Worldview’s blog

When historians come to write the history of the current Global Downturn, they will probably focus not on the sudden, unexpected implosion of our credit-fuelled consumer economies, or the demise of Thatcherite neo-liberal dogmas, but on the fact that a little-known Oxford artist who looked a bit like Louis Theroux made a song about it which sounded a bit like John Lennon.

Worldview's "Party's Over". This song is clever, right, cos it has nice "Imagine"-style piano chords, crashing drums and builds to a soaring, dare I say it, Coldplay-like anthemic chorus, and lyrically could be alluding to either the Credit Crunch, the end of an affair, or an actual party/knees-up. This means it will appeal to the common plebs and fans of chick-lit as well as Guardian readers, making a very wide demographic (ker-ching!!).

But don't take my word for it ; "Party's Over" has just spent a fortnight at Number One in the Somojo.net Radio Pop Muzik Chart (which means that dozens of insomniacs and hospitalised listeners like it). And this is what the main players in the Credit Crunch have said about Oliver's latest Worldview slice of pop commentary:

"On hearing Oliver Shaw's elegaic ballad "Party's Over" while dressing for PMQs I was suddenly made aware of my own deluded hubris in thinking I had brought an end to boom and bust in the economy, and shaken into finally accepting my share of the blame for the de-regulation of our financial instituitions and for maintaining our dependence on the services sector while overlooking our once-great manufacturing base. I particulary like the graceful slide guitar work before the last chorus". - The Rt. Hon. Gordon Brown, MP (and PM at time of writing).

"Shaw has really nailed it with this tune. I feel like a right twat for letting the Royal Bank Of Scotland go to the wall and will now pay back my sick and outrageous retirement pay-off. It does go on a bit though: I hope he's done a shorter Radio Edit". - Fred Goodwin, former chief executive of the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS).

"Party's Over" is has been rushed out in an Instant Karma style while it's still current and potentially lucrative, and is now available at the following digital download outlets:

iTunes (UK and other stores worldwide):
http://www.apple.com/uk/search/ipoditunes/?q=worldview+party%27s+over

Amazon MP3 (UK and US): http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_ss_dmusic?url=search-alias%3Ddigital-music&field-keywords=worldview+party%27s+over

Also at Napster, eMusic, Rhapsody and various obscure ones I've never heard of.

So why not track it down at any of the above and strike a blow for the endangered species of intelligent pop music, and for Oliver's self-image.

Hear the track on Youtube below:

Current Worldview album "Our Condition"  has received a largely positive review in the newly dispatched third issue of fine local music paper Oxfordshire Music Scene (also online at http://www.vitaloxford.com/publications/oms_issue3.pdf). Here is the piece, complete with largely on-the-money musical reference points, by one Lisa Ward, for whom the cheque is, as they say, in the post:

Worldview's aptly titled Our

Condition takes a snapshot

view at modern living, with

its raw honest lyrical

exploration of life today.

Covering a variety of styles

which range from those with

hints of dance, to more

contemporary indie style

songs Worldview is the

culmination of Oliver Shaw's

efforts, which sees him take

on the guise of singer,

songwriter, producer and

musician to create an eclectic

album.

Though to start it risks being

repetitive and tenuous with

obvious nods to the likes of

The Manic Street Preachers in

Designed For Life as well as

similarities to Stevie Wonder

and U2 it strengthens in time.

Certainly songs like Tourist

offer a welcome respite from

the re-occurring beats, which

seem to dominate the earlier

tracks, and What's Your

Poison finally dispels the fear

that Oliver only knows one

tempo.

With a vocal style similar The

Living Years by Mike & The

Mechanics, laced over the top

of New Order style backing,

it's a strong offering for

anyone who's a fan of the

80's with music that combines

the ballads of REM with the

dance beats of Duran Duran.

 

Meanwhile Oliver has produced a new 2008 version of the afermentioned "What's Your Poison?", with a mix which brings the guitars to the fore and a more strident, Bono-esque vocal, reflecting the anthemic status the song has developed live in conrast to the more reflective, understated original. Hear the new version below:

 

 

Worldview's Oliver Shaw now has a pure pop, potentially lucrative side-project, in which he attempts to furnish the stars of tomorrow with furnishings, and also with high-grade pop songs in a variety of genres. He will be known for this purpose by the modest moniker Starmaker, thus distancing himself from involvement in anything quite so mainstream, in much the same way as Martin McGuinness continues to give his token denials of I.R.A. membership.

Speaking through a balaclava in a rather muffled voice to a crowded press hall, Shaw gave the following statement:

"Now that Indie music is mainstream and drenched in middle-of-the-road stadium navel-gazing and pretend-street urchin postering, perhaps Pop music is the new rock'n'roll. (It's far more credible, think of Girls Aloud - no, their MUSIC, you sleaze.) The musical boffin and repentant Rock artiste behind Starmaker thinks it is, and the fact that there is more money in it is naturally beside the point. Seeing that his own Woody Allen-meets-Oasis-who-then-bump-into-Mark Thomas-who-is-having-a-pint-with-New Order offerings are proving an acquired taste perhaps best left to posterity, this multi-talented, single-celled bedroom maestro has now set himself the arguably greater and more worthy task of attempting to give the public what the public wants, whether they want it or not. He has painstakingly dashed off these deceptively simple Pop nuggets in a variety of well-known styles, putting them through the hitsongscience.com website just to be sure, which he now releases into the atmosphere F.A.O. all present and future pop svengali's, compilers of feelgood compilations, and airbrushed starlets of tomorrow who are currently singing into their hairbrushes while psyching themselves up for ritual humilation in front of post-modern panto villain Simon Cowell. The self-styled Starmaker may sound like he is joshing about a bit, but his perfect pop project is in DEADLY earnest. (Just ask his bank manager.) Starmaker's true identity is a closely-guarded secret; it is known only that he comes from Oxford and is not in Coldplay, but used to know someone who is."

 

Here are some Starmaker tracks; shorter edits of some can be found at the new Myspace, www.myspace.com/starmakersongs.

 

 

 

Check out Worldview's "Big Brother", a topical UK hip-hop flavoured collaboration with rapper MC Tomohawk, downloadable now as one of the extra tracks at the bottom of the Myspace player (at www.myspace.com/worldview). It was actually recorded over a year ago during the Celebrity BB race row, and Oliver's hooky choruses referencing the TV show and/or the George Orwell flight-of-fancy came to him spontaneously on hearing Tomohawk's politically-flavoured rap, which seems to allude to the distracting, pacifying effect of celebrity and consumer culture. Possibly. Or maybe it's just about guns'n'hoes...

Also downloadable now is Oliver's "classic" song from his solo (in name) years, "Timewasters", which will surely become an actual standard one of these days, perhaps covered by Elvis Costello in his old age. The song originally appeared on Oliver's lo-fi bedroom-recorded "War Years" album in 2002.

Two things:

The new single from Oliver's side-project Desmond Chancer And The Long Memories, "When All Goes Wrong", is out now on Villainous Records from all good digital download services, backed by "You Are Forgotten". Available at:
HMV Tunes http://hmv.com/hmvweb/digitalProductDetails.do?ctx=-1;8;-1;-1&productId=6378897
E Music http://www.emusic.com/album/Various-Artists-When-All-Goes-Wrong-MP3-Download/11197414.html
Music Gremlin http://www.musicgremlin.com/GetNewMusic/ArtistOverview.aspx?id=237852

Also available at iTunes and Napster. And check out the great videos for each track below:

 

 

Secondly, Oliver returns to London's Blast FM station this coming Monday (19th May) to take the hot seat once again as Damien Brogden's "Shifty Disco Show" guest, promising a slightly more slick and less piss-taking interview as he again plugs tracks from his (now I-Tunes available) "Our Condition" album as well as from Desmond Chancer and other projects, and also introduces tracks from seminal influences and from muso mates who he owes a favour. Listen in between 6pm and 8pm online at www.blastfm.co.uk, or if you are living in London having not gone into self-imposed exile after Boris Johnson's election victory, at 87.7 FM on the actual proper wireless.

 

Yes, owing to the wonders of the Information Superhighway and non porn-related credit card transactions, you can now purchase Worldview's "Our Condition" album online at the thing they call the I-Tunes store! It's a snip at £7.99, none of which goes to charity, or 79p per track, if you want to buy them all separately, ho ho. The download version differs from promo CDs of the album which have been circulating, as it substitutes the "Average Ben" mix of "Tourist" which is fast becoming the definitive version, featuring Ben P's catchy guitar hook as heard in Worldview's live set. Speaking of which, you can watch them perform it live here:

You can buy this eclectic collection of pop philosophy using the I-Tunes link in the main band info section of Worldview's Myspace profile, or if that doesn't work, follow this link instead: http://www.apple.com/uk/search/ipoditunes/?q=worldview+our+condition

And given that this digital day-and-age does not permit sleevenotes at point of sale, here is a short summary of each track:

1. ONE RULE FOR YOU: Epic opener with shades of The Beatles, Elliott Smith, and, some have said, The Lightning Seeds. Or perhaps Oasis with a laptop and more words. Oliver Shaw ruminates on mortality, death and our necessary delusions, setting out some of the album's key themes.

2. JAM TODAY: Oliver comes on like a better looking Kylie Minogue in this toe-tapping, handbag swinging disco paean to instant gratification.

3. HIGH HOPES: Sleazy lo-fi Britrock number about how consumerist totems of sex'n'success hopelessly inflate our standards and expectations. Except for Oliver himself, who will marry a supermodel.

4. DESIGNED FOR LIFE: Oliver owns up to his many failings on this downtempo trip-hoppy number, going on about how hard it is to be alive for us sensitive types and how that's a good excuse for being a work-shy artist type. Note the alarmingly George Michael-like hushed vocal croon.

5. SO FEARLESS: A simple tale of unrequited lust, stalking, and fear of sexual inadequacy. The subject of this Prince/Clash-inspired pop nugget has since contacted the police.

6. PAYBACK: Richard Hawley-influenced retro ballad about the law of Karma, or as Indian restauranteers call it, Korma.

7. ENTITLEMENT: One of Oliver's occasional sociological missives in which he castigates the lower orders for buying into vacuous consumerist hopes'n'dreams. Sounds like The Beatles with IT certificates.

8. TOURIST: New Order go on holiday somewhere and soon wish they hadn't. A would-be Ibiza anthem about a voyeuristic, moor-less tourist of people, places or situations.

9. BUY INTO IT: Oliver castigates himself for buying into vacuous consumerist hopes'n'dreams. Sounds a bit like The Rolling Stones.

10. WHAT'S YOUR POISON?: Oliver comes on like a cut-price Bono fronting an electro U2 as he preaches about Substance Abuse, and how necessary it is.

11. NO TAKERS: Sounds like Elvis Costello meets Goldfrapp, or a glamrock Depeche Mode. It's the bitter ravings of an overlooked genius, and therefore not autobiographical.

12. OUR CONDITION: Oliver puts the c*nt in country & western in this twangy, uptempo musing on the human, er, condition. Thus nicely distilling the album's themes, innit? Notable for the first outing of the banjo in Worldview's oeuvre.

So there you have it. Now run along and buy it...

Here is some footage of Worldview from their Oxford Jericho Tavern gig back in early February, belting out the epic "One Rule For You" (Oasis with laptops and a wider vocabulary) infront of a select audience of friends, family and random gig-goers. They began the set with this, the "Our Condition" album opener, before speeding through a selection of would-be hits, including the creepily lust-filled "So Fearless" and Ibiza-style techno toe-tapper "Tourist".

 

Thanks to James T.B. for providing important documentary evidence of Oliver's ability to perform outside his bedroom studio - nice camera work and arty B&W moments befitting the song's "serious" subject manner! (I'll buy you a pint etc.)

Meanwhile, continuing this multimedia giveaway, here is Oliver's on air chat with the BBC's Tim Bearder for his Download Show on the radio the other Saturday. It was done over the phone but Oliver sensibly left out his habitual heavy breathing bit. With all this mounting exposure it can only be a matter of time before someone somewhere gives him some money for doing music...

 

Things are picking up alarmingly for Worldview’s Mr Oliver Shaw as he finds himself featured both on online music-buff sites and on the good old-fashioned wireless. You can hear him talking about his sideline as Junkfood Jones in Desmond Chancer & The Long Memories to BBC Radio Oxford The Download Show’s Tim Bearder, then diplomatically trying to chose their demo of the week, here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/oxford/content/articles/2005/10/14/download_team.shtml. The show went out on Saturday 15th March at 6pm and will remain online for the rest of the week. Oliver is interrogated on his mobile at around the 30min mark. And here, in an exclusive for all Vox readers, is a recently completed Desmond Chancer track, the majestic, ethereal and rain-sodden "Chasing A Dream". Featuring O. Shaw Esq on piano, guitar and production duties:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Meanwhile those nice folk at www.tunatheday.com have made a second Worldview track, "So Fearless", their Catch Of The Day for Monday 17th March (having featured "One Rule For You" a few weeks back). The song features on the recent "Our Condition" album which should shortly be for sale on I-Tunes, with a slightly revised tracklisting. TunA the Day’s Ade has noted a resemblance to Prince (musical rather than physical), and his choice of "So Fearless" is made all the more poignant by the fact that the lust-object who inspired it clearly no longer wants Oliver looking at her Facebook profile (sigh!). Hear the track below:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And he will be playing with his Worldview at Oxford’s Purple Turtle, where entry is free and the beer is almost free, this very Friday night, possibly chancing a debut rendition of the even more Prince-ly "Message 2 U"!! It’s almost too much... 

Here are some more choice excerpts from the show they're all still talking about (in the Shaw household)...

 

 

 

 

 

Back at the end of 2007 Worldview's Oliver Shaw had the good fortune to be Damien Brogden's first Special Guest on his new "Shifty Disco Show" on London station Blast FM. This was an act of pure nepotism as Oliver and Damian are buddies from back in 'Nam (Cheltenham). Oliver introduced tracks from his current friends-and-family promo CD "Our Condition", played two songs live'n'acoustic in the studio, aired favourite tracks from seminal influences Prince, World Party and New Order, and generally philosophised about life and music, while addressing head-on the inevitable questions about his historical connection with the biggest band on the planet. Some of this banter was deemed "very funny", and copies of the now legendary show are currently circulating among the Rock cognescenti, much as Peter Cook and Dudley Moore's "Derek & Clive" bootlegs were a fixture of the Led Zeppelin tour plane in the '70s (Coldplay have all requested copies). Hear some choice excerpts, including banter and music, below:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Back in the here and now, Oliver & co are limbering up for the first Worldview London date in over a year, at Lark In The Park, along with Oxford's fabulous soul-funk-dance ensemble The Conscripts, on Tuesday 26th Feb. Why not pop down and see what he looks like in the flesh (kind of a darker, moodier Louis Theroux infact)...