Retro-soul girl: Duffy

 

Neil McCormick looks forward to some of the greatest musical talent of our times returning to the fray

 

At this time of the year, the music business can be relied on to build itself into a lather of excitement about bands you've never heard of with names you can barely pronounce.

 

In 2008, it's the turn of Joe Lean and the Jing Jang Jong, Glasvegas and the Ting Tings to be saddled with the imposing mantle of Next Big Things, alongside a bevy of Amy Winehouse-styled retro-soul girls, including Adele and Duffy. On such slender shoulders rests the future of music, or so we are led to believe. It is out with the old and in with the new, yet I wonder if that shouldn't actually be the other way around?

 

Arguably, 2007 was the year of the comeback and reunion, defined more by the relentless onslaught of oldies (from the Police to Led Zeppelin) than the arrival of debutantes. Rock and roll is no longer in the business of living fast and dying young, if indeed it ever was. As a rule of thumb, I think we can safely declare that any group with at least one member still standing will eventually get back together.

 

Critics may sniff, all too often dismissing the offerings of established artists as unchallenging fare pandering to nostalgia. Yet the emphasis on newness, on breaking ground and relentlessly pushing forward to an ever-shifting edge (the mythical cutting edge, where all of the most exciting new talent must precariously balance) represents a different kind of nostalgia, a perverse longing for a time when pop music actually was the centre point of youth culture, a driving force rather than a drivetime soundtrack.

 

The reality is that the musical journey for listeners does not follow a one-directional arrow into the future; it shifts backwards, forwards and sideways. You might discover an established artist, reach into their back catalogue, perhaps explore their influences, context, contemporaries, rivals, successors, as well as anticipating their new work.

 

I still vividly recall the thrill I experienced hearing the Beatles five years after they had broken up, and getting into Bob Dylan just when his loyal fans were turning away from him because he had become born-again. These were new artists to me, even though they would have been nostalgia acts to the critics of the day. And the relationship I built up with them has lasted a lifetime.

 

It is all very well being excited about something that is fresh and strange to our ears but it is hard to compare that with the anticipation you feel for offerings from an artist you already love.

 

In 2007, some of the greatest musical talents of our times will be returning to the fray. I am looking forward to new work from such heavy-hitters as REM, U2 and Oasis (despite recent disappointments, I still believe the Gallagher brothers have the potential to produce a knockout). I am positively champing at the bit over the return of personal favourites Nick Cave, David Gray, Morrissey, Patti Smith (intriguingly united with Kevin Shields of noisecore pioneers My Bloody Valentine) and the Verve (the very welcome reunion of a band who should never have broken up in the first place).

 

I will be fascinated to see what direction Coldplay, Dido, Franz Ferdinand and Arctic Monkeys move in. And then there are new albums scheduled from Goldfrapp, Supergrass, Massive Attack, Portishead, Primal Scream, Tricky, Madonna and Gillian Welch.

 

With the promise of so much good music from the oldies, newcomers are going to have to do something very special to muscle their way into the frame.

 

And it is not just about making an initial impact; it is about holding our attention when the novelty has worn off. The artist of 2007 was Amy Winehouse, delivering her second album, on which she shed some of the flippancy and lack of focus of her debut, conjuring up a powerhouse set of wit and raw emotion with a consistent, retro-flavoured sonic palette. It signalled artistic growth, rather than retrenchment.

 

The second album is one on which promising artists often come unstuck, having used up all their ideas (and media cachet) on their debuts. It is the record that separates the truly talented from the pretenders.

 

This year will be pivotal for such recent breakthroughs as Guillemots, Lily Allen, the Feeling, the Kooks, the Klaxons, Corinne Bailey Rae, Hot Chip and Martha Wainwright, when we find out what they really have to offer. It is this deepening of talent where things really start to get interesting, when it is no longer about satisfying the music industry's lust for fresh blood but the unfolding of a relationship with listeners that might last a lifetime.

 

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/arts/main.jhtml?xml=/arts/2008/01/10/bmonmusic110.xml

I dearly hope that last paragraph is true.

 

And it's REALLY nice to see Martha Wainwritgt's name there. I opened for her a few years ago. BLows my mind to see all the international press she's getting. Maybe there is hope for new music afterall...

oh snap, gillian welch.

And it's REALLY nice to see Martha Wainwritgt's name there. I opened for her a few years ago. BLows my mind to see all the international press she's getting. Maybe there is hope for new music afterall...

 

:o

 

Erm... sorry about that, just give me a moment to pick my jaw up off the floor and I'll be out of your way... Goodness, when you want to namedrop, you really know how. *quietly shuffles off*

Can I just say I hate most of this Retro-Soul Female Singer-Songwriters.

 

In fact there isn't any new artists I would actually pay for the CD of, maybe Foals, but I have been unimpressed by some of the "next big things" pushed in the press.

:o

 

Erm... sorry about that, just give me a moment to pick my jaw up off the floor and I'll be out of your way... Goodness, when you want to namedrop, you really know how. *quietly shuffles off*

 

LOL! She was just starting out then,

I doubt she'd even remember me now, but you neer know. I had some tremendous wainwright/

McGAragle luck...I met rufus at a poetry reading in Montreal iin '95 too. And at the Wellington, where I opened for Martha, Kate was there. One of the coolest ego-free moments in my life was when she introduced herslf to me, not as Kate McGaragle, but as 'Martha's Mom'.:) Anyway, didn't mean to name-droop.

 

And Dave, have you checked out Martha? She's a bit different than the whiney women you're tired of.

There's a band called Scary Kids Scaring Kids :\

I wouldn't call Martha "Retro-Soul", I call her excellent.

 

Her debut album in 2004 (I think) was very good :)

I think it was actually her 2nd or 3rd album, but it was her international debut. And yeah, she's amazing. Although I heard her cover of Leonard Cohen's Tower Of Song today, and I could have lived without that,lol.

She has more?

She had an album out in '01. The name escapes me, and I gave my copy away. *slaps self in head*. She also put out an EP called factory in '01, which I still have. It's just 4 songs, but I'd be happy to PM you if you don't have it.

Sendy please

Will do. I'm making din din right now, so be patient with me.

Martha is great, so is her brother. :nice:

Here's a link to a bunch of Martha's albums on CD Baby. I didn't know they were still so easy to come by.

 

http://cdbaby.com/found?allsearch=martha+wainwright&submit=search

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AchmYEqztWg

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nugXkgd_-84