Music review layout.qxp:Layout 1 11/06/2010 15:55 Page 1
The Prince Of Pop Mark Ronson at the UEA, Norwich
Tasteful swearing and more “transatlantic colloquialisms you could shake a Telecaster at...
”
The only guy who can pull off a Mr. Bean suit and look good...
Live In Concert MARK RONSON; the musician, producer, DJ and contemporary music’s best friend is not putting a foot wrong at the moment. With sell out gigs, international success and with one of music’s largest ‘littleblack-books’ is there anything that can stop him? You can sense that while you’re there, at the centre of this collaborative, full-force of a concert at the UEA Norwich, that you get a real sense of authenticity and musicianship. For instance the size of the gig is irrelevant, he’s not phased, talking to the crowd and actually announcing that he’s played a song in the wrong key. He and his band recently played to a televised and equally massive audience at the BBC electric proms, still he gives thanks constantly to his band and chats to the crowd. You would have thought that his model audience could be radio 4 listeners; ‘remember your P’s and T’s Marky!’ But tipping the balance? No. Tasteful swearing and more transatlantic colloquialisms you could shake a Stratocaster at. Not to mention the equally massive array of guests…. Collaborating artists included Wale, the Wu Tang Clan, Daniel Meriwether, Tania, Ali Love and John Lennon’s
son, Sean Lennon. All given gracious introductions, they stun the audience as all are featured in at least one or two songs, each adapting them in their own way. Songs in Ronson’s studio repertoire are varied and stylistic but not just simply played to this live audience. Each song can never be recreated again; harmonies were spontaneously improvised, guests brought on to fill in for others and simply because they don’t want to play the same song the same way twice. You can sense Ronson wants it to be different every time. With this massive melting-pot of genre, ranging from 70’s disco and turntablist Hip Hop (found sometimes in the same song), you really have to come to a concert like this with a completely anti-conservative mind-set, musically. If you expect to hear that catchy guitar riff that’s in the middle eight of your favourite cover, you may be disappointed. This is fantastic! Surely? Well I suppose it’s all about preference of the individual listening but going there and hearing a cover of a cover of the Beatle’s song ‘We can work it out,’ sung by Sean Lennon modelling instrumentation comparable to Stevie Wonder…. don’t let it pass you by, excuse the pun! This music is extremely
Childhood friends; Lennon & Ronson
hard to come by, one because of the mixture and level of musicianship and two, Mark Ronson looks unstoppable in the music industry, hell bent on going to the next level and finding new material and new acts he can work with. The venue; the University of East Anglia’s LCR is an extremely well known venue in the East. Playing in the lead up to Christmas to such prestigious artists include reggae pioneer Lee Scratch Perry, hip hop legend Mr. Scruff and kitchen-sink pop vocalist Kate Nash. The turn-out was massive. I had come up on the London train and it was already packed when we got there, they were queuing around the block. A bit of a turnaround considering that Ronson plays many international sets, concerts and venues. Not just with his band but Ronson has been striving to make it as a DJ many years before he made it as a chart-topping sessionist. In fact,
“Collaborating
ark’s influences
Grandmaster Flash & the Furious 5 Flash played parties and also worked with rappers such as Kurtis Blow and Lovebug Starski. He formed his own group in the late 1970s, after
promptings from Ray Chandler[citation needed]. The initial members were Cowboy (Keith Wiggins), Melle Mel (Melvin Glover) and
Kid(d) Creole (Nathaniel Glover) making Grandmaster Flash & the 3 MCs (with Melle Mel being the first rapper ever to call himself an "MC"). Two other rappers artists included briefly joined, but they were replaced more permanently by Rahiem (Guy Todd Williams, previously in the Funky Four) and Scorpio (Eddie Morris, also used the
Wale, the Wu Tang Clan, Danielname Mr. Ness) to create Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five. Style: Turn-table based Rap Meriwether, Tania, Ali Love and Technique: Sampling, heavy quantised producing, collaboration
”
John Lennon s son, Sean Lennon looking at the his musical CV, it’s not exactly limited; on attending NYC university as a youth, Ronson was exposed to a whole new hip hop culture, making a successful name for himself playing clubs and venues in town. He has his own label and produces, hence the connections. ‘Originality,’ I hear you say? I know I’m going through this whole review with the biased notion that Mark Ronson is a musical god, but, and you’re going to hate this but can you really find fault? Sure his first album struggled with initial sales but it got better, it became ‘the difficult first album,’ rather than the second! ‘Version’ being the flagship of his career. He has not only collaborated but co-written pieces. Amy Winehouse benefitting from his writing skills on her new album and Lily Allen initially being told to ‘play-up’ that London accent, it’s rubbing off……. By Harry Lincoln
Heard on: Annie Mac Minimix - MySpace freebie
Marvin Gaye Notable for fighting the hit-making but restrictive Motown process in which performers and songwriters and producers were kept separate[3], Gaye proved with albums like his 1971 What's
Going On and his 1973 Let's Get It On that he was able to produce music without relying on the system, inspiring fellow Motown artists such as Stevie Wonder[4] and Michael Jackson.
Gaye was important in influencing Ronson on his own album but when he decided to help Amy Winehouse produce her newest album he lept at the chance to add classic soul backing. Where else to find successful material other than Marvin Gaye’s backlog... Style: Melodic Soul Technique: Multitracking of an array of instruments, live and manufactured. Heard On: Tears dry on their own - Amy Winehouse/ You’re all I need to get by – Marvin Gaye
A Tribe Called Quest A Tribe Called Quest is an American hiphop group, formed in 1988. The group is composed of
rapper/producer Q-Tip (Kamal Fareed), rapper Phife Dawg (Malik Taylor), and DJ/producer Ali Sha-
heed Muhammad. A fourth member, rapper Jarobi White, left the group after their first album but appears to have rejoined the group since 2006. Style: Slack vocal rap. Technique: Prominence of rhythm section. Heard on: Oh my god (feat. Lily Allen), Version
The Beastie Boys The Beastie Boys are an American hip hop group from New York City consisting of Michael "Mike D"
Diamond, Adam "MCA" Yauch, and Adam "Ad-Rock" Horovitz. Since around the time of
the Hello Nasty album, the DJ for the group has been Michael "Mix Master Mike" Schwartz, who was first featured in the song "Three MC's and One DJ". Style: Hard Rap Technique: Sampling, use of live tracks/instruments. Heard on: Bout to get ugly, Here comes the fuzz