James’s blog
Extras:
- Harry Hill’s book - index of famous names (PDF)
- Cover Paije (Spotify playlist)
- Now That’s What I Call Wigging Out (Spotify playlist)
Why not:
Sites I’ve linked to:
- Amardeep Singh at Lehigh University
- Anglican Church Music
- Billie the Vision
- Books by Mark Billingham
- Einar Egilsson’s chord image generator
- Garry Knight on Flickr
- Harry Pearson
- Korall on Wikimedia
- Lille Cathedral
- Michael Rosen blog
- Nadia Oh
- Nick Hillman on Twitter
- One Post Wonders
- Popjustice
- Red Bubble
- Slate: Owen Pallett
- Sputnik Music forums
- Stewart Lee
- Survivors Fund
- Tour de France Lanterne Rouge
- Wordle
- Wyclef on YouTube
Other good sites:
On the MP3
19 Apr 14 | Re: Vicarious chart success | Link-U-Post
This weekend in overall chart terms might seem run of the mill: another soulful dance tune crashing in at number 1 just as they have five times in 2014 already. But for me personally it’s a little more significant because this is the first time I have helped get the number 1 single to number 1 since Brimful of Asha.
It’s a pretty good feeling, buying a song in its first week and seeing it go on to top the chart. Buying any song in its first week out already makes you feel like a bit of an insider, but the success turbo-charges that unearned ego boost. The charts were always designed to make people treat music like football and this is the equivalent of going on a good cup run, crossing your fingers and hoping that your favourite will deliver, knowing that there are a few tens of thousands of other people who see in them what you see.
The track in question is Hideaway by Kiesza - you’ve probably heard it if you have any kind of ear on pop music since it’s been everywhere, but if you haven’t it (and the video) (and the Greg James take-off of the video) are well worth a look. In fact, if you have fond memories of 90s music but haven’t been bothering with Radio 1 for a few years, now might be a very good time to reacquaint yourself with pop music generally. With Duke Dumont, Le Youth, Gorgon City, Disclosure and various others all having hits we seem to be in some kind of golden age.
At a stretch there are a few similarities between Hideaway and Brimful of Asha. It’s a first charting single by an act that has already had a few stabs in obscurity; it’s riding a trend (big beat for Cornershop, deep house for Kiesza) but perhaps not a completely dead-on example of that trend; it’s been acclaimed by critics who are now delighted to see the public agree with them. Whether Kiesza will go on to make an album as incredible as Handcream for a Generation remains to be seen: hope she does.
Posted by CIACCO at 14:23
[Or dive into the blarchive...]