From: owner-seven-seas@smoe.org (seven-seas-digest) To: seven-seas-digest@smoe.org Subject: seven-seas-digest V2 #543 Reply-To: seven-seas@smoe.org Sender: owner-seven-seas@smoe.org Errors-To: owner-seven-seas@smoe.org Precedence: bulk seven-seas-digest Monday, July 14 2003 Volume 02 : Number 543 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon, 14 Jul 2003 16:49:36 -0400 From: "Chris Adams" Subject: seven-seas 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. ====================================== http://www.bunnymenlist.com ====================================== ------------------------------ End of seven-seas-digest V2 #543 ********************************