SINGLES GOING STEADY: "DON'T FALTER" BY MINT ROYALE WITH LAUREN LAVERNE

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"Don't Falter" by Mint Royale with Lauren Laverne

It only takes ten seconds of listening to this 2000 collaboration between Manchester England's Mint Royale and Radio DJ/Singer Lauren Laverne to know that you're listening to something very good—if not irresistable.  With its dreamy, almost theremin-like orchestral string riff, lo-fi drums and break-dancing electric guitar straight out of Stereolab record, "Don't Falter" has quite an intriguing opening.  It's like an audio version of rhythmic gymnastics.  The first ten seconds beg for a strong continuation—a great vocal and a catchy, sing-song chorus.  Thankfully, vocalist Lauren Laverne does not disappoint.  Her voice fits somewhere in the company of Nina Persson of The Cardigans and Leigh Nash of Sixpence None The Richer.  She's not a virtuoso, but her playful bounciness is sweet, inviting and sexy.  Together Laverne and Mint Royale pull of a simply wonderful, magnificent, summer solstice of a song.  In a little over four minutes, the ensemble never falters.  Though it never made a dent in the US, "Don't Falter" became a Top 20 hit in the UK.  

"Don't Falter" by Mint Royale with Lauren Laverne

HITMAKER DAN WILSON: IT'S ALL IN THE MATERIAL

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In 2003, I met a true music industry veteran who taught me the most important lesson of my young jamiedoesmusic life.  That lesson was "It's all in the material."

Having worked in the biz a few years now, I can't tell you how many times I've continued to hear those words from agents, managers, A&R scouts, etc.  And it's not really an opinion—to me at least.  Rather, it is simply a beautiful truth.  

In the first half of Hitmaker, I briefly examine the history of behind-the-scenes songwriters and discuss why they are some of the most important people in the music industry.  The second half is dedicated to a gifted composer named Dan Wilson.  You may not know his name, but I wholeheartedly believe he is the best songwriter to be introduced in my lifetime.