now i checked new orders “best of” out hard
yesterday
after all these were they guys that gave us atmosphere…
we used to (i used to)
play atmosphere over n over n over
during early mansfield st days
wow what a song
everything about it blew my tiny mind
the belltrees in sibilant echo
the fucking bass line
the tom tom drumming
who else was playing drums like that?
the guitar n keys…perfect
so
i knew i needed to check new order out more carefully
i have all their albums on cd here
power corruption n lies is pretty good
but i love get ready
jesus when the guitar kicks in in the beginning of crystal….
a lot of tracks musically on here have joy div spirit
and
you gotta admire the way n.o. were ready to go for new sounds
creating their own trademark thing
totally diff to jd n everyone else
i love blue monday
i love the song where he says
why dont you piss off?
however
listening to “best of”
i detected some real shockers
ie shell shock
thieves like us
vanishing point
run 2
oh god
a whole load of em
insipid awful tripe
man you gotta slap yerself round the face n say
these are the guys who did in a lonely place?
and its all about intent n trying
they are the qualities that count (to me)
what is the intent behind the thing?
what were new order thinking
when they did some of this?
hooky is reduced to pretty little melodies
over the most embarrassing little songs
and the most awful lyrics often about “love”
squeaking out cliche platitudes
these songs have no “love” in them however
they werent trying
and the intent was like a can of soups intent
contrast this to the good stuff
where you can feel the creative convulsion
that spewed forth most of j.d. n the good n o
thats why i talk about gaf as a gaffe
whats its intent…?
i dunno
its pretty much a church can of soup
contrasted to the power of most of starfish
and the opiated grandeur of p=a
its a lull
the band becalmed in a miasma of indecision
n
“i dont cares”
i’m glad if you like it…i really am
i dont decry you or your taste or loyalty
or expertise
music is a personal matter
i love some strange records
i just do
even if youre not supposed to
i still do
so im using gaf as a kinda litmus test
of intent n trying
you see on the church records
for trying you had to give me 8 or 9 outta 10
i was trying
boy was i trying
on heyday i was trying so hard
the paisley all fell off my shirt
starfish i was trying
no knucklehead, the producers didnt create utmw
and no ploog didnt play on it
but utmw had intent n trying on it
it was done with love, my friends
but gaf…
suddenly
who cares
i put all my trying n intent into remindlessness
yeah
i hate drum machines mostly
it was all i had in my bedroom studio…
dont stop me enjoying sisters of mercy or cocteau twins
so shut up about drum machines
it was that or nothin’
but all my best was going into remindlessness
thats a record with some love in it
all i had left for gaf
was kilbey running on autopilot
knocking out metropolises
which is a good exercise in songwriting
it has all the elements
but
what were trying to do…?
have a hit
what was its intent?
make money n keep arista happy
did it have love?
not really…it had skill n craft..but no real love
(peter k may deny this…maybe he put some love in…)
it was devoid of whatever starfish was brimming in
just when we needed to make a record with love
we burped out gaf
yeah ploogy didnt play on most of it
but he had no love for it either
at least we kept a modicum of interest in it
he found the church n our music had left him non-plussed
peter says i was too hard on him all the time
yeah thats true i guess
specially when he deliberately wasnt trying
which was most of the time towards the end
but also my ascerbic tongue wore him down
we had an argument (over all things) divvying up some pot
he said something like (paraphrasing here, folks)
i wish that for just one time you could stand inside my shoes
you know what a drag it is to see you
i thought
ok my mate
your performance dont justify this fuckin’ cheek
you see if marty or peter said that
i’d have to go
jesus thats harsh
but youre kinda indispensible
so i guess being good gives ya more leeway to be rude
that was how i saw it then
which is why i was so rude i guess
good= ruder i shoulda called it
but ploog by this stage had no interest whatsoever
in playing drums in the church
or even playing drums full stop
which is very sad
cos he had just gotten better n better
since he joined
and we HAD had some good times together
but lotsa things came between us
however he didnt even bother turning up
even when renivited to come down n give it a try
he still remained in la getting paid n a car
and apt in hollyfuckingwood
waddy wachtel did most of it on a drum machine
he actually tried to use richards parts from the demos
which are much better than album
i did all bass bits to drum machine
while waddy watched n listened like a hawk
the record is “perfect” from the ground up
but it sucks
yeah grind coulda been a good song
yeah pharaoh or pharoah is ok
at least ploogys on that one
but
its my own contribution
my own lack of caring n trying
even on autopilot im never rubbish
my skill n craft dont desert cos theres no love…
so yeah
there you have it
people who know what to do
doing it but without the love of previous or next record
at every stage of the process…it was loveless
like playing chess with someone whos letting you win
or someones empty flattery
or telephone sex with robot
or those corn chips with no calories
or sugar free gum
or entertainment channel
or smoking tea leaves
or whatever
no love
no trying
intent to sell but remain innocuous
dont push boundaries
dont rock the boat
dont allow extreme beauty or ugliness
dont tell the truth
not dedicated to the glory of god
not containing flashes of pure brilliance
no experimentation
as i said the churchs worst
still better than mosts best
i mean gaf aint a real stinker alongside
(insert yer most abhorred rubbish here)
just like new order still better than heart or britney
or boybands or whatever
but
we
demand more
we should
i wont ever letcha down that bad again
remember that!
i’m always trying
my intent is to fucking blow you away
its always got lotsa love
i may fail
i may fail often
but im trying
i wasnt with gaf
i know it
you know it
we all knew it then
even if we only felt it
thats why we lost momentum
stalled
and
dived
no love
no love
no love