My latest favourites: choose yours!

My latest favourites: choose yours!

FAIR WARNING: this is sort of a blog as well as a poll.  Really, I could write about this stuff all day…

This year I emerged from a kind of musical hibernation and lo and behold, I found myself SURROUNDED by things I was suddenly in love with.  The year is not over yet, but I feel like reflecting on the ‘journey so far’ and finding an excuse (yet another one!) to mull over a few of my new-found enthusiasms with the PA crowd.

This stuff has all contributed hugely to a big improvement in my quality of life, and I’m truly grateful for that.  And also, for the opportunity to talk about it all, with people who not only know what I’m talking about, but proceed to lead me astray into all kinds of other related musical areas…

Take this poll as an excuse to pick your favourite out of this list and rave and drool and wax lyrical…  There is no logic to the selections.  They’re just all things I like.    I suppose if you have a strong dislike for any of this stuff you can air that as well, but try and keep it coherent and respectful please…!

Magma – minimal explanation needed here.  That music answers a need in me that I never knew I had.   Love ’em or hate ’em, that’s up to you, but I’ve found my little niche as an audience member (and we all need that, I think).  And that niche is: front-and-centre, being bludgeoned to a grateful pulp by the full force of Christian Vander’s eloquently masculine drumming, people!!  (Not to forget the hero of the hour: Bass Guitar Love God™ Philippe Bussonnet.  Having a favourite bass guitar player is a new experience for me; Philippe is the current darling. )

Area – my happy music.  Demetrio Stratos: sheer unadulterated WOW.  (I may or may not be a little in love with the ghost of him. )  And the rest of the guys were pretty amazing, too.  If you like music with boundless energy, incident, quirkiness and muscularity, then Area will please you greatly.  I love how they are political, but never pious.  Communism really can be sexy after all!!

Guapo – I really never thought I’d like this stuff.  I don’t think I wanted to like it.  Honestly… they come across as seriously pretentious, self-consciously intellectual types who name-drop obscure influences and refer to themselves in the third person.   Ridiculously-named side projects abound.  But despite my prejudices, I couldn’t help but be blown away by their three recentest albums.  (‘Black Oni’ is the hands-down favourite.)  I no longer care whether Daniel O’Sullivan practises an ‘I’m so Byronic’ facial expression in the mirror and sits in graveyards, contemplating the inevitability of Decay.  (Perhaps he does… sometimes it seems quite likely!)  All I know is, my grudging respect for this band gathered pace somewhere along the way, tripped over itself, and turned into full-on awe.   The best thing about Guapo is the showmanship of it!  The flamboyance!  That’s what elevates it from being simply clever.  If I get the chance to see them live, I’m going to grab it.

Univers Zero – another ensemble that I thought would never reach me.  From the word go I knew this was good music – well composed, well played, distinctive, stylish and very interesting.  But it didn’t move me or engage my heart the way most of the other bands on this poll did.  There was something cold about it – something calculated, intellectual and difficult.  But I’m a patient person where music is concerned.  Many of my favourite things are a little ‘hard won’, and I usually know when to persevere with something, if it doesn’t necessarily prove an instant hit.  Repeated exposure to UZ seems to have irradiated me finally.   This music is incredibly dense and complex, but more importantly it’s… atmospheric.  It’s meticulously assembled, but concentrating on the fine detail of it will make your head hurt.  So my current theory on UZ is that the more you relax with it, the more enjoyable it is.  The minutiae of it are impressive and remarkable, but the bigger picture is the thing.  And if you don’t pressurise yourself too much, eventually it’ll sneak up on you and steal a small part of your brain.  The brittle humour emerges.  Definitely worth devoting time to!

Present – I can’t mention Univers Zero and fail to hail Present.  In complete contrast to UZ, the moment I heard Present, my ears were very happy.  Instant Love!  As coy as the UZ muse is, the Present muse is welcoming and wanton!   This is just such a great combination of cheeky malevolence, sulky avant virtuosity and catchy listenability.  In some ways, I think it’s more of an accomplishment to compose music that is ‘difficult enough but not too difficult’ than it is to compose something that is full-on challenging and tough stuff.  The sheer infectious alchemy of Present is muchly impressive.  They are also one of those bands who can be really repetitive musically, but never to the point of boredom.  It’s kind of… meditative and urgent, at the same time.  I never tire of recommending this band.

Hatfield and the North – oh, how sumptuous, how soft, how witty, how flirtatious!   Hearing this music is like falling in love with every Englishman who ever lived.  It took a while for me to truly appreciate it (beyond a basic state of ‘this sounds nice’!), but its gentle, wry, modest-and-yet-unashamedly-brilliant nature got to me in the end.  If you ever feel the need for a musical cuddle, give ‘The Rotters’ Club’ a try.   If Richard Sinclair’s placid silliness doesn’t make you smile, then you may be beyond help.

Well… that’s more than enough drivel from me.  Over to you!


Edited by song_of_copper - September 17 2008 at 08:38

The Hatfields rule! A fairly new discovery for me but they are brilliant. A great mixture of Canterbury, jazz and a bit of silliness.

Difficult choice for me:I love 5 out of 6.It's not that I really dislike Univers Zero:they have great qualities

chopper wrote: The Hatfields rule! A fairly new discovery for me but they are brilliant. A great mixture of Canterbury, jazz and a bit of silliness.   And sorry, I've already claimed the title of Bass Guitar Love God!

Good choice there!

I have to ask... re. 'Love God' status... do you take to the stage with a serene air, drive your audience to distraction with your exquisite agility, and look like you just stepped out of an allegorical Old Master painting...?  If so, then you may have a chance.

Peter wrote: Does this mean I have a crush on Oliver Cromwell?

I would say that's between you and your therapist...!

James wrote: I want to change my vote but as my voting option isn't here, I cannot! I want to vote for Koenjihyakkei, who I currently prefer to the mighty Magma.

I considered putting Koenji on the list but I only have one of their albums so far.  I'm more familiar with the other bands.

Having said that, it's a wonderful choice.  I completely approve.

This poll is evil.

Nonetheless I shall try to parse it.

Magma very, very slightly over Hatfield which is very slightly over Area which is slightly over Univers Zero and Present, and though I really enjoy Guapo they would come in last on the list.

Had National Health been in place of Hatfield they would have won the poll.

The vote goes to Magma.

James wrote: No! Guapo > Univers Zéro > Present > Hatfield and the North > Area

Guess you're a much bigger Guapo fan than I am. 

Hatfield? Magma???...............Magma? Hatfield???.........To be or not to be??

NaturalScience wrote: This poll is evil. Nonetheless I shall try to parse it. Magma very, very slightly over Hatfield which is very slightly over Area which is slightly over Univers Zero and Present, and though I really enjoy Guapo they would come in last on the list. Had National Health been in place of Hatfield they would have won the poll. The vote goes to Magma.

James wrote: No! Guapo > Univers Zéro > Present > Magma > Hatfield and the North > Area

Boys, please...    It doesn't matter what order!  'Ranking'... such a male obsession.

Anyway... er... nice choice, Pat.  Yes, it is a tough call!