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Revolutionary Suicide
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Moon Cat
9577 posts

Edited Jun 25, 2013, 21:48
Re: Revolutionary Suicide
Jun 25, 2013, 20:39
Bought it today...in a SHOP! Stone circles and Queues!

After a couple of plays I can say that I like it rather a lot, and I already rate it over "Psychedelic Revolution", and is probably the best thing to come out in the Black Sheep livery, although this is very much a solo effort, since...er..."Black Sheep".

Initial feelings -It seems that, despite his best efforts, Julian can't help but knock together a set of catchy tunes. And, there's a lightness of touch, playfulness even, that seemed missing from the last couple of releases. The stance is no less REVOLUTIONARY, but there is melody and breathing space and beauty in here, which is something of a relief to me as a fan. This is a drude writing and singing, and singing well, actual songs.

Yes, I think that some of these tunes would benefit from a bit more production punch and fizz, but there's an awful lot to enjoy here and I'm sonically resigned to Julian's current sonic aesthetic. And, to be fair, for what is more or less a totally solo album, there's more thought in serving the songs arrangement wise, than has been apparent for awhile.
There's moments on this album that I could happily play to folk that bailed at, say, Autogeddon, and be fairly assured that they'd enjoy it.
"The Armenian Genocide" is, despite that riff being bit of an old friend in the RAWK, a fantastic centre piece of sadness, anger and an awful history unfolding. Weirdly, it also puts Julian alongside System of a Down for drawing attention to the genocide!

Again, this is just an initial impression, but Hunter of this Parish addressed (in this weeks soundtracks), not without good reason, some concerns at some of the lyrical thrust on a song or two, especially on "Why Did The Chicken Cross My Mind" so here's my two pence.

On first listens, I see the references that Julian is making as being directed to the extreme, fundamentalist end of Islam, in much the same way as his barbs have been fired at the dogmatic end of ...well, everything really, for the last few decades. The references to a lack of tolerance for homosexuals and women in the previous verses to the thing about the allusion to Chamberlain and appeasement seems to me to be about the more medieval aspects of extreme interpretations of Islamic and Sharia law. And I took the Chamberlain reference to be that, with the best will in the world, you can't, in the end, appease extremists of any stripe.
The reason that comes to mind is that last year I saw a programme (and there were subsequent articles flying about) interviewing Salman Rushdie on an anniversary of the Fatwa that caused him to go in to hiding. He'd just bought a book out about his time living under a false identity and the lengths that has been deemed necessary to to protect him against the 'faithful'. One point he made - and this is a Muslim man of course - is that the most heinous crimes according the to most extreme and dogmatic interpretations of Islam and Sharia law are, looking at them through modern eyes, incredibly 'Medieval' - Blasphemy, Apostasy and so on. And it's incredibly hard, no matter how liberal and tolerant you are, to apply a rationale to it, let alone be generously accepting of it.
We wouldn't be exactly enamoured of the Spanish Inquisition's mind-set in 2013 Britain either.

That's my take on it anyway!

Anyhoo...soz, that was a massive chunter...

It's a very good Cope album I think.

And the Genesis thing is....Good Heavens! I really like it though!
(Try singing "Turn it on again" slooowwly with it!)

ps Oh, should also say; this album made me want to go and play lots of other Julian Cope albums, in a way that "Psychedelic Revolution" didn't quite manage.


EDIT - 4th listen. It's a top album. Huzzingh!
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