I did the singles for the Guardian Guide. Click the image to read.
Arctic Monkeys- Heat Magazine 8th June 2011
Arctic Monkeys
Suck It And See
Domino
In a nutshell: Sheffield’s finest export since steel and Jarvis Cocker have taken a break from snuggling up to Alexa Chung (lead singer Alex Turner is her boyf) to record their fourth studio album. The Monkeys have promised a ‘vintage’ style and a ‘poppier’ sound than previous album Humbug. Do they deliver? Let’s find out.
What’s it like? In terms of ‘vintage’, it’s more bucket hats and parkas than Biba flares and platforms- album opener ‘She’s Thunderstorms’ sounds like 90s jangly guitar-merchants Teenage Fanclub. It’s not all Gallagher brothers and warm pints of Red Stripe though- ‘Don’t Sit Down ‘Cause I’ve Moved Your Chair’ has got a driving riff that the Foo Fighters would kill to borrow, and the title track is almost McFly in its sweet harmonies and talk of ‘pouring my heart into a pop song’.
How many good tracks? Seven, out of 12.
Best track: ‘Piledriver Waltz’ – swoony, melancholy and gorgeous.
Worst track: The woefully named ‘The Hellcat Spangled Shalalala’ deserves to be put down- not least because of the couplet ‘I took the batteries out my mysticism/ And put them in my thinking cap’
Verdict: Although lacking in indie disco floor-fillers, it’s a solid effort from the boys. ***
AILBHE MALONE
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On the Road: Pete and the Pirates (NME, May 2011
Audio, Brighton. Tuesday 12th of April
It’s a beautiful calm evening in Brighton, and NME meets the Reading five-piece finishing off their fish supper on the pier. As we walk along the beach, lead guitarist David Thorpe gives us an impromptu history lesson. “Brighton Pier burnt down, you know. And so did Hastings pier. The rumour is that Hastings pier was burnt down by the owner of Brighton pier. Pier pressure, you could say’. Spying a crazy golf course, the group come over all sporting. Clubs at the ready, they’re determined not to be bested by the course- despite singer Tom’s difficulties in differentiating between different ball sports (drummer Johnny shouts ‘Jesus Tom, it’s golf- not hockey!’). Play is interrupted by a talented toddler, who thrashes the group solidly on each hole. Conceding that ‘I’m an artist, not a sportsman’, bassist Pete Dog leads us back to the venue.
Signed to Stolen recordings in 2008, Pete and the Pirates were part of the indie alt.pop scene that spawned Micachu and the Shapes, and the Young Knives. Their debut ‘Little Death’ did well off a winning combination of solid tunes backed up with incessant touring (including two stints each at CMJ and South by Southwest. ‘Our first time at SXSW we played about 17 shows in 4 days. We played 7 shows one day’, guitarist David reminisces). Now, three years later, they’re back with a new record, and blimey, it’s good. Follow-up ‘One Thousand Pictures’ is full of the accurately observed minutiae that made its predecessor unusually special. ‘Washing Powder’ sings of an unexpected waft of an ex’s perfume, and ‘United’ catches its breath with the phrase ‘I threw at ashtray/at you my darling’. It’s indie, but with a bite.
The backstage area at Audio is a curious corrugated bunker. As guitarist Pete Hefferan slips out front to watch support band the New Union soundcheck, Jonny is sitting in the corner having his hair cut by a friend who’s popped down from just outside of London especially. Sipping on some cocunut water (‘they had some real trouble finding it, we even got a text message saying how difficult it is to source in Brighton’), lead singer Tom is anxious. ‘I don’t get nervous before gigs anymore, but I definitely sulk a bit’, he mulls.
The venue is at half-capacity and sports an eclectic crowd- teens in American Apparel mix with older office workers. The setlist is an speedy mix of old and new. Opener ‘Things That Go Bump’ is a little bit Morrissey, a little bit Parklife, while new track ‘Little Gun’ has the Bees-indebted harmonies. Older track ‘She Doesn’t Belong to Me’ ends abruptly, as Tom declares ‘sorry that one’s so short. I should probably write a new verse for it, and then buy back all the albums we’ve sold and change them’. After the show, piled into the van for the trip back to London, the band’s manager gleefully announces that their new single ‘United’ has been playlisted by 6music.
Ruby Lounge, Manchester. Friday 15th of April
After a date in Cardiff, and a day off, we meet again in Manchester. Major traffic jams, and a delayed soundcheck mean a rushed dinner of meatballs on Thomas St, before heading back to the venue. Printing out setlists in the dressing room, Pete H notes that ‘we normally chop and change sets, but on this tour we thought we’d try and stick with one- so that we’d be snappier and there’d be more flow. Mind you, Pixies don’t need a set-list. Frank Black just calls them out.’ The band are called to the stage, and face a jam-packed room. They spring through a tightly sprung set, ending with the apocalyptic Tarantino guitars of ‘Blood Gets Thin’. Buzzing backstage, they run off to look after the merch stand. NME chats to an old friend of the band- who used to be in Pete and the Pirates Mark One. He seems bemused by the reaction the band are getting- ‘It’s so weird that people want their signatures and view them as sort of super-human. I mean, even Marilyn Manson takes his makeup off at the end of the day.’ Meanwhile, in bundles local hero Marc Riley – ex The Fall, and current 6music DJ. Holding court, he congratulates the band on their show, and new album. David mentions how he watched Anton Corbijn’s ‘Control’ on his day off yesterday, and Riley launches into an anecdote about watching the film ‘with Hooky’ and remembering the events as they happened. Alas, the evening is unfortunately cut short by a need to get on the road the next day for a double set of gigs- one in Ladbrooke Grove, and another in Coventry. On the bus to the hotel, fuelled by rum and a good performance, the group compose an impromptu ditty, thanking Riley for his support, and complementing him on his choice of eye-wear.
Rough Trade West, London. Saturday 15th April (Record Store Day)
After a painfully early start, we begin the trundle back to London. Once we’ve reached the city, we drive past the studio where the ‘One Thousand Pictures’ was recorded. Jonny and Pete H excitedly point out the bus route that they used to get to the studio, and wave to the man in the car in the next lane. As we arrive at Rough Trade, there’s a minor kerfuffle- due to orders from the council, it’s to be an acoustic set, or nowt. Luckily, a passer-by has an acoustic bass for loan, and the group manage to wrangle a small amp out of Rough Trade management. A large crowd assembles, and in the background steel drums play. Delicately ramshackle, the band bash out the Decemberists heartbreak waltz of ‘Can’t Fish’- the opening track of ‘One Thousand Pictures’. At some stage, there is a point to be made about how these past three days on tour have demonstrated a mutual network of support between mid-sized bands and record shops and independent radio DJs, but right now, beneath the warm cloudy sky, the music playing is, and always was, the most important thing.
VIEW FROM THE CREW
MIDO: Sound engineer and driver.
I’m originally from Leeds. I got together with the guys because I was recommended by their agent. I normally work with Frankie and the Heartstrings. They’re fine to look after- they’re very quiet in the van. They never fight, only a bit of bickering. It’s been a 7 hour drive from Dalston to here in Manchester today- the M1 was shut, so it was a bit of a nightmare. I’ve ben doing this for about four years- before that I worked for a label. I’m onto doing Saves the Day straight after this.
Filed under Interviews
Jessie J- ‘Who You Are’. NME
Jessie J
Who You Are
Island Records
5/10
‘Do It Like A Dude’ posited Jessie J as a rival to the international hard-hitters- a new Gaga, an equally fearless Rihanna. With over a million Youtube views, and selling over 30,000 copies, it was a brash, bolshy entrance. Follow-up single ‘Price Tag’ nabbed her a UK number one. So, stomp stomp she’s arrived. Or has she?
Sure, she’s the Sound of 2011. But for which country? Nothing on ‘Who You Are’ links Jessie to being English- apart from her occasional spoken segments, and a fondness for the word ‘mandem’. Even live track ‘Big White Room’- which showcases her USP, her undeniably potent voice- falls flat due to mid-song chattering. It’s an album of singles for other artists. There’s Rihanna Jessie (Do It…), Perry Jessie (Abracadabra), Pixie Jessie (Mama Knows Best), Ellie Jessie (Big White Room). Given Jessie’s songwriter past, an identity crisis was always a risk to run. Ok then, let’s take on board her new transatlanticism as a moot point, and move on.
Thematically, ‘Who You Are’ sticks to Sesame Street topics such as staying true to who you are and following your dream. Like a big singing version of that inspirational cat poster, Jessie veers between stage school confidence and motivational speaker. The reggae-tinged ‘Stand Up’ warns that ‘If you don’t reach for the moon then you can’t follow the stars’, while ‘Rainbow’’s cutting social commentary begins ‘he grew up in the city/ had a lot of money/ sponging off his daddy all the time’, before offering the staggering conclusion that ‘what I’m saying is that we’re all alive’. What’s weird though, is that no matter how much Jessie J sings about being herself, we don’t really ever get a sense of who, or what, that is. Even on personal tracks like ‘Nobody’s Perfect’, everything’s a bit vague. ‘When I’m nervous, I have this thing where I talk too much’, she warbles.
‘Who’s Laughing Now’ offers a little insight, but it’s via her grind and career, rather than who Jessie actually IS. Incidentally, it also has one of the best lines on the album-‘Oh Jessie I saw you on Youtube, I tagged us in photos from when we was at school’. It’s cheeky, relevant, and fresh. It’s everything Jessie’s been pegged to be. Elsewhere the Dr Luke-produced Abracadabra sounds like ‘Teenage Dream’ covered by Million Dollar Bill-era Whitney. It’s brilliant. But unfortunately it’s flash that’s shortly over. The release of ‘Who You Are’ was brought forward a month, in response to popular demand. If only Island had paused, and allowed Jessie to answer the title question for herself first. AILBHE MALONE
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Nicki Minaj- The Irish Independent Feb 2011
Sat on a sofa in an upmarket London hotel, Nicki Minaj looks like a real life Powerpuff girl. Clad in a onesie, with Louis Vuitton boots and a white leather jacket, a squished candyfloss blonde afro wig sits on top of her head.
As I reach across to touch it, she squeals “careful, it might fall!” eyes huge beneath false lashes. Across the room, sits her security — a huge man in a T-shirt that says (hopefully ironically) “Invisible Bully”.
The location for our interview has moved, due to the diligence of Minaj’s fans. Her previous hotel has politely asked her to stay elsewhere, because of crowd-control issues. She’s over it though, she explains. “I’m loving the new hotel. It’s so much better, it’s like a billion times better. The last one, it was a little bit scary, because I had on shades, and I had to walk down the stairs, and the hotel security made it sound like it was World War III outside, so they put the scare on me about it!”
The team have kept her new location schtum, and so far there are only a few fans outside the front door, hoping to catch a glimpse of the star.
We begin with a caveat. If any of the following topics are discussed, the interview will immediately be terminated: Lil Kim (they have a beef), Puff Daddy (are they dating?), and Nicki’s arse (it is formidable). Also taboo are the singles Your Love (leaked early, she wasn’t impressed) and Massive Attack (first single, bit of a flop). So far, so starry. But for an artist whose only charting single in Ireland was a will.i.am collaboration, what’s the big deal? Well, if you have to ask, you shouldn’t know.
Along with her Young Money counterpart-Drake, 26-year-old Minaj is indicative of a new breed of performer. She’s a Triple Threat. A skilled actor (she attended LaGuardia High School — where Fame was set, and upon graduating was inundated with agents’ cards), she can also sing, and oh, yeah, rap. Combine that with artistic vision, and business savvy (she managed to swing a 360 deal with Young Money Entertainment, meaning that she retains and owns the rights to all her publishing, merchandising, touring and sponsorships), and you’ve got something very special indeed.
Over the past year, it feels like Minaj’s trademark psycho-cutesie rhymes have dropped over every track in the top 40 — from Mariah to Kanye, she’s been an overnight success. Except there’s nothing ‘overnight’ about it. Spotted and mentored by Lil Wayne, she went from fiery Lil-Kim-alike (complete with sultry photoshoots) to the futuristic self-styled Harajuku Barbie of today.
Her decision to tone down her image was a conscious one. In an interview with Interview magazine, she noted that: “I want people — especially young girls — to know that in life, nothing is going to be based on sex appeal. You’ve got to have something else to go with that.”
In person, she’s warm and charming — her Fran Drescher Queens accent worming its way around her vowels. Sipping from a bottle of water, leaving a neon pink stain on the glass rim, she muses that: “It’s been about eight years that I’ve been really, really working at this. And Lil Wayne is still one of my greatest mentors and influences. Wayne has always made himself available to talk if I needed to ask him something. And he’s also such an influence in the studio. He’s the hardest worker I’ve ever met. He’s a hard-ass. He’s a perfectionist — just like I am, just like every artist should be. Not only does he push us, he pushes himself.”
‘Perfectionist’ is certainly the opportune word. One of the reasons that talk of Your Love is verboten is the fact that it was never supposed to be released. The unmastered demo was leaked to radio, and all of a sudden it became a single. Despite the track being received well, Minaj was furious.
Circling around the issue, I ask her when she feels ready to sign off on her records. “Everything I do,” she begins, “I want it to be insane and amazing. Some things are insane and amazing in different ways. Some songs are going to be a Top 40 song, but some songs might just be so authentic and so real that I think I have a different way of looking at how something might be a perfect record.” She changes tack: “But as long as you’re trying to perfect something, I think you’re on the right track. Usually, I listen to my stuff and cringe. So if I can listen to it, and play it all the way through, I think, ‘okay, this is a good one’.”
There’s a game plan in place, for sure. Her debut album Pink Friday went platinum in the US in a manner of months. But after such a bombastic entrance, how does she want her career to play out? Scrunching up her face, she responds: “I always felt like five albums is a great goal to have — for artists to come full circle. And even people that I’m a fan of, I like knowing that they’re going to surprise. I’ve done a lot of thinking about the future of my career — do I want to be a 50-year-old rapper?”
There’s a long pause. I’m not sure if this is a rhetorical question or not. She continues: “I mean, you know what I would like to do? I would like to do music, but I think, eventually, I’d like to do other things, become more like a mogul. I don’t necessarily want to be 50 years old and be a rapper, but sometimes you just never know in life. Maybe my life will call for that! Maybe my fans will be so dedicated and determined that we’ll all be in an arena somewhere singing my Monster verse!”
Of course, that verse. For those that haven’t heard it, Minaj’s guest spot on Kanye West’s Monster was the moment that her star shone the brightest. Minaj spat a 32-bar blinder, eclipsing all the other artists on the track — including Jay-Z, Rick Ross and Kanye. It was a startling moment — of pure, unbridled talent.
As we wrap up the interview, I mention to her how the track almost gave me a fright. And, laughing, she counters with the most shocking revelation and musical reference of our conversation so far: “That happens to me too — but to be honest, I get such a visceral reaction to beautiful ballads, which is so ironic, I know! I remember hearing Leona Lewis’ Bleeding Love, and I had that reaction where I was like, ‘This is too good to be true! Who is this?’ I’m so used to hearing rap all the time, so it was something different!”
Filed under Interviews
On the Road- Cast of Skins (NME Feb 2011)
A few weeks ago, I went on a night out in Bristol with the cast of Skins. If you click on the photo below, you can read all about what happened.
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Jake Shears Interview- X Factor Magazine December 2010
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Interview- Record of the Day- 9th November 2010
Look! The tables are turned and I answer some questions about, erm, me.
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