Laura Marling
Once upon a time, Top Forty was the sideshow. The action was over on the FM dial. And eventually, with enough success on FM, a track would percolate and cross over. And then the act would become monstrous.
Two examples:
"Sunshine Of Your Love" and "You Keep Me Hangin’ On".
Yes, that was ’68, but you can learn from history. Acts were journeymen, maybe even playing arenas, then a track crossed over to AM and they became superstars. "Living In The Past" did this for Jethro Tull. And "Show Me The Way" performed the same trick for Peter Frampton. And then acts were made for both formats, the dreaded corporate rock era, and the whole thing imploded. Ultimately rescued by MTV. And those in both the business and the media believe that era still exists.
But it doesn’t.
I just read an article in "New York" magazine entitled "The Race For The Song Of The Summer".
You can work it out for yourself, is it Usher, Katy Perry, Lady GaGa, Ke$ha, Drake or Young Jeezy?
What do they all have in common? They’re one stiff away from being forgotten (except maybe for Usher, but there are exceptions to every rule.) This is not the way it used to be. Acts could tour despite having no radio hits, their audience supported them. But does Christina Aguilera even have an audience?
This is where all the fans of the Hold Steady and the National come in. They believe in the music of those acts, not the penumbra, not the hits. And that’s great. But can they cross over? In other words, are the two worlds, of the casual listener and the hipster, such polar opposites that there can be no cross-pollination?
Joni Mitchell was an FM staple before she got some AM chart action with "You Turn Me On, I’m A Radio" and truly hit with "Help Me". Now she’s a cultural institution. She spoke from her heart. Eventually, the hoi polloi were exposed, and she could sell out arenas. And the music lives on. It doesn’t remind you of a time and place so much as resonating on its own merits. That’s what music with longevity does.
So, we need acts doing it their own way, waiting in the wings, until suddenly the mainstream catches on and they become superstars.
Could this happen to Laura Marling?
Possibly.
All I know is despite no discernible footprint in the public consciousness, I’ve been playing her album "I Speak Because I Can" incessantly. It’s what made music great. Cut in its own space, an aural trip to your inner being. Top Forty is about competing with the flash of television, of the news, elbowing for attention. But do Perez and those chasing the comets have it all wrong?
The instrumentation of "Devil’s Spoke" reminds one of the late sixties, of the heady days of Led Zeppelin, who were revered for their quietude as well as their bombast. "Devil’s Spoke" is akin to "Black Mountain Side". With just a guitar, a voice and little more, you envision an entire landscape as the track unfolds. You’re not asking the track to show you, you’re enraptured, you go along for the ride.
And you can be passive, intellectual, debate the lyrics, the vocal, but that’s missing the point…it’s about the FEEL! This is a sound you want to hear live. You expect the act to be able to replicate it. You expect no dancing, only atmosphere.
"Devil’s Spoke" is a great opener. Not a hit, but an introduction, a carnival barker inviting you inside.
Having hooked you, Marling can go even more subtle with track number 2, "Made By Maid".
But the cut that will close you is number 3, "Rambling Man". The way it goes from intimacy to excitement, the way it’s hooky without selling out has you nodding your head, joining the pocket.
The album fades as it unfolds. But Laura Marling is for real. She’s trying to make a statement, she’s trying to make art. And it’s about the mainstream coming to artists like this as opposed to the opposite. It’s not about writing a single, getting caught up in the spin cycle, but establishing a tent off in the distance and waiting for listeners to find you, to be drawn in by the sound.
I’m disappointed that the National and the Hold Steady appear to have little cross-over potential. That’s my beef with their fans. Not the raw quality of the acts’ music, but the fact it can’t be embraced by the mainstream.
Laura Marling is closer than those two. Still, there’s nothing on "I Speak Because I Can" that could get Top Forty airplay, the album would not be embraced by all. But it’s only her second record in. You never know where an artist will go.
But you always know the culture demands honesty, truth and artistic exploration. It’s a need that never expires. The music business has avoided this in pursuit of guaranteed profits. But listening to "I Speak Because I Can" guarantees that I want to see Laura Marling live, and isn’t that the key, isn’t that the first step to establishing a career?
