N°125 - EAST17 - STAY ANOTHER DAY

I’m back after being gone for a while. Renovating a house apparently drains a lot of energy and time so apologies for all of you who actually missed the music link. But from now on we’ll get back to it on a regular basis. And not a better continuation with an old school boys band from the nineties.

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East17 was formed in 1991 and they mixed rap with nineties pop music. Just listen to their songs such as ‘Steam’ or Let It Rain’. Formed by front man Tony Mortimer he sought a few fellow band members after signing his first record deal for London Records.  London Records? Yes the band is British. He name of the band was quickly chosen since Tony came from a small town called Walthamstow which postal code starts with E17… Brian Harvey sings the more r&b vocals while Mortimer  takes care of the songwriting and the rapping parts. Other members were John Hendy and Terence Coldwell. Since were talking nineties here it needs to be mentioned they were mainly rival for that other boys band Take That.

Their first album named after the town Mortimer grew up in shot to the number 1 place in the UK charts in no time bringing forth a number of hits such as ‘House Of Pain’. ‘Stay Another Day’ was a single from their 1994 second released album named ‘Steam’.  Stay Another Day is, until today, still their only number 1 UK hit single whilst all of their other singles made it at least to the top 20. ‘Up All Night‘ was their third album in consecutive years but it would never top the previous successes.

News appeared that Harvey was engaged in an affair on taking drugs and with Mortimer leaving the band in 1997 the split op East17 was final. The split would only last a year when all but Mortimer gave East17 a new kick start. The renamed themselves to E-17 and released a fourth album in 1998 called ‘Resurrection’. The only single making it to the top would be ‘Each Time’. Apparently Mortimer’s songwriting skills had a huge input in the band’s success. It would be a very short comeback since they split again in 1999.

In 2006 all four original members performed a one-time comeback on a gig in London but this would only result in a re-launch of their careers as a three piece band. Again Mortimer would leave the band after a fight with Harvey. One last setup change would happen in 2009 when Mortimer took Harvey’s place as the band thought Harvey’s drug abuse once more disturbed the band’s commitments.  This final comeback resulted in the singles ‘Secret Of My Life’ and ‘I Can’t Get You Off My Mind’ together with a fifth album in 2012 (14 years after the fourth !) titled ‘Dark Light’

I never have been and never will be a fan of boys bands but I’m sure you’ll admit East17 have their place in music history so here they are with their only number 1 UK hit.

Talk to you soon.

N°124 WRETCH 32 - DON'T GO

Wretch32 (pronounce as Wretch Three Two and not Thirty Two) worked on a song with Da Weasel and that’s exactly why I’ve used him in my music link. He’s born and raised in London where he joined two different Grime crews, Combination Chain Gang and The Movement. As a solo artist he got picked up after a live performance at the 2007 MP3 Music Awards. After this he was given the chance to create a first full album named Wretchrospective; released in 2008. Back in these days he also created a few mixtapes with grime, urban and hiphop sounds making his name in this particular part of the music business. 

Early 2011 he released a debut single ‘Traktor’ which would later that year appear on his second album Black And White. The single would debut in the charts at number 5 and his album got picked up by a bigger audience. More singles were released such as ‘Unorthodox’ carrying a sample of Stone Roses hit ‘Fools Gold’. At the end of the year a third single saw the light and brought him another success in the UK.

He now started touring with a UK Arena tour bringing his sound to the world and in his latest touring performances he brought a brand new song to his fans with the title ‘Blur’. It is supposed to be the first single of his newest album foreseen for 2013. This single also features on the latest FIFA13 soundtrack as one of the themes.

N°123 DALEY - GAME OVER

Back in the eighties PacMan was my favourite video game. Unfortunately I encountered many Game Overs before reaching the ultimate level and finish it off. So far concerning the link. I wanted to link it into the Slovenian boys band Game Over but I could find any information on them so I left it with that and sought another solution with a song called Game Over. I’ve chosen the performance by Daley since his career started quite remarkably.

He’s an artist who writes his own songs but he didn’t know exactly how to make them public. That’s why he uploaded one of his tracks to the BBC recording studios. After listening to the track he was invited to do a live session for BBC Introducing and from that moment on he got broadcasted in the UK on national radio creating a little hype.

His voice matched perfectly with the Gorillaz theme and together with Damon Albarn he wrote ‘Doncamatic’. Gorillaz also asked him to lend his voice for that single which appeared on the Gorillaz album Plastic Beach. A strange begin of his career maybe but in 2011 Daley produced an online EP called Those Who Wait which got downloaded a lot in the UK. From this EP, Game Over is the first real single release, followed by other songs such as ‘Smoking Gun’ and ‘Spent’. That same period Wretch 32 release the album Black and White on which Daley appears as a guest artist on the single ‘Long way Home’.

I don’t know if he’s a one hit wonder or anything but I’m glad I almost worked myself out of trouble with my music link.

N°118 THE BIG PINK - HIT THE GROUND SUPERMAN

A British duo, Robbie Furze and Milo Cordell, bringing us music lovers a mixture of electronic music and rock. Not a very long existing band so far since they started out back in 2007 but since then, they managed to produce two albums called Brief History Of Love in 2009 and Future This, from early this year.

Both artists started of independently from each other on their own labels, respectively Hate Channel and Merok Records. In between 2007, when they decided to co-operate with each other and 2009 they were able to release a few singles on old school 12’’, all produced on a limited base. Neither of them wanted to take The Big Pink in on their label so these releases went on the 4AD label. All of these singles can be found on the first album A Brief History Of Love. A week before the release they promoted it by launching another single called ‘Dominos’ and following the release they toured Europe, the USA and Japan. This again led to being the supporting act for Muse on their UK Arena tour in 2010. For this The Big Pink thanked Muse with a nice remix of Muse’s song ‘Undisclosed Desires’

A second album was destined to follow rather quickly but release was only foreseen at the start of 2012. So far two singles were released from this album. The first was ‘Lose Your Mind’. A song which opens with a sample of the song ‘Happy House’ by Siouxsie and The Banshees. Personally I picked them up with the second single ‘Hit The Ground Superman’ which was a big hit in my home country.

Superman will by the way be the link into the next song. About the link with Feist I can be brief. Just check the line-up for Pukkelpop festival 2012. They were both on it on the opening day. Unfortunately two other bands (Apocalyptica and Isbells) I wanted to see were scheduled at the same time so I missed out on them. Maybe next time. Since Robbie and Milo do the mixes and electronics on stage they’re accompanied by a drummer (Akiko Matsuura) and a bass guitar player (Adam Prendergast or Leopold Ross) whenever performing a live set. Will Superman hit the ground or will he land smoothly? Up to you to decide.

N°98 THE TING THINGS - HANDS

Five fingers make a hand so  make the leap to The Tin Things. We all know the duo from hits such as 'Shut Up And Let Me Go' or 'That's Not My Name' from their first album We Started Nothing. As said it's a duo with blonde Katie White and musical brain Jules de Martino. They both play quite a few instruments on stage but Katie is the vocalist.

It all started in 2006 when Jules wrote a few songs for the punk band TKO. TKO was Katie's first real band when she studied at Leeds university. Since Katie, Jules and a mutual friend shared a mutual intrest in the band Portishead they decided to form a tribute band called Dear Eskiimo only to split a few months later. Jules and Katie kept in touch after the split. At that time Jules worked at the Islignton Mill Studios where he wrote songs for different bands and at The Mill both of them found the love for making music again so they started The Ting Things.The first gig given was at these same studios.

'That's Not My Name' was the first single that got finished and released to present the band to the world and the song would become a hit in a few European countries. 'Fruit Machine' was released short after as a second single Both song were picked up by various DJ's to be heavily used for different mixes. This way the band got even more exposure and their career started of big time. They played their first festival in 2007 at the big Glastonbury showing their performance to a huge audience for the first time.

The album We Started Nothing was released in 2008 and their music seemed popular not only live on stage but also for different producers. A few songs were used in series such as Gossip Girl and One Tree Hill. Also movie producers used the song 'Great DJ' in the movies The House Bunny and Oscar winner Slumdog Millionaire. That same song opende the 2008 Carling Cup Final. In 2009 The Ting Things started touring Australie and Asia followed by a US tour supporting Pink!.

Their second album is a recent one released early this year and containing more poppy sounding songs such as 'Hands'. They wrote the album Sounds From Nowheresville in complete isolation in Paris, France because they didn't wanted to deliver a less quality product. Katie and Jules assumed that if they'd write and record in their old studio they'd be influenced by their family and friends or even their record company which they tried to avoid.

At the moment and this summer they'll tour around Europe to play different clubs and festivals. In September the duo will try and conquer Japan playing six gigs over the complete country. I hope you like the sound; at least I do like it a lot, especially Katie's sound since she has quite a good voice.

N°95 ADELE - LOVESONG

Ok since Laura Marling won the Brit Award for best British Female Singer award in 2012 I've chosen to stick with the 2011 winner Adele.I didn't choose one of her hits though since I believe she's has a fantastic voice which you'll hear better on some other songs such as this one:

Amongst many other great British artists Adele succeeded an education in the performing arts at the BRIT school in 2006. She started touring with a few others as a support act on different festivals. This way she could produce and release her first single 'Hometown Glory' a year after followed by her first hit single 'Chasing Pavements'. Her second single opened many doors so she could start touring around Europe and Amerika. It also opened the doors to a first full album, released early 2008. As you can tell, Adele went up fast. The first album was called 19 and it also contains the Bob Dylan cover 'To Make You Feel My Love'.

Adele's feeling for songwriting stayed with her and led to more number one hits in many different countries with the release of her second album 21. My guess is she has a weakness for numbers.  'Set Fire To The Rain' made first place in many charts as did the first single of this album 'Rolling In The Deep'. I'm almost forgetting to mention two more big hits on this album not mentioning 'Rumour Has It' or 'Someone Like You'.

Adele wrote or co-wrote both albums herselve apart from the earlier mentioned Bob Dylan cover and this song I've posted. I've said it before and I'll say it again. Adele is a great performer with a strong carying voice and a huge talent in writing her own music. She a huge lady in the music buisiness.

N°94 LAURA MARLING - ALL MY RAGE

I’ll stick with rage for the next song and anlthough I never heared of Laura Marling I’ll try and put together some information about her.

As I learend along the way Laura Marling can be put in the same corner as Mumford and Sons or Noah and The Whale because she’s also part of the London folkscene. Strange enough that I never heared of her then since I kind of like these two bands. She also received a Brit Award in 2011 for best female solo artist. It says enough that Adele won that award this year. 

At an early age she learned to play the guitar and since her father owned a recording studio it was easy for her to record her first self wrote songs. At the age of 16 she ended up with the band Noah and The Whale (ok I knew the band but not Miss Marling, excuse me !!!) and at the same age her first ep was born holding the title London Town. Only two year later followed her first full album ‘Alas I Cannot Swim’, later nomited for a Mercury Music Price. She left Noah and The Whale shortly after as she left it’s lead singer Charlie Fink to whom she was romantically involved at the time.

A second studio album was recorded in 2010 and this album also got nominated for a Mercury Music Prize. I Speak Because I Can didn’t win either although it received the best critics. In between both albums she started touring with Mumford and Sons. Mumford himself accopagnied her several times on guitar. Tah same year she appeared on a nep with four songs recorded by herself, Mumford and Sons and Dharohar Project.

A Creature I Don’t Know; her third album was released last year and is as strong as the two albums she created before. Her music style can be described as folk, nu-folk, indie, … and I might put her in my playlists from now on.

N°89 PJ HARVEY - JOE

As said in the previous post P.J. Harvey used to be Nick Cave's girlfriend and she also participated on his Murder Ballad album. I didn’t want to take Kylie Minogue since that would be too obvious and I like the P.J. Harvey sound more. Grinderman then again was too much the same as The Bad Seeds and I don’t feel like I could link it my few rules considering.

Polly Jean Harvey is British 43-year old singer-songwriter who got early influences in her life from blues, jazz and rockmusic. Her family is probably where she got the vibes since her mother was an organiser of different jazz concerts. This is when she learned to play the sax and she still does play that instrument from time to time on her albums. Her early career started off in different small bands with names as Polekats and The Stone Weaklings but it never really took off untill she founded her own music brand as PJ Harvey with a few friends-musicians.

The first PJ Harvey single is already 21 years old. This single called ‘Dress’ was the start of a first full album in 1992 called ‘Dry’ . She immediately was named as an upcoming talent by the editor of Rolling Stone magazine. You can’t wish for better advertising. Dry has many punkrock and grunge influences but it also scores with Indie-lovers because of the bluesy sound.

She changed record company a year after and created the beautifull album ‘Rid Of Me’ for which she was rewarded as warm-up for the then scheduled U2-tour. More succes would follow with her third album which was nominated by almost all the major music magazines as album of the year. Rolling Stone magazine even nominated PJ as artis of the year. A new star was definately born. From this moment on she tries the experimental side of music which has now become her trademark. ‘To Bring You My Love’; ‘Is This Desire’ and ‘Stories From The City, Stories From The Sea’ should be rated under her experimental music. In between she brings a duet with Nick Cave for is Murder Ballad album. Henry Lee with Nick Cave isn’t her only duet in the nineties. She also has a great song with Radiohead singer Thom Yorke. 

PJ is a gifted musician who learns to play lots of different instruments and on her ‘Uh Huh Her’ albums she plays all but the drums. An intimate solo produced album which is for her a challenge. Crazy enough there’s no title track on this album since she finds it a too powerfull songs to be released. She multi talented and creates another crazy beautifull album with nothing but piano and her voice. ‘White Chalk’ is a piece of nice, crawling under your skin, listening music.

After that it took her four years to create a brand new album but again it was worth the wait. In 2011 was ‘Let England Shake’ released.

I’ve chosen a song from her debut album so you could hear the history her musical style and her voice went through between then and now. I don’t particularly think this is her best album or her best song. I actually picked it a bit random out of the huge amounts of songs she created. The name Joe ties in in different ways to other songs I hope.

N°86 FAKE BLOOD - MARS

A long time ago ET wanted to go back home to his planet. I don't know if it was on Mars or anywhere else but Martians are also extra terrestrials so that's where Fake Blood ties in.

Fake Blood is the name for British producer and DJ Theo Keating. He does also perform under the nickname 'Touché' and is part of the hip hop collective named The Wiseguys.

Keating is best known for his 2009 hit 'I Think I Like It' but for my own reasons I've chosen the single Mars.

Many deejays produce records and albums of their own but so far Keating didn't. Maybe it's because he's having more than one project under his wings? Who knows you might here from these as well.

Time to party !!!

N°82 M.I.A. - PAPER PLANES

M.I.A. stands for the multi-artist Mathangi Arulpragasam. This London based artist isn’t just a singer songwriter but apart from that she’s a model, producer, photographer, filmmaker, painter and fashion designer. Multi talented she is for sure.

Although she started off as a filmmaker but quickly changed her focus on electronic, alternative music bringing her first album in 2004. It was called Arular (after her father) and was a little succes in Scandinavia, Belgium, Japan and the USA. It combines a few different styles and had problems being released in most countries because of the use of different samples. That is also why the UK release differs from the US release. The album contains her first two singles ‘Sunshowers’ and ‘Galang’ which were released earlier.

Her best known song, which I’ve posted here, is ‘Paper Planes’ and can be found on her 2007 album ‘Kala’. This album was named after her mothers first name. Paper Planes became a world wide hit and M.I.A. became a superstar. She released one more album in 2009 and a brand new one should follow this summer.Two albums which evolve a bit more than the first two since you’ll find her music much more layered than earlier in her career. On the 2009 album  at least that is.

M.I.A. also causes controversy. She has her roots in Sri Lanka through her father and both are activists agains the Sri Lankian regime blocking the rights of Tamil people. On a regular base she’s fighting with different media while she struggles for equal rights for all races. She stads up against certain political views and performing during half time in this year’s superbowl she caused trouble when showing her middlefinger instead of singing the lyrics ‘shit’in the song. A word the american television would bleep away for sure. M.I.A.’s reaction to censorship. She’s also a frequent user of multimedia such as Twitter, You Tube, … to discuss her different views on the world.

She’s won quite a few awards in the music industry but she’s was also nominated in “The worlds 100 most interesting people” in 2007 and “The top 100 most influential people” in 2009. M.I.A. is not just an artist; she’s much much more.

The song Paper Planes was created when recording her second album in the USA and it should relate to what immigrants in the USA are put through trying to get in the country. She also had that problem getting in the country for recording her album because she had visa problems. Problems she didn't understand since she had no intention in 'flying an aeroplane into a large building'. (aero)Planes are also the missing link with the Jefferson song.

Have fun listening.