There’s a “typical boys” way of appreciating music. It involves remembering the name of the song and the name of the band. It’s a must to delve into the band’s history and have all the vital facts on hand in case you’re talking about music with a friend. Blogs like this are usually dead handy if you want to know a few obscure facts about your favourite musicians. I’ve shared houses with lads who wrote lists of their top 10 albums and often recounted all sorts of fascinating/crazy things that occurred when the band were recording the album at an obscure studio in Aberdeen.
But I don’t work like that. I do have music threaded through every tendon, muscle and vein. My head buzzes with beats, melodies and powerful songs from all genres. However, my response to music is not to storehouse information but simply to feel.
That way of appreciating music ties in perfectly with what The Raincoats were doing as part of punk. The details don’t matter; accuracy, pompousness and tradition goes out the window to leave behind raw music that is indescribable.
For those who wish to know all the important information about the Raincoats, here’s a link to Wikipedia: The Raincoats
Otherwise, here’s a summary of my relationship with the first Raincoats album:
I have listened to the LP more than 500 times, but I still don’t remember the names of any of the individual songs. For me, it’s simply a long joyful amateur ride back to 1979 and a sound that says, “You can do things differently.”
After thinking deeply about this issue for a while, the only analysis I can come up with is that the shouting of women’s voices in unison is subversive and challenging. I love it!
This album lit me up, it was like something I felt inside screaming back at me in solidarity. I don’t know what it is- you described the feeling well- the music is just so raw, so vivid, so unconventionally, irrationally BEAUTIFUL. The screeching violin! When I next got the 12″ of Animal Rhapsody / No Ones Little Girl it was like the world opened up, the debut felt like my life in a small town and what followed felt like life after leaving home. Wild and unpredictable, but with that inner voice at the core. Brilliant. And having worked in record shops and radio stations, I have (and still do) find myself in conversations about this label, that studio, blah blah it doesn’t matter. It seems anti what punk was supposed to be- the new. It’s the spirit and the feeling and it’s our hearts that bring this music to life.
You described it well too;
You get it. Thanks!