I'll be falling round the room

Well, seeing as my last post was about the Mercury Music Prize, it seems only appropriate to follow it up with something from last year's winners.

But this isn't from The Seldom Seen Kid' or indeed any of their albums.

This is something much, much older. Back in the days when Elbow were in the first phase of being. All fresh faced and optimistic. Not that Elbow have ever struck me as being a young band. Something about them has always felt old. No, strike that. Not old, older. Experienced. Lived in. World weary. As though they skipped adolescence and just went straight to being wizened and wryly cynical. I think it's something to do with Guy Garvey's husky falsetto and northern self deprecation that does it. I can't really describe what I mean. So I won't witter on attempting to. Instead, I'll just give you the music.

This is a live version of a song that originally appeared as a b-side on their impossibly rare first single, "The Noisebox EP". It was subsequently re-released, again as a b-side, on the third single, 'Any Day Now'. This version however was recorded in concert in 2001 and listening to it, it's easy to hear why it's a firm fan favourite. A lost classic amongst the band's myriad collection of songs. A suitably epic song in a manner that Elbow have managed to make their own. Albeit back when they were a bit rougher around the edges. Beginning with a distorted church organ, it thunders into life, blusteringly intense yet strangely intimate. Guy's vocals the calm at the centre of the storm that the band are creating around him. A reflection of the song's protagonist whose life seems to be dissolving around him. At the end of his tether. The band's backing vocals seem to act as the voices in his head or maybe the devil on his shoulder. Taunting him. Telling him to give in. To give it up. His strength seems to be failing him. His resilience is cracking under the pressure. He tells himself he's more than this, but you sense he's giving in, and ultimately can't help concluding that enough is enough.

Elbow - george lassoes the moon (live version)

mp3 / music / elbow

Now i'll sign my fate away

I don’t really care much for award ceremonies.

Not in music anyway.

For me, music is too subjective to judge in such a manner. To decide that one record is better than a bunch of others based on a series of tangible criteria seems churlish. Music just doesn’t work like that. You can describe it for sure. You can use similies and metaphors all you like, but I don't think it's ever possible to fully put into words why music has the power to move you. It depends on so many changeable factors. Time, place, mood being just a few influences. That's before you've even got to the differing styles and genres.

Besides the fact that you’ll never please everyone with the result, how do you even begin to decide what to base your judgement on? Do you base it on sheer enjoyment of the record? On how it affects you emotionally? On lyrical content? On technical proficiency? On artistry? In truth, it seems the only fair criteria you really use to can compare records is sales. That at least has some indisputable facts attached to it. Not that it takes quality into account. You only have to look at the Brits to see what a mockery that makes of the whole thing. Does anybody really believe that Duffy’s album was the best record released last year? But then again, like I said, it’s all subjective isn’t it?

Having said all of that, of the myriad award ceremonies that exist, the one I do at least pay more than a passing attention to is the Mercury Music Prize. I’m not saying it’s the best music award, the most reliable or even the most accurate. Sure, you can criticise it for the elitist, high brow, chin stroking muso attitude. You can knock the fact that it tries too hard to please everyone with token nods to marginal genres that are never likely to win. You can even complain that it’s as much a personal, finger in the air type decision. But it does at least seem to base it’s decision on some sort of critical appraisal of the music and it does seem to have a positive effect on the career’s of deserving, up and coming, left field bands. As opposed to the feeling of self congratulatory back slapping for the same old established bands that most awards ceremonies consist of. Or maybe I’m just justifying the Mercury Music Prize because it regularly recognises bands that I like. Who knows?

What I do know is that the shortlist of nominees is announced next Tuesday and without wanting to second guess the judges, that’s exactly what I’m about to do. So here are some records that I think might get a nomination. Now bear in mind, that my opinion is as subjective as anyone else’s, so I’m not saying these are the best British records. They are merely British records released between 15 July 2008 and 13 July 2009 that I think deserve to be nominated or that I think are likely to be nominated. I can’t see them all being nominated. Infact, the number in brackets that follows each album is my opinion out of 10 of how likely it is the judges will actually pick them. Also worth bearing in mind is the fact that I don’t listen to much avant-garde jazz, dubstep, dance, classical or any other token genre that the Mercury’s normally recognise. And when I say ‘much’, I mean ‘any’. So obviously, my list is by no means complete. It is however, my list. So without any further ado and with no more caveats, here’s my personal guess list of very deserving potential nominees, presented in no particular order.

Aidan Moffat & The Best Ofs – How To Get To Heaven From Scotland (3)
PJ Harvey & John Parish – A Woman A Man Walked By (5)
Bat For Lashes – Two Suns (8)
Florence & The Machine – Lungs (9)
The Horrors – Primary Colours (6)
Morrissey – Years Of Refusal (0)
Jarvis Cocker – Further Complications (1)
Noah & The Whale – Peaceful, The World Lays Me Down (6)
Manic Street Preachers – Journal For Plague Lovers (6)
Graham Coxon - The Spinning Top (3)

And despite not being personally enthused by Doves 'Kingdom Of Rust' nor have I heard the albums by La Roux or White Lies but it wouldn't surprise me in the least if they made the short list. They seem to me to tick some of the assumed boxes that the Mercury judges look for. But only time will tell. One week in fact. So next Tuesday, if you want to get the latest details on the Mercury Music Prize, head on over to the official site here or check out the BBC microsite, here.

The Horrors - scarlet fields (live session version) original version available on 'Primary Colours'

PJ Harvey & John Parish - pashionless, pointless (live session version) original version available on 'A Woman A Man Walked By'

Bat For Lashes - glass (live session version) original version available on 'Two Suns'

Noah & The Whale - rocks and daggers (live session version) original version available on 'Peaceful The World Lays Me Down'

Aidan Moffat & The Best Ofs - that's just love (live session version) original version available on 'How To Get To Heaven From Scotland'

mp3 / music / mercury music prize

I wish you would leave me

I've written about the Longpigs before.

And there's not really much I can add to that previous post.

Nothing's changed. They still released a debut album that I consider one of the best from the Britpop period. They still followed it up with an unbelievably disappointing second album. And they still split in 2000. Not much more for me to say really. But I do have some songs that I've not posted before. Three songs from a live session recorded way back in the mid 90s. Three songs that still sound great today.

At the time I was totally obsessed with 'On And On'. It seemed to strike a particular chord with the hormonal wallflower teenager with bad hair and glasses that I was. I guess not much has changed. Older. Less hair. But still loving the song. There's something powerful about the way Crispin Hunt injects what could be considered quite a sweet love song, with such an unhinged vocal performance. There's something about his voice that always suggested to me that he was on the verge of losing it slightly. A quality that suggests the unrequited love he's singing of is pushing him over the edge. Causing him more harm than if the object of his affection were to leave him.

'She Said' is probably the bands most famous song. I could be wrong but I'd hazard a guess that it was certainly their most successful. And it's a song that carries that unhinged feeling on. As though Crispin is channeling the desperation and self loathing of the character and spitting the words out before they eat away at him. He captures the way people can try in vain to disguise themselves with the trappings of consumerism perfectly. To cover up their insecurities with expensive, material goods. To paper over the cracks in the hope that it will fill whatever personal void threatens to consume them. In some ways, you could almost see it as a critiquing the modern day cult of celebrity. Of people so shallow that they need fame or infamy and the adulation that goes with it, to give their life some meaning. Or I guess you could just enjoy it as a damn good song.

Which leads us to 'All Hype'. A song that could be seen to carry on that same theme. Someone wandering aimlessly through life having all the pointless things of their life stripped away to reveal them as nothing. Dipping their toe in religion and in love but never finding something to satisfy them leaving them just as empty and vulnerable. I's a song I've always thought to be quite skewed and awkward in it's sound. As though it's searching for a catchy hook but just can't quite find it. Or just avoids it maybe. The song's carried along on this strangely hypnotising, yet oddly discomforting picked lullaby guitar that suddenly explodes into a nightmarish chorus. I never got to see them perform live but based on these session versions, I can only imagine it to be quite an intense exhilarating experience.

Longpigs - on & on (live session version) original version available on 'The Sun Is Often Out'

Longpigs - she said (live session version) original version available on 'The Sun Is Often Out'

Longpigs - all hype (live session version) original version available on 'The Sun Is Often Out'

mp3 / music / longpigs

This is no mouth-watering proposition

This credit crunch is playing havoc without my music buying.

No longer can I buy new records on the day of release.

I’m having to budget myself. Restrain myself. Resist temptation to just stock up on any and every record I fancy. My Monday routine of walking into HMV, rifling through the new releases and then walking to the till with a handful of CDs has been rudely interrupted by a severe lack of cash. Which means my ability to review new releases has been seriously restricted. My list of records I want but can’t afford is now into double figures. Growing bigger with every passing week. And don’t even get me started on the gigs I want to go to but can’t afford. That list just plain depresses me.

But don’t worry, I’m not after a handout. I don’t want your spare change. Or your sympathy. I’m just explaining the reason I’m about 4 weeks behind the rest of the internet with my review of the new Jarvis Cocker album. Not that I’m going to actually review it. By now I’m sure you’ve read all you need to read and more than likely heard at least one track. I’m under no illusions that my words will shed any new light on it. I’m pretty certain there are no new angles to be taken with it. No hidden subtexts that haven’t been uncovered. No insights that haven’t already been offered. Pretty much the only thing that hasn’t been said, is how much I like this record.

I mean really like. ‘Further Complications’ may well be the most enjoyable record I’ve heard so far this year. It’s certainly more enjoyable than his self titled debut. As much as I liked that album, it was missing something. There was no spark. It never really got going and seemed to suffer from a fair bit of filler. Not something you could accuse ‘Further Complications’ of.

This album is everything I want from Jarvis. Everything I expect from him. It’s catchy, witty, intelligent, dumb, geeky and just incredibly good fun. It sounds like Jarvis is having the time of his life. Lyrically back on his game, this album contains some classic Cocker moments. Wonderful lines delivered with the deadpan dryness that first made Jarvis so loveable. And this time round the music has some real life to it too. Some much needed oomph that was curiously absent from it’s predecessor but very much in evidence when touring that album. While Steve Albini may not have been responsible for the muscle behind this record, he certainly did his job in capturing it. ‘Further Complications’ is louder and harder than almost anything Jarvis has put his name to previously. You wouldn’t expect such a spindly man in brown tweeds to be able to rock quite as hard as Jarvis does here. Swaggering into your ears, all 70s glam garage confidence. Your favourite geography teacher reborn as Iggy Pop.

Not that ‘Further Complications’ is a one speed, one trick pony. Jarvis spreads his wings wide. Dips his toes in a range of styles. He opens with a one-two sucker punch of riffs on the title track and lead single ‘Angela’. Slows the tempo with the wonderfully pun heavy, lust filled ‘Leftovers’ and follows it up with the ‘I Never Said I Was Deep’, a devastatingly accurate depiction of what goes on in the male mind. Seriously girls, combine that song with Aiden Moffat’s ‘Oh Men’, and you’ve got a pretty accurate depiction of how men think. Or not, as the case may be.

From there on, the album mixes up stomping rockers like ‘Homewrecker!’ and ‘Fuckingsong’ with slower numbers like ‘Hold Still’ and ‘Slush’ via the innocent school lesson recorder intro of 'Caucasian Blues', before ending with the mirrorball seventies soul disco of ‘You’re In My Eyes (Discosong)’. Jarvis playing with his persona perfectly. Half sleazy loser coming on to you, half wise uncle dispensing nuggets of advice. The end of his marriage has clearly had an influence on this record. The album’s subject matter may never wander too far from that of an older man’s awkward attempts, inept failings and inadequate fumblings with the opposite sex, but it’s never self indulgent or morose. Jarvis is far too intelligent and aware of himself and his audience for that. Too northern, cynical and intelligent to wallow. And while it may be something of a cliché to suggest that an artist’s personal problems result in a renewed creativity, Jarvis certainly does seem to have found a new lease of life. ‘Further Complications’ is more than enough proof of that.

Jarvis Cocker - leftovers (live acoustic session version) original version available on 'Further Complications'

Jarvis Cocker - further complications (live session version) original version available on 'Further Complications'

Jarvis Cocker - caucasian blues (live session version) original version available on 'Further Complications'

mp3 / music / jarvis cocker

No one will take me down

I'm always reticent to describe a band as a singles band.

It's seems like a bit of backhanded compliment.

A veiled insult. Sure you can knock out the odd good song, but you're not very consistent are you? Yet occasionally, it's the most apt thing to say. Some bands really do have quality control issues and Ash seem to be a perfect example. For me at least. They've never released a truly satisfying record. Not since their debut EP, 'Trailer'. That record was the ultimate teenage release. An urgent, pop punk classic that did what it had to do and didn't hang around or overstay it's welcome. And if I'm honest, it's a trick the band haven't come close to repeating. Not in terms of energy or songs. Sure, they've released some great songs. Songs that I could use to navigate my path through my formative years. But their albums as a whole mean pretty much nothing to me. If that Ep was meant as a preview of what was to come from the band, then sadly it suffered from that old Hollywood cliche. They put the best bits in the trailer.

Ash were always a band I felt some kinship too. Unlike all the other bands I was getting into at the time, they were roughly the same age as me. Like me, they'd grown up on Star Wars. They did their A Levels at the same time as me and would have got their results on the same day as me. It's weird the things that tie you to bands when you're younger but they were a band I could relate to. Though there was of course the odd difference. If memory serves me correctly, the night I was getting ready ready to hit the town and celebrate my exam results, Ash were on Top Of The Pops playing their latest single. Their debut EP was a record I played endlessly and after 'Girl From Mars' came out, my expectations for their debut album were sky high. In hindsight, disappointment was inevitable. Few bands can live up to that. Yet nothing could have prepared me for my reaction to it.

'1977' was a letdown on a grand scale. A record that left me wondering what had happened. The reviews were great. Everyone seemed to go mental for it. But not me. I just didn't get it. Couldn't get into it. I remember being terribly disappointed by the whole thing. It didn't even sound like the same band. Not really. Sure there were undoubtedly some great songs but the whole thing was too heavy and sludgy. Too lumpen and serious. Where was the fun? Or the vitality? Why couldn't I hear what everyone else was hearing? It was unfocused. It seemed as though they'd suddenly lost their youthful vigor and were attempting to disguise it, by turning the volume up and going heavy. The songs lacked the punchy innocence that had made the debut EP seem so amazing. That record tainted the band in my eyes and sadly every record since has been blighted by similar problem. Great singles, shame about the album.

So it's kind of interesting to see that Ash have decided to become a singles only band. Sure, it's a move based on the current musical landscape. A reaction to the way people consume music these days. The cynic in me would say it's a reaction to their own drop in record sales. A way of lowering overheads and not having to rely on a record label to fund them. Maybe allowing the band to have more control over how and when they release their material. To get songs out quicker, straight to their fans. Only time will tell if it works and if anyone really cares enough about Ash these days to follow their new strategy. Part of me hopes the band stick around and that their new business strategy succeeds. But another part wonders how bothered I'd be if they split up tomorrow.

Anyway, I thought, I'd take you back to the time when Ash could do no wrong in my eyes. Before '1977' tainted them for me. This session features two songs from that debut EP and two b-sides. 'Petrol' and 'Season' are amongst the best songs Ash ever recorded. Two blasts of fast, fuzzy cartoon punk. The perfect blueprints for their career. 'Jazz 59' on the other hand, is little more than a jokey, throwaway tune. Clearly the band are enjoying themselves but it's not a track you'll be desperate to hear again. Unlike 'Silver Surfer' which is just a great song. A lost Ash classic, crazily hidden away as a b-side.

Ash - petrol (live session version) original version available on 'Trailer'

Ash - season (live session version) original version available on 'Trailer'

Ash - jazz 59 (live session version)

Ash - silver surfer (live session version)

mp3 / music / ash

I heard the news today oh boy

So Glastonbury is over for another year.

And I've removed myself from in front of the TV.

All things considered, it seems that this year was a glowing success. The weather held for the most part. The atmosphere was positive and all the reviews I've reads have had nothing but good things to sat about the headliners. And I'm not really in any position to say otherwise. It's always hard to comment about a festival you've watched on TV because there's no way of properly getting into it. You can't get carried away by the communal atmosphere that makes a huge part of any festival performance. What can seem amazing on TV may be not be when stood in a field and vice versa. So I'll keep it short.

For me Neil Young flickered between amazing and utterly tedious. Especially the nine hundred false endings to 'Rockin In The Free World'. Bruce Springsteen did nothing for me but then, I just don't get his music at all. In any way, shape or form. Blur were amazing, if not quite as good as a few nights earlier in Wolverhampton. Franz Ferdinand were good but did nothing special. Florence & The Machine looked and sounded fantastic. While Bon Iver was simply wonderful and felt like somthing very special happened on stage.

If you were there, let us know how it all went down. Who was good, who was bad and who was indifferent? What were your Glastonbury moments? Were there any surprises? And will you be going again next year? I know I will.

Blur - beetlebum (live at Glastonbury Festival 2009) original version available on 'Blur'

Neil Young - a day in the life (The Beatles cover live at Glastonbury Festival 2009)

Gaslight Anthem & Bruce Springsteen - the '59 sound (live at Glastonbury Festival 2009) original version available on 'The '59 Sound'

Florence And The Machine - you've got the love (The Source & Candi Staton cover live at Glastonbury Festival 2009) original version available on 'Lungs'

Bon Iver - wolves (live at Glastonbury Festival 2009) original version available on 'For Emma, Forever Ago'

mp3 / music / glastonbury festival / blur / neil young / gaslight anthem / bruce springsteen / florence and the machine / bon iver

And I feel fine

Normally at this time of year, I'd be dirty, clammy, probably wet, possibly tired, definitely yearning for decent food and almost certain to have a semi permanent ache in my feet.

And I'd be having the time of my life.

Sadly this year, there's no Glastonbury Festival for me. Not in the real sense anyway. Buying a house and the current economic climate meant that buying a ticket this year would have been too much of a stretch. In fact, this is the first year since about 1999 that I won't be going to any festivals at all. And I'm pretty gutted about it to be honest. While I'm not that fussed about missing the V Festival and it's increasingly boring line up, Glastonbury never failed to be a fantastic experience. Even when the mud was like toffee and the rain was just like a never ending wall of water, something about the atmosphere and the spirit and the music and just the overall scale of the place meant that the negatives couldn't get you down. You just got on with it and it became part of the whole experience.

So I'm doing the next best thing and attempting to convince myself that a virtual festival experience is in any way similar to actually being there. It isn't. As good as the BBC's coverage is, watching Glastonbury from the comfort of a sofa isn't a patch on being there. I'd secretly been hoping for bad weather of biblical proportions just to make me feel kind of justified in not being there but alas that hasn't happened. Oh well. Fingers crossed for next year. On the tickets front that is, not the weather. In the meantime, I'd thought I'd leave you with a few highlights from previous year's festivals, kicking off with the highlight of Pulp's 1995 set where they stepped in to replace The Stone Roses and went down in Glastonbury history.

Pulp - common people (live at Glastonbury Festival 1995) original version available on 'Different Class'

REM - it's the end of the world as we know it (live at Glastonbury Festival 2003) original version available on 'Document'

Rufus Wainwright & Martha Wainwright - hallelujah (live at Glastonbury Festival 2007) original version available on 'Shrek Soundtrack'

Idlewild - a film for the future (live at Glastonbury Festival 2003) original version available on 'Hope Is Important'

Jeff Buckley - lover you should've come over (live at Glastonbury Festival 1995) original version available on 'Grace'

mp3 / music / glastonbury festival / pulp / rem / rufus wainwright / martha wainwright / idlewild / jeff buckley