Err…Suck blood that is.

See their rockin’ new clip with a little support from the Boosh and Vlad.

Sorry if I’m gushing but this song will see them start topping some charts.

This will go number one. Mark my words.

There is a question that often pops into the upper front left piece of my brain. And it goes a bit like this:

• How does the music of today stack up against the classics?
• Are the likes of Beethoven, Tchaikovsky, and Bach just the popstars of yesteryear or are they the untouchable titans of the “art”?
• What artists could stand shoulder to shoulder with these musical “deities”?

Whew. Deep huh?

Anyhoo, the way I’ve been trying to break it all down is by looking at what music is trying to achieve. What did the masters of classical music hope to gain from their latest release?

As the majority were men, I would have to say it was, in order of importance:

1. To pick up “the ladies” or “man ladies” depending upon the composer’s desires or if it’s Tuesday.
2. To gain power and fame so he can get the ladies/man ladies.
3. To get the cash. So he can impress the ladies/man ladies.
4. To “rock out” with his mates.
5. To contribute something beautiful to the world.

One would argue that the skills of these classical composers were superior to the “composers” of today. Yes one would, wouldn’t one. Would a woodchuck wood if a woodchuck could chuck wood? Wah?

Skills, yes, I digress.

And I think the answer is no.

Sure they could piece together bits of songs to be played by different instruments. This would build their songs into the thundering power ballads of old. Like Wagner’s Ride of the Valkyries. This apparently hit number three in the Ye Olde Billboardian Charts and had a video clip featuring female Scandinavian warriors riding in helicopters over Vietnam. I think.

I digress again. The point is that the composer built mood, emotion, power, anger, and blah into his music through instrument choice, tempo, and volume. Why make it any more complicated than that.

I’m sure his ability to read and write music notations was far superior to most musicians today, but hey, that’s what guitar tablature was invented for. It’s a bit of musical evolution.

Today’s artists are a little more restricted. It’s hard to find a dozen cellists and a piccolo player at short notice. They also compensate in other ways, and I’m not talking aluminium foil covered zucchinis here.

Synthesizers, 4-tracks, computers and Marshall stacks have replaced the orchestra with dramatic results. The composer of today now has the multiple instruments and the volume.

So by my reckoning the modern and the ye olde are on equal footing. Now to the rocking out bit. How does the music compare.

In the red corner is Beethoven and co. In the white are the modern artists like Mogwai, Nine Inch Nails and the Britney clones (or at least the people that write her err…music).

The red corner has the Swan Lakes, Four seasons, Canons in D major, the Valkyries, Boleros, and the Cello Concerto number 1’s in C major of course. These all make us cry, laugh, feel strong and want to dance.

In the white corner we have, in my mind, our own modern day classics.

• Sigur Ros – Hoppipollo. Beautifully emotive.
• Mogwai – Christmas Steps. Rising fury. Builds and builds. Smashes and fades.
• Sigur Ros – Svefn G Englar. The song that made them. Ethereal.
• Nine Inch Nails – Hurt. Beautifully interpreted by Johnny Cash. Showcases love and regret. Revenge and repose. Or does it?
• The Presets – Talk like that. Camp fantastic. Motivating and bawdy.
• Beastie Boys – Shake your rump. Rump*aah*. These boys can play. Just seminal.

A lot of what could be termed “epic orchestral” music these days comes from the much maligned Post-Rock genre, but bands like The Presets show that with modern tastes comes modern classics. Just take a listen to my “album of 2008″ Apocalypso and find out.

Like “they” say: Music is the shorthand of emotion. No matter who composed it. Nuff sed!

I have been a long time advocate of the brilliant website Last.fm. It wasn’t so long ago that I was listening to the site while writing a post on azureblues.com.

But now I’m a little suspicious.

A recent post on Tech Crunch asked the question, “Did Last.fm hand over listening data” to the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). More specifically information about the playing of the new U2 album before it’s been released.

In a nutshell, the RIAA could track down people, by using Last.fm data, who have played the U2 album after “stealing” it via bittorrent.

That’s fair enough except for the fact that U2’s record companies’ Australian branch accidentally released it early for purchase online.

RIAA and Last.fm have since emerged to deny all of these allegations. But the damage is done.

Trust takes a long time to build in this internet game. I think in this case the mud may have stuck a little.

I’ll be turning off the scrobling software running on my pc (software that logs tracks you’ve listened to and uploads the information to Last.fm).

It was a great service while it lasted. But until I receive assurances (not just quotes in forums) from Last.fm they’ll not be getting my information. Broad usage data is fine. They can make all the money in the world from it as far as I’m concerned, but just don’t give unique data to outside companies.

Privacy is king.

It’s still a great site though.

As part of my celebration of Elbow beating Coldplay at the Brits 2009, I’d love to revisit the past (ooh that tall poppy syndrome just oozes at times).

The glory days.

Some of the greats of Brit music.

Madchester’s finest, the Happy Mondays:

Modern Brits Kasabian (bands take note – this is how it’s done live – no nets):

The pure brilliance of the Inspiral Carpets:

The mad Ned’s Atomic Dustbin:

And the late great Joy Division:

And finally some live Elbow:

Enjoy in moderation.

Happy Australia Day everyone.

Yeah I know I’m a little late but here goes.

The AzureBlues.com Oz top five:

5. Dead Roo – Cosmic Psychos. Any song that has “poor little skippy” in the lyrics is Oz as. R.I.P Rocket.

4. Everybody – The Meanies. Does anyone remember Melbourne’s great “Wobbies World”?

3. Sundial – Tumbleweed. Who is this Mary Jane of which these weedy, hairy guys sing about?

2. Mama – Billy Thorpe & The Aztecs. Whoah, Mama!

1. My Pal – GOD. God they were good. But heroin ruined it all.

I’m sure you’ll all disagree about my top 5 Australian songs for 2009’s Australia day, but hey that’s what Australia is all about. Friendly banter, free speech, and amazing creativity. Email us your 5. Enjoy.