Following the release of their first full-length album, First and Last and Always, The Sisters of Mercy essentially broke up, with only frontman Andrew Eldritch still holding the reins. Former Sisters Wayne Hussey and Craig Adams went on to start his own band and included some unfinished Sisters songs in their setlists. This outfit toured under the name "The Sisterhood." Eldritch did not take kindly to this -- he felt the name was far too similar and that they were clearly playing off the Sisters of Mercy name. But, with no material actually extant under the name, there's no trademark infringement possible; what they're doing is perfectly legal. What's a disgruntled goth rocker to do?
In 1986, Eldritch quickly put together and released an album, Gift, under the name The Sisterhood, thereby registering the trademark to himself. The change forced Hussey and Adams into renaming their band again -- they became The Mission and a good goth band in their own right. Eldritch, however, sued The Mission and won 25,000 pounds in English civil court.
The record is rather interesting and features collaborations with Alan Vega of Suicide (!), Lucas Fox of Motorhead, and future Sister Patricia Morrison. It's not much like anything else The Sisters of Mercy have done -- there's a lot of repetition and synthesizers, and Eldritch doesn't sing lead vocals on any of the five tracks. It's a good listen, though -- the tracks are all fairly long, and there are some pretty dark feelings on the record.
But for me, the highlight of the record is "Finland Red, Egypt White," a semi-industrial track that consists of Fox reciting details of the AK-47 rifle -- technical specifications, model types, varieties of ammunition, methods of use, and so on -- over a constant guitar and synthesizer loop. It's a fantastic cyberpunk song, and any old-school industrial fan should love it. I certainly can't stop playing it.
So that's today's combined History of Goth Rock Lesson and What I'm Listening To post.
In 1986, Eldritch quickly put together and released an album, Gift, under the name The Sisterhood, thereby registering the trademark to himself. The change forced Hussey and Adams into renaming their band again -- they became The Mission and a good goth band in their own right. Eldritch, however, sued The Mission and won 25,000 pounds in English civil court.
The record is rather interesting and features collaborations with Alan Vega of Suicide (!), Lucas Fox of Motorhead, and future Sister Patricia Morrison. It's not much like anything else The Sisters of Mercy have done -- there's a lot of repetition and synthesizers, and Eldritch doesn't sing lead vocals on any of the five tracks. It's a good listen, though -- the tracks are all fairly long, and there are some pretty dark feelings on the record.
But for me, the highlight of the record is "Finland Red, Egypt White," a semi-industrial track that consists of Fox reciting details of the AK-47 rifle -- technical specifications, model types, varieties of ammunition, methods of use, and so on -- over a constant guitar and synthesizer loop. It's a fantastic cyberpunk song, and any old-school industrial fan should love it. I certainly can't stop playing it.
So that's today's combined History of Goth Rock Lesson and What I'm Listening To post.
Something about trench guns, Shadowrun, and Burning Wheel.
Discovering more industrial, too.
Discovering more industrial, too.
I'm actually kind of enjoying life right now.
Last Saturday I went to the Under the Microscope 3 concert at the Mews. As the intrepid journalist I am, I interviewed almost every band at the show and wrote a story about it.
The highlight of the evening was killmesara, though. I wrote a story about him as well.
I also met Poison Control Center - we hit it off. I'm interviewing them for another story for next week.
And I seem to be the only person bothering to review music for the Daily any more. Pigfuckers. At least the new LCD Soundsystem record is out, and man is it good.
I also put on a particularly good radio show today, if I do say so myself. I didn't fuck up today!
And I'm dropping Shakespeare because I just can't get up in time for a 9:30 class.
I'm in a very weird mood today. Should probably say more, but I have to read for class.
And I'm starting to think I've got a whole bunch of psychological disorders. Awesome.
Last Saturday I went to the Under the Microscope 3 concert at the Mews. As the intrepid journalist I am, I interviewed almost every band at the show and wrote a story about it.
The highlight of the evening was killmesara, though. I wrote a story about him as well.
I also met Poison Control Center - we hit it off. I'm interviewing them for another story for next week.
And I seem to be the only person bothering to review music for the Daily any more. Pigfuckers. At least the new LCD Soundsystem record is out, and man is it good.
I also put on a particularly good radio show today, if I do say so myself. I didn't fuck up today!
And I'm dropping Shakespeare because I just can't get up in time for a 9:30 class.
I'm in a very weird mood today. Should probably say more, but I have to read for class.
And I'm starting to think I've got a whole bunch of psychological disorders. Awesome.
So I'm supposed to be writing an article for my advisor and reading Shakespeare. And here I am looking at girls and playing records. Go figure.
However, my writing teacher had good things to say about my story, which was neat. It's becoming something I actually feel like working on, which is kind of nice.
And my records from England finally got here.
See? I don't even feel like doing this.
However, my writing teacher had good things to say about my story, which was neat. It's becoming something I actually feel like working on, which is kind of nice.
And my records from England finally got here.
See? I don't even feel like doing this.
Haven't posted in quite a while. Why? I'm FUCKING busy.
Summary of the semester so far: I'd be doing great in my classes if I didn't have so much other shit to do. All the reporting and writing I'm doing takes precedence over class work, so I'm being forced to make some difficult choices. Classes are starting to heat up, but I'm also cutting back a bit on writing.
Speaking of writing, I'm starting to hate the Daily. I love what I do - I love writing and interviewing - don't get me wrong. I hate how fucked up our section is - there's barely any communication, we have a bunch of reporters who don't care about anything, and the rest tend to write stories that could be covered as news. I also hate how conservative (and I don't mean politically) the Daily is - we have so many ironclad rules to follow, and the Daily's concerned with covering these than with writing good stories. Consequently, I had a great story (an interview with a band) get pushed back two days because they demanded that I find some student to comment on it. No one's heard of this band - that's the point of the story, but they wanted a shitty filler quote, by God. So I got one. Then that wasn't good enough - the guy I found was a friend of the band. So I had to get another. Fine. The story should have run Thursday.
But it didn't. They held it until Friday. And they never said anything about it to me. I was just glad they ran it at all by that point.
And we're working on this new section. It started life as an A&E section with a student voice. It's since had every ounce of life choked out of it. We don't have a campus publication with a real voice (except Ethos, kinda, and that only comes out twice a semester), which is exactly what's needed. And when I try to bring my voice to my stories for the Daily, it gets toned down into boilerplate news copy. I insist that the fact that I have not yet taken a reporting class makes my writing better.
This is college. College media are supposed to be edgy and iconoclastic, right? Is this place just totally fucked up? Is that why I get blank stares when I enthusiastically pitch some idea that's not just covering an event or rewriting a story we do every semester? Fuck.
Maybe Ethos will be a little better. . .? I don't know. Maybe the Tribune wants to let a disgruntled student freelance?
In brighter news, I'm a DJ on KURE, Iowa State's student-run radio station. I play from 4-6pm Wednesdays as DJ Blacktie, playing industrial, metal, gothic rock, and synth pop - basically, what I like.
Apparently, I've got fans - I met a local performer, killmesara, through my show, and played some of his stuff. I like it.
Later today, I'm going to a record show in Des Moines, as both a customer and a reporter. This will be fun.
I wish I had a friend.
Summary of the semester so far: I'd be doing great in my classes if I didn't have so much other shit to do. All the reporting and writing I'm doing takes precedence over class work, so I'm being forced to make some difficult choices. Classes are starting to heat up, but I'm also cutting back a bit on writing.
Speaking of writing, I'm starting to hate the Daily. I love what I do - I love writing and interviewing - don't get me wrong. I hate how fucked up our section is - there's barely any communication, we have a bunch of reporters who don't care about anything, and the rest tend to write stories that could be covered as news. I also hate how conservative (and I don't mean politically) the Daily is - we have so many ironclad rules to follow, and the Daily's concerned with covering these than with writing good stories. Consequently, I had a great story (an interview with a band) get pushed back two days because they demanded that I find some student to comment on it. No one's heard of this band - that's the point of the story, but they wanted a shitty filler quote, by God. So I got one. Then that wasn't good enough - the guy I found was a friend of the band. So I had to get another. Fine. The story should have run Thursday.
But it didn't. They held it until Friday. And they never said anything about it to me. I was just glad they ran it at all by that point.
And we're working on this new section. It started life as an A&E section with a student voice. It's since had every ounce of life choked out of it. We don't have a campus publication with a real voice (except Ethos, kinda, and that only comes out twice a semester), which is exactly what's needed. And when I try to bring my voice to my stories for the Daily, it gets toned down into boilerplate news copy. I insist that the fact that I have not yet taken a reporting class makes my writing better.
This is college. College media are supposed to be edgy and iconoclastic, right? Is this place just totally fucked up? Is that why I get blank stares when I enthusiastically pitch some idea that's not just covering an event or rewriting a story we do every semester? Fuck.
Maybe Ethos will be a little better. . .? I don't know. Maybe the Tribune wants to let a disgruntled student freelance?
In brighter news, I'm a DJ on KURE, Iowa State's student-run radio station. I play from 4-6pm Wednesdays as DJ Blacktie, playing industrial, metal, gothic rock, and synth pop - basically, what I like.
Apparently, I've got fans - I met a local performer, killmesara, through my show, and played some of his stuff. I like it.Later today, I'm going to a record show in Des Moines, as both a customer and a reporter. This will be fun.
I wish I had a friend.
Fucking tired. We drove from Portland, ME to Ames, IA in 19 hours. Then I went to ISU Daily training.
I'm going to bed.
I'm going to bed.
We had planned on leaving Monday evening, but my brother's car wouldn't start a few days ago. The shop says they won't be able to look at it until Tuesday, meaning we have to hope they can fix it quickly, then drive like holy hell just so I can get to Ames in time for my 9am Wednesday ISU Daily training. Fuck.
Though I've enjoyed the time spent with my family (and, possibly more, the local culture and shopping), I'm anxious to get home. I want to spend at least a little time with my roommates before school starts again, and I've got a fuckton of records to listen to. I should probably get a jump on my story assignment for the first week, too.
Haven't been practicing my bass lately. I need to get back at that.
I've done some reading here, though. I read Franz Kafka's The Trial on a lark, and I'm now halfway through Book Five of Stephen King's Dark Tower series. I'm starting to get into reading more, returning to a place I used to be two or three years ago.
Overall, I'm feeling pretty good, certainly far better than the last time I was up here. I'm starting to feel more like the idealized version of myself from three years ago I keep looking back to, which is kind of nice. I'm looking forward to actually doing shit this semester, not just wasting time and skipping class.
Unfortunately, New Year's Eve with my family is pretty boring. Hopefully, we'll play some Bang! and Betrayal at House on the Hill. And maybe I'll get drunk.
Though I've enjoyed the time spent with my family (and, possibly more, the local culture and shopping), I'm anxious to get home. I want to spend at least a little time with my roommates before school starts again, and I've got a fuckton of records to listen to. I should probably get a jump on my story assignment for the first week, too.
Haven't been practicing my bass lately. I need to get back at that.
I've done some reading here, though. I read Franz Kafka's The Trial on a lark, and I'm now halfway through Book Five of Stephen King's Dark Tower series. I'm starting to get into reading more, returning to a place I used to be two or three years ago.
Overall, I'm feeling pretty good, certainly far better than the last time I was up here. I'm starting to feel more like the idealized version of myself from three years ago I keep looking back to, which is kind of nice. I'm looking forward to actually doing shit this semester, not just wasting time and skipping class.
Unfortunately, New Year's Eve with my family is pretty boring. Hopefully, we'll play some Bang! and Betrayal at House on the Hill. And maybe I'll get drunk.
I'm finally using this site for more than just looking at girls - I'm creating a profile.
So you'll get the short version of stuff, I guess.
I'm a journalism student at Iowa State. I write for the school paper. I hate it here. Wretched thing that I am, I keep searching for kernels of worth in this place. I'm hoping that this site can help me find some interesting people.
If you've actually read this, drop me a line, huh? I like meeting new people, even if it's only over the net.
I'm also very tired, so I'm going to bed.
Good night, and good luck.
So you'll get the short version of stuff, I guess.
I'm a journalism student at Iowa State. I write for the school paper. I hate it here. Wretched thing that I am, I keep searching for kernels of worth in this place. I'm hoping that this site can help me find some interesting people.
If you've actually read this, drop me a line, huh? I like meeting new people, even if it's only over the net.
I'm also very tired, so I'm going to bed.
Good night, and good luck.
JUNE 2008
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MAY 2008
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MARCH 2008
