The Lost Art Of Murder

General opinion regarding one Pete Doherty runs along the lines of 'fuck-up' and 'junkie scum' most of the time, but of course, general opinion is generally shaped by the manipulative entity that is the media. Gossip columnist, tabloids and swill mongers of similar nature will do anything to paint a picture with shades of pessimism to get copies off the racks, or to get their web advertising rate to appreciate.

Of course, there's the opposing camp insisting Doherty is a lyrical genius, arguing that the current pedestal he's set upon by conventional wisdom is angled incorrectly. Intoxication, after all, synonymous sometimes with certain schools of creative thought. Take Lester Bangs, Kurt Cobain, Hunter S Thompson, Jack Kerouac, and even Richey Edwards as examples.

Charles Bouledaire, whom often mused under the influence of Absinth and hashishe, once wrote, "in order to escape from the slavish martyrdom of time, intoxicate yourself; unceasingly intoxicate yourself; with wine, or poetry, or art - as you will."

In my personal opinion, Pete assures the latter group that their opinion holds more worth than that of Camp Swill with The Lost Art of Murder (soon to be released on the full-length "Shotter's Nation", to be released on the 1st of October for UK; 23rd for US).

He muses introspectively,

"Don't look at me like that
She won't take you back
You said to much
You been to unkind
Get up off your back
Stop smoking.... that
You could change your life
Do you think you'll change your mind"

Ah, that's the Pete we all know.

download it here: The Lost Art Of Murder - Babyshambles (via an unnamed LJ community)

Battles

People hear a lot of things when listening to Battles. When they played at London's Luminaire last year, Plan B magazine's Frances Morgan's gig companion remarked to him that Battles sounded a lot like 70s prog-rock giants Yes. Part of him knew that the said gig companion passed this remark in jest, as a joke on the fashionable audience present and the band equally, as Yes, was in their time, good but undeniably laughable.

But part of him couldn't help but take the Yes comparison seriously. He could hear how Battles' web-like, note-filled instrumentals formed a weird Venn diagram between a number of genres, those acceptable and those 'unnacceptable'. Perhaps through this very process of obscuring what those genres or styles represent, so that we appreciate their form rather than focus on their extra-musical baggage.

Listen for yourselves:
Race In
Leyendecker



0:00 Race : In
3:39 Atlas
11:40 Ddiamondd
14:09 Tonto
19:29 Leyendecker
21:50 Rainbow
26:15 Bad Trails
28:22 Prismism
29:10 Snare Hanger
31:02 tij
37:49 Race: Out