The Aaargh Factor

I don't get the X-Factor. I don't get the fact that the lead story in the two biggest-selling newspapers in Scotland was about how a girl from Fife didn't get picked to appear in the live shows. I don't get that the same story was talked about and tweeted about and Facebooked about for ages on the morning radio show.
It's a celebration of mediocrity. Classic songs are reduced to bland karaoke by people whose talent is about right for a cruise ship or a holiday camp. With the exception of Leona Lewis, the majority of winners sink without trace, any talent they had ruined by the mass produced pop of the Cowell song sweat shops.
There are the now annual scandals which generate column inches of indignation and another million viewers. It is manipulative almost beyond belief and the British public lap it up.
Add to that the overly sentimental stories of life's hardships, the yearly buying of the Christmas number one and Louis Walsh and you have a recipe for television that makes me feel physically sick.
Despite all those things that should make everyone want to reach for the remote to change the channel, it remains the most popular show on British television. ITV and Simon Cowell make millions and the public are so busy talking about it they don't notice anything else.
Maybe it's just me. Maybe I don't get it because I fell in love with music that had real emotion behind it. If the X-Factor had been around since the sixties would The Beatles and The Stones ever have been successful? Would Bowie have challenged the world with his asexual brand of glam rock? Would punk have been strangled at birth by the knot of commercialism? It's a scary thought and with the last truly momentous shift in music being nearly twenty years ago we could be looking at bland being what dominates music.
But have hope, there are still people trying to produce music that matters, it's just that you have to look a wee bit harder.

Musical accompaniment

I love listening to music almost as much as I love reading. A family member commented on how there is always music playing when they visit our house.

Music accompanies me in every activity I do, well there's one exception but we won't go into that. It is no surprise that my musical taste finds its way into my writing. There is a great tradition of Scottish writers bringing popular music into their work to add texture and atmosphere. Ian Rankin has a page on his website dedicated to the music that appears in his books, Val McDermid thanked the artists she was listening to while writing Beneath The Bleeding and Iain Banks drips in musical references throughout his fiction.

Unlike some of my peers, I don't believe that there has been no good music since 1989. I love to find something different, a new artist who can produce exciting music, good melodies with genuine emotions behind them. Believe me when I say that there is a lot of great music out there and you don't have to settle for the mass produced tripe that Cowell and his cohorts foist upon us.

I thought I would share some of the albums that I have enjoyed so far this year.

I'll start with The Vaccines. The Londoners debut, What Did You Expect From The Vaccines, is full of vitality from the Ramones influenced first track 'Wreckin Bar (Ra Ra Ra). I dare you to listen and not smile.

Next up is Canadian band Rural Alberta Advantage. I first heard them a couple of years ago and their second album, Departing is full of gorgeous melodies. I personally love the singer's voice but it might not be to everyone's taste.

Elbow have followed up 2008's Seldom Seen Kid with the sublime build a rocket boys. I didn't think they would be able to top SSK but the new album is as good if not better.

Noah and The Whale's debut album, Last Night On Earth is filled with great pop tunes delivered in a laconic vocal style that reminds me of They Might Be Giants.

Scottish band Kassidy have produced an album with strong seventies influence. Hope St. is populated with tunes to lift your spirits.

Finally, Jon Fratelli's  solo debut is Psycho Jukebox. Jon, with the rest of The Fratellis, was a hero of my son and was an enormously generous in our fund-raising efforts in the wake of Calum's death. Apart from being a superb human being, he is an accomplished tunesmith with an ability to write new songs that sound like old friends.

I'll write some more about my musical choices in future blogs. If you've found something new that's worth a listen, I'd love to know.