The Raincoats, etc.

I've been back in Exeter again for a bit - working, and jamming a lot with Henry (saz and percussion workouts), Henry and Keith (Orbis Tertius? material) and Henry and Richard (filling in for Keith for their 5 Rhythms "wave" rehearsals). Unfortunately I missed the last COTD session at St. Stephens (just Keith and James T that time) as that coincided with that Deerhoof gig in London. Some of this stuff has been getting recorded. Eventually I'll compile a worthy collection and make it available here.

But I've also found time to re-engage with some of my favourite early 80's postpunk sounds - Young Marble Giants, The Slits and, especially, the oh-so-wonderful Raincoats.


 
The Raincoats, in reflection, 1981; Ana, Gina, Vicky
I found this on a Raincoats site:

"I don't know anything about The Raincoats except that they recorded some music that has affected me so much that whenever I hear it I'm reminded of a particular time when I was (shall we say) extremely unhappy, lonely and bored. If it weren't for the luxury of putting on that scratchy copy of The Raincoats' first record, I would have had very few moments of peace. I suppose I could have researched a bit of history about the band but I feel it's more important to delineate the way I feel and how they sound.

When I listen to The Raincoats I feel as if I'm a stowaway in an attic, violating and in the dark. Rather than listening to them I feel like I'm listening in on them. We're together in the same old house and I have to be completely still or they will hear me spying from above and, if I get caught - everything will be ruined because it's their thing. They're playing their music for themselves. It's not as sacred [sic] as wire-tapping a Buddhist monk's telephone or something because if The Raincoats did catch me, they would probably just ask me if I wanted some tea. I would comply, then they would finish playing their songs and I would say thank you very much for making me feel good."

Kurt Cobain, June 1993


The Raincoats - Ana, Gina, Vicky and Palmolive, live in '79
I also found this, from the liner notes to Nirvana's Incesticide album:

"A while ago, I found myself in bloody exhaust grease London again with an all-consuming urge to hunt for two rare things: back issues of NME rumored to be secretly hidden in glass cases and submerged in the fry vats of every kebab machine in the U.K. and the very out-of-print first Raincoats LP.

...

In an attempt to satisfy the second part of my quest, I went to the Rough Trade shop and, of course, found no Raincoats record in the bin. I then asked the woman behind the counter about it and she said "well, it happens that I'm neighbors with Anna (member of the Raincoats) and she works at an antique shop just a few miles from here." So she drew me up a map and I started on my way to Anna's.

Sometime later, I arrived at this elfin shop filled with something else I've compulsively searched for over the past years - really old fucked up marionette-like wood carved dolls (quite a few hundred years old). Lots of them... I've fantasized about finding a ship filled with so many. They wouldn't accept my credit card but the dolls were really too expensive anyway. Anna was there, however, so I politely introduced myself with a fever-red faced and explained the reason for my intrusion. I can remember her mean boss almost setting me on fire with his glares. She said "well, I may have a few lying around so, if I find one, I'll send it to you (very polite, very English)." I left feeling like a dork, like I had violated her space, like she probably thought my band was tacky.

A few weeks later I received a vinyl copy of that wonderfully classic scripture with a personalized dust sleeve covered with xeroxed lyrics, pictures, and all the members' signatures. There was also a touching letter from Anna. It made me happier than playing in front of thousands of people each night, rock-god idolization from fans, music industry plankton kissing my ass, and the million dollars I made last year. It was one of the few really important things that I've been blessed with since becoming an untouchable boy genius."

Touching, isn't it?

I can remember a trip from Canterbury up to Cardiff in about 1990, to visit my friend Mark and see Slowdive supporting Ride - The Raincoats' Odyshape was in my walkman (with The Go-Betweens' 16 Lovers Lane on the other side) the whole way there and back. If you haven't heard Odyshape, you really should give it a listen. It's even got Robert Wyatt playing drums on some tracks.

This is also rather sweet. It looks like The Slits got their record company to fork out for them to spend a day riding horses in fancy dress and hanging out in some beautiful woods! Contrast with this, from The Vortex Club a few years earlier... And their admirable refusal to mime vocals is taken to another level on this particularly ridiculous clip from some German TV programme. (Syd Barrett sitting cross-legged on a mushroom refusing to mime to "See Emily Play" on American Bandstand in 1967 comes to mind.)

Deerhoof/Psapp

It's been a while since I've been up to London to see a rock band of any description (probably the Cardiacs at The Garage a few years ago), but this was something special.

Vicky and her son Thomas had got into Deerhoof after hearing them on the very last Mixing It, shortly after I'd found out that Dan Dietrich's younger brother John was the guitarist. I was at school with Dan when I lived in Wisconsin in the 80's. Towards the end of high school, he was playing bass in punk/hardcore bands (Ted, Abu Temple) that were part of a little autonomous scene that helped me maintain my sanity at that time (here's a typical poster). John was always in the background, I never got to know him. It turns out he was quietly getting into guitar playing the whole time, with no intention of ever being in a band. But he's ended up in the San Francisco Bay area playing with this extraordinary band called Deerhoof for the last seven years.

When Vicky found out they were playing in Camden with Psapp (who she discovered around the same time, and introduced me to), she suggested we go up. I'd been in touch with John, who not only remembered me, but had received my little reference book from Dan for a Christmas present. We arranged to meet up before the gig (in a Thai restaurant - we had a waiter called "Toad", and both vaguely remembered someone in Wisconsin who was known by that name). We got talking about Busdriver, the abstract MC who toured with them recently (I'd seen a little clip of him freestyling on stage with them in West Virginia), and it turns out that John has since been inspired to get an abstract freeform improv hiphop project together (with Busdriver in mind), with an upright bass, drums and Ezra Buchla on electronics. Deerhoof discovered grime last time they were in London (the person driving them around put some pirate radio on in the car to give them a taste, much to their collective delight), and we talked about the inevitability of hiphop getting freed up from the 4/4 rhythmic grid that it's been stuck on for so long. Can't wait to hear how that project turns out. I asked about their tour with Radiohead last autumn (apparently, they're very friendly, approachable people, treated them really well). I wondered if he'd moved out to California to join the band, but it turns out that he'd ended up on the West Coast as a result of starting an electronic composition course at Mills College (like Phil Lesh, who studied composition there with Luciano Berio, alongside Steve Reich, he never finished, but has ended up creating amazing music). That's where he met Greg , the drummer. It felt like we had a lot more to talk about.


Deerhoof - John, Greg, Satomi and the elbow of (now departed) Chris
And they seriously rocked. The wilder parts of the set took me back to seeing Sonic Youth at the Kilburn National when I was 18 (Daydream Nation tour). Just three of them these days, making a gargantuan sound (and Greg, the drummer, now has a 3-piece kit, which he plays the hell out of). Very difficult to dance to the irregular rhythms, but people were trying their best. I only know two of their nine albums, but they played a lot of Friend Opportunity (the latest one) and some stuff off Apple O' (the 'concept album' about Adam and Eve) too.

Enjoyed Psapp's set a lot too. Unfortunately their assortment of sound-producing toys didn't get picked up too well over the P.A. (I'm sure this must have been the biggest venue they've played, would take some getting used to.). The usual duo were supplemented by four other musicians. They ended with their fabulous cover of "Everybody Wants to Be a Cat" (from The Aristocats). I almost caught one of the home-made pipecleaner cats that they give bizarre names and chuck out into the audience between songs.

John came and found us for a quick chat after the show. I notice a girl in a Cardiacs T-shirt which reminded me to ask if he'd heard them. And he hadn't. So I shall make sure he does. It seems somehow important that Deerhoof should at least be aware of the Cardiacs.

We got the very late train back to Exeter, woke up just in time before the train pulled out of the station (could have found ourselves in Penzance later that morning!)