nothingtobed0ne
Nothing To Be Done
the real nothing to be done zine
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Untrue - Burial
[Garage/Dubstep] [2007]
As was the case with early Dubstep, the sound of this album and the scene it came from is so distinctly working class, this pales in comparison to the scale and spectacle of modern post-scary monsters and nice sprites Dubstep.
My perspective on this album is from a 19 year old who's introduction to dubstep came from Skrillex, Knife Party and Barely Alive in The Great Brostep Uprising of 2012. There is a massive divide between the old and new school dubstep sounds, if you talk to any old school dubstep head, it can veer into snobbery, my university lecturer even going so far as to call anything pre Skrillex "Real Dubstep".
This is not to shit on modern Dubstep, every genre will inevitably evolve over time and this shift is directly responsible for the amplification of EDM for the casual music listener, whether you think that is good or bad, it was undeniably influential. Dubstep is far from commercial in recent years, the producers are creating simply out of love for the genre and scene which has led to innovative sound design and maddening rhythms. There are plenty of artists today fitting the mould of old-school Dubstep and Garage: Eprom and G Jones for example, both of which take inspiration from D&B and Hardcore as well, even the new Skrillex record is a tasteful homage to the scene of UK bass music he was influenced by - we have come full circle.
The imagery and song titles on Untrue really speak for themselves - "In McDonalds", "Homeless", "Dog Shelter" and even the album cover signal to the listener a specific sense of normalcy and is based in the familiarities of the working man.
The intended listening environment for Untrue is for a slightly too long for comfort bus journey home after 5pm, jacket hood up and headphones in, or waiting for your friend to meet you outside the corner shop, watching the raindrops be illuminated by the street lights.
The drums pattering away in "Ghost Hardware" are almost uncomfortably off-kilter, reminding me of "Gyroscope" off the album "Geogaddi" by Boards of Canada from one of the most terrifying albums I have listened to. Hypnotic vocal sampling of odd and very short sections remind me of XXYYXX's 2012 self titled debut of Untrue was definitely an influence.
Upon researching this album, Burial said in in interview that he used the software Sound Forge to make the album. Its absolutely unreal that he managed to squeeze this work of art out of such a primitive and featureless software. Sound Forge is for audio editing, it doesn't feature any kind of sequencer or synthesizer. He produces like an early Dub producer that used the analog mixing desk as an instrument. The fact that he had no grid to work with means the creation of this album was undoubtedly a painstaking process. But this means the drums have a unique swing to them. The reliance on waveforms over MIDI leads to some fascinating samples, pots and pans, rain ambience, vinyl noise, Metal Gear Solid soundtracks and SFX, synth demos and youtube covers.
Untrue is a prime example of how so much can be said with little words or even melodic content. The production itself sells the lonely, melancholic feeling. The emphasis on atmosphere and texture makes me wish for better intros and midsections in modern Dubstep.
All the "imperfections" of this album sell the experience, the click of the sub bass not stopping at the zero-crossing gives the same effect as using vinyl noise. The title track "Untrue" is the highlight of this album for me, the powerful sub bass, the droning and creative sampling encompass everything I love about the album.
I remember reading a comment on Twitter about trying to create an emotional mixdown and I didn't understand what they meant until I began listening to every choice this album makes, as an amateur music producer, I understand the perfectionist mentality so many producers have, endlessly obsessing over one thing that makes little difference until you zoom out to the big picture. My point being that EVERY production choice is intentional and essential to the emotion of the song which should not be understated in projects like these.
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i saw the cure
(a 1217 word account)
Robert in blue light
Before I start this review it is only fair to include a disclaimer about my feelings towards The Cure. It is fair to say that for the last four years I have been a complete Cure fanatic and even if they were to go up on stage and play a setlist only consisting of cover versions of ‘Dance Monkey’ and ‘Green Green Grass’ repeated for 2hr 45mins I would probably have a better time than what I should purely because it is The Cure playing them. That being said, it was truly an amazing night, despite the fact I am totally biased towards this band.
At the start of December I was fortunate enough to see The Cure for the second time, much to the relief of my friends and family who I imagine were more than fed up with me rambling about setlists and brewing strategies to get as close as possible to the band. I travelled alone, wearing a Head On The Door era style t-shirt trying to contain my excitement on the megabus as I created a playlist based on previous setlists from this tour as to prepare myself for the big night. After the journey several hours were spent anxiously waiting and getting ready (I wore a distinctly un-cure silver 70s dagger collar shirt and blue levis 501s with, it goes without saying, copious amounts of eyeliner, red lipstick and hairspray).
As we arrived at the doors I had already accepted the fact that chances are I probably wouldn’t get right down the front to see my eyeliner-clad heroes as I had perhaps dreamed, but I was too giddy to really care. So we took our sweet time getting into the actual stadium only to be gifted by the fact that we could still see the front barrier - I was only maybe five or six people away from Robert Smith - A far better view than near the back when I saw them for the first time at Bellahouston Park.
the view
The half an hour between the end of The Twilight Sad and The Cure was soundtracked with rain noises, recalling the beginning of the Disintegration track ‘Same Deep Water As You’, forewarning a gloomy night as the crowd excitedly speculated upon what songs they were going to hear tonight. From the side of the stage, the group began to appear. Jason first, then Reeves, Simon and Roger and finally the unmistakable shadow of Robert Smith, somewhat sheepishly, to the front of the stage as the crowd erupted into applause.
The opening track was ‘Alone’, one of five songs taken from their highly anticipated but yet unreleased album ‘Songs For A Lost World’. This, as well as other to be album tracks ‘And Nothing Is Forever’, ‘I Can Never Say Goodbye’, ‘A Fragile Thing’ and ‘Endsong’, promise that the new album will be easily some of their best work in thirty years.
After ‘Alone’, the band dive into familiar favourites ‘Pictures of You’, ‘A Night Like This' and ‘Lovesong’ (see my clip below). As you will note, the band, especially Smith, sound as good as ever, cementing their place as one of the best live acts on the planet, even in their 60s.
so fly me to the moon
After the excitement of three classics, the next four tracks - "And Nothing Is Forever”, ‘The Last Day Of Summer’, ‘Want’ and ‘A Fragile Thing’ - take a more solemn mood, making it the only part of the concert that didn’t completely blow me away. This is purely up to personal preference, the band still sounded amazing, I am just not as much of a fan of their post Disintegration work as I am the rest of their discography, but for fans of Wild Mood Swings (if you’re out there) and Bloodflowers this would have been incredible.
I quickly forgot about this slight lull as the rest of the first act of the set is beyond imagination. ‘Cold’ and ‘A Strange Day’ are particular favourites, perhaps making it the first time that hearing a track off of pornography making someone ecstatically happy. ‘Play For Today’ holds its head high as a Cure live classic - any Cure gig is incomplete without this song, and the irresistible ‘Shake Dog Shake’ more than makes up for the existence of The Top.
The first encore ‘act two’ was perhaps my most anticipated part of the gig. I was praying for either a Disintegration themed encore or a Pornography theme. A teary-eyed Smith poured his heart out in the deeply affecting ‘I Can Never Say Goodbye’, then straight to 1981’s ‘Faith’. The lights went red and the unmistakable intro of ‘One Hundred Years’ echoed menacingly. You’d have thought I won the lottery if you spoke to me directly after this gig. And in a way I did. ‘One Hundred Years’ then to ‘A Forest’ - I can die happy.
With all the angst, sadness and hate purged from the world, The Cure returned to the stage with seven of their biggest and most beloved hits. Somewhere within these songs, dissatisfied with the fact that no one was really dancing, I joined a man trying unsuccessfully to create a sort-of mosh pit and was soon followed by several middle aged men dancing/jumping/hitting into people to such classic pop hits as ‘Friday I’m In Love’ and ‘Just Like Heaven’. This was perhaps one of the happiest moments of my life, the irony of it being at a Cure gig is not lost on me. Finally, Robert thanked the crowd claiming that “thank you is my meme for tonight" (leaving me unconvinced he knows what a meme is) and left us with ‘Boys Don’t Cry’, the impossibly charming Beatles meets Buzzcocks tune, as me and the group of middle aged men and two goth girls my own age danced the last three minutes of the gig away.
Despite an unsuccessful attempt to get a setlist, I will lock away this night in my heart as one of the best of my life. Spectacular in every sense of the word. If there's one thing you should take away from this - if you get the chance to see The Cure, you have to take it (but get a ticket for me too)
peace out
- Nothing to be done
(all photos mine apart from the one below, taken allegedly in Dom Jolly's house)
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fantastic cure clipping found on facebook
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Nothing To Be Done on “Indie sleaze”
Skins. Alexa Chung. Side Swept Fringes?
Mid-late noughties indie seems to be slowly but surely re-entering it’s way into the consciousness of clued up teens dissatisfied with the current indie offerings and former hipsters who want to relive the days of American Apparel disco shorts and Nylon Magazine. Ground One of this resurgence can only be traced to the instagram account @indiesleaze documenting some of the most iconic looks and performances of the era for its cult-like following of fans.
In the past couple of years there is a lot of evidence to suggest that the halcyon days of 2000s indie will experience a revival. Perhaps the most obvious indication being the early 2000s coming back into fashion with major revival of the main y2k girlies Paris, Britney and Lindsay, Bella Hadid bringing back low rise jeans and Depop being flooded with (albeit overpriced) 2000s clothing. However this side of the 2000s has been reproduced over and over by fast fashion brands and influencers to the point where it’s no longer fresh and exciting anymore, which is where ‘Indie Sleaze’ comes in. The last two or so years have seen Ladytron, Crystal Castles and Le Tigre - all staples of the 2000s Indie Party scene - go viral on Tik Tok and Julia Fox’s eyeliner and recent supreme shoot with Harmony Korrine recall the digital photography and the overall slightly chaotic feel of the era.
The last few months have seen the rise of @TinyJewishGirl on tik tok, whose near-infamous style (although very different from 2000s indie) definitely is an indicator of individual style, experimentation and most of all FUN coming back into style. Euphoria newbie Chloe Cherry with her striking doll-like appearance, amazing style and colourful makeup is definitely a good sign for the future of fashion (see her instagram and coachella looks). Obviously, music is the most important thing when it comes to talking about indie and the most persuasive argument to suggest a more party orientated take on indie is on the horizon is the up-and-coming Wet Leg, the ‘skinny’ post punk inspired guitar is similar to that of the iconic Yeah Yeah Yeahs and the witty, funny, often absolutely filthy lyrics definitely are a welcomed change from the era of the ‘Sad Girl’ dominated Indie of the 2010s (I do love Lana and Mitski and so on but something more light hearted wouldn’t go amiss). Other recent releases by already established artists such as Yung Lean’s ‘Starpower’ and ‘Crest’ by Bladee and Ecco2k are clever, feel good and danceable with a distinct and youthful aesthetic that will hopefully set the tone for the rest of the decade.
Personally, as a clued up teen, I feel very welcoming towards this predicted shift in the current culture. I long for indie music that I can dance to and for alternative style to be less polished and pre-prescribed. I think that part of the reason for ‘indie sleaze’ seems to be resonating with young people again is a dissatisfaction with the very polished and perfect instagram feeds of the 2010s. Another major factor is the pandemic. Obviously Covid has prevented many teenagers of the parties and recklessness that is often associated with youth, and as restrictions start to loosen people just want to have great parties and have a good laugh without having to worry about perfect makeup or outfits.
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