James

I've been planning this project for a while. I initially wanted to do some sort of music journalism exercise just for my own private use, as a way to improve my writing skills. I study English at university and I have ambitions of writing for a living one day but my technical abilities are not as great as they could be. My head is awash with ideas, I am full of creative energy, I am passionate about my topics - yet I struggle to express all of this in a clear and concise way. Music is a classic example. From as early as I can remember music has at least partially defined me as a person. Music has been one of the most important parts of my life for the last eight years or so. But if asked upfront what it is I like about my favourite albums and songs I struggle. I have distinct memories of posting on this site a few years back and offering little justification other than "the lyrics are good" or "I like the bass" - what makes the lyrics good? What is so so great about the bass? I'm hoping to explore the roots behind my music taste and really get down to the reasons that I love music.

I changed my mind about it being a private exploration when I logged in to Music Banter earlier today for my bi-monthly lurk. I like to check in every now and then just to see if the place still has air in its lungs. I also give my username a quick search to see if anybody still remembers me but when your username is the fourteenth most popular name for boys in the whole world it's a little difficult. I usually just find posts about Tool or Metallica. Anyway it was a little thread called 'Ten Years of Music Banter' that inspired me to post this here. It made me feel all warm and fuzzy inside and I got nostalgic. I had just turned fourteen when I joined the site and I am eighteen now. This place was essential to me in my formative years. It's hard for people to realise the importance of a group of people sharing music on the internet but I truly wouldn't be the person I am today without Music Banter. When you're a lonely, angsty teenager with nobody to really talk to a group of similarly inclined people in a chatroom can go a long way. Today I couldn't be happier with the life I have but I honestly think if Music Banter hadn't taught me the acceptable way to speak to other human beings that would not be the case.

So as a sort of tribute to this place I am going to attempt to delve into my soul here, not in my own company. I have a bad track record with Member Journals as in the past I have made one post then completely abandoned it - I have grown as a person since then and I promise to fight the procrastination! I don't know if I will just post this or if I will post in the actual forums too because I think there are like three members I know left but hey ho. First post coming soon where I will analyse perhaps my favourite night of 2013, the best gig I have ever been to and what truly made it that fantastic!

Trollheart

Yo! Welcome back, you big dragon! Yes, many people have been missing you and complaining about your absence. Welcome to the journals section, just in time to get included in the final update for 2013. Look forward to seeing what you can do, as I'm sure lots of other people here do.

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Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018

Exo

Glad you're back man. Looking forward to your musings.

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LastFM

SUPREME POO BAH MODERATOR EXTRAORDINAIRE

Burning Down

Welcome back James! It's nice to see you posting again. I can't wait to read what you have to say.

Janszoon

Hey! Nice to you back again!

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A Night in the Life of the Invisible Man

Time & Place

25 Albums You Should Hear Before the Moon Crashes into the Earth and We All Die

last.fm

James

The Reflektors at Barrowlands 15/11/2013 (The most amazing gig ever and it's impact on my views of Reflektor itself)

At this point, I feel it is almost cliché to talk about how great a band Arcade Fire are. There has been an insane amount of praise heaped on them this year and I may have to take it to breaking point. I feel like there were two simultaneous reactions to Arcade Fire's music this year.

1. There were the people like me who saw Reflektor as the band's best album since Funeral, who upon release put Arcade Fire firmly into the 'genius' category. Reflektor improved the band in my eyes as it showed they could truly adapt and change. Reflektor was my favourite album of the year by a long shot. The perfect balance of themes and catchy songs. I will delve more into the reasoning later.

2. The people who took Reflektor as the last straw - criticising the band for being 'pretentious' and 'hipster', or 'elitist' for putting dress code on their gigs and playing under a stage name.

I would like to express the second point first, as Arcade Fire's criticism this year was very personal to me in a way. Arcade Fire inspired me to stop caring about labels like 'hipster' and 'pretentious'. As a university student studying English and Film Studies with a deep love for Indie and Experimental music and cinema the term 'hipster' is thrown at me a fair amount. I also wear a lot of scarves, and that doesn't help my reputation. I was always afraid of being perceived that way but this gig changed my mind.
I attended a show by a supposedly pretentious band and it was the least pretentious show I've witnessed. There was no self-importance or self-worth in Win Butler's stage presence, he wasn't too pompous to crowd surf with a bunch of sweaty Glaswegians or compare the political situation in Scotland to Quebec. The support were simply a mariachi band playing Arcade Fire covers - a novelty, a piece of fun- when they could have in fact been supported by any number of accomplished acts. Lastly the audience were not hipsters sitting with their arms crossed sipping on weak alcoholic drinks the audience were wild animals, magical creatures, superheroes and people in formal attire (in my case a bright green suit). The fancy dress element was a masterstroke with the atmosphere mirroring a Halloween party or a carnival. My best friend and I were not greeted with hostility by the people next to us, we were greeted with open arms. We met a woman who had went on her first date with her boyfriend to an Arcade Fire gig, when they were touring their first EP and she welcomed us into her group even sharing her confetti and light up rave gloves.
The people at Arcade Fire has no illusions of grandeur, they were simply part of an exclusive club all sharing a special experience. I read recently that 'hipster' today pretty much means the same thing as 'punk' meant in the eighties or 'grunge' meant in the nineties - but the definition has got broader and broader over time. I am proud to accept any labels attached to loving Arcade Fire as long as I can apply the label 'narrow-minded' straight back.

I don't know whether it was the record that made me love the show on such a scale or the opposite but either way the two informed each-other. As I listened to the record leading up to the gig I could hardly contain my excitement and as I listen afterwards I am greeted with the warmth of memory. My love for both the album and the evening can be split up into several categories.

The Themes of The Record
Reklektor addresses the issues that technology brings to the surface in today's society as well as classic themes like life as an outcast, fame, and lost love. I can relate to all of the themes on some level. I find the first one especially interesting as I am obsessed with technology. I am one of those annoying people who tweets their life. I have thirty-two thousand tweets and therefore find it very interesting to dissect my relationship with the internet. Where would I be without my social networks? On the surface I like to think I'd be much the same but really Twitter is a huge part of my life. What is it within me that feels the need to document every part of my life? I use it to reflect and analyse different areas of my life much in the same way as someone would keep a diary. If The Holocaust happened sixty years later would we all be reading 'The Snapchats of Anne Frank'? Of course not but I would like to see it.
As someone who studies English and therefore spends all of their life looking for "themes" there is nothing more appealing to me than an album that truly makes me think as well as receive the euphoric feeling of good music. Lyrics are truly important to me and as a result I really struggle to get into instrumental music. The technology theme is brought to the surface excellently on 'Porno', my favourite track on the album. The song deals with the fact that pornography is basically the warmest, most intimate moments put through the cold filter of technology. Internet porn and other mediums before it have turned sex into a process - today sex isn't seen as much as a liberating, exciting force but as another part of the machine. It's not even just sex, intimacy in general is all done through a filter these days. It makes me recall Charlie Chaplin's Modern Times where all of the dialogue in the movie comes through a computer screen. Most of the raw, human moments in 2013 come through a text message or a Skype call.
Does this mean I will stop watching porn, will I stop using Facebook? No, because I love it. There lies the wonderful irony of the album, Arcade Fire criticise technology while using it to the fullest. Their most electronic album to date, the sound of technology permeates throughout. The image of Orpheus and Eurydice is compelling as a tragic love story but also as a metaphor for technology - we may know it's wrong but we can't look away.

The Band Themselves
Arcade Fire are just a bunch of cool people. I mentioned to a friend recently that I find Regine really attractive and he recoiled in horror. His exact words were “she has a tinge of Downs Syndrome”. He made me realise that she is not a good looking woman, and it's her talent and charisma that are the source of my infatuation. They were so charismatic on that stage. They had a sparkly reflective background and they were all rocking cool outfits. I am the first to admit that I am slightly shallow and the I think the look of a band is secretly a factor for a lot of people. The two Haitian drummers were the cherry on top giving the band a real cultured feel and adding a lot of character.
I think Win is also just a very respectable guy, and I see a lot of myself in him. Arcade Fire wear their influences on their sleeve and we seem to be inspired by the same type of people. The David Bowie feature on their record is a testament to their love for the man and he is a god in my eyes. Win has stated multiple times that The Clash are his favourite band and they were the band that got me into music. Their performance of "I Dreamed A Neil Young Song" at his own Bridge School Benefit Concert speaks for itself and Neil is one of my favourite musicians. For a novelty song, it's also very accomplished.

When Win said Glasgow was one of his favourite cities to play I felt very honoured as although I am just a small speck I feel a real connection to the city. He then went on to give his support for Scottish independence - a topic I am very passionate about. To conclude, I felt like one of my favourite musicians was speaking to me a little bit that night and it truly made for a fantastic experience. The kitsch element is clearly important to me and was one element that made the night so great.


Personal Circumstance
To what extent do our personal lives affect our interests? If I had went to Barrowlands that night feeling kind of down would it have been quite as good? I don’t think so. I left Dundee early on the Friday morning with a bunch of friends from uni and although our seats on the train were ‘reserved’ we were in them for the whole journey unnoticed. We arrived in Glasgow and started shopping where I got four awesome new shirts and a blazer for ten pounds from one of the best charity shops I have ever attended. We then started drinking at one of my favourite pubs before I left to meet my best friend from home. We got kind of lost on the way to the venue but didn’t get beat up in the process and although we were near the back of the line we found ourselves at the barrier when we got inside. After the gig we jumped on the train straight to our local where we were greeted by a bunch of our closest friends who I hadn’t seen in a good while. I was charmed that day and everything went my way, laying the foundations for an enjoyable night. It’s the same phenomenon as loving a song simply because it reminds you of some good time in the past. The good times inform the music and the music informs the good times.


The Music
And finally the most important part. I’ve tried countless times to get into electronic music but just can’t do it - I do however love music with a slight electronic tinge. I saw Mia Dora live earlier this year and it was a great night but on record I just can’t get into the genre if it’s too overbearing. I adore synth-pop like The Human League and I love Cold Cave - bands that have the perfect balance between traditional pop aesthetics and artificial sounds. Hell I even love The Avalanches who are 100% artificial because they still maintain that poppy edge. Reflektor has that balance. It’s Arcade Fire experimenting with disco but it’s still undeniably the same band. They are building upon their sound but at times the band that made Funeral seem almost in stasis as the band revisit the same themes in almost the same way. At the show the band mixed in songs from their first record and they didn’t feel at all out of place, Arcade Fire have evolved but are still in many ways the same as before.
The variety of the instrumentals has always been one of the band’s main appeals. Mixing a traditional rock band lineup with violins and horns makes it all sound very grand and adds an element of beauty. The new additions of the keyboards and two drummers makes it all sound bigger and more powerful. But my favourite part of Arcade Fire’s sound are the vocals. Regine has had a couple of songs on each record and they are usually the highlight of the album. Sprawl II was far and away my favourite song on The Suburbs, No Cars Go is possibly the classic Arcade Fire song and is gorgeous in it’s simplicity, and In The Backseat is the perfect conclusion to Funeral - an emotional powerhouse and one of the few songs that has at one point made me cry. On Reflektor it really feels like Regine is less of a secondary vocalist and really on a par with Win even though she doesn‘t have her own track. Their voices harmonise beautifully and that really makes me smile considering their loving marriage. On ‘Afterlife’ and ‘Joan of Arc’ Regine’s voice sounds like another instrument especially on the latter as she sings in French, not adding anything to the song lyrically and existing purely to expand the sound.
However, I am not a complete fan boy and recognise the problems with the album. While I abhor the ‘pretentious’ tag I will allow the ‘whingeing’ tag some merit. Celebrated people talking about how much they dislike being celebrated is truly getting old and only serves to alienate the audience. The “do you like rock ‘n’ roll music” part at the start of ‘Normal Person’ makes me cringe as it is clear to me that Win Butler does indeed like rock music as he continues to create it. Reflektor sounds like a band that really love what they do, so it seems hypocritical of them to speak about not liking it in their lyrics. ‘Normal Person’ is my least favourite song on the album as at times it steps into cliché - the whole ‘I don’t want to be normal’ spiel is tired and in my opinion is a bit of a stain on the album.

In conclusion, Reflektor was my favourite album of the year and after seeing them live I can firmly say that Arcade Fire to me are the most interesting ‘big’ band working today. Arcade Fire manage to make big stadium rock anthems but say something at the same time and I find that really admirable. I was very lucky to see them considering tickets sold out in ten minutes and it was a medium sized, intimate venue. I will finish off with a video of the night. When they played ‘Wake Up’ I got goosebumps all over my body and it felt magical. The song is about repressing all of your emotions and being told when you’re young that showing your feelings is wrong. I can relate to this song as a straight faced Scot who was brought up as stoic as possible. Lately I have ‘woke up’ and started letting it all out - I feel like a great burden has been lifted. On the streets of Glasgow that night you could hear people chanting the “oh ohhhh” part of the song from all around. My friend and I were stopped after the show and interviewed by a local radio student - as we were talking there was a chorus heard from all angles. The song still does things to me and makes me think of that moment.

James

Oh and thanks all for the kind words!

James

My Ever Changing 'Top 200 Songs' List - Fifteen Hours In Heaven

In the title of this feature I am comparing my favourite songs to the popular party game 'Seven Minutes In Heaven'. Spending fifteen hours in a small cupboard making out with someone sounds like hell on earth and I think it's testament to the fact that music is the love of my life that I'd much rather spend the time passionately embracing the songs on this list. Music is marginally better than girls are. There are no commitment issues with music, I can decide midway through a Kate Bush album that I'm simply not feeling it and stick on something radically different like Miles Davis. Likewise there is no risk either, I know that no matter what I do The Clash will always be there for me and not decide that 'they're just not the relationship type'. I always know what Animal Collective are trying to convey and even if I don't it doesn't really matter, there's no second guessing and I don't have to spend hours deciphering the meaning of the word 'okay' in the second verse. Unless I want to of course. Yep, if there was a way I could marry music and devote my life to it I would weigh the options but sadly music doesn't smell that great, has no physical mass I can hold onto, and seriously lacks a vagina.

I'm about to come out, make a big announcement that's seriously frowned upon in the music community. I LIKE SONGS. I have never been and never will be one of those audiophiles that's uninterested unless something comes in album format. Albums are great. Albums are the novels of the music world and I do love sitting down with a doorstop of Dostoevsky occasionally - but I have always loved poetry, short stories, plays even more and I'm the same way with a nice four minute song. It's an art form that many have perfected. While there are less than thirty albums I would consider 10/10 every single song on this list is perfection through and through. I think it's time that the medium got a bit more recognition.

So I will present my top 200 songs followed by a list of 25 'Oh **** I forgot!' tracks. I will provide a brief discussion on the first 175 and then write more lengthy reviews for the final selection. I have stuck to genres that are reliant on songs so there's no Jazz, no Classical, and little Post-Rock and Metal. I have also put a limit on the length of songs, only songs less than twenty minutes will be included. I'll be posting other things in between. Today a friend and I decided to start work on a music and film 'zine' over Summer so I will post my articles from that on here also. As well as a stream of consciousness feature relating to songs that come up on shuffle called unsurprisingly 'Shuffle Streams'.


200. Future Islands - Vireo's Eye
This band have got fairly massive lately seemingly out of nowhere. Their new album has its upsides sure, but for me they'll never eclipse this track from their 2010 album In Evening Air. There are three amazing things that stand out about this band and specifically this song. First of all the synths - oh my god the synths on this song - they're the standout of the instrumentation. They sound so powerful and dramatic while at the same time fun and catchy, a seriously impressive feat. Future Islands deserve a prize for making a pop song like this sounds so high stakes! That brings me to the second notable aspect, the camp side. The dude from Future Islands (Samuel T. Herring) is known for his dance moves but I think they speak volumes for the music as well. They are an over the top band to the extreme in both their live performances and the emotion injected into the songs. Herring sings 'we're not kings yet' like Hamlet would. Herring sings like every word is coming straight from the heart and he only has one chance to let it out so he's not really thinking it through. I can't think of another band working today enjoying themselves this much. The last thing about the song is Herring's voice itself. He has a gorgeous voice. His voice is as deep and emotive as Matt Berninger's but as full of energy as Iggy Pop's and that's ultimately what keeps bringing me back to the band.

Goofle

Good stuff

Not necessarily the right place to ask, but what did you think of Catherine Wheel?

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James

I've not got around to listening to Ferment yet because I wanted to really get to know Chrome first but I am really loving it. 'Crank' especially is an amazing song and hasn't left my playlist since. Great album. I don't understand why they don't have the same following as Ride or MBV because they are on the same level for sure. I've also been turning all my equally shoegazey friends onto them. Thanks for introducing me!