Pop music
Ever the optimist
Marcus Berkmann
After buying a string of terrible albums — if anyone recommends the Natalie Imbruglia to you I suggest you biff them repeatedly on the nose — I find myself resorting to future-gazing for comfort. Where 2002 has failed, it's just possible that 2003 will succeed, gloriously and unexpectedly. After all, many established acts will be trying to repeat their successes, while a whole new generation of furious rake-thin youngsters will be releasing albums that sound a little like The White Stripes or The Strokes. And people like me will be out there, still buying CDs, still hoping they'll be good, still feeling angry and thwarted when we get home and play the bloody things. No use complaining: it's part of the natural order of things, and we do well to respect that.
First up, I notice, is a Lou Reed album, which will make some readers feel very old indeed, although obviously not as old as Lou Reed. Craggy, croaky and still boasting a full head of jet-black hair (oh yes indeed), Reed has written a musical based on the stories of Edgar Allan Poe and, without a scintilla of shame, recorded it for public consumption. The Raven is a double CD featuring such notables as Willem Dafoe, David Bowie and The Blind Boys of Alabama. It could be bold and possibly groundbreaking, although it sounds like the sort of hubristic drivel rock stars used to dream up in the 1970s, when rock stars really were rock stars, Lou Reed really was a rock star, so I suppose he's allowed. It's out at the end of January.
More appealing, to my ears at least, is the promise of a new Massive Attack album: 100th Window is their first since Mushroom stomped out (he's probably called Dave in real life) and left Daddy G and 3D (Pete and Ken) to weave their atmospheric, dubby, trip-hoppy soundscapes from whichever substances happened to be influencing their mental processes at the time, It's out on 10 February, as is the first solo album by Johnny Marr, legendary underachieving guitarist from The Smiths. As ever in pop, it's far more sensible to keep your audience waiting than to make music they won't want to hear. Rumour has it that Boomstang is a stinker of the first water: the first Album To Avoid of 2003.
Also on the way is the new one from Radiohead. According to Thom Yorke, it's 'the exact opposite of Amnesiac and Kid A'. We may want to hear it more than once, I think he means. The White Stripes and The Vines, being dirty guitar bands, can record albums in an hour and a half (with a break halfway for tea), so it'll be no surprise to learn that both have albums due in the spring. Blur's first album without their gloomy guitarist Graham Coxon is out in February, as is the second album by the most tuneful of the young acoustic bands, Turin Brakes. Was The Optimist LP a oneoff or does it presage a long and honourable career for 011y and the One Not Called 011y? If they have introduced loud squalling guitars to 'extend their range', you'll know they're sunk.
Of oldie comebacks, the most intriguing is that of Fleetwood Mac, recording in what marketing men would call the 'classic line-up' for the first time in 15 years. Christine McVie is a significant absentee — she doesn't want to tour — but Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks are both on board. More astounding still is news of a new Steely Dan album, a mere three years after the last one. Donald and Walter claim to have gone into the studio in autumn 2001 and to have emerged only a year later with a new record. Obviously no release date has been set, as they may be lying, Kate Bush is rumoured to have an album 'nearly ready', in which state it will no doubt stay until 2010.
Just for fun I looked up some Blue Nile websites to see if there was any news of a new album from them. The Glasgow miser abilists are believed to spend months wondering which drum sound to use. As it happens, one of their fans bumped into Paul Buchanan in a greasy spoon three years ago. He said there was an album due in the spring. Not that he specified which spring. He's no fool. But nor did he specify white or brown bread on the sandwiches he was ordering, which probably put the recording process back several weeks.
Previous page
