photo manipulation & text by nacrowe
this isnt the first time ive stated my love of LIVE PERFORMANCE series on YOUTUBE and the latest quality one i found is the HIGHWAY HOLIDAY TV series produced by the namesake EUROPEAN TOURING SUPPLY company out of BELGIUM of all places. the ongoing series features MODERN, EXPANSIVE and EXPERIMENTAL ROCK N ROLL bands of all walks and genres. the setting is SPARE and decidedly INDUSTRIAL but all that effectively does is put the focus on the featured artists, including NOTABLE acts like A PLACE TO BURY STRANGERS, DAGGERS, KING GIZZARD & THE LIZARD WIZARD, SECOND STILL, EMMA RUTH RUNDLE, BLACKWATER HOLYLIGHT and KIKAGAKU MOYO among others.
HIGHWAY HOLIDAY TV is definitely a LIVE PERFORMANCE series well worth checking out.
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photo & text by nacrowe
when KISS released their fourth album, a live recording appropriately called ALIVE! (CASABLANCA, 1975), it was on the heels of three efforts [KISS (CASABLANCA, 1974), HOTTER THAN HELL (CASABLANCA, 1974) and DRESSED TO KILL (CASABLANCA, 1975)] that were in essence commercial failures. the band was in serious danger of being dropped by CASABLANCA RECORDS so the financial windfall that was this record could not have come at a better time.
with touring maturing into a corporatized industry in the 1970s, the trend to release KEEPSAKE recordings of the experience became quite PROMINENT with the massively SUCCESSFUL releases of most notably PETER FRAMPTON's FRAMPTON COMES ALIVE! (A&M, 1976), THE WHO's LIVE AT LEEDS (DECCA, 1970), CHEAP TRICK's CHEAP TRICK AT BUDOKAN (EPIC, 1979), NEIL YOUNG's RUST NEVER SLEEPS (REPRISE, 1979), THE ALLMAN BROTHERS BAND's AT FILMORE EAST (CAPRICORN, 1971), BOB MARLEY AND THE WAILERS' LIVE! (ISLAND, 1975), THIN LIZZY's LIVE AND DANGEROUS (WARNER BROS, 1978), LOU REED's ROCK 'N' ROLL ANIMAL (RCA, 1974), JIMI HENDRIX's BAND OF GYPSYS (CAPITOL, 1970), SLADE's SLADE ALIVE! (POLYDOR, 1972), QUEEN's LIVE KILLERS (PARLOPHONE, 1979) and MARVIN GAYE's MARVIN GAYE LIVE! (TAMLA, 1974) among many other examples. the live album was a bit of a cottage industry and represented a product that was much easier to produce given the fact that old material was being presented and resold anew. for KISS, ALIVE! with its gatefold photography of raised stages, bright lights and plentiful pyrotechnics, translated the experience of the live experience in a PALPABLE and VIVID way that spurred and captured the IMAGINATION of a generation of musicians coming of age in the 1970s from DIMEBAG DARRELL (PANTERA), SCOTT IAN (ANTHRAX), TOM MORELLO (RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE), MIKE MCREADY (PEARL JAM) and KIM THAYIL (SOUNDGARDEN) to RIVERS CUOMO (WEEZER), BUZZ OSBOURNE (MELVINS), JERRY CANTRELL (ALICE IN CHAINS), KIRK HAMMETT (METALLICA) and ADAM JONES (TOOL). for me that lineage is the lasting impact of KISS in general and the ALIVE! album specifically. similar to CHEAP TRICK's LIVE AT BUDOKAN with songs like "SURRENDER" and "I WANT YOU TO WANT ME", live renditions of certain ALIVE! songs are the de facto STANDARD versions in the PUBLIC CONSCIOUSNESS over the original STUDIO VERSIONS. songs like "STRUTTER," "DEUCE," "BLACK DIAMOND," "COLD GIN" and of course most iconically, "ROCK AND ROLL ALL NITE," all showcase that EPHEMERAL MAGIC of a great live show. the not-so DIRTY SECRET is that much of ALIVE! is a COMPLETE AURAL FABRICATION, with rerecorded parts and imported fan noise making the release an inherently a STUDIO CREATION. but KISS are not alone in doing such, virtually all live recordings to date have some embellishment, MIXING and rerecorded TRICKERY implemented to give the audience an experience that matches their MEMORY of the gig itself. with a band like KISS that is all about the visual, their EDDIE KRAMER-produced ALIVE! album represents the release that finally provided a LISTENING EXPERIENCE that matched their presentation and the building strength of their LEGENDARY live performances from that initial decade. it is the platform from which subsequent SUCCESSFUL releases like DESTROYER (CASABLANCA, 1976) and LOVE GUN (CASABLANCA, 1977) were based on and expanded upon. it remains one of the most INFLUENTIAL live recordings of all-time and is definitely worth checking out. photo manipulation & text by nacrowe
i remember when i discovered DAFT PUNK in high school and how EXHILARATING and even LIBERATING it felt to listen to ELECTRONIC MUSIC for the first time that seemingly was the PERFECT execution of architecting a confluence of DISPARATE ELEMENTS into a UNIFIED whole. id never experienced anything like that with my whole world being a manipulated mixture of PERCUSSION, GUITAR, BASS and VOCAL ELEMENTS with sometimes a little KEYBOARD synth for TEXTURE and AMBIENCE. this was an entirely DIFFERENT beast that incorporated JUXTAPOSING TEXTURE based on a multitude of past RECORDING STYLES inherent to the SAMPLES and PITCH / TEMPO / MODULATION EFFECTS galore.
CARAVAN PALACE, another PARIS-based ELECTRONIC MUSIC collective, gives off that same GOOD-TIME VIBE with CATCHY, OFF-KILTER MELODIES and COMPELLING HOOKS from a variety of OBSCURELY-SOURCED SAMPLES that bring to the IMAGINATION DANCEABLE visions of everything between DJANGO REINHARDT and ABBA. definitely worth checking out. plus their videos are absolutely KILLER.
parody & text by nacrowe
there are certain bands i turn to when in moments of STRESS. it can go one of two ways: either i want something incredible AGGRESSIVE (i.e. PIG DESTROYER, STRAPPING YOUNG LAD, NAILS and early SEPULTURA) or CHILL and MELLOW (CHET BAKER, ONEOHTRIX POINT NEVER, BILL EVANS, BOARDS OF CANADA, GUSTAV MAHLER, STAN GETZ and early APHEX TWIN). the former BIRMINGHAM-based songwriting duo BROADCAST are UNIQUE in my estimation because they have this deeply emotionally RAW sound that is also seemingly and paradoxically quite TRANQUIL and SANGUINE. somehow they successfully meshed the two together.
calling a band's sound "CINEMATIC" is beyond a cliche, but is absolutely apt when describing that of BROADCAST. their HAZY and HAUNTING electronic soundscapes would not seem out of place as the sound-bed to a long-lost postwar black-and-white FRENCH film that followed two lovers doomed to be apart. their sounds exudes this sweet sense of MELANCHOLIA that both SOOTHES and GRATES simultaneously, like bearing witness to an exclusive event but not necessarily being a part of it. i cant help but find myself trailing off into a dreamlike NOSTALGIC state when taking in albums like WORK AND NONWORK (WARP, 1997) and THE NOISE MADE BY PEOPLE (WARP, 2000). its all encompassing. the fact that vocalist TRISH KEENAN is no longer with us, having tragically passed away on tour in AUSTRALIA from PNEUMONIA brought on by a short battle with SWINE FLU back in 2011 only makes that decidedly somber tone more PRONOUNCED and EVIDENT. its STIRRING and absolutely UNCANNY. its the type of sound that makes me feel REFLECTIVE and ANXIOUS at the same time, which counterintuitively calms me down during moments of STRESS and UNEASE. very similar in that regard to the music of JOY DIVISION, which likewise strikes a balance in presenting a SINGULAR bifurcated tone. i learned about BROADCAST through a former post-college work colleague who was an absolute music snob. through him i also learned about STEREOLAB, THE MAGNETIC FIELDS, NEUTRAL MILK HOTEL, early FLAMING LIPS, AUTECHRE and WILCO. dude was a complete dick, but i am grateful that i picked up BROADCAST from him, which is a band i have still not emotionally reconciled with to present day, two decades later. in you are unfamiliar, they are definitely worth checking out. embedded below is a recent DEER GOD RADIO episode on nonprofit internet radio station MAKERPARKRADIO.NYC that includes a playlist celebrating the MELODIC and ethereally MELANCHOLIC music of BROADCAST. enjoy!
photo & text by nacrowe
for me personally, BJORK's fourth ALBUM VESPERTINE (ONE LITTLE INDIAN, 2001) was an IMPORTANT ALBUM when it came out shortly before 9/11. in fact, it was the soundtrack for that period and the IMMENSE UPHEAVAL the came to my life. it was my senior year of high school and i was living with my family, who were stationed in KUWAIT at the time. 9/11 happened and i within a few weeks i moved to NORTHERN CALIFORNIA to live with a relative i wasnt particularly close with by any standard. there is a sense of an almost FATALISTIC DETACHMENT to VESPERTINE that very much resonated with the ISOLATION and FRUSTRATION i felt at the time. the emotions BJORK was playing with were DELICATE and EPHEMERAL yet mystically INTIMATE, or so i projected at the time.
BJORK, like DAVID BOWIE before her, has always been on the hunt for NOVEL SOUNDS and INTRIGUING collaborators to weave into her ECLECTIC and EVER-EVOLVING MUSICAL TAPESTRY. seemingly anything an everything is game. earlier recorded efforts saw her explore everything from JAZZ, TRIP HOP, ELECTRONICA and INDUSTRIAL MUSIC to TECHNO, HOUSE, POST-ROCK and even AMBIENT MUSIC. VESPERTINE was a distinct departure in that it witnessed her explore a SONIC PALETTE that split the difference between ICELANDIC CHORAL MUSIC and more CLASSICAL thin-sounding STRINGED INSTRUMENTS such as CELESTAS, HARPS and CLAVICHORDS. to my ears it sounded like the aural equivalent of a MUSIC BOX. DEBUT (ONE LITTLE INDIAN, 1993), POST (ONE LITTLE INDIAN, 1995) and HOMOGENIC (ONE LITTLE INDIAN, 1997) were all massive artistic efforts with big ideas that utilized broad strokes with VIBRANT colors, whereas VESPERTINE is more INTROSPECTIVE, CONTEMPLATIVE and SOMBER with SPARE ARRANGEMENTS of delicate COMPOSITIONS in a MUTED SONIC PALETTE. that paring back as seen on tracks such as "AURORA," "IT'S NOT UP TO YOU," "HIDDEN PLACE" and "PAGAN POETRY" made the album hit me much harder on an EMOTIONAL level. the INCREDIBLE UPHEAVAL, on both a personal and national level, of 9/11 already put me in that EMOTIVE headspace, but the record's DIRECTNESS and adroit use of INTRICATE SONIC TEXTURES very much left an INDELIBLE impact on me. i was lucky enough to see BJORK tour this album later that summer play on a baseball field at CONEY ISLAND with fellow EXPERIMENTAL ICELANDIC musicians SIGUR ROS in tow, complete with collaborators MATMOS and INUIT CHORAL SINGERS. it was a SINGULAR experience. ive also been lucky enough to visit ICELAND and saw firsthand its UNREAL NATURAL BEAUTY, which goes from VERDANT and LUSH with JAW-DROPPING WATERFALLS and VOLCANOES alike to the LIFELESS, BARE AREAS that can only be practically described as LUNAR. the CINEMATIC drama of BJORK's MUSIC to me is very much rooted in the incredibly DRAMATIC LANDSCAPE that is ICELAND. she has made SEMINAL albums before and went on to make other LANDMARK RECORDS thereafter, but for me VESPERTINE will always be the BJORK album i most closely identify with undoubtedly because of its role for me at a CRUCIAL point in my life. it has nothing to do with anything BJORK did specifically. FUNNY how MUSIC is like that. photo manipulation & text by nacrowe
the almost ALCHEMICAL interplay between the VISUAL and the AURAL is one of the most POWERFUL relationships i can think of. look no further than the INDELIBLE film scores of RENOWNED composer BERNARD HERRMANN devoid and in complete isolation from his association with the cinematic work of collaborating filmmakers in ORSON WELLES [CITIZEN KANE (RKO, 1941)], ALFRED HITCHCOCK [PSYCHO (PARAMOUNT, 1960), VERTIGO (PARAMOUNT, 1958), NORTH BY NORTHWEST (MGM, 1959), THE BIRDS (UNIVERSAL, 1963)], BRIAN DEPALMA [SISTERS (AMERICAN INTERNATIONAL, 1972), OBSESSION (COLUMBIA, 1976)] and MARTIN SCORSESE [TAXI DRIVER (COLUMBIA, 1976)]. the key concept is that score complements the film and the POWER and MAGIC comes from the two working in tandem.
the same dynamic is at play with ALBUM ARTWORK, which arguably was at its zenith in the 1960s and 1970s when the cultural ubiquity and embrace of vinyl records allowed for an ACCESSIBLE format that presented as an ARTISTIC CANVAS. it was during this period that the ENGLISH firm HIPGNOSIS, made up of the collaborative duo STORM THORGERSON and AUBREY POWELL, emerged out of CAMBRIDGE came to dominate the market with wildly IMAGINATIVE and ICONIC visual images for LEGENDARY acts of the period including PINK FLOYD, LED ZEPPELIN, T. REX, PETER GABRIEL, AC/DC, WISHBONE ASH, 10CC, DEF LEPPARD, YES, ELECTRIC LIGHT ORCHESTRA, UFO and BLACK SABBATH among numerous other artists. a quick rundown of their most CELEBRATED COVERS include numerous PINK FLOYD [A SAUCERFUL OF SECRETS (EMI COLUMBIA, 1968), ATOM HEART MOTHER (HARVEST, 1970), THE DARK SIDE OF THE MOON (CAPITOL, 1973), WISH YOU WERE HERE (COLUMBIA, 1975), ANIMALS (COLUMBIA, 1977)] and LED ZEPPELIN [HOUSES OF THE HOLY (ATLANTIC, 1973), PRESENCE (SWAN SONG, 1976), IN THROUGH THE OUT DOOR (SWAN SONG, 1979)] and PETER GABRIEL [CAR (CHARISMA, 1977), SCRATCH (CHARISMA, 1978), MELT (CHARISMA, 1980)] releases as well as T. REX's ELECTRIC WARRIOR (REPRISE, 1971), GENESIS' THE LAMB LIES DOWN ON BROADWAY (CHARISMA, 1974), AC/DC's DIRTY DEEDS DONE DIRT CHEAP (ATLANTIC, 1976) and SYD BARRETT's THE MADCAP LAUGHS (HARVEST, 1970). all that being said, the recent SQUARING THE CIRCLE: THE STORY OF HIPGNOSIS (RAINDOG, 2022) documentary centers around the UNIQUE working relationship of THORGERSON and POWELL and the cultural moment their WORK embodied and defined. the narrative is told largely from the PERSPECTIVE of the surviving POWELL, as THORGERSON passed away in 2013, as well as FAMOUS clients such as PAUL MCCARTNEY, PETER GABRIEL and PROMINENT members of PINK FLOYD (ROGER WATERS, DAVID GILMOUR and NICK MASON) and LED ZEPPELIN (JIMMY PAGE and ROBERT PLANT) as well as NOTEWORTHY non-clients GLEN MATLOCK (THE SEX PISTOLS) and NOEL GALLAGHER (OASIS). what is presented is that the INTIMATE yet CONTENTIOUS artistic collaboration between THORGERSON and POWELL was one of UNCOMPROMISING vision that repeatedly took big swings and big risks, and at times took big losses, that effectively stationed them as the vanguard CREATIVE VISUAL FIRM of the era. oftentimes they were ahead of the audience, as well as their clients. this INSULAR CREATIVE PROCESS is in stark contrast to today's more MARKET-DRIVEN and research GROUP-TESTED approach that puts a premium on riding current trends then innovating and pioneering new terrain. GALLAGHER functions as a later-generation fan of HIPGNOSIS and the era they represented, as well as the living embodiment and surrogate figure for the disappointment of what e-commerce and social technology has done to the quality of ARTWORK and the ALCHEMICAL POWER and MAGIC of such that has seemingly dissipated in decades since. to a degree, HIPGNOSIS was always dealing with the creation of a commodity that was to be sold in a marketplace, but there was a real connection to an audience that elevated said VISUALS to a sense of raised CONSCIOUSNESS and aesthetic appreciation. i do not believe fans are looking for that same connection to the VISUALS (and arguably the MUSIC) anymore in popular music that has widespread appeal. everything seems more geared towards entertainment with the shelf-life of a TIKTOK feed, which is all kinds of SAD and TRAGIC, but that is the current state of affairs regarding such. ultimately the partner of THORGERSON and POWELL didnt last through the 1980s as tastes changed and their era was seen as BLOATED and PRETENTIOUS. owing money to their creditors, THORGERSON didnt pay his end and the personal relationship of both soured irreparably. this emotional and psychic WEIGHT is adroitly visually evoked and represented by director ANTON CORBIJN in STARK, high-contrast black-and-white with POWELL physically laboring to carry his creative work in a large, CUMBERSOME over-the-shoulder bag through an abandoned side road somewhere in a NAMELESS, MISTY ENGLISH countryside. this film seemingly represents an attempt at putting the past into context, all the professional triumphs and the personal toll extracted along the way, in an attempt to excise such from his conscious. i should give mention that CORBIJN is the perfect director for this type of project, himself being responsible for ICONIC IMAGES, ALBUM COVERS and MUSIC VIDEOS associated with everyone from JOY DIVISION, ECHO & THE BUNNYMEN, DEPECHE MODE, U2 and NIRVANA. CORBIJN, much like HIPGNOSIS is a fellow alchemist in this POWERFUL and deeply MAGICAL interplay between all things VISUAL and AURAL. i was blown away by this film and heavily recommend it to anyone interested in the intersection of ART, IMAGE and COMMERCE. photo & text by nacrowe
the LEGENDARY BRITPOP group BLUR came on my radar the year before i became a teenager when my family visited a BRITISH great-uncle in HERTFORDSHIRE (an HISTORIC suburb just north of LONDON), each summer from 1996 through 1998. at the time my family was stationed in NIGERIA of all places and doing our yearly shipment from ENGLAND made more sense then the UNITED STATES where im from. this great-uncle was pretty cool as he assisted GEOFFREY DE HAVILLAND in developing fighter aircraft during WORLD WAR II as an aeronautics engineer and test pilot in HATFIELD where the aerodrome was located. when i first went there in 1996 BRITPOP was likely past its peak, but BLUR still had enough cultural cache that when my father asked another BRITISH relative's college-aged son what albums students liked at the time, PARKLIFE (FOOD, 1994) and THE GREAT ESCAPE (FOOD, 1995) were the IMMEDIATE answers. so there you go.
from the outside BLUR guitarist GRAHAM COXON always seemed a bit of a RELUCTANT (and more than a tad bit CONTRARIAN) public figure. the few interviews i saw of him at the time always managed to find him seeming UNCOMFORTABLE and unable to drum up the amount of necessary enthusiasm youd expect from a SUCCESSFUL musician, notwithstanding being the guitarist in one of the premier BRITISH ALTERNATIVE ROCK bands of the decade. it was a similar push-pull dynamic witnessed beforehand in KURT COBAIN whereby one is presented with this PHENOMENAL, GENERATIONALLY-TALENTED ENGLISH musician, whose work spoke for itself, yet he would come off MERCURIAL and rather INSCRUTABLE in interviews and media events. no doubt having such CHARISMATIC and ATTENTION-SEEKING willing participants as BLUR frontman DAMON ALBARN and bassist ALEX JAMES helped shield him for years in REDUCTIVE BRITPOP related press articles, but for me COXON was always an INTRIGUING yet entirely UNKNOWABLE creative entity. enter his recent INCREDIBLE recent memoir VERSE, CHORUS, MONSTER! (FABER & FABER, 2023) which details not only the trajectory of his career, but more COMPELLINGLY the parallel arc of his PERSONAL NARRATIVE and his ongoing battle with ALCOHOLISM and the related ANXIETY and DEPRESSION which was enabled and brought on by years of EMOTIONAL NEGLECT. for me, as much as i adore his music, it was this second thread that was the most POWERFUL aspect of his book. i was very moved by the COURAGE it took to be so honest about such a TABOO subject as NEGLECT and how such affects one's SELF-IMAGE and insidiously hinders one's ability to establish LOVING, NURTURING relationships in later life as an adult. it always seems that this subject of NEGLECT and the associated ANXIETY and DEPRESSION that comes with it too often gets DISCARDED in favor of some PERVERSELY IDEALIZED and OUTMODED conception of MASCULINITY. especially in BRITISH CULTURE with its stiff upper lip and culturally INGRAINED "just get on with it" MENTALITY. to be so OPEN and FRANK about an INTERNAL BATTLE with his own sense of SELF-WORTH and admittedly WARPED PERCEPTION of inter-personal dynamics was INSIGHTFUL, HELPFUL and quite effectively written. i should not be surprised that the book was so WELL-CONCEIVED and EXECUTED, given the thought and sense of INTENSE INTERIORITY that marks not only his musical compositions and lyrical content throughout the decades, but also his deeply felt PERSONAL artwork (some of which is included in the book). oftentimes his scribblings are QUICK, HASTILY-DEPICTED MONSTERS that border on the ABSURD but are seemingly EPHEMERAL manifestations of his EMOTIONAL LANDSCAPE. no doubt they were a COPING MECHANISM throughout his career and PERSONAL LIFE. its INTERESTING that these MONSTERS lose their edge at the close of the book as he enters a new phase of life with a new partner and a more DISTANCED and NUANCED PERCEPTIVE on his PUBLIC PERSONA and INDIVIDUAL IDENTITY shaped through experience. i dont mean to glean over the INTRIGUING aspects of his UPBRINGING abroad and in the ESSEX town of COLCHESTER, attending GOLDSMITHS COLLEGE or the rise of BLUR and his associated solo career with all its INTERESTING explorations of GARAGE and TRADITIONAL BRITISH FOLK MUSIC. there are NOTEWORTHY tidbits galore, including the following: it is INTERESTING that there has always been mention by BLUR in various media profiles, including their 2010 reunion documentary THERE IS NO DISTANCE LEFT TO RUN (review linked HERE), that bassist ALEX JAMES played his instrument specifically as if he wanted to be in DURAN DURAN. its just ODD and FUNNY that unexpectedly it would be COXON that would actually be in DURAN DURAN as he wrote and played with the group for their recent FUTURE PAST (BMG, 2021) cycle in the wake of guitarist ANDY TAYLOR's leave of absence due to a late-stage prostate cancer diagnosis. and there is plenty more of that, but it is just that in the context of this book those types of details are unimportant. in fact they are rather secondary or maybe even tertiary in prominence relative to the deep PERSONAL TOLL GRAHAM experienced and the EMOTIONAL / PSYCHOLOGICAL dynamics that triggered by his raised PUBLIC PROFILE, which undoubtedly served as an accelerant that exacerbated his DIMINISHED feelings of SELF-WORTH throughout his career. and thus the SELF-MEDICATION through alcohol. the fact that he was able to navigate those UNSTEADY waters intact is REMARKABLE because, needless to say, there have been lives lost and psyches irreparably WARPED by the ENTERTAINMENT INDUSTRY throughout the years. maybe his RELUCTANCE to fully participate and buy-in to the FALSE REALITY that is the MUSIC PRESS, as mentioned before, served him well in the end. it is hard to say. VERSE, CHORUS, MONSTER! is a THOUGHTFUL and INTIMATE look at the INTERNAL DYNAMICS of one of the most creative musicians recent memory. definitely worth checking out even if BRITPOP, ALTERNATIVE ROCK or INDIE ROCK is not your cup of tea. photo & text by nacrowe
it feels sometimes when navigating through MUSIC WEBSITES or the comments sections of YOUTUBE videos, MUSIC BLOGS or posts on SOCIAL MEDIA that the online world is just TOXIC. there seems to be a fixation with being AGGRESSIVE and CONFRONTATIONAL with one's opinion rather than THOUGHTFUL, CONSIDERED or COMPASSIONATE. with WEBSITES there sometimes seems to be an embedded incentive to come off ELITIST and EXCLUSIONARY because of their access and role as a gatekeeper to the opinions and thoughts of ARTISTS and MUSICIANS.
what i love about the WIKIPEDIA: FACT OR FICTION web series by ONLINE MUSIC MAGAZINE LOUDWIRE is not the fact that it confronts MODERN METAL, ALTERNATIVE ROCK and PUNK ROCK royalty from the likes of SLAYER, PANTERA, INCUBUS, RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE, LAMB OF GOD, BAD RELIGION, WHITE ZOMBIE, KISS, METALLICA, AVENGED SEVENFOLD, SLIPKNOT and CANNIBAL CORPSE with their (more-than-often INCORRECT) group-sourced online WIKIPEDIA biographies, it is the fact that host GRAHAM HARTMANN is so EVEN-KEELED about the whole endeavor. too often an INTERVIEW SHOW like this will have a host that is attempting to make the whole thing about them and how KNOWLEDGABLE or COOL they are projecting themselves in the effective afterglow of the TALENT (for which the audience is tuning in for), which is more than a little GRATING and PATRONIZING as a viewer. it is easy to identify with HARTMANN as he is treating the talent like REGULAR people and thus humanizes them in the process. its refreshing how little of that actually goes on in the MUSIC PRESS, which seems keen on building up or tearing down the public profiles of prominent MUSICIANS and their work. that or being part of a TRANSPARENT PROMOTIONAL APPARATUS to the DETRIMENT of the FANBASE. i enjoy watching and rewatching these past episodes because of HARTMANN and his ability to not act as an industry cog, instead being an AWARE MUSIC JOURNALIST / EVERYDAY FAN that most MUSIC ENTHUSIASTS can see in themselves. at least i can. WIKIPEDIA: FACT OR FICTION has expanded in recent years into the worlds of PROFESSIONAL WRESTLING and ACTORS, along with MUSICIANS, but at the center of it all is still HARTMANN and his ability to make this promotional vehicle seem less showbiz and a bit more DOWN-TO-EARTH and FUN. most definitely worth checking out. photo & text by nacrowe
the untimely passing of ANDREW WOOD, the much BELOVED and CELEBRATED MOTHER LOVE BONE / MALFUNKSHUN singer, from a heroin overdose in 1990 was an absolute CULTURAL EARTHQUAKE that rippled throughout the NASCENT ALTERNATIVE ROCK scene in SEATTLE. WOOD was a larger-than-life character whose CHARISMATIC personality and sheer force-of-will was a highlight and point of UNITY in a particularly INTIMATE COMMUNITY of musicians and artists during this pre-fame era. it is TRAGIC and more than a little IRONIC that such a TRANSCENDENT creative figure with naked ARENA ROCK ambitions did not live to see his band, or the scene itself in peer bands like SOUNDGARDEN, TAD, MUDHONEY, ALICE IN CHAINS, SCREAMING TREES, NIRVANA and the post-MOTHER LOVE BONE outfit PEARL JAM, rise to GLOBAL CULTURAL DOMINANCE and POPULARITY.
the TEMPLE OF THE DOG project was meant as a PROPER CELEBRATION and SEND-OFF to WOOD by close friend and fellow singer-songwriter CHRIS CORNELL (SOUNDGARDEN) and surviving MOTHER LOVE BONE guitarist STONE GOSSARD and bassist JEFF AMENT. drummer MATT CAMERON (SOUNDGARDEN), lead guitarist MIKE MCREADY (PEARL JAM) and most crucially EDDIE VEDDER (PEARL JAM) rounded out the group. mind you, this album was recorded months before PEARL JAM entered the studio to begin on their debut TEN (EPIC, 1991), so the TEMPLE OF THE DOG (A&M, 1991) album was the introduction to the world of VEDDER as a vocalist. i believe it is one of the great acts of ROCK N ROLL GENEROSITY that CORNELL chose to duet with VEDDER on "HUNGER STRIKE," effectively warmly embracing and presenting the SAN DIEGAN anew to the SEATTLE COMMUNITY and the listening public. CORNELL is a SINGULAR artist with one of the great ROCK AND ROLL voices of all-time and it should be stated that one that track VEDDER very much held his own. for most people "HUNGER STRIKE" is the obvious STANDOUT moment. "SAY HELLO 2 HEAVEN" likewise is another highlight in that it is a GUT-WRENCHING CORNELL track about saying goodbye to his late friend. CORNELL by definition was an INSULAR, deeply COMPASSIONATE and TALENTED dude, but it was the BRASH and FEARLESS (and sadly RECKLESS) WOOD that brought him out of his shell. that particular song can almost be viewed as a public testimonial to the PROFOUND effect of WOOD had one him and how gaping the hole in his heart was at the time by the loss of such a DEAR friend and CLOSE peer. in a sense, that CORNELL / WOOD relationship is an apt metaphor for the SEATTLE scene itself and how SELF-CONTAINED and mutually SUPPORTIVE it was before it went overground and became a GLOBAL PHENOMENON. in retrospect it feels like CORNELL is as much saying goodbye to his deceased friend as he is to that naive sense of artistic and creative PURITY before the careerist business ambitions inevitably took root in the COMMUNITY. that transformation, which was relatively sudden, changed how these peers viewed themselves, and brought about much CONSTERNATION and GUILT at home relating to the efforts of outsiders to sully pure intents and creative pursuits. it all feels sadly INEVITABLE. TEMPLE OF THE DOG is an ESSENTIAL ALTERNATIVE ROCK album and a UNIQUE look into the underlying of the ETHOS and CAMARADERIE of the SEATTLE scene pre-fame. decades later it is still beyond INTRIGUING to revisit and consider, especially in the wake of the untimely passing of CORNELL himself and PEARL JAM (along with MUDHONEY), being the last band (with original core members) standing. photo manipulation & text by nacrowe
it was a FORTUNATE accident when we came across the VIRGINIA INDUSTRIAL BLUES band BUCK GOOTER while filming on location at MARKET HOTEL in BROOKLYN a few years ago for our live performance video series ON THE M (linked HERE). the set consisted of these NASTY, BOTTOMLESS DIRGES played as if they were conducted by EVIL robots. frontman BILLY BRETT was swaying around and whipping chains while guitarist TERRY TURTLE was standing SENTINEL over the audience in MEDIEVAL CHAINMAIL. they just looked and sounded completely POSSESSED, like a SOUNDTRACK to the APOCALYPSE. i just remember thinking immediately that this band was COOL, like the first time i came across BIG BLACK. mind blown.
unfortunately we werent able to use the footage due to an issue with the audio we took from the soundboard that night, but we were all PSYCHED to see it utilized later in their "NAILED TO A CROSS" video. the band itself was beyond PROLIFIC with 19 records over their 15+ year career at the time. sadly TURTLE passed away from cancer in 2019 at age 67. BRETT has carried on and we wish BUCK GOOTER nothing but the best. their most recent release GHOST BRAIN (2023), produced by OLIVER ACKERMANN (A PLAE TO BURY STRANGERS), is absolutely DEMENTED and well worth checking out. RIP TERRY TURTLE
parodies by nacrowe
i was just at the BROOKLYN MUSEUM today to catch the INCREDIBLE SPIKE LEE: CREATIVE SOURCES exhibit (which i highly recommend and is open through february 4). after taking that WONDERFUL exhibit in, i had a happy accident in noticing from the guide that there was another INTRIGUING exhibit taking place a floor below called COPY MACHINE MANIFESTOS: ARTISTS WHO MAKE ZINES (open through march 31). honestly, in my mind i was just hoping that said exhibit would have examples of those RARE RAYMOND PETTIBON ZINES from the 1980s. oh did they. in fact there was a whole wall of them. beyond COOL. just as COMPELLING, there were also MULTIPLE BIKINI GIRL ZINES from the early 1990s which got me thinking about the MEDIUM in general.
with the ubiquity of EFFICIENT and COST-EFFECTIVE office copy machines in the 1980s (largely due to a lost anti-trust case that saw XEROX bequeath its intellectual property to rivals TOSHIBA, CANON, MINOLTA and SHARP), there was suddenly a mechanism for retail customers to SELF-PUBLISH at scale at a reduced cost. enter SELF-MADE ARTISTS, SOCIAL/POLITICAL ACTIVISTS and MUSIC ENTHUSIASTS who grabbed onto this platform to create MAKESHIFT, LOW-QUALITY publications that expressed a viewpoint by definition outside of the mainstream. the exhibit very dives into the diversity of output from the late 1970s onward and how the format really provided a voice for the voiceless and addressed the needs of COMMUNITY FORGOTTEN or UNRECOGNIZED by the publishing industry at the time. that melding of ART, POLITICS and MUSIC is such an INTERESTING topic and the exhibit showcases the extremities of taste and decency in those often aggressively TRANSGRESSIVE publications. i feel like i understand the niche pre-internet. what i had a harder time understanding was the need for ZINES from the 2000s onward when the internet had provided numerous avenues (FORUMS, SOCIAL MEDIA, BLOGS, WEBSITES, E-MAIL CHAINS, NEWSLETTERS, SUBSTACKS, etc.) for COMMUNITY generation on a MASSIVE global scale. but maybe that limitation is the point. ZINES are by design DISPOSABLE and severely limited in production, thus limiting the COMMUNITY involved and rendering such UNSEARCHABLE in the technological sense. it makes you consider if KATHLEEN HANNA was starting out today in 2023 what messaging vehicle she'd have initiated to get her thoughts transmitted to the PUBLIC. thats what ive been thinking about the rest of the day. embedded below is a recent DEER GOD RADIO episode on nonprofit internet radio station MAKERPARKRADIO.NYC that includes a playlist celebrating RIOT GRRRL bands from throughout 1990s, as well as later female artists that took up the mantle and ran with it thereafter. enjoy! photo & text by nacrowe
MECHANICAL ANIMALS (INTERSCOPE, 1998), the much ANTICIPATED MICHAEL BEINHORN [SOUNDGARDEN, HOLE, RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS] produced follow-up to the TRANSGRESSIVE cultural phenomena that was the INDUSTRIAL-tinged, MIDDLE AMERICA-baiting ANTICHRIST SUPERSTAR (INTERSCOPE, 1996) was a DRAMATIC stylistic about-face that saw MARILYN MANSON channel his sense of ISOLATION and DETACHMENT from AMERICAN SOCIETY through the prism of 1970s GLAM ROCK and specifically ZIGGY STARDUST / ALADDIN SANE-era DAVID BOWIE. in the scope of his discography, this album very much stands out as an outlier, both in terms of SONICS and PRESENTATION, and represents MANSON at both his most CONTEMPLATIVE and most POTENT as an artist. it is also my FAVORITE record of his bar none.
this album came out my freshman year of high school. i was at a PRESTIGIOUS boarding school in NEW ENGLAND while the rest of my family stayed behind in NIGERIA. i dont want to say being that far from family was a TRAUMATIC event at such a young, barely in my teens, but it was a TRANSFORMATIVE experience that resonated down through the ensuing decades no doubt. in a sense i had to become my own support system as the place was rather BRUTAL with BARBARIC HAZING RITUALS involving underclassmen the staff turned a blind eye towards. to say i felt frustrated, targeted and alone is an understatement. i was the perfect receptor for such a message being transmitted by this JADED, SEXLESS, HUMANOID alien character that MANSON was now inhabiting. for him the prison he was attempting to escape with INTERSTELLAR ambitions was that of a pre-internet tabloid culture and UNREALISTIC press / audience expectations to out-SATAN ANTICHRIST SUPERSTAR. for me that prison was quite LITERAL. it was the prison of going through puberty and your most physically AWKWARD phase while being a part of an UNHEALTHY community that i found particularly hazardous to my physical and emotional well-being. in my defense this posture and mindset was well warranted, as that same school year another freshman was assaulted at nearby dormitory and had an ANTI-GAY SLUR carved into his back by a post-graduate student who went on to serve an extended sentence for an assortment of ASSAULT and BATTERY CHARGES. i feel lucky to have survived such an experience with my self-will and self-worth intact, and MECHANICAL ANIMALS was very much the soundtrack to such. and that harsh sense of SELF-LOATHING and DETACHMENT is all over. especially tracks such as "THE SPEED OF PAIN," "COMA WHITE," "MECHANICAL ANIMALS," "DISASSOCIATIVE" and "GREAT BIG WHITE WORLD." for me those particular tracks serve as the EMOTIONAL heart of the record, exposing a PROFOUND sense of PSYCHIC WITHDRAWAL from life itself. that need to just turn off the blinds, shut the door and block out the world. the more UPTEMPO songs like "POSTHUMAN," "ROCK IS DEAD," "NEW MODEL NO. 15" and the single "THE DOPE SHOW" all seem designed to potentially gain airplay while delivering a DEVIOUS message both celebrating and disparaging CELEBRITY CULTURE and the state of ROCK N ROLL writ large. as much as i love the TWIGGY RAMIREZ-conceived SLINKY BASS LINES and ADROIT SONIC EXPERIMENTATIONS with vintage synthesizers, those more HARD-CHARGING tracks are weaker in my opinion. same with the embarrassingly INANE "I DON'T LIKE THE DRUGS BUT THE DRUGS LIKE ME" single which is the lone mistake on the album. for me, those more NUANCED, SOMBER moments are what make this record special, much like "CRYPTORCHID," "MAN THAT YOU FEAR" and "KINDERFELD" did on ANTICHRIST SUPERSTAR. post-MECHANICAL ANIMALS, MANSON largely retreated to the more EXPECTED, SAFE GOTH confines of INDUSTRIAL METAL with a slew of records to date that largely retread on the ideas crystallized in ANTICHRIST SUPERSTAR. which in my opinion was an artistic mistake, but i am sure it gave him more career longevity. that is more future OZZY OSBOURNE, ROB ZOMBIE, SLAYER, ALICE COOPER co-headlining package tour opportunities that are subject to satiating and drawing out his audience en masse over time. such PRACTICAL, CALCULATING decisions make him subject to not being at the same artistic level as a DAVID BOWIE, BJORK, SUN RA, DAMON ALBARN or a GEORGE CLINTON, all of whom charged ahead with IDIOSYNCRATIC personas that assisted in unlocking a new sound and/or inhabit a new consciousness. the rest of MANSON's DISAPPOINTING career is just one of a series of expected artistic choices with ever PREDICTABLE diminishing returns. but MECHANICAL ANIMALS is a definite highlight of the 1990s ALTERNATIVE ROCK era that is well worth revisiting and checking out again and again. photo & text by nacrowe
wait, why did i watch this movie?
i should have known better. even before watching it i knew the TITLE of this GARBAGE film was the atrociously CORNY-sounding INDIANA JONES AND THE DIAL OF DESTINY (WALT DISNEY PICTURES, 2023), and yet i still made the APPALLING decision to hand over 2+ hours of my life to this TERRIBLE FRANCHISE extension executed with the loving finesse of a bull-dozing wrecking crew on a tight deadline. the INANE PLOT was NONSENSICAL and served only to justify (barely) LOCATION shifts and major SET PIECES. the CGI was MEDIOCRE and EMBARRASSING since it drew unnecessary attention to itself (such as the "young" INDIANA JONES during WORLD WAR II scenes), which is the kiss of death in that it took you completely out of any SUSPENSION OF DISBELIEF. there was no real CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT to speak of and i was constantly asking myself "do i really care if this random character dies?," the obvious answer being "not in the slightest." and i should not be surprised about the reasoning for such a CINEMATIC ATROCITY existing in the first place. the FRANCHISING and conscious extension of available INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY is such an easy sell for a multi-national corporation like DISNEY. its the reason they keep churning out MARVEL and STAR WARS films and limited series to justify the rates of their STREAMING SERICE or new ride at one of their many THEME PARKS. i would not be surprised if DIAL OF DESTINY, with its set many pieces across EXOTIC MEDITERRANEAN locales, was written with future ride attractions in mind. why wouldnt they? for DISNEY just letting the FRANCHISE die a natural death while its stars age into oblivion is a wasted MONEY-MAKING OPPORTUNITY. but the cost is the FRANCHISE itself and the audience feeling like they have been duped or complicit in this venture that has nothing to do with CREATIVE storytelling or those INTERTEXTUAL elements that made the series so INVIGORATING back in the 1980s on RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK (PARAMOUNT, 1981), THE TEMPLE OF DOOM (PARAMOUNT, 1984) and THE LAST CRUSADE (PARAMOUNT, 1989). much like the BACK TO THE FUTURE (UNIVERSAL, 1985, 1989, 1990) series, the original INDIANA JONES trilogy was a throwback to revisiting a postwar boom period where AMERICA was supposedly FLOURISHING with hegemonic economic, political and cultural power. thats where the country was under the REAGEN ADMINISTRATION. people looked back (falsely and idiotically) at the 1950s as a supposed golden era and INDIANA JONES tapped into that. in 2023 yet another INDIANA JONES installation is just nostalgia for nostalgia's sake. nobody asked or was clamoring for this, and yet here it is. yeah. dont watch it. it is a SHIT MOVIE. this CALAMITY should never have left the ideation phase and probably should have stayed in the realm of bad fan fiction. photo & text by nacrowe
within the MYTHOLOGY about the AMERICAN CHARACTER that has been passed down generations is the FOUNDATIONAL notion that in our society anyone can prosper and maintain a COMFORTABLE lifestyle with DEDICATION and HARD WORK. here we don't discriminate based on RACE, CREED or other markers of IDENTITY such as had been done with regard to our EUROPEAN forbearers. all that was needed to uplift yourself from POVERTY was a little INGENUITY and the WILLINGNESS to work. of course that myth surrounding the PROTESTANT ETHIC and more broadly the AMERICAN DREAM, was complete BULLSHIT from conception, but it is a DIFFICULT INTERNAL NARRATIVE to dispel entirely from our CULTURE and sense of self.
when i was teaching F. SCOTT FITZGERALD's THE GREAT GATSBY (CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS, 1925) it proved to be an EXCELLENT instigator time and time again of INTENSE conversations concerned with the idea of REINVENTION. the internet has succeeding in FLATTENING not only the UNITED STATES, but seemingly the entire planet with up-to-date, user-generated communications about personal information regarding our individual whereabouts and day-to-day adventures as volunteered through social media. but in that pre-internet era it was possible to navigate AMERICA with no HISTORY, no PERSONAL NARRATIVE and nothing holding you back. on paper at least. there was a sense that one could disappear and reinvent themselves within a new context and a new community and have the opportunity to succeed economically without the CULTURAL CONSTRAINTS that once held you back abroad, where CLASS distinctions were often OSSIFIED and INSURMOUNTABLE. at least this was the FANTASY AMERICANS told ourselves. THE GREAT GATSBY itself concerns itself with the MYSTERIOUS aura that envelopes the MERCURIAL millionaire JAY GATSBY and the private events he throws at his LONG ISLAND mansion for the YOUNG, RICH and ELITE. GATSBY himself is almost an opulent yet UNKNOWABLE WIZARD OF OZ-like character of whom much collective projection is centered around during this JAZZ AGE narrative of OPULENCE and PROSPERITY. despite being at the center of the storm, GATSBY finds no pleasure in any of these festivities and is privately tormented and severely obsessed with reconnecting with a former lover. FITZGERALD thus puts his finger on an INTRIGUING pulse about AMERICAN SOCIETY during this period of WEALTH and OPTIMISM, namely how we as a CULTURE define success and whether or not one can really outrun their past. as stated before, a fundamental aspect of the AMERICAN PSYCHE is the ability to reinvent and construct one's life up anew, past be damned. through the figure GATSBY, FITZGERALD makes the argument that such notions are NAIVE and that what defines oneself are their VALUES and the relationships they foster and the company they keep, without such one is IMPOVERISHED in terms of their soul and general well-being. you look now at how AMERICAN CULTURE seemingly elevates and lionizes technology innovators like STEVE JOBS and ELON MUSK to the level of demigods and it feels like nothing has changed in the last century. at all. we are still bereft of purpose and meaning as a CULTURE when we chase ECONOMIC OUTCOMES rather than renewing our relationships with one another. it feels like our society is frayed from ECONOMIC INEQUALITY and the lack of REAL COMPASSION or any semblance of a safety net. and it appears that wont change. perhaps that BULL-HEADED STUBBORNNESS is baked into the cake as well. photo & text by nacrowe
i am not a RECORDING ENGINEER, but i do love watching people talk about their craft. in the case of the WHAT'S THAT SOUND? series on YOUTUBE produced by online instrument retailer REVERB, the focus is on dissecting and understanding the recording of DRUMS based on REAL-WORLD recorded examples by notable artists ranging from NIRVANA, AMY WINEHOUSE, THE POLICE, JAMES BROWN, SLY & THE FAMILY STONE, IGGY POP, ELECTRIC LIGHT ORCHESTRA, SOUNDGARDEN, PINK FLOYD, THE JIMI HENDRIX EXPERIENCE, FIONA APPLE, QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE and THE STROKES among many others. we're talking TECHNIQUES such as MICROPHONE SELECTION, MICROPHONE PLACEMENT, MICROPHONE ANGLES, COMPRESSION, GATING, PHASING, and so on. in way this series is very similar to the fellow REVERB-produced SYNTHS SOUNDS OF [review linked HERE] series that focused on analog and digital synthesizers and their application on MEMORABLE songs mostly from the 1970s and 80s (which is also worth watching).
im aware REVERB here is trying to increase interest for its ANALOG wares, but these videos serve a dual purpose in generating demand while educating its potential future clientele. what comes across again and again is how INGENIOUS these RECORDING ENGINEERS were in PROBLEM-SOLVING for obtaining a DESIRED effect and outcome for their clients, which resulted in INDELIBLE parts that are a fusion of TECHNICAL execution by the musician and EFFECTIVE manipulation of equipment by the producer, often utilizing such in a way that was beyond the limitations of what it was designed to sonically provide. if anything, watching these ANALOG TECHNIQUES being practiced is way cooler than a plugin. WHAT'S THAT SOUND? is definitely worth checking out. photo & text by nacrowe
covers done well are like a PALIMPSEST in that you get a uniquely INTERACTIVE level of meaning based on two ITERATIONS of the same COMPOSITIONS. the juxtaposition of both is INEVITABLE and kind of the point and that friction is what makes them COMPELLING and MEMORABLE a la DREAD ZEPPELIN's REGGAE INTERPRETATION of the LED ZEPPELIN catalogue, NOUVELLE VAGUE's breezy BOSSA NOVA RE-IMAGININGS of first-wave PUNK ROCK classics or JOHNNY CASH's drawing out a whole new level of depth and range from a long life well-lived via NINE INCH NAIL's "HURT." of course there are also less interesting variations such as the EXPECTED, STRAIGHT-AHEAD covers of obscure NWOBHM and HARDCORE artists by the likes of METALLICA on GARAGE, INC (ELEKTRA, 1998) or GUNS N ROSES on THE SPAGHETTI INCIDENT? (GEFFEN, 1993) which both suffer from a lack of imagination and a TRANSPARENT need for hero worship (although credit due: they did help out said idols financially through these releases).
MATT JOHNSON and his INSPIRED collection of HANK WILLIAMS' covers on THE THE's HANKY PANKY (EPIC, 1995) release falls into the former camp and nowhere near the second. on REVERED tracks like "HONKY TONKIN'" and "I'M A LONG GONE DADDY" he turns paeans to hard-living into downright EXISTENTIAL dirges that flesh out the PATHOS in those FAMOUS lyrics about existing outside of society and one's own control. its THRILLING stuff. i first heard this record through my father as an upperclassman in high school and it served as an introduction to WILLIAMS' OEUVRE and that particular postwar era of COUNTRY MUSIC in general (i.e. ERNEST TUBB, THE LOUVIN BROTHERS and so on). whereas WILLIAMS' music has a BOUNCE and SWING that came from his mastery of the BLUES lexicon, JOHNSON's DECONSTRUCTED POST-PUNK INTERPRETATIONS seemed designed to put the focus on the EMOTIVE impact of the lyrics. case in point are his ITERATIONS of "I SAW THE LIGHT" and "YOUR CHEATIN' HEART," both constructed as standard ROCK N ROLL songs with DRAMATIC sonic dynamics and TEMPO SHIFTS that swell up and crescendo in support of the original MELODY. again, putting the focus on showcasing the lyrical POWER of WILLIAMS' CELEBRATED COMPOSITIONS. in my household growing up i was well-aware of THE THE and specifically their preceding MIND BOMB (EPIC, 1989) and DUSK (SONY, 1993) albums, namely because of the COLLABORATIVE efforts on those releases involving JOHNNY MARR. the idea that JOHNSON dedicated a whole album to covering a COUNTRY artist in a sense validated not only WILLIAMS, but the genre in general to an extent. when i was growing up in SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA in the early to mid 1990s the COUNTRY MUSIC i was exposed to was the CORNY radio POP fluff that has little to nothing to do with the more SEVERE BLUES-based FOLK and MURDER BALLAD traditions that fused the MUSICAL HERITAGES of both the DELTA and APPALACHIAN regions of the early 20th century. such is the distinct musical and cultural lineage that WILLIAMS is a NOTABLE acolyte of and embodies still to this day, more than seventy years after his untimely passing at twenty-nine. MUSIC is funny like that, where an artist you respect opens your mind and your heart to another that youd never notice sans the introduction. HANKY PANKY is a reminder to me of the potential benefits of remaining OPEN-MINDED when it comes to music and art, as you never know how perceiving something NOVEL from a DIFFERENT angle, viewpoint or lens will adjust your mental perception and spark an interest that will last a lifetime. that MERCURIAL aspect of appreciating MUSIC is something i have come to love and enjoy again and agin. i cant recommend HANKY PANKY any more forcefully. TRANSCENDENT record by a SINGULAR artist. and WILLIAMS aint half bad either. photo & text by nacrowe
i always felt like BERNARD BUTLER belonged to this REVERED but strangely UNDER-APPRECIATED and UNDERVALUED lineage of BRITISH GUITARISTS and SONGWRITERS that includes everyone from fellow BRITPOP peers in GRAHAM COXON (BLUR), RUSSELL SENIOR (PULP) and GAZ COOMBES (SUPERGRASS) to past BRITISH INVASION heroes in DAVE DAVIES (THE KINKS) and BRIAN JONES (THE ROLLING STONES) not to mention other SEMINAL ENGLISH figures in ED O'BRIEN (RADIOHEAD), MICK RONSON (DAVID BOWIE), BOZ BOORER (MORRISSEY, THE POLECATS), GLEN MATLOCK (THE SEX PISTOLS), HANK MARVIN (THE SHADOWS), KEITH LEVENE (PUBLIC IMAGE LIMITED), VINI REILLY (THE DURUTTI COLUMN), ANDY GILL (GANG OF FOUR) and even JOHNNY MARR (THE SMITHS). all of these MUSICIANS were part of artistically SUCCESSFUL acts from different eras and were CELEBRATED for their SINGULAR contributions, yet somehow still managed to have PUBLIC PERSONAS that remained firmly in the background.
BUTLER of course came to CULTURAL PROMINENCE in the 1990s as a member of the BRITPOP band SUEDE where he added SUBTLE yet INTRICATE guitar textures that saw people compare him often to the likes of JOHNNY MARR, his childhood hero. in the years since he left the band he has amassed quite the REMARKABLE catalogue of ARTISTS he's either produced or collaborated with including the likes of DUFFY, PET SHOP BOYS, AIMEE MANN, BERT JANSCH, TRICKY, NENEH CHERRY and THE LIBERTINES. at this point he is a revered BRITISH ALTERNATIVE ROCK ELDER STATESMEN whose creative work, both past and current, is very much worth checking out. especially his solo work.
photo & text by nacrowe
its funny. when i think of SCANDINAVIA broadly mental images of an EDUCATED, WELL-ADJUSTED population in a SOLID economy with a STRONG work ethic and a ROBUST public safety net of social services, not to mention STYLISH much SOUGHT-AFTER furniture, is what comes immediately to mind.
and then there is BLACK METAL. with the stateside 1980s THRASH METAL movement (METALLICA, SLAYER, TESTAMENT, MEGADETH, EXODUS, ANTHRAX) and its SOPHISTICATED MUSICAL TECHNICALITY, SYNCHRONIZED galloping RHYTHMS and AGGRESSIVE VISUAL AESTHETICS that seemingly split the difference between TRADITIONAL METAL and PUNK ROCK; there was almost a call-to-arms moment that really pushed the BRITISH and AMERICAN METAL community to further push the genre to new depths of EXTREMITY. thus the advent of ever-more POLARIZING and TECHNICALLY PROFICIENT genres like GRINDCORE and DEATH METAL in the BRITAIN and the UNITED STATES. this strain of EXTREME METAL found its way to the EUROPEAN continent most predominantly in places like GERMANY (MORGOTH), SWITZERLAND (CELTIC FROST) and HOLLAND (PESTILENCE) before finding its way into DENMARK, FINLAND, SWEDEN and NORWAY. with DEATH METAL and GRINDCORE being highly technical genres there developed a need for quality studios and engineers that mostly found their niche in the big cities. BLACK METAL was essentially the result of poorer kids who lived in the wooded suburbs recording LESS TECHNICAL METAL with more RUDIMENTARY EQUIPMENT on lesser quality INSTRUMENTS. lyrically this new strain of METAL was focused on nature and the spirits of the forest and had a DISTINCT look with the use of corpse paint. this PAIRED-BACK SONIC AESTHETIC with AGGRESSIVE VISUALS and PISS POOR AUDIO QUALITY ironically sounded way more evil and thus METAL compared to the efforts of their urban counterparts. if DEATH METAL is the red-headed stepchild nobody wanted, then BLACK METAL is the proverbial red-headed stepchild of that red-headed stepchild. which is why i think so many METAL enthusiasts adore the SCANDINAVIAN BLACK METAL genre. it is absolutely too WEIRD to ignore. personally i took an affinity for BLACK METAL for largely the same reason i adore IDIOSYNCRATIC and highly INVENTIVE music by the likes of DEVO, CAPTAIN BEEFHEART, LEE "SCRATCH" PERRY, SUN RA, GEORGE CLINTON, DEATH GRIPS, TRICKY, DAVID BOWIE, MASSIVE ATTACK, FELA KUTI, ORNETTE COLEMAN, DEL THE FUNKY HOMOSAPIEN, HOWLIN' WOLF, OLD DIRTY BASTARD, KRAFTWERK, PERRY FARRELL, BJORK, HARRY NILSSON, CSS, WES BORLAND, LOU REED and DEAD KENNEDYS among others, namely i find it NOVEL and deeply INTRIGUING. especially within a genre as CONSERVATIVE and uninterested in creative innovation as METAL (not to mention the TOXIC HYPER-MASCULINE and clearly PATERNALIST overtones that often define it), the fact that BLACK METAL is a authentically ODD sub-genre on substance only makes it that much more COMPELLING in comparison. bands worth checking out include those from SCANDINAVIAN countries like NORWAY (MAYHEM, ENSLAVED, DARKTHRONE, GORGOROTH, IMMORTAL, BURZUM, EMPEROR), SWEDEN (WATAIN, BATHORY, MARDUK, DARK FUNERAL, NIFELHEIM) and DENMARK (MERCYFUL FATE), as well as several non-SCANDINAVIAN EUROPEAN countries like ENGLAND (VENOM, CRADLE OF FILTH), HUNGARY (TORMENTOR), BELGIUM (ENTHRONED), GREECE (ROTTING CHRIST) and SWITZERLAND (CELTIC FROST) among others. embedded below is a recent DEER GOD RADIO episode on nonprofit internet radio station MAKERPARKRADIO.NYC that includes a playlist celebrating mostly SCANDINAVIAN BLACK METAL. enjoy! photo & text by nacrowe
for all the RIGHTEOUS, EMPOWERING and brazenly TRANSGRESSIVE and SEXUALLY-EXPLICIT content currently emanating from MODERN female HIP HOP MCs in CARDI B, MEGAN THEE STALLION and NICKI MINAJ, i think people forget just how REVOLUTIONARY LIL' KIM's HARD CORE (ATLANTIC, 1996) debut album was back in the 1990s. FEMALE SEXUALITY is largely a COMPLEX CULTURAL TABOO, since AMERICAN society for whatever reason has stuck to its INHERITED VICTORIAN PURITANICAL IDEALS. i believe that with millennials and the next generation that such REGRESSIVE BELIEFS have died down considerably and WOMEN are now somewhat EMPOWERED to say publicly what men have boasted about for generations, i.e. their LOVE OF SEX, DESIRING and BEING DESIRED.
back in the 1990s LIL' KIM was largely seen as a paramour of the NOTORIOUS B.I.G. who was married to R&B singer FAITH EVANS until his untimely passing. just on that information alone i believe that she was seen as everything from UNSERIOUS as an artist to a CUTTHROAT opportunist. of course the MISOGYNY in that assessment is pretty TRANSPARENT, as nobody faults BIGGY for his involvement or agency in such a TANGLED love triangle. the fact that EVANS and KIM later did a track together just shows how adults come together and handle their disagreements with DIGNITY and MATURITY. anyway, KIM absolutely faced this MISOGYNY head on with HARD CORE, as she unabashedly leans into ILLICIT perceptions of her and goes down and dirty to the point that i believe even LUTHER CAMPBELL (of 2 LIVE CREW fame) would blush. standout tracks include the single "CRUSH ON YOU" as well as similarly themed tracks in "NOT TONIGHT," "QUEEN BITCH" and "NO TIME." for my part, its interesting for me to notice how angry people get at modern tracks like the CARDI B / MEGAN THEE STALLION collaboration "WAP" or NICKI MINAJ's "ANACONDA," since i want no part of dictating to WOMEN how they should perceive or describe their own BODIES. to me that line of thinking is beyond PATRONIZING and just indicative of an overt PATERNALISM that is OUTMODED in modern society. i dont believe there is a lane that WOMEN, or men, need to stay in due to their GENDER. my belief is that the real test and judgement is going to be on how AUTHENTIC their music is to both themselves and their audience. thats it. everything else is IRRELEVANT. on those terms i believe HARD CORE is one of the more low-key INFLUENTIAL records of that period as it found a female MC that was willing to take on the boys at their own game, OBJECTIFYING them and PROFITING off of her own INTELLECT and celebration of her SEXUALITY. every time i come across a NEW artists like ARMANI CAESAR, FLO MILLI, KENTHEMAN or an ICE SPICE, it all feels like UPDATED versions of the same playbook LIL' KIM did back on HARD CORE. which im all about. definitely worth revisiting and checking out again. photo manipulation & text by nacrowe
by the time the I'M NOW: THE STORY OF MUDHONEY (KING OF HEARTS, 2012) documentary came out more than a decade ago, the much REVERED SEATTLE ALTERNATIVE ROCK band MUDHONEY had become somewhat of an ongoing UNDERGROUND cultural institution similar to their likewise NOTEWORTHY local peers in the MELVINS. both bands predated and were early PROGENITORS of the ALTERNATIVE ROCK explosion and ultimately became SURVIVORS of it as well, with all that entailed including a dalliance with the major label system. what is apparent from the film is that MUDHONEY, like the MELVINS, did everything on their own artistic terms, damn the COMMERCIAL CONSEQUENES. which is why they are still much BELOVED and arguably more INFLUENTIAL in the long-run then their BETTER-KNOWN contemporaries in SOUNDGARDEN, ALICE IN CHAINS, PEARL JAM, SCREAMING TREES and NIRVANA.
their narrative is very much intertwined with the emergence of the INDEPENDENT local SUB POP label as a cultural force in the late 1980s and early 1990s. after releasing their first single on the CASH-STRAPPED LABEL, a GERMAN promoter flew them out to BERLIN for a showcase that effectively introduced both the EUROPEAN public and the foreign music press this AMORPHOUS fuzzed-out-beyond-oblivion sound termed "GRUNGE" by some critics back stateside. this initial foray into the EUROPEAN market setup not just MUDHONEY and SUB POP RECORDS, but the entire scene for future success. but in the short-term the LABEL was operating in the red due to a lack of funds and it wasn't until the UNEXPECTED ECONOMIC WINDFALL that was NIRVANA's NEVERMIND (DGC, 1991), that the LABEL was able to find its financial footing. by that point MUDHONEY had already left for REPRISE RECORDS a year earlier, fearing the very real POTENTIAL FINANCIAL INSOLVENCY of SUB POP. this MAJOR LABEL PERIOD for me is the crux of the film, as it showed a band that operated at arms length from their LABEL both financially and artistically, exploiting it for their own decidedly MODEST aims. afraid of having their sound polished in the process a la THE REPLACEMENTS and HUSKER DU before them, the band shrewdly did not change their recording process despite the new BLOATED BUDGETS. they consciously recorded on a shoestring and collectively pocketed the rest, which effectively led to DOWN PAYMENTS on houses and other invidually VALUABLE LONG-TERM ASSETS. for me it seems extraordinarily ASTUTE (and PUNK ROCK) to utilize the MAJOR LABEL SYSTEM to shore up their individual long-term financial interests instead of plunking it away on RECORDING and TOUR PRODUCTION BUDGETS. again, the only other examples of bands i've heard of doing something similar were the MELVINS and the likewise REVERED LOS ANGELES based MELODIC HARDCORE band BAD RELIGION. by the time MUDHONEY came back to earth and returned to SUB POP for the third phase of their career and they left the MAJOR LABEL SYSTEM for good, they were rendered effectively UNSCATHED. this is exceedingly RARE, as most bands caught up in the post-NEVERMIND major label feeding frenzy that didnt "make it" came out the other end dismantled, discarded or shells of their former selves. not MUDHONEY, and at this point SUB POP was for years on solid financial and cultural footing, making the reunion work to present day. much is made about the DIY ETHIC in PUNK ROCK and INDIE ROCK circles, but their is something to be said about going into the lion's den, especially during this period, and not getting torn to shreds. with MUDHONEY they had a strong vision of who they were as individuals and what they wanted to accomplish. in effect, they saw themselves decidedly NOT as an ARENA BAND or as ROCK GODS and basically wanted to be the next link in the chain of CELEBRATED bands like THE STOOGES, THE RAMONES, MOTORHEAD, BLACK FLAG, THE DAMNED and the MC5. and they accomplished such with their INTEGRITY intact which is quite the SINGULAR achievement given the body count that came out of that scene from drugs and the pressures of the RECORDING INDUSTRY. more than a decade since the release of this film, such is still very much the case. and they do such by remaining in the PRESENT MOMENT. for some they might be a nostalgia act from a bygone era, but they view themselves as a VITAL CREATIVE ENTITY entering a new phase and continuing to ENGAGE and influence the next generation of ROCK AND ROLL musicians, much like their heroes in IGGY POP and the late LEMMY KILMISTER. this documentary is ESSENTIAL viewing for fans of ALTERNATIVE ROCK, PUNK ROCK and INDIE ROCK, especially from the CRUCIAL late 1980s / early 1990s period in the PACIFIC NORTHWEST. NOTABLE interview participants in this documentary include KIM THAYIL (SOUNDGARDEN), KIM GORDON & THURSTON MOORE (SONIC YOUTH), STONE GOSSARD & JEFF AMENT (PEARL JAM), KEITH MORRIS (BLACK FLAG / CIRCLE JERKS), TAD DOYLE & KURT DANIELSON (TAD), BOB BERT (PUSSY GALORE), JOHN WAHL & CHRIS BAGAROZZI (CLAWHAMMER), WAYNE KRAMER (MC5), producer JACK ENDINO (SKIN YARD), photographer CHARLES PETERSON and RECORD LABEL founders BRUCE PAVITT & JONATHAN PONEMAN (SUB POP). |
NICHOLAS ARCHIVES
November 2024
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