Tag Archives: Music

Hurry up with my damn croissants

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Morning Tash Appreciators,

I’m a bit behind in listening to it but this week has seen Kanye West’s eighth album – Yeezus (yeah, it’s very like Jesus, isn’t it) – getting a lot of airtime in TF HQ. For those who don’t know who he is, this magazine cover tells you everything you need to know about who he used to be:

Tash friday 4:10:13 5
This album is good – really good. The lyrics and melodies are imaginative and quite different from any hip hop album I’ve heard before. The only difficulty with it is it’s also one of the angriest records I’ve ever heard. Parts of it make for difficult listening.I don’t have a problem with an album being difficult to listen to, nor do I think that many Tash Appreciators are interested in what Kanye raps about on this album. What is interesting, I think, is that he wasn’t always an angry guy. In his first big release in 2004, his lyrics were about consumerism, being self-conscious and modern racism. It was all pretty insightful and constructive:
We buy our way out of jail but we can’t buy freedom.
We buy a lot of clothes when we don’t really need ’em:
Things we buy to cover up what’s inside.
 

I don’t know what’s happened to Kanye to make him seemingly change his outlook on life so dramatically (maybe it’s just as he predicted in 2004: “the people highest up have the lowest self-esteem”) but it seems a shame that it’s come to this, even if it does make for entertaining music.

We’ve probably all had times when we’re angry or disappointed about what’s going on around us and that can sometimes seep into our attitude towards life in general. It’s also difficult for us to always see those changes in ourselves. The aim, I guess, is to ensure that we have folk around us who will say when things are getting out of hand. It’s a shame, but maybe Kanye doesn’t have someone around him to say: “Here, you know that song when you say ‘I am a God’ over and over again and then use that line which talks about you wanting a “damn croissant”? That’s too far.” They should perhaps show him a picture of this week’s Tash:
 Tash Friday 4:10:13 3The croissant Tash is a first for TF.
I’ll leave you with one final Tash this week. It’s a picture of Kanye from his High School yearbook. As you can see, he was awarded best dressed, he’s happy, he’s rocking a Tash (just about) and he’s wearing a polo shirt:
Tash Friday 4:10:13
As a matter of fact, he chastises himself in this current album for ever wearing a polo shirt. However, I wonder when he was happier: when he was wearing that shirt or when he was writing this album.
Have a great weekend folks!
#keepgoing

Dance or die

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Buenos dias Tash Appreciators,

In a month’s time, a film is coming out called “shut up and play the hits”. I’m telling you about it now so that if any of you hear when I can book tickets then you’ll let me know. If you’re good, I’ll tell you the story of the film later.

For the moment I’ll just say that it’s about a band called LCD Soundsystem but, by virtue of the fact that he’s the heart and soul of the band, it’s really about James Murphy:

 

LCD Soundsystem were a cracking band with a bunch of good songs and one exceptional anthem. I’ve quoted this one song numerous times in these emails and, most of the time, I carry the core rhythm of it in my head. 

The reason this song is worthy of being the subject of a Tash Friday is because it talks about living life without regrets – “I wouldn’t trade one stupid decision for another five years of life”. However, I love it because it embraces a perfect contradiction: that living life to the full and without regrets will necessarily include risks which won’t always pay off and which you may later regret – “you spend the first five years trying to get with the plan and the next five years trying to be with your friends again”. 

It also talks about the audacity of youth – showing your age by setting “controls for the heart of the sun” – and realising that you’re getting older – “when the kids look impossibly tanned and you think over and over hey I’m already dead”.

You’d think that growing old and having regrets would make for depressing listening but this tune revels in the reality of life and the fact that you can’t win ‘em all. It ends in a crescendo of guitars, drums, bass and piano, and reminds us that “to tell the truth, this could be the last time” (my favourite line and a modern take on carpe diem). Its final message is that everything will be of okay if only you answer one question: “where are your friends tonight?”

This week’s Tash, Yoni Wolf from the band Why?, said that he tries to make music that you can dance or die to:

 

I don’t think his music quite has that effect on me but I would dance or die to LCD Soundsystem’s “All My Friends” any night of the week. In fact, I hope I die while dancing to it. I just hope that all my friends are on the dance floor with me at the time.  

In the meantime, I fully intend to keep “the engines turned on”; set a course for “the heart of the sun”; use the “memory of my betters to keep me on my feet”; and spend as much time as possible with All My Friends.

Have a fantastic weekend folks. If you don’t know already, ask where your friends are tonight – they want to see you.