Album 14

[Son of Stopped]

Uploaded three days ago! The first (?) Piano instrumental cover! https://youtu.be/U62P0iGuVZw

[ForeverDelayed.com]

None of this available in the US yet.
Not the single. Not even the trailer from YouTube.

Wonder what this means? Last few releases have been released on same date.

[Librarian On Fire]

Originally Posted by Son of Stopped

Uploaded three days ago! The first (?) Piano instrumental cover! https://youtu.be/U62P0iGuVZw

That is very very nice. I'm sort of envious that someone could learn to play it by ear after only three days while I struggled at Saturday morning music classes with my piccolo for two years and got nowhere.

It really IS a lovely tune.

[Marwood]

Originally Posted by ForeverDelayed.com

None of this available in the US yet.
Not the single. Not even the trailer from YouTube.

Wonder what this means? Last few releases have been released on same date.

Probably just means the work experience boy forgot to tick a box.

Some genius in the marketing department has been formatting the Manics emails this week in black text on a black background, so clearly everyone around the band is operating at their usual level of competence and efficiency.

[Routine Builder]

Originally Posted by raven

I'm not sure burning books is an acceptable means of free speech....even though there's 942546 million copies of Harry Potter in circulation ...last time I counted...so who'd miss a few...As a symbolic act it brings to mind dictatorships...Hitlers and Khomeini's....Of course not every opinion has to be tolerated but the symbol of a burning book suggests none are tolerated other than your own....and it doesn't clearly express what opinions those may be other than a hatred of others having access to others...

I did phrase that a bit weird, I haven't burned a book nor do I have the intention to do so. But what people do with their personal property is their own business. There is an ocean of difference between someone who bought and read Rowling's books, feeling utterly betrayed by their recent behaviour and expressing their discontent in a non-violent albeit melodramatic way, to the book burning's under Khomeini's and Hitler's regimes. I'm more disgusted and worried by the hateful misogynistic abuse that Rowling has received which is part of a wider problem that makes the internet such an inhospitable place for women either be cis or trans. This also has a chilling effect on freedom of speech but one freedom warriors never seem to be concerned about.

[Son of Stopped]

Originally Posted by Librarian On Fire

That is very very nice. I'm sort of envious that someone could learn to play it by ear after only three days while I struggled at Saturday morning music classes with my piccolo for two years and got nowhere.

It really IS a lovely tune.

"Once you figure out which key it's in, it's easy!" grinned the piano players at me. As if it was just breathing in oxygen.
I would be up for a club tour of James singing and acoustic guitar accompanied with a pianist. I think he might have already done something like that a few years ago.

[taxexile]

The last 2 days I've woken up with the chorus running through my mind. I don't know of any song where that's happened.

[Routine Builder]

I can't get Aporcaolypse out of my head now...

[Marwood]

The line 'the future fights the past, the books begin to burn' still sounds like 'the future fucks the past, the fucks begin at birth' when fed through that classic James Dean Bradfield delivery, which really messes with my ability to sing along. Thanks for that, Bradders.

[IntlDebris]

There are people on the left who are using their anger for point scoring rather than activism these days, and it's frustrating and often kind of awful. Ultimately, if you believe that, even if your cause is just, you should not stoop to bullying and scare tactics, then there's definitely a lot to worry about from certain parts of the left at the minute.

However, the lyric still only makes sense in that context. Once you move away from the very vocal minorities on each side, you still end up with the fact that hugely powerful governments in countries like the UK and US are still openly right wing. With the likes of Boris and Trump in charge (which he would have been when Orwellian was written), the mainstream is still on the far right. Trans rights are being stalled or removed on both sides of the Atlantic, which will negatively affect more people than "cancel culture" will. A handful of people losing their jobs and public standing and receiving death threats is bad, but the damage caused to the lives of untold thousands, even millions, that comes from systemic transphobia, mysogyny, racism, ableism, and continuing austerity measures is far worse. The mainstream media is still right-biased, Labour and Democrat policies are currently centre/centre-right, and ultimately, the systems of oppression to the vulnerable are still very much present and in power.

So for Nicky to say he can't choose between the two is worrying. You can be on the left and criticise certain aspects of the left at the same time. You can say "I support what these people are saying, but not how they're saying it". You can say "I stand with some of the left, and against the right". I would absolutely welcome a song exploring those ideas. But instead we've got a line that suggests that a political ideology that reinforces centuries-old oppression and dehumanisation of anyone who isn't part of the elite is no worse than dangerously over-zealous responses to perceived bigotry.

And if we're really worried about celebrities being hounded, we're discussing a lyricist who's publicly wished death on Michael Stipe and Princess Di, so he's not exactly a saint.

[revcheese]

Originally Posted by blackflower

None of the people I listed are right wing, and none are anti-trans. It’s not transphobic to believe in biological sex or protecting women’s sex based rights. People can have differing opinions on what this means and there should be conversations around that, but conversations are difficult when people get banned from platforms or labelled as bigots for expressing certain options. Meanwhile, the misogyny and homophobia expressed by some of the trans rights activists has been extreme, and comparatively consequence-free.

And of course you may burn whatever books you wish, I was just making the point that it’s people aligned with the progressive left who have been doing this in recent times, and not people on the right.

No one I mentioned has been pissing on any minority - they have simply expressed concerns in very moderate ways and been vilified beyond proportion. This is what I find chilling in modern society.

JK isn't right wing, that's true - but she's fundamentally hostile to the left as are the majority of her British celebrity peers. I can't speak regarding Forstater/Smith and I'll let others comment, but Triggernometry is absolutely a right wing podcast without a shadow of a doubt (just look at the people they have on!).

If cancel culture had true power, then Boris Johnson would never have become Prime Minister and countless conservative newspaper columnists would have been properly held accountable. But hey, I hope this Tory government has been worth it for you.

Originally Posted by IntlDebris

So for Nicky to say he can't choose between the two is worrying. You can be on the left and criticise certain aspects of the left at the same time. You can say "I support what these people are saying, but not how they're saying it". You can say "I stand with some of the left, and against the right". I would absolutely welcome a song exploring those ideas. But instead we've got a line that suggests that a political ideology that reinforces centuries-old oppression and dehumanisation of anyone who isn't part of the elite is no worse than dangerously over-zealous responses to perceived bigotry.

I can't tell if it's just pure apathy or that Nicky (and the wider band) have lost touch with their previous commitment to socialist views - but I've noticed this shift from around the Futurology era. The problem is that which 'side' to support in this current climate has never been more clear cut, and Nicky chooses to take the milquetoast position.

[cameron33]

My previous post re Wire’s political lyrics on reflectionwas too harsh. Of course he has written some very good stuff political content. But when it’s cringe it’s really cringe. But hey, all part of the bands charm. Better to try something big and sometimes fall flat on your face than to say nothing at all like 99% of other bands.

[cameron33]

Those occasional commentators you get on YouTube, angry that a band’s 13th album sounds radically different to their 3rd. Will they ever get bored?

[cameron33]

Album 14!

[blackflower]

Originally Posted by revcheese

Triggernometry is absolutely a right wing podcast without a shadow of a doubt (just look at the people they have on!).

If cancel culture had true power, then Boris Johnson would never have become Prime Minister and countless conservative newspaper columnists would have been properly held accountable. But hey, I hope this Tory government has been worth it for you.

I've been trying to retreat from this conversation as I don't want to further derail the thread, but I just want to reply to these two points.

One of the presenters of Triggernometry is left wing, the other centre right. They have a lot of right wing guests on it's true, but that's because most left wing commentators refuse to go on their show, as they know it won't just be an echo chamber of current left wing ideology.

As for your last sentence, I wont reply to you how I'd like to as it would probably get me banned. So I'll just reiterate the fact that I'm a life long Labour voter. I didn't vote for Johnson. It doesn't mean I'm not blind to the current massive failings of the left. If I'm feeling more anger towards the left than the right at the moment, it's because I've supported them all my life and feel massively let down by them.

ANYWAY - who's gearing up for the ticket frenzy tomorrow morning?