Posted by admin on 11 Feb 2010 | Tagged as: gadgets, tip
I took some time at Midem 2010 to put a question to David Stark, publisher of SongLink. His tipsheet provides some of the best tips in the business, hooking up major artists with songs. The “names” have included Tina Tuner, James Blunt, Kim Wilde and many others. Publishers and songwriters use SongLink obviously to get [...]
Posted by admin on 16 Nov 2009 | Tagged as: tip
This is the reason it’s such a pleasure working with Perry Rose: his sheer musicality. Over a simple ukulele riff, he builds layers of piano and vocals (bear with him). He will be interviewed on Belgium’s Classic 21 radio on November 18 2009 at midday, with a show on Nov 21 in the Belgian [...]
Posted by admin on 01 Oct 2009 | Tagged as: events, tip
One of my writing partners, Steve Willaert (known for his soundtracks for movies such as “Hell in Tangier”, “Stille Water” and “Vermist”, has just announced concert dates for an ambitious project he put together with a bunch of multinational musicians.
ChiBeJa features Chinese flautist (and Real World artist) Guo Yue, Japanese drum master Ryutaro Kaneko, [...]
Posted by admin on 24 Sep 2009 | Tagged as: tip
Feeling stuck on a song? Worried about blank page fever? Writer’s block? Then try a little exercise. Take out all your lyrics and give them a hard look. Spot any trends? Are you still writing about that one big break-up? Are you still fuming about that same two-faced liar? Are you still copying Smokey Robinson [...]
Posted by admin on 18 Sep 2009 | Tagged as: RIP, awards, events, meanings, news, politics, tip
The infobahn is alive with Susan Boyle’s rendition (nice word, eh?) of the Rolling Stones’ “Wild Horses”. There is an overwhelming opinion that Boyle has now recorded one of the definitive versions of the song. This, however, is seen as sacrilege by others, who cling to memories of the Stones and Gram Parsons. This sort [...]
Posted by admin on 17 Sep 2009 | Tagged as: meanings, tip
Widgets Amazon.frThe way music is licenced around the world means that I have no control over where the tracks I work on eventually crop up. As Perry Rose has played quite a lot in France, just about all his albums are available on Amazon France as MP3s.
I have to say: Perry is truly [...]
Posted by admin on 04 Aug 2009 | Tagged as: events, tip
I met Jack Stafford once (so in showbiz terms he’s “a dear friend”, when he sells a few more records I’ll bill him a “very dear friend”). He’s a Brit currently living in Amsterdam and playing about 200 shows a year. Two things strike me about this vid of “Cedar Room” from the album “Long [...]
Posted by admin on 26 Dec 2008 | Tagged as: events, news, tip
Long-time collaborator Perry Rose was invited to organise a special show during the summer. It sold out pretty quickly. The good news is that RTBF radio were on hand and recorded it, broadcasting it in two parts. The second part is going out on December 31 as part of the “Le Monde est un village” [...]
Posted by admin on 19 Dec 2008 | Tagged as: tip
For once, an old-fashioned singer-songwritery tip. Amanda Ghost is perhaps best-known for having co-written “You’re Beautiful” with James Blunt. She also wrote “Beautiful Liar” for Beyonce and Shakira. But as you’ll see from this and other tracks of hers, she’s a compelling singer and songwriter on her own.
Posted by admin on 28 Nov 2008 | Tagged as: meanings, politics, tip
With the shocking Mumbai attacks still playing out as I type this, I can’t help thinking back to other attacks and other wars with their cast of innocent victims. But attacks also leave witnesses. Nitin Sawhney and Natty appear together on the remarkable “Days of Fire”, the opening track on Sawhney’s latest album “London Undersound”. [...]