Music Sounds Better With You #4
'Smells Like Teen Spirit' - Nirvana
"Here we are now, entertain us"
September 1991, and this changed absolutely EVERYTHING. It may be an oft-echoed cliche, but behind every cliche lies at least a grain of truth. A few listens to Nirvana's debut single on a major label, and that was it. The venerable chronicler of Seattle Everitt True, of course, would maintain that the city's scene had peaked in 1988 and 1989, and that by 1991 it was sterile if not comatose or even half-dead. Not for me - this was the shot in the arm I'd unknowingly been waiting for.
The effects were felt almost overnight. It seemed no longer possible for music to be a neatly compartmentalised part of my life, something in which I could take a passing interest from time to time. No, 'Smells Like Teen Spirit' marked the beginnings of a serious obsession which would colonise and monopolise my time and energies - and with this obsession came the discovery and burden of taste. No more flitting randomly between mainstream artists and bands, no more passive acceptance of Iron Maiden and Motley Crue records round at friends' houses, no allowance made even for the mighty Guns 'N' Roses - I recall Appetite For Destruction and Use Your Illusion II being ceremoniously purged from my record collection, to be rediscovered some years later. I adopted a righteous scorched earth policy, leaving only an almost played-out cassette copy of Nevermind. Ruthlessly pruned, my collection was then allowed to grow afresh.
This single was a baptism of fire, an introduction to so much: the band, the scene, the American underground, the emotional force of pure angst (before it became diluted and preprocessed by record companies as a marketable commodity), the potency of punk rock. Above all, it was a wake-up call to the sheer visceral thrill of the electric guitar when attacked with passion.
That's entertainment.
Inspired a love of: Smashing Pumpkins, Soundgarden, Mudhoney, Screaming Trees, Pearl Jam, Afghan Whigs, Therapy?, Hole, Pixies, Foo Fighters, Alice In Chains, Placebo, Sugar, Weezer, Green Day, Offspring, Soul Asylum, Stone Temple Pilots, Compulsion, Brad...
Wednesday, April 30, 2003
Tuesday, April 29, 2003
Quote of the day
James Joyce in a letter to Carlos Linati (Sept 1920) on 'Ulysses':
"Now, as I hear, a great movement is being prepared against the publication intiated by Puritans, English, Imperialists, Irish Republicans, Catholics - what an alliance! Gosh, I ought to be awarded the Nobel prize for peace!"
James Joyce in a letter to Carlos Linati (Sept 1920) on 'Ulysses':
"Now, as I hear, a great movement is being prepared against the publication intiated by Puritans, English, Imperialists, Irish Republicans, Catholics - what an alliance! Gosh, I ought to be awarded the Nobel prize for peace!"
"Slick, gimmickless and free"
This is a shameless plug for the fanzine Vanity Project. Of the last issue The Fly magazine wrote: "As usual, there are more words that you thought it was possible to pack into a modest amount of paper, with the intelligence and wit a lot of zines forget to apply ... Eight pages have seldom been put to better use." The forthcoming issue will feature an interview with Portsmouth-based electro-pop ghoul Qhixldekx and is available by contacting skif@vanityproject.co.uk.
This is a shameless plug for the fanzine Vanity Project. Of the last issue The Fly magazine wrote: "As usual, there are more words that you thought it was possible to pack into a modest amount of paper, with the intelligence and wit a lot of zines forget to apply ... Eight pages have seldom been put to better use." The forthcoming issue will feature an interview with Portsmouth-based electro-pop ghoul Qhixldekx and is available by contacting skif@vanityproject.co.uk.
It's better to burn out than fade away
Hard on the heels of the news that The Dismemberment Plan have called it quits comes my (belated) discovery of the sad demise of another of DeSoto's leading lights, Burning Airlines, after only two albums. Still, both 1999's Mission: Control! and 2001's Identikit were very good records, so their legacy is of a uniformly high standard, and mainman J Robbins (ex Government Issue and Jawbox) is working on material with a new band.
Hard on the heels of the news that The Dismemberment Plan have called it quits comes my (belated) discovery of the sad demise of another of DeSoto's leading lights, Burning Airlines, after only two albums. Still, both 1999's Mission: Control! and 2001's Identikit were very good records, so their legacy is of a uniformly high standard, and mainman J Robbins (ex Government Issue and Jawbox) is working on material with a new band.
Monday, April 28, 2003
A rush of blood to the head
In what very quickly came to seem an act of incredibly foolish masochism I proposed watching 'Bridget Jones's Diary' on Saturday night. "Well", I had reasoned, "know your enemy and all that." Sometimes I feel myself becoming rather too twisted and cynical, but this is just the sort of film that corroborates and revitalises that cynicism. Perhaps nothing is quite so excruciating and nauseous as the heroine's self-obsession. OK, it might be symptomatic of 'the modern condition' (as hoary old literary critics like to call it), but it's portrayed straight and with a repulsive degree of approval and sympathy - at least in the film (I haven't troubled myself with the book). Essentially, it's the difference between the cappucino-frothy neuroses of the characters in Candace Bushell's 'Sex In The City' and the knife-through-butter social satire of Bret Easton Ellis's 'American Psycho'. The latter avoids implicit approval or endorsement in favour of analysis and cold dissection - all is empty, meaningless, showy, superficial, trivial (which is why I cannot understand Ellis's praise for 'Sex In The City').
Perhaps this is all missing the point, though. While art should challenge, stimulate, arouse, incite, more often than not it placates and appeases. Of course people will continue to enjoy escapist and mawkish nonsense like 'Bridget Jones's Diary'. The need for such fictions isn't wholly created and constructed in the media, it does genuinely exist. But as James Joyce once opined: "Nature is quite unromantic. It is we who put romance into her, which is a false attitude, an egotism, absurd like all egotisms."
Christ, that was pompous, even for me. One final non-pompous observation: with 'Bridget Jones's Diary' Richard Curtis once again proves that everything he has touched since 'Blackadder' turns to bollocks.
In what very quickly came to seem an act of incredibly foolish masochism I proposed watching 'Bridget Jones's Diary' on Saturday night. "Well", I had reasoned, "know your enemy and all that." Sometimes I feel myself becoming rather too twisted and cynical, but this is just the sort of film that corroborates and revitalises that cynicism. Perhaps nothing is quite so excruciating and nauseous as the heroine's self-obsession. OK, it might be symptomatic of 'the modern condition' (as hoary old literary critics like to call it), but it's portrayed straight and with a repulsive degree of approval and sympathy - at least in the film (I haven't troubled myself with the book). Essentially, it's the difference between the cappucino-frothy neuroses of the characters in Candace Bushell's 'Sex In The City' and the knife-through-butter social satire of Bret Easton Ellis's 'American Psycho'. The latter avoids implicit approval or endorsement in favour of analysis and cold dissection - all is empty, meaningless, showy, superficial, trivial (which is why I cannot understand Ellis's praise for 'Sex In The City').
Perhaps this is all missing the point, though. While art should challenge, stimulate, arouse, incite, more often than not it placates and appeases. Of course people will continue to enjoy escapist and mawkish nonsense like 'Bridget Jones's Diary'. The need for such fictions isn't wholly created and constructed in the media, it does genuinely exist. But as James Joyce once opined: "Nature is quite unromantic. It is we who put romance into her, which is a false attitude, an egotism, absurd like all egotisms."
Christ, that was pompous, even for me. One final non-pompous observation: with 'Bridget Jones's Diary' Richard Curtis once again proves that everything he has touched since 'Blackadder' turns to bollocks.
The future's bright, the future's black and white
Congratulations to our very own Jermaine Jenas for garnering the plaudits of his fellow professionals and securing the PFA's Young Player of the Year award. Some of his performances this season have been outstanding, and despite the public clamour surrounding young Master Rooney, the award is I think justified. So, last year Bellamy, this year Jenas, next year - Ameobi? Ambrose? Chopra?
Congratulations to our very own Jermaine Jenas for garnering the plaudits of his fellow professionals and securing the PFA's Young Player of the Year award. Some of his performances this season have been outstanding, and despite the public clamour surrounding young Master Rooney, the award is I think justified. So, last year Bellamy, this year Jenas, next year - Ameobi? Ambrose? Chopra?
Goodbye, good riddance
It was with great pleasure that I listened to the joyous sound of Nolberto Solano shredding the script on Saturday afternoon, and inflicting a thirteenth successive defeat upon our delightful North-East neighbours Sunderland. The opportunity was there for those miserable Mackem bastards, already relegated, to urinate on our Champions' League chips from a great height, but thankfully owing to their woeful incompetence and complete lack of talent they couldn't manage it. Instead, we delivered a good hard kick to their particulars, ensuring that they will finish with the lowest ever points total since the Premiership began in 1992 and thus guaranteeing them an ignominious fate in which we can all delight. In fact, the only down side on an afternoon of many ups was the injury sustained by skipper Shearer, which rules him out for the rest of the season. We've got a replacement ready and raring to go, though, in the shape of Shola Ameobi, and we go into Saturday's home match with Birmingham knowing that a win will secure a Champions' League spot. It's in your hands, go out and grab it lads!
It was with great pleasure that I listened to the joyous sound of Nolberto Solano shredding the script on Saturday afternoon, and inflicting a thirteenth successive defeat upon our delightful North-East neighbours Sunderland. The opportunity was there for those miserable Mackem bastards, already relegated, to urinate on our Champions' League chips from a great height, but thankfully owing to their woeful incompetence and complete lack of talent they couldn't manage it. Instead, we delivered a good hard kick to their particulars, ensuring that they will finish with the lowest ever points total since the Premiership began in 1992 and thus guaranteeing them an ignominious fate in which we can all delight. In fact, the only down side on an afternoon of many ups was the injury sustained by skipper Shearer, which rules him out for the rest of the season. We've got a replacement ready and raring to go, though, in the shape of Shola Ameobi, and we go into Saturday's home match with Birmingham knowing that a win will secure a Champions' League spot. It's in your hands, go out and grab it lads!
Self-gratification
Oh HOW much do I love Will Self. There he was, on 'Newsnight Review', discussing Don DeLillo's new novel 'Cosmopolis' with Mark Lawson, Rosie Boycott and Mark Kermode, beginning a sentence with the words, "Speaking as a practising novelist - which is rather like claiming to speak as a practising onanist..." A fascinating insight into the creative process there, I think. I can just imagine the phone call from Self's publisher Penguin.
Penguin: "Will, we need another novel from you."
Self: "OK, don't worry, I'll just knock one off..."
Oh HOW much do I love Will Self. There he was, on 'Newsnight Review', discussing Don DeLillo's new novel 'Cosmopolis' with Mark Lawson, Rosie Boycott and Mark Kermode, beginning a sentence with the words, "Speaking as a practising novelist - which is rather like claiming to speak as a practising onanist..." A fascinating insight into the creative process there, I think. I can just imagine the phone call from Self's publisher Penguin.
Penguin: "Will, we need another novel from you."
Self: "OK, don't worry, I'll just knock one off..."
Friday, April 25, 2003
Quote of the day
...And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead's arch bullshitter Conrad Keely on the South By South West music festival, held in the band's hometown Austin, Texas:
"Some may like to hear a few words on SXSW. Well, here they are – it was fun. Others asked why we played this year, after denouncing it two years ago. To them I said, because we are hypocrites. Anyone who challenges me on this count, I dare to do so, and I will promptly deny everything I’ve said."
...And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead's arch bullshitter Conrad Keely on the South By South West music festival, held in the band's hometown Austin, Texas:
"Some may like to hear a few words on SXSW. Well, here they are – it was fun. Others asked why we played this year, after denouncing it two years ago. To them I said, because we are hypocrites. Anyone who challenges me on this count, I dare to do so, and I will promptly deny everything I’ve said."
Know Your Enemy #12
Conrad Keely, again, this time on The Dropkick Murphys whom ...Trail Of Dead encountered on their winter tour of Australia:
"There was even a very fun bit of backstage drama involving us and the Dropkick Murphys which is probably too petty to even get into, but needless to say, those guys are really true scholars – true, learned philosophers, real upholders of the traditions of equality, liberty and freedom of expression. When all is said and done, I think history will remember the Dropkick Murphys as bastions of enlightenment and intelligence. In a world fraught with strife and war, its good to know there are such kind, peace-loving apes as the Dropkick Murphys. I want to give a big "Sieg Hiel" to them."
Conrad Keely, again, this time on The Dropkick Murphys whom ...Trail Of Dead encountered on their winter tour of Australia:
"There was even a very fun bit of backstage drama involving us and the Dropkick Murphys which is probably too petty to even get into, but needless to say, those guys are really true scholars – true, learned philosophers, real upholders of the traditions of equality, liberty and freedom of expression. When all is said and done, I think history will remember the Dropkick Murphys as bastions of enlightenment and intelligence. In a world fraught with strife and war, its good to know there are such kind, peace-loving apes as the Dropkick Murphys. I want to give a big "Sieg Hiel" to them."
Thursday, April 24, 2003
Music Sounds Better With You #3
Apologies - this wasn't meant to turn into an occasional series, I've just been slack and not kept up with the regular postings. So, tio recap, we've had 'Ring Ring' by Abba and 'Hey Jude' by The Beatles. Next up it's...
'Paradise City' - Guns 'N' Roses (1989)
Oh yes. Up until this point it had been mainstream pop stuff all the way, apart from perhaps Bon Jovi's Slippery When Wet (but we'll not talk about that...), but once I heard G 'N' R's mighty 1989 single and subsequently purchased Appetite For Destruction, The Rock had well and truly entered my life for the first time - and it has yet to leave. OK, so there are better cuts than this on the album ('Welcome To The Jungle', 'Sweet Child O' Mine' and, the best of the bunch, 'Rocket Queen'), but this is what inspired me to buy it in the first place. Appetite For Destruction was all about smack, whisky and women - lean and pretty darn mean. By the time of the messy Use Your Illusion double LP, it sounded as though Axl was floundering around in a blizzard of cocaine - waistbands were larger, egos were larger still, and the upshot was perhaps the most spectacularly pompous rock ballad ever, 'November Rain', weighing in at nine minutes in length and accompanied by a video boasting the iconic image of Slash playing his solo outside a white church in the middle of the desert. Overall, though, neither I nor II came close to Appetite For Destruction.
Which is why Axl sensibly decided to focus on that at last year's Leeds Festival headline gig. His rag-tag band of musical gypsies might have looked utterly unfamiliar to the audience and each other, but they didn't half dish out the classics with some gusto. Everyone was at least interested, and I mean EVERYONE. ...And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead cut their set short so they didn't miss the show, and the following night The Breeders' Kim Deal was excitedly asking her audience what it'd been like to witness the G 'N' R freakshow in the flesh. And, fittingly, as far as I remember 'Paradise City' signalled the end of a night that it felt I'd been waiting around 13 years for. Not to be forgotten in a hurry.
Inspired a love of: proper heavy rock and metal, Black Sabbath, Queens Of The Stone Age, Deftones, Fu Manchu, Led Zeppelin, Rage Against The Machine, Monster Magnet, Nebula, System Of A Down, Faith No More, Nine Inch Nails, Tool, Audioslave, Marilyn Manson
Apologies - this wasn't meant to turn into an occasional series, I've just been slack and not kept up with the regular postings. So, tio recap, we've had 'Ring Ring' by Abba and 'Hey Jude' by The Beatles. Next up it's...
'Paradise City' - Guns 'N' Roses (1989)
Oh yes. Up until this point it had been mainstream pop stuff all the way, apart from perhaps Bon Jovi's Slippery When Wet (but we'll not talk about that...), but once I heard G 'N' R's mighty 1989 single and subsequently purchased Appetite For Destruction, The Rock had well and truly entered my life for the first time - and it has yet to leave. OK, so there are better cuts than this on the album ('Welcome To The Jungle', 'Sweet Child O' Mine' and, the best of the bunch, 'Rocket Queen'), but this is what inspired me to buy it in the first place. Appetite For Destruction was all about smack, whisky and women - lean and pretty darn mean. By the time of the messy Use Your Illusion double LP, it sounded as though Axl was floundering around in a blizzard of cocaine - waistbands were larger, egos were larger still, and the upshot was perhaps the most spectacularly pompous rock ballad ever, 'November Rain', weighing in at nine minutes in length and accompanied by a video boasting the iconic image of Slash playing his solo outside a white church in the middle of the desert. Overall, though, neither I nor II came close to Appetite For Destruction.
Which is why Axl sensibly decided to focus on that at last year's Leeds Festival headline gig. His rag-tag band of musical gypsies might have looked utterly unfamiliar to the audience and each other, but they didn't half dish out the classics with some gusto. Everyone was at least interested, and I mean EVERYONE. ...And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead cut their set short so they didn't miss the show, and the following night The Breeders' Kim Deal was excitedly asking her audience what it'd been like to witness the G 'N' R freakshow in the flesh. And, fittingly, as far as I remember 'Paradise City' signalled the end of a night that it felt I'd been waiting around 13 years for. Not to be forgotten in a hurry.
Inspired a love of: proper heavy rock and metal, Black Sabbath, Queens Of The Stone Age, Deftones, Fu Manchu, Led Zeppelin, Rage Against The Machine, Monster Magnet, Nebula, System Of A Down, Faith No More, Nine Inch Nails, Tool, Audioslave, Marilyn Manson
Stairs not an option
Two more blogs to have caught my attention. Firstly, allow me to be about the thousandth person to say how much of an enjoyable read former-NME-journalist-back-when-it-was-good Ian Penman's blog The Pill Box is. Secondly, I have instantly warmed to Invisible Stranger, following his memoirs of being a dalek for the day. Great stuff.
(Thanks to old friends Troubled Diva and The Yes / No Interlude for alerting me to these two fine sites)
Two more blogs to have caught my attention. Firstly, allow me to be about the thousandth person to say how much of an enjoyable read former-NME-journalist-back-when-it-was-good Ian Penman's blog The Pill Box is. Secondly, I have instantly warmed to Invisible Stranger, following his memoirs of being a dalek for the day. Great stuff.
(Thanks to old friends Troubled Diva and The Yes / No Interlude for alerting me to these two fine sites)
"You ask me what you need / Hate is all you need"
What a "happy" coincidence. Just as I'm writing a review of Hate by The Delgados (which will hopefully be appearing shortly on the Stylus website), I discover that Olav has been quoting at length from the 18th century essayist William Hazlitt's piece 'On the Pleasure of Hating'. The Delgados song 'All You Need Is Hate' (the second single to be lifted from the album) is practically Olav's chosen passage set to music.
What a "happy" coincidence. Just as I'm writing a review of Hate by The Delgados (which will hopefully be appearing shortly on the Stylus website), I discover that Olav has been quoting at length from the 18th century essayist William Hazlitt's piece 'On the Pleasure of Hating'. The Delgados song 'All You Need Is Hate' (the second single to be lifted from the album) is practically Olav's chosen passage set to music.
"My best friend's husband fell in love with a King Charles spaniel"
Have I been being some kind of ostrich or something? How could I possibly not have known that 'Jerry Springer: The Opera' has been being performed for nearly two years? Or that Mr Stewart Lee was involved in the project? Judging by this article from The Independent, it's a work of satirical genius. Has anyone out there seen it?
Have I been being some kind of ostrich or something? How could I possibly not have known that 'Jerry Springer: The Opera' has been being performed for nearly two years? Or that Mr Stewart Lee was involved in the project? Judging by this article from The Independent, it's a work of satirical genius. Has anyone out there seen it?
Tuesday, April 22, 2003
Who needs the f***ing Osbournes?
I apologise in advance for the coarse nature of this anecdote...
Overheard at a friend's house on Saturday morning (let's call him A):
A: "Mam, I did a bad thing last night. I shagged that girl from work. Now she wants me to shag her over the boss's desk sometime this week."
Mother: "But A, that's a sackable offence!"
I apologise in advance for the coarse nature of this anecdote...
Overheard at a friend's house on Saturday morning (let's call him A):
A: "Mam, I did a bad thing last night. I shagged that girl from work. Now she wants me to shag her over the boss's desk sometime this week."
Mother: "But A, that's a sackable offence!"
Quote of the day
"I know that people will appreciate the darker direction I am taking. Hopefully it will appeal to those who still like their music to have little teeth."
Toyah Willcox on her new mini-album Velvet Lined Shell which - she claims - has been inspired by the likes of Mogwai, Nick Cave and Marilyn Manson. This, lest we forget, is the woman who is currently favourite to win the forthcoming second series of ITV1's 'I'm A Celebrity - Get Me Out Of Here'. Jesus H Christ.
(Thanks to No Rock 'N' Roll Fun for the link)
"I know that people will appreciate the darker direction I am taking. Hopefully it will appeal to those who still like their music to have little teeth."
Toyah Willcox on her new mini-album Velvet Lined Shell which - she claims - has been inspired by the likes of Mogwai, Nick Cave and Marilyn Manson. This, lest we forget, is the woman who is currently favourite to win the forthcoming second series of ITV1's 'I'm A Celebrity - Get Me Out Of Here'. Jesus H Christ.
(Thanks to No Rock 'N' Roll Fun for the link)
Blogwatch
Quite understandably, on Popjustice there has been much wailing, gnashing of teeth and wringing of hands at the news that S Club are bowing out of the big time. Follow the link to sign a book of condolence. Much of their stuff might have been synthetic musical candy floss, but 'Don't Stop Movin'' remains one of my all-time favourite pop singles - very close to perfection, and just the sort of thing that, like Sugababes and Kylie, preserves pop's good name in the face of tedious dirges from the likes of Westlife and One True Voice which amount to a serious smear campaign. Still, despite their demise it's not all doom and gloom chez Popjustice - S Club Juniors are being renamed S Club 8 and their new single 'Fool No More' "is better than anything the seniors have released since 'Reach', meaning that pop equilibrium is restored".
Meanwhile, over at Troubled Diva Towers Mike has interviewed himself about the humble beginnings of his blog and its subsequent blossoming into the colossus of the blogging world that it is today. This guy's dedication and devotion to the art of bloggery is truly phenomenal, which is why it is with some sadness that I read that he is downscaling his postings due to new pressures on his time. So, the sheer quantity may drop, but rest assured that the quality most certainly won't.
News from elsewhere: Dead Kenny paid his first ever visit to Nottingham this weekend to sup a few ales in Ye Olde Trip To Jerusalem and see Radio 4 at the Rescue Rooms - thank you very much, please call again!; Ethan has spent a day listening to nothing but rock operas - Tommy, Sgt Pepper's, The Wall, Ziggy Stardust; BirdMan has been composing a poem for MP George Galloway; and Anna has been eating far too much tuna and reflecting on the vast number of terms for a lady's breasts. Call me extremely puerile for a 25-year-old, but there's a sandwich shop just north of Newcastle city centre called Baps which never fails to raise a smile.
Quite understandably, on Popjustice there has been much wailing, gnashing of teeth and wringing of hands at the news that S Club are bowing out of the big time. Follow the link to sign a book of condolence. Much of their stuff might have been synthetic musical candy floss, but 'Don't Stop Movin'' remains one of my all-time favourite pop singles - very close to perfection, and just the sort of thing that, like Sugababes and Kylie, preserves pop's good name in the face of tedious dirges from the likes of Westlife and One True Voice which amount to a serious smear campaign. Still, despite their demise it's not all doom and gloom chez Popjustice - S Club Juniors are being renamed S Club 8 and their new single 'Fool No More' "is better than anything the seniors have released since 'Reach', meaning that pop equilibrium is restored".
Meanwhile, over at Troubled Diva Towers Mike has interviewed himself about the humble beginnings of his blog and its subsequent blossoming into the colossus of the blogging world that it is today. This guy's dedication and devotion to the art of bloggery is truly phenomenal, which is why it is with some sadness that I read that he is downscaling his postings due to new pressures on his time. So, the sheer quantity may drop, but rest assured that the quality most certainly won't.
News from elsewhere: Dead Kenny paid his first ever visit to Nottingham this weekend to sup a few ales in Ye Olde Trip To Jerusalem and see Radio 4 at the Rescue Rooms - thank you very much, please call again!; Ethan has spent a day listening to nothing but rock operas - Tommy, Sgt Pepper's, The Wall, Ziggy Stardust; BirdMan has been composing a poem for MP George Galloway; and Anna has been eating far too much tuna and reflecting on the vast number of terms for a lady's breasts. Call me extremely puerile for a 25-year-old, but there's a sandwich shop just north of Newcastle city centre called Baps which never fails to raise a smile.
The nerves they are a-jangling
More points dropped, this time against a side with precisely nothing whatsoever to play for. Even though we seem to have put in plenty of effort against Villa and performed better than in the previous three matches, at this stage of the season that's just not good enough. Now it's off down to the Dark Place next weekend for the Tyne-Wear derby. I've been saying all season how great it would be to send them down in front of their own fans - but in the event, given they're already relegated, the big boot is on the other foot and aimed squarely at our backside. They may have lost twelve games in a row, but they'd just LOVE to piss on our chips. Saturday afternoon will be rather tense.
More points dropped, this time against a side with precisely nothing whatsoever to play for. Even though we seem to have put in plenty of effort against Villa and performed better than in the previous three matches, at this stage of the season that's just not good enough. Now it's off down to the Dark Place next weekend for the Tyne-Wear derby. I've been saying all season how great it would be to send them down in front of their own fans - but in the event, given they're already relegated, the big boot is on the other foot and aimed squarely at our backside. They may have lost twelve games in a row, but they'd just LOVE to piss on our chips. Saturday afternoon will be rather tense.
Saturday, April 19, 2003
Take that (and censor it)!
Whatever you think of Robbie Williams - and I think he's an ego-driven Grade A prick - you have to admire (grudgingly) the fact that he's made two great visual statements. First there was the video for 'Rock DJ' - everyone given the pound of flesh they'd been demanding. And now there's 'Come Undone' - musically a tedious power ballady sort of thing, but lyrically self-lacerating and accompanied by images of depravity, debauchery and maggots.
Whatever you think of Robbie Williams - and I think he's an ego-driven Grade A prick - you have to admire (grudgingly) the fact that he's made two great visual statements. First there was the video for 'Rock DJ' - everyone given the pound of flesh they'd been demanding. And now there's 'Come Undone' - musically a tedious power ballady sort of thing, but lyrically self-lacerating and accompanied by images of depravity, debauchery and maggots.
A black mark for the White Stripes
In the recent NME interview with The White Stripes (which for me plumbed new depths - they clearly felt the need to run a feature on the band to coincide with the release of Elephant, but then cobbled together the most inane bunch of questions in an apparent attempt to both bore and bewilder Jack and Meg into silence), I was hugely disappointed to read the following quote from Mr White, when asked about his views on the war with Iraq:
"We're not really a political minded band, I don't think. It doesn't really seem like our realm, where we should have opinions - it's not going to do anybody any good if this says, 'The White Stripes are against the war', y'know? It doesn't mean any ... it's not our realm. We're musicians and songwriters and I'd rather not even bother with having an opinion about it."
Look Jack - all art is political, whether you like it or not. Now you might well be making the (perfectly valid) case that some "celebrities" have used the whole war issue as the means of levering themselves back into the public eye - but if you are, it's very poorly stated. It's a very short leap from this to the moronic Kelly Jones 'It's all about the music' mindset, and to go so far as to say that you'd "rather not even bother with having an opinion about it" beggars belief.
In the recent NME interview with The White Stripes (which for me plumbed new depths - they clearly felt the need to run a feature on the band to coincide with the release of Elephant, but then cobbled together the most inane bunch of questions in an apparent attempt to both bore and bewilder Jack and Meg into silence), I was hugely disappointed to read the following quote from Mr White, when asked about his views on the war with Iraq:
"We're not really a political minded band, I don't think. It doesn't really seem like our realm, where we should have opinions - it's not going to do anybody any good if this says, 'The White Stripes are against the war', y'know? It doesn't mean any ... it's not our realm. We're musicians and songwriters and I'd rather not even bother with having an opinion about it."
Look Jack - all art is political, whether you like it or not. Now you might well be making the (perfectly valid) case that some "celebrities" have used the whole war issue as the means of levering themselves back into the public eye - but if you are, it's very poorly stated. It's a very short leap from this to the moronic Kelly Jones 'It's all about the music' mindset, and to go so far as to say that you'd "rather not even bother with having an opinion about it" beggars belief.
Nightmare on Loftus Road
It's a familiar story. Team desperately trying to halt a slide down the table seeks three points to assuage any lingering relegation fears. And, right on cue, the Newcastle team bus rolls into town. Hands are duly rubbed and the necessary three points duly gleaned - on this occasion, in poetic fashion by former Newcastle player and lifelong fan Lee Clark. Why oh why are we so obliging? It's not as if we've got nothing to play for - three consecutive defeats have now left us far less certain of grabbing a Champions' League place than we were a few weeks back. In many ways, the result is even more disheartening than last week's mauling at the hands of Man Utd - at least then we could say they were on fire. Fulham, on the other hand, are hardly the sort of team we should be afraid of, if we are genuinely worthy of another season in "Europe's premier competition". Our position could have been much worse, had Chelsea not lost at Villa. As it is, though, it's time to WAKE UP and finish the job, starting on Monday afternoon.
It's a familiar story. Team desperately trying to halt a slide down the table seeks three points to assuage any lingering relegation fears. And, right on cue, the Newcastle team bus rolls into town. Hands are duly rubbed and the necessary three points duly gleaned - on this occasion, in poetic fashion by former Newcastle player and lifelong fan Lee Clark. Why oh why are we so obliging? It's not as if we've got nothing to play for - three consecutive defeats have now left us far less certain of grabbing a Champions' League place than we were a few weeks back. In many ways, the result is even more disheartening than last week's mauling at the hands of Man Utd - at least then we could say they were on fire. Fulham, on the other hand, are hardly the sort of team we should be afraid of, if we are genuinely worthy of another season in "Europe's premier competition". Our position could have been much worse, had Chelsea not lost at Villa. As it is, though, it's time to WAKE UP and finish the job, starting on Monday afternoon.
Feel good hits of the 19th April
1. 'The Light Before We Land' - The Delgados
2. 'Bandages' - Hot Hot Heat
3. 'Comforting Sounds' - Mew
4. 'Move Your Feet' - Junior Senior
5. 'Date With The Night' - Yeah Yeah Yeahs
6. 'Seven Nation Army' - The White Stripes
7. 'Fried My Little Brains' - The Kills
8. 'Heart Of Glass' - Blondie
9. 'Anchor' - Cave In
10. 'Paranoid' - Black Sabbath
1. 'The Light Before We Land' - The Delgados
2. 'Bandages' - Hot Hot Heat
3. 'Comforting Sounds' - Mew
4. 'Move Your Feet' - Junior Senior
5. 'Date With The Night' - Yeah Yeah Yeahs
6. 'Seven Nation Army' - The White Stripes
7. 'Fried My Little Brains' - The Kills
8. 'Heart Of Glass' - Blondie
9. 'Anchor' - Cave In
10. 'Paranoid' - Black Sabbath
Friday, April 18, 2003
Know Your Enemy
No Rock 'N' Roll Fun on the new Stereophonics single:
"Oh my. This isn't just poor by any system of analysis you wish to apply to it, it's shaming. If you remember the wrong turn the Primals took when they'd spent too long with their Black Crowes albums, imagine if a bunch of half-hearted pub rock chuggers turned up and tried to recreate the Rocks era of Primal Scream working from that blueprint alone, but with the injunction to make it sound a bit more blokey? Oh my, oh my. This has been a long time coming, and it just makes you wonder what the stuff they couldn't use sounds like. Oh my. Oh my."
No Rock 'N' Roll Fun on the new Stereophonics single:
"Oh my. This isn't just poor by any system of analysis you wish to apply to it, it's shaming. If you remember the wrong turn the Primals took when they'd spent too long with their Black Crowes albums, imagine if a bunch of half-hearted pub rock chuggers turned up and tried to recreate the Rocks era of Primal Scream working from that blueprint alone, but with the injunction to make it sound a bit more blokey? Oh my, oh my. This has been a long time coming, and it just makes you wonder what the stuff they couldn't use sounds like. Oh my. Oh my."
Quote(s) of the day
Will Self, from this interview (thanks to Olav for the link):
"The Dorian Grays of today are Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman. These are the celluloid imagoes who dominate not only Hollywood, not only the international entertainment network, but actually dominate the psyche of people in a very, very powerful way. They are the people whose images do not age. And therefore people take [them] to be as kind of totems of our culture's values."
"Books that have genuine longevity are always contentious and kicking against the pricks. Anything that is too in harmony with its time is very unlikely to be timeless."
Will Self, from this interview (thanks to Olav for the link):
"The Dorian Grays of today are Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman. These are the celluloid imagoes who dominate not only Hollywood, not only the international entertainment network, but actually dominate the psyche of people in a very, very powerful way. They are the people whose images do not age. And therefore people take [them] to be as kind of totems of our culture's values."
"Books that have genuine longevity are always contentious and kicking against the pricks. Anything that is too in harmony with its time is very unlikely to be timeless."
Wednesday, April 16, 2003
Music Sounds Better With You #2
'Hey Jude' - The Beatles (c.1988?)
Picture the scene: it's been one of those archetypal school discos (in our case, a joint one with the neighbouring girls' school) where boys and girls stand in opposite corners for most of the night, in mortal fear of one another, meeting only fleetingly in the middle of the room for Coke and Mars Bars. And yet this one song seems to have broken the ice, and got even the most shy and gawky squits to interact with the opposite sex (yes, I'm counting myself in that number). In the car on the way home, I mention the song - 'Hey Jude'. "Oh, The Beatles", says my dad. I am MORTIFIED. That's, like, from the 1960s, old, parent music - and definitely NOT cool.
Skip forward to September 1998, and my local pub. It's a leaving party for a friend who's about to join the Merchant Navy, everyone's joyously drunk, there's karaoke - and every single person in the place is bellowing out the "Na na na na" bit of 'Hey Jude' with nary a thought of pitch and tune. Some are standing on tables, some can barely stand at all, but everyone - including yours truly - has a beaming grin on their face. A fantastic song. How things change.
The Beatles inspired a love of bands and artists whose careers began or even began and ended before my passion for music was fully formed, and ensured a preparedness to eschew the NOW in favour of the ETERNAL every now and again - The Doors, Jimi Hendrix, David Bowie, The Ramones, Joy Division, Frank Sinatra, The Sex Pistols, The Clash, The Rolling Stones, The Beach Boys, Dexys Midnight Runners...
'Hey Jude' - The Beatles (c.1988?)
Picture the scene: it's been one of those archetypal school discos (in our case, a joint one with the neighbouring girls' school) where boys and girls stand in opposite corners for most of the night, in mortal fear of one another, meeting only fleetingly in the middle of the room for Coke and Mars Bars. And yet this one song seems to have broken the ice, and got even the most shy and gawky squits to interact with the opposite sex (yes, I'm counting myself in that number). In the car on the way home, I mention the song - 'Hey Jude'. "Oh, The Beatles", says my dad. I am MORTIFIED. That's, like, from the 1960s, old, parent music - and definitely NOT cool.
Skip forward to September 1998, and my local pub. It's a leaving party for a friend who's about to join the Merchant Navy, everyone's joyously drunk, there's karaoke - and every single person in the place is bellowing out the "Na na na na" bit of 'Hey Jude' with nary a thought of pitch and tune. Some are standing on tables, some can barely stand at all, but everyone - including yours truly - has a beaming grin on their face. A fantastic song. How things change.
The Beatles inspired a love of bands and artists whose careers began or even began and ended before my passion for music was fully formed, and ensured a preparedness to eschew the NOW in favour of the ETERNAL every now and again - The Doors, Jimi Hendrix, David Bowie, The Ramones, Joy Division, Frank Sinatra, The Sex Pistols, The Clash, The Rolling Stones, The Beach Boys, Dexys Midnight Runners...
Art attack
Today I paid my first visit to Baltic, the new centre for contemporary art on the Gateshead bank of the Tyne. The five-floored 'gallery' is so called because it's been converted from the old disused Baltic Flour Mill - and mighty impressive it is, too. Entry is free, and thankfully there's no pay-off for this season's corporate sponsors (Northern Rock) in the form of having their logo plastered all over the guide leaflets. Although two of the exhibitions (Chad McCail's "subversive" cartoon world populated by robots and zombies and 'The Cathedral', a photographic exhibition of work by four different artists centred on Durham Cathedral) left me rather cold, the exhibition of works by the Cobra group (artists from Copenhagen, Brussels and Amsterdam in the immediate post-war period) was worth seeing - a real riot of colours, vibrant and energetic canvasses, abstract but not clinically so. There was also a chance to see the latest Anthony Gormley project, 'Domain Field', in progress: along with a team of artists, he's been making plaster casts of 240 local volunteers in order to construct figures made of "welded steel bars forming a three-dimensional drawing in space".
Today I paid my first visit to Baltic, the new centre for contemporary art on the Gateshead bank of the Tyne. The five-floored 'gallery' is so called because it's been converted from the old disused Baltic Flour Mill - and mighty impressive it is, too. Entry is free, and thankfully there's no pay-off for this season's corporate sponsors (Northern Rock) in the form of having their logo plastered all over the guide leaflets. Although two of the exhibitions (Chad McCail's "subversive" cartoon world populated by robots and zombies and 'The Cathedral', a photographic exhibition of work by four different artists centred on Durham Cathedral) left me rather cold, the exhibition of works by the Cobra group (artists from Copenhagen, Brussels and Amsterdam in the immediate post-war period) was worth seeing - a real riot of colours, vibrant and energetic canvasses, abstract but not clinically so. There was also a chance to see the latest Anthony Gormley project, 'Domain Field', in progress: along with a team of artists, he's been making plaster casts of 240 local volunteers in order to construct figures made of "welded steel bars forming a three-dimensional drawing in space".
Secret pint
So, there I was, on Saturday night, in Edinburgh, taking advantage of Scotland's fantastically relaxed drinking laws in The World's End pub on The Royal Mile, having been treated to tales of torture and the supernatural on a late-night ghost walk, talking to a friend about how well Ian Rankin recreates that darker side of the city in his fiction, and about the fondness of Inspector Rebus (and his creator) for Glaswegian noiseniks Mogwai - when I realised that the stumpy hairy-faced gentleman sat at the neighbouring table indulging in a few pints and conversing animatedly about the Yeah Yeah Yeahs was none other than Mogwai's Stuart Braithwaite himself. Now, don't get me wrong - I love Mogwai, they've opened all kinds of doors for me. But when they decided to allow Levi's to use 'Summer' in an ad, it left a bit of a sour taste in my mouth, despite the fact that they said the money would help them to put out records on their own label. And when I noticed that Stuart was wearing a pair of pristine Levi's - well, it might sound very harsh, but all I could think of was Judas jangling his thirty pieces of silver in his pockets...
Your heroes always let you down.
Needless to say, I'll still be buying their new album (Happy Music For Happy People) though.
So, there I was, on Saturday night, in Edinburgh, taking advantage of Scotland's fantastically relaxed drinking laws in The World's End pub on The Royal Mile, having been treated to tales of torture and the supernatural on a late-night ghost walk, talking to a friend about how well Ian Rankin recreates that darker side of the city in his fiction, and about the fondness of Inspector Rebus (and his creator) for Glaswegian noiseniks Mogwai - when I realised that the stumpy hairy-faced gentleman sat at the neighbouring table indulging in a few pints and conversing animatedly about the Yeah Yeah Yeahs was none other than Mogwai's Stuart Braithwaite himself. Now, don't get me wrong - I love Mogwai, they've opened all kinds of doors for me. But when they decided to allow Levi's to use 'Summer' in an ad, it left a bit of a sour taste in my mouth, despite the fact that they said the money would help them to put out records on their own label. And when I noticed that Stuart was wearing a pair of pristine Levi's - well, it might sound very harsh, but all I could think of was Judas jangling his thirty pieces of silver in his pockets...
Your heroes always let you down.
Needless to say, I'll still be buying their new album (Happy Music For Happy People) though.
The devil's work
A mere four days after the event, I now just about feel capable of a vaguely measured response to our thrashing at home by those red wretches. I blame the wonderful regional daily The Journal for it all - after all, they did run a piece on Saturday about how Paul Scholes was "laughably" a fixture in the England side ahead of Kieron Dyer, and the article found its way onto the Man Utd dressing room wall. Result: they embarrassed us just as they themselves were embarrassed by Real Madrid in the week. Still, at least I can cling to two crumbs of consolation, one very real and the other a malevolent hope. Firstly, we stayed in third place, while Sunderland were relegated on the same afternoon. Secondly, there's just a chance that the title will all come down to goal difference, and I'm hoping and praying they lose it to Arsenal by one goal, the one they conceded to us right at the end of the match when they were dicking about like the arrogant tossers they are.
Rant over.
A mere four days after the event, I now just about feel capable of a vaguely measured response to our thrashing at home by those red wretches. I blame the wonderful regional daily The Journal for it all - after all, they did run a piece on Saturday about how Paul Scholes was "laughably" a fixture in the England side ahead of Kieron Dyer, and the article found its way onto the Man Utd dressing room wall. Result: they embarrassed us just as they themselves were embarrassed by Real Madrid in the week. Still, at least I can cling to two crumbs of consolation, one very real and the other a malevolent hope. Firstly, we stayed in third place, while Sunderland were relegated on the same afternoon. Secondly, there's just a chance that the title will all come down to goal difference, and I'm hoping and praying they lose it to Arsenal by one goal, the one they conceded to us right at the end of the match when they were dicking about like the arrogant tossers they are.
Rant over.
Thursday, April 10, 2003
Blogwatch
Congratulations to Alex, now married and pondering a return to playing music in a band.
In the light of the MC5's recent decision to "reform" for the sake of Levi's, Olav's article for Logo magazine on selling out is a particularly topical read.
If it's wry and astute commentary on events in Iraq that you're after, then look no further than Wherever You Are, where you can find Vaughan's observations on propaganda and on the popularity of T-shirts with the BBC correspondent Rageh Omaar's head on them.
On Deviated Septum Kevin has been writing admiringly about Pitchfork's rather critical review of the White Stripes latest opus Elephant, which, I gather, has ruffled a few feathers. I haven't availed myself of a copy of the album yet, so I can't pass judgement.
Thanks to Mike's inaugural BlogBuzz Chart, I've been introduced to three more excellent sites:
Low Culture
It's OK, It's Just Your Mind
Raised By Chaffinches
Only when you've checked them out will you realise quite how impoverished your existence was without them in your life.
Congratulations to Alex, now married and pondering a return to playing music in a band.
In the light of the MC5's recent decision to "reform" for the sake of Levi's, Olav's article for Logo magazine on selling out is a particularly topical read.
If it's wry and astute commentary on events in Iraq that you're after, then look no further than Wherever You Are, where you can find Vaughan's observations on propaganda and on the popularity of T-shirts with the BBC correspondent Rageh Omaar's head on them.
On Deviated Septum Kevin has been writing admiringly about Pitchfork's rather critical review of the White Stripes latest opus Elephant, which, I gather, has ruffled a few feathers. I haven't availed myself of a copy of the album yet, so I can't pass judgement.
Thanks to Mike's inaugural BlogBuzz Chart, I've been introduced to three more excellent sites:
Low Culture
It's OK, It's Just Your Mind
Raised By Chaffinches
Only when you've checked them out will you realise quite how impoverished your existence was without them in your life.
Wednesday, April 09, 2003
Tuesday, April 08, 2003
Music Sounds Better With You #1
Now I get the chance to redeem myself. Following on from the last music-centred series, Criminal Records, comes Music Sounds Better With You. Over the next few days I'll be revealing the songs in my record collection that have irreversibly shaped my tastes and exerted the most influence over my listening habits. As you might well imagine, whittling this list down to just ten has not been at all easy. The idea is to progress from earliest to most recent, the songs being dated to the time when they first entered my life.
So, to kick us off...
'Ring Ring' - Abba (c.1983? 1984?)
How this could be left off the first Abba Gold album I really don't know. Collectively Frida Lyngstad, Benny Andersson, Bjorn Ulvaeus and Agnetha Faltskog made pop music the unstoppable cultural juggernaut it is today, and from the moment I heard this track (along with the likes of 'Dancing Queen', 'Mamma Mia' and Sweden's winning entry in the 1974 Eurovision Song Contest, 'Waterloo') I was smitten. My parents had (and, I think, still have) the original Singles collection in the fantastic double LP format, and I recall listening to 'Ring Ring' so many times that it was a miracle the groove didn't wear through. There never has been and I don't think there ever will be a band that does joyously ebullient pop better than this.
Inspired a love of: Bananarama, early Pet Shop Boys, Wham!, early Madonna, much 80s pop
Inspired a general tolerance of (despite occasional attempts to affect the musical elitist's sneeringly superior tone): most mainstream pop
Now I get the chance to redeem myself. Following on from the last music-centred series, Criminal Records, comes Music Sounds Better With You. Over the next few days I'll be revealing the songs in my record collection that have irreversibly shaped my tastes and exerted the most influence over my listening habits. As you might well imagine, whittling this list down to just ten has not been at all easy. The idea is to progress from earliest to most recent, the songs being dated to the time when they first entered my life.
So, to kick us off...
'Ring Ring' - Abba (c.1983? 1984?)
How this could be left off the first Abba Gold album I really don't know. Collectively Frida Lyngstad, Benny Andersson, Bjorn Ulvaeus and Agnetha Faltskog made pop music the unstoppable cultural juggernaut it is today, and from the moment I heard this track (along with the likes of 'Dancing Queen', 'Mamma Mia' and Sweden's winning entry in the 1974 Eurovision Song Contest, 'Waterloo') I was smitten. My parents had (and, I think, still have) the original Singles collection in the fantastic double LP format, and I recall listening to 'Ring Ring' so many times that it was a miracle the groove didn't wear through. There never has been and I don't think there ever will be a band that does joyously ebullient pop better than this.
Inspired a love of: Bananarama, early Pet Shop Boys, Wham!, early Madonna, much 80s pop
Inspired a general tolerance of (despite occasional attempts to affect the musical elitist's sneeringly superior tone): most mainstream pop
Title bid comes unstuck
(Imagine me writing this post with gritted teeth and veins bulging in my forehead...)
Sunday's game against Everton was always going to be tough, but, given other results, one we really couldn't afford to lose. Enter the wonderful Neale Barry, right on cue, to FUCK US ROYALLY UP THE ARSE. Woodgate and Bramble had excellent games, while our forward play merited at least a point - and yet all we were left with was staggering injustice, gross incompetence and a prostrate Olivier Bernard. There's no doubt at all that we have the spirit to dust ourselves down and the ability to go out and beat Man Utd and their horse-faced talisman at St James's on Saturday - but, thanks to Mr Barry, it's all the more vital now that we do just that.
(Imagine me writing this post with gritted teeth and veins bulging in my forehead...)
Sunday's game against Everton was always going to be tough, but, given other results, one we really couldn't afford to lose. Enter the wonderful Neale Barry, right on cue, to FUCK US ROYALLY UP THE ARSE. Woodgate and Bramble had excellent games, while our forward play merited at least a point - and yet all we were left with was staggering injustice, gross incompetence and a prostrate Olivier Bernard. There's no doubt at all that we have the spirit to dust ourselves down and the ability to go out and beat Man Utd and their horse-faced talisman at St James's on Saturday - but, thanks to Mr Barry, it's all the more vital now that we do just that.
Friday, April 04, 2003
Thursday, April 03, 2003
Know Your Enemy #10
Russian anarchist Mikhail Bakhunin on organised religion, from his book 'God And The State' (1882):
"All religions are cruel, all founded on blood; for all rest principally on the idea of sacrifice - that is, on the perpetual immolation of humanity to the insatiable vengeance of divinity."
Russian anarchist Mikhail Bakhunin on organised religion, from his book 'God And The State' (1882):
"All religions are cruel, all founded on blood; for all rest principally on the idea of sacrifice - that is, on the perpetual immolation of humanity to the insatiable vengeance of divinity."
Quote of the day
Not entirely sure how this gem from last week's NME evaded my attention first time around...
"We want to be the radio version of what The Sun newspaper would do. We are not going to be saying, 'This is our opinion, get behind it'. We are going to reflect the mood of the nation."
Yes, Virgin Radio's Programming Director Paul Jackson really did say that, in relation to his station's policy of record censorship during the Iraq conflict. He's not got a very good grasp of the way The Sun works, has he? Anyway, a radio version of The Sun doesn't bear thinking about - the numbskull bluster of Richard Littlejohn beamed directly into your earhole. Ugh.
Not entirely sure how this gem from last week's NME evaded my attention first time around...
"We want to be the radio version of what The Sun newspaper would do. We are not going to be saying, 'This is our opinion, get behind it'. We are going to reflect the mood of the nation."
Yes, Virgin Radio's Programming Director Paul Jackson really did say that, in relation to his station's policy of record censorship during the Iraq conflict. He's not got a very good grasp of the way The Sun works, has he? Anyway, a radio version of The Sun doesn't bear thinking about - the numbskull bluster of Richard Littlejohn beamed directly into your earhole. Ugh.
Wednesday, April 02, 2003
Ignorance: bliss?
As a blogger who has not yet heard anything from Radiohead's Hail To The Thief, I feel in the overwhelming minority. Ah, the joys of being a technophobe with an almost complete lack of knowledge of MP3s! At least I've managed to secure a Glasto ticket via a friend, so I'll be able to hear the material in what is still far and away the best format - live.
As a blogger who has not yet heard anything from Radiohead's Hail To The Thief, I feel in the overwhelming minority. Ah, the joys of being a technophobe with an almost complete lack of knowledge of MP3s! At least I've managed to secure a Glasto ticket via a friend, so I'll be able to hear the material in what is still far and away the best format - live.
Blogwatch
What's caught my eye in the past few days...
"Is a record you love on first listen necessarily more shallow and of lesser quality than a record you have to warm up with, you have to force yourself to listen to in the beginning to appreciate?" That's the question recently posed over on Close Your Eyes.
The Glastonbury ticket sell-out has inspired reminiscences of heinous tent thievery from Vodkabird. Back in 2000, a friend of mine had his mobile phone and wallet nicked from under the pillow he was sleeping on...
Anna has shared details of her weekend trip to Manchester - a city sadly lacking in establishments which sell the beer of the gods, Hoegaarden. She also has one or two strong words for entrepreneurial gnome and jumper fetishist Richard Branson, whose Virgin Train service proved somewhat less than satisfactory.
Something to look forward to: over the next few days / weeks / months Nate will be posting his 100 Favourite Singles Ever. Lists, glorious lists!
... and finally - congratulations and best wishes to Alex, who, in a mere matter of days, will be a married man.
What's caught my eye in the past few days...
"Is a record you love on first listen necessarily more shallow and of lesser quality than a record you have to warm up with, you have to force yourself to listen to in the beginning to appreciate?" That's the question recently posed over on Close Your Eyes.
The Glastonbury ticket sell-out has inspired reminiscences of heinous tent thievery from Vodkabird. Back in 2000, a friend of mine had his mobile phone and wallet nicked from under the pillow he was sleeping on...
Anna has shared details of her weekend trip to Manchester - a city sadly lacking in establishments which sell the beer of the gods, Hoegaarden. She also has one or two strong words for entrepreneurial gnome and jumper fetishist Richard Branson, whose Virgin Train service proved somewhat less than satisfactory.
Something to look forward to: over the next few days / weeks / months Nate will be posting his 100 Favourite Singles Ever. Lists, glorious lists!
... and finally - congratulations and best wishes to Alex, who, in a mere matter of days, will be a married man.
Quote of the day
From The Fly's interview with Tom McRae:
"'Cynicism only gets you so far. It's like irony: after a while it's no good because you've still got to get up the next day. There's no point sneering and saying it's all shit.'
He pauses to collect his thoughts. It's ALL shit?
'Of course it is. But get up and do it anyway. Face it. I like the idea of the challenge of trying to find the hope, being cynical and reigning it in. Saying that it's all shit isn't going to get us anywhere. We've got to be on a journey to somewhere better in our lives, otherwise it's just...' Tom's eyes glide upwards and around the room '...this.'"
From The Fly's interview with Tom McRae:
"'Cynicism only gets you so far. It's like irony: after a while it's no good because you've still got to get up the next day. There's no point sneering and saying it's all shit.'
He pauses to collect his thoughts. It's ALL shit?
'Of course it is. But get up and do it anyway. Face it. I like the idea of the challenge of trying to find the hope, being cynical and reigning it in. Saying that it's all shit isn't going to get us anywhere. We've got to be on a journey to somewhere better in our lives, otherwise it's just...' Tom's eyes glide upwards and around the room '...this.'"
Tuesday, April 01, 2003
Know Your Enemy #9
H G Wells reviewing James Joyce's novel 'A Portrait Of The Artist As A Young Man' in 'The Nation', 24th Feb 1917:
"Like Swift and another living Irish writer, Mr Joyce has a cloacal obsession. He would bring back into the general picture of life aspects which modern drainage and modern decorum have taken out of ordinary intercourse and conversation."
H G Wells reviewing James Joyce's novel 'A Portrait Of The Artist As A Young Man' in 'The Nation', 24th Feb 1917:
"Like Swift and another living Irish writer, Mr Joyce has a cloacal obsession. He would bring back into the general picture of life aspects which modern drainage and modern decorum have taken out of ordinary intercourse and conversation."
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