Jan 162009
Perhaps this track will better illustrate what I consider jamming.
Brighton, England quartet Electrelane (who unfortunately are on one of those cursed “indefinite hiatuses”) were one of my favorite bands of this decade. The instrumental “Today” (from their excellent Singles, B-Sides & Live compilation) features a seemingly agreed-upon structure, but veers off into unexpected, gloriously noisy territory. Dig those mind-melting guitars. I think of it as the meeting place of Neu! and Impulse-era John Coltrane, with a healthy dose of Sonic Youth as well.
This is a good representation of an indie rock jam, Oats. Thanks. As so often comes to mind since I finally listened to Neu! albums over the last few years, is the the direct line to indie rock simply New Order, with their having listened to Neu! as the template for Joy Division?
mod asks: is the the direct line to indie rock simply New Order, with their having listened to Neu! as the template for Joy Division?
i write: that’s an important strain, but, no, of course it’s not the “direct line.” there isn’t one.
i remember seeing a family tree of indie rock in either flipside or forced exposure that had the velvet underground at the very beginning as the progenitor of all of it. don’t know if i agree with that, but we can make arguments for all sorts of lines leading to indie rock. hell, Neu isn’t even the only main contributing element of Joy Division’s sound.
sorry if i’m taking too seriously a question that might’ve been asked in jest.
i’ll have to take out my electrelane…er…files….and listen to them again. the gals at a.k.a. were all excited about them a few years back, so i bought some product. when i got home and listened, i felt like nothing was there.
but i like this jam…..man. thanks, oats.
I’m serious about Neu!’s influence on Joy Division, or more specifically Martin Hannett’s production of Joy Division. I’m sure you’ve heard the band’s early recordings, when they were raw and more like White Light/White Heat VU. Then they get in the studio with Hannett and, if you ask me, they sound exactly like Neu! I don’t know if this was a conscious influence on Hannett’s production style, but when I first seriously listened to Neu! I thought I was listening to instrumental tracks of unreleased Joy Division songs.
I’ve enjoyed all their records so far, they’re the rare band to make a successful jump from all instrumental to adding vocals. Their song “The Bells” from 2004’s THE POWER OUT is one of my favorite cuts of the decade.
Oops, got that Electrelane title wrong, it’s “The Valley” which has a real nice choral section in it.