"Music is my junk", the late, great Steve Marriott (right) once said. This sums up the rock'n'roll obsession almost perfectly. Drugs and music, going hand-in-hand with love and dependance. Simon Napier-Bell couldn't have put it better (or more succinctly!).
Of course, this extends beyond rock'n'roll. Jazz, folk, blues, soul, electro... you name it, you will find its fair share of obsessives and "junkies". But rock'n'roll remains the glue, for no other genre has successfully melded so many styles and genres, nor managed to re-invent itself so tirelessly.
I won't go into a massive autobiography, but music has always been my life, from dancing to Michael Jackson as a kid, to discovering my parents' 60s and 70s rock records, to my more recent introduction to the netherworlds of punk, post-punk, avant-garde and free-jazz, via glam, blues, neo-folk, grunge, new wave, electronica and more. And the culmination has been discovering krautrock, possibly the most beautiful musical style ever!
But I get ahead of myself. I want to use this modest blog as a means to shed light on music that quite often doesn't get the right look in, praise, or even notice for that matter. I may well approach some better know stuff from time to time (if only to try to rehabilitate some bands and artists that have got a bad rap over the years - ELP and Grand Funk Railroad anyone?), but the main focus will be on those acts that toiled away in the shadows of the Led Zeppelins, Pink Floyds, Bob Dylans and Aretha Franklins of this world, producing some simply mind-blowing music and art along the way.
I've already made some steps towards this, through my ever-evolving Rateyourmusic lists:
http://rateyourmusic.com/list/Phimister/obscure_alternatives__unsung_masterpieces_and_underappreciated_gems
http://rateyourmusic.com/list/Phimister/albums_that_have_defined_a_lifetime___my_favourite_albums_of_all_time___chronological__and_alphabetical_when_needed__order
But one can always do more, and this space will hopefully give me room to blab a bit more, and centralize my various thoughts a bit. Plus, I get to put a little bit more of myself into this, so be prepared for the occasional musing on minority and gay rights, politics, my hatred of British tabloids, cinema, the arts, city life or the state of the music industry. Such is the wonder of the Web, anyone can find their voice. Not sure who will be listening -or rather reading-, but as one of my idols used to say all the time: "He who dares, wins, Rodney". God knows what winning would mean here, but it's a nice thought.
As a closer to this little introduction (and before I go and have a good think on which album/artist/rant I want to start on), I would like to thank and recommend a few sources for the endless musical joy they have brought me. A lot of great music is out there, away from most ears, and one or two sources have been instrumental in bringing it closer to mine own.
First up has to be the indefatigable Julian Cope who, through his two massive rock books
Krautrocksampler and Japrocksampler, introduced me to a goldmine of obscure (and not so obscure) rock gems from two of the most fertile music countries of all time: Germany and Japan. On top of that, his superb website, http://www.headheritage.com/, remains an invaluable source of reviews, discussions and articles dedicated to all music that dares to push back boundaries and provoke the senses. It is an essential pit-stop for any lover of extreme, trippy or adventurous music, and also touches on the likes of Neil Young, King Crimson, Black Sabbath, Funkadelic and Soft Machine. I think the word is comprehensive.
Equally so is http://www.rateyourmusic.com/, a fantastic community for music-lovers. Any album by any band, big or small, is there, to be praised or shot down by hoards of ravenous "junkies" like me.
Then there's The Wire magazine's list of "Albums that changed the world while no-one was listening". Look it up. No music list has been better named, and the lads and ladies at The Wire have exquisite taste. http://rateyourmusic.com/list/FeifUmgotnn/wires_100_records_that_set_the_world_on_fire__while_no_one_was_listening____30_runners_up_that_were_left_out_of_the_original_article/
Finally, thanks must go to Steve Stapleton of Nurse With Wound, who compiled a list (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nurse_With_Wound_list) of the best obscure and unsung albums ever made for the release of their 1979 magnum opus Chance Meeting on a Dissecting table of a Sewing Machine and an Umbrella. Not only is the album a must-have (and very rare today), the "Nurse with Wound list" is a great encyclopedia of weird, mysterious and underappreciated gems. I could also mention Stapleton's good friend David Tibet, of Current 93 fame, who has dedicated more than a little energy to getting a release on CD for the likes of Jan Dukes de Grey's masterpiece Mice and Rats in the Loft and, especially, Pass the Distance by Simon Finn, loved so much by Tibet that he released it on his own label! Thanks to all these great people and sources for enriching my life.
And so onwards, for my own contribution. If it'll help...
Of course, this extends beyond rock'n'roll. Jazz, folk, blues, soul, electro... you name it, you will find its fair share of obsessives and "junkies". But rock'n'roll remains the glue, for no other genre has successfully melded so many styles and genres, nor managed to re-invent itself so tirelessly.
I won't go into a massive autobiography, but music has always been my life, from dancing to Michael Jackson as a kid, to discovering my parents' 60s and 70s rock records, to my more recent introduction to the netherworlds of punk, post-punk, avant-garde and free-jazz, via glam, blues, neo-folk, grunge, new wave, electronica and more. And the culmination has been discovering krautrock, possibly the most beautiful musical style ever!
But I get ahead of myself. I want to use this modest blog as a means to shed light on music that quite often doesn't get the right look in, praise, or even notice for that matter. I may well approach some better know stuff from time to time (if only to try to rehabilitate some bands and artists that have got a bad rap over the years - ELP and Grand Funk Railroad anyone?), but the main focus will be on those acts that toiled away in the shadows of the Led Zeppelins, Pink Floyds, Bob Dylans and Aretha Franklins of this world, producing some simply mind-blowing music and art along the way.
I've already made some steps towards this, through my ever-evolving Rateyourmusic lists:
http://rateyourmusic.com/list/Phimister/obscure_alternatives__unsung_masterpieces_and_underappreciated_gems
http://rateyourmusic.com/list/Phimister/albums_that_have_defined_a_lifetime___my_favourite_albums_of_all_time___chronological__and_alphabetical_when_needed__order
But one can always do more, and this space will hopefully give me room to blab a bit more, and centralize my various thoughts a bit. Plus, I get to put a little bit more of myself into this, so be prepared for the occasional musing on minority and gay rights, politics, my hatred of British tabloids, cinema, the arts, city life or the state of the music industry. Such is the wonder of the Web, anyone can find their voice. Not sure who will be listening -or rather reading-, but as one of my idols used to say all the time: "He who dares, wins, Rodney". God knows what winning would mean here, but it's a nice thought.
As a closer to this little introduction (and before I go and have a good think on which album/artist/rant I want to start on), I would like to thank and recommend a few sources for the endless musical joy they have brought me. A lot of great music is out there, away from most ears, and one or two sources have been instrumental in bringing it closer to mine own.
First up has to be the indefatigable Julian Cope who, through his two massive rock books
Krautrocksampler and Japrocksampler, introduced me to a goldmine of obscure (and not so obscure) rock gems from two of the most fertile music countries of all time: Germany and Japan. On top of that, his superb website, http://www.headheritage.com/, remains an invaluable source of reviews, discussions and articles dedicated to all music that dares to push back boundaries and provoke the senses. It is an essential pit-stop for any lover of extreme, trippy or adventurous music, and also touches on the likes of Neil Young, King Crimson, Black Sabbath, Funkadelic and Soft Machine. I think the word is comprehensive.Equally so is http://www.rateyourmusic.com/, a fantastic community for music-lovers. Any album by any band, big or small, is there, to be praised or shot down by hoards of ravenous "junkies" like me.
Then there's The Wire magazine's list of "Albums that changed the world while no-one was listening". Look it up. No music list has been better named, and the lads and ladies at The Wire have exquisite taste. http://rateyourmusic.com/list/FeifUmgotnn/wires_100_records_that_set_the_world_on_fire__while_no_one_was_listening____30_runners_up_that_were_left_out_of_the_original_article/
Finally, thanks must go to Steve Stapleton of Nurse With Wound, who compiled a list (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nurse_With_Wound_list) of the best obscure and unsung albums ever made for the release of their 1979 magnum opus Chance Meeting on a Dissecting table of a Sewing Machine and an Umbrella. Not only is the album a must-have (and very rare today), the "Nurse with Wound list" is a great encyclopedia of weird, mysterious and underappreciated gems. I could also mention Stapleton's good friend David Tibet, of Current 93 fame, who has dedicated more than a little energy to getting a release on CD for the likes of Jan Dukes de Grey's masterpiece Mice and Rats in the Loft and, especially, Pass the Distance by Simon Finn, loved so much by Tibet that he released it on his own label! Thanks to all these great people and sources for enriching my life.
And so onwards, for my own contribution. If it'll help...
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