
Avalanche Party – John Coltrane’s Moscow Skyscraper
People go out to bars on the weekend, maybe to watch a band play or actors say their lines and most of them, secretly, hope that they’ll have the greatest conversation of their lives. Everyone hopes that chit-chat with someone brought to the bar by the same needs will turn into a meaningful talk that will shatter false perceptions will help the scales fall down from one’s eyes.
What you get instead are the drunk and chemically imbalanced formulated theories about how the government controls us all through music. Hell, they can control the weather, and they’re responsible for natural disasters. Why not? And, after all, who doesn’t need a dose of paranoia in their lives? You’ve just met the person who will give the most stimulating talk you’ve had in a while. Who cares if any of this is true, and why worry if they’re indeed crazy or not? People say mad stuff after a drink.
Avalanche Party is one of the many post-punk bands that feature stiff bass guitar riffs and English lads talking angrily over the music. But Avalanche Party managed to set themselves apart with “John Coltrane’s Moscow Skyscraper,” a deeply paranoid Saturday night talk that, if the participants have enough energy, could end up in applying for a visa and buying tickets to see Russia. There’s just something about a vocalist delivering lines with this much passion that one needs to respect.
hinfort – no way out
You shouldn’t necessarily and automatically hate the things that are popular. But, I would certainly recommend that you be suspicious. Anything that is beloved by too many people can’t be very good. The history of pop culture is one long cycle of stories about how large crowds tend to trick is into thinking some things are more important than they actually are.
Most people are starting to wake up to the fact that pop music is a bit of a worthless scam and has been this way for a while. Still, most people are saving their hopes for the kinds of bands and artists that can play in arenas. Is it the music that draws them over? Or, is it the big lights, the props, the people dancing on stage and the exorbitant price for beer?
There’s always an alternative, and if you notice fewer people sneaking in, that’s your clue to close yourself. hinfort’s “no way out” classic post-punk/gothic music values and new ways to set up a show. Instead of gigantic lights, have just one light. Instead of gigantic screens, just show the silhouettes of musicians. And instead of music that’s supposed to numb you and make you jolly, get sounds like the ones produced by hinfort that chill you to the bone.