Dancing About Architecture 01.03.05
Posted by Ian Wright on 01.03.2006
New GN’R material, Bono to leave U2, boring political music and maybe Gary Glitter does rape kids after all.
The bit at the start
Happy New Year and all that jazz, I trust you had an enjoyable Saturday Night/Sunday Morning. I certainly did although it's a bit sad that the biggest triumph of the night was leaving a party at 4:45 and being able to flag down a taxi within 2 seconds which is pretty unusual for Dublin on any weekend night, much less new years.
Anyway this is going to be a short one this week as I decided that my evening would be better served by playing poker with some friends then writing this column. Fortunately very little has happened in the last few days.
By the way, I've finally cracked and signed up to myspace, you can "be my friend" by going here, additionally I've decided to give blogging a go so you can find out why I hate King Kong and how of late I've been looking like a homosexual there as well.
Beg, borrow, buy, steal or download this album
Your Favourite Album – Your Favourite Artist.
I can't pick something great every week you know?
Experience the workings of other people's minds.
I said it was going to be a short one didn't I?
Blah blah read everyone, everyone is good blah blah*
* This phrase will henceforth be known as "Excuse for me being a lazy bastard: 1"
You news, you lose
Thirty odd million and counting.
Once upon a time, in a place far-far away known as the early 90's there was a band called Guns N' Roses. Led by a squealing ginge with a taste for cycling shorts they conquered all before them. Eventually, driven mad by lack of blood circulating in the groin area (those bastards were tight) this leader fired the rest of his bandmates and embarked on a quest for the mythical "Chinese Democracy". Over a decade later it is nowhere to be found but there may be light at the end of the tunnel.
According to Guns N' Roses fansite Here Today … Gone To Hell former Gn'R guitarist Slash was interviewed on a Philadelphia radio station and said that he was looking forward to hearing the new album when it's released in March. The host asked him if he meant that "Chinese Democracy" is coming out in March, to which Slash replied that he's been told many things over time, but this time it really sounds like it's coming out.
Does anyone actually still care about this album? I liked the band when I was 14 but squealing solos and lots of swearing was already passé by 1995, trying the same stuff 11 years on could be pretty dumb.
Damn, we were so close.
If you've listened to any of U2's recent dodgy output and wished that Bono would just fuck off to Africa to save the whole continent from starvation/exploitation by whitey/unprotected rutting so we didn't have to hear crap like "Vertigo" on the radio then you've got no idea how close you came to getting your wish. In an interview with BBC Radio 4's Today programme that his political activities had "raised eyebrows" amongst his bandmates and that at one stage he feared that he would have to leave the band.
"There was one point when I thought 'I'm going to be thrown out of the band for this stuff'," Bono said before adding that the rest of the band were ultimately "hugely supportive spiritually and financially of the work I do, but they are in a rock 'n' roll band and the first job of a rock 'n' roll band is not to be dull."
He is however aware of the risk of going over the top with his activities as doing so could "wear out the audience", "We have to be very careful about just letting me go too far. People just openly jeered and I felt like I was a weight around my band's neck for doing this kind of work."
"People are smart out there. They know what you are doing, they know the compromises you are making, they get it," he explained. "Our audience feels like they have a stronger voice through me, and the band can see that."
I think they should kick him out, the Edge should learn an effect other than delay and the 3 remaining members should go post rock.
I also think that Bono should pay a visit to one of the remaining cannibalistic tribes in Africa, but maybe that's taking it too far.
Publicity stunts rule.
Some of you that saw Live 8 a few months back may have been surprised to learn that former Verve frontman Richard Ashcroft was not dead. It turns out that not only is he still alive but he's got a new album due out soon and he says that it'll be the most political of his career.
"Keys to the world" sees Ashcroft taking aim at George W. Bush and other figures that use religion as a political tool.
He explained to the NME, "There's a track called 'Why Not Nothing' about how the world's turning so conservative and so religious at the same time."
"I think it's up to the songwriters to give another side to the coin and my music does that. It gives another side, it's not an atheist side but it's someone saying that they don't necessarily believe in all that."
To be honest I think that attacking Bush for his religious beliefs is a bit of a soft target and it's been done to death, most notably (and incredibly clumsily) by Bright Eyes, and just once I'd like to see someone try to point out that while the Christian right are lunatics there are members of groups that are looked on more favourably by your typical left-leaning artist types who believe and do the most reprehensible things.
At least they stopped him wearing that ridiculous wig in jail: Part 2
Ah Vietnam, land of …
…
um …
…
THE VIETNAMESE
Where you can get away with screwing someone's 12-year-old daughter for the price of a high-end laptop. As I reported last week 2 charges of child-rape against former Glam-Rocker Gary Glitter were dropped on December 26 and it has since emerged that the reason for this is that Glitter made payments of $2000 to the families of both girls involved for their "co-operation" in the upcoming case.
"If we pay the money for the two families, when this case goes to court, maybe Mr Gary will receive a lighter penalty," his lawyer Le Thanh Kinh told the AP news agency. "After receiving the money, they informed the investigation bureau that they don't want to go to court and they want to drop the case."
All I can say after reading that is, "Wow, what balls that lawyer has," he effectively admitted that his client is guilty as sin, proclaimed that he helped bribe witnesses to get him off and probably did so without any shame whatsoever.
Mob lawyers should be taking notes here. Mr. Kinh, I salute you.
Writing under the influence
Without which this column would not have been possible:
Goldfrapp – Supernature
Low – The Great Destroyer
The bit at the end
I really like the new design, kudos to whoever it was that came up with it.
A whole bunch of very early Radiohead demos emerged last week. Trying to be as nice as possible all I can say is that they've come a long way. "How Can You Be Sure" was and is still a great song though.
