Friday, June 24, 2011

adult education

In these media saturated, overpopulated web based days, it's a lot more difficult to promote "the next big thing" than it was before the interwebs crept into everyday living. That has led to a more grass roots approach to getting music being found. People share their latest fave raves via social media.

Strong word of mouth still builds a base like it did in the "golden days" of the 60s, 70s and 80s. However, when there is little to no airplay for an artist, it's up to the chain link effect to come into play between music fans. Also, live gigs still manage to get the point across best.

Last week, when I was in London on another songwriting sojourn, I went to a multi-artist gig which included some unknowns, almost knowns, nearly knowns and well knowns. It was an eclectic mix, but one artist stood out. She is CocknBullKid and her debut longplayer, "Adulthood", which I was aware of but had not heard, was purchased immediately after her acoustic performance. Such was the power of her songs and understated performance.

Anita Blay, for she is CocknBullKid, has released several singles from "Adulthood" and there is no sign of stopping. Fourth single, "Yellow", has just been unleashed and a video was lensed for it. Let's take a gander.



Well, that continues the low-fi, DIY nature of all the videos for each single plucked from her elpee. "Yellow", like much of "Adulthood", has Motown overtones while sporting a mid-90s indie feel to it and a big, gospel tinged chorus. It smart pop with heart, mind and soul.

Here are the vids for previous singles, "One Eye Closed" and "Hold On To Your Misery".





My favorite track from the album has to be "Asthma Attack". It speaks to my heart right now, particularly that my love affair with London has grown stronger over the last couple of years.



Fantastic lyrics! A brilliant pop song which deserves to be heard by a wider audience. I love the Morrissey influenced la la lines.

"Adulthood" will surely place inside my top five albums of the year. Highly recommended!

2 comments:

  1. Wow.. thanks so much for posting this. Love what i've heard. I'll have to look for the record.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Cheers for pointing this album out - never given her a proper listen before (mainly 'cos of the naff name, sames like some grime band!).
    Agree it's a slick album, well polished, and she's got a great voice; but, well, it's rather forgettable. Listened to it for 2 days now and it just blends straight into the background. Shame.

    ReplyDelete