It is very easy to pour scorn upon overnight pop sensations. They appear from nowhere with an earworm laden *hit which will burrow its way in to your consciousness because every pop radio station will play it. Sometimes you'll get sick of them because they're overplayed. Other times, you just won't buy in to it from the beginning. Either way, three weeks after the blanket coverage started, you'll probably find yourself wanting to punch babies every time you hear it.
Which brings us to Meghan Trainor. She is a unique young woman. Despite being called Megan Trainer, she can spell neither of her names. There has never been an "h" in the middle of the name "Megan" and this ridiculous American practice of spelling names in "unique" ways needs to be ridiculed. Her *hit is an anthem for Americans everywhere, telling to love themselves whatever shape they are. Being Americans, they're usually spherical.
Now don't get me wrong, i don't particularly like self help songs (the sort of thing championed in years passed by Christina Aguillera and Pink), but give them some credibility. Trainor's voice when she sings is fairly passable (although overproduced to within an inch of its plastic life), but she spends most of her time talking in a whiny nasal tone which nobody could ever find remotely appealing. I think she is attempting to sound "sassy". What she achieves is "overgrown toddler mithering".
Wednesday 8 October 2014
Saturday 1 February 2014
Requiem for Free Record Shop
It now looks as though the long saga of the collapse of music, dvd and game retailer Free Record Shop has concluded in Belgium. Whilst the Dutch counterparts have apparently brought themselves back from the brink of extinction having gone through similar woes last year, it is reported that Belgian stores have now been cleared of stock, and that stock is being cleared at the Dutch stores.
The saga began last year when the company entered administration, online sales were suspended and a small number of stores were closed. A glimmer of hope appeared in December when the capital group (Hilco) responsible for rescuing HMV in the UK took an interest in the ailing chain and managed to keep the majority of stores open until the end of the year. Sadly this proved to be just a stay of execution and in early January, Hilco released that they were expecting to close the remaining 68 Belgian Free Record Shops. Belgian press sources suggest this has now happened.
It is fair to say that the chain has had problems. Stock was most overpriced and stores often felt very sleepy. It is fair to say that online retail and supermarket discounting of high volume titles has led to the death of the high street book and record shop in the UK, whereas Belgium doesn't have a local Amazon service. National titles are not often easily available online, with the easiet source for Vlaams titles being Leuven's independent store Bilbo Records. The main competitors to FRS (Extrazone) went out of business in late 2009, leaving them with a free reign on the high street. These factors have clearly helped Free Record Shop survive as long as it has. Aside from supermarket offerings, the only remaining retail outlet brands for media are now the europewide Electro-supermarkets Media Markt and Saturn.
Anyway, enough of the business concerns. I will miss Free Record Shop. Being honest, it wasn't my primary source for buying media in Belgium, but it was always worth a visit to have a rummage around and occasionally find the odd gem. The presence of an FRS branch would often be a good excuse for visiting a town that we would otherwise have missed. Small town Belgium will be a culturally poorer place without it.
The saga began last year when the company entered administration, online sales were suspended and a small number of stores were closed. A glimmer of hope appeared in December when the capital group (Hilco) responsible for rescuing HMV in the UK took an interest in the ailing chain and managed to keep the majority of stores open until the end of the year. Sadly this proved to be just a stay of execution and in early January, Hilco released that they were expecting to close the remaining 68 Belgian Free Record Shops. Belgian press sources suggest this has now happened.
It is fair to say that the chain has had problems. Stock was most overpriced and stores often felt very sleepy. It is fair to say that online retail and supermarket discounting of high volume titles has led to the death of the high street book and record shop in the UK, whereas Belgium doesn't have a local Amazon service. National titles are not often easily available online, with the easiet source for Vlaams titles being Leuven's independent store Bilbo Records. The main competitors to FRS (Extrazone) went out of business in late 2009, leaving them with a free reign on the high street. These factors have clearly helped Free Record Shop survive as long as it has. Aside from supermarket offerings, the only remaining retail outlet brands for media are now the europewide Electro-supermarkets Media Markt and Saturn.
Anyway, enough of the business concerns. I will miss Free Record Shop. Being honest, it wasn't my primary source for buying media in Belgium, but it was always worth a visit to have a rummage around and occasionally find the odd gem. The presence of an FRS branch would often be a good excuse for visiting a town that we would otherwise have missed. Small town Belgium will be a culturally poorer place without it.
Wednesday 1 January 2014
THE JOPI AWARDS for 2013
And unlike some lesser awards shows, these are given for and
therefore named after the year in which the work was done rather than
the year we're a few weeks in to....
SONG OF THE YEAR: Goose - Control
Once again, Belgium leads the way in providing the pop music that the rest of the world should be listening to. This barnstorming slab of techno rumbles away to an insistent start and builds to a magnificent crescendo. Throughout it has the sound of a perfect harmony between analogue and digital; human vocals and drums combining brilliantly with synths and loops to bring a unique hybrid of sounds.
Also of note...Willow's singles Sweater and Remedy (the latter is a taster for their new album coming in 2014) are both sublime pop music, proving that the chorus isn't dead. Flemish lunatic Daan released Everglades, an English language offering from his predominantly French language longplayer Le Franc Belge, which offered up hugely catchy drama amongst sweeping strings. Swede Mason returned with another insanely brilliant collection of lo-fi techno and video editing in Derek Had A Double Dose. Francophone Jazz-pop pixie Zaz returned with her best single to date with the splendid On Ira.
ALBUM OF THE YEAR: Bent van Looy - Round the Bend
In what should possibly be renamed the Bent van Looy category, having been awarded to his band Das Pop last year, van Looy has released a sublime collection of offbeat and bittersweet pop songs in his unique style. He paints an heartwarming picture of scenes and emotions which are engaging, all within the confines of a three or four minute pop song. I spent a lot of time listening to this album during the autumn, which was the perfect time of year to be hearing it. There is no better audio accompaniment to the views of falling leaves as the wind starts to feel colder than it has done during the summer. Having said that, I'm sure it would work equally well in welcoming the dawn of spring.
Also of note... I've struggled to get excited by any British music this year. The obsession with the bland, the uninspired and the weak this year has developed to epidemic proportions. The whole music industry seems to be geared to new acts releasing huge debut albums, then have no chance of following them up. Even acts who have previously delivered quality albums seem to have been caught up in the creativity vortex engulfing the UK.
RADIO STATION OF THE YEAR: Errr.... Ummm.... 2013, like 2012 hasn't shown a single radio station reach out and grab me. My general weekday listening pattern is as follows:
Breakfast: Jon Holmes (XFM); Morning: Ken Bruce (BBC R2); Lunchtime: Steve Yabsley (BBC Radio Bristol); Afternoon: Scott Mills (BBC R1) or Laura Rawlings (BBC Radio Bristol); Drivetime: Simon Mayo (BBC R2).
Each of these stations has some brilliant output, but also some dire crap as well. XFM struggles to have an indentity on daytimes outside of Jon Holmes' show. BBC Radio 2 is woeful away from Bruce and Mayo. BBC Radio Bristol is excruciatingly worthy at breakfast and through the mornings, exactly the sort of "worry about everything" broadcasting that Danny Baker criticised BBC London for.
MUSIC RADIO SHOW OF THE YEAR: Gunther D (Studio Brussel)
This utterly barking mad hour of Friday evenings on StuBru is the right way to start off the weekend. The show is a mixture of mainstream dance music from the last 20 years, current underground dance, short calls from (often inebriated) listeners, sound effects and hype from Gunther. It is a festival of music radio, the likes of which simply aren't heard elsewhere. The show benefits from only being an hour long - any longer and it would struggle to maintain the hyperactivity. The show has also spawned two successful 3CD compilations.
FACTUAL RADIO SHOW OF THE YEAR: Hunted (BBC WM)
Factual might be stretching it a bit for this show, but it deserved a mention. Hunted is a Treasure Hunt style programme with cryptic clues played out in real time across the broadcast area of BBC West Midlands. Over the course of the three hour show, the studio anchor is challenged to direct the runner in the radio car to the right locations and finally the hunted individual that gives the show its name. Neither the anchor nor the runner have access to any internet or text message feeds - all information must be passed by listeners through to the studio via the phone switchboard. Several BBC Local stations run similar programmes (notably BBC Radio Norfolk's Treasure Quest and BBC Radio Lincolnshire's Pirate Gold), but none manage the fantastic drama and tension achieved during the 13 week summer run of this show. If you want a taster of the format, my personal second favourite to Hunted is BBC Radio Sheffield's Clueless which is on year round.
COMEDY RADIO SHOW OF THE YEAR: Cabin Pressure (BBC Radio 4)
If ever there were an example of a comedy writer raising their game and developing the depth of characters in a sitcom, then John Finnemore's work on Cabin Pressure is a textbook offering. The fourth (and final) series of the show featured some superb gags, quips and situations whilst building new storylines around key characters which stretched over episodes for the first time. But it isn't all about the writing - Benedict Cumberbatch (Martin), Stephanie Cole (Carolyn) and Finnemore himself (Arthur) all deliver sterling performances in key roles, but for me the show is stolen by Roger Allam playing the ever suave and unflappable Douglas with gusto. A final concluding episode is mooted for 2014.
PODCAST OF THE YEAR: Toby Foster at Breakfast (BBC Radio Sheffield)
A new category for this year. Toby Foster's Breakfast podcast demonstrates how good local radio broadcasting can be. Foster and his team are all experts of their patch whilst still being aware of the bigger picture. Their banter is a joy in a genre of radio which is dominated by the bland and the worthy. Comedian Foster isn't afraid of tacking serious topics and does so with a tactfully authoritative voice, although this material makes it through to the podcast less often than the laughs.
Also of note in this category is Iain Lee's weekly podcast from BBC Three Counties, about which much of the above could also be said.
BROADCASTER OF THE YEAR: Jon Holmes (XFM)
Following his appointment to the breakfast show on XFM London, i did have some reservations as to whether he could maintain the level of creative energy demonstrated on his previous 6Music Saturday show for four hours, five days a week. Thankfully he can, and has been given a level of creative freedom on his show that he simply wouldn't get elsewhere (and to be honest it surprises me that he gets it on the Global brand). Holmes' show is quickfire daftness powered by a huge raft of jingles, specially recorded inserts and painstakingly well assembled mashed up bits of other radio programmes. If anything, the levels of creativity have raised during the year.
MUSIC RETAILER OF THE YEAR: Popcorn Music, Roeselare (Belgium)
The era of the huge second hand record shop appears to have all but come to an end. Thankfully, nobody has told this to Popcorn Music of Roeselare. The store has a huge choice of CDs and vinyl (plus even more available from storage), all housed in custom built racks. Our last visit was on a Saturday afternoon and the atmosphere was brilliant. There was a modest crowd of Flemish music fans sat around the cash desk (from where they also sell beer - only in Belgium) enjoying some banter.
HOPE FOR 2014...
New albums from Willow and (perhaps) Das Pop?
Another series of Hunted on BBC WM?
Nick Grimshaw's sacking from the Radio 1 Breakfast Show, along with everybody on the music panel at the station?
The final series of X Factor?
SONG OF THE YEAR: Goose - Control
Once again, Belgium leads the way in providing the pop music that the rest of the world should be listening to. This barnstorming slab of techno rumbles away to an insistent start and builds to a magnificent crescendo. Throughout it has the sound of a perfect harmony between analogue and digital; human vocals and drums combining brilliantly with synths and loops to bring a unique hybrid of sounds.
Also of note...Willow's singles Sweater and Remedy (the latter is a taster for their new album coming in 2014) are both sublime pop music, proving that the chorus isn't dead. Flemish lunatic Daan released Everglades, an English language offering from his predominantly French language longplayer Le Franc Belge, which offered up hugely catchy drama amongst sweeping strings. Swede Mason returned with another insanely brilliant collection of lo-fi techno and video editing in Derek Had A Double Dose. Francophone Jazz-pop pixie Zaz returned with her best single to date with the splendid On Ira.
ALBUM OF THE YEAR: Bent van Looy - Round the Bend
In what should possibly be renamed the Bent van Looy category, having been awarded to his band Das Pop last year, van Looy has released a sublime collection of offbeat and bittersweet pop songs in his unique style. He paints an heartwarming picture of scenes and emotions which are engaging, all within the confines of a three or four minute pop song. I spent a lot of time listening to this album during the autumn, which was the perfect time of year to be hearing it. There is no better audio accompaniment to the views of falling leaves as the wind starts to feel colder than it has done during the summer. Having said that, I'm sure it would work equally well in welcoming the dawn of spring.
Also of note... I've struggled to get excited by any British music this year. The obsession with the bland, the uninspired and the weak this year has developed to epidemic proportions. The whole music industry seems to be geared to new acts releasing huge debut albums, then have no chance of following them up. Even acts who have previously delivered quality albums seem to have been caught up in the creativity vortex engulfing the UK.
RADIO STATION OF THE YEAR: Errr.... Ummm.... 2013, like 2012 hasn't shown a single radio station reach out and grab me. My general weekday listening pattern is as follows:
Breakfast: Jon Holmes (XFM); Morning: Ken Bruce (BBC R2); Lunchtime: Steve Yabsley (BBC Radio Bristol); Afternoon: Scott Mills (BBC R1) or Laura Rawlings (BBC Radio Bristol); Drivetime: Simon Mayo (BBC R2).
Each of these stations has some brilliant output, but also some dire crap as well. XFM struggles to have an indentity on daytimes outside of Jon Holmes' show. BBC Radio 2 is woeful away from Bruce and Mayo. BBC Radio Bristol is excruciatingly worthy at breakfast and through the mornings, exactly the sort of "worry about everything" broadcasting that Danny Baker criticised BBC London for.
MUSIC RADIO SHOW OF THE YEAR: Gunther D (Studio Brussel)
This utterly barking mad hour of Friday evenings on StuBru is the right way to start off the weekend. The show is a mixture of mainstream dance music from the last 20 years, current underground dance, short calls from (often inebriated) listeners, sound effects and hype from Gunther. It is a festival of music radio, the likes of which simply aren't heard elsewhere. The show benefits from only being an hour long - any longer and it would struggle to maintain the hyperactivity. The show has also spawned two successful 3CD compilations.
FACTUAL RADIO SHOW OF THE YEAR: Hunted (BBC WM)
Factual might be stretching it a bit for this show, but it deserved a mention. Hunted is a Treasure Hunt style programme with cryptic clues played out in real time across the broadcast area of BBC West Midlands. Over the course of the three hour show, the studio anchor is challenged to direct the runner in the radio car to the right locations and finally the hunted individual that gives the show its name. Neither the anchor nor the runner have access to any internet or text message feeds - all information must be passed by listeners through to the studio via the phone switchboard. Several BBC Local stations run similar programmes (notably BBC Radio Norfolk's Treasure Quest and BBC Radio Lincolnshire's Pirate Gold), but none manage the fantastic drama and tension achieved during the 13 week summer run of this show. If you want a taster of the format, my personal second favourite to Hunted is BBC Radio Sheffield's Clueless which is on year round.
COMEDY RADIO SHOW OF THE YEAR: Cabin Pressure (BBC Radio 4)
If ever there were an example of a comedy writer raising their game and developing the depth of characters in a sitcom, then John Finnemore's work on Cabin Pressure is a textbook offering. The fourth (and final) series of the show featured some superb gags, quips and situations whilst building new storylines around key characters which stretched over episodes for the first time. But it isn't all about the writing - Benedict Cumberbatch (Martin), Stephanie Cole (Carolyn) and Finnemore himself (Arthur) all deliver sterling performances in key roles, but for me the show is stolen by Roger Allam playing the ever suave and unflappable Douglas with gusto. A final concluding episode is mooted for 2014.
PODCAST OF THE YEAR: Toby Foster at Breakfast (BBC Radio Sheffield)
A new category for this year. Toby Foster's Breakfast podcast demonstrates how good local radio broadcasting can be. Foster and his team are all experts of their patch whilst still being aware of the bigger picture. Their banter is a joy in a genre of radio which is dominated by the bland and the worthy. Comedian Foster isn't afraid of tacking serious topics and does so with a tactfully authoritative voice, although this material makes it through to the podcast less often than the laughs.
Also of note in this category is Iain Lee's weekly podcast from BBC Three Counties, about which much of the above could also be said.
BROADCASTER OF THE YEAR: Jon Holmes (XFM)
Following his appointment to the breakfast show on XFM London, i did have some reservations as to whether he could maintain the level of creative energy demonstrated on his previous 6Music Saturday show for four hours, five days a week. Thankfully he can, and has been given a level of creative freedom on his show that he simply wouldn't get elsewhere (and to be honest it surprises me that he gets it on the Global brand). Holmes' show is quickfire daftness powered by a huge raft of jingles, specially recorded inserts and painstakingly well assembled mashed up bits of other radio programmes. If anything, the levels of creativity have raised during the year.
MUSIC RETAILER OF THE YEAR: Popcorn Music, Roeselare (Belgium)
The era of the huge second hand record shop appears to have all but come to an end. Thankfully, nobody has told this to Popcorn Music of Roeselare. The store has a huge choice of CDs and vinyl (plus even more available from storage), all housed in custom built racks. Our last visit was on a Saturday afternoon and the atmosphere was brilliant. There was a modest crowd of Flemish music fans sat around the cash desk (from where they also sell beer - only in Belgium) enjoying some banter.
HOPE FOR 2014...
New albums from Willow and (perhaps) Das Pop?
Another series of Hunted on BBC WM?
Nick Grimshaw's sacking from the Radio 1 Breakfast Show, along with everybody on the music panel at the station?
The final series of X Factor?
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