Good morning all, it's a short one from me today because I've let the brilliant independent record label Transgressive take over Now Hear This, in celebration of their 20th anniversary. Over the years, they've been responsible for nurturing the careers of some of our best artists, from Marika Hackman, Loyle Carner and Arlo Parks to Foals, HotWax and the late SOPHIE. A quick rattle through what we've been up to. You can read Jim Farber's recollections about watching Bob Dylan's 1974 return from the third row, plus Mark Beaumont's review of the Linkin Park reunion show at the O2 in London. New stuff I'm loving this week: "Alone", The Cure's first single in 16 years (goths, rejoice! But remember not to look too happy about it!), plus JADE's "Midnight Cowboy" (a RAYE co-write), "Say It Back" from Matilda Mann's forthcoming debut album Rockwell, Ormella's lovely "Why Do I Need You, Man?", and "Condensation", the jangly new bop from Sports Team (sounds like Elton John meets the B-52s). There are plenty of great albums out this week, too, including Ezra Collective's Dance, No One's Watching, reviewed here by Annabel Nugent, plus Nina Nesbitt's gorgeous Mountain Music, an anniversary collection of remasters/remixes from legends The Brand New Heavies, SOPHIE's posthumous self-titled album, and Swedish artist Albin Lee Meldau's Discomforts. And now, please enjoy this essay from co-founder Tim Dellow for Transgressive's 20th birthday. I sometimes wonder what the precocious teenager who co-founded Transgressive with the fumes of a student loan would have made of the last 20 years -- working in an industry where his "punk" ethics predisposed him to be antagonistic and self-righteous as he set about presenting his music to the world.
He would learn that as much as a record can save your life, it's the people involved in their creation who matter more than the perfect disc. He would learn that discarding the artifice and focusing on serving the artist first would help form a group of like-minded individuals acting outside the (indie) sleaze of history, forging new paths and ways to interact in music.
I'm sure he would have been proud of the long-term friendships with artists and collaborators made since strolling into the Buffalo Bar with a Bloc Party 7" to sell, trying to blag a free guestlist from soon-to-be founding partner Toby L.
The first releases were like a fun race, as we tried to get in first on new and exciting sounds. There was a cottage industry of pressing a 7" and running it around the shops, having blagged studio time out of hours (thank you Mute Records, who I'm sure must have just turned a blind eye to our motley crew sneaking into their office studios on the weekend) and pulling together a high concept, no-budget video before blagging it onto MTV2 and the airwaves.
Next, we graduated into the real-life A+R scrum – making albums with bands and signing them on promises we would always strive to keep, with third partner Lilas Bourboulon completing our initial gang and bringing a wealth of talent and taste. Mike Harounoff started out on work experience then just kept turning up until we gave him the license to make some of our best signings. None of us knew what we were doing. But we knew what was the right thing to do and what sounded better than anything else ever… and that, ahem, self confidence, lead us through some incredible signings, and hard lessons with the likes of The Young Knives, Regina Spektor and, of course, our longest continual relationship: Foals.
Holding each other together after a tricky divorce from a major backer, we dug down with a combination of luck and effort. We founded a publishing company with the sole intention of finding a loophole to work with the incredible Noisettes, and were rewarded when their second album became a bona fide platinum hit. We persuaded Graham Coxon, a long term inspiration, to trust us with his solo album The Spinning Top.
From shaky house parties and student tours, to international charting albums, our roster developed at pace – working with good people who happened to be musical geniuses in their field. Flume inverted the idea of electronic popular music, sending it into adventurous realms, The Antlers reframed heartbreak and survival for us in traditional forms; The Mystery Jets morphed through record-collection rock album-on-album into new and unexpected places; At The Drive-In trusted us to re-release one of the greatest albums of all time.
We'd dive into the unknown and then follow the muse – a collaboration with Africa Express led us to working with the genuinely fearless Songhoy Blues and Damon Albarn, and sharing banter side-of-stage with Tony Allen in a warehouse in Marseilles.
Keeping ears open to genius – be that in songwriting or new forms of music – lead to a continuing love affair with the *song*, from Marika Hackman to Alvvays and Julia Jacklin. Arlo Parks carried us through lockdown, then to the Mercury Prize and the Brits, with her intimate songs. We experienced acknowledgement and acceptance from a much-improved record industry. Sure, there are still problems, but as a lot of the original money left, so too did a lot of the dead wood, and colleagues and collaborators across the board are all working hard, believing in the importance of music on the wider culture and the world.
Now, looking at the hope and transcendence that our output offers, it seems like (a life-)time well spent together. Beverly Glenn-Copeland is (finally) understood and appreciated in his time, sharing wisdom and joy to a new generation. Loyle Carner continues to explore a path of self-improvement whilst referencing the hip-hop greats (I still pinch myself at his recent, self-curated All Points East show ft Nas, Andre 3000 and Cymande). We just released one of the most personally challenging and magical albums of our career: the posthumous SOPHIE album. These exceptional people continue to inspire every day, and when I look at forthcoming albums from the members of Let's Eat Grandma, Moonchild Sanelly, Black Country, New Road, and Dave Okumu, I have no doubt as to how I'll be spending my next 20 years. I will look back at the growth of that precocious young man with more kindness, for all is truly Transgressive. |
|
|
| Written by Roisin O'Connor |
|
|
At The Independent, nobody tells us what to think; we make up our own mind and aren't afraid to do things differently. Like our readers, we value honesty and integrity above outside influences. With your support, we challenge the status quo, uncover crucial stories, and amplify unheard voices. If you like what we do, do take out a subscription and help support the best quality online-only journalism. |
|
|
Thom Yorke is reworking Radiohead's 2003 album Hail to the Thief for a new version of Shakespeare's Hamlet that plans to fuse theatre, music and movement.
Hamlet Hail to the Thief, which will open in Manchester next spring, will be performed by a cast of musicians and actors and run at Aviva Studios from 27 April to 18 May.
It will then transfer to the Royal Shakespeare theatre in Stratford-upon-Avon from 4 to 28 June.
Yorke said that the concept for the show presented him with "an interesting and intimidating challenge" to see how the music "collides with the action and the text" of one of Shakespeare's best-loved tragedies.
"Adapting the original music of Hail to The Thief for live performance with the actors on stage to tell this story that is forever being told, using its familiarity and sounds, pulling them into and out of context, seeing what chimes with the underlying grief and paranoia of Hamlet, using the music as a 'presence' in the room, watching how it collides with the action and the text," he said in a statement. "Ghosting one against the other." Full story. |
|
|
It's hard to say something that will do justice to how much I love Transgressive… We signed at such a young age and over the last 10 years I have felt endlessly supported by such a caring, inspiring group of people who have both understood and driven our artistic vision and ambitious attitude, and working together as a team we have got to where we are today. I genuinely can't imagine what my career, or life would look like now without them. |
| |
Rosa Walton of Let's Eat Grandma on signing to Transgressive, 2024 |
|
|
I mean, working with Transgressive, for me, as a very creative artist, who wants to explore, play around and have fun with music is definitely the best home for any alternative artist who doesn't live in a box. It's the home for the creative. I say Transgressive Records is the home for the creative. Because you are gotten, you are supported there's literally almost no way of not existing as your FULL self you know. I feel like it's the wild creators home, Transgressive Records is the free creators home; the free artists home. And a big liberator of difference. A spotlight is really put on anything that will shake the industry. It's frickin awesome man. Fucking wild. Home of the free. |
|
|
Moonchild Sanelly, September 2024 |
|
|
After every desperate measure, just a miracle will take |
|
|
Father John Misty, "Screamland", 2024 |
|
|
Spotlight on... flowerovlove |
|
|
Q. Hello! Tell me about yourself |
|
| A. Hey, I'm flowerovlove (Joyce), I'm 19 and I make pop music with my ep ache in my tooth coming out today, the world will hear the kind of music I've always wanted to make in a space that has never been filled. a black girl making pop music and being bracketed in pop. |
|
|
Q. What are your inspirations and influences? |
|
|
A. My influences and inspirations come from the music I grew up on like abba and one direction but they're very subconscious influences in the sense that I just like to extract the feelings in their work because creating music for me is all about the feeling. I also take heavy inspiration from my life experiences. Something crazy is always happening in my life so I've always got something to write about and it is so therapeutic to do so. |
| |
Q. What do you have lined up for 2024 and beyond? |
|
|
A. After 'ache in my tooth' is released I've got my first US live dates which I'm so super excited about |
|
|
| 16 best Bluetooth speakers for epic audio, tried and tested. |
|
|
Join the conversation or follow us |
|
|
Download the free Independent app |
|
|
Please do not reply directly to this email You are currently registered to receive The Independent's music newsletter. To unsubscribe from The Independent's music newsletter, or to manage your email preferences please click here. This e-mail was sent by Independent Digital News and Media Ltd, 14-18 Finsbury Square, London EC2A 1AH. Registered in England and Wales with company number 07320345
Read our privacy notice and cookie policy
|
|
| |
0 comentários:
Postar um comentário