[kj] OT: Billy Bragg: Proud to meet the Queen, have symphonic works performed w/ his lyrics

[Brendan]

He seems extremely prolific, always up to something new, which renders
some of the moaning about the lack of progress on the KJ front a bit
unfair IMO. He's probably quite happy with the royalty cheques for KJ
coming in regularly...Pandemonium on must have made a fortune, all those
new Nu Metallers buying up the latest album! (Okay Nu metal probably post
dates 1994 to be honest). 2003 with Grohl's name on it would have helped a
lot. I'm sure there are a bunch of people who have bought everything since
Pandemonium and on, and like me, gone into the back catalog as well. I
think they picked up a lot of momentum with that album...they probably
deserved it after the years of crap post BTATS (excepting Extremities).

And as much as he dismisses the importance of money I get the impression
he's actually pretty shrewd with it, I was surprised to find out recently
that not only did he work at or manage York St studios in NZ back in the
day, be seems to have been the one who set it up. Perhaps with a mix of
his own and others' funds, but I'm sure he did well out of it...and good
on him.

Sometimes it's albums like that one we're talking about, where you really
aren't expecting to enjoy it, that your lack of preconceptions really
helps your eventual enjoyment, and changes your perspective. I used to
think punk was absolute shite, now I finally get it, thanks in fact to
Killing Joke and The Gathering. Still think a lot of it is limited shite,
sounds the same, but some of that stuff like Rudimentary Peni etc I can
get into. (Would have to say I probably prefer the 'post punk' stuff more,
on balance, but still have a lot to listen to...)

What I would call my favourite song ever, if I had to choose one, was
sitting on an album (my favourite album) for about 10 years, relatively
undiscovered, because it comes just before another previous favourite...I
was always just hanging out to hear the next track and never heard it
properly, until my little brother said what a great track it was...jarred
me into re-analysing it, and it just grew and grew on me.

Anyways, I'll give Symphonic Zep a listen and let you know what I
think...but I'm a huge Zep fan so it won't be an unbiased opinion. Zep are
still in my top 5 bands. (Killing Joke, Soundgarden, Tool, Zep, and
depending on how I feel on the day, probably Kyuss...)



> Honestly, I haven't heard the symphonic Led Zeppelin stuff and am not

> eager to. That sounds like one of the worst ideas in history to me.

>

> Seriously, though, since being EU Composer-in-Residence, what has Jaz

> done other than make cameos on other bands' stuff? Is that what the job

> entails? I'd actually like to know. But I don't wanna sit through

> symphonies of classic rock. Ugh.

>

> -Oliver

>

>

>

>

> Brendan wrote:

>> what's goin' on with Jaz and that high falutn '

>> "EU-Composer-in-Residence" stuff? Hmm?  -Oliver]

>>

>> Expanding his musical interests wider and deeper, I think it's brilliant

>> myself. Haven't got any of that stuff, but am keen to get the Symphonic

>> Led Zep, Oceania etc...I've heard some of the symphonic version of

>> Kashmir

>> on Youtube and it sounds great to me...I tend to agree with him that all

>> the previous symphonic rock albums are trash (although I do think that

>> those symphonic / operatic elements in Queen, ELO, Beatles etc aren't

>> too

>> bad).

>>

>> I sat through a few songs of Metallica with an orchestra on telly a

>> while

>> back and it was god awful (to me)...didn't enhance the music at all,

>> quite

>> the opposite.

>

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