I’m sure you’ve all heard that Lady Gaga is in (London) town to promote her new album released on May 23rd. Here’s the interview we did in MSN Music. I think you’ll all agree she is an exceptional character. MSN Music Editor James Hurley pours the tea.
Yesterday, we relaunched our MSN Xclusives brand in the MSN Music channel. Building on the success of our previous shows with The Pussycat Dolls and Sugababes and our great guest editorial work with the likes of Cheryl Cole and Rihanna – we’ve now launched a new monthly format that combines the power of both ideas.
http://music.uk.msn.com/xclusives/
Each month we’ll be publishing an extensive editorial package around a major artist. That means something new for chart fans that they can’t get anywhere else. More artists to be announced very soon.
First up – Kylie Minogue!
Right now you can check out:
· Exclusive Kylie Minogue interview – one of the very few granted to online in the UK
· Kylie Answers MSN User Questions
· And not forgetting our incredible KYLIE MINOGUE DEEP ZOOM!
Hope you enjoy this and let me know what you think.
Since his early days with Supercollider, Jamie Lidell has always tried to push the boundaries of electronic music, marrying the old with the new through his experimental sound and rich, soulful vocals. Going to a Lidell gig is to expect the unexpected as Jamie is equally happy beat-boxing or fiddling with an array of audio effects as he is actually singing. With support from Beck, Lidell is now set to release his third solo album ‘Compass’. I spoke to him about Beck’s involvement and what we can expect this festival season…
Hi Jamie, what are you doing right now?
I’m in Hoxton at the moment, nursing a particularly bad hangover. I’ve just come back from a tour of Australia which was pretty mental. That combined with my move to New York has left me more than a little knackered. So I’m recharging before it all kicks off again.
What’s the story of Compass?
Well, when I moved to New York last year I got a call from Beck, who I’d toured with in 2006, asking if I wanted to work with him. It was insanely good timing because I didn’t have a clue what I was going to do. So he just called to get the ball rolling.
We then spent two days at his studio in LA bashing out material I’d written. But whilst we were doing that we all got sucked into the Record Club project – which is Beck’s way of gathering loads of musicians together to record a cover of an album in a single day. He’s already done INXS and Velvet Underground like this but I got thrown into the deep end with Skip Spence’s ‘Oar’ which I’d never heard before. So that was a challenge!
Through that I’d met the legendary drummer James Gadston who’s played with everyone including Bill Withers and Marvin Gaye. We really connected as musicians so Beck said we should schedule a session together. So before I knew it I was rehearsing my little sketches with Beck and James and then all these other characters who joined us in the studio. It was an incredible couple of days.
Is that how the collaborations happened on the album?
Well, not all of them. When I went back to New York with all the outtakes, everything was a complete mess even though it sounded brilliant. So I reached out to artists like Wilco and Chilly Gonzales to complete certain tracks. All in all this album was a pretty fast process like rustic cookery. Like throwing coarsley chopped basil into a pan – it should still taste fresh and delicious when you come to eat it.
How would you describe your approach to making music?
I usually just have sketches when I write songs. Very Tony Hart, lots of brush strokes and then I try to find ways to fill it all in. If I can’t sort it out myself I reach out to other people. Part of that is also being completely open to any idea, any genre.
How are you going to perform the album live this Summer?
Well, it’s going to be four people onstage including me, it’s going to be really varied. Anything goes. I’m really looking forward to Coachella and Glastonbury although Holland and Belgium also have some great events. I don’t know why but I have a huge following in Belgium!
And do you have an idea for future collaborations?
Well, I’d like to work with Squarepusher. Then again there’s always Christian Vogel. We started work on a third Supercollider album some time ago but I just side-tracked by all this solo work. So, you never know, watch this space…
http://www.jamielidell.com/
http://www.beck.com/recordclub/
Jamie Lidell Band Rehearsal NYC from Jamie Lidell on Vimeo.
An edited version of this interview will appear on MSN Music here
To celebrate the launch of our MSN World Cup 2010 special we interviewed Rio Ferdinand to get his opinion on footie scandals and what he’s most looking forward to this summer.
Top sound bite from Rio at the end.
This month electronic pioneer, producer and ex-member of Depeche Mode, Alan Wilder releases his ‘Selected’ compilation – a summary of his best work as Recoil solo artist. I spoke to him when he was taking a brief break from his current European tour to find out more about the release, making music and if he has plans to work with ‘The Mode’ again.
Hi Alan, you’re back with an album and tour. I have to ask: why now?
Well, Mute Records approached me with an idea for a compilation and it was initially just going to be a quick ‘best of’ selection. But we then started to discuss releasing it on multiple formats and performing it live so the project got bigger and bigger. I think for an artist that’s always appealing to show all your work off in the best possible light and it’s been great to plough through all those old tracks again.
Can you tell us a little about that process?
First I had to decide which were my favourite tracks and which ones worked together. I really wanted to avoid a mish-mash which most compilations are. So this involved going through a lot of the old master tapes to pick out the best versions and even ‘baking’ some of the tapes in an oven to prepare them for digital mastering.
The weird thing about this baking process is that I found a lot of these older tape versions sounded better than the digital masters I originally walked out of the studio with. When you’re recording you’re so paranoid of preserving the sound in your head that you normally discard the taped archived version because it always sounds a bit different than digital. But when you take a break and listen to tape again you realise it’s better – it actually adds something to the music. So hopefully the tracks on the compilation sound better than the versions of the original albums!
Have you ever been tempted to stay 100% electronic and not use performers in your music?
Well, even the early Recoil music isn’t really electronic music. It’s just samples looped around and around and put together in a different way. And I’m still doing that now. I’m using all this technology but using it to reprocess human live performance. That’s what really interests me and why I often use gospel and blues performers. They often deliver the rawest, most emotional music you can get and when you combine that with the digital process you get something very special. If it was just electronic I think I’d get bored of it.
So you never been interested to release a quick and dirty drum and bass track?
No!
Do you think it’s easier to create good music now with today’s technology?
It’s easier to create records in your bedroom, sure, but even though technology might give you many more options, you’ve still got to have the ideas. Technology can almost be restrictive in that way. The ‘perfection’ is in me so that means I want to explore as many avenues and options to get the very best. But today, that can just take longer, before you had limited choices. You have to be careful not be caught up in technology. You have to try to leave out all the crap and get to the core of what is really important.
Has your set-up changed over the years?
No, I’m sort of heathen in that respect. I tend to get a set up that I really like and stick to it. Even though I like the experimentation involved in new tools I don’t like the learning curve you often have to go through which might, in the end, have limited value. So I have direct audio recording for sampling in sounds and then use Logic, Ableton and then ProTools for mastering the sound. And that’s it – along with a few bits of analogue hardware which I’ve not updated.
Do you think it’s easier for an artist to connect with their audience with the social tools that are available?
You would be stupid not to connect with your audience more if you have those tools available. I think you see a trend now where the artist is more in control of communication and then dictating to the label what they want to do. The record label should be there to offer advise and support for the marketing of your record, not dictating to you. It might vary from artist to artist but I’ve always tried to embrace online because, frankly, it’s a struggle to promote your music if you produce music like me.
It looks like you’re having fun blogging and submitting video updates to your website…
Well, it’s even hard to keep up with all of that. I get a lot of people recommending that I should do this and that, especially when a new gadget hits the market. Before you know it you’ve got to upload to 20 different locations in 20 types of media. So, I’m lucky because I’ve been approached by fans who can help with this – so I always try to cultivate those relationships.
Have you enjoyed preparing these tracks for tour?
Yes, very much so. It’s what I used to enjoy with Depeche Mode – the whole pre-production aspect before touring. You really have to use your imagination to predict how these studio tracks are going to sound in a live environment. So that’s why we’ve been digging through a lot of the remixed versions so we can put something together that is recognisably Recoil but doesn’t sound like any of the records. It’s all going to sound like one giant remix.
What can we expect from the UK gig on April 25th?
We might have Daniel Miller and Daniel Jones but that’s still very much TBC. I’d like to get him to do a version of ‘Warm Leatherette’ but we’ll see. But Atomiser will be there.
How did it feel to play with Depeche Mode after almost 16 years at the Teenage Cancer Trust gig?
It was unnervingly familiar in many respects, as if I had just played with them the night before. But at the same time it was really overwhelming, to remember what it was like to be in front of such a big audience again. And then when I went out and watched the show I could see for the first time why the band is so appealing. I’ve never seen them perform before. When Dave moves and the audience reacts – it really is quite powerful.
Is there scope for doing more in the future with Depeche Mode?
Well, we’ve not discussed anything like that so there aren’t any plans. But you never know.
And after the Recoil Tour?
I’m going to watch the world cup. That’s essential, being a QPR fan, but we won’t talk about them at the moment. And then it’s back to the new material later in the year.
An edited version of this interview will appear on MSN Music here
I have a confession to make – I haven’t a clue about politics. When it comes to issues about crime, immigration, unemployment, my eyes kind of glaze over – although I have developed this neat trick of looking extremely interested should I be sucked into a political conversation by mates or colleagues. It’s not that I just don’t give a damn about the people affected by these issues – it’s just the whole way we discuss these issues, using ‘charismatic’ spokespeople to represent their ‘party’ turns me off completely. We reduce complex issues to sound bites and eventually all we get is the lowest common denominator.
If you had millions in your pocket, how would you make politics interesting? I’m sure you could do it cheaper and with a lot more fun than what we’re currently being subjected to.
Ok rant over. Well, almost.
Recently, I’ve had the opportunity to attend a session with David Cameron and Gordon Brown as they presented their main policies for the UK election in May. Again, my eyes began to glaze over, but what I did appreciate is that these guys are exactly the same as they are on TV. Without a doubt, they are true leaders, it’s just what comes out of their mouth sort of reaches my ears but gets diverted just before accessing my memory database.
I need a way of engaging with politics that is more dynamic, more shocking, more fun and more real. I acknowledge that part of that might mean I need to take the step of actually reading up on the key issues of the moment and educating myself. I’m told I should feel privileged for having the right to vote but what I need is a new way to connect with the debate. It’s just that I haven’t seen this yet.
Just got off the phone to an absolute legend – former Depeche Mode member Alan Wilder and solo ‘Recoil’ artist. Many of you might think his music a little too obscure, but as a hardcore DM fan it was an opportunity not to be missed. I’ll write up the interview next week. For now, here are the questions I asked. Not done an interview in a while, a bit ropey, but got there in the end.
Selected Album
Tour
MSN’s Anna Smith chats to cast members Russell Tovey, Lenora Crichlow, Aidan Turner and Sinead Keenan about what fans can expect in the latest Being Human TV series. Hope you enjoy it!
Watch MSN TV’s Being Human interview here.
Random thoughts and observations from an MSN Content Manager. Mostly about entertainment, mostly good fun!
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