Eddie Halliday – Dust
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There’s a tendency for music to be populist. By that I don’t mean popular music, but pandering to what people instantly want – although much popular music does fall into this category. Populist music is usually upfront emotionally, either overly euphoric or heart-wrenchingly sad. Whilst I love Coldplay, they are very guilty of misuse of emotion in their music. They leave nothing to the imagination. They’re like the Kony 2012 of pop music. The other side of populist music is the ‘hook’. Something that’s repetitive enough that it will stick in your head. I unwittingly sat down to Britain’s Got Talent this Sunday with my house-mates and was bashed around the head with the catchy and profoundly named ‘Where me keys, where me phone’ (warning, link contains spoilers).
Unfortunately most pop music is cynically populist, giving the people what they are told that they want so they can make top dollar. How patronising.
Hilldrop Records (HDR) is a tiny label from Bristol with more acts on its roster than releases. It seems more like a living room with an internet cable than a label. They release their second mix-tape today, An Upward Artful Scarp, featuring the transatlantic Nicholas Stevenson, whose song Ernest I blogged about a while back. But it’s Dust by Eddie Halliday which I’d like to share. The crackle and pop of looped vinyl adds a subtlety and a faux nostalgia to the song, like dust in a strobe light, or summer home videos shot on Super8s. Eddie’s voice softly invites you to partake in his tale, and that’s the essence of Hilldrop, storytelling. Songs slowly drift along like that hazy summer day, but you’re not dragged. There is no brash populism here. Just chilled out summer vibzzz, blud.
(Papa O on the big bad internet)
Much love,
Tom xx
