http://textpattern.com/?v=4.0.5 http://www.xlrecordings.com/ Thu, 07 Feb 2008 11:24:43 GMT <p><div class="track"><img alt="" src="http://hits.guardian.co.uk/b/ss/guardiangu-feeds/1/H.20.3/513?ns=guardian&amp;pageName=Are+women+really+on+top+when+it+comes+to+the+charts%3F%3AArticle%3A1370435&amp;ch=Music&amp;c3=GU.co.uk&amp;c4=Pop+and+rock+%28Music+genre%29%2CUK+charts%2CMusic%2CVera+Lynn+%28Music%29%2CCulture+section%2CEllie+Goulding&amp;c6=Nosheen+Iqbal&amp;c7=10-Mar-11&amp;c8=1370435&amp;c9=Article&amp;c10=Blogpost&amp;c11=Music&amp;c13=&amp;c25=Music+blog&amp;c30=content&amp;h2=GU%2FMusic%2Fblog%2FMusic+blog" width="1" height="1" /></div><p class="standfirst">This week saw the most successful UK charts run ever enjoyed by female artists. But the marketing of women in pop hasn't changed much from the poster girls of postwar Britain</p><p>It's not often you spot a trend started by Vera Lynn. She might be a mistress of the music hall and soldiers' sweetheart, but fashionably ahead of the curve at 93? You'd hardly bet on it.<br /> <br />But, in September last year, Lynn's best of album went to the top of the charts and as Music Week pointed out recently, it was the first of 11 No 1s out of the last 18 to come from solo female artists. Last Sunday, Ellie Goulding's hyped debut landed in the top spot, sealing the most successful run on the UK charts ever enjoyed by women. Swap a Cheryl Cole for a Colbe Caillat, Whitney Houston for Leona Lewis, and the picture in the US is near identical; 10 of the last 16 Billboard No 1s are from solo female singers. <br /> <br />It's a triumph, especially for such a male-dominated industry â€' only 23% of senior management and 34% of UK jobs in music are held by women. And that the girls have come out on top can only inspire another wave of female musicians, singers, and innovators. Whether the fashion for kooky pop stars in hairbands and heavy eye make-up will hold is one thing; that they're there in such strong numbers â€' and making classic pop songs â€' is a proper achievement.<br /> <br />But before someone cracks open the champagne to the faint strain of Here Come the Girls, we should probably take stock. If there's one thing we can learn from Lynn, it's that the marketing of women in pop music isn't as radically different in the global age of Gaga than it was in postwar Britain. A seachange has occurred and talent, creativity and hard work have plenty to answer for. But the kind of youth and beauty seen in a L'Oreal advert still reigns supreme and a big promotional campaign can go a long way in the place of albums stuffed with filler.<br /> <br />Be it Lily Allen or Rihanna, Little Boots or Pixie Lott, pop music is plastered with poster girls. The irony is that for every Barbara Streisand and Celine Dion, I could name 20 VV Browns, Remi Nicoles and Siobhan Donaghys who've flagged into chart oblivion. <br /> <br />The other awkward but adhered to principle is the emphasis on solo stars. Female artists aren't marketed in groups like men. If they do happen to be in a band, it's largely with other blokes in one of two forms: taking a sideline as the keyboard player, or as the entire focus of the band (sorry, "the Machine", but it's all about Florence). There are exceptions to every rule but the solo female artist is a gold standard in the music industry. Whether we may be better off for it or not, there isn't a girl equivalent of U2, Coldplay, Radiohead or Kings of Leon. <br /> <br />Women in pop, then? A brilliant, inspiring, kicking-down-the-door success story. One that will read even better when we can recognise their talents across the industry â€' and not just as part of a passing fad.</p><div class="related"><ul><li><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/popandrock">Pop and rock</a></li><li><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/uk-charts">UK charts</a></li><li><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/vera-lynn">Vera Lynn</a></li><li><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/ellie-goulding">Ellie Goulding</a></li></ul></div><div class="author"><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/profile/nosheen-iqbal">Nosheen Iqbal</a></div><br/><div class="terms"><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk">guardian.co.uk</a> &copy; Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our <a href="http://users.guardian.co.uk/help/article/0,,933909,00.html">Terms & Conditions</a> | <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/help/feeds">More Feeds</a></div><p /></p> <p><a href="http://xlrecordings.com/2010/03/11/are-women-really-on-top-when-it-comes-to-the-charts#comments">Comments</a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/xlrecordings/~4/Ln3B_2jBPaQ" height="1" width="1"/> http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/xlrecordings/~3/Ln3B_2jBPaQ/women-top-charts Admin Thu, 11 Mar 2010 12:37:00 +0000 http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/musicblog/2010/mar/11/women-top-charts http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/musicblog/2010/mar/11/women-top-charts <p>BBC 6 Music - 8 years old today. Something worth celebrating: I mean, when Chris Moyles and Ken Bruce aren't for you - and Radios 1 and 2 strive to appeal to ever younger and older listeners - where else can you turn during the day? <br /> <br /> Happy Birthday 6 Music, and all you other nerdy music lovers everywhere....now let's fight for many happy returns.<br /> <br /> Jonny</p> <p><a href="http://xlrecordings.com/2010/03/11/happy-birthday#comments">Comments</a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/xlrecordings/~4/-q0DuQ1I2yk" height="1" width="1"/> http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/xlrecordings/~3/-q0DuQ1I2yk/index.php Admin Thu, 11 Mar 2010 07:53:00 +0000 http://www.radiohead.com/deadairspace/index.php?c=556 http://www.radiohead.com/deadairspace/index.php?c=556 <p>BBC 6 Music - 8 years old today. Something worth celebrating: I mean, when Chris Moyles and Ken Bruce aren't for you - and Radios 1 and 2 strive to appeal to ever younger and older listeners - where else can you turn during the day? <br /> <br /> Happy Birthday 6 Music, and all you other nerdy music lovers everywhere....now let's fight for many happy returns.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> Jonny</p> <p><a href="http://xlrecordings.com/2010/03/11/happy-birthdaty#comments">Comments</a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/xlrecordings/~4/ffyGmxdNrCI" height="1" width="1"/> http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/xlrecordings/~3/ffyGmxdNrCI/index.php Admin Thu, 11 Mar 2010 07:49:00 +0000 http://www.radiohead.com/deadairspace/index.php?c=555 http://www.radiohead.com/deadairspace/index.php?c=555 <p>BBC 6 Music - 8 years old today. Something worth celebrating: I mean, when Chris Moyles and Ken Bruce aren't for you - and Radios 1 and 2 strive to appeal to ever younger and older listeners - where else can you turn? <br /> <br /> Happy Birthday 6 Music, and all you other nerdy music lovers everywhere....now let's fight for many happy returns.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> Jonny</p> <p><a href="http://xlrecordings.com/2010/03/11/happy-birthday#comments">Comments</a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/xlrecordings/~4/bxDUITIT6sY" height="1" width="1"/> http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/xlrecordings/~3/bxDUITIT6sY/index.php Admin Thu, 11 Mar 2010 06:52:00 +0000 http://www.radiohead.com/deadairspace/index.php?c=554 http://www.radiohead.com/deadairspace/index.php?c=554 <p><p><a href="http://pitchfork.com/artists/319-beck/" target="_blank" title="Beck">Beck</a>'s <a href="http://pitchfork.com/artists/28284-record-club/" target="_blank" title="Record Club">Record Club</a> is arguably the best reason to make sure you're regularly checking <a href="http://www.beck.com/recordclub/" target="_blank">the man's website</a>. Record Club is a project wherein Beck rounds up a few of his friends, famous and otherwise, and records a cover version of an entire album in one day. He then posts the results to his website one song at a time.</p><br /> <p>Thus far, he's done the Velvet Underground's <i><a href="http://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/13455-record-club-the-velvet-underground-nico/" target="_blank" title="The Velvet Underground and Nico">The Velvet Underground and Nico</a></i> with Nigel <span class="misspell">Godrich</span> and Giovanni <span class="misspell">Ribisi</span>, Leonard Cohen's <a href="http://www.beck.com/recordclub/index.php/category/leonard-cohen-songs-of-leonard-cohen" target="_blank"><i>Songs of Leonard Cohen</i></a> with <span class="misspell">MGMT</span> and <span class="misspell">Devendra</span> <span class="misspell">Banhart</span>, and, most recently, Skip Spence's <i><a href="http://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/13997-oar/" target="_blank" title="Oar">Oar</a></i> with <span class="misspell">Wilco</span>, <span class="misspell">Feist</span>, and Jamie <span class="misspell">Lidell</span>. And the next one should be a hell of a thing.</p><!--pagebreak--><br /> <p>In <a href="http://twitter.com/st_vincent/status/10284972941" target="_blank" title="a post on her Twitter">a post on her Twitter</a> earlier this afternoon, <a href="http://pitchfork.com/artists/5367-st-vincent/" target="_blank" title="St. Vincent">St. Vincent</a> leader Annie Clark revealed that she'd recorded a Record Club with Beck, <a href="http://pitchfork.com/artists/2469-liars/" target="_blank" title="Liars">Liars</a>, and Brazilian <span class="misspell">tropicalia</span> legends <a href="http://pitchfork.com/artists/3179-os-mutantes/" target="_blank" title="Os Mutantes">Os <span class="misspell">Mutantes</span></a> last week: "It will be online soonish. Serious fun." She did not reveal which album that particularly <span class="misspell">badass</span> crew had recorded. But given the level of talent in this mob, the result would be worth a listen even if they were taking on Ugly Kid Joe's <i>America's Least Wanted</i>. (Or, hell, <i>especially</i> if they were taking on <i>America's Least Wanted</i>.)</p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/PitchforkLatestNews/~4/eQUEZmJO4yg" height="1" width="1" /></p> <p><a href="http://xlrecordings.com/2010/03/10/beck-recruits-st-vincent-liars-and-os-mutantes-for-next-record-club#comments">Comments</a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/xlrecordings/~4/eQUEZmJO4yg" height="1" width="1"/> http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/xlrecordings/~3/eQUEZmJO4yg/ Admin Wed, 10 Mar 2010 21:00:00 +0000 http://www.pitchfork.com/news/38157-beck-recruits-st-vincent-liars-and-os-mutantes-for-next-record-club/ http://www.pitchfork.com/news/38157-beck-recruits-st-vincent-liars-and-os-mutantes-for-next-record-club/ <p>Empire Of The Sun, Maccabees also set for Suffolk festival<img width="1" height="1" src="http://rss.feedsportal.com/c/32495/f/479227/s/96f6406/mf.gif" border="0" /><div class='mf-viral'><table border='0'><tr><td valign='middle'><a href="http://res.feedsportal.com/viral/sendemail2.html?title=Florence+And+The+Machine%2C+Belle+And+Sebastian%2C+Vampire+Weekend+to+headline+Latitude&amp;link=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.nme.com%2Fnews%2Fflorence-and-the-machine%2F50153" target="_blank"><img src="http://res3.feedsportal.com/images/emailthis2.gif" border="0" /></a></td><td valign='middle'><a href="http://res.feedsportal.com/viral/bookmark.cfm?title=Florence+And+The+Machine%2C+Belle+And+Sebastian%2C+Vampire+Weekend+to+headline+Latitude&amp;link=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.nme.com%2Fnews%2Fflorence-and-the-machine%2F50153" target="_blank"><img src="http://res3.feedsportal.com/images/bookmark.gif" border="0" /></a></td></tr></table></div><br/><br/><a href="http://da.feedsportal.com/r/65750110809/u/49/f/479227/c/32495/s/158295046/a2.htm"><img src="http://da.feedsportal.com/r/65750110809/u/49/f/479227/c/32495/s/158295046/a2.img" border="0" /></a><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/nmecom/rss/newsxml/~4/s7WGDokThq8" height="1" width="1" /></p> <p><a href="http://xlrecordings.com/2010/03/09/florence-and-the-machine-belle-and-sebastian-vampire-weekend-to-headline-latitude#comments">Comments</a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/xlrecordings/~4/s6J9uVqHhoY" height="1" width="1"/> http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/xlrecordings/~3/s6J9uVqHhoY/50153 Admin Tue, 09 Mar 2010 19:15:00 +0000 http://www.nme.com/news/florence-and-the-machine/50153 http://www.nme.com/news/florence-and-the-machine/50153 <p>Empire Of The Sun, Maccabees also set for Suffolk festival<img width="1" height="1" src="http://rss.feedsportal.com/c/32495/f/479227/s/9707d6f/mf.gif" border="0" /><div class='mf-viral'><table border='0'><tr><td valign='middle'><a href="http://res.feedsportal.com/viral/sendemail2.html?title=Florence+And+The+Machine%2C+Belle+And+Sebastian%2C+Vampire+Weekend+to+headline+Latitude&amp;link=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.nme.com%2Fnews%2Ffestivals%2F50153" target="_blank"><img src="http://res3.feedsportal.com/images/emailthis2.gif" border="0" /></a></td><td valign='middle'><a href="http://res.feedsportal.com/viral/bookmark.cfm?title=Florence+And+The+Machine%2C+Belle+And+Sebastian%2C+Vampire+Weekend+to+headline+Latitude&amp;link=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.nme.com%2Fnews%2Ffestivals%2F50153" target="_blank"><img src="http://res3.feedsportal.com/images/bookmark.gif" border="0" /></a></td></tr></table></div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/nmecom/rss/newsxml/~4/mpbVk0DSDRc" height="1" width="1" /></p> <p><a href="http://xlrecordings.com/2010/03/09/florence-and-the-machine-belle-and-sebastian-vampire-weekend-to-headline-latitude#comments">Comments</a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/xlrecordings/~4/_yIu6LrvMOk" height="1" width="1"/> http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/xlrecordings/~3/_yIu6LrvMOk/50153 Admin Tue, 09 Mar 2010 19:15:00 +0000 http://www.nme.com/news/festivals/50153 http://www.nme.com/news/festivals/50153 <p><p>Just a short note to say that our split 12&#8221; and download with our friends Holy Ghost! is available in shops from today. We contribute a cover of their excellent song &#8216;Hold On&#8217;, and on the other side they molded our song &#8216;On Board&#8217; in their own image. Shout to the late great Jerry Fuchs who plays drums on Holy Ghost&#8217;s side.</p> <p>It first got floated as an idea through a boozy, sunshine-y, beachy haze at the beautiful Calvi On The Rocks festival in Corsica (if you haven&#8217;t been, go; book it this very instant), and unlike so many other drunken ideas, it has actually come to fruition. Here&#8217;s hoping you like it.</p> <p>Rough Trade 12&#8221;:<br /> <a href="http://wearefriendlyfires.com/" "http://www.roughtrade.com/site/shop_detail.lasso?search_type=sku&sku=324412"="&quot;http://www.roughtrade.com/site/shop_detail.lasso?search_type=sku&amp;sku=324412&quot;">click here to buy</a></p> <p>iTunes:<br /> <a href="http://wearefriendlyfires.com/" "http://itunes.apple.com/gb/album/hold-on-on-board-friendly/id355708814"="&quot;http://itunes.apple.com/gb/album/hold-on-on-board-friendly/id355708814&quot;">click here to buy</a></p> <p>All the best</p> <p>FFx</p></p> <p><a href="http://xlrecordings.com/2010/03/09/ff-vs-hg-split-12-2#comments">Comments</a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/xlrecordings/~4/W7n9Q8Ytvow" height="1" width="1"/> http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/xlrecordings/~3/W7n9Q8Ytvow/ff-vs-hg-split-12 Admin Tue, 09 Mar 2010 16:56:00 +0000 http://wearefriendlyfires.com/news/305/ff-vs-hg-split-12 http://wearefriendlyfires.com/news/305/ff-vs-hg-split-12 <p><div class="track"><img alt="" src="http://hits.guardian.co.uk/b/ss/guardiangu-feeds/1/H.20.3/13116?ns=guardian&amp;pageName=Streets+of+London%3A+The+city%27s+shifting+soundtrack+%3AArticle%3A1369394&amp;ch=Music&amp;c3=GU.co.uk&amp;c4=Pop+and+rock+%28Music+genre%29%2CMusic%2CCulture+section%2CLondon+%28Travel%29&amp;c6=Bob+Stanley&amp;c7=10-Mar-09&amp;c8=1369394&amp;c9=Article&amp;c10=Blogpost&amp;c11=Music&amp;c13=&amp;c25=Music+blog&amp;c30=content&amp;h2=GU%2FMusic%2Fblog%2FMusic+blog" width="1" height="1" /></div><p class="standfirst">The capital's soul is harder to pin down than other cities because its musical climate can change between postcodes</p><p>If London had the grid system of Manhattan, or had been rebuilt entirely like the Paris of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haussmann%27s_renovation_of_Paris">Haussmann</a>, then maybe it would have a readily identifiable sound. After all, you can spot the sound of Manchester â€' whether it's the Hollies, Joy Division, the Stone Roses or MC Tunes â€' at 20 paces. London has always been more fluid, in its architecture and its population. Different eras, and different postcodes, define the sound of the city at any given time. The Barbican's forthcoming <a href="http://www.barbican.org.uk/music/event-detail.asp?ID=9950">Songs In the Key of London</a> event could have included such mismatched performers as Chas & Dave, Rod Stewart, and Dizzee Rascal on the bill and it would have all made perfect sense. <br /> <br />Instead, along with likely lads Suggs and Chris Difford, it features a bunch of singers who aren't even from London â€' <a href="http://www.robynhitchcock.com/">Robyn Hitchcock</a> is Cambridge to his toes, Kathryn Williams's Byker Grove accent is a bit of a giveaway. The reason they will be sharing a stage with compere Phil Daniels is that most of the great London songs have been written by outsiders and suburbanites. <br /> <br />David Bowie, tucked away on the fringes of Kent in Beckenham, wrote a few pre-fame songs in the 60s about moving to the big bad city: <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zgBe8NL1818">Can't Help Thinking About Me</a> saw him on the station platform, I Dig Everything was a sarcastically joyous arrival ("I've got more friends than I've had hot dinners/Some of them are losers, but the rest of them are winners"), and, best of all, the London Boys saw the former Face on his knees, beaten down by the cold, pill-popping demands of the city; even in 1966 Bowie was ahead of the game, giving Swinging London a scornful kick. Ray Davies penned the similarly damning <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FuO80JnJAyU">Big Black Smoke</a> in the same year, though where Bowie had used a sobbing voice and Tony Hatch's foggy brass section to highlight the city's meanness, the Kinks sneered and stomped all over the smashed dreams of the arriviste country girl: "Every penny she had was spent on purple hearts and cigarettes." <br /> <br />With even more scorn, Sleeper's Gants Hill-born singer Louise Wener wrote a revenge song for the whole city, winningly entitled Cunt London. The fact Morrissey hates the whole city has never stopped him writing about it: <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-oqF5JWfq5Q">Dagenham Dave</a> may be a clunky Essex boy caricature but Come Back to Camden is entirely evocative of mouse-ridden bedsits. He sings of "drinking tea with the taste of the Thames", the only recorded complaint about the city's hard water. <br /> <br />The further the writer lives from London the more he is likely to romanticise it. Bob Merrill wrote such brainless singalongs as How Much Is That Doggie in the Window and Mambo Italiano, but on <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3zqzvc7iyDg">She Wears Red Feathers</a> â€' a 1953 No 1 for Guy Mitchell â€' the singer works in a London bank where "from 9 to 3 they serve you tea" before meeting a native girl (in a "huly huly skirt") who sails back to London for a life of tea-drinking antics in Piccadilly. It's ludicrous but adorable. Another American, Nat D Ayer, wrote Dear Old Shepherds Bush when he first arrived in London â€' has anyone else in the world ever thought of that grizzled triangle of grass with such unabashed love? <br /> <br />If Ayer had spent more than a day or two in his dear old Bush he might have written quite a different song. Some parts of London are impervious to gentrification or hipness and remain defiantly unloveable. For the teenage Marc Bolan, a move from happening Hackney to tedious Tooting, where he he was no longer a mod face, was written up in the wry Over the Flats â€' part glam demo, part music-hall moan. Finnish band Hanoi Rocks moved to deeply unfashionable SW17 and commemorated their grim times there in Tooting Bec Wreck: "I'm the sort of case that people find hard to face/I'm the living wreck, I live in Tooting Bec/I'm the Cosmic Ted spaced out of my head." Not a great song, but still the greatest song ever written about Tooting. <br /> <br />You can travel a short distance and the musical climate will change completely. A few tube stops from from Tooting, Brixton has two solid London classics to its name in Eddy Grant's Electric Avenue and the Clash's paranoid but prescient Guns of Brixton, released 18 months before the 1981 riots. A mile or so east, Camberwell is only celebrated in a comical way â€' Basement Jaxx have paid winking respect to it three times over with I Live in Camberwell, Camberwell Skies and Camberskank while Gracie Fields's Heaven Will Protect an Honest Girl has her losing both dignity and clothing in SE5: "I pawned me shawl in Camberwell/Then me skirt and blouse I sold 'em, and went trampin' back to Oldham." <br /> <br />It's pretty obvious that a cool area like Brixton will inspire songs with a little more gravitas, yet that doesn't entirely explain why Brixton songs have an air of impending menace while songs about Portobello Road are almost uniformly skippy and tend to feature a whistling solo: The Spectrum (more famous for singing the Captain Scarlet theme), Cat Stevens and Caetano Veloso all eulogise London's most Trumptonesque street. I put it down to the architecture; brightly painted Georgian terraces are more likely to inspire a whistle than towering Victorian edifices. In the 60s, Portobello Road was an oasis of gaiety. Just a few yards west, Notting Hill was a grim area namedropped by Van Morrison on Friday's Child, He Ain't Give You None ("I got messed up 'round somewhere called Notting Hill Gate/I lived up there for a while and when I moved out I was in such a state") and the distressing TB Sheets, a British blues about a lonesome death in Ladbroke Grove's Rachman slums. <br /> <br />Architecture changes, though; Ladbroke Grove is now as chi-chi as Chelsea was in 1967. But not everywhere is upwardly mobile. It is fascinating to take a square mile of London and see how it has been recorded in song over the decades. The East End music halls filled and eulogised by Marie Lloyd with songs like The Boy I Love Is Up in the Gallery at the turn of the 20th century were largely wiped out by the Luftwaffe; Duncan Browne sang about post-war childhood games On the Bombsite, referencing the remnants of Garden Street in Stepney; on Play With Fire, the Rolling Stones mocked the slumming socialite who "gets her kicks in Stepney, not in Knightsbridge any more"; and in 1993 Pulp â€' then poverty-stricken students just down from Sheffield â€' lived in a tower block that was built on Duncan Browne's rubble, and wrote Mile End to commemorate their less than charming home: "It was on the fifteenth floor, it had a board across the door/It took an hour to pry it off and get inside, it smelt as if someone had died." <br /> <br />Some districts have a sound that seems to seep, unalterable, from the pavements. A few miles north west of Mile End is a leafy corner of London which drew in pastoral folkies from St Albans, Kingston, Tanworth-in-Arden and Glasgow â€' Muswell Hill is where you'll find a gorgeous arts and crafts pile called Fairport, and this is where a budding psychedelic band called Fairport Convention shacked up in 1967. Having settled in the Edwardian suburb, surrounded by woods and parks with jaw-dropping views over the city, their sound quickly mutated into folk rock. Living within cycling distance were the similarly wistful Sandy Denny (soon to become their singer), Nick Drake, and John and Beverly Martyn. Clearly the vistas of Highgate Wood and Alexandra Park affected the music of the locale as deeply as Ridley Road market and the semi-dereliction of Clapton and Dalston have dictated jungle/UK garage/grime narrative of the last 20 years. <br /> <br />Manchester denizen Anthony Wilson reckoned that London had no musical soul. The truth is that it is impossible to pin down, it shifts constantly, which is why the city continues to be a draw for talents who â€' whether they love the place or not â€' end up creating its soundtrack. Take a look on YouTube at a clip of <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JgdZFnZ6M0k">Nico singing I'm Not Sayin'</a>. Wandering around an unrecognisable Docklands in 1965, here's a German model singing a song written by Canadian folkie Gordon Lightfoot, produced by Hampstead public school boy Andrew Loog Oldham, yet it has the authentic feel â€' with its chutzpah, its minor chords, its refusenik lyric and foggy air â€' of something essentially, perfectly London. <br /> <br />Five songs about less celebrated parts of London: <br /> <br /><strong>New Vaudeville Band â€' Finchley Central </strong><br />With its 20s bent and megaphone vocal, this makes for a sunnier ode to London Transport than Down in the Tube Station at Midnight: the singer is nonetheless stood up on the platform having travelled "10 long stations from Golders Green" for a fee of "two and sixpence". <br /> <br /><strong>Nick Nicely â€' Hilly Fields 1892 </strong><br />A veteran of just two singles, Nicely still managed to record the best psychedelic songs of the 80s with a mellotron-soaked evocation of a paranormal event at a south London beauty spot. The only building on Hilly Fields is now a music school. <br /> <br /><strong>Elvis Costello â€' Hoover Factory </strong><br />"Five miles out of London on the Western Avenue/Must have been a wonder when it was brand new." For once, a Costello song is simple, pun-free and heartfelt. The now listed (and currently empty) deco marvel was in danger of demolition at the time that this was recorded; it's survival was "not a matter a life and death â€' but what is?" <br /> <br /><strong>Mott the Hoople â€' Waterlow</strong> <br />Following a divorce, Ian Hunter wrote this gorgeous cello-led song about walking around the titular Highgate park with his young son in a pushchair. Mott later gave the London borough of Croydon a much needed high five on Saturday Gigs. <br /> <br /><strong>Nadia Cattouse â€' Bermondsey</strong> <br />"The tide is turning now on barges in Bermondsey." The area has changed more than Belize-born Cattouse could have imagined when she sang this in 1969, just as the docks were starting to close. Cold but wise, it has a beautiful 2am feel: "On London Bridge young lovers shiver and gaze at the lamplight in the river."</p><div class="related"><ul><li><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/popandrock">Pop and rock</a></li><li><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/travel/london">London</a></li></ul></div><div class="author"><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/profile/bob-stanley">Bob Stanley</a></div><br/><div class="terms"><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk">guardian.co.uk</a> &copy; Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our <a href="http://users.guardian.co.uk/help/article/0,,933909,00.html">Terms & Conditions</a> | <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/help/feeds">More Feeds</a></div><p /></p> <p><a href="http://xlrecordings.com/2010/03/09/streets-of-london-the-citys-shifting-soundtrack#comments">Comments</a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/xlrecordings/~4/56UTLcvPat8" height="1" width="1"/> http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/xlrecordings/~3/56UTLcvPat8/streets-london-city-soundtrack Admin Tue, 09 Mar 2010 15:39:00 +0000 http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/musicblog/2010/mar/09/streets-london-city-soundtrack http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/musicblog/2010/mar/09/streets-london-city-soundtrack <p>Tinchy Stryder, Chase & Status and Ellie Goulding join MIA to play at this summer's Underage Festival in London's east end.</p> <p><a href="http://xlrecordings.com/2010/03/09/mia-to-headline-underage-festival#comments">Comments</a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/xlrecordings/~4/LjMqhoKqm7o" height="1" width="1"/> http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/xlrecordings/~3/LjMqhoKqm7o/10059288.stm Admin Tue, 09 Mar 2010 15:36:00 +0000 http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/newsbeat/hi/music/newsid_10050000/newsid_10059200/10059288.stm http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/newsbeat/hi/music/newsid_10050000/newsid_10059200/10059288.stm <p>Ronnie Wood on Skype, Elton's Oscars party, JLS' condoms â€' your music gossip stop<img width="1" height="1" src="http://rss.feedsportal.com/c/32495/f/479227/s/96f6414/mf.gif" border="0" /><div class='mf-viral'><table border='0'><tr><td valign='middle'><a href="http://res.feedsportal.com/viral/sendemail2.html?title=Lily+Allen+walks+offstage+after+crowd+ruckus+at+joint+Dizzee+Rascal+gig+-+Daily+Gossip&amp;link=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.nme.com%2Fnews%2Fdaily-gossip%2F50141" target="_blank"><img src="http://res3.feedsportal.com/images/emailthis2.gif" border="0" /></a></td><td valign='middle'><a href="http://res.feedsportal.com/viral/bookmark.cfm?title=Lily+Allen+walks+offstage+after+crowd+ruckus+at+joint+Dizzee+Rascal+gig+-+Daily+Gossip&amp;link=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.nme.com%2Fnews%2Fdaily-gossip%2F50141" target="_blank"><img src="http://res3.feedsportal.com/images/bookmark.gif" border="0" /></a></td></tr></table></div><br/><br/><a href="http://da.feedsportal.com/r/65750110795/u/49/f/479227/c/32495/s/158295060/a2.htm"><img src="http://da.feedsportal.com/r/65750110795/u/49/f/479227/c/32495/s/158295060/a2.img" border="0" /></a><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/nmecom/rss/newsxml/~4/VOP6eRbOZV4" height="1" width="1" /></p> <p><a href="http://xlrecordings.com/2010/03/09/lily-allen-walks-offstage-after-crowd-ruckus-at-joint-dizzee-rascal-gig-daily-gossip#comments">Comments</a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/xlrecordings/~4/0Ymfz1EsCY8" height="1" width="1"/> http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/xlrecordings/~3/0Ymfz1EsCY8/50141 Admin Tue, 09 Mar 2010 10:56:00 +0000 http://www.nme.com/news/daily-gossip/50141 http://www.nme.com/news/daily-gossip/50141 <p><p><a href="http://pitchfork.com/artists/26015-the-white-stripes/" target="_blank">The White Stripes</a> documentary film and live album <a href="http://pitchfork.com/news/37893-video-watch-a-live-performance-from-the-white-stripes-box-set/" target="_blank"><i>Under Great White Northern Lights</i></a> is out next Tuesday, March 16, in several formats-- DVD, CD, <a href="http://pitchfork.com/news/37362-white-stripes-to-release-live-box-set/" target="_blank">super-deluxe box set</a>. But you can <a href="http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=124356484" target="_blank">stream the audio from the set now through release day, courtesy of those soothing voices at NPR</a>.</p> <p>Below is the tracklist for the <i>Under Great White Northern Lights </i>album, which collects audio from various shows on the Stripes' 2007 Canadian tour.</p> <p></p><!--pagebreak--> <p><i>Under Great White Northern Lights</i>:</p> <p>01 Let's Shake Hands<br />02 Black Math<br />03 Little Ghost<br />04 Blue Orchid<br />05 The Union Forever<br />06 Ball and Biscuit<br />07 Icky Thump<br />08 I'm Slowly Turning Into You<br />09 Jolene<br />10 300 M.P.H. Torrential Outpour Blues<br />11 We Are Going to Be Friends<br />12 I Just Don't Know What to Do With Myself<br />13 Prickly Thorn, But Sweetly Worn<br />14 Fell In Love With a Girl<br />15 When I Hear My Name<br />16 Seven Nation Army<br />17 End</p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/PitchforkLatestNews/~4/c1j22ulvO-Q" height="1" width="1" /></p> <p><a href="http://xlrecordings.com/2010/03/08/listen-the-white-stripes-live-album#comments">Comments</a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/xlrecordings/~4/c1j22ulvO-Q" height="1" width="1"/> http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/xlrecordings/~3/c1j22ulvO-Q/ Admin Mon, 08 Mar 2010 20:20:00 +0000 http://www.pitchfork.com/news/38123-listen-the-white-stripes-live-album/ http://www.pitchfork.com/news/38123-listen-the-white-stripes-live-album/ <p><p><i>Photo by James Cadden</i></p> <p>This weekend, we learned the <a href="http://pitchfork.com/news/38114-rip-sparklehorses-mark-linkous/" target="_blank" title="sad news">sad news</a> that <a href="http://pitchfork.com/artists/3902-sparklehorse/" target="_blank" title="Sparklehorse"><span class="misspell">Sparklehorse</span></a> <span class="misspell">frontman</span> <a href="http://pitchfork.com/artists/5877-mark-linkous/" target="_blank" title="Mark Linkous">Mark <span class="misspell">Linkous</span></a> had taken his own life. <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/08/arts/music/08linkous.html?ref=music" target="_blank"><i>The New York Times</i> reports</a> that Linkous shot himself in the heart in Knoxville, Tennessee. He was 47.</p> <p>Over the course of his career, <span class="misspell">Linkous</span> toured and collaborated with a lots of musicians, and he made admirers of many more. As the news of his death circulated, many of those artists took to the <span class="misspell">internet</span>, Twitter especially, to air out their feelings for <span class="misspell">Linkous</span>. Below, we'<span class="misspell">ve</span> rounded up some of those reactions.</p> <p> </p> <p></p><!--pagebreak--> <p><a href="http://www.radiohead.com/deadairspace/" target="_blank" title="Radiohead bassist Colin Greenwood"><span class="misspell">Radiohead</span> bassist Colin Greenwood</a>: "I was very sad to hear the news that Mark <span class="misspell">Linkous</span> has died. He and his band toured with us in Europe, at the start of <i>OK Computer</i>, and they were great every night. His first two records were very important to me, and I carried his music from the tour into my life, and my friends' lives too. He was softly spoken, with an Old South courtesy I <span class="misspell">hadn</span>'t heard before: he introduced me to Daniel Johnston's music, and the West Virginian writing of <span class="misspell">Pinckney</span> Benedict. Mark wrote and played some beautiful music, and we're lucky to have it. Rest in Peace."<a href="http://twitter.com/Jumex/status/10107872663" target="_blank" title="Chris Walla"></a></p> <p><a href="http://twitter.com/Jumex/status/10107872663" target="_blank" title="Chris Walla">Death Cab for Cutie <span class="misspell">guitaris</span>t Chris Walla</a>: "Rest in peace, Mark <span class="misspell">Linkous</span>. I always hoped that someday you would treat you good too. You shared so much."<a href="http://twitter.com/stevendrozd/status/10155996907" target="_blank" title="Steven Drozd"></a></p> <p><a href="http://twitter.com/stevendrozd/status/10155996907" target="_blank" title="Steven Drozd">Flaming Lips multi-instrumentalist Steven <span class="misspell">Drozd</span></a>: "R.I.P. Mark Linkous. You were a kind soul...Mark <span class="misspell">Linkous</span> toured with us in 2003. Every night he and I would share a quiet moment with a shot of whiskey and a few laughs. A nice memory."<a href="http://twitter.com/thefutureheads/status/10128271499" target="_blank" title="The Futureheads"></a></p> <p><a href="http://twitter.com/thefutureheads/status/10128271499" target="_blank" title="The Futureheads"><span class="misspell">Futureheads</span> <span class="misspell">frontma</span>n Ross Millard</a>: "R: RIP Mark <span class="misspell">Linkous</span> - 'It's a Wonderful Life' is one hell of a song - <span class="misspell">Linkous</span> was one hell of a visionary."<a href="http://twitter.com/Metric/status/10158736805" target="_blank" title="Metric"></a></p> <p><a href="http://twitter.com/Metric/status/10158736805" target="_blank" title="Metric">Metric</a>: "<span class="status-body"><span class="entry-content">Don't care about the Oscars. Thinking only of our latest loss too soon, Mark <span class="misspell">Linkous</span>.</span></span>"<a href="http://twitter.com/califonemusic/status/10128509908" target="_blank" title="Califone"></a></p> <p><a href="http://twitter.com/califonemusic/status/10128509908" target="_blank" title="Califone"><span class="misspell">Califone</span></a>: <span class="status-body">"<span class="entry-content">goodbye mark l., we will miss you badly</span></span>"<a href="http://twitter.com/xxofMontrealxx/status/10114192305" target="_blank" title="Antlers"><br /></a><br /><a href="http://www.electrical.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=4&amp;t=48534&amp;start=0" target="_blank" title="Steve Albini">Steve Albini</a>: "I only worked with Mark for a couple of weeks, but he was as open, sincere and unaffected a person as I've ever encountered. He was completely unguarded and enthusiastic about the things he loved, and he gave the musicians he worked with freedom to be creative and excel. Prior to seeing him at work I'd never given his music much thought, but during those sessions he impressed me tremendously and I was really looking forward to seeing him again and finishing the record.<br /><br />"I have no idea what brought Mark to this decision, and I'm sure there's nothing I can say that will enlighten anybody about his death. I just wanted to say I thought he was a good dude and his art was genuine. I don't think there's a lot more you can ever ask of anybody."<br /><br /><a href="http://davidwmsims.wordpress.com/2010/03/08/mark-linkous-1962-2010/" target="_blank" title="Jesus Lizard bassist David Wm. Sims">Jesus Lizard bassist David Wm. Sims</a>: "I was crushed to hear that Mark Linkous took his own life Saturday. I had the great honor of playing with Sparklehorse on a 1999 European tour. Mark was always kind and gracious and that tour will always be a highlight of my career. His songs have a aching emotional intensity that still leave me gasping, the kind of songs that make you feel you'd been confided in, that someone has left themselves nakedly vulnerable to make you understand what they are trying to say. I love the way he sang, tuneful but free of unnecessary ornamentation. Our world is sadder and less beautiful without him."</p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/PitchforkLatestNews/~4/OxnYKOnUcX0" height="1" width="1" /></p> <p><a href="http://xlrecordings.com/2010/03/08/artists-react-to-the-death-of-sparklehorses-mark-linkous#comments">Comments</a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/xlrecordings/~4/OxnYKOnUcX0" height="1" width="1"/> http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/xlrecordings/~3/OxnYKOnUcX0/ Admin Mon, 08 Mar 2010 17:35:00 +0000 http://www.pitchfork.com/news/38119-artists-react-to-the-death-of-sparklehorses-mark-linkous/ http://www.pitchfork.com/news/38119-artists-react-to-the-death-of-sparklehorses-mark-linkous/ <p><p>Between Vampire Weekend <a href="http://pitchfork.com/tv/#/musicvideo/4089-vampire-weekend-giving-up-the-gun-xl" target="_blank">enlisting Jonas Brother Joe Jonas to star in their "Giving Up the Gun" video</a> and a burgeoning war between Justin Bieber and <a href="http://randymixtape.com/" target="_blank">Raaaaaaaandy</a> (aka comedian <a href="http://pitchfork.com/artists/5989-aziz-ansari/" target="_blank">Aziz Ansari</a>), it looks like the indie world has finally figured out how to capitalize on the current teen-pop boom.</p><br /> <p>As we wait on the official release of Raaaaaaaandy and TV on the Radio producer-guitarist <a href="http://pitchfork.com/artists/6770-dave-sitek/" target="_blank">Dave Sitek</a>'s <a href="http://pitchfork.com/news/37320-aziz-ansari-and-tvotrs-dave-sitek-team-up-for-hip-hop-mixtape/" target="_blank">hip-hop mixtape</a>, the duo have a new video on <a href="http://www.funnyordie.com/videos/d47751f7a0/raaaaaaaandy-declares-war-on-justin-bieber" target="_blank">Funny or Die</a> that claims Canadian moppet Bieber shot Raaaaaaaandy in the knee and stole a Raaaaaaaandy track called "Baby Baby" and turned it into his smash hit "Baby". Yeah Yeah Yeahs' Nick Zinner makes a guitar-swaying cameo in the skit.</p><br /> <p>Check out the first track from the mixtape, "AAAAAAAANGRY", <a href="http://pitchfork.com/news/37990-listen-the-first-track-from-aziz-ansari-and-dave-siteks-mixtape/" target="_blank">here</a>. Download Raaaaaaaandy's "Baby Baby" and watch the Bieber vs. Raaaaaaaandy saga below.</p><br /> <p>And-- because this is the only chance I'll ever get to embed a Justin Bieber video on Pitchfork-- the original "Baby" video is after the jump, too. The kid really let himself go:</p><br /> <p></p><!--pagebreak--><br /> <p>"Raaaaaaaandy Declares War on Justin Bieber"</p><br /> <p><br /> <object width="384" height="256" data="http://player.ordienetworks.com/flash/fodplayer.swf" type="application/x-shockwave-flash"><br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> </object><br /> </p><br /> <p><br /> <object width="220" height="70" data="http://www.lala.com/external/flash/SingleSongWidget.swf" type="application/x-shockwave-flash"><br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> </object><br /> <b></b></p><br /> <p><b>MP3:&gt;</b> <a href="http://downloads.pitchforkmedia.com/Raaaaaaaandy%20-%20Baby%20Baby%20(featuring%20DJ%20Ol'%20Youngin).mp3" target="_blank">Raaaaaaaandy: "Baby Baby" [ft. DJ Ol' Youngin]</a></p><br /> <p>Justin Bieber: "Baby"</p><br /> <p><br /> <object width="425" height="344" data="http://www.youtube.com/v/kffacxfA7G4&amp;hl=en_US&amp;fs=1&amp;" type="application/x-shockwave-flash"><br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> </object><br /> </p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/PitchforkLatestNews/~4/spCEEjlJeJ4" height="1" width="1" /></p> <p><a href="http://xlrecordings.com/2010/03/08/aziz-ansari-dave-sitek-and-nick-zinner-take-on-justin-bieber#comments">Comments</a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/xlrecordings/~4/spCEEjlJeJ4" height="1" width="1"/> http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/xlrecordings/~3/spCEEjlJeJ4/ Admin Mon, 08 Mar 2010 17:00:00 +0000 http://www.pitchfork.com/news/38118-aziz-ansari-dave-sitek-and-nick-zinner-take-on-justin-bieber/ http://www.pitchfork.com/news/38118-aziz-ansari-dave-sitek-and-nick-zinner-take-on-justin-bieber/ <p><p>New York City's own <a href="http://pitchfork.com/artists/5594-vampire-weekend/" target="_blank">Vampire Weekend</a> played "<a href="http://www.nbc.com/saturday-night-live/" target="_blank">Saturday Night Live"</a> over the weekend. They didn't wear pastels, shorts, or scarves. They did play "Cousins" and "Giving Up the Gun". Check out the performances below--who says you can't sound good on "SNL"?</p><br /> <p></p><!--pagebreak--><br /> <p>"Cousins"</p><br /> <p><br /> <object width="384" height="283" data="http://widgets.nbc.com/o/4727a250e66f9723/4b951813e2193259/4741e3c5156499a7/57e145dc/-cpid/ef675e319506a315" type="application/x-shockwave-flash"><br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> </object><br /> </p><br /> <p>"Giving Up the Gun"</p><br /> <p><br /> <object width="384" height="283" data="http://widgets.nbc.com/o/4727a250e66f9723/4b951818d02cdda3/4741e3c5156499a7/ed0e4bd0/-cpid/604c36aa21ba241d" type="application/x-shockwave-flash"><br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> </object><br /> </p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/PitchforkLatestNews/~4/e89tA-uXZ2c" height="1" width="1" /></p> <p><a href="http://xlrecordings.com/2010/03/08/watch-vampire-weekend-perform-on-saturday-night-live#comments">Comments</a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/xlrecordings/~4/e89tA-uXZ2c" height="1" width="1"/> http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/xlrecordings/~3/e89tA-uXZ2c/ Admin Mon, 08 Mar 2010 15:50:00 +0000 http://www.pitchfork.com/news/38116-watch-vampire-weekend-perform-on-saturday-night-live/ http://www.pitchfork.com/news/38116-watch-vampire-weekend-perform-on-saturday-night-live/ <p><p>It&#8217;s Jan 2009, Peaches and Sweet Machine are on tearing up the road touring the US, for the <em>third</em> time, since &#8216;I Feel Cream&#8217; dropped in Spring 09&#8242;.</p><br /> <p>Chicago Public Radios, &#8216;Sound Opinions&#8217; hosts take time to draw out some interesting facts, that Peaches, naturally expands on.</p><br /> <p>For the entire audio, please the shows homepage: <a href="http://www.soundopinions.org," target="_blank">http://www.soundopinions.org</a></p><br /> <p><a href="http://www.peachesofficialblog.com//interviews/soundopinions/"><em>Click here to view the embedded video.</em></a></p></p> <p><a href="http://xlrecordings.com/2010/03/08/peaches-on-sound-opinions-915fm-chicago-public-radio#comments">Comments</a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/xlrecordings/~4/rFpaYcEA1gQ" height="1" width="1"/> http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/xlrecordings/~3/rFpaYcEA1gQ/ Admin Mon, 08 Mar 2010 14:58:00 +0000 http://www.peachesofficialblog.com//interviews/soundopinions/ http://www.peachesofficialblog.com//interviews/soundopinions/ <p><p><object type="application/x-shockwave-flash" height="372" width="640" id="TSWidget15819" data="http://cdn.topspin.net/widgets/single/swf/TSSinglePlayer.swf?timestamp=1268018716" bgColor="#000000"></object></p><br /> <p>the <a href="http://jonsi.com/limited-edition" target="_blank">limited edition</a> of 'go' is now available to preorder over on jonsi.com. the limited edition includes, among other things, a new film called 'go quiet', featuring jonsi performing all the songs on the album acoustically at home in reykjavik. the <a href="http://jonsi.com/limited-edition" target="_blank">limited edition</a> is available to buy in physical or digital format.</p><br /> <img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/sigurros-news/~4/Xpg4KSiKYtI" height="1" width="1" /></p> <p><a href="http://xlrecordings.com/2010/03/08/jonsi-go-limited-edition-now-on-sale#comments">Comments</a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/xlrecordings/~4/Xpg4KSiKYtI" height="1" width="1"/> http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/xlrecordings/~3/Xpg4KSiKYtI/ Admin Mon, 08 Mar 2010 14:18:00 +0000 http://www.sigur-ros.co.uk/news/?p=1511 http://www.sigur-ros.co.uk/news/?p=1511 <p><div class="track"><img alt="" src="http://hits.guardian.co.uk/b/ss/guardiangu-feeds/1/H.20.3/91137?ns=guardian&amp;pageName=Sparklehorse+took+the+ugly+and+made+it+beautiful%3AArticle%3A1368779&amp;ch=Music&amp;c3=GU.co.uk&amp;c4=Sparklehorse%2CPop+and+rock+%28Music+genre%29%2CMusic%2CCulture+section&amp;c6=Tim+Jonze&amp;c7=10-Mar-08&amp;c8=1368779&amp;c9=Article&amp;c10=Blogpost&amp;c11=Music&amp;c13=&amp;c25=Music+blog&amp;c30=content&amp;h2=GU%2FMusic%2FSparklehorse" width="1" height="1" /></div><p class="standfirst">The genius of Mark Linkous, who died tragically on Saturday, was to transform the twisted and cruel into the tender and transcendent</p><p>My introduction to Sparklehorse was an ugly and brutal experience. Detuned guitars hammering away relentlessly, as unforgiving as a smithy's forge, with a distorted vocal over the top. I might never have listened again had I not read an interview with Mark Linkous, in which he revealed the inspiration for the song: finding an injured bird and nursing it back to health. Never one for the literal, the lyrics to <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tBA6b5K_ALI">Hammering the Cramps</a> run: "Hey little dog, can you fly? Hammering the cramps ..." </p><p>It was heartbreaking on Sunday morning to hear that Linkous had <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2010/mar/08/sparklehorse-mark-linkous">taken his own life</a>. Any sudden death comes as a shock, but as with Elliott Smith or Kurt Cobain, the news can't be totally unexpected for Sparklehorse fans. Linkous had already been declared technically dead once before in 1996, after an overdose of valium and anti-depressants while on tour with Radiohead. </p><p>Linkous channelled whatever optimism he could muster after his near-death experience into the second Sparklehorse album, 1998's Good Morning Spider. Animals and escaping into nature are recurring themes in Linkous's lyrics. "The owls have been talking to me," he sang on the shimmering Spirit Ditch. Elswhere, Linkous transformed a biblical passage from Luke 12:6 over glockenspiel: "Every hair on your head is counted/You are worth hundreds of sparrows." </p><p>Whether using squealing grunge guitars (<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3xQSWpLCcpE">Pig</a>) or sumptuous pedal steel (<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t0Z3d-PKGbo">Heart of Darkness</a>), Linkous, like Daniel Johnston, always came across as a naif. It confirmed a cruel irony: those who see the most beauty in this world are often the least equipped to handle it. </p><p>Listening again to Hammering the Cramps, I could no longer detect the punishing noises that once repelled me. Certainly it sounds damaged, but the melody is nothing but pretty and the pounding guitars sound like a determination to keep going, to keep something alive. This was the genius of Mark Linkous: he took the cruel, the twisted, the ugly and made them beautiful. Sadly, it was a beauty he wasn't always able to see for himself.</p><div class="related"><ul><li><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/sparklehorse">Sparklehorse</a></li><li><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/popandrock">Pop and rock</a></li></ul></div><div class="author"><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/profile/timjonze">Tim Jonze</a></div><br/><div class="terms"><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk">guardian.co.uk</a> &copy; Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our <a href="http://users.guardian.co.uk/help/article/0,,933909,00.html">Terms & Conditions</a> | <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/help/feeds">More Feeds</a></div><p /></p> <p><a href="http://xlrecordings.com/2010/03/08/sparklehorse-took-the-ugly-and-made-it-beautiful#comments">Comments</a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/xlrecordings/~4/c94Y-fV0pmg" height="1" width="1"/> http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/xlrecordings/~3/c94Y-fV0pmg/sparklehorse Admin Mon, 08 Mar 2010 12:05:00 +0000 http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/musicblog/2010/mar/08/sparklehorse http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/musicblog/2010/mar/08/sparklehorse <p>Linkous had toured with the Oxford band in the 1990s<img width="1" height="1" src="http://rss.feedsportal.com/c/32495/f/479227/s/968b666/mf.gif" border="0" /><div class='mf-viral'><table border='0'><tr><td valign='middle'><a href="http://res.feedsportal.com/viral/sendemail2.html?title=Radiohead+pay+tribute+to+Sparklehorse%27s+Mark+Linkous&amp;link=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.nme.com%2Fnews%2Fsparklehorse%2F50120" target="_blank"><img src="http://res3.feedsportal.com/images/emailthis2.gif" border="0" /></a></td><td valign='middle'><a href="http://res.feedsportal.com/viral/bookmark.cfm?title=Radiohead+pay+tribute+to+Sparklehorse%27s+Mark+Linkous&amp;link=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.nme.com%2Fnews%2Fsparklehorse%2F50120" target="_blank"><img src="http://res3.feedsportal.com/images/bookmark.gif" border="0" /></a></td></tr></table></div><br/><br/><a href="http://da.feedsportal.com/r/65664734931/u/49/f/479227/c/32495/s/157857382/a2.htm"><img src="http://da.feedsportal.com/r/65664734931/u/49/f/479227/c/32495/s/157857382/a2.img" border="0" /></a><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/nmecom/rss/newsxml/~4/ab_qUK7CvqU" height="1" width="1" /></p> <p><a href="http://xlrecordings.com/2010/03/08/radiohead-pay-tribute-to-sparklehorses-mark-linkous#comments">Comments</a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/xlrecordings/~4/VHHDwOs4jOQ" height="1" width="1"/> http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/xlrecordings/~3/VHHDwOs4jOQ/50120 Admin Mon, 08 Mar 2010 11:52:00 +0000 http://www.nme.com/news/sparklehorse/50120 http://www.nme.com/news/sparklehorse/50120 <p>I was very sad to hear the news that Mark Linkous has died. He and his band toured with us in Europe, at the start of OK Computer, and they were great every night. His first two records were very important to me, and I carried his music from the tour into my life, and my friends lives too. He was softly spoken, with an Old South courtesy I hadnt heard before: he introduced me to Daniel Johnstons music, and the West Virginian writing of Pinckney Benedict. Mark wrote and played some beautiful music, and were lucky to have it. Rest in Peace.<br /> <br /> Colin</p> <p><a href="http://xlrecordings.com/2010/03/08/mark-linkous-rip#comments">Comments</a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/xlrecordings/~4/bR4vXFD9XkM" height="1" width="1"/> http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/xlrecordings/~3/bR4vXFD9XkM/index.php Admin Mon, 08 Mar 2010 10:57:00 +0000 http://www.radiohead.com/deadairspace/index.php?c=553 http://www.radiohead.com/deadairspace/index.php?c=553