Q Awards 2014

A few weeks ago, we ran through all the “shortlist” for the 2014 Xperia Access Q Awards (for that is what they are apparently now called), and last week the ceremony took place, with Jimmy Carr presenting, and upsetting Daily Mail readers for making slightly off-colour jokes in the process.

The winners were as follows:

Q Best New Act presented by Xperia Access

• Ella Eyre
• George Ezra
• The Fat White Family
• FKA Twigs
• Hozier
• London Grammar
• The 1975
• Royal Blood
• Sam Smith
• Temples

Winner: Sam Smith.

Q Best Track presented by Absolute Radio

• Kaiser Chiefs – Coming Home
• Kasabian – Eez-eh
• Lorde – Royals
• Paolo Nutini – Iron Sky
• Sam Smith – Stay with Me

Winner: Paolo Nutini.

Q Best Video

• Arctic Monkeys – Arabella
• Coldplay – Magic
• Elbow – New York Morning
• Paloma Faith – Only Love Can Hurt Like This
• Jamie xx – Sleep Sound

Winner: Jamie xx.

Q Best Album presented by RAYMOND WEIL

• Damon Albarn – Everyday Robots
• The Black Keys – Turn Blue
• Elbow – The Take Off and Landing of Everything
• Kasabian – 48:13
• Manic Street Preachers – Futurology

Winner: Elbow.

Q Best Live Act presented by The Cavern Club

• Arcade Fire
• Arctic Monkeys
• Kate Bush
• Kasabian
• Jack White

Winner: Kasabian.

Q Best Solo Artist presented by Citroën

• Damon Albarn
• Jake Bugg
• Paolo Nutini
• Ed Sheeran
• St Vincent

Winner: Ed Sheeran.

Q Best Act in the World Today presented by Buster + Punch

• Arcade Fire
• Arctic Monkeys
• Kate Bush
• Kasabian
• Pharrell Williams

Winner: Kasabian.

Q Classic Songwriter

Winner: Andy Partridge.

Gibson Les Paul Award

Winner: Johnny Marr.

Q Outstanding Contribution to Music

Winner: Richard Russell.

Q Inspiration

Winner: Simple Minds.

Q Hero

Winner: The Charlatans.

Q Innovation in Sound presented by Xperia Access

Winner: Jean Michel Jarre.

Q Icon presented by Carling’s Black Label Project

Winner: Wilko Johnson.

Q Hero

Winner: The Charlatans.

Q Classic Album

Winner: Pink Floyd for The Dark Side of the Moon

Q Idol

Winner: Culture Club.

There’s always something a little strange about those latter categories, which seem to mainly consist of hundreds of different ways of honouring artists who haven’t done much for a couple of decades, but it is admittedly nice to see Culture Club receive something (see video here), and Jean Michel Jarre‘s award for innovation was definitely well deserved (see video here), and it’s great to hear zat ‘e’s in ze studio right now. He’s also looking disconcertingly young…

You can read Q Magazine’s own coverage of the awards here.

See also Q Awards 2013 and Q Awards 2012.

Advertisement

Ladytron – Seventeen

Ah yes, Ladytron, but while they were still new and truly exceptional, and making videos which were very odd indeed. From Light and Magic (2002), this is the exceptional Seventeen:

Erasure – Live at the Hollywood Palladium, 25 October 2014

According to their first support act, KROQ DJ Richard Blade, Erasure have always been particularly popular in Southern California, although it’s difficult to know quite why that might be if so. Blade can certainly take some credit though, and he knew his audience tonight, running radio style competitions to give away tickets to future concerts, and playing hits from the 1980s.

The audience was surprising in many ways, actually – Erasure concerts in Europe tend to be enormous, flamboyant affairs, with a lot of make-up and dressing up. Not so in Los Angeles – there was a real mix, with groups of straight and gay men and women alongside pop fans and former Goths of all ages – and very probably mixes of all of those as well – the crowd really defied any kind of stereotyping. Admittedly there were two unicorns and one enormous Mohican haircut, but it was pretty laid back otherwise.

After the generally poor performance of their second support act Superhumanoids (they turn out to be a lot better in recorded form than when performing live, waving their arms around like the art performance from the TV series Spaced), Vince Clarke came on stage, barely seeming to notice the audience in front of him, and started playing the opening sounds of Oh l’Amour.

Andy Bell, appearing in steamed up sunglasses and a big hat, described the show as containing a lot of “12 inches” (I think that was some kind of innuendo), and the theme of big dance versions of songs was indeed a recurring one – in many cases, leaving the audience guessing for a couple of minutes exactly what might be coming next. Perhaps some live versions of the original 12″ mixes would have been worthwhile?

It was difficult to judge exactly who this show was for, too. Only three tracks from the newly released album The Violet Flame were included, despite the tour bearing the same name, and all three seemed to go down pretty well. Instead, this was very much a greatest hits set, with pretty much the entirety of the original Pop! collection being included. Much of the audience was expecting an eighties show, and that is what they got, but a few more surprises would have been welcome.

Apart from the 1987-1991 period, there was relatively little. Always seems to have justifiably cemented itself in Erasure fans’ minds, and has even become an encore, although surprisingly it does appear alongside Sometimes in a slightly ironic twist of naming (one hopes they are currently working on a track called Occasionally). The late 1990s were overlooked in their entirety, with a total of zero tracks from Erasure, Cowboy, Loveboat, and Other People’s Songs combined, and their recent career was largely ignored too.

Joan was a pleasant surprise though, meaning their 1991 album Chorus was actually better represented than the new one, and the only really noticeable omission was Stop! which is typically a live favourite.

Andy Bell does have a hard time of it – with Vince Clarke generally trying to hide behind a computer, and seemingly trying his hardest to play as little live as possible, there’s no support coming from Bell’s bandmate. The two backing singers were amazing, but he does give himself a lot of work. It’s tempting to wonder how much the casual Erasure fans might have got out of the evening, but most of the audience seemed to be enjoying themselves (admittedly, the ones close to me also seemed to be keen on trying to stamp on my feet and shove me out of the way, but maybe I’m getting old…)

Aside from the unusually poor acoustics of the Hollywood Palladium, it sounded pretty amazing from the audience, and I suspect it will sound good on the recording too, as it was being recorded for a future CD release. The second LA concert on Saturday night was likely recorded too, so the CD will probably combine the two. Keep an ear out for the audience singing blindly along to Always, even though the band have put a one bar break in between the choruses.

The setlist, disappointingly identical to all the North American tour dates this time around:

1. Oh l’Amour
2. Star
3. Reason
4. Breath of Life
5. You Surround Me
6. Elevation
7. I Lose Myself
8. Drama!
9. Victim of Love
10. Ship of Fools
11. Sacred
12. Breathe
13. Joan
14. Blue Savannah
15. Chorus
16. Love to Hate You
17. A Little Respect
18. Chains of Love
19. Always (encore)
20. Sometimes (encore)

Sylver – Nighttime Calls

Some Euro ages reasonably well… some, not so much.

A whole decade ago this week, Dutch duo Sylver released their third album, the inaccurately named Nighttime Calls. The debut album Chances (2001) had the brilliant Turn the Tide and not a lot else, and follow-up Little Things (2003) had a couple of good hits but was largely average, so did the follow-up have more to offer?

Well, as with a lot of Europop, it goes very much for quantity over quality – there are fourteen tracks altogether. First up is the lead single Love is an Angel, which sadly is every bit as vacuous as the title suggests. Things do start to look up after that though – Take Me Back is still pretty meaningless, but is every bit the happy, cheesy dance that you expect from a Euro act, and it has a very catchy synth line too.

Summer Solstice may sound a little as though it’s still stuck in the 1990s, but it does have a great synth line, making it easily my favourite song on here, and the following track Who am I is pretty good too. Sylver always like to drop the full-on dance for a track or two on their albums, and this is the one this time round – it’s more pop than Euro, and it works well.

The next trio – Make it, Drowning in My Tears, and Sympathy – are rather more pedestrian. They’re still great Europop, but nothing more meaningful than that – and there’s a bit of a clue there for how to make the most of this album. Enjoy it for what it is, and don’t try to find anything deeper.

You might start to question this judgement with Where Did the Love Go and Fallin’, as they’re largely dreadful, but Tomorrow picks things back up to “average” again, so everything is OK.

The closing trio of Don’t Call Me, Where Did I Go Wrong and Sometimes doesn’t hold any particular surprises either. Again, as with much of this album, you can enjoy it if you suspend your judgement a bit and just want something to nod your head to, but groundbreaking this is not.

So Nighttime Calls isn’t total Eurotrash, but neither is it anything particularly special either. Which is a shame, as Sylver have, on occasion, been very good indeed. Just not this time.

You can find Nighttime Calls on import from Germany here.

Preview – Chicane feat. Bo Bruce

Chicane may occasionally be a little predictable, but Nick Bracegirdle (for that is his real name) has been churning out semi-chilled out gentle dance for a good many years, and a new single is more than enough reason to celebrate. With Bo Bruce on vocals, this is Still with Me:

Retro chart for stowaways – 24 October 2009

Here are the top five singles from five years ago this week:

1. Saint Etienne – Only Love Can Break Your Heart
2. Pet Shop Boys – Beautiful People
3. Erasure – Phantom Bride EP
4. La Roux – Bulletproof
5. Madonna – Celebration

And the top albums:

1. Saint Etienne – Foxbase Beta
2. Air – Love 2
3. Madonna – Celebration
4. La Roux – La Roux
5. Alphabeat – This is Alphabeat

Beginner’s guide to Hot Chip

From out of nowhere, London-based Hot Chip appeared in 2006 and took the singles charts by storm. Now five albums on, and well established as one of the most important electronic pop acts in the world of modern music, they are essential listening. They’re also extremely good live.

Key moments

You might remember them for Ready for the Floor, or Boy from School, or maybe Over and Over. Or One Life Stand, or I Feel Better. Or possibly Night & Day. With an enormous list of quirky singles, they really are very difficult to avoid.

Where to start

Probably make The Warning (2006) your first purchase – it was still early days for them, but they were already making significant waves.

What to buy

Jump forward to their most recent and most consistent album yet, In Our Heads (2012) to hear them at their prime, and then roll back to One Life Stand (2010), by which time you’ll have a good idea of what to expect. You’ll then be ready for their most popular – and ironically their least substantial – album Made in the Dark (2008).

Don’t bother with

Apart from the odd b-side, none of the singles or bonus tracks are really worth tracking down.

Hidden treasure

The debut album Coming on Strong (2004) is largely forgotten, I suspect even by the band, but is a lo-fi and understated masterpiece.

For stowaways

• Hot Chip – In Our Heads (July 2012)
• Shit Robot – From the Cradle to the Rave – featuring Alexis Taylor (September 2012)
• Top Tracks of 2012 – Hot Chip for Look at Where We Are (December 2012)
• Album Chart of the Year – 2012 – including In Our Heads (January 2013)

Mercury Prize Winners 1992-2013

Last year, we looked at the nominees of the Barclaycard Mercury Music Prize in excruciating detail (you can find the links below). This year, let’s just take a very quick browse through the list of winners!

• 1992 – Primal Scream – Screamadelica
• 1993 – Suede – Suede
• 1994 – M People – Elegant Slumming
• 1995 – Portishead – Dummy
• 1996 – Pulp – Different Class
• 1997 – Roni Size / Reprazent – New Forms
• 1998 – Gomez – Bring it On
• 1999 – Talvin Singh – Ok
• 2000 – Badly Drawn Boy – The Hour of Bewilderbeast
• 2001 – PJ Harvey – Stories from the City, Stories from the Sea
• 2002 – Ms. Dynamite – A Little Deeper
• 2003 – Dizzee Rascal – Boy in da Corner
• 2004 – Franz Ferdinand – Franz Ferdinand
• 2005 – Antony and the Johnsons – I Am a Bird Now
• 2006 – Arctic Monkeys – Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not
• 2007 – Klaxons – Myths of the Near Future
• 2008 – Elbow – The Seldom Seen Kid
• 2009 – Speech Debelle – Speech Therapy
• 2010 – The XX – XX
• 2011 – PJ Harvey – Let England Shake
• 2012 – Alt-J – An Awesome Wave
• 2013 – James Blake – Overgrown

Which does make for a slightly odd list when you see it all together – it’s a mix of legends and total drivel… but who are we to judge? That’s the job of the judging committee.

If you want to delve into the gory details of previous years, you can find them here: 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, and 2013. The nominees for 2014 can be found here, and we’ll take a look at the winners next week.

Death in Vegas – Hands Around My Throat

The next tune selected by the random jukebox is the best track from Death in Vegas‘s 2002 album Scorpio Rising, the lead single Hands Around My Throat:

The Best Singles of 2004

I also found this one in my archives, dated December 2004…

Air “Cherry Blossom Girl” (Virgin; January; #175)

Without a doubt the most beautiful track on Talkie Walkie, which is one of their best albums to date. The single that was available in the UK, a Canadian import, features no other tracks of interest, but the original should have been a huge hit.

Bent “Comin’ Back” (Open; August; #89)

An absolutely beautiful track from the duo’s third album Ariels, and without a doubt a return to form. Astoundingly, despite unfavourable reviews, this became one of their most successful singles, and the album fared better than either of its predecessors.

Delerium feat. Nerina Pallot “Truly” (Nettwerk; February; #54)

Bill Leeb and Rhys Fulber made their name in the UK with classic stomping dance tracks, and continue in that vein with numerous new mixes from well known names. A welcome reworking of one of the best tracks from their recent album Chimera.

Delerium feat. Sarah McLachlan “Silence 2004” (Nettwerk; November; #38)

The third full UK release for the track that made Delerium in the UK. This time, as well as the best of the earlier remixes, it contains new versions by Above & Beyond and Filterheadz, neither of which detract from the splendour of the track. A welcome reissue to promote their recent Best of compilation, the only thing missing is the original album version.

Depeche Mode “Enjoy the Silence 2004” (Mute; October; #7)

A welcome return for the track that made the group one of the forerunners of electronic music. A multitude of new remixes of this and other tracks propelled the single back into the top ten and helped the remix album towards the right end of the charts.

Dirty Vegas “Walk into the Sun” (Parlophone; October; #54)

Finally, the long-awaited return from one of the best new bands of 2002. Unfortunately, the world seems to have forgotten them, and poor reviews and lack of airplay meant the single barely charted and the album didn’t make it at all. This doesn’t mean it’s a bad track though. Easily as good as anything on the first album, this is another essential track for them.

Enigma “Boum Boum” (Virgin; October; #108)

A fantastic return to form for an artist who has fallen behind the times somewhat in recent years, backed up with wonderful remixes by Chicane and Wally Lopez. Somewhat unsurprisingly, though, it didn’t manage the charts, despite being Cretu’s first UK single in four years.

Erasure “Breathe” (Mute; November; download only)

A fantastic return for a band who have seen relatively little success and a lot of unfavourable reviews over the last decade. It probably won’t be a hit when it receives its full UK release in January, but it’s pretty good nonetheless.

Faithless “Mass Destruction” (Cheeky; May; #7)

Occasionally Maxi Jazz comes out with astoundingly insightful and ingenious lyrics. This is one of those moments. It’s not the pounding four-to-the-floor insanity we might expect from Faithless, but it’s still a fantastic track, and herald for a good fourth album.

Goldfrapp “Black Cherry” (Mute; March; #28)

Yet another single from the wonderful album of the same name. This time the tracks included were minimally spread across the three formats, but included wonderful remixes, videos, live versions and a new exclusive b-side.

Kraftwerk “Aérodynamik” (EMI; April; #33)

Finally having dragged themselves back into the studio for the rush-released Tour de France Soundtracks in 2003, the true godfathers of electronic music returned with another single and continued on their travels with yet another world tour. The single features four exclusive new versions which no self-respecting home should be without.

Lemon Jelly “Stay with You” (XL; November; #31)

After a break of eighteen months, Lemon Jelly returned at the end of 2004 with possibly their best track to date. It may lack the charm of Nice Weather for Ducks, instead bringing together influences from French dance music as well as many familiar sounds, but it’s an instant classic nonetheless.

Pet Shop Boys “Flamboyant” (Parlophone; March; #12)

Many people are of the opinion that 2003 was one of the boys’ best years to date, seeing them returning to their more familiar electronic sound, and being rewarded with reasonable success for their troubles. This, the second single from their second hits album PopArt, was backed with numerous stunning remixes, the video, and a brand new b-side.

Soho Dolls “Prince Harry” (Poptones; November; #57)

The group made their name in the summer touring with Client, and, thanks to that, achieved a minor hit with their first single. It’s very raw and electronic, even more punk than Ladytron, and absolutely bristling with attitude.

Sylver “Love is an Angel” (??; October; no UK release)

Rumour has it that this is a true return to form. Having seen less success than deserved since their wonderful debut Turn the Tide, this track took them back into the German Top 20. Still no sign of any UK success, though.