glasswerk review roundup: august

as we bid adieu to the month of august i thought perhaps i should point you off in the directions of the various reviews that i have cultivated for glasswerk and have a quick recap of what they have had me listening to.

and to be honest, this month just gone i have mostly been listening to Crystal Fighters.  With a re-release for their album and standout single Plage both coming out early in August, and both of them arriving for me to review i must admit that i really can't get enough of their monumental dose of uplifting energy that takes its cues from so many disparate sources and filters both spanish folk music and bass-heavy dance music into perfect summertime listening.

Plage single review here.

Star Of Love album review here.

  stream Plage by Crystal Fighters

I was also lucky enough to get my name down to see the sold-out solo gig from Scroobius Pip as he worked his way through his debut album live infront of an audience for the very first time, some fans may have walked away disappointed that the setlist was entirely void of Dan le Sac collaborations, but the new material showcased held it's own without falling back on past glories and showed a much heavier side musically than was present on Angles and The Logic Of Chance.

Scroobius Pip live review here.



less impressive and hardly worth a mention was the album Veritas by Alex Skolnick Trio, which was practically a jazz-metal fusion album made for dinner parties.

by a strange twist of fate, my 9blind article also debuted on glasswerk before hitting this blog, and tonight I shall be attending the album launch of Gazelle Twin, whose album The Entire City, i reviewed for glasswerk in June.

  stream Gazelle Twin - The Entire City

dan le sac vs madonna ciccone

it is very rare that i can actually hear a music news story without sceptically presuming that it is a cleverly disguised piece of promo or plea for attention merely masquerading as 'news'

and it was with the same regard that i also held the recent story that Madonna announced via facebook that she was looking for the "maddest, sickest, most badass people to collaborate with"


my first instinct is that it is just a little fanfare to remind fans that she is still here, but then again, Madonna never really goes away does she? there hasn't been the neccesity of any hard-laboured comeback ever, Madonna is huge, she probably always will be, despite making mis-judged albums like Hard Candy with its rubbish lead single, its rubbish album cover and its eager attempt to bridge an urban market, everyone still wanted a piece of Madonna and the accompanying tour broke her own record of being the highest grossing tour by a solo artist, previouly held by her 2006 Confessions tour.


i then considered how Madonna had made the fortunes of William Orbit, Mirwais and Stuart Price, all artists that i was already aware of before she sent them sky-rocketing through the stratosphere and probably set them up for life, which got me wondering who she may actually collaborate with on the eventual album

i seriously can't imagine Madonna or Madonna's people fully embracing the mammoth task that such an open and public invitation would induce, anyone with a computer and a little bit of software can call themselves an artist or a producer, as i have proved, and the influx of submissions would be so overwhelming that i'm sure any real talent hoping to emerge would be drowned in a sea of mediocre or downright turgid, crap music.

most likely the new produce will already be known within the music industry, and i wouldn't be at all surprised if a cross-over dance artist such as Calvin Harris or Deadmau5 would be allowed to take the reigns on what will be Madonna's 12th studio album

now i seriosly doubt that my little blog holds any sway over the decisions that Madonna will be making, but if she is passing up on a Hunchbakk produced album, then i would suggest that perhaps she instead enlists the help of Mr Le Sac.


Dan Le Sac is possibly the producer i hold in the highest esteem, and the debut album with Scroobius Pip 'Angles' is an album i return to again and again, constantly and repeatedly fascinated and intrigued by the leftfield production and stuttering beats. And this year's follow up 'The Logic of Chance' builds on the sturdy foundations built by the first, with more forays into dance-centric synths, 8-bit squelches and 2010's obligigatory nod towards dubstep, once again thrown together in a fashion that sounds almost haphazard, yet probably took much fine tuning and crafting to achieve such loose sounding experimental brilliance.

and with Madonna's known flirtations with dance music, i think Dan Le Sac could be the perfect production foil to lead The Queen of Pop to new, groundbreaking territory if he was at the helm of her upcoming album.

in this day and age of facebook campaigns coming out of our ears as they all attempt to be the next big news-worthy, hype hungry movement to change the current status quo, i don't know if putting the idea forward into the social networking forum would be just a whisper lost among a million and one voices all shouting for attention, but then i also think that if i believe in something enough, then maybe, just maybe it would be worth giving it a go.


so my last note is a personal plea to Dan Le Sac, if i can make the difference and get your foot in the door with Miss Ciccone, perhaps you could show your gratitude by hooking a brother up with chance to record a handclap on the album that i shall be able to claim royalties for, or perhaps i could be an handsomely paid tea boy (as i do make a good cuppa if i do say so myself) or even just being the person that applies talcum powder to female dancers between costume changes on tour....



remember that i put you where you are (erm, where i hope to put you) so you know where to find me


cheers


stream Sick Tonight by Dan Le Sac Vs Scroobius Pip


available on the album The Logic of Chance