Quote:
Originally Posted by Tim
I've listened to these with a mix of pleasant surprise, alarm and outright horror (not necessarily in equal measure) so i felt i had some things to say.
Firstly, it's nice to see that manics fandom isn't so dead that there aren't still people out there inspired to make stuff like this and the recent essays book on the lyrics of the holy bible (triptych) and i am enjoying the discussion for the most part so i say keep it up. With that said, i'm trying not to be critical for the sake of it because it's nice to see things like this being made about them.
As a fan, when you feel like you know the manics so well it's very easy to lose sight of the fact that those who don't know about them really don't! The lack of general knowledge about them from the other two is quite surprising like the common misconception that they only sing about suicide. Then again, that might be true of most bands you're not personally invested in and to be fair, in a roundabout way they were approaching the true genius of the manics in that they are a band with 'music full of hope and lyrics full of doubt'. Kudos to you for getting them involved but how did you manage that when they've been dismissed as dad rock in the past? I mean, i personally can't imagine having the motivation for talking about muse for many hours at a time. Having said that, i was pleasantly surprised that generation terrorists hasn't so far been completely ripped to shreds and i do agree with a lot of the criticisms but i also agree with the host that it's a charming mess. It's really about a new band getting a boatload of cash and a swanky recording studio and bolting out of the gate with a statement of intent.
Now... what's all this hatred of the new art riot ep? It's bloody great! I'm sure this has come up before on here and it's something i agreed with at the time - if generation terrorists sounded more like the spikey, rough-edged new art riot ep then it would have been far better for it. Your honour, for my defence i would like to include into evidence the live version of strip it down found on the you love us (heavenly) single and lipstick traces. In relation to that, i would also support chat of notable b-sides considering many of them are superb but i heard mention of comfort comes and that is one that definitely needs to be covered, being as it is the missing link between gold against the soul and the holy bible and a fantastic track to boot.
The one thing i had a major issue with is the question of what exactly richey and nicky did in the band if they couldn't play, to paraphrase - 'how did they become a band?' and 'richey was like the mascot' and compared to bez of all people. Say wha... richey and nicky were the suicide twins! The culture sluts! The propaganda wing of the manic street preachers! Giving great copy and running rings around music journalists unfortunate enough to fall into their orbit, all the while looking amazing. That's why the manics had such perfect balance i think, james and sean the accomplished musicians, richey and nicky the androgynous glamour twins writing the words. I just expected our gracious host to chip in here and give a spirited defence of what those two brought to the manics that made them stand out from 'generic white band'.
Anyway, i'm looking forward to you all diving into the later stuff and what the others reactions are going to be to the less accessible material and what on earth they're going to make of it. |
Thanks for this! I'm glad you've been mostly enjoying it
The way I got them to do it was to say "it'll be fun, trust me." As friends we've always enjoyed discussing music and each others tastes etc. Just seemed like the natural thing to do.
On the "richey as a mascot", I could feel myself wanting to crack down on that, but also, if that's someone's way in to the band, then I don't want to discourage that. Bearing in mind I'm talking to Lucas at that point, who could not give less of a shit about lyrics, the angle of Richey being the poster boy/focal point for the band seemed more potent. When I think of Happy Mondays performing live, I think of Bez gurning his tits off with maracas, not really adding to the sound, but adding to whole vibe. When I think of early Manics live, I think of Richey posing and looking stunning with a guitar that's not plugged in, not really adding to the sound, but adding to the whole vibe.
I also think people forget that the podcast isn't all that strictly planned. None of us have any idea what the others will say, so I'm thinking on my feet a lot of the time!
As the episodes go on you'll hear me prod Richeys lyric writing back into the conversation, and by the time we get to the Holy Bible everyone is on the same page with how involved he was. We want the discussion to be organic as well as informative, and sometimes that means glossing over sections.
Hope I'm not coming across as defensive! I'm just really enjoying talking to you all about this mad little project I'm involved in!
P.S. I like New Art Riot, but if you're not that into punk it's a bit of a non-starter haha!