HOME

REVIEWS

- RSS Feed

SoundsXP Presents

tba

On Our iPod

Weird Dreams - Choreography (album)

Crocodiles - Sunday (Psychic Conversation #9) 7”

The Hairs - I’ve Been Working Out 7”

King Creosote and Jon Hopkins - Third Swan single

Cate Le Bon - Cyrk (album)

Tashaki Miyaki - sings the Everly Brothers 7”

Antony Harding - The Birds Sing Goodnight To You And Me (album)

Veronica Falls - My Heart Beats 7”

Latest Forum Posts

Special Feature

Music book round up: Luke Haines / Kristin Hersh / James Yorkston / Mark Everett / Roy Wilkinson

Article written by Matt H - Sep 21, 2011

Rock n roll books!

With the income from recorded music on the wane, it should be no surprise to see artists from a wider range of backgrounds branching out into autobiography. This year has seen a fair number of indie-scene scions try their hand (aided and abetted in some cases by indie labels such as Domino and Rough Trade making their own forays into the publishing world). After all the chances of the likes of Luke Haines or James Yorkston seeing a new album gracing the racks of the local HMV are pretty remote – but both had plenty of copies gracing the shelves of the book section. And Kristin Hersh admits to shifting far more copies of her book than any of her recent albums. What is surprising maybe, given how inauspicious musicians’ efforts in other artforms (and vice versa) have sometimes been, is how decent a fist they’ve made of it. If you haven’t been keeping up here’s a quick recap on a few of the best that you might want to start pencilling onto your Christmas list. I doubt there’s any need to be a fan of the music of any of these in order to enjoy the books.

Poster girl for this trend has been Kristin Hersh and rightly so. We’ve already given Paradoxical Undressing, her account of a formative year in the life of the Throwing Muses, a glowing once over (review here). A couple of rereads later and there’s no reason to retract any of that – while covering some traumatic times it’s funny, heart-warming and wise (not a word to be bandied about lightly).

Also funny, in an entirely different, bitter and sharp-penned manner is Luke Haines. He has followed up Bad Vibes, a semi-insider’s view of the atrophied heart of Britpop, with Post-Everything, a slightly less bitter account of how to remain on the margins of success without ever quite properly falling off. Haines essays a few Hunter Thompson passages but more often comes across as a rock music Withnail (albeit one with more concrete talent to offer) never quite entirely sabotaging his own efforts, those of his friends and events he really ought to have nothing to do with (for instance the resignation of Glenn Hoddle as England manager) . It’s an account that’s all the more interesting thanks to Haines’ readiness to take the path less-travelled. His account of how the ‘Grahams’ of the National Theatre treated those involved with his eventually aborted musical evokes the artists battle with the bureaucracy and management far more interestingly than recounting the simple crookedness and incompetence that marks out many accounts of the music business. Some personal scores are still settled, but Haines is sensible enough to often leaving you wondering precisely who with. And though the tone is arrogant, the Luke Haines telling the tale is clearly a slightly ludicrous comic caricature; while there’s no doubt a foundation of truth, the real Haines seems to keep his mouth shut and just get on with things more often than not. But that wouldn’t be as much fun.

One of the pitfalls of many a straight-told autobiography, whether in music or elsewhere is that the anecdotes are often clearly more fun in the experiencing than in the retelling. James Yorkston gets around that by making the grind the point of the telling in It’s Lovely To Be Here – The Touring Diaries of a Scottish Gent. Taken at face value you could be forgiven for wondering why he bothers at all if it’s so hard engaging with people and dragging himself around endless half-arsed attempts at vegan catering. But if you know his music, or have heard him reading from the book (as on his Record Store Day release http://tinyurl.com/6dz8ebl ) you’ll appreciate the self-awareness and –mockery that lies behind the account, and a large dollop of guilt at not enjoying it more.

Roy Wilkinson gets around the anecdote problem in a different way. The odd one out in this selection, although Do It For Your Mum tells the story of British Sea Power he’s not actually in the band. Two of his brothers are though, he managed them for several years and his dad might as well have been. A music journalist of many years’ standing, he knows not to dwell for too long on any story and happily digresses into tenuously related points of interest and, especially, his dad’s colourful life stretching from Second World War service to a late in life enthusiasm for indie rock (though an enthusiasm that doesn’t seem to stretch to admiration for any of BSP’s peers, who tend to suffer curt and entertaining dismissal). So, amongst thoughts on BSP (who brush up against more successful contemporaries on a baffling regular basis) and music business facts stated with more bewilderment than comprehension, you’ll as learn as much about about Saxon’s touring habits, Wilkinson Sr taking out a Spitfire with his head, the nocturnal habits of the weirder fauna of the British Isles (from the nightjar to BSP’s more devoted fans) and the history of the Mitford sisters. All of this is brought together to paint an impressionistic picture in a style not a million miles away from his brothers’ songwriting.

Also cheating a bit, but it’d be wrong to finish without mention of Mark Everett’s Things The Grandchildren Should Know even though it has been around for 2 or 3 years. The bare, tragic facts of the Eels man’s family history are well-rehearsed but he tells the tale with a real humour and hopefulness. What’s just as striking is how, unlike the others here, it never occurs to E to form a band and take the indie route to (non-)stardom. Instead he looks at the records he loves – sees the addresses on the back and sets off to LA to tout his songs around. That it works, twice in effect, speaks of his talent, persistence and a certain preparedness to knuckle down somewhat to a career in showbiz. Not really the story I was expecting given the records.

And while there’s the odd shyster and rip-off merchant cropping up here and in the other books, if one thing strikes you in them all, it’s that each one of these artists has at one time or another found genuine support, enthusiasm and love for music somewhere in the record business - be it indie or major label. Not to mention monetary support. Which might just make them seem old fashioned quite quickly.

Links:
http://www.lukehaines.co.uk/
http://www.waterstonesmarketplace.com/