I have been remarkably removed from the world at large since I last posted, somewhat tied up in an ever increasingly complex set of problems that life deals to me year in and year in, but let’s face it I wouldn’t have it any other way and I’m not going to be the sort of person to traipse my personal problems across the internet, this is not about what is happening to me it’s about all of us.
That being said it does make me look, as I too often do, at the staggering levels to which Capitalism consumes us all and in some way succeeds in making an ass of all our achievements. However much we may try to avoid involvement in the system it tends to jump up and bite us in the ass, whatever artistic holes we try to hide ourselves in it somehow smokes us out and puts a price on our head. When we interact with the world we have to play by its rules and its controlling systems and the odds are stacked high against us and when you have learned this, been burned a few times its hard not to want to build a wall around yourself to protect yourself with the only thing the system understands – Money. I was put in a tight spot, one that required me to make quick decisions and step out from the comfortable bubble that I had been operating in and throw myself into the fray, how quickly the vampires smell fresh blood. If I had been in a weaker state I would have been eaten up and left in a very uncomfortable position, I only made it through because I have managed to operate on the level, not a conscious player but a person accepting of my unavoidable involvement in a tour de force of control that infiltrates every part of our day to day existence. Now I am forced to measure my worth in money when what I really want is artistic ambition, I have to set a level of what I feel would be underselling myself to accept, to become a commodity that is to be traded and vied for, all so I can get back to the level and find another artistic hole to hide in. Our economy is awash with scared faces unsure of their futures and unguided on the first steps into an unfair system and they have no clue what to be proud of, we don’t need to re-strengthen the faith the world has in our currency we need to re-shape and support the populations faith in themselves. Making people feel valued as individuals and like their endeavours are meaningful makes it a lot easier to swallow the bitter pill of realisation that we will not all live the blessed life we see portrayed across the popular media, that maybe the whispered mantra of ‘you can be whatever you want’ was a misguided and rose tinted white lie that holds little weight in a world creaking to overload with want to be millionaires. Accepting one’s position in life is less harrowing when you feel you can take pride to the bank.
I did mightily enjoy David Cameron’s somewhat badly timed attack on multiculturalism the sort of rhetoric that manages to point fingers at everyone involved and end up making them all look like fools. The Left get very uppity every time anyone says anything that could half be taken as possibly maybe offensive to one social grouping or another but I always feel this may sometimes be a huge barrier to discussing things that might actually becoming an issue. The tie in with the largest rally to date of the mask clad hooligan group ‘The English Defence League’ is really not as stirring as they would have us believe, to make these nationalist parties seem ridiculous all we need to do is give them airspace and they will do it fantastically themselves, in paper there words of disenfranchisement and lack of identity might strike a chord but in pictures it becomes a much less appealing group to corner with. The right on the other hand love railing against the liberal establishment and all that it is doing to dilute our national spirit (Cameron is far from a Euro sceptic) but when there is a quarter word of support they are embracing them and him as a figurehead of a wave of national patriotism, take your eyes away from the news’s of ridiculous football transfer fee’s you lager lout fascists look to the schools to the hospitals to the dissent and disillusionment and then tell us we are a nation brimming with patriotic pride.
But as always the stereo is the last thing to be packed and there is always time for new music especially when it is a as hotly anticipated (by me at least) as ‘Kiss Each Other Clean’ by Iron & Wine it’s very hard to listen to anything completely subjectively and I go into this album already liking it and have my faith affirmed at every track. When you love the tone and meter of a group it’s hard to not like anything that might come out of their mouths and with Iron & Wine I have been thirsty for more of the same for a while and they deliver and add in new sounds that delight to boot, not to mention a stunning front cover artwork that has me aching to press play. There is assured folk quality with a dreamy use of backing vocal to surround the clear quality of voice throughout, it all seems to come so naturally I’m relaxed by how easily it all seems to come together, but there is a funk to this album as well an uplifting bounce that comes to the fore with great saxophone breaks and a deep rolling bass tone, as with all their work it’s a thing of beauty that can pick you up from the biggest of knock a welcome tonic in an uncertain world.
‘Native Speaker’ by Braids is another wash of warm welcoming sounds that sway in-between inviting and soothing and pointlessly vague. There is definitely a musical landscape being created here with counterpointed and contrasting subtle riffs in plinks and occasional plonks that run over the large swooning drones and atop this landscape is a series of long notes of vocal which don’t give away any clue as to which nation she might be a ‘native speaker’ of for I can’t distinguish a single word. At times this album vies into the Uber cool indie version of wale music relaxation tapes, but in others it has hints of the loopy brilliance of African jazz and the modern purveyors of this such as ‘Mouse On Mars’ or like ‘Welcome To Mali’ has been piped into drainpipe jeans and been given a quiff.
Now this next album was a surprise much hyped by the ‘cooler than cool’ American press but quite unlike what I was imaging when I heard the name ‘Kaputt’ by Destroyer I like the feeling of not knowing what to expect when hitting play, its half of the fun of new music, stripping away preconceptions and let the music do the talking, this album quickly yell’s ‘Belle & Sebastian’ but I’m sure that is a comparison this group would be familiar with and happy to garner. The loneliness and self deprecation in the vocal the bitter sweet occurrence of a twee female voice and the drum beats that are half Casio demonstration and half ‘New Order’. The appearance of Saxophone and nylon string guitar gives the album a not dated but timeless sound which make it a work aside of all these comparisons you might throw at it. Lyrically and melodically the vocal blends with the music doesn’t try to stand ahead and compete for attention which gives validity to a wonderfully subtle venture.
Already with this blog I have been accused of being a miserable ‘emo’ sympathiser who is scared of anything that might raise a smile, in part this is true I am drawn to a style of music that has an emotional resonance but I don’t want to get closed in to one style of music so let’s take a spin through ‘Gutter Rainbows’ by Talib Kweli with all the swagger you would expect from someone who is on the cusp of being a rap heavyweight, the macho talk in skits of a rise from the ghetto and the high life are with Talib set against the innocent sound in his voice and the reluctance to just sound like a bark like somewhat of the more bulldog rappers. There are some great soul drops and gospel sounds that mirror the religious confusion in the lyric. At times I feel the production could be cut back that there is a richness to the sound that deflects from the tightness the warmness of the sound can take the edge of the deliverance but I have to remember this is made to cater to a very different rap market than we have in the UK.
So I will be back when I can, no Internet in the house is driving me up the wall and keeping me out the loop but I will keep my ear to the ground and keep it vaguely imaginary.
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