Wednesday, April 17, 2013

The Making of Grief Point

The journey starts late; six weeks into the making of Grief Point. First off is May Day, the song in honor of May 1st and the workers. Can you still be against the strike that only strikes for more pay? By ‘you,’ in this instance, I mean ‘me.’ There is a certain kind of person to whom things come with great facility. They say this is the noise that gets made as my life is lived. So be it; but don’t feel the need to record it. For a second I thought this meant that they were not interested in history, but that’s wrong; wrong, wrong. A bad reading of the situation. The right reading is that I just don’t understand it; at all.

Grief Point, and May Day by extension, suffers from the same old shit: a potential complete ignorance of ambiance, real ambiance, in that can you really construct it, every last bit of it, and just let the listener feel its effects? And is this the right treatment? Always the same question. In this case, I would maybe say yes, just because it forces form onto the thing. "Thing" is a bunch of words to melodies, and the words sung in a handful of ways.

Between J and D, of course, the same old war rages; one into a tight and perfect digital palace, but super true to the genre, the other wanting to throw in actual sounds, mix it up, humanize.

It's cool how, for my part, this sleight of hand, the trick of making something confounding and great and potentially horrible, drawn up from air; all this is no longer of any interest. In fact, even seeing things in this light depresses me. And so I often come home at night depressed by what we have done, what we are doing. It's good, it means I've changed.

I have lost interest in music. It is horrible.

I should only make things I understand. I should only make things I know how to construct, however imperfect. It's not even like dictating to someone; it's less than that. May Day itself is pretty cool, I have to admit. It condemns the world at such an easy pace. I intend to tell it to you: it’s like happy shooting rockets, a disgusting description of anything, to be sure. I think the world does not like me grim; it likes me melancholic but not miserable: English on the Mediterranean, which is oddly enough, some of the worst people there is. At some point when it is made, I will explain this record word-for-word, swear to God. When I know if that is good or bad, I’ll know what is good and what is bad.

The answer to the making of Grief Point is picnic baskets filled with blood.

Too rich, nothing at stake. If "blank" had to write lyrics for his songs, they would be cumbersome, pale blocks, like his riffs, but pale. So instead, he went out and found a wailer, too stupid to commit to a single thing.

I assume not lighting up at the sight of your mother is a sign of madness in an infant. Pattena, no name for a baby, you were first born before they threw you from the bridge.

Wagner wrestles his dogs to the floor; such a beautiful scene for some. They write plays, don't perform them.

The message from the critical reception of Dreams was quite clear: we will not be listening to you any further.
Of course, some tension is created; Cosmonaut in a breadline, etc.

I watched a pig devour the classics just to get to you. The barge endlessly circling, your mind finds out.

It is done.

Saturday, March 19, 2011

Fade Out

"'Street Spirit' is our purest song, but I didn't write it. It wrote itself. We were just its messengers; its biological catalysts. Its core is a complete mystery to me, and, you know, I wouldn't ever try to write something that hopeless. All of our saddest songs have somewhere in them at least a glimmer of resolve. 'Street Spirit' has no resolve. It is the dark tunnel without the light at the end. It represents all tragic emotion that is so hurtful that the sound of that melody is its only definition. We all have a way of dealing with that song. It's called detachment. Especially me; I detach my emotional radar from that song, or I couldn't play it. I'd crack. I'd break down on stage. That's why its lyrics are just a bunch of mini-stories or visual images as opposed to a cohesive explanation of its meaning. I used images set to the music that I thought would convey the emotional entirety of the lyric and music working together. That's what's meant by 'all these things you'll one day swallow whole'. I meant the emotional entirety, because I didn't have it in me to articulate the emotion. I'd crack...
Our fans are braver than I to let that song penetrate them, or maybe they don't realise what they're listening to. They don't realise that 'Street Spirit' is about staring the fucking devil right in the eyes, and knowing, no matter what the hell you do, he'll get the last laugh. And it's real, and true. The devil really will get the last laugh in all cases without exception, and if I let myself think about that too long, I'd crack.
I can't believe we have fans that can deal emotionally with that song. That's why I'm convinced that they don't know what it's about. It's why we play it towards the end of our sets. It drains me, and it shakes me, and hurts like hell every time I play it, looking out at thousands of people cheering and smiling, oblivious to the tragedy of its meaning, like when you're going to have your dog put down and it's wagging its tail on the way there. That's what they all look like, and it breaks my heart. I wish that song hadn't picked us as its catalysts, and so I don't claim it. It asks too much. I didn't write that song."

- Thom Yorke on Street Spirit (Fade Out)

Twat.

Thursday, February 17, 2011

Annoyed

Pardon my cynicism but it honestly upsets me when people proudly display facts about India like how we've never invaded another country since 1000 BC (mostly because we've been occupied half the time and spent the other half fighting with each other). It's cause for concern that our only source nationalism and pride comes from the past. You want to be patriotic? Stop being proud and expecting a slap on the back for deeds done (by you and, to a lesser extent, other people you've had nothing to do with since Adam). Now go get the job done. It's about fucking time.

Thursday, September 16, 2010

Chapter 1

Pineapple Jam.


There was no mistaking it. It looked, smelt, and felt like pineapple jam; ergo, it must be pineapple jam. Adam would have considered the taste test to confirm beyond doubt but the fact that it had just recently oozed out of his phone's battery seemed to deter him somewhat. He didn't know much behind the operation of cell phones but was relatively confident that in no stage of the phones operation was jam involved, much less pineapple jam; so, understandably, this revelation threw him off from what was otherwise a very unpleasant morning.


He woke up an hour too late for work and rushed through his morning routine, constantly envisioning fantastic excuses to console his ever troubled employer for his less than impressive performance when it came to the field of punctuality. It wasn't until he left the house and walked the 500 yards to the bus stand, however, that he realized it was a Sunday and he'd forgotten to take his keys. After a perceivably frustrating-nerve wracking-lock shattering-lock refixing-locksmith paying 2 hours, Adam was back where he'd started - visibly older yet strangely visibly stupid and careless at the same time. It was only then that he noticed a faint aroma coming from his left hand side pant pocket. This in turn led to the aforementioned series of events, which Adam now, rather cryptically, refers to as The Incident, which, incidentally, was a fascinating name for a record he thought. He made a note to tell his friend Steven - nice guy, just very eccentric and, rather forcefully to Adams mind, channelling John Lennon. He seemed to always be fascinated by the obscure and this would certainly give him a kick.


Discarding this line of thought as ridiculous, Adam now focussed on damage control. He'd make a trip later down to the store to have this looked into. Not that it would do any good; Adam considered the store mechanic beneath his contempt, but there was no harm getting it looked into either. Besides the only real reason he went to that particular store was because he saw an interesting young woman buying a phone there about a year ago that he'd only recently summoned the courage to talk to. He'd not seen her since but he remained hopeful, if not desperate.


At that point, life seemed shallow, gloomy and hopeless; a view enhanced perhaps by the bright cheerful weather outside. He needed to break free from this monotonous bizarre reality he was reluctantly thrown into day in and day out. He needed a change, but wasn’t sure where to begin. It was at this point that he became aware of a letter that had been lying discreetly at the side of the door; not screaming for attention but commanded a great deal when it did receive it, much like an unattended bag at an airport. Adams instant reaction was to assume that it was a bill of some sort, not a beak or weapon of any sort, but more a quittance to some needless transaction that seemed vital at them time but would lose meaning a week into existence. His first reaction was to ignore it; seconds later he was reaching to pick it up and tear its head off. It was, rather disappointingly, a bill – for television he'd stopped watching months ago. Apparently asking to have the service removed translated into adding some special bonus pack to the already hefty sum. He threw it away in disgust and immediately focussed his attention to the second letter that lay even more discreetly behind the first. It read.


“Are you looking for a change? Does life seem shallow, gloomy and hopeless? Do you need a break from your monotonous bizarre reality that you’re reluctantly thrown into day in and day out? Looking for the perfect place to start? Why don’t you give us a visit? We guarantee you won’t regret it.

RRR - Rescind. Repeal. Recall”


A rather corny way to advertise but given the stark nature of the letter’s clairvoyance, Adam decided it would be silly not to find out what this was all about. Besides the address was only a short distance away from the mobile mart so it wasn’t too out of the way either. Soon enough he made his way back to the bus stop for the second time, pausing only once to rush back inside before the door closed to get his keys.


---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Disclaimer - All participating characters in this story, including John Lennon, are completely fictitious and any resemblance to actual persons, dead or alive, is purely coincidental but not regretted. Events are not subject to this disclaimer- they are completely intentional.

Well this was pretty shit. Just thought I'll vomit this at the lot of you. Let me know how it felt. Cheers :)

Tuesday, June 15, 2010

Do you believe in Soul Mates? Do you believe in the Soul? Why am I capitalizing "Soul"? What is wrong with me?

Those unable to bend will look for soul mates. I believe you can be with anyone if you're willing to try. It's just up to you want to try.

What is soul? Something to explain the things we do? Our personalities? Or is it what makes us human? Because there are several alternative rational explanations to all those claims. I guess the soul is the part of us that empathizes if not sympathizes with members of our own species and perhaps other species as well. It is true that not all of us do in the same way, but, if you're incapable of empathizing completely, I'm sure someone down the road has called you soulless.

Perhaps you capitalize soul because you refer to it as an entity on it's own? A proper noun instead of a common one.

There's only as much wrong with you as you think there is. I like you just the way you are :).

Ask me a question. Any relevant question.

Friday, March 26, 2010

That was fantastic. What do you imagine happens when you die?

If I die, I die. If you're asking about whether I believe in an afterlife, I don't think it's something you need to think about. Life is a full time job as it is. If i get to an afterlife I'll probably respond the same way I did in life - Be born (into an afterlife), be confused, get my bearings, find what I'm supposed to be doing, do what I think is right. If I'm in hell, so be it. I probably deserved it. If god is capricious enough to want me to suffer for not worshiping in him, he's not a god worth believing in.

The nice thing about the philosophy is it works for the Hindu belief in reincarnation too.

Ask me a question. Any relevant question.