Being a music journalist has always seemed like an unbelievably illogical career path to me, because presumably you would only choose to become one if you loved music, yet, surely to anybody who loves music, the idea of being forced to continuously listen to and pick over an album that you have a real hatred for is something close to Guantanamo Bay levels of torture (not that I’ve been and know what goes down there). And then there’s also the point that you get paid less than a well organised busker, and that whole crisis of people virtually stopping buying physical media. But mostly the first point.
So it should say a lot that I was effectively cling filmed to my chair and forced to write about Loved Ones, and I can still proudly say that, two months down the line, our relationship has grown to a level of maturity where I can safely say that I love them. As you can tell, this is quite an emotional blog post for me.
But it shouldn’t be too tough for you to press play on the two incredibly diverse tracks below and understand exactly why I’m so head over heels for this band. For what it’s worth, ‘Hell’ is a magnificent 5 minutes of eccentrically pitched vocals that worm their way into the brain, laid bare upon tribal beats, pulsating electronics, and the warm glow of the most subtle guitars. It’s the least blatantly beautiful song you’ll hear this year, but take half an hour, batter that play button, and it will become one of the favourites of the year too. It really is something special. And if that sounds like a fawning testimony to you, then you’ll be shocked to hear that I actually am even more taken with ‘Mossman’. But I’ll spare you the graphic details, because you’d probably just hit the big X in disgust, so just take advantage of the fact that this is the internet, mentally tell me to shut up, and listen to the proof for yourself.
PS – if you’d like to find out more about Loved Ones then read the article on them that I was ‘forced’ to write for Bido Lito!, it’s got all that background story and all of that that people apparently love. It can be found in this issue, on page 12.
PPS – ‘Hell’ will be available to download on 12th November on Giant Haystacks, which, if my quick research is correct, is the same subsidiary of Label Fandango that released The Heartbreaks’ first single.
Edgy Mancunians Stay+ made one very keen point in this article; at what point did we become so saturated with an excessive amount of information that any band who simply releases their music is thrown mercilessly into the “cynically anonymous” camp. It is ridiculous that when presented with only music, we start to hound bands for being so secretive and obtuse. The depressing irony being that the bands being ridiculed for their supposedly childish secrecy have uploaded their music onto the internet for the entire world to judge and deride. Ultimately, it reflects very poorly on our internet generation that we are not at all happy to hear just a band’s music. It almost seems like a re-printable anecdote in a band’s biography is just as integral to a band’s success as their music is, yet all that should be relevant is their music. And according to that philosophy, we’re very, very excited indeed about No Ceremony///.
All we have heard is the chilling, nihilistic, emotive electronica of “HURTLOVE”, which writhes under the catharsis of an expressive, cut-up vocal, but that alone is enough to have us completely hooked. And that should be enough. Yet it seems inevitable that their unfortunate geography (Manchester), my unfortunate mentioning of fellow Mancunians Stay+ earlier, their impressive imagery and so-far successful publicising campaign will see them plastered with the “deliberately anonymous” moniker, judged simply on the basis that they choose not to make needless noise about the wonderful noise that they do make. I would be less than surprised if it was even suggested that Wu Lyf’s ‘War God’ Warren Bramley was behind the whole thing. Or even that he is Wu Lyf, Stay+ and No Ceremony///. The whole thing is fast approaching a farce, yet at the centre of the storm the music that is being created is unbelievably good. “HURTLOVE” is rare in its deep anguish, the intense and immediate connection that it makes, and the speed of its retreat. We’re left desperately wanting more. Music, that is.
Big Black Delta is the solo project of Jonathan Bates – an outlet for his raw, abrasive, electronica-tinged pop music. He moved on from his last band, Mellowdrone, because he wasn’t sure that it was working, which we can’t quite understand because, for us, having a wikipedia page and being featured on the FIFA 07 soundtrack would be the height of our musical careers. It would be on our epitaph. As a discerning musician, what more can you ask for?
But it seems that Mr Bates is more ambitious than that, and new single ‘Huggin & Kissin’ is more than enough proof that that ambition has been paid off. Its an absolutely thunderous introduction to him, a coarse, hopeless anthem riddled by frustration that sounds like a logical progression from Jai Paul’s ‘BTSTU’. You can download his vicious, Cold-Cave-esq first EP for free at his web-site.
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