwards, Afrika Bambaataa collaborated with John Lydon (of the Sex Pistols and Public Image Ltd) on the socio politically charged ‘World Destruction’ and Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five were opening shows for The Clash. After hip hop group Run-D.M.C. broke into the mainstream in 1984, things really took off. Ex punk band Beastie Boys released the first rap album to hit number one on the Billboard album charts with ‘Licensed to Ill.’

Meanwhile, on urban radio and in the hip-hop clubs of New York, new wave hits like Thomas Dolby’s ‘She Blinded me with Science,’ David Bowie’s ‘Let’s Dance,’ and Devo’s ‘Whip It’ were getting plenty of play. Producers from the new wave and punk scenes like Thomas Dolby and Rick Rubin were trying their hand at hip hop production. Both the hip hop and punk/new wave scenes were mixing in a big way, which would break ground for the ongoing influence each would continue to have on the other.

Examples of the fusion of hip hop and punk can be seen going forward. The band Bad Brains mixed reggae, rap and punk to become one of the most influential punk bands of the 1980’s. In 1990, hip hop group A Tribe Called Quest sampled proto-punk Lou Reed’s 1972 classic ‘Walk on the Wild Side,’ for their breakthrough hit, ‘Can I Kick It?’ Most notably, Rage Against the Machine has combined punk and rap to produce some of the most prominent politically charged music of the 1990’s-2000’s. We saw the rise and fall of nu-metal, which combined elements of heavy metal music with hip hop, alternative rock, funk and grunge. It was popular in the late 1990’s, but petered out by the mid 2000’s due to the oversaturation of nu metal bands. More recently we’ve seen bands like Death Grips, who’s experimental brand of hip hop blends elements of punk rock, electronic, noise and industrial music.

The commercialisation of hip hop has led to the overshadowing of its original message by a money hungry, capitalist system. It has become the very thing it began as a reaction against. The richest hip hop stars in 2016, Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs, Andre ‘Dr Dre’ Young and Shawn ‘Jay Z’ Carter, are all worth more than $600m each, with holdings that include a clothing line, a television network, real estate portfolios and a music streaming service. The same can be said of punk to some extent. The richest punk artist is Blink-182 drummer, Travis Barker, clocking in at a net worth of $85m. Incidentally, Barker had a lot of crossover success in hip hop, starting punk rock/rap group, The Transplants with Tim Armstrong from Rancid and Operation Ivy.

Nowadays, the crossover between hip hop and punk tends to be one sided. Writes journalist and hip hop historian Davey D, ‘It’s one sided in the sense that you have rock oriented outlets with a predominantly white audience embracing Hip Hop. However, you will not see similar attempts in many urban outlets that target African American audiences.’

Before they became commodities, when both the hip hop and punk movements were new and fresh and embodied the same anti-corporate ideals; collaboration was natural. It happened organically. It would be good to see that happen again. To see both movements come full circle and rebel against their own commercialisation. Together in a grass roots, unifying movement. Just like back in 1980’s New York.