Quote of the day

"I've talked to a lot of people that are afraid to learn about theory because they're afraid it's going to hinder their composition. Well, I think it's an idiotic thing to say - it can only enhance it. Anybody who's listened to Mozart knows his music is full of passion and feeling, and it was not hindered by the fact that he knew about harmony. People are just afraid, and it's a stupid thing - it's an old tradition that came out of punk rock and the anti-intellectualism of rock 'n' roll itself. I hope that we get over it, because there is so much to learn about music. Emotion and feeling are essential parts of it, but understanding the depth of composition goes far beyond just playing three chords".

...And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead's Conrad Keely is full of surprises, isn't he?

He was speaking in an interview with The Fly, but unfortunately it's one of those self-indulgent pieces stuffed full of whining complaints from the author that the band were surly and uncommunicative. BORING BORING BORING.

For what it's worth, myself and He Who Cannot Be Named found them a bit awkward when we interviewed them for the Nottingham Trent newspaper Platform back in 2000, but Keely and Jason Reece had plenty to say for themselves then. They certainly caused us less consternation than Six By Seven, whose frontman Chris Olley took a dislike to my companion's line of questioning, and Arab Strap duo Aidan Moffat and Malcolm Middleton, who were pished beyond belief and wildly unpredictable.

My copy of the new ...Trail Of Dead LP Worlds Apart should be dropping through my letterbox any day now, along with Low's The Great Destroyer and last year's Six By Seven album - can't wait.