Posts by philipmatthews
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I think SWANS is an example of a band who are better than they used to be -- how many bands have made better new stuff after a reunion, that actually develops on what they did in the interim (Angels of Light) as well as adapting the old? And I suppose the Clean are as good as they ever were.
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That stuff about Rachel at Dangerous Minds, including comments, is fantastic. A couple of other good Lou obits:
Luc Sante in the New Yorker:
The least you could say about Reed is that he was complicated. He was lyrical and crass, empathetic and narcissistic, feminine and masculine, a gawky adolescent and an old soak, a regular guy and a willful deviant, an artisan and a vandal.
And Gordon Campbell at Scoop:
From the Velvets to the Berlin album, Reed told us that the serious pursuit of sensation came at a price ….even if hey, the whole stupid display of desire and self-immolation was also grimly amusing, when it wasn’t simply hateful. For a while, Reed was the elder brother/uncle who was either an inspiration or a cautionary tale, or both. Like most innovators, he had usually moved on by the time his fans and imitators climbed on board.
Songs for Drella was the album Gordon says he turned to. I was listening to third VU album, then the first. I still think the first is maybe the greatest rock record ever.
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Hard News: Friday Music: History, motherfuckers, in reply to Stephen D. O'Hoy,
Best response on this whole drama yet.
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Hard News: Friday Music: History, motherfuckers, in reply to Russell Brown,
He gave no indication that he got what was wrong about saying that. It’s unfathomable.
I re-read this piece from the LA Review of Books on the Runaways and thought of that kind of reviewing at this point:
McDonnell shows the sexist roots of the rock world and how the girls worked against incredible odds. “Rock critics,” McDonnell writes, “were allegedly steeped in the counterculture tradition of New Journalism, but it seems that the Runaways provided them with an opportunity to unleash their pornographic and misogynistic ids.”
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Legal Beagle: Gordon Campbell…, in reply to Mick Rose,
Why dedicate a blog-post to this when Graeme could have communicated privately with Gordon or posted a comment directly on Gordon’s original article?
I agree with Mick. Why not just put these complaints in the comments at Scoop?
CK Stead’s ‘Smith’s Dream’ was written in the Muldoon era.
My turn to be pedantic, I suppose. Smith's Dream was first published in 1971 and Stead has talked about it as a response to Vietnam war protests, as he wondered how a more autocratic government would crack down.
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This is Friday and we should probably post great Goth songs, right? (there are some ... )
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One positive about Gothdom, I always thought, was that it allowed for femininity -- both in girls and boys. It wasn't a sexist scene, and it was far from macho -- which even punk and other things around in the 80s were. There wasn't much objectifying of women going on and no homophobia, from what I remember. Historically, it came out of glam as much as post-punk, or merged the two traditions. (crucial fact: Siouxise met Steve Severin at a Roxy Music concert.)
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More at the Meat Puppets end than the Poison end. I've been enjoying the Bruce Russell-compiled Time to Go -- the Southern Psychedelic Moment: 1981-86, on Flying Nun. The least obvious F Nun compilation in years -- perhaps ever. Bruce's theme is about a psychedelic movement in South Island post-punk music, and it stands up.
Among the 20 tracks, possibly the Tall Dwarfs' saddest and prettiest:
Scorched Earth Policy's Since the Accident: easily one of the most unwholesome-sounding songs ever recorded in NZ:
The Pin Group's Jim:
I can't figure out why I never really liked this group at the time (Look Blue Go Purple):
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Hard News: One man’s Meat Puppets is…, in reply to Lilith __,
listening to (and taping) Casey Kasem's American Top 40
Far out. I used to listen to that on my Dad's old valve radio. And tape the songs I liked by holding a mic up to the (embroidered) speaker. I still remember the clunk between tracks caused by pressing stop on the tape deck.More formative for me was when Radio with Pictures was simulcast on radio in the early 1980s (no idea what station -- not Radio B?). Getting random mix tapes that would capture Birthday Party, The Fall, whatever.
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Hard News: One man’s Meat Puppets is…, in reply to Geoff Lealand,
I can find out for you, Geoff, next time I'm at Press HQ.
I also listened avidly -- nerdishly -- to Casey Kasam on whatever Christchurch AM station played it in the late 70s; I still have a love/hate relationship with the soporific, dreamy sound of 70s rock filtered through a cheap radio (10cc, Steely Dan, Fleetwood Mac, Eagles).