northernleech
Active Member
got our stock in today for mondays re-release of both southpaw and maladjusted . the new tracks are a mixed bag - "honey.." is the perkiest "bird" is ok and "you should have been .." is a swoon.
anyhooo i will attempt to transcribe the sleeve notes - took photos on my phone of each page so don't hold your breath:
southpaw is a function of the left brain . would you be offended at the mention of the "if" word
SG stumbled into being at mireval studios in the south of france , and although Nice was nice , full conception was held off until we re-convened at faithful old hook end , where i had been a feared apparition since 1986. it is near oxford or marlow or reading depending upon the crow.
i had initially approached brian eno to produce , but he declined , which sent me to chris thomas , who also declined , which threw me sheepishly back to steve lillywhite who had been so magnificent on vauxhall & i , but who i felt had little patience for my I-REFUSE-TO-BE-BORN lyricisms. in the event lillywhite excelled on southpaw , and fate led the way.
the aim with Southpaw was to allow the musicians more room to breathe and blow like killer whales, striking away the tiresome assumption that if it wasn't played by the musicians of the past then it shouldn't be played. Vauxhall had been wordy personal stocktaking - a bomb burst for the constricted heart. Southpaw had no model to look to once freedom became the key. For me , the moral intent is always love , even in the heat of the squabble. have you ever escaped from a shipwrecked life ?
A great personal joy for me on SP is spencers drumming , which was largely the result of steve lillywhite jabbing away at spencer almost to the point of cruelty. Spencer was pushed & pushed without mercy and although his best emerged , he could not be befrinded and he held alain and boz in mild disregard, and once his craft had been impressively mastered he gave up th drums and ... he waved his goodbyes. The personal consideration of this recording stand out more sharply to me now. it is a question of what i do, and how people react to what i do. in truth, i often don't know what i do, other than turn up and 'be'. accidently i tie it all together with identity
in the context of the commercialised media, serious artists must becomemedia entertainers who grab instantly, and should you fail to sparkle in the host of promotional parades then the truth of you as an artist is in doubt. the demands for instant stardom result in everything being market-driven and popularity registers as a creative goal. With the creation of southpaw there would be no concession to accesibility. Alain, for me, provides the best of moments : the climbing-falling solo of "reader meeet author" and the impish shadow backing vocals of "BFOTP". Alain was best when he least tried and when he was certain that no-one was looking. you can tell a lot about a person from the sound of their voice, as you can tell everything about a person from the way they sing. there is enough of the cattle-prod of pain in alians voice to make the heart think, but will he see out his morrissey days without a single line of press recognition ?
Instinct , more so than understanding leads me through the detailed recording of southpaw grammar , with joy and sadness side by side. There is enough of a record company absence to assume , way ahead of release , that there are no plans to take me further than i have already been - the commercial chances of any album always determined months ahead of its release by people who haven't even heard it. and oh but there is something totally inflexible to this singing and a rare musical toughness that brooks no argument. it simply is. one day i step into the control room unexpected and i overhear lillywhite say "the singing on teachers was awful wasn't it ?" - and i catch engineer Danton supple in a reluctant half nod. it is brutal , but not unfunny - oh we poor little humans.
My girlfriend (in a Korma) is nagging/mocking me from the sofa and my fingers are bleeding so i will follow up later on , or tomorrow . hope you enjoy the teaser for now - laters x
anyhooo i will attempt to transcribe the sleeve notes - took photos on my phone of each page so don't hold your breath:
southpaw is a function of the left brain . would you be offended at the mention of the "if" word
SG stumbled into being at mireval studios in the south of france , and although Nice was nice , full conception was held off until we re-convened at faithful old hook end , where i had been a feared apparition since 1986. it is near oxford or marlow or reading depending upon the crow.
i had initially approached brian eno to produce , but he declined , which sent me to chris thomas , who also declined , which threw me sheepishly back to steve lillywhite who had been so magnificent on vauxhall & i , but who i felt had little patience for my I-REFUSE-TO-BE-BORN lyricisms. in the event lillywhite excelled on southpaw , and fate led the way.
the aim with Southpaw was to allow the musicians more room to breathe and blow like killer whales, striking away the tiresome assumption that if it wasn't played by the musicians of the past then it shouldn't be played. Vauxhall had been wordy personal stocktaking - a bomb burst for the constricted heart. Southpaw had no model to look to once freedom became the key. For me , the moral intent is always love , even in the heat of the squabble. have you ever escaped from a shipwrecked life ?
A great personal joy for me on SP is spencers drumming , which was largely the result of steve lillywhite jabbing away at spencer almost to the point of cruelty. Spencer was pushed & pushed without mercy and although his best emerged , he could not be befrinded and he held alain and boz in mild disregard, and once his craft had been impressively mastered he gave up th drums and ... he waved his goodbyes. The personal consideration of this recording stand out more sharply to me now. it is a question of what i do, and how people react to what i do. in truth, i often don't know what i do, other than turn up and 'be'. accidently i tie it all together with identity
in the context of the commercialised media, serious artists must becomemedia entertainers who grab instantly, and should you fail to sparkle in the host of promotional parades then the truth of you as an artist is in doubt. the demands for instant stardom result in everything being market-driven and popularity registers as a creative goal. With the creation of southpaw there would be no concession to accesibility. Alain, for me, provides the best of moments : the climbing-falling solo of "reader meeet author" and the impish shadow backing vocals of "BFOTP". Alain was best when he least tried and when he was certain that no-one was looking. you can tell a lot about a person from the sound of their voice, as you can tell everything about a person from the way they sing. there is enough of the cattle-prod of pain in alians voice to make the heart think, but will he see out his morrissey days without a single line of press recognition ?
Instinct , more so than understanding leads me through the detailed recording of southpaw grammar , with joy and sadness side by side. There is enough of a record company absence to assume , way ahead of release , that there are no plans to take me further than i have already been - the commercial chances of any album always determined months ahead of its release by people who haven't even heard it. and oh but there is something totally inflexible to this singing and a rare musical toughness that brooks no argument. it simply is. one day i step into the control room unexpected and i overhear lillywhite say "the singing on teachers was awful wasn't it ?" - and i catch engineer Danton supple in a reluctant half nod. it is brutal , but not unfunny - oh we poor little humans.
My girlfriend (in a Korma) is nagging/mocking me from the sofa and my fingers are bleeding so i will follow up later on , or tomorrow . hope you enjoy the teaser for now - laters x
It's such a wonderful read and now I can't wait for my copies to arrive. 
