Happy Birthday to ya

As you probably know by now, Motown Records is 50 today! Now, Musick wouldn't be a reputable blog without doffing it's proverbial cap to one of the greatest record labels of all time, a breeding ground for talent unlike anything seen before or since. I remember seeing some early footage of Michael Jackson and the Jackson 5 and being flawed not only by the exuberance of his performance but also the immediacy of the songs, as if each one had been sewn into my DNA. Immediate classics is something that sums up the heyday of Motown, from a young Stevie Wonder to Gladys Knight to Marvin Gaye pleading 'Let's Get It On'.

There are too many highlights to pick from of course, so here are some of Musick's absolute favourites:

Jackson 5 'I Want You Back'



It makes you smile, right?

The Supremes 'You Can't Hurry Love'



Such a unique voice, and a brilliantly joyful piece of music. ERASE the Phil Collins version from your mind immediately.

The Velvelettes 'Needle In A Haystack'



Though the band never quite reached the commercial heights of some of their peers, this song remains a slice of genius.

Stevie Wonder 'Living For The City'



Taken from the classic Innervisions album, Wonder would enjoy an unparalleled purple patch on Motown in the 1970s.

Marvin Gaye 'What's Going On'



The beguiling Here, My Dear may be his finest artistic statement, but What's Going On runs it close. The title track was released amongst much internal wrangling within Motown, with owner Berry Gordy believing it would flop. The perfect example of artist knowing better then employer.

I expect a similar tribute to V2 records in 40 years time, giving us all the chance to celebrate the music of the Stereophonics, Liberty X and The Datsuns.

Jack of all trades?

It's true what they say you know, context is everything. A few years back the music scene greeted a clutch of posh young things all singing about apples and pears whilst being descendants of royalty and living off the family name. Amongst this well-spoken rabble was one Jack Penate who adorned the front of the NME only to receive a 5/10 review of his frenetic debut, Matinee. Despite this, and with even Kate Nash selling by the bucket load, the album peaked inside the top 10 and the single 'Torn On The Platform' did the same.

A couple of days ago bezzie mate Adele stated in an interview that she's contributed backing vocals on Penate's new album and that, wait for it, people are going to be shocked at the new direction he's gone in. Yeah, yeah, we've heard that before; Keane go gabba, Franz Ferdinand go techno, Razorlight go Simple Minds (oh, that last one actually happened).

So, what has the boy Penate done? Well, if 'Tonight's Today' is anything to go by then gone are the frantic guitar riffs in favour of a more relaxed, Vampire Weekend-esque vibe, all steel drums and shuffling percussion.



It's not reinventing the wheel of course - and sounding like Vampire Weekend is hardly tantamount to reinvention - but the song's going to be all over the radio and should see Penate extending his career by at least one more album.

Sneak Peak

The new Antony & The Johnsons album, The Crying Light, is out in just over a week (19 January to be precise) but the whole thing has leaked on the internet like a gorgeously melodramtic goo (?). We don't like to ruin surprises so we'd rather wait, but seeing as 'Epilepsy Is Dancing' is due to be the second single from the album we thought it OK to have a listen and invite you to do the same:



Initial reviews of The Crying Light have suggested it's a more abstract, less immediate listen then it's Mercury-wining predecessor so it may not be a good idea to listen to individual songs out of the context of the album, but 'Epilepsy Is Dancing' is as devastating as ever ("Cut me in quadrants / Leave me in the corner"). I can understand why people don't like his voice, or the theatrical nature of the songs, but for those that do, this album is shaping up to be something very special indeed.

Camp David

For many Nina Persson is the singer from The Cardigans, the woman whose face probably adorned many an NME-reading teenage boy's wall about ten years ago. Having always had a brilliant ear for melody (if not always the success those melodies deserved) Persson started a musical side-project entitled A Camp.

Way back in 2001, A Camp released one of the best singles of the noughties, the delectable 'I Can Buy You'.



Unfortunately, the rest of their self-titled debut (produced with Mark Linkous of Sparklehorse) failed to match that standard and Persson shuffled off back to The Cardigans. Well, they're back with a new album, Colonia, due out in February, and this is the first single, 'Stronger Then Jesus'.



It's a slow-burner and no mistake, but give it a few listens and it sinks in like a warm balm.

The album features contributions from Joan As Policewoman, James Aha formerly of Smashing Pumpkins and the drummer from Guided By Voices. Nice.

What's on our generic MP3 player...

Let's have a little look at what's been playing in the Musick office* this week shall we?
* By office I mean small studio flat, but it sounds less prosaic.

Florence & The Machine 'Dog Days Are Over'



I know, I know, she's bloody everywhere. I tried to resist, I really did, but this song is brilliant. Florence will be collecting that silly Brit award Adele won last year at this years Brit Awards...by then we'll be sick of her, promise.

Deerhunter 'Nothing Ever Happened'



Brilliant song from the equally brilliant Microcastle/Weird Era Continued album. Fun fact; lead singer Bradford Cox suffers from Marfan Syndrome as do I. Kind of. Well, they thought I had it but they're not sure. Either way it's fine, I'm not sick, just really tall.

Metronomy 'My Heart Rate Rapid'



Great single from a really fun album (Nights Out). There are about seven singles on the album and yet it's probably owned by about 500 people in the entire country. There's no justice.

Common feat. Cee-Lo 'Make My Day'



It's January, it's depressing, there's nowt going on; why not kick back with this Summer joint (ahem) and imagine you're at a cook out with Common, Cee-Lo and a plethora of bitches (hey, I don't make the rules!).

The Pippex

In many ways polka-dot wearing, sixties girl-group aping threesome The Pipettes are like an indie Sugababes. For a start there's three of them, all female, and most importantly they change line-ups seemingly at the drop of a hat. When I first saw them live about five years ago there was Rose, Becki and Julia, then Julia left to be replaced with Gwen and then Rose left and then Becki left, so then they hired two new ones called Ani and Anna but then Anna quit after seven months so now there are two...so actually it's more like that time Destiny's Child lost two members, hired two new ones and then ditched one of them all in the time it took for Beyoncé to scream "don't touch me until you've washed your hands you prole" (allegedly).



Anywho, Rose (or Rosay as she was known in the band) has now gone solo under her full name Rose Elinor Dougall and has recently released the limited edition single, 'Another Version of Pop Song'. It's really quite lovely (as is 'May Holiday'), replacing the doo-wop stylings of old for some sweeping strings, soaring vocals and something decidedly French.

You can hear the single here

Why we're at it, ex-Pipette number two, Becki Stephens, has also branched out musically, forming Electric Blue (named after a porn film no less) with the wonderfully named Randy Michael. You can have a listen right here

Come on Anna, you're next...

Well hello 2009

So, we survived that oft-delayed Millennium bug thing again and thank heavens for that because there's a lot of good music on its way in 2009, I can feel it in me waters. Coming in the next twelve months we have albums from Antony & The Johnsons, Animal Collective, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Robyn, PJ Harvey, Royksopp, The Whitest Boy Alive, thecocknbullkid, etc, etc, etc. We've also got the live return of Blur to look forward to and the rapid collapse of the world economy...ah well, you can't have everything.

Musick thought it best to start 2009 and this fresh year for music with a look at this weeks Belgian album chart, and why not?

1. And Winter Came... by Enya
2. My Love - Essential Collection by Céline Dion
3. Forever by Milk Inc.
4. The Promise by Il Divo
5. Wit Licht by Marco Borsato
6. Time To Swing by Helmut Lotti
7. The Priests by The Priests
8. Greatest Hits by Craig David
9. Wannes - Het Beste by Wannes Van De Velde
10. Black Ice by AC/DC

Wowser, that's some list. It's nice to see avant garde electronic music sitting pretty at number one though, especially as the rest is all Tesco-friendly Mum music, with MOR Queen Celine nestling just above Milk Inc. (?). It's interesting too that Craig David is a top ten artist in Belgium seeing as that particular album missed the UK top ten by about 50 places. Still, I heard 'Rewind' (or 'Re-rewind' surely) the other day and it's properly amazing, so bring back Craig David, or just garage, which ever is less hassle. The Priests, eh? What are they like? No, really, what are they like? I've not heard them.