so, I'm catching up on my ever-increasing backlog of music magazines/newspapers that have built up since early January, obviously after I've done my ironing, had my haircut, watched Lovejoy, eaten lunch etc, and i get to the Radiohead interview from the whole promoting In Rainbows thing, and i read, and it interests me. I'd forgotten how clever, funny, and thoughtful they are about what they do. i haven't yet got In Rainbows, but i shall do soon i think; its sounds ace.anyhooo it sent me back to listening to all the other albums (except Pablo Honey which is shit), its amazing how you forget some bands after they've been there so long, even after you have a relationship with them (aural that is), and just take them for granted, and semi forget how great they are.
the last few albums were all brilliant, and whilst a little bit more arty, more esoteric than the big sellers of The Bends and OK Computer, in many ways equally as good. i never liked the stadium aspect of the band (i hate stadium, i hate U2, i hate Muse, REM get worse the bigger they try to be), and since they've jettisoned that aspect and gone pure art on us, they've been sooo much more interesting. a real listening experience, shut the door, turn off the light, sit and LISTEN. i just keep coming back to Kid A, Amnesiac (my personal fave), and Hail to the Thief, and finding more there, the same way i do with the Beatles, The Smiths, Sonic Youth, My Bloody Valentine, all the greats. furthermore they seem a genuine art and pop band at the same time, the way Bowie, Roxy, Blur were. concepts, lyrical themes, real musical inventiveness. a sense of dynamic that you don;t get from most artists, but with real emotional core too.
i hope they go on for a lot longer.
my relationship with bands can be a fairly intense one, but only after time these days. the increasing funds at my disposal mean I've lost the times when i bought an album, and played it non-stop for weeks, or months because i had nothing else to do; like the true eighties child, my attention span is gnat-like sometimes, and i read books and get distracted by other things. until i end up with 25 CDs on the player top, and 10 books on my shelf, simply because they interest me, and i want them NOW. but in the end, its a system of competition, and the great will surface. Radiohead are managing that at present, as are Sleater-Kinney. And my Huxley fetish is still alive, as is my metaphysical poetry one, but new ones join and enhance the understanding, enhance the pleasure : Henry James, the Ammah's comp CD has got ace stuff on it, the baroque indie goes Tin Pan Alley-isms of the Magnetic Fields, the poetry of Jamie McKendrick. the new loves, and the old friends vie endlessly for my attention, each showing me something new. lordy, i love the books, and i love the CDs.
when I'm not indulging in these sensual pleasure (currently, along with cheese, and muffins, the only ones i get), i have the scintillating company of friends. Ammah and her wry wisdom, always seeming to know when I'm in trouble, and always reminding me i ain't alone. the folk at work who make my Saturdays a darn sight more fun than my weekdays "on the job" (titter ye not!).
i ask this, fine people, how many of you can ask a question at work, and have a friend and colleague who can sing (from a popular song of the last 50 years) an appropriate answer??eh? well, i do. Lucille, my dear, it is a unique talent. almost as unique as being able to make me smile so often; so if i get grumpy and withdrawn, please be aware it is never you. I'm just a big grouch. you were much missed in yr recent absence, by me, and the Aardvark :) i shall say no more but:
Dinner Lamb!!
goodnight, and good luck, chillun.
PS. i think I'm going to fall in love with Samantha Morton.but just temporarily. a few days or so.
PPS. the picture is Ennui by Walter Sickert (1914)
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