From: owner-seven-seas@smoe.org (seven-seas-moderated-digest) To: seven-seas-moderated-digest@smoe.org Subject: seven-seas-moderated-digest V2 #223 Reply-To: seven-seas@smoe.org Sender: owner-seven-seas@smoe.org Errors-To: owner-seven-seas@smoe.org Precedence: bulk seven-seas-moderated-digest Tuesday, July 15 2003 Volume 02 : Number 223 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon, 14 Jul 2003 15:32:49 -0400 From: "Chris Adams" Subject: seven-seas-moderated Re: seven-seas Bunnygod Plaigiarised by the BBC ? multipart/alternative Sender: owner-seven-seas@smoe.org Precedence: bulk Reply-To: seven-seas@smoe.org Actually, it IS pretty...uncanny? (I suppose that's the appropriate word.) - --Chris A. PS: Saw BRMC the other night. Found it very disappointing. New tunes, but no great shakes--all sounded like b-sides from the debut LP. Structures were pretty neanderthal...actually, not even that...it wasn't "good" primitive. Just skeletal half-songs. No bridges, middle 8's, off-kilter anything. Verse chorus verse, chorus, verse, chorus, end. With maybe a lead in there somewhere. They were BORING, which, for a band like that, is the kiss of death. Hope I just caught a bad night (the mix was crap.) Anyone hear the new LP yet? Stu Bird Sent by: owner-seven-seas@smoe.org 14-Jul-2003 03:25 PM Please respond to seven-seas To: seven-seas@smoe.org cc: Subject: seven-seas Bunnygod Plaigiarised by the BBC ? Okay.. This has been winding me up for a week now, and I'm surprised noone from the UK hasn't already pointed this out, but it may just be a reflection of just how sad my life really is.. The BBC are promoting their Proms season with lots of lush adverts, and their logo appears to be exactly the same as the Bunnygod but without the ears.... Other than that.. it's very similar http://www.bbc.co.uk/proms/ See for yourself.. Am I really going mad, is there any hope for me.. Do I need to go out more ??? Stu - --------------------------------- Want to chat instantly with your online friends? Get the FREE Yahoo!Messenger ====================================== http://www.bunnymenlist.com ====================================== ====================================== The Official Seven-Seas Web Page. www.bunnymenlist.com ====================================== ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 14 Jul 2003 16:49:36 -0400 From: "Chris Adams" Subject: seven-seas-moderated Filter Part 3 multipart/alternative Sender: owner-seven-seas@smoe.org Precedence: bulk Reply-To: seven-seas@smoe.org Initial reviews of the album have just started coming in, and they're=20 unanimously positive. What do you think of it? "I think it's great. It contains possibly the greatest lyric ever=20 written?in song or in literature, if I do say so meself. It's "In=20 playgrounds and city parks/We played around 'til it went dark/In every=20 breath another spark was dying?"?and this is the real killer?"?at bus=20 stops we stood in line/like full stops at the end of time/where teardrops=20 don't ever dry for crying." That is?erm?it's?genius. For me it's a more=20 rounded album. Loads of people, especially European interviewers, have=20 said they find Slideling very upbeat, or optimistic. It's weird?I pretend = to agree with 'em, but I'm not sure if it is. Like, with "Baby Hold On" I=20 sing "When the day is done/Like your setting sun?" and that's what I=20 remember of it, but I suppose the payoff line is "I'll be there to catch=20 you/You won't fall." I guess there is more hope in it, and?I hope that I=20 do have hope. I know people like certain darker things that I do, but I'm = not gonna live anyone's death for 'em, y'know?" Do you find it difficult, knowing that what you need to write and sing=20 might be at odds with what some fans or critics expect of you?=20 "It's hard to satisfy fans, especially when you don't really trust=20 completely what they're into, when they like other people to cry their=20 tears for 'em. I don't really wanna do that. I've had enough crying on=20 me own. I asked Ivan (Bunnymen/Mac web-guru) to mention on the website=20 that I'd answer some fan questions, and I got loads of 'em. And there's a = lot of, 'what's your favorite albums of all time?' and, 'who inspired=20 you?' Fair enough, but you get the feeling they're people who already=20 know the soddin' answers. And you get people who say 'I like the songs on = Slideling?why couldn't you have done them with the Bunnymen?' And it's=20 like, 'Enough already! Don't you get me?' I don't think like that. It's = very hard to engage with fans on that level. I've just done some=20 interviews in London where it hasn't gone according to plan,=20 particularly, 'cos I went off on tangents?I like the word association=20 interviews, 'cos I think you get into somebody's head a bit more. It's=20 like cryptic crosswords, where the only way to solve 'em is to get inside=20 the compiler's head, not by phoning the answers up on the telephone help=20 line. But I've had some really good questions. There was a girl who=20 asked, 'Do you think Liverpool should play a 4-4-2, 5-3-2, or=20 1-2-1-1-2-2-1 formation?' (Laughs) And I said, 'the last one,' because I = think they've been playing that all season (laughs)?I can't figure out=20 what they're up to. And her second question was 'I'm thinking of buying a = car?do you think I should go for a five-year-old Volkswagen Gold or a=20 three-year-old Volkswagen Polvo?' She's someone who understands some of=20 what I've been up to the last twenty-odd years, deffo. It's a sexier=20 question. It's more scampish, or more kinda scampi?and chips, which is a=20 footballer's favorite meal. It's either scampi and chips or steak and=20 chips. With fans, I like the twinkle in the eye that says 'we don't even=20 have to approach each other?here's a wink?I like you, you like me, we=20 don't even have to speak.' I prefer that to always being approached.=20 There's a thread of understanding there. It's kind of coded, and I've=20 lived me life with code language, so?" I suppose it's kind of the difference between fans who go check out your=20 new stuff and those who start shouting for 'Do It Clean' at the beginning=20 of the set. "Yeah! It's like 'why do they still do that?'" It's been 11 years since your last solo album. Is Slideling a one-off, or = do you plan to continue making solo records? "I'll be doing another solo album, definitely, after the next Bunnymen=20 record."=20 What's on the agenda for the solo tour? "It's pretty much set now. We're doing Europe more acoustically, 'cos the = acoustic radio sessions have been brilliant, just two acoustic guitars and = a piano--no drums, no extra guitar. We'll do a full band for the first=20 American jaunt, but for the second, I'd like to do it less electric, and=20 more intimate. It's funny, 'cos the New York show and the L.A. show are=20 the smallest venues on the whole tour, and those two cities are they key=20 strongholds. What I'd like to do is four nights at The Fez, (cozy NY=20 venue?ed) like a residency, and four nights at an intimate place in L.A.=20 I'd like to do the same in Paris, Amsterdam, and Brussles. I'm really=20 looking forward to doing shows both ways. The full band is gonna work=20 great--it'll be more like the record?but the acoustic thing will be more=20 like staging the album before it was completed, how the songs developed.=20 What's great about that is it's more or less all voice, and me voice is=20 soundin' proper, the real deal. In the past, I think I used to shy away=20 from doing things like that. I'd think "I want all the trappings." But=20 now I feel more confident in the songs. The list of songs I'll do from=20 the three solo albums, plus covers and a couple of Bunnymen things, will=20 highlight me voice and the tunes. There won't be any 'Back of Love' or=20 'Over the Wall' but I'll do 'History Chimes,' possibly, and 'The Killing=20 Moon.' It will be more beautiful than just a 'rock show.' It'll be like=20 the Velvets at Max's Kansas City, where I can talk to the audience for a=20 bit. (The stripped-down arrangement) is gonna be great. Maybe I'll do a=20 third tour where I just stand there in the nude?" Final Question: What are you going to do with your life? "I'm gonna be me?be me?beam me up, Scotty!" ALBUM RETROSPECTIVE Crocodiles? Mac: "Erect-angular" Filter: A cryptic, spooky, subterranean slide through the backstreets of=20 nocturnal Liverpool. Heartfelt and haunted. McCulloch is hailed as=20 '...the voice of his generation?and he knows it.' Mac acts accordingly. Heaven Up Here? Mac "Horizontal horizons." Filter: A cathedralesque collection of ethereal atmospheres and off-kilter = experimentation. Features "A Promise," one of the band's finest singles.=20 Supposedly Will Sergeant's favorite Bunnymen LP. Deeply uncommercial.=20 Porcupine? Mac: "Needlework." Filter: Tortured and terrifying satanic majesty. A white-knuckle=20 exploration of spiritual suicide. Mac sings like a man possessed. Will=20 Sergeant emerges as England's premiere psychedelic guitarist. Includes=20 "Gods Will Be Gods," the musical equivalent of having your brains blown=20 out. Ocean Rain? Mac: "Beaujolais Nouveau." Filter: A lush, romantic, deep blue swirl of aural impressionism. Contains = "The Killing Moon, " "Seven Seas," and "Ocean Rain," 3 of the finest=20 examples of lyrical, melodic pop in the 80's. Also features "Thorn of=20 Crowns." (Sample lyric=20 "C-c-c-cucumber/C-c-c-cabbage/C-c-c-cauliflower."). The vocals on "Ocean=20 Rain" are arguably the best of Mac's career. Echo and the Bunnymen? Mac: "Shandy" Filter: Blandy. The rabbit died. Barring the brilliance of "The Game," a = relatively uninspired collection of inoffensive pop. Easily the=20 Bunnymen's worst LP. Candleland? Mac: "The color of caves." Filter: A deeply personal, fragile expression of loss, heartbreak and=20 hope. Mac's lyrics are at their most intimate and confessional. Cocteau=20 Twin Liz Frazer provides guest vocals on the lullabye-esque title track. Reverberation Filter: The Mac-less Bunnymen's exploration of retro-psychedelia. Plenty=20 of sitars, tabla, and backwards loops. Produced by Beatles engineer Geoff = Emerick. Not a bad record, but not a Bunnymen record. Mysterio? Mac: "Car thieves" (Think about it?ed) Filter: More robust than it's predecessor, it sports some fine pop-rockers = ("Damnation," "Magical World") and gorgeous semi-balladry ("Heaven's=20 Gate.") A few songs sound a little half-baked, but overall, it's a solid, = workmanlike outing. The cover version of Leonard Cohen's "Lover Lover=20 Lover" is exquisite. Burned? Mac: "Went to the match." Filter: The title says it all. Fiery and furious, it's a blazing hayride=20 to hell with Iggy at the helm. Will Sergeant's guitar is blistering.=20 Shamefully under-recognized. In ten years, some latter-day Lenny Kaye=20 will surely re-release this garage-psych killer. Evergreen? Mac: "Never knowingly undersold." Filter: The Bunnymen's Rubber Soul. Twelve slices of shimmering pop=20 classicism. "Nothing Lasts Forever" is probably the band's most beautiful = song since "The Killing Moon." Limited edition came with an extra disc of = the Bunnymen's best John Peel Sessions. What Are You Going To Do With Your Life?? Mac: "Don't ask rhetorical questions." Filter: A swooning masterwork of reflective chamber-pop. Captures Mac at=20 the top of his game, shooting straight from the hip and heart. Sergeant's = relative absence, however, is noticeable. One of the greatest album=20 titles of all time. Flowers? Mac: "Two lips" Filter: A return to a more "classic" Bunnymen sound, with Sergeant=20 front-and-center. Sumptuous with Velvet Underground, Doors, Television,=20 and Byrds references. "An Eternity Turns" is the band's best=20 hell-for-leather rocker since "Back of Love." Slideling? Mac: "See 'climbling.'" Mac's most fully realized solo LP contains badass Lou Reed-y street=20 swagger ("Love in Veins," "High Wires"), romantic tearjerkers=20 ("Playgrounds and City Parks," "Arthur") and surging electrostatic grooves = ("Seasons," "Stake Your Claim.") Forthcoming single "Baby Hold On" will=20 feature a duet version of the song with Jane Birkin, of Serge Gainsbourg's = "Je T'aime" notoriety. Classy. ====================================== The Official Seven-Seas Web Page. www.bunnymenlist.com ====================================== ------------------------------ End of seven-seas-moderated-digest V2 #223 ******************************************