Fran Ashcroft es un reconocido productor británico cuyo currículo incluye haber formado parte de la banda de perfil power-pop, The Monos, realizar trabajos para artistas, sellos, disqueras como Damon Albarn (Blur), Abbey Road Studios, Thunderbirds Are Go!, PRT Records and Studios, Spin Jupiter Spin (Dandy Warhols), Darling Nikkie (Lords of Acid) Big Fish Music en Japón, o Fruits Der Mer, llegando a nuestra audiencia con el primer sencillo de su segundo álbum solista, The Songs That Never Were, a lanzarse vía Think Like a Key Music, con éste extracto promocional presentado en un olvidado pero tradicional formato de Lado A y Lado B.

Waiting For The Britpop Revival es la muestra de que la decadencia musical en el panorama global iniciara en la década de los 90 con ésa pésima etiqueta colocada a bandas de medio pelo, cuya influencia dejara en México la tendencia que marcaría el final del Rock a partir de la producción exclusiva de canciones para viejos chillones como sencillos, nostalgia corporativa, y la doctrina que sustenta al régimen actual.

I’ve never made a record quite like this one. Nobody has. it was like building a bridge of time between my present day self and me from 50 years ago. The song I heard in my head at 5 a.m. that morning reminded me of one I’d written many years before, which I was never quite happy with. I thought, you could almost put this new tune right over it. So I dug the old tape out of the archives to see if I was right. And I was – the chords were the same, and it was even in the same key! If I could only remove and replace the vocals on the old mono recording, it would be an entirely new song.

Were there other songs that could be treated in a similar way? Of course there were! I expected these new recordings to be all be about using AI technology – but that was just a convenient tool, like any other. But this actually turned out to be a collaboration between my present-day self and me from 50 years ago – like some kind of bridge of time had been built between us. It sounds weird, I know – here, each song, whether an old recording or a new idea, was developed and transformed into something completely different from what it was to begin with – as if I were working with a co-writer and a quite strange one at times. But music exists outside of time and this, I think, makes this record what it is.

Fran Ashcroft

Nunca he hecho un disco como este. Nadie lo ha hecho. Fue como construir un puente de tiempo entre mi yo actual y el de hace 50 años. La canción que escuché en mi cabeza a las 5 de la mañana de esa mañana me recordó una que había escrito muchos años antes y con la que nunca estuve del todo feliz. Pensé que casi se podría poner esta nueva melodía encima. Así que saqué la vieja cinta de los archivos para ver si tenía razón. Y yo estaba onda: ¡los acordes eran los mismos, e incluso estaban en el mismo tono! Si tan solo pudiera eliminar y reemplazar las voces de la antigua grabación en mono, sería una canción completamente nueva.

¿Hubo otras canciones que podrían tratarse de manera similar? ¡Por supuesto que las hubo! Esperaba que estas nuevas grabaciones trataran sobre el uso de la tecnología de inteligencia artificial, pero fue simplemente una herramienta conveniente, como cualquier otra. Esto en realidad resultó ser una colaboración entre mi yo actual y el de hace 50 años, como si se hubiera construido una especie de puente de tiempo entre nosotros. Suena raro, lo sé – aquí, cada canción, ya sea una grabación antigua o una idea nueva, fue desarrollada y transformada en algo completamente diferente de lo que era al principio – como si estuviera trabajando con un coautor y otro bastante extraño a veces. Pero la música existe fuera del tiempo y creo que esto hace que este disco sea lo que es.

Fran Ashcroft

Fran Ashcroft, Waiting For The Britpop Revival…

Waiting for the Britpop revival
Any day now it’s gonna go viral
If you’re one of us
Meet me at the back of a London bus

Waiting For The Britpop revival
You might think it’s going out of style but
Say what you like
It’s much better than Shoegaze

Well, there’s supposed to be a spoken word section in this part of the song, something very different and original that no one has ever done before

That seemed like a good idea at the time, and I’ve been really trying but for the life of me, I can’t think of anything to say at the moment.

So look, I’ll just have to leave it alone for now and come back to it later
If that’s alright by you

Blame it all on Damon Albarn
I’m still waiting for a credit on the album
Have you seen Justine getting off her tits in a nightclub

Don’t talk to me about Oasis
That’s a shit band name if there ever was one
Trying to be tough
Miming to a song on Top Of The Pops

Waiting For The Britpop revival
Just another load of art school wankers

Waiting For The Britpop Revival

I did think of something to say – about how the new record was made.
One morning I woke up with a tune running through my head. It reminded me of one I’d written many years before, which I was never quite happy with. I thought, you could almost put this new tune right over it. So I brought the old tape out to see if I was right. I was – the chords were the same, and it was even in the same key. If I could only remove the vocals on the old mono recording!

I’d heard about using AI technology to separate tracks from old recordings and remix them. It was easy enough to find the software and use it. You just press go, and it’s done in a few minutes. Quite remarkable. So I finished the song and I really liked the results. Wouldn’t it be nice if i could work on other stuff in a similar way? So I looked through the archive from end to end, and I chose some songs and transferred them to digital, so I could work on them. But that’s another story – both my tape recorders ended up literally falling to pieces in my hands when I did it.

I expected the new record to be all about using this Ai technology, It was entirely different from that. It turned out to be a real collaboration between my present day self and me from 50 years ago – like some strange bridge of time had been built between us. That sounds a bit weird, yeah, yeah, I know, – but each song, whether it was an old recording or a new idea, was shaped and developed into something entirely different. It was just like working with a co-writer … quite weird at times, I tell you.

But music exists outside of time.

This is a new record, where the old and new influence each other equally. It’s nothing like remixing, or shoving an orchestra on an old tracks to sell as if it were something new.

Here’s a bit of the original recording from way back. Compare it to the song you just listened to, and you’ll see what I mean.

And yes, the album will be out shortly!

Waiting For The Britpop Revival B Side