Rachel Nelken
 | Rachel Nelken joined the PRS Foundation in 1999 and assisted David Francis in the development of its current funding schemes and policy. Before joining PRSF she was Development Officer for the Islington International Festival, and previous to that she had worked as a music teacher in a private music school and youth worker. |
Rachel has always had a huge interest in all forms of contemporary music and chose to study music at Anglia Polytechnic University because it was one of the first UK music degrees which had a ‘popular music’ element to it.
During her time there she both won the Baroque performance prize and formed her own experimental string-led funk band. At the end of the course the professor there told her that he felt she should find a job which would develop all of the different musical interests she had. When the job came up for a new Foundation supporting all genres of music it seemed like fate…
During Rachel’s time at the PRS Foundation she has helped thousands of successful applicants from a huge variety of different sectors gain funding – many of those who had not made a funding application before. She also developed the UK’s first funding scheme for the electronic music sector – Live Connections – which is still going strong 5 years later.
She developed many new partnerships for PRSF including one with the Jerwood Foundation to create a professional development initiative for the jazz sector and KODA, PRS’s equivalent in Denmark, to create and run a new residential project for English and Danish songwriters.
During her time at PRSF Rachel has continued to play her cello in a variety of contexts and has performed at the Big Chill, as well as many London venues, and taken part in Nitin Sawhney’s Aftershock project at the Sage Gateshead. Rachel leaves the PRS Foundation on 15 February to begin a new career as Head of Community Business at Point Blank www.pointblanklondon.com a music education and training provider.
Here's what Rachel has been listening to...
Kate Bush – Aerial
A popular choice this one – and although not everyone agrees, I would say it was worth waiting the 12 years for it! Kate’s voice is just as good, if not richer, as her early work Most songs features her trademark sound such as mellifluous piano and smooth fretless bass as does some fairly bonkers subject material like washing machines and a man who is obsessed with calculation of Pi!
King of the Mountain, the single which came out, seems understated at first but really grows on you – Kate’s vocal imitation of the King works really well and it’s easy to understand her fascination with him, as someone who became virtually a recluse from stardom herself. Nearly all of the second disc is fantastic, from ‘The Architect’s Dream’ featuring a little cameo from Rolf Harris of all people… to the best track on the album ‘Sunset’ which feels like it has all the finest bits of the whole album rolled into one song, ending in a rousing and uplifting Spanish guitar and chorus…
We can almost forgive her for ‘Bertie’ – the sweet but ultimately gushing and rather cringy ode to her son (it’s fine if you don’t listen to the words) for which he probably will not forgive her as he is likely to get teased mercilessly in the playground….
www.katebush.com
Fiona Apple – Extraordinary Machine
Huge ‘over there’, but for some reason not so big over here, American artist Fiona Apple’s latest album was also long-awaited as it is 6 years since her last ‘When the Pawn…’ (the full album title has 90 words!). Her work is piano based and somewhere in between jazz, funk, cabaret and blues... but owes as much to other ‘confessional’ type singer-songwriters like Tori Amos or Joni Mitchell…
Her voice is definitely blues though and she is one of the most inventive lyricists I’ve ever heard – I don’t know many others who could knit words like ‘stentorian’ or ‘rubicon’ seamlessly into a phrase. One of the biggest strengths of Fiona’s writing is her collaboration with producer/arranger Jon Brion who creates vast orchestral landscapes with unusual instrument combos like pizz strings, marimba and clashing bells (all found in the title track).
Not all the songs this time round are as good as the title track and my personal favourite, the very funky ‘Sick in the Head Song’. But an interesting album nonetheless. However I would always recommend the last album ‘When the Pawn…’which I’m still listening to and which hasn’t got a duff track on it – and there are not many albums you can say that about…
Broadway Project – In Finite
I’ve had the privilege of discovering some fab new music from the UK during my time at PRSF, and this is the latest I am listening to. These guys, from Bristol, and featuring Matthew Bourne on piano, have been supported by PRSF under the Live Connections scheme for a performance in 2006 at the Cube in Bristol.
This album is great - the epic sound is reminiscent of Massive Attack (the ‘Bristol’ sound still pervades?) or Cinematic Orchestra but eschews the vocals in favour of lead piano or flute or even a Hillage-esque guitar and clarinet later in the album. The dark landscapes with lush strings layered over uneasy irregular beats are a perfect January soundtrack as I walk to work…
Pink Floyd – Meddle
Had to fight with the rest of PRSF to put this one on here as they are constantly embarrassed by my fondness for prog-rock! However I am truly always listening to this album. I could have chosen so many albums from these guys – 20 years on there is still no band to rival them in their prolific and consistently incredible experimentation and fantastic songwriting.
Meddle is probably my favourite though…with Fearless and Echoes ‘up there’ as best ever… I defy anyone not to have the hairs on the back of their neck standing up as Echoes reaches its amazing guitar riff climax after one of the best musical build-ups ever written.