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This is a great video that captures the true meaning of Easter. Even if you’re not a person of faith or agnostic in your outlook, do give it a look as it has something to say about our world today. Best in full screen view. Oh, and there’s a great soundtrack – so turn the volume up! Happy Easter!

…this is Part 2 of a post by Thomas Mathie. Click here for Part 1.

There are, however, times when a Label helps. Labels used to stand for something… they used to represent a stamp of quality… and for some… they still do. Consider Sub Pop, XL or Ghostly International, for example.

This is where netlabels come into play for me. A netlabel is a label that represents a stable of artists where the majority of interaction is done via the Internet. Most netlabels tend to give their music away for free… and some offer physical releases to compliment their digital downloads. Again… netlabels tend to deal in obscure and niche sub-genres… areas with minimal commercial appeal but in doing so… act as a stamp of quality.

Take Sutemos.net for example… they have released some of the best electronica that I’ve heard in a long, long time. I think I have all their releases on my iPods (yes… I have 2 iPod classics on the go for all the music I listen to… in addition to my iPhone) and reference them often. There are too many great netlabels for me to point to… so I won’t… but I would encourage you to check them out. Search by genre of music you like and you will find something to your taste. Are netlabels fairtrade? Yes… because, once again, you are dealing with the artist… albeit not directly but through an artistic cooperative, so to speak.

You could argue this point with traditional labels… that they are artistic cooperatives… but their overarching infrastructure isn’t conducive to giving their artists the best deal, imho. Traditional labels are in it for the money… that’s why its called the “music business”. They have to pay for their investment and fairplay to that… I’m not against capitalism, in this regard.

However, there is an alternative way… and this is where my issue comes… when the need for profit comes before the pushing of niche artists. I don’t like the majority of music deemed “popular” these days… and probably have the majority of “the classics” and don’t want to buy them again in whatever format-shifted package that they want to pimp us.

Let’s face it… and it’s a shame to say this… but the music of Ambienteer will never sell in the bucketloads. I really want it to… but it won’t. But the best thing about the music of truly independent artists such as Ambienteer is that they are working within their means… they only have their own costs to cover and don’t have to cover extensive marketing machines. They may be niche… but they have the realistic ability to breakeven or make a profit… unlike artists on the Traditional labels.

I guess they could be considered sustainable concerns, in this regards… and for me that’s a big deal. So the next time you are looking for some new music… turn to the Internet and take a stroll down Bandcamp lane or Netlabel street… and look for the truly cutting edge. They are where it’s happening nowadays.

This guest post comes from my good friend Thomas Mathie, aka @headphonaught on Twitter and elsewhere.

When John asked me to write about Independent Music… I automatically thought of all the indie bands that make up the (capital “I”… capital “M”) Independent Music scene: Oasis… Stone Roses… etc. Independent Music aka Indie is a genre… a style of music worthy of capitalisation… and not necessarily what I intend to talk about.

When I talk of independent music… I talk of the roots of what became Indie (genre)… when folks made music that was released independently of the major music labels. I also think of one of my favourite bands… Fugazi… who are renowned, at least to me, for their frugal DIY tours and fair price policies in the late 80s through the 90s to the present. It was their stance towards their fans that got me thinking about what I wanted to talk about: fairtrade DIY music.

The whole concept of fairtrade is knowing the producers of the product you are buying have been given a fair price for their product. When it comes to music… this is vitally important for me. For the most part… we are moving from the physical to a digital environment, when it comes to the distribution of music. I still buy Records and CDs… and hope HMV doesn’t close because they own FOPP and FOPP is my favourite recordshop chain.

But things are changing… and with this change… the barriers of entry have been lowered considerably for independent musicians. Sites like SoundCloud, Last.fm and Bandcamp give the opportunity for musicians to be heard. My personal favourite is Bandcamp… because you can stream the whole recording before you download it… the formats they offer are excellent (320kpbs as default – higher than iTunes) and their tagging allows for efficient exploration of music deemed similar to that which you are listening to. It’s ideal for the one-man-or-woman-band… low cost to enter… the ability to set a price or suggest to the buyer that they can “pay what you want”… the opportunity to get heard and, hopefully, make some money.

Thing is… however… Bandcamp isn’t enough to get the message out there. I find the majority of my music through recommendations from friends… predominately on Twitter. Folks like guitarist Matt Stevens or ambient soundscape creator James Fahy aka Ambienteer have built up a real community of people (of which I am proud to be part) using tools like Bandcamp and Twitter. I love their work, found out about it on Twitter and happily paid for it once I had had a good listen to it.

Matt and James are truly independent. They don’t have a record label. They aren’t backed by one of the Majors. They aren’t backed by one of the Indies either. They are one-man-bands. Take Matt, for example… to have no one inbetween works in his favour… Matt can deal directly with his fans… react quickly and genuinely promote himself as a truly authentic independent artist. He can sell his physical CDs via his Bandcamp page (or bigcartel, if he wanted to) at very reasonable prices… because he simply doesn’t have the overheads that the labels do. What’s more… he streams concerts via his Cafe Noodle site… and brings others in. He opens the door for others to participate.

The thing is… if you are like me… you do not object to paying £5 for one of his albums… because you have a real relationship with him. This is what the labels so desperately need but can’t get their heads around… the desire for a real relationship. Dealing direct with the artists, in this manner, removes the need for a label. In essence, Matt or James are their own labels… Matt through his solo work or his work with his band… the fierce and the dead… and James through his Ambienteer work.

What is important to note, however… is that both Matt and James’ music is niche. Matt make wonderfully upbeat futuristic flamenco guitar sounds that he loops and tweaks to make a wall-of-sound. James makes droning ambient electronic soundscapes. When I say niche… I mean that the majority of X-Factor-loving drones won’t get it… but then Sigur Rós are “technically” niche and yet they’ve received mainstream acceptance… mostly for their appearance, at one time, on nearly every piece of incidental music on the BBC (see note below).

I guess it is fair to say all music is niche… with some niches bigger than others. What artists like Matt and James have done is to find their niche… and build a relationship with it… and that is extremely important to acknowledge and understand.

To be continued…

Note: Nearly every other piece not by Sigur Rós is likely to be by Brian Eno! (John)

I’d been looking forward to watching this movie for a while. I finally watched it last night and I wasn’t disappointed. It’s a moving cinematic masterpiece directed by Wim Wenders, and I’m currently working through a boxed-set of some of his best movies that’s been lent to me by a friend. This award winning film is an unusual road movie that tells the story of Travis, presumed dead, who reappears after four years wandering in the desert on the Mexico border as an amnesiac. It’s a slow-burner that holds your attention through an excellent screenplay by the acclaimed playwright Sam Shepard, great acting, lovingly crafted photography and tracking shots, and an atmospheric score by Ry Cooder that’s integral to the whole movie. The story unfolds gently, mirroring the experience of Travis (and those around him) as he seeks to reconstruct his memories, and many of the scenes are so good you’re just transfixed on the screen. This is a movie I can wholeheartedly recommend.

When John Lydon (aka Johnny Rotten) was on BBC The One Show last evening and mentioned PiL, the presenters didn’t have a clue what he was talking about and clearly hadn’t done their homework! This video may enlighten them! A great song, amazing bass by Jah Wobble, and excellent lyrics!

Hello. Hello. Hello. Hello. Hello. Hello.
Ha, Ha, Ha, Ha, Ha.
You never listen to word that I said
You only seen me
For the clothes that I wear
Or did the intrest go so much deeper
It must have been
The colour of my hair.

Public Image.

What you wanted was never made clear
Behind the image was ignorance and fear
You hide behind his public machine
Still follow the same old scheme.

Public Image.

Two sides to evrey story
Somebody had to stop me
I’m not the same as when I began
I will not be treated as property.

Public Image.

Two sides to evrey story
Somebody had to stop me
I’m not the same as when I began
It’s not a game of Monopoly.

Public Image.

Public Image you got what you wanted
The Public Image belongs to me
It’s my entrance
My own creation
My grand finale
My goodbye

Public Image.

Public Image.

Goodbye.

[strange growling/roaring noise at the end.]

Today is Education Sunday, a national day of prayer and celebration for everyone involved in the world of education. For more than 100 years there has been an annual recognition of Education Sunday in England and Wales (traditionally on the ninth Sunday before Easter). 2011 marks the bicentenary of the National Society (of the Church of England), one of the many denominational providers of church schools. The church schools it established (and which it continues to support) helped lay the foundations for mass, and, later, free school provision in England.

This year’s theme is Firm Foundations because one understanding of education is laying the foundations needed for life. In Christian terms we see Jesus Christ as our foundation and whether we are educators at school, church or home we need to build on that foundation with regard to our faith.

Currently I have the opportunity to worship at Leicester Cathedral on Sunday mornings (no, I haven’t left the Salvation Army) and I find it very helpful sharing with the people there, many of whom are good friends. It’s also good to receive the bread and wine as physical symbols of the body and blood of Jesus, who died and rose again for us. In addition, I enjoy the music of the choir and organ which is of a high standard.

This morning Canon Barry Naylor reminded us of the need to place the qualities of the Kingdom of God at the centre of education and to help everyone develop their full potential: not simply imparting knowledge, but building a just society based on the equality of all people.

So you might like to pause for a moment to consider ways you might be able to further these aims, support the work of our schools, colleges and universities, and be an educator in your everyday life – by the way you live and the example you set!

Please excuse another Radiohead post (this will be the last one for a while), but I decided to listen to all their studio albums today in chronological order – plus a live album and a solo album by Thom Yorke. I was inspired to max-out on Radiohead following the release of their latest album yesterday and because I was going nowhere on a wet Saturday! I listened while doing bits and pieces round the house.

Their music is an acquired taste, but like all acquired tastes, well worth it in the end! I also like the fact that there’s an integrity in their music, with an unwillingness to bow to commercial pressure in the artistic process. Having said that, they are clearly very commercially ‘savvy’ in the way they market and release their stuff. The NME has said of the new album:

This is an avant-garde record, and most definitely not a return to the crowd-pleasing songwriting of the OK Computer era. In a sense it’s a continuation of In Rainbows in that Radiohead have now worked out how to be experimental without sacrificing the human element. As on that record, they display the knack of sounding deceptively machine-like. It sounds electronic even when it isn’t – but there’s always a pearl of soulfulness hidden within.

I’m now off to bed to listen to this final record of the day on my best Sennheiser headphones!

Update: After this close listen on headphones, I would say it has amazing richness, depth and humanity!

I love song lyrics as they can be hugely expressive, comparing favourably with the best poetry! I also enjoy sharing lyrics (and I know other people do as well), so I’ve created this special day for sharing lyrics on social media as updates. Put February 16 in your diary and start thinking of your favourite lyrics! There’s a Facebook Event which you can join and invite others to join. Please spread the word! The hashtag to use for anything related to the day is #songlyricsday and this is especially important on Twitter.

As I cycled across Leicester today, to attend a weekly meeting of the University of Leicester Chaplaincy, I was thinking about the gears on my mountain bike (21 by the way, but I generally only use the middle 7). The gears, of course, are known as derailleur gears, and that got me thinking about the title of the classic rock album by Cream.

The title of the album was taken from an inside joke. Eric Clapton had been thinking of buying a racing bicycle and was discussing it with Ginger Baker, when a roadie named Mick Turner commented, “it’s got them Disraeli Gears”, meaning to say “derailleur gears,” but instead alluding to 19th Century British Prime Minister, Benjamin Disraeli. The band thought this was hilarious, and decided that it should be the title of their next album. Had it not been for Mick’s turn of phrase, the album would simply have been entitled “Cream.” (Wikipedia)

Incidentally, the album contains the track Sunshine of Your Love which is largely responsible my interest in rock music after I heard it covered by a school rock band called “The Dark” in Northampton. With hindsight I should have bought the album they released, because I heard a few years ago it had become a collectable!

The movie Closer originally started out as a stage play, and was adapted by the author Patrick Marber and directed by Mike Nichols. It’s a very powerful, uncompromising and honest drama about modern relationships, and I watched it on DVD this evening. The four actors give very convincing performances of the chance meetings of their characters, their instant attractions and brutal betrayals. The drama is seen by some as a modern and tragic version of Mozart‘s opera Così fan tutte, as there are references to the opera in both the plot and the soundtrack, and one of the key scenes is set in an opera house. You can find out more about the movie at IMDb and (spoiler alert) Wikipedia. One final note of caution though, the movie (and the Wikipedia entry) does contain very strong language and overt sexual references! Not for the easily offended!