Thursday, May 28, 2009

Paolo Nutini - Pop Music from Scotland


Just when I thought I'd irredeemably lost contact with what people under 20 are listening to, I focussed on Paolo Nutini, a 19 year old Scottish pop singer.

And was caught by his introspective, contemplative and self-absorbed music - somewhat folk in style and seductive in his Marlon Brando mumbling delivery that (curiously) seems to amplify the meanings of the words.

He's charting platinum at the moment ... and I particularly like 'Last Request'. Which is beautiful for the text as much as the music.




Hope you like it guys.
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8 comments:

  1. AnonymousMay 30, 2009 at 3:10 AM

    Could this verra well be the Paolo Mac Nutini of the Mac Nutini clan of Aberdeen? Angus Haggis McBagpipe

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  2. AntipodeanPtMay 30, 2009 at 6:20 AM

    You're absolutely right in that here is someone who has the talent, voice (and dare i say it?) that "extra" something that sets him apart from whatever people younger than me are listening to. I kind of find him cute as well which is never a hindrance :)
    But the platinum? Many people go "platinum" these days that don't really sell that much. I don't know how it is in Australia but here in Portugal a certificate for Platinum has gone down in the last 6 years from 100,000 copies (that was a Gold in the 1980s by the way) to 60, 40, 20 and eventually the current 10 thousand.
    Besides, as music listened to by teenagers go I'd still think Jay Brannan or even that Lily MySpace girl were far better ;)
    Let's just say it's good to know the young generation still cares about a way of making music and even more so of performing it that has been around since the 1910s as my great-great granny used to rebuke my great-granny when she fell madly in love with Victoria Spivey and Charley(sometimes 'Charlie') Patton in the very early 1920s. She would say "(...)it's like that unfortunate spectacle of young people throwing themselves in fits and seizures at the very first and second and third time they see Sarah on a stage [the Divine Sarah I presume and this was at her heyday or thereabouts] I acknowledge some talent and I mean by that what you call a certain je ne sais quoi but I would never consider the possibility of having an emotional response to their art as you so fondly and immaturely put it my dear. If ever I was to do so I certainly would not make it a 'point' of it being common knowledge and public. I would not even join the public acclaim at all. You see to me those are the most private, intimate fancies. I rather relish keeping it not merely to myself but I do so verily relish in keeping them in this other realm in dreams I inhabit"

    Nick! I'm so sorry this turned out to be more about strict but weird ancestors than your actual post on Paolo. I think some family spirit descended on me and overtook the general direction of this comment but I am leaving it as it is if only for laughs, hope you do forgive me ;)

    Wishing you all the best & keep it up (the blog, the blog)!!!

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  3. AnonymousMay 30, 2009 at 11:23 AM

    I like it!!!

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  4. nickwallacesmithMay 30, 2009 at 5:02 PM

    hey anon

    all the above ! LOL

    CYA

    nick

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  5. nickwallacesmithMay 30, 2009 at 5:24 PM

    hey pete

    great to hear from you

    i think the extra something that paolo has IS probably the cute-ness you mention - just a guess on our part as to the tastes of the pop music loving public - LOL

    and i agree about record sales - could platinum eventually mean you sold at least one record (as opposed to giving it away - to a great aunt as a wineglass coaster)?

    my grandmother was concerned at the dreadful demise of ballroom dancing - and used to make the biggest fuss when she saw anything other on TV - but she was pretty perfect in other ways

    never imagined the divine sarah provoked pop star frenzies - but then we weren't there - i did a post on the great tragedienne based around some old film footage of her private life and work on the stage - melodrama of the highest order - but different things for different times - she may well had us shouting and screaming had we been there

    as for the direction of your preambulating comment, i love such unexpected journeys - and would have been quite happy if it could have gone in further directions

    as we plod funerally into winter i envy the light step of your entry into summer

    nick

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  6. nickwallacesmithMay 30, 2009 at 5:25 PM

    hey anon

    glad ouy liked him - he's done quite a lot of recording and a lot of it is pretty listenable - googling brings it all up

    take care

    nick

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  7. GregMay 30, 2009 at 9:29 PM

    Gotta say he's a refreshing change compared to whats out there right now.

    But - dang it, Nick!
    How long did it take for you to upload that file to Blogger? Everytime I try to upload something, even some small videos, it takes FOREVER !!!
    After about a half-hour of uploading (mind you I have cable internet), I give up.

    What's your secret?

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  8. nickwallacesmithMay 30, 2009 at 11:50 PM

    hey greg

    i have dinner while it's uploading

    but cable will be slower

    i sometimes split the video into several bits - quicker uploading the lot this way

    tell me how it goes if you try this

    CYA

    nick

    ReplyDelete

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