While The Knife’s Silent Shout was praised for its music, Fever Ray’s debut is worth appreciating for its minimal, icy compositions, which are perhaps more beautiful. This enables Karin Dreijer Andersson’s lyrics and her voice(s) to be the centre of attention. When I Grow Up offers typically leftfield snapshots of thoughts and day-dreams, accompanied by a watery oriental soundtrack that borrows much from Silent Shout. It is, like the rest of the album, spectacular.
Somewhat belatedly, we now have an answer. According to a survey carried out by Ipsos MediaCT (catchy name folks) more 15-24 year olds in the UK watch music videos on YouTube than on TV. Other results point to 69% of those still in education watching YouTube music channels, but that older people still watch more via television.
So at a time when people are directing more of their attention to online video, YouTube removed premium music videos from UK viewers, because they couldn’t reach agreement over licensing fees with the PRS for Music. The PRS were demanding rises in fees “many, many factors” higher than the previous agreement. Yet the Music Publishers Association joined them in petitioning Google (which owns YouTube) to reconsider because “Music publishers are in the business of getting their music heard by as wide an audience as possible.”
The unwritten caveat to that sentence should be “So long as we get plenty of dosh for it because there’s all this nasty piracy going on and no-one is buying recorded music anyway.”
They fail so obviously to appreciate and realise that back when MTV launched in 1981, video was a promotional device. It still is, but it’s probably even more valuable today - we have the interwebs! Reducing the exposure of artists through monetary greed hurts everyone and makes the music industry even more wobbly.
In honour of this insanity here’s an unofficial video of a favourite song of mine from The Brooke (A Tiny Ocean):
One of the great things I love about the internets is that you find great sources of archival material that you never would have thought would have been captured. Take, for example, the follow video of Hüsker Dü playing in 1981. I was nine when they recorded this (while TheBrit was in secondary school as he is, you know, OLD!), but I like how you can hear influential they would go on to become because you can hear where bands like The Killers, Nirvana, Pixies, Supechunk (and a gazillion others) would pull traces Hüsker Dü’s signature sound.
If you missed it, the song is internal monologue of a serial killer while he is stalking his prey. Nothing like a little rape and knife play to get all warm and fuzzy. Plus I’m greatly enjoying the headband action and pogo’ing of the audience.
TheBrit and TheYank's theme posts are usually added every other Wednesday. Individual posts are added whenever we feel like. If you have an idea of a theme you would like for us to tackle, email us.
