Best Brits 2013

So it's the Brits 2013, introduced as the biggest night of the year in British music.  It's awards month for sure, being hot on the heels of the Grammy's earlier in February, and the warm up for the Oscars.

Sure enough the Brits had big stage shows and sets to help fill out the O2 Arena in London.  The Grammys the previous week saw Fun perform in the rain, proper wet rain.  As if to continue the weather theme, the Brits had Robbie Williams and Taylor Swift performing with a snow effect of course.

Some engaging and articulate stories by selected artists of all their journey and hard work behind the scenes.  Perhaps the best take away quote was from Lana Del Ray, winning best International Female, who was grateful for being able to "...turn my life into a work of Art.".    Then there's the insight from Emily Sande.... "I was an underdog,  nobody wanted to sign me.....when people don't believe in you, you want to prove them wrong. I want to encourage any underdog to achieve their dreams.  This is an album I wrote because I didn't have the confidence to say these things in person. For me, that so many people have connected with this album and found strength in these words makes me feel incredible and it doesn't make me feel as lonely."

Some great lighting effects too to create atmosphere.  Lots of large scale, fast paced, beat synchronised lighting too. No mean feat - given that light travels faster than sound - to make that work well at scale and distance. That said, less can be more and provides interest and variety too, so for Ben Howard's acoustic performance had some powerful but effective static beams.  For an overtly music show, the shrill glass breaking audio effects before and after each set of nomination did detract a bit.

Interesting that there's increasing commonality between the Grammys and Brits, as the gap between breaking into the respective music scenes reduces as the music markets are better and quicker connected now through the virtual world. Maybe with that convergence  it's not such a surprise then that year's Brits 2013 were described by the Guardian, as "Nothing more than a mirror to the charts".   Anyway, it's still nice to know that Brits has invested £14m helping budding musicians over the years.....

Here's that list of categories, winners and nominees....


1 British Group 

Mumford And Sons - WINNER
Alt J
Muse
One Direction
The xx

2 British Live Act 

Coldplay - WINNER
The Rolling Stones
Mumford And Sons
Muse
Vaccines

3 British Male

Ben Howard - WINNER
Calvin Harris
Olly Murs
Richard Hawley
Plan B

4 British Female 

Emeli Sande - WINNER
Amy Winehouse
Bat For Lashes
Jessie Ware
Paloma Faith

5 Global Success 

One Direction -WINNER
Mumford And Sons
Adele

6 British Single

Adele - Skyfall - WINNER
Alex Clare - Too Close
Coldplay and Rihanna - Princess of China
DJ Fresh FT Rita Ora - Hot Right Now
Emile Sande - Next To Me
Florence And The Machine - Spectrum
James Arthur - Impossible
Jessie J - Domino
Labrinth FT Emeli Sande - Beneath Your Beautiful
Olly Murs FT Flo Rida– Troublemaker
Rita Ora FT Tinie Tempah - RIP
Rizzle Kicks - Mama Do The Hump
Robbie Williams - Candy
Rudimental FT John Newman- Feel the Love
Stooshe - Black Heart

7 International Female

Lana Del Rey - WINNER
Rihanna
Alicia Keys
Cat Power
Taylor Swift

8 International Group

Black Keys - WINNER
Alabama Shakes
Fun.
Killers
The Script

9 International Male

Frank Ocean - WINNER
Bruce Springsteen
Gotye
Jack White
Michael Buble

10 MasterCard British Album of The Year 

Emeli Sande - Our Version Of Events - WINNER
Alt-J - An Awesome Wave
Mumford And Sons - Babel
Paloma Faith - Fall To Grace
Plan B - Ill Manors

11 Special Recognition Award 

War Child

12 Critics' Choice

Tom Odell

13 British Producer 

Paul Epworth

Grammy Awards 2013

So it's the 55th annual Grammy awards.  Staring back in 1949 it's been getting bigger and bigger.

Introduced as the greatest music show on earth, that's a lot to live up to, and included 81 awards.  But sure enough some big performances, Ed Sheran with Elton John of particular note.

We believe that great lighting has such a big part to play in enhancing the musical performance and atmosphere, but the Grammy's have gone that step further.  Now there's weather to add into the mix.  Sure enough, when Fun performed it started raining, and properly raining.  Those big drops created especially to be visible on camera.  As Fun also won best new artist  then the challenge is surely on for next year's new artists.  Adele winning best pop solo performance with "Set Fire to the Rain" might not be a co-incidence.   After all, maybe rains's just a natural progression from using "Fog" to enhance lighting effects....

While always looking for new ways of keeping our discos full of great sound and light, but we'll be keeping things dry for the time being at least.

Wired for Sound

Wired is the monthy lifestyle magazine with a focus on..."Ideas, Technology, Design, Business".  interesting that February's issue seemed to be awash with fascinating and curious music related items, so here they are....

1.  Tasteful Music.

Researchers at Oxford University have shown some really interesting links between the taste of food and the influence of sound and music.  Sure enough sound is explicitly linked to some foods,  so crisps come in a crunchy sounding packet, not at all necessary but a simple illustration of that relationship.  Researchers found that there are "synaesthetic correspondences" between taste and sound through a range of experiments.  So give people some toffee to munch in a darkened room while listening to different music in the background.  When the music at a higher pitch, the toffee tasted sweeter.....[p.26]

2. Dancing Robots

Robots while able to replicate lots of human moves, just can't dance. Dancing takes agility and speed which is pretty challenging for a robot to perform naturally.   Not any more, there's a dancing robot on the cards. Testing it's environment 100 times per second and considering it's own momentum, inertia and friction, to balance better and move more quickly and smoothly....[p.36]

3.  3D Vinyl

How about a vinyl record that rather than being a disc is in fact a sphere.  So this has been created by an enthusiastic traveller, a globe of vinyl that represents earth and plays the music associated with the location of the stylus on that world.  The next project is a vinyl record that would play for 24 hours, and would need to be 3m wide.... [p.69]

4. DJ Lounge Booth

So a bespoke DJ booth which would be at home in the lounge, even playing lounge music.  About £750 buys a solid wood DJ booth based on the designs of legendary early disco clubs like Studio 54 and Paradise Garage.  So maybe that's full circle, some homage also to those original front room wooden gramophone and radio cabinets of previous generations....[p.54]

5. Sound to Light

How about turning an audio track into a picture.... At songle.jp a music track can be rendered into various styles of animated infographic. [p.78]

Given hearing is one of a limited number of senses (the actual number is not fully agreed) it's perhaps not surprising that these sorts of curiosities and innovations enable us to better understand end enjoy the audible world around us.

Booze News

It's emerging that our national alcohol drink guidelines might not be as well founded as we might have though.  Here's the picture.

It's in our culture...

Throughout history, drinking alcohol has been seen as a part of our national culture in the UK. Today, alcohol is regularly with us when we unwind, socialise, celebrate and even commiserate.   For some cultures and religions – such as Islam, Buddhism, Quakerism – drinking alcohol goes against their beliefs

So what's the recipe...

The type of alcohol that features in our alcoholic drinks is a chemical called ethanol.  To make alcohol, you need to put grains, fruits or vegetables through a fermentation process.  The yeast or bacteria react with the sugars in food creating ethanol and carbon dioxide.   A drink’s alcohol content is affected by how long it’s left to ferment.  Wine and cider are made by fermenting fruit while beer and spirits are made by  fermented cereals such as barley and rye.  Spirits are also distilled, where some of the water is removed, leaving a stronger concentration of alcohol and flavour.

Measuring alcoholic units...

For consistency, alcohol consumption is measured in units  A unit of alcohol is in fact 10ml of pure alcohol.  The number of units in a drink of course depends on it's strength  basically how much that pure alcohol has been diluted.  Alcohol by volume (ABV) is the measure of the strength of the drink.  So 13 ABV which might appear on a bottle of wine is 13% pure alcohol.

It takes the human body about one hour to process one unit of alcohol.  That's half a pint of beer an hour. And given that the rate of consumption can be faster than the rate the alcohol is processed by the body, it can be quite easy to have alcohol in the blood half a day later.

Oh and there are calories too...

Alcoholic drinks contains calories.   Our bodies need 2500 a day for a male and 2000 for a female.  That does vary of course with or size and shape and the extent of exercise.   A bottle of red wine contains around 700 calories, that's just three large glasses of wine (250ml).  That's nearly one third of the daily female calorie intake, and nearly a quarter for a male.  To make things worse, these calories are know as "empty" calories, as don't even contain any of the body's necessary nutrients or minerals.

The Guidelines...

From the first drink, that alcohol starts affecting both your body and mind. After one or two drinks you may start feeling more sociable, but drink too much and basic human functions, such as walking and talking, become much harder.  Hence the government has guidelines on drinking alcohol.  In short it's 3.5 units a day for a man and 2.5 units a day for a woman.  Here's some examples:

• 1 unit: 25ml measure of spirit (40% alcohol), 50ml glass of sherry, port or vermouth (20% alcohol), ½ pint beer, cider or lager (3.5% alcohol)
• 1.5 units: 125ml glass of wine (12% alcohol)
• 2 units: 175ml glass of wine (12% alcohol), 1 pint beer, lager or cider (3.5% alcohol)

Find out more about the alcohol guidelines at the government's change for life website.

The Booze News...

It looks likes those guidelines are reaching their own sell by date. It's emerging that those guidelines might not be so right as originally thought.

The Daily Telegraph (1.1.13) reports that 'government alcohol guidelines that were “plucked out of the air" wrongly suggest that we can drink almost daily with no ill-effects, say doctors".

Those guidelines were produces by a working party of the Royal College of Physicians in 1987, and have been adopted by the Government for the subsequent 25 years.   Since then a couple of things have come to light.

Firstly, it's emerged that the evidence base underlying those guidelines were not really built on the strongest foundation. It's since been acknowledged that there was not any sufficient data, but the working party thought they ought to come up with something.  It's been quoted as "a sort of  intelligent guess made by a committee".

Secondly new research is pointing to even lower levels of alcohol consumption.  In 2012, some Oxford University research for the British Heart Foundation found that tiny amounts of alcohol can increase risk of cancer.  That limit is 0.5 units a day - a half a small glass of wine - less than a quarter of the current guidelines.   The study showed that a woman drinking a bottle of wine a week, increases here risk of breast cancer by 10%.  There's be plenty more research to come and probably of different opinions, but the direction of travel is probably clear.

Those daily limits may start to seem more like weekly limits...

Well good then that the House of Commons Science and Technology Committee has suggested that existing advise on safe drinking is too confusing.  Although that's a different matter - that's communication rather than the levels themselves.  The committee suggested that “Alcohol guidelines are a crucial tool for the Government in its effort to combat excessive and problematic drinking. It is vital that they are up to date and that people know how to use them. While we urge the UK health departments to re-evaluate the guidelines more thoroughly, the evidence we received suggests that the guidelines should not be increased and that people should be advised to take at least two drink-free days a week.”

So some time, energy and thinking on a review which will touch on those levels as well as their communication.

So watch this space, but maybe with a cup of tea in hand rather than a large glass of red....


Source: Think You Know Your Limit? You Don't.  Dr Michael Mosley.  The Times.  Tuesday 1st January 2013, Times 2 Feature Article p.2-3. Also included in BBC Radio 4 You and Yours, January 2,3,4 2013.

UKs Top 10 Foreign Language Singles

The Official Charts have produced another curiously wonderful Top 10 to celebrate 60 years of the charts.  These are the top ten foreign language singles.  Some of these will be familiar to the dance floor, not least the Macarena...

Source and thanks: Official Charts Company

3.7 Billion Singles Sold

Over the 60 years of the Official Singles chart, 3,700,000,000 singles have been bought in the UK.  That's a big number.

That period has also seen the change of format from vinyl, through CD and now digital.   It was 2004 with the launch of itunes that marks the real start of the digital decade. It's now more than 99% digital.

There's been three main stepped increases in the number of sales over each of the decades. In the 50's and 60's the highest selling year saw 57 million singles sales.  That steppe up for the the 70's, 80's and 90's, the highest selling year saw 79 million singles sales.   That's stepped up again with the noughties, with a peak of 152m singles sales in 2009, and then increasing by a quarter again into the 2010's.

These are the peak years for singles sales within each of the last 5 decades:

1957   50m
1964   57m
1979   79m
1984   71m
1997   78m
2009  152m

And in the new decade the sales keep increasing even further... 2012 saw a huge 188.6m singles sales up from 177.9m in 2011.


Source and thanks: Official Charts Company

Dancing Directions

Dancing is cool.  At least watching celebrities.  It's prime time TV on Saturday nights in plenty of countries.  BBC's Strictly Come Dancing is now it on it's 10th series since starting out in 2004.  Celebrities paired up with professional dancers simply compete against each other in front of a panel of judges and a voting TV audience.  It's now been emulated in over 40 countries worldwide as Dancing with the Stars.

Two of the show's judges provide a few simple dancing hints and tips to make the most of that party dancing opportunity.  Here's those messages distilled....

1. Do try dancing to everything

Try it all, just listen to the back beat and start clapping your hands and moving your feet to get the feel.

2. The simple steps are best 

Step to the side and tap, and then step to the other side and tap. That works to any song and always looks good

3. Do Dance with others

When there are others on the dance floor who know what they're doing, then join in.  Don't hover on the edge looking awkward, you'll just attract more attention.

4. Do copy shamelessly

Find someone who is looking good and dance next to them, then you can copy their moves and know that what you are doing looks good too.

5. Throw some caution to the wind.  

It's very liberating not to worry about perfecting every step and technique.

6. Think about arms too

Generally, try not to lets your hands wander above your head, you're dancing not drowning.  Best dance styling tend to keep arms below shoulder height.

7. Stay Standing  

Pretending to row a boat for example, especially if you're drunk and can't get back up again, is never cool.  That close up grinding is so sleazy too.

8.  Be Neighbourly

When the dancefloor is crowded, don't flail about playing the air guitar or sliding around on your knees.  Nobody really likes a show off.

9. Do have a drink 

If you're nervous, a drink can fortify yourself, and can help you relax and enjoy yourself.  To much can work against you though.  Remember to drink responsibly though...See Drink Aware for advice and guidance.

10. And protect your modesty.

If you're in a strapless top don't lift your arms up to far, and don't do the twist in a short skirt.  We've all seen it happen and it's really not that attractive.

Source: Based on Strictly Tips to Dance like Darcy. It's the party season, but are your moves a dance 'disaaahster'? Darcy Bussell and Len Goodman show you how to score a perfect 10.  BBC Radio Times (22.12.12-04.01.13)

All the Christmas No.1s

The Christmas No.1 single each year is a bit of a converted accolade.   There can be some close fought races to that top spot and some real targeting and planning to get there.  Here are all those Christmas No.1's of the past 50 years, plus some interesting observations.

A Christmas No.1...defined.

What is a Christmas number one?  The song that sold most singles that "Christmas"?  Well sort of but not quite. In fact technically, it's the single that sold most in the week up to the Sunday before Christmas.   To be even more precise it's sales between 00.01 Sunday and and midnight on Saturday.  So that doesn't reflect what was sold the week(s) before or after.  And that's all assuming that the single has been officially registered with the Official Charts Company, and comply with it's chart rules, for it to be eligible to be officially counted.

So timing is Everything

So the charts are always measured to a specific point in the week which is midnight on Saturday.  However the day of the week on Christmas day falls will vary from year to year.  This means that the chart could be finalised on Christmas day itself, or up to 6 days earlier.   So it can be that with 6 days to go until Christmas then the Christmas No.1 is already decided.  That variability has led to some near misses.

So for example, in 1990 Vanilla Ice was No.1 with Ice Ice Baby, but by the next Chart on 29th December, Cliff Richard's Saviour's Day was No.1.  In 2010 it was Cannonball with Little Mix at Christmas No.1, with Military Wives with Gareth Malone had to wait a week to peak with Wherever You Are.  In 2008 Leona Lewis's Run (20th Dec 2008) meant that Alexandra Burke' Hallelujah had to wait a week too (27th Dec).

Disparate Decades

Over the decades the nature of the Christmas No.1's have changed to become more disparate.  In the 1950's seven of the ten were from either the Beatles or Elvis.   For Elvis it was It's Now or Never [1960] and Return to Sender [1962], and for the Beatles with I Want to hold your hand [1963], I feel Fine [1964], and Day Tripper/We Can work it out [1965], Hello Goodbye [1967].

Once in a lifetime

The Christmas No.1 is also the opportunity for some of the quirky numbers to stand out.  The test being that their airtime since had been miniminal.  Benny Hill's Ernie- the Fastest Milkman in the West [1971], Donny Osmond's Long Haired Lover From Liverpool [1972], and then there was Mister Blobby in 1984.  That includes those children's hits too....The JCB Song from Nizlopi in 2005,  Can we fix it? from Bob the Builder [2000].    That said Band Aid managed to be the Christmas No.1 three times over 20 years with Do They Know it's Christmas in 1984, 1989, 2004.

Source and thanks: Official Charts Company

National Sound Check Day

The 12th December 2012 is of course national sound check day " 1 2 1 2 1 2".   Nothing official, just of passing novelty really. And technically National Sound Check Moment would be 12 minutes and 12 seconds past 12...12:12:12 on 12:12:12

It's also the last matching date-month-year until the next decade, that another 89 years, on 01.01.01

.

John Lewis - Music Promotor

Well John Lewis has done it again in 2012.  It's Christmas Ad campaign is always eagerly awaited, and the accompanying music often goes on to chart success. Since 2009 those sound tracks have collectively sold 1.5 million singles in the UK.  Four of those have gone on to  become Top 10 hits on the Official Singles Chart.

The Official Charts Company's data shows that Ellie Goulding's "Your Song" cover in 2010 went on to generate over 729,000 sales and in 2012 Gabrielle Alpin's cover of The Power of Love has generated 220,000 sales in the first five weeks.  Happy Christmas Gabrielle....

Source and thanks: Official Charts Company

Nearly Number One

One of the great things about having a national UK official chart running over 60 years is the opportunities to explore all sorts of interesting questions.   Here's a good one, the best music from each of the decades which never quite made it to number one....

1950s

THAT'S AMORE	DEAN MARTIN
SMILE	NAT 'KING' COLE
UNCHAINED MELODY	AL HIBBLER
(LOVE IS) THE TENDER TRAP	FRANK SINATRA
HEARTBREAK HOTEL	ELVIS PRESLEY
HOUND DOG	ELVIS PRESLEY
WHEN I FALL IN LOVE	NAT 'KING' COLE
LAST TRAIN TO SAN FERNANDO	JOHNNY DUNCAN & THE BLUE GRASS BOYS
WAKE UP LITTLE SUSIE	EVERLY BROTHERS
DON'T BE CRUEL	ELVIS PRESLEY WITH THE JORDANAIRES
VOLARE	DEAN MARTIN
BIRD DOG	EVERLY BROTHERS
MOVE IT	CLIFF RICHARD & THE DRIFTERS
TO KNOW HIM IS TO LOVE HIM	TEDDY BEARS
A TEENAGER IN LOVE	MARTY WILDE
THE BATTLE OF NEW ORLEANS	LONNIE DONEGAN

1960s

SAVE THE LAST DANCE FOR ME	DRIFTERS
THE LOCO-MOTION	LITTLE EVA
PLEASE PLEASE ME	BEATLES
CAN'T GET USED TO LOSING YOU	ANDY WILLIAMS
THEN HE KISSED ME	CRYSTALS
ALL DAY AND ALL OF THE NIGHT	KINKS
DOWNTOWN	PETULA CLARK
WE GOTTA GET OUT OF THIS PLACE	ANIMALS
MY GENERATION	WHO
NINETEENTH NERVOUS BREAKDOWN	ROLLING STONES
GOD ONLY KNOWS	BEACH BOYS
MATTHEW AND SON	CAT STEVENS
PENNY LANE/STRAWBERRY FIELDS FOREVER	BEATLES
WATERLOO SUNSET	KINKS
MAGICAL MYSTERY TOUR (DOUBLE EP)	BEATLES
LAZY SUNDAY	SMALL FACES
IN THE GHETTO	ELVIS PRESLEY
SUSPICIOUS MINDS	ELVIS PRESLEY

1970s

I WANT YOU BACK	JACKSON 5
LET IT BE	BEATLES
ALL RIGHT NOW	FREE
LOLA	KINKS
RIDE A WHITE SWAN	T REX
BROWN SUGAR/BITCH/LET IT ROCK	ROLLING STONES
AMERICAN PIE	DON McLEAN
ROCKET MAN	ELTON JOHN
CRAZY HORSES	OSMONDS
THE JEAN GENIE	DAVID BOWIE
YESTERDAY ONCE MORE	CARPENTERS
THIS TOWN AIN'T BIG ENOUGH FOR THE BOTH OF US	SPARKS
LOVE IS THE DRUG	ROXY MUSIC
THE KILLING OF GEORGIE	ROD STEWART
BOOGIE NIGHTS	HEATWAVE
SIR DUKE	STEVIE WONDER
GOD SAVE THE QUEEN	SEX PISTOLS
WE ARE THE CHAMPIONS	QUEEN
DENIS	BLONDIE
OLIVER'S ARMY	ELVIS COSTELLO & THE ATTRACTIONS
UP THE JUNCTION	SQUEEZE

1980s

MASTERBLASTER (JAMMIN')	STEVIE WONDER
HAPPY XMAS (WAR IS OVER)	JOHN & YOKO & THE PLASTIC ONO BAND WITH THE HARLEM COMMUNITY CHOIR
VIENNA	ULTRAVOX
KIDS IN AMERICA	KIM WILDE
GOLDEN BROWN	STRANGLERS
TEMPTATION	HEAVEN 17
GOLD	SPANDAU BALLET
GHOSTBUSTERS	RAY PARKER Jr
LAST CHRISTMAS/EVERYTHING SHE WANTS	WHAM!
1999/LITTLE RED CORVETTE	PRINCE & THE REVOLUTION
HOLIDAY	MADONNA
TAKE ON ME	A-HA
WHAT HAVE I DONE TO DESERVE THIS	PET SHOP BOYS & DUSTY SPRINGFIELD
FAITH	GEORGE MICHAEL
FAIRYTALE OF NEW YORK	POGUES FEATURING KIRSTY MacCOLL

1990s

LOVE SHACK	B-52's
TOM'S DINER	DNA FEATURING SUZANNE VEGA
GROOVE IS IN THE HEART/WHAT IS LOVE	DEEE-LITE
SIT DOWN	JAMES
LAST TRAIN TO TRANCENTRAL	KLF FEATURING THE CHILDREN OF THE REVOLUTION
JUSTIFIED AND ANCIENT	KLF, GUEST VOCALS TAMMY WYNETTE
FINALLY	CE CE PENISTON
MOVING ON UP	M PEOPLE
COMMON PEOPLE	PULP
ALRIGHT/TIME	SUPERGRASS
ROLL WITH IT	OASIS
WONDERWALL	OASIS
A DESIGN FOR LIFE	MANIC STREET PREACHERS
BORN SLIPPY (REMIX)	UNDERWORLD
SONG 2	BLUR
BITTER SWEET SYMPHONY	VERVE
RAY OF LIGHT	MADONNA
MUSIC SOUNDS BETTER WITH YOU	STARDUST
RIGHT HERE RIGHT NOW	FATBOY SLIM

2000s/2010s

ALL THE SMALL THINGS	BLINK 182
TEENAGE DIRTBAG	WHEATUS
MURDER ON THE DANCEFLOOR	SOPHIE ELLIS-BEXTOR
IN MY PLACE	COLDPLAY
MILKSHAKE	KELIS
LOVE MACHINE	GIRLS ALOUD
FEEL GOOD INC	GORILLAZ
GOLD DIGGER	KANYE WEST FEATURING JAMIE FOXX
PUT YOUR RECORDS ON	CORINNE BAILEY RAE
VALERIE	MARK RONSON FEATURING AMY WINEHOUSE
RULE THE WORLD	TAKE THAT
CHASING PAVEMENTS	ADELE
USE SOMEBODY	KINGS OF LEON
IN FOR THE KILL	LA ROUX
EMPIRE STATE OF MIND	JAY-Z FEATURING ALICIA KEYS
LOVE THE WAY YOU LIE	EMINEM FEATURING RIHANNA
ROLLING IN THE DEEP	ADELE
MOVES LIKE JAGGER	MAROON 5 FEATURING CHRISTINA AGUILERA

Source and thanks: Official Charts Company 
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