International Society of Music Snobs & Elitists

Yes, look closely, that is Prince William bending over pinning Marc’s award on his lapel.  Quite unbelievable isn’t it?  The original “willing sinner”, the absolute ‘vermin in the ermin’ and the unforgettable fetishist who sang of seedy films and sex dwarves has now officially been awarded an OBE.

Marc Almond has achieved great heights in the last year or so, and this was the real topper.  He now is officially an Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire.  Well done ol’ boy!  Britain must be extremely proud of their little gimp. Gutter hearts rejoice!

Congratulations to Marc and all his hard work and fantastic music over the last 30 years and more.

So David Byrne recently fell victim to avant-hard fem types who called him out for the work he had done on his new LP, ‘American Utopia’.  Seems like after much hard work, and feeling pretty jazzed about the completed project, David posted a playlist and a composite image of all the collaborators who he’d just worked with on his new album.  As one might expect, the aggro started pouring in from right-on types who were quick to point out there were no women involved.  Byrne buckled and issued an apology. Why?

“The image in the post clearly reveals this problem in a way that mere words do not...I regret not hiring and collaborating with women for this album-it’s ridiculous. I never thought of myself as being “one of those guys”but I guess to some extent I am. Your responses serve as a corrective. Thank you”

Byrne issued a tweet as an apology, but why?  Obviously, there is no regard for one’s own artistic vision or who he chooses, for whatever specific reason, to work with.  As we all know, you cannot always direct your muse-and if it leads this way, you follow.  If it leads that way, so be it.  If David felt driven to work with each individual based upon what he felt was best for the work, so be it. It is shameful that after all that is invested in the project, he cowers down and apologizes.  It diminishes the work of those involved and truly “reveals this problem in a way mere words do not...”.  It shows that it is not about the work, only if a woman is involved.  This is a very dangerous trend happening now, where the work is not important, but simply only if a woman is involved.  If that were the case, why not have the cleaning lady step up to the mic-it would probably achieve the same result as simply drafting in women to keep the feminists happy.

It is disappointing that Byrne felt the need to apologize.  He has a strong legacy of working with diverse artists and women, in fact, his last recorded LP was with St. Vincent!

It’s been over 10 years since Led Zeppelin played their reunion gig at London’s O2 Arena, and according to Jimmy Page, that will go down as the band’s last ever performance.  “I really think the time has gone”, he said in his exclusive interview in the newest Planet Rock magazine.

Page thinks that because it took 30 years for the band to actually reform to play one gig, and now that a decade has slipped by since, that the reality of getting everyone together again is never going to happen. To him, that is just too much water under the bridge.  Everyone is happy leading their own lives and pursuing their own interests.

That doesn’t mean that it is the end of Zeppelin for good though, as Jimmy points out that there is an authorized book due out this year as well as a new live album.  Jimmy had his own autobiography, ‘Jimmy Page’ published in 2010, in a similar vein, ‘Led Zeppelin’ by Led Zeppelin, will be out in October.  It is an illustrated history, celebrating their 50 years as a band. Kind of funny, because Jimmy is actually lamenting the fact that they don’t do anything as a band anymore...for almost the last 40 years!

The ‘Snobs already have a contender for single cover of the year, and it’s this one from Dua Lipa.

What is a Dua Lipa anyway...or who is she?  As of today, Dua is the youngest UK solo female artist to crack 1 billion views on YouTube. The 22 year old songstress is officially the most ‘streamed’ woman in the UK, outgunning Rhianna, Taylor, Beyonce or whoever else you wanna chuck on the fire. Yes, she is that hot. Like millions of other wannabes, she started singing singing on YouTube, then everything exploded.  She officially hit the big time with her breakthrough single “New Rules”, which hit the charts last summer and now has put her in the Billionaires Club of video streaming.

Don’t forget the fact that she already set records last month for the most nominations for a single female artist for this year’s Brit Awards, with 5 nominations.

The ‘Snobs aren’t really into this kind of stuff, but obviously millions of people are.  The aforementioned sleeve is for her latest single, “IDGAF” (it doesn’t take much to figure that one out.)  She may be an unlikely star, but her label in the UK says that she could be the one to bring back long term strategies not seen since the 80s.  She has sold over 1.2 copies of her album worldwide (half of which were actually physical).  She is a truly big deal in the UK, and could very well be a contender on the world stage (worldwide streams place her at #7, with Rhianna and Taylor still on top).

DANIEL AVERY ‘SLOW FADE’

It’s been over four years since his debut, and now Daniel Avery has announced his second LP, ‘Song For Alpha’, due out in early April.  A four track EP was released a few weeks back, ‘Slow Fade’, and now the title track gets its video debut.

Its a cubist affair, a bit pinky in tint and trippy. Avery says he likes the London based design studio’s work of Flat-e because “They create worlds into which you can fall with your eyes closed”.  However, if you do that, you’ll miss their latest piece.

This is the kind of reunion we like to hear about.  Thee Hypnotics are about to re-emerge onto the scene and blow some dust off of everything.

They must mean business because they have a brand new website up too, proclaiming they are ‘Righteously Recharged’!  Good for them.  They are showing a bit of muscle and the original line up will be taking it out on the road for 15 dates across Europe and the UK between March and April.  If you want some heavy action, these guys are a must see.

The band has not really done anything for the last 20 years.  They were last seen in the UK supporting the Black Crowes back in 93. Chris Robinson took a shine to the band and actually produced their last full length LP, ‘The Very Crystal Speed Machine’.  They played a string of club dates across the US, then went back home and soon faded away.

Beggar’s Banquet are set to re-issue Hypnotics LPs as an anthology, and promise rare material and hard to find stuff.

Stay up to date via their new site, here.

If you haven’t heard or lost touch with the band, get a recharge by watching the video below.  This is “Half Man Half Boy” off their very excellent and heavy “Come Down Heavy” LP.

Just happened across this, the new single from Lady Gaga.  Immediately I was thinking, “where do I know this from?”, and in a split second, Death In Vegas!

Now it is common knowledge that Lady Gaga is not the most original songstress out there, but we can’t necessarily fault her for that, because all artists take bits and pieces from here and there.  However, one wonders if perhaps Gaga was a fan of DIV or was this image just seared into her head from another time?  Perhaps it was the young hip thing in the art department who could not distinguish where the idea came from.

Who knows what Gaga’s new LP will sound like, but it’s an easy bet it will not sound anything like DIV’s ‘Trans-Love Energies’.

The man who was  The Fall, Mark E. Smith, has passed away at his home today.  He was 60. His death was announced by their manager, who said she would issue more info in the next few days.

Mark was the one true member of The Fall, he sang and wrote the lyrics and spat them at you in a way no one has ever done before or since. He was the one and only member who started the band on day one and stuck it out until today.   The fall formed in 1976 and managed to pass 66 members through its different incarnations.  Mark kept it in the family, marrying two band members and even the head of their fan club.

The band released their 32nd LP last year. Throughout their career the band managed to lodge 11 of the 32 into the Top 40, the highest peaking at #9 with ‘The Infotainment Scan’, 25 years ago in ’93.

The BBC actually made an announcement that Mark had died on his 60th birthday last March, but sadly, this time there is no mistaking.

The largest traveling exhibition ever of Albert Einstein's personal possessions are heading to Taiwan, then on to China and Japan.  A total of 75 pieces of Albert's personal belongings will be on show, including his LP collection.

Now, one can gain insight on what may have been going on in his mind or what he was probably listening to when he came up with his famous theory of relativity.  He has gone on record as to how music helped him in his theory, claiming his famous discovery was only possible thanks to music.

Albert was an avid musician and he loved music. He learned the violin as a child, and throughout his life, whenever he got in a jam he would put on music to help clear his head and get his juices flowing again.

TEENAGE FANCLUB “I’M IN LOVE”

Aaaah!  It is always a pleasure (and very reassuring) to hear the latest from Teenage Fanclub.  This latest single “I’m In Love” is a taster from the band’s 11th album, ‘Here’, due out in September.

The single is typical Fannies, albeit perhaps a slight bit mellower but making for slightly more enjoyable...great little guitar solo too!

JAMIE LIDELL “WALK RIGHT BACK”

Nice. Mr. Lidell has announced a brand new album due out in October. He’s left his longtime label Warp, and started his own, Jajulin Records.  The new album, ‘Building A Beginning’ will be on his own label, and he promises a fresh new start.

APHEX TWIN “ CIRKLON3”

Believe it or not, this is the first Aphex Twin video since “Windowlicker”, that is 17 years ago! So how to does he make his big video comeback? He hires a 12 year old kid from Dublin, Ryan Wyer, to be in charge. It turns out Richard spotted his work from his YouTube channel.

Surprisingly enough, the video is not that far off base of earlier Warp - style videos. Yeah, and that is the kid and his pals horsing around in the video.

SUPER FURRY ANIMALS “BING BONG”

The Furries come out of nowhere, bouncing balls off their heads and singing this glorious new anthem, “Bing Bong”.

STONE ROSES “ALL FOR ONE”

The ‘Roses have taken an insane amount of time to release new music before...but this is a topper!  Its been 21 years since they last released any new music and as of today, we all have a chance to check out their brand new single, “All For One”.

By the time night fell on the day Prince died, I knew something was wrong. There was an obvious overload of sensitivity in the news, and as odd as it sounds, it was just too much to believe that Prince had that big of an influence on so many people the whole world over.  Watching CNN devote complete programs to the passing of Prince was odd, and when the host purposely pointed out that he bought a purple paisley tie for the occasion, it really began to smell fishy.  

His guest, a young woman who reports for Entertainment Tonight was placed outside Paisley Park.  He asked her simple, shallow questions, and dutifully she smiled and gave back hollow, pointless answers.  When asked what Prince meant to her she lit up and told of the first time she saw ‘Purple Rain’ and how this androgynous, sexy man made a huge impression on her. This was baffling, since this correspondent could only be 35 at best, which meant she was a baby when Purple Rain was released.  How can she be so affected?  How can so many millions be so affected?  What is the connection?

Prince’s death was an occasion, for exactly what, one can’t be sure. Whatever it is, it has nothing at all to do with sincerity or heartfelt grieving.  It was a definite distraction from the political madness, but as the days pass, more and more is coming to light that his death has obviously been hijacked for any number of reasons; viewership, “likes” and easy money are some of the obvious reasons.

Death is a big deal these days, especially in the social media world. That is where all the companies, news outlets and just plain sharks look to get their stories, throw in their ads or to make sure they are dropping the right words behind their hash tags.  Before celebrity bodies hit the cold stainless steel tables in the local morgue, there is a full-on bum rush to see who gets their feelings out on the social media outlets first.  It is amazing that after the deaths of Amy Winehouse, Whitney Houston, Paul Walker and David Bowie that the public have any tears left to cry…let alone the energy to type out more standard issue “R.I.P.’s” for Prince.   How can life go on for anyone after having to cope with these huge losses and have your life ripped apart by their exits?  Still, the stories flow, the records pulled out and shown, the tears fall and their new ripples reach further and further out. No one wants to be left out or seem like they weren’t hip enough to know who this new dead guy is or what he did. It’s time to capitalize on this new dead guy in case you missed your last chance. Open the floodgates, its time to wail and moan for the next dead celeb.

There is no debating the genius of Prince.  He was one of the few true musicians out there.  He could do it all, and pretty much did.  He wrote his music (and tunes for others), produced and played almost any instrument he desired to.  And, best of all, he was an excellent guitarist, even though many never thought to consider the man when thinking of their favorite guitarists of all time. Prince started to get traction with his second album, ‘Prince’.  Chaka Khan would take one of the tunes from this and make it a huge hit, “I Feel For You”.  He started to get attention for his outrageousness on the following two albums, and by he finally made a name for himself in 1982, with his fifth album (and a double LP at that!) with ‘1999’. He wasn’t worldwide yet, but he was definitely primed and ready to go.

Prince became the guy everyone knows him as in 1984, with the release of ‘Purple Rain’.  This was to be his big breakthrough.  The album was a hit, the movie was a hit and from this moment on, things would never be the same.  Fame, popularity and sales were their highest for him this year.  There is no debate, 1984 was the year that made him the pop star everyone would forever remember.  His next two albums were not near as popular, nor was his next film. He started to worry.  His record label worried.  Prince wanted to be that same guy he was a few years before and proposed a triple album to try and recapture the adoration of millions of fans. The label shot it down.  Prince put out a double album instead, ‘Sign O’ The Times’.  It was 1987 and it was the last truly great record he would put out. It was a slippery slope from here on out and he managed a grasp at fame again with a few hits from Batman at the end of the 80’s, but would have his last big hit in 91.  For all intents and purposes, that was it for him.  Yes, he would have a few scattered successes here and there, but in the 25+ years that followed, the music he produced is not the stuff that people neither talk about nor remember him for.  

Alan Leeds was Prince’s manager from ’83-’93.  He was also the head of Prince’s record label, Paisley Park records.  He said that he had never seen anything like the Purple Rain frenzy before.  That album was both a blessing and a curse to Prince.  He summed up it perfectly in a recent interview when he said, “There were Prince fans, and there were “Purple Rain” fans. Purple Rain fans may not have bought another Prince record in their life”.  To many of the “mourning” millions, this would be the only Prince album they ever owned, seen or even heard.  This album, these few years on top, this is what Prince’s legacy would become.

ABC “VIVA LOVE”

ABC’s “Lexicon of Love” is an undeniable classic.  Now, almost 30 years after this gem, Martin Fry will release the follow up, “Lexicon of Love II”.   That is great news, but also a lot of weight to carry.  It will hard to top the original, but judging by this lead off video, Fry may well be on track to add to the legacy.

In the new video, you can spot several bits relating back to ABC’s classic videos and images.  Fry makes several appearances in the video as well.  Overall, it is what you would expect; lush orchestration, glitter and glamour and pure pop ecstasy.