lefreeakblog

Above is Sido, a German rapper who performed at the end of April in Dusseldorf to hundreds of people. Catch? They were all in cars and sensibly spaced out. The drive-in - a largely American cultural phenomenon from the Fifties - is back but this time it's not just films involved, it's also being used in the Music industry. Ever since downloading and then streaming put a death knell in the profits of artists, live music has been where the money is but sadly the pandemic has stopped all live events in the Arts. However like any good business, the music industry has come up with new ideas or, in the case of this, innovative new takes on old ideas once consigned to the bin. Now in UK a tour has been planned for dozens of artists to do just this: perform to you whilst you sit in your car. The artists including The Streets, Kaiser Chiefs and Dizzee Rascal will perform at 12 venues across the country including in London, Birmingham and Liverpool as part of a series called Utilita Li...

Whenever it's very hot like it is today, when its so hot it's all you can think about, I'm always reminded of my Dad's quip about the ethereal and soothing "Cool Cool Water", a cool (pun intended) little ditty by his favourite band The Beach Boys. From their 'lost' Smile! album, it was part of the 'Elements' suite originally conceived by Brian Wilson, their songwriter in chief, along with pieces on fire, wind, vegetables etc etc. After shelving that album - for a multitude of reasons, too many to list here (perhaps a future post..) - it was rewritten for their 1970 classic  Sunflower album, and in the process lost some of its original charm. Anyway belated happy fathers day Dad;

Fiona Apple Fetch the Bolt Cutters     Epic Singer's first album in eight years and a terse, honest, sometimes humorous account of freedom from oppression INITIALLY POSTPONED due to Covid, Fiona Apple pushed forward a release for her fifth album both for the fans and to avoid all the music industry "bulls**t". But probably also because Apple knew she had something to say and something special up her sleeve. The album, Apple says is about "women" and "not being afraid to speak out" and ultimately about freedom from oppression. Songs are largely built on percussion rather than her trademark piano making it hard to genre categorise although fans will recognise musical similarities to her last album 2012's The Idler Wheel...       The opening salvo of "I Want You To Love Me" and "Shameika" are musically like sisters, kicking things off with similar winding piano motifs, the former is a direct plea to a hypothetical lover, the l...

There have been huge protests around the world recently in reaction to the killing of George Floyd in the U.S. Throughout history, music and songs have marked such events and been the vessel for artists to make their own voice heard. They have been used as a barometer of the mood, the feeling and the sense of injustice felt by the public and by the country as a whole. Below are 17 examples of protest songs written in times of civil unrest, particularly in but not exclusively to, the U.S.: Strange Fruit Billie Holiday, 1939 Is there a more chilling song in popular music? A poem by Abel Meeropol - written under the name Lewis Allan - felt that Lady Day had to sing it. Covered by  Diana Ross, Nina Simone, Tony Bennett, Sting and many others, it s lyric about lynching and Southern trees with "blood on the leaves and blood at the root", are unforgettable. The Times They Are A-Changin' Bob Dylan, 1964 from The Times They Are A-Changin' Known in his early career a...

With soft brushes of the cymbal, Jimmy Cobb, who passed away ten days ago and who was the last surviving member of Miles Davis sextet behind Kind of Blue , starts the gentle groove that underpins "So What", one of the greatest and most famous pieces in all of Jazz. Recorded for Miles Davis' 1959 masterpiece Kind of Blue , it opens what many say is the greatest jazz album of all time, having sold millions of copies worldwide and been streamed millions of times ("So What" alone has been streamed 49million times on Spotify at the time of writing, not bad for a 60 year old piece of music). Kind of Blue  would mark the moment where Miles Davis vision of modal jazz really came to fruition, after initially exploring it in the preceding two albums. Modal jazz sets the music around a mode rather than specific tone and by treating all chords equally, it gives musicians more freedom to play. "So What" is one of the best examples of modal jazz as it particu...