I am kinda (really) broke right now, so instead of blowing my usual re-dick amount of money at Borders' book shop on Brit mags, I sat on the floor yesterday and read the articles I couldn't live without (I had to get them in my brain somehow).
So, I didn't just read 'em, I also (freakishly/nerdily) took notes. I had to (!?).
The Q interview/profile on the Arctic Monkeys was fantastic. Brilliantly written.
these are from my scribbles:
after buying DJ equipment with *no* intent to be a "b-boy," Turner saw the Strokes and went out and bought himself an acoustic geetar and switched areas of musical pursuit after thinking that being a rapper would be daft (even though it's clearly his favorite music, he loves the "imagery")...at this time he also got a job in a Sheffield bar called Boardwalk (?).
the reporter says, "forget songs, when did Turner start *writing*? "While polishing glasses and serving pints, Turner started taking notes on his Nokia mobile phone. He wanted it to look like he was texting. 'Writing notes in a pad in a Sheffield bar might be life-threatening,' Turner says.
Yes, I wrote those exact words on a pad in Borders...heh. he is silly and insecure about his writing and how lauded it is. how big of a deal it was to actually "admit" to someone: "I've written a song."
*this is golden:*[after a show] a very drunk Noel Gallagher enters their dressing room. Noel has come to tell the Arctic Monkeys that they were so good tonight, he actually danced to 'I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor.' 'If I'm moving me feet, then as far as I'm concerned a band are fucking 'avin' it,' he asserts. Though clearly drunk, he offers a lucid set of reasons for the band's success. 'We all thought the Libertines were it for about eight weeks, didn't we? They fucked it up. They turned out to be Suede. But these lads can't fail. They are Oasis's evil stepchildren. We haven't passed the baton. They've fucking grabbed it and taken it.' Gallagher believes the Arctic Monkeys has a better chance than Oasis for three reasons: they don't take drugs [um, reeeeally? hmmm], there are no supermodels to distract them and 'no brothers who hate each other's guts.'"
*sigh*... how is it, that Mr. Gallagher delivers such pithy, clever, grand statements (or at least is frequently quoted as such) that sum up everything I *wish* I could say on a wold stage? Amen.
a bit about how the lads actually listened to both "Rock'n'Roll Star," (*THE* Oasis Anthem) and "Pretty Vacant" (Sex Pistols) before a show. the reporter notes that these are opposing ideas. i don't really "get it" or "agree." hahaha. earlier, the "most punk" and most preppie-looking lad, guitarist Jamie Cooks laughed out the cliched (but great) line, "We haven't got a message. That's the message."
the end of the piece is stellar. after getting stuck on how uncommunicative Turner is, the reporter implies that the lad may just be shy and contemplative, rather than aloof. he answers a question from hours before, avoiding eye contact still, he quietly says: "I think if Oasis can be summed by the line, 'Tonight, I'm a rocknroll star,' then I reckon for us it's, 'Tonight, I've got no idea how I ended up here."
>>>>{{{{{{{{{>>>>>>>
oh, and not to erase all the good feelings....but, this was in the STrib. ~barf~ so sick...and just... nofair. it might be the thing I hate most that's as "popular" and "important"...to me, it's everything that's wrong with music writing, "taste-making" and all that hipsterbullshit that boils over with negative pessimism and self-righteous haughtiness. no enthusiasim, no passion... just bored, holier-than-thou SnarkTown. barf.
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