London-based electro group Everything by Electricity released High. Influenced by the likes of The Radio Dept, OMD, Slowdive, & MBV this newly formed UK act will surely make some noise. Strange Ways Radio notes “Folks, we’ve got an early summer jam right here in the vein of Chromatics and Chvrches and I don’t drop those names lately.” They have picked up some radio spins on BBC/XFM and have begun receiving love from a slew of bogs
dan.swisher2@gmail.com
Christina Aguilera Posts a topless selfie on Instagram. She stands in her bathroom wearing nothing but a pink undies and a fedora: ‘Just so you know with me, it’s all real, all the time.
‘Felt like it was time to start sharing some personal stuff with you guys… And it’s just the beginning. Night night. X’.
Of course the Voice is premiering on September 21st, 2015 & Christina wants to remind me you. Remember, no ratings, no show and what better way to attract an audience with a nude Instagram pic. But then again, this is normal for a former multiplatinum artist that hasn’t released a successful record in a long time. “Pop is a personality-driven market, after all, and the whims of the public can quickly turn empowerment into a personality problem” (Katherine St. Asaph)
Christina needs to stay relevant in the workplace just as an IT professional needs to upgrade his coding skills to keep his job. If an artist like Christina hasn’t had a song on the chart in quite some time, the need to stay relevant becomes even more important. As far as music, 20% of it is actually writing music. The need to garner attention from fans is top priority. Let’s not also forget that Christina needs to promote her role as a judge on NBC’s The Voice. The ratings start to tumble, which signs are showing they are, she will be the first to go.
Christina Aguilera is branding herself relevant by posting a semi-nude selfie on Instagram. Of course, using sex to sell things is about as old as advertising itself.
We’ve become instant fans of London alternative pop act Osca. The band has been performing a slew of festivals including including the Calling Festival & Barn On The Farm. According the lead the singer Jack Kenworthy the name of the band OSCA is short for Oscar Peterson, who was a musical inspiration introduced by his father. Their forthcoming EP is due in October.
lucy@nightswimming-management.com
Lana Del Ray has successfully crafted her image as a retro 60’s songwriter that glorifies death, gloom, & suicide. Not bad for a millionaires daughter. We often her terms thrown around such as a manufactured & authentic. The manufactured artist is the creation by a machine such as a music company while authenticity is truthful in origin, not a copy, and genuine.
Is it possible to manufacture authenticity? Absolutely. “Starbucks decided to force/encourage their staff to request the names of customers when taking orders and then announce them when the drinks were ready. It was an attempt to manufacture authenticity — to artificially create the social bond that might naturally grow between a vendor and customer in a bygone era when local customers patronized local shops staffed by local employees where everybody was on a first name basis” (Kent Valentine)
“Pop artist Lana Del Rey has sold seven million copies of Born To Die Album. “Her rise to fame was flawless, in spite of constant probing about her authenticity, her penchant for being choked in her music videos and the strength of her voice.
“In 2010, she released one bland album under her own name, Lizzie Grant, before she wiped the slate clean, deleted her old material from iTunes and relaunched herself as a ‘gangsta Nancy Sinatra’ – a heartland bad girl in Daisy Duke shorts with a taste for bourbon and older men. Her music was cinematic, melancholic yet pretty catchy, propelled by 808 drumbeats and glossed with vintage Bond theme strings. She appeared a new cross-over force in pop: glamorous, artsy and ‘real’.
But when music hacks sniffed out her previous material, found out she was the daughter of a dot-com New York millionaire, clearly had major label backing, and, with one crushing Saturday Night Live performance, realised she was seemingly incapable of carrying a tune outside of the recording booth, they smelt a rat.
Del Rey went from blogosphere darling to heretic in a matter of weeks, her rise recast as a rouse to lure hapless musos into liking another manufactured pop princess. But does any of that really matter? From Motown to Madonna, some of the best pop music has been made by committee. And some of the greatest pop icons have built their legends on complete lies. Bob Dylan used to claim he ran away from the circus – he, in fact, dropped out of college. No one believed for a second that Michael Jackson really was ‘bad’. Whether or not Del Rey really did ride around in the back of an Al Camino with drug dealers is beside the point.” (Tom Slater)
Not living up to the hype is the biggest risk when manufacturing authenticity & of course you will always loose to authenticity.
Anyhow, if you attend to manufacture authenticity, these key points are worth considering:
Oh So Quiet has becomes a Kings favorite. Following a move to the UK, “Oh So Quiet” began as a solo home project for Argentine-born Lucas Zavala. However, feeling too shy to sing some of his songs, Lucas asked his sister, Malena, to fill in. Following this they gathered band members Harry Clarke, Axel Martinez and Nick Wallis to complete the five-piece. Beautifully layered with syncopated rhythms and timbres of the Latin Americas, their soaring melodies and infectious, indie sounds have gained support thus far at the likes of XFM, 6 Music, BBC London, Line of Best Fit, Wild Honey Pie and Clash.
seb@yucatanrecords.com
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