Artists share rage against the X Factor hit machine
CAGErc Jon McClure not being so silent.
Silence is golden where Simon Cowell’s pop chart dominance is concerned, two Sheffield musicians tell Rachael Clegg
SILENCE is not synonymous with Reverend and the Makers’ Jon McClure.
But last week, the articulate, chatty frontman made a guest appearance on a potential Christmas number one single for which the Sheffield star contributed nothing but 4 minutes 33 seconds of pure, unadulterated silence.
He wasn’t the only one.
Dozens of stars came together last Monday to record Cage Against the Machine – a cover version of John Cage’s seminal 1952 work, 4’33, a composition of silence – at Dean Street Studios in Soho, London.
The single, kickstarted by a Facebook campaign, is in aid of the British Tinnitus Association but also in aid of British taste in music. Many musicians are, evidently, fed up with the glorified karaoke that is the X Factor.
Jon McClure belongs to this camp.
“My mum’s dead into the X Factor and loads of even people supposed to be credible are into it and you just think to yourself ‘how can you be into this?’ How can you be a barometer of taste when you’re into the X Factor? Anything that can stop it is a good thing,” he said.
McClure recorded his contribution over the telephone, via Skype, after his label boss, fellow Sheffielder Mark Jones from Wall of Sound, suggested he got on board.
“I had flu from this recording session but they said I could do it from Skype so they called me up and it was like five minutes, so I just sat there and tried to shush Laura from using the hairdryer.
“What it represents is important – the anti-X Factor thing. When people go silent it makes them think. Four and a half minutes is a hell of a long time. I think within that time you know what it’s about – the X Factor – and it makes you think about it.”
Heaven 17 keyboardist Martyn Ware echoes McClure’s point: “It’s despicable. It’s misanthropic and Simon Cowell isn’t bothered about music. It’s just depressing.”
And McClure, like so many musicians, believes that the X Factor inhibits the development of original talent and creativity. Mass-produced, quickly-concocted cover acts supersede the sales of records by real artists creating something original.
“There are kids all over the country sleeping in reight cold rehearsal rooms hoping that one day they’ll make it – the X Factor reinforces this idea that being musical is not about being musically talented but being famous.
“People look around and say ‘what’s wrong with this country?’ and that’s what’s wrong with it. There was a survey done a couple of years ago and there was something daft like 80 per cent of kids said they just wanted to be famous.
“Since when did it become cool to put people up on telly in front of millions of people? I just don’t like it. It’s a counter on British culture and it just needs to go.”
But the X Factor is staple Saturday night entertainment for people. “What else could you do with that two hours?” said McClure. “There are some really important things happening in the world and yet all you hear is ‘this that and the other happened on the X Factor’ – is that REALLY important?”
The name of the single – Cage Against the Machine – is ingenious, too, responding to last year’s victory when a Facebook group rallied an army of X Factor defectors to buy Rage Against the Machine’s Killing in the Name Of to push the then X Factor star from pole position.
But Cage Against the Machine is more than an anti-X Factor (and charity awareness) hit. This week’s release of 4’33 of silence mirrors the historical context of Cage’s original avant garde composition.
Indeed, Cage expert Kyle Gann argued that the composer was inspired to create 4’33 after reading a New York Post article in which the author imagined a jukebox stacked with silent singles – a rest from the constant noise of 1952 America.
This idea of aural rest couldn’t be more topical – the X Factor is a two-hour musical overload.
Cage Against the Machine allows people to escape the flurry of pop covers and think about a) tinitus b) potential victory over Simon Cowell and c) the avant garde triumphing over mediocrity.
Keep caging against the machine.
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