Category: Music

Reviews, comment and Pete Doherty Suicide Watch all come under this category.

Q magazine: as usual, wrong in every possible way

~ Inquisitor

Since when the hell was “I’m Not In Love” a guilty pleasure? And since when was “Life Is A Rollercoaster” anything but dire? I haven’t bought a copy of Q since they started printing paparazzi photos, and this only reaffirms my decision.

BBC Have Your Say is on target for once (and for the most part, thankfully, ignoring Gary Glitter’s inclusion), as people admit their own embarassing guilty ‘pleasures’: “Star Trekkin'”, “Barbie Girl”, “The One And Only”, “Ra Ra Rasputin”, “Remember You’re A Womble”.

My occasionally perverse liking of most things 80s leads me to suggest “Material Girl”. Yes, that “Material Girl”. What’s yours?

Music choices of the Commons

~ Inquisitor

According to the British Library (via the Guardian), the top favourite album of British MPs is Led Zeppelin II.

Not actually a bad choice, to be honest – and a cross-party choice, probably one of very few things Damien Green (Tory immigration shadow) and Lembit Opik agree on. There’s some amusement in there: Mark Oaten’s choice was the Human League’s Dare! (I’m saying nothing – I like it a lot myself), Michael Howard went for the White Album, Greg Pope went for Never Mind The Bollocks, and Galloway picked Blood On The Tracks. How so very appropriate.

When even Tory MPs like Zeppelin, rock’s very own Satanic scapegoat until Black Sabbath came along, we know that rock has truly entered and capitulated the establishment. Does this matter? Probably not – MPs will always be a bit remote by nature, and surveys like this always provide a bit of amusement.

But hey, it’s always nice to know.

Shortlist shortcomings

~ Inquisitor

The Mercury Music 2006 shortlist has now been announced, and it’s a bit of a downer. Kate Bush and the Pet Shop Boys are missing, despite both having released brililant albums in the last year; no Mogwai and no Boards of Canada. However, Hot Chip, the Ludicrously Overrated Arctic F***ing Monkeys and Editors are on despite the fact that their albums are distinctly average at best and excruciating at worst (Hot Chip, I’m looking at you). Lauren Laverne thinks it’s a “really good list”, which says everything.

Thom Yorke, please. Wouldn’t mind Muse either. Still should have been Aerial.

The day in stupidity

~ Inquisitor

Bobby Gillespie has apparently been beaten up in Madrid. Probably wasn’t because of the Scream’s new album – he has a tendency to mouth off extremely stupid things about world politics, especially Israel/Palestine – but it should have been, ’cause it’s terrible. Shame, really, I like XTRMNTR a lot (despite the stupid politics) and wish they’d do more in the same vein.

And also in stupid politics, Bush has confounded even the harshest of critics’ expectations with his truly awe-inspiring CCTV-monitored conversation with Blair, who doesn’t exactly distinguish himself either. I mean, “Yo Blair“? Come on, this is the leader of the free world we’re talking about here and he sounds like he’s just got his first Myspace profile.

Much of the media are, like the sheep that they are, focusing on the fact that Bush refers to the Israel/Lebanon situation using the word “shit”, which is really the least interesting thing about the transcript (a better translated, but incomplete version is on the BBC website) – in fact, more interesting is that he refers to it as “ironic”, which indicates a complete lack of understanding of what irony is. The conversation does indicate that Bush has some kind of control, but in a very “folksy” and unprofessional way; it also shows his complete dislike for all things “ceasefire”, unsurprisingly.

It’s a must see document, mainly because we shouldn’t be seeing it – although all professional politicians are supposedly trained to treat mics as live at all times, so who knows why it them so long to turn it off? Oh well, it’s one of the few times that we actually get to see the real, un-stage-managed, Special Relationship, and for that we must be thankful to whoever left the mic on.

Shine on, Syd

~ Inquisitor

Syd Barrett has died, age 60. BBC says complications of diabetes, Guardian says cancer (and has a really good obituary talkback on their Culture Vulture blog, as well as a decent Xan Brooks piece.)

Pink Floyd mean a lot to me, but I’m from a post-Syd age; he hasn’t been seen in public, unless you count paparazzi/deranged-fan photos, for the entire period of time I’ve been alive. No music, just a self-imposed exile, occasionally disturbed by idiots seeking out something that only existed in their mind. Poor guy.

But we’ve still got Piper at the Gates of Dawn. And The Madcap Laughs. And if it hadn’t been for Syd, we wouldn’t have Pink Floyd’s great 70s albums, much of which emanates from the band’s guilt trip about what happened to Syd (especially on Dark Side and Wish You Were Here.) And for that, we all need to pay our respects.

Goodbye, “Top Of The Pops”, we knew ye too much

~ Inquisitor

It's been a shadow of itself for over ten years now and, finally, the BBC have axed it. About time too, as far as I can see – there's enough music channels showing nonstop crap that there really is no need for any more of it on the national airwaves. Shame that it'll reduce the amount of live music on TV, but since that's from near-zero to nearer-zero it isn't so much of a problem.

TOTP has been destroyed basically because it was the kind of format that the Theakstons and Coxes that dominate the BBC light entertainment department don't understand – they tacked on "interview" segments and added in lame "celebrity" hosts and it really didn't work. In its heyday, it was presented by Radio 1 DJs – at the time, as far from appearing in Heat magazine as you could get, and better for it (you certainly wouldn't get a John Peel-type figure presenting a primetime music show nowadays.) It has been killed by people who think that "celebrity", rather than skill or knowledge or a sense of fun, is the be all and end all for producing a "kids" TV programme.

It's also been killed by the music it's been showing; it's been rather incongrous watching the BBC2 variant of the show and seeing an archive clip of Bowie or whomever strutting their stuff and having that followed up by Yet Another Generic R&B Song (or something much, much worse). It just confuses people; who is such a show for?

If relaunched properly – no Andi Peters producing, no celebrity input, more artists in the studio (if not actually performing live, allow them to perform live), a presenter who actually likes music and has a sense of humour – TOTP could actually have worked. But it was never going to happen, and it's too late now for it – let's put the show out of its misery.

At least we still have 6music, for now; the station that Radio 1 should be, but isn't. And we've got Radio 2's specialist DJs, most of whom are wonderful. Shame about everything else, really…

Who the hell dug Sham 69 up?

~ Inquisitor

Graham Coxon, apparently. No offense intended, I love Blur and I don't mind his solo albums, but… did we really need this?

It's the Christian O'Connell "People's Anthem", and unfortunately the people have chosen Sham 69 – covering their "Hurry Up Harry" as "Hurry Up England" with tailored Great Escape referencing lyrics. Admittedly, Sham's form of punk was very much tailored to football terraces, so it's actually pretty appropriate. (The main change is the terrace chanting "WE'RE… GONNA WIN THE CUP" instead of, in the original, "WE'RE… GOING DOWN THE PUB"). It's hopefully going to be a bigger hit than Embrace because, unlike the Embrace single, it's got a tune, albeit a very simplistic one.

But, like all football singles, we didn't need it – there are going to be ten different WC singles this year and all are either forgettable (good), Embrace (bad), or Chas and Dave (very very ugly). Is it really the time for yet another, even if it's slightly more, well, legitimate (and a lot less musical)? Besides, in a tournament with Brazil in it England haven't a chance in hell, so why delude ourselves?

At least the cash is going to the Teenage Cancer Trust, so it's not as objectionable as the Embrace single for that reason alone. Also, there is one amusing moment in the lyrics, where time has already overtaken the single:

We've got Gerrard, Lampard and Wayne Rooney!

Oops.

Somehow…

~ Inquisitor

I managed 127 hits yesterday (Saturday). Thank you all.

And, of course, Lordi (the Finnish monster-metal band, singing a song called "Hard Rock Hallelujah") managed to win the Eurovision Song Contest by the simple tactic of having the most tuneful and most impressively performed and choreographed song. Wish I'd put a bet on it – agnetha on the DVD Forums is boasting she'd won £170.

Why can't we do that? My own personal thoughts: if Robbie Williams, a consumnate entertainer and fantastic live performer, was to enter he'd walk it. Instead, we enter Daz Sampson, and we end up 18th. Just a small consideration.