Picking up the bass and playing Mclusky’s THAT MAN WILL NOT HANG has become my waiting for the kettle to boil theme tune. Before getting out of my seat to fill the kettle I likely saw a list being plugged on Facebook or Twitter and thought, ‘why…?‘ Aside from linkbait, do they matter anymore?
Lists. Is there a more creatively bankrupt expression of words than the end of year bullshit list posts? Who cares about your list? Nobody. Tastemakers still struggling for relevance can publish all they want but the fact is we can hear almost anything we like online instantly. Your opinion no longer counts. Unless it is designed solely to entertain in which case hey ho away we go Charlie Brooker.
2013 was the year I bought my first mini mac. God I love how saying MINI MAC, and not mac mini, winds up the Apple fanboys. The plan was to get recording with it and in ten months all I managed was messing about with amp sounds in Garageband. The fender bass I bought received a similar lack of attention until nearer the end of the year when I decided to come up with a daily bass riff while waiting for the kettle to boil. It’s about this time of year I tell myself NEXT YEAR WILL BE DIFFERENT when it’s highly unlikely anything will change. I’ll continue to spend another year writing songs and playing them solely for my own amusement before forgetting them and moving onto the next stupid riff or idea.
The only positive thing I have to say about end of year lists is that at least a few Scottish writers acknowledged the excellent Man Without Machines debut album. Considering how much buzz Chvrches received for travelling back in time to the 80s, ignoring the non-union mexican equivalent from Dundee would be a bit odd. Both Miaoux Miaoux and Man Without Machines bleeped and blurted their way out of the car stereo while travelling home for Christmas, making the long journey back to Donegal more bearable. ProTip: when you’re on a ferry and the SatNav asks if you’d like to set the journey using a ferry Yes/No, pick the yes option. Otherwise you get a cheeky answer back. Which makes you wonder why it asked you in the first place.
Truth is, the only end of year list I trust is the one Michael Lambert writes. If I can convince him to write one this year and let me post it on here, that’d be worth investigating. When he’s not playing in The Won Over and pondering whether anyone ever heard that album by The A Forest, he plays bass in MWM. Busy chap that Michael.
