Comments for Strike Sparks Anywhere

Comment on One To Watch: Fast Years by Richie Brown

Richie Brown — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 20:12:56 +0000

Its heart is in the right place, but it’s both too fuzzy and not fuzzy enough to be either a tribute to the Inspiral Carpets or Ride which I guess would be your closest 90s comparisons.

Not sure it sounds 90s really, sounds very current in places, even 80s jangle at times. Still, better to have groups with guitars and good melodies than plastic kids with dubstep by numbers kits.

Comment on Lana Del Ray – Born To Die by Adam Gibby

Adam Gibby — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 18:05:59 +0000

Hah. Don’t see how I’ve back-tracked but never mind. A few things….
Number one in DVD sales? You mean DVDs of his concerts? Aren’t they those things where he sings his songs that no-one listens to?
And his debut album reached number 3 in the charts I believe, with Florence & The Machine and Paulo Nutini ahead of him. It ended up being the 12th best selling album of last year shifting over half a million copies. Not bad for someone that no-one listens to. I don’t like the kid myself but fair play to him.

Comment on Lana Del Ray – Born To Die by Carlton Palmer

Carlton Palmer — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 13:14:10 +0000

See Geoff, he’s back-tracking already. Bieber is number one in poster sales, DVD sales and pre-teen jazz mags – nobody actually listens to him!

Comment on Lana Del Ray – Born To Die by Parri

Parri — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 12:38:02 +0000

“How you can be sayin’ she’s really hyped when I haven’t heard about her.”

The hype is always going to be focused at its specific audience. If you’re the sort that reads Guardian NBotD, Pitchfork, TLOBF, Fake DIY et al on a daily basis then chances are Lana will have crossed your path — regardless of your opinion.

I’m sure there’s a whole bunch of, say, trance DJs out there hyped to be the next big thing in 2012… but I don’t listen to or know anything about trance, so I’ve not heard of them.

As a side point, yet ANOTHER Lana remix is currently the most blogged track according to blog aggregation site Hype Machine.

Comment on Lana Del Ray – Born To Die by Adam Gibby

Adam Gibby — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 19:36:57 +0000

No, not really. Look at someone like Justin Bieber. Insane amount of hype about him but he’s only had two top ten hits in the UK, neither of which went to number one.

Her new single is the most talked about song on Twitter at the moment. And she’s in the top 4 most blogged about artists at the moment. She’s all over NME and The Guardian for a start.

Just because you haven’t heard about her doesn’t mean she isn’t being hyped up. Then again, maybe I’m just visiting the few sites that have ever mentioned her, who knows.

Comment on Lana Del Ray – Born To Die by Geoff Thomas

Geoff Thomas — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 19:16:00 +0000

I agree with Carlton P. But don’t overhyped acts make it to number one? I don’t understand how you can be sayin’ she’s really hyped when I haven’t heard about her at all.

Comment on Lana Del Ray – Born To Die by Adam Gibby

Adam Gibby — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 13:36:58 +0000

And Susan Boyle sold more than Leona Lewis, but there wasn’t really a great deal of hype over those albums. They were the products of reality programmes and an album was the next step.

As for not hearing any hype around the album, she’s all over just about every music website out there.

To be fair she’s only had one single and it reached number 9 in the charts. You have to remember that when Arctic Monkeys reached number 1 back in 2006 it was a good time for guitar music. Take the best selling 15 albums of that year and you’ve got Snow Patrol, Scissor Sisters, Arctic Monkeys, The Kooks, Razorlight, Oasis, The Killers, Keane and Red Hot Chili Peppers.

Look at the best selling 15 albums of last year and you’ve only really got Florence and the Machine, Mumford and Sons and Kings of Leon. The public’s musical taste has changed so while there may be plenty of hype around Lana Del Rey it’s not really the best moment musically for her to really dominate the charts.

Comment on Lana Del Ray – Born To Die by Carlton Palmer

Carlton Palmer — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 13:08:14 +0000

Leona Lewis sold more.

And, as for hype around this album, I haven’t actually heard any at all.

Why are her singles not going in at number one?

Comment on Lana Del Ray – Born To Die by Adam Gibby

Adam Gibby — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 11:14:31 +0000

I wouldn’t necessarily agree that she’s almost exactly the same as everything else. I think there is a level of uniqueness to her. A campaign can only do so much for you. It will get you noticed but if people don’t like the music they won’t buy it.

And I’m not really comparing the two release strategies, just comparing the resultant hype. All I was trying to say is that I genuinely cannot think of a debut album that has had this much hype around it since the Arctic Monkeys, regardless of how much campaigning it’s had around it.

Comment on Lana Del Ray – Born To Die by Carlton Palmer

Carlton Palmer — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 11:08:08 +0000

You cannot compare a huge campaign to launch somebody who is almost exactly the same as everything else out there to the Arctic Monkeys. The Monkeys brought a genuinely good rock sound back to the forefront and it’s not coincidence that nearly everyone liked them.

It wasn’t the Monkeys who were DIY, it was their mates doing it on their behalf.

Comment on Coldplay – Mylo Xyloto by adamgibby

adamgibby — Tue, 29 Nov 2011 00:28:34 +0000

Good album!