Why artists shouldn’t stick to art
By Princess Stomper
Everett True reckons that Artists Should Stick To Art instead of making mixtapes of obvious dad rock. If mixtapes made by artists are so disappointing in real life, I think we should invent some fantasy selections.
For example:
SALVADOR DALI
The Beatles – ‘I Am The Walrus’
Yes, obvious, I know – but has there been a more perfect example of psychedelic pop? It has that mix of accessibility, oddness and substance that I associate with Dali’s work.
Knifeworld – ‘Clairvoyant Fortnight’
Kavus from Cardiacs returns to his Monsoon Bassoon roots with this frankly bizarre track with an earworm of a chorus. I’d call it an acquired taste (which I’ve since acquired), but Monsoon Bassoon did get NME‘s Single of the Week three times in a row, so maybe I’m the weird one here.
Thinking Plague – ‘Behold The Man’
This was the first track I heard by the legendary progsters and it was one of those stop-what-you’re-doing-and-buy-it-instantly moments. Apparently their style is called Rock In Opposition, but any time anyone says ‘RIO’ to me I want to dance around to Duran Duran. You just need to know that it’s not the elves-and-unicorns type of prog, but the heavier more jazz-influenced stuff. Dali pictures could look as much like nightmares as like dreams, and I think this reflects that.
Levitation – ‘Smile’
By contrast, this is the gentler, more melancholic side.
Karda Estra – ‘Red Room’
Kavus Torabi (Knifeworld, etc) co-hosts a radio show and picked out Karda Estra on the first show I heard. It was one of those moments where you half-hear the name of the band and then spend ages trying to track down information about the band and trying to figure out which specific song you fell in love with. I think Dali would have loved them.
(continues overleaf)
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Princess Stomper is a former magazine contributor and music researcher, who now works in a marketing department for an academic organisation. She lives in the English countryside and runs the Reinspired blog.
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