My Top 10 Alt-Rock Records

Okay over the years I have heard many, many genres of music that I have come to appreciate in maturity, jazz (west coast, free-form, be-bop) experimental, hardcore punk, hardcore, sludge metal, thrash, proto-punk, post-punk, lo-fi, slowcore and shoegaze. Everyone who ever went out and bought a guitar or drums had to have fallen for their first love, rock music. And by rock music, I mean in all its variety, its sub-genre, everything from classic rock, garage rock and psychedelic rock right up to post-rock that began to the latter of the 90s. But few are harder to define than alternative rock, it transcends definition. As a subgenre, alternative rock  is influenced by so many different types of music, it could contain pop-sensibility or piss on it in the same instance. It could be a wall of sound, with a rhythm you can't help but bob your head to. It could be five fuzz heavy chords with echoes of feedback being strummed in a way no ears could ignore, whether the person listenings wants turn the stereo up, or off. Here's my top 20 alternative rock records in no particular order...



1.     Sonic Youth - Daydream Nation (1988)

There is perhaps a defining album for any seminal band, but when I bought this record when I was 15, I realised this was a stand-alone record, nothing I'd heard from the New York underground of the 1980s had been as appealing, inspiring or gratifying as Sonic Youth's 'Daydream Nation'.  Sonic Youth are kind of a sonic pastiche themselves when you think about it, emersing thereselves in the hidden fringes of art and music and in turn producing some very forward thinking music, by 1991 they established themselves as Generation X's trash girl/boy poster band, the vangaurd of alternative rock.

The album starts with Youth fans anthem 'Teen Age Riot' which comes in two parts, beginning with Kim Gordon's Patti Smith-like prose, reciting the lyrics "say it don't spray it, miss me, don't dismiss me, spirit desire, spirit desire, we will fall" as hypnoticly strummed guitars lay the foundations for quite an impressively fresh intro for an album of 1988. The second part of the song starts as soon as you hear the Towsend strum and the carefully EQ'd timbre of both Moore and Ranaldo's guitars as they chime beautifully, in time perfectly. Shelley's drums and Kim's bass enter and you realise this is a song with such melody and youthful grace its one your hardly ever going to forget. If you look to Sonic Youth's previous effort the critically acclaimed 'Sister' you can see Thurston has brought melody and textures that weren't present before 1 minute and 20 seconds into this record. The sharp but smooth velvet esque chords, the burn-out lyrics, Shelley's enigmatic drumming, and Lee Ranaldo's tonality and Moore's slacker drawl creates a legendary format that Sonic Youth are still synonymous with. As the track fades feedback slurs and the second track 'Silver Rocket' starts, a few notes are picked out as they slow down before two distorted chords come crashing in. Sonic Youth's dynamics have always been about pushing limits and setting themselves far apart from the conventions of a generic rock and roll act. If you've never found yourself drawn to long bursts of noise, feedback and manipulation after listening to this record I don't think you ever will be. After scrolling through their back catalogue I didn't just find myself desensitized to noise, but
noisier recording artists like Naked City, Brainbombs and Merzbow.

The tracks richochet from one to another, until eventually you're left with what appears to be a completely original album, Sonic Youth venture deeper into noisey, conceptual and melodic territory. I would suggest this album to any new Sonic Youth fan, as its impressions on underground art-rock, noise rock and lo-fi are long-lasting. Serving as a constant inspiration to those who's values and aspirations don't correspond with the establishment or the conventions of "getting signed" constantly followed by your atypical sell-out musicians.

Tracks to check out:

Teen Age Riot:* (Track 01)
The Sprawl:* (Track 03)
'Cross The Breeze:* (Track 04)
Hey Joni:* (Track 07)
Candle:* (Track 09)

Grey Collar Jobs...

 

Grey Collar Jobs

 

 

Many people talk of the eighties and how monumentally frustrating and dismal times were back then, but has anyone took a look at the state the country is in lately? In Teesside more specifically under its cold post-industrial landscape, the last three years in government have offered little or no benefit to the area. We are in the wake of a near triple dip recession, where 14.4% of Middlesbrough's population are unemployed. Where taxes are hitting those already struggling families twice as hard. Announcing more cuts on benefits, public sector redundancies and the newly introduced bedroom tax. Furthermore job opportunities are scarce with eighteen people to every vacancy in Middlesbrough. Those who are qualified with a degree try hard to find work, unskilled workers struggle to find steady employment and those without qualifications face an unpromising future.

 

It is considered cliché' to point the blame at Margaret Thatcher and her Tory cabinet for the current state the country is in, but being from Middlesbrough I can't help but make this distinction myself. During the 1970s the then Labour government strictly regulated capitalism and made it serve for the common good. Although some people who lived it often talk of three day week and curse Wilson something rotten. By 1978 the standard of living rose by 6.4% proving that his stance on taxation did better conditions for the working classes. Under Thatcher's Tory reign the country faced grim domestic policies (ultimately ghettoising communities) the country experienced two recessions, the derailment of British industry, double digit interest rates, axed unions and mass privatisation. After the Lawson boom, consumerist spending was on the up and up and deregulation had made the market free to do more than it was previously capable of.

 

We were taught that greed is good, that power lies with the individual, not with society and that capitalism helps economic growth, but arguably capitalism has only brought us so far and with better party politics and a change of ideology we may reach a better outcome. The bottom 10% of earners in the United Kingdom is feeling the pinch now more than ever. A single parent with two children needs to earn around £16,000 pounds a year to house, feed and clothe their children. As you probably guessed £16,000 a year is higher than the minimum wage affords a low income worker. And with cuts on benefits and tax cuts for the new rich it seems things will only get worse for this country before things get better.

Now things get personal...

From personal experience, I believed my state education was quite simply a joke. Not that Blair didn't try, he tried his best to better the standards of healthcare and education in this country but obviously my example didn't follow and later in his career, his flaws became more obvious. I experienced bullying because of my appearance (namely long hair) and baseball shoes (which is ironically common nowadays) with no coercion from school authorities even after a number of complaints and serious incidents.

 

 

Attending Gillbrook Technology College was like visiting an untamed zoo on a daily basis, people hanging from the rafters, looting and abusing, they were proud fractured souls of a lost generation. The teachers swore by the text book and were often red faced and spiteful which was just as equally incomprehensible, it was the mental equivalent of visiting a hospice after being prescribed ketamine, every day. The school was so hopeless in fact; it was nearly closed twice by Ofsted after their preliminary inspections during 2005. They were then in special measures an Official Ofsted report sent to their then newly appointed head teacher stated the following 'GCSE results in 2005 were well below the national average and similar to those of the previous year. The school failed to meet its targets and given their starting points, pupils underachieved'.

 

Shortly after obtaining my average GCSE results I enrolled for college but my trust in education was almost non-existent after studying art and media for a short time, I dropped out to find work and play my music after we received some modest radio play. Of course finding work isn't an easy task for a teenager with no previous experience and in fact I'd rarely receive a reply on application. Once I turned eighteen I signed on the dole with no concept of what unemployment was going to be like, the days turned into several months and the depression settled in thereafter. The sense of hopelessness is ever present, you look around to see old weathered faces and you get to thinking, you too could be here forever. The realisation hits you like a mallet to the cranium, the cynical attitude, the smell of alcohol in the air, the damned. Advisors offer you the illusion of hope but these people don't do anything for you, the meaningless job search reviews, the clinical house where they push you into a corner and paste a label on your forehead "choose" your career 'administrator' 'receptionist' 'call centre agent' 'bartender' 'waitress' 'labourer'. When your course for education is over, you’re thrown into the world with no consideration, no understanding for what aims you have or what you intend to be. You are what you work and nothing more, you're a consumer, now consume! This kind of alienation is hard to deal with and the younger you are the more naive you're supposed to be. I spoke to so many people, some of my closest friends who all experienced the same gloom, we felt isolated and sobriety only acted as a cold reminder that every day was just as long and pitiful as the last.

 

However what I find increasingly concerning is that people's preconceptions on unemployment are mostly completely bias. Perceptions fed to them from inaccurate articles courtesy of The Daily Mail and shoddy portrayals on television dramas seen on Channel 4's Shameless. It’s a sad fact that people actually believe everyone on the dole WANTS TO BE I mean the notion is ridiculous. Of course there are some claimants exploiting the benefit system but half of these critics have never experienced such sorrowful lows. The fact is it’s not so easy to get a job these days, the strange underlining criteria, the cross-examining, the marginal group interviews, what happens if you're too polite? You don't want to talk over people; you would consider that to be rude. The endless online applications, the thirty page forms to fill in and post, the harassment you must subject to someone over the phone in order to receive basic feedback on your face to face interview, it’s not just.

 

 

 

 

 

 

In the eventuality you are enlisted successfully you are groomed to work these jobs for as long as possible, if you work hard enough there may be room for promotion they say. But in fact even if you are promoted your standard of living is hardly improved. Grey collar jobs, it’s all there is for the young, unemployed and modestly educated in Great Britain. Temporary job placements ran by alien agencies that exist for only a number of years, companies cutting their losses and cashing in their chips. The lower middle class pen pusher job, for the lower income salary. Receptionists, support workers, health care assistants, administrators, clerks, sales representatives, bar managers these roles are increasingly being governed by private organisations and yet they're always finding ways to cut corners, reduce turnovers and it never pays. We are groomed to work these jobs, the jobs more fortunate people will never have to work and we're taught the hard way it’s either £51 a week or adhere! In 2013 £51 a week doesn't get you very far at all as I'm sure anyone would agree. In fact I struggle to understand how a single parent would pay child support and manage to eat themselves on such a budget.

The answer...

The answer quite simply is investment, investment in creating jobs to stabilise the future of the United Kingdom. These alarming statistics only instil the need to do so, it should be clear by now that the conservative party only work in the best interests of the rich in this country, keeping the big swingers happy and home, cutting the mansion tax, leaving the working men and women of this country to pay the bigger price. The north east is desperate for investment in education, housing, energy and industry which would stimulate the community and would lay the foundations for a brighter future ahead. After working for an anonymous sales company for over a year I realised how much people were abusing the system. In sales you come to see through the smoke and mirrors, the illegalities, the masked money laundering you come to realise tax evasion is everywhere and no one in that position wants anyone to know. Call centre work is very popular for the young and jobless, it’s also terrible for both your physical and mental health, aspirations are hampered, dignity is quashed you’re left with little hope in finding a new job working unsociable hours such as the 10 to 7 shift. A flux within Britain’s industry would stimulate both the economy and the public creating equal opportunities for those who wish to act on them.

 

 

 

By Ryan D Welsh

 

People Building

Through our own stupidity we decide to live out a weekly rota, involving whatever and whoever we  wish. I have come to the conclusion that association is always bias, when a drinker thinks of drinking its more than the average man or women would drink, he's thinking in terms of volume and strength. These behaviours are common with people who use drugs or eat excessively day in day out. Do we know better? if all you've ever done is throw the shutters down when you're in a difficult situation its not going to be likely you'll find a propper solution.

Life is about discovery, love and experience just as much as its about loss, pain and misery the scales tip in either favour, based on consequence you are responsible for your own actions. Somebody dies, somebody is born, somebody goes to prison somebody is freed, somebody finds love somebody looses it. The world is full of people tending to hidden wounds, or manifestations of some kind of illness just ever-expanding till its undeniably a big problem. So what do we need to get along in the world? I'm not talking about wealth or success just finding your place with others in such a messed up world?

Behaviour determines almost everything, a person's behaviour can make you loose or gain something, everyone judges on behaviour, sometimes simple and fair assumptions, judgements on intelligence, shared interests, kindness or how people in any cut throat business thinks like how easily a person can be manipulated or used to their own social advantage. I thought of hermits, I've met a few, they're the hardest people to understand. I find they disregard conversation and avoid any physical contact. They also adopt strange ideologies and obsessive interests, in either conspiracy theories, fundamentalist beliefs, online RPGs and obscure underground hippie music. After speaking to one agoraphobe I realised how out of place he seemed to be and how he preferred being as far away from people as possible. I obviously have the tendency to communicate quite well with dissociative people as I spent many of my younger years cooked up in a room listening to Radiohead and writing dark prose.  I realised that his disgust in people was centered around his own narcissim, no one particularly found him interesting or compelling in conversation cause he didn't enjoy socialising and so never got good at it. But I also got the feeling he enjoyed alienating people, making them feel uncomfortable, or maybe he just learned to enjoy it? As for the psychology I think the main motive would be to avoid dissapointment and avoid receiving that kind of treatment from other people, avoiding ego depletion.

(And my point?) I think all people are afraid, they're afraid of what will happen on a daily basis, yes some more than others but its because of this common fear that we are begrudged of the oppurtunity. We don't end up doing what we think about doing most days. And what is stopping us? ourselves, we miss the oppurtunities some people would literally kill to have. We could do anything we could go anywhere but we won't get anywhere with iron in the spokes.