The Solution?

After my rants regarding the world creative, independent artists have to be in if they play music, i have been thinking, and thinking about how I could possibly move forward.

With NCF, i felt the pressure of admirers not to disappoint, the pressure from myself to show an amount of continuity in aesthetic, quality, genre and more, and not just from release to release but from song to song. There is too, the issue of 'dropping the ball' with regards to being in the public eye. If you are out of action for twelve months writing, the press and 'the kids' will probably have moved on. 

I've never been one to flog my wares for two or three years on end... touring one release until you force the issue on the masses, record labels etc. My creative attention span seems to be a a lot shorter than this trend. Modern answers to this? Side projects, singles versus albums etc. But it still exists in this environment which is controlled by scenesters, PR people, booking agents, labels, 'journalists,' and more bullshit people NOT actually doing the creative bit. If you are out of favour with some of these people, things can be very difficult. I'd also like to make the point, not all people that move in the mentioned professions are evil, some are the loveliest, most genuine and hard working people on earth ;-).

AAAAnnnny way.. I have decided that in future, I want as little to do with this world as possible. There must be another way right? The guys and gals which I live with have all got similar sentiments to me, we're all at the beginning of one career or another, but we're all still punk rockers... and we've been trying to work out a way of forging a creative outlet for ourselves in this age of blogs, internet socialness and a press in the UK that is as bullshit as it is today.

I don't want to be touring one EP in one band for two years... MAYBE getting some interest from a large UK indie.. supporting some lame US bands on some badly organised tours.... like I said, my attention span has already grown weary of this routine. I want to do my new band Jealous Again, I want to release some new NCF songs, I want to follow up the two or three other projects I have started in this last twelve months, And I want them all realised in way that justifies the creative work I put in... Recorded presentations, Collaborations with Artists for aesthetics, possible Live presentation of the material, where, when, with whom, how often, and most importantly, WHY?

I don't want to be tied to a 'Band,' I want to begin and finish projects, in much the same way an artist would. Writing, Recording, Ideas, Design, Production, Realization, Limited amounts of final product, to be sold as a piece art. Not a disposable download, not something thats here today, gone tomorrow... musicians put SO much time and effort in to writing and recording, the finished product should be EXACTLY how we want it, down to the paper the sleeves are printed on, the weight of the vinyl, and the price that is charged for the piece. Does this means paying more? probably yes. Does it means the customer is getting ripped off? FUCK no... people buy Screen Prints at ATP with band names on for upwards of £60 but don't want to pay a fair price for the music itself? weird. 

I understand it though, who cares about mass produced, cheap CDs you can get in tesco, HMV or downloads for free?? But music projects, created, recorded, printed, limited, collaborative works with artists, limited and numbered... thats a different kettle of fish altogether right?

The Don't Look Back projects from ATP have inspired me no end... I saw Sonic Youth's Daydream Nation at the Roundhouse in Camden last year, and i thought, why didnt NCF just do that from the beginning? We forced ourselves into playing a set made up from parts of Dungeness and Black Ballads because we were in an environment where we had to entertain people. What I want to do is present my new work to people, not perform like a monkey while they get fucked and couldn't give a shit until we play Transgression. Bands at our level dont have choice over environment in which they perform, how much it is to see it, and to some extent have pressure on them to use content in which will keep 'customers' entertained as opposed to people seeing a creative presentation.

These ideas, along with ideas about visual arts, exhibitions, and all sorts of creative projects are starting to take shape in my mind, and about a few of us might be able to execute accomplished projects from all different creative avenues. Keep an ear to the ground! 

Whats this?

Old Hardcore Kids get proper stressful jobs? better move to the seaside together and write some bitchin tunes then eh? 

The Entire 80s are back???

Well, the entire spectrum of 80s guitar rock seems to be enjoying a Renaissance this year, and I must admit, Sub Pop seems to be getting in there with the two key sounds.

Groups like Foals, Vampire Weekend et al have released excellent albums this year, with production informed by some really mainstream production styles of that era. 'Antidotes' by Foals really reminds me of one of the mid-period New Order records, or Sumners' Electronic album. It has real 80's sheen, an almost campness about it, with the off beat, jumpy brass, almost ska guitar, yet what Dave Sitek has achieved is a sense of real modernist 'muscle' behind this. I think its got something to do with the excellent drum recording, which is thumping and more aggressive than anything I've seen the band pull off live. Its a nod to Sitek's own TV On The Radio i reckon, and no bad thing, as its really using contextual influences with new ideas.

Vampire Weekend, too have pulled something that could have come from of course, everyones favourite lazy comparison of the month, Graceland, but when i play this record, it reminds me of being driven around by my dad, pumping Little Creatures by Talking Heads. The result of transferring this bands sense of middle class, college boy art rock to digital format is just excellent. Again, totally fresh, yet steeped in its history. 

Next up is Sup Pop's 20th anniversary slap on the back session that is Pissed Jeans, No Wave, and next up Oxford Collapse. Post Hardcore at its most natural and very best. These bands are what happens to HC kids when they REALLY grow up, and not just get a taste for NME or Kerrang! limelight and jump ship. I don't want to talk too much about what's happening right now in Post Hardcore, but its warming my heart, thats for sure. Its giving me new confidence in the choices I am making Post November Coming Fire as to where Jealous Again should be going. The next year is going to be intersting!

The Ultimate Format?

After studying Marketing in Music, and being in a band that wrangled with the ugly music industry myself, i think I'm one of thousands that could see this happening, and it's a pleasure to witness true musical evolution that makes such good sense for ease of use, quality, sentimentality and the collector factor in us. Goodbye CDs, and fuck you for wasting 20 years!

http://blog.wired.com/music/2007/05/lpmp3_the_ultim.html

Listen to...

Jesse Sykes and the Sweet Hereafter - 'Reckless Burning'

I got this about four or five years ago whey i was going through my dark Alt Country phase, along with The Handsome Family, Damien Jurado and Grey Delisle. After hering her perform so astoundingly on the Sunn0)))/Boris CD, I dug this LP out and it's amazing, so fragile, stripped and although completly steeped in it's context, sounds so fresh.

Just got to pick up the new one on Southern Lord now!


http://www.jessesykes.com/

Term 5

You Love this, so much



Music and the Summer.

Today, while supervising my 6th form students in study time, I was rocking ‘Everything all the Time’ by Band Of Horses. This is a record I totally rinsed this time last year just before my trip to ATP to see their first UK show. There was a bunch of other stuff going on in my life at that time, and it’s been one of those situations where the sound of a record brings back memories, feelings, and an almost subconscious awareness of how it felt to be me a year ago.

It’s an age old observation, but one I’ve always been fascinated with, records that become fused to times, places, events and emotions in our own lives. Around the same time, I was hammering ‘We Were Dead Before The Ship Even Sank,’ by Modest Mouse, ‘Nebraska’ by Springsteen, The last Micah P Hinson full length, and they have become inherent to that period in my life; to the point where I lost interest and stopped playing them, and when I did spin them, they bored me, but today, something struck that chord that brought it all back… maybe the break was what I needed? Maybe I merely needed to detach myself from the events that shaped me a year ago?

The records are always part of an emotionally and mentally turbulent time it seems too; Break Ups, Falling in Love, the loss of a loved one, stressful and transitional times at work or while studying, and this really blows my mind. It seems as if our minds, senses and memory functions are working over time at these points to significantly remember trivial things that accompanied the events. Why?

I tend to find that I learn the most when I’m passionate about something, be it positively or negatively, willing or not; I take the most on the long run, from situations that make me address my conduct, my life, my efforts, my relationships and the things that continue to help me move forward.

Does the soundtrack to these events help us to remember? Does is put emphasis on the important times? Does it help us be philosophical, logical and objective? Does it merely remind us to be so?

Whatever really, whether it’s Band of Horses, The Smiths, Azure Ray or Old Man Gloom, they are truly that records that have helped define and emphasize memorable points in my life, as well as kick the massive ass. Amazing.

Easter Holiday

I spent last week in Leeds for my girlfriends birthday. For the ridiculously long drive there, I made some new CDRs as my iPod FM Broadcast thing is shit. I got a copy of the new Kills record Midnight Boom, Which i was pretty excited about as the previous two albums were wicked nice. I love the way the new record sounds, it has this thickness that the last two records have almost hinted at, but never really achieved. The new drum machines sound thuddy and dry, which sound good as fuck on my home system, but my poor 106 speakers were just breaking up at a mid volume. The bass tones reminds me of an attempt at some weird 70s or 80s disco or dance effect, and this idea seems to be carried through on some of alison's vocals, with the duel takes and hollow reverbs... The guitars, are, as ever, the star of the show. Jamie's attention to tone is second to none, its the main reason I love this band so much. His regular disgusting down tuned riffs are, as time goes on, losing the blues, and at points, he drowns them in revolting old flangers, chrous and all other manor of effects he can turn up to ten...  This record is definitely not about being subtle.. and thats a good thing... but do the songs justify the destroying recording? Well I like the songs, sure, but i get the feeling they are not going to last with me as long as the songs from 'Keep On Your Mean Side,' a record still heavily rotated, more so than 'No Wow.'

With the loss of the blues element in every song, the bulk of the album seems to be reasonably run by the book of sleazy, 80's influenced rock/pop(See Black Balloon and Hook and Line), 'Cheap And Cheerful' and 'Getting Down' are notable exceptions, and clear stand out tracks here. 

I also had a copy of the new Goldfrapp record. Its a pile of shit, folk tinged or not, massive wank.

And upon my return last night, Burrows played me the new Sebastian track 'Motor' FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCK!!!!!!!!!!! 

Also been spinning Dave Hanks various tracks from his various projects... Both Whistle and Star Power are outlets that demonstrate him as not only a stunning song writer, but something of a clever bastard in the recording department. Both guises sound straight from the mid sixties, for fans of Donovan(Whistle) or The Kinks(Star Power), almost, a rock and folk split personality, and its his keen ear for recording techniques that dazzle, pop sheen, bright tones, bass cuts... love it. These tracks would suit most Anderson influenced visual work you could find this year..... Miss this hidden gem at your peril!