I remember hearing Anyone Can Play Guitar for the first time on the John Peel show. Radiohead don’t really seem a “John Peel band”. I’m sure one or two of their songs made his annual Festive Fifty poll that year and he commented that he didn’t even think he’d played Radiohead on his show. But he did. I had recorded evidence. Read the rest of this entry »
Another lazy video/music post. Mark Lanegan is releasing a covers album in September, rather appropriately called Imitations. He has always been one of those artists I’ve admired more than loved, but I think this cover of John Cale’s I’m Not The Loving Kind is all kinds of wonderful.
It is pretty faithful to the original, yet Lanegan’s voice adds the necessary gravel and gravitas. Sometimes I’ve thought he’s been playing at the whole grizzled veteran act – some of his work with Isobel Campbell was fun enough but more Lee and Nancy pastiche than anything deeper – but he hits something truer somehow here.
What makes this song great to me is the rhythm of the refrain. “I’m not the loving kind” is written/sung in an almost rushed, pretty much throwaway fashion. It is perfect for the song and adds a necessary ambiguity. Does the protagonist care so little that he is happy to throw the line away, or does he not believe himself, so is unable to sing it with conviction?
And for comparison, here is the John Cale original:
Lonely Son comes from the 1972 album Wasted, by Vernon Wray. Wray was the brother of Link Wray (of Rumble fame) but headed down more of a country road. Wasted is pretty much impossible to get hold of, as there was only 400 copies printed, and a fairly recent reissue seems to have been rather limited in terms of pressings too. So, it is one of those rarities vinyl fetishists can fuss over. I’d suggest making a quick Google search and downloading the album as it deserves to be heard rather than hoarded. Lonely Son is the highlight, such a beautiful song, reminiscent of Townes Van Zandt in places. It is really cleverly arranged, yet sounds entirely heartfelt. Well worth a listen.
Random Access Memories is a fascinating album in theory. Dance music has generally been all about sampling, creating new sounds from old sources. And those samples often produce some sort of uncanny feeling, as you’ve kind-of heard that sound before, but might not be able to place it, and even if you can it doesn’t necessarily sound like how you remember it sounding. There is an appeal to that textural borrowing, it is almost a short-cut to creating a certain feel, or a way of toying with those feelings. Read the rest of this entry »
Paul Gambaccini interviews Morrissey on the TV-am sofa in 1984. Henry Kelly and Toni Arthur get involved in the conversation too, with varying results. While Morrissey comes across as a bit pompous, I do miss pop/rock stars having something interesting to say, and it is always enjoyable watching them saying that something interesting in an odd environment, like breakfast television.
