Love Is Watching Someone Die

What Sarah Said - Death Cab For Cutie

The origins of this blog were forged over a decade ago. I was a 20 year old boy who had never been laid and was still coming to terms with the death of my sister. I weighed 22 stone, spent my nights drinking in the pub and hid everything under a mask of laughter.  I loathed myself and things were about to get worse. One day whilst on my lunch break at work – at the time I was working a dead-end job as a purchase ledger clerk – I received a call.

“Mister Lawson?” asked a calm voice.

“Speaking,” I replied.

“This is Doctor Brookes; I’m in charge of your fathers care. Were you aware that he was admitted to hospital?”
“No, the last update I had was a month ago to tell me that he had gone back into full-time care.”

“I’m afraid to tell you that his condition has been deteriorating for some time and that this morning he collapsed on the ward. He’s stable… for now but it would be best if you could come into the hospital.”

It was a call I had been dreading but not prepared for.

You Will Never Die

Youth Lagoon - Dropla

Don’t believe what your mum told you, telling lies isn’t bad, it’s an essential part of surviving daily life. Not because we all need to hear little fibs from time to time - “No honey, you don’t look stupid in that” - but because if we didn’t tell ourselves some massive whoppers, life would become an excruciating exercise in futility. How else could we muster the energy to get out of bed, when deep down we know everyone and everything we love will eventually die?

Faced with a truth this bleak, lies (or ignorant acceptance) are wholly preferable. They satisfy our desire to find meaning and are seductive temptation which organised religion has preached for centuries.  It’s this that forms the beating heart of Youth Lagoon’s ‘Dropla,’ a track which glows in the warmth of heavenly strings, whilst pastor Trevor Powers cleanses your weary soul with every solemn repetition of his sermon, “You will never die.” 

Through this affirming baptism, Powers gives you the permission to forget the ugly truth. Providing the strength to face your mortality with dignity and without fear and proving that sometimes a lie is not only more beautiful but more important than the truth.

Let Me Show You A Few Things

Justin Timberlake - Suit & Tie

Sorting out the details of a wedding is an exhausting process. Like all creative endeavours you start with a daunting blank page, that offers an almost infinite amount of options. Do you want organise the day of your dreams, one that all your loved ones will enjoy or something in between?

It’s a bewildering amount of choice and there is little wonder that couples take years to plan out every little detail. As a newly wed himself – Timberlake tied the knot with Jessica Biel last October – the pop star has used the anticipation of his own nuptials to draw a neat parallel with the excitement of finally releasing new material after a four year wait.

The new track, Suit and Tie, opens with Timberlake psyching himself up, “I’ll be on my suit and tie shit, tie, shit / Let me show you a few things.” A steadying pre-ceremony chant, paired with a deep breath of reversed trumpets and a short pause to steady any nerves before launching into an up-to-date Marvin Gaye number that despite the superfluous efforts of Jay Z, guides the listener on a rousing first dance. 

Whilst it’s not quite as thrilling as the first time you heard ‘Future Sex/Love Sounds,’ it’s another high class return from Timberlake, making his proposal to take you on The 20/20 Experience worth accepting.

At Least Harry Potter Has A Proper Story

Future Of The Left - Robocop 4 - Fuck Off Robocop

Andrew Falkous has always been a likable asshole. A Charles Bukowski of music, retaining an unhealthy distaste for everything and (nearly) everyone. Delivering compelling insights into the paradoxes of human nature, politics and opinions of the wider public.

On ‘Robocop 4 - Fuck Off Robocop,’ he’s at his vitriolic best, dissecting the cause of Hollywoods obsession with sequels. Like Bukowski, he puts forward an exaggerated character to his audience. A hyper macho lunkhead, full of vitriol but intelligent and engaging. A vessel through which he delivers visceral, darkly humorous and thought provoking lyrics.

The first half of the track is deliberately obtuse. Awkwardly lurching from verse to verse of anger directed at the movie going public, “Middle aged men on a movie date, committed to mortal shame, Hey! Relax! No-one died - in fact, they left improved! If Michael Bay wants a bigger house, let's help him.” In the hands of another songwriter, the subject matter would’ve ended in a four letter tirade at Hollywood movie for pandering to the masses, but that just isn’t Falkous style.

At the fulcrum of the track, Falkous highlights the real problem. Hitting out at those who complain about Hollywood only making sequels, but then perpetuate the problem by going to watch Taken 2, “1 becomes 2, 2 becomes 3.” Describing how our desire to seem interesting extends to lying (to ourselves) about the diminishing returns that most sequels offer. Then lampoons his own point by launching into absurd tirade about the potential plot for “Pirates of the Caribbean 47” that if distilled to a movie trailer would entice with it’s promises of entertainment.

Like any piece of effective social commentary, the track lifts the mirror on an ugly symmetry. That our actions as a collective consumer group are to blame to the state of Hollywoods output. It’s a disquieting thought, the sort that only a particular kind of bastard has the balls to articulate.

Future Of The Left - Robocop 4 (Fuck Off Robocop) by ....andeveryonesadj

Take My Earthly Life

Marathon Runner

Back in 2009 I stumbled onto “Mary,” a home recorded demo, by Alex Schaaf, who performs under the moniker of Yellow Ostrich and was immediately spellbound. Schaaf’s creative use of layered, haze heavy vocals gave texture and rhythm to an otherwise sparse composition, marking him as a talent worth following. The track eventually made it onto his first album, The Mistress, which got picked up by Barsuk Records and was released last year.

Schaaf obviously doesn’t believe in wasting time and is readying the release of his second LP, Strange Land by giving away the lead single “Marathon Runner.” The track shows that Schaaf has managed the move from home recording to full studio without losing the lo-fi charm of his early works. Retaining the fuzzed out vocals, but this time against a denser production to create a sound that sit’s snugly between the upbeat moments of Bombay Bicycle Club’s, A Different Kind Of Fix and college rock stalwarts, The Mountain Goats. A marriage which is very pleasing to the ear indeed.

Strange Land is released via Barsuk Records on March 6.

The Subtext is Dire and The Sex is not on Fire

Eugene McGuinness - Lion

The NME / Top Man sponsored marketing machine that beguiles so many teenagers, had lured enough talented singer-songwriters into its shady midst over the last few years that i'd started to despair. So when I heard ‘Lion’ for the first time, I could almost see Eugene Mcguinness telling a room of the soulless executives to ‘sell their own fucking t-shirts’.

The new single is a gloriously vibrant (with added emphasis on the rant) unmasking of that deceitfully shallow world. A world that would welcome Eugene with open arms, and one that he whole heartily rejects. It has a similar 60’s pop rock sound that has served Miles Kane so well these past few months, but in the skilled hands of McGuinness it’s far more pleasing to the ear. The composition and metaphor filled songwriting are satisfyingly complex, delivered with hate filled energy at breakneck speed. Managing to forgo the endlessly repeating choruses that make Kane such a chore to listen to.

When asked about the meaning of track McGuinness stated "I really don't know what to say about this one, It's just meant to be the biggest 'fuck off' my soul could muster." Halle-fucking-lujah! So for now my faith in musician’s is restored. At least their are a few out there that value their music more than the money.

His forthcoming album, ‘The Invitation to the Voyage’ is due out in early 2012. To keep up to date with details of the album launch, sign up to his mailing list at http://www.eugenemcguinness.net/