REMorse

(Mock up via the Plan B forum via me I did it)

R.E.M. are one of those bands who you hear on the radio and when you hear them it's their big songs you hear, the ones that yr. parents like, like 'Bad Day' and 'Losing My Religion' or maybe 'Man On The Moon' and hence by the millionth play in yr. friend's dad's car on the way to a football match are pretty boring. Then you realise that two of their songs, like 'Nightswimming' and 'Orange Crush', are two of yr. very favourite songs ever.


To start with the last song, 'Orange Crush', you have to pick away the scab again. So you have the fresh wound. Off comes the Editors cover - Editors, a band whose soul-sucking corporate aim it seems is to sound as tortured as Athlete fans can stand. Whilst otherwise sounding like Interpol. In a totally demoralising and understandably inconvincing manner. They are so bad at sounding sorry for themselves that you start to feel hate for them, and then the whole paragraph as been taken over. We mustn't do that.

'Orange' refers to 'Agent Orange', and there's a whole underlying reference there if you care to look it up. REM have with it one of the best anti-war songs ever, up there with 'Unmarked Grave' by David Thomas Broughton or something.


Then 'Nightswimming':


Nightswimming deserves a quiet night
I'm not sure all these people understand
It's not like years ago,
The fear of getting caught,
Of recklessness and water
They cannot see me naked
These things, they go away,
Replaced by everyday

and it is fantastic. Sorry dear.

some things that relate to women, written by a woman

After reading exactly 7 pages of The Female Eunuch and some more pages of a really bad translation of The Second Sex, I have decided that 'Long Way 2 Go' by Cassie is the nearest thing to a feminist anthem R'n'B is ever getting as long as Missy Elliott remains 'enslaved by exaggerated ideals for women' (ie 'on a diet') and the Destiny's Child 'Independent Woman' message remains Downplayed by the likes of Diddy and co (yes it is a warped equality, based solely on materialism BUT like, it is Equality nonetheless).



'Fierce'? The song basically disses the likes of 'Lloyd' and 'Chris Brown' and 'Akon' - the lyrics are so The Other Side Of The Mariah Carey Stereotypical R'n'B Woman Spectrum that I am pretty sure Simone de Beauvoir is championing this song from 'beyond the grave'. Plus the video is brill. 'shirtless love'. 'lol.
In other news, Grace Jones is the coolest person in the universe and Kate Bush is a close second. I regret not knowing this Before but At Least I Know Now, Eh?

ps i am not a feminist.
pps seriously.

something that will never be on the front page of popjustice.com

'review' of BBC Switch Live 2008 ;
What does BBC Switch Live Signify?

• The NME have less power than they think.
• 14 year olds don’t care what The Wire thinks (thankfully).
• The only people who think that ‘pop music is dead’ are those who refuse to notice the teenagers at the back of the bus playing Ne-yo on their phones.
• It is more fun to listen to things without having to worry about being post-modern or ironic. I don’t think the children there understood why people would need to be ironic in their music taste. ‘This harks back to a simpler time’ etc etc.
• Fallout Boy are now quite bad.
• The BBC positively reeked of capitalism. And Rupert Murdoch’s clammy, bulging wallet.
• This is a bad thing.
• Cameramen in the BBC do covert crotch shots of underage singers ‘for lolz’ or something. It is Highly Suspect.
• This underlying sense of ‘an event run by cynical thirtysomethings that want to both satisfy and mock children’ was Not Anticipated but Rampant.
• The level of idolatry poured upon George Sampson is both frightening and hilarious.
• (DIM SCOOP: ‘George Sampson will never make things work with Miley Cyrus because of ‘the Atlantic ocean’ that separates them’. Shame.)
• Sometimes people underestimate 14 year olds and the music could have been more ‘challenging’ to like, ‘challenge’ them; but if they like Miley Cyrus IS THAT SUCH A BAD THING? Maybe it is. Maybe we could play them some baile funk. Or maybe we can just let them get on with it and stop being so pointlessly elitist.
  

Natalie Fraser: ‘Mcfly know how to rock’.
4 real.

/undrum to muted da

I am getting to know 'Skeletal Lamping' a wee bit better and giving the Metronomy album chances anew and the new Los Campesinos! album a twirl. Well, I think it's the new Los Campesinos! album. It is in Promotional Format and I was given when I bought a No Age 7" (which also had Los Campesinos! on it, which could be why).

I am get-upping slightly later today so I've had time to move on with stuff. I catalogued some of the CDs on my shelf (there are lots) and I assigned some of my clothes new roles and possibilities as pyjamas. I found all my library books and some badges which I think belong(ed) to my mum which say things like 'I've been to Sellafield!' and 'Warning: H.M. Government will damage Your health'. I tore up my 'Priorities' list and fixed a lightbulb in my room.

When we get together / it's always we are the champions my friends

blog action day

'You know the government are running out of ideas when they feel the need to ask awkward internet people about Major Issues' etc etc. Today is when all the 'b l o g g e r s' write things on their pretentious blogs about defeating poverty and helping people and similarly socially-yes things, though didn't a load of smug middle-class musicians get together to make this history a few years ago? That thing with Bono? No?

Basically, because I know little-to-nothing about global poverty except the fact that it is largely due to human greed and partially due to people wanting to eat cows that take up valuable land and vegetation, and that there are really fun tramps in Bedford that insult people as they walk past, I will like, Tell You about Erase Errata, who are kind of like a disjointed, wailing, boisterous, maniacal version of Girls Aloud. They are three girls, one of who is Jenny Hoyston who organises something called the Fabulosa Fest which is for women and plays a long list of things in the band, from this we can infer that she is a fierce feminist who 'won't take shit from anyone'.

The band has some really good songs like 'Tax Dollar' and 'High Society' and 'Tongue Tied' and 'How To Tell Yourself From A Television' and they did a split single with Sonic Youth which probably propels them into some kind of nirvana of coolness for people who care about That Kind Of Thing. They also do improvisation at gigs and 'apparently' it is 'mind blowing'.

Their drums are thunderous and Jenny's vocals are near-hysterical and theatrical and sometimes she just drawls disjointed poetry and rambles, the guitars are spiky the keyboards are really kind of anthemic and there are HORNS yes HORNS that coat 45% of the songs in a quite strange and manic glow (this makes no sense but if you listen to them, you may Get What I Mean). Some songs build up to a frenzied climax, like 'Marathon', which could leave you breathless if you're into the whole 'unbelievably intense punk' thing, whereas some songs, like 'Walk Don't Fly' skip this musical foreplay completely and hit you with a 'high' 'octane' wall of sound and lots of 'shredding' on guitars that is as abrasive and brilliant as is humanly possible.

Tedious link to bridge the first bit of the post with the second : Erase Errata are really good. And have the power to end poverty. Maybe. Probably not.

Icons, Abstract Thee vs. Hissing Fauna, Are You The Destroyer?

Shock. Unhorror. Disdain. etc.

Last yr. Of Montreal put out the 'epic' and 'grandiose' and the fantastic 'Hissing Fauna'. It contained songs like the 11:53 'The Past Is A Grotesque Animal'. So far so zomgzordz.

Then they did this whole new one, well, it was simultaneously recorded, or thereabouts. I shouldn't know. Of Montreal did 'Icons, Abstract Thee' and it could well have been a tour-only special edition 20 copy affair but it was a good thang that I heard it because I like it bester.

Three songs from each:
'A Sentence Of Sorts In Kongsvinger' vs. 'Miss Blonde, Your Papa Is Failing'
'The Past Is A Grotesque Animal' vs. 'No Conclusion'
'Gronlandic Edit' vs. 'Du Og Meg'.

'No Conclusion' begins in a simple simple fashion. "Tonight I feel like I should just destroy myself, tonight I feel like I should just destroy myself..." It is the lowest song ever.

'Miss Blonde, Your Papa Is Failing' "went down so hard, trying to keep the family together". It is so confessional and raw I don't want to divulge. Kevin is kicking hisself to shreds. "It's kind of creepy how-" and then you have to listen to the rest yrself, because, really.

Then, 'Du Og Meg' is totally different. I think I know all the lyrics. It is 2 minutes 21 seconds and it is blissful and I think it is more extroverted version of the new album, 'Skeletal Lamping' (i.e. no cheap sex). ' "She fell in love with a boy / Who spoke a second language / And who lived across the ocean / In the evil empire." There are plenty of "ooh-ooh-ooohs" and it is guaranteed a zillion plays if you like Of Montreal. It was also featured on the The Believer Music Issue CD thang last yr.

'Icons, Abstract Thee' is an existentialist microcosm of Of Montreal if you can consider 'Skeletal Lamping' themetically out-pushing and 'Hissing Fauna' big.

call hype williams, please

Is it callous to say that I dislike Ladyhawke because her eyes look dead? The Fact Is that she needs the 'engaging, expressive pop star' thing to be an 'engaging, expressive pop star' considering her voice isn't particularly 'engaging, expressive pop star' and she lacks charm and charisma and other qualities we value in pop stars and human beings. I just heard 'Womanizer' by Britney Spears and Frankly her voice sounds truly brilliant and it is Plain To See that people have thrown million dollar bills at Britney to 'get better' and 'return to form' and thankfully it worked because she looks amazing and fun and engaging and interesting.

Then I watched Little Boots' videos on Youtube and in many ways she Represents Pop Music Right Now because she is ridiculously talented and charismatic (one time I stood next to her in Leeds and talked to her about something and she sold me a Dead Disco badge and Was Nice and Not At All Strange) and 'personal' and 'web 2.0' and all those other kind of pretentious things we expect indie and pop bands to do now that the internet is literally punching us with its promise of 'absolutely everything' at your fingertips. Little Boots isn't ironic when she does strange piano covers of Wiley and Neil Young songs or is fiddling with that hilarious Tenorion thing and she doesn't attempt to emulate any past glories or dredge up forgotten (but oft-repeated) phases of music, like the tired 80s cliches Ladyhawke falls back on.

Ladyhawke needs 'media training' or whatever McFly were taught to make them seem interesting on screen, or 'voice training' to make her vocals seem less tepid, or 'an image shift' so that she can stop being another one of those acts that has one knockout song that is shamed by the rest. Maybe she needs outward charm or intrigue or ambiguity or depth, but those things Can't Be Taught so she will have to compensate with Other Things. MIA isn't particularly charming on screen but 'her music makes up for it' or something. Anyway, there's hope for Ladyhawke. But more hope for Little Boots. And even more for Britney.

a milli a milli a milli a milli a mi-a mi a milli

Lil' Wayne > Oscar Wilde's attempt at realism.
Lil' Wayne's wordplay > David Banner's filth.
David Banner's filth > 50 Cent's filth.
Lil' Wayne singing 'voice' < T-Pain's singing 'voice'
T-Wayne > Bonde Do Role
The rest of baile funk > Bonde do Role
The fact that I can now understand the words in baile funk songs > everything.

ahem.
A Milli's 'minimalist' 'beat' > 'Prinzhorn' 'Dance' 'School'
A Milli = 'La La La' (this is another song off Tha Carter III)
The bit in A Milli when he goes 'you're like a bitch with no ass, you ain't got shit' > 'Mango Pickle Down River' sorry sorry sorry I know we should be helping aboriginal rappers but Lil' Wayne is better.
The fact that Lil' Wayne can hold an entire song that is Well Over 5 Minutes without a chorus, guests, hook or riff > most other songs.
Gwen Stefani reference < ERYKAH BADU REFERENCE.
The 'Motherfucker, I'm Ill' bit > the 'u no what i sell' bit in That Song
'Get Like Me' by David Banner < 'Play' by David Banner (but this is Highly Arguable)
'Shawty Say' < 'Lollipop'
'A Milli' > nearly almost every song released this year.

Hey, everyone! Get yrselves together

Hey rain! Stoppit.

I did quite like the Metronomy album that I heard. This is what I wrote about. Note how many times I say 'mark' towards the end:

Metronomy - Nights Out

The name 'Metronomy' used to have some sort of pastiche comedy value amongst certain friends of mine. 'You Could Easily Have Me' seemed the archetypal post-new-rave, Late of the Pier-esque brazen pop tune that failed to excite purely on the basis of wildly hyped electropop synths.

'Nights Out', then, should fail: the PR company-scribed Wikipedia entry lauds it as a 'half-arsed concept about going out and having a crap time", which is generally not a cool thing to say. Maybe the fifth song, 'Heartbreaker', is Enough, with the sub-Klaxons vocals having quite nothing about them, but the whole 'lookit, we have some machine which makes fancy horns sounds' formula is sufficient to warrant a listen to 'The End Of You Too', 'A Thing For Me' or 'My Heart Rate Rapid'. You'll shuffle along to that one like you did to 'Random Firl'. First single 'Radio Ladio' also makes a mark in that it sounds like The Ting Tings over, well, a Metronomy beat. And having a trademark like that is no bad mark.


Also you should see what I wrote about Fujiya & Miyagi (again) (probably not). But basically I ended up listening to 'My Heart Rate Rapid' like 3 times and also then I listened to Prinzhorn Dance School and a song by Love Is All that I think is called 'Busy Doing Nothing'.

Five movie marathon! Nine times the same song!

And then I drifted off into the ether listening to the Milk-Eyed Mender. And another song that is really, really good is 'Woke Up New' by The Mountain Goats, it should probably make you weep.

What do I do? What do I do? What do I do?

post-First Proper Band Rehearsal

WOW our drummer is the best thing ever - he has a bunch of mega fun old instruments and we are microKORGing and stylophoning and casio CS-1-ing our way to Genuine Actual Talent.
our guitarist 'likes prog' and 'listens to Korn' and 'wants guitar solos in every song' which he is not getting.

this is a pointless post but i am so tired and my voice is dying so KL KL.

Oh. I have no idea what I am listening to. Except it's playing at 20 kilobytes a second (a bitrate lower than yr homeboy's jeans) and it is fantastic. It is from Persia, and it can be heard again on the stream from Radio Golha. Which is, like, the best thing ever.

I re-stumbled upon this after, um, some pretty generic research on '20th century Iran', for a presentation. Radio Golha's proper title, when it was actually on the radio, i.e. not on the internet everywhere in 2008, translated as "Flowers Program", and ran for 23 years until 1979. It is pretty brilliant in format: the aim was to mix poetry and the traditional music - 'musiqi-e sonnati'.

So you hear orchestral arrangements, recitals, biographies and ensembles. And it achieved a lot:

"First, they popularized Persian classical poetry and made a vogue of it, particularly among the middle class and the affluent social elite. They boosted appreciation of Persian poetry at a popular level to a degree never before achieved. Second, they brought masters of traditional music to public notice and bestowed on them the dignity that they deserved as artists. This should be seen against the background of earlier times, when musical performers were considered mere "entertainers" with a lowly rank in the social hierarchy (they were referred to as motárebs, often with a pejorative connotation). The Golha@ programs not only made most of them household names, but also provided them with a fairly secure basis of income through remuneration or regular appointment."

(link)

That is a whole magical morning that I wouldn't have spent any other way.

கோம்ப்லேடே ஹிக்ளிக்த்த்ஸ் ஒப் மி அதர் ப்லோக்