An Increase in Productivity

graphite & putty eraser/20x30cm

With the finishing touches applied to the preceding example, a second drawing was able to be processed during the course of this afternoon as it faded, representing - as observed, edges indistinct against the tone of the ground of the horizontal plane upon which they were arranged - a selection of found miniature pear-like fruits, one with an extensive network of scars etched into its surface in a process of natural 'drawing', exquisite things-in-themselves.
The main purpose is to process & communicate this particular act of looking & seeing whilst, as is habitual, the proximity of some of the placements is intended to activate the spaces between the forms of the objects with a positive 'charge', in the manner that Andrew Forge ascribed to certain examples of Euan Uglow's compositions of pairs of pears, as referenced on previous occasions.

Soundtrack:


Microdisney 'The Clock Comes Down the Stairs'
The Delgados 'The Great Eastern'
Cocteau Twins 2nd Peel session (from 'Garlands' cassette)
The Fall '50,00 Fall Fans Can't Be Wrong' (CD 1)
PJ Harvey 'Is This Desire?'

Another soundtrack, spanning the making of both the above & previous drawings (& a pizza), influenced by the legacy of John Peel, on the occasion of this weekend specifically to commemorate ‘Peel Day’, which actually occurred on Friday 14th, to coincide with the date of the great man’s final radio broadcast, now 7 years ago.

Microdisney were what might well be termed an archetypal ‘Peel band’, discovered & their developments – towards an increasing slickness of sound - charted via the good auspices of the show. Listening now to a cassette recording of ‘The Clock Comes Down the Stairs’, for the first time in many a long year, it’s good to be pleasantly reminded of such a singular aesthetic, with the band’s finely-crafted melodic musicality – characterised by a pop sensibility applied to a laid-back 70s’ west coast soft rock vibe nuanced by a country-tinged melancholia, one might say - offset by the sharp contrast of singer Cathal Coughlan’s idiosyncratic lyrics, amusingly mordant &/or sometimes accusatory commentaries on society & its mores. The gorgeous, glorious, stonking, stomping ‘Birthday Girl’, for instance, remains an irresistible pop song, a sure-fire chart hit in a parallel universe where taste might have reigned, one of a number of cracking tunes on the album that co-exist in fine balance with more poignant balladry.

Similarly, The Delgados bore a strong association with the Peel show, with a good half of the tracks from ‘The Great Eastern’ featuring in the ‘Festive 50’ of 2000, at which point they & it came to my attention: an enduringly wonderful album, overflowing with the sonic riches of many overlaid textures, of guitars, orchestration, woodwind (perhaps best exemplified by the everything-including-the-kitchen-sinkery, including chiming bells, of ‘Aye Today’) - one of those suites of songs that, in the manner of ‘Ocean Rain’ for example, gain from the cumulative effect of being experienced sequentially, as a whole, each adding to the others in turn, before the storm of exhilarating noise subsides into the quiet reflection of ‘Make Your Move’.

The second Cocteau Twins session (with the original trio augmented by Cindytalk’s Gordon Sharp, such a guest appearance as might occur within the context) proved to be an essential component of their recorded history to date, subsequently being made available on the cassette release of the ‘Garlands’ album, from which source it was experienced here. Again, one is reminded of how resonant & edgy, how post-punkily gothic their early sound was, at its most Banshees-esque, perhaps (although such an inflection was oft present), on the visceral thrill of ‘Dear Heart’, but one of four more expansive & muscular performances continuing in the sonic vein of the ‘Lullabies’ EP that followed the relatively minimalist & reticent ‘Garlands’.

The Fall, of course, proved to be, over the course of the years, the Peel band, extensively featured & much-loved – their earlier recordings as featured in selection upon the compilation CD endure in all their ramshackle, ornery, undiminished glory & just sound better with age (although not necessarily maturing), theirs & this listener’s.

And PJ Harvey, another Peel & TOoT favourite – once more, 'Is This Desire?' retains the depth of its charms, ever an inspiring accompaniment to the creative, working process.

Brand New, You're Retro

Today the opposite of tomato is all a tremulous heart requires

graphite, putty eraser, watercolour & collage/20x30cm

A return today to a major theme of the relatively recent past here at TOoT, with the confluence of the recent finds of a suitably intriguing ‘roadkilled’ can &the occurrence of those ‘new’ double black lines in Chester providing the stimulation (note the word, as present on the surface of the object & the photocopied reproduction of this collaged onto/into the drawing) to compose & process a drawing featuring both of these elements in a something of a style that harks back to that last employed in June of last year, since when the process & appearance of the body of work evolved into a more watercoloury realm before such subject/object matter went into a prolonged hibernation amidst the general slowing-down/spacing-out of instances of creative operations.

Pertaining to the drawing, in the interests of aesthetic integrity the broad strokes of the darker-toned aspects of the surface/‘ground’ relate directly to, being inspired by, those 'active' swipes of the brush that characterize some of the painting of the double black lines in the previously-posted photographs of such the feature as found.

Whether this drawing heralds a renaissance or might otherwise be but a fleeting example (of an abiding 'retromania' as documented over recent months) remains to be seen, but there’s obviously something about the subject/object matter that keeps demanding attention & some form of documentary engagement with, as the drawing provides tangible evidence of.


Soundtrack:

The Smiths John Peel session 09/08/84
Cocteau Twins John Peel session 05/09/84
Cornershop ‘When I Was Born for the 7th Time’
(here featuring the album's cassette-format artwork in all its cinematic scope)

Further to the retromania, TOoT finds itself in something of a Peel-fest at the moment & the soundtrack reflects such a fact, comprising a couple of archive recordings from the John Peel radio show & a reacquaintance with an album by a band associated with such source. This circumstance has arisen from A’s kind presentation of Ken Garner’s ‘The Peel Sessions’ book, a must-be-read-immediately volume that features a fascinating history of the show (historically contextualized within the tradition of the 'live' recordings of music for broadcast by/on the BBC) &, obviously, the ‘sessions’ that formed a particular focus for the programme & contributed in no small measure to its legendary status, including, also, an exhaustive chronicle of the facts of those sessions, lists of the bands who were invited to record them, the songs featured, dates transmitted, etc – a wealth of detail to delight those of us nostalgically prone to succumbing to fond memories of the intense musical passions inspired by Peel the man & the show, many of which have endured to this day & provided the template for an appreciation of all manner of artists & sounds.

In common with many a listener, it was my practice to listen to the Peel show with eager anticipation, a tape in the radio-cassette player, finger poised over the ‘Pause’ button in readiness to release it & record whatever delights might be broadcast on a particular night, & a selection of such cassettes have remained stored as precious relics of my own music-listening history: the specially-recorded sessions of course, featuring alternative renditions of familiar songs, differing from the versions available on vinyl or, later, CD, or those recorded uniquely for the Occasion (for that it oft was), are the jewels of the surviving collection &, for all that many of such recordings might subsequently have been granted an official release in whatever format, still those original tapes, as objects, containing the source material in what feels its purest form (however time-worn & diminished in sound quality), recorded as it was at the time of broadcast, have a special, priceless quality, a palpable, physical connection with those times.

It might also be opined that many a Peel session recording proved to be in some way superior to previous or subsequent recorded versions, the Cocteau Twins’ ‘Pepper Tree’ here providing an exemplary case in point, with the Peel version having a thrilling resonance & clarity to the guitar sound, imbuing the song with a tension & dynamic that was entirely absent on its official released incarnation, in languid form on the B-side of the band’s self-produced ‘Spangle Maker’ EP. Indeed, there remains a charm to this particular session, also including the prototypically titled ‘Whisht’ & ‘Peep Bo’ prior to their featuring in different guise, as ‘Beatrix’ & ‘Ivo’ on the ‘Treasure’ album.

In a most appropriate & poignant (for full nostalgic effect) piece of design, the contents page of the book features the list of chapters as they would be appear written of the spines of the card inlays of just such cassettes as I habitually used myself, mostly the TDK brand with an occasional Memorex or Sony, displaying subtle alterations in design as this aspect evolved down the years.

The book is also noteworthy for featuring this particular photograph of PJ Harvey, very much a Peel & show favourite, & of course a much-admired artist at TOoT, here looking very Sixties:

Four's (part of) a Crowd...(4)

Today the opposite of tomato is getting the Abattoir Blues...

graphite, putty eraser & watercolour/30x20cm
original source: 'The Guardian' 16/06/08

Continuing 'the project within The Project'...

Soundtrack:


Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds 'Abattoir Blues' & 'The Lyre of Orpheus'
Bjork homemade compilation with selections from 'Debut', 'Post' & various remixes & 'Homogenic'

Time, also, to mention some music recently viewed.
Firstly, courtesy of BBC4's 'Nick Cave Night' (now there's cult programming & special interest broadcasting, for which we should be truly thankful), & thereafter again, at one's convenience through the wonders of the BBC's iplayer resources, an all-out entertaining, rocking live concert filmed, as part of the channel's 'Sessions' series, at LSO St Luke's chapel, which looks a lovely venue, on this occasion strung out & across with a myriad bare lightbulbs, featuring songs from the artist & bands' latest album 'Dig, Lazarus Dig' in addition to a variety from their extensive back catalogue, switching from full-on, foot-down performances of songs such as 'Get Ready For Love' to the hushed piano balladry of a sublime rendering of 'God is in the House', an elegiac, spare reading of 'The Mercy Seat', ending with a blistering, brooding, ever-amusing 'Stagger Lee': absolutely stonking stuff.
And then a truly wonderful compilation of TV appearances taken from 'Later with Jools Holland', spanning the better part of 20 years, from 1990 onwards, featuring a representative selection of great songs, 'greatest hits' & performances & also affording the opportunity to appreciate the ageing process in action (at least in terms of appearances, for there's no noticable diminishing of energy, they all still rock magnificently, disgracefully, in the best tradition, when required), as the Bad Seeds themselves have remained pretty much constant with occasional changes & additions in personnel. Interesting to note, particularly, with a keen eye, as always, on art history, that the multi-instrumentalist Warren Ellis seems to be transforming into Cézanne...


Warren Ellis, right, with Nick Cave


Paul Cézanne 'Self-Portrait in a Straw Hat'
1875-76/oil on canvas

Further to the theme, I recently invested in the DVD of Portishead's legendary first live appearance, at the Roseland Theatre in New York, a fabulous filmed record of what appears to have been one of those events where 'you had to be there'. The venue itself, featuring a stage 'in the round', whereby the performers are thus surrounded by the audience, creates a suitable ambience & also affords the opportunity for some excellent direction, with the cameras roaming the stage & its perimeters in order to feature some terrific local, intimate footage, of the various members of the band & the orchestra accompanying them. The performance, too, is stunning: featuring the band's second, eponymous album in its entirety, supplemented by selections, 'greatest hits' from their debut 'Dummy' such as 'Sour Times', 'Glory Box' & the exquisite 'Roads', what one might imagine to be very much 'studio creations' as heard in their original incarnations are brought to life in the most thrilling, magical manner - having been fortunate enough to see singer Beth Gibbons live in concert, promoting her 'Out of Season' album, I know what a fine vocalist she is & her performance, her voice, here is wonderful, intense & emotional & technically just right. The orchestra, too, play a sympathetic part, augmenting the songs subtly but significantly, & the film has a nice 'intermission' at its mid point, featuring a couple of the songs performed in rehearsal & a selection of 'environmental' footage of NYC. All things considered, the film of the concert is an exemplary piece of work, not merely a 'live DVD' but a great film in itself.

Also a mention for PJ Harvey's 'Please Leave Quietly' DVD, featuring concert footage from the band's 'Uh Huh Her'-era UK tour, collaged together in a most original manner (observe, for instance, the numerous costume changes in the space of just one song!) & interspersed with back stage clips that really help give a nice sketchbook-diary-snapshot feel to the whole, sympathetic perhaps to the touring experience from the viewpoint of the musicians. Fantastic songs & performances too, of course, from another artist I've been privileged to see live, although not for far too long a time now. There's an excellent, fascinating interview with Polly as an extra, too, allowing intimate access to the creative process & thinking. And, neatly bringing things together, try & see Polly & that man Nick Cave again duetting in the video of the latter's lovely ballad 'Henry Lee' on the Bad Seeds' 'Videos' collection.