For Jehovah’s Witnesses, it is only once all mankind has heard God’s message that the day of judgement will come. Only then, once everybody has had opportunity to repent, and the chance of enlightenment, will the wheat be separated from the chaff in the second coming of Christ. They believe one thing, I believe another, but that won’t keep them from knocking on a bank holiday…
Social media, having shrunk the world into a pistachio shell, may be a little quicker than going door to door. Perhaps the Jehovah’s should consider Psy’s “Gangnam Style” a blueprint for a new, shiny, 21st Century Apocalypse. Speaking of which, Psy’s second single (and music video) “Gentleman” has been released.
Gentleman is a revelation for Psy. Without the need to pander to the public’s fickle attention span, he has taken the opportunity to pass comment on society. Here, he does not disappoint. In a verbose deconstruction of modernity, comparable to Orwell’s Animal Farm, Psy brings home the implications of nihilism on good taste. After three minutes and fifty-eight seconds, the relative nature of truth is exposed — musically, Psy’s offering makes a shit, on a record player made out of shit, with a broken needle, sound great.
But it is through Psy’s exposure of implicit social norms, the very fabric of society, that the piece should be analysed — as conceptual art. Psy begins his video with a scene reminiscent of Burgess’s A Clockwork Orange, while walking down the road with his droogs he raises a finger to the man by knocking over a traffic cone. In the words of Nelson Mandela, “When a man is denied the right to live the life he believes in, he has no choice but to become an outlaw.” Certainly these words emanate from between the lines of the refrain “I’m a, I’m a, I’m a, Mother-Father-Gentleman.”
Later in the video, Psy is seen questioning the modern obsession with sanitation as he prevents a man from getting to his hotel room in order to relieve himself, by pressing all the many buttons in the elevator. He then “cupcakes” someone at a desk. The sterilizing quality of modernity is brought to bear; truly Psy has created a work of art that defies the gallery. But this is a metaphor on the grandest scale. We all bear witness to the otherness of good taste.
In the face of this anti-authoritarianism, the South Korean government has had no choice but to ban the video. Such is the burden of inspiration. Psy now joins the list of visionaries caught before their time, a list including Orwell, Mandela, Burgess and the Jehovah’s themselves. In Psy’s words, “My only goal was to avoid being called a one-hit wonder.” — truly a Christ-like sentiment.
Dearest lover: It’s almost Valentine’s Day. I hope you understand how I feel about you. You’re my rock. You’re my all. I want to shout your name from the Queensboro Bridge. It’s all about you, baby. You make me whole. You’re my shmoopie. I’m so smitten, I can hardly concentrate on being a pioneering independent music and video distribution company operating in more than 25 global markets. I want you. I need you. I live for you. I want to show you how much you mean to me. I know you’re deathly allergic to chocolate and most types of flowers, so I dug deep inside my catalog and crafted a playlist to express my utmost devotion to you. This one’s for you, baby.
Hmm? What’s that, my sweetness? What? Wait, what? You want to what? See other people? You want to “stay friends?” You’ve gotta be ******* kidding me. Seriously? A week before VALENTINE’S DAY!? Didn’t you… aren’t we… how long have you… oh, forget it. Forget you. There are plenty of fish in the sea. Oh god, this is the worst Valentine’s Day ever. I feel so alone. So… unloved. Nobody loves me. Did you ever love me? I doubt it. Love is a sham. Love is a steaming pile of manure. Ugh. This sucks. This holiday sucks. Reminds me of a song. Actually, a bunch of songs. Songs about heartbreak, bitterness, and woe. This one’s for you, baby.
We may be largely focused on digital music here at The Orchard, but we still love physical records. One of the newest and most interesting ways to buy records is at the Independent Label Market, set up in London last year.
Sponsored by our friends over at AIM, it has expanded to become a 2-day affair at Old Spitalfields Market in Shoreditch this time round. It’s happening on 1-2 December, so put it in the diary!
Many of our beloved labels will be attending and selling their music, including the likes of Fire Records, Laissez Faire Club, Fortuna Pop!, Fierce Panda, Critical Heights, Monotreme, Killing Moon, Rocket Girl, Where It’s At Is Where You Are, and Acid Jazz. Phew.
Go ahead, support your local indies and buy some records for yourself and others. Christmas is a coming, y’know.
For more info, head over to the Facebook event here.
The 2012 Summer Olympic Games kick off in London on July 27. In anticipation, we’ve hand-picked a few of our favorite celebratory, uplifting, and inspirational tracks in our dedicated playlist: Olympic Gold.
Highlights include a rousing motivational track by Dana Buoy aka Akron/Family percussionist Dana Janssen [his debut album Summer Bodies reflects "the genuinely happy work of a charmed life," The Fader]; a mellow ballad from Chicago singer-songwriter Young Man, whose second album, Vol. 1 contains “truly stellar introspection from a young adult on the verge of something big” [Consequence Of Sound]; and an anthem of perseverance from Right The Stars, an LA band compared to Scars On 45 and Mat Kearney.
Euro 2012: see you in 4 years. London Olympic Games: here we come!
Photo courtesy of London 2012.
Everyone has an album that they fall in love with and play on repeat from start to finish, time and time again. Those albums become the soundtrack to our lives and capture special moments in time, but those albums can also have a tendency to define entire genres of music in our minds.
“Beyond Legend” takes listeners past the album that most cite as their introduction to reggae music: Bob Marley’s Legend. With a rich history based in Funk and R&B, Reggae music has evolved to create a vast array of subgenres like Rocksteady, Dub and Dancehall, that continue to resonate with and influence fans today.
From classic cuts to newer hits, this playlist explores many of the different vibes and sounds that Reggae has to offer and shows listeners what this genre is made up of, Beyond Legend.
Enjoy the playlist on your favorite streaming services: Spotify, Rdio and ShareMyPlaylists, or play it right here:
