Slim Chance Recordings

At the Swing of the Pendulum. My original Blog Post on a return to music revised with some personal thoughts from the the group Pendulum.

Alan Steward on a Mission – at the Swing of the Pendulum

Alan Steward, the self proclaimed (and so far undisputed) “King of Chill” is on a mission to bring musicianship back to the music scene.

If you would ask Alan what the music of Alan Steward is all about, the answer would be: “It’s about a return to music”. He feels this change is in the air right now. People want more than just blips and beeps, more than just ‘turntabelism’.

“I can’t believe that concertgoers will continue to be satisfied by watching a bunch of “DJs” who’s act consists of nothing more than sticking their right hand in the air every 45 seconds. Can that really be called a “live concert”?,” laments Alan

The success of the Australian Drum and Bass group Pendulum is a perfect example of this trend. Here is a group that actually plays Drum and Bass music and not just spins CDs. Pendulum has been consistently on the top of the electronic music charts. Another example is the Prodigy. No longer just two DJs spinning discs, the Prodigy live show features vocalists, guitar players and more. It’s a return to music and it’s a good thing.

“Personally, I always seem to be a little ahead of the trends with my music, using breakbeats on my album before that word even existed and using loops and samples before anybody ever heard of Fruityloops and Acid. But this time, I don’t mind being a groundbreaker and pioneer. I see new fans enjoying my music every day. People from Uruguay and Poland, from Japan and France are forwarding my songs to their friends. The change is in the air.”

Alan is taking his electronic world fusion style of music on a European Tour in December to promote his latest album “Licensed to Chill Tour” and he’s scheduled to hit the UK at the Purple Turtle in Camden on Dec. 8th. You can stop on by and see and hear for yourself if Alan can live up to his promise of “bringing real music” back to the stage.

As Alan’s latest song states, “At the swing of the Pendulum . . . your fortunes will turn” Maybe Alan will “be the change”?

We posted this article on our blog a while back but yesterday, I found this bit on Pendulum’s very own MySpace page:

“We want our music to be an escape. While technology continues to constantly advance production techniques and (arguably) sound quality, something has been lost in the process – that original sense of self-escape, the idea of leaving yourself open to experience something you don’t necessarily find in every-day life. That was the energy we picked up on and liked about electronic music when we first got into it. It felt like the same energy found with bands like Led Zeppelin and even The Beatles, and still occasionally today with bands like Tool, The Mars Volta, Queens Of The Stone Age and others.

To us, it made perfect sense to combine the best of both worlds, but it had to be done in a way that didn’t make it sound obvious. In the last 10 years you’ve had all these bands that tried to cross the bridge by recruiting a turntablist / using a synthesizer on their new single, or electronic artists who just threw an obvious guitar sample into a tune…but eventually it just came across as a gimmick or a bit cheesy. We thought we’d try and do it properly, because to us it still hasn’t been done right and theres a lot of room for exploration.