(Voiceover): “Welcome back to our special faux-cast of the most-inauspicious 2009 radioBrandon music awards..”

Best Americana Album: Scientifically authenticated music legend, Levon Helm takes this one home for his album, ‘Electric Dirt’. People raved about its predecessor, but this one is better. A joyous revival of The Grateful Dead tune, “Tennessee Jed”, was one of the most played songs of the year (on radioBrandon, at least). If further confirmation were needed vis-à-vis the respect which Levon commands among his peers, it slid by, without fanfare, a little later in the year, on Robert Earl Keen’s album, ‘The Rose Hotel’, with its honorific to “The Man Behind The Drums”. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JZDCGCtloQ4

Best Blues Album: There’s a certain ring of authenticity in Blues music and, just lately, its been missing. Rod Piazza released a new album this year, but it wasn’t as good as his last one and even Watermelon Slim’s new album leaned more toward Country. This year, I’m giving the award to British Blues veteran, John Mayall. Yeah, I know, he’s been around forever, but he has, on occasion, made some influential music. Mayall’s voice, like Bob Dylan’s, has often been an issue during his career, and I can honestly report, that it sounds no better today. Yet, the songs on his latest album, ‘Tough’, sound more convincing than most of the Blues I’ve head this year. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f06_Pc1oM14 The songs are inventive and played by a solid support band, although, not under the familiar Bluesbreakers moniker this time. John Mayall is now 76, and he sounds it, but he still has an ear for great guitar players. On ‘Tough’, that role has been filled by the previously unheard-of, Rocky Athas. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FCkNHECOY60

Best Jazz ‘Ensemble’ Performance: Previous recipients of this award include Italy’s, Mario Biondi and The High Five Quintet for, “This Is What You Are”. That was in 2007, but this year, ‘World Class’ Jazz was found languishing at home. That it happened to come from Melbourne will be of special interest only to Victorians, but the Jazz gong for 2009 goes to the eclectic combo, FGHR for their album, ‘Going Home’ On the opening track, “Hornsby”, for example, http://www.fghr.net/music.html FGHR evoke memories of the best collaborations of Pat Metheny and Lyle Mays, and still come up with something refreshingly original. All, accomplished soloists, the four members of FGHR are skilled at making music’s pointy-end sound deceptively within the reach of mere mortals.

Best (Hype-Free) Debut: The rabid industry-hype surrounding ‘I Dreamed A Dream’ by SuBo, obviously saw it disqualified from contention. The heavyweight debut from Them Crooked Vultures, meanwhile, simply didn’t match up to the promise of expectation (frankly, none of the alleged ‘supergroups‘ did, this year). Instead, it was an unassuming London ensemble called The XX who became the unpublicized surprise of ‘09, with an album not-helpfully called, ‘XX’. From the first listen, I was reminded of early-‘80s, Post-Punk and specifically, one of my favourite records from that period: ‘Colossal Youth’ by the English Pop minimalists, Young Marble Giants. (Some early New Order also came to mind.) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q5Vg6F48mA8 The primary adjective here is, “understated”. The music is Spartan, defiantly Indie, and more reliant on atmosphere than volume, or virtuosity. Certainly, The XX won’t be to everyone’s taste, but they are destined for cult status, no matter how you pronounce their name. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ZzjHMfz4_E

Best Indie Release (Australian): I listened to a huge amount of local Indie releases in 2009. Many were surprisingly good, when compared with much of the mainstream fodder. To be honest, though, there were just as many artistes who really ought to be flipping burgers or waiting tables. Overall, the most interesting and creative releases of the year came from women. Kate Miller-Heidke certainly hit her stride in 2009, but she’s no longer Indie. The winner of this award attracted just as much media ink, though, which is surprising, given that the attention had more to do with talent than with things of gold or platinum. She was even cool enough to take out the ARIA award for ‘Best Female Artist”. For all these reasons, and a great collection of songs, the award goes to: Sarah Blasko for, “As Day Follows Night”. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QX1RgyCl1Xs

Best (Real) R&B Album: No, not that watered-down excuse for R&B you hear on the radio, Black Joe Lewis & The Honeybears arrived this year, as if from another time. You know, like that time when there was Rhythm & Blues. The voice of Black Joe Lewis may variously conjure memories of any number of yeaterday’s R&B greats. And, The Honeybears? Well, don’t get me started on how tight that band is, with special mention also, to The JewMex Horns. The glory days of Soul and R&B may be long gone, but for the here-and-now, “Tell ‘Em What Your Name Is!” stands out as the best example of that Classic-era R&B as you are evah gwine get! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B3GJCRR4pp4

Best Prog-Rock Album: Just like the award for Best Polka Album, this is one I’m a bit suspicious of. As someone who innocently played at the water’s edge of Prog back in the early ‘70s, I’m understandably rather wary of it now. It’s been a tough field, but I’ll admit to having finally grown more accepting of Muse and what they now represent in terms of modern Rock. I’ll also concede that, unlike some of my friends, I’ve taken a lot longer to come on board. I’ve heard all the previous albums, but it was ‘The Resistance’ that finally won me over. The drums were fantastic, and the overtones seemed to flirt more with ‘70s electro-Pop. The opening track, “Uprising”, is a fusion of Goldfrapp and The Glitter Band (but in a good way), while elsewhere, on “Unnatural Selection”, the band is motoring like Queens Of The Stone Age. That grandiosity of style notwithstanding, Muse delivered an album this year that represents as much to the largely moribund Rock category, as it does to Prog. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w8KQmps-Sog

Best Rock Album: It was ‘Modern Times’ that got all the media attention just a few years back. It was Bob’s first album to reach #1 in Australia since 1976, and yet, it isn’t nearly as much fun as his latest, ‘Together Through Life’. For a start, the new songs are more obviously original, except, perhaps, the tongue-in-cheek, “My Wife’s Hometown”. As an album, ‘Together Through Life’ allows room for the romantic: “If You Ever Go To Houston”, the wry: “It’s All Good”, the danceable: “Shake Shake Mama”, and the downright nostalgic: “Life Is Hard”. Even after factoring in the criticisms of Dylan’s voice, the songs on ‘Together Through Life’ still sound more enduring than anything that U2 or AC/DC released this year.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EDMCaGNtsu0

Best Pop Album: For stylish tunes with an incisive wit, I’m going for Lily Allen this year, and her album, ‘It’s Not Me, It’s You’. She weighed-in to the debate on pirated music when she might have best have stayed out of it, but Lily Allen is anything but a shrinking violet. Unlike many of her contemporaries, she at least co-writes her own material, and the trashy persona she cultivates in songs like “The Fear”, “Not Fair” and the jaunty sing-along of, “Fuck You”, is underscored with a cleverness not much seen in Pop these days. Being so forthright, honest and witty in song is difficult enough. To reach the hearts and minds of the masses without offending, well, that too is a skill to be admired. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q-wGMlSuX_c

Best Song: I said earlier that it had been a great year for women, and one performer to really hit her straps in 2009 was, Kate Miller-Heidke. Her second album, ‘Curiouser’, had showed a noticeable maturing in her work, a point reinforced, later this year, with the release of the superb, ‘Live At The Hi-Fi’. Included on both of those albums, was Kate’s most affecting song to date, “Caught In The Crowd”. Not only did it have an almost instant appeal, it pushed the subject of schoolyard bullying back into the public’s awareness. Apart from that, it was singled-out from thousands of entries to be voted, by a panel of genuinely big players, as the Grand Prize winner in last year’s International Songwriter’s Competition. In 2009, Kate Miller-Heidke has made the artistic elevation from Aussie provincial, to World Class. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ojoqHbPmzg

Best Album: It’s going to sound like a cop-out but, the truth is, I can’t honestly say that I heard an album in 2009 that was worthy of the mantle. There will, of course, be the one elected on the strength of its sales figures, but that won’t say a thing for its artistic merits. In 2009, there were a lot of albums (even by some of the biggest names) that miraculously failed to deliver on their promise. A lot of albums, could only boast great moments, and a lot more were just, well, wrong. It must have been a tough year for sales reps and publicists, trying to get sufficiently enthused about a bunch of lo-fi, navel-gazing noodlers like Bon Iver and a multitude of other talentless wankers.

Overall, 2009 was epitomized by the sound of people not trying very hard.

Glaringly apparent in ought-nine, was the resurgence of the old guard. Campaigners, now in their 60s (and older), with considerably less to prove than many of those who have followed, were popping up everywhere, and mostly, with albums that sounded anything but old and in the way.

Notable among them were:

Neil Young (64): ‘Fork In The Road’; Eric Clapton (64) & Steve Winwood (61): ‘Live From Madison Square Garden’; Paul McCartney (67) ‘Good Evening New York City’; Bob Dylan (68): ‘Together Through Life’; Levon Helm (69): ‘Electric Dirt’; Ian Hunter (70): ‘Man Overboard’; JJ Cale (71): ‘Roll On’; John Mayall (76): ‘Tough’; Willie Nelson (76) ‘Willie & The Wheel’; ‘American Classic’; Ramblin’ Jack Elliot (78): ‘A Stranger Here’.

Still, its not like we have a ‘Defying Time Award’ up for grabs, I just thought it was worth mentioning. Statistically, I guess it could be argued that a lot more young people also made albums this year. But, how many were, seriously, any good? When I say, not many, I know I’m not a lone voice in the wilderness. Only a miniscule number of them represented anything like the first step in what you might call a career.

To accentuate the negative, consider how many bona-fide ‘Classic Albums’® were released in 1971, alone. I reckon it’s a fair bet, there will have been around the same number to emerge during this entire decade. Being a music lover is no longer a hobby for the faint-hearted.

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These tiny, tiny gongs are obviously arrived at through a panel of one. They promise winners nothing by way of reward, and represent less in respect of the artist’s commercial achievements. Instead, the radioBrandon music awards for 2009, are presented for amusement, and possible ridicule:

Best Homage To The Medium: Following in the tradition of previous winners like, Jim White’s “Static On The Radio”, in 2004, this year’s award goes to American Rock band, Clutch for it’s big, bombastic tribute to Border radio, “50,000 Unstoppable Watts”, from the band’s reassuringly loud, Stoner Rock standard, ‘Strange Cousins From The West’. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zQFjeI5NfEA

Best Comic Song: Astonishingly, “Jizz In My Pants” by American comic troupe, The Lonely Island saw its highest international chart action right here, in Australia, where it reached the Top 10 back in March. Obviously, achieved with an minimum of airplay, it says plenty about our taste for the irreverent. (The comparatively uptight Poms could only push it as high as 183.) There was also a very funny video clip, now seen by more than 70 million YouTube viewers and answering Frank Zappa’s old question, “Does Humour Belong In Music?” resoundingly, in the affirmative. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4pXfHLUlZf4

Best Tour: While the extended Australian visits made this year by the likes of Coldplay and Pink were conducted with undue professionalism, by all concerned, and a comparatively low-key tour by Leonard Cohen was, in more than one state, described as, “transcendent”, the year’s Best Tour award still goes to Neil Young. Those headlining appearances at The Big Day Out back at the start of the year won him a raft of newer fans and more than satisfied the loyal followers of old. The inclusion of the Beatles song, “A Day In The Life” as the big finale was hugely well received, (A subsequent performance of the song at a London gig, saw him joined on stage by Paul McCartney). Since the days of Punk, Neil Young has been throwing the challenge back in the faces of those he continues to inspire, daring them to be anywhere near as loud, violent, ragged, or good. Mostly, he’ll remain ahead on points.

Best Comeback aka ‘The Phoenix Is Risen From The Ashes Award’: Despite the death of frontman, Layne Staley in 2002, and not releasing an album for fourteen years, Alice In Chains delivered the year’s best genuine comeback, finding new vocalist, William DuVall, without employing the help of reality TV. (No, really.) Their album, ‘Black Gives Way To Blue’ even courted controversy when it was sucked into the twilight zone known as the loudness wars. Imagine, people actually complaining that a Heavy Metal album was too loud? (Curiously, the same number of people who did not hear the new Converge album in 2009) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SBcADQziQWY More disturbing, I would have thought, was that ‘Black Gives Way To Blue’ boasted a surprise performance from piano player to the Royals, Sir Elton John. Incidentally, Rolling Stone® was one of the few publications to openly dis’ the album. So, does that actually give it cred?

Best Reissue: In the end, it wasn’t even a contest, although, others; like Neil Young, did put up a pretty good fight, but The Beatles Remasters – in all its formats: Mono, Stereo, Vinyl, mp3 and flac – wins, hands-down. No question. That USB drive as the core in a tiny metal apple was a stroke of marketing genius. Sure, the albums were ready for release four years ago but, if The Beatles saw merit in waiting for the symbolic Number nine, Number nine, Number nine, release date (09.09.09), what was there to argue? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u3_ujOegHzo One suspects that Mr. Lennon himself, would have approved. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vNJlVV_hJMw

Best Seasonal Release: I don’t have to tell you, this genre is abused way more than most, but this year, and not just for the novelty of it, the award goes to Bob Dylan for his seriously enjoyable,  ‘Christmas In The Heart’ album. Though he manages to sound like Santa’s great uncle, the humour and earnestness, come shining through. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=plVjC15jhtw The selflessness of giving away, in perpetuity, every dollar it makes toward feeding the homeless, only lends extra cachet. Perhaps the real issue is, how is it we need to rely on our Rock stars to feed the poor?

(Voiceover): “The less-than-prestigious radioBrandon music awards will return, right after this short break…”

I’ve always been a big fan of Pop music. The Doo-Wop era produced some magic Pop, including a definitive version of “I Only Have Eyes For You”, recorded fifty years ago now, by The Flamingos. There was the similarly brief era of Bubblegum, which hit its peak with the biggest hit of 1969: “Sugar Sugar” by The Archies. Of course, The Beatles did a lot to push Pop music forward, investing it with an intelligence it hadn’t possessed since Johnny Mercer. There are those who understand Pop music, continuing to produce it, even when the rest of the world has not been all that interested. There have been some inspiring instances too, all-but overlooked by a world otherwise focused on Punk, Grunge, Hip-Hop, or some other popular style.

I’m thinking of bands like The Farm, Toad The Wet Sprocket, The Lightning Seeds, Dodgy. Maybe you’re not familiar with any of them, it doesn’t really matter, except that they are just a few of the Pop bands that have failed to captivate the entire world with their music. A shame, really, as we’ve already seen, Pure Pop can co-exist quite happily with other styles, but then, if people aren’t listening…

Another, more recent name for the list would be that of Irish band, The Divine Comedy. I wasn’t even aware of them until their 2004 album, ‘Absent Friends’. It was their eighth, which seemed to imply that if you haven’t cracked it yet, you’re not about to at any time soon. But their song, “Come Home Billy Bird” captivated me with its cleverness. The song tells the story of international business traveler, William Bird who, on the morning after a big night out with some associates in Belgium, is hung-over to the bejesus and is desperately trying to get home in time for his son’s school football game. It even had a cool video clip, although I don’t recall ever seeing it on TV. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DZGV4Muv99

By 2004, The Divine Comedy was pretty much an alias for its founder, Neil Hannon.

Most recently, Hannon has sidelined his aspirations for The Divine Comedy and buddied up with Thomas Walsh from another Irish band called, Pugwash to pursue a more sport-centric collaboration known as, The Duckworth Lewis Method. And this is where the world of Pop goes all strange apparatus and big Anglophile on us.

As any cricket fan will tell you, The Duckworth Lewis Method is some kind of mumbo-jumbo means of scoring a 20-Twenty cricket match, when rain affects play, or the moon is in the seventh house. Or something. It also serves as the pseudonyms adopted by Hannon and Walsh for their self-titled debut, devoted entirely to what could possibly be an unhealthy obsession with this gentlemen’s sport.

Some of the tunes cleverly take their cue from ‘60s and 70s Pop, while others can invoke the time of the Flappers in the late 1920s or, more recently, of the West Indies, without stooping to the level of embarrassing white reggae. The mood, throughout this album, is distinctly Pop but the subject matter will probably mean as much to Americans as an album about Gridiron might mean to the Brits. How thoroughly modern Millie is this? Pop music tailored strictly for Cricket-playing nations?

Under such circumstances, ‘The Duckworth Lewis Method’ can be a consistently rewarding experience and with it’s dozen songs clocking-in at just under 40 minutes, it never threatens to overstay it’s welcome. While I can’t profess to be a great follower of the sport, the album has certainly become a big favourite. Sure, its an eclectic style of Pop and, like The Divine Comedy’s “Come Home Billy Bird”, The Duckworth Lewis Method may also fall victim to it’s own cleverness.

I’m sure you won’t hear it too widely on terrestrial radio but for the moment, at least, “Meeting Mr. Miandad” has become my ear-worm of the summer. Viva! Pop Music.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t3JA-417V_M

I can almost swear it made an audible whoosh. Another year has just about flown by, seemingly, faster than the one before. It’s a trick of life, of course as, last time I checked, a year still takes around twelve months to unfold. Same as it ever was. But in terms of pushing music forward what happened, really? Well, not very much at all. At present, in cultural terms, music is boxing well outside its weight – and losing, spectacularly.

There was a time, in the not-too-distant past, when popular music was the engine driving our culture. These days, technology is king, and kids are more concerned with the number of apps on their mobile phones than albums in their music collections. And as strange as that might seem to someone who lived through the ‘60s and ‘70s, I find I can’t even begin to argue with it. Tech is sexier than music right now and largely, it’s music’s fault.

Sure, technology has allowed many more people to create music these days but, just as money can’t buy me love, tech can’t endow me with talent, if I don’t possess it already. Now, anyone who owns a computer and can sing into a hairbrush in front of the bedroom mirror will actually dare to call him or herself an artist and expect our attention.

Bottom line? It is all about the money. Bob Dylan once observed that money doesn’t talk, it swears. The insatiable urge to squeeze another egg from the golden goose has devalued, and in some cases, utterly compromised the concept of art. To maximize the income, concerts have been turned into events, so physically demanding, the artist can’t keep pace with the illusion. So, rather than winding back on the smoke and mirrors, the artist has to compromise the very reason they are on the stage, by committing major parts of the performance to a computer hard drive. Most assuredly, someone stands to make a lot of money but do you get what you paid for? Not if you were expecting a unique live performance. There is a world of difference between seeing a concert and seeing a show. If the money is so important that the artist can’t even be trusted to deliver the goods then there is simply too much invested in the end result.

One obvious case to occur during ‘09 was that of the female entertainer whose aptly named ‘Circus’ world tour finally wound-up in Australia. Incredibly, the tour had traveled through all those other stops without any noise being made about lip-synching. But here in Oz, it was the only story. Even the tour promoter, Paul Dainty was trying to defend this artistic deception. Dainty has been in the concert business for decades and frankly, knows better. But then, it is all about commerce, after all.

This deception from the stage also extends to the studio in the industry’s seemingly obsessive abuse of auto-tune. So, those entertainers that you would have us believe are actually artists can’t be trusted to deliver in the studio either? You bet. Making music is far too serious a business, to simply leave in the hands of some talentless hack. There’s just too much money on the table.

In the latter half of last century, when music was the cultural vanguard, the primary focus was on talent. That special point of difference that makes the artist unique. Like Elvis, The Beatles or, Jimi. The first decade of this century has seen the pendulum of both the industry, and a whole raft of aspiring wannabe’s, swing deeper in the direction of commerce.

Oh, sure, there are still musicians who care about their craft but these days you have to look for them. Most, however, have bought the lie that fame is king, and all the attendant wealth and adulation that follows can be guaranteed simply through appearing on reality TV.

Yeah, I know I’m cynical. But, how can you live in the 21^st century and not be? Anyone who can remember just how good ‘good’ used to be surely knows by now, they’ve been sold a turd. Maybe it’s been rolled in the glitter of commercial hyperbole, but it’s still a turd.

Whatever happened to my rock ‘n’ roll? And who does the industry expect to save it? Susan Boyle? Gimme a break.

I write about music for the same reason I keep listening to it. Like many from my generation, it’s a big part of who I am. But, simply because of that passion, it shouldn’t follow that the music will always win a good report card at year’s end. And the same goes for the industry that claims to represent it.

For an entire decade now, the business end of music has been dragging its feet, denying the future, and epically failing to embrace those technologies, which might allow it to reinvent and re-establish itself. Instead, it has maintained it’s illusion of wealth by screwing more from those artists who have not yet abandoned the system, by threatening its customers with lawsuits for piracy and by consistently failing to adopt a business model that will actually work, thus pissing away it’s right to even play ball in this century.

Meanwhile, a bunch of tech savvy businesses with names you don’t even know yet, have been springing up with far more plausible ideas. In turn, many of them have been sued, or threatened, by the industry too. And already, the most innovative among them are being gobbled up, but not by companies like Universal or Sony, by names like Apple and Google. So, I’m tipping that within the next few years (if not sooner), the music industry, as we have known it, will look completely different than it does right now. Hell, don’t be surprised if some of the players are no longer around. But it won’t stop the music. Nobody can stop the music.

(Coming soon: the less-than prestigious ‘2009 radioBrandon Music Awards’)

Several months ago, I bought a T-Shirt bearing the message: “I Listen To Bands That Don’t Even Exist Yet”. Sure, I get that it’s a dig at all those advertising the Metal band du-jour, but I like to wear it for different reasons. For a band to exist, people first have to hear about it. If you don’t hear about it, how would you even know it exists?

A couple of weeks ago, I discovered an album released back in March, which had not crossed my radar for most of the year. As far as I was concerned, it was new in November. When I first discovered it.

I’m guessing then, there’s a chance you, also, may never have heard of Black Joe Lewis and The Honeybears. When the album came into the office it took me a full week to get Bill to remove it from his car stereo, and now, I’m the one finding it difficult to hit the eject button.

The album is called ‘Tell ‘Em What Your Name Is’, and, without doubt, is some of the rawest and funkiest shit I’ve heard in ages. Seriously, anyone who grew up through the 60s and 70s, who got to hear about singers like James Brown, Otis Redding or Wilson Pickett will find plenty to like in this album. But first, let’s take a reality check.

This is not October ‘62 at the Apollo in Harlem, nor is it 1965 at the Stax studios in Memphis. It is almost thirty years since the sun set on the Soul era and R&B is now just an appropriated term, used to describe the whole Hip-Hop, Rap and Urban Dance miasma. There may be rhythm, but absolutely nothing to do with Blues.

And Joe Lewis should not be thought of as the new James Brown, Wilson Pickett, Joe Tex, Sam, or Dave, but it sure is tempting to imagine that he might be channeling one or more of them, at any given time. Certainly, his voice has obvious elements of the many who have inspired him and, just as certainly, ‘Tell ‘Em What Your Name Is!’ is a real R&B record.

Lewis’ vocals literally scorch against some big music from a band that, I suspect, could even make a crap singer sound good. Seriously, the involvement of The Honeybears cannot be understated. They rock, like a steam train at full tilt. In the old currency, The Honeybears’ sound is closer to Stax than it is to Motown and, hailing from Austin, Texas, makes it easier to understand why. Whether we are talking Country, Blues, Rock or, apparently, R&B, Austin is a town where ‘mellow’ doesn’t cut it. The music has to be raw, blue collar, honest.

While I’m hard pressed to pick a favourite from ‘Tell ‘Em What Your Name Is!’, one contender came up early, in the album’s third track, “I’m Broke”. There’s a part, about three minutes in, where the intensity of the repetitive horn signature gradually steps up to arrive at a scream from Lewis which threatens to lift paint. Suddenly, over the music, Bill is asking me if I’ve heard of ‘Austin Auto’. “Uh? Pardon?” It turns out he is trying to explain that the horn figure was an “Ostinato”. And here I was, thinking about some Texan car dealership.

Yeah, what I don’t know could fill volumes, but I do know that ‘Tell ‘Em What Your Name Is!’ is the most authentic R&B album I’ve heard all year. Austin Auto? Didn’t know it existed.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vwkYyqZEY2c [“I’m Broke”]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ayebYim1l1I [“Sugarfoot”]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vgBfM1EW3JU [“Get Yo’ Shit”]

When the internet was a bit younger, there were no shortage of magazines telling you where to find the coolest websites. Magazines would usually feature a column devoted to the latest online buzz. Do they still do that? Honestly, I wouldn’t know. I no longer feel it essential to buy those magazines. Thanks to the internet I can glean more immediate news by simply going online.

The ‘Old Media’ paradigm no longer enjoys the control it once did. When a news show host invites me to stay watching because some important story I need to know about is coming up just after the next three-minute commercial-break, I want to laugh. If you really want to know about the story, you can find it on Google, and be more informed of its detail, before that commercial-break is over.

As for commercial radio, does anybody even care anymore? I discovered a new album this morning by Them Crooked Vultures. I had not heard of them before but decided to follow the thread because I liked the name. Turns out, the band’s self titled debut is released next week and you can bet it will attract it’s fair share of interest. Them Crooked Vultures is the latest side project for guitarist and singer, Josh Homme (Queens Of The Stone Age), drummer, Dave Grohl (Foo Fighters) and bassist John Paul Jones (Led Zeppelin). The oft-abused term ‘supergroup’ is even being bandied about to describe them, but I doubt that will be nearly enough to guarantee them exposure on commercial radio. Not in this town, anyway.

There are only a few blogs and newsletters I subscribe to and not all of them are on the subject of music. Like the ‘Everything USB’ newsletter I mentioned last time, which keeps me informed about crazy techno innovations. Another one is Seth Godin’s blog. Seth is a marketing guru and often writes about stuff that bears no impact on my work, but still holds some interest for me.

One recent example was this small article: http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2009/10/the-best-podcastradio-show-of-all-time.html

In the article, Seth trumpets the positives of two websites I have since bookmarked and returned to on a few occasions. They are the RadioLab http://www.wnyc.org and RadioArchive http://radioarchive.cc/index.php websites. Both of them have much to offer and, like Seth, I wanted to pass on the news for those who may be interested.

The main reason I bought my car stereo was that it features a USB port. The bonus is that the concept of radioBrandon can extend to the vehicle. I can now download programs from these sites and listen to them at leisure as I’m driving around town. At present, I’m listening to a one hour show from BBC Radio 2 sourced from the radioArchive site called, ‘All Of Me: The Betrayal Of Billie Holiday’, hosted by Neneh Cherry. Last night, it was a half-hour show featuring Pete Townshend explaining the influence of the English Classical composer, Henry Purcell on his own compositions for The Who.

Most of the programs I’ve downloaded from the radioArchive have come from BBC Radio, including a bunch of Tony Hancock’s comedy material (for those old enough to remember ‘Hancock’s Half-Hour’); a five part series called ‘In Search Of The Perfect Pop Song’ hosted by songwriter, Guy Chambers; a program about the 40^th anniversary of The Beatles’ White album, and a two-part series on the history of Hip Hop.

To download from the radioArchive site, you first need to log in with an email address but that presents no problem, and you won’t be flooded with useless spam when you do. This is radio on the listener’s terms. Hear what you want, when you want. Seth reckons he is saving them all up for his next long driving trip, but I can’t wait that long.

I have to share this one, even if it is something you don’t need. Remember way back to 09.09.09 when the big buzz was The Beatles Remasters finally coming out on CD? The other big news was an impending vinyl release, for all those retro groupies still clinging to the antiquated LP, or those who simply must own the catalogue in every medium available.

Well, there are those who will now tell you that the CD is dead, that the album is history and the future is in online streaming. They may even be right but there will always be those who demand more. And now we have the entire Beatles Remasters available on a tidy USB drive. Darryl from EMI first alerted me to this, and now I want one for the desk.

I read that the Remasters were actually completed around four years ago but the Beatles camp had decided to sit on the release until the preferred date this year. The limited edition USB package is obviously a more recent concept but no less desirable to a 21^st century, computer literate Beatles fan. And it features everything from the remastered stereo box: albums, pictures, mini-documentaries, all of it. This could not have been done four years ago but the once mighty 1gig USB stick is now, small change. This novel package is stored on a compact, 32gig apple core. Sweet.

http://www.everythingusb.com/the-beatles-stereo-usb-limited-edition-17961.html

USB drives are not only getting larger in storage capacity but sexier in their potential commercial application. If you happen to be a devoted fan of the humble USB, you may also enjoy some of the stranger things you may find at the above link. When I see some of the innovations that come up on the Everything USB site, I wish I owned a little shop devoted to all this crazy stuff. And on the counter, near the register, would sit a little green apple.

For those who may have followed a similar trajectory, growing up on a diet of Eric, Keith, Jimi, Duane and Frank, the electric guitar used to be king. There was something elevating in the work of great guitar players, and there was no shortage of them. Jimmy Page, Carlos Santana and Richie Blackmore are among the immediately obvious, but then, there was also Peter Green, Jeff Beck, Mick Taylor, Kim Simmons from Savoy Brown, Dave Mason and Steve Winwood from Traffic. For a brief period, Rock guitar and Blues guitar meant pretty much the same thing. Back in the day, great Blues guitarists roamed freely. Eric Clapton can probably take a bow for much of that.

Blues guitars may no longer be at the cultural vanguard but that doesn’t keep the avid from feeding the flame. When the new Tinsley Ellis album recently arrived I remembered his name from a couple of Alligator label compilations, but that was about it. His new album is called, ‘Speak No Evil’, and boasts an extreme close-up of Tinsley’s string-bending digits on the cover.

As soon as the music begins, those digits are flying up and down the neck of that guitar, bending, shredding and machine-gunning their way through the album’s dozen tracks. It is a furious and unrelenting display, with a wealth of flashy technique. Seriously, it almost invites lesser talents to retreat in embarrassment.

At times, Ellis might conjure images of a younger Eric Clapton, in his heady days with Cream, circa 1968. Elsewhere, it might evoke names like Albert Collins, Stevie Ray Vaughan, or Robin Trower. The songs are none too shabby either but I guess when you’re on the road as much as he is, you would want them to be this good.

If there is a downside to ‘Speak No Evil’, it’s that the other elements are so much in the shade of the guitar, they can come off sounding just a notch above serviceable. The rhythm section appears relegated to mere timekeepers behind Tinsley’s unrelenting guitar offensive. The inventiveness, of a potential Jack Bruce on bass or a Ginger Baker on drums, is simply not evident. Tinsley’s vocals seem mostly up to the task but are still not as commanding as that guitar. Though I find it no chore to listen to ‘Speak No Evil’ at the necessary volume, it can be tiring. Tinsley Ellis is not exactly economical with his notes but he sure knows how to fit ‘em all in. For those who miss the blistering Blues Rock of old, you’ll find five songs from ‘Speak No Evil’ on Tinsley’s MySpace page.  http://www.myspace.com/tinsleyellis.

And on the subject of guitarists, here’s another one I need to mention although, this time, coming from a different direction. I can confidently say that, until about a month ago, Verlon Thompson was a name I had never heard. But then I got to hear him play on a song that had me hooked from the beginning. The song is called “The Guitar” and it appears on a new album by the underappreciated, Guy Clark. Vernon is playing the beautiful acoustic licks behind Clark’s whiskey-soaked voice, as a brilliant story song unfolds about a musician, a pawnshop owner and an old beat-up guitar. I don’t want to spoil it for you by saying any more. Just check out the clip:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iHxOego2Sso

As a footnote, I’m including an alternate version of the song by Verlon Thompson alone. For my money, its the Guy Clark version that nails it but this is more for those who play the instrument, and don’t mind taking a closer look at Thompson’s skill.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T_Lkg7GsKQQ

I’m glad that somewhere, songs of this quality are still being written, that people still care about the compositional craft, and that they play them this well, on real instruments. It almost sounds subversive. Incidentally, the Guy Clark album you can find this song on is called, ‘Somedays The Song Writes You’. The album is Guy Clark’s 11^th since 1975, and is literally falling through the cracks even as I write this, for all but his loyal following.

In the radioBrandon library there is an area devoted to Christmas music. It’s a bit whack, in some respects, especially given the fact that I am not a big fan of Christmas music. Its okay, I know I’m not alone. Christmas music is so northern hemisphere-centric it sounds kind of ludicrous to most Australians. All the singsong hubbub about snowmen, woolen mittens and roasting chestnuts on the open fire sounds quite alien to someone sweltering under a tin patio roof in the searing summer heat. Then, there are the performances themselves, by artists who will whip out an album’s worth of seasonal ditties in no time, running through the same old titles, in the same time-honoured, disingenuous tradition.

Obviously, there are the odd, inspired exceptions in the seasonal canon, like Enya’s take on “Silent Night”, sung in Gaelic. There is Louis Armstrong’s fabulous, “Zat You, Santa Claus?” but if pressed to pick any kind of favourite, it would most likely be, “Merry Christmas Baby” by Charles Brown.

So, not all Christmas music is the essence of soullessness itself – and I, am not completely a seasonal Grinch. This Christmas, at least, I’ll have one album I know I can play for the enjoyment of it, and not wince, in the slightest. I knew it was out already but we had not been supplied an advance copy of Bob Dylan’s new album, ‘Christmas In The Heart’. I’d been looking forward to it since reading about it a month ago. On Friday afternoon, Bill called up a track from the album on YouTube and before I knew it, Dylan’s singing of “Winter Wonderland” had insinuated itself as an earworm I couldn’t get out of my head. I made it my mission to go out and find a copy.

The kid at the counter wasn’t sure, but he thought there may have been a copy in the backroom, as none appeared to be in the racks. When he returned with my copy, I was surprised it was just over twenty bucks in price. The shrink-wrapped package contained the album and something that looked like a booklet but turned out to be a set of five Christmas cards featuring the album cover art, with envelopes included. Sweet touch, Bob. And let’s not forget the grassroots marketing aspect, as those cards start to go out in the mail, prolonging the awareness campaign. To top it all off, ‘Christmas In The Heart’ was made in support of a most admirable cause.

In the U.S.A. all royalties from the sale of the album will go toward feeding the homeless. As a result, it will guarantee that 4 million meals are provided this yuletide season, to 1.4 million people living in need. Furthermore, Dylan’s website has stated that royalties from all future sales of the album will be directed in perpetuity toward the Feeding America program. Here in Australia, royalties from the disc will be forwarded to the World Food Program. I feel good about my purchase already.

As to the music itself, it is delivered straight, and with an earnestness you won’t normally hear on records of this sort. Thankfully, the song selection is as diverse as the obscurities he might feature on his satellite radio program. Sprinkled among the more obvious titles like “Here Comes Santa Claus”, “Winter Wonderland” and “Silver Bells” are less familiar titles like “Must Be Santa” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FTgqnXae2LQ and “Christmas Island”, the latter being popularized by the Andrews Sisters and, more recently, Leon Redbone.

As ever, there will be those who just will not get it and want to take Dylan to task (again) over his croaky vocals breaking all over their favourite classics. But, think about it, when has Bob not been criticized over the sound of his voice? After 47 albums, you would think it no longer an issue. For much of the rest of us, that voice could be singing the phone book and we would still queue for tickets.

Dylan’s band, featuring David Hidalgo of Los Lobos and guitarist, Phil Upchurch, swing through the fifteen Christmas songs with sweet precision and that wonderful unmade-bed of a voice is complimented by a sweet-as-it-comes seven-voice choir.

A lighthearted humour that imbues much of the proceedings even extends to the album’s artwork. In counterpoint to the traditional seasonal image on the front, the inside of the sleeve boasts a Santa-esque portrait of the greatest pin-up girl of them all, Bettie Page.

For many reasons, ‘Christmas In The Heart’ is worth throwing your money at. Not least of them, is to hear the beloved entertainer sing the opening to “O Come All Ye Faithful” in its original Latin.

Before Tuesday, I doubt I would have been moved to write about this, but music is a bit like fossicking for gemstones. If you turn over enough slippery rocks, you are bound to find something that sparkles. Well, I found something on Tuesday, and for several reasons, it caught me by surprise.

For starters, it was a live album – and you know how unremarkable those things can be. Also, it was by Kate Miller-Heidke, an artist I was already familiar with. Kate is from Brisbane, so I have managed to hear a few of her releases since her ‘Telegram’ EP arrived on the desk around four years ago. I remember having a tough time with female singers back then. So many of them shared that same annoying propensity towards vocal calisthenics, the Mariah-like squeak ‘n’ warble. (The trend has more recently given way to a fashionable reliance on the ‘Auto-Tune’ default, but that’s another story.)

Anyhoo, when I first heard the ‘Telegram’ EP, I was reminded of that Lene Lovich song, “Lucky Number”, and a much younger Kate Bush. The voice seemed to convey some novelty but beyond that, I just didn’t get it. I respected her pedigree, in the realm of ‘serious’ music, but transposing a classical training in operatic singing to the more secular world of Pop? Surely, it’s a career path fraught with some unique challenges. Convincing the punters you are more than a novelty, being merely the first.

For much of the time since then, Kate Miller-Heidke, to my ear, seemed little more than another quirky musical curiosity. Calling her last album ‘Curiouser’, then, was some sweet irony. I liked “The Last Day On Earth” from the outset, but couldn’t imagine it as a radio hit. But, what do I know? It finally snuck in through the back door, insinuating itself through being featured in a TV soap. Go figure. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B1dFmWZhSZM

Meanwhile, it was another song from ‘Curiouser’ that was copping all the attention, called, “Caught In The Crowd”. It won a very big international songwriting competition recently, as judged by people of some very considerable experience in the art. Maybe you heard about that. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ojoqHbPmzg

Nevertheless, when ‘Live At The Hi-Fi’ arrived in the mail, I saw a record company cash-in. Quick filler for the fans and recent converts, a strategy to maximize the current wave, and ride it into the Christmas quarter. Hell, why not? It’s just the business doing its gig, right? Well, not always. And that’s another reason why this album was such a surprise.

There is a Hi-Fi club in Brisbane but this collection was recorded at the Melbourne franchise, five months ago. The things that can deflate the live album experience are manifold and blissfully, none of them are apparent in this one-hour set. The audience was both enthusiastic, and respectful, at all the right moments. The setlist was balanced. The sound was exceptionally captured and the performance was first rate, from everyone in the room. And I can’t believe I haven’t even mentioned that voice yet.

Listening to ‘Live At The Hi-Fi’ made it quickly apparent just what I had been missing in the whole KM-H equation: the ‘Live’ aspect. By now, many who have seen Kate perform, will be familiar with what I mean, not least, my sister and brother-in-law, who were actually gushing about her last performance in Adelaide. Away from the studio constraints, in a live environment, that voice, unleashed, can reside somewhere between compelling and riveting, with occasional forays to the threshold of audible endurance.

The performance begins politely enough, but as proceedings unfold, so too, does its command over the crowd’s attention. The only thing that could make things go awry then, is the quality of the material, but that doesn’t disappoint either.

By the third song, “I Like You Better When You’re Not Around”, I’m hooked. The tune is cute but there’s no mistaking just who is calling the shots in this break-up. Halfway through “Politics In Space”, she lobs a verbal grenade toward my g-g-g-generation: “The Sixties were fifty years ago, y’know… GET OVER IT!” It’s true. Suddenly, I’m wishing all our youthful aspirants chasing music careers could be this savvy, this forthright, and this talented.

The set’s most dramatic moments, though, are saved for later, after the room has been lulled into the mood of a good night out. That’s when Kate pulls out the big guns in her vocal armoury, pitching notes high into the air like cluster bombs that can have you wondering about the actual tolerance of the human eardrum. It happens on a couple of songs but Kate is careful never to abuse her abilities. When the voice does come out, it is often like a spotlight against a wall of sound. The music needs to step up to meet a voice like this, and it does, the wailing guitars being an especially potent foil.

There’s humour too, with the decadent charm of what is alternatively known as “The Facebook Song” (if you haven’t yet heard it, I won’t spoil it for you here), and a surprise cover of Farnsey’s signature hit, “You’re The Voice”. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fv4WHNVBys4 The final bonus track on the disc turns out to be a version of Empire Of The Sun’s “Walking On A Dream”, another surprise, both intimate and quietly stunning in it’s radically stripped-back arrangement.

‘Live At The Hi-Fi’ is not really the cynical cash-in it might first appear. It’s a declaration that Kate Miller-Heidke is not only more than a novelty act, but also more than the studio manufactured, Auto-Tuned divas who can’t even cut it on stage. If Kate Miller-Heidke is not already considered a world-class performer, she surely, must be this close.