It’s been several years coming
but Manchester finally got a taste of Le Gateau Chocolat’s sweet sweet
award-winning talent at Contact last night. Forget lip-syncing for your life, the
big, bearded and beautiful Le Gateau
Chocolat is first and foremost a vocalist of genuine power, and while she
might like to cheekily introduce herself as a ‘complete asshole’, her stage
persona is life-giving and full of heart – but let’s talk about that voice… Baritone,
velvet, dextrous, LOUD – you have never heard the Great American Songbook
performed like this. Breakneck trips through the best of the musicals are
punctuated with heart-breaking interludes where wigs and music are stripped
back for moments of real tenderness. At one point a delicate ‘Hoppipolla’-style
piano scale underpins the most touching Whitney Houston interpretation you
might ever hear.
The best drag performers have
comedy and tragedy at the tips of their gloves, and the music of Ms Chocolat
moves deftly between the two. The potted version of Les Miserables will make you want to fast forward through every
musical film ever with Gateau on the couch bedside you – hilarious. It’s offset
emotionally with moments such as an astonishing tribute to Paul Robeson, where
Gateau brings her basso profundo to the painful, beautiful, dignified slave narrative
of Robeson’s ‘Old Man River’. It’s a very moving and special moment to see a
large, powerful and adored black queer body and voice in all their power. Queer culture should always be about
celebrating that which the mainstream designates as ‘odd’ and ‘other’. Le Gateau
Chocolat celebrates herself, and the audience follows lovingly. ‘I have a law
degree you know,’ she says, as she switches from one dazzling lycra creation to
the next. Defying expectations is where great art begins, of course.
I still listen to new music all the time but I think the period of
my life is over where music has the power to impact on me so hard that it’s
like being in love or becoming politicised or finding out a truth about
yourself. Feelings of that intensity probably won’t happen now just from
hearing an album. It’s a bit sad to think about it that way but I’m fine with
it. I know who I am a bit more these days and there are things in life just as
important as music, andsome even more so.
In 1990 that was not true. I was twelve and pin-balling
between two great albums released the year before; ‘3 Feet High and Rising’ by
De La Soul, and ‘The Stone Roses’. I was young with not much frame of reference
but music gave me a sudden and profound understanding that there was a much bigger
and better world out there, with an astounding soundtrack. (I am living in it
now, thank God).
That young period of my life has expanded in my memory, maybe
because in the ‘90s all I cared about was music and in those days you had to
wait for your music. You waited for Top Of The Pops, you waited for The Chart
Show, you waited till you had enough money to buy a record, you waited for the
record shop to open or you waited for your records to arrive in the post, you
waited for the inky weeklies and the glossy monthlies, you waited for the radio
to play the right song, you waited and waited. Perhaps that’s why it feels as
if I’d already been listening to music for a long time when ‘Teen Spirit’ landed
in September 1991. I was thirteen and a half then and I can’t overstate how
much my sister and I loved that record and how much we loved Kurt on sight. We
should have been afraid or unnerved, at least by the dark gorgeous video that constantly
looped on MTV, but because Kurt looked so frail and indie yet sounded so heavy it
hit you from both sides and never stopped.
Henry Rollins said ‘Nirvana slayed the hair bands’ and whether you agree or not, at the time the heavy guitars we craved seemed like the province
of Guns N Roses (who we loved and then discarded – they seemed ludicrous post-Nevermind) and their sexist West Coast soundalikes.
It’s possible I heard the Pixies’ Surfer
Rosa the week before ‘Teen Spirit’, or at the latest immediately after, and
I got Trompe Le Monde on release in ‘91,
so I was at least moving in the right direction, but Nirvana blew everything up
in minutes. Even now I find it hard to credit that a band whose impression on
me was so overwhelming and has been so enduring were only around for two years
in total from ‘Teen Spirit’ to the final double A-side of (the overrated) ‘All
Apologies’ and the poignant, brilliant, bookend re-imaging of ‘Teen Spirit’
that was ‘Rape Me’. Kurt was gone four months later.
When you walk into a film like Brett Morgen’s Montage Of Heck you are sad already because
there’s no getting away from the ending you already know, but Morgen has offset
that anxious anticipation of loss with such weird artistry and lingering
intimacy, moments of absolute comedy, and such a brilliant devoted use of
Nirvana’s music, re-imagined, stripped down or slowed down, orchestrated or
left raw, that you are in Kurt’s grubby and funny and hurt world for longer
than one album ever allowed, and it’s overwhelming and addictive – two
adjectives which were pretty much the blessing and curse of Nirvana and Kurt.
Montage Of Heck is
a film about Kurt and watches its subject in as isolated a way as it’s possible
to do in film without making something abstract. There are no discussions, per se, not about the legacy, nothing about the Seattle scene, the word grunge is never mentioned, Dave Grohl is not included, Courtney only speaks a few times (and
for one of the world’s greatest music interviewees makes a bland showing) –
this is all about Kurt from birth to death and sets his life and writing and
personality against fame and pain and the power of his songs. When ‘Territorial
Pissings’ hits the speakers it is such a spectacular kick in the guts that it’s
hard to sit still. I thought people might stand up. I wanted to. Conversely,
the arrival of ‘Teen Spirit’ is handled with a genius understated stroke (but
stay for the very very end of the credits for some emotional comeback).
Among the stories about Kurt you might never have heard,
and certainly the footage you won’t have seen of tiny Kurt becoming the kind of
messy movie-star-handsome man you want to instantly be friends with, there are
two moments that left me heartsick. One is the cut between footage of baby Kurt
and baby Frances, who could be twins. The second is a grown up Kurt visibly
nodding out with Frances in his lap and a drawling Courtney trying to cut the
baby’s hair. It’s truly pitiful, and whatever Kurt went through as a child, at least nobody did that
to him. Frances co-produced the movie and I wonder what it was like to see that
footage for the first time. It’s almost certainly heroin and it’s very hard to watch.
Where footage and photos run dry, animations take over and I
understand that some people won’t be into that aspect but the aesthetic of it seems so
right for the time, referencing the zine/poster look from the ‘alternative’
world of that period, and it never turns Kurt into something you feel he’s not.
It feels authentic. In addition, the continuous animation of his notebook lyrics and artwork
is probably my favourite aspect, aside from the music. The feeling of an
invisible hand and a blank page coming alive with the non-stop weirdness that
would eventually become known world-wide is a powerful tribute to Kurt as a writer.
If you’ve read other reviews it’s no spoiler that the film
doesn’t focus on the method or circumstances of Kurt’s death, and certainly not on any conspiracies around it, though it does seem to accept the Rohypnol near-miss in
Rome as a suicide attempt so is not entirely a fence-sitting piece. At two and
quarter hours it might be the longest amount of time you’ve spent in Nirvana’s
company for a while so prepare to feel it all again. You’ll be glad to recall there
were so many highs and only one big low that I guess we’re all still going
through. I had a ticket to see Nirvana play at the Manchester G-MEX in March 1994. I'd just turned sixteen. After the
Rome incident they re-scheduled the gig for April but by the time the re-scheduled
date came around Kurt had already been dead for a week. I came that close to seeing them.
I have my unused ticket still. When they cremate me or turn me into an apple
tree or whatever, it will probably be in my pocket.
'Ask me no questions, I'll tell you no lies The past is your present, the future is mine...'
A girl racing home from her job in a pizza parlour to get ready for a night at the Funhouse in New York City, Barny Sumner and Gillian Gilbert turning up to the club in shorts, that quotation above... this 1983 video couldn't be more Manhattanchester if it tried...
If you live in Manchester and you love your music, chances
are your path will cross with Fiona Ledgard’s sooner or later. A compulsive
gig-goer, champion of new music, radio DJ and more, when I speak to Fiona she’s
just back from seeing Bob Marley's band The Wailers. (‘Moving and inspiring!’ she enthuses.)
After graduating Manchester University’s ‘Music,
Culture and Society' BA, Fiona made a trip to Berlin, returned to the city,
volunteered at All FM and has been broadcasting
eclectic quality music to south, east and central Manchester ever since. All FM
is Manchester’s community radio station and has been soundtracking the city for
over a decade now. As well as quality broadcasts, the station offers radio training and other unique opportunities to everyone from the city’s
unemployed, to Mancunians experiencing mental health issues, to students in musical training
programmes. The station’s remit is all about community and diversity, and for
that reason alone it’s a credit to the city.
Fiona’s own commitment to music and culture has seen
her interview a crazy range of people, from punk geniuses The Slits to
queer icon JD Samson, from fellow DJs like Mary Anne Hobbs and Dave Haslam to
radical performance artistes like David Hoyle and Justin Vivian Bond, plus more
bands than you can shake a tambourine at.
As of this week, Fiona is taking over the coveted
time slot of 5-7pm. That’s’s right, she’s going drive time! Her show will hit
the ground running tonight, including three brand new features: Is it 'anging or is it banging?, Rappers
Delight and Thank You For The Music.
Tune in to find out what exactly they're all about. You're going to hear something that will perfectly kick off another tremendous weekend in Manchester.
'It's crazy how a small city like this can have so many promoters and artists out there putting on their own stuff and making a really good go of it, and there's a real togetherness between most of them too...'
What’s your name?
James Victor Travis, or JVT... Or
just James if you prefer. Never Jamie or J, though.
What do you do?
I work in Social Media for a popular hotel booking site in the centre
of the city, it's a pretty good day job to be honest. I'm also the chap behind
the Dots & Loops club and gigs, and sometimes DJ elsewhere when people will
have me. Other than that, I'll probably be at home listening to Leonard Cohen.
Where do you live?
I'm living with my girlfriend in West Didsbury at the moment, just off
Burton Road. The flat is kinda weird because it's above a house share that we
have to pass through to get to it, but it's totally our own space. The other
day we needed to get access to the basement below the house share to store some
junk, and it turns out the basement is a disused recording studio. I mean, it
isn't in operational order right now, but it's pretty damn cool down there.
Tell us the story of how you ended up in Manchester.
It's hard to elaborate on how I ended up somewhere I've always been. I was brought up in Rochdale
and studied at Salford Uni for a couple of years and I never made the decision to move away anywhere else. I've often considered
moving away, but it never came off for one reason or another... it's definitely
likely in a few years or so, but I'm quite comfortable for the time being.
What’s great about this city?
There's never a lack of good shows or events, and it's a
really creative place with a good atmosphere. It's crazy how a small city like
this can have so many promoters and artists out there putting on their own
stuff and making a really good go of it, and there's a real togetherness
between most of them too. The record stores, of course... People complain about
the weather, but I quite like it these days.
What’s not so great?
The high street is pretty awful.
People can say what they like about HMV, but to see that store close down and
become a 3-storey bargain place is pretty depressing. It's just scaled down
supermakets and mobile phone stores now. Piccadilly Gardens is a real mess too,
and that big wheel hasn't done much for it. I really can't tolerate Spinningfields, but each to their own and all that. I'm not really a city
centre kind of guy I suppose.
Do you have a favourite Manchester building?
The old fire station by Piccadilly train station, it's a really impressive
building, absolutely stunning. It's a real shame that Britannia Hotels (who own
the building) continue to neglect it. They came up with some nonsense about
there being no demand for more hotels in the city, but then you see there's
more and more hotels being proposed and approved every year. It's really hard
for me to understand what they're trying to do there, very unusual. Hopefully
there can be some kind of resolution soon, but it's been 20-something years as
far as I'm aware, so I'll not hold my breath. It's not like a new hotel would
be my preferred option for the place anyway, but it needs to be SOMETHING. The
worst building? Has to be that premier inn. What a shocker.
Do you have a favourite Mancunian?
I don't really have a favourite Mancunian that comes to mind. I guess
I'll be real nice and say my Papa. It certainly ain't Ian Brown, anyway! Mark E
Smith is a funny guy, I like him. Don't reckon he'd like me much, mind...
What’s your favourite pub/bar/club/restaurant/park/venue?
This is real difficult, there's plenty of nice places! I suppose my
favourite places would be Fuel and Kraak. Always a great atmosphere in both
those places, and plenty of interesting stuff going on. Islington Mill is
fantastic... The Castle is nice to pop in for a good drink and a sit down, and
the venue space is pretty handy too. I generally like to stay in with a few
records though, and burton road has a really great beer store now called The
Epicurean. It isn't cheap, but it's good to be able to just pop into a place
and pick up some drinks you're used to only being able to buy at trendy bars
here and there.
What do you think is missing from Manchester?
I think we were missing a good medium
sized venue, but the Albert Hall has that covered really well now.
Burton Road really needs a grocery store, I'll say that. I don't think there's
enough good outdoor areas in the centre of the city, nowhere to really sit down
and relax in the middle of all the madness. That's maybe something they could
work on, starting with Piccadilly Gardens.
If I was Mayor for a day I would …
Make the Metrolink free of
charge. Hell, that ain't no kind of service to be charged for.
Who else would you like to nominate to answer this questionnaire?
Kev Rolfe. He's got his own label going on
now, and is always involved in other great stuff. He's off around America for a
few months but you should grab him after that.
Dots& Loops 8th Birthday is on July 4th including a DJ set from special guest Bob Stanley (Saint Etienne) plus live sets from The Oscillation & Dead Sea Apes. Kraak.
9pm till 4am. £8 advance, £10 on the door. Event page here.
When it became apparent that half the music I was listening
to originated from the Nordic countries (Sweden, Iceland, Norway, Denmark, Finland)
I decided to make a proper playlist of my favourite songs from that part of the
world because I’m organised and because I’m an anorak. Confession: Husky Rescue
had passed me by until just now and
are the only Finnish entry but I will now embark on a stint of Finnish music
(recommendations?). The list is two hours long and has a very extensive range
of sounds and some of it is old and some is very new but I think each and every
song is genuinely outstanding in its way.
I'm FAR too busy for my usual pathologically-detailed run-down this year, you'll have to make do with some of the other 837 end-of-year lists (some of which are alarming, annoying and brilliant). I know all too well there are umpteen albums I haven't touched yet (too busy in the 1970s as usual...) so instead here is a thirty-song snapshot of songs that I properly loved this year. The last track on this list is easily my most-played thing of the year btw. The Phoenix Foundation – Corale Still Corners – Berlin Lovers Bonobo – Cirrus John Grant – Glacier Daft Punk – Doin' it Right Mikal Cronin – Shout It Out Youth Lagoon – Mute Laura Mvula – Father, Father David Bowie – Where Are We Now? Ciara – Overdose Daniel Avery – Free Floating M.I.A. – Bring The Noize - Extended Version Nancy Elizabeth – Indelible Day Disclosure – Latch When Saints Go Machine – Iodine Janelle Monae – Q.U.E.E.N. [feat. Erykah Badu] Haim – The Wire V V Brown – The Apple Arcade Fire – Reflektor Lizzo – Batches & Cookies Queens Of The Stone Age – If I Had A Tail Warpaint – Love Is to Die Suede – Barriers Kanye West – Black Skinhead Rhye – Open Mutya Keisha Siobhan – Flatline Blood Orange – You're Not Good Enough Classixx – Rhythm Santa Clara Todd Terje – Strandbar (disko) CHVRCHES – The Mother We Share - We Were Promised Jetpacks Remix
Spotify playlist is here. And below is a non-Spotify gem you really need to hear... Happy new year!
Here are all of the name-dropped songs and singles that furnish
Morrissey’s Autobiography (excluding
his own, of course) compiled as a playlist with all that Spotify will allow. Warning: it’s (predictably) quite brilliant…Here is the Spotify link: Morrissey: Autobiography playlist and the track listing is below. Treat yourself to my review of the Autobiography here.
Track listing:
Millie – My Boy Lollipop
Roy Orbison – It's Over
Manfred Mann – Pretty Flamingo
New Vaudeville Band – Peek A Boo
Four Tops – Bernadette
Paul Jones – I've Been A Bad Bad Boy
Francoise Hardy – All Over The World - English Version of
"Dans Le Monde Entier"
The Righteous Brothers – You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin' - Single
Version
Jimmy Jones – Good Timin'
Tony Orlando – Bless You
Marianne Faithfull – Come And Stay With Me
Love Affair – Rainbow Valley
The Foundations – Back On My Feet Again
Small Faces – Lazy Sunday
Sandie Shaw – You've Not Changed
Lulu – I'm a Tiger
Rita Pavone – Heart
Diana Ross & The Supremes – Reflections - Single Version
Diana Ross & The Supremes – I'm Livin' In Shame - Juke Box
Single Version (Stereo)
Matt Monro – We're Gonna Change The World - 2010 Digital Remaster
Shirley Bassey – Let Me Sing and I'm Happy
Paper Dolls – Something Here In My Heart
David Bowie – Starman - 2002 Digital Remaster
Buffy Sainte-Marie – Soldier Blue
Buffy Sainte-Marie – Moratorium
The Pioneers – Let Your Yeah Be Yeah
Dave And Ansel Collins – Double Barrel
Bob & Marcia – Young, Gifted And Black
Springwater – I Will Return
Hurricane Smith – Don't Let It Die
Jo Jo Gunne – Run Run Run
The Elgins – Heaven Must Have Sent You
T. Rex – Jeepster
T. Rex – Metal Guru
T. Rex – Telegram Sam
Mr Bloe – Groovin' With Mr Bloe
Blue Mink – Melting Pot
Roxy Music – Virginia Plain
New York Dolls – Jet Boy
New York Dolls – Trash
Mott The Hoople – All The Young Dudes
Faron Young – It's Four In The Morning
Melanie Safka – I Don't Eat Animals
Iggy & The Stooges – Your Pretty Face Is Going To Hell - Iggy
Pop Mix
Sex Pistols – Anarchy In The UK
Sparks – This Town Ain't Big Enough For The Both Of Us
New York Dolls – Frankenstein
New York Dolls – Personality Crisis
Nancy Sinatra – Happy
Dionne Warwick – Loneliness Remembers What Happiness Forget
Jobriath – Morning Star Ship
Pony Club – Single
Ewan MacColl – Morrissey and the Russian Sailor
Kirsty MacColl – You Know It's You
Nancy Sinatra – Let Me Kiss You
Patti Smith Group – Because the Night
Brigitte Bardot – Bubble Gum
Herman's Hermits – East West
David Bowie – Drive In Saturday - 1999 Digital Remaster
Well, the world didn’t end, but it’s still in a right old state,
and isn’t music the very best of comforts and the most comforting of
distractions? I’ve had a special little moment with every one of these
songs in 2012. I’ll wax lyrical on the top ten when we get there, and what a ten
it is. Here’s the Spotify playlist, and here's the rundown from 50…
14. Macklemore & Ryan Lewis – Thrift Shop - feat. Wanz
13. Friends – A Thing Like This
12. The Child of Lov – Heal
11. Orbital – One Big Moment
And the top 10…
10. Kitty Pryde –
Okay Cupid
‘Get out my
rooooom….!’ A super late entry from Ms Pryde and her girlish, lolloping gem
of a single. It didn’t occur to me until about my tenth listen that this was rap. I’ve been so brainwashed into
thinking rap belongs entirely to hip-hop but here’s Kitty to prove otherwise.
Lyrically, this might be favourite thing on the list. Just listen:
‘Lordy, shorty, you're
a 10 and I wait for your drunk dials at 3:30 am, I love them.
So call me sober when
you're ready, not goin’ steady, but babe I planned our wedding already’
9. Todd Terje –
Inspector Norse
Everybody loves
this track, how could they not? It’s Bentley Rhythm Ace and The Clangers for a generation
reared on Aeroplane mixes. Terje’s amazing instrumental shows there are other ways
to be uplifting without having crashing great crescendos everywhere. And just
when you think you’re in the groove with it, at three minutes thirty that weird
hummmmmm bottoms out and makes you
want to do all the messy things in the world. Out and out magic.
8. Grimes – Genesis
She’s the Enya you can dance to. That’s a good thing, by the
way. I nearly chose ‘Oblivion’ or ‘Be A Body’, the album is choc-full of these
little masterpieces, but ‘Genesis’ neatly represents everything she’s best at.
The Enya’s really kick in just shy of a minute but then it gives way to that
amazing beat... An electronic masterclass.
7. Mykki Blanco &
Brenmar – Wavvy
The queering of hip-hop continues apace. Mykki Blanco is not
just an artist who happens to be gay either, there is full-on sexual potency
and radical drag at the heart of his material. This addictive track is actually
trad hip-hop in lots of ways, the me-me-me vibes are intact and the production
could be a 50 Cent record, but just listen to those words:
‘I pimp slap you bitch
niggas with my limp wrist, bro
What the fuck I gotta
prove to a room full of dudes
Who ain't listening to
my words cuz they staring at my shoes…’
Come out Missy Elliott, it’s lovely out here.
6. Girls Aloud – On
The Metro
Comeback single ‘Something New’ was just clearing the decks
for this knowing, rollicking bullet of a track. Great pop can usually eclipse
whoever is actually singing it, and this would have been just as good in the
hands of anyone from Mini Viva to Kylie, but the fact Cheryl at the very least might
have actually cried on the Metro adds some charming veracity to the whole affair.
5. Sleigh Bells –
Comeback Kid
I didn’t really know or mind what Sleigh Bells were going to
do next, but this piece of massive Ratatat-meets-Stars buzz-saw gutter pop turned
into my favourite ever track of theirs. Drunk air-guitaring to this became a
brilliant thing for me this year, it’s
in my repertoire forever.
4. iamamiwhoami –
Goods
Kate Bush’s influence seems to be all over the place this
year (Alex Winston, Grimes) and nowhere is it more obvious than on the weird
helium-and-trill vocals of this track, so it might take you a while to realise
you are in the middle of the best dance song of 2012. Jonna Lee’s iamamiwhoami
project has delivered something astonishingly good in the Kin album. Not a shabby moment on it.
3. Haim – Forever
Perfect guitar pop record. I’ve been falling in love to and
with this song since the summer. It might turn out to be one of those golden
one-hit moments a la Wilson Philips but right now it sounds like the greatest reason
in the world to grow your hair and cycle round town with your sisters. The
Lindstrom and Prins Thomas re-work was one of my favourite mixes of the year too.
2. Solange – Losing
You
Her most sensational output since ‘Sandcastle Disco’, nobody
has quite put their finger on why this track is so great, so perfect in fact. Every
botched description I’ve read in the press has put it further out of reach. It’s
a sad song first off, all my favourite songs are, but it sounds like she’s at a
block party, and the weird dissonance between the two is a pop trick worthy of
Prince. It’s quite simply brilliant. You can stop mentioning the B-word now.
1. Winhill/Losehill –
Tell Her She's The Light Of The World
It’s fate and only fate that a band that just rolled up in
my ‘recommended listening’ one day has had such a lasting impact on me. This
video was the first thing I heard from Sweden’s Winhill/Losehill and it was
love at first listen. ‘Tell Her She's The Light Of The World’ isn’t just my
song of the year, their album Swing Of Sorrowis the most perfectly realised and moving set of songs I have heard
in ages. From the opening ten seconds of silence, to ‘Karin’s Hymn’ where a
mournful cello drops out of the sky like a Lancaster Bomber, to the perfect happy/sad
Neil Young-esque ‘The House Is Black’ and ‘Long Way To Next Stop’, to the brilliantly
funny Beirut-style stomper ‘I Leave You ‘Cause I Don’t Care’, this sounds like
a band at the absolute peak of their vision, and it’s only a debut. Song, band,
and album of 2012.
Postscript and
Interview
I was so possessed by wanting to know where this kind of songwriting
can come from, and getting tired of reading badly Google-translated interviews
in Swedish, that I tracked down the band myself and asked them some questions.
Here’s what they told me:
The
music for this album was written under a terrible cloud of sadness around
Jonas’ mother’s illness and subsequent passing. Is it important for listeners
to know about these unusually fraught circumstances, or are you happy for the
album to stand alone?
JONAS - I hope it can stand alone without the listeners necessarily
knowing about all that. I mean, those things are the reasons we came together
to make the record so of course it’s really important for us, but my impression
is that anyone who has been through something similar, like the loss of a loved
one or any form of painful breakup, can catch up on that just from relating to
the songs in themselves.
The
band name comes from a place near to me, just over in Derbyshire, where Jonas
visited as a youth. What are your memories of England, and have you or any of
the band ever been to Manchester?
JONAS – One of my memories is walking in the mountains
just outside of Hope village; the landscapes were very inspiring and beautiful.
The strongest memory though is the music I experienced and learned during my
stay at a folk music camp. English folk music has definitely been an
inspiration for Swing of Sorrow. Unfortunately
though, I've never been to Manchester.
CARL – Many members of the band have been to the UK and
we’d obviously love to come play there soon, especially in a music city like
Manchester!
Where
does the album title Swing Of Sorrow come from?
CARL - The short answer is that ‘back in your wild swing of sorrow love’ is the first line in ‘Don’t
let the inside shine out’. But Swing of
Sorrow was also the working title for another song way back, which we
eventually changed. When we were to decide on an album title it suddenly came
back to us. Partly because we felt that all the mood swings we’d been through
during the grieving process was exactly that, a swing of sorrow. And partly
because of the musical reference, a way of tying grief and music together.
What
makes this record so special for me is that there are moments of terrible
melancholy offset by a wonderful sense of elation and hope. Is that a fair
assessment of your intentions?
JONAS - I find it hard to define intentions like that, composing
is just so much more intuitive to me, but it’s definitely a really beautiful and
flattering assessment of how one can receive our music.
Some
artists revel in abstraction, such as Bon Iver, and that can work really well. Your
writing seems to be the opposite, there’s a concern that the listener
understands exactly what you intend. For instance the line, ‘In these songs I have tried to make it
clear: whenever she is close there is no fear’, is one of my favourite
moments. I find that frankness and lack of irony really moving. Is that an
accurate description for what your music is trying to achieve?
CARL - I believe that sometimes a straight line like that
can be the best way to say something complicated, and sometimes a queer
abstraction is necessary to say the simplest thing. We’re really into writing
songs and telling stories that matter to ourselves in ways that move the
listener and I wouldn’t want to avoid any methods of writing to achieve that.
We write for ourselves and for strangers, so to speak.
In
the rest of Europe and America, Swedish music seems to fall in and out of
fashion from time to time (see also Canadian music). Would you consider
yourself part of a ‘scene’, and do you think it’s a help or a hindrance?
JONAS - I wouldn’t really say we’re part of a scene in
that way. Of course there are some bands that we feel related to musically, but
that’s sort of independent of time and space, and some bands that are our
friends, but that’s mostly being from Umeå and having known each other from way
back.
‘Karin’s
Hymn’ is one of the loveliest instrumental pieces I’ve heard in years. Are you
classically trained musicians, and do you differentiate between using one type
of instrument and another when you’re making music for the band?
JONAS - Thank you so much. Writing that piece was a truly
proud moment for me as a composer and one of the songs I remember playing on
the piano for my mother while she was sick. Writing music to record and playing
music live are two very different things to me and I try to think as little as
possible of the practical circumstances and different levels of training of the
musicians when I'm writing, so that the creative process can be as free as
possible.
CARL – As far as the band is concerned, everybody comes
from really different backgrounds with various degrees of having studied or
worked with music, but we’ve all been playing together in different
constellations since about high school.
What’s
great about living in Sweden, and wuld you ever consider living anywhere else?
CARL - What’s great is the few remains of the welfare
state, but that’s unfortunately being dismantled more and more for every day.
If things don’t change for the better soon, maybe we’ll have to consider going
into exile: preferably somewhere a bit warmer, less racist and more fair. Where
is that again?
JONAS - The musical climate in Sweden is often very warm
and supportive and it has helped me and the band a lot in the creation of Swing
of Sorrow to have the kind of support we've had from other musicians, teachers,
institutions and people around us.
I can
hear so many diverse influences in the music (some that may not even be there),
such as Neil Young, Beirut, P:ano… Who really does influence you as musicians
and songwriters?
JONAS – Me and my co-producer Henrik Nybom (also the
band's drummer) were listening a lot to classical composers while arranging and
recording Swing of Sorrow, for
example Igor Stravinsky and György Ligeti. Rufus Wainwright and Frank Zappa are
two other important influences.
CARL – From those you mentioned, I’ve taken more interest
in Neil Young again just recently, when it comes to writing lyrics. But during
the work with Swing of Sorrow, and in
general, I really find the most inspiration in writers and poets rather than
songwriters. Lyn Hejinian, Forough Farrokhzad and Marguerite Duras for example.
JONAS - And in the end, just hanging around together is
probably the most inspiring for all of us!
What
new music have you enjoyed this year?
JONAS - Just the other day I discovered Sufjan Stevens
latest Christmas-album which gave me a joyful feeling that'll hopefully stick
during the holidays. My greatest musical experience this year was definitely
Bon Iver's perfomance at Way Out West in Gothenburg last summer, which was one
of the greatest experiences of my life, all categories.
CARL - It’s been a such a good year for new music I think,
it’s really hard to choose. But Cat Power was really great, as well as Patti
Smith and Rufus Wainwright. And I’d say some of the songs on Psychedelic Pill
are among the best Neil Young’s ever written.
What’s
next for the band, and when can we see you play?
JONAS - Well, we’re back to writing new material of
course, and we’re really looking forward to play at By:Larm in Oslo in February,
our first gig outside of Sweden!
