JIM CARROLLon music
WHEN IT COMES TO differences between the old music industry and the new music industry, there’s one line that says a lot. It pops up every so often and it always puts a smile on my face.
This week, it was the turn of Ferdy Unger-Hamilton, the big kahoona at Polydor Records, to spin it. Speaking about his best-selling act Lana Del Rey, Unger-Hamilton said she has “thee CDs’ worth of songs with loads of brilliant tracks. Enough for us to do the album and a deluxe edition and still have stuff left for later records.”
It's a line that was previously used by U2 in the wake of negative reaction to the appalling No Line On the Horizonalbum. Here's Bono in August 2010: "We have Songs of Ascent, which is the meditative work. We've got a rock album. We also have a club-sounding album." Eighteen months on, we're still waiting for any of these masterpieces to appear.
Word to the superstars: there are these things called Soundcloud and Bandcamp where you can get those albums out right now to your fans.
If the music is any good, it will go beyond your dedicated fanbase. If the music is really, really good, you’ll get hits. As simple as.
But that’s not how the record industry rolls. It’s about maintaining control, rolling out promotional campaigns and 18-month schedules. It’s a way of working that has no rhyme or reason in 2012, a time when fans want new music from their favourite acts now. If the record is ready, put the damn thing out now.
It will also mean an end to having your carefully choreographed campaign scuppered by a record going rogue and leaking six months early.
New music
WILD BELLE
Chicago brother and sister Natalie and Elliot Bergman hit the radar with Keep You, a brass-powered, dubby synth-pop nugget with the kind of smarts which hint at much to come. Expect to be seeing Wild Belle's name popping up a lot in the coming months.
[ Facebook.com/wildbelleOpens in new window ]
SORCHA RICHARDSON
This New York-based Irish singer-songwriter already has a fine grasp on how to deliver atmospheric folky pop whose haunted, low-key drama will remind you of Bon Iver or Perfume Genius. Upcoming plans include the release of I Heart NYCEP for Berlin's Trackord label.
Breakingtunes.com/ sorcharichardson
FORT LEAN
Scuzzy, hazy garage-pop with plenty of anthemic hooks from a Brooklyn band featuring a former estate agent and teacher in their ranks. New single Sunsick is due in a few weeks on Neon Gold and you can expect to see them mentioned in the SXSW despatches a lot next month.
[ Facebook.com/fortleanOpens in new window ]
Now playing
Sharon Van Etten Tramp(Jagjaguwar) Time for a best-kept secret to become everyone's favourite as the Brooklyn singer delivers bittersweet odes with panache and aplomb. Playing Dublin's Whelan's on May 18.
Hackney Colliery Band Money(Wah Wah) London brass band blow up Kelis and Ol' Dirty Bastard's old-school classic.
Speech Debelle Freedom of Speech(Big Dada) Forget the Mercury kerfuffle and revel instead in the rounded majesty of Debelle's new album.
Nikkiya When I Was High(White) New Atlanta soul sister coming your way with an infectious groove and megawatt voice.
Professor Longhair Big Chief(Watch) We've been playing this 1964 classic loudly all week to make up for the fact that we're not in New Orleans for Mardi Gras.
For more see irishtimes.com/blogs/ontherecord
