Hip To Be Square

Aagh, can't stop the puns...

As people who know me well wall know, I like to consider myself as a hipster (some differing definitions here, for those of you who somehow don't know what it means). Basically, although the word has a lot of negative connotations I consider it as mostly a positive thing and am proud to call myself a hipster (I'm possibly trying to reclaim it, I don't know).

Anyway I was sitting in my room recently and it occurred to me that's it become a hipster den, of sorts. To find out why, have a special photo-heavy edition of Music Is My Boyfriend!

Contents of My Room:

First of all, the most important thing to a hipster (or muso, if you prefer) is their music. Because I'm conscientious, and I value the physical product, my room is stacked with CDs bloody everywhere, which wins me lots of hipster points. Observe:

Also visible: a root beer bottle (bought from a shop that specialises in imported candy, no less), and a Bill Hicks DVD. That wall of CDs on the left is two deep, by the way.

I really wasn't lying about the number of CDs I own. Also notice rad Nick Cave poster. Other awesome band posters in my room:

Magik Markers
The Hospitals
Erase Errata
Comets on Fire
Black Dice
A poster for the first Hands of Cuba gig
Plus an Achewood (webcomic) poster

On a similar musical note, I have strewn about my room:

2 basses
1 guitar
a ukulele
a drum machine
a very old keyboard (under my bed)

Hipsters also love their retro video games, right?















This gamecube is sadly not mine, but I like the way it is perched atop a load of graphic novels, and two amps. I have a good number of graphic novels in my room (but would really like some more!), and a few music books, as we have seen.

I also think this particular item adds particular hipster points to my room:















This was made for me, by my wonderful Seb, out an old t-shirt of my dad's which I loved, and which sadly fell apart one day. But I'm glad it can live on as a cushion.

Finally, to top it all off, this is what I'm wearing today:
















(Note the hipster-friendly beard). The t-shirt actually assures me that it is an "EarthPositive T-shirt... manufactured solely using renewable green energy from wind and solar power". I think my ascent into hipsterdom is sealed.

So what hipster items do you have in your room(s)? What does my room need to really give it that extra push? My friend Pat suggested it needed more ashtrays and half-empty ramen bowls, but I'm sure you can come up with better suggestions.

Crazy To Exist

Good news everybody!

1) Am officially in band (In that, I've been properly told now)

2) Sonic Youth tonight was just incredible. Would have liked to hear Teen Age Riot or Expressway To Yr. Skull but can't really quibble about the set. The combination of The Sprawl, which went into Cross The Breeze, was just about the most intensely brilliant 15 minutes of music I've ever seen live.

For some reason recently, I've had fantasies about being a wild frontman-type figure in a band. I think it's probably partly due to the books I've been reading, which feature a lot of energetic confrontational bands with similar characters heading them up: Henry Rollins, James Chance (The Contortions), Mark E Smith etc etc. Also one of my favourite ever bands, Les Savy Fav, feature a singer who is of similar, if not greater, girth and beardiness to me, and is basically my inspiration for being a frontman.

Check out the craziness of Tim Harrington in this video, for example:


For some reason I'm very much attracted to the idea of me flinging myself around the stage shirtless, diving into the audience, going through multiple costume changes, fighting, sweaty and a little bit scary, a whir of beardy energy. I'm not quite sure why this: perhaps it's because I'm so shy offstage and it would be a nice release, especially if I had a persona (I think the Horatio Outside one works well), and because I'm so transfixed by the power of music to make people do this. Is this normal? Is it something a psychotherapist would be very interested to hear about?

The Book I Read

(That's the title of a Talking Heads song, by the way. Most of my post titles are quasi-puns like that. I'm not sure why I do it, really. Try and spot them all!).

Seems to have been a generally positive response to my live review, so I think I'll be doing more of those in future. Might even do some reviews of albums not bought from Oxfam (I have a few ideas lined up).

In other news I have been somewhat immersing myself in music books of late. I recently finished Rip It Up And Start Again, Simon Reynolds' superlative history of post-punk from 1978 to 1984. It's a period of music I've been interested in for quite a while and despite the length of the book (500-odd pages), I found it a really compelling read. Reynolds is a very thorough author, and his love for the music of the time is evident. I probably enjoyed the first half, which was dedicated to the more avant-garde "post-punk" bands (Pere Ubu, Devo, The Fall, Joy Division, PiL etc.) than the second half, which deals with the so-called "new pop" of the early '80s (Orange Juice, Echo & The Bunnymen, Art of Noise, goth bands etc.), but that was maybe because I enjoy the music slightly more.

I think Reynolds' greatest strength is how he weaves together the story of the musical with the social and political situation of the time. In doing this he superbly sets the wonderful, fascinating new music being made properly within its historical context: there's none of the lazy teleological thinking that sadly dominates a lot of writing about popular music. He quite nicely explores the philosophical/theoretical foundation behind the music being made in general, and behind certain bands in particular, which is something I find particularly fascinating. Overall, an excellent book and one I heartily recommend to anyone with even the slightest bit of interest in that era.

My current reading is Michael Azerrad's Our Band Could Be Your Life, a history of the American underground scene from 1981 to 1991. Instead of taking a broad, very detailed approach like Reynolds, Azerrad instead focuses on 13 of the most important bands of the scene: Black Flag, Minutemen, Mission of Burma, Minor Threat, and so forth, with each chapter providing a biography of one of these key groups. While this is a slightly more atomised approach to take, it's still a very thorough book, as Azerrad conducted a lot of interviews with the key players in the scene. This really helps give the sense of what it was like to be alive and making music at that time, which is an obvious plus for the book.

His writing style isn't quite as fluid as Reynolds', and he doesn't set out events with quite the same degree of clarity, but I'm enjoying it muchly so far. There was a chapter about the SST records/American underground scene in Rip It Up, incidentally, and it does sound like a tremendously exciting time for music, so I am glad to find out more about it.

Unfortunately these books have had the effect of making me feel a bit sad, as I can't help but compare the ingenuity and general sense of optimism; the belief that new, brilliant music could be made and promoted independently; the tremendous sense of community and of a genuine counterculture movement, and compare it unfavourably with the musical landscape I want to try and make music in nowadays. I really do think I was born 25-odd years too late, sometimes.

But enough of my moping. Up next on my reading list is Words And Music by acclaimed journalist Paul Morley, which seems to be a more general book about music. It looks like it will be an enjoyable, if odd, read. Any other music-based books I should be aware of?

Adventures in Oxfam #1

Wow, I can certainly get things done when I put my mind to it, can't I? Today I ventured into Ealing and despite some tempting metal (Darkthrone, Godflesh) I decided that for my first installment of this new series I would review

...

...

(ooh it's tense)

...

Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks - Stephen Malkmus


Backstory

I decided to get this album, not just because it was the cheapest one that caught my eye, but also because I've heard two songs already ("Jenny & the Ess Dog", "The Hook") and I rather like them. More importantly, I've never been a huge fan of Pavement, even though I like a lot of very similar bands (Sonic Youth, Guided By Voices, Dinosaur Jr etc.), so I'm hoping this album provides a way in to Pavement, because I really feel I should like them more than I do.

Review of Artwork

Front cover's a bit boring. Inside is a bit better, with some interesting collages, a comprehensive list of who plays what instruments (which I always like, the more detail the better, as far as I'm concerned), and a picture of Malkmus with a horse. 6/10

For this first edition, I thought I would review the album live, in real-time. I might do it again, depending on how well it goes. Anyway, let's get this show on the metaphorical road!

1. Black Book

After a slightly exotic opening, some nice guitars kick in. It's become standard, if not thrilling, fare. The chorus is reasonably catchy, though. A surprisingly long guitar solo in the middle, with those pan-pipe type things from the intro. I hope the rest of the album's better, or I may be slightly disappointed. Annoying bit of jamming at the end.

2. Phantasies

A more immediate start. Is that a xylophone? Handclaps, sunny vocals, very chirpy and upbeat. This is better. Ooh it's gone a bit dark and psychedelic. Only for a bit, though. I think I like this.

3. Jo Jo's Jacket

Odd spoken word bit at the beginning. It's by Yul Brynner, Wiki says. This is the first track I've noticed the lyrics being especially good. Malkmus' usual blend of surrealism and wry observation. This sounds very fresh and nicely constructed. Perhaps I've heard it before? I dunno. It's good, though, even if it isn't actually a stab at Moby. Nicely constructed, too.

4. Church on White

Bit more laid back. Perfectly enjoyable but hasn't hooked me in, yet. Sounds like the slower, less memorable Pavement songs, which is notable because the album hasn't sounded very much like Pavement so far. Picks up a bit right at the end, but then fizzles out a bit. Not great.

5. The Hook

"At aged 19 I was kidnapped by Turkish Pirates" is a brilliant opening line. This one's definitely got that laid-back, "slacker" feel to it. Like the squelchy, quasi-funk bassline. Never really goes anywhere but stays in a nice groove for the whole song.

6. Discretion Grove

Odd, cut-up tape style beginning. Then starts a pretty standard, driving riff. I think this was the first single from the album. It's quite fun, but it's not really very... special. As with a surprising number of songs from this album, the ending is bizarrely the best bit. Put the best stuff first, Stephen!

7. Troubbble

Shortest track on the album. Has a toy-piano sounding thing on it, and some interesting background synths. A bit more busy and all over the place than the rest of the album, and all the better for it. Very good.

8. Pink India

Slighttly country sounding, acoustic guitar-heavy one, this is. This is the longest track on the album, I note. Let's hope it does something decent with the runtime. Quite like the electric guitar sound in this - nice contrast. Hmm, this has managed to hold my attention quite a lot better than I thought it would. Starts going a little weirder in the last 2 minutes, which I obviously like. Quite a lot of different ideas in here. Will definitely listen again.

9. Trojan Curfew

Another quite country opening, this time with slide guitar. I really am a sucker for slide guitar. This is pretty gorgeous stuff. I think there's old-school organ in there too. Man, this track does everything right. Good coda, as well.

10. Vague Space

"I came to crave your spastic touch". Nice. I wasn't so keen on this, but there's more old-school organ and what sounds like steel drums. It's gone a bit bonkers too. Much better.

11. Jenny & The Ess Dog

I already know that I really, really like this song. Great lyrics, superbly constructed, and it does sound a lot more direct than quite a few of the songs on here. It's a very lovely/slightly bittersweet track and probably the best thing on here.

12. Deado

Slightly otherwordly sound. Sounds a bit like it was recorded underwater, or during an acid trip in the 60s. Quite a different sound to the rest of the album, and quite refreshing as a result. Again with the codas, though.

So what did I think, overall? I was pleasantly surprised all in all, I guess. The album actually got quite a lot better towards the end, which is unusual. I'm not sure it'll make me a rabid Pavement fan, but I might stick "Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain" on soon, seeing as it's all sunny and that.

Thanks for reading!

Horatio

PS. ANY feedback at all would be absolutely lovely.

Colossal Youth

So I was up at 9 today, in order to buy tickets for the only-announced-yesterday, slighty-secret Sonic Youth gig at The Scala (http://drownedinsound.com/news/4136650). Since I now have the tickets, and am struggling to stop myself frothing with excitement (seriously, I'm struggling to wipe it all up), I thought it only fair to write some words about one of my favourite bands.

Sonic Youth were, in fact, my absolute favourite band between the ages of 17 and 19 (they came inbetween ...And You Will Know Us By The Trail of Dead and Talking Heads in terms of favourite bands, if you were wondering). I actually own physical copies of more albums by them than of any other band (10), since downloading was much less possible when I was really, really into them and I've been a bit more naughty with The Fall. I can remember buying Daydream Nation based on seeing it get a good write up in various places, and having no idea what is would sound like, except that Trail of Dead (my favourite band at the time, you see?) were heavily indebted to them.

I can very vividly remember putting the album on at my friend Pat's house and being completely blown away by "Teen Age Riot". It was the first track on my first Sonic Youth album, and from then on I was hooked. I have some great memories of that album, including listening to the whole thing end-to-end on a particularly long journey back from a dentist's in Wimbledon (I don't often listen to the whole thing, because it's pretty long and often challenging, but that worked really well), and getting pretty freaked out by the noise jam in "Total Trash" while walking back from Pat's alone, in the dark. From then on, I bought as many albums as I could, quite often from small record stores in foreign countries while I was on holiday, for some reason. I learnt as much about them as I could (this website is a brilliant resource for anyone as nerdy as I am). I think it's fair to say that the 'Youth properly introduced me to more avant-garde and experimental music, so I will always be especially fond of them for that reason alone. I even almost bought Goodbye 20th Century, apparently their most difficult album in their more experimental SYR series (there was a lone copy in the CD Warehouse in Ealing for years... I wonder what happened to that CD).

But you may have guessed that my interested in SY has waned a little over the past few years. The rabid album-buying, even downloading, slowed down quite considerably, although I did discover that their version of "Superstar" by The Carpenters is one of the best songs ever, and I was an idiot for not listening to it sooner, 'cause now people will think I only know about it through Juno. I even missed the opportunity to see them perform Daydream Nation, in it's entirety, in 2007 because I thought it was too expensive, and becasue I was my usual dithery self. I guess I was just listening to too much other stuff to give them the attention I used to. But every so often I give them a listen and they still make me feel as excited as they always did.

That's why I'm so excited about the Scala gig: I've never really done the whole "seeing a band you love for the first time ever", except for The Fall, and that was a bit different. They're all getting on a little bit as well, but I reckon they can still rock pretty hard. And it's a pretty small venue for them, which is nice.

Anyway, so I don't feel like I'm rubbing it in too much, have a hastily-compiled Spotify playlist of my favourite Sonic Youth songs:

http://open.spotify.com/user/corpsey/playlist/1xMJbpt4rJRMogI56rfymW

Not on there is the Peel Session where they only cover Fall songs, which I really, really love, for obvious reasons. Check it out. Also "Sonic Nurse", which I didn't put any songs from on, but only because I don't know which ones are best.

News (But No Tributes)

Hahaha, I have used that joke before, but I don't care.

Anyway, I have some ever-so-marginally exciting news about my blog, and for once it's not me stopping/restarting it. As anyone who's read any of it will know, I'm forever whining about how few people read it etc. To combat that I have come with a genius idea that will hopefully give my blog more of a structure, and thus make me happier to link to it/pimp it out all over the internet.

Basically my local Oxfam music shops is pretty awesome (as demonstrated by the amount of stuff I buy from there, some of which I've documented here). I've decided to every week - maybe more often, I'm not sure - buy something from there and review it on here. It might be something I've wanted for a while, something I've heard good things about, or just something completely random. It'll only cost me about £5 and it all goes to charity so is ultimately going towards a good cause. Of course my usual ramblings will still be present (and I've got plenty planned) but I'm hoping this will give Music Is My Boyfriend more of a "point" and purpose.

Alongside that I'm looking to redesing the site, to make it look a bit fresher and more contemporary. I've asked Seb to do that (he has some pretty good design skills), so hopefully there'll be news on that once his pre-term exams are done. Perhaps I'll change the name as well, but I don't want to change TOO much at once!

Anyway, I'm mildly excited about this and hope to have the first installment of my new idea up soon (this week ideally).

Horatio

Quick Update (Qupdate)

Not very much of musical note has been happening to me lately (although that's not the only reason this blog's not been updating). Pretty much the most interesting that happened was seeing mopey Scottish indie types Frightened Rabbit (or rather, singer/songwriter Scott Hutchinson) play an acoustic instore gig at Pure Groove records in Farringdon. It was a pretty cool shop, though more of a coffee shop/art space, as wanky as that sounds, than a proper record store. Despite that I did buy a CD (of course) - the Micachu album, which is a lovely bit of slightly avant-garde, wonky pop that is definitely in my top 5 of albums to have come out so far this year.

I've never been to an instore before, so it felt a little bit odd sitting at a table at the front of the shop, drinking a coke, while a band (or one person) played a set a few feet away. It was also odd to see a gig at lunchtime but there was a still a bit of an atmosphere at the venue, a new song was debued, and Hutchinson was in pretty good form, despite breaking a string during said new song and thus struggling with tuning issues for the remainder of the set.

As for my own musical projects, I managed to miss my first complete band practice on Sunday due to coming back from Cambridge too late, and generally being pretty tired and run-down. While I was up in Cambridge I also realised how much I missed performing live (it's been well over a year now) and thus am anxious to get together another project that can play gigs sooner than the band in Reading, who are aiming for late summer, at the earliest. It would also be nice to have a band where I can get out my more experimental tendencies, cause I think I'd continue to feel frustrated without an outlet for them.

Since this is a Qupdate (I'm using this word all the time from now on), I'm compelled to link to all my latest reviews. Since they're all for the same site I can link to my author page on musosguide: http://mymusos.com/author/joseph-rowan and they're the three top reviews there (Pink Mountaintops, Mr Oizo and volcano! for those who are too lazy to click on a link).

Right, that'll do for now, but I'm about to post some slightly-exciting news! Don't hold your breath for too long!

Back From The Dead

Oh Dear, I've not done so well at keeping this regularly updated, have I? I suppose it's all that fun I've been having. I'm not sorry at all.

As a way of apologising, have a potentially blasphemous Easter playlist.

Why? - Good Friday
The Tiger Lillies - Banging In The Nails
Big Business - Easter Romantic
The Velvet Undergound - Jesus
Talking Heads - Heaven
Erase Errata - Surprise It's Easter
Depeche Mode - Personal Jesus
Espers - Dead King
The Flatmates - I Could Be In Heaven
Pearl Jam - Alive
Baroness - Rise
Slayer - Jesus Saves
Bob Dylan - Trying To Get To Heaven
Earth - Rise To Glory
The Locust - Anything Jesus Does I Can Do Better
Oneida - Sheets of Easter (mwa ha ha)

A somewhat eclectic mix, due to trying to fit it to a theme. Also, although it would count, there's no way in hell I'm putting "I Am The Resurrection" by The Stone Roses on there.

Also, have some reviews:

Bob Log III live: http://musosguide.com/bob-log-iii-london-100-club/3724
Mi Ami live: http://thisisoffset.co.uk/?p=1854

Read About My Life! I Promise It's Interesting!

An addendum to my last post, that also ties nicely into an update on my recent goings-on: last week I also bought the debut album by a band called Dutch Uncles.

I bought it because I saw them playing at the Rough Trade RoTa afternoons, which are at Notting Hill Arts Club every Saturday, and are free. Hooray! Dutch Uncles and the band after them, It Hugs Back, were both really good which made up for traipsing all the way down the Old Kent Road, sometimes in the rain for a gig in a disused car showroom earlier in the day, which turned out to be sold out. Damn you, East London.

In similar gig-related news I saw The Fall at Koko on Wednesday. I was hoping a good gig on the 1st of April would set the tone for the rest of the month. (Sadly, this wasn't quite the case as I ended up not being able to get into The Field on Friday - seriously, East London, what have I ever done to you?).

I ended up going on my own (first time at a gig, as well) and turned up quite late, although I caught about 10 minutes of the weird video artist they have supporting them on this tour. As for The Fall, they were really good. Much better sound than the last time I saw them, which was surprising given Koko's reputation for shit sound. Mark E Smith was in a wheelchair, due to breaking his hip about 6 weeks ago *insert 'Hip Priest' joke here*. This didn't stop him wheeling himself around the stage, fiddling with the amps as usual and nor did it stop him singing the last 3 songs offtstage, for whatever reason. They also played a few new songs, which sounded really good, so I'm hopeful for the new album in June.

In terms of bands I'm actually in, I think I'm pretty much in the Reading-based band for sure now, which is awesome. The almost full band practice went really well, and I have some rough live demos which sound pretty decent. I'm also having a jam with one of the guitarists from The Quatermass Experiment tomorrow, so hopefully something more noisy and experimental will come out of that. My musical life seems basically good at present, all in all.

Now to get on with reviews...

This Is Why I'm Poor

So it appears to be over a whole week since I last updated this thing. I do apologise - busy social life/apathy etc. got in the way and all that. To make up for this I shall try to do a bumper crop of posts in the next few dates so as to get a bit more content on here (only 13 posts in March? That's not so good).

As an easy first April post I could talk about how I came, in typical style, to blow £60 on CDs last week.

Monday was a fairly usual affair, with me buying The Decemberists' new effort "The Hazards of Love", which is a really excellent prog-folk masterpiece, and is basically a modern rock-opera (it tells a story, and all dialogue is sung).

The rest of the money was spent in the glorious musical cornucopia that is the Rough Trade East shop. Suffice to say I went a little bit crazy and bought the following:

Dan Deacon - Bromst (the 2nd best album released this year, probably)
Trans Am - TA (I love Trans Am, excellent experimental electronica)
The Fucking Champs - Greatest Hits
Oneida - The Wedding*
The Fall - Slates (I can't go into a record shop without buying some Fall, it seems)
Wire - Kidney Bingos (an excellent 3" single disc, and possibly the coolest thing I bought)

So yes, I feel quite proud of the fact that it's only 3 and a bit months into 2009 and I've listened to something like 12 albums.

In other news have some single reviews:
Tartufi - Dot Dash (http://www.musosguide.com/tartufi-dot-dash/3588)
The Paper Chase - What Shall We Do With The Bodies (http://www.musosguide.com/the-paper-chase-what-should-we-do-with-your-body-the-lightning/3503)

I will try and update tomorrow with recent goings-on and hopefully I will be less distracted by listening to podcasts featuring Speednik.

*bit of a theme going on here, since Phil Manley is in both Trans Am and The Fucking Champs, and contributes to this Oneida album, fact fans!