Many of my late night drunkard rants and rampant belligerent scribbling over the years are related to the process of evolution to the point of being accused of racism and fascist barbaric views as I spout selectionism and the survival of the fittest notion that I see segregating a population. I have never been one to bear in mind the possible inferred connotations of a statement before throwing it out there, much more a fan of throwing things up flag poles and seeing who salutes (the nationalist sentiment rearing its head?), I have always been prepared to re-evaluate the notions I hold dear so as to be as bold to say things and then controlled and humble enough to dismiss them and am always aware of new levels of understanding along a path making previous beliefs unfounded yet no less relevant in the process of an idea evolving through this point.
As a species I see that we have reached the point of middle age spread in our evolutionary process we are no longer pushing ourselves forward with the view of survival but are sprawling ever sideward’s with the pursuit of comfort and happiness as our primary goals. What I can’t get my head around is the two dimensional and dumbed down methods we are implementing to try and achieve something while we don’t really understand or appreciate the goal, there is no long term thinking to our acceleration only an immediate quench for our never ending thirst. The Joy doesn’t lie in the knowing all and having all it lies in the yearning, in the beautiful journey. When we are striving we are at our best and as a species we have reached a plateau of complacency in a melodramatic slump.
The alternative, in my humble opinion is a retreat from the material and an evolution of our emotional states to become individually empowered people who measure our success purely on merit not against any tide mark set by others, to become a people who are vital and energetic constantly living the best days of their lives and who are so settled inside the limits and glories of their lives they feel no need to blow their own trumpets. Not adding to the cacophony of desperate needy choruses of self adoration but quietly sitting in the wonder of the whisper of other peoples open love. We would soon learn the deeper meanings in emotion’s that striving towards a notion of bright coloured saccharine happiness is not as rewarding as a path through a kaleidoscope of emotion feeling every one with no exception or exemption will lead to a true appreciation of joy with no need to have it validated or even noticed.
Feeling my emotions like great constellations across the sky, connecting the dots in grand and abstract patterns to create the monument of the heavens. Happy things won’t always make you happy and sad things don’t have to make you sad, the connection between things is never as simple as it seems and cannot be written in stone, it’s as whimsical as clouds and as easy to disconnect as grains of sand falling through our fingers. We have to give up on ourselves to be saved and find ourselves by getting lost.
Well clearly Solstice is coming up and my desire to sing the beauties of the world over the human dominion create this voice inside me that needs to beat drums and celebrate the few pure things we have left, so I’m sure I will get rained on at 4am as a bleak sun rises over a misty skyline and once again I can be refreshed in the knowledge that there are quiet places of being where we can look inside ourselves undisturbed by the trumpet blowing cacophony of the needy masses and we can evaluate ourselves against ancient stone and the life giving power of the sun and see our lives as they are, little more than dust on the wind.
And what better musician to soundtrack this world weary nostalgic melodrama than the new offering ‘Codes & Keys’ by Death Cab For Cutie The me some 5 years ago would have snubbed this music as introspective and wank but like I said we have to re-evaluate the power of emotion and what they can add to the depth of art. This is a very rhythmic album and far less guitar based than previous offerings with the repeated thumping’s of deep piano filling the space with the odd natty little hook that really are quite catchy, I guess that is the love hate appeal of ‘Death Cab’ the large sprawling soundscapes with the repetitiveness that are held together with the crunch of good riffs and some very sound turns of phrase, even if they do come across as a little twee. ‘You Are A Tourist’ is a standout track with a feel good cruising the coast feeling that really captured that feeling in my mind of feeling the happiness in sorrow. The album is a definite entire piece of work with an effortless flow through the pieces making it an enjoyable experience to be immersed in.
Also this week a new offering from the not so young no more scamps ‘Suck It And See’ by The Arctic Monkeys When this band first rose to fame from the depths of the internet to the front page of the NME I was at the centre of the retail industry that pushed them to having the fastest selling debut album to date and was quite taken by their cheeky turn of phrase and hooky riffs that nobody seemed to be able to ignore, 4 albums on and wanting so much to break the American market how can you manage to keep it new and vital without spouting cliché and becoming that little bit too cool for school, how do you escalate yourself to the higher echelons of the rock hierarchy without picking up doubters along the way. This album may have been recorded in the same studio as Nirvana’s ‘Nevermind’ but by people who were only 5 at the time of its release this is a group with younger influences doing all they can to take it all in and make a style of their own. The Northern charm and rough round the edges charm does endear the album to me but the relaxed swagger seems a long way from the jerky snatchyness that first pushed them towards the mainstream. The track ‘Don’t Sit Down ‘Cause I’ve Moved Your Chair’ is much heavier than anything the group has done before and much more like Turners side project Last Shadow Puppets and while the riff will have you head banging for more, lyrically it pushes the boundaries of cringe worthy almost to breaking point. Is this relaxed or is it coolness boarding on lazy, well like the band prompt you too its worth sucking and seeing.
Without lyrical constraints and with an endless soundscape at their disposal is the second release ‘Gloss Drop’ by Battles this band have a sandbox world where they can play with what they will without fear of reprisal and they use this freedom to create edgy infectious and deeply engaging interesting music. Somehow the chaos of all the noise manages to be reined in and kept consistent by an upbeat swagger and some genuine musical genius, layers of sound placed carefully to compliment and create something much bigger than the sum of its parts. The sounds on this album are much less aggressive and jarring than on ‘Mirrored’ that makes the album much more accessible which seems like a strange thing to say for such an unclassifiable maelstrom of musical movements from gritty gothic industrial sounds to an almost carnival feel of steel drums and samba drums. This is a real collage of an album that is a gripping listen with a surprisingly party atmosphere.
More pleasing electric plinkyness with some nice beats on another second outing by self produced self made man ‘Leisure Seizure’ by Tom Vek I will admit to being a little biased in my review here because I have met Tom and had a jolly good drink with him which instantly endears anyone too me but despite that this is once again a very original sound that is unabashed and compelling. The tight drums really form a solid base for the trill keyboards to spike around and Tom to use his lyrical styling’s to tell a down to earth and realistic story, I am drawn in by his honesty and forced to move by the underpinning groove of this high voltage stylish release. Maybe Tom’s first release was ahead of its time and seen as odd but this style has certainly com in vogue and deserves to be filling the floors at Indie disco’s across the land.
So I’m off for now to ponder the meaning of it all some more sitting in a field under the mysterious monoliths surrounded by the best kind of stinking hippies. So look forward to more new age thinking and a new album from the truly brilliant ‘Bon Iver’. Look after yourselves and each other
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