Always something there to remind me...

I'm not someone who necessarily looks that deeply into how music is produced or even conceived, although I possibly should bearing in mind that I was studying to be a sound engineer many moons ago. That dream sadly never came to fruition, but being the inquisitive person that I am, I still have a fascination with all things music and am resigned to understanding it as best as I can. I am currently reading the book ‘How Music Works’ by the brilliant David Byrne and am looking forward to gaining some insight into this world via his prose. In the meantime though, my mind is still actively questioning. 

I was recently on a train journey to London and, as always, I was carrying my trusty notebook and pen so I could write down anything that came into my mind as a possible new article. Staring out of the window and seeing the familiar scenery approaching the outskirts of London, I remembered growing up there and had various other memories of days gone by. I then had an idea. So into my notebook I wrote the words ‘music and memory or association’. I also wrote some other bits and bobs around this and did a bit of googling. It was the start of a train of thought (literally) and the thought was this. Why does music link to memory and what does this mean?

We all have certain songs that are related to events in our lives. For example, when people get married they have a first dance and this song then becomes intrinsically important to their lives from then on. It will always be ‘our song’ because of that. You may remember that a specific track was playing the first time you saw ‘x’ across a crowded dance floor and suddenly realised that you wanted to spend the rest of your life with them. It may well be why ‘Saturday Night’ by Whigfield means so much to you, but who am I to judge?

Anyway, this thought also reminded me of a recent radio show that I had been listening to where the host, Claire, asked folks to get in touch and tell her which song related to various events in your life like your first crush, when you were a teenager or when you left home etc. I had a ponder and ended up joining in. This also got me reminiscing about when I was younger and the various reasons why my songs choices were important to me. Claire had asked for the song that represented your first crush and mine was ‘If I Can’t Change Your Mind’ by Sugar. The reason I picked this song is because it was on a mixtape that my first real crush made for me when I was about 19. It’s still a firm favourite with me and I have to say that when I listen to it now I am always reminded of him. It’s quite odd really as I haven’t seen him in person for nearly 20 years, but when I hear the jangly guitar of this track I can see his face as clear as day. And that’s what makes the link between music and association so very interesting.

Also in my notes was a line that said ‘Glenn T – cowboy films’. I'm sure this will mean absolutely nothing to you, so let me try to explain my thinking around this bizarre notation. I am a big fan of the band Squeeze and in particular Glenn Tilbrook. Glenn has released some solo albums and also recorded a tour video when he travelled around America in an RV. As I was thinking about memory related to music, I recalled Glenn telling a story on his tour video about how when he was a small child he used to like watching cowboy films. Not very interesting so far, but just bear with me. He said that his memories of the films were linked to the sounds he heard in them rather than the picture he’d seen on the screen. He would hear the sound of metal on metal and place this as a cowboy scraping a spoon across a metal plate while eating beans. He did not recall the colours or what was in the background picture, it was all about the sounds that were being made. I find this fascinating.

I read about ‘Music-related memory’ on Wikipedia and the opening paragraph says this:

Musical memory refers to the ability to remember music-related information, such as melodic content and other progressions of tones or pitches. The differences found between linguistic memory and musical memory have led researchers to theorize that musical memory is encoded differently from language and may constitute an independent part of the phonological loop. The use of this term is problematic, however, since it implies input from a verbal system, whereas music is in principle nonverbal.

Interesting stuff, but not really what I was aiming for. Looking at savantism or child prodigies who can play 10 instruments at the age of 6 is a bit beyond me. I also read an article on some new psychology studies around the link between memory and music. Again, not quite what I wanted to delve into, but worth a read none the less. Check it out here.

I think what I am more intrigued about is the relationship between music and how it messes with your emotions. Why does hearing certain pieces of music make you happy or sad and why do we feel the need to attach certain feelings to it? I also wonder why I can remember the lyrics to songs I haven’t heard in years, but I have no idea what I did last week? It’s a strange thing that you can recall all the words to a random song like ‘Snooker Loopy’ by Chas and Dave and yet I can’t remember to pick up milk on the way home. It must perhaps be related to the part of your brain that holds what is basically useless information.

It could be that music is such an emotional tie because it’s more important to certain people. I would class everything music related as a hobby of mine so I am always focused on learning about it, be it a new artist, reading about it or a new way of obtaining songs. Perhaps if you don’t consider this to be an area of interest to you it wouldn't have such an impact. Although I'm pretty sure that going back to Claire and the song requests on her radio show, that we all have records that mean something to us for whatever reason. It could well be that the bands your grew up with when you first started to take an interest in music have stuck with you throughout your life. I know that I attach my adoration for my hero Neil Finn to the fact that I discovered the music of Crowded House when I was in my teens and at the age where I was looking for something to speak to me about my life. I found that with Neil and his band and he has been something of a constant companion to me ever since.

I used to travel by train a lot in my early twenties and back then I didn't have my beloved iPod with me as they hadn't been invented yet (yes I am that old). Instead, I used to take with me my personal CD player and one of those CD holders where you could just carry the discs in a zipped pouch. The effort of picking only a few discs to take along was torture, but I always seemed to have ‘Ether Song’ by Turin Brakes each and every time. When I listen to tracks from that album now, I can still sense those old train journeys from London to Liverpool and I remember how it made me feel. That album is my travelling friend and when the first track ‘Blue Hour’ opens with the drum machine, I associate it with the train pulling out of Euston station and heading up the railway tracks northwards. I haven’t made that particular journey for well over 10 years now, but I'm transported back to those days whenever I play that record.

I suppose it’s easy to say that this is just human nature or memory working in the usual way. The same thing happens with more or less everything around us such as food we've eaten at specific places or certain books we've read. What makes the link with music so interesting to me though is the feelings that it brings with it. I mean, I can probably recall the first time I tried Chinese food, but it doesn't really bring out any emotion in me. It was no doubt very nice and I still like it now, but does it make my happy thinking about it? Not really, no. When I hear that song by Sugar playing though, now there’s a completely different story. I find myself smiling and thinking about the person that made me a tape a very long time ago. And that’s the power of music. The images it conjures up and the feelings it brings with it are something wonderful and I really do hope the things I am listening to now will continue to have this effect on me for a very long time to come.

I want my music television...

Music television. No, not MTV. I'm talking about television programmes featuring actual music. With musicians on them. You know, to chat and perform like. I can remember a time when there used to be a few of them on and I probably watched most of them. This was some years ago, but it makes me realise that the choice for programmes about music especially on terrestrial television now is pretty sparse. Were they actually any good though or was it all just a load of old rubbish? And what is missing from our telly boxes in 2015?

I want my, I want my...

Before we look at all of that though, here is an article from the Guardian on why any shows on music that we have had on TV previously are apparently so bad. It raises quite a few questions and will leave you with some stuff to ponder I think. Have a read here.

Well then. Let's start by going backwards. What did we have to watch in the past? Well for me it was things like 'The Tube', 'Top of the Pops', 'The White Room' and any of the chat shows that had a music slot on them such as 'TFI Friday' for example. There was also 'Later with Jools Holland' which still graces BBC2 now. I'll skip that one for now though as I have somewhat of a bee in my bonnet about 'Later' at the moment. 'The Old Grey Whistle Test' was another good one, but that was slightly before my time.

There were also programmes on the satellite channels with this mainly being things on MTV. I mean, that's what the channel was designed for and why Sting was droning on about it with Dire Straits (link to blog title right there, woo!). It was the platform for music videos and bands took this on board and started to realise that by making a kick ass video it would sell the song more. MTV started in 1981 and as you will probably know the first video ever played was 'Video Killed The Radio Star' by The Buggles. Factoid alert - The Buggles featured none other than "The man who invented the eighties" himself, Trevor Horn. I bet you knew that didn't you? Yep. MTV also had various programmes in their schedule and my favourite from the 90s was 'Most Wanted' which was hosted by Ray Cokes. It had chat, live performances and plenty of messing around which seemed to appeal to my sense of humour. It was a shame when it finished in 95.

Anyway. Thursday night was Top of the Pops night when you got to see what was in the charts that week. I don't recall being overly interested in it when I was younger, but when Rick Astley appeared in the charts (my hero!) I became keen to know if he was performing that week. It was the thing to watch and I guess I would've seen it pretty regularly from the late eighties well into the mid nineties. The show was pulled in 2006, but Christmas specials still seem to appear each year. The spin off show TOTP2 is still running and shows archived footage, although they have to be a bit careful about what they show now due to who some of the presenters of the original show used to be. Moving swiftly onwards...

'The White Room' was a Channel 4 programme which ran for a couple of years in the mid nineties. It was hosted by Mark Radcliffe and focused on performances rather than chat with the artists. Bands like Oasis and Suede played on it, but it obviously didn't have the legs or maybe the viewing figures to keep going as it's stint was rather brief. Here's the wonderful Supergrass performing live on the show.

As I mentioned there were some weekly entertainment shows which featured a live musical artist on them. We still have a few of those now I guess. 'TFI Friday' was probably the one I watched the most as Chris Evans was a good host and the music was mostly britpop era bands which I enjoyed listening to. It ran from 1996 to 2000 (on a Friday night obviously) and was a good way to end the week, hence the name! I actually have a negative of The Bluetones which was taken during one of their performances on the show. Cool huh? Have a look below. I've heard just this week that Chris Evans has hinted that the show will be back in June 2015.  Watch this space on that one!

So I guess we have to talk about 'Later with Jools Holland'. I have nothing against Jools personally, in fact he is a fabulous musician and as Squeeze are one of my favourite bands I can't fault him. BUT, I don't watch the show very often now, if at all. I did, however watch it a lot years ago as he had some awesome artists on it. As regular readers will know my all time hero is Neil Finn and Crowded House are my number one band. Well, they have played on the shows a considerable amount of times over the years which pleased me greatly. In the nineties a lot of artists I liked got to play and I still have VHS tapes (seriously) of episodes featuring some great acts. I don't actually have a VHS player anymore and I can't watch them, but never mind about all that. So what is wrong with 'Later' now? I guess it's just become too pedestrian for want of a better word. It seems to feature a lot of MOR artists and doesn't seem to have the same excitement of new and groundbreaking music. I don't watch the yearly Hootenanny shows either as it's the same artists each time and it doesn't interest me that much to be honest. I saw an episode of 'Later' last year as Neil was on it to play some songs from his new album and when Jools had a little chat with him and showed him a video clip of a Split Enz song, Neil told him that the exact same clip was used the last time he was on the show. Slightly embarrassing for the so called researcher I would've thought. I remember seeing a comment recently from someone on Twitter about the programme saying "I always record 'Later' so I can fast forward through all the shite that's on it". I have to say, I do exactly the same thing and it makes it a lot easier to watch.

At the moment I think the BBC4 channel has the best music programmes on it. I have thoroughly enjoyed shows on singer songwriters, rock, goth and other such areas of music and it's the channel I always check to make sure I'm not missing something fab. I was quite dismayed to hear that there was a possibility that it would be taken off air last year and I really hope this doesn't happen. Bearing in mind that there is a distinct lack of music shows on telly now it would be a real shame to take away the only channel that actually has something good on it! The recent 'Top of the Pops' shows from the eighties have been great fun to watch.

I suppose I have to make mention of the reality music shows that grace our screens throughout the year. Just as one ends, another one seems to start. I don't watch any of them though as I sometimes feel that we should have surely found all the talent we have by now. Some of these shows have been going for years and I have to admit I can't name very many of the 'stars' they have produced. I know and like Will Young and I'm pretty sure One Direction came out of one of these shows, but I don't think they actually won it though did they? I do like the premise of 'The Voice' more than any of the others as this is solely based on what they judges can hear rather than what the person looks like. My issue with this show however, is the judging panel. I don't really feel that any of them (with perhaps the exception of Tom Jones) can claim to be experts on talent. I mean, Rita Ora? Come on. Na. Sorry, not my cup of tea.

I guess the question therefore is what kind of music show would you like to see? For me, it would have to be one that includes some serious chat with the artists. I listen to a lot of podcasts and radio interviews with musicians I like and to me their opinion and thoughts are of great interest. I'd really like to see this on a TV show and have it as more of a chat show format where a singer comes on, performs a few songs and talks about various music issues and ideas to the host. It would be a great way of actually hearing from the 'other side' of music. As an example, I was listening to a radio interview recently where the singer talked about Spotify from the musicians point of view. I'd never really considered it before and I found it extremely interesting. This is the kind of thing I would like to see on a show. I have nothing against radio at all, I just like to see the folks that are talking that's all. Never mind about Jools jumping in on piano to overshadow your song, let's hear the real views and thoughts of musicians on what the industry is like for them and what their plans are.

There already is 'Needle Time' on Vintage TV which is hosted by music journalist Neil McCormick. This is an interview show with video clips and artists that have graced the show include Jackson Browne, David Gray and Mike Scott to name a few. Vintage TV is available on satellite and Freeview and this channel actually has quite a lot of good stuff on it anyway. I haven't actually seen much of this particular show, but it certainly ticks some of the boxes that I am looking for so depending on the guest, I might well give it a go.

I'm sure I have missed a lot out of this post as to be honest, it's one that has taken me a while to write. There are so many considerations to take into account that it has been hard to cover it all. I don't think I have really, so this may well become one of those posts that gets revisited at some point. Bit like Highway 61 I guess...

I really would like to see a serious show about music grace our screens. One that asks the artists for their thoughts on music as I think there is so much of interest out there that we are missing a trick. And if anyone is looking for a host, perhaps someone new who likes music and writes about it a bit, I am available for a small fee ;0)

So to wrap up here's a great radio interview with Olly Knights from Turin Brakes where he chats about an upcoming gig and touches on the music industry and how it has changed. Spoiler alert - Olly's speaking voice sounds remarkably like David Beckham so please don't get confused and think he's now a musician! It's very obvious that Mr B has stolen Mr Knights' famous speaking voice... (I was asked to write that).

Listen here.

Now this is what I'm rambling about. Imagine something like this, but on the telly. How great would that be huh? Indeed.

It's the end of 2014 as we know it, but what did I find...

A few people I follow on Twitter have written end of year blogs about the music and other such things that have inspired them during 2014. So, as someone never wanting to miss out on an opportunity to ramble, I decided to jump on that bandwagon and do the very same thing. This may not be a in-depth review of the things I have been listening to, but I hope it will read as some of the music that has captured my attention and soul this year.

Someone recently asked me what was my album of 2014 and I have to admit this did leave me pondering a bit. As much as I love new music and am always open to suggestions on what to listen to, for me this year has been mainly about rediscovery. Or being a bit late to the party I guess. I have been revisiting my youth and catching up with some albums that I unfortunately missed at the time. This post should probably be called 'Better Late Than Never Dear'...

Anyway, so what has inspired me this year? I guess I should start with new albums of 2014 that I have been listening to. Firstly, there is 'Caustic Love' by Paolo Nutini. I liked Paolo when he appeared with 'These Streets' back in 2006 and some tracks on that album are still great to listen to now. I kind of left him for a bit, but I was watching an episode of 'Later' which he happened to be on and I really enjoyed listening to him perform some songs from the new album. And it is a great album. Possibly his best work to date and you can tell that he has matured as a performer and songwriter. The wonderful 'Iron Sky' stands out for me and hits all the right buttons as a modern soul / R&B record.

Those of you who have read my previous posts will know that my all time musical hero is Neil Finn. Well, Neil released his third solo album earlier this year entitled 'Dizzy Heights'. I have to admit that it did take me a while to get into this album as it's a sidestep from what he has produced in the past. But this is something I do love about Neil. He is constantly looking for new ideas and in his own words he says "I am working hard to get better all the time". I have grown to love this album over time and in particular the title track and the songs 'Flying in the Face of Love' and 'Better Than TV'.

Neil has received a bit of moaning online about this album, but at the end of the day I think as long as he is doing what he loves and making the music he wants to make then the fans will follow him and appreciate what he does. I was lucky enough to see him live in April and it was a wonderful show and he completely held the crowd in awe as he usually does. He is such a talented performer and I have the utmost respect for what he does. He always has been and always will be my hero,

Beautiful backdrop from Neil's live show

Another of the usual suspects in many of my blog posts is Mark Morriss. Yes, him out of the Bluetones. He released his second solo album this year 'A Flash of Darkness'. It was originally funded through Pledge Music, but it then got a full release through Acid Jazz this year. This album is brilliantly written and performed and shows how Mark has grown musically since his first album 'Memory Muscle' in 2008. There's not a bad track on this album and the songwriting and thoughtful lyrics are a wonderful treat. When I first listened to this album all the way though I sat back and said to myself "Wow, what the fuck have I just listened to?" and then I put it back on again. True story.

There are a couple of cover versions on the album (Mark does love a cover) and I have to say this version of 'Nightcall' in my opinion is better than the original. Just saying. My favourite track (and possibly my all time favourite Mark song) is 'Life Without F(r)iction'. A gorgeous song which features the equally gorgeous guitar of the equally gorgeous Adam Devlin (yep, the little one off the Bluetones! His words, not mine!). The video for a live version of this song has been my pinned tweet on Twitter now for a long time and I don't intend to take it down any time soon. I think overall I can safely say that this album is my number one for 2014 and I can't recommend it enough.

My album of 2014

Now onto my rediscovery. I missed the release of a couple of albums last year, but have now caught up. Firstly, one of my long time favourite bands, the wonderful Turin Brakes released their sixth album 'We Were Here' towards the end of 2013. It came to my attention earlier this year when the second single 'Guess You Heard' was released. I love this album very much and that track in particular as it's beautifully written and performed as is the whole album. It reignited my love for this band and I went back to the previous albums to reaffirm my connection with them. The acoustic style was what brought me to them in the first place and their particular 'sound' is something that I truly love. I am eagerly looking forward to a new album being released hopefully next year and I really do hope there will be a tour to accompany it.

Now, not only do I love the band in it's entirety, I also love lead singer Olly Knights as a solo artist. He released his first album in 2012 entitled 'If Not Now When' and I have the pleasure of owning it on CD and vinyl. It was lovingly put together in his own home using a unique and personal recording style. His journey to make this album was one of inspiration and I have to say I am totally and utterly blown away by it. I have immersed myself in it so much it plays on pretty much a constant loop on my beloved iPod every day. I often tweet Olly and he is good enough to reply to my ramblings about music and other such nonsense and I consider myself very lucky to be able to do this. I was on a train recently with my headphones in listening to the opening track on the album 'Ripcord'. In the quiet of the carriage I could fully lose myself in the track and at 3.38 into the song the most exquisite change happened and my heart completely melted. So of course I had to tell Olly this. I mean, why wouldn't you?

This album is also my favourite discovery of this year, but in the category of 'better late than never'. I have previously posted the documentary that accompanied the making of this album and I would suggest you have a look at it so you can fully appreciate the background to this piece of work. My love of simple, stripped back acoustics is played out here and it has actually made me want to pick up my guitar again and get back to playing. Sometimes less is more, which is what the man himself told me.

I've also been listening to my back catalogue of albums by the Bluetones lately too. I won't go overboard as by now you should be aware that they are one of my most beloved bands and basically they represent my youth. Their final album 'A New Athens' which was released in 2010 has been on my playlist of late and features some really great, under rated songs. It deserves a wider audience and I hope that perhaps it's just a slowburner and that people will one day discover it and realise what they have been missing out on. I can also give a massive thumbs up to the 2006 self titled album 'The Bluetones'. I have no idea why this album did not do better on release as it's possibly the album of theirs that I like most of all.

So, here is a little round up then:

My number 1 album of 2014 - A Flash of Darkness by Mark Morriss
My number 1 better late than never album of 2014 - If Not Now When by Olly Knights

A couple of other things to mention:

Gigs attended in 2014 - 8 so far
New artist I was introduced to this year - Frank Turner
Upcoming artist to watch in 2015 - Leon Bridges
Band to watch in 2015 (cos basically they're gonna tear it up!) - Concerned Citizens
Other albums of note - Lost in the Dream - The War on Drugs / Interlude - Jamie Cullum
Who you should follow on Twitter if you aren't already - Adam Devlin

So there you go. A real mixed bag of stuff which I hope may be of interest to you. It has been a bit of a strange year for me, but I have been to a lot more gigs than usual thanks to my 'Year of Yes' decision and I hope to continue this into next year. I already have 2 gigs lined up for the New Year with the promise of a lot more. There are also some new albums to look forward to including a Mark Morriss covers album and I hope a new Turin Brakes album. I have a feeling 2015 is going to be a good one.

Has Twitter Changed Music?

Many moons ago the way you found out about new artists was by someone recommending them or hearing them on the radio or in a club etc. To be approached by an artist directly was unheard of and was certainly not something that ever happened to me. But now, it's an entirely different story. In the age of social media, artists are using various sites to increase their fan base and also their selling power.

Where you used to listen to the latest music...

But is this a good thing? Does it have the same meaning behind it as in the past or is it just an easy way to gain fans without doing the hard work? Conundrum.

Well, for me, I was always an album buyer, not a singles fan. It was very rare that I bought a single and if I did, it was for a specific reason (cool b-side, limited edition, bonus tracks etc). Usually I would hear the single and decide that it was the entire album for me. My friend Roger is the same. He told me that he bought 'Frampton Comes Alive' because he loved 'Show Me The Way' so much. He was something of a pioneer in his day! But what has this got to do with social media? Okay, I'm getting to that...

Nowadays bands use sites like Facebook and especially Twitter to promote their music to the masses. And the way it's done is very clever. So clever in fact, that it inspired me to write this blog post about it. Come on then, how is it so I hear you ask. Well, here's the thing. Twitter is on its most basic level about how many people follow you and how popular you are. We all want to be popular now don't we? The more followers you have, obviously the most popular you look. So, as an up and coming band you want to have a lot of followers and look popular. What do you do? Start following as many people as possible that's what. In turn they will more than likely follow you back and your numbers will increase.

As an average joe on Twitter there is nothing more rewarding than being followed by a bonafide band, trust me. And what has this to do with singles and albums? Well, bands don't have to have completed an album to start promoting themselves in this day and age. A couple of singles or an EP will do and your on your way. No more waiting for a full album to be available before you can start selling your wares and this in itself means you can have a solid fan-base in advance. Not so good for me and Roger and our album 'issues', but hey-ho!

A little bird told me you like Fall Out Boy...

For me, there's a whole other side to this medium. One that has brought me a lot of enjoyment for a start. I'm talking about the discovery side of this little play. I have been lucky enough to be followed by many, many bands over the last few years. And I have a rule that I use with all of them which is that I do my homework. As a total music geek (my own words), I am nothing if not interested in new music so I will always, and I mean always, go off and listen to anyone that follows me. If I like what I hear I will follow back. It's as simple as that. If I like you a lot, I will recommend you to other people and retweet you. But what comes with this is something that frustrates me each time it happens. These 2 things: 

1) bands that don't wait long enough for me to make a constructive decision and unfollow before I've had a chance to listen to them

2) bands that unfollow you after literally no time at all as they want to find the next bunch of willing participants as you've served your purpose now. See ya...

Not good tactics people. I have unfollowed because of this as I don't take kindly to being messed around. You have been warned!

If it hadn't been for this method, I would not have discovered artists like Elliot Minor and so many more that make such good music. They are using Twitter as a platform to gain new fans and publicise their music which I think can only be good thing. If it opens people up to new things and you get introduced to an artist which changes your life, then it's served it's purpose. 

It also enables fans to get close to their idols in a way that was not possible before. In the good old days if you wanted to get in touch with your hero you had to write off to some obscure PO box address somewhere in the middle of nowhere and hope that the person you were writing to actually got your letter. Chances are they probably didn't, but what else could you do? Meet and greets were rare and the bands stayed very detached from their fans. You saw them live on stage and that was it. Now that has all changed. With so many people on Twitter you have a good chance of actually engaging with your heroes. I know I have. My all time hero is Neil Finn and not only does he follow me on Twitter (I know!), but he has actually replied to my tweets. There is no way that this would never have happened years ago. I do realise that he will still have absolutely no idea who I am, but for me, the fact that he replied and acknowledged my existence means the world to me. Such a small thing that probably took him 2 seconds to write made my day. It's an amazing thing and it is happening more and more. We should think ourselves incredibly lucky.

And then my heart broke

I guess it does depend on who the artist is though. The person I actually joined Twitter to follow does not appear to be someone who really engages with his fans. I'm not sure why, but I don't often see him responding to anyone other than his in-crowd of friends or talking about himself which can be somewhat disappointing. There is so much potential there to connect with people that I think it's a real shame if you decide not to take it. It's entirely up to you of course, and there does needs to be limits as they are (surprisingly) human beings at the end of the day.

I have an endless amount of love for FOB in particular as they do take the time to answer their fans as much as they can. I have only had replies from Patrick, but I treasure each one as he gets so inundated with people tweeting him that it must be like mission impossible to pick which ones to actually reply to. He is a true gent and is regularly online for hours doing Q&A sessions with fans as he appreciates how much it means to us. A small token which is gratefully appreciated. Just remember though, that they real people and they do not owe the fans anything if they do not want to engage. I'm just pointing out that there is a large potential there if they want to go down that route. 

So, has Twitter actually changed music? I think the answer is yes. There is more connection with the artists now, you can discover so many new bands and find unbelievably good music that you would be a fool not to be part of it if you consider yourself to be a music fan. I have made loads of friends online and now have people I can discuss music with which is something I have struggled with in the past. Finding like minded people is such a bonus as they can also introduce you to other fans or artists that you might like. There are also loads of music magazines or record labels with profiles that you can be part of that side of it too. It's a total win-win for everyone. But is it an easy way to gain fans? It can be, but people are so fickle nowadays that you need to do something to gain their interest in the first place and it's not a given that you will be popular from the off. You need to put in the work and be engaging with your fans to make them stay so it's not an easy task.

Anyone reading this who is a music fan and is not on Twitter, I would recommend that you get on there now as you are seriously missing out. Any bands out there who want me to listen to their stuff, hit me up. I might not be a 'proper' journalist, but I am interested in all music and promise to give your tracks a listen. I am now a dedicated fan of Elliot Minor and this is all because they followed me on Twitter. You see, good things do happen so jump right in....

Private Universe

Every now and again I have a period where I will only listen to one band / singer on my iPod to reconnect with them.  I usually do this when perhaps I haven't listened to them for a while or maybe they have released something new and I want to totally immerse myself in their music from beginning to end.

I recently did this with Crowded House as apart from an odd song here or there I hadn't really had a lot of their songs on my playlist.  This is surprising really seeing as they are my all time favourite band.  In my defence, I always have Neil Finn's solo material on my playlists as he is my hero!

It was actually Neil that made me have a 'Crowdies' day this week as I was watching his recent webcast and remembering why I adore him so much and what makes his music important to me.

I got into Crowded House when they released Woodface in the early 90s.  I was still at school and I can remember hearing their music and knowing that it is something special.  I was lucky enough to see them live not long after when they toured with Woodface in the UK.  It was an amazing concert at the Hammersmith Apollo and it connected me totally with this band of amusing and highly accomplished musicians.  Anyone who has been to a live show will know that Neil is the ultimate crowd pleaser and his interactions with the audience are amazing.  He is extremely funny and sarcastic and brings a feeling of connection between the band and the fans watching.  If you ever get a chance to see him live, rush and take it with both hands as you will not be disappointed.

So, I have been listening to them for over 20 years now and their early music still sounds as good to me today as it did back then.  I particularly enjoyed listening to 'Into Temptation' this week as its such a beautiful and lyrically perfect song.  The music completes it totally and pulls at your heart right up until the bass ends and the music fades out.  Breathtakingly beautiful.

I have seen Crowded House around 5 times live and also Neil about twice with and without his brother Tim.  I consider myself to be very fortunate that I saw the original Crowded House ensemble before Paul Hester left the band.  He was an amazing drummer, a highly amusing man and he left a massive hole in the universe when he passed away.  I remember reading it on the news and the tears rolling down my face as they are now as I'm writing this.  Such a loss.

When the band split I was devastated, but knowing that they would continue with other projects was comforting.  Neil's solo work is amazing and his first album 'Try Whistling This' is a beautiful piece of work.  Listening to songs like 'Sinner' and 'Souvenir' make you realise how crafted his song writing is.  I think I listen to 'King Tide' on a daily basis and the rawness of the guitar never fails to move me.  I sometimes wonder how I stop myself from singing out loud on the bus to work in the morning!

It was a great day when the band got back together and released 'Time on Earth'.  It was a new version of the band with a new drummer, but the music was just as good.  I love this album and especially the songs 'Pour Le Monde' and 'Silent House'.  It was a long awaited comeback and it met the challenge very nicely.

Next came 'Intriguer' which is another great record.  Stand out tracks for me include 'Either Side of the World', 'Saturday Sun', 'Amsterdam' and 'Twice if Your Lucky' which is so, so beautiful to listen to.  Perfect vocals and spine tingling music with amazing lyrics.  Bliss.

I think I will definitely have more Crowded House only days as this week it actually lapsed over into 2 consecutive days.  Perhaps I'll dedicate at least one day a week to listening to just them and see what happens.  I'm thinking of making it a Tuesday...

Check out Neil's webcast here and hear some new tracks from his upcoming new album 'Dizzy Heights' which is out soon.