Manic Street Preachers – Jackie Collin’s Existential Question Time

Another new Manics track surfaced yesterday, ‘Jackie Collins Existential Question Time’, which you can hear on the XFM site here:

http://www.xfm.co.uk/news/2009/manics-richeys-lyrics-made-us-a-full-band-again

A great little track with a bouncy, poppy few minutes that ends with a massive, thrashy glorious rocky mess. More great lyrics too – I’ve spent the whole day walking around humming “Oh Mummy, what’s a Sex Pistol?” …trust me, it works in context!

There’s also a nice interview with James in which he talks about how they came to use the lyrics, and the process of converting them into useable form. Really interesting stuff and there is obviously still a huge amount of affection for Richey there. He also had this to say about the preconception that this album is “The Holy Bible Part 2″:

There are small elements, echoes of The Bible, but mostly it is not The Holy Bible part 2, because the lyrics kind of led us in a different direction. A lot of the lyrics on The Holy Bible dealt with the disgust that comes from being so angry, but I think a lot of the lyrics on this was dealing with what comes out of the disgust you feel and a lot of the lyrics actually is about when the disgust turns to doubt, and I think that is what a lot of the lyrics deal with. And so, you know, a lot of the lyrics weren’t quite as angry as The Holy Bible lyrics. There was something a bit more complicated going on there I think.

It is definitely nice to see James being so upfront and articulate about the record. I think there is a genuine sense of pride and belief in his talk about the new songs. Definitely, definitely, definitely looking forward to this album now!

 

Regards,

Marwood.

Random scribblings

Two random bits of fairly spontaneous nonsense I scribbled on the forum today. Scanning through them again I find I quite like them.

Regarding David Whitaker’s take on the Daleks

Yeah, it’s just the amazing skill of David Whitaker as a writer – to look at the slightly widescreen, gobby, comic, blundering Daleks from The Chase or bits of Dalek Masterplan, to realise exactly where they’re going wrong, say “this isn’t working” and head in the opposite direction by making them insidious, calculating, secretive creatures again… creatures who are well aware of the differences between us and them and use it to their advantage by playing on our greed and ego. I think “I AM YOUR SEEEERVANT!” has to be one of the creepiest, scariest lines there’s ever been in the show, because it’s so out of character and because we as the audience know full well the scheming, malicious intent behind those words even if the colonists are too self-absorbed to see it… and it’s a chuffing great cliffhanger.

Awesome stuff from an amazing writer.

Regarding Terry Nation

I think he was a very great writer. I think to be able to write in that slightly odd 60s telefantasy style is extraordinary. I think he was a great ‘ideas’ man, not just in terms of Daleks and aliens and technology, but in terms of characterisation, themes, moral/philosophical issues, subtexts, allusions and allegories. I think he had an astonishingly strong grasp of how to pace a script, how to create drama and suspense and mystery and terror. I also think there’s a good chance that The Daleks is still the single best Doctor Who story ever made.

Regards,

Marwood.

27th March 2009

Found myself with a blank slate today, and as I walked Jen to work I decided that given the very gorgeous weather I might make myself a nice sandwich, grab a book (currently I’m reading the very cool Doctor Who – Eater of Wasps) and take a walk along the coast. Unfortunately, what I actually did was go home and have an Easter egg (Cadbury mini eggs) for breakfast. Later on I had a pizza for lunch. Ah well, I’m going to be fat for another week I guess. On the plus side, it has been torrentially pissing down since about 2pm, so it’s possible that I wouldn’t have had a great time on my walk.

Now…do I go and see the Manics live? I can’t decide. On the one hand, Jen can’t go, most of the dates aren’t that easy for me to get to, there’s rumours that they’ll be playing the new album in its’ entirety (which is a pretty cool idea but there is always the tiniest possibility that I might not like the new album…) and more than anything I’m getting old and creaky – I’m not really in good enough shape to go chasing them around the country…in fact I’m not entirely convinced I’d survive one date, never mind several dates plus extensive train or bus travel. On the other hand, it might actually be nice to get away on my own for a few days, I really should take the opportunity to see them if it’s there, and oh yeah IT’S THE BLOODY MANICS!!! So we’ll see. This all might be completely moot of course, as the tickets have been on sale since 9.30am this morning and so there is every chance that some of the dates are now fully booked.

I’ve made arrangements to buy several Doctor Who novels today, from various nice Forum people, including a few such as Death and Diplomacy, Corpse Marker and particularly Godengine which are a bit of a bitch to get hold of, and usually quite expensive too. I’m essentially getting them all for a few quid each. Get in!

And finally, I find myself writing fanfic. well, it’s not really fanfic for three reasons:

• It’s not called The Revenge of the Dalek-Morbius-Monoid-Toclafane Alliance that Reduced the Infinite Glories of the Multiverse to Weep Soulful Tears of Stardust and Poetry.
• It features one Doctor and set of companions, no other continuity, and not a single Mary-Sue in sight.
• I can actually write (or at least I like to think so at any rate).

…but anyway, it’s come about purely as a consequence of reading through an EDA arc this week and getting really in to it. I’ll probably bin it in a few days though.

Anyway…

 

Regards,

Marwood.

Manic Street Preachers – Peeled Apples

Peeled Apples, the opening track of the new Manics album Journal For Plague Lovers, got an airing on Zane Lowe’s Radio 1 show today. I’m completely stunned. IT. IS. AWESOME.

Musically, it comes across somewhat like The Holy Bible meshed with the heavier elements of Send Away The Tigers, with the crowd-pleasing melodies and chorus of their more successful albums thrown in for good measure. And they seem to have nicked the riff from Smashing Pumpkins…but sssshhhhhh, don’t tell anyone! There’s also a good chance that the production is better than any other Manics record, too.

Lyrically, it is pure, unadulterated Richey Edwards poetic genius. Opening with the lines “The more I see the less I scream/The figure of 8 inside out is infinity” pretty much guarantees that this album is never going to sell a million copies, which is frankly something of a relief. A reference to Noam Chomsky sits next to the line “Bruises on my hands from digging my nails out”, and elsewhere we get the ought-to-become-legendary line “The Levi jean will always be stronger than the Uzi”, and let’s not forget “The Falcons attack the pigeons in the west wing at night”.

And so far I’ve only listened to it once…as I say, I’m stunned. I’m genuinely, thrillingly, over-the-moon excited about the new album now. Ahhhhhh, dammit, May 18th is too far away.

You can currently hear the track on Zane Lowe’s blog here >>>

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/zanelowe/2009/03/hottest_record_manic_street_pr.html

 

Regards,

Marwood.

Doctor Who – Planet of the Dead air date

The BBC’s programme information for week 15 (11th-17th April) has been released today, and confirms Doctor Who – Planet of the Dead for the Easter weekend. Though the main article claims the day and time are still undecided, a little digging through the information suggests Saturday the 11th. Synopsis below:

Doctor Who – Planet Of The Dead

Unplaced

Day and time to be confirmed BBC ONE

• www.bbc.co.uk/doctorwho

When a London bus takes a detour to an alien world, the Doctor must join forces with the extraordinary Lady Christina, in this one-off seasonal special. But the mysterious planet holds terrifying secrets, hidden in the sand. And time is running out, as the deadly Swarm gets closer.

Planet Of The Dead features David Tennant as the Doctor, Michelle Ryan as Lady Christina and Lee Evans as Malcolm. It is written by Russell T Davies and Gareth Roberts.

 

Regards,

Marwood.

Manic Street Preachers – Journal For Plague Lovers

 

The Manics have released full details of their new album, due on May 18th (Full Story at http://www.manicstreetpreachers.com/07/news/2009/03/24/journal_for_plague_lovers?page=1 ). There are also details of a (somewhat limited) tour elsewhere on that site.

The full tracklisting is as follows:

• Peeled Apples
• Jackie Collins Existential Question Time
• Me and Stephen Hawking
• This Joke Sport Severed
• Journal For Plague Lovers
• She Bathed Herself In A Bath Of Bleach
• Facing Page: Top Left
• Marlon J.D.
• Doors Closing Slowly
• All Is Vanity
• Pretension/Repulsion
• Virginia State Epileptic Colony
• William’s Last Words

I’m getting genuinely excited about this album now. Having spent the two years since the release of Send Away The Tigers expecting them to screw things up a bit, I think the signs are actually really positive. Composed entirely of lyrics left to the band by Richey Edwards before his disappearance, with Steve Albini in the producer’s chair and the band once again turning to Jenny Saville for the gorgeous and striking cover art (as they did for The Holy Bible), I have to say that I’m really looking forward to this.

I find the tracklisting fascinating. Richey Edward’s intelligence, complexity and humour shine through in every word, but some titles, for instance ‘Virginia State Epileptic Colony’, sound more like a working title or description of contents – a consequence of the band’s reluctance to tamper too much with the source material, perhaps. It will be interesting to see if the lyrics themselves are as raw and rough-around-the-edges.

I still think that Nicky Wire’s lyrics will be missed, being as they are absent from the new record. H’s been the driving force of the band for so long that it will seem very weird to have him stand aside. And in some ways it is a shame that the band have decided to release this record now, as it will almost certainly destroy the commercial and popular credibility that the band regained with their last album, Send Away The Tigers. On the other hand, having put off using these lyrics for so long it seems that it was a choice between using them now or never using them at all. Personally I say fuck the sales figures, and can’t wait to get stuck into some new Richey material.

Not much else to say at this stage, except that the very small number of tour dates so far announced manage to miss the entire North of England and make only a token venture into the lower reaches of Scotland, meaning that many fans may have to miss out. I’m not sure if I’m in any shape to be going myself at the moment.

Patiently waiting for May 18th.

 

Regards,

Marwood.

Marwood is currently looking forward to…

• MANIC STREET PREACHERS – Journal For Plague Lovers (due mid-May, allegedly).
• DOCTOR WHO – Easter special probably 11th April, three further specials due in December.
• STEWART LEE’S COMEDY VEHICLE – Mondays, 10pm, BBC2.
• MARVEL UNIVERSE 3.75″ FIGURES – due in the UK any time now, apparently.
• WOLVERINE: ORIGINS – arrives mid-May, I think.
• AN ULTIMATES UNIVERSE UNSULLIED BY JEFF LOEB – hopefully arriving sometime after Marvel takes it’s head out it’s ass.

And Marwood is currently cautiously optimistic about…

• STAR TREK – I mean, it must be remotely possible that this isn’t complete cack, right?
• RED DWARF – The new episodes air on Dave sometime over Easter. The set design and costumes look great and hark back to the ‘classic’ days, so there’s some hope…but the plotline sounds dubious in the extreme.

Regards,

Marwood.

22 March 2009

Ok, I think I’m going to start using this blog again. No pressure, I’m not interested in posting eight times a day or anything. I’m feeling a little lost at the moment, I think I need to re-connect with the things that define me. Not just the internal stuff, but the shows I like, the comics I love, the music I adore. And I’m thinking maybe writing about it will help.

I’m currently in the process of deleting a load of the old crap and archiving some of the more interesting and/or amusing stuff, and then I’ll think of something new to write about.

EDIT: Actually, you know what, I’ve deleted the more useless crap now so I may as well just leave the rest of it here.

EDIT 2: Actually, I might try and post every day. Not in an obsessive-compulsive way, I mean if I miss a day it isn’t the end of the world. I just think that finding something to post about each day, even if it is just rambling about a movie or comic that means something to me, will help with that whole re-connection thing.

 

Regards,

Marwood.