The Battle Of Britpop - 30 Years On...

(Note: This is a write-up I did last year as part of the many final writing assessments done to earn my University degree. A lot of the assignments I submitted during my time as a student are in hindsight rather bland and uninteresting (and rely a lot on literature reviews and quotations) but this one seemed interesting enough to post here with a bit of polishing, especially as it's arguably more timely now than it was when I originally wrote it.)

30 years ago, a burgeoning rock band named Blur released their second full-length studio album Modern Life Is Rubbish, and with it helped to set the scene for the British music scene for the rest of the 90s.

By 1995, Britpop ruled the music scene in the UK. Born out of a reaction to the rise of Nirvana and Grunge from the US, Blur’s following album, 1994’s Parklife, supported by the hit single title track, helped to bring the fledgling movement into the public eye. Soon bands like Suede, Pulp, Elastica and many others were scoring hits under the umbrella, and as the grunge and alternative movement enjoyed continued popularity in the US, across the pond Britpop had become the movement of choice.

Then suddenly, in 1994, a band from Manchester named Oasis released their debut album Definitely Maybe, and everything started to change. Outstripping all the other bands, the group became hitmakers overnight, and only grew more popular with their next album What’s The Story, Morning Glory?. With the runaway success of songs like “Wonderwall”, it seemed like there was nothing they couldn’t do.

And one thing that they proved they could do was butt heads with the other kids on the block, most predominantly Blur. Although the origins of their animosity are blurred with uncertainty, people who were there point to a backstage party, likely held to celebrate Oasis’ latest single “Some Might Say” hitting number one, which Blur attended to give their support. At the party, Oasis’ lead singer Liam Gallagher antagonised the members of the other band, rubbing it in their lead singer Damon Albarn’s face about how Oasis were number-one artists and they weren’t, which only sought to irk Albarn into wanting to outdo them.

It didn’t help that the press was starting to play up the two bands’ differences in the media, exacerbating the competitive wedge between them. Oasis was northerners from working class backgrounds, and many critics loved their music for being raw and honest. Blur on the other hands hailed from the south, had an educated background, and their music had more of an ironic artistic edge which had its own merits but left some frustrated with the lack of “authenticity”.

Regardless of how much of the “rivalry” was real, and how much of it was media hype, there was no denying that there seemed to be a genuine competitiveness between the two bands. Such convictions only seem to be justified when Blur moved the release date of their latest single “Country House” to the same day as Oasis’ upcoming single “Roll With It”. And with the now massive popularity of the two bands in the UK, one of them was guaranteed to get a number one, but no one knew who it would be.

 The media took this detail and ran with it, and the band’s managements were only too happy to lean into the hype and drum up sales. The newspapers referred to it as the “Battle Of Britpop”, the whole affair was advertised like a boxing match between the two bands, and their fans were all encouraged to go out and buy their band’s singles, to get them to number one.

August 14th 1995 came and went, hundreds of thousands of copies of both singles flew off the shelves, and sure enough the numbers were in: “Country House” had just managed to scrape the number one spot, while “Roll With It” was left at number two. Blur had won the battle, but with the success of What’s The Story eclipsing Blur's own The Great Escape, it seemed like Oasis had nonetheless won the war.

30 years on, I asked a couple of people who were there at the time how they felt about the perceived rivalry looking back. The first person I approached was Jim, aged 44. They hadn’t been following either band in particular, but remembered the media hype that blew up around the situation. Although they did not know anyone that was a Blur fan, they did feel as though the Oasis fans were much louder in “proclaiming their allegiance”. They themselves preferred Blur as “they just seemed like they were genuinely nice people”.

Although they were into different scenes and didn’t notice the rivalry around them, they were aware of it, and believe now that it was very much publicity that was fed by the media more than it was any genuine rivalry between the two bands. Jim always had the feeling that Blur hadn’t been interested in taking part in a direct rivalry but got forced into the position because Oasis was happy to play into the attention. Ultimately, they believed that it seemed even pettier now than it did back then.

Finally, I approached a music fan named Sean, who had been a fan of Blur at the time and so directly witnessed the “rivalry” himself. Fully in the Blur camp at the time, they had been unimpressed with Oasis and had even thought "Is that it?" upon hearing their debut single “Supersonic”. Their general circle of friends were all into Blur as well, and they were generally at odds with a lot of people who related better to the Gallagher brothers, which lead to conflict between the two fandoms. 

 As he tells it, “confrontations became inevitable, as we wore our allegiances openly. We were out drinking a lot, in late bars and indie clubs, and the Liam wannabes would often come up to me, jabbing their fingers in my face and looking for trouble.” Looking back, Sean saw the rivalry as rather silly, and even a little “tawdry” due to the perceived low quality of both singles being promoted, That being said though, they ultimately saw the rivalry as being partially earnest, and if nothing else; “They were good days, and a fantastic time to be a teenager into music.”

Ultimately, whoever won, the Battle of Britpop represented the high watermark of Britpop’s popularity. Blur would leave the genre a short time later to pursue a different sound, and Oasis would crater under their own weight trying to outdo themselves on their third album Be Here Now. By 1998, the movement had all but moved on in the public sphere, leaving behind a battlefield that still resonates in the British music scene to this day… 

Dream Crusaders: Picking Up Where A Story Dies Off (2021)

(Note: I originally wrote this article (and conducted the interview that is an integral part of it) as part of a university assignment back in early 2021. Although it is technically outdated as production of Dream Crusaders has changed somewhat since I wrote it, and the Klonoa franchise has also had an update, I still deem it informative enough to want to archive on this page. Even if it is technically not related to music. I have also decided to include the full unedited interview at the end as well, as it adds extra details that do not appear in the finished article.)

Esteban Girolami, a French artist who goes by the online handle Jeyrolami, has entered the lineup of notable fan creators through his comic series Dream Crusaders, a strip directly based in the world of the fairly obscure 90s video game series Klonoa.

“I started drawing as a kid, doodling on paper during my free time. I was a big fan of videogames and wanted to illustrate my love for the characters they presented and I spent a lot of my days scribbling made up stories and scenarios starring my favourite characters.”

The Klonoa series is the work of famed developers Namco, whose other recognisable franchises include Tekken, Ace Combat, and the grandfather of modern video game mascots, Pac-Man. The series involves the titular character’s adventures through a world created by the collective dreams of its inhabitants, in order to protect it from forces that wish to destroy or do harm to it.

 The series has gained retrospective acclaim for its gameplay and well written storylines, but every entry made during its run was a commercial flop, sometimes to abysmal levels, leading to Namco turning its back on the series, rendering it largely inactive for the better part of two decades.

“I was introduced to the videogame series through my father playing the second game of the saga, Klonoa 2: Lunatea's Veil. I then proceeded to play it myself multiple times, enjoying the experience to its fullest. But for a reason I cannot explain, I entirely forgot about the series for years to come.”

In 2012, a brief respite for the Klonoa franchise came in the form of an official webcomic entitled Klonoa: Dream Traveller of Noctis Sol. Created by Shifylook, an offshoot of Namco itself (now Bandai-Namco following a merger with fellow company Bandai) as part of an initiative to provide some form of new content for its more neglected IPs. Although praised by the fandom at the time, it only lasted two seasons before being abruptly cancelled by Namco in 2014. The plot threads never being resolved due to the surprise of the cancellation, it ended on a blunt cliffhanger. Additional circumstances, including the announcement and subsequent cancellation of a Klonoa Anime movie, has left the fanbase has become increasingly desperate for anything to latch onto.

“I was left with a sour taste in my mouth: I sadly found out the series was long dead, with the latest piece of media being a webcomic that was abruptly cancelled on a cliffhanger. Thanks to my recently re-acquired art skills and my love for fan-made stories, I just knew it was the perfect occasion to train my storyboarding and scenery, while at the same time offer the now desperately clinging for content and attention fanbase a breath of fresh air.”

Dream Crusaders is intended to pick up the story from where the aborted official comic was cut off, and continue to send the plotline in a totally new and original direction, due to the actual direction the comic was to go in never being revealed, likely for legal reasons. Despite the freedom of choice this has given Girolami in deciding to take the comic, it has made the process of producing it more arduous, although he has managed to get into a routine in its production.

“Despite the whole narrative being already planned out in advance, the exact scenes are not. While the planning in text format usually takes a mere day, sketching the storyboard very often takes multiple weeks, as I am forced to try out multiple alternatives until I am satisfied with the results. 

Next up is the actual creation of the pages.I go from lineart to fully cel-shaded panels and finished pages till all of the chapter is complete. This is by far the step that takes the longest, as I can spend over an entire month refining the pages until they look ready to be released as 10 pages issues.”

Initially teased and announced in late 2019, Dream Crusaders’ first issue officially became available through the website ComicFury on April 10th 2020. Although hardly unknown in the fandom at this point, having haunted the fan forums for some time prior, this launch helped to catapult him into the forefront of the fanbase, especially since he was one of the few thus far to have produced a fully fleshed out and carefully planned product, rather than a one-off piece.

“The public reaction to the comic was surprisingly amazing to say the least. Klonoa fans left and right relayed the info and shared it around, with it now being known by a big portion of the fanbase. 

Without trying to give myself too much credit, I do believe my webcomic is nowadays one of the most prominent pieces of fan content the Klonoa series can offer, alongside other awesome projects like soundtrack remixes and reorchestrations, or in-depth game translations for Japanese-only releases”

Despite the fairly large success of the comic in the fandom, with the majority of still persisting Klonoa fans having read it, an issue that has arisen is the fairly large turnaround time between issues, largely due to Girolami working on it entirely by himself, as well as his recent commitments to art school in a drive to improve upon his art style so his output gets better and better. 

“Despite all my efforts, the next chapter is currently being delayed further than I'd like due to my tight schedule and amount of assignments art school presents me with. While I am trying my hardest to go as fast as possible, I am still making sure I do not rush any of the steps so that I can offer my readers the best experience I can possibly give.”

Regardless, Esteban remains optimistic of the comic’s future, intending to move towards more fan works and an ongoing original work when it inevitably finishes its run.

“I truly hope I can narrate this fan story of mine entirely, and give the readers a pleasing and satisfying finale for a story that was cut short right before their eyes years ago.”

FULL UNEDITED REVIEW BELOW:

1. What inspired you to start drawing in general?

I started drawing as a kid, doodling on paper during my free time. I was a big fan of videogames and wanted to illustrate my love for the characters they presented and I spent a lot of my days scribbling made up stories and scenarios starring my favourite characters.

Despite my love for art, I quit drawing altogether in middle school, due to having less free time and spending those few free hours playing online games. It was only during High school that, having watched a lot of japanese mangas, I was inspired to write my own story following those dynamics and tropes.

As the writing of the plot progressed, I was actively searching for artists willing to illustrate my story so that it could be published in manga form, but I was never satisfied with the results. After over a year of desperate search, I came to the conclusion that the only person that'd be able to reproduce the ideas I had in my head on paper would be myself. That is when I picked back art seriously, this time on digital support, using a drawing tablet and program. Starting with a few badly drawn character designs, my comfort zone expanded and today I draw almost daily, whether it'd be stand-alone pieces, narrative illustrations, pages for my webcomic, or further designs for the story that I am still actively writing.

2. What got you into the Klonoa series, and what was it that made you want to do a continuation of Noctis Sol?

When it comes to Klonoa, it is similar to what happened with art. I was introduced to the videogame series through my father playing the second game of the saga, Klonoa 2: Lunatea's Veil. I then proceeded to play it myself multiple times, enjoying the experience to its fullest. But for a reason I cannot explain, I entirely forgot about the series for years to come, until a speedrun of Klonoa: Door To Phantomile was performed at Awesome Games Done Quick. 2019 re-introduced me to the games under a new angle. Interested by this long forgotten  childhood memory, I dug deeper into the series, reading about all of the games and content. Except I was left with a sour taste in my mouth: I sadly found out the series was long dead, with the latest piece of media being a webcomic that was abruptly cancelled on a cliffhanger. Thanks to my recently re-acquired art skills and my love for fan-made stories, I just knew it was the perfect occasion to train my storyboarding and scenery, while at the same time offer the now desperately clinging for content and attention fanbase a breath of fresh air.

3. What sort of process usually goes into making each chapter of the fan comic? Do you have a specific schedule for doing everything, and how is it mapped out?

It is a very strict process I go through when I work on the comic's chapters. Despite the whole narrative being already planned out in advance, the exact scenes are not. That is where I begin my work: I simply write the scenes and events of each page on a blank document in text format, so I can plan out the chapter and know where it'll end. After that comes storyboarding and page sketching. This is where I quickly doodle each page and each panel to decide camera angles, compositions, text bubbles, expressions, poses etc... While the planning in text format usually takes a mere day, sketching the storyboard very often takes multiple weeks, as I am forced to try out multiple alternatives until I am satisfied with the results. Next up is the actual creation of the pages.I go from lineart to fully cel-shaded panels and finished pages till all of the chapter is complete. This is by far the step that takes the longest, as I can spend over an entire month refining the pages until they look ready to be released as 10 pages issues.

4. Have you encountered any challenges whilst working on the comic? And inversely, have you found that it's been a positive experience in some way?

This comic definitely was and still is both a challenge and a big help in my drawing experience. It imposes me to apply most if not all drawing and narrative skills so that the issues succeed at telling the story correctly. Despite that, as chapters go by, I learn from my mistakes and each new issue is an improvement to the previous one. Another big challenge the comic turned out to present me with was the time consumption it required. Nowadays I spend at least 3 or 4 full hours if not more daily on the upcoming chapters, the rest of my free time being spent refining my talent attending online art school, that I started recently and now follow along in parallel to the webcomic's release.

5. How has the fan reaction to the comic been?

The public reaction to the comic was surprisingly amazing to say the least. Klonoa fans left and right relayed the info and shared it around, with it now being known by a big portion of the fanbase. A few individuals also kindly gave me their financial support through the website Patreon, where they offer me a monthly amount of money to get exclusive previews of upcoming issues in return. After gaining enough attraction, I was even able to publish the covers on Displate, where people can now buy them as metallic posters to decorate their rooms.

Recently the comic was also given its own TV Tropes page, a website archiving all pieces of media from all around the globe and giving criticism over the many tropes used in pop culture. On that same website, my name is mentioned on the main Klonoa series page, presenting my comic as the fan continuation to the original comic I was inspired by.

Without trying to give myself too much credit, I do believe my webcomic is nowadays one of the most prominent pieces of fan content the Klonoa series can offer, alongside other awesome projects like soundtrack remixes and reorchestrations, or in-depth game translations for Japanese-only releases.

6. How is the next chapter coming along, and Where do you see the comic going in the future? 

Despite all my efforts, the next chapter is currently being delayed further than I'd like due to my tight schedule and amount of assignments art school presents me with. While I am trying my hardest to go as fast as possible, I am still making sure I do not rush any of the steps so that I can offer my readers the best experience I can possibly give. Said readers are thankfully very patient, so aside from a few impatient fans  asking over and over when they can expect the next release, most of the fanbase waits and supports me to the fullest. I truly hope I can narrate this fan story of mine entirely, and give the readers a pleasing and satisfying finale for a story that was cut short right before their eyes years ago. Once I finish this project, I hope to expand my horizons by working on other fan comics and hopefully one day be experienced enough to publish my very own manga that, like stated previously, was my main inspiration and remains my biggest project yet.

Jim Sullivan - U.F.O (REVIEW)

In 1975 the musician Jim Sullivan vanished in the New Mexico desert. He had been travelling from LA to Nashville hoping to start a residency there. His car was found abandoned on a remote ranch, but he himself was never found, nor any trace of him.

All he left behind as an indication that he’d existed was his family, the memories of his loved ones, and more crucially, his two studio albums, 1969’s U.F.O, and 1972’s Jim Sullivan. And it is U.F.O. that has most captured the attention of people in the years since, not just because of its obscurity, but because its ethereal songs seemed to almost parallel Jim’s mysterious disappearance 6 years later.

Recorded in 1969 with Phil Spector’s Wrecking Crew (who’d been one of the most prolific backing bands in the late 60s, even working with the Beach Boys at one point) and released as a private pressing on an actor’s vanity label, it was essentially destined for obscurity. Which is a massive shame, as it is arguably one of the greatest lost classics in the late 60s Acid Folk movement.

Jim’s guitar playing has a distinctive jangly plucking to it, not quite like many artists that I’ve heard. His voice is deep, but powerful, and able to hit every note that comes its way. But it’s the songs themselves that have gained the album its reputation. They are filled with strange, supernatural imagery, whilst also staying slightly in reality, which creates an interesting almost uncanny feeling in places. 

Album opener “Jerome” makes this clear right away, with its strange, almost science-fiction-esque strings at the beginning and end, making it truly sound out of this world, literally. It’s a song about a ghost town, loosely based and named after the town his sister-in-law was born In, but some of the lyrical passages are quite abstract, almost with a drug undertone to them, especially with the line “If you take your magic slow, maybe you can find Jerome”.

Another rather overt example of this is in the title track, “U.F.O”. Title notwithstanding, it appears to have quite a biblical setting (Jim was supposedly a spiritual man), with some of the imagery seeming to directly reference the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the bible, especially with the line “Only man I know that got up from the dead”. It appears Jim, in the song, is waiting for him to return, his second coming if you will, as he ponders if he’ll arrive by UFO. 

U.F.O. essentially came and went after its release, and no one noticed it at the time. All of Jim’s attempts to find success also failed, and his spirit was crushed as it seemed like no one really cared for his songs. Even his attempt to reignite his career ended in tragedy and mystery. So perhaps it’s perfect that his albums have been rediscovered, and rereleased, so that people may finally enjoy what he tried to show to the world, even if it’s a little delayed.

(note: this review was originally written back in 2021 as part of an assignment and I somehow forgot I had written it, but happened to find it while going through my University files and so decided to post it.)

Les Rallizes Denudes - '77 Live (FULL REVIEW)

(For context, I originally posted this review to RateYourMusic a couple of years ago, and included it in my second RYM post on this blog. However it was actually a truncated version of the review; I cut out quite a bit of material to make it shorter. I actually thought the full version was lost, but I came across it whilst going through some old files, so here it is for you to enjoy, with a few tweaks and an additional outro containing information that came out after I originally wrote it.)

For a band to never release a lick of their own material is an all too common truth, though usually it occurs with small time bands formed between friends which last a year or two before splitting up. For a band to last a full 20 years without stopping (along with another 5 year stint a little down the line) without so much as a single of their own is something else entirely. It is here that we arrive at the legendary Japanese noise rock monster that is Les Rallizes Dénudés.

Les Rallizes are a band surrounded in myth and misinformation, largely due to how they essentially flew under the radar during their initial run, rarely giving interviews and mostly sticking to small venues and music festivals. These wild claims range from dodging the authorities to the notion that the band had hijacked an aeroplane (which is wrong, only the band's bassist had been involved, and he had left the band a while before).

Formed in 1967 by a group of Japanese students involved in a major radical movement in Japan during the late 60s, the creative direction of Les Rallizes largely rested on the shoulders of the lead singer and guitarist Takashi Mizutani, who himself has become a symbol of mystery in the band's fanbase due to just how little he was seen outside of the band. We didn't even know he had passed away in 2019 until two whole years later.

As previously stated, one of the things that adds to the mystery of the band is that next to no professional recordings of the band exist, and indeed they released nothing of their own work whilst active. The only exception is an appearance on the 1973 compilation Oz Days Live, which collected a variety of soundboard recordings done at a venue Les Rallizes frequented at the time. It would take until 1991, a full 24 years after their formation, for them to release anything of their own.

The three albums released in 1991, nicknamed the "Rivista Trilogy" after the imprint it came out on, are archival collections from the earlier years of the group. '67-'69 Studio et live and Mizutani / Les Rallizes Dénudés combine a selection of studio and live recordings from their first four years, and are more in line with the psychedelic rock and folk sounds of the time period than the barrage of sound that they would later be acclaimed for. For that, you only need to look at the third album in the collection, the infamous '77 Live.

Recorded on the 12th of March 1977 (hence the name), '77 Live featured a near-complete soundboard recording of that night's show. And what a show it was! Even in the context of the numerous bootlegs of the group that exist, '77 Live towers over them all in the sheer power and energy the group was bringing to the table that night.

Parallels have often been made to Les Rallizes' seeming influence from The Velvet Underground, and while there are similarities, this is a different experience all on its own. The song's in the show's setlist are simple in concept, featuring some basic and borderline repetitive chord progressions, speckled in numerous places by Mizutani's reverb soaked vocals, singing some surprisingly dark lyrics that compliment his singing incredibly. Just have a look at English translations to see what I mean.

But to call the band's repetitive song structures "boring" would be to miss the point entirely, as these songs don't need distinct parts to power through their huge runtime (only one track doesn't pass the 10 minute mark). Most vital to the experience is Mizutani's guitar work, sounding less like a conventional guitar performance and more like a swirling constant wave of feedback that he's reining in like a horse rider. It's both chaotic and yet carefully controlled, spurred along by a chugging baseline and fine backing by the rest of the group. Mizutani may be the MVP of the recording, but the rest of the band provides a solid backbone for his playing to really shine.

The recording quality isn't the best, clearly having been recorded onto a cassette tape (there's even a few dropouts in the sound in places), and yet '77 Live is not only one of the best shows the band would ever make, but also one of the best recorded. Most of the other circulating recordings of their shows were done from the audience and sound much less direct than this document of a fateful spring night in the late 70s.

The album remained out of print for many years, only available through fan-circulated CD rips, until it was finally rereleased officially by Mizutani's estate, who since 2021 have been taking on the task of making Mizutani's work available to the world. Nowadays '77 Live is more accessible than ever, pressed on vinyl for the very first time, and there's no better time to get into the band and their music. Some might say doing this spoils the mystique surrounding the band, but with music this good it could be considered a necessary evil. Better to have the treasure trove revealed than keep it hidden forever.

TL,DR: An excellent piece of noise rock that sounds at least 10 years ahead of its time. Check it out.

Even More Reviews From RateYourMusic (#4)

Frank Zappa - Whiskey A Go Go 1968

This new release of a full length MOI concert from mid 1968 is one I eagerly awaited (very few full concert recordings exist from this period, and fewer still in acceptable quality), and I thoroughly enjoyed once it had dropped. There are a number of things that make this release kind of special:

One thing I noted quite quickly was that the three sets that make up this release have a surprisingly loose feeling compared to a lot of Frank Zappa's live recordings. I wouldn't go so far as to call it "casual" as the musicians are still playing their socks off throughout, but it doesn't feel as tightly controlled like a lot of his concert albums are. Perhaps that's why it ended up not releasing it in Zappa's lifetime. Honestly I like the different atmosphere, there's a bit of a jam band feel to it, especially in the longer improvised sections.

Another thing I found interesting was that it seems to have had a somewhat atypical setlist for the period, likely because it was being taped. There's the songs you'd expect like King Kong, but then there's one-offs as well like Brown Shoes Don't Make It (apparently the very first time it was performed live), Khaki Sacks and the '63 Penguins single Memories Of El Monte which Zappa co-wrote. The only flaw in the setlist is there's nothing from We're Only in It for the Money or Cruising With Ruben & The Jets, which is a little odd seeing as both had been recorded by this point. That isn't a demerit though, because what is here is excellent.

And of course, the presence of Ray Collins is nice to see, seeing as almost no live recordings exist from when he was in the group. He had a great voice on the MOI records he appeared on, and getting a decent look at how he performed with the group on stage is great.

Overall, I'm really happy this show has finally seen the light of day. I remember reading about it on a list of unreleased Zappa projects a long time ago and always wondered what it sounded like. It might be up there as one of the all time best ZFT Vault releases.

Silent Scream - 1981 Demo

"This is the 2nd 'Demo' recorded by Silent Scream..."

There are a lot of bands like Silent Scream. Groups that had a great sound and some great songs, but never got the chance to develop these on a proper studio album, relegating them to exclusively demo cassettes and self-released EP. This tape is no exception.

Details on Silent Scream (no relation to any of the OTHER bands with that name) are scarce, but comments from the group's drummer on YouTube have helped to piece together their story. Formed in 1980, they were an early-period Gothic Rock band from Newcastle in the UK, apparently with a big visual element in their live act. That same year they recorded their first demo, but it has never surfaced on the internet so whatever it sounds like is anyone's guess. It was their second demo from October 1981, however, which managed to find its way online in the early 2010s, capturing people's attention with the quality of the songs found within.

As this is a low budget demo recording (albiet recorded in a studio, specifically Guardian Studios in Durham, England), it is very no-frills, save for a bit of stereo panning on the vocals and guitar effects being present. There are three songs, all of them just over four minutes long, and they're surprisingly solid. The moody, brooding atmosphere you would associate with Gothic Rock is very much present and the instruments are all played solidly, with the guitar work being especially stellar. The track Drown is notable for its rather nihilistic lyrical themes, made more notable due to the lyricist supposedly committed suicide a few years after it was written.

You could very much see a professionally recorded album by this band being right at home alongside other acts from the same period such as Bauhaus. Sadly Silent Scream would end up remaining unsigned and would part ways not long after recording this demo. The band members supposedly remained active in music, but apparently nothing of much note after this.

Even after the demo resurfaced online, things didn't go to plan. According to the drummer on YouTube, two different attempts to rerelease the EP during the 2010s ended in disaster. Famed indie label Sacred Bones supposedly assisted in remastering the original reel-to-reel tape of the demo, but after the deal fell through they refused to give the tape back to the band. Then some time later a 10" vinyl release was planned on the small label Evil Has Landed, but they eventually ghosted the band and never returned the photos and archival material they had been sent.

Luckily, one saving grace is the tape eventually found its way onto Bandcamp, most likely derived from the aborted Sacred Bones remaster due to its improved sound over the YouTube uploads dubbed from the cassette, so anyone who would likely to can drop a few pounds and listen to what could have been.

Bull Of Heaven - 299: Self Traitor, I Do Bring The Spider Love

But does the spider love the self-traitor also?

In a recent interview, Neil Keener (half of Bull Of Heaven and its only surviving member) mentioned that 299: Self-Traitor, I Do Bring the Spider Love and a few other releases from the same timeframe were the result of several jam sessions between him and some musicians who frequented a coffee shop he worked at, taped on a consumer grade TASCAM recorder and then handed off to the late Clayton Counts to mess with, edit together, and turn into a full release.

With that in mind, 299 is a testement not just to the synergy of the musicians on the record, but also Counts' ability to take several days of apparently aimless jam sessions and turn them into a single flowing track with studio quality sound (albeit a very raw mix).

Some might say the human element is antithetical to the nature of Bull Of Heaven's highly experimental and (usually) drone influenced sound, but I believe it instead bolsters what they were truly going for: a creatively unconfined project that dabbles in whatever those involved felt like exploring. Whether it be Power Electronics, Drone, Doom Metal, or in this case, Space Rock.

And it's surely a great example of the latter, designed to emulate the spontaneity and groove of numerous '70s fusion records. Even in its 84 minute runtime (which is funnily enough one of the shorter tracks in their oeuvre), there's little to get bored about as it very rarely repeats itself, and it even introduces a few new elements over its duration. I'm not sure where they got the painting of what I believe is Concorde, but it compliments the sound well.

Highly recommended even for those who are not especially big fans of Bull Of Heaven.

My Memories Of Record Store Day 2022

 (Another essay I wrote for a University assignment around 2022, this time around my first time attending Record Store Day that year. I thought it was quite funny so worth sharing here. I have, however, edited out direct references to my home town for privacy reasons. Otherwise, it is presented as is.)

Record Store Day. The current golden goose of the vinyl industry. For one day a year (or occasionally two), the LP heads come out in droves to collect whichever album takes their fancy. The record labels capitulate, of course, and capitalise on the occasion with a selection of limited-edition album pressings, often pressed onto coloured vinyl or of a record that not been available on vinyl for a long time, or at all. As one would expect, this just intensifies the fervour to get to the nearest record store as early as possible to make sure you don’t have to go home empty handed.

Indeed, ever since the inception of the musical holiday in 2007, the demand has only gotten higher, and in turn the desperation to not be left in the dust has gotten more intense. You must be there first in line, or you risk having to settle for other than what you wanted. Some have criticised this approach as boiling down the love of vinyl to a consumerist fault, valuing the acquisition of the best products for sometimes substantial amounts of cash (especially second hand, with scalpers being another factor to the rush to get the record you want on the day). Others still have expressed frustration with what was originally a day to celebrate and empower independent record labels getting overrun with major players like Universal or BMG, pushing the smaller players out of the running.

At the end of the day though, I see it as a fun novelty that, although hectic, is certainly memorable to take part in. Since I have recently come into my own as a vinyl collector, especially in the last couple of years, I especially was interested in taking part when it next came my way. Plus, 2022 would be the first Record Store Day since the pandemic had begun to not be held remotely, so it was something of a return to form.

What one might consider a warmup round to this was in 2021 when I attended an event that HMV was doing for its 100th birthday, which included new pressings of some classic records. Sadly though, despite arriving at around 6am and getting to the local store a little while later, I was still too late and all the copies of the record I was after (a repressing of The Stone Roses’ debut, for the record) had been reserved. As luck would have it, I was able to grab a copy when the online listings went up, but I knew a different approach was necessary to not get left in the dust the next time around.

For this event, I ended up choosing to go to the local music shop I was frequenting often in recent months and got most of my vinyl purchases from. In fact, I was taken off guard when I walked in that April and saw a sign advertising Record Store Day for the very next day. I had known it was coming up, but somehow it had crept up on me something fierce.

Right away, once I got home, I began to scheme my approach. I looked through the online list of records that would be available on the day, and after some mulling I eventually decided on a reprint of Rick Astley’s seminal 1987 record Whenever You Need Somebody, pressed on Red Vinyl. I figured that considering the decent infamy surrounding the album (both due to its popularity upon release and the infamous RickRoll trend in the late 2000s), that it would be a particularly desirable item that would sell out quickly. An estimated 1,800 copies being available only deepened this perception. If I wanted this record, I would have to get there especially early.

Some other records caught my eye, such as a repress of some of Lou Reed’s earliest solo demos, and an album of Blur remixes, but I ultimately passed on those so as not to strain my wallet so much. I found out later that Taylor Swift had released an extremely limited new single for the occasion, which ended up being possibly the most desired record out of that year’s line-up. As to be expected, it would go on to sell out quickly, and just less than a week after the fact, second hand copies have already inflated in value to over seventy pounds.

I did not end up sleeping that night, largely because I did not want to risk sleeping through my early alarm and getting there too late. Instead, I bided my time until I decided it was late enough that I could head out (around 5am) and I ordered a taxi from my student accommodation to nearby the music shop. From there, I could play the waiting game.

I arrived at the shop at around 5:36am, early to be up but apparently not early enough. I knew I would not be the first there but had only been anticipating around a small handful of hardcore vinyl collectors outside the shop. Instead, a decent line had already formed, and I had to sprint the rest of the way when I was dropped off to make sure someone didn’t walk up and leave me further back in the line.

A bit of a newcomer mistake, it would seem, but it turned out that I had not picked a bad position to arrive at. Not at the front, but still close enough that I could expect to receive my record of choice without too many problems. 

Since this was my first Record Store Day, I had no idea how many people would show up, and I was surprised as time went on and the line that formed behind me became much longer than the line I had joined. Clearly it was a more popular occasion than I had anticipated. Perhaps the pandemic had people pining for an event such as this.

It wasn’t until later that I got a proper idea of how many people had actually lined up outside the record shop that morning, but I knew it had to be a lot as the line had snaked around a corner and out of sight. A few days afterwards I asked someone working there if they had any idea how many people had attended, and they told me that an estimated 80 people had shown up to the opening event that morning, but the amount of people buying Record Store Day products in person in the following hours and days numbered somewhere around 540. Evidently it was an especially busy Record Store Day this year, and in hindsight I ended up being lucky at being so early in line.

The 3 hours I waited outside were killing time until the shop opened, along with occasionally checking the store’s Twitter page to make sure the vinyl I was after didn’t sell out. At around 7am, some people at a café next door started taking breakfast orders for people in the queue, and I got some crumpets while I waited. Not long later, some employees came out and started handing out lists of their inventory for people to fill out with the records they wanted. These sheets were noted and revealed that I was 17th in line that morning. Definitely preferable to 80th.

To cut a long story short, I filled in my sheet as required and at 8am people started to be let into the shop to collect their records (though it was staggered in such a way that it took another 45 minutes until I got inside). Sadly, I wasn’t quite early enough to get a bonus tote bag with my order that was given away to some early customers, but I wasn’t really upset about that, for as long as I got my Rick Astley LP, I would be happy.

Sure enough, after getting inside and having a look around the normal stock the store had on offer, I was let down into the basement, where the exclusive records were being kept. I didn’t have to wait long down there, for soon my order had come up, and the LP I was hoping for was still available. And so, for 24.99 I walked back out an incredibly happy customer. The decent audio quality of the pressing once I got a chance to put it on my turntable only served to make me even happier.

In conclusion, it was a hectic but fruitful morning that I am thoroughly glad to have participated in. Not just for my own benefit, but also for the feeling of community that it bought about. Vinyl collectors from all walks of life coming together to celebrate their passion. In my mind that makes it all worth it, to allow for what was once a fledgling community to grow and reach its former popularity.

The vinyl is rather good too, of course.

How To Review Music: My Opinions On Music Journalism

 (A short essay I wrote around 2022 for a University assignment on what it means to be a music journalist. I read it through recently and think it's of acceptable quality and relavent enough to this blog to post.)

Album reviews have for many years been the bread and butter of music journalism. Although you will just as often see opinion pieces and retrospective articles being written about numerous bands both active and defunct, along with an interview if you’re lucky, it’s most likely that when the average person hears “music journalist”, the picture that comes to mind is listening to a new album and releasing their opinion in print to the general public.

Of course, there is a lot more to it than that, and it takes more than simply spilling your thoughts on a record onto paper, even if you are a respected critic.

In terms of an album review, in order to produce as fair and objective a review as possible, a reviewer would need to approach it from an unbiased mindset. Even if that reviewer personally preferred a certain genre of music and did not usually listen to whichever genre the album is a part of, they would need to put this preference aside and judge the record on its own merits, and not compared to what they might consider to be “better”.

As well as this, context about the record and its background is important as well. A record may not be well produced or performed technically, but in some cases this can either be intentional on the part of the artist or end up adding to the charm of the record. Knowing the circumstances that led up to the creation of the record (such as the sound of previous records and any personal events the musicians went through) can put certain aspects that may at first be questionable into perspective.

Subtext is important as well, especially with any hidden meanings the artist may have imparted in the sound or lyrics. A record can be an incredibly polished piece with impressive performances, but it can end up not holding up if there is nothing behind those performances. Of course, lyrics do not always need to have an important allegorical meaning, but it can help.

And finally, and perhaps most importantly, a reviewer must make clear that their word is not law, and what they write is ultimately their opinion. While this may feel like a cop out to an outside observer, it is actually quite vital that a reviewer not put their opinion up on a pedestal too much because, in the end, reviewers aren’t always right. 

There are many instances historically of critics giving mixed or even negative reviews to albums that would become classics today (As an example, Lester Bangs savaged the MC5’s Kick Out The Jams when it was released in 1969, which grew to be considered a pivotal proto-punk record). Of course, context is important and can change with hindsight, but even in the moment a critic can end up going against the generally accepted curve and end up upsetting people who disagree with their opinion. Thus, it’s important to make clear that it’s all ultimately their takeaway from the record, and the audience is free to draw their own conclusions.