"Essentially Ozzfest without the pyrotechnics[...] without the wankers."
August 31, 2016 3:32 PM Subscribe
In the summer of 2001, Tim Smith threw himself a 40th birthday party. If you know Tim Smith—and you should know Tim Smith (previously)——it won't surprise you that this silly, square little event was attended by some of the most brilliant musicians on the planet. The psychedelic, proto–math rock Monsoon Bassoon—the lead singer/songwriter of whom went on to form Knifeworld—opened the show. Sidi Bou Said, sometimes called the all–woman Pixies, followed. Next up was a shockingly young Stars in Battledress, who you should probably also know, and then William D Drake took the stage, playing rough drafts of songs that in fourteen years' time would form the core of 2015's best musical release. Finally, and this might be the best treat of all, Drake and North Sea Radio Orchestra's Sharron Fortnam took the stage as Lake of Puppies, who never released an album and whose bootlegs are exceedingly difficult to find. (Some of LoP's songs wound up on the Shrubbies album Memphis in Texas, which incidentally is stunning.) The performances are rough and lighthearted, and the recording is mediocre, but this recording is a marvelous treasure trove of musical talents, many of which are still now coming into fruition.
Will this be on the test?
posted by thelonius at 4:46 PM on August 31, 2016 [4 favorites]
posted by thelonius at 4:46 PM on August 31, 2016 [4 favorites]
If this is to your taste and you require further pleasures, do check out Simon Bookish/Leo Chadburn and especially his excellent 2008 Everything/Everything.
(I went through a Monsoon Bassoon/Stars In Battledress phase a while back, and have a small Sea Nymph node, but it has been a while... thanks for that)
posted by Devonian at 5:03 PM on August 31, 2016
(I went through a Monsoon Bassoon/Stars In Battledress phase a while back, and have a small Sea Nymph node, but it has been a while... thanks for that)
posted by Devonian at 5:03 PM on August 31, 2016
Now I'm no kind of in-the-know finger-on-the-pulse heard of every band ever kind of a guy, but these names (Monsoon Bassoon, Lake of Puppies, Shrubbies, etc.) all seemed made up enough that I was shocked to find this wasn't some sort of McSweeney's-esque alternate history. Needless to say, I was very pleased to find that this is real and there's great music to be discovered here!
posted by deadbilly at 7:28 PM on August 31, 2016 [6 favorites]
posted by deadbilly at 7:28 PM on August 31, 2016 [6 favorites]
Love Cardiacs but haven't checked out most of the tributaries yet (the wonderful William D Drake excepted). Can't wait to check out all the links. Thanks!
posted by ericthegardener at 7:35 PM on August 31, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by ericthegardener at 7:35 PM on August 31, 2016 [1 favorite]
Now I'm no kind of in-the-know finger-on-the-pulse heard of every band ever kind of a guy, but these names (Monsoon Bassoon, Lake of Puppies, Shrubbies, etc.) all seemed made up enough that I was shocked to find this wasn't some sort of McSweeney's-esque alternate history. Needless to say, I was very pleased to find that this is real and there's great music to be discovered here!
In recent years I've moved very definitely towards deep dives where artists are concerned (this FPP was a breathless attempt to explore another, even vaster dive), and I think that the phenomenon you described has been one of the least expected, and best, results. Talking about strange discoveries with the few people you share them with feels almost like you're speaking in code. Discovering those strangenesses, especially the poorly–documented ones, makes me feel like I'm in some fantasy world. Each find makes the entire planet seem stranger and more beautiful to me.
This isn't the place to delve into this too too much, but I think this has more profound implications for how we process our culture than it maybe seems at first. Kieran Egan, who IMO is one of the most interesting education theorists out there, thinks we should train children and ourselves to dive deep into ultraspecific subjects, because it encourages both a powerful method of thinking and a way to see the interconnectedness of disparate subjects. In many ways, contemporary culture promotes a flattening: the Long Tail theoretically could exist, but virality functions as its absolute inverse, and it's easier than ever for hundreds of millions of people to experience the exact same sociocultural developments at the exact same time.
(Now, even critical appreciation of art works this way. Pitchfork or even The Wire serve audiences of literal millions, so a "critical darling" receives the same flattening attention as Billboard 40 artists—and that's an increasingly–overlapping set of artists.)
I'm not sure if the musicians I've been drawn to are better than the other stuff I could be pursuing, or if they just seem better—though I mostly do think there's a significant qualitative difference, as groups with less mass appeal are likelier to be doing something fucked–up, and I'm just scooping up the kinds of fucked–up that I like. Either way, it's been a ridiculously rewarding experience, and I craft my posts here with the hope that they'll push the same buttons for readers here that the work itself pushes for me.
posted by rorgy at 8:00 PM on August 31, 2016 [6 favorites]
In recent years I've moved very definitely towards deep dives where artists are concerned (this FPP was a breathless attempt to explore another, even vaster dive), and I think that the phenomenon you described has been one of the least expected, and best, results. Talking about strange discoveries with the few people you share them with feels almost like you're speaking in code. Discovering those strangenesses, especially the poorly–documented ones, makes me feel like I'm in some fantasy world. Each find makes the entire planet seem stranger and more beautiful to me.
This isn't the place to delve into this too too much, but I think this has more profound implications for how we process our culture than it maybe seems at first. Kieran Egan, who IMO is one of the most interesting education theorists out there, thinks we should train children and ourselves to dive deep into ultraspecific subjects, because it encourages both a powerful method of thinking and a way to see the interconnectedness of disparate subjects. In many ways, contemporary culture promotes a flattening: the Long Tail theoretically could exist, but virality functions as its absolute inverse, and it's easier than ever for hundreds of millions of people to experience the exact same sociocultural developments at the exact same time.
(Now, even critical appreciation of art works this way. Pitchfork or even The Wire serve audiences of literal millions, so a "critical darling" receives the same flattening attention as Billboard 40 artists—and that's an increasingly–overlapping set of artists.)
I'm not sure if the musicians I've been drawn to are better than the other stuff I could be pursuing, or if they just seem better—though I mostly do think there's a significant qualitative difference, as groups with less mass appeal are likelier to be doing something fucked–up, and I'm just scooping up the kinds of fucked–up that I like. Either way, it's been a ridiculously rewarding experience, and I craft my posts here with the hope that they'll push the same buttons for readers here that the work itself pushes for me.
posted by rorgy at 8:00 PM on August 31, 2016 [6 favorites]
Now I'm no kind of in-the-know finger-on-the-pulse heard of every band ever kind of a guy, but these names (Monsoon Bassoon, Lake of Puppies, Shrubbies, etc.) all seemed made up enough that I was shocked to find this wasn't some sort of McSweeney's-esque alternate history. Needless to say, I was very pleased to find that this is real and there's great music to be discovered here!
posted by deadbilly at 7:28 PM on August 31 [2 favorites +] [!]
deadbilly, I've been listening to them for a few years now and I'm still not convinced that we haven't somehow tapped into an alternate universe somewhere. It's a very nice place, though. If you haven't yet, make your way over to Knifeworld and, of course, Cardiacs when you get a chance.
posted by vverse23 at 9:24 PM on August 31, 2016 [3 favorites]
posted by deadbilly at 7:28 PM on August 31 [2 favorites +] [!]
deadbilly, I've been listening to them for a few years now and I'm still not convinced that we haven't somehow tapped into an alternate universe somewhere. It's a very nice place, though. If you haven't yet, make your way over to Knifeworld and, of course, Cardiacs when you get a chance.
posted by vverse23 at 9:24 PM on August 31, 2016 [3 favorites]
Surely Ozzfest without the wankers would be an empty field?
posted by Paul Slade at 1:57 AM on September 1, 2016
posted by Paul Slade at 1:57 AM on September 1, 2016
North Sea Radio Orchestra have a new album out very soon, too. I saw them play a few months ago in Camden (apparently sitting just behind a gentleman called Tallbastard on Youtube, who I believe is a reincarnation of The Consultant, who uploaded videos of the event to Youtube: 1, 2). It was wonderful.
posted by Grangousier at 2:03 AM on September 1, 2016 [2 favorites]
posted by Grangousier at 2:03 AM on September 1, 2016 [2 favorites]
I remember being insanely jealous of those that were invited at the time. I was one of the Fishies (participant/thread derailer/inadvertent foot-in-mouth-and-insensitive-asshole) in the Pond (Cardiacs mailing list).
I knew something was brewing as the mailing list was frequented by some band members and those close to the band, and when the stories of the party surfaced, they made for spectacular reading.
I'lll remember that party fondly (as I attended it in my own imagination)
posted by Homemade Interossiter at 4:50 AM on September 1, 2016 [2 favorites]
I knew something was brewing as the mailing list was frequented by some band members and those close to the band, and when the stories of the party surfaced, they made for spectacular reading.
I'lll remember that party fondly (as I attended it in my own imagination)
posted by Homemade Interossiter at 4:50 AM on September 1, 2016 [2 favorites]
North Sea Radio Orchestra have a new album out very soon, too. I saw them play a few months ago in Camden (apparently sitting just behind a gentleman called Tallbastard on Youtube, who I believe is a reincarnation of The Consultant, who uploaded videos of the event to Youtube: 1, 2). It was wonderful.
That is terribly exciting, and that performance is gorgeous. And I hope I'm as youthful, spry, and stylish as Craig Fortnam is in a quarter century's time.
posted by rorgy at 4:53 AM on September 1, 2016 [2 favorites]
That is terribly exciting, and that performance is gorgeous. And I hope I'm as youthful, spry, and stylish as Craig Fortnam is in a quarter century's time.
posted by rorgy at 4:53 AM on September 1, 2016 [2 favorites]
Introducing rorgy to Cardiacs here on Metafilter easily makes my list of top hundred life accomplishments.
posted by dfan at 7:22 AM on September 1, 2016 [4 favorites]
posted by dfan at 7:22 AM on September 1, 2016 [4 favorites]
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posted by rorgy at 4:01 PM on August 31, 2016 [3 favorites]