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Trust The Doc Ed 99
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Edition 99: 31st December 2024 - a blog by Trust The Doc Media

THE HOTTEST NEWS FROM THE GRASSROOTS SCENE:

🌑 FRESH ON THE NET LIVE ‘24; DAY TWO

🌑 INDIAN INDIE MEDIA CLAIM MUSIC OF SOUND

🌑 MUSIC OF SOUND ON BBC ORBIT & BBC INTRO…

🌑 REVIEWS OF NEW INDEPENDENT MUSIC RELEASES

🌑 OUR LATEST FRESH ON THE NET FAVES REVIEWS

🌑 THE YEAR IN FOCUS

🌑 WHO WILL BREAK THROUGH IN 2025?

🌑 STEELY DAN LEGEND SOCKS IT TO HBO AIRHEAD

🌑 MU MISSES ANOTHER OPPORTUNITY

🌑 ENTITLED ATTITUDES AMONG TODAY’S ARTISTS

INTRODUCTION:

Welcome to Edition 99 of Trust The Doc. Yes, 99!!!! We are one edition away from our centenary. It seems surreal but there is a reason for it. Even though the blog is less than seven years old, there was a period when it was produced twice a month. So we will have reached Ed 100 after six years and nine months! Rest assured that we are taking that landmark very seriously and guest reviews, polls and retrospectives will be among the features we are lining up. In the meantime, less tracks than usual (just 42) reviewed in Ed 99.

December has been a slightly calmer month. Sherry flew back to India a few days in and will be there until February so we are still working hard together and having a lot of online meetings. But the last live event of 2024 for us was Fresh On The Net Live, Day Two on 1st December so our focus has been mainly on two elements - our new [Music Of Sound] single [and a cover version released the same day] and our new online courses that launch properly in the new year. 2024 has been a real roller coaster with some fantastic highs and some painful lows! But we are still here, battling away and getting ready to roll with a new outlook for 2025. Thankfully we are part of a loving, mutually supportive grassroots music community and have a lot of amazing people around us who inspire and motivate us to keep going.

One downside of being part of such a great community is that it is impossible to accommodate everyone who wants airplay, especially given the important policy of giving rotation to priority tracks. But please feel free to submit your music for the radio show and we will try to play as many as we can. If you do, please ensure track(s) are sent in a playable form (i.e. MP3, WAV etc.) and we don’t have to wade through extra pages and passwords to download them. In other words, make it easy for us!. The email address to use is trustthedoc@demerararecords.com and please remember to include the artist name and track title both in the file name and the metadata. We receive hundreds of tracks and, without this information, the next time we see it in a folder, we will not have a clue what it is or who it is from!

NEIL MARCH & SHERRY SAHAYARAJ

31st December 2024

Instagram; Facebook; Threads; TikTok; BlueSky; X 

(TTD Logos by PaulFCook)

PART ONE: NEWS AND INFORMATION

PART TWO: REVIEWS OF NEW MUSIC

PART THREE: OTHER COMMENTARIES (by Neil)

PART ONE: NEWS AND INFORMATION

FRESH ON THE NET ‘24: DAY TWO

We had a wonderful day and evening at The Musician in Leicester on Sunday 1st December for Day Two of our unique grassroots music festival Fresh On The Net Live. See Part Three for our review of the event.

MUSIC OF SOUND: NEW SINGLE

The Music Of Sound are the only band who are managed and promoted by Trust The Doc Media. Moreover the band is an extension of the business and both of us are members (Sherin on Vocals, Neil on Keyboards, BVs & Programming) along with talented young flautist Elena Trent. That is why every issue of Trust The Doc contains news about what we have been doing.

The new Music Of Sound single came out on 13th December. Cold Weather Man has been easily the most popular track at our live shows over the summer and autumn so we are excited to have it out in the world. The video was released onto YouTube at the start of the month and has had great engagement with 8.2K views, nearly 200 ‘likes’ and over 200 new subscribers to our YouTube Channel. We have also seen a significant increase in our streaming numbers thanks to the work we have been doing, alongside our wonderful label Monochrome Motif Records, on getting the right marketing mix in place. You can download the single of Cold Weather Man from our Bandcamp account or stream our music at Spotify. You can read this sweet review in The Music Asylum and this post by Rock Metal Blog.

MUSIC OF SOUND: BBC ORBIT & BBC RADIO WALES

The day after release we received the news that the wonderful Adam Walton (the Welsh John Peel!) was playing us again on his fantastic 3-hour Saturday night BBC Introducing showcase on BBC Radio Wales. Not only that but we had made it onto BBC Orbit, something we have been dreaming of achieving since it officially launched earlier this year [following the 2023 Pilot]. We could not have asked for a better start to the single campaign. You can hear the show up until about 12th January here.

MUSIC OF SOUND: BIG THANKS MICHELLE & DEL

It is not all just about getting onto BBC National Radio though and we are massively grateful to stalwart supporters of grassroots music Michelle Ward (Eat My Brunch, Phoenix FM) and Del Owusu (Songbird Sessions, Islington Radio). Two great Community Radio shows both hosted by talented musicians in their own right. Michelle has played Cold Weather Man daily for several weeks already just as she did with our previous three singles. Michelle’s show goes out at 10AM, Monday to Friday, on FM Radio in Essex and East London and worldwide online. Del has also given us excellent support on his show that goes out on Mixcloud. There have been others, globally, who have played us too and we are grateful to every one of them; keeping the torch shining on independent music artists and labels. Also do check out Dawn Coombe’s review of Cold Weather Man in The Music Asyum.

MUSIC OF SOUND: STREAMING ONLY KEANE COVER

We have also released, via Monochrome Motif, a streaming-only cover of Keane’s classic Somewhere Only We Know in an effort to engage new listeners in certain parts of the world. A technical issue delayed its global availability but that is sorted out now. You can stream it on Spotify here.

Big thanks to our awesome label Monochrome Motif for their fantastic first class support. Big thanks also to all our friends in the grassroots music community who have shared our posts on social media and downloaded or streamed the new tracks..

…. AND STILL TO COME

In addition to now being on a plethora of Spotify playlists and having seen our monthly streaming numbers rise daily, we are looking forward to the reviews we have had confirmed by Indian indie music blogs Sinusoidal Music and Project Timbre as well as FV Music Blog, American publication The Intelligence and End Sessions in Mexico, our inclusion in the European Indie Network Chart, airplay on Formula Indie in Spain (and over 70 other stations worldwide) and interviews with Indian blogs Audiokaradi Press and Apollo’s Harp. This surge of interest from Indian media comes in addition to more support in the UK from BBC Introducing (Adam Walton on BBC Radio Wales), BBC Orbit, BBC Oxford & Berkshire and from awesome independent radio shows hosted by true champions of independent music like Michelle Ward (Eat My Brunch, Phoenix FM) and Del Owusu (The Songbird Sessions, Islington Radio).

Left To Right: Single Covers either side of BBC Introducing Show collage

TRUST THE DOC RADIO: UPDATE

The Trust The Doc Radio Show goes out to a lovely, lively and engaged audience every Saturday at 5PM UK time and mixes the best current grassroots artists with the best established ones plus some fun features that get the audience involved and enable Neil to play some classics. The two hours always fly by. December has seen us introduce another load of cool new tracks onto the show and we have had some fantastic listener polls and WhatsTheWord brain teasers too although we spent the last part of the month focusing on the end of year shows with our favourites both by grassroots artists and by more established ones.

The Trust The Doc Radio Top 20 Singles of 2024 (by non-grassroots artists):

  1.   FKA Twigs: Eusexua
  2.   Fontaines DC: Favourite
  3.   Tom Misch & Loyle Carner: Colourblind
  4.   Mary In The Junkyard: Ghost
  5.   Ezra Collective: Shaking Body
  6.   Mitzki: Bug Like An Angel
  7.   Kelly Lee Owens: Higher
  8.   Greentea Peng: Tardis (Hardest)  
  9.   Man: Woman: Chainsaw: Ode To Clio
  10.   Tyler The Creator: Noid
  11.   Khruangbin: A Love International
  12.   Shygirl: Encore (ft Danny L Harle)
  13.   Chappell Roan: Good Luck Babe!
  14.   Porij: Nobody Scared
  15.   Moonchild Sanelly: Big Booty
  16.   English Teacher: Nearly Dafodils
  17.   Kelly Lee Owens: Love You Got
  18.   Future Islands: Say Goodbye
  19.   Bon Iver: Things Behind Things Behind Things
  20.   Nilufer Yanya: Method Actor
  21.   Michael Kiwanuka: Floating Parade
  22.   Goat Girl: Motorway
  23.   Bonobo: Expander
  24.   Jorja Smith: High
  25.   FKA Twigs: Perfect Stranger
  26.   Michael Kiwanuka: One And Only
  27.   86TVs: Higher Love
  28.   English Teacher: R&B
  29.   Ezra Collective: God Gave Me Feet For Dancing
  30.   Pet Shop Boys: New London Boy (Boy Harsher Remix)  

Top 5 Albums of 2024

  1. Kelly Lee Owens: Dreamstate
  2. Little Simz: Drop 7 (EP/MiniAlbum)
  3. Fontaines DC: Romance
  4. Tyler The Creator: Chromakopia
  5. English Teacher: This Could Be Texas

If you aren’t familiar with the show, come and check it out at 5PM UK Time every Saturday on https://exilefm or catch the podcast over the ensuing 7 days on https://exilefm.com/podcasts/trust-the-doc-radio-47. Also please like, follow and stream the Trust The Doc New Music Playlist on Spotify which we keep updating with tracks that are on our radio show playlist (if available to stream) here.

FRESH ON THE NET: OUR FAVES REVIEWS

The final Fresh on the Net faves reviews of 2024 were jointly written by Sherry and Neil who were in festive mood and mode as they tackled researching and reviewing the ten tracks chosen by the platform’s readers at the last Listening Posf of the year. Read what they had to say here.

PART TWO: REVIEWS OF NEW MUSIC

ALBUMS & EPs

We did not review any albums or EPs this month.

POP NOODLES

No info or links on their Soundcloud page means I can tell you nothing about 12 Valentines except that I am rather taken with their single Costume Party. A sardonic lyric is set to a classic sounding (dare I say, almost christmassy) but slightly melancholy melody and chord sequence that comes straight from the sixites Pop songbook. Expressive female vocals are fortified by some really clever harmonising. The deep bass drives things along in cahoots with the syncopated beat while long keyboard chords provide colour. But this is all about the vocals and they keep me hooked throughout.

Badja bring elements of House, Hip Hop and Pop together on Feeling Good. The hook grabs me from early on while the sense of fun around the singer’s switches between cool singing and quirky spoken word is tangible. Her message is clear. She believes it is time to feel good because the alternative is not to feel good and it is all too easy to be engulfed by negativity in today’s world. In other words, this is a rallying cry for taking care of our mental health. The beat drives this along while the instrumental play is pointed, powerful and plays to the upbeat but clever nature of the whole song.

UK artist Edward Knocks has gone for epic production on Burn The House. After a trippy chromatically ascending synth figure kicks the thing off, we get multi-tracked, mostly female voices in harmony delivering a highly hooky and relentless melody. Meanwhile, big resonating chunks of synths play a repeating and smartly constructed riff based around a mix of scale and chords that drives determinedly on to the end. The production is biiiiiig!!!! And this is so life-affirming, you will surely not be able to resist.

ALT ROCK & INDIE

Brisbane, Australia is home to SGO (although the link takes you to their label’s Soundcloud). They have managed the feat of making a Shoegaze track in Pieces Of You that sounds a little like a mash-up between Ride and New Order although with some more contemporary references thrown in (Beach House, Been Stellar etc.). Reverberant male and female vocals play off each other while the guitars bring a wall of resonating jingle jangle loveliness and the bass and drums drive events along at the root of it all. Based mainly around three [and sometimes four] chords, it works because it brings in enough different ideas, extensions, drops and contrasts to maintain its forward momentum and it is insistently melodious from the outset.

No-one does profound sarcasm and sardonic observationism quite like Jimmy Andrex. Here, on Bad Actors, along with The Bibles Of Dreams, he mixes his gritty spoken word commentary about the insincerity of certain people when faced with tragedy with a synth-electronic backdrop that inevitably leads to comparisons with Sleaford Mods. But his style is his own and this is another compelling and clever track that I recommend to you.

Brainchild of Glynn Hayward, Bath’s Single Audo Channel have a track called Houston. Glynn delivers a passionate tenor-range vocal that has echoes of Lightning Seeds in a mash with Willie J Healey while Waterboys bring flavours. Against this, the guitars jangle and intertwine in a sometimes almost opaque melting pot of sound, pedalled along by positive energy and colour.

And staying in Bath, we have the long-awaited return of the inimitable Elise and Rosa aka Four Legged Fruit with Sugar Pangs. Piano-driven as usual but with plenty going on around the dark and striking chord patterns, their instantly recognisable voices combine in an eerie and unsettling slice of dark, dystopian pop that is haunting and taunting in equal measure. They have carved out such an individual sound and this track is a welcome extension of their unique catalogue.

Our favourite Aussie exiles in London Fendahlene continue in the boisterous Alt Rock meets Americana mode of their last single Angel At Your Feet with the rocking Silent Treatment. Paul’s crisp guitar chops lock in with Ash’s fluid bass and driving drums while the chord patterns and key changes keep us hooked along with a passionate vocal performance (based on good old ‘in the doghouse’ blues) and gradually expanding harmonies. No-one does this kind of music quite like they do and an irresistible hook is the icing on this lovingly crafted cake.

BEATS, RHYTHMS & RHYMES

The ever-consistent South East London artist Raiza has a new track called Visions (produced by Manuel). This is dark, dubby, dreamy and dystopian. He doesn’t mince his words, predicting a dark future and expressing exasperation about being ‘stuck in this hell/I don’t think we’ve got many days left’. The rapping reminds me a little of Coolio although with a more modern London-infused rhythmic flow and when he sings later in the track, it adds to the late night city aura of the track. This is quality from start to finish. Also check out The Rain (produced by Manuel) for thoughtful lyrics and a cool laid back but dark instrumental vibe.

SOULFUL SENSIBILITIES

I had the huge pleasure of seeing and hearing the exceptional harp-playing East London singer-songwriter Chinwe performing the song Moon as part of a goose-bumping live set at Day One of Fresh On The Net Live in September. On that occasion, it was just Chinwe’s emotion-scrambling alto voice and her amazing dreamy electric harp. On this version we get very deep bass and booming beat to take it in another direction. But it is still otherworldly and spacey, the perfect vehicle for Chinwe’s agile vocal performance topped off by a gorgeous melody. Ah, this is is just too good for words.

The platinum-voiced Londoner Noé Solange returns with the Henry Green Remix of her track Rise. It means we get Noé’s spine-tingingly beautiful and dreamy vocals floating and riding atop a cloud of sweep tones, lower mixed staccato synths, seriously deep and fluid bass and persistent beat. It is a quite lovely world to lose yourself in and the production is nuanced and reverberant. Have a bop if you feel like it or just sit back and let this magical music wash over you.

Goodness Gracious, what is this from London’s Dr J? It may say ‘christmastime’ on the cover but Immanuel (God With Us) is not obviously a Christmas track and, were it not for the elaborate description on Soundcloud, would we know?. What it IS, though, is a stunning cinematically orchestrated slice of Soundtrack Soul that fills the room and my headphones like a modern-day Isaac Hayes jamming with Curtis Mayfield while the Jackson Sisters bring flavours. This track is so big, bold and full of goose-bumping themes, harmony and textures, I scarcely know how to describe it to you. It’s epic though. And I thoroughly recommend it.

From Sydney, Australia comes Claudiah with Everywhere. This is the kind of sumptuous neo-Soul that you just want to lose yourself in. Lush harmonies, expressive and nimble vocals, lovely extended chords and a truly rich instrumental arrangement all come together to make this irresistible. Shades of Angie Stone, Aaliyah and a host of other Soul giants come to mind. Claudiah is blessed with the most appealing voice and a seemingly effortless command of all the dynamics and flourishes that enhance her performance. Love this to bits.

Norwich’s Piers Hunt aka SkinnyBoy Tunes has been quiet of late so it was great to receive his collaboration with Milsky on Waves. This is a shuffling, snarling Soul track with brushed drums, Piers’s classy piano play, some dark and daunting saxophone and Milsky’s distinctive powerhouse of a voice, emotionally charged and, at times, multi-tracked for harmonies. This comes at you with intent and engulfs you in its building intensity.

CLUB CULTURE

Described simply as from the UK, Bordr bring us L1k3 A Drvm (ft. frankzozsky). This is a mind-spinningly pulsating slab of Euro House leaning into Trance but with a poppy melody delivered by a yearning female voice. The production is absolutely first class, mesmerising in parts as the riff spins around, in and out of sharper focus, while notes are bent portamento-style and the beat is broken up. The tempo is quick enough for Techno. A bit of everything for the dancefloor then!

The ever-consistent Shauna McArdle is not messing about with Head In The Game. This roars out of the speakers at such a frantic pace, it could be the theme tune to an attempt on the 100 metres world record! Cleverly, though, the beat is actually half time which creates an intriguing dichotomy with the seriously uptempo synth melody and bubbling undercurrents and lends a certain trippines to the overall impact. Another groover from Shauna.

Azket seems to produce an extraordinary number of tracks in a short space of time. Oh Gosh thunders along with a slightly syncopated electro-house beat while the hook repeats periodically and a busy bassline plays off against synths that repeat the same patterns with subtle variations. At the Electronica end of the dance spectrum but a club track all the same.

Manchester’s Muridae bring a Deep but Soulful House groove and vibe on Transcendent. The female vocal is whispery in the verses but rises both registrally and dynamically into the main hook. The beat is punchy and precise while the stuttering staccato synths are very eighties and quite lovely. Squelchy bass repeats an underlying pattern that occasionally comes to the fore as the other sounds drop out. There are plenty of little changes and contrasts here that keep events in motion. Catchy, tough and so danceable, this is a club classic in the making (or at least it deserves to be). A little of Moloko jamming with Madison Avenue. Very cool and classy.

SINGER-SONGWRITERS

South London singer-songwriter Rishi Saluja is Cryer Mya. I recently discovered his work through Fresh on the Net and now he has another track. Ebb & Flow is a beautifully inventive track in which Rishi mixes up some sweetly light-textured guitar picking and jangle with some intriguing and unpredictable chord progressions and modulations. Against this fluid backdrop, his voice is soft-toned and harmonised with a subtly mystical aura that gives both a sense of nostalgia and and an air of newness. This makes it hard to put my finger on tangible influences. Echoes [but distant ones] of Neil Young, Kevin Ayers, Roddy Frame, maybe even a little of Ed Sheeran and George Ezra too. But he takes these references into a thoroughly fresh and contemporary style coupled with an innate talent for penning clever and expressive songs.

Super talented Welsh singer-songwriter Hana Lili returns with Taking Care Of Myself. Her goose-bumping and melancholy vocals dominate, accompanied by beautifully played and recorded guitar chords, deep legato synth strings and a melody that will shred your emotions. The harmonies lift an already lovely chorus, the full-on arrival of the instrumentation near the close and Hana’s inimitable, expressive voice all make this an absolute thing of beauty. Looking at her achievements this year, I wonder whether Hana will have risen well beyond grassroots music by this time next year. If so, it will be thoroughly well deserved.

SYNTHEMATIC

Described somewhat cryptically on Soundcloud as being from ‘South East’, Prodbear brings an early eighties vibe together with more contemporary sounds on The Truths You Collect. Syncopated synthwave with lower register (let’s say Baritone) vocals set against a kind of slow single beat Ska element to the chord play [although I stress this is NOT remotely a Ska track before all you rudies get excited!]. Interesting melodically, cleverly configured and achieving a dark and slightly daunting aura, this is a cool and creative track worth checking out.

Reviewing this track just a few days after introducing him to the Fresh on the Net Live audience as an artist who I can never predict what he will do next, Hull’s Graham Graham Beck instantly proves my point with Mish Mash Trash Crash. Firstly I don’t really know whether to review this as Electronic & Ambient or Alt Rock & Indie so I have decided on Synthematic instead! Pulsating electro-funk beat, spinning trilling and wailing synths, busy bassline and a general sonic intensity surround Graham’s mainly spoken word vocals. This is quirky, fun, clever, exciting and, well, it could be only be Graham Graham Beck. In a good way of course.

Hailing from Newport, Gwent in South Wales come PARCS with Fever. This one hit me immediately with its danceable synthpop sensibilities but weighty arrangement with bass pumping along behind swathes of synth chords. The female vocalist is blessed with a goose-bumpingly beautiful voice that gets into my head from the outset while the hook and harmonies lift the track up another notch. They describe their music as ‘sad synthpop you can dance to’. Well, this doesn’t feel especially sad but it’s a lovely track and distinctive enough to stand out from a talented crowd.

TTD regular Mark Heffernan aka Pocket Lint brings us Pin Up Queen. It isn’t really a synthpop track as there is quite a prominent guitar part but the overall feel seems to belong in this section; maybe partly due to the melancholy Marc Almond-esque (in Jacques Brel-infused mode) vocals and the achingly sad but striking melody that dominates. The Pin Up Queen in question is clearly a tragic figure in a dysfunctional world and Mark makes clever use of the dynamics and timbral contrasts to bring out the dark emotions behind the song.

German-Finnish [but Finland-based] duo Platronic return with Winter Stores. A departure from their usual heavily synth-driven pop, this is a slow building ballad in which Sami’s piano is dark and more prominent than the slightly tempestuous synths that splash around behind the piano in the mix. Kay’s vocals are lower register than usual but also beautifully controlled, dynamic and rich in quality, interspersed with some spoken word. This is a touching and top quality track.

From Los Angeles, Kollusion have a track called Pray. A nice array of synths expand and contract, sometimes quite opaque, other times stripped down and translucent while the beat sometimes drops and the arrangement and production are generally smartly fluid and interesting. Against this, a female vocalist provides a dynamic and yearning intensity that suits the poppy but slightly dark aura of the track.

Hailing from Worthing on the English South Coast, Ksenia Lewis makes music for imagined stadiums with big, cinematic production and Parasite is a prime example of her work. In one sense, it has the feel of a Heavy Rock track with its repeating riff, dramatic elements and passionately sung hooks. Yet it is also a slice of pulsating synthwave in which synths and electronic elements underpin the entire arrangement and drive events forward. I don’t want to call it Synthrock though because that does not do justice to her creativity and ability to deliver controlled intensity and contrasting dynamics with such clear and power-driven results.

Spain-based Merseysider and TTD regular Stephen Lewis aka Exposed Brick is in the mood for enigmatic experimental synthematic work on Soul Thin. It begins as an instrumental, working its way through some exotic and midly dissonant chord shapes while the probing synths play against an echoing beat. Stephen’s vocals kick in at the end but only briefly, almost like an epitaph as the track slowly fades into the distance. Once again, he shows us his ability to both surprise and delight within his unique and instantly recognisable style and sound.

If buoyant but subtly rueful synthpop with busy, fluid melodic bass playing off against squelchy synth chords and sweet tenor range harmonies is your bag, you will love Coventry’s Duke Keats and Heavy Heartbreak. Duke’s upper register, agile vocals lead the line, bathed in multi-layered harmonies and reverberant production ideas that lend a heavenly aspect to his sound. It is, in one sense, very eighties (Scritti Politti in a mash with A-Ha while Mark Hollis adds flavours) but then it also fits into a broad contemporary synthwave that has commonalities with Future Islands, Nation Of Language and others. And he knows how to pen a cool pop choon.

Londoners Le Groupe Fantastique have followed the original 80s Synthpop tradition of choosing European (especially but not only French) sounding names (Depeche Mode, Visage, Classix Nouveaux, Duran Duran, Spandau Ballet, Blancmange, Berlin Blondes etc.). Their Soundcloud blurb says they make ‘... Synth Heavy, Floor Fillers. Indie-Electro 3-piece’. Like some of the most iconic Synthpop bands of the past, LGF are by no means pure synthpop as shown here on Dance Like Nobody’s Watching. There is picking guitar and funky bass going on here too and the drums sound live and real. All this complements the melodic lead synth and the accompanying elements that work together to create their sound which is buoyant, light-textured and appealing. The lead vocalist sings high in a tenor range while affecting a call and response with another vocalist and, as the track drives on, they reinforce the hook repeatedly. The harmonies are dreamy. References are hard to pin down but I hear echoes of China Crisis in a jam with Orchestral Manouevres In The Dark while Nation Of Language add chops.

ELECTRONIC & AMBIENT

Norwich’s Richard Pierce, himself a stalwart supporter of grassroots music, is pulling no punches on Theatre Of War. Joyously loud production boosts the bendy, hard-edged bass tones and electronic sounds that accompany a sampled spoken word that concentrates on the horrors of war and bloodshed. At a time when the world has scarcely felt left safe and more vulnerable to the eccentricities of some horrifically powerful headcases, this track resonates all the more strongly.

The latest offering from Cornwall-based Mike Tourle aka Humblebee is Moss. Well, I say ‘latest’ but it is actually over a year old. All the same, it is new to me and it represents a semi-classical but also very folky and Celtic sounding style with a woodwind-type melody, dreamy chords and electronic beat at the core of the track. I can see why he would release it now because it seems to fit the seasonal mood in its own wintery way. Also check out the newer and lovely, hypnotic enigma of 48.

After his recent forays into folkier waters, Leicestershire-based artist and TTD regular Chris Mills aka C-Beem returns to slightly more familiar territory with Assassin’s Picnic. I am intrigued to know what an assassin’s picnic consists of. Broccoli Spears, a sharp knife and ones favourite poison might be among the items! Anyway, Chris mixes some almost jolly ambient instrumental ideas with more intense, buzzing and chainsaw-like ones to create a track that is deceptively pleasant but keeps us on our toes with its waves of semi-distortion.

South East London’s TTD regular Trevas has a new track called Cern. Mixed characteristically quietly, it pits busy staccato bubbling synth notes against long ambient sweep chords in a gradually expanding, contracting instrumental piece that is both peaceful on the surface but with plenty of activity under the surface which keeps our intrigue while it lasts.

CONTEMPORARY CLASSICAL & SOUND ART

It is rare for me to review a track that was released a year ago but this is no ordinary track. It is TTD regular and ace Cellist-composer Liz Hanks with a track called Ley (A Clearing In The Woods). As birds chatter and cheap in the background, Liz treats us to some goose-bumping and mesmerising Cello, making the most gorgeous use of two strings to drive deep, delicious harmonies that complement a beautiful melodic construction while the contrast between a slightly Celtic legato and drone-accompanied style, the emotion-shredding neo-romantic harmony play and the percussive punctuating pizzicato all speak to the quality of her work. Her playing is so magnificent and moving, I feel desperately inadequate as I scratch around for words that can put into perspective how utterly brilliant this track is. Without even a moment’s hesitation, my track of the month.

Northern Irish composer and artist Neil Foster is a regular in these pages and, although Skies Clearing is, perhaps rightly, defined as ‘ambient’ on his Soundcloud page, I have reviewed it here because it is essentially a composed keyboard piece in which Neil’s ability to pick out attractive harmonic progressions and adorn them with simple but effective melodic phrases and complementing corresponding timbres is what makes him worth always listening to. There is a wintery aura to this that suits the timing of its release too. Music to listen to in front of a crackling wood-burning fireplace with a coffee and, depending upon your preference, maybe something a little stronger.

Billed as from London, Ukraine, Yew Tree bring what could be a Christmas-inspired track although it is not explicit. It is called Snow Wolf and it is essentially a soft-toned [maybe mezzo piano, my favourite dynamic] classical piano piece with some lovely extensions, suspensions and mild dissonances within an otherwise neo-romantic style accompanied by ambient synth tones and noises and some barely audible spoken word. Whatever its intentions, it is rather delicate, inventive and lovely. The harmonised ‘ah’s’ that join in the final stretch add an ethereal quality.

And if delicate, classico-romantic piano play and sweet melody is your thing, you will enjoy Simeon Walker’s Quem pastores laudavere. Simeon’s playing is delicate with light touch and the harmonic language is a throw-back to an era long before he or I existed. But he does it with love and panache.

JAZZ & INTERNATIONAL JOURNEYS

The single cover does not make it clear whether the ever-dependable Josephine Pascoe has called her new track Zebedee after the iconic Magic Roundabout character but either way, this is characteristically classy Acid Jazz instrumentalism. Josephine’s multi-instrumental skills are in plentiful evidence with flute, violin and piano all playing prominent roles while Neil Thom’s typically funky and expertly played bass adds to the quality of a fine track.

I wasn’t sure where to review the new single by London artist Saloni (ft. Farooq Got Audio). Coming from an Indian background, she has created a track called Rani that, on the one hand, has a beat and sounds that could place it in the Beats, Rhythms & Rhymes section but, on the other hand, is infused with mystical sounding Indian melodic ideas and sounds. Since Saloni described it as ‘World’, I decided on this section. But what really matters is that this is a mid-tempo, grooving slice of sophisticated and soulful but otherworldly Pop with a mixture of exotic Eastern enigma and late night London vibes. Saloni’s voice is goose-bumping and the rich instrumental arrangement and harmony lifts this up another level, helped also by the contribution of Farooq Got Audio. Check out her Instagram too. This South Asian star is most definitely on the rise.

Londoner Eyitemi brings us some sumptuous soulful Jazz on Groundhog Day. It kicks off with an uptempo solo Bass Guitar figure and Eyitemi’s platinum vocals. At this point there is a slightly Latin undercurrent as her harmonies join and the instruments begin to stack up. Then suddenly it switches completely and walking bass takes us into swinging triplet time territory. Eyitemi is in her element, her agile voice dancing all over the track, setting out a clever lyric to a backdrop of fine musicianship, emphasised by flute, trumpet and guitar solos. In some ways, this is a throwback and is quite traditional but she brings such panache, it feels timeless.

FOLK & COUNTRY FARE

Canadian singer-songwriter, now UK based, Laura Reznek has been on my radar, largely thanks to the awesome Sue Oreszczyn with whom I went to see her play live at Piano Smithfield (for another awesome friend Lorraine Solomons of Success Express), for a couple of years at least now. Endeavours is a great example of her craft. It kicks off with triplet time picking guitar and Laura’s distinctive voice delivering an instantly delightful melody before more instruments begin to join the fray and we get call and response backing vocals, deep bass playing single tones, shuffling beat and warm synth-strings plus multi-tracked vocal harmonies. Laura utilises clever drops and contrasts to add a thoughtful approach to the arrangement and production, bringing out all the best aspects of a beautifully written song.

PART THREE: OTHER COMMENTARIES

FRESH ON THE NET LIVE: DAY TWO

@ THE MUSICIAN, LEICESTER

Sunday 1st December 2024 (by Neil & Sherry)

Audience @ Fresh On The Net Live, Day Two

NEIL: Sunday 1st December saw Day Two of our unique festival Fresh On The Net Live. With Day One having taken place at The Lower Third in London’s West End, we headed to the East Midlands for Day Two at The Musician on Grafton Street in Leicester; a lovely venue with a proud musical heritage. While I focused on managing the stage, liaising with sound engineer and artists and compering the event, Sherry was hard at work, sharing our pics and her posts with live updates across multiple social media feeds throughout the day and evening. Fortunately she was able to watch the live acts on a big screen at the rear of the venue while working.

SHERRY: Last Sunday, I had the pleasure of attending an incredible festival, my second one ever—and what a day it was! The journey from my place [in Basingstoke] to Leicester took three hours, but it was my first time visiting the city, and the experience was absolutely worth it. The day was packed with fantastic music, energetic performances, and plenty of fun. Here's a recap of the highlights.

SHERRY: The festival kicked off with Pulses. It was a  powerful and energetic start. His set was lively and set the perfect tone for the day.

NEIL: Yes, kicking off the day we had Nottingham’s Electronic and Ambient Groovester and ace guitarist Chris aka Pulses. Mixing pulsating beats and hypnotic elecro-bass grooves with inventive synth play and his live guitar skills, he got the event off to the perfectly energised start while also reminding us of his versatility as an artist and writer. This set the mood for the rest of the day and evening and was a joy to experience.

Pulses @ Fresh On The Net Live, Day Two

NEIL: Next to grace the stage, all the way from Hull, was the inimitable Graham Graham Beck; an artist whose long track record includes supporting Tom Robinson and appearing on Britain’s Got Talent (!) among a host of achievements. Graham is well-known to Fresh on the Net readers for his unpredictable, quirky but musically sophisticated works and he was on fine form, sporting an array of accessories at different points, flying flags and bringing his dry humour both to his on-stage patter and his lyrics. He is also a highly accomplished keyboardist and a bundle of positive energy as this live set amply demonstrated. His rendition of recent fresh fave Some People Think I Look Like Kevin McCloud was one of many highlights.

SHERRY: Next up was Graham Graham Beck, my absolute favourite of the lineup. He was highly entertaining, and his music was pure joy to experience live.

Graham Graham Beck @ Fresh On The Net Live, Day Two

NEIL: After the brilliantly eccentric alternative musical universe of Graham Graham Beck, the mood changed again with a stunning performance from West Midlands’ Queen of Hip Hop Poetical Nadz. From the moment, she took to the stage, the intensity of her rapid-fire rap and astutely observational lyrics captivated the audience while her backing tracks displayed the eclectic mix and clever hybrids that also characterise her sound. Echoes of Flohio, Megan Thee Stallion and older skool artists like Missy Elliott came to mind at times but Nadz has very much her own sound, slightly otherworldly and highly charged. There were plenty of highs but recent single Live To Die was thrilling. This was a performance that bristled with energy and creativity. Truly invigorating.

SHERRY: PoeticalNadz delivered a wonderful performance that I thoroughly enjoyed. Her set was captivating, blending rap and singing beautifully.

Poetical Nadz @ Fresh On The Net Live, Day Two

SHERRY: Susy Wall took the stage after that, and she was truly remarkable. Her talent as a singer-songwriter shone through every song, with her unique and catchy style leaving a lasting impression.

NEIL: Time then for another complete change of mood and the introduction of Welsh singer-songwriter Susy Wall. Accompanied just by her skillfully picked and played guitar and some mind-boggling tunings, Susy’s distinctive voice melted our emotions, combining historic influences that had shades of Judee Sill, Joni Mitchell and Janis Ian with more contemporary references that recalled the likes of Laura Marling, Hayley Bonar and others. But that is not to suggest Susy sounds like any of these artists. Her sound is her own and her songs oozed quality while her personality shone through and enabled her to bond with the audience.

Susy Wall @ Fresh On The Net Live, Day Two

SHERRY: In between acts, we had an incredible DJ set by Neil March. His selection of tracks was amazing, and both Sue and I couldn’t stop vibing. Every song was a treat! (Awww thanks Sherry - Neil)

NEIL: The Fresh On The Net DJs were scheduled next but, with Del too poorly to join us on the trip, that became DJ (singular) so I gave the brilliant sound engineer Gabe a break while I mixed up some bangers from yesteryear (Stevie Wonder, Chic, Chaka Khan etc.) with plenty of current ones (Little Simz, Greentea Peng, FKA Twigs, Ezra Collective, Jorja Smith, Kelly Lee Owens, Khruangbin, Fontaines DC, She’s In Parties etc.) and finished with a blast of Cocteau Twins classic Iceblink Luck, a bit of a signature tune!

NEIL: Then it was time for Minimums, an artist I have put on at several previous gigs and festivals and who never plays the same set twice. Sporting trademark disguise (since only a few of us know his real identity), he was joined by excellent singer and flautist Liz Read who also sported a mask for the occasion. Trademark rich cinematic synths and strings soon swirled into action, filling the room with their resonance while Liz’s clear-as-a-bell vocals and flute playing added another layer of quality. The composing and arranging skills on offer were of a truly high standard and the attention to detail enhanced the sound, adding kaleidoscopic colour. Another stellar performance from Minimums.

SHERRY: Minimus brought an exciting stage presence with their cool costumes and captivating performance. Their music had a distinctive vibe that stood out.

Minimums @ Fresh On The Net Live, Day Two

SHERRY: Finally, the show ended on a high note with Project Blackbird. This band was simply outstanding! I loved every track they played, and their performance left me in awe. Ming’s vocals were soft yet powerful, and Jon’s trumpet added a unique touch. Ming even gave me a merch t-shirt, which was such a nice gesture—it’s a souvenir I’ll treasure!  

NEIL: The event was rounded off by a live performance from local heroes Project Blackbird and, boy, was it worth the wait! I worked out that this was the seventh time I had seen Project Blackbird play live and they just get better on every occasion. Tonight they were sublime. Eddie’s crisp, funky drumming locked in with Jamie’s deep, inventive Bass Guitar, providing the perfect bedrock along with pre-recorded tracks that Eddie synced in with. Jon wowed the audience, often playing goose-bumping keyboard chords with one hand while demonstrating his breathtaking trumpet and flugel horn skills with the other and Alan’s guitar playing is always creative and responsive to events around him. Against their dub-infused, Ska-influenced sophisticated Pop backdrop, Ming’s instantly recognisable and striking vocals soared and swooped, delivering sweet melodies and thoughtful lyrics. Between tracks, she explained the inspiration for some of them and the audience responded to her and the rest of the band with plenty of love. Renditions of tracks old and new were highly welcome, none more so than the sad but beautiful Carmen and Same Heart. This was a stunning set and, in every sense, the perfect finale to a special event.

Project Blackbird @ Fresh On The Net Live, Day Two

This article also appeared, in slightly different form, on Fresh On The Net

2024: THE YEAR IN FOCUS (by Neil)

There has been plenty written about 2024 by other media, concerned with the big news and political events. So, on this occasion, we will leave it to the experts to provide socio-political analysis. Let us instead focus on the music that has characterised 2024 from our perspective.

Grassroots independent music has, as always, excelled with so many new releases by artists we love. Most of them have been reviewed in this blog over the past 12 months. We would never try to put those artists’ work into some kind of order of merit or preference but among the many who have impressed are, in no specific order, Yellow Belly, The Happy Somethings, Ieva Dubova, Michelle Ward, Arpraxis, Fendahlene, The Jojo Man Band, Platinum Mind, Paul F Cook, Violet Alt, Minimums, Roger Burke, Poetical Nadz, Project Blackbird, The Barbarian Horde, Blokeacola, Sharon Katta, NX Panther, Hello Midlands, Crybaby Claire, Machina X, Nature Of Wires, Alien Alarms, Pocket Lint, Marble Stars, John Serrano, Andrew Hartshorn, The 18th Musician, Negative Response, Cobey Rokes, Susy Wall, Indigo Daydream, C-Beem, Transmission 13, Michael Donaghue, Pulses, Action Rec, The Great Leslie, Vickram Bhamra, Fragile Creatures, Lost Signal, Chinwe, CallMeD , Laertis, With Sun, Mari Dangerfield, Nick Haeffner, The Fantom Man and that is just a fraction of those we have supported in 2024. Also deserving of a special mention is Sarah McQuaid who has probably been too busy to release new material but has, as usual, toured extensively and determinedly throughout large parts of the year.

So what of the more established artists; the kind who grace the BBC Radio 6 Music playlists and/or the pages of the leading indie magazines, journals and blogs. My final two shows of 2024 enabled us to highlight our favourites. For me, the artist who has probably stood out more so than any has been FKA Twigs although, as usual, Little Simz popped up with an outstanding EP that once again demonstrated her ability to keep evolving her sound. My album of the year, however, was Welsh Electronic artist Kelly Lee Owens’s Dreamstate; an aural delight of otherworldly textures and solid grooves. FKA Twigs excites us because she is so unique, inventive and refreshingly unbothered by what else is in vogue. And she gets better all the time. Eusexua was my single of 2024. The album will be out in the new year.

My favourite show on UK Radio is Adam Walton’s astonishing three hour BBC Introducing extravaganza that goes out at 10PM every Saturday night on BBC Radio Wales. Like me, he is smitten by Kelly Lee Owens’ album Dreamstate as well as the extraordinary debut by Yellow Belly. It was an amazing honour not only to have our new Music Of Sound single Cold Weather Man featured on Adam’s show in December but also to be one of the few also selected for BBC Orbit where the track will be available for others to discover for three months.

The Mercury Prize was awarded to Leeds band English Teacher for their exciting debut album This Could Be Texas. I had the pleasure of seeing them live at Electric in Brixton over the summer although, as my review in this blog (and on Fresh On The Net) revealed, my friend Nina and I were more impressed by the support band Mary In The Junkyard. I liked the English Teacher album but felt there were too many flawed tracks for it to be album of the year. But I was pleased for them when they won the Mercury Prize and it will hopefully have been a boost for their popularity and status which is good for the diverse end of Alternative Pop music in general.

There were some fine singles from Ezra Collective, Fontaines DC, Greentea Peng, Mitzki, Tyler The Creator, Khruangbin, Moonchild Sanelly, Shygirl and a host of others too including a sumptuous collab between Tom Misch and Loyle Carner. Once again, the strength of the non-mainstream has been the broad spectrum of genres and influences it enables us to celebrate. With music from other parts of the planet growing in popularity and confidence, there will be exciting developments ahead too with a more internationally infused future.

Look out for some tasty morsels emanating from parts of Sub-Saharan Africa, South East Asia, Northern Europe, South and Central America and the Indian Sub-Continent over the next few years. And the Caribbean countries are always a strong source for evolving new music. Inevitably, this international mix will influence music in the UK too. New Music never sleeps as we are always saying. Its evolution relies on always incorporating fresh ideas and influences.

NEIL’S TIPS FOR WIDER SUCCESS IN 2025

In the more immediate term, my tips for wider recognition in 2025 include Slaney Bay, Barbara, Alt Blk Era, Saloni and Coming Up Roses. Okay, so they are all, apart from Saloni, broadly in Alt Rock/Pop territory but they are a diverse group all seriously getting themselves out there and playing to bigger crowds and they are all making outstanding music. They have all also been voted into the Fresh On The Net Faves in recent months.

In the case of Singaporian-UK Shoegaze quartet Coming Up Roses, they are also fronted by one of my former MA students (a classmate of Sherry’s), Emily Sera (Vocals & Bass Guitar) and her partner and guitarist Darius Oon is also an ICMP student, so it is super exciting to see how they are spreading their wings. Alt Rockers with Dreampop leanings Slaney Bay, from South London, are managed by Emily Street who also has Bleach Lab and She’s In Parties on her books (both of whom were former fresh faves who cracked the BBC 6 Music playlist). They have toured supporting both and they sold out Colours in Hoxton in the summer (a gig Sherry and I were at) and the crowd’s reverence (even singing their name like a football team) said it all about how far they have come.

Saloni excites me because she is the living embodiment of what I have been arguing for in terms of Indian music becoming a significant influence in Pop. She has cleverly fused an alloy of exotic Eastern sounds and arrangement concepts with sophisticated soulful Pop and Dance vibes. Add to this her rich, agile voice and innate composing talent and she is a star in the making. But don’t take my word for it. Look how BBC Asian Network tastemaker Jasmine Takhar is raving about her, how she got to play Wembley Arena and won an Ethnicity Award. Her latest single has amassed over q quarter of a million Spotify streams and she has 17K followers on Instagram. Saloni is on the move and nothing will stop her.

Barbara, Brighton’s masters of sophisticated retro pop, toured as support to Paul Weller recently and their music is so outstanding, it seems inevitable that they will break through soon. And, as for the super talented sister act Alt Blk Era from Nottingham, they are playing festival stages and amassing huge followings on social media. Their unique blend of Rock Hop and melodic Punk-Pop has been honed to a more catchy, radio-friendly sound in 2024 and they stand on the brink of wider success already.

Slaney Bay        Barbara           Alt Blk Era   Coming Up Roses   Saloni

GOOD ON YOU, DONALD !!! - YACHT ROCK OUR A***!!!

Imagine the ignorance of the director who made the recent HBO documentary about so-called Yacht Rock. He thought people would side with him when he shared a recording of his brief conversation with Steely Dan’s genius founder Donald Fagen that ended abruptly when Fagen invited him to go and f*** himself! Why did he react this way? Because the prize clown didn’t merely invite Fagen to discuss the concept of Yacht Rock. He told him that was Steely Dan’s genre!! That is roughly akin to telling Beethoven he wrote Aristocratic Court Music! He didn’t, by the way! But he was a favourite of the German Royal Family despite his vocally anti-imperialist views and insulting letters to the Prince!

Firstly, as I have stated previously in this blog, there is no such genre as Yacht Rock. The idea that journalists can retrospectively manufacture a ‘scene’ decades after the fact and present unrelated bands as having been part of it is absurd in itself. There was no Yacht Rock scene and no amount of reinventing history will alter that fact.

Secondly, if the idea of using what was originally, and in some cases still is, a pejorative term to group these bands together is to present them as synonymous with obscene wealth and decadence, these clowns have clearly never paid any attention to Steely Dan’s music, lyrics or lifestyle. They always dealt with the dark dysfunctional underbelly and late night loserdom culture of cities like New York and Los Angeles. Maybe the clown mistook the reference to a ship on Home At Last as having something to do with yachts! It is, in fact, using Ulysses and his great journey home from the Trojan Wars as a metaphor for perpetual struggle. Somehow I doubt whether Greek Literature is on the radar of this particular clown. Additionally when have [the late] Walter Becker or Donald Fagen been linked to any kind of decadent lifestyle or ‘rock star’ behaviour. They have tended to be relatively austere figures, more likely to partake in intellectual and academic pursuits than to be doing multiple shots, serially womanising or sniffing powder from mirrors in late night clubs. I am 99% certain that neither of them has ever owned a yacht!

Thirdly, Steely Dan never were a ‘rock’ band. Their music was a highly sophisticated fusion of jazz, rock, art pop, soul, Latin and Caribbean music and other international flavours. If you hear rock when you listen to songs like Peg, Babylon Sisters, Kid Charlemagne etc, you need a better musical education. To lump them in with Toto and Styx is insulting, ridiculous and, moreover, wholly inaccurate. There is a reason why Steely Dan have been sampled by so many Hip Hop and related artists (including Kanye West, De La Soul, All Saints etc.) and why they have been cited as an influence by everyone from Omar to Michael Kiwanuka, from Prince to Esperanza Spalding and from Everything But the Girl to Mark Ronson.

If they even belonged loosely to any ‘scene’ in their principal period (from 1971 to 1980), it was the associated Jazzrock and Jazz Fusion collective of Weather Report, The Crusaders, Herbie Hancock, Chick Correa, The Brecker Brothers and others, many of whom they shared musicians with. Weather Report’s Wayne Shorter plays the iconic Tenor Sax on the title track of Aja while The Crusaders’ Joe Sample plays Fender Rhodes Electric Piano on two tracks and former Crusader Larry Carlton features prominently as a guitarist and acts as MD and official scorer for the session musicians. Randy Brecker contributes Trumpet and Flugel Horn parts. They also shared, in a sense, both Michael McDonald and Jeff ‘Skunk’ Baxter with the Doobie Brothers but it is equally absurd to lump the Doobies in with Yacht Rock.

Even if you did want to interview Donald Fagen for a documentary about Yacht Rock [for example; to get his perspective on the attempts by journalists to impose this fake scene on a bunch of scarcely related bands], can you imagine anything so stupid as to answer Fagen’s question about what genre he was ascribing to Steely Dan by saying ‘Well … Yacht Rock’!! He could have said to him he was making this documentary and was keen to get the perspective of an artist like Fagen who has often been lumped in with this retrospective genre but clearly was part of something much more unique and sophisticated. Instead, he insulted the great man and then thought it was acceptable to whinge to the rest of us about the response he received. It was the response he deserved. So we at Trust The Doc Media say ‘Good on you, Donald! Yacht Rock our arse!!!’.

MU MISSES AN OPPORTUNITY AGAIN !!!

The latest edition of the Musicians’ Union journal Amplify talks up the role the MU has played in behind-the-scenes talks with the new Labour Government on fairer rules for members that, as usual, focus on the freelance brass band and semi-pro orchestral players etc. who tend to be their activists and NEC members. But not a jot about pressure for the restoration of arts funding to benefit creative entrepreneurs involved in trying to bring exciting projects that benefit multiple people in grassroots music. With the Music Venue Trust focusing on getting money for venues but ignoring the needs and efforts of promoters and AIM focused on indie record labels, who exactly among the umbrella bodies is standing up for creative entrepreneurs? Maybe it is time we joined the Association of Independent Promoters (as our friends Geraldine Zanaska and Lorraine Solomons keep nagging us to do) although the Concert Promoters Association might have more clout. Time for another lobbying letter to the new Culture Secretary for what it’s worth!

LAZINESS OR SENSE OF ENTITLEMENT?

If there is one golden rule that was drummed into me back in childhood days and has stayed with me throughout all my years as a performing and recording artist, it is this. If someone writes and publishes a favourable review of your music, whether it is a leading music journal with thousands of readers or a little fanzine with a following of five people, you always take the time to acknowledge their work and say thank you. But that does not seem to be the attitude of so many aspiring grassroots artists in 2024.

Nowhere was this more starkly clear than in the last Fresh on the Net Faves Reviews of 2024, written by Sherry and I. They were lovingly researched with background and biographical information about all ten artists (including the ones who did not exactly make it easy to find that information) and enthusiastic commentaries from both of us about their music [albeit interspersed with little seasonal references as it was that time of year]. I tagged all the artists, other than two who have made their accounts untaggable, and included the handles of all ten in my Instagram post about the reviews. A lot of people ‘liked’ the post. But none of them were the artists included in the reviews! In fairness, one band did follow us in response.

I looked at the Facebook post from Del on behalf of the team. There, three of the ten artists ‘liked’ the post but none of them commented on it. On the thread for the review themselves, no artist commented and there were a few bizarre comments that made no reference to the reviews! I decided that only Tony Hardy’s comment merited a response in the circumstances. But Tony always posts generously about other moderators’ work; probably because he is a hard working blogger, live music entrepreneur and tireless supporter of independent music. So he gets the effort that goes into such work.

It is not just artists in the fresh faves who are either too lazy or too full of their enormous sense of entitlement [or both]. Every month, I tag every artist I can find on every social media platform when this blog comes out. But a lot never acknowledge it. They could use a quote from it in their PR materials and on their web and social media pages. But they would have to bother reading the review first!

The problem does not end with artists who think they are too important to acknowledge a review from a blog that isn’t cool or high enough status for them. Even some artists who we have provided with paid gigs cannot be bothered to post that they are playing the gigs! We provide them with all the details and three versions of the poster (designed by Paul F Cook) weeks before the event. But I frequently have to chase them to get them to say anything on their social media pages about it and even then some never get their act together to do so. But, when they have brought no ticket buyers through the door, they will still be quick to ask how much we are paying them! Venues can be even worse offenders. We accept that, as promoters, it is primarily for us to market events and sell tickets but, at grassroots level, it needs to be a partnership too.

Others accept a gig offer but somehow fail to mention until it is way too late that they are playing another gig two nights later (on a Saturday) at a venue a mile up the road! Unlike some rogue so-called ‘promoters’, we do not impose thirty-day [either side] embargos on artists playing other gigs in the same area. Instead, we trust artists to behave appropriately. But many don’t. It is incredibly disrespectful and, unless they are quite stupid, they must realise we are going to lose ticket sales because their friends are much more likely to go and watch them on a Saturday instead of a Thursday. I once tackled an artist when I discovered her duo was playing a popular gig the night after playing mine and she reacted by making derogatory comments about our sound engineer! Needless to say I have never booked her to play again and never will. This same artist had previously told me a sob story about how she had been sued by a former manager. I was beginning to see why that might happen to someone who has so little regard for other people!

It has always been Trust The Doc Media’s ethos to support grassroots music and to try to provide as many opportunities as we realistically can of exposure for artists whether through live events, radio plays, blog reviews, slots on our YouTube show or playlist inclusions on Spotify. But support should be a two-way street and, for some, that message seems to have been lost. Perhaps it is just a reflection of the spoilt brat, entitled attitudes that generations living under Tory rule for so much of their lives have adopted. Whatever the reason, it leaves a bad taste and it inevitably affects the likelihood of our offering them support in the future.

AND FINALLY ………

Someone asked me (Neil) the other day if I could describe how 2024 has been for me in a single word. I thought about it for a few moments and then answered ‘Bruising’! I think that might neatly summarise a roller coaster of a year that ends with us still facing so much uncertainty about the future of our business and our activities.

In a sense, for me, it started with a feeling of optimism. We were only a couple of months into the Linking Up project, supported by Arts Council England and The National Lottery UK funding and then we secured a grant to put on Fresh on the Net Live for the first time since 2019.

At the same time, the problems with my right foot had begun in November 2023 when I first visited my GP Surgery with concerns about an open wound on the underside of the foot, close to my middle toe, which was not healing. A catalogue of errors followed over the next two months for which three of my doctors and one A&E consultant were all responsible in terms of misdiagnosing, applying ineffective treatment and being complacent about the threat to the bone from this open wound despite my diabetes.

In January 2024, I was managing and compering a gig at the Amersham Arms in New Cross when the wound became so painful and swollen that I had to take my shoe off, only to discover I was bleeding all over the floor of the venue. I hobbled on and off stage all evening, keeping the event going while one of my friends was freaking out. She was adamant that I needed to go the next day to A&E which, after first returning to my GP Surgery and seeing the one doctor who recognised that this was an ulcer [and a threat to the bone], I did. I was there for eight and a half hours and, after seeing several people and having an X-Ray, I was told there was no imminent threat to the bone, no need for any further treatment and I could go home. I returned to the Surgery two days later and the errors continued.

One of these was the repeated refusal to contact the Foot Clinic at Lewisham Hospital as I was told the Surgery was not allowed to do so and I had to wait for them to contact me. Eventually, my wife discovered a number for them via google and I rang them. It turned out the referral had never even been made and actually anyone can ring them anytime. I was given an appointment on 31st January 2024 at which the nurse freaked out and ordered me to return to A&E. This time they took it much more seriously, especially when the X-Ray showed it was borderline in terms of its closeness to the bone (and yes, I now understand the origin of the term ‘close to the bone’!). I was allowed to go ahead with the inaugural Linking Up @ The Front Room, Croydon (although the night was ruined by my phone being stolen and the subsequent problems that caused me) but had to go to the Ambulatory Care Unit the following day (Friday 2nd February). They duly referred me and

I spent the next 12 days stuck in hospital, losing hundreds of pounds through not being able to work; an issue the PAYE employees in the NHS seemed to have a hard time understanding. The arrogant attitude of some of the GPs I saw in the hospital was breathtaking at times. By contrast, the nursing and kitchen staff were unequivocally lovely, supportive and, in some cases, took it upon themselves to fight for me to get dealt with more quickly because they could see how much it was bothering me being stuck on a ward and unable to work and get paid.

Eventually, after an 8 day wait, my ‘urgent’ MRI scan took place. It showed the bone was indeed infected and, on Day 12, a piccline was inserted into my arm and through to my chest so that I could spend the next six weeks as an outpatient getting daily IV courses of antibiotic before starting work each day. Eventually it was deemed to have failed to make any impact and the decision was taken to amputate my middle toe. That happened in late March and I duly spent the following four and a half months walking around with a massive, elaborate boot that made me look like I was half man, half robot! It also made getting around a minor challenge at times, especially where going up or down steps was concerned! In the early days, the pain it caused to my left leg from being so much closer to the ground than the right was also a problem until the Acute Foot Unit provided a temporary raised platform for my left shoe. So, in effect, I became about an inch and a half taller when out and about for a while! It was interesting to see how little of a flying f*** most passengers on trains and buses could give about my very visible situation! Welcome to Tory Britain!

Once I was allowed to stop wearing the boot, I continued to have to attend regular appointments with the Acute Foot Unit (not the same place as the Foot Clinic although, on one occasion, the nurse I had seen there in January was in attendance and dressed my wound). Mostly I dressed my own wound every few days and became quite the expert at following the right choreography for wrapping the bandage correctly etc! I was finally deemed to have made a recovery (in the sense that the wound where my toe had been taken off had healed) in about October. I am now more or less back to normal although my balance is mildly affected in certain scenarios where I am leaning too far or navigating narrow steps (of which there are a great many in train and tube stations).

Still, that’s just the potted back story of my health issues. The real story has, as always, been about music. After that initial success with grant applications in late 2023 and early 2024, we have endured a series of rejected applications for Year 2 of Linking Up which is now on hold pending a decision on our fourth application and of Brilliant Brent, a project we are eager to implement but which will not be possible unless we receive funding.

On the bright side, Arts Council England [and, in particular, their Complaints Officer] have been incredibly helpful. They upheld my complaint about appalling feedback on the third application for Brilliant Brent and duly allowed me both to resubmit it and then, when it was still rejected, fast track the fourth application with the opportunity to withdraw it and resubmit showing how I have taken account of the much more useful and constructive feedback I received second time around. They also set up a call between myself and one of their grant advisors to help ensure I knew what I needed to do to maximise my chances of success. The new application will be heard on 13th January so fingers crossed for now. If they say yes, Sherry and I will be launching an exciting new project in Brent, an area deemed to be a Priority Place by the Arts Council and rightly so since its live music infrastructure has been decimated and its high and diverse Asian population has always been and continues to be overlooked. My ICMP students tell me they will eagerly support our events if we do get to run this project which will give us a good bedrock if so.

It has been a tough year to be putting on live music in 2024; especially in the London area. Early in 2024, the controversy about the owners of the Amersham Arms trying to deny the existence of highly toxic asbestos led to the unfair dismissal of long-time manager and friend Andy Palmer and eventually to the Council forcing them to close and get the asbestos removed (which, ironically, came too late to save Andy’s job). As a consequence, I severed ties with the venue and have not set foot in there ever since. Two months later, Sherry and I agreed we would stop promoting at The Fox and Firkin, frustrated at trying to make enough money to pay artists, marketing etc. while having to let scores of chancers in for free as long as they claimed they were only there to have a drink! Venues need to make their minds up whether they are venues or pubs because promoters have to pay the musicians and that is a hell of a lot harder when the pubs are allowing their punters to freeload off us and our artists.

Since then, we have focused on two venues - The Front Room in Croydon and The Oddfellows in Hemel Hempstead. The latter is our favourite venue because, despite promoting a Monday night (a night we would not touch with a barge pole in London), we get decent crowds and the venue is owned by the lovely Brett Hulme who is also the sound engineer and a fine artist and musician himself. The relationship is a breath of fresh air compared to most venues.

The Front Room is a beautiful venue and the two guys who run it are nice people. But they never post on their social media to say we are putting a gig on there and it is hard to gather much of a crowd on a Thursday in a dark spot in East Croydon. It needs to be a partnership. It also doesn’t help us when artists fail to tell us they are playing up the road on a more appealing night within less than a week of our gig when accepting the offer. That is obviously going to undermine our promotional efforts. We have put on four gigs there now and we are considering whether it is worth continuing in 2025. Whether we receive Linking Up funding will have a large bearing on our decision. Without it, we probably cannot afford to return there. So let’s see what happens.

In amongst all this, we put on both days of Fresh on the Net Live, in London (The Lower Third) and Leicester (The Musician). The London leg of the festival was delayed numerous times due to the chaotic culture and lack of communication at the venue that led to us having to keep on supplying the same information to one person after another because apparently no-one speaks to anyone else about what they have been doing! Their prevarication meant an event due to happen in July eventually happened in September and cost far more to put on than we had been led to believe would be the case despite them making it impossible for us to have food and merch stalls set up and despite not being able to supply a second stage area or adequate seating for a 9 hour event.

It went well because we ran it with a rod of iron and made sure no-one over-ran even by a minute. The artists were all great, without exception, but the food policy meant a lot of people did not stay as long as they would have done if they had at least been allowed to eat their own food in the venue. After the number of obstacles, the amount of time wasted on duplicate effort, the lack of seating and the inflated cost, we will not be using The Lower Third at any time in the foreseeable future. Shame because it is a lovely venue.

Our experience with The Musician was, by contrast, far more agreeable, helped by having the wonderful Jon Read handling all the on-site liaison. The deal was straightforward and affordable and the day went well. The only issues were that most people did not turn up until early evening so the earlier acts were playing to a half-empty room and the building is falling apart and had some pretty horrid looking substances seeping through the ceiling! So we will probably try to use part of their newer venue, The International, if we get to put the festival on again in 2025. We are currently waiting on a decision about a grant for that too.

You may have noticed a pattern here (with the Greater London area anyway) which is the hallowed grassroots venues who the new levy is set to support not behaving so angelically in how they treat promoters and artists. Every case is different obviously but it is another reason why the government and, it would seem, others who could have helped bring the right pressure for something to be done to support us have let down the live music entrepreneurs who actually create, curate, promote, market, manage and deliver about 95% of the gigs at grassroots level again. Unfortunately, the politicians in Westminster on either side of the political divide are clueless about how these things work and need to have umbrella bodies who can be relied upon to present them with a more honest picture.

Away from all our live music entrepreneurial activity, Sherry and I have also been working hard to build the profile and following for our band The Music Of Sound (with the amazing Elena Trent) and to get our new online education regime in place for 2025 so we can start making a bit more of our own money. Fingers crossed for both and for the merchandise store which is very much Sherry’s area of expertise. 2025 is a critical year for the business and the band. It has been an unmatchable pleasure for us playing in this band and Sherry joining the Fresh on the Net team was another milestone on her incredible, ongoing journey.

I have also been busier than ever before, leading multiple modules at both ICMP and University of Surrey. This has been great because I am paid per class I teach and other bits and pieces (one-to-one tuition and mentoring, marking and moderation, being a level leader for one group of students etc.) so the more I agree to take on, the more I can earn and boy, have we needed the money this year! It has been intense though and I was physically and mentally exhausted by the time the classroom elements ended for 2024 on 19th December. Even then the marking, moderating and tutorials continued on both sides of Christmas.

So special thanks to particular individuals at ICMP; namely Yannis Iliopoulos (programme leader for the MA Music Business and also my sometimes partner-in-crime via the Unsigned & Gifted project); Jamie Johnston (my programme leader for the BA Live Events stuff and also a label boss and manager of the excellent October Drift); Ken Foreman (former singer and guitarist with Thrashing Doves and these days the Associate Dean at ICMP) and Geraldine Zanaska (programme leader for the BA Music Marketing modules and a fellow live music entrepreneur). All these people have been so supportive and have gone out of their way to find me more opportunities because they know I need paid work. The faith they keep showing me to take on new challenges is inspiring. They are four of a large team of lovely individuals who I get to work with or even just chat to in the Staff Room at ICMP. The place is packed with good, fascinating and talented individuals.

Back to Trust The Doc Media, we begin 2025 with fingers and everything else crossed for good news about three projects we would like funding for (Brilliant Brent, Linking Up Year 2 and Fresh on the Net Live ‘25). Even one positive decision changes everything for the better. Two means it’s party time! Three and we will be in raptures! They will all necessitate a lot of hard work of course. But you know us well enough to know by now that we have no problem with that element.

FROM BOTH OF US

In the meantime, big love and thanks to everyone who reads this blog, listens to the radio show, comes to our gigs and generally supports our activities in one way or another. Special mentions to the amazing Sue Oreszczyn, Del Owusu, The Happy Somethings, Michelle Ward, John Davis (Arpraxis), Andrew Hartshorn (Monochrome Motif Records), Brian O’Neill (Dimple Discs) and Paul F Cook (who supplies the artwork for our posters), all the members of our lovely grassroots music community and to our partners and our families. Happy New Year everyone and keep on keeping on!

Neil & Sherry xxxx