Luke Haines: 21st Century Man/Achtung Mutha

HI DERE HUGO

http://www.wilsonsalmanac.com/images1/ball_hugo.jpg

His Auteurs albums are full of great tunes, and his solo stuff has been pretty dependable up to this point. I wish he'd lay off the heavily referential stuff and start writing stuff like "New French Girlfriend" again, but I guess your mind wanders in your 40s.

despite being produced by richard x i didnt like off the rocker much, esp not compared to as his 2001 (?) stk and solo albums - those two albums pretty much predicted the whole xenomania thing. looking forward to hearing this and seeing him live, though part of me would rather he focus on the 2nd part of his memoirs

he needs to sack whoever writes his pr. horrible combination of typical over-excited bullshitting and solemn 'this man is a serious genius' rot

How IS his memoir? Also, someone wrote a fictional novel about him this year. I think I'll pass, but it's strange to me he's been a source of inspiration for others.

He's leeching off the talents of Klaus Kinski and men in Buenos Aires too - ban this emotionally distant coldness imo

"parasite" just seems like a really weird choice of word considering we're talking about a song named after someone who probably couldn't care less, appearing on an album which will probably sell about 15 copies

It was a deliberately chosen word. Haines isn't fit to carry Hammill's guitars and has no business writing about him.

You ever hear his Auteurs stuff, anagram? I really think the first two LPs are undeniable, even if you have no affection for his solo LPs.

his music has an emotional distance and coldness to it that I find very unpleasant indeed.

I find that the phrase "very unpleasant indeed" has an emotional distance and coldness to it (esp. the "indeed"). Just sayin.

xxp maybe if you write to him outlining your concerns there'll still be time to have the song removed from the album

Richard X only produced the single version of Off My Rocker, I think.

Agree about some of the PR stuff (I'm assuming that first chunk of text is some clueless website), the Haines website seems to be run by some slavish cultist who shut down the forum because some people politely pointed out his last album had some shit on it, which might explain it.

anagram is right though, Haines should stick to writing songs about the non-Glitter members of the Glitter Band, it's more his level

Also don't appreciate Mencap's username leeching off my Colombian wife; he is not fit to carry her poncho

I love this guy, but he is beyond obscure in America. Nothing even approaching a hit. Too bad because he has a gift for catchy melodies. Fighting In The City from the last one was stuck in my head for about a month.

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Aha! found the culprit

idk whether or not we need Luke Haines to make a comeback being as we now have the Bob Mills-lookin’ boy from The Indelicates instead, but whatever, he releases his new album, “21st Century Man”, at the arse-end of 2009. Now let’s see what Clash’s Robin Murray has to say about the man’s career:

Nominated for the Mercury Music Prize, The Auteurs seemed destined for chart success – yet cruelly, this never came. After the band split Luke Haines went on to form Black Box Recorder, who main claim to fame is acting as the launching pad for Sophie Ellis-Bextor.

DP's insistence that the Indelicates are good continues to baffle me.

But even in death, he clowns below-average music writers on Ilx, sniff

How IS his memoir?

good fun. Obviously somewhat self-serving and self-mythologising, but he is not afraid to paint himself in an unsavoury light.

Also, someone wrote a fictional novel about him this year.

and what is this?

He also appears as a kind of Virgil to the main character's Dante in Phonogram

It's so sad that he always has to saddle himself to his supposed nemesis - the britpop brand - in order to get some press. Stuf like "After slating Pulp, Blur, Oasis and more in his book the songwriter has a lot to live up too..." is just pathetic. As others have pointed out this guy used to be a great songwriter. Maybe that didn't last forever, but did his fade-out have to be so totally pathetic?

RE: the fictional book (a review I ripped from Amazon UK)

Louise Wener recently wrote when reviewing the Haines book "Bad Vibes" that Haines songs were not about anything and that she would rather listen to Wonderwall because at least that had a good tune. Nonsense. Wener sang in the band Sleeper with songs marketed at spotty adolescents and concerned herself with the sexual fumblings of 15 year olds. Long after her own cherry was obliterated of course. Her subject matter was not however a crime, but stating that Haines songs are meaningless certainly is. Haines has written autobiographically, historically, hostalgically and he has also over the years built up an array of character vignettes. He is probably the best English singer / songwriter that has ever lived and I am sure he will agree with that.

This is a sentiment that the author of "Truth And Lies In Murder Park" certainly shares. I am not familiar with Tim Mitchell's other work but he has written about Tom Verlaine and John Cale so Luke Haines is certainly in good company. The blurb on this book describes it as genre breaking and it just that, it is also incredibly odd, darkly amusing and entertaining. It is for want of a better description a biographical novel.

The novel concerns a character referred to as the "writer" who is invited to Mr. Haines country estate to write about him and his new found fortune. Haines is like Lord Summerisle from the Wicker Man and it soon becomes apparent that "the writer" is a bit like Sergant Howie from the same film, carefully selected and lured into a scenario of which he will be the main player.

At the Haines mansion, behind the trees, an array of his classic songs are played out by the actors for the benefit of the writer, possibly a riposte to the journalists who have never really understood Mr. Haines work. We are taken on a journey through all of Haines's albums. When "the writer" has finished his scribblings at the end of each day of his stay at Haines's estate we are introduced to the thoughts of "the editor", who has a deeper interest in the world of Luke Haines, and "the editors" role in the scheme of things soon falls into place.

What takes place is that Haines is actually making a film and "the writer" is his subject and possibly also his victim, the film is in the style of "Seance On A Wet Afternoon" by Bryan Forbes, of which a lot of information is shared. Other mentions to "10 Rillington Place" and "A Matter Of Life And Death".

At times the scenarios can be a little repetitive but overall the book is very entertaining and original. The style is similar to that of cult writer B.S. Johnson, author of "Christie Malry's Own Double Entry".

If you are expecting to read another "Bad Vibes" forget it, but if you want to be surprised at how the dull and played out Biography can be turned into a a dark comedy, buy this book now. Or if you're like Louise Wener just go back to listening to "Wonderwall".

I don't feel well, so I don't feel like looking further.

re: the Britpop stuff. His music really doesn't reflect it. It's all got to do with the book he wrote, which I admittedly didn't read. It's kind of strange he's stuck in the past, but his music has never reflected otherwise. I enjoy him having fun with the Glitter Band and other glam types. I think it's funny when it works. The music, IMO, has been pretty good up to this point. I definitely think he hasn't hit the highs of his Auteurs stuff, though.

He is probably the best English singer / songwriter that has ever lived and I am sure he will agree with that.

Stopped reading after that.

Impressed that you ploughed on through the reviewer's brave and relevant handling of the subject of Louise Wener's virginity to make it that far

(book kind of sounds like a rejected 33 1/3 pitch going on that description but I might be biased due to how douchey the writer sounds)

Maybe that didn't last forever, but did his fade-out have to be so totally pathetic?

what are you talking about? Off My Rocker At The Art School Bop, Leeds United, Bad Education = great songs.

Impressed that you ploughed on through the reviewer's brave and relevant handling of the subject of Louise Wener's virginity to make it that far

― my curvy girlfriend, who is Columbian, turned to me and said: (DJ Mencap), Thursday, 27 August 2009 18:18 (Yesterday) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

I've seen enough crap written about L.Wener to filter it out, but the way OTTpraise for L.Haines (although to be fair, I know about 2 tracks of his) suggests we have a condescending fanboy of a different hue.

(With supporters like that, who needs crits?)

Off My Rocker At The Art School Bop, Leeds United, Bad Education = great songs.

I don't agree. The music is okay if you like Britpop, but his voice is weak as piss and the lyrics are very poor Denim rip-offs.

http://www.myspace.com/lukehaines

Two new songs streaming.

20th century man would be good if it were about half the length it is...

like Peter Hammil but it might just be because of the title

I like em. All the same, the constant pop culture reference thing is getting a bit tired. He knew how to write a compelling narrative on his first few Auteurs albums, so I wonder why he's stuck in this postmodern art critic phase.

Anyone hear this yet? I sure haven't. Apparently it came out nearly a month ago. Poor Luke.

It's much better than the last one. "Klaus Kinski" and "Love Letter To London" are really lovely songs. The title track is a little off-putting though. Lyrically, it's a combination of a kind of a "We Didn't Start The Fire" list of events with a lot of Haines' self-pity about not making it (which I guess is just part of his persona now). Overall, though, I like this one a lot. Sometimes I wonder if I'm the only living American that owns nearly everything Mr. Haines has ever done.

How about the Achtung Mutha disc? I haven't read anything about it outside of it being "experimental."

I saw him in Bristol the weekend before last in front of a less than impressively sized audience - was fun tho, he did fanboy-pleasing stuff like 'Showgirl' and 'Baader Meinhof' (the song)

I've only heard the 21th Century Man disc, and it's more than great. There are no "Off My Rocker..." and "Leeds United" calibre hits here, but the album is more consistent than the last one. "English Southern Man" is a particularly great song.

I love this!

http://thequietus.com/articles/12458-luke-haines-rock-and-roll-animals-new-album-borderline

Fresh from uncovering the British Isles' alternative history with The North Sea Scrolls last year, former Auteurs and Black Box Recorder man and all-round polymath Luke Haines has announced that he'll be releasing a new album, Rock And Roll Animals on July 29 via Cherry Red.

Rather than trying to explain the album, which contains, among other things, the Angel Of The North and narration from Julia Davis by way of Sham 69 and rockabilly, ourselves, we'll leave it to Haines, who says of the album: "Rock N Roll Animals is a psychedelic story for grown ups (and children). Jimmy Pursey – is a frisky fox; Nick Lowe – a solid badger and Gene Vincent – a cat who's seen a bit more of life than most of us. Three furry freaks. Three Rock n Roll animals. The fable of our four-pawed shamen is narrated by the good folk of Magic Town. This is a story of righteous rock n roll and how our three rock n roll animal friends, when not frolicking in the undergrowth, do battle with their most unrighteous nemesis – a fuck ugly bird (from Tyneside) made of steel and wire called The Angel Of The North.

"So friends, free your minds, turn off your modern scrying screens and turn on your 21st century imaginations. Let us follow the townsfolk into the woods where the rock n roll animals are freaking out and running wild. But remember one thing: Nature is an evil mother."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=FL8pztCWAPA

http://s3.amazonaws.com/quietus_production/images/articles/12458/Luke_Haines_-_Rock_N_Roll_Animals_1370427343_crop_550x550.jpg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6UmoImrp2Hg

^The new single.

I think this top comment might've ruined him for me:

Stewie Griffin, go home, you're drunk

http://drownedinsound.com/releases/17764/reviews/4146664?ticker

Set in an alternative version of Walton-on-Thames called Magic Town, the rock n' roll animals are a righteous group of furry friends who fight for rock justice before taking on their true nemesis, a “fuck ugly bird from Tyneside made of steel and wire called The Angel of the North” (possibly alluding to Haines distaste for modern art). Though it may seem a bit thin a concept for a full album, deeper listens reveal this to be something of a personal ode to Haines' childhood and a means to channel vague memories and thoughts into something fun and engaging.

Clocking in at a meagre 32 minutes, it's a tight, direct listen that cleverly compacts as much depth and replay value as any 70 minute rock opera. If as a parent you play this around kids, it's worth noting there's plenty of caustic volition in Haines lyrics, with traditional kids' TV tropes subverted for your pleasure - “You can come around and help out too/ bring some paint and bring some glue/ we can have a lot of fun/ we can rid the streets of the scum in Magic Town” as heard over a jovial melody in the title track.

The use of the three ageing rock stars for the main characters stems from their connection to Walton-on-Thames, with a generally vague link bringing them all together. Haines has explained Pursey lived near Hersham, Nick Lowe having been born there and apparently Gene Vincent stayed in a B&B near to his old home sometime in 1969. While bearing little relevance to the album's story, it's a sweet idea to bring them together as free spirited animals.

Musically, the album tends to flutter between chamber pop and acoustic rock n'roll, with woodwind, chimes and strings liberally applied throughout and the token hand clap hook first used back on New Wave opener 'Show Girl' even making a welcome appearance.

Surprisingly, one of the biggest stars of the album is comedy actress and writer Julia Davis (Nighty Night, I'm Alan Patridge, Four Lions). By drafting in Davis for narrative duties, there's a sense of cohesion and vision that helps everything hang together nicely. As she interjects throughout the album to keep the listener up to date with the goings on in Magic Town, there's a convincing illusion that this really is a proper kids nursery tale and not a oddball rock n' roll record. Her voice is comforting and strong, quite the opposite to Haines' often precarious rambling.

Even at his most unremarkable, it's difficult to direct criticism at Haines' imagination. He's spent the last decade putting out records about British wrestling, the history of the British Isles and an orchestral reinterpretation of past works. There's countless lines on here you'll muse over for their meaning or simply because they made you smile, the 'righteous/ not righteous' moment in closer 'Rock N' Roll Animals in Space' is a hilarious declaration of the true heroes of Haines' taste, with the likes of Led Zepellin and post Brian Jones' Stones coming off a bit worse for wear - “The Stones without Brian Jones were not righteous even though he was probably evil”.

While occasionally irritating with some songs bordering on uncomfortably twee, this is yet another triumph for Haines' extraordinary ability to put out whatever the fuck he wants. It's not a classic and it won't get him back in the NME, but it'll more than entertain those willing to listen.

Sounds pretty awesome.

http://sabotagetimes.com/music/luke-haines-history-of-rock-n-roll-animals/

Dogs, cats, rabbits, this is all well and good. But where are the pigs and sheep? Sadly, they can be found all over Pink Floyd’s, disastrous 1977 ‘Animals’ album. Roger Waters – the sombre to Syd’s sombrero – makes the dire mistake of dissing our four-legged friends. ‘Sheep’ become Rog’s metaphor for slow witted folk. ‘Pigs’ represent Mary Whitehouse and Thatcher, and ‘Dogs,’ well let’s just say that Roger contributes another rotten – and very long – dog song to the useless canine canon. Roger Waters’ big mistake, (much like Withnails’ with the hare) was to pour scorn on his animal guides. Is it any wonder that his solo career ‘went to the dogs’??

How was his concept album about wrestling?

The wrestling album was great. I don't really like what I've heard from the new one.

I am the only American I know who has even heard of him, let alone actively listens. But he's great.

Fighting In The City Tonight should have been a hit.

I've only heard the single from the new album. It does sound pretty Haines-by-the-numbers, which has been his flaw for a while now. I do wish he could recapture that classic Auteurs sound. He was on a different plane back then, IMO. Something very ethereal and sinister lurked under almost all his songs. Baader Meinhof was an extremely accomplished project as well. I don't really understand what his deal is anymore. He seems to have gone from being the extremely insecure and arrogant to some sort of shambolic ranting madman. That's definitely how his follow-up novel read, and it suffered for it.

And I'm an American that loves Haines. I wrote a very bad college paper on him. Wish I still had it.

His best since the Auteurs IMHO.

"NOT RIGHTEOUS"

The last track rules.

This is probably the worst album he’s put his name to.

Hoped this was hyperbole ... sadly not :(

I'm glad I'm not the only one. I tend to blow with the wind with musicians I like, which isn't to my credit, but I really couldn't force myself to care enough to finish this album after two tries. It's only 29 minutes long, too! I think it's the most tedious thing he's done if you don't count British Nuclear Bunkers, which isn't really comparable.

Anyone heard the electronic album he did that was given away with that magazine? Worth hearing at all?

I still stand by my opinion Baader Meinhof is one of the greatest albums of the '90s (as are the first two Auteurs LPs).

This is the only track from 'Freqs' I've heard/found anywhere: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=usxwY6jfi9Y

An album of that would not be my cup of tea.

Did anyone see what led Luke to delete his twitter? Apparently he got into a flame war with some writer named Mark Beaumont. Everything Luke said is deleted and I’m trying to piece it together.

Seems Beaumont had a major axe to grind and wrote a terrible review of a BBR box set that was just an attack on Luke. Haines tries to one-up him and posts even nastier shit.

https://www.cookdandbombd.co.uk/forums/index.php?topic=67140.0

It’s all here.

That review isn't really a personal attack on Haines though, it mostly criticizes the music.

“Being Luke Haines sucks” is quite an opener.

I don’t feel any sympathy for Luke, mind you. His Twitter feed is one of the saddest around these days.

It’s a poor review and a lot of it is spent attacking Luke’s success. If you want to give a fair three star review, start with Luke’s latest solo dud. BBR didn’t deserve a hatchet job.

http://i64.tinypic.com/b8of0z.jpg
http://i65.tinypic.com/16c2jkm.png

Beaumont wouldn’t have written such a vitriolic review if he wasn’t so moneumentally butthurt over Haines’ anti-NME remarks in the pub wake of its closure

He's a pretty easy target, though. Dude has reacted similarly to other negative reviews. I don't think he should be as opinionated as he is if he can't handle a little heat in his direction. That Beaumont review is complete shit (BBR were a great act, and the review is full of ad hominem bs including remarks about album sales), but I could Luke writing something equally as petty and vindictive. His Twitter had also devolved into a suffocatingly negative and sad little outpost on the internet. If something's acclaimed or popular, Luke hates it and he's here to tell you why!

I agree with every single word of that Mark Beaumont review.

excuse me, i’m just savouring the idea of ‘attacking luke’s success’

Would 'limited success' have sufficed?

Yeah, what success? As far as I'm concerned, he was more famous for going ballistic at artists that had (and deserved) more success than him, music journalists and sometimes members of his own band. It certainly had dick-all to do with his music, which sold to next to nobody even when his career was at its peak. Beaumont is right - those that have enabled Haines to have a career in music have given him far more time and opportunities that deserves, the guy is known for having a bit of an attitude problem, and it's 2018 and no fucker is going to buy this box set.

*that=than he.

I don't see what any of that has to do with the music Black Box Recorder made.

I was responding to your idea that the review was an "attack" on "Luke's success" - of course Beaumont also wrote about the music, and he was also OTM about that - in fact "bloodless Bontempi Tindersticks" couldn't be more accurate.

Haines was about the only thing I like about Twitter. I always felt there was something a bit pantomime about his ultra-elitist schtick, and yet it gets taken ultra-seriously.

I take it at face value, as someone Luke blocked for making a rather innocuous comment. He seems terribly thin skinned.

https://bigtakeover.com/news/SongPremiereJackParsonsbyLukeHainesPeterBuck

Musical luminaries Luke Haines and Peter Buck have joined up on a new album titled Beat Poetry For Suvivalists that will arrive on March 6th of next year via Ominivore Recordings.

That’s right – You read it here first – Quite an unlikely, but very welcome, pairing between Haines (who is also a visual artist), the acerbic mastermind and guitarist behind the UK’s pre-Brit-pop indie pop-rock band The Auteurs, and Buck, the guitarist extraordinaire of US indie (and, then, well, not-so-indie) band R.E.M..

In an interesting turn of events that led to the formation of this collaboration, one day Buck bought one of Haines’ paintings of Lou Reed. They had never met before, but decided that the fates had brought them together and they should write some songs together and make an album.

Beat Poetry For Survivalists is that album. It features songs about legendary rocket scientist and occultist Jack Parsons (The Enfield Hauntings, 1978), a post-apocalyptic radio station that only plays Donovan records, Bigfoot, and Pol Pot.

The Big Takeover is delighted to host the exclusive premiere of said “Jack Parsons,” a quirky and shambling track that runs on trippy psych-guitar squelch and chime and a plethora of sounds that flit in and out of the song.

“Jack Parsons” (the song, not the man) is filled with clacking to frittering percussion, twisty space noises, harmonica reverb, and found sound clips – and of course dashingly delivered stream-of-consciousness lyrics that are just as diverse and divertingly dented as the sound. One wonders what to think of the celebrated Parsons now after listening to this striking odd-pop track…

Not that bad, surprisingly.

Cautiously optimistic about this new thing.

Here's an interview with Luke & Peter Buck:

http://www.pennyblackmusic.co.uk/MagSitePages/Article/9531/Luke-Haines-and-Peter-Buck-Interview

REM were unbelievably dull, so I am not optimistic

He hasn't made a great album in a while, but the reviews for the new one sound encouraging. On the other hand, they all seem to follow a similar template through the years: "THE DEVIOUS MADMAN OF BRITPOP BOMBTHROWER IS HERE TO DETONATE ANOTHER BOMB ON THE INDUSTRY!" or some such, with some references to a twisted lyric or two.

https://www.albumoftheyear.org/album/348568-luke-haines-setting-the-dogs-on-the-post-punk-postman.php

In any case, I like the album cover and the name quite a bit. It's funny.

https://cdn2.albumoftheyear.org/500x/album/348568-setting-the-dogs-on-the-post-punk-postman.jpg

*giggle*

Ooh, thanks for the heads up! Despite being an American who missed some of his more obscure (to me, anyway) references, I used to be a huge Haines fan—dug the solo albums, shelled out for all the Auteurs LPs on vinyl. I lost interest with the wrestling LP, though; his m.o. seemed like diminishing returns, and while this usually don’t affect my opinion of an artist’s work, I came across his Twitter and he seemed dickish in a very petty way, rather than “amusing misanthrope” à la his book. I’ll probably give this a spin for nostalgia’s sake, though, as I pulled out Baader-Meinhoff recently and still loved.

Wow, looking at Discogs, I hadn’t realized how many albums I missed since 2011.

Out of his post-11 releases, I suggest the Buck collaboration. Probably his best since the wrestling album.

Avoid:

Sometimes I Dream of Glue - weird in a bad way. It’s about horny figurines or some such nonsense; songs sound like they were written by a computer with Luke Haines AI

British Nuclear Bunkers - sounds like he bought his first keyboard and thought noodling was enough for his loyal fans

New ones out.

His best melodies and songs in years.

Genuinely great release.

There is a song where he keeps saying he wants to bury his face between a woman's breasts and legs, numerous times. That one's not so good.

"I don't want to be buried in the garden / Unless it's the garden beneath your belly / in between your legs"

lol.

He sounds kind of happy on the album. I think that's why I like it.

https://www.brooklynvegan.com/the-auteurs-luke-haines-r-e-m-s-peter-buck-prep-all-the-kids-are-super-bummed-out-stream-a-track/

New album is another vast step up. Makes so much difference when he's working with other (enthusiastic) musicians.

It is great. He’s clearly having fun and very inspired by the partnership.

I’ve played it front to back several times and it’s LONG. This rules, quite honestly. Hope they keep at it.

He’s gotten a bit of an MES affectation to his singing-uh.