@bringyrownbanjo-blog / bringyrownbanjo-blog.tumblr.com
Knight in Shining Armour -
The theme for This weeks story time at the library is ‘Knights and Princesses’. So I drew bringyrownbanjo as a knight in shining armour <3
Akbar loves to draw me. Here's a photo of the outfit I wore to Tesco yesterday.
Okay, there is no way that I am going to be able to write about this band in an objective manner, being that I live at the Dovetown commune with three quarters of CMW and that I think that Jen is, like, well fit. I nearly didn’t write this at all, but then I figured, hey, everything else I write is super subjective, why change the habit of a lifetime? Anyway, I really do love this album, which is just as well as I’m a really bad liar and I wouldn’t want to compromise my living arrangements. Ahem. The first time I heard "...Morning" was when I was supposed to be studying for my final exam at university, and it was just so good that I just dropped everything I was doing and concentrated on hearing this. Every song on the album stands out on its own, touching on a range of topics, from the self-doubting giddy sense of anxiety that will resonate with anyone who has ever been a “twentysomething,” to being the only herbivore at a barbeque, to hating on the killjoy attitudes and austerity-measure-loving policies of the Conservatives. Musically, they can be a little hard to pin down, as they are just as comfortable playing in a kitchen full of DIY anarcho-punks sipping out of tinnies (crowd not band, CMW are like well edge) as they are at an indiepop gig playing to a room full of forty year old men (I love indiepop BTW) – and they have ska songs too, jammy sods.
BYOB’s fave song:
I’ve always liked the pop perfection and snappy nature of Bitter Boys, with its perfect major hooks and slightly embittered, slightly ironic, always candid and breviloquent lyrics. A special mention too for the otherworldly lilt of the hidden track which is also the title track.
A CMW fact:
Most of the band live and have lived in cabins / a boat in the mysterious lands of West London, but the most enigmatic and overlooked member, bassist Carmela, is said to roam freely on Hackney Marsh, preying on the gentrifying upper classes of the area and thriving on a diet that is “vegan on the inside.”
When I was in maybe my last year of school studying for GCSEs, I was on the computer one night, caught up in the hedonistic digital playground known as Myspace (holla) when I stumbled across a band called Flamingo 50. “That’s a stupid name,” I thought but I gave them a listen anyway. Thank fuck I did, because Tear It Up remains one of my favourite pop punk records ever ever EVER. Anyway, F50 kinda dropped off my radar for a couple of years, then I heard they’d split and that frontwoman/ guitarist Lou Hanman had a new band going on called Caves. Long story short, I fell in love with their first album Homeward Bound, played it to death and decided they were one of my favourite live bands with decibel levels to rival Lemmy. Their second album, “Betterment,” (available for free here) had high expectations placed upon it (by ME!) and I wasn’t sure that it could live up to the first, but thankfully it is an album laden with hooks, powerful lyrics and about as much subtlety as a brick to the face. The album is just shy of being half an hour long, and is lo-fi and fuzzy as hell – something that is clearly intentional, as you don’t go to producer Peter Miles (he recorded stuff by the King Blues, Sonic Boom Six, The Skints etc) unless you’re sure of what you want. Betterment also contains more of an even split in singing duties between Hanman and fellow vocalist/ bassist Johnathan “Minty” Minto, which is great as Minty has a strong, distinctive voice that complements Hanman’s melodic yelp. They’re definitely not guilty of having too much of one vocalist when the other has a better voice (sorry, man from Standard Fare, I'm looking at you).
BYOB’s fave song:
It’s a toss up between the snotty middle-finger-to-the-world opener “I Don’t Care, I Don’t Care” on the Hanman side of things and the Minty-led “Tears,” a song with a bass line so filthy that even Kim and Aggie wouldn’t touch it.
A Caves fact:
There is solid scientific evidence to suggest that Caves is the busiest band in the UK, with Hanman performing over 20,000 scissor kicks in the last year, Minty headbanging at an average speed of 90MPH and over a week’s worth of viewing Michael J. Fox films accumulated between band members.
Every now and then I come across an album that I immediately almost write off on the first listen, because sometimes I still listen to things with the ears of my fourteen year-old self and I think, “oh, this is much too poppy for me!” I think this happened when I heard the first track, “Making It Up,” last year, accompanied by a Bob Dylan aping lyric video. I didn’t like it at all, it was all fluffy, understated pop melodies and simple lyrics. However, when SWYM came out this year, I found that these were the features that appealed to me most. Whilst Weiss is unlikely to release a 120 minute opus or support Rush any time soon (SHUT UP! They have some songs about totally real issues, guys), she has a real knack for writing catchy hooks and heartbreaking love songs. Plus, she’s adorable! Do a Google image search of her wee face, and follow her Twitter. She’s very witty! But, like, seriously, this is a very pleasant poppy-folky type listen. I've heard comparisons to bands like Tegan And Sara, but as I've never actually listened to Tegan And Sara, I'd be more inclined to make comparisons to Laura Marling's earlier, poppier stuff or maybe the emo pop angst of Say Anything, if they were more reliant on acoustic guitars and less reliant on lyrics that were too candid (it's a little creepy, actually, Max)...
BYOB’s fave song:
I bloody well LOVE How To Be Alone. It starts off as a jaunty-sounding number with bittersweet lyrics, then breaks down to a minor key and crescendos into a totally emosh repeated refrain of “I miss you all the time.” A perfect example of how Weiss is able to craft songs that are sometimes upbeat and catchy, sometimes sad and anthemic.
An Allison Weiss fact:
Weiss has been a touring member in backing bands for quite a few well-known acts, including folk rock singer-songwriter (and fellow “super gay”) Jenny Owen Youngs and the late, great Lou Reed.
ONE MORE IMPORTANT BYOB THANG
This list is in no way in any kind of order, except maybe in a sort-of-perhaps-a-bit alphabetical due to the way that I went to iTunes and just looked at what I'd labelled as 2013. Also, yes, this is 100% self indulgent. And what? At least a couple more to be uploaded tonight after I make myself some hopefully bangin' noodles.
Morning Tumblr, it's been a while (again)! Just to let you know, I'm in the midst of writing a load of albums of the year, and I'll probably do a couple of gigs of the year too. I'm pretty sure that every band I mention (except maaaybe one?) has at least one member that is not white / male / straight / cis / able-bodied etc. because I guess it's just a reflection of what I listen to (laydeez and queerz mostly, surprise). Anyway, I've written a few entries already and every time I made what I thought was a gr8 joke m8 I got this song stuck in my head. The first couple of entries at least will be up this evening. luv n pugz xo
Obit of the Day: Nelson Mandela
Nelson Mandela was born the son of a Thembu chieftain and given the name Rolihlahla, which he proudly told people translated as “troublemaker.” And for many whites in South Africa that is all he was for most of his adult life.
A teacher Anglicized his name to Nelson when he was seven, without imagining that 70 years later 80,000 white Afrikaaners would chant that name as he stepped on the field wearing the colors of the South Africa Springboks, the country’s rugby team which had long symbolized white oppression.
Mr. Mandela, known affectionately as “the father of the nation” in South Africa, died on December 5, 2013 at the age of 95. The iconic activist, political prisoner, and president did not end apartheid - South Africa’s governing policy separating blacks and whites - but he may have done something greater: leading not from bitterness or revenge after decades of oppression and imprisonment. Mr. Mandela wanted to move forward, not look backwards.
Mr. Mandela’s political activism dated back to 1940 when he was nearly suspended for leading a student protest while in college. A few years later, after opening the first black law partnership in South Africa with Mr. Oliver Tambo, the two men helped organize the African National Congress Youth League - a more vocal and active sect of the ANC, which Mr. Mandela and his friends thought too conservative.
Becoming more militant as they saw less and less hope for a non-violent end to apartheid, Mandela and his friends created an group to “hit back by all means within our power in defence of our people, our future and our freedom.” It was named “Spear of the Nation” and would be designated as a terrorist organization. (Although Mr. Mandela was in prison for much of the group’s existence, 1960-1980, Spear of the Nation was responsible for the death of 63 people and nearly 500 injuries.)
Finally in 1963, the South African government seemed to finally have found a way to silence Mr. Mandela, charging him and seven others with treason. They could not have been more wrong. After a four-hour opening statement at the now-famous “Rivonia trial,” Mr. Mandela swayed international opinion in his favor, even earning a near-unanimous vote o support from the United Nations General Assembly. The court ignored the outside influences and sentenced Mr. Mandela to life in prison. He and six others were sent to Robben Island, South Africa’s Alcatraz.
And there the legend grew. During the 27 years that Mr. Mandela spent on Robben Island he became the most famous political prisoner in the world. For decades, men and women around the globe would protest for his release, carrying signs and chanting “Free Nelson Mandela,” most having never seen him. (Mr. Mandela would later joke that he was sure many protestors just thought his first name was “Free.”)
During his two-and-a-half decades in prison, Mr. Mandela worked to build relationships and not just with the outside world. He taught himself Afrikaans in order to converse freely with his guards, many of whom gained respect for the once-radical leader. But prison was no joy and Mr. Mandela’s popularity also led to harsher treatment, which included the government’s refusal to let him attend the funerals of his mother and, later, his son.
February 11, 1990 Nelson Mandela was released from prison. And the focus was on the aged activist. Now 71 years old, the public had not seen nor heard from him since he was 44. They wondered what prison had made him.
And it was nothing anyone could have expected. Mr. Mandela did not dwell on the past. He did not harbor hatred or ill-will, but began speaking of reconciliation and collaboration between whites and blacks.
Negotiations to fully end apartheid and give black South Africans a role in the government were led by Mr. Mandela and then-president F.W. DeKlerk. Their work earned them the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993.
A year later Mr. Mandela was voted into office as the first black president of South Africa - fulfilling a prediction he had made at an ANC dinner in 1952. He would serve one five-year term, 1994-1999, and then leave office. (Unfortunately for the ANC and the country, Mr. Mandela and his successor, Thabo Mbeki, had a falling out, especially over the country’s AIDS epidemic, which Mr. Mbeki did not take seriously.)
Mr. Mandela remained a living symbol of South Africa for the remainder of his days and working to burnish his country’s reputation internationally. He played a significant role in bringing the World Cup to his homeland in 2010.
Nelson Mandela died on December 5, 2013 at the age of 95.
Sources: NY Times (the obituary to read, over 6600 words, and wonderfully written by Bill Keller), The Economist, Johannesburg Mail & Guardian, Telegraph, and Wikipedia
(Image is copyright Greg Bartley/Camera Press, via Redux and NY Times)
I’ve steered clear from reblogging lots of the Mandela posts because I’ve felt that, well, I didn’t really have anything to add. I am shocked by his loss, and equally shocked at how the media have reacted. This is the best obituary I’ve read. Instead of wiping what Nelson Mandela did into the safe, comfortable narrative that the white media are happy with (because it makes them look less bad for continuing to support the existence of apartheid), this obit presents simply what the ANC were forced into doing by their oppressors.
People will speak of Mandela as a peacemaker because they are not comfortable with the idea of violence leading to anything good, and because they do not want to be seen as condoning ‘terrorist’ acts. But it was the ignorance and cruelty of the white imperialist machine that forced the oppressed black population of South Africa into fighting. The media isn’t comfortable with ideas that have grey morality, and will bustle and tidy it up.
But tidying up what the ANC is to destroy the great work that Mandela did. It hides away the brutal regime he lived under. It covers up the fact that many countries were willing to profit from its continued existence, and because the ANC used violence it meant they could be blamed for apartheid, as if they were somehow responsible. It played into the inherent racism of society. It justified the treatment of the black population of South Africa. And by proclaiming Mandela as the blessed, saintly peacemaker we erase the reason why he had to fight, and erases discussions of racism in South Africa and in the wider world. Racism is, in fact, over. Mandela fixed it all.
Let us never forget that great people are people - they’re human, they do both good and bad, and can only hope that the goodness they can achieve will eventually become more than the bad. Mandela was an amazing person and his death is a tragedy - but do not let yourself homogenise his memory into the narrative that suits him being pictured as a saint. Remember him for the man he was, the man he was forced to be, and the man he became.
And let’s be honest, Nelson Mandela was fucking awesome. The white media just cannot handle how much fucking awesomeness he had.
Oh, and fuck all the western leaders flocking to his funeral that were happy to stand by and not support the work of the ANC in the eighties. Because it suited you then to have black people live in oppression and misery and now it suits you to spout off hypocritical sentiments to a man many wanted dead.
Jess knows. Let us not forget Mandela's amazing radical activism and the fact that by no means are we living in a post-racist society - this is a continuing struggle.
Laura Ankles -
I’ve been watching a lot of Adventure Time - Marceline’s awesome. I think They should have this amazing banjo-lady on the show. A nomadic anarchist who travels from one gig to another on night buses, spreading her love of music. Check out Laura’s Tumblr here: Bring Your Own Banjo.
Can we just address the fact that Akbar did another great picture of me? This time I'm all Adventure Time style and my lanky legs are captured perfectly! Also, I'm watching X Factor for some reason and I'm contemplating how it has helped to perpetuate these weird misconceptions about the music industry and performing live as a whole. I've just scrawled some thoughts so I'll almost definitely write about it soon...!
Blue Is the Warmest Colour has been putting me through a lot of internal conflicts recently. Whilst I love its overly sentimental love story and the great acting done by ridiculously attractive women, some of the comments made by both the director and actors – aside from the other controversy – have been pissing me off.
I have no prior knowledge of Blue Is The Warmest Colour, but I was thinking on the bus home earlier about how sometimes straight people do creative things about queer people without consulting any and then other straight people pat them on the back for it, so Sophie's blog was quite resonant in that respect! I'm hoping she'll write some other stuff like this soon. You should probably give her a follow if you found this post interesting... and if you're following me, you probably did!
Hi Tumblr!
Just a quick note to say I haven't already given up on blogging! Since my first proper blog post, two major things have happened, those being:
1) I got a part-time job, immediately quit it and now have a full-time one.
2) Due to the first point, I've had to relocate from my native East Anglia to London.
I'm moving tomorrow and I have been sorting out a few bits and pieces for it, so you'll have to forgive me for not writing anything. I should have a post up in the week hopefully. However, getting a job and a cosy place to live* has another bonus to it: I can actually go back to putting on shows soon and in London too!
This post is basically asking you to get in touch if you:
a) are in a band and want to play in the capital (good: feminist, queer, generally nice people regardless of genre, catchy things. Bad: anyone who promotes hatred/intolerance of any kind, boring pub-cover U2 loving types).
b) are a promoter yourself and have any proper quality venues4punx to recommend, particularly nice spaces that might even consider letting me do all ages stuff (or if you represent one).
c) are not like a) or b) but feel you have some kind of knowledge or skill that could help or support me in any way.
Those of you that know me will know that I've put on shows in Norwich both in pubs and in houses, and I'm not too terrible at it! In the past I've put on people including Spoonboy, Tyrannosaurus Alan, Martha, Colour Me Wednesday, Perkie, The Tuts, Crywank, Delay, Tim Holehouse, Captain Accident And The Disasters, Some Sort Of Threat and a bunch more so I'm not too fussy on what you play as long as you don't act like a dick! I'd appreciate reblogs if you think you'd know anyone who'd be interested but I'll totally understand if this post gets lost in all your pug dashboard scrolling too.
Much love, Ankles xo
PS There's a Facebook page too if Tumblr isn't enough social media for you: http://www.facebook.com/bringyourownbanjo
*cosy = caravan. Luvmalyf <3
Oh hey! So, this afternoon I spent some time compiling a list of bands to write about for the blog, as well as writing down some albums by bands that were fantastic but were completely underrated and never got the success that they deserved (I'm looking at you, Flamingo 50 and Standard Fare).
Tomorrow, I'm going to go see a line-up that is basically my dream consisting of Waxahatchee, Swearin' and Colour Me Wednesday. I'm sure I'll write about them a lot in future, but I think I'll give reviewing the gig a go too and see how it goes!
Finally, I got drawn by Akbar Ali! Akbar is a fine artist as well as a feminist, all-round rad guy and a good friend of mine too, so I recommend that you go follow him too! He's drawn a tonne of stuff for other bands and all of it is great:
http://aky-aky.tumblr.com/
I figured that the first proper post that I make on here should be something that nicely encompasses my attitude regarding music and stuff. I will be posting some reviews and critiques and things in the (hopefully not-too-distant) future, but I thought I'd begin with something positive in light of the endless slew of slut-shaming and anti-women articles and opinions that are flying around regarding Miley Cyrus*/ Sinead O'Connor/ Amanda Palmer/ whoever else wrote open letters. I am countering this by writing about a few ladies who make awesome music and being totally girl-positive.
Also, I essentially pinched this idea from Lottie Depresstival, who went on a spree of posting loads of videos of "rad girls" doing music stuff in the aftermath of the open letter debacle. She herself is a woman with an instrument kicking arse.
Perkie (and the Perkettes) I'm going to get the nepotism out of the way early and talk about a woman who I am lucky enough to count as a good friend of mine, the piano-playing punk with a perfect voice, Perkie (or Hannah to her mum and dad). If you've even occasionally been a punter at DIY punk gigs or house shows over the past few years, the chances are that you've probably seen her play, either solo, backed by her band, The Perkettes (which features members of The Tuts and Colour Me Wednesday), or with one of her many bands. She's currently in feisty femme collective Feralus and dub-punk squatter types Autonomads, and used to be in Resolution 242 and some little band called The King Blues.
What does she sound like? I once saw Perkie described as "the anarchist Kate Nash" somewhere** and I think this description takes some steps in the right direction to pinning down Perkie's sound. The Nash comparison was clearly rooted in the Made Of Bricks period. I would, however, argue that this is a lazy comparison; Perkie and Nash sound very different, and the only thing they share here is that they are both young women behind pianos writing simply-structured songs. Perkie's voice is far more melodic. In fact, I would say that - thematically, at the very least - drawing a parallel with the new Girl Talk Nash paints a much better picture, especially with The Perkettes. Perkie writes songs that are sometimes disarmingly personal and sometimes with passionate social consciousness but always strongly emotive.
Sample lyric? "You need to stop reading those lying, deceiving glossy magazines. Go out in the sun, have fun while you're still young, listen to what music means." - from the upbeat Remote (sorry for the old Myspace version - there will be a new full band Perkettes version on the upcoming album!)
Gimme one more reason to listen! She can pull her innie belly button out to turn it into an outie. It's both the most amazing and the most grotesque thing you will ever see.
Garrett Walters I first discovered Garrett's music through my good friend Tamara, who found Garrett after she started following her illustration work on Tumblr. I received a link to a Bandcamp called "garrettsucks" and remember being struck by a track called Boys Club, which cut a picture of sexism in the punk scene and society as a whole (something I could oh-too-easily relate to being one of those female musician types). You might have heard of her if you follow Plan-It-X Records; her début album, I Call My Younger Sister Twice A Day, came out on the label earlier in the year. She also lives in Bloomington and is very involved in the DIY scene there, putting on plenty of gigs there as well as playing them herself. I believe she also owns the Damsel patch which has travelled furthest in the world, as it went all around the UK with Ghost Mice before hopping over the pond.
What does she sound like? Garrett's original demos sounded what I would describe as DIY-as-fuck, by which I mean they were great songs, but maybe a little scratty recording-wise. Her album, which is a lot less muddy in its production, is some of the best folk-punk that I've ever heard; mostly sad, frustrated songs that are refreshingly honest with feminist and queer undertones. It would be easy to compare her to a lot of her label mates, and I get the impression that Chris Clavin and Ghost Mice/ PIX has had a huge influence on her music. However, Garrett recently uploaded a few new lo-fi demos to her Bandcamp, and they are slightly different. In these three tracks, she abandons her acoustic guitar for an electric and, whilst the vocal style is very much her trademark powerful wail, they sound more like they were influenced by 90s alternative and are reminiscent of Waxahatchee, another artist that has had a release with PIX in the past.
Sample lyric? "I don't believe it, I just think that we die, but I know we all need fairy tales sometimes. And I don't think that makes you weak, I just think that means you want a little peace. Easy sleep." - from Early Sunday Rain (Easy Sleep). It's a real tear-jerker.
Gimme one more reason to listen! Because the only thing listed on the influences section on her Facebook page is "★ satan ★". Also, because she's only got like 335 fans on there, and that's criminal. In an age where boring, substanceless acts like OneRepublic can easily chart, Garrett Walters deserves to have at least a hundred times that number of fans so that she can stick her oar in and show people how to show a little emotion.
I'll probably do some more of these soon! If you've got anyone that you think I should profile, or if you're in a band (doesn't have to be a girl band!) and you want me to review your stuff, I'm open to suggestions. Feel free to comment, message or email me at ankles@killyourown.co.uk if you'd like.
*LEAVE MILEY ALONE!
**If anyone knows who this was and could source it I'd be, like, über grateful.
So, a couple of years ago, I started writing music reviews for a zine. I found it really fun, partially because I like the opportunity to praise or lambast various releases, partially because it was a great distraction from the degree that I was doing. Yeah, I'm one of those procrastinators that writes huge chunks of text to avoid doing essays.
Anyway, the zine doesn't get published a lot anymore, as the guy who puts it together, bless him, has about a million jobs as well as putting on shows and running a label/ distro. I've mostly started this because I miss writing, so I'll probably write some highly subjective things about albums and gigs on here, as well as some other stuff I have opinions on. I'll probably get sucked into the world of reblogging things too.
Also this is like 100% self-indulgent and for my own amusement, but you can give me a pity follow. Need to validate myself through followers innit.
Ankles <3
