24th August 2001
IntroductionBattered and bruised though I was by Alec's not entirely complimentary remarks on my compilation CD, Spirit of Mirk, I took the risk of giving him a copy of Spirit of TECC - it's always interesting to see what people think. Here are his comments.
- Mike.
From alec@ssl.co.uk Fri Aug 24 10:25:54 2001
Date: Fri, 24 Aug 2001 10:25:15 +0100 (BST)
From: alec@ssl.co.uk
To: mirk@ssl.co.uk
Subject: Spirit of Tecc volume #1
Feel free to forward this around the office if you think it's appropriate.
----
"Another party's over, and I'm left cold sober ..."
You know how, when you're very drunk you feel like you're being really eloquent
but then the next morning you can't quite remember what it was you were saying
so you never know if you really were or not?
Well here's what I wrote about "Spirit of Tecc #1" whilst very drunk. You be
the judge.
P.S. It reads much better if you listen to the CD as you read it.
----
Greetings fellow "Spirits" ...
1) It Bites - The Big Lad in the Windmill
I guess it works well as an intro to 2) but I have to say that it
instantly reminded me of a quote from Plains, Trains & Automobiles
"Here's an idea, If you're going to tell a story, have a point".
2) Jimi Hendrix - Crosstown Traffic
Given that I've frequently referred to Hendrix as being crap I'm not
unaware of the hypocrisy of describing this as "completely brilliant".
It's actually the track that made me investigate Hendrix further (via
a Pepe Jeans advert) ... too bad he turned out to be "mostly crap".
3) Amy Grant - Sure Enough
From the moment this starts I know:
a) that it's not my cup of tea at all
b) that there's really nothing wrong with it (if you like that kind of
thing)
c) that I'm going to press >> now
4) Queen - My Melancholy Blues
You can just picture it can't you? Freddy sits down at the piano
dripping sweat like a Turkish bath, nods to the crowd and starts to
play. Beautiful. I came damn close to crying on the escalators at
Euston (mind you, I was very, very drunk at the time). Freddy ...
teach the angels to sing like this and there may be hope for my
spiritual salvation yet!
5) J.S.Bach - Cello Suite Prelude No 1
I've heard this before somewhere haven't I (yes, sorry I'm one of those
philistines who goes into the classical section and asks for the Austin
Metro music). Gorgeous ... shame this sort of music never has a proper
title, somehow I just know that "Cello Suite Prelude No 1" will not
be tripping off my furry tongue tomorrow morning.
6) Rachmaninov - "Elegaic" Piano Trio #2 in D minor. 3rd movement
"Spirit of ..." compilation rule #1 - never put two classical tracks
side by side, it just brings everyone down. Probably very clever but
I'm afraid I'm going to have to press >>
P.S. see what I mean about the titles?
7) The Beatles - Yesterday
One of those songs that (being somewhat of a music snob) I would never
in a million years mention in a top 10 list, and yet, when you actually
hear it ... snobbery and pre-judgmentalism (is that a word) crumble
under the sheer musical genius of stuff like this.
8) Michael Nyman - The Heart Asks Pleasure First (excerpt)
Uncanny - SoSSL1 featured Michael Nyman too - quite lovely!
9) Blackstreet feat. Fishbone, Slash - If You Need A Fix
Fishbone were the first band I ever saw live where a member of the
band was naked (if you discount his Saxophone - fnarr, fnarr) - unlike
this track that night was (to the best of my memory) brilliant - I can
therefore only assume that Blackstreet bring a certain amount of
crapness to the party!
10) This Mortal Coil - Song To The Siren
Even more uncanny - this actual track featured on SoSSL1. There are
precious few recording artists that are quite unique - Liz Frasier is
one of them - utterly mesmerising - again!
11) The Cure - Lovesong
Well I'm biased here 'cos I think The Cure are one of the greatest
bands of all time - ever. I love this 'cos it reminds me of a wild
afternoon/night when ... one moment I was drinking outside a bar
on Oxford Street with some friends and the next, on a wild impulse
decided I was going to see The Cure. I jumped on a train to Wembley
(by myself because I couldn't convince the others of my "vision"),
paid an outrageous amount of money to a tout and got to see The Cure
live on the Disintegration tour - sends a shiver down my spine even
now. Oh, I also made out with a girl who had very nice underwear to
this track.
12) Dar Williams - Alleluia
Never heard of her - sounds pretty cool!
13) Joni Mitchell - This Flight Tonight
I'm afraid I've not managed to form an opinion on this track.
14) Green Day - Good Riddance
Quelle surprise - I was getting all psyched up to shout "Limp Biskit"
in a spoof heavy metal kind of way (a'la' Eminem's Marshal Mathers)
but then it turns out to be acoustic - I like it.
15) Talking Heads - Once In A Lifetime
Stone cold f*cking classic - who can forget that weird arm chopping
gesture from the video. It's entirely possible that that will be one
of the last things that goes through my mind when I shuffle off this
mortal coil - isn't it weird the things that stick?
16) Eric Clapton - Change the World
Eric Crapton more like - sorry Sam!
17) P.J. Harvey - You Said Something
Damn - I've never heard her before but had assumed she would be more
anarchic than this.
P.S. Doesn't she sound like Chrissie Hynde?
18) Robert Miles - Children
OK, here's a funny story (by the way, I love this track). I was in a
record store a few weeks after buying this and a girl in the queue in
front of me asked for it. "I'm afraid it's out of stock now, but his
new single is just out and it's exactly the same". So she bought that
instead. Another great video too!
[OK, it's my stop next (I'm on a train) - I may be more sober and less eloquent
by the time I get to review the rest - sorry!]
[back home - well I just wrote the Freddy Mercury/Angels thing so there's hope
yet]
19) Francis Dunnery - I Don't Want To Be Alternative
Earlier this evening I'd noticed there was a track called "Alleluia"
on this CD and was going to blah on irrelevantly about how much better
Jeff Buckley's cover of Leonard Cohen's "Halleluja" was than this. I
then spotted that this is tracklisted as "I don't want to be
alternative" ... Mike - have you cocked up per chance?"
[double checked - no, I guess not - coincidence #3]
20) Lit - Miserable
The "you make me cum" gag is slightly amusing but there's MUCH better
in this genre (suggested listening - Dinosaur Jr ... or better still,
Nirvana - of course).
21) Pink Floyd - The Great Gig in the Sky
Woh ho haaah ah yeahhhhh yeah owww oooooo iiiieeeeeeeee, Oh Ohhhhh ...
they don't write them like that anymore .... f*cking brilliant!
P.S. the thought of a slow fade out on David Byrne chopping his arm
makes me suddenly very "afraid of dying" ... time for bed I think.
Dear Mike & fellow Tecc's ... you should be verrrr proud of yourshelves, thish
is an EXSHTREMELY fine compilation and I shalute you one and all ... Alec
[thud! - falls unconscious at kitchen table - the end]