RIP Sgt Pepper.

The album is dead. Long live the album.

All throughout 2009 the slow disease was spreading, quietly, stealthily. The "bird flu" of the album, the Internet and downloads (both legal and illegal), all helped to start nailing the coffin lid shut. Sure, there was fightback; there was resistance like any body puts up when faced with a sickness like this. But the signs were not good. Now all we have left are the survivors, fighting valiantly by day and hiding from the infected by night, like something out of 28 Days Later or a George A Romero film.

During the last year, single sales have risen by 32.7% to a record 152 million, with 98% of those being digital downloads. Artists such as Lady GaGa, whose brilliant "Poker Face" was the top selling single of last year, have benefited hugely from this. Christmas also helped, what with so many people being given mp4 players and iPods. As for the album, it's having to try and fight back with downloadbable versions of itself. And what are we left with in terms of physical albums on CD that you can actually hold in your hands and place inside a stereo system? Susan Boyle's I Dreamed A Dream is the top selling album of last year. Hang on...just going to go and get the shotgun and take this sick animal out back...

Okay, so maybe it's not all as bad as I'm making it out, but it is an undeniable fact that the single is the new king of music, the great survivor in the digital boom, in the Age of Information. The golden age of the album - where an artist would release one single as a teaser before giving us all the juicy goodness of the other songs and often making the rest of the singles released somewhat obsolete.

It's not necessarily a bad thing. A couple of years ago I got the debut album by SugaRush Beat Company for Christmas on the back of two of their songs, which I thought were quite a soulful, funky kind of music. Imagine my disappointment when I played the first track and heard a loud cacophony of drumbeats and electronic whines that showed why we haven't heard any more from this group. I would have preferred for my parents to have bought me just the two songs now rather than that rubbish again.

There are, in my opinion, two ways in which the album could survive. Although "SuBo" (shudder) has been the top seller, close behind her was the aforementioned GaGa, whose brilliant The Fame just keeps on delivering. GaGa is such a creation, such an artist, that one could almost mistake The Fame for being (whisper) a concept album. Just like the glorious Sgt Pepper by the Beatles or 3 Feet High And Rising by De La Soul, it seems like an event album, something fresh and original. This does not mean that albums should all revert to this. I'm a huge fan of them - I got at least two albums by single artists for Christmas this year: the latest offerings from Jamie Cullum and Nerina Pallot. But none of these would have been top sellers (least of all, sadly, Nerina, who is brilliant but completely underrated).

The other way the album can survive seems to be compilation albums. The Now series is still going strong - I've had nearly every single one since Now 36 when I was eleven years old! Most of the time it saves money for yourself, because then you don't spend it on the actual singles, knowing you'll get them anyway for a fairly reasonable price. This does also mean, however, that once more you aren't paying for a regular album. No win.

The last post is about to be played. It's the last gasp for the soldiers in the ranks. It seems like the only thing left to do is something drastic - to go over the top. And we all know how that usually ends up.

Rest In Peace, Sgt Pepper.


Laters.

Top Ten of 2010!

So here's a list of the ten films I'm most looking forward to next year (2010), in no particular order except alphabetical.

Alice In Wonderland - Tim Burton. 'Nuff said.

Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows: Part One - The last film in the series was one of the best since "Prisoner Of Azkaban". It's going to be darker and darker still.

Inception - Christopher Nolan's never made a bad film in my opinion, so I'm looking forward to this one. Not that we know what's going on in it yet.

Kick Ass - Looks hilarious, but also a welcome reality check for all the superhero films that are beig made (with the possible exception of "Iron Man 2", which isn't on the list because I'm still to watch the first one!)

Paul - Simon Pegg and Nick Frost are an excellent duo of actors/writers. Looking forward to their first proper foray into Americana.

Prince Of Persia: The Sands Of Time - Probably will be the summer's biggest blockbuster, next to aforementioned "Iron Man 2". Two words for me: Gemma. Arterton.

Scott Pilgrim Vs The World - Not read the graphic novel this is based on, but I'm already looking forward to discovering them.

The Book Of Eli - Another post-apocalypse film, but this one has Denzel Washington, Mila Kunis and Gary Oldman as the bad guy. Excellent.

The Expendables - It's going to be rubbish, but WONDERFUL rubbish. Stallone, Statham, Lundgren, Willis and Schwarznegger. No Seagal, though...shame.

Toy Story 3 - Could be brilliant. It is Pixar, after all. But is it one sequel too many?

So there we go. I'm sure there are others more deserving and, probably, as this year, some I will actually find myself more excited to watch then the ones on here.

Cover Alls That Don't Quite Cover All

Found this on the good ol' World Wide Web this morning: a list of the Top Ten worst covers in (British) Music History. Here you go:

1. William Shatner: 'Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds'
2. Britney Spears: 'I Love Rock 'N' Roll'
3. Gareth Gates: 'Spirit In The Sky'
4. Kelly Osbourne: 'Papa Don't Preach'
5. Terry Wogan: 'The Floral Dance'
6. Madonna: 'American Pie'
7. Gareth Gates: 'Unchained Melody'
8. Rolf Harris: 'Stairway To Heaven'
9. Rik Waller: 'I Will Always Love You'
10. Alexandra Burke: 'Hallelujah'

It's a funny creature, the cover. You either love them or hate them. Some artists seem to be addicted to making them (particularly boy bands such as Boyzone or Westlife). Others will bow down maybe once to them - Britters at Number 2 has done perhaps two or three, but that's it. The cover song has also being adopted by charities - Children In Need, Comic Relief - as a quick, go to for raising more money for their respective projects. That's a little sneaky, because then you can't be too cynical about them, as its all for the greater good.

No, perhaps the most annoying use of covers recently has been with a little programme called The X Factor, a show like American Idol, (and its other counterparts - I dunno, is there a Kazakhstan Idol?), which is based solely on the idea of a bunch of un-famous people doing rather OTT cover versions of famous people's songs. The winner then releases another cover as their debut single, which then goes straight to Christmas Number One...annoyingly.

Last year the series spawned two cover singles. The first was a cover of Mariah Carey's 'Hero', which was sadly a charity single for British Troops, so again I'm forced to be as un-cynical as possible. I also have to sadly admit that it sent shivers up my spine the first time I heard it - I must be getting soft in my old age. But the true abomination was the winner's single, which you can see up at Number 10 on the list, Alexandra Burke's version of 'Hallelujah'. Now, admittedly, this has been one of the most covered songs ever, and in my opinion (and also the opinion of Leonard Cohen, the original artist) the definitive version was made by Jeff Buckley. Burke's is all about the glory and ooh, look at me, I've just won a meaningless talent show.

Alas, even Leona Lewis, the only success story of The X Factor, had to start with a cover version, and recently she did a cover of Snow Patrol's 'Run'. The difference is she makes it her own, as Buckley did with 'Hallelujah'. That's the recipe for a truly great cover version: it re-defines the song, re-imagines it. Let's have a list of those. I bet you it will be much shorter than the one of worst covers.

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Had a rather surreal evening last night. Our power went out, then came back on as if it was running incredibly low on juice. The lights were dim, the television was at time unwatchable (in terms of the picture, not the programmes), and the oven was making odd noises. Then, as we were flicking through the gradually distorting channels, we were able to see a game show called Golden Balls - I'm not sure exactly what happens in it, but appearing on the show last night was my ex-girlfriend's boyfriend. If it hadn't been for the power going wacky, we would never have seen that. Surreal at best. And he didn't win, poor chap - he was voted off before the grand final.

Laters.

2009 At The Movies!

Last year I only had about five films that I knew would definitely distract me from writing: some of them more than lived up to my expectations (Sweeney Todd, The Dark Knight), some were a little disappointing (Quantum Of Solace, Inkheart) and one of them I never even got to see (Cloverfield, though I did get the DVD for Christmas! Haven't watched it yet, though.) )

But this year - this year I can think of at least ten films that could pull me away from my computer as I try to get on with my work! I've put the list of them to the side in a brand new list box thing, but here they are for you in all their glory!

Harry Potter And The Half Blood Prince: big fan, been waiting a while for this one.

Public Enemies: Johnny Depp in a 1930s gangster film!

Sherlock Holmes : Robert Downey Jr in a Guy Ritchie film!

Star Trek: Small, low budget astronomical feature...I think.

The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button: Brad Pitt re teams with David Fight Club Fincher.

The Imaginarium Of Doctor Parnassus: Terry Gilliam's hopeful return to the top, and Heath Ledger's last ever film.

The Lovely Bones: Long awaited Peter Jackson film, could rival Heavenly Creatures.

Up: Pixar. 'Nuff said.

Watchmen: The Comic Book (sorry, Graphic Novel) film of the year.

Where The Wild Things Are: Always loved this book as a kid - hope Spike Jonze don't muck it up.

Looking at this list, I think I can be pretty pleased with the mixture of my taste - hopefully, I don't look too shallow and pedantic. Also (hopefully) ten films shouldn't be enough to stop me from writing, unless I do a Dark Knight and go and watch them again...and again...and again...and again...

Laters.

Seagal!

I've got a confession to make: I have a soft spot for a little film called On Deadly Ground. For those of you who have no idea what I'm talking about, it is the second best film starring Steven Seagal, that stalwart of really, really bad action movies(the first being Under Siege).

Now, as a red blooded male, I suppose it's only natural for me to enjoy the odd action film with very little plot, and On Deadly Ground is no exception - it makes very little sense, has a very silly plot, and is really a disastrous attempt at making a shoot-em-up film with an ecological message - its all about oil rigs and Eskimos in Alaska, you see. Thankfully, the film is saved by a somewhat staggeringly brilliant cast: Michael Caine is the bad guy, John C McGinley (Dr Cox from Scrubs) is his henchman, R. Lee Emery is the leader of a group of mercenaries who obviously cannot stop just one man ('cos that one man happens to be Seagal), even Billy Bob Thornton makes an appearance. and, yes, at the end of the day, there's just a lot of fun to be had watching one man take on every other single person in the film and blowing things up.

It's a little annoying to realise that action scenes are so much easier to envisage in films (or television) than in books. I find action scenes the hardest things to write, which is annoying when you consider that my books are typical good guy vs bad guy material, and how my first two books end with your typical confrontation. I'm planning to have a great big battle scene in The Witch Sister - a battle scene, for crying out loud! Once upon a time I toyed with the idea of being a writer of thrillers, a la Clive Cussler or even (what was I thinking?) Ian Flemming. But because I felt I was so bad at writing action scenes I realised that it was pretty ridiculous to try and keep this going.

Oh how I wish Seagal was a decent writer. Then we could all send him our ideas and say, "Yo, Steve, how should I end this scene? Should he jump over the side of the boat or should he blow everything up with a match and a line of petrol?" Ah well - we should always stick to what we're best at, as Seagal has found - though all his recent films haven't even been half as good as Under Siege or On Deadly Ground. In fact, god forbid, they've been ten times worse, and not in a good way! Still, at least he tried something new - even Seagal takes creative chances!

Snow!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yes, just when I get the house back to myself, to really exploit the peace and quiet to concentrate on getting on with some writing, I open my curtains this morning to find the world literally covered in a think layer of the cold white stuff - and I ain't talking vanilla Ice Cream. Cos, you know, that would be kinda weird.

I love snow! Love it! I have made a whole-hearted attempt at making a half-hearted looking snow lump - it's not the kind of snow you can make a whole person from right now. I have thrown snowballs, I have made great big footprints in the garden...

Adult? What adult? I'm 8 again!

Laters!

Writer's Block

It's a funny thing, writer's block. Not funny as in ha ha that's hysterical, ow my sides funny - more like hmm, this is in danger of fast becoming shallow and pedantic type of funny.

The thing is it can hit you whenever wherever, no matter how good you feel about what you;re working on, and then - this is the real killer r- it lasts for random amounts of time. It could be over by the afternoon or it could take up to six months to really finish messing around with your head.

I've found the latter to be the case continuously, especially with regards to The Witch Sister but also, weirdly, with the simple art of writing a cover letter to send to potential literary agents along with my synopsis and first two chapters of Where Wild Things Grow. How weird is that? I got writer's block on an administrative form! That's gotta be worth a place in history, surely?

Oh yeah, and I've spruced up the blog as you can probably tell. Nothing too fancy, just felt the need for a change. Hope none of you find it too shallow and pedantic (I love that phrase!)

Laters.