Fluxblog Weekly #35: Radiohead, Fleetwood Mac, Field Music, No Joy
December 28th, 2015
Futures Tricked By The Past
Radiohead “Spectre”
Radiohead have a rather small number of covers in their repertoire, but one of them is Carly Simon’s “Nobody Does It Better,” a Bond theme. The aesthetic suits them – grim yet elegant, bombastic but refined, sexy in a way that seems a bit sordid and sad. Radiohead’s “Spectre” was passed over in favor of a rather weak song by Sam Smith, which I think we all have to assume was a matter of the studio going with the more commercially successful artist. It’s a shame, as “Spectre” is the finest song made for a Bond film since…what, the ‘70s?…and it’s the best thing anyone in Radiohead has put out in quite some time. The aesthetics of the prime movers in the band are lined up here – Yorke’s feminine and understated vocal, Jonny Greenwood’s stormy orchestration, the rhythm section’s reiteration of that lagging, quasi-jazzy “Pyramid Song” beat. It’s beautiful without pandering even a bit, and straightforwardly melodic without them seeming to apologize for it. It bodes well for the new album they’re likely to release sometime in the coming year.
Visit Radiohead’s Soundcloud page.
December 29th, 2015
Fate Takes Time
Fleetwood Mac “Walk A Thin Line” (4/6/79 Version)
Fleetwood Mac’s first two albums with Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham are so extraordinarily popular that it can be hard to feel like you have an intimate relationship with them – songs like “Dreams” or “Say You Love Me” may move you, but they belong to everyone. The relative commercial failure ofTusk, however, allows the audience to have a different connection with that music, and you can indulge yourself in the fantasy that you have access to amazing Fleetwood Mac music no one else knows about. The most recent deluxe reissue of Tusk really encourages that feeling, and gives us at least one alternate version of every song on the record, so you have the option of being the person whose favorite Fleetwood Mac tune is, like, the alternate take of a song from the 3rd side of the weird album after Rumours.
“Walk A Thin Line” is my favorite Fleetwood Mac song, and though I ultimately favor the original official studio version from Tusk, I am immensely grateful that I can hear the song in slightly different variations. The main difference between the recordings – there’s two alternate takes on this reissue, and there’s another arrangement without Buckingham on Mick Fleetwood’s solo album Visitor – comes down to tempo, the prominence of the wordless vocal hook, and how the instrumental bridge near the end is executed. The structure of the song never changes, and even the glossiest versions keep things very simple and focused on the simple, lovely elegance of Buckingham’s melody. This version, from “The Alternate Tusk” disc, sounds a bit sadder to me than the others. There’s something in Lindsey’s voice here that is just a bit more melancholy and defeated, and I like the way that brings out the lingering doubts in this song about going against everyone else and trusting your instincts. I love the mix of pride and paranoia in his voice, and despite everything, the way he conveys this unshakable faith in himself without seeming arrogant or foolish.
Buy it from Amazon.
December 30th, 2015
Here We Are Instead
Field Music “The Noisy Days Are Over”
The Brewis brothers of Field Music have focused an incredible amount of their creative energy over the past decade on writing music on the topic of aging and maturity, and trying to live an acceptable “normal” life. Those themes suit their music, which has this neat, orderly sound to it, and a fairly anxious and uptight sense of rhythm. It’s neurotic but not overtly so; it’s music that conveys a very British “stiff upper lip” sensibility. But as much as the songs explore a desire to be normal and mature, there’s always a tension and wit that challenges this, and either highlights the absurdity of this sort of repression or questions whether or not this is any sort of path to happiness. “The Noisy Days Are Over” is written like breaking bad news to yourself – sorry, you’re too old for that now, it’s time to be an adult, it’s time for things to be dull and predictable and safe. It’s giving voice to societal pressures, and calling out the idea that you ought to be special, some exception to the order of society. That you should keep having fun and feeling alive when so many other people have moved on from all that. I think you’re meant to take all of this with a grain of salt, but it’s very easy to listen to this and decide that, yes, you’re the immature and selfish one, and time’s running out for you.
Buy it from Amazon.
December 31st, 2015
Darker Every Time We Try
No Joy “Burial In Twos”
One of the best things about No Joy’s extraordinary and sadly underratedMore Faithful is the way the band implies a sense of depth in their music. They exaggerate dynamics to the point where the music will have this 3-D movie effect, with sounds seeming to surge out from the speakers. The loud, heavy guitar parts on most shoegaze records come off fairly flat, with most of the dynamic sacrificed as the tone is pushed into the red, but in a song like “Burial in Twos,” that sound has a dimension to it that suggests a far greater scale. But the vocals that go with it are very delicate and intimate, so the contrast implies something even more resonant – a huge burning emotion that’s building up inside you that feels like it’s going to rip you apart, but you can’t let it out. You get a similar effect on a lot of the greatest My Bloody Valentine songs, but I think while that band is about being lost in sensuous feeling and transcendental lust, No Joy is more about the cathartic release of repressed desires. It’s like some silent war in a shy person’s mind.
Buy it from Amazon.