Radiohead
Where to find it?
www.radiohead.com/deadairspace
Self-penned?
Oh yes. If you didn’t get the joke that led to Radiohead calling their biggest
hit Paranoid Android, you will now.
The angle?
Musicians on the verge of a nervous breakdown “touch base” with their fans to
remind themselves that beyond the studio there is a world out there – albeit
one that Thom Yorke is convinced is about to end. Probably best avoided by
the sort of people who think that there’s no problem that can’t be solved by
taking a “chill pill”.
Insider story or brand extension?
Surprisingly candid, actually. Postings oscillate between Thom’s concerns for
the planet and his fear that the muses are deserting him: “today i was
struggling, feels like we been trapped for a long time in la la land.”
Typical excerpt
“blair has been uttering nonsense lately about kyoto and such, real la la
stuff. looks like the american right have finally eaten his mind. blah, blah
– why would i meet this man?”
Best
Loads. The MP3 tease of bits that didn’t make it on to In Rainbows.
Thom’s riposte to Noel Gallagher’s assertion that “I never went to f******
university. I never went to art school.” “i did,” he writes, “it taught me
to respect other artists.”
Worst
Inherent to being in Radiohead seems to be the sense that there are far too
many terrible things going on in the world to use the shift key. Do they not
teach grammar at grammar school?
Overall 9/10
Manic Street Preachers
Where to find it?
www.manicstreetpreachers.com
Self-penned?
Frequent entries by the bassist Nicky Wire, interspersed with extensive Q&As.
The angle?
Venerable Welsh rockers seek to reconcile their self-image as perennial
outsiders with the way they appear to be mellowing with the years. “I was at
home for six weeks after Stanley was born which was bliss,” writes Nicky
Wire.
Insider story or brand extension?
As you would expect from a band whose most memorable hit ( A Design For Life)
begins “Libraries gave us power”, it reads like a group of literate Welshmen
chewing the fat.
Typical excerpt
“Pete Murphy came backstage to meet us. He was a bit of an icon for us growing
up. Every f***ing indie kid’s dream was to get the sympathy vote from the
local Goth girl and get a snog at the end of the night.”
Best
“I think I should stand up for British service stations, there’s always some
c***y chef on BBC Two saying: ‘As a kid I was driving through France and
there were these great services.’ Yeah? You go into one in France and
they’ve still got Betamax videos and dusty antiques”
Worst
Loss of sense and perspective when mulling on the chart entry of recent album Send
Away the Tigers: “With the single we ended up losing by a couple of
thousand so you kind of take that on the chin, but when it’s as close as it
was with the album...”
Overall 8/10
David Gilmour
Where to find it?
davidgilmour.musicblog.co.uk/
Self-penned?
Doesn’t appear to be, so its victory in the Best Blog category at last year’s
BT Digital Music Awards is baffling.
The angle?
Regular updates on every aspect of the Floyd man’s musical activities? The
chart position of his new CD in several “territories”? Only obsessives could
care. Yet the site moderators seem surprised at all the e-mails urging him
to tour. “No one likes to be nagged, and several of the messages have
bordered on the disrespectful.”
Insider story or brand extension?
Mostly the latter: “The Borders DVD package includes a mini-poster. This shows
David at Abbey Road, with the band onstage behind him and green lasers.”
Occasional pictures, also, taken by David’s wife, Polly Samson. “
Typical excerpt
One of the pleasant surprises during David’s tour was the drumming of Steve
DiStanisiao, we thought you might appreciate an update on what Stevie has
been up to...”
Best
A struggle to find anything – but after an hour on the site it was hard not to
start laughing deliriously at a longish entry based entirely around a
picture of Dave’s bassist relaxing in the studio. An “exclusive”,
apparently.
Worst
It’s difficult to retain the will to live when news comes in that “Belgian
radio station Classic 21 will be broadcasting an hour-long show on the
making of David’s second solo album, About Face, tomorrow.”
Overall 1/10
Babyshambles
Where to find it?
www.babyshambles.net/books.asp
Self-penned?
To the point of almost total illegibility.
The angle?
The Thomas De Quincey of the 3am Pages transcribes the inner cogitations of an
artist, so that we may all vicariously see how exciting it is to gaze down
from the precipice of, like, the edge.
Insider story or brand extension?
Both. “The joke is on humanity god the self-explanatory irony of agony,” he
writes, “Given to occasional phoney personality that parodies and savages my
reality.”
Typical excerpt
“I heard tell today of a ‘rat temple’ in Calcutta – where millions of rats run
free and are worshipped. I sensed doom shadowing across the room like a
heavy cloud of scurrying rats...”
Best
The mild air of affrontery that goes with his posting about hearing some Muzak
at his local McDonald’s and realising it was actually one of his own songs.
A bitter pill to swallow for the Big Brother generation’s very own
Arthur Rimbaud.
Worst
How to choose one when almost every page smacks of an outrageously indulged
talent plumping up his own myth, so that posterity may allow future
generations of idiots to gaze fondly upon it? Oh, all right, then. The
tawdry blood paintings.
Overall 3/10
Belle and Sebastian
Where to find it?
www.belleandsebastian.com/diary
Self-penned?
Very much so.
The angle?
Incorrigibly upbeat daydreamer makes the most of being in a successful band.
Frequent reminiscences of teenage life in 1980s Glasgow and impromptu
reviews of current iPod obsessions such as They Don’t Know by
Tracey Ullman and Cyndi Lauper’s Girls Just Wanna Have Fun.
Insider story or brand extension?
As befits a regular churchgoer, several entries verge on confessional: “I was
so excitable last night that I drove drunk. S***, I don’t drink, and I
rarely drive.”
Typical excerpt
“I’m in a pretty good mood this morning. No broken bones, just a bit of
deafness and a touch of athlete’s foot. I would not say no to a massage.”
Best
“Earlier, I received an e-mail offering me free business cards. I’ll have
those, I thought. You should have them too, from www.vistaprint.com
. You should try this game. See if you can get the free business cards
without ordering anything else.”
Worst
That Doherty’s self-obsessed rough book scribblings have been published into a
book, whilst these lovingly fashioned observations can only be accessed via
the web.
Overall 10/10
Lily Allen
Where to find it?
www.myspace.com/lilymusic
Self-penned?
“I was ill. I don’t want to go into the details as it’s a bit gross.” That’s a
yes.
The angle?
Luscious, boozy twentysomething Wife of Bath type goes on MySpace at 2am and
slags people off.
Insider story or brand extension?
So insidey that not even the spelling mistakes are corrected (“ciggarettee”).
Celebrity feuds and detailed explanations of various illnesses abound, plus
a cheery briskness in discussing her work.
Typical excerpt
“Cheryl if you’re reading this, I may not be as pretty as you but at least I
write and SING my own songs without the aid of autotune.”
Best
Allen dressed up as a panda. Romantics will be tickled to read her entry about
first meeting Ed of the Chemical Brothers, with whom she is now expecting
her first child.
Worst
After the Cheryl Tweedy and “FatGate” blogs made tabloid headlines, Allen’s
blogging frankness has dropped off. Or, as she puts it: “The tabloid f***s
have ruined it... the truth is I don’t want to be in their f***ing stupid
magazines.”
Overall 8/10
Courtney Love
Where to find it?
www.courtneylove.com/
Self-penned?
Oh sweet Jesus, yes. Love’s typing style is both as unique and ultimately
incomprehensible as a fingerprint.
The angle?
The grunge Jackie Kennedy roams the world in search of rock’n’roll, couture
and true love, and then name-drops at a rate of four celebrities a
paragraph.
Insider story or brand extension?
Couldn’t really be more inside. At one point, there is an entry on Love’s
gynaecologist and her continuing reproductive viability (“Well I wish id had
six kids but I didn’t.”)
Typical excerpt
“OOOOH so i sent miyo cooya (in my friends) some cash to go shopping in Tokyo
for me and she sent me some amazing Gothic Lolita items – a crazy top hat
with fruits flowerrs a veil and a dead mouse with a crest on it”
Best
After Sharon Osbourne claims that Love gave the teenage Kelly Osbourne
Vicodin: “sharon knows thats NONSENSICAL but she was too cowardly to pick on
Elton who shes apparently vicious about behind his back.”
Worst
No such thing, so here’s another best bit: “I met dame Westwood and i FORGOT
id met her an weded talked on tghe phone for three hours once ! christ - I
[mentioned Westwood’s son, Joe Corre] and she said “who” i said “Your SON”
she seemd distratced”
Overall 10/10
