LTW newsletter 80

Welcome warriors!

Well that was quite a week.

The music went from being an occasional footnote in the mainstream to the top of the news cycle pops for days on end with the sudden news of Oasis reforming. What was big news became an avalanche and the biggest story for years, whether you liked it or not…

Like all big stories, the reaction has been polarising. It feels like everyone has an opinion on the Oasis reunion and it somehow also involved everyone’s personal agenda! It swerved from excitement to cynicism, with the band getting the blame for small venues closing down, new bands not having a chance to get big, ripping off the Beatles or making too much money and much more. It’s been a long time since a band dominated the news cycle like this - it’s a rare event on the level of the Sex Pistols in the summer of 1977 or the Britpop wars - those rare times when a band is at the top end of the news even managing to get ahead of the endless wars and non-stop sport.

So, the reunion seemed to spark everyone into a take!

The world was suddenly full of pro and anti opinions. It was like the annual Glastonbury headliner debate - when something becomes of this scale then everyone has an opinion on it. The more cult like smaller groups are only known by their fans and never encounter any haters who simply don't know that they even exist. Imagine if the Fall had gone supernova and the haters had chance to pick over some of Mark Smith’s lyrics and interviews for ammunition! The band would be trending for months!

Maybe cult-dom is an easier place to exist and get on with your art. The level of fame that Oasis exist at must take some dealing with.

The whole shebang seems to have been sparked by an interview with Noel Gallagher that I did in early June. I didn't want the usual Noel v Liam stuff and ended up with an interview where he praised his brother and showed the real side of his character far away from the tabloid cut out version we normally get. The interview raised (mono) eyebrows and within days the reunion was on.

The gigs also put the spotlight on big side issues like the ‘dynamic pricing’ of the tickets for the gigs. This has been going on for a long time but really came to the fore with Oasis, with millions of people trying to buy tickets. After the fuss, the government has said it's looking into it.

All this talk of reformations got some other old stagers giddy with excitement. Morrissey must have wanted some of the action in ‘Oasis Week’ and posted a story on his website about the Smiths getting offers to reform and Johnny Marr not being interested…

Johnny Marr did actually reply to the question when a fan asked him about the classic band coming back together - his reply was rather amusing.

In a week of comebacks, it was great to see that Brian Jonestown Massacre announced new dates. The maverick band that took the trip to its logical conclusion has announced dates for next year, and we can only expect the unexpected…

Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds’ new album, ‘Wild God,’ was one of our albums of the week. The prince of darkness has moved into middle age with a comfort that no one expected in those frazzled earlier days. This is a very grown-up album that deals with the big stuff, and it really suits him. Our reviewer calls it a career highlight.

Our other album of the week was from long-standing inventive soundscapers, Mercury Rev, and again, it was an unexpected late career highlight that was nine years in the making resulting in Born Horses.

The first line up of Siouxsie and the Banshees were real game changers. The sonic sound they created became a template for post punk and into goth. That guitar sound and the tribal drums were. A core part of the new sonic soundscape but whatever happed to the drummer kenny Morris who left the band band abruptly after two albums. We caught up with him recently.

Not sure if anyone expected this bit A.R. Kane suddenly remerged into the future that they ere sou soundtracking 30 years ago. The influential band were beloved by the music press and musicians but made little impression beyond this constituency. Maybe the world has caught ip witht Hema nd they deserve their lap of honour.

As ever Louder thanWar were running a round the outdoor gigs in the tail end of this moodiest of moody summers. Up in the lakes we took our annual jaunt to Krankenhaus festival and loved its cutting edge line up playing ina huge cow shed in the grounds of the magical muncatser castle.

PJ Harvey played a stunning series of shows were her shapeshifting music and personality was caught in the moment with another ground breaking presentation. She rarely puts a foot wrong and we were there of course to celebrate.

At the other end of the country we celebrated the Massive Attack mega show in bristol thats aw the band still embracing the future not just musically but also by organising the most zero carbon event in history creating ideas that will be the norm in future event planning.