Friday, 7 February 2014
Perfectly Formed: 'Shoegaze' and the art of the EP
Please see the revised and generally better version of this article here
Friday, 3 January 2014
Black Metal Blues; the power of formula
Black metal and the blues; the parallel is not just colour-based whimsy; the blues started out as basic, primal, heartfelt music. Then it developed; went jazzy, electric, progressive, even psychedelic; but at heart there was still – ideally anyway - that unchanging core of feeling. With black metal, this near-century-long stylistic expansion and mutation has been telescoped to within just a couple of decades, and as with the blues, whatever the prefix, there remains an indefinable core of feeling. To buy into the cheesy platitudes of the genre, if the feeling isn’t there, it isn’t the blues (or BM)
The style
of the music – easily imitated – is just that – style. The 12 bar blues is basically a formula – and, as cliché would
have it, easily learned but rarely mastered. Black metal is surprisingly
similar in that respect. Certain chord sequences, scales, methods (above all
tremolo-picking on guitar and blastbeats on drums) mean that any
technically-able musician can learn the rudiments of black metal playing (http://youtu.be/Pk7VXRKcdgM for
instance, and http://youtu.be/g-V-Oiro748
- see?).
Genre clichés a-go-go. No criticism intended, I love these clichés.
And
yet, although to all intents and purposes, the latest album by “Funeral Blizzard”
(seriously, you wouldn’t believe how hard it is to make up a generic black
metal band name that isn’t already an actual
black metal band) may be a carbon-copy of one of the all-time classic black
metal albums (or even more likely, a really strong 2nd division
album like Incipit Satan or Panzer Division Marduk), the difference is as
immediately obvious as that between Blues Hammer’s classic Picking
Cotton Blues (from Ghost World - http://youtu.be/ZaM6lTmhnak) and any
song by Charlie Patton. ‘Authenticity’ is a troublesome term, but it feels like
the difference between authenticity and pastiche, truth and fakery, substance
and style.
And speaking
of style; the corpsepaint worn by the ‘false’ black metal horde in comparison with
their ‘true’ progenitors is only slightly more contrived than the
self-conscious ‘bluesman’ trappings of John Lee Hooker in his wealthy
successful heyday compared to a pioneer like Blind Willie McTell, whose clothes
were probably the best he could afford and were pretty much in the mainstream
fashion of the day. At some point the image of genre cornerstones becomes a kind of uniform embodying the values (and 'authenticity') of the founding fathers/mothers of the genre; it's an easy identifier for audiences but if anything it puts more pressure on the performer to produce something worthwhile - a young man in a 'bluesman' outfit (or spikes and corpsepaint) sets up an expectation, good or bad. They need to not suck or they will automatically be twice as bad as the bad performer with no readymade image.
Which is not to say there is only one ‘authentic’ style: in the 20s alone, Blind Lemon Jefferson and Charlie Patton worked alone, while artists like Mamie Smith, Ma Rainey and Bessie Smith sang with pianists, jazz bands and orchestras, later artists like Muddy Waters and Howlin’ Wolf spanned many styles over the course of their long careers, while Albert Collins, Johnny Winter and BB King could barely be more different from each other, but all are true blues legends. Similarly, Venom and Bathory were as different as they were similar; Mayhem, Darkthrone and Emperor have only the most superficial similarities while being key bands in the genre, solo acts like Xasthur and Striborg have carved their own niches, while bands as diverse as Immortal, Gorgoroth and even the sometimes-maligned Dimmu Borgir all have the feel of true black metal running through the grooves of (most of) their very different records.
Which is not to say there is only one ‘authentic’ style: in the 20s alone, Blind Lemon Jefferson and Charlie Patton worked alone, while artists like Mamie Smith, Ma Rainey and Bessie Smith sang with pianists, jazz bands and orchestras, later artists like Muddy Waters and Howlin’ Wolf spanned many styles over the course of their long careers, while Albert Collins, Johnny Winter and BB King could barely be more different from each other, but all are true blues legends. Similarly, Venom and Bathory were as different as they were similar; Mayhem, Darkthrone and Emperor have only the most superficial similarities while being key bands in the genre, solo acts like Xasthur and Striborg have carved their own niches, while bands as diverse as Immortal, Gorgoroth and even the sometimes-maligned Dimmu Borgir all have the feel of true black metal running through the grooves of (most of) their very different records.
None
of this is to say that fake black metal or fake blues records can’t be
enjoyable for what they are. If what you want is to hear songs, in a style you
already like, about worshipping goats or people being deserted by their
partners then the pastiche will be fine.
"Blues Hammer"
Originality
in music is – rightly – valued. Without innovation music devolves into a kind of
lifeless muzak; but at the same time,
if the bones, the basic skeleton is strong enough – as it clearly in the blues, and as I think it is in black
metal – it can serve as the framework for endless variations and repetitions
without losing its validity and vitality as a form.
And Carpathian Forest are the fundamental, elemental, eternally valid John Lee Hooker of black metal.
And Carpathian Forest are the fundamental, elemental, eternally valid John Lee Hooker of black metal.
Monday, 30 December 2013
Inevitably, The Albums of the Year: 2013
This is definitely not a complete list, since I didn't really bother to check what actually came out in 2013 that I really liked, BUT those below were definitely among the highlights.
They are in no order apart from my 'album of the year'
IHSAHN - DAS SEELENBRECHEN
Metal acts are all too often praised for bringing any kind of non-metal musical influence into their work (tentative, seriously out of date bits of techno or hip-hop are probably the least daring way to 'innovate'); but with Das Seelenbrechen, Ihsahn made an album that wasn't just 'extreme metal with (whatever) elements'. The electronic, gentle and improvised parts of the album are no less natural than the heavy riffs, raw vocals and Nietzschean philosophy. Clever, extreme (in lots of different ways) but accessible, because at its heart are great songs which don't necessarily belong to any particular genre.
DAVID BOWIE - The Next Day
A great album (if not a 'return to form' since his form has been pretty dubious for a long, long time), with a few lesser moments (the 90's-ish indie-ish attempts at being modern grate a bit) which don't however spoil the whole.
ANCIENT VVISDOM: Deathlike
Okay, I marginally prefer the band's debut, but the sparse-but-atmospheric backwoodsy bluesy occult folk/rock worked just as well the second time around, with the bowed bass adding lovely texture to the band's addictive semi-acoustic sound.
OCTOBER FALLS - The Plague of a Coming Age
2013 was another good year for atmospheric post-black metal (although the genre is surely on the verge of oversaturation) and this was probably the Finns' finest and most mature work to date.
BOARDS OF CANADA - Tomorrow's Harvest
A return to a more ambient-ish sound and fewer of the more conventional song-structures of The Campfire Headphones made this a 'grower' but ultimately one of the duo's strongest works to date.
SANGRE DE MUERDAGO - Deixademe Morrer No Bosque
Moody, windswept and mysterious Galician folk music; beautiful, desolate and organic.
MANIERISME - フローリア
This 6-track demo has the same mix of peculiar sepia-toned nostalgia, atonal noise and ferocious black metal as the two Manierisme albums The Past and Sorrow and Everyone Has Two Sides. One of the greatest BM acts of recent times.
SKÁLMÖLD - Börn Loka
Spirited Icelandic Viking/folk metal concept album where the songs are more than strong enough to stand on their own. A great, intelligent and heroic metal album with tons of atmosphere for those who like such things.
MY BLOODY VALENTINE - m b v
After the dust had settled, m b v was inevitably just a little bit disappointing. The Loveless-like first half was underwhelmingly familiar and the less predictable second half slightly unmemorable; but while it's playing it sounds like a masterpiece; which it is, by the standards of most bands.
ALTAR OF PLAGUES - Teethed Glory and Injury
Somewhat overlooked now that the band have split, this was a divisive swansong. Whereas many would have been happy with an extension of the excellent but water-treading Mammal, Teethed Glory... was a ferociously different take on black metal, replacing the almost standard 'post-BM' atmospherics with something hypnotic and abrasive.
ORANSSI PAZUZU - Valonielu
Space-rock meets black metal; psychedelic, expansive but never meandering. Definitely not just for metal fans.
ELENI & SOUZANA VOUGIOUKLI - To Be Safe
Blues and jazz influences collide with the sisters' unique take on ancient and traditional world music on this beautiful album.
FALKENBACH - Asa
It seemed as though Falkenbach had never faltered, but this is such a strong return to form that it revealed predecessor Tiurida to have been more run of the mill than it seemed at the time.
CLANDESTINE BLAZE - Harmony of Struggle
Not post-anything, not BM/anything, just bleak, obscure, mysterious black metal (albeit really 'grey metal'). Therefore pretty nasty but cloaked in a kind of tattered majesty.
BEASTMILK - Climax
Okay, all a bit retro, but can the world have too many catchy, gripping songs with a Joy Division-meets-The Cure-meets-Bauhaus flavour? Well, yes, obviously. But at the moment it doesn't, so this is great.
VÀLI - Skoglandskap
Lovely instrumental Norwegian folk (or at least acoustic) music; mellow, autumnal and evocative.
NICK CAVE & THE BAD SEEDS - Push The Sky Away
Probably the 5th or 6th best Nick Cave/Bad Seeds album; therefore pretty good.
Honorable mentions:
Blue Öyster Cult - The Complete Columbia Albums Collection
technically the music is not new, and with 16 discs DEFINITELY not all good, but plenty of excellent stuff therein
Blizaro - Strange Doorways
again, not new music, but this vast compendium of creepy 70s-ish horror-movie rock is absorbingly great
Venusian Death Cell - Halloween V: Halloween Horror (couldn't find a pic of the cover)
Fragile outsider-metal. Really not like anything else.
Sistar - Give It To Me
Smooth & soulful Kpop/R&B, not quite as good as their debut, but still pretty classy.
They are in no order apart from my 'album of the year'
ALBUM OF THE YEAR:
IHSAHN - DAS SEELENBRECHEN
Metal acts are all too often praised for bringing any kind of non-metal musical influence into their work (tentative, seriously out of date bits of techno or hip-hop are probably the least daring way to 'innovate'); but with Das Seelenbrechen, Ihsahn made an album that wasn't just 'extreme metal with (whatever) elements'. The electronic, gentle and improvised parts of the album are no less natural than the heavy riffs, raw vocals and Nietzschean philosophy. Clever, extreme (in lots of different ways) but accessible, because at its heart are great songs which don't necessarily belong to any particular genre.
DAVID BOWIE - The Next Day
A great album (if not a 'return to form' since his form has been pretty dubious for a long, long time), with a few lesser moments (the 90's-ish indie-ish attempts at being modern grate a bit) which don't however spoil the whole.
ANCIENT VVISDOM: Deathlike
Okay, I marginally prefer the band's debut, but the sparse-but-atmospheric backwoodsy bluesy occult folk/rock worked just as well the second time around, with the bowed bass adding lovely texture to the band's addictive semi-acoustic sound.
OCTOBER FALLS - The Plague of a Coming Age
2013 was another good year for atmospheric post-black metal (although the genre is surely on the verge of oversaturation) and this was probably the Finns' finest and most mature work to date.
BOARDS OF CANADA - Tomorrow's Harvest
A return to a more ambient-ish sound and fewer of the more conventional song-structures of The Campfire Headphones made this a 'grower' but ultimately one of the duo's strongest works to date.
SANGRE DE MUERDAGO - Deixademe Morrer No Bosque
Moody, windswept and mysterious Galician folk music; beautiful, desolate and organic.
MANIERISME - フローリア
This 6-track demo has the same mix of peculiar sepia-toned nostalgia, atonal noise and ferocious black metal as the two Manierisme albums The Past and Sorrow and Everyone Has Two Sides. One of the greatest BM acts of recent times.
SKÁLMÖLD - Börn Loka
Spirited Icelandic Viking/folk metal concept album where the songs are more than strong enough to stand on their own. A great, intelligent and heroic metal album with tons of atmosphere for those who like such things.
MY BLOODY VALENTINE - m b v
After the dust had settled, m b v was inevitably just a little bit disappointing. The Loveless-like first half was underwhelmingly familiar and the less predictable second half slightly unmemorable; but while it's playing it sounds like a masterpiece; which it is, by the standards of most bands.
ALTAR OF PLAGUES - Teethed Glory and Injury
Somewhat overlooked now that the band have split, this was a divisive swansong. Whereas many would have been happy with an extension of the excellent but water-treading Mammal, Teethed Glory... was a ferociously different take on black metal, replacing the almost standard 'post-BM' atmospherics with something hypnotic and abrasive.
ORANSSI PAZUZU - Valonielu
Space-rock meets black metal; psychedelic, expansive but never meandering. Definitely not just for metal fans.
ELENI & SOUZANA VOUGIOUKLI - To Be Safe
Blues and jazz influences collide with the sisters' unique take on ancient and traditional world music on this beautiful album.
FALKENBACH - Asa
It seemed as though Falkenbach had never faltered, but this is such a strong return to form that it revealed predecessor Tiurida to have been more run of the mill than it seemed at the time.
CLANDESTINE BLAZE - Harmony of Struggle
Not post-anything, not BM/anything, just bleak, obscure, mysterious black metal (albeit really 'grey metal'). Therefore pretty nasty but cloaked in a kind of tattered majesty.
BEASTMILK - Climax
Okay, all a bit retro, but can the world have too many catchy, gripping songs with a Joy Division-meets-The Cure-meets-Bauhaus flavour? Well, yes, obviously. But at the moment it doesn't, so this is great.
VÀLI - Skoglandskap
Lovely instrumental Norwegian folk (or at least acoustic) music; mellow, autumnal and evocative.
NICK CAVE & THE BAD SEEDS - Push The Sky Away
Probably the 5th or 6th best Nick Cave/Bad Seeds album; therefore pretty good.
Honorable mentions:
Blue Öyster Cult - The Complete Columbia Albums Collection
technically the music is not new, and with 16 discs DEFINITELY not all good, but plenty of excellent stuff therein
Blizaro - Strange Doorways
again, not new music, but this vast compendium of creepy 70s-ish horror-movie rock is absorbingly great
Venusian Death Cell - Halloween V: Halloween Horror (couldn't find a pic of the cover)
Fragile outsider-metal. Really not like anything else.
Sistar - Give It To Me
Smooth & soulful Kpop/R&B, not quite as good as their debut, but still pretty classy.
Monday, 23 December 2013
The Year (some of the people who made some of) The Music Died (Part 2)
As mentioned before, LOTS of remarkable people in the world of music died in 2013, the following are tributes to a few more of them...
Richie Havens (died 22nd April)
Why you should* feel sad
Because another unique human being no longer exists
Contribution to music
Unique and intense, plaintive and jittery acoustic folk-ish, soul-ish, blues-ish type stuff
Outstanding Example:
'Freedom' (Live at Woodstock, 1969)
Kind of a cliché since it is by far his most famous performance but his opening set ensured that in all the mud and euphoria the serious, peace-activism at the heart of the festival.
*
Ray Manzarek (died 20th May)
Why you should* feel sad
Because another unique human being no longer exists
Contribution to music
Jim Morrison may have been the face/voice of The Doors, but Ray Manzarek's organ really set the sound of the band apart from their blues/rock/psych peers
Outstanding Example:
Where to start? 'Light My Fire' is maybe the most classic bit of Doors organ but Manzarek's playing is everywhere in their sound. I would go for 'The Changeling' as a masterpiece of his funkier style.
*
Trevor Bolder (died 4th February)
Why you should* feel sad
Because another unique human being no longer exists
Contribution to music
Played bass on some of David Bowie's finest albums as well as with Uriah Heep
Outstanding Example:
LOTS! If you take Bolder's descending bass part out of Bowie's 'Changes' it loses half of its goodness. And his bass gives the rock riff of 'Ziggy Stardust' its impact.
*
Jeff Hanneman (died 2nd May)
Why you should* feel sad
Because another unique human being no longer exists
Contribution to music
Some of the most inventive riffs and solos in metal; one of the key architects of thrash/death metal.
Outstanding Example:
Again, so many. But I LOVE Hanneman's 'Spill The Blood' from South of Heaven (1988), a song that went against the prevailing faster-than-thou trend (which admittedly Slayer had helped to create with Reign in Blood) to show that clean guitars and slower tempos need not mean less heavy music.
*
Alan Myers (died 24th June)
Why you should* feel sad
Because another unique human being no longer exists
Contribution to music
One of the great robotic drummers of the New Wave period
Outstanding Example:
The whole of Q: Are We Not Men? A: We are Devo. His precise, hard-hitting style gives maximum tension to their tightly controlled sound, especially on songs like their idiosyncratic cover of the Rolling Stones' 'Satisfaction'.
*
George Duke (died 5th August)
Why you should* feel sad
Because another unique human being no longer exists
Contribution to music
Like all of Frank Zappa's collaborators, George Duke was a first class musician; both in solo recordings and as a band member his keyboard playing was complex, innovative, but never unlistenable.
Outstanding Example:
Having not heard as much of his solo stuff as I should have I kind of have to judge by his Zappa work, but listen to Roxy & Elsewhere - he was great.
* You shouldn't of course feel sad, unless you want to.
Richie Havens (died 22nd April)
Why you should* feel sad
Because another unique human being no longer exists
Contribution to music
Unique and intense, plaintive and jittery acoustic folk-ish, soul-ish, blues-ish type stuff
Outstanding Example:
'Freedom' (Live at Woodstock, 1969)
Kind of a cliché since it is by far his most famous performance but his opening set ensured that in all the mud and euphoria the serious, peace-activism at the heart of the festival.
*
Ray Manzarek (died 20th May)
Why you should* feel sad
Because another unique human being no longer exists
Contribution to music
Jim Morrison may have been the face/voice of The Doors, but Ray Manzarek's organ really set the sound of the band apart from their blues/rock/psych peers
Outstanding Example:
Where to start? 'Light My Fire' is maybe the most classic bit of Doors organ but Manzarek's playing is everywhere in their sound. I would go for 'The Changeling' as a masterpiece of his funkier style.
*
Trevor Bolder (died 4th February)
Why you should* feel sad
Because another unique human being no longer exists
Contribution to music
Played bass on some of David Bowie's finest albums as well as with Uriah Heep
Outstanding Example:
LOTS! If you take Bolder's descending bass part out of Bowie's 'Changes' it loses half of its goodness. And his bass gives the rock riff of 'Ziggy Stardust' its impact.
*
Jeff Hanneman (died 2nd May)
Why you should* feel sad
Because another unique human being no longer exists
Contribution to music
Some of the most inventive riffs and solos in metal; one of the key architects of thrash/death metal.
Outstanding Example:
Again, so many. But I LOVE Hanneman's 'Spill The Blood' from South of Heaven (1988), a song that went against the prevailing faster-than-thou trend (which admittedly Slayer had helped to create with Reign in Blood) to show that clean guitars and slower tempos need not mean less heavy music.
*
Alan Myers (died 24th June)
Why you should* feel sad
Because another unique human being no longer exists
Contribution to music
One of the great robotic drummers of the New Wave period
Outstanding Example:
The whole of Q: Are We Not Men? A: We are Devo. His precise, hard-hitting style gives maximum tension to their tightly controlled sound, especially on songs like their idiosyncratic cover of the Rolling Stones' 'Satisfaction'.
*
George Duke (died 5th August)
Why you should* feel sad
Because another unique human being no longer exists
Contribution to music
Like all of Frank Zappa's collaborators, George Duke was a first class musician; both in solo recordings and as a band member his keyboard playing was complex, innovative, but never unlistenable.
Outstanding Example:
Having not heard as much of his solo stuff as I should have I kind of have to judge by his Zappa work, but listen to Roxy & Elsewhere - he was great.
* You shouldn't of course feel sad, unless you want to.
Sunday, 22 December 2013
The Year (some of the people who made some of) The Music Died (Part 1)
Sadly, LOTS of remarkable people in the world of music died in 2013, the following are tributes to just a few of them...
Reg Presley (died 4th February)
Why you should* feel sad
Because another unique human being no longer exists
Contribution to music
Some great, fun, catchy, kind of stupid garage-rock hits, which despite the perceived silliness of The Troggs (rural accents, 'the Troggs Tape', crop circles etc) are up there with the greats of 60s pop.
Outstanding Example:
The Troggs: With A Girl Like You (1966)
The three or four best-known Troggs songs (Wild Thing, I Can't Control Myself, Any Way That You Want Me) are all great but this is particularly rough-yet-ebullient, silly but great basic three chord rock.
*
Donald Byrd (died 4th February)
Why you should* feel sad
Because another unique human being no longer exists
Contribution to music:
In short, one of the all-time jazz greats. From the cool Blue Note albums of the 50s to the great funk of the late 60s and 70s, Donald Byrd was inventive, hard-hitting and a master of mood.
Outstanding Example:
Almost impossible to choose, whole albums are essential; Blackjack, Black Byrd, Kofi, Fancy Free, Street Lady, a long, long list. 'The Dude' from Electric Byrd (1970) is a great mix of Miles Davis-esque jazz with great, percussive funk.
*
Patty Andrews (of the Andrews Sisters) (died 30th January)
Why you should* feel sad
Because another unique human being no longer exists
Contribution to music
As well as helping define the often-overlooked female side of the swing era, the Andrews Sisters' harmonies were superbly musical and complex, despite the apparent ease with which they performed
Outstanding Example:
The Jumpin' Jive - cool, jazzy and the definition of close-harmony singing.
*
Clive Burr (died 12th March)
Why you should* feel sad
Because another unique human being no longer exists
Contribution to music
Played drums on Iron Maiden's first three albums, helping define the sound of heavy metal (as opposed to hard rock) forever
Outstanding Example:
'Run to the Hills' is the most obvious example, but I would choose 'Another Life' from Killers, a criminally underrated song with a definitive Clive Burr performance at its heart.
George 'Shadow' Morton (died 14th February)
Why you should* feel sad
Because another unique human being no longer exists
Contribution to music
Forever (ahem) 'overshadowed' by Phil Spector, Shadow Morton's tougher, but no less tender or innovative work with the Shangri-Las will stand for as long as people care about such things as towering achievements in pop music.
Outstanding Example:
EVERYTHING he recorded with the Shangri-Las (his Grant Green and New York Dolls work isn't too shabby either) but how about 'Past, Present & Future': perfect.
* You shouldn't of course feel sad, unless you want to.
Reg Presley (died 4th February)
Why you should* feel sad
Because another unique human being no longer exists
Contribution to music
Some great, fun, catchy, kind of stupid garage-rock hits, which despite the perceived silliness of The Troggs (rural accents, 'the Troggs Tape', crop circles etc) are up there with the greats of 60s pop.
Outstanding Example:
The Troggs: With A Girl Like You (1966)
The three or four best-known Troggs songs (Wild Thing, I Can't Control Myself, Any Way That You Want Me) are all great but this is particularly rough-yet-ebullient, silly but great basic three chord rock.
*
Donald Byrd (died 4th February)
Why you should* feel sad
Because another unique human being no longer exists
Contribution to music:
In short, one of the all-time jazz greats. From the cool Blue Note albums of the 50s to the great funk of the late 60s and 70s, Donald Byrd was inventive, hard-hitting and a master of mood.
Outstanding Example:
Almost impossible to choose, whole albums are essential; Blackjack, Black Byrd, Kofi, Fancy Free, Street Lady, a long, long list. 'The Dude' from Electric Byrd (1970) is a great mix of Miles Davis-esque jazz with great, percussive funk.
*
Patty Andrews (of the Andrews Sisters) (died 30th January)
Why you should* feel sad
Because another unique human being no longer exists
Contribution to music
As well as helping define the often-overlooked female side of the swing era, the Andrews Sisters' harmonies were superbly musical and complex, despite the apparent ease with which they performed
Outstanding Example:
The Jumpin' Jive - cool, jazzy and the definition of close-harmony singing.
*
Clive Burr (died 12th March)
Why you should* feel sad
Because another unique human being no longer exists
Contribution to music
Played drums on Iron Maiden's first three albums, helping define the sound of heavy metal (as opposed to hard rock) forever
Outstanding Example:
'Run to the Hills' is the most obvious example, but I would choose 'Another Life' from Killers, a criminally underrated song with a definitive Clive Burr performance at its heart.
George 'Shadow' Morton (died 14th February)
Why you should* feel sad
Because another unique human being no longer exists
Contribution to music
Forever (ahem) 'overshadowed' by Phil Spector, Shadow Morton's tougher, but no less tender or innovative work with the Shangri-Las will stand for as long as people care about such things as towering achievements in pop music.
Outstanding Example:
EVERYTHING he recorded with the Shangri-Las (his Grant Green and New York Dolls work isn't too shabby either) but how about 'Past, Present & Future': perfect.
* You shouldn't of course feel sad, unless you want to.
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