Graeme Downes interviews himself.
16.07.09
[taken from a press release]
Following in the tradition of Potboiler (i.e. giving a record a title that it clearly isn‚t) The Verlaines proudly present for your difficult digestion Corporate Moronic.
Just who are The Verlaines?
Right now it is a team of twelve people playing on different songs with the core of the band (from its last live incarnation) participating in unequal measure.
It's a juggling act between the desire to participate and the demands of day-to-day life.
Graeme Downes sings and plays some guitars and keyboards.
Darren Stedman does all the drumming.
Russell Fleming plays some bass parts.
Paul Winders some backing vocals.
Additional players are:
Rob Burns plays bass
Dave Harrison plays guitar
Stephen Small plays keyboards and piano
Tom McGrath plays piano.
Dan Bendrups plays trombone.
Trevor Coleman plays trumpet.
John Egenes plays pedal steel, mandolin and banjo
Peter Adams contributes some clarinet.
Record companies seem to like boxes. They like bands with limits on what they are prepared to express. I hate boxes. This record is a revolt against style. Style means some chords are acceptable, some are forbidden depending which box you are attempting to fit into. Stuff limitation! Give me freedom to communicate without defining myself into a box. Needless to say there are hardly any two songs alike on this record.
For those that prefer soporific mood music that won't disturb them when they are doing the ironing, buy top 40. But for those that enjoy the emotional roller coaster of being ripped in 13 vastly different directions in 47 minutes then Corporate Moronic will do just that. By implication, I refuse to believe the album is dead. For me, there is a cumulative emotional effect of listening to an album that a de facto compilation CD assembled by cherry picking tracks cannot get close to. I am not going to nominate an "ipod essential".
"What do tragic artists communicate about themselves?
Isn't it precisely a condition of fearlessness in the face of the frightening and questionable things that they show us?-This condition itself is something desirable; whoever knows it honours it with the highest honours. He communicates it, he has to communicate it, as long as he is an artist, a genius at communication. Bravery and freedom of feeling in the face of a powerful enemy, a sublime catastrophe, a horrifying problem-this victorious condition is what tragic artists select . . ." Friedrich Nietzsche-Twilight of the Idols
OK. No one quotes Nietzsche in press releases for rock albums and far be it from me to claim genius for my own work. The intent is the thing that matters. This album is, at the very least, attempting to be "genius at communication". So was Sgt. Pepper. And it too was "tragic" and "fearless".
There is no music on this album suitable for interludes on Fox News or as a flyer for Squawk Box on CNBC, such music is corporate moronic. There is nothing on this album that could be used to advertise motor sport.
"Opinionated bastard this Downes fellow-what gives?"
Age and experience coupled with accumulated skill. When we are young we can calculate what time we have left but cannot really imagine it, hence when we are young we often move with little urgency. At my age one can both count and imagine it. So what's the point of being afraid of opening my mouth, I'll be out of here soon enough.
"All this talk of tragedy, this must be one gloomy record."
Not so, it soars. Yes there are some dark moments, but if you don't feel somewhat gladder to be alive in the times we live in after listening to it, you must be either dead or asleep. If you are indeed asleep and don't wish to be disturbed, don't buy this record.
Most of these songs were written recently (2007-08), some of which address recent or ongoing events. "In Limbo", The Way I Love You" and "The Situation is Hopeless" stem from the Hammers and Anvils period (circa 1999). The latter song is more relevant now than it was then. Unfortunately.
Corporate Moronic is a great record. It is a very big record, in scope, in emotional range, in the sheer amount of music that is on it. If you take the time to befriend it, it will stay with you for a very long time . . . as opposed to gone by the weekend.
Corporate Moronic is out now.
