Music Features and Interviews with Bands, Musicians, Djs and Solo Artists.

Rapture & Verse #11

Clash Music — Tue, 22 May 2012 09:48:27 -0500

Damn you writer’s block, stifling any attempt at a memorable introduction to get things under way. Another piece of paper screwed up and headed towards the bin...what’s that though...Grand Slam grunter Serena Williams has released a hip-hop track? And subsequently has shown true rapper heritage by getting annoyed at having it leaked online? You couldn’t make it up, and that, ladies and gentleman, is this month’s introduction written. Keep on with those volleys and chop-shots Serena.

Wanna watch a mid 80s hip-hop documentary overseen by an impossibly-named, Dutch Jarvis Cocker-lookalike? Of course you do. All jokes aside, Bram van Splunteren’s ‘Big Fun in the Big Town’ has been stumbled upon having been presumed AWOL for decades, and brought back to the masses with some fantastic Q&A footage of LL Cool J, Schooly D, Russell Simmons and Run DMC. Getting the absolute feel of hip-hop preparing to take over the world while still breeding from a crack-gripped concrete jungle and with a nice nascent naivety to it as well (the hopefuls freestyling outside of the Def Jam offices, just on the off chance), it’s essential viewing for nostalgics or those with just time to kill.

Now with extra dubstep tear-ups involving True Tiger, Sukh Knight, Bok Bok and Rack n Ruin, and Baobinga and Zed Bias bringing jump-up bass, Riz MC’s ‘MICroscope’ nips back into a deluxe format and stays provocative. Still showing there’s room for the funkiest of funk breaks to get the job done (that means it’s ‘Apache’ time), the reliable and widely respected pro Marc Mac follows ‘Dirty Old Hip-Hop’ with ‘Hipology’, his Visioneers project a head-smoothing masterclass with added jazz suaveness and lazy day beats and rhymes. Jehst jumps on Seb Roachford’s ‘Seven Nine Zulu’, a grim banger with a tribal remix posing the ominous threat of wearing “the Elmer Fudd hat, cooking rabbit stew”, and Just P’s ‘Just Call Me P’ is 60 minutes of free show-n-prove and unceremonious life lessons in a cloudy gravel of North London discontent.

Punchline king and former Megahertz/Eastern Conference battler Copywrite is back. Though the amount of hook-ups throughout ‘God Save the King’ is like he’s only discovered Instant Messenger until recently - Royce da 5’9” Killah Priest, Evidence are for the Stars and Stripes, Iron Braydz, Genesis Elijah, Melanin 9, Akala and Jaguar Skillz are on the UK end of the collect call – it packs more punch than a suitcase full of seaside puppets, if done as a patchwork-network. Copy torches all and sundry as soon as the mic’s switched on but with presence of mind to keep his open, and covering Dire Straits’ ‘Money for Nothing’ doesn’t bring the horrific reaction you’re expecting.

Rumour is Raekwon and Nas are planning a double-up that could well make heads explode if it ever sees light of day, but with nothing in concrete for now, enjoy the Chef’s teaming with LEP Bogus Boys for a coke cookery show instead. Never forget that Wu-Tang is for the children, and Young Dirty Bastard is doing his best to show that the apple doesn’t fall from the tree. The supreme title of ‘Women Are the New Dogs’ is not the latest Jeremy Kyle special, but Saigon’s case for gender equality. Talib Kweli and Res are Idle Warship, doing a hip-hop-soul-pop thing with this vid directed by RA the Rugged Man – surprises all round then.

LA’s Radioactive embarks on a cultural criss-cross with ‘The Akashic Record’, a bubbly excursion with the bumpiness of a camper van hitting desert speed bumps, topped up with a doo-wop diss record coming straight out the playground. Seattle’s social media favourite Grieves, the assured rhymer putting fingers to lips, is one of the Rhymesayers breed handling themselves with dignity and confidence while covering a cracked, complex soul. Slug and Ant fans should probably find space on their playlist for ‘Together/Apart’. Rhymesayers also have Brother Ali prepping a new full-length – get a heads-up here, while over in the D, House Shoes’ ‘The Time’ EP is eight tracks of Detroit kick-backs and dusty drum beatings in the area’s best traditions, ahead of LP ‘Let It Go’.

Mouse-clickers and joint rollers, you may think all your munchies attacks have come at once; the LRG-sponsored ‘4:20 The Classics’ has Statik Selektah spinning an hour’s worth of THC treats, lit up by Luniz, Jay-Z, Red & Meth, Cypress Hill, Pharcyde and stacks more Mary Jane puff-puff-passers. Rubbish concept, great mix. Showbiz and AG, with DJ Premier in tow, fire off ‘Mugshot Music: Preloaded’, a freebie before the album main event and a creditable set from the DITC veterans getting by with plenty of strong armed tactics not exactly playing poster boys for the grown man movement, with a well done twist on the whole history of hip-hop thing on ‘The Bond’. Just time as well to mention Roach Gigz’ piping hot mixtape giveaway ‘Hot Air Balloons and Cinnamon Sticks', and Sixo’s woozily tidy left-fielder ‘Free Floating Rationales’.

Finally, the death of Beastie Boys’ Adam ‘MCA’ Yauch was met with a slew of deserving musical tributes, many of which you can YouTube, from Coldplay to Jay-Z. Just prior, the trio were inducted to the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame, with a commemorative Mick Boogie ‘Grand Royal’ mixtape showing MCA at the apex of his artistry. Hunt it down post haste.

Words by Matt Oliver

Time Team: Slugabed

Clash Music — Tue, 22 May 2012 06:41:28 -0500

Taking an industrial sized canister of Mr Sheen to what sounds like an infinite bank of synths means Greg Feldwick is now sailing on the impossibly lustrous dreamboat of electro/rave, having done the dirty work of glitch and bass pulled from pillar to post. After a graduation from no less imprints than Donky Pitch, Planet Mu and Ramp, and after four EPs for new employers Ninja Tune (including one cheeky Busta Rhymes bootleg), his debut album ‘Time Team’ (yes yes, all those at the back making remarks about Channel 4 and Baldrick, please stop) looks backwards as much as it goes forwards. Yet it’s completely perfect for ‘now’, entering that fast-expanding category of bass music where bottom ends found themselves secondary. While there’s the odd revisit to crunches past (‘Moonbeam Rider’), the vapour emissions and stereoscopic headswims perform an enthralling hyper-jitterbug.

As Slugabed tells Clash, his spring clean is not a matter of latching onto fads or trends, but more ‘Time Team’ catching him in a particular mood, while he goes on to discuss the enjoyment of working in solitude, time management and...er...sinus issues.

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For someone who may have been sleeping, you’ve switched from the pretty grotty sounds of ‘Donky Stomp’ to a cleaner, more luminous style; fair comment?
“I think for the album I wanted to do something more heartfelt, a bit more...if it was an LP of all intense stuff like that it might get a bit trying on the ears. I’ve become more comfortable in wanting to create slightly more atmospheric music. I think it’s definitely fair comment to say that...maybe I’ve toned it down a bit, not in the sense of creativity or anything like that, just a bit less trying to put out the most intense shit I can.”

The balance between ‘dirty’ and ‘clean’ sounds – is one easier to make than the other?
“It’s not something I really think about, it’s more like what mood you’re in when you write the music, just what you’re feeling at the time. For the album it wasn’t like I made a real conscious effort to make slightly more uplifting kind of music, it was just...I was feeling nice feelings and was excited about making the album.”

So you didn’t become a daydreamer before executing ideas? ‘Time Team’ sounds like a computerised fantasy...
“It wasn’t like I had to, it was just where I was at the time I was writing it. I guess it’s a kinda honest reflection of how I was feeling and the vibe I was on when I was doing it.”

Are you able to put a percentage on what’s futuristic and what’s retro on the album? Or is the scene as such that you can’t tell whether it’s nostalgic or visionary?
“That’s a tough one actually...listening back to the album I’d like to say it’s 100% new. There are definitely big elements of drawing from the past...er...I’m struggling with that one (laughs).”

It sounds like walls and walls of synthesisers were used - what’s your average studio set up like? Full to the rafters, or a more moderate collection of tried and tested gear? Vintage computers maybe, given the 8-bit sound you’ve become associated with?
“The actual studio is mostly just using Fruity Loops with some shit speakers. I’ve got a lot of software synths, so I got back to them every time, real kind of funk synths that have served me well.”

Is that the beauty of technology today, you can create a mass of layered sound from very little set up?
“I never strive to get the newest gadgets or shit like that, I’m more interested in writing actual music. It’s not about coming up with something clever. I’m a big fan of analogue synthesisers, and I’d love to have more, but I’m not really elitist about it.”

Regardless of being synth-laden, you still get the association with all things bass – how’s your hearing from all those low-end tremors?
“I have waxing more than hearing troubles to be honest. With my sinuses I lose my sense of smell every couple of days and my hearing goes now and then. But not much noise damage yet!”

Did the fact that this is your debut album play on your mind at all? Did you feel any extra pressure during its conception?
“Its extra pressure, but it’s nice though. It’s a bigger project that you can throw more of yourself into. It’s a lot more rewarding in the long run. There was a point about half way through where I thought “right I need to actually knuckle down and make this coherent, something worth putting out as a long player”, and I feel it paid off. This is the most exciting thing for me so far in my career – the music I’m most pleased with so far, and I think it’s because of the pressure wanting to make such a solid piece, that pushed me to make music I feel so strongly about.”

Did you adopt the same approach for this album as you would any other production?
“With a lot of singles, sometimes you just wanna hit people instantly - you wanna make a banger or something a bit weirder than the next thing y’know? For an album, it’s not a different process technically, it’s a different process mentally. You know you’re putting out this body of work - it’s one big project, and not just a collection of songs. When you know that...I can put some tracks in there that I wouldn’t necessarily release as a single because they wouldn’t make sense out of the context of the album. That’s the main difference.”

What did you learn along the way, and what obstacles were you faced with?
“The main lesson was how long it took to come up with a final product that I was really pleased with. Along the way, maybe even a year before I actually finished it, there were points where I thought “hey I’ve got an album, I really like it”, and then someone would say “hmm, it’s not quite right”. I’d be pissed off for a couple of weeks and then I’d think actually they’re right, then begin to rework it. Especially for my debut album, there was a lot of revisiting and thinking about how I could make it a real nice solid piece.”

Are you someone who can produce wherever you go, or does the studio door have to stay locked for days/weeks on end?
“The last few years I’ve been doing it on a much more scheduled kind of basis; I live with my girlfriend who lives by a schedule, so I get into the studio when she’s studying at uni. I get creative as soon as I’m in the studio, like I’m flipping a switch or something I guess. If it’s going places I can’t really stop, I’ll go right into the night. But usually I try to stick to a 9-5.”

Will ‘Time Team’ give you much live scope? There sounds like a natural visual connection is waiting to happen...
“I’m doing the live set here and there at the moment, playing keys etc...I’d be very interested in turning it into an audio-visual thing eventually, but it’s quite a big task I think. Quite daunting, because I’ve never done anything like that before. I’ve always just DJ’d before that.”

So breaking out of the studio holds no fears for you then?
“I do like it – it’s very different. I do think I’m more a studio-based kind of person though. With the live set it’s something I have to work out thoroughly at home before I go out and do it. I really like getting stuck in and lost in my own creativity, being thorough and being on my own doing it.”

Has the step up to Ninja Tune been everything you expected, more daunting than anticipated, or an unexpectedly easier transition to make?
“It’s been great actually. I’d recommend it! They all seem to be really ‘on it’, really enthusiastic, they’re always there when you need them. They’ve a lot of good advice as well. Most people working there have been there for a long time, the label’s been around for 20 years, so they’ve got a lot of experience. It’s actually better than I thought it would be.”

So you’ve a debut album, on a long-celebrated imprint – do you enjoy the stuff that comes with it, like having to do interviews like this?
“It’s something that I almost enjoy (laughs). I do like talking about my music and I’ve become more comfortable doing so. Recently I’ve had a lot of interviews, and I’ve got more used to it and enjoy being able to say how I actually feel about things. At first you’re so nervous and conscious about what you’re saying that you don’t actually get it out right; so it was always a kind of an awkward situation. I’m getting to a place where I’m alright with it, it’s the not exciting part of the process, but it’s cool.”

Onto some ‘Time’ and ‘Team’ questions now – is now the best time to be Slugabed?
“It’s really working out for me. I feel really excited that I’ve accomplished this album. It’s a really nice place for me for sure.”

Tying in with the fantasist idea, is there a particular time in history that you’d like to visit, and for what reason?
“In music, it’d be nice to be around and in the right sort of scene when B-bop was starting, when it was blowing people’s minds and upsetting some people. I think I’d be into that. Otherwise, the Iron Ages, or something real rugged like that.”

Are you an individual to the point where you dislike working in a team, or does being part of a crew appeal to you?
“I do feel more comfortable working completely on my own. I like collaborating in the sense where I’m sent ideas but get to focus on them on my own. I sometimes struggle a bit sitting down with someone else in the room, trying to bounce ideas off them. I’m kind of a perfectionist where I think I’m always right (laughs). I’m very open to the idea though, I wouldn’t want to turn down any good opportunities.”

Do you look ahead in time, and if so, has the next album entered your thoughts yet?
“I’m thinking about it, definitely. I haven’t started work on it, but I’m always thinking about my next project, though just thinking about the next one or two tracks - no major schemes. There’s always something ticking away in my head.”

What’s your timekeeping like?
“I’ve got better (laughs). It’s partly where the name comes from – laziness, and bad organisation. I’m not as bad as I used to be (laughs).”

Words by Matt Oliver
Photo Credit: Trevor Traynor

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'Time Team' is out now.

Micachu On Harry Partch

ClashMusic — Tue, 22 May 2012 02:28:18 -0500

“In terms of digestible nuggets of Harry Partch recommendations to listen to, I’d say the ‘Eleven Intrusions’ are a good introduction.

My dad recommended it to me while we were out record shopping. I thought it was fucking weird. I literally hadn’t heard anything like it before and I think that’s what was so striking. It sounded completely cosmic and exotic. On the cover was this bearded old man, but I put it on and found this rich exotic sound.

Harry Partch was just really before his time in a lot of ways. He’s interesting to me because he swayed between two different worlds: the first one being very free. So he spent a lot of time in the (great) depression as a hobo, and that partly was because he was gay and it was more of a liberal kind of society. He was constantly wrestling with wanting to be accepted by that world at the same time as disagreeing with most of how it worked.

He put out his own music; that must have been in the ’40s and ’50s. He thought performances should look physical. In terms of classical music he really did want to change things and just had the simple logic of if you want to make music, you might as well make the instruments with which to write your music on. It’s another way of giving yourself your own sound, which loads of people do now.

He did a lot of work around micro tonality. Audibly, he found forty-three pitches within one set of twelve notes on the piano, and then he spread it across an organ. He basically adapted some instruments - the guitar, the viola - to fit this new tonality he’d organized, and he demanded physicality - they’re built in mind of performance. So first of all, they look brilliant, and second of all, some of them are built for performance. Like the ‘Cloud-Chamber Bowls’ are hanging and they’re spread quite far away from each other so that when a person plays it they have to move around and it’s quite physical and looks exciting and sounds exciting.

He had really cool names for his instruments as well. He had instruments called ‘The Cry’ and ‘Bloboy’. ‘The Cry’ is a tall thing you can bend; I guess it sounded like a cry. ‘Bloboy’ is basically built out of bellows; it sounds like a steam engine. ‘The Boo’ is a series of six bamboo cut to different lengths to fit the different intonation. He’s got the ‘Mazda Marimba’, which is made out of Mazda light-bulbs. He’s got a ‘Spoils Of War’, which is lots of inert bombshells and bits and bobs.

I think part of him going fruit picking, harvesting and riding the trains was because he was interested in what people had to say and wasn’t so interested in high society and literature and media and any of that stuff. He had a freedom there. He did a lot of handy work for money and places to stay, which therefore built up his carpentry skills, which enabled him to make these instruments. As much as it was a difficult time, that’s where he collected a lot of his skills, lyrics and philosophy.

Also, he doesn’t quite fit into classical music and it also doesn’t quite fit into pop or rock or folk music either. He’s really in his own world.”

Read more Circles Of Influence features from Andrew Weatherall, Mathew Herbert and Gravenhurst.

Higher Palms: My Best Fiend

Robin Murray — Mon, 21 May 2012 10:57:32 -0500

It’s often difficult to splice apart your senses, to distinguish – say – the smell of lemonade from its taste. Go on, just think about it – the two are intertwined, the fizz sparkling on your tongue and searing your nose.

So when we say that My Best Fiend’s debut album ‘In Ghostlike Fading’ has a visual quality, that their music simply suggests something for the eyes, this isn’t an observation we come to lightly. Named after a Werner Herzog film, the New York group boast a background in visual arts which has deeply influenced the way they approach making music. “There are many non-musical influences on the album – everything from visual arts, I work in an art gallery in New York. My background is in fine arts. I’ve had lots of inspiration from everything. Even artwork. Artists like Turner, or Whistler.. we use them as touching points” muses Fred Coldwell.

At one point studying sculpture, Coldwell is now focussing full time on music and gallery work. “I’ve kind of gotten away from making artwork now, just through not having the time. I’m focussing on music right now. Like everything else, I’m sure it will raise its head somewhere later in life” he sighs. “It’s really fun to talk about all these influences.. At the time of writing these songs I was reading a lot of Proust. Not that I would even dare make a correlation there! It does influence you. You make your way into the album in different ways”.

Almost from its title to the final note, ‘In Ghostlike Fading’ is an album informed by a sense of the spiritual. Tracks such as ‘Jesus Christ’ pay explicit homage to religious imagery, something Fred Coldwell absorbed from a young age. “I was raised Catholic, I went to Catholic school. Damian – the bass player – and I grew up in Catholic school together” he says. “A lot my take on it comes from my mum on particular, she was a nun for ten years before she became kind of disillusioned with the more organised aspects of the church and left. Then met my father.. She raised us up in the Catholic school system and the church, so that’s where I was introduced to music, at an early age was singing and learning how to play guitar”.

This isn’t to say, however, that My Best Fiend are a Christian group. The twin themes of sin and redemption that run through their debut album smother rock music, appearing in work from The Rolling Stones to Spiritualized and beyond. “I believe a lot of music is just intrinsically spiritual. Whether or not it’s in a direct context of what you call ‘worship music’ – I actually really like that term – you go to Baptist church.. I frequent Baptist churches in New York, in Harlem and Brooklyn, pretty regularly just to get that music, that spirit. There’s a true energy in the air. In our world, which is a much more secular world, we use that imagery in a different way, which is something I’m much more comfortable with. It’s something I think about. I guess talking about faith isn’t really a particularly hip thing to do these days, but you can’t really concern yourself with that” he says, before adding: “There are probably more Jesus references on ‘Exile On Main Street’ than there are on ‘In Ghostlike Fading’”.

At times redolent of Spiritualized, My Best Fiend’s narcotics soaked take on rock’s legacy is a Trans-Atlantic journey. Sure, there are plenty of nods towards the noise excess of the shoegaze scene – Swervedriver are a neat counterpoint – but ‘In Ghostlike Fading’ is still an album that feels American. “It’s funny. A lot of the bands that we get compared to, or say we are influenced from, have a decidedly English feel” the singer explains. “That may be true to an extent but I’m really proud of the fact that we’re making American music. It may be our take on something which has its roots in English towns but there’s always something of a cross-current there, musically and I think that’s something to be celebrated”.

But defining ‘American’ as a musical quantity proves to be as enduringly frustrating as ever. “It’s more of an internal honesty. It’s knowing that at the end of the day the music we’re making comes from inside, it comes from a culture that we understand. I think at the root of this music it has the whole cosmic American music feel – Gram Parsons is a big influence”.

‘In Ghostlike Fading’ is dominated by a lack of certainty, but a sense of doubt that manifests itself in various ways across the album. “The lack of certainty is present.. I don’t know I just feel more comfortable trying to explore these things without any answers. When it comes to matters of faith, my beliefs are very conflicted” he explains. “I don’t really trust people who claim to have answers. I’m endeared to people who have more questions. That lack of a finite destination is something to strive for. Even in that transience, a lot of the songs were coming from a place in my life which may have been a bit darker personally. Some were written in the wake of friend’s passing and I think those ghosts, and spirits of those no longer with us have made their way onto the album and that’s something I’m very proud of. I’ve always been uncomfortable with the fact that you’ll maybe talk about them for a month after they’re gone and then they rarely come up again. You shy away from using their name or even talking about their memory – it’s not a way to respect life, y’know?”

But art is a wonderful repository for memory, Clash suggests, it soaks up life and preserves it - in an emotional sense, if nothing else. “That’s true. Proust is an influence, more through that influence of habit on memory, the numbing effect that habits can have on memory” he continues. “Habits are such an artificial imposition into your life, they really take away from a lot of the beauty. Those habits – drug use, obviously there’s a narcotic vibe to the album and that’s got a lot to do with struggling with drug use, getting rid of those demons. They’re replaced by other things constantly”.

“I’m not necessarily condemning those things – everyone has a routine and you need it, really, to function. It’ll find its way into the most exciting life. Even being on tour, we’ve been on the road for three weeks now and there are certain things, tropes that you fall right into” he finishes. “I mean, the tour’s been going great but I never fail to be amazed by the human capacity to put the blinders on and not see the world around them. It’s a mixed bag”.

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'In Ghostlike Fading' is out now.

Singles Round Up - May 21st

Clash Music — Mon, 21 May 2012 08:56:16 -0500

Ah, the humble single.

Even after the Beat boom, punk, Acid House and countless other revolutions the single still stands as the staple currency of pop music. It's cheap, cheerful and - especially in the days of the instant download - manageable.

Each week ClashMusic runs a singles review column, rating and slating the platters which come across our desk. This time round, we thought we'd hand the responsibilities over to Saint Etienne.

Legendary music-philes, the trio's output is marked by an astonishing degree of pop literacy. New album 'Words and Music by Saint Etienne' is out now, so we pieced together a list of the week's singles in celebration.

Here are their thoughts...

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The Black Keys - Dead And Gone
I loved the Black Keys 'Thickfreakness' album back in 2003 but the new record is a real departure in sound for them. It's good to see rock bands like The Black Keys and My Morning Jacket getting more adventurous - taking chances. This has an almost spaghetti western feel - great vocals from Dan Auerbach too!

The Black Keys - Dead And Gone

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Spector - Celestine
The Killers have a lot to answer for! Corporate indie rock with zero originality. This is a real yawnfest and not for me. Sorry chaps! Next!

Words by Sarah Cracknell

Of Monsters And Men - Dirty Paws
This starts out like Icelands answer to Trevor Moss and Hanna Lou but soon heads off into quiet/loud territory. It's folk and rock in equal measures and ultimately leaves me cold, cold cold.

Mac Miller - Loud
Starts with some promising spooky synthery, then some dodgy woops and "ladies and gentlemen this is Narcadelic" sets us on an Ebeneezer Goode style downward spiral.
The brainless chorus "I like my music real loud, real loud, can you turn that shit up for me right now, right now" has a kind of charm though.

Deaf Havana - Little White Lies
"The 10 people who don't like Deaf Havana are deaf" proclaims a YouTube fan of the band. Although I suspect 10 might be an underestimate, I am one of their number (although I prefer
to be referred to as def arf arf).

alt J - Breezeblocks
My internal jury is out on this one.. for the defence: very catchy, the use of the word Germolene in the lyrics, adam and the antsesque section. For the prosecution: arch-art school kookery, the spectre of the Fratellis, overly raised eyebrow.

alt-J - Breezeblocks

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Words by Pete Wiggs

Mayer Hawthorne - The Walk
Not the Jimmy McCracklin song of the same title (it's not as good). Or The Cure's (it's better). And I'm really not sure about swearing in the opening couplet - you have to be Amy Winehouse or GG Allin to get away with that, and Mayer is much closer to Curtis Mayfield which doesn't seem right at all. I LOVED his I Wish It Would Rain a while back - this is melodic enough, he's got a good knack for hooks, but this time he doesn't climb that extra rung beyond pastiche.

Paul Weller - When Your Garden's Overgrown
Starlite was possibly my favourite single of 2011, Balearic heat-haze pop, and I hope some of its magic rubbed off on our new album. This has nice squelchy synths, a good line about the "brush strokes of age", and it's chunky all right. Possibly it's a bit more conventional than I was hoping for... I wonder which "Bobby" he's singing about?

When Your Garden's Overgrown

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School Of Seven Bells - The Night
Breathy, slightly posh femme vocals, which are very much up my street. This comes over like a buffed up mix of Lush and Black Tambourine. Snazzy enough, but while I was sitting here waiting for the chorus, the middle eight turned up out of the blue! What's that all about then?

Words by Bob Stanley

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'Words and Music by Saint Etienne' is out now.

Just for good measure, so is Saint Etienne's new single 'I've Got Your Music' - which they didn't review. Sadly.

Circles Of Influence

ClashMusic — Sun, 20 May 2012 08:33:54 -0500

Music flits in and out of our lives at its own enchanted leisure. Sometimes these rhythmic discs bring other thoughts or open doors we’ve never seen before .

We asked four artists who are true explorers of sound, Andrew Weatherall, Micachu, Matthew Herbert and Gravenhurst, to bring a significant album out on the street and unleash some noise around why exactly it is in their life, and what it means to them.

Andrew Weatherall on G.G. Allin

Micachu on The Music Of Harry Partch

Andrew Weatherall On G.G. Allin

ClashMusic — Sun, 20 May 2012 08:24:10 -0500

“I once had the pleasure of interviewing a founder member of a Detroit-based militant electronic music collective and asked him a question that I thought he might answer in a way that would help me with an artistic struggle I’d been having since hearing the phrase ‘sell-out’ at the age of fourteen during the punk rock wars of 1977.

“As you get older and possibly have to burden financial responsibilities such as a family,” I asked, “does it become harder to maintain outsider credentials and anti-commercial principles and pragmatism begins to take hold?”

He listened politely and pondered for a minute or two and answered: “Everything I do comes from God.”

I once had the pleasure of interviewing all the members of a Hackney-based militant industrial music pioneers and asked them a question that would help me with an artistic struggle I’d been having since being offered money from corporate interests wanting to use my music as product flogging background noise.

“Do you think that using the money from commercial projects to further un-commercial projects is acceptable?” I asked.

They listened politely, pondering for all of two seconds, before one of them replied: “Absolutely not. The art created with that money will be tainted.”

I never had the pleasure of interviewing pioneering Vietnamese video artist Nam June Paik, but apparently when asked a question in a similar vein to those above, he answered: “An artist should always bite the hand that feeds...but not too hard.” (Warning: You will be reading this quote again in any interviews I give to promote my forthcoming triple CD mix on Ministry Of Sound.)

Occasionally I still have to ponder the ‘selling-out/buying in’ conundrum and always wish I had the balls displayed (sometimes literally) by the subjects of the following: Simon Ford’s book Wreckers Of Civilization: The Story Of Coum Transmissions And Throbbing Gristle, and Todd Phillips’ film Hated: G.G.Allin And The Murder Junkies.

It is to the latter that I respectfully draw your attention to today. Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, please stand well back as I introduce Mr G.G. Allin.

Recording and touring between prison sentences, G.G. was first committed to vinyl in 1979 with a single on Orange Records called
‘Bored To Death’ and an album on the same label entitled ‘Always Was, Is And Always Shall Be’.

Although an exuberant and high physical front man in the Iggy mould at the time of these releases, as time passed the crowd started to expect G.G. to go one step further, and on-stage antics that Mr. Osterberg had pioneered (and long since abandoned) featuring peanut butter and razor blades were being acted out with excrement and switch blades. I hesitate to use the word ‘recommend’ in relation to Mr. Allin’s work, but as far as vinyl is concerned I could point you in the direction of, and I quote, ‘Needle Up My Cock’ by G.G. Allin and The Texas Nazi’s or ‘My Bloody Mutilation’ by G.G. Allin and the Aids Brigade.

However, rather than just an oral introduction (sometimes via recordings than go beyond lo-fi) I would suggest the full visual assault delivered by Hatred, an on-the-road-documentary of the G.G. Allin train building up a monumental last head of steam before crashing on June 27th 1983 after a gig in Manhattan the night before.

G.G. Allin doesn’t so much bite the hand that feeds him rather than rip it off at the wrist and force it back into his victim’s mouth. G.G. Allin is outsider art by dint of its creator’s impotent rage and blood-lured vision in the face of humanity…or was he just a bitter junkie who sold out at a far cheaper price than those he derided?

Maybe I’ll put it to someone in a future interview or get that nice Mr. Achora to put it to a dead Vietnamese video artist…”

Read more Circles Of Influence features from Micachu, Mathew Herbert and Gravenhurst.

The Perfect House Party: DZ Deathrays

Clash Music — Fri, 18 May 2012 11:47:11 -0500

The Diamond Jubilee is fast approaching. Street parties and unnecessary but much appreciated days off will sweep the country in a haze of drunken national pride. With Australia’s long history of being a colony of the UK, who better to show us a guide to partying than thrash rock duo DZ Deathrays, who have signed up to play an exclusive gig on the 3rd June at Sailor Jerry’s Hotel Street venue on Charing Cross Road.

Hailing from Brisbane, Simon Ridley and Shane Parsons grew up playing gigs at peoples houses, trying to burst through their chaotic songs while holding back the chunky vomit. So let lead singer and guitarist Shane Parsons plan your extra long messy weekend - happy anti-Jubilee everybody!

Where To Host Your Party
I’d have to say a warehouse. They’re really good because people bring their own drinks so it’s kind of like their drunken destiny is in their own hands. It’s not like they can run out of money. But a house party is pretty good as well, as long as the neighbors aren’t total pricks and shut it down.

Who To Put On The Guestlist
Probably not family...probably just an open house. After parties are always good, especially when people want to kick on after a gig when they’re already hyped up; want to get out and so something to wind out the night out until the early morning. So, maybe just people from a show and have an after party would be cool.

What Music To Play
I’d play rock music then slowly get it into more dancey stuff. Not too much of one thing...not too much dubstep. Maybe some Black Rebel Motorcycle Club and some Black Sabbath and ‘Zeppelin.

What Live Band To Put On
The dream would be Andrew WK. Who would you put on at a party?
Simon: Ohhh, there’s this band we saw in Japan once called King Brothers, they were like a heavy blues band. I reckon they’d put on a freaking amazing house party. So I’d use those guys and Andrew WK!

What Drinking Games To Play
Best drinking game we’ve been playing recently is rock, paper, scissors. Say there’s five people in a circle, it goes round in one rotation, so if that one person beats the first person that person has to drink one drink, then they go against the second person, and if they beat the second person, the second person has to drink two drinks, but if they lose then the original guy has to drink two drinks. It’s kind of the ultimate way to get fucked up. Even if you’re winning you end up losing somehow, because you have to lose at some point and you’ll end up having five drinks.

Me and Si did a drinking game once - we put on the first album by The Bronx and we tried to finish a beer within each song, but some of those songs are in 2:20 or less, and once you get to about track five or six it gets pretty brutal.

What Decorations To Have
"It would be cool to have some inflatable toys or a piñata or something. Something that people can smash, because people always wanna break shit when they’re wasted. So if you can give them something to break rather than your own stuff that helps.”

What Food To Have...If Any
“Nachos, party pies (Australian version of pork pies), Cheerios (Australian version of tiny sausages) - get a food fight going.”

What Movies To Show
“Hot Tub Time Machine!”

How To Handle TheVomiting Situation
“You just look after that the next day. People are going to do it anyway they can. Sometimes it’s behind the couch or in a plastic bag, or on the floor or in a bathtub. Just count your losses and maybe put the dogs in there later on to eat it up.”

Lastly...Their Opinion Of The Queen
“Being from Australia I guess there’s some sort of relationship there. All I know is what my grandmother told me - and she hated the Queen. She grew up in Newcastle and she was just like: “The Queen made me stand out in the rain,” because everyone had to go out and wave to her when she was a kid. So, she said: “I don’t have anytime for the Queen any longer.”

- - -

DZ Deathrays promise to put on a memorable show at Sailor Jerry’s newly opened Hotel Street bar. Not saying that it could disestablish the monarchy or anything, but it could well happen. Come and find out.

Words by Jamie Carson

Their Library: Zulu Winter

Clash Music — Fri, 18 May 2012 10:04:07 -0500

Their Library is an excuse to let musicians mouth off about a subject which might otherwise be neglected - books.

The influences which sluice into your favourite album are not merely restricted to music - literature, cinema and more help inspire and provoke new artworks.

London newcomers Zulu Winter have been causing ripples of hype over the past 12 months, and finally deigned to release their debut album 'Language' earlier this week.

Tracking down drummer Guy Henderson, we probed the musician about the literary influences which drive him forward.

- - -

What is your favourite book and why?
'The Secret History' by Donna Tartt. I read this book as a student in the 2nd year of my degree course and found it particularly poignant as at the centre of the story is a young man going through student life, making new friends and growing up. There's a sense of danger and mystery surrounding the central characters of the book that's exciting and the plot unravels very cleverly. The thing I find most incredible is the way that Donna Tartt is able to get inside the head of a young man and write in the first person of a male character so truthfully.

What other authors do you like?
Martin Amis, Mikhail Bulgakov, Charles Bukowski, Ayn Rand to name a few I've recently been enjoying.

What draws you to certain books?
With books, as with films, I most often pick up books that come as recommendations from friends… As a band we're always throwing copies of this and that at each other and it's fun when a book does the round and we can all chat about it. Right now I've just been reading a lot of classics.

Do your literary influences have a direct impact on your songwriting? Personally speaking I'd be lying if I said I'd specifically fed my literary influences into songwriting. However I do believe that the music your writing at any given time will draw influence from many different things going on in your life and that might often be a book your reading. As a band a very important part of our writing process is to share influences with each other… Obviously its mostly music that we share that influences us but equally if there's a book we've all read at the same time, or a theatre production we've all been to or an art exhibition we've all enjoyed then we might find a shared mood that comes across in the music we're working on. I also know that lyrically Will often get's strongly influenced by what he's reading.

What are you reading at the moment?
'The Plague' by Albert Camus.

What is the first book you remember reading as a child?
'The Twits' by Roald Dahl.

Did you make good use of your library card as a child / teenager?
I was very lucky to have a great Library attached to the school I was at and I did use it a lot.

How do you think literature achieves timelessness?
I believe the most important element to contribute to all timeless art is that it's honest and comes from a truthful place. Particularly with literature I think is very important that it's rooted in the human condition.

Do you read book reviews?
I rarely do.

Would you ever re-read the same book?
I've never actually completely re-read a book before but there's been a couple of occasions when I've read half or 2 of a book and then lost and come back to it from the beginning.

Have you ever identified with a character in a book? Which one and why?
I frequently identify with character's in books I read and think the best books always make you do that…

Do you read one book at a time or more than one?
I usually like to just read one book at a time although I'l quite often be reading a book of non-fiction alongside a novel.

Is there an author / poet you would like to collaborate with?
At the moment I'm very interested in collaborating with a playwright. There is a playwright/writer called Kenny Empson that I've known for a few years who I'm keen to pin down for a collaboration at some point (although he can be rather elusive). I haven't seen him for a while and I'm pretty sure he's not aware of it so if he's reading this itcould be an odd way for him to find out.

Photo Credit: Tom Oxley

- - -

'Language' is out now.

Fifty Outsiders : 41 - 50

ClashMusic — Fri, 18 May 2012 00:55:50 -0500

The final part of Kris Needs Fifty Outiders list for Clash magazine's Outsider issue includes such musicians as Mark Stewart, Daniel Johnston, Underground Resistance, MF Doom and more.

41. MARK STEWART

Emerging from punk’s maelstrom fronting the fearsome Pop Group, Mark Stewart charted an idiosyncratic collison course with hip-hop, funk and dub reggaes; one of the most volcanic but subversive creative minds this country has produced.

42. JEFFREY LEE PIERCE

After screaming into the Eighties with his Gun Club, Pierce blazed a kamikaze trail of incendiary gigs, epoch-making albums and hell-raising behaviour, claiming his life when he died of a brain haemorrhage in 1996.

43. PRIMAL SCREAM

Few other bands have so doggedly followed their musical passions, rock ‘n’ roll fantasies and punk principles as defiantly, and often controversially. The last gang in town who turned outsider status into a fine art.

44. ANDREW WEATHERALL

Repeatedly lauded for his Primals connections, Weatherall is that rare beast that can deliver the ultimate knockout house music DJ set, while relishing boosting Suicide rockabilly mantras in decaying East London pubs.

45. DANIEL JOHNSTON

The manic depressive schizophrenic singer-songwriter found his mental health deteriorating while recording his debut album ‘1990’ (released that year). On more of an even keel this century, feted by the likes of Tom Waits, Matt Groening and Henry Rollins.

46. UNDERGROUND RESISTANCE

During the 1990s, the most mysterious and uncompromising Detroit techno missives emanated from a deeply-underground bunker manned by ‘Mad’ Mike Banks, Jeff Mills, Robert Hood and cohorts, firing out ‘electronic battle weapons’ which subverted techno in militaristic anonymity.

47. BASIC CHANNEL

Few electronic operations carried deeper mystique in the Nineties than Berlin’s Basic Channel, launched in 1993 by Moritz Von Oswald and Mark Ernestus, releasing nine twelve-inch singles which shaped a new ultra-minimal dub techno template.

48. PETE DOHERTY

Initially appearing with Carl Barat in the 21st century’s first (potentially) great songwriting duo, Doherty’s spent the last few years ducking and diving as lone Johnny Thunders-style journeyman, playing to the faithful and teenage newcomers having their first dabble in wild side romance.

49. MF DOOM

After becoming a victim of the cut-throat rap industry as a member of K.M.D., Daniel Dumille was homeless on New York’s streets until reappearing in 1999 as the permanently masked MF Doom, based on the Marvel comics villain, introducing a new style of badder boy.

50. METAMONO

Can collaborator Jono ’Kumo’ Podmore, Paul Conboy and Mark Hill eschew sampling, overdubbing and digital polish in favour of the analogue machines which electronic music was built on, bringing back electronica‘s crusading spirit and vital edge.

Find out more about Clash Magazine's Fifty Outsiders list.

How They Want Me To Be: Best Coast

Clash Music — Thu, 17 May 2012 08:38:16 -0500

It’s an older, more mature Bethany Cosentino who greets Clash over the telephone line. Putting the stoner-girl routine to bed, the follow-up to 2010’s meteoric ally successful ‘Crazy for You’ sees her ditch the Twitter over-share and instead pour that emotion directly into her lyric book.

Influenced by her beloved California and the pressures of the road, ‘The Only Place’ takes an unflinching, unapologetic look at what’s going on. The trademark fuzz is gone, replaced with a clearer sound – courtesy of maverick producer Jon Brion, famed for his work with Kanye West and Beck. No topic is out of bounds. Self-scrutiny, selfish boyfriends and the pressure of expectation are all examined amidst instantly classic 3 minute pop songs. Put simply, it’s a record about growing-up in the limelight; being misunderstood, missing friends and being homesick.

It’s definitely a new model. Even Best Coast mascot/phantom member Snacks the Cat is in temporary hiding, replaced on the cover with a bear holding a map of California. No distractions this time. Now, it’s all about the music. Well, apart from the Urban Outfitters clothing line….

- - -

So, we’re here to talk about the new album – 'The Only Place'. How are you feeling about it?
I’m excited and I’m pretty ready for it to come out. It was really fun to record.

Best Coast songs have always been pretty emotional and honest. But on the new album, it seems especially raw. What was influencing you as you wrote these songs?
I was listening to a lot of Fleetwood Mac, and I think that the way that they tell these very personal stories in their songs inspired me – it kind of gave me the courage to just write my own very personal songs for this record.

What is 'The Only Place'?
It’s referencing California. Like, ‘the only place’ to me is California. It’s the place where I feel most comfortable and confident and happy. It’s sort of like my safe place. The record was all written in times of feeling very homesick. I’d come home from tour and I’d be home for like, two days, and I’d write a bunch of songs. But it was like, coming home to that place; coming back to that place that gave me real creativity and space to write. So I wanted to make this record about California and L.A.

You sound like you’ve changed. There’s a maturity and introspection to songs like 'Last Year' and 'How They Want Me to Be'. It’s a lot less carefree than 'Crazy For You'. How does it feel to document your growing-up process so honestly in your lyrics?
Um, I think it’s a good thing. It helps me kind of deal with what I’m feeling, what I’m going through. I view music as a form of therapy and to talk about what I’m going through makes it just….easier to deal with. For me, anyway. I don’t mind that it’s personal and that people will know what I’m experiencing. It makes the music more believable that way.

So you don’t worry about making yourself too vulnerable?
No. I mean, it happens regardless. I just kind of don’t really care. I write the music that I write because that’s the only way I know how to do that.

How did it feel to deal with the success of the previous record? Did you feel the weight of expectation for the next one?
Kind of but I tried to not let it affect me. I tried to like, do what I knew best. And that was to write music.

You recorded at Capitol Studios with Jon Brion – who’s previously worked with Kanye and Fiona Apple. What was the mood in the studio?
It was great. He’s a great guy and a friend of ours. So it was very relaxed and not tense at all. It was a blast, such fun.

Bob was his assistant for a while, right?
Uh-huh.

It’s less lo-fi – your vocals and lyrics particularly sit a lot closer to the fore. Was that a conscious thing?
Yeah. I worked really hard on my vocals for this record. I studied a lot; different vocal training techniques and listened to a lot of different female vocalists that inspired me. I drank a lot of weird ‘throat’ teas and things that I had heard would be good for my voice, because I did want my voice to be at the forefront of the record. I wanted to kind of ease that talent because I think it’s the strongest tool that I have as a musician.

Lyrics are pretty telling. 'Better Girl' speaks of a need to be kept from what is being said about you. Do you feel in a better place with whatever you were going through at that point?
Yeah. I think writing the record helped get through that point and I feel a whole lot better now.

Favourite track?
Um, I think my favourite is 'Up All Night' – which is the last song on the record. I just got to sing my hardest and my best. It’s my favourite, and I think that lyrically it’s one of the only songs that I can still remember writing it and thinking ‘I’m really proud of this song and what I’ve achieved with it.’

Looking forward to the tour? How have the new songs been received?
It’s been good. People are still learning the songs and it’s fun to see people sing along to the new songs because the record isn’t even out yet. It’s just really cool to see the way people are reacting and yeah, we’re excited to go out on tour and play new material.

Personally, you’ve designed a range for Urban Outfitters. What were your visual references for the collaboration? Is it an on-going thing?
It’s not on-going, no. It was just a spring collection. Hopefully I’ll be able to do more clothing design though because I’ve found that I really enjoy it. My main references were like, California in the 80s and 90s.Valley Girls. Things like that. Stevie Nicks was a massive influence on the way it turned out too.

And I thought a lot about the girls who come to Best Coast shows and the way that they dress. I’m always kind of noticing that girls at my shows are dressed very cute, all with their own little sense of style. So I took a lot of inspiration from them and what I thought they’d wear.

Words by Marianne Gallagher

- - -

'The Only Place' is out now.

Fifty Outsiders : 31 - 40

ClashMusic — Thu, 17 May 2012 00:54:39 -0500

In part four of Kris Needs Fifty Outiders list for Clash magazine's Outsider issue we look at The Residents, The Slits, Larry Levan, Arthur Russell, Throbbing Gristle and others.

31. FLAMIN’ GROOVIES

San Francisco’s Flamin’ Groovies were spitting high-energy rock ‘n’ roll with punky attitude during psychedelia then, when punk exploded, donned Beatle suits to homage the British beat boom.

32. LEGENDARY STARDUST COWBOY

Texan psychosillybilly pioneer Norman Carl Odam donated space-fixated name and out-there agenda to Bowie’s Ziggy Stardust master-plan, his cacophonous ‘Paralyzed’ single dominating World’s Worst Records lists.

33. THE RESIDENTS

For nearly forty years, a mysterious clutch of avant-artists sporting eyeball headgear have released around sixty albums on their Ralph Records.

34. THE SLITS

The Slits trampled sexual roles and musical barriers, making one of the punk era’s finest debuts in ‘Cut’, influencing future female outfits immeasurably in sound, looks and attitude.

35. LARRY LEVAN

Manic showman who revolutionised New York’s gay disco underground while blueprinting modern clubbing at New York’s Paradise Garage, bombarding his euphoric flock with dramatic effects and heart-soaring anthems. Besieged by rampant drug abuse, he died in 1992.

36. RON HARDY

If Frankie Knuckles was the face of Chicago’s 1980s house music explosion, Ron Hardy was its manic heart and soul, holding court at the hole-in-the-wall Music Box, hammering DJ Pierre’s newly-created ‘Acid Trax’ until the crowd screamed.

37. ARTHUR RUSSELL

Shy avant-disco cellist/producer Arthur Russell flew under the radar during New York’s Eighties downtown revolution until dying of AIDS in 1992. A complex, driven individual who dreamed of stardom but more obsessed with the creative process.

38. JACKIE LEVEN

Outsider troubadour who led the senses-shattering Doll By Doll out of Maida Vale’s squat-land at the height of punk, going against 1977’s grain. After the band imploded, Leven released over twenty intimately-charged albums until his recent untimely death.

39. THROBBING GRISTLE

The most dangerous, scary outfit operating in the UK during punk, Genesis P-Orridge, Cosey Fanni Tutti, Chris Carter and ‘Sleazy’ Christopherson took revolutionary sonic innovations and taboo subject matter to new levels.

40. WESLEY WILLIS

Known for strange outings like ‘Rock ‘N’ Roll McDonalds’, Willis produced hundreds of ink-pen drawings of his native Chicago. Poor while living, his drawings go for thousands since his 2003 death.

Find out more about Clash Magazine's Fifty Outsiders list.

We Could Go Far: The Sound

Clash Music — Wed, 16 May 2012 10:03:52 -0500

On the 18th of May of each year, fans from all over the world make a pilgrimage to the pit of Lancashire known as Macclesfield to pay tribute to Ian Curtis. Coming up to the thirty second year since death at his own hand, the passion of fans has only become more fervent whilst the commercialisation of his death has reached its lowest ebb, sneakers, bath-towels, Disney t-shirts, his band's bass player hawking third rate cover versions, that kinda thing.

I'll take my life
Into my own hands
I'm the one that I will blame
I'm the one that understands

Sense of Purpose

On the 26th of April each year there is nothing. There are no 180 gram re-issues, no crying fans arriving from Japan, no commemorative box sets, nothing. Even a canny career move such as death, especially as shocking as suicide, has gone un-noticed but it’s what Adrian Borland would have expected. As the lead singer and guitarist of South London post-punk four piece The Sound and ten years as a solo artist he had become used to his heartfelt outpourings being looked over for artists more glamorous and photogenic. On the morning of the 26th of April 1999 after dealing with a lack of recognition and severe manic depression, he ended the many years of internal turmoil, he jumped in front of a train.

Despite almost everyone saying no when asked if they have heard The Sound, their extensive back catalogue rich with 80’s alternative gloom-rock can be heard in almost every recent band of misery guts from Interpol to Editors, O. Children to White Lies. Adrian Borland as a lead singer is cut from the same mould as the barely suppressed fury of Kurt Cobain and Craig Nicholls of The Vines, watch his incandescent performance of ‘Missiles’ on YouTube and see for yourself.

Back in 2007 I was given a CD of MP3’s by a friend who had recently spent £40 on what I eventually found out was The Sound’s second album ‘From The Lion's Mouth’. I dropped the usual line of ‘yeah I’ll take a listen’ and the CD ended up in some pile or other, forgotten about. During a half arsed attempt at a bit of spring cleaning I came across the CD and decided to put it on. Taken aback by what was coming from the speakers I sat and listened properly to this band I’d never even heard of let alone heard anything by.

Light a flame in the dark
Light a flame in my heart
Light a candle to see me through these times
Hands reach for hands now
We just need each other now
Someone to hold on to in these times

New Way Of Life

The fact they are so overlooked is made even more confusing when you take a look at their contemporaries at the time, all of whom enjoyed much love; they shared a record label with Echo and The Bunnymen, they supported a young U2 and could be bunched in with Joy Division, early Simple Minds and The Chameleons. Their critical acclaim failed to translate into actual sales but they had a dedicated albeit small following in UK and achieved bigger success elsewhere in Europe while holding a healthy disdain for their attention receiving rivals The Smiths which was actually illegal at the time. Since that accidental listen to ‘From The Lion's Mouth’ I’ve become familiar with most of The Sound’s material, they easily held their own amongst the bands mentioned above, anyone who goes on to listen to their scratchy post-punk debut ‘Jeopardy’, the jagged indie pop of sophomore ‘From the lions mouth’ and personal fave ‘Heads And Hearts’ will reap the endless benefits of a back catalogue that endlessly gives and expects nothing back.

When you reach the end of your tether
It's because it wasn't strong enough,
I was going to drown,
Then I started swimming

Winning

Their status as a long lost band could be down to a number of things; who needed another alternative guitar band in the early 80’s? They didn’t have the lips of Mac, the glorious pomp of Stephen Patrick or the ultimate sacrifice of Curtis. People go on about how pop music these days is all about image rather than musical integrity but The Sound's lack of success could easily be attributed to their non-image: a lead singer carrying a few extra pounds than the ‘norm’ (and a short fuse) was not Smash Hits pull out poster material at the time.

The Sound split up in 1988 after a fifth album the year prior, Borland continued to make music while Mike Dudley, Graham Bailey and Max Mayers all retired immediately. I managed to track down one of the two surviving members of the band (Mayers died in ’93 of a HIV related illness), Mike Dudley and asked him several questions about his time in The Sound….

One of the main things about The Sound’s lack of success to me seems that you either had indie bands on indie labels or rock bands on majors, the two scenes were very much separated. The Sound were an indie band but on a major label so they weren’t taken that seriously by indie fans and treated with suspicion by rock fans, it was an incredibly snobby time for guitar scenes at the time therefore I guess you guys suffered because of it.

“That’s an interesting hypothesis and I suppose there may be something in it. My own feeling is that our lack of further success following a promising start was down to a lack of promotion from the record company, who seemed to prefer focusing their resources on Hairdo and the Funnymen".

They probably thought Mac was a safer commercial bet, what with him being prettier and all...

"To be frank, we didn’t do ourselves any favours either. We were a truculent bunch. Not the sort to meet a record company halfway over anything, really“.

These days it’s the direct opposite, there are very few indie labels left but the concept of indie is anyone with a guitar regardless of them being on 4AD or Universal, do you think you would have stood a better chance if you were active now?

“Brutus: “There is a tide in the affairs of men.
Which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune;
Omitted, all the voyage of their life
is bound in shallows and in miseries...”

Or, to quote Captain Beefheart: “When it’s time for steam trains, it steam trains.”

There’s an interview on YouTube where there’s some reference made to the Smiths and Adrian gets really pissed off and spits something really angrily out about them, was there rivalry, jealousy about those guys, if so, why?

“Adrian was often spitting angrily about something or other. A journalist was probably unwise enough to ask him what he thought of The Smiths and I just think he was excoriating Morrissey for being the antithesis of what he considered to be a genuinely passionate artist - like his heroes Iggy Pop and Patti Smith, for instance. Personally, I’ve always been fond of Morrissey’s louche and slightly mocking approach, but that was Adrian for you - forceful when speaking or singing from the heart.”

There seems to be a rapid progression from the proto-punk stuff with the outsiders and the harder bits of debut album ‘Jeopardy’ to the mature musical subtlety from ‘From The Lion’s Mouth’ onwards where it seemed to click as a band, is that the case?

“I suspect that Adrian had known from early on that, although he was as enthusiastic about the first wave of punk as we all were, it wasn’t going to last. He soon wanted to move on and explore more creative depth and this is why his manager, Geoffrey Cummant-Wood, approached me as being a different type of drummer when Jan wanted to leave The Outsiders. I tried to encourage a more exploratory approach to making music with the band, although I do remember one very early rehearsal round at my place where Jan was trying to teach me how to play along to The Stooges’ 'TV Eye' - 'just hit the kit four to the bar, Mike....'"

I read that third album’ All Fall Down’ was a deliberate attempt at commercial suicide, this is used as an excuse these days for why the audience didn’t buy it. Was that the case here or did you go out to deliberately challenge your fans, what was the reaction to this?

“’All Fall Down’ was to be an attempt at a more “commercial” direction, as encouraged by Warner Brothers, into whose care we had been sloughed off by Rob Dickens at Korova. Naturally, we were having none of that! Adrian and Graham, as their alter-ego '2nd Layer', had had some success with the album 'World of Rubber' and felt that, as our (hand) gesture at commerciality, we could incorporate some of the '2nd Layer' techniques into the new album’s style".

"We felt completely pissed off at the situation which we saw as being a complete lack of faith in us from the 'business' and we were in no mood to be dictated to. As it happens, some of the “electronic” approach worked and some of it didn’t. It’s a real mixed bag for me, but does have some of my favourite stuff on it. 'Monument', 'Party' and (the original) 'We Could Go Far', for instance“.

With the benefit of hindsight you can see hints of Adrian’s depression through his lyrics just as much as you could with Ian Curtis. When did you realise there was something wrong and what did the band do to help?

“At Adrian’s wake, his mother Wyn reminded me that as far back as 1984 I had mentioned to her that I suspected Adrian was having some sort of internal problem. It did not become a full-blown situation until around 1986, when Adrian’s mood swings and unusual behaviours were beginning to have a detrimental effect on the band and the organisation around him, he had become very difficult to deal with on all sorts of levels. We did what we could, in our different ways, to cope or to try and help, but of course none of us had any experience in dealing with serious psychiatric illness“.

My favourite album of the catalogue is ‘Heads And Hearts‘, it’s the one that sounds the most contemporary twenty five years later. The keyboards and drumming in particular stand out especially the tribal sounds on tracks such as ‘World As It Is’ and ’New Way Of Life’; you sounded like a band on fire with some of Borland’s most desolate lyrics. It’s a pretty intense album, was it an intense one to make?

“There are some songs on this album that display Adrian at his most gloomy and unattractive and they are my least favourite songs of our whole output. 'Wildest Dreams', 'Under You'... For a long time, they caused me to dislike the album as a whole, but over time I’ve grown to appreciate the better songs".

Also featured on the album is the great saxophone playing of Ian Nelson. His work on 'Love Is Not A Ghost' and 'Whirlpool' is just some of the best I’ve heard, and I’m a particular fan of the great jazz players - Cannonball Adderley, 'Lockjaw' Davis and John Coltrane for instance. It is very moving to think that he hit such breathtaking artistic heights whilst playing with us, before passing away through illness not long after, sadly".

You left the band prior to the dissolution in 1988, was this down to the pressure of dealing with Adrian’s illness or general ‘musical difference’ issues?

“I thought that Adrian needed to get off the treadmill and seek alleviation of his illness, this being more important than the survival of the band at that stage in my opinion. It may have been that, in time, we could re-convene and make some progress in a sort of “Part 2” career. Although this strategy had been agreed upon between myself and Max and Graham, when push came to shove, I found myself standing alone".

"However, it seemed to me that to hold to this principle, I would have to resign and that if I did so, the band would not be able to carry on and the outcome would be that my aim of getting Adrian to a quieter place away from the pressure would succeed. This proved to be the case“.

There seemed to be a time when The Sound were going to get back together, during the mid 90s and the reason it didn’t happen seems to have the fingers pointing at you, is that the case?

“I think you are referring to a later interview where Adrian said that he had made this point moot. I did not hear about it at the time, although I would have said no and I recall that in the interview, Adrian had said that he would have expected me to say just that".

"I had got myself what mothers everywhere refer to as a “proper job” by then and was enjoying the luxury of a regular salary cheque. Besides, I would have had no wish to re-attach myself to three such unhappy, disappointing and difficult working relationships, as they had all become”.

The Sound - Sense Of Purpose

- - -

Words by Chris Todd

DJ Disasters: Jack Beats

Clash Music — Wed, 16 May 2012 08:58:22 -0500

Every DJ has one.

A night when everything that can possibly go wrong does - and it does so in spectacular fashion. ClashMusic brings you DJ Disasters, featuring some of the most respected figures in the dance world reminiscing about those moments when it all went badly wrong.

Jack Beats link together two completely different disciplines. Plus One is a Scottish turntablist with roots in the hip hop scene, while Beni G cut his teeth with The Mixologists.

Somehow, though, it works. Except for this one time...

- - -

So we were doing a set in Oxford in the UK a year or so ago, and we were playing after Annie Mac. As she was finishing, we began setting our stuff up and both noticed a weird electrical burning smell, which is kind of unmistakeable. Both of us thought Annie's mixer was about to blow, but nothing. We took over, started our set... same smell.

We got halfway through our set, same smell was there but more intense. We both knew something might be wrong, but carried on. as our set drew to a close we had 15 mins left to play, and then suddenly a bunch of the crowd started pointing and looking to our left. So we looked over, and we saw a full floor to ceiling stack of front of house speakers with a fire in the middle of them! They had caught on fire!

So we stopped the music because there was a lot of smoke, and suddenly loads of panic and madness behind us broke out as the bouncers and security started running around like headless chickens looking for a fire extinguisher. As this was all happening, we started to grab our gear, and looked over to the right and saw the other stack of speakers suddenly catch fire too... yes... both stacks were on fire and we were burning the club down!

Pure panic ensued, the club evacuated, the promoter accidentally turned the lights off onstage so momentarily blinded the bouncers who were trying to tackle the fire, so they started falling over the monitors and both sets of monitors then came crashing down on stage. At this point, whilst the club was ablaze and the stage was getting trashed, we decided to leg it! And as if nothing had happened, we disappeared into the night, only to realise that we were in such awe of what happened that we had forgotten to film any of it on our phones!

- - -

Jack Beats - You Should Know

Jack Beats ft Donae'o 'You Should Know' is out on May 13th.
http://www.jackbeats.co.uk

Fifty Outsiders : 21 - 30

ClashMusic — Wed, 16 May 2012 00:45:50 -0500

Read part three of Kris Needs Fifty Outiders list for Clash magazine's Outsider issue with appearances by George Clinton, Can, Suicide, Patti Smith and more.

21. TIM ROSE

Drunken bad boy of the Greenwich Village folk scene, known for the version of ‘Hey Joe’ which blueprinted Hendrix’s first hit. During 1967’s summer of love, the alcoholic Rose roared murder ballads and desperate love laments, taking folk to new levels of intensity, but blowing his career with drunken behaviour and patchy albums until resurrected by Nick Cave in the ’90s.

22. GEORGE CLINTON

George Clinton and his Parliafunkadelicment marauders drew inspiration from acid and Hendrix to bring previously-unseen levels of anarchy and freedom to black music. One of the most influential funk soul brothers of all time, but still on the periphery with his wild funk dog behaviour.

23. ‘WILD MAN’ FISCHER

LA-born Larry was institutionalised at sixteen after attacking his mother with a knife; diagnosed paranoid schizophrenic and bipolar, but deemed sufficiently ‘entertaining‘ by Frank Zappa to release his nursery rhyme rantings on his Bizarre label.

24. MOTT THE HOOPLE

With gigs packed and rowdy, Mott were painted as disruptive outsiders by press and prog fans. After leaving Mott in 1974, Ian Hunter embarked on the uncompromising solo career he still pursues today, releasing a soaring anthem called ‘The Outsider’ in 1978.

25. CAN

Fired up by Hendrix and the Velvets, classically-trained Irmin Schmidt formed Can in 1968 with fellow former Stockhausen student Holger Czukay, free jazz drummer Jaki Leibezeit, avant guitarist Michael Karoli and New York singer Malcolm Mooney. Too far out for the mainstream but inestimably-influential on anyone from PiL to Primal Scream.

26. THE STOOGES

With Iggy taking onstage self-immolation to its most extreme levels, The Stooges’ nihilistic, wired and ravaged influence was felt by a crucial few, then massively a few years later.

27. SUICIDE

Suicide remain the most confrontational outfit of all time, Alan Vega and Martin Rev channelling their incendiary onstage rampage, electronic battle rhythms and doowop swoon into room-clearing live assaults and epoch-making albums.

28. NEW YORK DOLLS

New York’s proto-punks spent much of their supernova-brief first phase facing mockery, (self-imposed) obstacles and tragedy. Sylvain Sylvain: “We were young and screaming our generation’s next move.”

29. JAYNE COUNTY

In the Seventies New York underground, Wayne County took risks, broke taboos and amplified Warhol’s freak fantasies, then challenged 1977 punks by displaying real outrage, seeing it through to become Jayne in the Eighties.

30. PATTI SMITH

High poetess of punk, Patti’s insatiable passion for rock ‘n’ roll’s pure spirit and opiated romantic lyricism carried her through the CBGB’s punk explosion and beyond. An unstoppable torrent who, even at the height of her fame, would rather homage her rebel heroes than play the game.

Find out more about Clash Magazine's Fifty Outsiders list.

Global Playlist: Cumbia

Robin Murray — Tue, 15 May 2012 10:38:34 -0500

South America is a torrent of musical influences, intersections.

The continent's indigenous population forged their own rhythms, their own sounds, before the influx of Spanish conquerors - and their African slave population - altered the make up of South American life forever.

Located in the cities of Colombia, the sound of Cumbia ties together each one of these styles. Focussing on the rhythm, Cumbia is the seam which runs through almost every aspect of Colombian life.

English producer Will Holland grew so fixated with the sound of Cumbia that he emigrated to Columbia in order to soak it up - all day, every day.

Returning with new album 'Los Miticos Del Ritmo' under his Quantic pseudonym, the producer has also completed 'Look Around The Corner' with Alice Russell and the Combo Barbaro.

Holland has set out on the road. Using his Quantic moniker, the producer has teamed up with Alice Russell and the Combo Bárbaro.

ClashMusic tracked down Will Holland at his home in Colombia to discuss the roots, style and future of Cumbia.

- - -

What was your introduction to the Cumbia sound?
I came accross Cumbia LPs and 45s in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Mainly large groups from Colombia like La Sonora Cordabesa and Hermanos Martelo, the more orchestrated sound of cumbia. After listening to alot of Mambo, Descarga and Pachanga, it attraccted me that Cumbia was slower, laid back and close to music like Rocksteady, Calypso and Compas.

Where did it evolve from?
Cumbia’s roots lie in the Carribean coast of Colombia, the rhythm, like so much of the Amercian continents great music, came out of the mix of European, African and Indigenous strands interwoven during the Colonial period. There are also many styles that seem quite close to cumbia at first glance, these are Porro, Tambora & Chande. Cumbia itself, popularised on a international level when the recording industry took off and it spread to Mexico, Peru and Argentina. Now it can be found in many forms, both folkloric and urban, and now digital.

What is the root of Cumbia? Is it the rhythm?
The rhythm is important, it is played on the Alegre drum, Llamador (that marks the off beat) and the Guacharaca. But in recent history, say since the 60s, the Acordeon has played a big role too in Cumbia. Like with all folkloric music around America, Latin America and the Carribean, the Accordion has been introduced into the folk music palette of instruments. In Colombia, its role is very important, just like with it is in Merengue from the Dominican republic or in Tipica music in Panama. Traditional cumbia is also played with the ‘Flauta de Millo’ and ‘Gaita’.

How wide spread in Colombian culture is Cumbia?
Historically speaking Cumbia, Vallenato and more widely ‘Musica Costena’ have been immensely popular in Colombia since the 40s, widely eclipsing all other Afro Colombian rhythms such as Curulao from the Pacific. Cumbia recordings are nothing new in Colombia, it is something that every generation has gotten down to since the phonograph was introduced to the Country. Its hard to consider it underground as it was the some of the best selling music in the late 60s, just like Mambo or Rumba was in the States in the 50s. Today, in a modern setting, I’d say that the resurgance of the cumbia sound is underground, though its getting more popular day by day, especially in the club scene of Bogota.

How have Western forms filtered into Cumbia? Are they welcomed, or seen as a dilution?
In Cartagena, Barranquilla and all around the coast, you can find traditional folkloric groups who most likely play a style that is unchanged, something close to what you might hear 200 years ago, but who really knows for sure. The most interesting thing about Folklore, is that it should reflect community in its present time while at the same time preserve the town’s memory: its history, oral tales and melodies. With time marching on and modernism changing lots of rural Colombia forever, that oral history and style is being lost. Today oral history is heard in recordings, thats the new folklore.

Costeno music and all of its rhythms: Cumbia, Porro, Garabato, Chande, Gaita, Maestranza, Paseo, Puya, Merengue, Son etc... continue to be preserved. But we cannot overlook the outside influences, in the past there were alot of influences from Cuban Son, Haitian Compas, Rock and Salsa. Bands were listening to new things, copying international trends, just like they do today. The barranquilla carnival has always been a central musical focus, where aside from the wealth of home grown music played, there is also a lot of Hi Life, Soukous, Salsa and Reggae to be heard.

Is Cumbia a live music, or have DJs taken control?
In the internet world, cumbia is the music of DJs, Ableton Live producers and bedroom cumbiamberos, but in its birthplace, the coast, it is still played live and recorded live with real
instrumentation. Music in that part of Colombia is not a material or life fashion choice, its just a part of daily life, an integral part of the culture they have there.

Where is Cumbia played?
At barranquilla Carnival every year, At the Cumbia Festival of El Banco Magdalena every year, by Carmelo Torres on Acordeon every night in San Jacinto, by the Picos (sound systems) in Cartagena and Barranquilla, At the many new clubs nights that play cumbia in both folk and electronic forms in Bogota, by the Sonidero sound systems of Mexico, in Peru, Argentina, Europe, the States....

Is the Cumbia scene attached to certain aspects of society?
In Colombia, Cumbia is something of the past, I think most young, lower class people are listening to reggaeton or romantic Vallenato. You have to remember the size of Colombia and that it is immensely musically diverse. So in Cali lets say, no one is listening to cumbia in the Barrios, it's irelevant, only maybe when you’re at a family wedding or birthday party. The good thing about the new interest in cumbia is that younger people are begginning to get into it again.

Is Cumbia politicised?
In Colombia, very rarely, only very recently and more because of a influence of rap culture. But cumbia in Colombia has always been a dance form, something celebrationary and lyrically more mystical than political. But new urban pioneers of Cumbia like Pernett and Systema Solar are changing that.

Has Cumbia moved beyond Colombia? Are there territorial divisions between South American musicians?
Well, people always will argue about the real origins of musical styles. The roots of Cumbia are firmly in Colombia but they ahve spread across all of the Americas. When Cumbia was dwindling in Colombia, it was thriving in Mexico, it has been kept alive by the people, which is a very wonderful thing.

Where is Cumbia heading next?
It seems to be getting more abtract and digital. I personally would like to hear less about cumbia in the future and more from the Pacific or styles like Porro and Champeta too.

- - -

'Look Around The Corner' by Quantic and Alice Russell with the Combo Barbaro is out now on Tru Thoughts

Spanner In The Works: Roska

Clash Music — Tue, 15 May 2012 07:32:44 -0500

"Shorter tracks, more vocals, a shift in tempos and smoother flows", says Roska of his forthcoming second album on Rinse recordings, a project he has been itching to put out since the release of his self-titled debut album back in 2010.

Still regarded as one of funky's chief standard bearers in many quarters, it has been interesting to see Roska's sound take on something of a new persona over the last 18 months. Whilst stylistically still laden with funky influences, Roska 2 is a record of not only great progression but new and powerful ideas; strikingly, the only survivor from his first outing is good friend and collaborator Jamie George. This is not to say that Roska 2 marks some sort of revolutionary overhaul in his approach however. "You can see the progression in my sound in this one" he says, "It's moved on from being just funky - it all fits in to what I do now and who I'm around."

In and amongst two excellent vocal tracks from Mz Bratt and songstress Ruby Goe, the album is awash with innovation, underpinned by grimy elements that hark back to Roska's earliest productions. A one time grime hit maker, recent collaborations with Terror Danjah and Champion seem to have reinvigorated Roska's taste for the genre, a fact made all the more apparent on tracks like 'OnRinseSinceZeroEight' and 'Eleven 45'. Funky does retain some influence, bubbling over nicely on 'Metric' and 'Do You Like This' with Jamie George in particular but is certainly no longer the defining feature of Roska albums.

The biggest statement on the album comes in the form of 'Spanner in The Works' however, which sees Roska join forces with multi-talented grime lynchpin Swindle and dubstep protege Funtcase. "It was pretty intentional", he explains. "I had a vision of what I wanted and me and Swindle actually started it a year ago but I re-worked it over time and got Funtcase involved. I've been talking to him for a good few months now and felt he could bring something raw to the smooth chords and skippy drum pattern." A calculated risk or a stroke of genius? Either way, the results speak for themselves with the track already racking up extensive airplay on both Rinse and Radio 1 and in effect redefining what people have come to expect over the past 4 years.

Further notable reference points are arguably a little more subtle but all tie into the fact that this is Roska's most accomplished work to date. Alongside aforementioned intriguing features and new musical directions, it retains a consistent level of club worthiness that the first outing possibly lacked, even despite the cult status of dance floor favourite 'Squark'. "It was a good stepping stone", he explains "and definitely something I looked back on and learnt from when putting the new album together."

Indeed it would be fair to say that Roska 2 is most definitely a more concise, well rounded offering too. Longer, drawn out instrumentals have been scrapped in favour of shorter, more listener-conscious tracks that compensate for people's complex listening habits whilst still holding on to their DJ friendly status. Vocal tracks also play a more prominent role in the overall feeling of things and varied tempos add vital balance, an essential feature of successful contemporary dance music compilations. The secret? Adaptation. "Over time, I've just adapted everything. I've tried to make it Iphone and Ipod friendly but DJ/club friendly at the same time. I think I've found that balance."

There is room for improvement though. Although stand out tracks like 'Badman' featuring Sweetie Irie and 'Spanner in the Works' are of an exceptional productional standard, Roska's development as an artist has so far been shaped not only by his taste for experimentation but self-reflection. "I learnt a lot from the first one and feel like I made the right improvements to the second. I'll definitely do the same with the third one too because it's important to look back on things. If you can't find a fault or room to improve as an artist or even a person, then life just got a bit dead-out for you. We've all got room to improve."

Album aside, Roska is also keen to pay tribute to Rinse, an organisation regularly referred to by its DJs as more of a family than mere radio station. "It's definitely a good place to be" he acknowledges, although also admits 'you never know how the future may pan out'. That being said, 'OnRinseSinceZeroEight', a track he views as a 'look back on how and where I started', is a testament to how proud he is to have played such a role in the station's development. He remains very much a part of the station's future too, with a third album installment due to follow Roska 2 in the next few years. "I can just see myself pushing more and more good music through a great outlet" he says. And long may it continue.

So there we have it, Roska 2; a surprisingly edgy but wonderfully refined effort from one of Rinse's most consistent mainstays. Highly recommended.

- - -

Words by Tomas Fraser

Fifty Outsiders : 11 - 20

ClashMusic — Tue, 15 May 2012 00:45:50 -0500

Read part two of Kris Needs Fifty Outiders list for Clash magazine's Outsider issue taking in Joe Meek, Allen Ginsberg, The Fugs and more.

11. KENNETH ANGER

One of the most influential independent filmmakers in cinema history, notorious for surreally unsettling works such as 1964’s Scorpio Rising, 1969’s Invocation Of My Demon Brother and 1972’s Lucifer Rising, injecting homoerotica, gay culture and his abiding fascination with Aleister Crowley

12. MONTGOMERY CLIFT

Personalised inner turmoil roles while becoming a heartthrob in films such as From Here To Eternity, Clift got into booze and prescription drugs after a disfiguring 1956 car crash, his drug-addled post-accident career described as ‘the longest suicide in Hollywood’, which finished in July, 1966.

13. JOE MEEK

Producing groups like The Tornados in his home studio above a shop on Holloway Road, Meek pioneered reverb, overdubbing and electronic effects. A troubled, complex character; homosexual when it was still illegal, occult-obsessed, prone to rages and warped by drugs. On February 3rd, 1967, killed his landlady then himself with a shotgun.

14. ALBERT AYLER

Free jazz took music outside its comfort zones as the real rebel music before rock and folk got hip. Ayler took the tenor to shattering levels of skronking intensity. Beset by inner turmoil, he suffered a nervous breakdown, his body found in New York's East River on November 25, 1970.

15. OUTSIDER ARTISTS

French artist Jean Dubuffet’s 1948 definition of ‘art brut’ (raw art) was translated into ‘outsider art’ by critic Roger Cardinal in 1972, referring to extreme work created outside traditional constraints with no connection to mainstream institutions or commercial achievement. The first well-known ‘outsider artist’ was 1920s Swiss psychotic mental patient Adolf Wolfli.

16. ALLEN GINSBERG AND THE BEAT POETS

The Beat Generation raised a radical finger at right wing, cold war-paranoid America, Ginsberg smashing taboos experienced through his own homosexuality while redefining poetry with the lyrical Tsunami of 1955’s Howl, William Burroughs bringing graphic portrayals of drug addiction, while Jack Kerouac defined ‘beatniks’ with On The Road.

17. HARRY SMITH

Harry Smith was a law to himself, whether as psych pioneer artist, experimental filmmaker, musical archivist (his Anthology of American Folk Music kickstarted the US folk revival) or producer of The Fugs.

18. THE FUGS

Activist poet Ed Sanders formed the notorious Fugs in 1965, celebrating sexual freedom and drugs while railing against the Vietnam war, accumulating a healthy FBI file.

19. THE GODZ

New York City’s anarchic ESP-Disk imprint became a haven for outsider singers and musicians after starting in 1964 as an outlet for free jazzers, also releasing discordant proto-punk shambles The Godz, whose 1966 debut, ‘Contact High With The Godz’ was met with hostility, although Lester Bangs’ later enthusings helped turn them into a cult.

20. HOLY MODAL ROUNDERS

Demented mountain-speed duo Peter Stampfel and Steve Webber collided with ESP-Disk, having spent the first half of the Sixties wreaking anti-folk carnage in this often most precious of mediums.

Find out more about Clash Magazine's Fifty Outsiders list.

On And Off Bass: Mike Watt

Clash Music — Mon, 14 May 2012 09:14:00 -0500

I could waste my word count here simply listing the number of bands (or ‘projs’ to use the man’s own parlance) that Mike Watt has formed, shaped, joined, helped or been a part of. Suffice it to say, the two he’s best known for, Minutemen and The Stooges, are arguably two of the most important, fascinating and mould-breaking-ly unique rock groups you’re ever likely to encounter.

But even listing each individual endeavour like some kind of comprehensive punk rock CV would surely still fail to accurately portray the sheer scope of the personality, philosophy, language and practises of a man who, after spending 30+ years ‘workin’ the bass’, has become one of the most respected, talented and visionary players to emanate from the late 70s Californian punk explosion. Yet, unsurprisingly perhaps, he is virtually anonymous to the general public.

The idea of ‘doing it yourself’ is something that has become synonymous with punk, it’s angry younger brother, hardcore and indeed Watt himself, but it was more the result of having no set way of doing things outwith the structures of the music industry. With the exchanging of ideas and resources, punk flourished and set a template for decades to come on how to exist and survive as a band without paying out the arse or sacrificing your artistic vision. Or as the Minutemen put it: “We jam econo”.

In this respect, Watt, along with his buddies and fellow Minutemen D. Boon and George Hurley, were old-fashioned work horses. And they were smart too: recording live and practising so much they wouldn’t waste time in the studio; playing everything in the order it was to end up the record to avoid the costs of editing and sequencing; putting on their own shows; putting out records every few months; sharing info and networking with likeminded souls from all over the country… They took their own unique spin on what Punk had taught them and pushed it to the limit, never afraid of not fitting in. Again, they probably summed it up best themselves: ‘Punk is whatever we made it to be’.

Now, nearly 30 years on since the sad passing of Minutemen guitarist and vocalist D. Boon forced the band to quit, Watt, now workin’ his way into his fifties, is still making records in various guises and touring all over the world. From playing ‘thudstaff’ for the grandfathers of electrifying rock n roll, The Stooges in between writing operas to laying four string rumbles on countless collaborative records, and briefly reuniting with his post-Minutemen trio fIREHOSE last month. Still, repping D. Boon, still repping Pedro, this month Watt is being celebrated for another aspect of his artistic vision entirely: photography.

‘Mike Watt: On and Off bass’ - Watt’s second book after 2003’s ‘Spiels of a Minuteman’ - is essentially a collection of photos revelling in the beauty and wildlife of his beloved San Pedro, California hometown. The pieces, taken while cycling, kayaking and walking near his house, take in the industrial structures of the harbour town, the spectacular ocean sunrises and the lively local creatures that inhabit the area.

“That’s just my town,” says Watt. “I live in a harbour and it’s weird for California but we actually face east so I get sunrises. We’re on the other side of a peninsula so like a southern version of San Francisco. So there’s sun rises and living in the harbour there’s pelicans and sea lions and dolphins and stuff.”

Originally casual hobby of sorts that blossomed into regular documentation, the photos were far from frivolous, but still more a kind of fun little practice that was rarely the subject of deeper thought for Watt.

“I always just did it, y’know,” Watt adds casually, “and they just got put on the flow (mailing) list. Then, a year ago, there was a gallery in Santa Monica called Track 16 and they wanted to do a show of my pictures. I never thought, I mean, I’d never seen ‘em printed, they’re always just stuff from ‘puters. And I said OK, and the gallery took 65 of ‘em and basically in a weird way, this book is kind of a catalogue of that show.”

To put them into context, much like the exhibition itself, the pictures are complemented with snippets of lyrics, poems and quotes that reflect what’s on the page, but the focus for Watt has never been on the written element of the book.

“The editors at Three Room Press, Peter and Cathy went and looked at my diaries and my poems and they picked some of that stuff to go in between some of these pictures,” explains Watt. “I thought it’d be kinda ham-fisted for me to go pickin’ my own excerpts, so I wanted some kind of objective thing so I said you guys can pick what you think, kind of spiel words. Not too much though because it seemed to be more about the pictures so I didn’t want to be too heavy about the spiels. If you wanna read the diaries, just go to the fuckin’ Hootpage (Watt’s website), y’know!

“It’s very kind of these people, both at Track 16 and at Three Rooms Press, because like I said, I took these pictures, just to do it right? I want people to know about Pedro, where I live and stuff but it’s mainly kinda for friends.”

In the 2005 documentary, We Jam Econo, filmmakers Tim Irwin and Keith Schieron explore the story of the Minutemen, charting their history from D. Boon and Watt’s accidental run-in at a park when they were 13, to the band’s untimely end in 1985 just as people were beginning to catch up. In the movie, we get in-depth look into the friendship and surroundings that shaped a unique three-way partnership but it also cements the idea that the Minutemen were who they are, because of where they came from. A theme that has been written in bold throughout pretty much everything Watt’s done since.

“The Minutemen wrote a lot about Pedro,” he affirms. “I came to this town when I was 10 years old from Virginia, so I’ve been here 44 years. So I’m not really from here. And D. Boon was from Napa, California up north, Georgie (Hurley, Minutemen/fIREHOSE drummer) was from Massachusetts, so none of us were actually from Pedro but we came here as boys. And we never left.

“One of my sisters and my mom lives here, and also for me, my whole music history’s here. The town is different for So Cal. I know if you fly over these parts it just looks like one huge ass town but actually it’s about 150 and they’re all kinda different. But this one; Pedro’s much different because of the geography. It’s in the harbour; it’s at the end with cliffs, kinda like Malibu with hammerhead cranes and longshoremen. It’s a weird mixture, it’s a workin’ town. This is closer to Vietnam than Virginia,” he says, cementing the idea that Pedro was very much an outsider town; a So Cal anomaly.

“Believe me, I love visiting everywhere else, going to other towns, the touring thing, that part of my work, and I’m very much grateful for it but it’s good to have kind of a base too, for the bungee cord to bounce back, y’know?”

Although he’s not likely to drop anchor just yet, despite being fairly settled in his Pedro pad, revisiting the band’s own personal geography as well as its history for We Jam Econo was an experience that would go on to have a profound and long-lasting effect on Watt’s feelings about the band, his roots and where he wanted to push himself as a musician and an artist.
“The two guys that made it, Tim and Keith, they were too young to actually see us, so they asked me to show ‘em around,” he explains. “And I had to start listening to the Minutemen again because I had to talk about it, because after [D. Boon] got killed, it was kinda hard to listen for a while.”

“Making that documentary and listening to that music again, I kinda incorporated Minutemen ideas in my third opera, [last year’s] ‘Hyphenated-man’. I mean, there were some other things too, like Hieronymus Bosch, and the Wizard of Oz, but a big part of it was just going back to my Minutemen roots, which I was afraid to do because it was a personal thing.

“It’s hard for me to look at it just as music, y’know?” Watt adds with his trademark enthusiasm but still clearly as aware as ever of the gravity of the situation. “I had to do it to help Tim and Keith out with this movie and one thing I’m really interested in, is people knowing about D. Boon. I’m into that because I love his message, and I love his aesthetic, I just think it’s good healthy stuff. Even if I wasn’t in the band, y’know, I’m a bit of a fan!" [he laughs].

“I know that sounds weird and shit but I truly am. I think I owe it to him to make music on my own and not dick leach on him and shit but I also want folks to know about his work. As much as I can anyway.”

- - -

Words by Ryan Drever - Pity The Writer

We'll Be The Moon: Fixers

Clash Music — Mon, 14 May 2012 05:43:12 -0500

"I've never been super into the idea of doing a Track By Track for 'We'll Be The Moon'" admits Fixers singer Jack Goldstein. "I like the nature of letting the music do all the talking, it just feels right for this particular record. I see the value in explaining songs, notions and ideas but WBTM is, for me, quite a realised effort; perhaps a direct contrast to forthcoming releases, its hard to call at this stage. That said, I wanted to share the notes, notions and concepts we came up with for the album before we recorded it. I've attached all the notes I made prior to our recording session and a notions board of ideas that clusters the record in a sense. Some of the tracks are different to the final tracklisting but this is the preliminary list we had a month before we went to the studio, it shows how many of the songs were learnt from scratch in the studio. I'm not so certain on a lot of the music I reference, it feels like a lifetime ago..."

URIEL//
It's alarming how detrimental the use of a guitar track is on the overall production of this song, its the difference between a dance/pop song and an overblown Coldplay song. The vibe is pure J-Pop, think of the lack of pretence in acts like Perfume and MEG - joyous, dancey pop without the phoney delusions of grandeur that are evoked by The Killers or Coldplay. Reference track for URIEL production is this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FJQHIAIuQjI&feature=related

WHO SAYS BOYS//
Another dance song but with a whole different aesthetic. This has to be pure dance pop basically. I want to bounce the entire track onto a cassette tape afterwards and then record it back into the desk whilst subtly warping the tape. Think Washed Out, Italo Dance music and old warped Vangelis tapes from when you were a kid. Euphoric, nostalgic lo-fi Italo pop. As well as the Italo Disco reference, the original sample me and Roo used was taken from Pino Donaggio's Body Double soundtrack. Reference track for WHO SAYS BOYS production is this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pqP2-w6AWS4

DAIS FLOWERS//
The structure of Dais Flowers (or lack of) lends itself perfectly to be represented as both a loose, long and psyched out Gang Gang Dance-esque space jam or a more refined, controlled and euphoric, "end of the world" dance cut like Emeralds. Lets blend the two together and make an almighty behemoth of smoked-out beauty! It has to sound both like five musicians losing themselves in a riff for ages and a two dj's playing off each other in one climatic build-up. Reference tracks for DAIS FLOWERS are both this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kQZo2rsReEM and this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_2CXnJ3OSz4

A CREATIVE SPRING//
This song has a similar structure to Apache I guess, so straight away I want to abandon the feel of a straight run through of a song by a band. Instead, I want it to sound like a series of chopped loops, slightly distorted with a Wise Blood feel to it. The production and feel of STRT SRNS by Wise Blood mixed with the slightly overdriven sound of How To Dress Well. This will bring the track into a whole new emotive light, remove the Animal Collective essence and add an entire new level of excitement to it. Reference track for A CREATIVE SPRING is this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pQcn5W83JaA

AMSTERDAM//
The basic feel of this track is Cocteau Twins meets Kate Bush, we should resample the snare drum so we get a big echoey washed out kit with a digital reverberated Cocteau Twins-esque snare sound. I really want my vocals to sound as much like Kate Bush as possible, not easy I know. She has a very distinctive delivery that I can study the hell out of and I think we explore the world of pitch altering, it would be very subtle (to make the vocal slightly higher) - its experimental, exciting and The Beatles did it all the time so its not cheating in any way whatsoever. The way I propose we achieve this effect is record the entire track as per normal, then lower the pitch of the track and then track vocals over the top of the lower version meaning that when we come to raise the pitch of the vocal take it will be at the same pitch of the original backing track. Reference track for AMSTERDAM snare sound is this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sf9jk6qk6TI and for the rest of the instrumental this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3diz8I0AVVk

MAJESTIES RANCH//
This has a real estate/beach fossils vibe so we should treat it with the same production. Soaked up, under produced, garage but without the angst. We want to get this twinkling, delicate sound which is rough around the edges - like a bunch of kids with guitars trying to recreate the entire Phil Spector Wall Of Sound but only having a organ, two guitars and a drum kit. Nice, loose shakers on this as well, no polishing up. It should sound like a bunch of kids now trying to replicate the sixties and making a whole new sound of their own. Its a thin sound that will suit the song perfectly. Reference track for MAJESTIES RANCH are http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X_Yt2LcCqrk&feature=related and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bfi2HJGziAA

SWIMMHAUS JOHANNESBURG//
This song will sound like the Slave To The Rhythm by Grace Jones. Like with a lot of the songs that we have been sitting on for a while, i've gone back and recollected what I was listening to at the time I wrote the song. The guitar stabs at the beginning are great, as is the beat mixed with the live drum beat with the tambourine. The real guitars part don't work, they should be replaced with sweeping digital orchestral parts and synths. We will aim for a nice refined and polished Trevor Horn sound but then very subtly warp in some analogue way (either through cassette tape or VHS) - its not to create the level of nostalgia and lo-fi-ness that Who Says Boys will have but instead to add a layer of warmth to the sound of the recording so that it sounds like slightly aged. We should use a Roland JX-8P if we can get our hands on one. Reference track for this is http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vy3fsj-aGWw (this isn't the album version and has a slightly different feel to it so try and download the 6:12 version if you can so you can hear all the cool orchestration etc) and for the chopped/resampled live instruments the beginning of this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0NieCsI0j3I&feature=related (don't listen after the twenty second mark!)

ALEXANDRA//
We have pretty much nailed the feel of this track, its got to sound like Disintegration-era Cure with a bit of Kanye's 808 and Heartbreak mixed in as well. This is a good chance for us to make a more refined and realised track with a strong emotive feel - it should sound a bit more fragile than the demo. The harmonies should be pure Brian Wilson, think when the harmonies first hit you in The Night Was So Young. The track is a reference to the character of Alexandra Owens in Flashdance, I was obsessed so the real core production of the track lends itself to Giorgio Moroder's soundtrack to the film. Reference for ALEXANDRA is this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oOHQs405XcU and this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R5KsPn9vtMQ&feature=related

IRON DEER DREAM//
It going to be touch to replicate that vibe. However, this needs to be a free, fun and danceable pop song and, weirdly, needs to be consciously un-exhuberant or else it could suffer from slipping so slightly into the crass musical territory of the E.P version of Uriel. We need to be channelling Passion Pit, The Naked & Famous with a little bit of Gang Gang to soak the track in excitement and freshness. Reference tracks fro IRON DEER DREAM are this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ceqBXK8jAiE&playnext=1&list=PL8FCDB20AEDB... and this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OCcUXEC5_eU

REALLY GREAT WORLD//
I was going for a simple, John Maus meets Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain feel with this track. So I think we should record a digital, warm 80's beat reminiscent of the kind of lo-fi stuff we were doing with the first recordings of Who Says Boys and Were Still Friends. We should re-amp this through a cassette or VHS deck to get that washed-out effect and then blend it with a simple live drum beat, perhaps looped, which is a carbon copy of the Range Life drum sound - its a pretty stark drum sound, just snare, kick and ride with a few bells and shakers fucking around in the background. At the 3:29 mark where the weird brass lift comes in we should overdrive the vocals and pull them really out of the mix, with a distorted digital bass to really fuck things up and make everything fun - i can imagine "guaranteed world, its a world you've hurled" and the vocal cry that follows being an overdriven That's Not Very Funny kind of vibe, a complete contradiction to the light, romantically naive nature of the song but that adds another level of fun and energy to the track. The digital banjo should stay, we don't want to turn this into a Travis song! There is a really nice mathy guitar line that I like which you can't really hear in the demo - i'll dig it out and send it over Dawson. It would be nice if that was slightly more in the mix, perhaps we could utilise some weird panning. I'll try my best ti do a Neil Young/Brian Wilson doing a woman's voice at the beginning of the song, infact it feels like we should keep the vocals in the high register until the overdriven climax? I thought when the vocals came in strong on the demo it sounded totally wanky. The whole beginning section we could keep, rerecord the ride cymbal and then stick the whole thing through a cassette deck to warm it up and infuse it with that whole nostalgic vibe. References for this track are http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PMku-GbafEg (the underlying beat which will be blended with the live drums) and this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1VVj1zqbWpU (for the live sound and overall guitar sound) - the overdriven vocals at the end should have this feel http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SQD0z8eB_jA and the vocals for the remainder of the song should have this kind of feel http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Vbclu8ELDE (Brian's woman voice at the beginning of this blows my mind, listen at 0:46!) and this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1e3m_T-NMOs

GOOD NIGHT//
I have asked for some ukelele's to be hired in for the session so we can play around but its going to be touch to recapture that whole vibe - We should re-record the harmonies but still allow them to retain that stark, loose feel. I wanna hear people shuffling in the background, talking beneath the track, lovely tape edits. References are http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nHXGvDP8iLI (This is my all time favourite BB song ever and 1:53 is my favourite part of any beach boys song ever! when brian says "miss you so hard, now." in such a lazy, nonchalant way over the topline its like nothing i've ever heard in music before!) and this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V0juu940iJI (This is my favourite version of this track, you can hear all the boys reactions when Brian plays them the amazing mid-section for the first time at 1:23, the chord changes are just magical! mike says "that is a motherfucker" at the end too!)

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'We'll Be The Moon' is out now.