Interactive and Intelligent

A couple of months back, I flagged up the financial difficulties being experienced by Kristin Hersh whilst touring her wonderful ‘Learn To Sing Like A Star’ LP.

Here’s an email from Kristin today:

• I often feel there is an inverse relationship between quality of output and material success in the music business.  This is distressing, but not out of line with what I’ve come to expect.  Throwing Muses would wander the halls of Warner Brothers back in the day, muttering, “You don’t have to suck in order to work here, but it helps.”

• Now, however, the financial climate and current upheaval in the music business mean that musicians like me are genuinely poor investments for the traditional powers that be.  We do not engage in lowest common denominator trendiness, and so don’t warrant the expenses of marketing dollars and company overhead.

• Okay, I get that; this is a business.  However, I believe that when you sell toothpaste, you should be selling a goo that helps prevent cavities and when you sell music, you should be selling sound that enriches the listener’s inner life.  There is today a twisted kind of natural selection in the entertainment industry — a sort of “survival of the blandest” — the result, I imagine, of mind-fucking marketing techniques, bandwagon appeal, hype.  To me this stuff is ugly, not beautiful.

• Given this, I can only assume that record labels are not for me.  I’ve said it before — I will always play music — but in the past, it was a record company’s job to make sure you heard that music.  They sold their product; they had funded it, it was theirs to sell.  How to sell music without them?  I liken our situation to that of the family farmer’s — how can we keep from going under without going corporate?

• This is what I think: we specialize — we offer an organic product. It is lumpy and expensive and made with love and it can save you.  It’s the right thing to do.  It isn’t shiny or poisonous, which can be disconcerting to people who’ve been raised on shiny poison, but it’s natural, it’s high-end and we want you to eat it.

• To that end, I think I need to engage in a grassroots kind of capitalism, choosing principles over profits, values over image, ideals over marketing.  I have to create a permeable membrane between artist and listener — I’m a craftsperson, after all.  The church of the rock star that the music industry televangelists hawk has always been anathema to me anyway.  This is about songs and sounds, nothing else.

• Music is a tenuous profession in good times, hard times mean some of us disappear.  I’m not looking for pity, but collaboration.  Coming to you is the best way I can think of to continue being a musician.

• The model is not new, it’s akin to public radio’s listener supported programming and Community Supported Agriculture’s subscriptions to underwrite crops.  In other words, music grows on trees, but money doesn’t and I’m unwilling to suck in order to work here.  Therein lies the value proposition.  This little business will be interactive and intelligent; you will not be lied to, no shiny poison, no middle man.

• The idea of relying on listeners, treating music as a cooperative, is humbling, yet interesting to me.  This is a bit of a manifesto, I’m sorry, and now I’ll shut up, but I wonder if we might be able to do this together.

And not terribly long afterwards, came this:

ThrowingMusic is happy to announce an entirely new musical endeavor. We’re calling it the Coalition of Artists & Stake Holders, or the “CASH Music Project”.  CASH Music represents a new music business model which we hope you’ll not only support but also help us shape, by sharing with us your thoughts, suggestions & opinions.

Over the next couple of weeks, we will come to you with a new kind of offering from Kristin.  We’re planning lots of great new content, including a brand-new studio recording posted to Kristin’s blog every month – free of charge.

We’re committed to not holding music hostage, the music will be free.  We’ll be asking for donations and offer you the opportunity to subscribe to Kristin’s career – past, present and future.

The business of music clearly needs an overhaul.  We’re going to present our ideas – and with your help, we’ll endeavor to create a sustainable, fair-trade music business model.

This will be a strictly independent and self-sustaining venture — for better or for worse. No record label, no distributor, no middle-man — just Kristin, the songs and you.

We’re hoping to finally take the leap and see what all of us together, as a small but enthusiastic community of ’stake-holders’ can do for ourselves.

 It will be fascinating to see if Kristin can forge a new business model for independent musicians. I sure as hell hope she can.

A Soundtrack To Our TV Lives (3) – Sharks Infest The Waters

More familiar sounds emanating from our TV screens of late. Mercury Rev’s ‘Delta Sun Bottleneck Stomp’ has been used with the trailers for a new Channel 4 programme, ‘Dumped’ (which apparently records the attempts of 11 brave souls to live off (and on) a rubbish dump.

Assisted by a Chemical Brothers remix, ‘Stomp’ was actually a Top 30 hit for the Rev on the back of the critical adulation which greeted its parent LP, ‘Deserter’s Songs’. At the time (late 1998, early 1999) the Rev were just about the best band on the planet and if the LP is great (even if a departure from their earlier stuff) then the live shows were phenomenal. I saw them live 5 times in the space of 9 months and these shows are all documented here.

The song itself:

Mercury Rev – Delta Sun Bottleneck Stomp (from ‘Deserter’s Songs)

Buy Mercury Rev records here.

TV21 Are Shite

“Hey, Norman, Man U have just scored!”

Of course they’re not. But having bemoaned the law of diminishing returns last time, I thought I’d resort to shock tactics to get your attention this time around. Because in actual fact, unlike the Rovers the previous day, TV21 were anything but shite at the charity Rock The Rovers gig in Kirkcaldy.

So much could have gone wrong with this. Yet this was quite possibly the best performance I’ve seen from TV21 in the last couple of years.

Problem 1 – an apathetic audience more interested in covers bands than real bands (despite Norman donning a 60’s classic Rovers top). With 18 out of 20 bands on being local they could count on friends and family to generate a crowd and were probably more interested in having a drink than a band they’d never heard of. But the band’s reaction to being ignored was simple – blast it out. And the consequence was an unexpectedly energized performance rather than a public rehearsal.

Problem 2 -A plug and play scenario with no soundcheck. No way round it but remarkably the sound turned out to be crystal clear with little distortion. Everything was in its place, and this particularly benefitted Neil’s bass which brought a new dimension to songs like ‘Last Man Standing’. And the likes of ‘Tomorrow’, a blizzard of noise at the Citrus Club, sounded more focussed whilst still retaining the edge that the 21^st century performances have brought to the song.

What the sound did was highlight how good these four guys are when they play together. Like most classic bands, they rely on the foundation of the rhythm section and Neil and Simon’s contributions are exceptional. ‘Tomorrow’ has almost become their showcase – the original brassy pop song turned into a pounding monster reminiscent of Pattison and De Freitas on ‘All That Jazz’.

On top of that, Norman and Ally’s guitars just spark off each other – ‘Something’s Wrong’, ‘Shattered By It All’, ‘When Cole Was King’, hell just about everything. It’s their contributions that really make the songs fizz with such energy.

Highlights? I’ve almost become blasé about ‘On The Run’ in recent shows so this performance was a potent reminder of the song’s quality. ‘Snakes and Ladders’ was once again put up front as part of a double 45s introduction to the set with ‘Something’s Wrong.’ And quite possible best of all was ‘Look To The Sun’, their newest song, and a song which has really grown on me since hearing the proper recorded version.

Setlist

1 Snakes & Ladders 2. Something’s Wrong 3. When Cole Was King 4. It’s Me 5. Swimming 6. Last Man Standing 7. End of A Dream 8. Look To The Sun 9. Shattered By It All 10. Tomorrow 11. On The Run

A defaced running order for the gig (hence the post title)

If you want to know who the defacer is, go to my Flickr gallery from the show

TV21 are supporting the Undertones at the Liquid Room in Edinburgh on 8^th November and possibly (still to be confirmed) at the Garage in Glasgow on 18^th October. (Tickets here for the latter)

Here’s a song which they will undoubtedly play (also available from their Myspace)

TV21 – Look To The Sun

Feedback Ballet

I guess I better post a sensible review of last night’s SY show just in case anyone feels that the previous nonsense was in any way a veiled comment on the performance.

The weeks preceding this show were a mixture of anticipation and puzzlement. Every opportunity to see Sonic Youth is to be relished (I’ve only seen them 5 times before) but it still felt like a strange move for SY to retread old ground, since they almost always base their live shows on their most recent LP. ‘Daydream Nation’ of course is not just any old ground and the band’s approach to live shows actually means that the songs on ‘Daydream’ have never had the live exposure you might have expected.

So given the quality of the LP this is a project that could hardly fail. The opening of ‘Teenage Riot’ and ‘Silver Rocket’ was quite simply awesome. The 3 guitar wielding Sonics conducting a remarkable feedback session at the end of ‘Riot’ which sonically was thrilling. But with some impressive almost balletic guitar waving, including one spell where Lee held his out over the crowd to allow it to be briefly played by audience members, it was also visually stunning.

After that they kept the momentum up provoking another teenage riot (aren’t SY audiences surprisingly young these days?) during an intense ‘Silver Rocket’.

Needless to say that sort of level couldn’t be maintained throughout. But they had a damn good try. Lee’s trio of songs were all astonishing, as were ‘Across The Breeze’.

If the normal format of an LP would not normally create an appropriate live finale, Daydream is an exception and ‘Trilogy’ all but matched the opening salvo. ‘The Wander’ sets things off and I’ve always loved ‘Hyperstation’. But the closing ‘Eliminator Jr’ is absolutely brutal causing more carnage in the moshpit and an entirely fitting way to close the main portion of the evening.

A couple of minor qualms. “The Sprawl” starts brilliantly but loses its way somewhat, dissipating some of the energy of the opening songs. And the playing of an LP entirely in sequence undoubtedly has its drawbacks, not the least of which is the loss of the element of surprise.

It’s interesting too that, for the most part (Lee’s the exception), the Youth were fairly business-like throughout the Daydream set. But when they play a five song ‘Rather Ripped’ set as the first encore (with the addition of Mark Ibold on (second) bass) they all seem to lighten up with Kim in particular skipping round the stage when freed from axe duties of any kind and Thurston suddenly becoming talkative between songs.

Unfortunately my hope that the RR material would gain something in a live context proved slightly optimistic. Sure, ‘Incinerate’ and ‘Reena’ are every bit as great as you could hope for and ‘Pink Steam’ is terrific as well, but the performances of ‘Do You Believe In Rapture’ and ‘What A Waste’ don’t have me rushing to re-evaluate the half of the LP I was less keen on.

Things are rounded off in fine style with a final encore of ‘The World Looks Red’, and, despite the shredded hearing, a memorable evening is complete. Here’s one of Lee’s highlights from the original CD version of the LP.

Sonic Youth – Rain King (from ‘Daydream Nation’)

Buy Sonic Youth records here or here.

Senile Youth

Elderly rockers Sonic Youth are preparing for a show at Glasgow’s ABC.

Thurston - So, what are we going to play tonight?

Mark – Well, we’re billed to play Daydream Nation, so we should really do that.

Lee – Isn’t that one of our old ones? What would we do that for? We’re a forward looking band which never looks back.

M – Well, quite. I’m a little puzzled about it myself.

Steve – So if we’re playing Daydream Nation, what do we start with?

Kim – Kool Thing? That was quite good. I sang it.

M – No, that’s on Goo.

S – 100%?

M – (slightly exasperated) No, that was on Dirty. Daydream Nation came before that.

T – Yes, Bert, don’t be silly. It’s clearly Death Valley ’69!

M – (Exasperated) No! That was BEFORE Daydream!

L (looking excited) – Is it one of mine? Pipeline/Kill Time? Or Rats?

M – No! Lee, they never start an album with one of your songs!

L – Neither they bloody well do. (Looks hurt)

T – Beat On The Brat? Sheena Was A Punk Rocker?

M – NO! THEY WERE BOTH BY THE RAMONES!!! Look, here’s the record. It starts with Teenage Riot.

T – (less than convinced). Riiight. Then we play the other songs? Couldn’t we just play the CD then?

M – NO! There are people out there waiting to see you play and leap around!

T – Leap around?? Are you sure? And, any way, who are you, you young whippersnapper? The t-shirt man?

M – NO! I’m your bass player.

K – I’m fairly sure that I’M the bass player.

M – Well, you were until, well, you had problems …

K – What?

M – You had problems singing and playing at the same time.

K – What? (looks very hurt)

T – (jiggling around with excitement) I remember! I know who you are! You’re, you’re …., you’re JIM!

M (bangs head off table) – No, I’m not Jim. Jim’s … gone.

T – Gone?

S (shocked) – Do you mean he’s …?

L (horrified) – Has he …?

M – No! He just left the band.

T/K/L/S (horrified, in unison) – He left the band? Why would he do that?

M – He wanted to do other things. I’m Mark, I used to be in pavementtherockband.

T – Well, Mark-who-used-to-be-in-pavementtherockband you’ve caused us nothing but trouble since we met you tonight. You’ve told us that Jim is dead and worse that I didn’t write Beat On The Brat. So, as a punishment, you’re not going to play with us on the Daydream Nation set tonight. We’re going to play it the way we used to.

M- Aww, Thurston!

T – (Getting up to lead the band onstage). No, my mind’s made up. We’re going to play it the way we used to – as a trio.

The rest of the band nod their heads vigorously in agreement, then look puzzled as they do the maths.

T – (walking out the door) So how does Teenage Kicks go again?

Drowning My Heart & Hopes In Alcohol

Twenty five years after their last single TV21 released new material via their Myspace site at the weekend.

It’s been a productive year in the studio for the band so far as the 3 tracks available for download follow hard on the heels of the 5 re-recorded tracks for the Future Revisited EP. What’s different about the latest tracks though is that two of the songs are brand new 21st century compositions.

‘Last Man Standing’ was first aired back in September last year at Cabaret Voltaire and it’s gone through a few changes since then both in terms of lyrics and arrangements. But the finished version is a triumph – a modern, anthemic rock song which sounds bigger than anything they’ve done before.

‘Look To The Sun’ is of more recent vintage with only a couple of live outings behind it but it ultimately follows a similar path to LMS although it has a deceptively haunting organ led intro. That doesn’t last long though as the song explodes into life. It’s a really good lyric too – Norman seems to be planning his own funeral arrangements. I think these 2 songs would make a cracking double A sided 7″.

The third track is a re-recorded version of single ‘Something’s Wrong’ and it’s a recording that finally unlocks the song’s potential. The original version, from their ‘A Thin Red Line’ LP, always had something but this version just sparkles in comparison. It’s clear that the band feel the same way as the song has only recently re-established itself in the live set.

It’s a busy week too gig-wise for TV21 as they play their first ever acoustic gig at Avalanche Records in Edinburgh on Thursday evening (23rd) at 5.30 pm. That’s followed up by an appearance at Rock The Rovers appearing at Harlem in Kirkcaldy at 5pm on Sunday (26th). Play ‘Tomorrow’ please guys!

Here’s one of the new tracks:

TV21 – Last Man Standing

Buy ‘Future Revisited’ at Avalanche, through their Myspace or at the gigs.