There are two albums which were reviewed on MusicRiot on the Top 40 Independent Album chart last week, Neneh Cherry’s “Blank Project” and Stone Foundation’s “To Find the Spirit”.  These albums have a few things in common; they’re both fourth studio albums, they both have guest artists, both were rated as 4* by MusicRiot writers and both feature guest performers and the similarity pretty much ends there.  Except that, as Neil Sheasby, bass player and songwriter with Stone Foundation pointed out a few days ago, both albums were in the 30-to-40 section of the Independent Album chart, “To Find the Spirit” at 33, “Blank Project” at 38.

It isn’t a straightforward comparison; Neneh Cherry’s album peaked in the top ten a fortnight earlier while “To Find the Spirit” has just entered the chart in its first week.  The interesting story here is the journey that each of these albums made to reach those chart positions.  This isn’t a criticism of Neneh Cherry; it’s an achievement to get any kind of significant album sales at a time when the value of music has been so degraded by piracy and the industry has no time or money for artist development.  Most of the bands I’ve spoken to recently have only the most tangential contact with the traditional music industry, usually at the distribution end of the chain.

Neneh Cherry was operating on a fairly tight budget with “Blank Project”; it was recorded and mixed in five days (featuring guest appearances from Robyn and RocketNumberNine) by Four Tet’s Kieran Hebden, generating a certain level of interest in the project outside Neneh Cherry’s own fanbase, which is still reasonably healthy after a long time out of the spotlight.  In the weeks leading up to the release there was a significant amount of interest from the trade press and even the inkies in the UK; the physical release was in vinyl and bonus CD form with the CD containing the almost obligatory remixes.  So, signs of a marketing budget there.  Maybe not a huge budget, but enough to get the album into the mainstream media.

Stone Foundation have been doing their thing for about ten years, building up a local, then national, then international following; putting in the hard graft, basically.  The band has played as Stone Foundation and has also backed touring soul singers such as Nolan Porter and Joe Harris, building a reputation and a hugely loyal fanbase.  There’s no complicated organisation in place here; no manager or entourage; just seven very gifted and committed musicians (plus long-time production collaborator, Andy Codling) with a total belief in what they do.

“To Find the Spirit” has a few guest appearances too.  Nolan Porter, Carleen Anderson, Pete Williams from Dexys and even Paolo Hewitt are all there.  The album even has a remix; the Dennis Bovell dub of “Don’t Let the Rain”, which is available on all formats.  The promotion campaign was minimal, focussing on social media and a support slot on The Selecter’s anniversary tour, but still the album managed to break into the official Independent Album Top 40.

It would be easy to moan about how much better it was in the good old days when artists got huge advances and only toured in support of an album, but that model just doesn’t apply any more.  Most artists now only make money by touring, and a lot of that income is from merchandising.  Take a step away from singles charts and there are thousands of talented and hard-working musicians taking control of the recording, marketing and distribution processes (physical and electronic) to get their own material out into the marketplace with very little help from the mainstream media.  The MusicRiot writers try to cover as many artists as we can who are working in this way (as do thousands of other websites) but it’s only effective if our readers actually do something about it.  It’s so easy to try before you buy these days that any music lover should be able find new artists doing something interesting and appealing if they make the effort.  It’s all going on out there but, despite 6 Music’s slightly patronising campaign, it won’t come to you automatically; you have to make the effort to go out and find it.

So I say thank you to Stone Foundation and the other artists and labels we’ve featured recently; The Brothers Groove, Roscoe Levee, Bandhouse Records, Drumfire Records, Ags Connolly, Phil  Burdett, Dean Owens, Jo Hook and Geoffrey Richardson, Noel Cowley, Pete Kennedy, Aynsley Lister, Vera Lynch and the Billy Walton Band.  All of these artists are making their own wonderful live and recorded music while doing whatever else it takes to allow them to keep on making music.

Now go out and support them.

Noel Cowley thumbnailWell, it’s not even halfway through January yet and this is the second very, very good single I’ve reviewed.  Noel Cowley is a singer-songwriter with roots in Derry, Dublin and London and the songs and arrangements on this EP are in a tradition that extends back to the highpoint of the genre in the 70s.  Noel recorded these songs (co-written with his brother Ewan, who also plays piano and guitar) in Manchester with some help from Paul Burgess (10CC) on drums and Tracey Browne on backing vocals.

The songs on this EP are moving and introspective, from the opener “If Nobody Told You” with its positive advice to be yourself set against a band arrangement with strings, to the closing song “Station Road” with its sparse acoustic guitar arrangement and Van Morrison-like childhood reminiscences.  The two central songs, “Wherever I Go” and “Sunday on the Quay”, are perfect in every way, from the nostalgic lyrics to the powerfully catchy choruses delivered in Noel’s strong, clear tenor voice, which has a strong feel of Iain Matthews, a long-time favourite of mine.

If you want an antidote to the instant stardom, X-Factor pap that clogs up the charts at the moment, then you could do a whole lot worse than listen to this.  There’s no over-the-top production, no clever samples, just songs that stand up on their own with very simple, even basic, arrangements played on real instruments; what a great start to the year.

Release date January 14th, 2014

 

We promised to point you in the direction of some great music that we think will break through this year and I think it’s about time we started.  A couple of these groups have been mentioned on MusicRiot in 2013, but we think they’re on the verge of national recognition this year, so I make no apologies for bringing them to your attention again.

CATB thumbnailCanterbury’s Coco and the Butterfields kept us entertained for a few nights last year in various venues across London and Brighton and were well worth seeing each time.  The band came together on the busking scene in Canterbury and their live shows still have the feel of a very intimate interaction between audience and performers.  The line-up is unusual (double bass, banjo, guitar, fiddle and human beatbox with two very strong lead vocals with occasional help from trombone and trumpet) and the band are tremendous in the live setting but they have a lot more going for them.  They have some very innovative cover versions and some outstanding original material (the single “Warriors”, for example) and they win over audiences wherever they play.

Gentlemen of FewWhich brings me to my second tip:  I saw Gentlemen of Few supporting Coco and the Butterfields upstairs at The Garage in Islington, and they were tremendous.  They play country bluegrass, they’re young, they’re enthusiastic, they’re from south Kent and they’re a joy to see live.  They play a wide variety of traditional instruments and they play them really well.  The vocal harmonies are the icing on the cake; they have great voices and the four-part harmonies are superb.  They might not break through this year, but it’s only a matter of time.  Go out and see them in 2014 if you can.

BCATGTwo of the Riot Squad have been following Black Casino and the Ghost very closely this year.  I’ve reviewed a couple of singles (as well as their contribution to the “Radio (in my) Head” album) and Klare reviewed their debut album; we’re both very impressed.  Fronted by the powerful and dynamic vocals of Elisa Zoot, BCATG are superb as a studio and live act with a bunch of powerful and original songs and varied live arrangements and visuals.  They attracted some national attention towards the end of the 2013 in The Guardian and it’s only a matter of time before they break out from the London scene.

Hannah optimisedAnother band I saw as a support in 2013 was Bird to Beast (supporting Black Casino and the Ghost at The Finsbury) in November.  The core of the band is Sam and Hannah Hird from Colne in Lancashire and their own description of the band’s sound is psych-folk although there’s an awful lot more going on there.  The songs are very good (certainly strong enough to stand up to a stripped-down live performance) and the vocal harmonies give them a huge lift. Their new single “Elephant” is released officially on Monday 13th January and has already had plays on 6 Music and Radio 2.  I think we’re going to hear a lot more from Bird to Beast in 2014.

Noel Cowley thumbnailThe final tip for 2014 is an artist that I listened to for the first time today and had to listen a few more times because he was so good.  Noel Cowley is a London-born singer-songwriter with very pronounced Celtic influences and inspiration.  His songs are introspective and sometimes nostalgic and he knows how to write a good melody and a very good chorus.  His second EP, “Home is Everywhere” is released on Tuesday January 14th and the title track caught my attention immediately because the vocal had a very strong feel of one of my favourite singers, Iain Matthews and that has to be a good thing.

We’ll be publishing more detailed reviews of the Bird and the Beast single and the Noel Cowley EP in the next few days, so keep an eye out for those.