Gig Review: The National @ TSB Arena, Wellington, 25 February 2024

I’m a longtime fan of The National, collecting virtually everything the band has released over the past couple of decades. More or less, give or take. So naturally, having missed all of the band’s previous outings in Aotearoa, I picked up tickets for their first ever Wellington show as early as last September. It felt like a long wait.

When The Beths were later added to the bill as the Wellington support - Fazerdaze getting the prior night’s Auckland slot - it was merely a bonus. But it also ensured I was at the venue suitably early to catch the much-loved local power-poppers’ set. By my own unscientific estimation, in terms of gigs, I’ve probably seen more of The Beths than I have of any other live act across the past decade or so.

Once again they didn’t disappoint, pumping out as polished a half hour set - around ten songs - as I can recall from them, with a mix of old and newer tracks offering the perfect taster for any Beths-newbies. My own pick of the bunch being ‘Whatever’, the oldest track of all, an ageless banger that seems to sound better each time I hear it. Perfect pop from a band continually striving to achieve exactly that.

 I’d heard really great things about The National’s live shows. Some reports even suggesting that the band’s compelling live performances far and away exceed any notional high bar created by its recorded output. That’s a fairly big call, and it’s one that was perhaps the main catalyst for my own *relative* level of disappointment upon exiting the near full venue late on Sunday night.

It’s hard to put my finger on exactly what disappointed me. And I’m not even sure disappointment is the right word. More nonchalance, or indifference on my part.

It wasn’t as though the band was lacking any professionalism or inspiration. It wasn’t a lack of effort on their part. The set-list was decent - stacked with older classics blended with more recent stuff. They played for more than two hours, and with frontman Matt Berninger to the fore as the focal point, The National has an energetic and beguiling stage presence rivalled by very few bands on the stadium circuit.

Indeed, there’s been worse concerts at that venue that I’ve enjoyed far more, for whatever reason that was. The one I can’t put my finger on.

Those “older classics” included the likes of ‘Squalor Victoria’, ‘Bloodbuzz Ohio’, ‘Conversation 16’, and the slow burning, now 20-year-old, ‘Cherry Tree’. All of them immaculately presented with enough live grit in there to make each one a captivating enough experience. But there was also a little splash of mud in the vocal mix, a lack of clarity even, and while Berninger’s baritone croon works brilliantly on record, I felt his live, clipped, almost shouty/spoken vocal delivery, was found a little wanting at times.

That angsty line in ‘Conversation 16’ where he sings “I was afraid, I’d eat your brains … cos I’m evil” loses some of its horror impact when you remove a more ambiguous croon from its wider punch, and replace it with a short sharp shouty jab.

The “newer stuff” included the recent break-up anthem ‘Eucalyptus’, which went down well as an early treat, ‘Tropic Morning News’, and much later, ‘Alien’. Again, all great, but the band’s focus seemed to be more around its 2010 to 2020 work, with obligatory lip service paid to the two most recent 2023 album releases.

That meant ‘Demons’, ‘Don’t Swallow The Cap’, a superb ‘I Need My Girl’, ‘Day I Die’, ‘Rylan’, ‘Graceless’ et al. Plus others.

At one point, mid-song, Berninger left the stage and made his way to near the bar at the back of the venue - without buying a round! - continuing to “sing”, his stage tech forced to work a minor miracle to keep man and microphone connected. All it would take is some clown in the crowd to do his absolute worst … a thought I quickly and admirably managed to suppress as Berninger passed within an arm’s reach of me.

A five-song encore meant Wellington was treated to a set-list of more than a couple of dozen carefully selected tracks, the band doing more than enough to make up for lost time in the capital, and there’s no doubt they offered good value for money.

The crowd itself was an interesting mix. From the young and the single, to middle-aged couples and everything in-between. An outing for those of a mainstream persuasion perhaps, while it also remains clear - on account of thoughtful clever lyricism mostly - that The National can still court fringes of the indie scene its music has always remained on the very periphery of.

It’s a fine line. Nobody wants to be thought of as an American version of Coldplay, do they?

I’m pleased I went along. Sunday night and all. To scratch that itch.

Are The National a better live proposition than they are as a studio outfit?

That’s a hard “no” from me. Not from this experience anyway. They’re good, possibly great, but that discography is a little bit special.

They’re certainly much more energetic on stage, no question, but for clarity of sound, for sense of purpose and direction in the production, for Berninger’s lush vocal delivery, I’m more than happy to content myself with the band’s studio work. And just quietly, I probably won’t rush out to buy tickets if they visit here again. 

No pics with this one. I took some, but none of them were particularly great when viewed in the cold light of the following day, so I’ll spare you that.  

Album Review: Matt Berninger - Serpentine Prison (2020)

I’m pretty big fan of The National, so picking up a copy of Matt Berninger’s first full-length solo sojourn was always going to be a bit of a no brainer for me. Berninger’s baritone vocals have long been one of the most attractive features of The National’s work, so naturally I was curious to see how he would fare without the rest of the band …

The first thing to note is that Serpentine Prison is a genuine “solo album”, as opposed to being something additional from The National under another guise. Only bass player Scott Devendorf (from the band) contributes to Berninger’s project, and even then, he plays bass on just two of the album’s ten tracks.

That’s not to say there’s not some heavyweight help on hand in the form of Booker T. Jones (yes, *that* Booker T.) who produces, arranges, and offers a deft hand on Hammond organ and electric piano. There’s also Bowie-collaborator - amongst many other things - Gail Ann Dorsey, who assists with vocals (and bass), renowned multi-instrumentalist Andrew Bird who plays violin on five tracks, and a subtle brass masterclass at various points from Kyle Resnick (trumpet) and Ben Lanz (trombone). The wider contributions of Walter Martin of The Walkmen (various) and Harrison Whitford (guitars, including slide and steel) should not be overlooked either.

Little wonder then, that purely from a musical perspective, in terms of instrumentation and execution, Serpentine Prison is something close to perfect. Everything is beautifully crafted, nothing is out of place, with exactly the right amount of musical weight applied to these (mostly) gentle introspective songs. Which naturally, thankfully, brings out the best in them.

Because if I was to assess the worth of this album on the strength of Berninger’s song writing or lyricism alone, I’m not sure it would stack up quite so well. Like much of The National’s work over the past decade or so, the main themes of Berninger’s writing centre around heartbreak, relationships, and the complexities of the human condition. Which is all fine and well, but it does, over the course of ten tracks and 40-odd minutes, start to feel somewhat maudlin, and it does perhaps veer towards self-flagellation at various points. But of course, his vocals are as pristine as ever, and his voice does, after all, lend itself well to that sort of material.

Mostly though, without wanting to get too picky about it, it is a superb album. Albeit the sort of work you need to be in exactly the right frame of mind for. The sort of contemplative or reflective mood I often find myself wallowing in … so it does work for me.

Oh, and Booker T. Jones, no less!

Highlights: ‘Distant Axis’, ‘One More Second’, the Dorsey-featuring ‘Silver Springs’, ‘Take Me Out of Town’, ‘All For Nothing’ and the title track, which closes the album. A fairly big chunk of it, in fact.

Albums of 2019

Annual list time. If you’ve been here with me before you’ll know that my choices for the blog’s albums of the year are strictly limited to the new albums I’ve got my sticky mitts on during the year. Spotify doesn’t count, just purchased copies in whatever format. Which tends to rule out the dozens or hundreds of really good releases you’ll see elsewhere on year-end lists. I guess I could call it ‘best additions to my collection’, etc, or the stuff I listened to most, but it hardly matters, you know the drill.

10. Chromatics - Closer to Grey

I’m not sure whether Closer to Grey is the fifth, sixth, or seventh Chromatics album. Or something else entirely. It rather depends on whether or not you count re-released drumless versions of past work, and whether or not you count the apparently completed but still unreleased Dear Tommy, a much hyped, long shelved, full-length project from a couple of years back. Such are the mercurial and mysterious ways of arch-perfectionist and key Chromatic, Johnny Jewel. But whatever album number it is, Closer to Grey is the first Chromatics outing I’ve picked up since 2012’s excellent Kill For Love album, and the most important thing in all of this is that it ticks all the right boxes for long suffering fans. Or, at least, this fan. Those boxes include Chromatics’ commitment to a dreamy shoegaze aesthetic, Jewel’s devotion to creating widescreen cinematic imagery, and a much loved predilection for oddball covers - in the case of Closer to Grey, that means a reimagining of tunes like ‘The Sound of Silence’ (Simon & Garfunkel) and ‘On The Wall’ (The Jesus and Mary Chain). I do have a few reservations over the durability of Ruth Radelet’s voice across multiple listens. On one hand her vocal is light of touch and weightless, while on the other, it has a tendency to come across as a little thin and a tad too bland. What works well in isolation, on individual tracks, can be less engaging over the full course of the album’s journey. But that’s a minor quibble, and Closer to Grey comfortably makes the cut for this year’s 10.

9. Beat Rhythm Fashion - Tenterhook

2019 gave us the chance to reconsider the too often overlooked legacy of early 80s Wellington post-punkers BRF. There was a short national tour and, most unexpectedly, a brand new album. Just like those autumn gigs, Tenterhook felt intimate, personal, and heartfelt. A very welcome return, even if it does turn out to be a temporary one. R.I.P. Dan Birch. My full review is here.

8. Mercury Rev - Bobbie Gentry’s The Delta Sweete Revisited

Speaking of the scarcely anticipated, I really didn’t expect this one to feature on any year-end list when I downloaded it early in the year. Curiosity led me to it, mainly because I’d seen a few Bobbie Gentry TV “specials” when I was growing up, and I knew a little bit about Mercury Rev already. As the title informs us, it’s Mercury Rev’s take on the 1968 Bobbie Gentry release The Delta Sweete, with an alt-country meets modern day Americana crossover spin. Guest vocalists include luminaries such as Nora Jones, Hope Sandoval, Vashti Bunyan, Phoebe Bridgers, Beth Orton, and Lucinda Williams. Although Gentry’s best known track, the chart-topping ‘Ode To Billie Joe’ didn’t actually feature on the 1968 original, Mercury Rev include it here, and Williams’ interpretation of it is one of the best (of many) versions I’ve heard. On the surface, Bobbie Gentry’s The Delta Sweete Revisited was an easy listening affair, and it got a lot of workplace airtime as a result, especially across the first six months of 2019, but scratch below that surface a little and you’ll find Gentry’s themes were often anything but easy listening. A revelation.

7. The Specials - Encore

More Tales of the Unexpected. Anyone noticing a theme here? New work from a band that first emerged some 40 years ago. A blend of just about everything you could possibly want from the three remaining Specials (plus friends) ... ska, funk, straight pop, social commentary, and political activism. My full review is here.

6. Pitch Black - Third Light

I’m not sure what more I can say about my love for Pitch Black. I’ve written so much about the duo’s music already - on this blog and for NZ Musician (here) - that it almost feels indulgent and a touch fanatical to offer more words. Given the lengthy gap between 2007’s excellent Rude Mechanicals and 2016’s equally great Filtered Senses, official album number six (excluding a plethora of fantastic remix releases), Third Light, arrived a lot earlier than many of us had anticipated. All of the usual Pitch Black touchstones are present and accounted for; dubby techno drenched in atmospheric electronic wizardry and bassy production genius, but if there is a slight departure on Third Light it’s that this work feels a little more chilled out and ambient than any past release. ‘One Ton Skank’, ‘Artificial Intolerance’, ‘A Doubtful Sound’, and the title track itself are all up there with the best work Pitch Black has done.

5. Minuit Machine - Infrarouge

Infrarogue ticked so many boxes for me … a little bit retro, a little bit synthpop, and large helpings of the melodramatic dark stuff. Something close to perfect, and I couldn’t get enough of and Helene De Thoury and Amandine Stioui’s unique take on the complexities of modern life. My full review is here.

4. Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - Ghosteen

Nick Cave has always skirted around the periphery of a lot of music styles and genres I’ve been into over the years, but I’ve never really considered myself a fan. I liked the obvious Murder Ballads-era stuff, and I’ve enjoyed some of his other work over the years, but he’s never really been high on my radar whenever new music has been released. I picked up a copy of Ghosteen just because it was there, and I’d read a lot of mostly positive social media commentary about it. To say that death is the primary theme of Ghosteen would be an understatement, and that’s hardly surprising given Cave’s personal journey and the still obviously raw tragic loss of a teenage son. Words about Jesus, ghosts, the king of rock n roll, stars, horses, and (even) the three bears have never before sounded so vital and fresh. And what a terrific voice that man has … “I’m just waiting now for my time to come, I’m just waiting now for my place in the sun, and I’m just waiting now, for peace to come ...”

3. Antipole - Radial Glare

Antipole topped this list in 2018 with Perspectives, and Karl Morten Dahl returned this year with yet another fine post-punk album in the form of Radial Glare. The retro-fuelled music of Antipole is intoxicating in every way and there’s not a single moment on Radial Glare where I’m not fully engaged. Quite possibly the best thing to come out of Norway since a youthful baby-faced assassin Ole Gunnar Solskjaer started terrifying Premier League defences and banging them in for fun at Manchester United in the mid to late 90s. My full review is here.

2. The National - I Am Easy To Find

I think I must have read or heard just about every criticism possible over the past half dozen years or so when it comes to The National ... you know how it goes: “boring, bland, colour by numbers, white-bread boomer rock” that trades on the reputation of a couple of fine early albums made by the band. Music made by middle aged white men for a fanbase not too far removed from that precise demographic. I’ve heard it all, and yep, critics are entitled to those opinions, whatever their starting point. But they’ll never convince me that’s all there is to it, and every National album across that same period has, to one degree or another, had plenty going for it. Which probably makes me a fan. I certainly fit the aforementioned notional demographic. Unashamedly so. In fact, I Am Easy To Find is the third of three post-2013 National albums to make this blog’s year-end list, and I’d go so far as to suggest it’s the band’s best full-length work since 2010’s High Violet. A fastidiously crafted set of tunes that took me on a warm and familiar journey with each and every listen. The addition of female voices (including choral elements) was a major point of difference from past work, although Matt Berninger’s compelling and emotionally charged baritone remains a highlight, particularly on standout tunes like ‘Oblivions’, ‘The Pull of You’, ‘Hey Rosey’, ‘Light Years’, and ‘Not in Kansas’. With so much going on across its near seven-minute trip, the latter track was something close to the blog’s song of the year ... if there was such a thing (don’t encourage me).

1. VA/On-U Sound - Pay It All Back Volume 7

Oh no! A compilation album! … how can that be? It breaks just about every unwritten rule of year-end reflecting to list a various artist/compilation label sampler as your blog’s album of the year. But who really cares about rules that aren’t written down? This was outstanding. Every bit worthy of the long wait. 23 years after the last release in the renowned Pay It All Back series, Volume 7 exceeded my own expectations in every way. All hail the production virtuosity of the dub master himself, Adrian Sherwood. My full review is here.

Close, but no funny cigar (another ten):

There’s no room on this list for one of my favourite bands, Iceland’s Of Monsters And Men, who released Fever Dream. Each of the band’s two previous albums have featured on this list in past years, but Fever Dream was a disappointment for me, with OMAM having abandoned the mystical and magical in favour of a far more generic stadium-ready sound.

Had Dead Little Penny’s Urge Surfing been released earlier in the year it probably would have made the cut because right now, as at mid-December, it feels like a real grower. Certainly, it’s one of the best local albums of the year in that dark shoegaze-y vibe I love so much.

The Radio Dept’s 2019 “album” I Don’t Need Love, I’ve Got My Band is decent, and I’m a fan of Sweden’s finest, but it’s not really a “new” album, merely a compilation of past work, clumping together two previously released EPs from 2003 and 2005. Worth a listen if The Radio Dept is new to you.

I listened to Ladytron’s self-titled return a fair bit, and loved a lot of it, but it just fell short on account of it not really breaking any new ground. New Ladytron, just like old Ladytron, which, most years, is not a bad thing to be.

Angel Olsen’s All Mirrors is another of those albums that would just as likely have featured more prominently here had it been released earlier in the year. I probably haven’t listened to it enough (yet) but I suspect it’ll be well represented on year-end lists elsewhere. Olsen is one to watch.

Underworld’s Drift series was an ambitious undertaking. I downloaded a job-lot 40-track version which clocks in at nearly six hours. There’s some truly great stuff in there, but that’s a hell of a casual listening exercise, and Drift wasn’t really an album in any traditional sense of the word.

The Raconteurs’ Help Us Stranger was a throwback to a far simpler time. A time when classic rock dinosaurs roamed and ruled. Help Us Stranger showcases Jack White and Brendan Benson’s love of all things 1970s, and it was mostly an enjoyable listening experience. The odd cringeworthy moment excepted.

Prince is no longer with us, but his musical legacy lives on. Originals is a collection of Prince performing songs he wrote for other artists, or at least, those he allowed other artists to release. It cements his status as not only one of his generation’s most underrated songsmiths, but one of the greatest vocalists of the past 40 years.

Foals released two albums in 2019. Everything Not Saved Will Be Lost Parts 1 & 2. Released months apart. The earlier release is probably the one to savour, if only for the way it veers into an unlikely synthpop realm, but both are worthwhile efforts and I’m surprised Foals aren’t gaining a lot more commercial traction.

Finally, in terms of albums, Marvin Gaye’s You’re The Man was an interesting release. Recorded between 1969 and 1972, it was originally intended as a follow-up to Gaye’s acclaimed What’s Going On (1971) but was shelved by Motown and remained unreleased until early 2019. I’m a little unclear about whether it was Motown boss Berry Gordy or Gaye himself who pulled its initial release but the fact is, despite some of the content being a little patchy, fans of Gaye, or classic soul, will find a lot to love on You’re The Man.  

Which brings me nicely to reissue of the year: I just can’t go past the 25^th anniversary deluxe release of R.E.M.’s Monster (1994). The original album, a remix of the original, a bunch of unreleased demos (mostly instrumentals), and live versions from its era. Monster has always been regarded as something of a black sheep within the band’s canon, but this reissue - especially the remixed album and even some of the unreleased work - brings into clear focus just how good the music of R.E.M. was during the band’s pomp.

EP of the year: Contenders by Contenders. Punk rock out of Hamilton. Everything about this release is short and sharp. Must be played loud, preferably with copious amounts of beer at the ready. A shout out too for the young Wellington electronic artist Miromiro, who released two fine synthwave-y EPs during the year, Toucan and Andreev Bay. I was a big fan also, of Kool Aid’s Family Portrait EP.

Gig of the year: Blam Blam Blam at St Peter’s Hall, Paekakariki. No question. I waited 38 years to see the reformed band play live after seeing a much more youthful version as a youngster myself back in 1981. It’s hard to go past bucket list events like that.

In a similar vein, Beat Rhythm Fashion at Meow was quite special too. Other locals who rocked my world included The Beths at San Fran and Miss June at Meow. Of the international artists who visited these shores, Gang of Four at San Fran was surprisingly good, and a less well attended set at the same venue by the Dub Pistols got my 2019 gig-going year off to a flyer. Herbie Hancock in Wellington was the biggest “name” I saw live, but that particular night was less enjoyable for me, for a number of reasons that I simply don’t have room to expand upon here …  

I’ve kept you long enough. Thanks for reading and thanks for supporting everythingsgonegreen in 2019. Wishing you merry festivities and happy holidays. Play safe, and don’t get arrested.

Albums of 2017

2017 has been a fairly quiet year for everythingsgonegreen. That’s not the result of some great master plan, or of any conscious decision to wind things down, it’s just the way life’s been. And while I’ve blogged a lot less than in previous years - managing around a post per week - I’ve still been listening to a lot of music, reading about music, and attending gigs. I’ve just been less inclined to write about that stuff. It’s not like I haven’t had the time to blog, and I even had a spell mid-year when I was more or less living alone for a month, so there’s no real excuse. The flip-side to that has been a mentally demanding year for the day job, and an early summer overseas break, which robbed me of some momentum just as I was starting to ramp things up a little.

All of that said, 2017 has been a bumper year for new music, and albums in particular, despite continual assertions from naysayers that the album format itself is a dying art-form. The following list refers to my “most played” albums of the year, which, by extension might be interpreted as “the best” albums of the year, but I’ve doubtlessly missed many others that perhaps should have made the cut. The only prerequisite for the list is that I own a copy (in any format other than Spotify, which remains a mystery to me):

10. Peter Perrett – How The West Was Won

Without question, How The West Was Won is the blog’s comeback album of the year. It couldn’t really be any other way. I suspect even Perrett himself could scarcely have anticipated the hugely positive response his solo debut has attracted. It’s a heartfelt, intimate body of work, which marks Perrett’s card as one of rock’s ultimate survivors. My review can be found here.

9. Aldous Harding – Party

Speaking of barely anticipated success stories, Aldous Harding will forever recall 2017 as the year she went global. The year she went stratospheric, even. And rightly so. Party is just nine songs in length but they’re all immaculately crafted dark hypnotic gems. Challenging, unsettling, and ultimately very rewarding. The real test for Aldous Harding will be to better it next time out. My review is here.

 

8. Bonobo – Migration

Every year, there’s always one album that reveals itself a lot more slowly than the rest, and this year, Bonobo’s Migration wins the highly coveted EGG gong for “creeper” of the year. As uncomplimentary as that label may seem, Migration is an album that just keeps on giving, with each and every listen revealing something new and previously unheard – be it a small or otherwise undecipherable bleep, a nagging loop, a flurry of keys, or perhaps something more obvious like an additional layer of bass. Because this album has a lot of bass. Whatever the case, it’s not an album to be absorbed entirely over the course of one listen. It requires patience and a keen ear, and since it was released as long ago as January, I’ve given this one a fair amount of ear time during 2017. Despite not actually getting around to giving it a full review on the blog. Just a quick summary then: aside from compilations, collaborations, and remix efforts, Migration is album number six for LA-based Englishman Simon Green as Bonobo, all of which are released on Ninja Tune, and it brings together a multitude of influences and instrumentation, from strong North African flavours, to jazzy hip hop vibes, to glitchy electronica, and all manner of bass-driven world music textures. Beautifully produced, and just over an hour in length, the two best tracks on the album involve elements of collaboration – ‘Break Apart’, featuring Rhye, and ‘No Reason’, featuring the vocals of Nick Murphy (aka Chet Faker). The way things are going, the way this one is continually rising in my estimation, by this time next year, Migration could well be this year’s number one. Or something like that.

7. Coldcut & On-U Sound – Outside The Echo Chamber

Regular blog readers and friends (which, let’s face it, is pretty much the same person) will have picked this one. They’ll know of my obsession with all things On-U Sound. The label could release an album of (producer) Adrian Sherwood passing wind and I’d probably still include it on my year-end list. Providing he applied some echo and other marvellous FX, of course. This one is different though, because it’s not actually an On-U label release, and it includes stalwart Ninja Tune duo Coldcut, plus a host of other rather terrific collaborators. My review is here.

6. Lord Echo – Harmonies

I’m not sure why this album doesn’t feature more prominently on other local year-end lists. I can’t help but wonder whether it would have gained more traction had it been made by a more high profile R’nB or funk producer … an overseas-based artist, say? Which is madness. My review can be found here.

 

5. Slowdive – Slowdive

This is another album that didn’t get a full review on the blog. And another one that arrived as far back as January. It’s also the runner-up in the comeback of the year poll (I polled myself, okay?). It could all have been so different. It could all have gone so horribly wrong. A quarter of a century ago, Slowdive were at the very heart of this thing, or genre, we call “shoegaze”. A band for its time, very much of its time. Yet, after years of inactivity the band returned in 2017 with this self-titled pearler of an album. And how. In fact, if you compiled a playlist of the ten most essential Slowdive tunes since the band first started releasing music back in 1990, then at least four of them could be lifted from the eight tracks found on this, the fourth album of four, and the Reading band’s first for 22 years. Main protagonists, vocalists Neil Halstead and Rachel Goswell, are key to its success, their chemistry being front and centre on the tracks with lyrics or those that include vocals. Not that those vocals are particularly orthodox, and if I have a slight criticism, it’s that too often their voices are a little muddy or buried too deeply within the mix. There’s obligatory walls of driving guitar, multiple layers of purposeful noise, and during lighter moments, ethereal keys and ambient interludes to die for. Production comes courtesy of Halstead himself. Ultimately it’s a wonderful concoction of dreamy pop, and an album full of lovely surprises. Check out: ‘Star Roving’, ‘Sugar for the Pill’, and ‘Falling Ashes’.

4. Cigarettes After Sex – Cigarettes After Sex

In my original review (go here), I beat myself up just a little for loving the music of Cigarettes After Sex. What, with the album being so unrepentantly emo and pubescent ‘n all. I figure I really should know better, or at least, I really should be over all of that angst and nonsense by now, at my advanced age. Etc. Well, it turns out I’m not, and just between us … (*whispers, looks around anxiously*) … I’m really looking forward to the band’s Auckland gig next month.

3. Fazerdaze – Morningside

With all of the fuss being made over Lorde, Aldous Harding, and Nadia Reid during 2017, Amelia Murray (aka Fazerdaze) may feel a touch hard-done-by in the local-girl-done-good stakes. But she shouldn’t, she has talent to burn, and Morningside is its own reward. It’s the best thing to emerge from these shores all year. My review can be found here.

 

2. Robert Plant – Carry Fire

Where to start with the phenomenon that is Robert Plant? In truth, I probably don’t need to add anything, his career speaks for itself. More specifically, the five albums he’s released over the past dozen years or so - starting with Mighty Rearranger in 2005 - have made a mockery of any ill-conceived (yet common) notion that he’s just another crusty old rocker going through the motions. Carry Fire is the eleventh Robert Plant “solo” album, a second successive outing with the Sensational Space Shifters, and what once worked for him way back at the dawn of time, still works for him today. More or less. Only now, there’s quite a lot more variation on that much loved formula. Plant is essentially the consummate roots artist, only for him, roots means everything from country, folk, and blues, to orthodox pop, Celtic rock, and African rhythms. Carry Fire presents a veritable potpourri of all of the above. His customary Rock God howl is no longer as prominent as it once was, but with that change comes a seasoned voice full of subtlety and nuance. A voice that remains a weapon, an instrument in itself, even, but one that’s evolved into a weapon of a very different nature. These days it’s seduction by one thousand soft kisses, as opposed to the full on “wham bam” approach of his rather enviable youth. There’s some great stuff on Carry Fire; the past-referencing opener ‘The May Queen’. The intoxicating duet with Chrissie Hynde, ‘Bluebirds over the Mountain’. The closer, ‘Heaven Sent’. And the title track itself. See? … all of that, without once mentioning Led Zeppelin. Oh, darn.

1. The National – Sleep Well Beast

A lot of people love to hate this band, but you’ll know I’m a big fan of The National. And if an ordinary effort like 2013’s Trouble Will Find Me could make that year’s year-end ten for the blog, then you’ll sure as hell know that this year’s monstrous Sleep Well Beast is going to cane it. My typically fawning review can be found here.

Five honourable mentions and other everythingsgonegreen year-end gongs (“the EGGs”):

The Horrors – V … I used to think the Horrors was a try-hard goth-wannabe novelty cartoon band. A pale imitation of that, even. Without ever really listening to the music. This year’s release helped me see the error of my ways and the folly of my ill-informed prejudice. V was a good mix of psychedelia, nostalgia, and synthpop: see the Numan-esque album opener, ‘Hologram’ (“are we Hologram, are we vision?”), for evidence of the latter.

The War on Drugs – A Deeper Understanding … following on from the huge promise of Lost in the Dream (2014), this one felt a tad disappointing at first. Which only goes to show how high the bar had been raised, and it’s probably unfair, because A Deeper Understanding is a thoroughly decent album in its own right.

Ryan Adams – The Prisoner … a sixteenth studio album from the prolific American singer/songwriter. This one was all about not ever really being able to escape from that pesky broken relationship. Hence the title, I suppose. By the way, is there ever any other type of relationship? It’s all about degrees of “broken”, I guess.

Alt-J – Relaxer … or technically, alt-J, but that makes me cringe a little. My teenage kids have mentioned this band in passing, separately, more than once. Which must mean they’re hugely popular. I had no idea just how weird and whacky Relaxer would turn out to be when I picked it up on the strength of early single, ‘3WW’, which features Wolf Alice chanteuse Ellie Rowsell. This week's Wellington show is a sell out.

The Trainspotting 2 soundtrack wins the EGG for compilation album of the year. Thanks mainly to the fact that I enjoyed the movie so much. And because I didn’t really hold onto many of the other compilation albums I picked up during the year. Reviewed here.

Five more … close but no cigar: Depeche Mode – Spirit, LCD Soundsystem – American Dream, Mogwai – Every Country’s Sun, Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings – Soul of a Woman, Zola Jesus – Okovi. Each of these albums had an extended run of pod time during the year.

Speaking of movies, the local festival “hit”, Swagger of Thieves, Julian Boshier’s fly-on-the-wall documentary about the trials and tribulations of Wellington rockers Head Like A Hole just shades Lion as EGG’s film of the year. Yes, there’s a huge amount of local bias and personal connection in that selection. Reviewed here.

The short album or EP of the year bauble goes to Wellington masters of the dark arts, Dreams Are Like Water, with A Sea-Spell, a striking debut, featuring a handful of tunes packed full of texture and depth. My love for this was instant. My review is here.

 

2017 was a big year for re-releases, deluxe versions, and anniversary reissues, with the EGG going to Radiohead’s 20^th birthday celebration of OK Computer, OKNOTOK, which included not only the band’s original masterpiece, but the added value of an entire new album of unreleased, previously discarded material from the same period. The “throwaway” material was superb, and proof, if it was needed, that Radiohead remain one of rock’s most important bands of the past 25 years. I had a real soft spot for Bob Marley’s ridiculously good Exodus reissue (40^th anniversary), and thought R.E.M.’s Automatic For The People (25^th anniversary deluxe) had a nice mix of live material and early demos to supplement the original. So good, you can trace the album’s evolution from start to finish when listening to those demos.

My gig of the year was Lord Echo's funk-fest at Wellington’s San Fran in early November, on the occasion of his Harmonies album release tour. With so many co-conspirators involved in the making of the album, I was curious as to how it might translate in a live environment, but he pulled it off with some aplomb. Ensuring that vocalists Lisa Tomlins and Mara TK were a big part of the show was key, obviously, but props to the entire band, which was sensational all night. As was support act Julien Dyne, who offered a virtuoso live drumming performance. That Saturday night gig just shaded the two Wellington Fazerdaze gigs I caught during 2017, the first at Caroline (reviewed here), right at the start of the year, and then much later on, in September, at Meow, which turned out to be even better. At each gig, Amelia Murray fronted an entirely different band. No mean feat in itself.

 

Which just about covers it. Obligatory year-end wrap completed. All in less than 2,500 words (yawn). Well done for making it this far. I nearly didn’t. If you don’t catch me here again before the silly season, dear reader, have a great festive period.

 

Albums of 2013

 

Albums of 2014

 

Albums of 2015

 

Albums of 2016

Album Review: The National - Sleep Well Beast (2017)

I have to admit, I feared the worst. There had been a couple of fairly recent unsettling developments. Signs or little hints that we'd already seen and heard the best of The National. That, as a band, they were yesterday's men, condemned to merely go through the motions until they collectively reached the inevitable bitter end. On account of having nothing better to do. Or at least, having nothing better to offer us.

The band's previous full-length release, the (in retrospect) mostly watercolour Trouble Will Find Me (2013), was enjoyable enough at first, but it grew stale relatively quickly, and it seldom warrants a mention whenever The National’s very best work is being discussed. That album was followed by a couple of rather ordinary hit-and-miss standalone releases, and when I saw the band's name included as a headliner on this summer's (local) winery circuit, well, that would usually amount to something akin to the kiss of death. The sort of gig a band struggling to retain any degree of relevance might take. And, gasp, the sort of gig frequented by nostalgia act devotees only.

But I need not have been too concerned. As it turns out, Sleep Well Beast was/is a lovely surprise, and it presents The National right back at the top of its game, with the album showcasing all of the constituent parts that formed a truly magnificent whole on the band's previous high watermark releases – on key albums like The Boxer (2007), and High Violet (2010). Obviously, we'll have to see how it ages before we'll know where it will ultimately sit within the wider pantheon of the band's near two-decade long career, but a few months on since its release, the seventh National album feels like a genuine keeper.

I know nothing of lyricist and vocalist Matt Berninger’s past or current relationship status, but it’s not difficult to conclude that someone, somewhere along the way, has broken his heart, quite badly, and much of Sleep Well Beast – interludes of barely disguised political commentary aside – deals with heartbreak and an implied acceptance that love never ends well. And given that love can only ever end in break-up, or death, then that last part is hard to argue with.

There’s an intimacy and an understated beauty about the arrangement and production, and a sense of melodrama lurks beneath, or within, almost every track. A certain tension that the unfiltered fragility of Berninger’s seductive baritone frequently brings right to the front and centre.

With a set of a dozen high calibre songs, strong melodies, and music that is rich in depth, texture, and variety, Sleep Well Beast offers up a far wider stylistic palette than we found on Trouble Will Find Me. From gentle keys-based tunes (‘Born To Beg’, ‘Carin At The Liquor Store’) to full-blown psychedelia (‘Turtleneck’), and a little bit of most things in between.

In simple terms, as returns to form go, this effort has to be considered one of 2017’s best statements of intent. It would seem any thoughts of the band’s impending demise are premature, to say the least, and clearly The National aren’t quite ready to join the greybeards of the nostalgia circuit quite just yet.

Album highlights include the first couple of singles, ‘The System Only Dreams in Total Darkness’, which has grown steadily in stature since its initial low-key unveiling months ago, and ‘Guilty Party’ (clip below), which works as a gentle tearjerker, a heartfelt break-up post-mortem. Plus, ‘Carin At The Liquor Store’, ‘Day I Die’, and ‘I'll Still Destroy You’.

Album Review: Various - Day of the Dead (2016)

For many of us of a certain generation, for many years, the Grateful Dead have been little more than the convenient butt of many a hippy joke. A band that helped define an era, certainly, but nonetheless a band widely considered to be the complete antithesis of the punk rock and post-punk movements. And therefore, very much fair game to become an object of ridicule (in my insular world, at least). It is, or was, a position many mainstream observers also adopted, to be fair, with derogatory "Dead" references popping up in movies, books, comedy/parody, and various other forms of popular culture in the years since the band's profile peaked in the late Sixties and Seventies.

It probably didn't help that songwriter and guitarist Jerry Garcia bore an uncanny resemblance to (pothead) Tommy Chong of the infamous Cheech and Chong comedy duo. Or that the music of the Grateful Dead was deeply entrenched in what I personally considered to be a barren no man's land – that well traversed four-pronged crossroads where country rock meets classic rock meets folk meets Americana. It was a place I didn't really want to hang out for any length of time, and despite becoming more open minded as I get older (or so I like to think), it still doesn't really excite me all that much. And yes, these prejudices say a lot more about me than they do about the Grateful Dead, sure.

But the Dessner brothers-curated tribute album, Day of the Dead, throws something of a fresh light on the band's music, and while it doesn't really change my position on the Dead, it does offer another perspective – that of the contemporary artist of a distinctly post-millennium vintage, charged with interpreting large chunks of the band’s extensive catalogue. Including some of the biggest “indie” names in the business. It reconfigures our context somewhat, by placing emphasis back on the music, and not the lifestyle.

Tommy or Jerry?

First things first, just for clarity: I picked this up mainly on account of the involvement of Aaron and Bryce Dessner, simply because I'm a big fan of their work with The National. My version of the album – that which is under review here – is the three volume download. The alternatives being the 5-CD set, or limited edition vinyl box set. Either way, it all amounts to some 59 cover versions, and well in excess of five hours’ worth of music. With sale proceeds going to the long-standing Aids charity Red Hot Organization.

 

The first volume in the download set is sub-titled “Thunder” and it is by some distance the best, or most easily digestible, portion of the release. From the perspective of a Dead sceptic (aka your reviewer), it’s the volume which contains the least meandering, more accessible material. With the exception of the exhausting near 17-minute Terrapin Station (Suite)’ (by assorted and various). Highlights include Courtney Barnett’s take on ‘New Speedway Boogie’, The National’s version of ‘Peggy-O’, and the collaboration between Ed Droste (of Grizzly Bear) and Binki Shapiro on ‘Loser’. This volume also includes contributions by luminaries such as The War on Drugs, Kurt Vile, Bonnie Prince Billy, Perfume Genuis, Sharon van Etten, Mumford & Sons, Lee Ranaldo (of Sonic Youth), Wilco, and latter day Grateful Dead touring band member Bruce Hornsby. Plus many others.

The second volume – subtitled “Lightning” – was a real struggle for me, mainly on account of so many of the songs being of the more rambling variety. Rambling, as in … on and on and on and … seldom going anywhere particularly satisfying. Certainly this volume adds weight to the old adage that sometimes less is more. The worst offenders here being the work of Nightfall of Diamonds on the track of the same name, plus the Tunde Adebimpe/Lee Ranaldo collab ‘Playing in the Band’. And while Marijuana Deathsquads’ take on ‘Truckin’ is relatively brief by comparison, mercifully brief even, it does tend to bring out all that is most unpalatable about the musical excesses of the Grateful Dead. On the more positive side of the ledger, the second volume features The National’s majestic take on ‘Morning Dew’, and the rather funky Orchestra Baobab with ‘Franklin’s Tower’. Look out too for the soulful contribution of Charles Bradley (and the Menahan Street Band) on ‘Cumberland Blues’.

Volume three, “Sunshine”, also offers up something of a mixed bag, with the highs coming from This Is The Kit on trad tune ‘Jack-A-Roe’, and from The Flaming Lips with ‘Dark Star’. Relatively slim pickings. At the opposite end of the spectrum, again there’s a couple of ten-minute-plus episodes I could well have done without, and I thought Fucked Up’s take on ‘Cream Puff War’ was simply awful. Music befitting the band’s rather unimaginative name. Somewhere in the okay-but-not-overly-great category we find Real Estate with ‘Here Comes Sunshine’, and New Zealand’s own Unknown Mortal Orchestra with ‘Shakedown Street’.

So there it is. Warts and all. Genuine variety from a wide range of bands and artists. Kudos to the Dessner brothers and co-producer Josh Kaufman for bringing so many musicians and diverse styles together in the name of a charity project. Any criticism (or otherwise) of the album should not detract from that monumental effort. There’s some great stuff here, but there’s also some very ordinary stuff, and a few quite woeful tracks. It kind of goes with the territory. The very nature of a project this expansive. There’s so much here it would be unrealistic to expect to enjoy it all, and equally difficult not to find stuff you can enjoy. Even as a non-Deadhead.

There’s no question that in the annals of popular culture the Grateful Dead is a very important band. As much for the era, or the ethos, that the music represents. I guess if you’re not a fan of the Grateful Dead, and therefore unlikely to ever listen to the band’s music, but want to learn a little bit about what all the fuss was about, what helped to build the myth, then this is as good a place to start as any. Worth a look, occasionally worth a listen.

 

Red Hot and the Dead

I’m a bit of a fan of The National, and prone to posting the odd random National-related clip.

Fresh on the Net this week, here’s a clip of the band doing the Bonnie Dobson-penned, Grateful Dead-immortalised ‘Morning Dew’, which is being released as part of a wider Grateful Dead tribute project/charity album, Day of The Dead.

Day of The Dead is a triple/compilation album, curated by The National’s Aaron and Bryce Dessner, set for release on 20 May on 4AD, with all profits going to the long running Aids/HIV-charity, the Red Hot Organization.

Artists involved include War On Drugs, Kurt Vile, Courtney Barnett, Wilco, Real Estate, Justin Vernon, The Flaming Lips, Mumford & Sons, Lucinda Williams, Bonnie Prince Billy, Aotearoa’s own Unknown Mortal Orchestra, plus many others.

I always much preferred Tim Rose’s take on ‘Morning Dew’ over The Dead’s more popular signature version, but The National really nail it here, giving an old song a brand new set of threads … rather fittingly, dressing it entirely in black:

Sunshine On My Back

There have been a few reports recently that The National is currently hard at work on a new album. I'm not sure how accurate those reports are, but The National is another band which has long been a firm favourite of everythingsgonegreen. Earlier this year, back in April, the band released a new single, 'Sunshine On My Back', which was available as a free download when purchasing the documentary Mistaken For Strangers on the band's official website. It was initially a shelved tune from the Trouble Will Find Me sessions, but it's one that's had a fair amount of airplay at everythingsgonegreen towers in recent months. It features the dulcet tones of current indie darling Sharon Van Etten, which complement the baritone wonders of Matt Berninger's voice perfectly.

Check it out the clip below (for 'Sunshine On My Back') if you haven't heard it already:

 

Albums of 2013

So here we are in 2014 already. And a lot of 2013’s baggage has naturally enough, by default and design, managed to transport itself into the New Year. Not least is the small issue of this blog’s perennial failure to come up with its ten “albums of the year” before the metaphorical bells rounded things off so succinctly a few days back …

In past years I’ve done a series of album-by-album posts to highlight the albums I played (and enjoyed) most of all over the previous 12 months, but for 2013 I thought I’d cut to the chase and just list the ten “albums of 2013” in one post … partly because I’m in lazy-sod-holiday mode, but mostly because a few of them have already been reviewed here previously. These albums aren’t necessarily the best of the year, just the best as heard in my house, or in my headspace across 2013. The only prerequisite for inclusion is that I still had my mitts on a copy – in any format – at year’s end:

10. Elvis Costello and The Roots – Wise Up Ghost

Wise Up Ghost wins the prize for most unlikely transatlantic collaboration of the year. But then again, unlikely collaborations have always been one of Costello’s favourite things, and thanks to the huge talent and versatility of The Roots, the quality control factor on this one was always going to be set extremely high. The Roots might just about be the best thing ever to happen to Hip hop, certainly the group rates as the genre’s most authentic live act, and for all that Costello’s words and musings – quite often referencing work from his distant past throughout the album – are crucial to Wise Up Ghost’s success, the music of The Roots is something really quite special. A little bit post-punk, a little bit jazz, a whole lot of Hip hop (though Costello – mercifully – doesn’t rap), and never anything less than 100% funky. Best tracks: ‘Walk Us Uptown’, ‘Tripwire’, and ‘Viceroy’s Row’.

 9. Fat Freddy’s Drop – Blackbird

Speaking of bad rap (or not speaking of it) … these guys get a lot of it from local music scribes (or perhaps that’s “a bad wrap”?) and I’m genuinely at a loss as to fully understanding why that is. When I listen to this hard working local collective all I hear is “home”, a place to be; Wellington, a beach on the Kapiti Coast, or anywhere else specific to Nu Zild. Our accent, our landscape, our multicultural people … and if that’s a little bit too laidback or (apparently) derivative for some, then so be it. It works for me. If they can be knocked for a lack of (perceived) progression style-wise, it’s merely because the band is now very much at ease with who they are and the music they’re making. I happen to think that’s a very good thing. Blackbird was one of just a handful of CD’s I purchased during 2013 (downloading continued as my format of convenience and choice) and my edition came with the eight-track bonus disc. So I thought it was a pretty good score and I played it often. Best tracks: ‘Clean The House’, ‘Silver and Gold’, and ‘Barney Miller’ from the mixed bag bonus disc.

 

8. Foals – Holy Fire

When I reviewed Holy Fire earlier in the year I hadn’t expected it to wind up as one of my albums of the year, but I found myself continually returning to it, and it grew and grew and grew … originally reviewed here.

7. Lord Echo – Curiosities

Multi-instrumentalist Mike Fabulous is one very special talent. Fabulous has been, for a long time, one of the main protagonists behind the international success of Wellington reggae/dub outfit, the Black Seeds. A couple of years back he released his first solo effort under the Lord Echo moniker, and this follow-up, Curiosities, builds on that work to showcase what might prove to be a musical coming of age. Curiosities is a 42-minute ten-track no-filler extravaganza of funk, disco, jazz, and pure unadulterated pop ... plus a few other things besides. So there’s a wide scope of styles on the album and I think that, more than anything else, is what makes it such a persuasive listen. The album made a belated run for this list after I picked up my copy of Curiosities on CD very late in the year, but regular listening through December provided its own reward, and its own reason for being here. Best tracks: ‘Digital Haircut’, ‘Molten Lava’, and the sublime closer ‘Arabesque’.

 

6. The Analogue Fakir – Worlds We Know

A good cyber-friend of everythingsgonegreen, Muhammad Hamzah, a Sufi Muslim based in Manchester by way of Bradford, wears many hats. One of them is the one he dons as Celt Islam, and I’ve blogged about his work a few times already. Less well known is the work he does as The Analogue Fakir, but when he sent me a link for his 2013 release, Worlds We Know, I was completely blown away by the sheer depth and quality on offer. As with Celt Islam’s music, I simply can’t believe that more people aren’t embracing this worldly fusion of Eastern and Western vibes. Where Celt Islam’s stuff tends to be a more dub or dubstep-orientated hybrid of styles, Worlds We Know struck me as being every bit as state-of-the-art, but more indebted to electronic forms like EDM, and it works as a slightly freaky hard-edged variation on global electropop. But there’s so much more to it than any label I can tag it with – it isn’t really “pop” for a start, it’s far too dark in places, and almost post-apocalyptic in parts. A great, challenging, if largely overlooked album. Find out for yourself by downloading at the link below. Best tracks: ‘The Forms’, ‘Moments In Time’, and ‘Annihilation in Allah’.

http://earthcityrecordz1.bandcamp.com/album/worlds-we-know

 

5. The National – Trouble Will Find Me

And by the month of May, “trouble” had most definitely found me. By crook, rather than hook, back in a corner … again. This album was one of my favourites from the first half of the year and while it may not have been as dark and dramatic as High Violet, or as compelling as a couple of the band’s earlier albums, it was still a bunch of beautifully crafted tunes. And that man’s gentle baritone corners me every damn time. Originally reviewed here.

4. Daft Punk – Random Access Memories

Naturally. I’m a disco nut. I’m a history nut. I’m a Nile Rodgers fan from way back. I love some of that early Giorgio Moroder stuff. Combine all of those old school ingredients … stir to boil, and then add a liberal sprinkling of fairy dust in the form of new digital technology and you’ve got an instant everythingsgonegreen favourite. Random Access Memories plays out like some kind of skewed potted history of disco, and it was originally reviewed here.

3. GRiZ – Rebel Era

Rebel Era by GRiZ easily qualifies as my freebie download of the year. A brilliant concoction of old style blues and dubstep, Rebel Era was another one of those safe “go-to” albums on those rare occasions I was stuck for something to listen to. With heavy use of samples and a funk heart at its electro-dubby core, some might consider this throwaway fare, but for a while back there, GRiZ was the biz (sorry – Ed) in my world, and this “solo” album is every bit as good as the work he did with fellow dubstephead Gramatik (released as Grizmatik). Originally (sort of) reviewed here.

2. Public Service Broadcasting – Inform - Educate - Entertain

An almost flawless blend of sepia-tinged nostalgia and modern rock as we know it. But not as we know it. So different from anything else on offer. A journey into another world, another time, another place. Samples and soundbites abound. Originally reviewed here.

1. Darkside – Psychic

It seems appropriate – given that the vast majority of my music listening is via headphones – that my 'Fones album of the year and the blog’s overall album of the year is Darkside’s Psychic. I could – and did, more than once – completely lose myself in this album. Immerse myself in it. Use it to shut out everything else around me. Not always an easy listen, Psychic is an absorbing mix of production FX, vocal distortions, and ambient soundscaping, but it also leans heavily towards classic rock, with more than a few old fashioned blues signature moments buried deep within its sonic mash. It’s such a hybrid of musical styles and production techniques it’s (thankfully) impossible to damn it with one singular/solitary genre label. Hell, the first couple of minutes on the 11-minute opening opus amount to little more than a pulse, and it’s a full five minutes in before we get anything resembling a meaningful beat. So it requires patience, and the impression is that the album was designed to be listened to as a whole, not as individual pieces within that whole. But oh how that patience is rewarded. Nicolas Jaar and Dave Harrington also collaborated as Daftside, and hopefully we’ll hear more from this duo. Best tracks: ‘Heart’, ‘Paper Trails’, and ‘Freak, Go Home’.

Honourable mentions: Atoms For Peace – Amok, Panda Dub – Psychotic Symphony, Primal Scream – More Light, DU3normal – Flow Frequency, and London Grammar – If You Wait.

Reissue of the year – I can’t decide between The Breeders’ (Last Splash deluxe) LSXX, or the Tears For Fears reissue of The Hurting. So I choose both. Two reissues of the year – my blog, my rules!

Compilation of the year – I can’t say I downloaded or purchased too many compilation releases during 2013 (an unusual development for me) but this sampler release from the aptly titled Earth City Recordz label – reviewed here – opened up a whole new world of sound possibilities for me.

New Zealand album of the year – obviously Lord Echo (see above), closely pushed by Fat Freddy’s Drop, and two other Wellington-based-band releases: Black City Lights with Another Life, and the relatively low profile Bikini Roulette’s otherwise gripping Erotik Fiction. For all that Lorde’s Pure Heroine “made the grade” internationally and wasn’t too bad at all for a debut release, I can’t hand-on-heart say it rates as highly as many other blog and mainstream media year-end lists tend to suggest. I make no excuses for the very obvious Wellington bias in my picks, I really should have expanded my “local” music horizons a little further than I did, and I know I missed far too much good stuff through the year, something I hope to rectify (again!) in 2014.

So that’s that. Obligatory annual list completed.

Comment below if you agree or disagree (fat chance – Ed) … or maybe you just want to call me naughty names again … I’m clearly not all that fussy.