VT’s Music Chat

[bickster]

5 hours ago, mjmooney said:

I assume it's all guests who are into his post-punk yawnsome era. 

Get somebody on who actually understands the 67-72 period and I might listen. 

Damon Albarn was the first guest and he seemed somewhat obsessed with the Canterbury Scene. Lots of talk about Robery Wyatt visiting Peel Acres

[mjmooney]

20 minutes ago, bickster said:

Damon Albarn was the first guest and he seemed somewhat obsessed with the Canterbury Scene. Lots of talk about Robery Wyatt visiting Peel Acres

Naturally. There was a massive amount of cherrypicking and history rewriting, not least from Peel himself. So, some old stuff was deemed to be acceptable (Wyatt, Beefheart, Bolan, etc.), but the likes of Deep Purple, Zeppelin, Fairport Convention, various country-rock bands, etc. that he had once enthused about were conveniently forgotten. 

Sure, there are artists I used to play a lot, that I no longer do for one reason or another (notably The Beatles), but I would never disown them. Peel did, presumably in order to retain credibility with the new apparatchiks, and that disappointed me deeply. 

[Seat68]

19 minutes ago, mjmooney said:

Naturally. There was a massive amount of cherrypicking and history rewriting, not least from Peel himself. So, some old stuff was deemed to be acceptable (Wyatt, Beefheart, Bolan, etc.), but the likes of Deep Purple, Zeppelin, Fairport Convention, various country-rock bands, etc. that he had once enthused about were conveniently forgotten. 

Sure, there are artists I used to play a lot, that I no longer do for one reason or another (notably The Beatles), but I would never disown them. Peel did, presumably in order to retain credibility with the new apparatchiks, and that disappointed me deeply. 

That may be true Mike. I listened religiously from the mid 80s until he died and what you say holds true. One act he did play regularly from the country rock genre was Country Joe and The Fish but away from them I struggle to think of any. 

[mjmooney]

2 hours ago, Seat68 said:

That may be true Mike. I listened religiously from the mid 80s until he died and what you say holds true. One act he did play regularly from the country rock genre was Country Joe and The Fish but away from them I struggle to think of any. 

I would call CJ and the Fish country rock, more west coast psychedelia. Peel used to play bands like Poco and Pure Prairie League - he even approved of the Eagles' Hotel California. All conveniently under the carpet. 

[chrisp65]

 

 

 

[chrisp65]

Now then, I ordered an album earlier from a band I hadn’t previously heard of, because it had been described as ‘a bit psych rock, a bit kraut rock’.

It’s now also being described as a little bit like Spacemen 3.

 

I’ve never knowingly heard Spacemen 3, but I do know there are people on here that do like them. I’ve just never clicked on any of their stuff.

I’m determined to still not click on Spaceman 3. I shall just wait until May, put the record on, and find out if I guessed right or guessed wrong.

[Xann]

2 hours ago, chrisp65 said:

Spacemen 3.

Loved them when I was 17.

Then we got really into music and a friend bought a Vox guitar with the built in effects.

We were like, oh, it's as easy as that is it?

Then got into Herbie Hancock.

 

[chrisp65]

 

 

[Seat68]

I saw an online and today for Mogwai flogging whiskey, a month or two back I saw Idles selling Gant stuff. I expect it with the mainstream country acts I listen to, they will put their names to anything, but it was a bit odd to see Idles and Mogwai endorsing stuff. 

[bickster]

12 minutes ago, Seat68 said:

I saw an online and today for Mogwai flogging whiskey, a month or two back I saw Idles selling Gant stuff. I expect it with the mainstream country acts I listen to, they will put their names to anything, but it was a bit odd to see Idles and Mogwai endorsing stuff. 

Mogwai have a history of alcohol collaborations. There was definitely a Rave Tapes Whisky and a Beer after that Mogwai Beer Satan! There may also be a Rum in the mix somewhere

[Seat68]

For most of us it isn't a shocker. Watching Stone Roses at Blackpool on Sky Arts, and remember watching it when it came out, but **** my hat, that boy, his biggest crime these days is being a covid bollock face, this footage resurfacing, he has bigger crimes. 

[mjmooney]

6 minutes ago, Seat68 said:

For most of us it isn't a shocker. Watching Stone Roses at Blackpool on Sky Arts, and remember watching it when it came out, but **** my hat, that boy, his biggest crime these days is being a covid bollock face, this footage resurfacing, he has bigger crimes. 

I turned it off after five minutes. I've a lot of time for John Squire as a guitarist, but Ian Brown was utterly dreadful. 

[bickster]

13 minutes ago, Seat68 said:

For most of us it isn't a shocker. Watching Stone Roses at Blackpool on Sky Arts, and remember watching it when it came out, but **** my hat, that boy, his biggest crime these days is being a covid bollock face, this footage resurfacing, he has bigger crimes. 

Not watching it right now but trust me it was much worse if you were working the gig. At least I was paid to be there I suppose.

Spike Island was worse but at least I was doing perimeter security for that

[Seat68]

7 minutes ago, bickster said:

Not watching it right now but trust me it was much worse if you were working the gig. At least I was paid to be there I suppose.

Spike Island was worse but at least I was doing perimeter security for that

I wonder if in the league of all time worst gig vocals, Blackpool, spike island, Reading all by the stone roses, would win. 

[bickster]

39 minutes ago, Seat68 said:

I wonder if in the league of all time worst gig vocals, Blackpool, spike island, Reading all by the stone roses, would win. 

When they first started, his voice was never great but it just seemed to get worse the bigger they got

I think he definitely had pharmacutically challenged vocal chords

[Designer1]

23 minutes ago, bickster said:

When they first started, his voice was never great but it just seemed to get worse the bigger they got

I think he definitely had pharmacutically challenged vocal chords

I've mentioned this before but I saw them when they first started out (may have even been before the first album) at a small venue in Dudley (the old old JB's) and I know it was a good few years ago, but I remember him being a half decent vocalist live.

Only seen them on TV clips since and yeah, he's bloody awful.

[bickster]

1 minute ago, Designer1 said:

I've mentioned this before but I saw them when they first started out (may have even been before the first album) at a small venue in Dudley (the old old JB's) and I know it was a good few years ago, but I remember him being a half decent vocalist live.

Only seen them on TV clips since and yeah, he's bloody awful.

Yep, nowhere near as bad as he became when they first started

[Xann]

On 10/02/2022 at 20:18, chrisp65 said:

Bandcamp

Mentioned before that I'd found Bandcamp frustrating.

Limited runs on many titles mean they're gone before you get wind. Disappearing down rabbit holes can be a fairly barren affair for people that like physical media.

Instead of wandering around in it's catacombs, I've found sitting in the foyer and watching the live sales scroll by to be most rewarding.

At this point the basic quality control is that people are actually prepared to pay for it, which cuts out much of the dross.

Also these titles are often live, people are buying CD/LP/MC. Then factor in what's been paid and you've got a pointer as to which format's been bought, if the pic just shows the cover and doesn't specify?

If I'm not out to buy something? Clicking randomly is always interesting, clicking what you like the look of is surprisingly fruitful. Lost hours mixing these methods.

You get to listen to different genres, which I miss from the record shop. You don't have to listen to a whole track of absolute garbage, which is an improvement on getting pointers from radio.

https://khnvm.bandcamp.com/track/heretic-ascension

https://lesdoigtsdelhomme.bandcamp.com/track/stenay-vous-bien

[mjmooney]

How to discover music I didn't know about? 

1970s: 

1. Reviews in print music weeklies (Melody Maker, NME, Disc & Music Echo, Sounds) and monthlies (ZigZag) 

2. Chance hearings on Radio 1 (John Peel, Bob Harris, etc.) 

3. Word of mouth from friends 

2020s: 

1. Reviews in music monthlies on Readly (Mojo, Uncut, Shindig! etc.)

2. Rabbit hole chasing on Spotify 

3. Word of mouth from friends 

[chrisp65]

53 minutes ago, Xann said:

Mentioned before that I'd found Bandcamp frustrating.

Limited runs on many titles mean they're gone before you get wind. Disappearing down rabbit holes can be a fairly barren affair for people that like physical media.

Instead of wandering around in it's catacombs, I've found sitting in the foyer and watching the live sales scroll by to be most rewarding.

At this point the basic quality control is that people are actually prepared to pay for it, which cuts out much of the dross.

Also these titles are often live, people are buying CD/LP/MC. Then factor in what's been paid and you've got a pointer as to which format's been bought, if the pic just shows the cover and doesn't specify?

If I'm not out to buy something? Clicking randomly is always interesting, clicking what you like the look of is surprisingly fruitful. Lost hours mixing these methods.

You get to listen to different genres, which I miss from the record shop. You don't have to listen to a whole track of absolute garbage, which is an improvement on getting pointers from radio.

https://khnvm.bandcamp.com/track/heretic-ascension

https://lesdoigtsdelhomme.bandcamp.com/track/stenay-vous-bien

 

…and to prove your point, I really didn’t like khnvm so I clicked on lesdoig and that was better but still not quite there… but the algo at the bottom of the page said you may also like… and it was something I’d never heard of before by someone called Misha Panfilov who had hand cut 50 copies of some repetitive synth and piano stuff. That’s right up my Wembley way. It was sold out, but I’ll keep tabs on that.

The Pale Blue Dots record recently bought was put on Bandcamp and you could see the numbers remaining counting right down to being sold out. That was quite neat, not least because he’d put his own money in to it so it was good to see it paid off. well, paid off is a bit strong, hopefully he got his money back. Selling 250 records at £20 each doesn’t get you your first swimming pool.

Until I’m pointed elsewhere, Bandcamp certainly appears to be the ‘least bad’ at present.