June: A big month for British music in general, even if not in terms of new releases. It seems the British music industry is officially in recession. This is no great surprise as it seems the powers that be have led it there over recent years. A recent survey has shown that the average price of a CD album in Britain is around £14.50 while in the USA, and most other places I gather, it is nearer £8 or £9. Whether they like it or not, the present situation and future is in the hands of the industry, not the record buying public. There will surely have to be some sort of reform in favour of the fans before there is any significant rise in sales. Don't hold too high hopes for this from a group, or several groups of people intent on ripping as much money out of the public as possible for as long as possible. Price rises over the last few years have been astronomical, so that we can now be expected on occasions to part with up to £16 for a relatively new release album, and even the previously generous "mid price" tag rests at about a tenner. Not only this, but the changes recently announced by CIN governing the eligibility of singles for the national top 75 chart also seem designed to ensure the punters pay more for less. From early July each single format must be limited to 3 tracks and 20 minutes in length if it is to qualify - effectively putting an end to the long standing tradition of 4-track EP's, still favoured by many including chart regulars Mansun and Embrace. That the rule covers remixes too could be a great blow to the dance music single - previously containing up to 6 tracks lasting anything up to 40 minutes - and could open the door for the release of hordes of overpriced remix albums. Exactly what the world doesn't need!
Of course we would be very foolish to expect this cut in musical content to be accompanied by a cut in price. Instead we will see the same amount of music spread over many formats, each at the old overblown price. Expect to see 3 part CD sets the norm before long (indeed already used by Garbage and occasional others), which can only hasten the killing off of cassettes and vinyl as only 3 single formats are eligible for a chart placing.
CIN have said that the new ruling is not set in stone and could be reversed if enough complaints are received, but following the volume of the immediate outcry from music buyers are reluctant to give out their correspondence address, leaving a lot of upset people wondering where on earth they can complain to!
The drop in record sales has also led to a level of panic and sudden caution among record companies, resulting in many cutting the lower selling bands from their rosters. Even Creation kissed goodbye to 18 Wheeler and more recent signing Howard Jones. East West were perhaps foolishly wary when they decided not to persevere with Rialto and parted company with them. China records didn't think twice before snapping them up and their eponymous debut album is now receiving good reviews everywhere. Biggest of all though is the folding of the UK branch of major label A&M, home to The Bluetones, Therapy, Dodgy and Del Amitri to name but a few. No acts will be dropped as a result but instead will be divided between Polygram subsidiaries Island, Mercury and Polydor. There have been staff redundancies and such a sweeping change must represent a sizeable cost cutting exercise.
So what are we left to hope for? A glorious new band stepping from the shadows in some corner of the country to unite and re-inspire a generation? A remarkably well financed independent label willing to buck the trend and bring us quality new music in affordable volumes? Seems unlikely, but people's passion for music cannot be killed off and if the corporate stranglehold continues to tighten, something along the line has got to give.

So, the good but overpriced and disappointingly low selling records of this month? Not that many from the sorts of bands I'd usually be listening out for. Ian Brown released the marvellous Can't See Me from his album. It's a warm, shuffling groove reminiscent of the best chilled out moods captured by The Stone Roses. He may have almost cocked it up on Top of the Pops (halfway through a line he realises it's not quite time for the second verse), but that glitch aside it was all sounding great! What then explains the lowly chart position of #21? Eh?
June, as many will well know, is exam time, bringing many hours sitting in deep concentration with the radio filling up the background. This wider than usual exposure to the charts opened up my ears, and this page, to the multitude of summer pop hits making extended visits to the top ten. Defying the tradition of most years they're mostly pretty good this time around and none too annoying (except, of course, the Mavericks). Top of the charts was the inescapably catchy Feel It by The Tamperer featuring Maya. It's a rebuilding of the old Jackson>'s tune in case you couldn't guess, but a worthy one - not least for its lovely use of tubular bells, a criminally ignored instrument in pop (and almost everything else). There was also much puzzling over the origin and meaning of the line "What's she gonna look like with a chimney on her?" I can offer a couple of solutions I've heard. Firstly an old myth or old-wives tale that the house of a woman committing adultery with an already married man will fall down on her as some sort of retribution, and secondly that "chimney" is a slang term for a body-bag.
Moving swiftly on to my personal favourite of the summer season so far, The Corr's cover version of Fleetwood Mac's Dreams. This wasn't, like so many, nailed into my head by repetitive radio plays, but happily lodged there after the first one. It's a terrific song (this is all I have to judge it, not being a fan of the Mac to any degree), covered in great style. The Corr's employ traditional-type Irish instruments such as violins and tin whistle's to make a catchy folk-pop type sound, and give it something extra with the addition of synthesiser sounds kept on a tight leash. It all mixed together really nicely to lie under the lovely Andrea Corr's beautiful voice. (She is quite amazing. I hate to go off on the type of tangent usually reserved for pub-talk, but a friend and I were quite transfixed when we saw them play on TV, and every time we played it back. We were almost in danger of never watching or doing anything else again... Having said that, I was accused by another friend of veering towards becoming one of the faceless record buying public when I said I was buying it, and I know exactly what he meant, but there are exceptions to everything... Perhaps a longer explanation of that is needed but it'll have to wait.) It's fair to point out too that we can't accuse them of carving out their success on the back of a cover version since they've had a few of their own hit singles and have sold millions of LP's. Expect to see a lot more of Andrea, and her almost equally lovely sisters (and their brother Jim I guess).
Summer fun came in the form of Horny by Mousse T Vs Hot'n'Juicy - a wacky in-your-face stomp on a subject you can surely guess. A top laugh, especially to hear people everywhere spontaneously start humming the line "I'm horny, horny, horny, horny, ba ba baaaA!" You get the picture...
Respect is due to that man there Norman Cook for knocking out his best tune yet in the form of The Rockafeller Skank. Beat driven, infectious hooks arranged and rearranged in grand style. It's deservedly Fatboy Slim's best chart performance yet, but should have hung around a lot longer than the 7 weeks it did (it may sound like a long time, but most of those were nearer the bottom end. Most dance tunes become wearing but this delivers energy from start to finish.
Finally, Embrace were released upon us again, and it seems they're still on something of an upward spiral. Latest single Come Back to What You Know exists in the same mood as its predecessor All You Good Good People. This, for me, is something that was meant to be a powerful yet moving anthem collecting the insecure and confused feelings inside all of us and delivering triumphant ones in return, so that we might rejoice that this monumental group of musicians have come to share feelings with us and make us feel it's all ok. Actually it's a bit listless and up it's own *rse, and it's been done before anyway. What happened to rock'n'roll?? I really liked The Last Gas and One Big Family, but now they only want to show us how sensitive they really are. How boring...


Back to index page...

Go to Geocities...