At the beginning I think she was seen as just another Brit Schooler, at a time when people were still cynical about stage school pop stars. Sometime over the last couple of years, the Brit School suddenly became widely known and respected, almost to the point that their graduates now proudly announce that they're from there and it's like their entry into the media treadmill. Once the wave of recognition hit after Adele's first album, I think there became this view of "she's done it through talent and not good looks or getting her tits out" through the media and public. I don't know, it's just commercial, relationship-based, wallpapering music (as Billy Corgan puts it).

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Do you need real drum tracks? http://www.drumtracksdirect.co.uk/

Just hype IMHO
There is very little talent within the girl , she can sing a bit and that's it .
As for "writing" , again the team machine for the music .
The lyric themselves are laughable , I googled them out of interest and they read like the poetry attempts of an eight year old .

So little passion , talent and integrity is within these "talents" of today .
Keep in mind that Adele is 23 now , same age as Ian Curtis when he died , now compare lyrical content and talent .

Quote Frisonic:

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Auto tune: I am a guitarist. I use a chromatic tuner several times every day and almost always before every time I record anything. Most instruments need tuning and most musicians will use the latest, cost accessible, most convenient method of achieving their own idea of the perfect pitch prior to every performance, even if its just for themselves. It used to be a tuning fork! So I fine tune my guitar to my own ear once I've tuned it into to 'technically correct' because that's a part of my sound and what makes me distinctive. So IMO for vocalists not to take advantage of the technology that is now available to them would be daft.

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Hmmm, don't get your analogy. One of the main points abourt a great singer is the abilbity to hit the correct note at will, not rely on a machine to fix it for them. For a guitarist, once the instrument is in tune, the guitarist still has to hit the right frets - there's the skill. If a machine was devised which hit the fret correctly for the guitarist that would be like autotune for a voice, it takes away some of the skill.

Further, a voice being ever so slightly off key might in places well be part of its charm or distinctiveness. The thing that makes a voice unique and special, its character.

Perfection is boring, anyone?

I don't mind autotune if it is obviously used to create an effect on the voice, why not, but when used to correct errors and fool folk into thinking what they're hearing is a superb natural performance when it ain't?

I'm old fashioned I guess.

Why not put some stooges up and get them to mime to a tape, you'll be telling me they do that next...

wha?

They do?

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i like spoonerisms.

Trucking the bend is a new must have......

Quote narcoman:

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i like spoonerisms.

Trucking the bend is a new must have......

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Bravo

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"insert witty comment about drummers or hob-nobs"

"I don't mind autotune if it is obviously used to create an effect on the voice, why not, but when used to correct errors and fool folk into thinking what they're hearing is a superb natural performance when it ain't?"

I'm not sure very many recordings would really pass a "superb natural performance" test when the they've been, comped, punched in, had multiple takes or all other manner of studio trickery applied. All amounts to the same thing in the public's mind. Autotune is just the latest thing. And I'm not sure the great unwashed give a stuff.

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"Playing the right notes, but not neccesarily in the right order"

Quote narcoman:

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i like spoonerisms.

Trucking the bend is a new must have......

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Excellent stuff narcoman, although it did briefly conjure an image of urgency and modern plumbing. Anyway, next time I sense a need to apply a judicious pinch of auto tune I shall find it difficult not to say to myself "ok, time to truck the bend" and think of Adele, hype inflation and all the records I have never sold.

Cheers!

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Strictly project and just for fun

http://www.bbc.co.uk/newsbeat/17935650

Eclipsed MJ's Thriller in the UK now.

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http://soundcloud.com/richie-royale
http://www.mixcrate.com/richieroyale

Adeles success is in the main a result of the amount of Airplay that her music has received. Because she has written radio friendly music which differed completely from the rest of the radio friendly fodder, her music caught the ear. I disagree with the demographic of sales. Yes, women in their 30s and gay men probably did buy her album but equally I've seen the album on the itunes of my teenage stepsons (pretty sure they are straight) in my 30 year old male friends (immaculately organised and alphebetised) cd collections, my 60+ parents Cds. So I am guessing that it is that her music hits a nerve almost universally.

In addition to the airplay there is the contradiction between the smooth vocal when she sings and her rough 'Sarth Lundun' speaking voice with the fact that she was prepared to lay herself emotionally bare and talk about the album. Obviously that's great for interviewers so suddenly there is an excessive amount of press as well as the album playing everywhere.

She did write the songs, mainly on guitar in a similar manner to her first album but the arrangements by other people added a completely new dimension to the songs. She will take an idea in collaboration and run with it but at the same time she knows what she wants to hear. In that sense she and Amy winehouse were quite similar, and yes, it stems from group improvisation exercises at BRIT!

Is she bucking a trend? No more than Norah Jones or Katy Melua did, but she is doing it more sucessfully!

Quote ceridwen:

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In addition to the airplay there is the contradiction between the smooth vocal when she sings and her rough 'Sarth Lundun' speaking voice...

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Yeah, except she's Tottenham through and through...

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I'm All Ears.

Quote ken long:

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Quote ceridwen:

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In addition to the airplay there is the contradiction between the smooth vocal when she sings and her rough 'Sarth Lundun' speaking voice...

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Yeah, except she's Tottenham through and through...

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I stand corrected!

I just saw that article myself and thought about this thread again. Had to smile when I thought "hmmmm... 20,000 copies a week consistently over 4 weeks... is 80,000 albums sold in the UK during April. Who wouldn't be thrilled by that? But as a % of the 4.27 million odd UK total it also means sales are slowing down. Not to a trickle exactly but she's obviously crashing down through the gears to truck the bend....". If Narcoman's records are as infectious as his Spoonerisms I'd love to know which ones they are! But I'm not an industry insider so I probably never will.

As far as I'm concerned I think she's doing everything right. Soulful songs that stand up on their own without being over dressed. She herself prefers to perform on a simple set wearing an outfit that doesn't detract from the music (reminding me of the late, great Anita O'Day who eschewed the 'diva' trend of her day by wearing simple black and white in solidarity with black tie expected of her fellow band members). The songs are honest. She reveals a certain amount of herself but never so much as to compromise her dignity. In short she is confident enough about the quality of her songs to have resisted the overt use of props or gimmicks, and as a result is believable. Which is more or less what I had in mind when I named this thread. I don't think anybody sells that many records in the UK to a niche demographic. I'm male, over fifty and not gay, and I get her work. Although not from the radio because I don't find it a friendly medium anymore. So to put my original question another way, are UK audiences still responding to her record because they find it a refreshing contrast to the usual diet of FM fodder or because they are actually fed up with over compressed, over stuffed, dynamic-less, formulaic dance/shopping/elevator muzak?

There was talk previously of hype inflation and other underhand marketing methods that may or may not exist in the music, or perhaps more accurately entertainment industry. So, this is the UK numbers. I wonder if she's still bucking the trend with her global sales or if they are trucking the bend too?

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Strictly project and just for fun

Adele overtakes Michael Jackson's 'Thriller' in UK's all-time biggest selling albums list

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I'm All Ears.

Just reading here wikipedia page, recent update suggests talk that she may have landed a slot in the soundtrack to the next offering from the James Bond franchise. Association by default with John Barry and Shirley Bassey... That's not going to hurt her international ambitions is it! (Provided they don't balls up the film like they did with the one before last). She's also said don't expect an album a year. It will take me two year intervals to make good ones. Clever girl.

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Strictly project and just for fun

gaps between albums hasn't hurt Sade

http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2012/mar/13/sade-adele-2012-us-money-list< /a>

Interesting article. I instantly related to her tendency towards reclusiveness and comments about England being a 'sour old aunt'. And the emphasis on offering audiences dynamics. That "big in America 2012 top 40" list at the end offer's a useful flavor of market share in the USA, especially across genre. Being a fan I enjoyed that Steely Dan's last tour (which didn't come to Europe) got them on it, albeit squeaking in at thirty something! I caught their show last time they toured in the UK about five years ago and it was just phenomenal. The audience wasn't all middle aged men either. Plenty of twenty something boys and girls there too.

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Strictly project and just for fun

Gaps between albums are probably a lot better for a career than bad albums rushed out at by an impatient label. Sade, Adele, Kate Bush and Norah Jones appear to have similar ideas on that score.

There's a thing, where exactly does Adele go from here? If her team manage to beat the success of this album then fair play.

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Do you need real drum tracks? http://www.drumtracksdirect.co.uk/

Quote Beat Poet:

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There's a thing, where exactly does Adele go from here? If her team manage to beat the success of this album then fair play.

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Does it matter? She and her manager have made life changing amounts of money. I would imagine more personal goals are now on the agenda. Competing with your own success would be pointless and likely fruitless. Writing the theme to a big movie? Co writing a broadway/west end show? .... Or perhaps look into different areas and invest into those..... Put it this way; I put my money into property and consider that one of my main areas!

Quote narcoman:

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Quote Beat Poet:

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There's a thing, where exactly does Adele go from here? If her team manage to beat the success of this album then fair play.

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Does it matter? She and her manager have made life changing amounts of money. I would imagine more personal goals are now on the agenda. Competing with your own success would be pointless and likely fruitless. Writing the theme to a big movie? Co writing a broadway/west end show? .... Or perhaps look into different areas and invest into those..... Put it this way; I put my money into property and consider that one of my main areas!

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Right enough Narcoman. Anyone would be crazy not to reinvest their winnings from music into a more diverse portfolio of financial interests. But I assumed Beat Poet was thinking "where does Adele go from here" musically? I think she has already told us and that pursuing personal goals whilst simultaneously developing her career is exactly what is on her agenda. What she has done through her first two albums is invite her audience to follow her journey from adolescence to young adulthood. That leaves her journey through to maturity and what comes thereafter. She has found a simple theme yet by definition the story will take twists and turns so the content will always be fresh. She's not making a statement but she is doing a very good job of telling her own story. Her next album, which she has said will be released after a two year gap from the last, after she has had time to "live a little" (her words) is already being called 24. The way she is going about it anybody can relate. As a pseudo brother, sister, cousin, friend, aunt, uncle, mother or father. She has thus presented herself with the challenge to remain 'normal'. Which is a very healthy and I suspect calculated challenge for someone in her position to have. Yet she still gets to write a song for the occasional Bond movie. With this approach she has created both a brand (herself) and a franchise (the chronology of her passage through life). She has made a conscious decision not to over saturate the market so the theme is less likely to get 'old' (even as she does). Its very clever. Its not a new idea of course, its a musical soap, but she has introduced herself as the undisputed star and is thus far executing it exceptionally well. Some of her diaries/albums will no doubt be better, or better received than others. She has avoided gimmicks, even musical ones so at least she doesn't have to out do herself on those (again, very clever). But she can bail out any time if it all gets too much and she never has to worry about where to go next for ideas unless she decides to take a flyer (very high risk). Its basically 'written'.

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Strictly project and just for fun

She threatened to sit on anyone who didn't buy her music.

I keep wondering if this is the same Adele that my old venue put on as part of a "Best Kept Secret" double header with Jack Penate back in 2006 on the strength of her MySpace profile. I didn't work the gig myself, so I don't know - but if it is I can't see her gelling with Jack who I did work with on another occasion.

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Gear List: reverse only.

I don't think she's bucking any trend or leading any new way. I just think people like the songs a lot. Usually when a lot of people genuinely like the songs they buy them and tell their friends about them and the cycle continues.

The music industry is a lot of things: Marketing, luck, hype, auto tune, one hit wonders, etc. But the one thing that continues to work decade after decade are hit songs. Songs that a typical, casual music listener can sing along to and/or dance to and relate to. Adele has those and she can sing a bit. That works.

I agree with Narco however that one can never plan for "big" success, only point yourself in that direction and do your best to catch the wave as it comes. But the raw materials are hit songs, as many as possible.

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MIRRORMIX STUDIO
blog

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-18734499

Adele had two of the best selling albums in the USA for the first 6 months of this year, no 1 and no 10.

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http://soundcloud.com/richie-royale
http://www.mixcrate.com/richieroyale

Yet it seems now all her troubles are going to be little ones... She's pregnant! Now we know exactly what she had in mind when she said she needed time out to live a little. I wish her and her partner all the best and look forward to the songs this next chapters of her life might bring, if and when she's ready.

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Strictly project and just for fun