I had a small package delivered yesterday morning An NME from back in the day.First bought and devoured when I was 19 and preparing myself for university. My gap year, Michael Stipe from R.E.M. on the cover. I came down to London to see them both in my first term from Norwich. They'd just been on the same show of The Tube on a Friday night. I saw them both in four days, Still both among the best gigs I've ever seen.
The copy of NME is something else. A portal to a vanished time and place. Full of bands and artists that I've forgotte or missed at the time. You could easily miss things back then if you weren't paying attention. Even if you were, Tuxedomoon for example.. An experimental Post Punk jazzy outfit from San Francisco.
They operated mainly un the late Seventies and Eighties. Self Consciously on the margins. In the space that people like DEVO and Pere Ubu opened up. Operating from the margins. Much more interested in making an artistic starement than getting up on their hind heels and salivating for filthy lucre.
But I listened to Pink Narcissus this morning. A ghostly eerie instrumental avant gard record which they made in 2014 when they reconvened. It's the kind of record that immediately resonates and reminds you of a time long gone. The short article and interview with them in the NME is priceless. Such things are worth remembering and archiving. .
No comments:
Post a Comment