| Maximo Park Diary Entries |
| These are diary entries by Maximo Park members from the Official Maximo Park Website. |
Christmas Day Playlist |
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| 25 Dec, 2005 |
Home and dry. Hardly.
The sickly grey paving stones of Billingham are slick with seived rain. I suspect the drizzle will be mingling with the vomit from last night's over-indulgences in various multi-coloured patches intermittently spewed along pathways around the town. Last night was quiet, personally speaking, although a lady who had been told I was in a band insisted I sing 'that song' to her... I can only wonder at what goes on in people's heads.
I have been saving up for a computer for ages since we now spend most of the year travelling and I need to organise my life into ever-shrinking spaces. Finally I have a new machine.
Uploading songs onto my first ever laptop has been a massively rewarding experience as I sift through new and old to find the gold in the hills of CDs that surround me.
Currently, Prince is hamming it up on a live box-set, but the silky octave-clambering that takes place is worth the entry fee.
I was asked recently of my 3 biggest wishes. One of the replies was "I wish I could sing like Prince". It must be incredible to have that power and control from simply opening your mouth; it seems so effortless for him. There is a great Smog song (again, which I have just uploaded) called Prince Alone In The Studio, about the obsessive, perfectionist tendencies of the Purple genius. Lots of girls come to the studio wearing their 'special underwear' in the hope of getting closer to the maestro, but the be-headphoned musician is oblivious to their carnal designs. It's like a lo-fi operetta.
Cocteau Twins have also coloured this Christmas day for me, alongside various telephone conversations with old friends. In a way, their music has been a comfort and inspiration to me like the way a mate can make you feel when you are down. I lost a badge with their logo on it whilst jumping around in a studio in Tokyo earlier this year. I was strangely saddened afterwards. Incidentally, I also let my 'I Love Satie' badge slip from my lapel in Berlin the other week. This losing streak must stop!
Anyway, back to Cocteau Twins and the gifts of their vocalist, Elizabeth Fraser. Her voice beguiled me and terrified me simultaneously when I first heard it, such is its otherworldly timbre. It is perfect for the hopeless romantic; often wordless and always mainlined from the heart. In some of the later albums, you could make out a lot of the words, but they remained a negotiation between your ears and what you wanted them to say.
On Tishbite, Fraser sings, "This mountain of pleasure/I want to get lost in it/Until I don't know where you end and I begin/Until I just carry it in me".
Gorgeous. And indicative of the formless, searching qualities that make this group such a special entity.
Another group I used to listen to lots that I have re-discovered today is Rachel's, an instrumental, semi-classical ensemble. Their closest sonic neighbours could be the Threnody Ensemble or Clogs. Based around the unfolding piano of Rachel Grimes and the spidery guitar of Jason B. Noble, the compositions are as evocative as they come, especially on the Handwriting LP. I recall revising for my GCSE exams (generally, the night before!) with this music in the background, but it was too distracting. I guess they pre-empted a lot of the quieter moments on Godspeed You Black Emperor!'s records, favouring the occasional doomy sound collage amongst the vibraphones and violas. Check 'em out if that's your cup of tea... I saw them live once at All Tomorrow's Parties, the amazing alternative music festival. I wasn't disappointed.
I don't want to get too scholarly, but it's always nice to be able to recommend your favourite tunes to other people. I have also been listening to Sandy Denny, Genius/GZA, Fugazi and the long-lost solo album by James Iha of the Smashing Pumpkins, which was enlivened by glistening harmonies by alt-country singer, Neil Casal.
And That's Enough!
More musings/muso-ings some other time...
Thanks for the time,
Paul And The Park |
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