AFTER ALL THERE'S MORE THAN A......PLAN B!

My dear friends and followers. I do apologize for being absent for so many time. Writing this stories and articles is something that I love. Music is not my daily activity (banking business is) but is a passion. I've been also searching for a plan B. During this year I was "off", I’ve ended a almost 20 years relation, returned to my childhood house downtown Porto to live with my father unfortunately just for 5 months since he left us last October. A new relationship also emerged but again unfortunately at the present time back to stage zero. My Random Access Memory almost had an overflow :) but my two kids are ok and I’ve also started my second experience at a local TV weekly talking on music and it's been great. Hope to return in the new season well prepared and with more stories on music. 

Usually I don't get personal but this time I’ve chosen this path to justify why I’m back to talk and return to my in-depth works on the records that I thought were the best on their year of release. And personally because in fact, there is really another Plan B, and it helped me too to move along. Lyrically speaking it was very well structured, a master-piece and make us remember that there's a lot of people with other kind of problems sometimes greater and dangerous ones and Ben is a 'Pro getting his message delivered.

I'm working already on my favorite 2013 record until now - Nick Cave's Push The Sky Away - but I couldn't skip the work I did on Ben's record. At the time I’m publishing my first post I hope to still receive more contributions from people that worked on the making of Ill Manors. This record was released in a time where the 2012 Olympic Games were about to start in London and it contains a strong social message that I believe you should ear if you are discovering this record just now. This was the return to the early sound, a mix of rap,hip-hop and soul, may I call it hip-hop soul? I've a global vision on music but I’m more a pop-rock man but loved this record and thought it'd win the Mercury Prize Award but it didn't.

So, let’s start with this quest. Since this record (The soundtrack for the movie too, also directed by Ben) talks about the growing up around  Forest Gate in Newham, UK I’ll start not by someone that worked at the record but with Ellie Robinson, councilor and chair of the and young people scrutiny committee and a member of the labour group to whom I’d like to thank for her kindness on replying my questions:

Before that, let me show you the song that made me "connect" to Ben:

Next Post, in a couple of hours with Ellie Robinson.

LG