A few weeks ago, we received the sad news that Mark Hollis of Talk Talk had passed away at 64 years of age.
Our heroes are passing away at a quicker and quicker rate.
And whilst my generation and younger is grappling with everything around us telling us to chase for approval, I find it interesting that we are gravitating towards the dead artists who were outsiders and did things their way.
Can anyone say ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’?
One can only imagine what his online presence would Freddie be still alive. The very notion amuses me.
And whilst the wave of love for Queen has been rekindled and passed on to generation Z courtesy of the film and a rock and roll story, Mark Hollis is a starkly contrasted kind of outsider.
A very introverted and quiet one.
Nevertheless, Hollis is an artist who still left his legacy and impact.
First, it was the synth pop anthems, the most famous probably being ‘it’s my life’ but the true magic of Hollis’s work comes later in Talk Talk’s career in two albums that showcased a defiance towards industry pressure and allowed the band to stick to it’s artistic integrity, ‘Spirit of Eden’ and ‘Laughing Stock’.
Both albums would go on to inspire the post rock movement in the 90s.
I’ll never forget the first time I listened to ‘Spirit of Eden’ all the way through. I sat in my studio with the lights off and a drink at hand. The entire experience was a cathartic one, the record can drift you off into a zen like state of mind.
The space of the music, the carefully selected sounds and elongated notes, the gradual build up of texture, a mumble of words followed by a crystal clear statement.
The record entirely resonated with me in the way I understand but can’t quite articulate at the same time. It’s a very powerful kind of music.
When was the last time you heard a record like that?
If you’re in your twenties, I’m not sure how many of you may have had this experience.
And what’s especially sad is music’s cultural relevance has reduced significantly. Music has become a coarse reflection of reality, a background noise, a state of mindlessness that boasts fame and fortune as opposed to personal fulfilment.
There are artists out there like that today but it’s hard for them to make waves in a time where we’ve got to grips with distribution, but no idea about marketing and there’s too much of everything.
But all the while, Talk Talk inspire me to be the kind of artist I want to be…my own artist.
You can do things your own way, you can stick with your gut and follow your own path and you can be an outsider.
It can be just about the music and you can be an introvert.
And the irony is that you’ll probably be more respected for it.
Rest in peace Mark Hollis. Thank you for the music.
I know I am late to the party, having only seen this tonight.
The critics slammed the movie and I usually agree with them so I had my reservations.
But then all of a sudden, everyone is going Queen mental, including kids and I get a real sense of the movie causing a ruckus. Then Mark Kermode says on his podcast that the film made him cry thrice and I usher myself to the cinema whilst my inner dialogue goes ‘Ryan you idiot, go see this movie about one of your favourite bands, your childhood heroes’.
The production process certainly wasn’t without drama. Sacha Baren Cohan dropped out of the film due to creative disagreements, then Dexter Fletcher had to take over directing after Bryan Singer ended up behaving the exact way a director shouldn’t behave and this all had the spellings of a disaster.
And I get why the critics have a problem. The problematic moralistic subtext concerning Freddie’s orientation. The character portrayals themselves weren’t that particularly nuanced. And as someone who has avidly read Brian May’s biography and watched all the documentaries, the film took serious liberties with the timeline. Song releases, The American tour and then the biggest being Freddie revealing he has AIDS before the performance at Live Aid (he wasn’t even ill at this time). All for the narrative purpose to enhance the drama.
Then there is the constant stream of wink wink, referential parts from John Deacon jamming ‘Another One Bites the Dust’ to Mike Myers and that ‘Wayne’s World’ part and I could go on about the same problems already mentioned but the actual matter of fact is…
NOBODY CARES!!!
While I was to some extent hoping to see the full biography come to play, right up to Freddie’s passing and the wonderful musical material that would be released later in Queen’s career, the film set out to do something different.
This was to capture the magic of what Queen was and still is.
The film for the most part focuses on Freddie, who is wondrously recreated by Rami Malek, who’s performance is sensational. The interesting thing is the audacity of who Freddie was because, he was his own artist and he did things his way.
This kind of story is so engaging because Freddie is an outsider. Queen worked relentlessly hard and the world came to them.
Who are the artists out there now, playing by their own rules? Who are artists who can say no? Who are the artists who are artists first and not brands? Where are the risk takers?
I can name you some but they are nowhere near the mainstream.
We live in a different world today where Music is no longer important than politics and if Freddie was alive today, he would have plenty to say about it. I can’t help but think the film highlights a thing we all need that is well and truly and lacking in the Music business today.
The power of being an outsider and doing things your way.
Queen did it and they had the definitive front man in Freddie leading them, with a whole load of charisma enough to hold the arena filled audience at Wembley in the palm of his hand.
By the live aid sequence, my eyes started watering, because I started remembering what it was like to hearing this band for the first time, how in awe I was of their live performances when I watched the videos at my grandparents’ house and how Queen are truly something special.
And when you are truly special, you are something that stands the test of time.
This film has made Queen the biggest band in the world.
And in a world that is currently so divided, that tells you to stick to the rule book. Queen stand as a beacon for letting your freak flag fly.
‘But it’s been no bed of roses, no pleasure cruise, I consider it a challenge before the whole human race, and I a’int gonna loose’.
So my favourite records of the year are as follows:
Natalie Prass – The Future and The Past
Janelle Monae – Dirty Computer
Julia Holter – Aviary
Rosalia – El Mal Querer
Natalia Lafourcade – Musas Vol. 2
Daughters – You Won’t Get What you Want
Low – Double Negative
U.S. Girls – In a Poem Unlimited
Ariana Grande – Sweetener
Anderson Pakk – Oxnard
MGMT – Little Dark Age
Beeach House – 7
And here’s a playlist with all of the albums (and some cool tracks from other records I have enjoyed too).
Anything else I should check out from the 2018 releases?
It may well be on a monetary level but needless to say, it does not stop artists like Julia Holter from using the album format to make her statement.
And quite an artistic statement is Aviary.
Clocking at just under 90 minutes, the record is a experimental odyssey with so much depth and beauty, it is initially overwhelming. Similarly to the first time I heard Kate Bush’s ‘The Dreaming’ or Radiohead’s ‘Kid A’, the album reveals its’ magic and gradually blossoms with repeated listens.
The title is inspired by Lebanese American writers Etel Adnan quote ‘I found myself in an aviary full of shrieking birds’. Such a sound collage can be blissful, peaceful, quietly unsettling. Julia achieves this in fifteen tracks that don’t have a distinct structure as such but dive into experimental explorations, build in tension and widen up a panoramic canvas of sounds consisting of piano, strings, drums, trumpets and even bagpipes; as well as Julia’s typically layered and ambient vocals.
This is demonstrated in ‘I Shall Love 2’, the first track to be released. There is not too much more needed to be said about the music as it is far better for it to be experienced. That being said, the noticeable trait of Julia as shown in her previous works is her evocative ambiguity. Julia didn’t really know how to articulate herself when I saw her live, she appears introverted and coy on social media. Ultimately, her goal is to get lost in the Music. There is no conventional structure, no direct meaning to the songs she does, instead there is an internal dialogue, a collection of sounds and words that may at times be on a lyrical level non sensical, outright bizarre but ultimately so satisfying.
And when so much Music out there is so formulaic, so lacking in it’s risk taking and no more than chewing gum for the ears; this record is a breath of fresh air. I have listened to this record with headphones on by a beach, I have listened to this record whilst turning the lights off in my apartment with dimly lit candles. Whatever way I have enjoyed discovering this record, ‘Aviary’ is truly an exhilarating musical experience.
The best records for me have been released by three women this year, Janelle Monae’s ‘Dirty Computer’, Natalie Prass’ ‘The Future and The Past’ and now Julia Holter’s ‘Aviary’. All of which showcase in their own way a defiance to the current chaotic climate we find ourselves dealing with in 2018. They are a celebration of opening up to vulnerability, love and truth…and that is when Music becomes so powerful.
Of all the people who are taking a stand, it appears the students, and more specifically the student survivors are the ones leading it.
Well done to Cameron Kasky for taking on Rubio and shaming him. How he can stand there and say he is for keeping schools safe whilst accepting funds by the NRA is a complete paradox. One which shows where his interests truly lie, and it ain’t with the victims of the shootings.
America is one helluva mess.
And L.A. shootings, these school shootings will keep coming because they are enabled by those in power.
But the 2nd amendment you say…take the amendment and shove it where the Sun don’t shine. Or better still, rewrite it. Isn’t that why it is called an Amendment!?
Self defence is such a non-argument. Australia’s legislative law changes after the 1996 mass shooting in Port Arthur and the subsequent data that proves that gun control works seems to be overlooked by many American politicians.
But the problem is, too many of the old leaders in power are so easily swayed by their own legitimised sense of greed. Astonishingly, the scenes of a school shooting and dead children becomes forgettable to them.
And then Trump, with what I would call such a numbing sense of unsurprising audacity proposes the idea of equipping teachers with guns, and forcing the initiative to fund it despite little evidence to back it up.
Turning schools into anticipatory war zones.
It’s like banging your head against a brick wall.
A change has got to come. Students are sick and tired of it, and so they are taking a stand. Anyone who truly wants USA to be safer should join them.
‘Hold your fire Keep it burning bright Hold the flame ‘Til the dream ignites A spirit with a vision Is a dream with a mission’
Mission, from Hold Your Fire (1987)
This band is part of my DNA.
Earlier this week, Alex Lifeson had revealed that Rush had spent two years no longer recording and touring and there were no plans to do so in the future. A totally quiet and un-rockstarlike way to bow out gracefully and to be honest, I would expect no less from such a band.
I discovered the music of Rush at the age of 9. The same time I had just started learning to play the guitar. My Mum had decided to buy me and my brother one of those Portable CD players each. The year was 2001 and the mp3 players and iPod had still not quite hit UK stores. My Mum decided to test the CD player with ‘Presto’. Now every Rush fan knows how that album starts; ‘Show Don’t Tell’, those quiet drums, at which point she is convinced that the CD player is a bit quiet, whacking up the volume at the point to which the full band is about to kick in with the riff and subsequently, having the shock of her life.
There you have the introduction of Rush into my life. I listened to ‘Presto’ religiously, and my teenage years saw me embark on a journey of discovering their entire catalogue. From the weird and wonderful 70’s era that saw the band dressing up in Kimonos delivering sci fi concept albums, 2112, ‘A Farewell to Kings’ and ‘Hemispheres’ to the thought provoking more concise and synth dominated records of the 80’s to the heavy guitar driven records of the 90’s.
The band ignited my love for physical records at a time where it was swiftly disappearing for my generation. I couldn’t just listen to the music, I had to own it, unpack the concepts within the artwork and the deeply thought provoking lyrics. Listening to their music became a way of life.
For those who like myself, had Rush as a pivotal soundtrack in their lives, there is just so much to admire about them. For a start, their untempered ambition to do whatever they wanted to do, despite the initial pressure in what was a considerably shaky start to their career. Three albums to their name and a fair amount of negative criticism, particularly with ‘Caress of Steel’ and less than satisfactory sales. Their label pushed Rush to develop a more commercial friendly album and how did they respond? By making ‘2112’ a twenty minute Ayn Rand inspired epic about a futuristic totalitarian state! The result…unprecedented success.
The second is their musical prowess. All three musicians are simply insane at their instruments, Alex Lifeson is one of my favourite guitarists, Geddy Lee’s driving bass and his ability to simultaneously manage singing and playing bass and synths…with his feet! Of course, Neil Peart’s presence behind the kit needs no introduction.
The third is the philosophy and the lyrics. Not to say I don’t love Led Zeppelin and AC/DC but unlike most rock bands, Rush were willing to dig deeper into a wide range of themes. I can think of four love songs that they wrote off the top of my head! Beyond the initial records where they let their imaginations fly, they managed to explore so many dimensions that covered science, society, suicide, ambition, probability, fame and conflict. ‘Subdivisions’ is often mentioned with praise for the way in which it captured that feeling of alienation in an incredibly heartfelt way for those who felt like an outsider. It was an anthem for me in my high school days. That is one of many songs I could delve into. There is so much about Rush’s music that resonates.
The final point that has to be made is that Rush were a definitive rock band, but they carried such a sense of humility about them. All three members are intelligent individuals who have always been weary of the weight that fame could have had on them. They never took themselves too seriously, and are just seriously cool and interesting people and always remained captivating, grounded and funny in interviews and documentaries.
Rush is a band that not everyone knows, yet they are the third most successful band in terms of gold and platinum albums, behind The Rolling Stones and The Beatles. Arguably, they are the biggest cult band ever. The ones who do know of them and are fans truly stand as one of a kind in terms of the abundance of passion they have for Rush. So much so that it became a central theme in the 2009 comedy ‘I love you, Man’ where the two main characters share a crazy love for the band. Admittedly there is much of that sensibility in myself and my fellow Rush fans. Take one of my Science teachers as example. When he found out I was a fan, he grabbed every opportunity to talk to me about 2112. My brother also told me small anecdotes of times he would play the record to the entirety of his form group, trying to convert unimpressionable teenagers into embracing the trio.
I saw Rush three times. 2007’s Snakes and Arrows tour, 2011 The Time Machine and 2013’s Clockwork Angels tour. The first time I saw them was one of the most exhilarating live shows I have ever been to. Their live show is utterly mesmerising, the power they can carry as a trio was just unbelievable as is the overall production of each tour they did. To have seen them live three times was a privilege.
And then there is the influence they have on my Music.
The first time I met the Kinky Wizzards, I distinctly remember myself and Miffy talking about our love for the band after commenting on the R30 T shirt he was wearing at the time. Incidentally, one of the first songs we learned to play together was YYZ and we still cover it live to this very day. The first song I played when trying to find musicians for Eden Shadow was ‘Tom Sawyer’. There is no surprise as to why so many listeners and critics of my own music often compare it with Rush.
Rush is part of my DNA.
And I am eternally thankful that this band exist. They have taught me so much and have inspired and continue to inspire me. After four decades of music, the band are done with their work, but their legacy will remain a long, long time.
