Music 2.0 - it's more than music

23:57:09 o'clock GMT
Feeling Happy
Hearing Elbow - The Seldom Seen Kid Damn, there are times it's just good to be alive and kicking and the release of a new Elbow album is certainly one of them. Having watched them live on Jonathan Ross' Friday night BBC show, I was blessed to get an advance copy and two tracks in, I'm sold. Wrap it up, I'll take it. This going to get worn out this year.

They're no lookers for sure but with a great noise like this, frankly who cares. Check out Guy Garvey's track-by-track walkthrough of the new album The Seldom Seen Kid. In Garvey, the band is blessed with a fine lyricist but more importantly with a singer of rare simplicity and soul.

I'm not sure that the album will be received with such acclaim - Uncut is being cool about it - but I just don't care, I love it.


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12:57:22 o'clock GMT
Feeling Happy
Hearing The Beatles Some perks of working in the music business are tangible - the free CDs, invites to events, creating your own events etc. However, some are more of a sensation and today was one of those.

Visiting Abbey Road studios is a thrilling experience. You've got the zebra crossing, the graffiti outside but it's once you get inside that the real chills start. Studio 1, the first purpose built studio, Edward Elgar and many others since. It's used mainly for the big screen recording i.e. film soundtracks such as Star Wars, Lord Of The Rings and hundreds of others. Untouched pretty much, after all the acoustics are spotless so why would you change anything, it's an impressive space that's coupled with state-of-the-art equipments.

It's Studio 2 though that really gets me. The history of the room is staggering, everyone and I mean everyone has recorded in there. The biggest of them all is The Beatles of course who recorded 190 of their songs there. It has huge movable walls so that bands can effectively play live and there's a fascinating physical echo room out the back. A bit smelly but that was where they would put microphones and speakers and literally create the echo effects you hear on the records from those days!

It was a wonderful reminder of the physical reality of music, sometimes with CDs and digital downloads it feels like we're getting too far away from the source but today has brought it all back in focus for me.


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16:34:19 o'clock GMT
Feeling Chillin' John Harris of The Guardian raises some good points today in the paper by picking out some of the more notable 'returns to form' by artists of the 90s and earlier, which weren't. When The Verve, R.E.M. and many others from that era are planning new releases in 2008, that particular phrase is likely to surface quite a few times in the music press over the next 12 months. In fact, we'll be back in the 90s by the time the summer (if we have one) rolls around, I do hope though that Glastonbury ups the ante this year with its acts, c'mon 2007 wasn't really that great apart from the Arctic Monkeys IMHO.

BTW, the new R.E.M. does sound really good, not at all what you would expect based on the past two or three albums. Fast, lean and furious. If you like them you'll be very happy if you're not a fan, you might just be converted yet.


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18:59:01 o'clock GMT The Guardian music blog has hit the nail on the head with a gently withering attack on Britney's surprising return to form. The surprise was that it wasn't a complete disaster but one of the albums of the year? I don't think so. Well-produced, expensive and a nice slice of pop for sure but it would seem there's some confusion between celebrity status and being a musician.

Britney pictures on AOL Music: Through the years


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12:19:42 o'clock GMT While I don't agree with all 100 selections, I applaud Blender's idea of gathering together the key moments in popular music to date. Check it out here.


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12:17:46 o'clock GMT
Feeling Quiet
Hearing Foo Fighters It's been really noticeable how CDs and mixes of new music in general have been getting louder. It's like the cliche of an Englishman talking to someone abroad, not understanding me? Hang on, maybe if I shout it'll make it better.

New music recordings are getting louder, much louder but while I love a loud song, I also appreciate the nuances and little touches that artists put into their music. Rolling Stone has done a really good piece on the current state of play that's worth a 10-minute read. I'd vote for quality over quantity every time.


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14:45:56 o'clock GMT
Feeling Chillin' The Telegraph is reporting the decline of the music industry but more accurately the decline of physical music sales. This is one of many stories around this topic, however the simple truth is that the huge bubble of CD sales, where everybody replaced their vinyl collections (despite a poorer sound quality but greater longevity), has simply run its course. We're back to the 1990s in terms of music sales but of course the landscape has changed thanks to the Internet.

Sadly, record labels are not geared up to be this flexible. They work best in big, broad movements and what's required is small, mobile and one-to-one relationships. What we'll get in '08 will be lots of smaller consultancies working direct with artists and labels will need to work on aggregating and stop acting like multinational conglomerates.

Most of all, the labels need to stop treating CD buyers like idiots - repackaging a previously released CD with extras (DVDs, videos etc) before Christmas is short-term and cynical, and they wonder why people question the value of music and go online in search of freebies. The relationship is on the brink of irreversible breakdown. Honesty and respect should be the labels key words for 2008 IMHO.


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14:26:26 o'clock GMT
Feeling Chillin' Live music has had an amazing 2007, more gigs, more festivals and bands making money instead of losing it. On top of that, Madonna and Robbie are among the big names who have gone the route of selling a portion of their live earnings to the labels  or in the case of Madonna signing up with a live promoter altogether.

And 2008 could well be the year that music moves online in a big way with webcasting returning to the fore. As more and more artists are taking control of their live rights, it could be that the live gig experience will be available online and on demand more and more. Certainly hope so. Check out the Wired blog for a US perspective.


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15:15:23 o'clock GMT
Feeling Quiet
Hearing Neil Finn So the morning after the night before and I had such a fine time that it was well past 3am (London time not Havana) before I crashed out. Reading through the morning papers, it's quite clear that Led Zeppelin were much better than people expected, so much so that perhaps the band should consider a tour.

I'm sure that Mssrs Plant, Page and Jones respective phones are ringing consistently with substantial offers but other than for the sake of it - they don't need the money after all - why would they? Plant has just scored a major solo success, Plant and Jones have nothing to prove (not that any of them do) and Bonham junior would only cement his position as exactly that if he stayed on the Zep stool.

Don't get me wrong I think it would be fantastic but sometimes one offs should remain exactly that. There will be a DVD no doubt, I certainly saw cameras, and maybe that fantastic final hurrah should be exactly that.


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23:04:13 o'clock GMT Magnificent.

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