‘You have to branch away from what you've become in order to find out whether that is what you should really be. When the Commotions split. I felt that I’d been in this fairly clean-looking guy pop-mould for so long that there was a side to my music that people didn‘t see. a humorous. darker side. With the Lloyd ('ole album. I was suddenly a solo artist. so ‘When I arrived in New York [where he still lives today. in a neivapurchased West Village apartment]. it was an opportunity. not just metaphorically. for me to let my hair down. I‘ve always drunk. only when you get to 29 it hits your body in ways it never used to. I‘m on a diet now. ldidn't cut my hair for a while and I‘ve never liked shaving. But when I look at some ofthose photos. I think I look really stupid with a beard. So I do shave more often again. nowadays.‘ The enigmatic new album. Don 't
Get Weird On Me Babe. whilst affirming that Cole‘s picked up his
fair share of NY—speak (when he says ;
‘better‘. it comes out as ‘bedder') is. like the current version of the man himself. a neatly presented affair. ‘Yes. there is a general absence of brutality on this record.‘ he offers. dryly. Although side two consolidates. in a quieter way. the Quine/ Cole trad-rock approach pioneered on Lloyd Cole. the opening side features six gorgeous orchestrated numbers. recorded in LA at Sinatra‘s old Capitol studio. that are (though unsettling when first heard) the most melancholy and affecting musical and lyrical statements Cole has made for some time. But full orchestra and Sinatra‘s studio from a man whose self- penned press release declares. ‘My propensity towards the grandiose has diminished somewhat. . .‘! ‘Erm. that‘s actually a lie. I‘m just a little more lazy these days. But my
Lloyd Cole approach is a lot gentler now. Especially with lyrics. I had this reputation as a wordy. bookish writer. and I hope that's gone on the new album. When you start out from the position I was in 1984 — wordy and a bit pretentious — the only way to refine your art is to discover economy with words. Songs with a lot ofwords usually say less than those with very few words. The songs on the new album - both the guitar stuff and the orchestral numbers— are as direct as I‘ve ever done. Anyway. this isn't for me to talk about. I think once I‘ve written a song. made a record. then it‘s all out of my hands. I don‘t put messages in there. You know me.’
We know him. This season's model. at least. Don 'I Get Weird On Me Babe is available on Polydor Records. Lloyd Cole plays the Playhouse. Edinburgh on 18 Oct.
PREVIEW ngsic
.7 V LISTEN!
Could be your only chance to rap Keats. daffodils and fluffy woolly lambs with the fresh-faced quintet.so don't waste it.
I Culture rock! Playwright Peter Arnott has been writing songs with The Big [)ish‘s Craig Armstrong and they have struck up a deal with a small label with big US interests including a publishing deal with (ieffen. An album is set to be recorded in the States in early spring. with a female singer. and is likely. we're told. to sound a bit (‘octeaus-esque.
I In October, Jewel And [isk Valley (‘ollege —- well. where else‘.’ - becomes the first college in Britain to offer a l ligher National Diploma in Modern Musicianship. Subjects covered in the Portobello-bascd college range from Arranging. MIDI Programming and Music For Advertising to Accounting and Marketing. (The ability to play an instrument is also a considerable advantage.) Presumably. at some point in the two-year course. students will also learn all there is to know about those plcctrum-holding bitsof sticky tape that no mike-stand is properly dressed without. For more information. the best bet is probably to wing an SAE to Jewel And lisk Valley ('ollcge..\1usic Section. 34 Milton Road East. Edinburgh [ill 15 ZPP.
. Pin back your lug‘oles for the Rite ’l‘he ll'at specials this month. at least one of w hich should be of passing interest to most pop—ponderers in the area. On Fri 13. BBC Radio Scotland's flagship yoof programme presents an interview with The l‘krainians' Pete Salow ka (the programming does get more exciting than this. honest). Salowka it was who temporarily steered The Wedding Present in the direction of lTkrainian music for one record and a tour and then left to pursue it full-time, A week later. on Hi 20. it‘s the turn of The Blue Aeroplanes to play an exclusive acoustic session for the show. interspersed with chat about their new album Beatsongs. The biggie to tune in to. however. is the full hour on lidwyn (‘ollins(l-‘r137). wluch features highlights of his Renfrew l-crry show (are you ready for solo acoustic versions oi ‘\\ hat Presence‘ and '(‘onsolation Prize'. and plenty olchat. including (‘ollins' plans to revive the
Postcard label for a
, one-oil release: an l ()rangeJuicc
I retrospective.
__J
The List 13—26 September 1991 27