L. Brilliant Posted December 13, 2012 Share Posted December 13, 2012 Might have overdone the metaphors on that one. Nah, best write-up yet. Outstanding! I know other folk have said so - you should be doing things like this for money if you aren't already. An easy and natural balance between knowledge of the actual craft and the listener experience & context. Top work. I hope some of these summaries are getting posted on music forums, making Scottish football fans look like Folk Who Massively Ken. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin M Posted December 13, 2012 Author Share Posted December 13, 2012 Nah, best write-up yet. Outstanding! I know other folk have said so - you should be doing things like this for money if you aren't already. An easy and natural balance between knowledge of the actual craft and the listener experience & context. Top work. I hope some of these summaries are getting posted on music forums, making Scottish football fans look like Folk Who Massively Ken. Thanks I don't do it for money, but I've written at least a handful of them while supposed to be working, so that works out alright for me! 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thundermonkey Posted December 13, 2012 Share Posted December 13, 2012 I'm off to stick Homework on right now. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skinto McGinto Posted December 13, 2012 Share Posted December 13, 2012 An absolute belter of an album. I remember the first time I heard 'Da Funk' - think it was in 95 or 96. Blew me away. Only thing missing from the main album is 'Musique' - another cracker of a track from when these guys were seriously being noticed in Glasgow. Also see the Scott Grooves 'Mothership Reconnection' mix they did-sure it's from around the same time. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pantene proV Posted December 13, 2012 Share Posted December 13, 2012 Anyone see Daft Punk at TITP '97? My memory is slightly hazy but I do recollect the Slam Tent going bonkers when Da Funk came on - I think it was a DJ set they did. In fact that day/weekend the Slam Tent had; Green Velvet Death In Vegas Global Communications Daft Punk 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mambostaggie Posted December 13, 2012 Share Posted December 13, 2012 Anyone see Daft Punk at TITP '97? My memory is slightly hazy but I do recollect the Slam Tent going bonkers when Da Funk came on - I think it was a DJ set they did. In fact that day/weekend the Slam Tent had; Green Velvet Death In Vegas Global Communications Daft Punk Yup, fantastic weekend, also my first TITP. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin M Posted December 13, 2012 Author Share Posted December 13, 2012 I saw them then, couldn't have told you the year but it must have been 97. I actually saw them at Slam at the Arches the week Homework came out, they played a DJ set with additional sampler and drum machine. The Arches had been closed for repairs for a while so it was a "reopening" of Slam, would have been about January IIRC. It was amazing, great memories of them playing the melody from Prince's Raspberry Beret over a thumping bass drum. The place was rammed full. Them were the days! 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pantene proV Posted December 13, 2012 Share Posted December 13, 2012 I saw them then, couldn't have told you the year but it must have been 97. I actually saw them at Slam at the Arches the week Homework came out, they played a DJ set with additional sampler and drum machine. The Arches had been closed for repairs for a while so it was a "reopening" of Slam, would have been about January IIRC. It was amazing, great memories of them playing the melody from Prince's Raspberry Beret over a thumping bass drum. The place was rammed full. Them were the days! You've just reminded me I saw them at the Arches too! Checked the ticket and it was 6th birthday & final night party April '98. They were the special guests that night. I guess it wasn't Slams' final night though!! 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin M Posted December 13, 2012 Author Share Posted December 13, 2012 You've just reminded me I saw them at the Arches too! Checked the ticket and it was 6th birthday & final night party April '98. They were the special guests that night. I guess it wasn't Slams' final night though!! Haha, yeah, they were probably on the next week at Pressure I saw some great folk at Slam, remember seeing Surgeon play there and Andy Weatherall playing the most brutal techno you could imagine. Stuart and Orde weren't too bad themselves. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mambostaggie Posted December 13, 2012 Share Posted December 13, 2012 I was at the 10th Birthday, Laurent Garnier played til 5 in the morning, decided to go to see county play Ayr away after that in a fair old nick. Middle of december, no jacket, no jumper, just a county shirt and a pair of shades. My mate took pity on me halfway through the game and gave me one of his 4 gloves. Yup, 4 gloves! My mates are b*****ds 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
uberman Posted December 13, 2012 Share Posted December 13, 2012 I too have seen them at the Arches, they played the barras in Oct 97 then done a dj set afterparty at the barras, was well good and in the days when I didn't need a lie down after a gig 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bert Raccoon Posted December 13, 2012 Share Posted December 13, 2012 Lucky fuckers seeing Daft Punk back in the 90s! They've always been a favourite of mine but when I eventually got to see them at Rockness then my love for them went to another level. Such an amaziing act and Homework is one of my favourite albums of all time. Another great write up Colin. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thundermonkey Posted December 13, 2012 Share Posted December 13, 2012 They played the Barras on Halloween 1997. The old place was shakin, tremendous stuff. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
groaninjock Posted December 14, 2012 Share Posted December 14, 2012 I was at the 10th Birthday, Laurent Garnier played til 5 in the morning, decided to go to see county play Ayr away after that First time I read that I thought that Laurent Garnier went to see Ross County v Ayr after playing until 5am! 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Breaking Decency Posted December 14, 2012 Share Posted December 14, 2012 First time I read that I thought that Laurent Garnier went to see Ross County v Ayr after playing until 5am! Close, he was A. Trialist that day. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
L. Brilliant Posted December 16, 2012 Share Posted December 16, 2012 BUMP Are we waiting because the last posts are MASSIVE? I hope so! Billy Corgan's solo album alone (#1 obv) will be 10,000 worder I'm sure. [/caffeine] 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin M Posted December 16, 2012 Author Share Posted December 16, 2012 Our number 2 is on its way, I realize proceedings have slowed down somewhat..... maybe I just don't want it all to end 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin M Posted December 16, 2012 Author Share Posted December 16, 2012 2 Prodigy Music For The Jilted Generation (1994) In mainstream pop media culture in the UK, 1994 is the year that "Britpop" emerged as the defining meme. It was the year that two different bunches of classic UK pop and rock enthusiasts/copyists (delete as per preference) released albums that would completely revive the tradition of guitar led music in Britain, leaving a stamp that would steer the industry for the next decade. It began an era that, regardless of taste, was indisputably retro in essence - an revisiting of style and method from previous decades, a deliberate filtering out of much that could truthfully be deemed modern. It was a story that culminated in the lead protagonists engaging with the establishment, invited round for drinks and canapes to revel in their status as icons of "Cool Britannia", in a seemingly buoyant and prosperous country steered by the new government, who had waited the best part of two decades to regain power from their opponents, a power remarkably achieved by, erm, becoming a lot more like said opponents. What was it then, that this return to classic values, music and style was an escape from? While Noel and his gang were daydreaming about leaving dreary Northern towns to become rock and roll stars and Damon and mates were having a right old cockney knees up down the dogs, 1994 saw the planning and eventual passing of the The Criminal Justice and Public Order Act, a bill that was seen by many to criminalize people simply for, as Music For The Jilted Generation's sleevenotes put it, "having a good time". The Act specifically referred to music that included "sounds wholly or predominantly characterised by the emission of a succession of repetitive beats". Britain was still under Tory government and while Thatcher may have been gone by 1994, Home Secretary Michael Howard was seen to be maintaining the order of an establishment in crushing the common man, in disengaging with a youth with an ever decreasing set of opportunities in life. Electronic music responded to the Act in various forms of protest - Autechre released a track where each bar was progammed differently so as to avoid the demonized "repetitive beats" (the magnificent Flutter). Orbital released a track called "Criminal Justice Bill?" which was just 4 minutes of silence. The Prodigy's response on MFTJG's Their Law (a collaboration with Pop Will Eat Itself) was hardly articulate but personifies the album's mood of furious anger and sheer defiance. Britpop's return to "real" musicianship and old classic styles implies that music had lost its way by 1994, and while it coincided with electronic dance music's maturity as an album based form and engagement with a wider audience in the live arena via gigs and festival appearances (1994 was the year Orbital stole the hearts of Glastonbury), there's no question that the movement was at least partly to get away from "all that rave bollocks". The Prodigy more than any other of the big 90s electronica successes were complete products of the UK rave scene, and on their second album they were ready to bring the style without compromise to the mainstream, more advanced than their debut yet even more emblematic of the sound they represented. Far from having lost its way, in 1994 UK dance music was coming out of the clubs and raves to sit proudly alongside more established and accepted forms in the nation's CD collections. Musically Liam Howlett had become more sophisticated and MFTJG's tracks are more intricate and detailed in their production and arrangements than his earlier work. The breaking glass and evil sci-fi synths on Break & Enter, the frenetic hardcore of Full Throttle and the thumping acid techno of Speedway are rich and full bodied in sound, a huge advancement from the bedroom production that typified the scene previously. The 3 track "Narcotic Suite" that closes the album presents The Prodigy as having a broader style palette - 3 Kilos adding hip-hop shuffle and flute loops to the mix, Skylined splitting the clouds with widescreen synth strings, before the filthy acid riffs of Claustrophobic Sting closes out the album. From their earliest releases, Prodigy were always ready to break through to reach that wider audience, and MFTJG should be best remembered as an album that truly represented where music was at in 1994. It's full of moments of pop glory, never afraid to break out a hook or melody to capture your brain before it pummels you with its energy and vigour. The guitar riffs on Their Law and the marvellous Voodoo People are a precursor to their later move to become full blown cyber-rock protagonists. The snarling acid hip-hop stomp of Poison predicts the rise of other crossover electronic acts like The Chemical Brothers and their ilk. The chipmunk vocals of No Good (Start The Dance) (one of the great pop singles of the 1990s) are offer up a sinister take on relationship strife, before the barrage of beats pressure you into submission. The Jilted Generation then had their soundtrack, an angry explosion of noise and energy that represented the response to a dismissive and opressive establishment, a totem for a legion of the disenfranchised. It's an album that stood in sheer defiance both politically and musically and stayed strong, its lack of compromise proving a strength that endeared it to a wide audience. It's an album that represents a youth movement of its era, yet one that still resonates to this day. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bert Raccoon Posted December 16, 2012 Share Posted December 16, 2012 I was sure this album was going to be number one. Looking forward to seeing what beat it but I have an idea. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mambostaggie Posted December 16, 2012 Share Posted December 16, 2012 Wow, I think that's the best write up yet. Absolutely brilliant Colin, you've captured the tone and mood of the time and album perfectly! 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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