Adisa: Poetry Revolution
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Author Archives: John Kerridge
13ax: Still There
Mist
A Beach
Paul Weller: Bath Forum 17.11.21
Paul Weller and his various incarnations has provided the musical background to my adult life. It’s not to say I enjoy everything he produces, far from it, I just have a deep respect for the manner in which he keeps an authentic approach to music. His integrity and development of his craft makes him a standout artist from the fag end of the 70s. Judging from the fan bash tonight I can see a yearning for the glory hits of the Jam and Style Council, I get that, but he is often at his best when he and his band loosen up with many of his later releases. In my considerations he is simply my generation’s Ray Davies.
Warehouse
A question of ethics
I was watching a film tonight about ethics which posed an interesting question. It went something like this. You are walking past a pond, and in the middle is a small child, stranded, with the child’s parents nowhere to be found. You look down at your shoes and realise you are wearing your new Gucci shoes and have no time to take them off before the child falls deeper into the pond and below the surface. Setting aside the self-indulgent psychopath, most people in this predicament would not think twice about launching themselves into the pond to save the child and ruin their £1000 Gucci shoes.
Yet, if the same person witnessed the same child in hunger or poverty, would they be prepared to contribute £1000 to a charity seeking to tackle said hunger and poverty – would they? A question that opens up the hollow vanity of consumerism.
Paper Fishes: All Your Lives Are Dreams Played Inside My Head
One of the beautiful things about being involved in Irregular Patterns is watching bands/artists grow both in confidence and creatively. If you like a bit of REM you should enjoy this one. Paper Fishes wearing their influences on their sleeve with pride. The 2nd single from their forthcoming LP Instant Happiness, All Your Lives Are Dreams Played Inside My Head.
Paper Fishes: Borrowed Time
When helping to set up the label Irregular Patterns, along with exploring the more challenging aspects of music genres, I (for my part) wanted to find a home for the classic rock song. Those carefully crafted songs from bands such as early R.E.M, dare I say early Neil Young, Bruce Springsteen, as well as Tom Waits, etc.
Songs, which are not over not produced, still rough around the edges and don’t layer guitars over guitars for no good reason. An artist prepared to explore the fragility of human life, along with its beauty and absurdity. The journey led me to Andre Levy and his band Paper Fishes.
Borrowed Time is taken from the forthcoming album, Instant Happiness, which is neither instant nor happy. The album, which I have been lucky to hear prior to release welds together tales of humanity and family tensions, set in a Damien Jurado-like love of Americana, lo-fi rock, folk and barroom ballads.
The death of Levy’s father and their strained relationship casts a long shadow over the album. The tracks ebb and flow across musical genres with little attempt to hide the scars and resentments between father and son, or the regrets and disillusionment of Levy and his brothers. This is all brutally exposed on their ironically titled debut LP. The album pulls no punches from the opening track Vanishing Point to the finale Borrowed Time.
Lost in a Wide Open Field 