In Strict Tempo, vol. 95: News Round-Up
Welcome to this weeks In Strict Tempo. Normal service resumes this week as I take a look at what’s going on in the world of music.
First up: In Strict Tempo hits the airwaves this Saturday! Natural Frequency Records main man LDLDN kindly invited me onto his NTS Show for a little chat and to play some tunes that have in some way influenced In Strict Tempo. Tune in if you’re about.
Sticking with radio for a minute: If NTS is the sound of independent London, then Clyde Built Radio is it’s Glasgow equivalent. There’s some excellent shows on there, and they’ve hosted some of the best in the business. They’ve just launched a crowdfunder to secure the future of their station, chip in a few quid if you can.
https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/clyde-built-radio
It feels like we haven’t spoken about Spotify for a while doesn’t it? This week The Sabres of Paradise (who I interviewed earlier this year) have removed their catalogue claiming that the platform “undervalues artists and underserves listeners”. Lots has already been said on the subject, and I’m sure we’ll revisit it again, but the decision was made with the support of Warp Records, Gary, Jagz and the estate of Andrew Weatherall.
Talking of Spotify, they’ve just bumped their prices up again. £12.99 now. It’s getting to the point where I’m considering switching over to Apple Music full-time, but seemingly they keep adding subscribers according to their latest numbers. I’m not sure what all these people are listening to (I’m not really seeing any noticeable increase in streams) but numbers look good to the shareholders and ultimately that’s all that matters to them, right?
Every now and again a startup comes in with big plans to change music consumption, and the latest of these is Cantilever which for five pounds a month will let you listen to a rotating cast of ten ‘curated’ albums. It’s backed by some big indie labels including Rough Trade, XL, 4AD and Young (all of whom you’ll note are part of the Beggars Group) as well as Warp. The Guardian ran a feature on it, along with a mention of some of the other challenger startups including Subvert & Nina Protocol, which seem like the two with the most traction. It’s a nice concept but I’m not sure they’re going about it the right way. There’s loads of places that’ll recommend you a curated selection of albums (for free) for you to listen to, and the beauty is you can listen to them indefinitely on the streaming platform you’re probably already paying for. There’s probably a better way of monetising this, but at the moment it just feels like yet another subscription to pay each month.
Whilst we’re on the subject, the Spotify Viral Charts in the Netherlands seem to have been hijacked by a load of AI-generated right-wing music. The Viral Top 50 chart (which is auto-generated by what’s getting heat in a certain territory) is full of anti-immigrant tracks, and clearly someone is listening to them in great numbers. Given that the far-right are generally a fairly fringe, unorganised bunch of people I wouldn’t be surprised if there’s some bot involvement here, but the question remains how this kind of shit ends up on the platform in the first place - I’m pretty certain hate content goes against their content policies, and there was a big thing about a lot of the neo-Nazi power-electronics stuff being removed from streaming platforms a decade or so ago, but it seems like it’s making a comeback, and of course, AI is helping enable it.
New Music
What’s been tickling my ears this week then?
VA - Going Back To Sleep [A Colourful Storm]
I love these Colourful Storm mixtapes. I Won’t Have To Think About You and Still In My Arms are both absolute classics, a masterclass of curation of underground indie music. This one features new music from The Reds, Pinks and Purples, Carla Dal Forno, The Sprigs and Rat Columns amongst others.
JJJJJerome Ellis - Vesper Sparrow [Shelter Press]
A sublime album ticking all sorts of boxes here, from jazz to electronica (but in a good way, none of that coffee-table jazztronica shite here) to spoken word to disintegrating soul, it’s a great soundtrack to a rainy Friday morning.
Leila - Courtesy of Choice… (25th Anniversary) [XL]
After her debut Like Weather got reissued a couple of years ago it was only a matter of time before Courtesy of Choice got the same treatment, expanded with a load of previously unreleased material. One of those rare albums that was miles before it’s time, it’s definitely worth a revisit in the hope that the rest of music might have caught up with her.
Who’s The Technician - ? [Wah Wah Wino]
Struggling to think of a label these days that sells out in a flash like anything Wino does? New one here from the Irish crew, probably sold out already, here’s a taste of what you’re missing.
Silent Servant - In Memoriam [Tresor]
Cause it would be In Strict Tempo without some Techno, a one-two from Tresor here, with a new one en-route from Dopplereffekt, and possibly the first time a record had been featured in In Strict Tempo twice: the late Juan Mendez’s final release as Silent Servant is getting a repress, so no need to feed those Discogs vultures.
Thanks as always for reading, as always I’d love it if you told your friends, colleagues, enemies who happen to have good taste in music about In Strict Tempo!