Indietracks Festival / all things C86 and indiepop!

[hans kraay fan club]

I think there may be parents of today's teenagers who had pretty good musical taste in the 80s. I am constantly amazed at the breadth of musical knowledge of today's youngsters - recognising everything from Come On Eileen to Take On Me to Mr Brightside. I've brainwashed my kids - they can name Debaser within three seconds of it beginning. They're not responding to The Siddeleys yet though. On Saturday, they agreed with me that vinyl was better than CD and that the size of a 7" or 12" made it a thing of beauty. Next weekend I'll be showing them the free origami I got with a Bearsuit 7" and then delivering a lecture on the evolution of independent record labels 1985-1989.

My two lads each got their first mp3 players at about the age of 10. And said to me "put some music on this please". I took them to work, and just stuck on there whatever happened to be saved onto my work PC.

So their introduction to music was the Stones Roses, '21' (singles) by The Jesus and Mary Chain, some Artic Monkeys, the Strokes and Alex Turner's excellent Last Shadow Puppets album.

Indoctrinating your kids is very important. Just as mine are the only kids locally training in Albion kit, their music tastes are to be carefully influenced too!

 

[Staly]

Do today's 18 year olds actually listen to the Smiths, do you think, or is it just 'cool', like all the folk wearing Ramones T-shirts?

Well, I think this one does because he had the whole outfit - quiff, nhs glasses, cardigan. Probably got it from his parents' record collection.

Then again, there was a photo of One Direction in the paper last week, and one of them had a Joy Division t-shirt on. I don't think so....

Music's incredibly out of context these days with so much being available. When I were a lad dunce you used to trace back influences to discover new things (eg liking the House of Love led me to discover the Only Ones), but today you get it all at once.

For example I was playing the Adverts a few weeks ago in the presence of some friends of my wife and their teenage daughter. She informed me that they sounded like Green Day. I tried to explain that perhaps there were some similarities but the fact that the adverts were a groundbreaking first wave punk band rather than corporate bandwagon jumpers made them a better thing to listen to. She was having none of it, and I guess that objectively she was right, and the diminishing effect of context on music will make her more right as time goes on.

 

[tinycowboy]

I was playing the Adverts a few weeks ago in the presence of some friends of my wife and their teenage daughter. She informed me that they sounded like Green Day. I tried to explain that perhaps there were some similarities but the fact that the adverts were a groundbreaking first wave punk band rather than corporate bandwagon jumpers made them a better thing to listen to.

Staly, you are quite correct, but I imagine that you have to choose your audience wisely - lots of teenagers aren't up for an informed debate on the evolution of sound, although you'll always find a bunch of middle-aged men who absolutely love it. It's a fine line with kids - try to get them into good music too much and they end up rebelling and demanding Katie Perry. Every day I tread softly but purposefully. My three boys have their own indie band - they're a bit ramshackle, but I couldn't ask for more. I do get woken up by a 6 year old playing drums sometimes though - it's the price I pay. Like HKFC, my kids are the only ones around wearing the BHA kit. They know why we don't support a "better" team and they are scornful of primary school plastics - but not to their faces (we don't want any trouble). Looking forward to Saturday - may even give Gully a high five if I can be bothered to make my way to the bottom of the Family Stand.

 

[Staly]

Staly, you are quite correct, but I imagine that you have to choose your audience wisely - lots of teenagers aren't up for an informed debate on the evolution of sound, although you'll always find a bunch of middle-aged men who absolutely love it. It's a fine line with kids - try to get them into good music too much and they end up rebelling and demanding Katie Perry. Every day I tread softly but purposefully. My three boys have their own indie band - they're a bit ramshackle, but I couldn't ask for more. I do get woken up by a 6 year old playing drums sometimes though - it's the price I pay. Like HKFC, my kids are the only ones around wearing the BHA kit. They know why we don't support a "better" team and they are scornful of primary school plastics - but not to their faces (we don't want any trouble). Looking forward to Saturday - may even give Gully a high five if I can be bothered to make my way to the bottom of the Family Stand.

I think that I have always been aware of a difference between those who enjoy listening to music and those who in addition are actually interested in it. I love knowing what came before what, who influenced who etc. I'll quite happily watch documentaries and read books about bands I don't like, just because the whole sweep of popular music has a fascination for me. Name me a town in the UK and I'll reel off a list of bands who came from there.

My wife's quite different - she loves music, but has absolutely no interest in knowing about the drummer's heroin habit or which Fall song Pavement ripped off the most. I think my way gives the fuller experience, but man it's hard work.

 

[tinycowboy]

My wife's quite different - she loves music, but has absolutely no interest in knowing about the drummer's heroin habit or which Fall song Pavement ripped off the most. I think my way gives the fuller experience, but it's hard man work.

I've corrected it for you - at the risk of gross sexual stereotyping, I've found it difficult in my life to find many women who enjoyed what you've described above as well as enjoying the music. My wife loves music, but she'd never read a book about it. Have we ever had any women posting on this thread? Actually, don't answer that.

 

[Stato]

My two girls love the ska records I have played to them. They've got a good grounding in classic rock, jazz standards and new wave, and are keen on some of the singer songwriters of the seventies. I have managed to get them passingly interested in some things that sound unusual, like The Fiery Furnaces and Captain Beefheart. The eldest even sat with headphones and listened to a whole side of Lou Reed's 'Metal Machine Music' (More than I've ever done). However, if ever I try chucking in anything C86, they just moan that 'It sounds like all the other stuff you like dad,' and go back to One Direction.

 

[Staly]

I've corrected it for you - at the risk of gross sexual stereotyping, I've found it difficult in my life to find many women who enjoyed what you've described above as well as enjoying the music. My wife loves music, but she'd never read a book about it. Have we ever had any women posting on this thread? Actually, don't answer that.

No, I guess so. I've known a couple of women who were interested in the back story to a lot of the records they owned, but it is largely a male thing I suppose.

But even a lot of my male friends who used to be madly into music have dropped away, and now just listen to old stuff (ie the records they liked in their 20s). I can't imagine ever wanting to do that, saying you're just going to content yourself with the music you already know, or the occasional new thing recommended by the Sunday papers review section. Where's the fun in that?

 

[tinycowboy]

My two girls love the ska records I have played to them. However, if ever I try chucking in anything C86, they just moan that 'It sounds like all the other stuff you like dad,' and go back to One Direction.

Well, sounds like they're reasonably well-adjusted (I say "reasonably" because there's clearly some kind of One Direction problem). Once they're a bit older, they'll be fine - hopefully they'll realise that the cool boys don't listen to One Direction....

But even a lot of my male friends who used to be madly into music have dropped away, and now just listen to old stuff (ie the records they liked in their 20s). I can't imagine ever wanting to do that, saying you're just going to content yourself with the music you already know, or the occasional new thing recommended by the Sunday papers review section. Where's the fun in that?

I have that - friends who survive on Blur, Charlatans and Super Furry Animals who used to like more adventurous stuff. You have to make the effort and not let go - easier said than done if you don't know where to look. Problem is, there are too many places to look. It was nice and simple when it was Janice Long, John Peel and our very own Chaileyjem (you probably didn't get Radio Sussex in Yorkshire Staly, but he was good).

 

[Staly]

I have that - friends who survive on Blur, Charlatans and Super Furry Animals who used to like more adventurous stuff. You have to make the effort and not let go - easier said than done if you don't know where to look. Problem is, there are too many places to look. It was nice and simple when it was Janice Long, John Peel and our very own Chaileyjem (you probably didn't get Radio Sussex in Yorkshire Staly, but he was good).

No, I don't think the signal reaches up here, although I did used to listen to his shows on York University radio, bizarrely.

Rocker on http://www.dandelionradio.com/ is a good show to hear all the latest indiepop releases.

 

[Staly]

Sorry, I seem to have turned this into a middle age crisis thread. Didn't mean to. Here's some more clips:

Proof you don't need to be able to tune a guitar to produce something sublime:



Best song of last year for me:

 

[hans kraay fan club]

I've corrected it for you - at the risk of gross sexual stereotyping, I've found it difficult in my life to find many women who enjoyed what you've described above as well as enjoying the music. .

Interested in the back story? I've yet to find one who's even interested in putting the CDs back in the right cases...

 

[tinycowboy]

Interested in the back story? I've yet to find one who's even interested in putting the CDs back in the right cases...

Hans, I'm with you all the way. We have some valid issues here, yet I suspect we'd get annoying "Get a life" style comebacks. Priorities all wrong....

 

[Staly]

Hans, I'm with you all the way. We have some valid issues here, yet I suspect we'd get annoying "Get a life" style comebacks. Priorities all wrong....

Even after 10 years of marriage my wife still won't let me slot her few cds into my alphabetically ordered shelves. They have a separate shelf to themselves, and she can never find the one she wants. And if she does the cd's not in the case...

 

[CorgiRegisteredFriend]

Thank you Flex for last nights splurge of info. I did not realise that Bearsuit had split. I really enjoyed their sound which I could only liken to a more melodic, toned down version of Melt Banana. Just Joan's remind me of a band called Ballboy who were another Peel favourite. Again I am not sure if they are still around. Found this though which is ace

 

[tinycowboy]

Apart from the obvious, what else did people listen to in 1986? The Queen Is Dead was obviously a big deal, but I was listening to the Cocteau Twins the other evening and it brought back vivid memories of being 15, lighting joss sticks in my room and staring at the walls - in other words, a great night in for a "sensitive" adolescent! I've always liked listening to music in the dark. I suppose that's just me - I like atmosphere. Thank God we're not at Withdean any more...

 

[Albumen]

I've corrected it for you - at the risk of gross sexual stereotyping, I've found it difficult in my life to find many women who enjoyed what you've described above as well as enjoying the music. My wife loves music, but she'd never read a book about it. Have we ever had any women posting on this thread? Actually, don't answer that.

My previous girlfriend had Field Mice 7"s, lived music, played music. I've never met another like her previous and after, alas other more important shit got in the way and it didn't work out. To summarise: There are some out there but they're probably unhinged. Count the amount of women over 40 at a Wedding Present gig.

To be honest, I had trouble with the fact that she lived and loved music MORE than me.

 

[hans kraay fan club]

Apart from the obvious, what else did people listen to in 1986? The Queen Is Dead was obviously a big deal, but I was listening to the Cocteau Twins the other evening and it brought back vivid memories of being 15, lighting joss sticks in my room and staring at the walls - in other words, a great night in for a "sensitive" adolescent! I've always liked listening to music in the dark. I suppose that's just me - I like atmosphere. Thank God we're not at Withdean any more...

Away from the jangly stuff, around that time I was listening to Sisters of Mercy, Smiths, XTC*, Split Enz, Style Council and Lloyd Cole and the Commotions. Looking back, I'm pretty impressed with my 15 year old self, to be honest.


*for one reason only - because the beautiful, completely unobtainable girl who lived over the road, who I was hopelessly and utterly in love with, played it to me, on the one occasion that she invited me into her bedroom.

 

[tinycowboy]

My previous girlfriend had Field Mice 7"s, lived music, played music. I've never met another like her previous and after, alas other more important shit got in the way and it didn't work out. To summarise: There are some out there but they're probably unhinged. Count the amount of women over 40 at a Wedding Present gig.

To be honest, I had trouble with the fact that she lived and loved music MORE than me.

When I met my wife, she was into The Pixies, Wedding Present, Field Mice, Popguns. Over the years, we have become partially misaligned - she's not one for revisiting old genres in an indulgent way and is less tolerant of new bands that sound like old bands. However, had we not been on holiday, I am confident she would have attended the Wedding Present gig. When we move back to Brighton, there will be a new era of gig attending and louche living, and the launch of the Brighton C86 indie disco - expected attendance: 4 or 5, depending on whether HKFC can make it.

 

[tinycowboy]

Away from the jangly stuff, around that time I was listening to Sisters of Mercy, Smiths, XTC*, Split Enz, Style Council and Lloyd Cole and the Commotions. Looking back, I'm pretty impressed with my 15 year old self, to be honest.


*for one reason only - because the beautiful, completely unobtainable girl who lived over the road, who I was hopelessly and utterly in love with, played it to me, on the one occasion that she invited me into her bedroom.

You went into a girl's bedroom? Is that C86 behaviour? Actually, I did the same a few times - turned me into a Sarah records fan, I think! Rattlesnakes: one of my favourite ever albums. In a bizarrely melodramatic gesture, three minutes before I ceased to be a teenager, I put on Forest Fire so that the guitar solo would start at exactly midnight. Shocking times....

 

[hans kraay fan club]

You went into a girl's bedroom? Is that C86 behaviour?

It was just the once, and when she said 'listen to some records', she meant 'listen to some records'. I was in love with her from the day we moved into that house, when I was 11, until, well until now, to be honest. Of course being that she was beautiful and effortlessly cool, by the time she was 16, she was going out with Adrian Brewster who was 18 and had a car. And played football for MY sunday team. And was better than me at that as well. The prick.

To this day, if I hear xtc's Dear God, I am instantly 15 again. And pathetic.