Manufactured Pop But It's Okay

There is an unbelievable number of things going on in our village at the moment. Today I tried to put as many on my village web site as I could and it took virtually all day. 2012 is going to be a huge year for fitness, sport, well being, health and the environment.

So pretty much stuck in the study all day. On days like this I need music to keep me going and today worked my way through a whole host of new releases through my Napster account. I wuite like the Lana Del Rey album Born to Die which I have been looking forward to ever since the release of Video Games. There is a lot of criticism of Del Rey for being a manufactured artist. But does this really matter? It has scarcely stopped Madonna or Lady Ga Ga. Del Rey is really common or garden Elizabeth Grant but the fact is that Video Games was an Internet phenomena and responsible for gaining the artist a major record deal. So the question is whatever her name is this a good album and the answer is yes. Del Rey has a sumptuous voice that has depth as well as variety. Okay the album falls far short of being a classic but it is half decent and in these times of so much dross that's probably good enough.

Other albums I listened to included Old Ideas by Leonard Cohen, Ringo 2012 by Ringo Starr, Hello Cruel World by Gretchen Peters, The Lion's Roar by First Aid Kit, Stage Whisper by Charlotte Gainsbourg, Be Strong by the 2 Bears and Barton Hollow by the Civil Wars.

Enjoyed the offerings of Gretchen Peters (morbid country/folk), First Aid Kit (Swedish female harmonisers) and Barton Hollow (slightly too country for me but still enjoyed it and was surprisingly impressed by their version of Michael Jackson's Billie Jean). 2 Bears was just too techno for my tastes and Charlotte Gainsbourg left me cold. So what about the two from aged Septuagenarians.

Ringo Starr is 71 which might account for the shortness of his latest album. It must have taken him ages to think of the title Ringo 2012. The album weighs in at a less than impressive nine tracks and lasts just 28 minutes and 51 second!! Take into the account that one of the pieces is a re-working of a 1973 song and another a re-working of a song from 1977 and you begin to think the guy was struggling. Add in the fact that he covers Buddy Holly's Think it Over and re-arranges Rock Island Line and the whole thing is beginning to look rather thin.

Then we have the obligatory song about his past in Liverpool. Whereas in previous albums there was merit in Liverpool 8 which spawned Liverpool 8 and Y Not which gave birth to The Other Side of Liverpool, this time around we have In Liverpool which is quite poor. The opening track Anthem is embarrassing with the opening lyrics "This is an anthem of peace and love/We have got to keep trying we can't give up." Sounds like the poetry of a 12 year old.

Ringo is just a youngster compared with 77 year old Leonard Cohen. His new album has garnered almost universal praise. I'm still not sure about Old Ideas. The thing that worries me about Cohen is the fact that bankruptcy forced him back into the music business - so money was more of a motivation than art. His voice croaks/talks through the pieces but there is poetry here and poetry that knocks Ringo's efforts into a cocked hat.