It’s always a buzz when a project comes to fruition, so today’s release of Credit To The Edit Vol 3, something I’ve looked forward to since we set the ball rolling around a year ago, seems perfectly timed with the much-needed rush of sunshine we’re experiencing after an extended period of shivering. Feels like the Spring has finally arrived, right on cue, and hopefully this will provide part of the season’s soundtrack for you. […]
Following a run of 2 years 9 months I’ve decided to wind things down with Living To Music, perhaps making it an irregular feature of the blog from herein. Up until now it had been a monthly series, but something has to give and, as I’m currently stuggling to fit in all the things I need to be doing, I can’t maintain this commitment, although I don’t want to stop the series completely. […]
I’m going to indulge myself this month with an album that I don’t think has ever been given its full dues, despite selling over a million copies following its release in 1974. As far as I’m concerned, it should be recognised as one of the great Soul / Funk albums of the 70’s, but, having introduced it to so many people down the years, a fair percentage of whom I was surprised had never previously heard it, I’m aware that there’s a blind spot when it comes to ‘Rufusized’, which, to my mind, perfectly fits the description of ‘hidden classic’.
When my agent, Matt Johnson, booked me in for ‘A Night With…’, I hadn’t realised that it did exactly what it said on the tin, namely present just the one DJ for the full 8 hours the venue was open. I generally play for either 2 or 3 hours, with the odd 4 hour slot along the way – the only times I can recall playing longer (since I started out again), was a night at The Key in London back in 2005, and then the Credit To The Edit launch parties, both Sunday All-Dayers held at a couple of East End boozers (The Dolphin in 2005 and The Horse & Groom in 2009), so, as you can imagine, it came as a bit of a shock when the penny dropped and I realised that I’d unwittingly signed up for a marathon, but I quickly warmed to the idea and began to ponder the possibilities it presented.
Arctic Monkeys make a great noise, vital and vibrant with hooks galore, but what really sets ‘Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not’ apart is the lyrical excellence of their then 20 year old frontman Alex Turner. He brilliantly articulates the experience of city centre nightlife / street life, warts and all, telling it as it is, in his own language and his own endearing broad South Yorkshire accent.
Back in 1990, with the Rave scene at its height, ‘chill out rooms’, where you could escape the constant main room 4/4 thud, were now a feature at a number of club nights and parties. Here the DJ’s set a more spaced-out atmosphere, creating trippy ambient soundscapes as opposed to rock the house rhythms. Ambient music had, of course, existed outside of the clubs previously, its best-known exponent being Brian Eno, whose electronic experimentations set the tone back in the 70’s (although you can trace its origins further back via the avant-garde). The DJ’s would pepper things up further with perhaps Pink Floyd, a BBC sound effects album, a section from a sci-fi movie score, a Strauss Waltz, or some weighty Dub – anything that fitted the vibe and enhanced the vibrations.
To mark the start of the third year of Living To Music, this is the first time an artist has been selected for the second session. I felt it right that the distinction goes to Pink Floyd given that their 1973 classic, ‘Dark Side Of The Moon’, which featured back in September 2010, garnered more comments than any other previous selection
It’s almost 2 years since Living To Music was launched with Marvin Gaye’s ‘What’s Going On’ in August 1st 2010. Since then it’s been a key feature of the blog and pretty successful in fulfilling its basic objective, which is to help get people to sit down and listen to music, as opposed to treating it as something in the background. It’s also spun-off ‘Classic Album Sundays’, which has gone from strength to strength in recent times, and is even holding sessions in the US now
Like so many of my generation I was transfixed to my TV screen exactly 40 years ago today, when David Bowie performed ‘Starman’ on Top Of The Pops, and Ziggy Stardust, the singer’s alter ego, burst ever so brashly into public consciousness, ushering in a new era for Pop music.
This Sunday (July 1st) at 9pm, you’re invited to share a listening session with some likeminded souls, wherever you might be. This can be experienced either alone or communally, and you don’t need to leave the comfort of your own home to participate. I bought my first Parliament record, a 7” import copy of ‘P Funk (Wants To Get Funked Up)’, at a record shop called Rox, which was in Birkenhead, a short bus journey from where I lived in New Brighton. It was March 1976 and I’d just turned 16 – I’d started my first club residency at the Chelsea Reach the previous December, where I played every Saturday, and was now also working at the nearby Penny Farthing for a full-on 5 nights per week. It was at the Penny that I’d started my first Funk night, every Monday.
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