Here's some good news! I just found out tonight that there's new music from Maximo Park on the horizon and here's the new single "The Kids Are Sick Again" to prove it! Video taken from the forthcoming album Quicken the Heart, available in stores on May 12th!
Showing posts with label Maximo Park. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Maximo Park. Show all posts
Saturday, April 4, 2009
Sunday, June 8, 2008
Distraction... Video Alphabet "M"
I've been preoccupied with a lot of old movie watching several nights this week and some nights out after work with friends, so the blogging has really kind of suffered.
I am getting back to it today though, so...
M is for The Manic Street Preachers - "Motorcycle Emptiness" & "Everything Must Go"
I'm giving The Manics two videos because they deserve it! For a band that declared once in an interview that "all bands should break up after releasing one album", I am glad they're still with us making music, especially after all they've endured as a band. In 1986, these guys started out as a quartet comprised of James Dean Bradfield(vocals, guitar), Nicky Wire(bass), Sean Moore(drums), and Flicker(rhythm guitar) as a band originally named Betty Blue. However, in 1988, Flicker left the band and the group changed its name to the Manic Street Preachers, and a replacement for Flicker was found when Wire's fellow classmate at Swansea University, Richey James, was upgraded from their driver and roadie to rhythm guitarist in the band.
In 1990, The Manics descended on the British music scene in stark contrast to the bands that were part of the musical landscape of the UK at that time. House and Techno music was dominating UK clubs and the trends of Madchester (fusion of acid-house dance rhythms and melodic, psychedelic pop, and Shoegaze (atmospheric and ethereal "dream pop" played by musicians that gazed at their shoes more than they did any audience) were what largely comprised the independent music scene. These self described "Generation Terrorists" took their attitude from The Clash, borrowed much of their image from the Glam rock of the 70s, and amalgamated punk, glam, and hard rock into a sound all their own. All went mostly well for a time, but Richey James' act of self-mutilation, carving the words "4 Real" on his arm with a knife during an interview with Steve Lamaq for the NME, was the beginning of the mental instability and self destruction that would follow for James. He suffered with alcohol abuse, anorexia, and continued self-mutilation before his disappearance on February 1, 1995. On the eve of an American promotional tour, James checked out of his room at the London Embassy Hotel, drove to his Cardiff apartment, and without his passport, credit cards, or other personal items, James simply vanished. He was quickly reported missing but only his car, a silver Vauxhall Cavalier, was ever found 13 days later, abandoned with a spent battery, on the Severen Bridge outside of Bristol, an apparently notorious spot for suicides. Eventually James was declared "deceased" by British Police, but his family turned declined the option to have James declared as such, and instead have opted to have his case remain open as a missing person. There have been reported sightings of Richey James in the years since his disappearance, but none of these reports have produced any evidence of James' condition or whereabouts.
Personally, I remember seeing the ads in British music magazines about his disappearance and always hoped he maybe found some way to just disappear and start a simple life somehow, somewhere, but I doubt James found that kind of peace in life.
The band was certainly broken over the loss of James, but his passing didn't end the Manics, and they returned as a trio for some shows in December 1995, and then released Everything Must Go in May of 1996. Their sound has evolved over the years, especially as they adapted with the rise of Brit Pop in the 90s. They've released four other albums since 1996, with the most recent release, Send Away the Tigers, being in the fall of this past year.
So the two videos here cover a bit of their history, with "Motorcycle Emptiness" includes James, and "Everything Must Go" for their time since his disappearance.
M is for Mansun - "I Can Only Disappoint You"
This isn't the most exciting video, but I love this song. It's my favourtie song from their last official studio album, Little Kix. The band's first release Attack of the Grey Lantern was an incredible debut for the band and also the music scene in the UK during the wane of Brit Pop, as their sound at that time clearly embraced rock more than pop. This set them apart from the crowd at the time, putting them more in line with artists like Suede and the aforementioned Manic Street Preachers.
M is for Maximo Park - "Books From Boxes"
One of my favourite songs from one of my favourite albums from 2007. I associate this album a lot with my life last summer as I played it so much it was becoming a bit of a soundtrack for me.
M is for My Bloody Valentine - "Knows When"
If my mention of Shoegazer bands was new to you, then let this video be part of your introduction. I came to discover this band in 1989 thanks to two guys who had a radio show on WDCV 88.3FM, the radio station of Dickinson College, in Carlisle, PA. I grew up in a very rural area, attended a small high school, and knew very few people into any kind of music that was "different". But fortunately there was this college radio station just 35 miles away, "over the mountain" as people around here say. So thank you Chad and I think the other guy's name was Mike! I used to have all these hours of blank tapes worth of their radio show I had recorded, but they're probably all lost now. I used to sit in my bedroom and listen to them over and over, and I made notes of what the band's names and song titles and album info if they mentioned that were, and then I'd try to get my mom or someone to take me to record stores to find the stuff. Not an easy endeavour in Central Pennsylvania. Fortunately, the discovery of the old Blue Train records store in State College, PA and the Tower Records store on South Street, in Philadelphia, PA helped me acquire a lot of rare music, as did old mail order catalog companies like Burning Airlines.
Damn, those were good times...
Okay... lots of other "M" bands, so maybe a part two later today! Off to do Sunday afternoon type things!
I am getting back to it today though, so...
M is for The Manic Street Preachers - "Motorcycle Emptiness" & "Everything Must Go"
I'm giving The Manics two videos because they deserve it! For a band that declared once in an interview that "all bands should break up after releasing one album", I am glad they're still with us making music, especially after all they've endured as a band. In 1986, these guys started out as a quartet comprised of James Dean Bradfield(vocals, guitar), Nicky Wire(bass), Sean Moore(drums), and Flicker(rhythm guitar) as a band originally named Betty Blue. However, in 1988, Flicker left the band and the group changed its name to the Manic Street Preachers, and a replacement for Flicker was found when Wire's fellow classmate at Swansea University, Richey James, was upgraded from their driver and roadie to rhythm guitarist in the band.
In 1990, The Manics descended on the British music scene in stark contrast to the bands that were part of the musical landscape of the UK at that time. House and Techno music was dominating UK clubs and the trends of Madchester (fusion of acid-house dance rhythms and melodic, psychedelic pop, and Shoegaze (atmospheric and ethereal "dream pop" played by musicians that gazed at their shoes more than they did any audience) were what largely comprised the independent music scene. These self described "Generation Terrorists" took their attitude from The Clash, borrowed much of their image from the Glam rock of the 70s, and amalgamated punk, glam, and hard rock into a sound all their own. All went mostly well for a time, but Richey James' act of self-mutilation, carving the words "4 Real" on his arm with a knife during an interview with Steve Lamaq for the NME, was the beginning of the mental instability and self destruction that would follow for James. He suffered with alcohol abuse, anorexia, and continued self-mutilation before his disappearance on February 1, 1995. On the eve of an American promotional tour, James checked out of his room at the London Embassy Hotel, drove to his Cardiff apartment, and without his passport, credit cards, or other personal items, James simply vanished. He was quickly reported missing but only his car, a silver Vauxhall Cavalier, was ever found 13 days later, abandoned with a spent battery, on the Severen Bridge outside of Bristol, an apparently notorious spot for suicides. Eventually James was declared "deceased" by British Police, but his family turned declined the option to have James declared as such, and instead have opted to have his case remain open as a missing person. There have been reported sightings of Richey James in the years since his disappearance, but none of these reports have produced any evidence of James' condition or whereabouts.
Personally, I remember seeing the ads in British music magazines about his disappearance and always hoped he maybe found some way to just disappear and start a simple life somehow, somewhere, but I doubt James found that kind of peace in life.
The band was certainly broken over the loss of James, but his passing didn't end the Manics, and they returned as a trio for some shows in December 1995, and then released Everything Must Go in May of 1996. Their sound has evolved over the years, especially as they adapted with the rise of Brit Pop in the 90s. They've released four other albums since 1996, with the most recent release, Send Away the Tigers, being in the fall of this past year.
So the two videos here cover a bit of their history, with "Motorcycle Emptiness" includes James, and "Everything Must Go" for their time since his disappearance.
M is for Mansun - "I Can Only Disappoint You"
This isn't the most exciting video, but I love this song. It's my favourtie song from their last official studio album, Little Kix. The band's first release Attack of the Grey Lantern was an incredible debut for the band and also the music scene in the UK during the wane of Brit Pop, as their sound at that time clearly embraced rock more than pop. This set them apart from the crowd at the time, putting them more in line with artists like Suede and the aforementioned Manic Street Preachers.
M is for Maximo Park - "Books From Boxes"
One of my favourite songs from one of my favourite albums from 2007. I associate this album a lot with my life last summer as I played it so much it was becoming a bit of a soundtrack for me.
M is for My Bloody Valentine - "Knows When"
If my mention of Shoegazer bands was new to you, then let this video be part of your introduction. I came to discover this band in 1989 thanks to two guys who had a radio show on WDCV 88.3FM, the radio station of Dickinson College, in Carlisle, PA. I grew up in a very rural area, attended a small high school, and knew very few people into any kind of music that was "different". But fortunately there was this college radio station just 35 miles away, "over the mountain" as people around here say. So thank you Chad and I think the other guy's name was Mike! I used to have all these hours of blank tapes worth of their radio show I had recorded, but they're probably all lost now. I used to sit in my bedroom and listen to them over and over, and I made notes of what the band's names and song titles and album info if they mentioned that were, and then I'd try to get my mom or someone to take me to record stores to find the stuff. Not an easy endeavour in Central Pennsylvania. Fortunately, the discovery of the old Blue Train records store in State College, PA and the Tower Records store on South Street, in Philadelphia, PA helped me acquire a lot of rare music, as did old mail order catalog companies like Burning Airlines.
Damn, those were good times...
Okay... lots of other "M" bands, so maybe a part two later today! Off to do Sunday afternoon type things!
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