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Včeraj pozno zvečer je postala novica tudi uradna: zgodba slovenskega glasbenega mesečnika RSQ se z novim letom zares končuje. Nič kaj praznično informacijo je uredništvo objavilo po 16 digitalnih, "webzine" izdajah, enoletnemu naboru tiskanih številk, šestih izdanih CDjih (večinoma) domačih izvajalcev ter vsaj priložnostnemu sodelovanju bolj ali manj vseh glasbenih navdušencev, kar jih na domačem terenu osebno poznam. Razlogi, ki se v uradni objavi navajajo, so finančni ter "nezmožnost razvoja v željene smeri" (torej še enkrat finančni). Ali je z vsebino, kot jo je bralcu v materinščini nudil RSQ, na domačih tleh nemogoče preživeti, tukaj vsaj zaenkrat ne bom razpravljal, prav tako ne o poplavi informacij, ki jih publika neodvisne glasbe itak pobira na spletu. Vsekakor pa smem izraziti razočaranje, saj je RSQ prepričal z entuziazmom, pohvalnim konceptom izdajanja plošč ter nedavno še bolj namensko poudarjenim fokusom na domače izvajalce. Škoda, da je danes božični večer in ne prvi april.

Errata

Dva popravka glede RSQ - napaki, ki v taki obliki po mojem mnenju ne smeta ostati nepopravljeni.

1) Cursive: recenzija albuma Mama, I'm Swollen, April 2009
Skupina na sliki ob recenziji nikakor niso Tim Kasher in njegovi jezni trubadurji iz Omahe, temveč naslednja gruča obilnih možakov (in ene gospe) z neumnimi pogledi in neokusno obleko:


Dejanski Cursive izgledajo namreč nekako takole; precej bolj gozdarsko, a tudi precej bolj verodostojno:


2) The Killers: diskografija, Maj 2009, str. 50
Pesem Tranquilize, sodelovanje z Reedom, nikakor ni opisana kot ena najbolj obupnih, temveč obupanih v The Killers repertoarju.

Za obe napaki se opravičujem.

Maxïmo Park: preteklost in sedanjost

Maxïmo Park so na Youtube danes lansirali video za svoj nov singl, uvodno pesem prihajajočega albuma Quicken the Heart: The Kids Are Sick Again. Pevec Paul Smith je v spremljevalnem newsletteru o videu povedal naslednje:

Here's our new video. It starts off dark but there are unique LED lights that illuminate each section. We used special effects that make us look a bit Max Headroom.

If you've never heard of Max Headroom go to your nearest search engine, but not before you've watched this video!

Zanimiv izbor, glede na to, da gre za dokaj zadržan komad, ki se v svojo pop podobo odpre šele proti koncu - podobno kot nekoč I Want You to Stay - in bi se morda bolje znašel v osrčju kot na štartu albuma. Sporočilno nekje pod površino najbrž dokaj močno, a vseeno na prvo poslušanje nekako medlo pesem spremlja nič-kaj-posebnega video, v katerem Smith za povrh izgleda kot psiho, ki stvari jemlje bistveno preveč resno. Popolno nasprotje prijaznega in odprtega lika, kot se je pokazal v backstageu ob ljubljanskem koncertu. Takrat je ta pesem tudi zvenela precej bolj neposredno, skupaj s preostalim novim materialom, ki je takoj dal odličen vtis. Koncertna izkušnja pač nudi tudi ogromno subjektivno dojete, evforične energije - a kljub temu na podlagi slišanega verjamem, da bo album kot celota več kot zadovoljiv. Zanima pa me, ali skozi celotno dolžino plošče ohranjajo tako netipično temačen, sintetičen zvok.

Vtise s koncerta kakor tudi dele intervjuja s Smithom lahko preberete [shameless propaganda] v marčevski številki RSQ [/shameless propaganda], tukaj pa objavljam še nekaj utrinkov s pogovora, ki je potekal približno takole:

Jaz: postavin eno-/dvostavčno vprašanje.
Paul Smith: pet minut govori o vseh mogočih, bližnje in daljno povezanih stvareh.
In tako naprej.
Voila:

Predvidljivo o vplivu producenta:
Don't tell our producers! – we always feel like we're co-producing in a way, cause we have a very strong idea of what we want to achieve in the studio. [...] You don't know at the time, cause you're collaborating. We're listening, our ears are open. In some way, the producer becomes the sixth member of the band. And we talk about arrangements, you know, "should we chop this bit out", and we need somebody sometimes to just say "yeah!".

O Grinderman (producent: Nick Launay, zadolžen tudi za Quicken the Heart):
The Grinderman record has this raw aspect, but it's still accessable. It's not avantgarde, it's still fun, it's still enjoyable to listen to, and I think that's what we wanted for this record.

O tem, katere "nove agleške skupine" si zaslužijo pozornost in katere ne:
That is not for me to say. People should make their own opinions about things. I've read too many interviews where some guy in a band slacks somebody else off and that's all you remember. I want to be remembered for making decent music and I hopefully illuminate that when I talk. But you know, I trust people, I trust the audience and listener to make their decision. [...] You see people on TV and hear them singing in American accent when they're from London. I think there's a lot of bands that just sound the same and it's up to people to make that call, I guess.

O resnosti svoje glasbe:
With our music, I hope people know that we're not joking around. You know, there's fun in our music, but we take it seriously. We feel responsible to our audience in some small way. We feel responsible to ourselves to make good music, and the pressure is eternal on us.

O tem, zakaj biti dober (človek) v vsem, kar počneš:
Whatever job I was doing – and I don't see this as much as a job – but any job that I was doing, I just want to fell like I'm doing something worthwhile. Like I used to teach older people – pensionists – art and design and I didn't love it, it's not what I wanted to do, but at least I thought: "these people go home at the end of the day, I helped them, I've done something alrigt."

O novi pesmi "I Haven't Seen Her in Ages"
There's another song on the album called I Haven't Seen Her in Ages, which on one level is very basic: it's about not seeing somebody for a while, [...] but one of the lines is "time is overrated, momentum carries me". It's a comment on how much emphasis people put on time, they measure their life by things. It's like "I'm gonna do this before I'm 25" and you think "but what if you dont do that? What happens then?" You shouldn't set yourself that sort of target, you know. Life carries you along at its own pace. It's the same topic Our Velocity was about, you know.

O povezanosti z oboževalci, npr. preko Twittra:
Twitter, for example, is just writing something spontaneous off the top of your head that lets people on the inside, but not too much. I think we always tried to balance that. [...] People can think what they like about me. That would be interesting to know - what people thought - but it could destroy you as well. So we just do what we think is enough. I don't want to spend the rest of my life on the internet, connceting with other people. But I do want to put something into it and make sure that it's good. Cause I don't wanna rip people off or give them something that's wasting their time.

O tem, kakšnen material je skrit v njegovi skrivnostni beležki:
I've written a short story for a charity in England called the Teenage Cancer Trust, and some of that comes up in my booklet, and some of that I just typed up. There's so much in it, a little rubbish, then bits I think that are good, diamonds in the rough, if you like. And those are things I feel like sharing with people, but a lot of it is just letting your feelings out. And I like that - when we can put those spontaneous things into our music, and we'll always be spontaneous, but it's also about craft. I like to work on the lyrics over and over again. But some of them never change from that instant feeling when you feel mad or happy and you write it down. The notebook may come out on stage tonigh, If we play Once, a Glimpse, cause it's got the words in it. I never learned it (pomenljiv nasmeh).

O svoji umetniški prihodnosti:
I might make a record myself that isn't very Maxïmo Park. I might release a spoken word album on a small label. I don't have any barriers, I just want to stay creative. Now that we've done three albums in a run - album, tour, album, tour, album, tour - for me, I don't know what's gonna happen now. Cause I don't wanna be stuck in a cycle, I just wanna be a creative person and live my life in some sort of freedom.

Zgrešil letni čas

Duncan Lloyd, Seeing Double

Kdo je kreativna gonilna sila zanesenega indie kvinteta Maximo Park, bi si lahko bili že mislili, ob tem albumu pa se še dokončno potrdi. Ležerni kitarist Duncan Lloyd od svojega lahkotno zračnega, a zmeraj razgibanega sloga tudi na solo plošči odstopa le minimalno – vokalno pa je v skladu s popoldansko leno naslovnico prava poletna antiteza hiperaktivnemu poetu Smithu, pevcu matične zasedbe. Tej se album po pričakovanju še najbolj približa na prvem singlu Suzee. Tekstovno preprostejše pesmi zvenijo, kot bi si Maximo Park nadeli sončna namesto piflarskih očal, takorekoč; odlično za na plažo, predvsem proti koncu albuma, ko Lloyd deloma zaplava v bolj klasično songwriterske vode. Všečno kratkočasje, ki bi se bolj razcvetelo ob toplejšem vremenu, ima pa dovolj pop poslušljivosti, da ga lahko v naših ušesih tudi dočaka.

RSQ, december 2008

Poskočna melanholija

+/-, Xs on Your Eyes

Prijetno klikanje, sezonsko zvončkljanje, hladni tepihi klaviatur. Skupni imenovalec večinskega deleža tega albuma je subtilnost. Naj beat še tako žene pesem naprej čez svetle kitare, vokali ostajajo melanholični, nežni; tolažeče podajajo enostavno razvijajoče se melodije. Celostna, mehko lebdeča slika je tako enotna, da dinamike vajen poslušalec kar hrepeni po presenečenjih. Ta so prisotna, a redka: kak komad ubere glasnejšo smer, na primer Halos, ki si drzne brneče izbruhniti. Marina je nasprotno tiha, minula slika s sive plaže. Pa saj poslušano že nasploh zveni kot pesmi, napisane v deževnem popoldnevu na akustični kitari, nato pa poslane skozi pop generator na visokih obratih, ki jih elektrizira in oblije s posebnimi učinki, a jim ne vzame njihove esence – le svojskemu značaju obrusi površino do gladkega.

RSQ, december 2008

Garažna psihadelika

The Datsuns, Headstunts

Naj anagram v naslovu nosi pomen ali ne: Novozelandci The Datsuns na četrtem albumu le mestoma reproducirajo prvenec, opevan na Otoku in poln divje garažnih riff rockerjev z vonjem po sedemdesetih. Vedo namreč, da so odlični tudi in predvsem, ko nas zalotijo nepripravljene in si dovolijo umestno poskočne orgle, melanholično noto preko akustične kitare v ozadju ali hipnotični Eye of the Needle. V enem komadu se vrnejo celo seksi spevni back vokali! Headstunts tako le delno ponuja enotnejši zvok kot predhodnik Smoke & Mirrors, a tokrat so nianse tiste, ki posameznim pesmim podelijo lasten odtenek. Svoje k svežini prispeva tudi že patentirana hrustljava kompaktnost, zato zaključni, sicer obetavno pričet izlet v psihadeliko pokaže, kako dolgočasni lahko izpadejo preveč razvlečeni pokloni junakom zadete mladosti.

RSQ, november 2008