LTW newsletter 78

Welcome warriors,

Harmony in the chaos, harmony in the music, harmony in my head, harmony between the humans…

Harmony.

Harmony.

Harmony.

Where is the harmony?

In these chaotic and increasingly ugly times, music is one of the few things we can hold onto.

Without ignoring the surrounding chaos and whilst trying to make sense of the mess, and doing our bit to maybe make it better, it’s the music we keep going back to.

The music is a place to immerse ourselves in. Its decibels and its myriad of forms celebrate the diversity of the human spirit and the worldwide dance and create a harmony in the chaos.

It’s perhaps the highest art and the one that goes direct to the soul and even at its most primal it can be the most elevated form and even at its most dumb it can have its own beauty. Whilst some of the human race are hellbent on destruction, music is the flip side of that coin - creating something positive in the chaos.

Even in a week like this, when the very worst side of humanity came to the fore, making music feel almost irrelevant, it somehow still has its own power, and at LTW we try to celebrate this….

There is such a deluge of news these days that those far off days of punk seem quite simple when bands sang of ‘issues’. Even a decade ago seems like a different world and the bottled up anger delivered in the poetic minimalism of Sleaford Mods 2014 ‘Divide And Exit’ album almost seems from a quainter, more genteel time. The reissue of their debut album spotlights this and also just how unique the duo were when they appeared in all their grimy brilliance. The past decade has seen them achieve the almost impossible by somehow varying their perfect formulae without ever stepping off the tightrope.

Meanwhile, the Olympics flickers away in the corner with occasional media excitement without ever really captivating anyone apart from on the opening ceremony night, which has become like the Eurovision Song Contest or Glastonbury - one of those Twitter avalanches as everyone has an opinion without ever really having any idea of what's going on.

It’s a curious modern phenomenon - this misinformed repetition of the same stuff over and over again. Opinion as fact!

Yet despite this, there were musical moments that worked, like the French metal band Gojira, who somehow have brought a rightious message to their high decibel music and have become the biggest band in France and are now breaking out worldwide. For the ceremony, they were doing their metal thing with an opera singer, and it all somehow made sense.

We lost a lot of people this week and it has knocked us for six as ever because they were people we knew, worked with or enjoyed their art…or all these combined.

Former bass player from the Vibrators and producer extraordinaire Pat Collier died at the age of 71. A humble man, his work rate was astonishing, and a huge swathe of British indie records had his name on them. He brought professionalism to the often chaotic world of guitar music and was also part of the Vibrators in their early days - a most underrated band whose art punk really stands the test of time.

Svenja Block was one of the core team of LTW. A brilliant photographer and a passionate woman whose very passion was reflected in her brilliant photographs that were instantly recognisable. Her art was outstanding but obviously we are totally gutted here about losing her as a person as Melanie Smith's write up details.

We also lost Martin Phillips, the main man from the New Zealand indie heroes The Chills. This brought back memories of interviewing him on the road in 1990 and the band’s idiosyncratic music, which made them the first breakout group from the New Zealand Flying Nun label with their psyche take on post-punk.

On a happier note it was great to finally hear the Humanist second album which is out this week . The group, built around the guitar wizardry of Rob Marshall, use various singers to paint their dark energy post-punk music, and the album  is a fantastic trip into a melancholic yet euphoric world.

It will be great to have the Miki Berenyi Trio up here in Bolton, near Manchester, playing a new shoegaze festival supported by the brilliant Keeley. It’s always good to see festivals in different places instead of being concentrated in the south of England and it will be well worth supporting.

Another new northern festival is on the edge of Manchester and is headlined by Pete Doherty.

Former Chumbawumba Dunstan Bruce has a new single out called, humorously, ‘Fucking Expensive’ and it’s as zippy, catchy and point-making as you would expect from the most visible member of the anarcho band who somehow broke huge in the nineties and became the 4th biggest UK band of that decade in the USA (I know it sounds mad but look it up!)

Punk icon Patti Smith brought her legendary presence and wisdom to a summer festival in Somerset House in London - it was predictably brilliant and life affirming, and like the finest of fine wines, the legendary Patti was as thrilling as ever. As resolute and romantic as she has been throughout her career, she delivered a triumphant set with her new Quartet album under a full moon in the glorious setting of Somerset House.

Out August 30th through Loma Vista, Undone EP, a new remix release by Chelsea Wolfe will feature remixes by Boy Harsher, Justin Broadrick, Full of Hell, Forest Swords and more.