Burial revealed

My admiration for Burial has been no secret on this blog or to my friends. The dubstep producer has released 2 albums so far with the debut being an awkward and tiring listen, failing to ever create a moment to connect with. However, Untrue for me was a musical revelation, I'd never heard anything like it and never have since. It is hard to tell how people will react to music I write about here, I would hardly call myself the most diverse musical listener, when was the last time I reviewed hip hop or metal for example, two massive, important genres. However, Dubstep is niche, its small and generally I'd say, pretty unappreciated. Only recently have people begun to take notice of Burial and that's a wonderful thing to see after so long.

I reviewed Burial way back when so I won't do it again but its been amazing to see that he was nominated for a Mercury music prize with so little pr about him and a genre that is succinctly underground. This is partly due to the fact that Burial has remained annonymous, citing that "only 5 people know I make tunes" and so, its all about the atmosphere and the way you interpret the music. With so little going on in the tracks, it allows you to focus on each individual sound and to me, that enhances the whole listening experience. And of course, the album sounds incredible, each note in perfect balance with sounds bouncing back at you from all over the place, creating a swirl of dark, intense and minimalistic noise that is a delight and a thought-provoking listen.

However, it was announced today via his myspace that -

"hi

for a while theres been some talk about who i am , but its not a big deal

i wanted to be unknown because i just want it to be all about the tunes.

over the last year the unknown thing become an issue so im not into it any more.

im a lowkey person and i just want to make some tunes, nothing else. my names will bevan, im from south london, im keeping my head down and just going to finish my next album, theres going to be a 12" maybe in the next few weeks too with 4 tunes. hope u like it, i'll try put a tune up later

sorry for any rubbish tunes i made in the past, ill make up for it

a big big thank you to anyone who ever supported me, liked my tunes or sent me messages, it means the world to me

big up everyone, take care, will ( burial )"

So there we go. The rumours were flying (thanks to NME as always) that the alter ego was Aphex Twin or even Mr Norman Cook. How amazing that it is someone uninterested in fame, someone with no musical prowess due to celebrity or cult status. Just a guy. Making amazing tunes because he can. Aphex proved that all you need to make tunes is your bedroom and some basic equipment and in the age of simple home recording, record labels clambering over bands to make them press idols as well as record sellers and the increase in supergroups (last shadow puppets, neon neon) or reformatinos to cash in on a market that still hates buying records, it is instantly refreshing to see someone that shows no interest and just wants to release songs because he likes them.

I hope Burial wins the Mercury, not to enhance his PR status and reach more people but as an acknowledgement that his approach to music is about the music. With the other nominees distinctly more popular, surely a music award should be given to someone that concentrated solely on their music and built their name just through records as opposed to live gigs and past groups. Feel free to disagree.