RÓISÍN MURPHY

I still read and teach poets who were anti-semites. I believe that Polanski’s The Tenant is one of the more unsettling and worthwhile films made in the latter part of the 20th century. I am aware of the dissonance here, but really, I have written elsewhere why I don’t fuck with homophobes or transphobes because this shit is personal. It isn’t to you, which you should probably be thankful for and just move on.

I think these debates always end up focusing so much on "fandom" and "ok to like" to the exclusion of the main reason I think of when I decide to no longer support an artist - money. A recently deceased outsider Jazz artist and dead anti-semitic poets are a bad fit for Murphy, who is an artist with a new album to promote. I'd never buy a ticket for a new Polanski film, but am happy to watch The Tenant or Rosemary's Baby because he's unlikely to benefit from that in any way (specially if I pirate it). I don't want Murphy to benefit financially from her bigotry right now, if 80 years some ppl dig up this record and decide it rules that's fine.

The whole 'fortunately I never liked her anyway / what a relief the record is bad' thing is really tiresome.

That's why I thought Laura Snapes' review was so good - it explored the art without waving away Murphy's actions, and vice versa, which seems an honest way of approaching it.

Still seemingly loads of tickets left for her gig tonight in a 275 person capacity pub in Guildford (they just opened up a tickets only option where originally you had to buy a copy of the album to get in). Bit ignominious, maybe she needs to take Babybird up on that offer after all

Just to update the .xls, these are the superstars of popular music that have stepped up to the plate for her so far afaicr:

Babybird
Rebecca Fergusson
Carol Decker from T'Pau

Dave Haslam, professional Hacienda nostalgist, can also be added

Not Decker!!!

her twitter is an absolute horrorshow, think we can all guess what the T stands for now

The whole 'fortunately I never liked her anyway / what a relief the record is bad' thing is really tiresome.

i really quite liked her and so am weirdly relieved that the album is a disappointment

Surprised Right Said Fred haven't piped up xps

Noooo not Decker

It's not even that I'm a fan it's just that my dad apparently used to go out with her pre-fame and it's hitherto been a fun thing to bring up.

Noticed that Billy Bragg was trending the other day as he was berating Murphy for her stance.

The whole 'fortunately I never liked her anyway / what a relief the record is bad' thing is really tiresome.

as for an actually substantive post to respond to, yeah, Daniel Rf, the money thing is the big element, but I still mention the noxious views of certain writers when I teach them.

wow someone's touchy (like, even more than me)

She’s a book from the 80s trying to convince you that it’s reasonable to cook eggs in a microwave.

lol

that thing where you can't find anyone that wants to come to the pub with you

Join me TONIGHT for an up close and personal, stripped back set @recordcorneruk in Guildford. EVERY ALBUM SOLD AT THE EVENT WILL BE SIGNED. Limited tickets are available 🖤 https://t.co/LFEWq9AQdE pic.twitter.com/4eaZj0cNF5

— Róisín Murphy (@roisinmurphy) September 14, 2023

Terfs HATE Billy Bragg because he speaks up for trans people.

Anyway RM actually used ‘TRA’ in her initial post, which is not a TLA used by anyone outside gender critical circles. That’s how trans people and their allies knew she’d been wormholed.

Terfs hate Owen Jones too. I think that's part of how 'centrist dads' get wormholed.

just assume that under every soi-disant centrist there's a raving fash straining to be unleashed and you'll almost always be right

Tom D has already cited the relevant Spinal Tap bit to cover Murphy's new gig strategy

loads of terfs have changed their display names on twitter to Billy Bragg for some reason, when I see one I report them for impersonation, just on the off-chance that I can make their day slightly worse.

iirc it's some asinine point about how they're 'identifying' as him

great fans, beautiful fans

What are some other good DJ Koze albums?

He does great work most of the time, but he may have been trending yesterday because a TERF was complaining about being harassed somewhere and he posted "here's a picture of you from a different angle, you don't seem harassed, you're smiling" and that ... didn't go well.

(Billy Bragg that is, not Koze)

xp I like Kosi Comes Around a bunch. And how can it be that it came out, gulp, 18 years ago?!

I mean maybe those people genuinely like music you don't like? I think Murphy is a toxic fool and would be glad to see this record disappear but are you genuinely surprised that there are writers who like a record you think is awful and sucks? how old are you?

It’s not “it’s awful and it sucks”, it’s “it’s unbelievably inept and it’s so poorly made and performed that it’s a joke without a punchline”. Yes, I am surprised that writers misjudged a record that is bad from any angle, in any context; it’s not a question of taste, this album is dogshit with bleach sauce.

The whole 'fortunately I never liked her anyway / what a relief the record is bad' thing is really tiresome.

What is even more tiresome? reading endless ink about a problematic artist and then investigating to find out their music is entirely ignorable badly made garbage, see also Ariel Pink

Excluding an allegedly Irish woman from Irishness was a deliberate acknowledgement of the fact that the rise of TERFdom seems to be primarily a UK phenomenon, and is being heavily resisted in Ireland, because Irish people aren’t assholes. My regrets abt last nights “raisin” posts are not because I have any anti-Irish sentiment in me but because there’s an overtone of ageism that is unnecessary, and for that I apologize

any take which implies the person writing it is the ultimate arbiter of what's good and what's bad is arrogant and annoying

I dont know who DJ Koze is but has he made a statement one way or the other in the wake of this?

This absurd vitriol about the album is making me want to hear it more and that's a bad thing.

I think these debates always end up focusing so much on "fandom" and "ok to like" to the exclusion of the main reason I think of when I decide to no longer support an artist - money. A recently deceased outsider Jazz artist and dead anti-semitic poets are a bad fit for Murphy, who is an artist with a new album to promote. I'd never buy a ticket for a new Polanski film, but am happy to watch The Tenant or Rosemary's Baby because he's unlikely to benefit from that in any way (specially if I pirate it). I don't want Murphy to benefit financially from her bigotry right now, if 80 years some ppl dig up this record and decide it rules that's fine.

― Daniel_Rf

I agree with this. Supporting her at the moment is giving her a voice and a platform for a bunch of twitter transphobes to hop on.

as for an actually substantive post to respond to, yeah, Daniel Rf, the money thing is the big element, but I still mention the noxious views of certain writers when I teach them.

― butt dumb tight my boners got boners (the table is the table)

This is the correct way to approach decades old content imho. I think history and art shouldn’t be erased or censored. Guiding students on how certain views or immoral people/content were normalized and laureated even when they had hurtful things in them is an important part of forming criteria.

Excluding an allegedly Irish woman from Irishness was a deliberate acknowledgement of the fact that the rise of TERFdom seems to be primarily a UK phenomenon, and is being heavily resisted in Ireland, because Irish people aren’t assholes.

There's as many assholes in Ireland as anywhere. I have no idea where you're getting the idea that Ireland is gallantly resisting the rise of TERFdom either.

Everywhere shines compared to the UK at the moment

Probably but let's leave the green tinted spectacles to one side for a moment.

Having been to Boston, I can confirm that the Irish are the most tolerant people on Earth

Russia just passed a bill banning all gender-affirming healthcare, so probably up there with the UK

This absurd vitriol about the album is making me want to hear it more and that's a bad thing.

Russian Murphy

Excluding an allegedly Irish woman from Irishness was a deliberate acknowledgement of the fact that the rise of TERFdom seems to be primarily a UK phenomenon, and is being heavily resisted in Ireland, because Irish people aren’t assholes. My regrets abt last nights “raisin” posts are not because I have any anti-Irish sentiment in me but because there’s an overtone of ageism that is unnecessary, and for that I apologize

Yes, I am surprised that writers misjudged a record that is bad from any angle, in any context; it’s not a question of taste, this album is dogshit with bleach sauce.

I mean I guess ultimately I don't believe that any piece of art can objectively be good or bad, or that there are any objective facts over the quality of art, that an opinion is by definition subjective and that anyone who suggests otherwise is either a fool or a charlatan, but I have no wish whatsoever to hear this record so I'll peace out of this argument tbh

Well, to you gyac, and other Irish posters and readers, I offer my apologies! I hoped my own part-Irish genetics and general enthusiasm for the country and it’s culture would give me a pass, but it was a stupid assumption on my end and I am sorry.

Thank you.

I dont know who DJ Koze is but has he made a statement one way or the other in the wake of this?

― I? not I! He! He! HIM! (akm)

Dj Koze is a fantastic oddball producer, his solo and remix work is definitely worth a listen. He’s not very active on social media iirc, I think he has an ig account but he mostly posts new releases. He doesn’t do much interviews either… I’m not aware of his current stance about this but wouldn’t be surprised if he doesn’t say anything. He worked on-off this album for years and he should be proud about his work. I’d be angry and frustrated at the whole situation since it was so easily avoidable and fixable.

As someone of Irish descent I hereby give fgti permission to mock the Irish

Roisin has some classic songs, this album is a creative flop, it kind of sucks to feel like people can only be honest about this stuff when the person is Problematic in some fatally flawed way

Here’s an interview for the Guardian. It confirms he doesn’t like social media much and it’s his first interview in five years. It was done before this shitshow:

https://amp.theguardian.com/music/2023/aug/02/demons-dj-koze-summer-anthem-genius-bangermeister

As someone of Irish descent I hereby give fgti permission to mock the Irish