Bulletin from the Audio Desk
As much of a fan as I am of John Peel's show show on the "nation's favourite", his holiday stand-ins this week have been impressive.
Underworld on Tuesday, despite sounding like they were ripped to the tits on something strange and overpowering, put together a coherent and exceptionally listenable two hours. On Wednesday, Siouxie Sioux chose a magnificent selection that threw together all-time classics, explosive album tracks by well known artists and some wonderful obscure songs. And last night, Robert Smith of the Cure took over and, whilst I have only heard some of it so far, it's all good.
All three stand-ins took the time to spin a few tracks by artists who influenced them musically, and there were some interesting links. Both Underworld and Siouxie Sioux played stuff by Brian Eno, the ambient pioneer, whilst the equally inventive David Bowie turned up on both Wednesday and Thursday night.
This reminded me of a few years ago when I applied for a job in a music shop and the application form wanted me to list five of the most influential albums of all time. It seems like a difficult question initially, but simply turn on the radio and read a couple of interviews in music magazines and you realise you already know the answers. The hard part is attempting to justify the answers with embarrassing pseudo-intelligent muso bullshit that would cause Paul Morley to hunt you down like a dog and slice you in two if he ever read it. But in a way it was kind of fun. In the end I remember that among my choices were Nirvana, Velvet Underground, Brian Eno and Godspeed You Black Emperor (I forget the final one). The first three were just a matter of regurgitating the same old facts and pointing out that they are influential because every bugger under the sun with a guitar and a head full of lyrics says so. Simple. Let the thing speak for itself.
The latter, though, was a true test of my bullshitting ability – GYBE have not been around long and they've only done 3 albums to date, but their influence among well-known artists is presently slight. However, they're a music scene unto themselves, and there's a million minor bands across the world who are started to cite them as an influence. Okay, this is resulting in an epidemic of point-missing aimless instrumental rock, but it does point to a much larger future appreciation of the band.
Yikes. I've tumbled into exactly the kind of bullshit I was talking about. And again this post has gone on far longer than I expected. I have to wrap this up. It's eleven o' clock, the view of industrial detritus outside is hurting my eyes and I desperately need a coffee. Hell, what I need is a warm duvet, a bottle of 12 year old Bowmore and the tape recording of last night's Robert Smith. But those things are notoriously hard to source in a waste management company, so instant coffee it is.
Underworld on Tuesday, despite sounding like they were ripped to the tits on something strange and overpowering, put together a coherent and exceptionally listenable two hours. On Wednesday, Siouxie Sioux chose a magnificent selection that threw together all-time classics, explosive album tracks by well known artists and some wonderful obscure songs. And last night, Robert Smith of the Cure took over and, whilst I have only heard some of it so far, it's all good.
All three stand-ins took the time to spin a few tracks by artists who influenced them musically, and there were some interesting links. Both Underworld and Siouxie Sioux played stuff by Brian Eno, the ambient pioneer, whilst the equally inventive David Bowie turned up on both Wednesday and Thursday night.
This reminded me of a few years ago when I applied for a job in a music shop and the application form wanted me to list five of the most influential albums of all time. It seems like a difficult question initially, but simply turn on the radio and read a couple of interviews in music magazines and you realise you already know the answers. The hard part is attempting to justify the answers with embarrassing pseudo-intelligent muso bullshit that would cause Paul Morley to hunt you down like a dog and slice you in two if he ever read it. But in a way it was kind of fun. In the end I remember that among my choices were Nirvana, Velvet Underground, Brian Eno and Godspeed You Black Emperor (I forget the final one). The first three were just a matter of regurgitating the same old facts and pointing out that they are influential because every bugger under the sun with a guitar and a head full of lyrics says so. Simple. Let the thing speak for itself.
The latter, though, was a true test of my bullshitting ability – GYBE have not been around long and they've only done 3 albums to date, but their influence among well-known artists is presently slight. However, they're a music scene unto themselves, and there's a million minor bands across the world who are started to cite them as an influence. Okay, this is resulting in an epidemic of point-missing aimless instrumental rock, but it does point to a much larger future appreciation of the band.
Yikes. I've tumbled into exactly the kind of bullshit I was talking about. And again this post has gone on far longer than I expected. I have to wrap this up. It's eleven o' clock, the view of industrial detritus outside is hurting my eyes and I desperately need a coffee. Hell, what I need is a warm duvet, a bottle of 12 year old Bowmore and the tape recording of last night's Robert Smith. But those things are notoriously hard to source in a waste management company, so instant coffee it is.
posted by Jamie at 11:06 AM
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