Luke Haines: 21st Century Man/Achtung Mutha

http://lukehaines.co.uk/images/haines.jpg

Celebrated Britpop pioneer Luke Haines is due to release his latest solo album '21st Century Man' later this year.

As lead singer with The Auteurs, Luke Haines helped craft the template for Britpop. Emerging from a formative London music scene Haines led the way with his blend of 60s pop, glam and more with a uniquely British outlook.

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.

Since then, Haines has lain low. Though lost to British music he announced his return earlier this year with the publication of his memoirs. A scabrous assault on British music in the mid 90s, the book sparked much media debate.

With his profile now higher than it has been for almost a decade, Luke Haines has decided to put his music where his mouth is. After slating Pulp, Blur, Oasis and more in his book the songwriter has a lot to live up too...

Not much has been heard of Luke Haines new album '21st Century Man' which is due to be released on November 2nd. Track titles mooted for the record include 'Peter Hammill', 'Klaus Kinski', 'Our Man in Buenos Aires' and 'Suburban Mourning'.

The album is due to be released on CD and download, as well as a limited edition digi-pack complete with a nine-track bonus album, 'Achtung Mutha'.

Luke Haines is set to release his new album '21st Century Man' on November 2nd. The singer has confirmed the following tour dates"

Listening to Now I'm a Cowboy. As good as ever. "The Upper Classes" foreva.

2009 and with the release of 21st Century Man, Luke Haines has finally cemented his place as one of the greatest English contemporary songwriters. He may be equally at home writing about teenage sex, terrorism, pop/film stars, child murder or broken love affairs but he’s excelled himself on this, his fifteenth album as a principal songwriter. Essentially an album about “wilful exiles” (of which, Haines is surely one, tracks like Peter Hammill (“Gotta get myself together/Just like Peter Hammill”) and Klaus Kinski (“went back to Germany after the war”) indicate a rare warmth for their subject matter whereas Suburban Mourning is surely the best song Black Box Recorder never recorded. How can you not love an artist who one minute sounds like John Lydon on Wot A Rotter and the next has you thinking you’ve turned up in an episode of The Sweeney on Our Man In Buenos Aires, a song, no doubt, about Nazis on the run? (Incidentally, Haines recently told a journalist he had moved to Buenos Aires only for one paper to immediately report his emigration as fact.) And how can you not love an artist that comes up with a title like Russian Futurists Black Out The Sun as if it is the most normal thing in the world? The album’s title track - clever, poignant, funny and sad – is set to go down as Haines’ swansong as well as one of the finest songs of this or any other year. “Suzy Lamplugh disappeared/David Bowie lost if for years/Died a death in the slap-bass phase/Everybody else died of Aids” intones Haines in apocalyptic mantra, before concluding that “I was all over the ‘90s/I was all over in the ‘90s” and “I’m gonna die in the 21st Century ‘cos I’m a 21st Century Man.”

Luke Haines releases 21st Century Man as a limited edition digi-

Sorry for the spread of posts. I never know where this info is going to pop up.

Since then, Haines has lain low. Though lost to British music he announced his return earlier this year

Isn't this his 5th solo album this decade? lol press releases

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.

Really?

Yeah, I don't think that's true. I have no recollection of her involvement.

They just misspelled theaudience.

I liked "Off My Rocker At The Art School Bop" from a few years ago, was meaning to check this guy out

Must be confusing Sophie EB with Sarah Nixey

A Luke Haines song about Peter Hammill? The word "parasite" comes to mind. I cannot stand Haines or his music, he is far too sneering, pompous and pleased with himself for my liking, plus his music has an emotional distance and coldness to it that I find very unpleasant indeed.

They just misspelled theaudience.

So did theaudience...

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

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.

Clash Magazine: still worth every penny of the taxpayers' money
...“The Facts of Life” by Black Box Recorder, a late 90s project helmed by ... based around the sex appeal and vocals of Sophie Ellis Bextor, ...
ichlugebullets.wordpress.com/.../clash-magazine-still-worth-every-penny-of-the-taxpayers-money/ - 15 hours ago - Similar -

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

^^^^^^^

Yes so good.

Has anyone heard this one yet?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=usxwY6jfi9Y

Can't seem to find it anywhere.

Wasn't that a freebie on the cover of 'Electronic Sound' magazine? Don't think it's getting a proper release.

Yes. Haven't managed to find the freebie available for purchase *used* or download anywhere. I mean based on that song I probably don't need to hear it, but I'm always curious.

New album is a 'concept album' about horny miniatures that sniff glue or something.

It kind of sounds like the animals album.

Not a patch on an Auteurs, BBR or the Baader Meinhof album, unfortunately.

I'm afraid the man's lost it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qEqRi5AFimI

I have this sense of him just laying down his famous whisper vocals for 12 or 13 tracks without any backing and then just writing a bunch of generic music when he wants to throw out a new album. The new songs never have any personality.

This is probably the worst album he’s put his name to. Listening to it is an excruciating experience for me. Seems most music journalists still seem to give him the benefit of the doubt and rate his new ones well, but I promise you this is one truly hideous album.

Gave it a quick listen. Same old really. Doesn't strike me as any worse than the usual fare. I definitely preferred it when he was less prolific but there were albums of the standard of Off My Rocker and 21st Century Man to look forward to.

It sounds like a watered down version of Rock and Roll animals, but sickeningly cynical and vulgar, with little thought for actual songwriting. I miss the Luke that wrote an album of songs rather than a single concept buoyed by featureless music.

He said in an interview when Smash The System came out something about his approach to songwriting these days where he said he kind of dials it in, with it being his job. Tried to find it there for the exact words, but couldn't get it on google.

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.