THROW YOUR CAPE OVER AN ORC

Is Your Favourite Band Turning Prog? (written 01/11/2003)

Without even knowing it, you could quite easily be slipping into a world of Prog Rock. This doesn’t necessarily mean concept albums of orcs and 12 minute bass solos, but there is a danger it could be. Here are nine tell tale signs that you’ve just bought a Prog rock album.

1. It has come in unique, fancy packaging.
2. There are only 9 tracks.
3. One or more tracks is over seven minutes in length
4. Tracks don’t have titles
5. There are no vocals, but the songs are profoundly named
6. The album has two parts, and perhaps an interlude.
7. There are two discs, each with a different title
8. The band are influenced by Talk Talk
9. It is produced by Tim Friese-Greene

It is as if every artist has a Prog album in them, bursting to be recorded. The Electric Soft Parade have gone from Britpop to Pink Floyd in one step and it seems as though Elbow are desperately fighting their Prog masterpiece. Even Gareth Gates has released a double album following Prog rule number 7.

Many bands fail to recover from their Prog album. Mansun released two fantastic concept albums but then took all of that away on their third album, Little Kix. This was nowhere near as good as Attack Of The Grey Lantern and Six, and now the band is no more. Spiritualized tried to replicate the style of Ladies And Gentlemen We Are Floating In Space on Let It Come Down, but failed to repeat the success. To combat this, Jason Pierce has taken a garage rock attitude and recorded Amazing Grace in two weeks. Cave In went from 8 track albums to a straight up rock album. They have now been reported saying that they will take the style of Prog hardcore band Isis for their next album.

There are many acts who we wait and see what they do next. Tool have grown from writing 5 minute rock songs, to a standard time of eight minutes. But this has taken three albums to get there. Where next for Tool? Will they take a leaf out of Yes and Talk Talk’s book and record an album of four songs? Or like Mike Patton’s Fantomas and release a CD containing one seventy minute track? Sigur Ros’s last album had no title, no song names and no words, so how can they ever take another forward step from there?

Where next for bands such as The Mars Volta and Oceansize. Both have released mammoth debut albums this year, with seemingly no room for growth. How do you follow an album with 3 ten minute songs on it? They certainly aren’t going to start writing 3 minute pop songs

The question is, although the pomposity will always be frowned upon, can the band’s overblown Prog album ever be topped? So if your favourite band is about to turn Prog, be careful, it may just be the best thing they will ever do.

THEY CALL ME THE SWAN

Review: Red Hot Chili Peppers - Greatest Hits (written 30/10/2003)

Under The Bridge
Give It Away
Californication
Scar Tissue
Soul To Squeeze
Otherside
Suck My Kiss
By The Way
Parallel Universe
Breaking The Girl
My Friends
Higher Ground
Universally Speaking
Road Trippin'
Fortune Faded

Save The Population

The previous best of album the Red Hot Chili Peppers put out was rightly entitled What Hits?, as only two tracks from the release ever made into the charts. One of those songs, Under The Bridge, features on this compilation, correctly titled Greatest Hits.

It is no coincidence that the Chili Peppers hit big with their fifth album, Blood Sugar Sex Magik. They had a new record label, a fantastic producer in Rick Rubin and the same line up for two consecutive albums for the first time. Blood Sugar was a wonderful album, a classic if you will, and four of its tracks are featured here. These tracks, along with Blood Sugar outtake Soul To Squeeze, show the true wonder of guitarist John Frusciante (check out documentary Funky Monks to see Frusciante putting everything into the recording of these songs).

After Frusciante left the band in 1992, the Chili Peppers struggled to find a guitarist that fit with the band. To compare sixth album One Hot Minute with any of the other albums featured on this Greatest Hits collection would be wrong. When a band writes as equally as this one, the songs will be driven the guitarist, and Dave Navarro and John Frusciante come from different schools. When you listen to Navarro’s later work on his solo album and latest Jane’s Addiction album Strays, you can tell he is more straight rock than the soul of Frusciante. With the band currently not playing any songs live from One Hot Minute, it is understandable that only My Friends is included here.

Frusciante’s return from professional heroin addiction in 1999 heralded Californication, the Peppers’ most successful album to date. A more mature Anthony Keidis sings much more than usual and Flea almost completely leaves behind his trademark slap bass. Wisdom is shown in the slower songs like Otherside and Scar Tissue, but the most remarkable difference with this album was the introduction of Frusciante’s vocal harmonies. Sublime.

The band continued to move in the same direction on their most recent, and arguably best album, By The Way. The songs from that, along with new song Fortune Faded, show how much the band has changed, not only from the beginning of their career but also from Blood Sugar Sex Magik.

All in all, this is the Greatest Hits of John Frusciante. It is a shame that the singles released do not show the guitarist’s full range. Album tracks such as My Lovely Man, This Velvet Glove and Minor Thing are sadly missing from a collection based purely on singles. But then again, you should own all the albums anyway.

MY LOVELY MAN

Six Of The Best: Rick Rubin produced albums (written 28/10/2003)



Red Hot Chili Peppers – Blood Sugar Sex Magik

Rubin transformed the Chili Peppers from funk wannabes into fully-fledged songwriters, and whilst doing so was welcomed into the band as their studio fifth member.




Rage Against The Machine – Renegades

Shortly before they split, Rage Against The Machine recorded this album of cover versions that show off their talents as performers and raises a glass to the bands who inspired them.




Johnny Cash – American III

All of Cash’s American Recordings should really be included, but the third in the series, entitled Solitary Man, gives sparse and isolated recordings of Tom Petty’s I Won’t Back Down and most notably U2’s One.




The Mars Volta – De-Loused In The Comatorium

Having split At The Drive-in, Omar Rodriguez and Cedric Bixler were intent on making challenging music. In the hands of any other producer, this could have turned unlistenable, but Rubin hones all the ideas and skills to create a stunning album.



Beastie Boys – License To Ill

Having already produced the two ends of the popular music spectrum with Run DMC and Slayer, Rubin brought the two together for the first time on the Beastie Boys’ No Sleep Till Brooklyn, on which Slayer’s Kerry King played guitar. The Beastie Boys will always be remembered for this album.



Audioslave – Audioslave

Originally called Civilian, it was Rubin who brought together Chris Cornell and the musical section of Rage Against The Machine to form an unlikely band. The album brilliantly combines the individual qualities of both parties.

LISTENING TO NEBRASKA

Six Of The Best: Americana (written 22/10/2003)


Whiskeytown – Strangers Almanac

The second album from Ryan Adams’ previous band is an alt. country masterpiece. While Adams’ later work references New York and Los Angeles, Strangers Almanac tells tales of old souls from nameless small towns in the heart of America.
Best tracks: 16 Days, Houses On The Hill
See also: Faithless Street, Pneumonia



16 Horsepower – Sackcloth N Ashes

Even the front cover of 16 Horsepower’s first album scares the hell out of you. The sound of the Appalachian Mountains via Denver, 16 Horsepower deliver a thoroughly terrifying sound fronted by the incredible banjo-playing son of a preacher, David Eugene Edwards.
Best Tracks: American Wheeze, Heel On The Shovel
See Also: Low Estate, Secret South



Calexico – The Black Light

Drawing on Ennio Morricone as a main influence, Joey Burns and John Convertino took the lessons learnt from playing with Friends Of Dean Martinez and Giant Sand to create one of the finest Americana albums ever. The whole recording sounds as if you were on the American-Mexican border (hence Calexico) and superbly blends instrumental cinematic pieces with songs of fleeing town and bloodshed.
Best Tracks: Minas De Cobre, Trigger
See Also: Hot Rail, Feast Of Wire



Midnight Choir – Olsen’s Lot

Although coming from very un-American Norway, Midnight Choir head a strong European alt. country movement (followed closely by St. Thomas). Their second album, Olsen’s Lot, brings together the sounds of Leonard Cohen, Nick Cave and Chris Isaak and is a monumental recording.
Best Tracks: Jeff Bridges, Heavy Rain
See Also: Amsterdam Stranded, Unsung Heroine



Bruce Springsteen – Nebraska

Perhaps the original alt. country album, Bruce Springsteen recorded Nebraska by himself on a 4 track, fully intending to turn each song into a full band composition. However, it was decided that the songs, with their subject matter of small town criminals and loners, were better suited to the way they were originally recorded.
Best Tracks: Atlantic City, Johnny 99
See Also: The Ghost Of Tom Joad



Gillian Welch – Revival

Before she made her name on the O Brother, Where Art Thou? Soundtrack, Gillian Welch made two albums with her partner (both musically and personally) David Rawlings. The first of these, Revival, breathes new life into the front porch country sound.
Best Tracks: Pass You By, Tear My Stillhouse Down
See Also: Hell Among The Yearlings, Time (The Revelator)

SPRING CLEAN

With literally only 5 working days left at this job, I have been clearing out the work computer so that whoever gets it in the future doesn't see all the pictures and crap I've stored up over the last 7 years.

However I have found a series of reviews and articles I wrote when we had a website and I was required to write something every week. Obviously this didn't last very long as there aren't that many, but between late 2003 and early 2005 I was a writer.

So while I wait to finish work and use my free time to do something inspiring, I will post some of these.



REVIEW: RYAN ADAMS - ROCK N ROLL (written 10/10/2003)

This Is It
Shallow
1974
Wish You Were Here
So Alive
Luminol
Burning Photographs
She's Lost Total Control
Note To Self: Don't Die
Rock N Roll
Anybody Wanna Take Me Home
Do Miss America
Boys The Drugs Not Working


Ryan Adams is a great rock star. He has been in band that split just before they would have become huge, he smokes, he is regularly drunk on stage, he has admitted to using a variety of drugs, he lives next to two of The Strokes and he has dated celebrities.

He also has public outbursts (a slanging match with Jack White through the music press) and has threatened to quit music on his message board (due to his record company supposedly rejecting his Love Is Hell album). But most of his outbursts come across via his records. On the title track of his new record, Rock N Roll, he references his threat to quit with the lines “Everybody’s cool playing rock n roll, I don’t feel cool, feel cool at all.” This song however, with its up tempo title, is the most melancholy, sonically, on the album. The rest listens like an eighties rock homage. And it is very rock n roll.

Opener This Is It seems like a direct response to the Love Is Hell debacle – “Don’t waste my time. This is it. This is really happening.” And with his reputation as the prolific songwriter extraordinaire, it is fitting that the entire album starts with the words “Let me sing a song for you that’s never been sung before”.

On his previous album, Gold, Adams aimed high with his songs. Touch, Feel And Lose was a blatant soul song, and Nobody Girl had a 5 minute guitar solo. This time around, he has not over exerted himself, but adds parts to the songs that take them to greater levels. Wish You Were Here could have been only an adequate song, but Adams vocals take off in the last thirty seconds. A snarl worthy of Liam Gallagher lifts both 1974 and Note To Self: Don’t Die, and a Morrissey like vocal on So Alive makes the song what the title suggests.
The great thing about Ryan Adams now, is that after the three different albums of Heartbreaker, Gold and Rock N Roll, you have no idea where he will go next. Rest assured, it won’t disappoint.

TECHNICAL DIFFICULTIES

My computer broke. I'm thinking about getting a new one. I suppose I'll need one when I don't have a job. I might get a Mac. Anyone know someone selling a Mac?

So while we wait, here are some things I've been enjoying:

Coldplay - Viva La Vida
Weezer - Red Album
Seinfeld Series 8
Jacques by Strongbow
Euro 2008
The Beatles (early songs, mid-late fashion)
Adam & Joe podcasts
Any old Peep Show
Bright Shiny Morning by James Frey

RANDOM FACTOR LIGHT, PICK OUT THE SHITE

Something good on the worldwide internet is The Onion AV Club's Random Rules. I've also seen some random types do random rules too. They aren't musicians but for people who know them I'm sure it's interesting.

Basically, you put your ipod on shuffle and talk about, say, 5 songs that come up at random.

So here goes; I just hope Fefe Dobson doesn't come up.

1. The Chris Moon Group - My Love Is Over
I got this from a great blog called Headfonehaus. I only came across it as I was trying to find an album called Mom's Apple Pie (by Mom's Apple Pie) which apparently had a really rude cover. It was basically a drawing of a woman holding (you guessed it) an apple pie, but there was a segment cut out and in it was what is meant to be a woman's nether parts. It is banned, probably more for the music which is basically 70s boogie rock. Actually it's not that bad. I don't know what The Chris Moon Group sound like so I'll have a quick listen. It's not bad; Chris Moon has a gravelly voice and he is pictured on the cover with his shirt off. Very 70s.

2. AC/DC - Thunderstruck

Wonderful song. Obviously this is latter day AC/DC when there is only one good song on each album as opposed to two. I think this may have been the first AC/DC song I heard. I believe the video has Angus Young on a glass stage and the drummer is angry and bald. I'm trying to go to one massive gig a year and I'm hoping that next year will be AC/DC. You can't get AC/DC songs on iTunes so I had to find the artwork myself. (NB You can't get The Chris Moon Group anywhere but that artwork came with the download) THUNDER etc

3. Queens Of The Stone Age - Tension Head

Probably not the best song on Rated R, but it is sung by Nick Oliveri and has the line 'hustling little girls'. I was always into Kyuss but didn't hear QOTSA until I was playing pool in the basement of a hostel in either Buffalo or Philadelphia. Buffalo was the dead town and in Philadelphia we got a lift back to our hostel from a bar by a guy who had had considerably more to drink than we had.

4. Tool - Aenema (live form 1998)

One of a load of Tool bootlegs I have that my brother got for me. Strangely the best Tool gig I've seen was at Wembley Arena from the 2nd 10,000 Days tour. It was Wings that made that with the lasers. One of the great gig moments. I'm proud to say I've been into Tool since about 1994 (or was it earlier) when I saw them at the Astoria on the Undertow tour. They're one of the few bands who still uphold an integrity in what they do. Great packaging, albums as a piece of work, no radio edits, arty videos. Tool don't do things by halves.

5. Tomahawk - Rape This Day

Mike Patton is a strange one. Moments of incredible genius, and moments of utter gibberish. Angel Dust is probably one of the most inventive and important rock albums of the 90s. Yet the latest Tomahawk album is toss, and don't get me started on Pranzo Oltranzista. I think it may be the only album I've taken back. Usually you say it's an unwanted gift but I just said it was awful. I don't need to hear him eating an apple over squealing saxophones. This Tomahawk song is great. I think it had a video starring Nick Oliveri.

HANDING OUT WOLF TICKETS

A few days ago I dreamt that an old friend, who was then a real shit to me at school, was a pop star with a heroin past (he does have a heroin past) and I bumped into him and he asked me to get him a drink. For some reason I did and didn't mention any of the terrible things he did to me, but after it was over I tried to get back to the beginning of the dream so I could tell him what I thought of him but I woke up and I was annoyed that I had no backbone (not literally).

WHISTLE POSSE

1 whistle = you stop talking

2 whistles = you assume the position of your soldier

3 whistles = you hit the deck

A fun idea? I suppose, but not when you're being told safety instructions about going on a boat. Not when you're in a nice pub at lunchtime in Lymington. Not when you're in a busy curry house on Saturday night in the most stag and hen infested town I have ever been to.

What with my upbringing, education, friends I have surrounded my self with and general all round snobbiness, I never thought I would have to go to a stag weekend like that. Everything I have strived for was washed away by being in the Walkabout in Bournemouth. I hope it's the last one.

Not to say there weren't laughs. Piz Wai, Dirty Dancing, Meduri, Oliver Reed. But I'm not a fan of whistles, sunburn, outfits and funnels.

The irony being I was more drunker and stayed up later in Sofia but had a much better time. Take note: don't force me to drink. I'll do it anyway, so don't force me.

Here's looking forward to the third weekend.

AN OPEN LETTER TO SOFIA

Dear Sofia,

Don't run before you can walk. We had a great time together but I don't think you're ready. Take it back a step. You think you're ready but you've tried too hard too soon. You're like a 15 year old who fancies the 20 year old, wearing too much make up. We don't want wall to wall pizzerias in Bulgaria, nor do we want the 'super club' which is empty. We want some traditional restaurants and some bars with dancefloors. We want 80s, 90s or rock music, not ear-bleeding faceless techno.

That said, I loved my time with you but you have some growing up to do.

All the best

William

PS That could could of course be exactly what you want, so sorry if it is, but the clubs were pretty empty.

THE TIGER'S CLAW

I just scanned in all the Leper's Chronicles so that's a reason to get back to work on the Rokkard blog. By god it's been a while.

Bands who had great albums but then really bad albums:

Radiohead - let's be fair, Hail To The Thief is poor, for them.
Rufus Wainwright - After Poses and the Wants he believed his uber-queen hype and put out the tripe that is Release The Stars.
The Used - First album, great. Second album, one good song. Third album, toss.
Weezer - We have hope for the new Red album (especially from the cover) but Make Believe wasn't good.

ART SCHOOL GIRLFRIEND

The question is, does art have to have a message or can it just be for entertainment?

I class all paintings, installations, sculptures, films and music as art. Well, with the latter two, especially the music and film I like. Even films like Batman or Hulk try and give some sort of moral message, or an analogy for modern life. All film directors will try and give a message, and film writers don't just want to make you smile, they want to change your life, or at least make you think.

Also with music, writers and lyricists will take time to tell you something, otherwise they might as well just use a keyboard for the music and sing la la las for the words.

Anyway, I went to an installation at the Serpentine Gallery a couple of months ago. It was essentially different shapes of light with smoke. Although I enjoyed it, I struggled to find any message. But half way through I noticed everyone enjoying it, and at one point my art partner said it was like walking to your death toward the light. 'Was this the message?' I thought. I doubt it. So even though I found no message but it was entertaining.

So why when I went to see Lonesome Jim last night, a film, was I searching for a message too? Films are more likely to be classed as entertainment but I was ultimately disappointed that there was no message? I can be entertained by some light and smoke, but a well written film with great performances and funny moments had me wanting more. Maybe it was just a little lacking that I wanted a message to make it all come together, whereas two of the best films I saw this year, namely There Will Be Blood and Control just came across as complete pieces.

Discuss.

IT'S A BLOODY SHAMBLES

When you get fired on The Apprentice, do you have to pay for your own cab fare? Because they just seem to order you a cab, and it's a black cab.

Alastair Darling has very dark eyebrows for a silver haired man.

Listen to Yeasayer. In fact, download two songs:

MP3: Yeasayer - 2080

Yeasayer - Sunrise

TOP TRUMPS

I was at a party on Saturday night and some guys arrived, one of which had his birthday that day. As a sociable fellow I started a conversation (there were about 6 of us in the kitchen, none of whom I knew) and asked which famous people he shared his birthday with.

"Hitler" he replied.

I was furious. How dare he lie and try and up himself by saying he shares a birthday with Hitler, when in fact Hitler has the same birthday as me. I had to take him down a peg or two right there. Hitler is my trump card and I won't have anyone taking it from me.

EYES FRONT

Here's a question - what would you most like to say to people if there was no repercussions? As we're not living in a Wes Anderson film we can't be completely honest, but if I could say everything in my head, I don't think Iwould say anything as much as (and excuse my language):

WATCH WHERE YOU'RE FUCKING GOING!!!

Now I'm no luddite; I own a computer (duh), ipod, digital camera, mobile phone and work recently gave me a Blackberry, suckers, and I've taken to it without disdain or even with the qualities of a heroin addict, but I think people on phones have meant they are less likely to look where they are going. Maybe I just look around myself more than the average street walker, but the amount of times someone turns straight into me has increased ten-fold in the last year or so.

I wish I had more examples of this, maybe in the coming weeks as I go about my business.

After that rant here are some good things:

Mad Men

Mystery Jets - Young Love

The South Park internet stars battle - I never saw or heard of Chocolate Rain before this.

Panic At The Disco - Northern Downpour

The prospect of seeing Shawn Smith and Death Cab For Cutie (not together)

Death Cab For Cutie - I Will Possess Your Heart

The music on this blog - Headfonehaus

And I'm sure blogger will screw up the spacing again.

DON'T BE THAT GUY

For a moment yesterday we become 'one of those people'. Usually we play competitive football of a Sunday, but due to only having one game left and a pre-booked pitch, Seb, Bernie, Paul & I decided to have what is commonly known as a kickabout. But when there's only 4 of you you have to make up the numbers somehow. And we had to be the ones making up the numbers by luring a load of Arabs and Kosovans into a game with our pre-booked pitch.

The problem is that having invited loiterers to play for us on a number of occasions, we should know full well that a) loitering around parks for a game is the lowest form of past time,and b) loiterers are undoubtedly terrible at football, because they can't get into a team.

I swore I would never ask to join a game, but we had to do it yesterday and for that I am slightly ashamed.

Saying that, that's how we met Leon.

P.S. I must add that this isn't the most exciting thing that happened in my life in the last 2/3 weeks. But the other important things are private, I won't write about them here, namely:

1. ██ █████████ ██████ ██████

2. ███████ ███ █████ ████

Hopefully these things will be public knowledge soon. Meanwhile I will work on my next film, if only my muse can be available for shooting. Those are technical terms.

I LOVE GEEKS

My first foray into movie making is above. I'm not mad on it but you have to start somewhere. The next one will have a theme and fades and shit. Starring Adrian, Alex, Chez, Owen, Alfie, Dave and maybe a couple of others. Don't tell Weezer I used their song.

SQUEEZE ME MACARONI

Seven days of dinner


Meat & veg

No effort

All in the oven

Pissed

Ate too much

Leftover

What Nikki would have had. You missed out there dear.

TEN YEARS MAN

THAT'S THE WAY WE GET BY

Went to see Spoon last night at the Scala. They really are very good. They're like the Picasso of US Indie; no straight lines. It's like they heard the entire Beatles back catalogue and decided 'Why Don't We Do It In The Road?' was their best song.

No photos, I'm too afraid of getting my camera confiscated at gigs. So here's a nice photo I didn't take.