SNIPPET

This week we're looking at the more mature (in a good way) artistes currently releasing fresh new material on the music scene in the UK, ranging from 80's popsters The Farm to the fiercely Indie-pendent Mr Johnno Casson aka Snippet.

Today's post focuses on the quintessentially English songwriting of Johnno Casson who performs under the pseudonym of Snippet. April 7th will see the release of his new album Future Melancholy Pop Music and the title sees the contents doing exactly what it says on the tin. It's 15 tracks of reflective, retrospective, introspective, captivating, engaging, satirical, funky and just plain compulsive lo-fi listening pleasure.



Johnno Casson was the singer and main songwriter of trip-hop pioneers Deep Joy, working with the likes of Primal Scream's Andy Weatherhall, James Lavelle of Mo' Wax/UNKLE and the inimitable Adrian Sherwood, founder of On-U Sound Records.

Having travelled a solo path these last 10 years Johnno is a well-established and well-respected member of the DIY Indie music scene, enjoying support from not only Ralph but the likes of Tom Robinson on BBC 6 Music.

His inimitably British pop release We Luv The Sunshine featured on the soundtrack of a recently released movie, The Space Between. 

We'll be giving that track a spin on Ralph's Indie show on Radio KC next Sunday (19th February) and feature a track from the album the following week.

Driven by a passion to make infectious, melody fuelled music and lifted from an active imagination and a sampladelic approach Johnno has delivered the most self-assured, solid and perceptive collection of songs of his career. An honest, mature album with a sarcastic and playful underbelly. The 15 beautifully crafted songs getting under the skin of love, loss and life.

Future Melancholy Pop Music is his biggest, boldest and most thought provoking album to date - from the spitting social commentary of Middle Class Ways through to the knowingly dysfunctional love story bounce of first single Bad Man, it’s a Summer Sun album full of wonderfully poetic journeys and beautiful soundscapes that slowly give up their gifts.

Wim Oudijk
1943 - 2016

The album is dedicated to Johnno's producer and longtime collaborator Wim Oudijk who sadly passed away during the recordings for the album. Their musical alliance was conducted via the wonders of the internet and so (like myself and Wim) their paths never crossed. The man's magic and wit touched Johnno (everyone he knew) and myself with equal grace.

To quote Johnno "it was simply wonderful to have a last hurrah with the nicest man I have never met".

Syd Barrett

Wednesday 6th January marks what would have been the 70th birthday of Syd Barrett, founder member of the Pink Floyd and one of the most influential musicians in British pop history. 

To mark the occasion, Syd Barrett’s new official website will be launched at 12 noon today. 

Celebrating his unique life and career, both of which continue to inspire and enthral, it is a unique resource that offers an unrivalled insight into this enigmatic musician.

© Mick Rock

The website has been created by those who knew him best - his family and friends. The clean, modern design offers an intimate experience for Syd Barrett’s fans, incorporating his favourite colour indigo and offering previously unseen, restored family photographs.

© Mick Rock

Going forward, regular updates will reveal even more exclusive material, photographs and information. Featured songs will receive detailed analysis alongside reviews, essays and images from a range of celebrity guest writers. 

© Mick Rock

Syd’s nephew Ian Barrett says “2016 promises to be an exciting year for Syd Barrett’s fans and we hope that in keeping with my uncle’s talents, this online resource will act as a springboard, inspiring a new generation of artists - both musical and visual.”

Syd Barrett was with Pink Floyd for just three years (1965 to1968), yet when the band released their greatest hits album in 2001 he had written over a fifth of the tracks. 

Born Roger Keith Barrett in 1946 in Cambridge, Syd obtained his nickname from regulars at a local jazz club who christened him after an old drummer from the area. 

At the age of seventeen Barrett left Cambridge to study at London’s Camberwell Art School where he was reunited with his old friend Roger Waters. He joined Roger’s band the Pink Floyd and quickly became their main songwriter. 

The band was named after two Georgia blues men Pink Anderson and Floyd Council. Their experiments with feedback and electronic sound quickly made them the hippest band among London’s early psychedelic set. 

Although still a prolific songwriter, Syd’s experimentation with drugs meant his grasp on reality was slipping away. He didn’t turn up for interviews and started to behave erratically, to the extent that an American tour had to be cut short.

In January 1968 the band excused Syd from performing live to enable him to concentrate on songwriting and David Gilmour was asked to take his place. By 1968 the band had parted ways with Syd, leaving him to record and release two solo albums ‘The Madcap Laughs’ and ‘Barrett’ and a single ‘Octopus’.

1970 saw Syd retreat to his mothers house in Cambridge where he formed The Stars with some local musicians though his involvement was shortlived. 

The following years saw him moving between Cambridge and London, where he stayed on friends’ floors. In 1978, having tired of London, he walked back to Cambridge, where he lived reclusively until his death on 7th July 2006, aged sixty.

Richie Ashwin

Richie Ashwin is an emerging South-East  recording artist and producer who’s currently building a name within the UK R&B scene.  He combines his natural audio skills with a keen visual eye that see's him shoot and direct his own music videos.

After some much needed self-reflection and artistic honing over the past year Richie Ashwin has returned to introduce to us his fresh, new musical identity.  






His take on urban music is pieced together with his commentary on social mores.  Tales of dreams, love, lust and heartbreak which are delivered in his seemingly casual but actually acute writing style combined with atmospheric videos that should see him emerge as a force in 2013.  Case in point is the new single 'Hold Your Breath' which will also be the lead track on his forthcoming EP.

His soft, soulful almost plaintive vocal accompanied by simple but effective guitar tell a harrowing and hopeful story.  What sets it apart from his contemporaries is the gritty flow he launches into in the final third of the song which is nicely mirrored in the moody self-directed video.

This single should see him come to the fore in the near future with its almost cross genre feel and hey...the girlies are gonna love Richie Ashwin!