Grandmaster mash

Hip-hop legend mixes it up Manchester style and speaks to 6 Music

11 July 2008 - Grandmaster Flash left his New York studio to play a surprise gig in Manchester last night.

The godfather of Hip-hop last appeared in the UK in 2002 and last night he ripped it up in front of an intimate crowd at the Joshua Brooks venue.

Belgian DJ duo, The Glimmer Twins, curated the night for the northern leg of the San Miguel Hidden Depths series, which saw them warm up for their hero.

Grandmaster then took to the stage, and tore into a mash-up of old skool funk, soul, hip-hop, indie and rock classics.

Nirvana’s Smells Like Teen Spirit caused a a mini-dance floor pile up, and the following White Stripes 7 Nation Army saw beer launched across the sweaty crowd in a welcome relief.

No genre stone was left unturned, as Flash played everything from David Bowie to Snoop Dogg, scratching his own beats and baselines, before wrapping up his set with his own track, The Message.

Shortly before the gig he told 6 Music he’s back working on his first proper album in 20 years, and plans to give new artists a chance:

"That was my first thought, 'Let’s go out and find some serious minded unknown artists that really wanna get in the business.' So I put this contest on my website for like 3 months, and got people from around the world and so many demo’s. "

He continued he felt a little bit like Simon Cowell sifting through them: "I do like the idea of him making a forum for unknown people to be seen and break into the business, so from that respect, if I’m a Simon Cowell let’s do it, it’s all good."

Grandmaster admits he does also have some of his mates on the album, who are established already in the business as well.

He also revealed that the UK Hip-Hop scene has left him Dizzee and he’s a huge fan of Mr Rascal right now: "I’ve been feelin Dizzee since I’ve been coming here, I don’t know much of many people, ‘cos I haven’t been in the UK in a long time, but Dizzee’s my guy, I like what he’s doing."

Grandmaster says Dizzee is someone he’d like to collaborate with, and he also thinks Jay Z is an inspiration.

As yet, the record is untitled, but he says it will be finished by the end of the year, and has a release date pencilled in for October.

Grandmaster says a huge tour, to support it, is also on the cards, so watch this space.

Jo Youle
Photo by Nic Serpell-Rand

Beatles' lyrics sale

Handwritten Lennon lyrics to be sold today at rock memorabilia auction

10 July 2008 - Not only is it Beatles Day in Liverpool today (10 July) but John Lennon's hand-written lyrics are hitting the auction block at Christie's in London.

The single sheet of paper with the anti-war anthem Give Peace a Chance's lyrics written on it, is expected to fetch between 200,000 and 300,000 pounds.

Lennon wrote the song during the famous hotel bed-in with Yoko Ono in 1969, opening their doors to a parade of journalists and political figures.

Beatle maniac Gail Renard was 16 back then and had snuck into the room to conduct an interview for a university magazine.

"He asked me that first day if I wanted to come back and help with the bed-in and I had to ring my mother.  She insisted I put John on the phone and my little Jewish mother made it very clear that I was very innocent and there were to be no sex, drugs or rock and roll around me - or else."

Spending a week there, Lennon handed her the lyrics saying, "One day they will be worth something."

Renard admitted that the document has been a worry over the years: "I really was getting nervous about it and they went to live in a vault for a little while but I thought, 'well that’s ridiculous because nobody’s enjoying them now.'"

And she told the BBC that she has no regrets about putting the lyrics up for sale: "They became a responsibility, I’d rather someone else enjoy them and also, I've got the memories.  John did remain a friend after that."

"They became a responsibility, I’d rather someone else enjoy them."
 Lennon lyrics owner - Gayle Renard

Auction house spokeswoman

Helen Hall from Christie's says the song is one of Lennon's most enduring: "Let’s not forget the message that he was trying to preach back in 1969 and the fact that that message still endures today and still has relevance today - nothing’s changed really."

The auction of rock memorabilia could fetch around 1 million pounds, with a bass drum skin used on the front cover of their iconic 1967 album, Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, also up for grabs.

Christie’s will also be auctioning off Sex Pistols and Paul Weller collectors items plus a 1966 Marshall amplifier used by Jimi Hendrix in concert and a pair of his stripy flared trousers.

Georgie Rogers

Biffy Clyro exclusive

The band on why they are releasing singles long before the album

10 July 2008 - More than a year since their last studio album Biffy Clyro don’t have plans to release another full album until 2009, but have made the controversial move to release singles.

The Scottish rockers play T in the Park festival in Kinross-shire this weekend (11-13 July), where it’s inevitable that they’ll play their new song Mountains - which comes out on 25 August.

They told 6 Music why they wanted to release some new material rather than wait until the album was finished.

“We’ve been working on new stuff for the album for a while and we had the song pretty much together,” bassist James Johnston explained, “and we just felt that maybe we should put it out rather than wait a year for people to be able to see it.

“We didn’t want the song to get stale, sitting and festering in the practice room, so we recorded it last week and it’s sounding great.”

The band are thrilled with the response they’ve had to the new material at shows, as Johnston also explained: “It’s already a bit of a live favourite and we’ve only played it a couple of times.”

"We didn’t want the song to get stale, sitting and festering in the practice room, so we recorded it last week."
Biffy Clyro bassist

The Glaswegian trio’s bassist went on to explain why it’s important to them to show fans they’re still writing: “It just keeps people interested and shows them that the band’s still working and still producing stuff,” he said.

While it diverts from usual methods of releasing the single with an album, he reckons that it can only be a positive move to keep their output going.

“It’s weird that it hasn’t happened more in the past,” he said. “I think bands are catching onto it and it has worked well for a few bands to keep the ball rolling - it’s a good thing for us.”

With the music industry in flux and the rising trend amongst bands to give their music away for free – Biffy Clyro say they have more important things to concentrate on.

Johnston said: “I’m sure the record company will take care of how they want to sell it or whether they want to give it away free but I think for us the most important thing is to try and deal with the music.

“That said, that’s what we’ll be concerning ourselves with over the next couple of months - people will end up downloading it for free no matter what we do with the album.”

Georgie Rogers

Beck vs Danger Mouse

American singer songwriter speaks on working with producer Danger Mouse

07 July 2008 - Beck’s new album Modern Guilt is out today (7 July) and off the back of supporting Morrissey at the 02 Wireless festival on 4 July, he told 6 Music about working with the renowned producer Danger Mouse.

Beck explained how the collaboration with Danger Mouse on his eighth studio album came to fruition: "There was an unexplainable pull, a sort of gravitational pull.

"We were already friends, so I called him back and said, 'let’s do a record', but he didn’t have time so he said, 'well, I don’t have time so we’ll do one song.'"

But the partnership soon developed into more than just one track, as Beck said: "We did the first song on the album and then decided that there was a whole record there. A couple of months later - we had a whole record."

"We did the first song on the album and then decided that there was a whole record there."
Beck

Danger Mouse has recently produced the likes of The Black Keys’ new album Attack And Release , The Shortwave Set’s Replica Sun Machine and masterminded Gnarls Barkley with Cee-Lo Green.

Together they have put out two acclaimed records - including 2006’s St.Elsewhere with chart smash Crazy on it and 2008’s contribution, The Odd Couple.

Danger Mouse’s background is firmly rooted in hip hop but despite this, Beck said that the pair’s working style complimented each other.

"It’s very natural. He works in a way that’s similar to me - creating a lot of what the song is, and a lot of the songwriting while you’re recording," Beck told 6 Music. "That’s an approach that comes more from the hip hop and electronic world, but I apply that to more traditional songwriting and rock and folk - and bring those elements into it."

As for what Danger Mouse brought to the party, Beck explained: "He brought all the beats so that set the tone for the record. These rhythms gave me the ideas for these songs and so that’s kinda how we came together."

The album also features Cat Power and is 6 Music’s album of the week.

Georgie Rogers

Portishead plan '4th'

The band will be recording another album but bow out of touring

08 July 2008 - Contrary to reports that April's ten years in the making album Third would be their last release, Portishead have revealed they will record another album together.

Guitarist Adrian Utley has also exclusively told 6 Music why the band are not going to be playing in the future.

"We are thinking a new album," he said. "That’s partly why we’re not touring enormously, because in 1998 we toured for a year and a bit and it just crashed us. None of us wanted to see each other for a while after that."

New album progress

However, another extensive gap between releases is not on the cards, as Utley revealed work on their next record has already begun.

"We got together the other night discussing stuff and getting a bit of a plan together," he explained.

He then told 6 Music that while they have got songs written already, they probably won't make the final cut: "I mean we have got stuff, but we'll start again - that's what we want to do."

"We’re gonna do various things and play stuff. But we’ve got plans for doing a new record now."
Adrian Utley

No more touring

The Bristol trio’s last tour was a fairly short jaunt but Utley explained that they have family now, as well as different projects on the go which they want to work on: "We’re all gonna be doing stuff. We’ve finished our touring for this album for this year because of things that we want to do."

Utley was speaking to us at Glastonbury but as to why they did not play the festival, he explained: "We slightly discussed it and then we had a date that we were going to stop playing and that was before this so that’s that really. It’s unfortunate really as it would have been good fun but we’re not."

For now, family is a priority for the band members, as Utley went on to explain: "To be at home with our children, very young children. I mean really, just babies - it is an important time and I don’t want to miss that."

Utley finally told us about one 6 Music related project - their future appearance on our very own Stuart Maconie’s show, saying: "Jeff and I are gonna be coming on the Freak Zone, and we’re gonna do various things and play stuff. But we’ve got plans for doing a new record now."
 
No date set in stone for the Freak Zone yet but details will be posted on their homepage .

Georgie Rogers

Review: Band Of Horses

Seattle band kick-started tour in London with a double encore

09 July 2008 - The seated balcony and initially static crowd of the Shepherd’s Bush Empire theatre was a world away from the excitable Band Of Horses following, that packed out the John Peel tent at their Glastonbury show on 28 June.

And it did take a few songs for the Seattle country rockers to warm into the set - with vocalist Ben Bridwell’s vocals getting somewhat lost as their big opening songs, The Great Salt Lake and Is There A Ghost, gained momentum.

But as they gained focus and the frontman’s words became more audible, the set went from strength to strength – slowly reigning the audience in.

A man of many, ‘woah’s’, and, ‘thank you, we love you’s’, but precious few other words into the microphone meant that I couldn’t detect the track names of the showcased new material.

But with the use of a harmonica, melodica and the layered harmonies of other band members’ voices - all of their previewed songs were very well received. And there was a real sense of excitement at the prospect of a third album amongst the crowd - who whooped on Bridwell’s introductions.

Half way through the set, after one or two songs which left my attention wavering, Band Of Horses played Funeral from their debut, and their latest album’s hit No One's Gonna Love You, in succession - completely re-energising the adoring fans.

As the swirling lights and disco ball reflections beamed from behind the group, out over the audience - it would have been impossible to resist their uplifting melodies and the country rock leanings of a new song which followed the epic couplet.

"I’m impressed that such a country style rock and roll band is so well received in the UK and it’s actually really inspiring."
Band Of Horses Fan

On some tracks the guitarist and the jolly-faced keyboardist took over on vocals – which came as a welcome break from Bridwell’s distinctive voice – sentiments which were confirmed by one punter after the gig.

He told 6 Music that he found the set a somewhat dragging evening of samey singing: “It was hard to differentiate one track from the other, but it’s not really my kinda music so perhaps it’s not a fair assessment - but I found his voice irritating. They are ok.”

However, the rest of the venue seemed happy enough to stick around and see the band through two encores.

During the first, a smattering of lighters were wavered in the air and as Bridwell moved down to the barrier, he leaned back into the crowds’ arms, greeted like an alt country Messiah.

Basking in the hue of the yellow lights and smoke, Bridwell continued to sing as fans gathered around, arms in the air as if he had just descended from outer space.

Prompted by a standing ovation from the balconies, excessive stamping and rapturous chanting, they finished second time around with Monster from the first album Everything All The Time .

Band Of Horses’ potent mix of enchanting melodies and Bridwell’s haunting vocals throughout the 19 song set left me and I believe, the majority of the audience, satisfied.

After the gig, one Band Of Horses first-timer, Chris from London, told 6 Music: “I thought they might have been suffering from a bit of big gig tiredness at the beginning and they were belting a bit, but they settled down and the control came in. They’re obviously really good musicians and I just loved the variety. It was brilliant.”

Georgie Rogers

Indie celebration

Guy Garvey and Beggars Group founder praise independent labels

04 July 2008 - As we celebrate indie labels on Independents Day, Beggars Group boss Martin Mills and Elbow’s frontman Guy Garvey have spoken about the state of the industry.

On 4 July 6 Music is paying homage to those labels, artists and music promotions companies who have been brave enough to sidestep the corporate giants – by playing music all day from those artists affiliated with independent labels.

Independent label community

Beggars is an independent label whose founders were inspired by the DIY ethic of punk.

Martin Mills, who set up the Beggars Group in 1977, has been speaking about fellow indie ventures.

He said he had respect for the Leeds band, Pigeon Detectives, who steered clear of the major labels in favour of tiny local label, Dance to the Radio.

“I really respect what they’ve done,” Mills said, “they’ve chosen the Independent route and they’ve really succeeded at it. What they’ve done with Dance To The Radio is completely admirable.”

He also explained the sense of community that exists among independent labels: “There’s a lot of camaraderie now especially since we started Aim in 1999 which has now got 1,000 independent labels as members.

“But people do mix and there’s much more of a community than there was before Aim started.”

After a sell-out tour, the Seattle band Fleet Foxes’ self-titled debut album stormed the album charts reaching number 11 in its first week of release.

The rising stars went the independent route, about which Mills said: “There is competition but I think people are really pleased when, for example, Bella Union does what it did with Fleet Foxes. I think there’s a genuine happiness within the community.”

"They only used to focus on two or three bands a year, but that’s changed now."
Guy Garvey

Guy Garvey's take on the industry

Amid the ongoing controversy surrounding the major label EMI, with Radiohead acrimoniously splitting with the label to join Beggars’ label XL, Elbow's Guy Garvey has been speaking about the state of the record industry.

Elbow have had their own trouble with labels in the past. They were dropped by Universal in 1998 before even releasing an album. They went on to sign with the indie label V2.

Ten years on they are back with the major label Polydor, owned by Universal, for their current album The Seldom Seen Kid .

Elbow's Guy Garvey said the industry was definitely changing but he disagreed that there was no place for record labels.

“It’s a difficult thing to say because what a record label is, is changing so much,” he explained. “New bands can expect to sign away some of their live rights and some of their publishing money to a record label.

“I can’t possibly say anything bad about them because they’ve put money up front for us for us to make music for over 10 years and without them a lot of music wouldn’t get heard.”

Previous industry grumble

But Garvey admitted that he has had moments of disillusionment with the industry in the past.

He said: “A few years ago I had a complaint which was that they weren’t giving enough artists exposure compared to how big the infrastructure is.

“It always struck me as odd that in an era where there’s a 120 different kinds of toothpaste to choose from that they only used to focus on two or three bands a year, but that’s changed now.”

Things have "improved"

But while he might have been frustrated with the industry in the past, Garvey claimed that things have definitely improved for bands.

He said: “The power has totally gone back to the musicians really, you can avoid using a major label if you want but you know, we’ve got little elbows to feed these days and we’re very happy that they’ve put their money behind us and their hard work into getting our records out there.”

Georgie Rogers