The Null Device

Writers Without Homes

Oh yes, I picked up the new Piano Magic album, Writers Without Homes, today. Currently am halfway through it. The packaging is very nice (4AD's house design firm v23 were involved), and so far, the album sounds mellow and understated, with poignant bits of atmosphere, song and spoken-word about lives, stories and such. I think it'll take a few listens to fully get into though.

When I watch old films in which animals appear, I get sad because those animals are certainly dead now. And that certainly prompts my private epitaph and I have to say it out loud "That dog is dead. That cat is dead. That horse is dead..."

Interesting to see that Simon Raymonde, of Cocteau Twins/This Mortal Coil fame, is involved on some of the tracks here. (This sort of cross-pollination, I've noticed, is something characteristic of 4AD acts; what, with This Mortal Coil, and Robin Guthrie producing the first Lush album, and so on...).

There are 5 comments on "Writers Without Homes":

Posted by: Graham http://grudnuk.com/ Wed Jun 12 15:17:05 2002

It's like a mopeycore Wu-Tang Clan!

Posted by: acb http://dev.null.org Wed Jun 12 15:35:53 2002

I wouldn't call 4AD mopeycore; i.e., the Cocteau Twins are far too cheerful (in fact, it's puzzling that they get classified as "goth"; I mean, they don't even have "dead" in their name, like that other 4AD act from way back), and bands like Lush (and the various Breeders/Muses/&c.-related projects) are a bit too rawk.

Posted by: Graham http://grudnuk.com/ Sat Jun 15 14:41:49 2002

Of course. They did have the greatest rock band _ever_ on their books at one stage...

Posted by: acb http://dev.null.org Sat Jun 15 15:56:17 2002

What, Underground Lovers?

Posted by: Graham http://grudnuk.com/ Mon Jun 17 15:35:50 2002

Well, I wasn't actually thinking about them, though you definitely have a point. I was talking about The Pixies.

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