STUDIO DIARY #1 - 23/07/06.

Mark E. Smith once said of Fall albums that they are like diaries and I can totally see what he means.

It's been about 6 weeks since the release of the first Delete CD, 'Delete and the Splendid Opposition.' I hadn't listened to it in that time until last week and I was surprised at my reaction to it. Don't misunderstand me: I didn't HATE it or anything. But I don't feel it represents 'me'. It represents the moment in time I was working on it. I'm not saying this is a good or bad thing. It just surprised me.

I guess I shouldn't have been surprised at my reaction because I have felt like this before. Listening to The Drug Cartel material now shows me as exactly what I was at the time: drunk, desperately seeking attention, unaware of the recording process in a very non-creative way, and not physically or emotionally well.

People keep asking to hear that stuff and I can't bring myself to play it to them. Firstly, because the 'music' is sooooo bad. It is out of time, out of tune, and a wailing, flailing mess. When I say this to people they go "it sounds great!" but believe me this there was no DIY or punk prestige attached to this. It annoys me when I read interviews with musicans/producers and they go on about you "not needing to know anything" to make music. You don't need to know a LOT, I will agree, but there is a threshold below which this doesn't hold true. The Drug Cartel tapes are proof of that.

The second reason I can't bring myself to play people the DC stuff is coz it upsets me to hear it, to think of the state I was in at that time. There are moments that raise a wistful smile (and I used these for a 'loop montage' on 'The Splendid Opposition') and a couple of tracks that I think COULD have been great songs if I re-recorded them now. But I don't want to go back.

Over the past couple of weeks I have been working on some new tracks. They are more 'guitar based', I guess you would say. I'm a bit obsessed with the sound of 3 records at the moment: Beefheart's 'Trout Mask Replica' (which I'm always obsessed with in some way); 'Piper at the Gates of Dawn' by Pink Floyd (the mono version, which is soooo much better sounding than the stereo mix); and 'Revolver' by you-know-who. The latter album I hadn't actually bothered listening to until recently when I got it as a free gift for subscribing to a magazine. I've had a bit of a Beatles interest this year after reading 'Revolution in the Head' at xmas. And I can confirm that 'Tomorrow Never Knows' is as spectacular and influential as everyone says it is.

As I say, I'm obsessed with the SOUND of those records, and tellingly they were all recorded in the 60's. Theres a sparseness of arrangement that is refreshing and an organic quality that has been lost in the digital age. Even contemporary 'guitar bands' sound sterile compared to these recordings, so what hope does an electronic artist have of competing with them?

That's the balance I hope to redress: use the production values of those great 60's albums as inspiration for electronica.

Sonic Youth – Daydream Nation. Thank you to my good friend Ben for this link to an item on the Stylus website. Like Ben I don’t agree with the writer, Ian Mathers, but I do agree that he has the right to express his feelings as he sees fit.

A small tangent here… Again, like Ben, I relate to what Ian says about feeling pressured into ‘liking’ supposed ‘classic’ records because journo’s and muso’s down the years proclaim them works of genius. I don’t ‘get’ a lot of punk, for example. I think this is because it’s hard to relate to it outside of it’s social context back in the day. I’m sure some would argue that what, say, The Clash had to say is just as relevant now as it was then. I’m not so sure. I can’t get over the feeling that:

1. most 1970’s punk music is recycled rock ‘n’ roll riff’s and hardly innovative

2. mainstream muso’s and journo’s are afraid at speaking out against punk as it’s so universally accepted as the dawn of a new musical age

3. the ‘industry’ has a vested interest in bigging up the lasting impact of punk in terms of ongoing sales to new generations of music fans

I think the root of this ‘pressure’ problem begins if you start reading about music too much instead of following your own instincts. Music is obviously a subjective thing. Most publications have such a range of writers that almost EVERYTHING seems to be ESSENTIAL LISTENING because the writer doing the article you are reading LOVES THIS BAND. Had someone else written the article, they would present a completely different view.

So, I have decided: I’m not going to continue to try and like punk… or Jimi Hendrix, or the early Beatles stuff (that said… I do LOVE some punk-era bands and I think music begins for me with ‘Revolver’ – not much prior to that album means much to me, bar some experimental electronic music and avant garde work. )

All this reminds me of a story my dad told me about being at a party in the late 60’s and pretending that Led Zeppelin were great because his mates thought they wer. See – there’s another one. Led Zeppelin: can’t stand ‘em! But oh how I have TRIED! What a waste of time.

But anyway, back to Sonic Youth. My first reaction to reading the Stylus piece was to dig out ‘Daydream Nation’ and have a good listen. This was to reassure myself that I did actually like it and hadn’t just CONVINCED myself it was good. But I need not have feared: all was present and correct and a glorious mess of fuzz and melody. I listened a bit more carefully than usual as I had Ian Mathers criticisms in mind. And all I could think was, in stark contrast to Ian’s assessment, how different each track is from each other on the album. To my ears, they are all distinctive and it’s pretty much all-killer.

But, if nothing else, the Stylus piece seems to have liberated Mathers from the burden of trying to like ‘Daydream Nation.’ And it’s prompted me to be more open about my dislikes too. So, Ian, I disagree with your point of view on this album but thank you for expressing it.

Welcome to Delete Music

The website is over on the right... but let's give it to you again:

www.deletemusic.com

Welcome to my new blog (which hopefully I'll be updating a bit more frequently than the last one)!!!