| In our second guest article from music critic Amanda Penlington, she follows on from her article on the newspaper/postcard releases of Radiohead and Wild Beasts by talking about how it’s possible to remain firmly within the digital download medium and yet still offer your fans something special.
Is This The Future? Kaiser Chiefs’ Build-Your-Own Album
In my last article for Hidden Currents I considered Radiohead and Wild Beasts’ decision to champion paper as a viable medium to release new music. At the opposite end of the spectrum, Kaiser Chiefs have decided that the future of releases is, indeed, downloads. They have posted twenty tracks on their website so that fans can create their own ten track edition of their latest album, The Future is Medieval. There are some added twists: only snippets of each track are available to preview, the choice of artwork and the order of tracks are up to the consumer, and, finally, fans receive a financial reward when other consumers download their version.
Kaiser Chiefs’ interactive platform alters the band/fan transaction process. The consumer is now also the creator and investor. By offering twenty tracks but only allowing albums to be created with ten, some cynics might suggest that the band is encouraging die-hard fans to pay twice for the complete content of The Future is Medieval.
One of the most significant consequences of releasing in this way is the effect that it has on critics. It is almost impossible to review this album because there is no definitive version. No review can relate directly to the tailor-made edition possessed by the individual consumer. Perhaps because of this challenge, critics have turned their attention to the release concept. Whilst some have praised the innovation of flexible content, adverse criticism has been levelled at Kaiser Chiefs for not creating a conventional album with an overriding idea and carefully-selected tracks.
What these critics don’t realise is that Kaiser Chiefs’ interactive release method is the album’s overriding concept. It reflects how our attitude to albums has altered in the last ten years precisely because of the invention of downloads. The single biggest consequence of our ability to download is that songs have priority over albums as the basic unit of transaction. Even if we download a whole album, the shuffle function on mp3 players makes the artist-planned track order irrelevant. Berating Kaiser Chiefs for not creating a consistent, stable album becomes a rather meaningless complaint in these circumstances.
Kaiser Chiefs’ The Future is Medieval refutes the notion of the album as a cohesive entity. Instead of the band creating a complete album that may only be partially downloaded and then shuffled, Kaiser Chiefs are encouraging fans to engage with selection and track order on the condition that they will download a whole album’s worth of songs. In making consumer choice part of the process of creation, Kaiser Chiefs are acknowledging our selective download and shuffle habits whilst making them more financially-profitable for the band.
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Written by Amanda Penlington Blog Flickr
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By Dan Salter
Gizeh Records | Website
Location | Manchester, UK
Notable artists | A-Sun Amissa, Aidan Baker, Fieldhead, Glissando
Richard Knox of Glissando and A-Sun Amissa (amongst others) tells us about his musical work and the relationship between that and his role in charge of Gizeh Records...
(((o))): Glissando's ‘With Our Arms Wide Open We March towards the Burning Sea’ was one of the first things we reviewed on E&D way back in 2008. Why did it take so long to record a follow up? Has it taken this long to write it or have you been focused elsewhere?
There are a number of reasons really. At the time of recording that record Elly and I were going through a breakup and the energy it took out of both of us took a long time to recover from. At the end of it we were just relieved to get the album finished and released and at that point we never even thought there would be another record. We needed some time apart but we also had to tour the album as well so that whole year was really tough on the both of us, trying to deal with our personal problems and fixing ourselves while still ploughing our hearts into this music we had created together wasn’t an easy thing to do.
After that we took some time off and made some distance between ourselves and after a while the hunger started to return again but it was incredibly tentative. I’d already begun writing and putting some ideas together for new projects, just to satisfy my desire to write and tour as much as anything else. Myself, Frederic D. Oberland and Angela Chan began working on what would become ‘The Rustle of the Stars’ and that unfurled into something much bigger than we anticipated. Angela and I also started A-Sun Amissa just after that so Glissando was very much on the back-burner at this time. Elly and I were still exchanging some ideas and songs were developing slowly across the four years, we had a bunch of music we were trying to perfect and there was no pressure to achieve anything other than we knew these new songs were strong and better than the first record.
In the middle of last year we found out Elly was pregnant so that forced our hand and we sat down to discuss what we wanted to do with what we had so far and decided to try and finish the record. I had a few months spare between touring so we plunged head first into trying to get the thing done. I think we surprised ourselves as to how quickly we could actually work when we needed to and I’m really happy we did.
(((o))): ‘The World without Us’ is a beautiful record, but suffused with a distinct melancholy. What's the story behind the record? Where has that melancholy been drawn from?
Much of the story is in the answer to the previous question. We certainly pushed ourselves to discover some truths and emotions we’d buried a long time ago and there’s no doubt that comes through in the record. We also tried to make the album a progression from the first one in terms of some of the themes and atmospheres in there as some of the songs were written years ago and also made it onto ‘With Our Arms..’
(((o))): There seems to be a lot of crossover in personnel between Glissando, A-Sun Amissa & The Rustle of the Stars. How do you manage these distinct musical projects? When you have a musical idea how do you decide which band to use it for?
That’s a very good question. The personnel comes down to the simple fact that I love working with these people, they are wonderful musicians and personalities and we have a very strong understanding between us when it comes to knowing what each of us wants and needs. It’s very rare that I write specific parts and ask people to play them, I would much rather present the music to someone and have them find their own way with it. I know that when I’m working with these guys that 99% of the time they are going to bring ideas that I like, we know what makes each other tick.
With regard to musical ideas, answering is a tricky beast. Sometimes you know straight away when you have written something which project it suits best but normally I will sit down and write with a particular project in mind depending on what needs the most attention.
(((o))): A-Sun Amissa is a more drone influenced, soundscape focused (is that even a word?) affair than the more 'traditional' (relatively) song styles of Glissando. Do you approach writing for A-Sun Amissa in a different way?
The way we write for A-Sun Amissa is probably my most comfortable way to do things. It certainly comes a bit more naturally than the other projects but therein lays the challenge. A lot of drone-based music is extremely easy, lazy and boring and the amount of records being released that have no character or definition is amazing. I have no interest in churning out easy music for the sake of it, we are constantly pushing to find new ideas and sounds with this project, to keep the atmosphere but find the melodies that suit the base we are working from. It’s much freer as well which means when we play the pieces live we can improvise and change things to suit how we feel on the night or doctor the music to suit the venue which is something we discovered more and more on the recent tour we just did.
(((o))): The releases of the Glissando & A-Sun Amissa albums have come very close together, being as you are in both bands AND run the label how has that been? How do you manage your time between them & have time to do anything else?
Well, it’s not easy, that’s for sure. We finished the Glissando record in the Summer and then I spent some time working on the ‘Silent Bells’ tour, which was a series of label nights we put together in November alongside a tour for ‘The Rustle of the Stars’. In amongst that I had a few ideas for some new A-Sun Amissa material which Owen and myself spent a few days working on before I went on tour. When I returned I went back to what we had recorded and started to think about where to go with it and talked with Angela and Gareth Davis (who plays bass clarinet on the record) about some ideas, it came together pretty quickly after that. Running Gizeh is a full time job these days so finding a creative balance between that and writing/touring is quite difficult but it’s not a bad life, that’s for sure!
(((o))): Gizeh Records has been going for five years or so now, how has the landscape for independent labels changed in that time?
It’s actually quite hard to find a definitive answer to that mainly because as we’ve gotten older and stronger and wiser the music industry has been slowly collapsing in on itself. If we had been at the point we are now with Gizeh five years ago, we would be selling considerably more records than we are now. When you are building something from the ground with no financial backing and no one to tell you where you are going wrong it takes time and patience and a lot of will power to see that thing through. Gizeh is a completely DIY label and as such we are constantly discovering new ideas or ways to work or ways we can improve, be more productive etc. It’s a constant motion and there’s no denying that selling records is becoming harder. The key is to find a way to sustain what we are doing, by continuing to improve, be open to ideas, be more resourceful but keep the ideals we have and the quality we have.
So many labels are folding now and it’s not hard to see why. Sometimes you have to look at a release and think - ok, there’s no way we can justify spending that much money as it’s only realistically going to sell ‘x’ amount of copies. Of course it’s extremely hard to predict sales but I guess that’s an art form in itself that we are still working on. A big change I see is the amount of music that is being released, there is so much now. The internet has opened up a way for people to reach an audience and of course release music for free or in a non-physical manner. I have nothing against this but the problem is that it’s now an impossible fight to get noticed amongst the millions of people operating in this way, be it getting press or via social media - it’s a constant and tiring onslaught of music and information which is very easy to get lost in.
I also feel that’s there’s a balance to be found in the new developments that are being thrust upon the music industry. For instance, streaming seems to be becoming the absolute normal thing for releases these days, I’m certainly not against that - but only if we can make it work to our artists’ benefit. Soundcloud is a good invention and is very artist friendly. We use it lot but on the flipside something like Spotify I find completely evil and unsustainable. If this is the future in terms of revenue for artists and labels we are all completely fucked. We purposefully do not release our music to Spotify - maybe we are missing some new listeners in doing that but there has to be a stand against this model because in the end who is making money from it? Nobody; Spotify are haemorrhaging money and the royalties are nothing more than a sick joke.
(((o))): Leeds seems to be musically very vibrant at the moment. How much has being based there influenced your development both as a label and as a musician?
Honestly, I don’t think it’s made any difference. In fact I’m upping sticks to Manchester next week! Leeds has been my home my whole life but it feels like it’s time for a change of scenery and time find some new energies and influences. I have a wonderful group of people I’m close with in Leeds but I’ve never felt like Gizeh or the musical projects have ever been part of any scene, we have always been very much on the edge of things, people know who we are but for better or worse we generally just do our own thing.
(((o))): There's a very strong sense of collaboration & community between the Gizeh bands. Are there any more combinations you've yet to try out & things we should be looking out for?
I’m extremely happy with what we have managed to achieve with the artists we work with. It’s always been my goal to create something much bigger than just a label and that thing is continuing to grow. The collaborations seem to find themselves in a way, I feel like we have quite a few kindred spirits between us and it’s always throwing up new ideas and new directions. Meeting new artists, working with them and getting to know them personally is still a huge excitement for me so I’m sure there will be some interesting things happening in the future.
(((o))): You've had a busy start to 2013 with those 2 releases. What have you got coming up for the rest of the year?
We have a soundtrack to a film by Jayne Amara Ross (of Farewell Poetry) called ‘The Freemartin Calf’ coming out in June. There’s a new The Rustle of the Stars album in the works which we need to focus on in the coming months and a few other ideas in the pipeline too.
