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CMU Review Of The Year 2009: The artists and the music
By CMU Editorial | Published on Monday 21 December 2009
CMU Editor Andy Malt picks and reviews the big ten stories in the music world in 2009, from the major artist stories to the key musical trends.
1. MICHAEL JACKSON
On 5 Mar, Michael Jackson appeared at a press conference at the O2 Dome in London, two hours late, to inform a 2000-strong crowd and thousands more watching via a live webcast, that he would perform ten shows at the venue in July. Shortly afterwards, the number of shows was upped to 50, though the subsequent months were filled with rumours and speculation that he wouldn’t actually play any shows at all.
That turned out to be correct, as on 25 Jun, the singer died of a heart attack brought on by an overdose of the powerful anaesthetic propofol, administered by his personal doctor to overcome insomnia. Suddenly, what was already one of the biggest stories of the year became bigger than any other entertainment news event in recent memory. I could write a book on everything that followed – at one point CMU was averaging five Michael Jackson stories a day – and even then we were ignoring a sizeable chunk of the more tenuous rumour and speculation on offer. But to summarise: he returned, he died, he prospered.
2. CHRIS BROWN & RIHANNA
On 8 Feb, Rihanna pulled out of a planned appearance at the Grammy Awards ceremony in LA. This coincided with reports that her boyfriend, Chris Brown, was also unable to attend as he was reportedly being questioned over an assault on an unnamed woman. Two and two were quickly put together, though the actual reality of what happened was far more shocking than anyone had imagined.
Residents of the Hancock Park area of LA had been alerted by screams in the early hours of that Sunday. Brown and Rihanna had been travelling home from a pre-Grammy party in Brown’s Lamborghini. The pair had already been seen arguing at the party, and this continued on the drive home, until Brown had enough, stopped the car, beat his girlfriend unconscious on the pavement and then drove off, leaving her behind. In August, Brown was convicted of ‘assault likely to cause great bodily harm’ and sentenced to five years’ probation, 180 days of community service and a year of domestic violence counselling. Meanwhile, the rehabilitation of the R&B star’s career is ongoing.
3. LES PAUL
Legendary guitarist Les Paul died in New York, aged 94, from complications arising from pneumonia, on 12 Aug. Jackson aside, of all the obituaries we wrote in 2009, we think it is his that deserves another mention here, he being such an important figure in modern music.
Credited with inventing the electric guitar as it is known today, the eight-track tape recorder and numerous recording techniques and effects, Les Paul – it could be argued – is the man responsible for almost all modern music. He continued to perform at New York’s Iridium Club every Monday night up until his death, despite crippling arthritis and, still devoted to advancing the possibilities of sound, had been attempting to build the perfect hearing aid prior to his death.
4. PHIL SPECTOR
Phil Spector’s murder trials form one of the most written about stories in the CMU archive, partly because they dragged on for so long. The legendary producer, of course, stood accused of murdering actress Lana Clarkson at his Beverly Hills home in 2003. He said she had shot herself, the prosecution said he had a history of threatening women with guns.
His original trial in 2007 was declared a mistrial after the jury failed to reach a unanimous decision. Second time around though, the long line of former girlfriends recounting the times Spector had chased them around with guns convinced the new jury that he was responsible for Clarkson’s death. He was sentenced to at least 19 years in prison, meaning he will be eligible for parole if and when he reaches the age of 88. His appeal is pending.
5. PEREZ V PEAS
Awards ceremonies are supposed to be joyous occasions, where everyone gets along and does a bit of back-patting. That’s ‘back-patting’, not ‘face-punching’. However, at a party after Canada’s MuchMusic Awards in Toronto on 22 Jun, celebrity blogger Perez Hilton and Black Eyed Peas’ Will.i.am got into a discussion about some negative things the former had said on his website. Things got a little heated, and when Hilton informed Will: “You’re not an artist, you’re a fucking faggot”, fists started flying.
Straight after the attack, Perez attempted to call the police using Twitter. But apparently that has not become the standard way to report crimes. Yet. Perez said Will hit him. Will said he didn’t. Both issued lengthy video statements on the matter. However, although Will.i.am initially claimed that it was a fan who had done the punching, the band’s manager Liborio Molina was arrested for the assault. After numerous delays to his trial, the charges were dropped in November after he issued an apology to Hilton.
6. SUGABABES
Did she jump, or was she pushed? Er, she was pushed. Yes, on 21 Sep, the last remaining original Sugababe, Keisha Buchanan, announced that she was leaving the group. It seems it was fairly sudden, as only days before she had denied rumours that Britain’s Eurovision entrant Jade Ewen was set to replace newest member Amelle Berrabah. And she was right, but it’s possible she didn’t realise at that point that Ewen was actually about to replace someone else in the group – her.
Although the reasons for the split in the official statement were vague, Keisha quickly revealed that it had not been her decision, but denied there was any animosity. Berrabah and bandmate Heidi Range said otherwise, revealing that the former had reached a point where she was no longer able to work with Buchanan. Once Heidi had picked her side, Keisha’s fate was set. Jade Ewen has now re-recorded all of Keisha’s vocals on the group’s new album, now set for release next year.
7. BLUR REFORM/OASIS SPLIT
The heady days of 90s Britpop were recalled briefly this year, when Blur announced that they were reforming for a handful of live dates. The band played a number of small shows in venues significant to their career, as well as two nights in Hyde Park and headline slots at Glastonbury, Oxegen and T In The Park. In order to play the latter show, which brought the reunion to an end, guitarist Graham Coxon discharged himself from hospital, after being admitted with food poisoning earlier in the day.
Meanwhile, at much the same time, Oasis were imploding. Back in March, Liam Gallagher had revealed that he and his brother “haven’t got a relationship” and only saw each other on stage. Then, as the band were due to play at the Rock En Seine festival in France, a heated argument and a smashed guitar caused Noel to walk out of the band. He is now working on solo material, while Liam has formed a new band with Oasis members Andy Bell and Gem Archer, currently going by the name of Oasis 2.0.
8. ELECTRO LADIES
Back around this time last year, we were told that 2009 would be the year of electro ladies. Was it? Well, yes, I suppose you could say it was. Lady Gaga, in particular, has been one of the year’s biggest successes worldwide. Released in the UK in January, her album, ‘The Fame’, went to number one and has spawned three number one singles (if you count ‘Bad Romance’, which was taken from the repackaged and expanded version of the album, ‘The Fame Monster’)
La Roux, too, were something of a success. Although the duo features one male member, their public face is very much singer Elly Jackson and her quiff. Their eponymous album peaked at number two, and the pair have had two top ten singles. Fairing slightly less well was Little Boots, who we’d pegged for bigger things. Her album entered the chart at five but quickly dropped out of the top 40, although sales have improved more recently. It was also Little Boots who pointed out in August, “a girl isn’t some kind of genre, you know”.
9. EXPERIMENTAL POP
Of course, the great thing about music is there’s so much of it to choose from. So, while the new ladies of pop were doing their thing, there was also a whole swathe of more experimental acts, both new and old, releasing albums to great acclaim and success. It’s in this domain that Team CMU probably got most excited when it comes to the music of 2009.
Bat For Lashes, Animal Collective, Dirty Projectors, The Flaming Lips, Micachu & The Shapes, Grizzly Bear, The xx, Fever Ray, Wild Beasts and Passion Pit all fared better sales-wise than you might have expected. And we also count one of the big success stories of the year in this camp – Florence and her machine. Flo may get a bit of kicking from the indie community, but if she’d released her album on an obscure Canadian label, they would all have needed a fresh pair of pants.
10. BRRRAP PACK
Another messily-defined group of upcoming musicians, namely the so-called ‘brrrap pack’, were big news in music this year. The name, devised by The Sun, described the rising new wave of British urban artists, the likes of N-Dubz, DJ Ironik, Master Shortie, Chipmunk and Tinchy Stryder.
And it was N-Dubz and Tinchy who were very much the stars of the scene (assuming we’re going to call it a scene). Both scored number one singles – on one occasion, with the aptly-titled ‘Number One’, they reached the top of the charts together – and both released their second albums in 2009. Chipmunk, while not scoring any number one singles of his own, did get three in the top ten, and his album, ‘I Am Chipmunk’, got to number two, before he was forced to take time out due to exhaustion.
