The Latest Find(s)

Today the opposite of tomato is 'the shape of home-baked bread'


graphite & putty eraser, with watercolour/30x20cm

The latest drawing to be processed from the gift-that-keeps-giving source of found 'roadkill' aluminium cans, the branded livery of this particular instance again inviting its representation with a touch of watercolour.

Soundtrack:

Jesca Hoop ‘Hunting My Dress’
Elliott Smith ‘Roman Candle’ & ‘Elliott Smith’
Mark Mulcahy ‘Fathering’
Geraldine Fibbers ‘Hut Recordings’

An accompanying musical soundtrack that once again bears evidence of the continuing trawl of/re-acquaintance with the selectively-recovered cassette collection, the otherwise unavailable highlights of which are now in the process of being converted to digital form via a most useful & easy-to-use piece of kit (as simple as a point-to-point lead & a software programme) acquired from vinyl-2-pc.co.uk, which, thus far tested, seems to do a fine job.

As a consequence of this, & of course following-on the initial recovery of the source cassettes themselves, it’s been pleasant & inspiring to be able to enjoy once again not least the quietly-burning & smouldering intensity of Elliott Smith's 'Roman Candle'.
Being the first of the artist's recordings released under his own name, it established his aesthetic template, even through its lo-fi sound quality (itself ‘enhanced’ yet further via the medium of cassette), of deceptively unassuming, downbeat songs, frequently laced with a sharp lyrical bite, decorated with delightful, beguiling melodies, with echoes of The Beatles & Nirvana (I’ve always felt that ‘The Ballad of Big Nothing’ was the most sublime conflation of the sound of the two, at least if one considers mid-period, ‘Rubber Soul’-era Beatles as a point of reference).
These simple formal means endured unchanged, being refined through the following two albums, the self-titled second & ‘Either/Or', before being expanded upon subsequently, with the sometimes incorporation of more complex arrangements of a comparatively baroque nature, but ‘Roman Candle’ remains a compelling introduction to Elliott Smith’s oeuvre, stripped down, distilled to absolute essentials. It’s a fascinating listen, which, by necessity has to be a close one to the subdued, concentrated acoustic tone, which then erupts with glorious abandon in the tension-releasing torrent of electric guitar upon which 'Last Call' is constructed.

Good, too, to invest in & acquire a hard copy of ‘Fathering’, which is another of those drawing-friendly, idiosyncratically lovely experiences that rewards attentive listening, a sequence of fine, compelling songs & intriguing narratives.

Flat-out Fantastic 2: Another View

graphite & putty eraser/30x20cm

And so to a drawing processed from the reverse view of the 'roadkill' drink can as featured in the preceding post, again a composition of accidental folds that appear to neatly resolve themselves into a reformed low-relief object characterized by a lightly yet much-faceted surface which, represented through the drawing process, somewhat compromises a clear reading of the branded design as would be originally intended before the object-as-container fell out of use & a victim to being thoughtlessly discarded in the contemporary manner.

Soundtrack:


Elliott Smith 'XO' (first left) & 'Either/Or' (far right)
The Woodentops 'Giant'
The Chasms 'Advance Paranoia, Advance'

Enjoying a more profound reacquaintance with the music of Elliott Smith - the more expansive arrangements & Beach Boyesque harmonies of 'XO' & the earlier pared-down softly-striking melancholy beauty of 'Either'/Or', which at times so perfectly illustrates the position Elliott's songs occupied between mid-period Beatles - think 'We Can Work It Out' for example - & Nirvana, providing the something of the missing link between, quite delightfully.

'Giant', being the enduring Woodentops'/Rolo McGinty masterpiece, is one of those summer classics, rich with irresistible songs & exquisite acoustic-electric arrangements, magically packaged in Pani Charrington's stylized forest tableau design, ever a much-loved favourite for the completeness of its aesthetic, a most welcome place to revisit.

And The Chasms - featuring, it transpires, a certain blissblogging & man of many talents Mr Simon Reynolds on the bass guitar*, which rumbles mightily throughout, establishing the minimalistic rhythmic foundations over which treble-rich buzz-saw effect-laden guitar in particular is overlaid in abundance to create an impressively physical edifice of noise, raw & live, an exhilarating experience redolent of such post punk reference points as, for example, the PiL of much of their 1st LP & 'Poptones' from 'Metal Box', the repetitively-driving juggernaut of The Fall (not least in the occasional northern-tinged vocal interventions), Warsaw-era Joy Division, the Cabaret Voltaire of 'Nag Nag Nag', 'Western Mantra' & 'Red Mask', Sonic Youth & such a now (& even then!)-obscure name, dredged up from the dark recesses of the memory, as Rema-Rema.
A most interesting addition to the minimalist music canon, especially in its more brutalist guitar & drums aesthetic, harking back to The Velvet Underground & US 60s garage bands (The Chasms being, apparently, on a grander scale, a 'barn' band - most fitting to accommodate the expanse of their noise!) when one might consider the concept to be characterized more often by electronica.
I'm hoping a recently-posted comment from 'Richard' was The Chasms' guitar hero Quirk of that name (putting me in mind, incidentally, of no less a personage than CabVolt's guitarist-plus Richard H Kirk) - it's a pleasure & an honour indeed.


Postscript 11/07/09

(* oh no they don't!)

A Correction:

Many thanks to Simon for his comment, not least for correcting my erroneous assumption as to his identity: the bass-playing member of The Chasms is actually Spoilt Victorian Child of the record label, under which guise he formerly blogged, bringing excellent & fascinating music to the masses.
Apologies for the confusion & misinformation.

Flat-Out Fantastic 2

graphite & putty eraser/30x20cm

More 'Pop-Cubism' courtesy of the 'roadkill' finds, this drawing being another example processed from (stilled but active-&-fugitive-surfaced) life (& very occasional reference to an 'aesthetically-distanced' photocopy), more 'manufactured morte', the found object again displaying a quite elegant combination of folds in its reformed state of rest.

Soundtrack:


Public Image Ltd 'First Issue'/'Metal Box' highlights
'Radio Spiritworld'
Elliott Smith 'From a Basement on the Hill'

In amongst the music, 'Radio Spiritworld' (brought to my attention through the good & ever-reliable offices of Mr Reynolds' peerless 'blissblog') warrants a mention as a most entertaining & amusing way to spend 30 minutes a-listening: as a radio programme produced & broadcast in The Afterlife, & created in nostalgic style with a delightful sense & ear for the nuances of archive recordings, it's a fabulous conceit, brought to you through the ether by the learned gentlemen responsible for TV's equally inventive, period & genre-spoofing 'Look Around You'.
Returning to the music, the first Elliott Smith listen in a while was inspired directly by his earlyish & excellent song 'Needle in the Hay' gracing the soundtrack of - & in particular a significantly dramatic scene (where the character of the melted-down ex-tennis pro Richie suddenly attempts suicide) in - the as-seen-on-TV (again - & on this occasion recorded for posterity & further reference) Wes Anderson-directed movie 'The Royal Tenenbaums'. It's a film to much enjoy at a leisurely pace, slow-burning, sharply witty & poignant, with both a lightness of tone & complementary air of ennui, perhaps best described as a 'melancomedy' (featuring the incorrigibly conniving attempts of the paterfamilias to ingratiate himself back into the family from which he has become alienated - his long-suffering wife & 3 children, former prodigies whose lives have each & variously taken downward curves into adulthood), not least to be admired for its visual aesthetic, of gorgeous warm earth colours from ochres to reds & plum, & the rose pink & polished woods of the interior of the Tenenbaum household, complemented with greys & blues: ravishingly beautiful in its subtle, subdued way. Top soundtrack too, also featuring Nico & Nick Drake in addition to Elliott Smith, so one might be able to appreciate something of the quiet melancholy atmosphere of much of the proceedings that yet becomes life-affirming in the narrative's resolution.

Coincidental to the series of 'roadkill diptychs' of which this is but the most recent example, & the left hand half of each specifically, a song on the Elliott Smith album, 'Don't Go Down', makes lyrical reference to a character 'seeing her own body outlined in chalk', which is perhaps a little spooky in itself...