As everyone knows, journalism is in crisis. What's less well known is that this is because journalists are now too busy talking bollocks to each other on the internet to produce any actual work or make any money. So yesterday, David Farrier, Ali Ikram and I were discussing Noel Gallagher's widely reported rip on Adele in a recent interview:
If someone wants to know what I think of Adele, I’ll fucking tell them. Not because I have any sort of agenda or because I’m trying to whip up any kind of hysteria. I just don’t see what all the fuss is about. I don’t like her music. I think it’s music for fucking grannies.
I told David that Oasis were "the Waiheke Island of guitar groups", while Ali, as is his way, said something thoughtful:
@publicaddress @davidfarrier I'm interested in how acts handle expectation. Adele answered it w Hello, oasis responded w All Around the Wrld
— Ali Ikram (@AliIkram) December 9, 2015
Another way of looking at it is to say that Adele is vastly more interesting than Noel Gallagher, who penned some classic, catchy and highly derivative tunes in the 1990s and really has not made much music worth talking bollocks about since. Adele's 'Rolling in the Deep', on the other hand, is an unusual song for a pop hit and had strong enough bones to bear any amount of remixing and reinvention.
On the other hand, the only Adele album I actually own is the new one, 25, and that's only because a publicist sent it to me. Her records are mostly not my kind of music. My library contains four remixes of 'Someone Like You' (at least two of which are really cheesy) but not the original.
'Hello' is a hell of a song and, again, an unusual one: the world is full of factory-produced pop songs and few if any of them open with the conversational intimacy of 'Hello'. Unfortunately, I'm not sure if there's another one as good on the album, which is powered through through a variety of styles by that voice. There's no 'Rolling in the Deep' here. But I'm not really the audience for this stuff. Maybe I should just wait for the remixes.
Or maybe I just wish get over that guy and write about another aspect of her experience, the way she did as a 16 year-old on 'Hometown Glory'. Mind you, the first time I actually heard that song, it was a remix. Specifically, the surging drum and bass of the High Contrast remix:
I bet Noel Gallagher bloody loathes that one.
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Woot! Disco god John Morales is coming back this summer. Specifically, at Mantells on the Water in Auckland, on Sunday, January 17. Details (including the rest of the lineup) are here on the Facebook event page. I will be there and I will be carefree.
In a totally different vein, the lineup for next month's Westfest has been announced and it's led by NOFX and Refused. But perhaps the most notable feature is the return of local heroes The Bleeders.
Over at Audioculture, Gareth Shute has done a Top 10 New Zealand Songs About Drinking.
Tunes!
RocknRolla Soundsystem have another DJ set posted for download – 82 minutes of funk 'n' roll!
A taste of Morales on the 80s freestyle tip ahead of that January show. Free download.
Warren Maxwell has created a new gospel-tinged track, with all proceeds from sales going to the Foundation for Youth Development. The "buy" button takes you to iTunes and there are other options, including Bandcamp (where you can choose to make a larger donation with your purchase) on the official page for the Shine A Light project.
And finally, just because I heard it on that Pete Heller mix I posted last week and had to find out what it was ... Will Powers was the disco prosperity guru alter-ego of photographer Lynn Goldsmith. The persona feels a bit weary these days, but the Compass Point rhythm behind it is just amazing, as this dub version demonstrates. I would kinda kill for a 12" of it ...
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