Day 104: Sorry it's been so long.

Hello everyone, I'm back with a vengeance now, is anyone still there?

I'm going to give it my best shot to do a song a day, but with the busy life I find myself living now (I was jobless from Jan-May hence the time to spend ruminating on music) that's the best I'm going to be able to offer.

In other news I'm hoping to be able to attend the gig in York in October, can't wait to be honest.

Anyway, I've had Code:Selfish on in my car for months now, so here is one of my faves off that...



Song: Everything Hurtz
Album: Code:Selfish
Year: 1992

This album is growing on me by the listen, it has this cool, almost surf rock undulation to it, don't know if that's just the repetition of the songs talking to me, but there's this cool 60s pop vibe to everything. This not only sounds desperate, but just cool too.

This is the sound of someone going on stage because they have to and giving it everything, at least that's how I'm reading it, the repetition of the title makes it seem like a slog, again with a 'z' (MES loves his spelling changes, pre-empting text speak by decades he was). The whole track moves with a muscled, intense walk, the cyberific keyboard sounds that offer little staccato rumbles and blips and the crack of the drums mean it is loaded with substance.

The lyrics are delivered almost line by line, rarely overlapping and its along the lines of feeling rotten: 'I've been pursuing the fuel too long/Got a big fat pain in my chestbone'. MES would never admit he felt awful, I don't imagine he gets manflu very often, he probably drinks enough that any illness just feels like a particularly bad hangover and he drinks on through. This is as close as I imagine MES gets to complaining about himself.

The lyrics are very existentialist too, not to harp on about it, but it all sounds futile, as if he knows it is as well, the idea of 'I feel awful, but this is just how it is' is the feeling I get. The same goes for the idea of being responsible for one's actions. This, placed alongside last year's Weather Report could be seen as some rare self-analysis from Smith, its obtuse, its open to interpretation, but that's what it really could be. He doesn't sound as sorry for himself as he does on that, but then he never has, I genuinely feared it may have been the final Fall album, but sounds like the new one will be amazing, it's called Ersatz GB and is out in November, such a long time to wait!

Nice to be back, please comment if anyone still exists...