When rock stars grow old

One of the many splendours of Sky + is the way in which it invites you to record even the most minimal and insignificant fluff, just because it's no effort at all. For me, the clearest example of this is the Channel 4 tendency to show exclusive first plays of new music videos at some time around midnight. Can I be arsed making sure I'm watching the telly for that precise five minute window? No. But give me the chance to press a button, forget all about it and then come back to it another time, and I'm in!

Last night, Channel 4 played out the new video from Morrissey, for ''I'm Throwing My Arms Around Paris'. This morning, feeling a bit fluey and equipped with a strong cup of tea and some Nurofen, I settled down to flick through the telly. As I watched this particular video, I could only think of one thing. Doesn't Morrissey look old? Let's be absolutely fair to the chap - he is actually getting on a bit. It's not like he looked 25 last week and now he looks like he's smoked Amy Winehouse, but he just seems to actually be looking his age or even a little older.

It's no great surprise, people get older after all, but my first proper exposure to Moz was his Nineties Britpop incarnation and he was still rather spritely then. Even his most recent albums were supported by performances that suggested a man full of energy, passion and natural charm.

Watch this and see if any of that is still there now:

See? I'm not imagining it, am I? Now, I should confess that the reason why I'm so struck by his aging appearance is entirely selfish. I can't help thinking that time must have seriously moved along if 'my' generation of indie legends are starting to look a little rough around the edges. Noel's greying, Supergrass have the sideburns of a randy farmer who, in times of loneliness, has been eyeing up the goats and Moz looks like he's been cryogenically frozen and is now being operated by strings. I'm getting ever nearer to dropping out of the traditional 'new music' demographic and it feels odd. Of course, there are self-imposed boundaries that don't exist in the real world, but it still feels a bit strange to look at the figureheads of my youth and find them appearing more than a little lived in. Still, doing an impression of a Weeble trying to seduce a small dog is nothing compared to this silly old tart.

As for the song, it's quite good actually. It's Morrissey-by-numbers, but after 'Ringleader Of The Tormentors', which was about as much fun as an aneurysm, I'll happily take that. After all, that's what made us all like 'You Are The Quarry' so much, wasn't it?

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As this blog is actually called Vinyl Junkies, I should take this moment to point you in the direction of your nearest Zavvi. They're currently flogging all of their vinyl at half price. Provided your local shop had a reasonable range prior to their administration issues, they should have plenty for you to pick up at rather splendid prices. Ok, they're not exactly giving them away, but anyone used to buying plenty of vinyl is used to fairly robust pricing, so getting it at half price is quite a big deal. I'm quite happy to tell you this as I've already cleared out the two stores nearest to me! Get there while you can.

This is, of course, the precursor to a potential repeat of the recent insanity found in Woolworths stores, as stock was cleared prior to closure. Nobody's saying anything about how secure Zavvi's future is right now, but it's hard to imagine any single buyer coming in and keeping the chain as it is now. While I picked up a fair old number of CDs and DVDs in the Woolies clearout, it was a rather depressing affair. Plenty has been said in the media about the demise of this much-loved chain, but anyone who loves music has their own precise memories of the Woolworths music section and it still seems odd that it's not there now. I was in one store a few hours before it closed and it was very odd. Imagine that Britain is at war, everything - even pick'n'mix and large plastic replicas of minor characters from Doctor Who - has been rationed. Sprinkle in some paranoia and desperation and that's a little bit like how it felt. Still, cheap CDs, eh?

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And finally, it's been such a long time since I posted here that I never did anything about albums of the year for 2008, so I'm just going to re-post the list that I submitted to the end-of-year lists on the various music sites I frequent.

1. Elbow - 'The Seldom Seen Kid'
2. Laura Marling - 'Alas I Cannot Swim'
3. Tindersticks - 'The Hungry Saw'
4. Joan As Police Woman - 'To Survive'
5. Pete Molinari - 'A Virtual Landslide'
6. Bon Iver - 'For Emma, Forever Ago'
7. Portishead - 'Third'
8. Malcolm Middleton - 'Sleight Of Heart'
9. She & Him - 'Volume 1'
10. Paul Weller - '22 Dreams'
11. Our Broken Garden - 'When Your Blackening Shows'
12. Helios - 'Caesura'
13. James Yorkston - 'When The Haar Rolls In'
14. The Last Shadow Puppets - 'The Age Of Understatement'
15. Jamie Lidell - 'Jim'
16. Fleet Foxes - 'Fleet Foxes'
17. Elvis Costello & The Imposters - 'Momofuku'
18. Calexico - 'Carried To Dust'
19. Glow - 'I, Yeah!'
20. Ladyhawke - 'Ladyhawke'

Honourable mentions to: Beck, Nick Cave, Jenny Lewis, The Dears, R.E.M., Max Richter, and Ray LaMontagne

Even looking at it now, I'm fairly certain I'd shuffle a few of them round, but it's a moment in time and nobody really cares anyway, so that'll do. Feel free to post your own via the comments section, should you be that way inclined.

You're The One For Me Fatty

Last week's NME carried a rather spurious story about Morrissey resigning from the world of music. Some of his US tour dates were cancelled through illness, and suddenly the end is nigh. However, the old chap doesn't seem quite himself. A couple of weeks back he performed a new song, 'That's How People Grow Up', on the David Letterman show and didn't really seem like he was all that bothered. I know they say the camera adds two pounds, but exactly how many cameras were pointed at him?
Anyway, here's the new song, and long may he continue.

He bears more grudges than lonely high-court judges...

Ah, good old Moz. As I mentioned in a previous entry, I'm on a bit of a Smiths/Morrissey kick at the moment. I'm currently reading bits of Johnny Rogan's 'Morrissey - The Albums' and Simon Goddard's 'Songs That Saved Your Life', both of which break the analysis down to individual songs, although the first of the two also deals with the solo releases of our man. They're both engaging books, and while the hardcore fans seem to hate Rogan with a passion, his comments on the solo stuff have spurred me on to go back and listen to ignored, and critically unpopular, albums like 'Southpaw Grammar' and 'Maladjusted'. While I may not agree with everything he has to say about the songs, it's given me a chance to listen to them in a fresh light.
What I've particularly enjoyed about the experience is noticing just how splendid Morrissey's voice can be. It's unique, it's distinctive and occasionally compared to a malfunctioning foghorn, but at times it can floor you. 'Vauxhall & I' is getting played a lot at the moment, and it only serves to point out how bizarre it was for the Britpop scene not to hold their natural royalty aloft. Weller was the appointed guv'nor of Britpop, but Moz was certainly deserving of a similarly elevated position.
Anyway, a more critical approach to the man and his tunes will appear here once I've got my thoughts in order, but I thought it was worth posting this so that anyone who might class themselves as a regular reader can do some homework and then may even join in via the comments option. T'would be splendid to hear from you.
Here's 'The More You Ignore Me, The Closer I Get', from 'Vauxhall & I'

Till next time.

Ooooh...a card sleeve!

Walked in this evening to find the deluxe edition of the Wilco album on the floor. I hadn't thrown it there, nor had it crept in during the day and arranged a provocative pose for itself - it had simply come through the door from an online shop. My initial quibble is with the phrase 'Deluxe Edition'. It has a card sleeve - like all Wilco albums on Nonesuch - and the booklet and discs come in a normal jewel case. The only 'deluxe' thing about it is the bonus DVD. But then surely you just say 'Bonus DVD' on the packaging. If it's deluxe I expect it to be in a ridiculous book that doesn't fit on the shelf or in a digipack made of old egg boxes - not a bloody jewel case. If anything this is a sensible edition - with a bonus DVD. It's a minor gripe because the DVD is great. For a start the audio is LPCM 48/16 rather than Dolby Digital. If that means bugger all to you, all I'm saying is that the audio is excellent quality. The interview with Jeff Tweedy is nicely chopped around some live performances. He comes across as a decent enough chap who just wanted to make a good record. Thankfully he succeeded.
I feel obliged to point out that all of the naysayers that have been calling this album average are talking out of their, no doubt perfectly formed, fundaments. It's a cracker of an album and one which has rarely been away from my cd player for the last few months. It's certainly gentle, and less spiky than the last couple of albums but the songwriting is meticulous and the tunes gradually ensnare you until you keep wanting to go back and hear them again. So, in closing, it's great. Just not deluxe, like.

The Manics managed a No.2 album with 'Send Away The Tigers', I notice. It's great compared to the absolute stillborn release of 'Lifeblood', but I read with interest that it got there with sales of 38, 697 - only 700 or so copies behind the number one album from the Arctic Monkeys. 'Lifeblood' sold 23,000, or thereabouts, in its first week, missed the top ten and was never seen again. I have to confess to being slightly surprised by their resurgence - not because the music's shite, simply that I never thought they'd be 'cool' again. I'll be seeing them on the current tour and will feedback accordingly.

The Moz singles boxset for the years 91-95 was also on the doormat this evening as I'm on a bit of a Smiths/Moz kick at the moment. Currently digesting two books on his music and will attempt to form my thoughts, feelings and interpretations of his work into something here fairly soon. It's pretty, by the way. I'm a sucker for these things.

Here's a track from the spiffing Wilco record, entitled 'What Light'.



More soon.