Marquee Moon – Television

Released: 1977

Label: Elektra

When I Bought: 2012

'So man,' he says, leaning back, pushing long, unkempt hair from his face, 'what's your favourite album of all time?'
The fucking nerve. I pretend to think for a moment, then say, 'Marquee Moon.' With a certain type of indie loser you cannot go wrong with Marquee Moon.
The clown nods and says, 'Cool'.

- Kill Your Friends, John Niven.

Yep, Marquee Moon by Television. A cultural touchstone for an entire subculture. A post-punk album that managed to come out before the Sex Pistols' debut album.

A record that bands have built - or tried to build - entire careers on.

So why don't I get it?

OK, I get it's technically good. Tom Verlaine knows his way around the guitar. The band are tight. It's got an energy to it.

But I just can't connect to it.

I tried when I got the album in 2012. I've tried a couple of times since. But there's just a gap.

I should love it. It's got a guitar sound that loads of bands I love have stolen (looking at you, The Strokes). There's a Dylanesque delivery style in the vocal, which usually I'm on board with.

But I just can't get into. I do like it. But I don't love it.

Perhaps it's because this album needs to be heard in context, and I wasn't around in 1977.

Perhaps it's because it's influenced so many bands since that going back to the original feels in itself like a pastiche.

Also, all these claims of it being post punk... with a track that's almost ten minutes long? And another that's 7 minutes? That's pre-punk, that's prog!

If I were at CBGB in the mid-70s, I'd probably enjoy watching Television, but be wishing they'd hurry up so Blondie could smash out some tunes.

7/10

Comments

Franz Ferdinand – Franz Ferdinand

Year Released: 2004 Label: Domino Year Bought: 2004 January 2004. I'd just quit uni. Was back at the family home in Bishop's Stortford. The place I'd been so desperate to get away from, and I was back and already bored. And then things got a bit less boring. I remember this so clearly. I was having a shower and the radio was on, and on came 'Take Me Out'. I couldn't believe what I was hearing. At first I thought it must be an old tune that had passed me by, but no, it was announced as a new song by a band called Franz Ferdinand. It sounded glorious. It sounded interesting. After the staleness of the post-Britpop years, and beigeness of Coldplay, Travis et al, there was actually a British band doing something interesting. I loved it, and when the album came out the next month, I gobbled it up with glee. Listening back now, and I still love it. The hushed opening of 'Jacqueline', the sleaze of 'The Dark of the Matinee', the homoeroticism of 'M...

Eye To The Telescope – KT Tunstall

Year Released: 2004 Label: Relentless Year Bought: No Idea I'm not sure why I have this record. I have no record of buying it. I've never listened to it. But then I do own two Dido albums so it's not exactly out of character of me to have it. I've always thought KT Tunstall was a pretty cool person. She's clearly talented. But this album, I just can't really connect with it. There's some good tunes on here. 'Black Horse and the Cherry Tree' is great, as is 'Suddenly I See'. 'Another Place To Fall' hints at some darker tones, and 'Under The Weather' builds nicely. But overall it's just all a bit safe. I vaguely remember reading an interview with Tunstall a few years after this came out in which she said the original mix was a lot more rough and bluesy, but the label wanted it more polished. You can definitely hear how this album could have been scuffed up. 'Stopping The Love' is a good example of that. It's a mi...

NME Awards 2004 - Various Artists

Released: 2004 Label: NME When I bought: 2004 In ye olde days before streaming, and even YouTube, it wasn't possible to hear within a matter of moments pretty much every song ever released. Therefore, compilations like this by the NME actually had a degree of value. Take 'Paperbag Writer' by Radiohead, a b-side from 'There There', the lead single from 2003's Hail to the Thief. I bought the album but not the single, so I'd never heard this tune. It's a brilliant track, with its electronic shuffle beat and muffled vocals making it sound like a left over from Kid A, or the starting point for Thom Yorke's debut solo album which would be released the following year. Likewise, 'See You Soon' by Coldplay. A true delight from a 1999 EP, with delicate guitar playing, scarce production, and honest vocal delivery. It's a reminder that once upon a time Chris Martin et al were able to operate with that oft-neglected trait: restraint. As a snapshot o...

All The Records I've Ever Owned

Search This Blog