Reasons why I want to obliterate Guy Garvey

[Glebe]

Sorry Asclepius I new paged you there:

As a teen (mid-late 90s), I used to read NME, Melody Maker and, occasionally Q if I was feeling flush, or I was heading on a long train journey.

Obviously, NME and Melody Maker have had a deserved kicking for their misogyny at the time, but Q was absolutely off the wall for it, wasn't it? Such a snide, snide magazine, too. Everything was a joke, an in-joke. Just sneering at everything.

It was probably the only thing I read in the mid/late 90s that was aimed at people slightly older than me. Did it exist in a vacuum, or was other stuff targetted at proper adults that - in retrospect - depressing and full of bile?

That post was, obviously, in response to the Q mention earlier...

The only Elbow song I'm really aware of - and I had to check YouTube to get the name of the song - is 'One Day Like This'. I only know the chorus, which I have my own lyrics for:

Condemned to the diddle and condemned to the da
CONDEMNED to the diddle and condemned to the da
CONDEMNED to the diddle and condemned to the da

Garvey seems like a nice bloke. He was in that Kate Bush BBC doco and Sky Arts' Guy Garvey: From the Vaults (which has prolly been mentioned) features some interesting performances.

[Kankurette]

As a teen (mid-late 90s), I used to read NME, Melody Maker and, occasionally Q if I was feeling flush, or I was heading on a long train journey.

Obviously, NME and Melody Maker have had a deserved kicking for their misogyny at the time, but Q was absolutely off the wall for it, wasn't it? Such a snide, snide magazine, too. Everything was a joke, an in-joke. Just sneering at everything.

It was probably the only thing I read in the mid/late 90s that was aimed at people slightly older than me. Did it exist in a vacuum, or was other stuff targetted at proper adults that - in retrospect - depressing and full of bile?

I liked Q as a teen/student, partly because my dad used to read it and partly because it was one of the only magazines that had bands I liked in it, but yes, it was deeply misogynistic at times. There was one article about pathetic songs that had something about a bassline sounding like Peter Hook had had a sex change, because as we all know, women can't get our tiny girl hands around a bass and Kim Gordon doesn't exist. And they loved going on about how ugly certain bands were.

When REM split up, my first thought was 'what are Q going to put on the cover now?'

[Glebe]

There was one article about pathetic songs that had something about a bassline sounding like Peter Hook had had a sex change, because as we all know, women can't get our tiny girl hands around a bass and Kim Gordon doesn't exist.

Not to mention Kim Deal!

[Fonz]

No idea what his music is like, but he has a lovely wife, and the way he described her in an interview last year was probably more poetic than any song he's written.

"
Garvey found himself quite often awake in the night, writing bits of songs in the dark. The result is perhaps Elbow's most mellow and heartfelt album, Flying Dream 1, which includes a lot of the raw emotion of that period. One love song, What Am I Without You, sounds like a father to son lyric, but was written with Stirling in mind. "It's about watching this miracle of her care for Diana, watching her walk on the water and reminding her to eat and to sleep.""

[Pauline Walnuts]

"Garvey found himself quite often awake in the night, writing bits of songs in the dark. The result is perhaps Elbow's most mellow and heartfelt album, Flying Dream 1, which includes a lot of the raw emotion of that period. One love song, What Am I Without You, sounds like a father to son lyric, but was written with Stirling in mind.""

The town in Scotland?

[Maureen Brontë]

Actress Rachael Stirling, daughter of Diana Rigg. Stirling cared for her after she moved into their house when she became terminally ill.

[elastoplastthefasterplast]

Elbow. Doves. Athlete. Star sailor. Turin Brakes. Gomez. Snow Patrol. Badly Drawn Boy. Keane.

Yawn Rock - Every song sounds like a bloke having a big stretch and doing one of those loud yawns like your dad used to do for 4 minutes 30

[Asclepius]

Whilst I find his music as dull as the proverbial water from a ditch, and his 6 Music show isn't the best content, by all accounts Garvey is a sound guy. I spent a few years on the fringes of the "music scene" in that old Manchester, and whilst many of us would slag off so many people for very little reason, no-one ever had a bad word to say about Garvey. Seems to do his fair bit on his show for giving some bands their first radio play, too.

[bobloblaw]

Whilst I find his music as dull as the proverbial water from a ditch, and his 6 Music show isn't the best content, by all accounts Garvey is a sound guy. I spent a few years on the fringes of the "music scene" in that old Manchester, and whilst many of us would slag off so many people for very little reason, no-one ever had a bad word to say about Garvey. Seems to do his fair bit on his show for giving some bands their first radio play, too.

I've had a lot of time for his show over the years but stopped when I realised just how often he'd play the same songs (with the same anecdotes attached).

Various Talk Talk numbers, Van's And It Stoned Me, and Ella Fitzgerald doing Bewitched Bothered and Bewildered, in particular

He's been doing it for years now, must have played everything in his collection many times over, prob best to retire it but 6 in its wisdom gave him an extra hour instead

In a perfect world, seat-fillers Ezra Furman and John Grant would alternate in the slot

[dontpaintyourteeth]

I would start listening to the station again if Ezra got a permanent show somewhere.

[Jerzy Bondov]

One Day Like This was great until it got into the hands of TV music pickers. I really like that album. Loneliness of a Tower Crane Driver, that's a good one. Beyond that not really bothered. But I love the thread title.

[LordMorgan]

Yawn Rock - Every song sounds like a bloke having a big stretch and doing one of those loud yawns like your dad used to do for 4 minutes 30

Still maintain doves are a cut above

However, I always thought garvey seems a decent chap

From the vaults is a cracking watch
Some great content on that

Seeing Dave Gahan dance and song with a cut off midriff showing jumper was a delight

[Brundle-Fly]

Elbow. Doves. Athlete. Star sailor. Turin Brakes. Gomez. Snow Patrol. Badly Drawn Boy. Keane. Dig a big big pit and shovel them all in. Seal it over and salt the earth and let us never mention them again.

I liked the first Doves album and the early Athlete singles. And 'Once Around The Block' by Badly Drawn Boy was an exquisite single, so you'll only need half that amount of concrete mix

[LordMorgan]

The whole of hour of bewilderbeast is lovely to be fair

A very autumnal feeling record

I love it

[Nice Relaxing Poo]

The first two Doves albums are fucking great.

[PaulTMA]

It's like a vortex back to here on 2009 where everyone is saying he's a bloody lovely bloke and we'd like to have a pear cider with him again

[dontpaintyourteeth]

give me some indie music that's made from 100% elbows

[Capt.Midnight]

I had the misfortune to see Elbow live, at some large gig somewhere. Absolute bore-fest. I genuinely could not wrap my head around why anyone would want to make music like that, then actually play it in a live scenario to an audience.                       

I had a similar reaction seeing the Foo Fighters at the MEN Arena. There is a weird emptiness to their music that becomes amplified when hearing it live. Their own crowd seemed to get bored 2 hours in.

[PaulTMA]

I've never understood the caveat that people are obliged to mention that apparently he's "nice".  My gran was the nicest person you could ever possibly imagine, but she'd be hopeless if given her own 6music show or being a talking head talking about vinyl records, "EEEE it's like being sat next to a lovely crackly fireplace"

[purlieu]

Yes, but would you want to obliterate your gran?

[Glebe]

What if Guy Garvey is your gran?

[cliggg]

The first four Elbow albums have some really good to great songs on them, I got bored of them from then on but I do that with most bands after a few albums.

[poodlefaker]

Spotify recommended his version of "Saturday Sun" off a new Nick Drake tribute album. I got as far as the second word.

[iamcoop]

His show yesterday was probably the most tolerable I've heard as it was an 'album special' which meant he played three or four tracks in a row from different albums and largely kept his mouth shut. Fifteen unbroken minutes of The Colour of Spring is ok in my book. Meant less time having to listen to him describe how wonderful his own farts smell.

[Wayman C. McCreery]

Whoooooooo remembers when Elbow's keyboard player turned into a massive transphobe? His Twitter account's long gone but there was plenty of Glinnerposting.

A few screenshots I've found on my phone:









Can only assume the whole band are cunts if they're happy to continue working with him. They can go fuck themselves.

[mippy]

I liked Q as a teen/student, partly because my dad used to read it and partly because it was one of the only magazines that had bands I liked in it, but yes, it was deeply misogynistic at times. There was one article about pathetic songs that had something about a bassline sounding like Peter Hook had had a sex change, because as we all know, women can't get our tiny girl hands around a bass and Kim Gordon doesn't exist. And they loved going on about how ugly certain bands were.

When REM split up, my first thought was 'what are Q going to put on the cover now?'

That was daft of them, because female bassists in indie/alternative bands were so common in that era that there were academic papers on it from a sociological lens.( From what I remember, it was a combination of borrowing from riot grrl to look more politically credible and the bass being coded as a less 'masculine' instrument than guitar or drums so women were more likely to continue to play that as there was less risk of being belittled out of it.)

[Gurke and Hare]

From what I remember, it was a combination of borrowing from riot grrl to look more politically credible and the bass being coded as a less 'masculine' instrument than guitar or drums so women were more likely to continue to play that as there was less risk of being belittled out of it.

It always seemed strange to me that the guitar was seen as very masculine, and the most masculine thing you could do was make incredibly high pitched squeaky noises on it.

[Kankurette]

And female drummers can't batter seven shades of shit out of their kits. Janet Weiss is a figment of my imagination.

[dontpaintyourteeth]

It always seemed strange to me that the guitar was seen as very masculine, and the most masculine thing you could do was make incredibly high pitched squeaky noises on it.

And we wonder why more Yngwie Malmsteens don't post here

[Icehaven]

Surely if any instrument is easier to play the larger your hands are it's the bass, plus they're generally much bigger and heavier than guitars so I'm surprised it's seen as more feminine. I say this as a female bass player btw, so I'm very obviously not saying men are better at bass than women, just that in purely practical terms it's actually not better suited to women than men.