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Live Review
by SaschaS
9-6-2004
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| Graham Coxon: enjoying his own gig |
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Live: Graham Coxon
Electric Ballroom, London
Tuesday, June 8, 2004
Graham Coxon: happiness is hard to show
All-pervading synthetic R’n’B chin-up/tits-out, puddle-punk, lab-pop genetically engineered to near perfection of the Stepford model that ultimately equal - blandness… In this degradation-shaming-contempt-cruelty toward acts climate, it is so good to have artists like Graham Coxon who dare follow his heart against the ethnic of fame being only brutalized celebrity-dom.
Alas, his ‘freedom’ of creativity comes with a baggage of being former member of a successful band. His public are still mainly Blur fans and they are hard on the man; you can almost sense they were expecting to have the past revisited but that is a closed chapter and the nearest he gets to the former band's territory is on 'Bittersweet Bundle of Misery'. And Coxon, artistically rejuvenated after quitting, plied the sharp pop-rock choons of his current album with passion.
Dressed like the father of a three year old daughter that he is, yet a cool distance from a middle-aged casual, the image is certainly turned down but the music is well - up. And it is an eclectic collection that can only be embraced by a true music lover. There are echoes of the past but it is reigned into service of the moment Venus is transiting the sun. Coxon appears to have found the key…
… Opening the doors on both sides of time-tunnel to bridge The Kinks with Pixies, Mission of Burma [he covered their 'That's When I Reach For My Revolver'] with Blur, Sonic Youth with Can… The early experimentation-as-rebellion against the tyranny of the band he was part of, he disciplined himself on the 5th album, ‘Happiness in Magazines’, to combine avant- and pop elements into a package that makes him happy/proud and Blair-breed acceptable.
Whether the man was enjoying himself - bar the drunken yobs causing commotion upfront - couldn’t be determined because he is one of those people who don’t show it well. Songs speak volumes though, such as ‘People Of The Earth’ - "People of the earth/You have failed/You still worship the Sun and The Daily Mail" - in The Jam-like spirit, modern-day Kinks-ish is 'No Good Time', ’Spectacular’ is joined by re-vamped 'Bitter Tears' and 'Escaoe Song' that are grandstand attractions now…
Graham Coxon is, in this New B-B World Order, like the best of good bacteria - so keeping it well topped-up is a must!
SaschaS
9-6-2004
Graham Coxon’s album ‘Happiness in Magazines’ is available now on Parlophone
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