I’ll Show You the Ropes Kid…
As we careen and reel into 2015, I am still trying to digest the bounty of good music offerings from 2014, which have kept my aural compass spinning. There has been a plethora of end of year lists, and predictions of artists to watch in 2015 from tastemakers, music press and commentators. In spite of occasionally rolling my eyes at yet another list, I do actually love delving into some of these – skimming others – and find plenty to take away. It’s an opportunity to check out artists & their albums I have completely missed from my radar, reappraise those I’d perhaps dismissed, or just not been drawn to at first encounter, As we turn the corner into the New Year, the BBC Sound of 2015 is an example of one of the most high profile acknowledgements of young emerging talent and artists, hovering in the sidelines, who are expected to breakthrough into mainstream success. Inclusion in these lists is to have a spotlight shone brightly upon them, and offers fast propulsion into the public eye and hopefully, ears and heart too.
It may be my fourth decade lens skewing the picture, but I do have an overwhelming sense that in 2014, our youth orientated, Next-Big-Thing obsessed music culture, was wonderfully disrupted by artists whose years not only belied this, but could teach us all a thing or two, especially when it comes to carving a fulfilling and long music career. Many of the big music moments and kudos belonged to the over 30s , and notably, even those much older gave us exciting offerings that turned out to be very special. Two of the biggest indie artists successes of the year, The War on Drugs and Future Islands, have both been kicking around the block for some time, and last year, and pushing into their 30s, found a wider appreciative recognition and profile.
The War on Drugs album Lost in the Dream, felt truly special, and exuded a reflective maturity characterised by an odd vocal syntax.. Future Islands provided a mesmerising ‘WTF?’ moment of game changing proportions, when they performed on the Letterman Show, combining a killer song in the form of Seasons ( Waiting on You ) and a curiously weird, yet riveting performance of chest beating, heartfelt emotion and fire. They’d been making music for 11 years before this breakthrough, showing that persistence and cracking on, can pay off. But browsing the 2014 lists, we can also take cheer from St Vincent, who’d hit a stride with her extraordinary album and presence; Beck, who though already established enough to command attention, made yet another great album; Sleaford Mods, artists in their 40s, describe themselves as ‘electronic munt minimalist punk hop’ and received massive acclaim.
The music industry gives a rough ride to women in terms of overall presence, especially as they age, but thankfully, there have been some recent exceptions to this. Two of the most notable, and talked about live music moments of 2014 were reminders that female artists can, though still rarer, enjoy the same enduring credibility and status many male artists do. While it’s unlikely that this reflects any seismic shift of value perception overall, we seem to be now hitting a time when the influential music women of a certain generation are refusing to budge over, or lay down their guitars. Think how the often compiled 100/ 500 greatest artist and album lists of the old guard such as Rolling Stone, have all the usual suspect giants, such as Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, Stevie Wonder, Radiohead, Nirvana, yet women fare badly. Carole King, Aretha Franklin, Patti Smith are among the handful of women who make the top 100, with Joni Mitchell as the first female at No 30. In 2014, half of Rolling Stone’s top 10 albums were female artists.
One of the biggest 2014 hot ticket events was Kate Bush, who returned to a series of live shows after her 30 year absence from the live circuit. She pulled it off in spectacular style, harnessed a good deal of love, her voice stronger, richer and more resonant, her theatrical magic, ever enchanting and her humility warm and enveloping. She didn’t flinch at ensuring the audience ‘s pleasurable immersion in her past work. Dolly Parton was one of the much talked about highlights of Glastonbury Festival, taking their Sunday afternoon slot reserved for music treasures, and though the audience might have been drawn to some degree for a camp old knees up and sing-a-long, she also commanded a reverence as an extraordinary songwriter, multi instrumentalist and all round staying the course music hero. Let’s not forget, she’s a savvy music veteran who held on to her song rights from her early career days. Take note.
There’s a reverence and heart for artists of such stature, and those who endure have often created a varied body of work, that taps into and responds to changing times, while managing to do so on their own terms. Some older artists can sadly seem confined to the nostalgia and back catalogue market, and find it hard to make much impact with new material. Indeed, how many gigs have you sat though waiting for the old hits? Nostalgia may bankroll some of the big name artists, while others just about keep the wolf from the door still treading a smaller circuit, but nostalgia can be a curse to some artists, and it is simply not enough to thrive on.
Many artists have played then cleverly shunned the pop machine, or eventually just followed their nose in other directions, allowing them to navigate a more individual artistic path. They show that working with more of a polymath approach, not only offers new creative and interesting adventures & collaborations, but ultimately a more enduring, diverse & satisfying career as an artist too. The Slit’s Viv Albertine, had dipped out of music for some time, but her wonderful, funny wry and touching memoir became a best seller, alongside her return to writing new music. Artists such as Radiohead’s Jonny Greenwood continues widening his music adventures through playing with orchestras, and composing for film. Goldfrapp wrote the music for a new National Theatre production, Medea, which played a successful run. King Creosote made a wonderful soundtrack for archive film material in From Scotland with Love and released it on Domino. These seem to be less side projects and more an intrinsic part of a necessary creative curiosity. The announcement that PJ Harvey will be making her album as part of an Artangel project at Somerset House, where the public can see the album making process, precipitated a ticket frenzy of goldust proportions. Reader, I was not lucky in getting my paws on one, but I am still heartened and impressed by such an innovative yet simple idea and admiration for her continually pushing boundaries and trying new ideas.
So what of 2015? The BBC’s and other lists are rightfully filled with exciting new and hotly tipped artists, fresh faced with the beauty of youth. Whether hopeful with the promise of bigger and brighter things, or irreverent to commercial & mainstream aspirations, for some, it will be the start of a long exciting music adventure trajectory, while others may disappear into the mass of nothingness, suffer fleeting over-saturation, or perhaps just get lost between all that is on offer. Yes, the industry is ever shifting, and there’s a whole ongoing debate around how the seismic shifts in the recording industry affect the development and longevity of artists careers, and be able to make a workable income. There’s something to glean and admire about those who have already climbed those ropes, carved their own route and trodden it well, diversifying their careers and often their income streams. So while some will enjoy the ride in being the Next Big Thing, it’s also about the creative possibilities outside and beyond.
I look forward to the wonderful and fresh faced energy of emerging artists, creating exciting interpretations of the world around and within us, through new sounds, songs, ideas and ideals, I also enjoy the full range of life experience from the worldy wise, and yes, even the world weary, those whose music carries an authenticity of age and experience. Then there is also the sheer artistry that those longer in tooth can bring to the stage, through having had time to develop and hone their craft. It can be a beautiful thing.
References and sources:
“I’ll show you the ropes” is a lyric from LCD Sound System : Daft Punk is Playing at My House
http://www.rollingstone.com/music/lists/500-greatest-albums-of-all-time-20120531
http://www.rollingstone.com/music/lists/50-best-albums-of-2014-20141201/taylor-swift-1989-20141201
http://thequietus.com/articles/16739-albums-of-the-year-2014
http://www.theguardian.com/music/2014/nov/30/-sp-music-new-talent-for-2015
joel mills 