The Duckworth Lewis Method

pinksoir

Neil Hannon and Thomas Walsh's (Pugwash) new group. Brilliant. It's all cricket...

http://www.myspace.com/dlmethod

Read about them in Uncut, but didn't listen til today. very, very good. Lovers of either The Divine Comedy or Pugwash, or both, won't be disappointed!

loveissucide

Good stuff.Really was damn time Hannon dropped the Divine Comedy act,it'd worn thin.

AnonoBoy

Their songs certainly do get stuck in one's noggin alright.

pinksoir

AnonoBoy wrote: »

Their songs certainly do get stuck in one's noggin alright.

Yeah, The Age Of Revolution is particularly sweet. Though the other two are great too.

mosstin

pinksoir wrote: »

Neil Hannon and Thomas Walsh's (Pugwash) new group. Brilliant. It's all cricket...

http://www.myspace.com/dlmethod

Read about them in Uncut, but didn't listen til today. very, very good. Lovers of either The Divine Comedy or Pugwash, or both, won't be disappointed!

Frivolous novelty pop ****e. It's a ridiculously pointless record.

pinksoir

What's the point in any record? Yeah, it's frivolous, but why is that a bad thing per se?

mosstin

pinksoir wrote: »

What's the point in any record? Yeah, it's frivolous, but why is that a bad thing per se?

Um, to make something meaningful for one. There are a plethora of other reasons but that's got to be the starting point. This is the most meaningless release of the year. It's the aural equivalent of lighting farts.

loveissucide

It's Neil Hannon.What do you expect?
Casanova is a tacky pop album that somehow also functions as a satire on male sexism, so I've high hopes for this.

mosstin

loveissucide wrote: »

It's Neil Hannon.What do you expect?
Casanova is a tacky pop album that somehow also functions as a satire on male sexism, so I've high hopes for this.

Neil Hannon has written some wonderful records - Liberation and Promenade are probably his finest. He's written some great songs of late also - 'A Lady of a Certain Age' for one. Comparing this to Casanova is well off the mark. Completely different records both with regard to intent and the finished product.

mike65

Will check them out, any act named after the method of caulcuating the target score for an interrupted game of limited overs cricket must have something going for it.

pinksoir

mosstin wrote: »

Um, to make something meaningful for one. There are a plethora of other reasons but that's got to be the starting point. This is the most meaningless release of the year. It's the aural equivalent of lighting farts.

Well, as with anything, the only meaning is that which you ascribe to it. I have a feeling that you would find it pretty hard to pinpoint exactly what it is that gives one record meaning over another.

I guess I share some of their musical sensibilities, so that's why I like it. No interest in the theme though, cricket is an incredibly boring subject matter, though I suppose the fact that I can quite easily sit through a few songs about it is testament to their songwriting abilities...

Not all music has to be 'high art'. I agree with you that it's frivolous and a novelty record, but there is some nice production, melodies and occasionally funny lyrics. Some nice little touches.

It is what it is. I wouldn't for a second compare it with anything by the Beatles or Radiohead or anything, but it serves it's purpose as a short distraction from banal everyday existence. And at the root of it, isn't that pop music's basic purpose?

I'd be interested in hearing some more of your reasons for the point of records in general. I more or less see them as predominantly outlets for artists' egos, and more often than not an exercise in self absorption. The fact that we get enjoyment out of them is a nice little by-product, incidental as it is. I mean, isn't the worst music that which is written for a particular audience as opposed to music written as some sort of personal exploration. I would find it incredibly hard to believe that Thom Yorke writes a song thinking "Yeah, this'll sell".

mosstin

pinksoir wrote: »

Well, as with anything, the only meaning is that which you ascribe to it. I have a feeling that you would find it pretty hard to pinpoint exactly what it is that gives one record meaning over another.

I guess I share some of their musical sensibilities, so that's why I like it. No interest in the theme though, cricket is an incredibly boring subject matter, though I suppose the fact that I can quite easily sit through a few songs about it is testament to their songwriting abilities...

Not all music has to be 'high art'. I agree with you that it's frivolous and a novelty record, but there is some nice production, melodies and occasionally funny lyrics. Some nice little touches.

It is what it is. I wouldn't for a second compare it with anything by the Beatles or Radiohead or anything, but it serves it's purpose as a short distraction from banal everyday existence. And at the root of it, isn't that pop music's basic purpose?

I'd be interested in hearing some more of your reasons for the point of records in general. I more or less see them as predominantly outlets for artists' egos, and more often than not an exercise in self absorption. The fact that we get enjoyment out of them is a nice little by-product, incidental as it is. I mean, isn't the worst music that which is written for a particular audience as opposed to music written as some sort of personal exploration. I would find it incredibly hard to believe that Thom Yorke writes a song thinking "Yeah, this'll sell".

Ok, you wouldn't compare it to, say The Beatles or Raidohead but equally there's no way I'd compare this drivel even to anything Hannon recorded with The Divine Comedy. I'm not trying to be high-browed about this at all - I'm all for frivolity within records, just not records that have frivolity as their ultimate goal. Ultimately it's just a ****e concept and an even worse album - two lads getting together 'Hey wouldn't it be funny if we recorded an album about cricket?'.
As regards the point of music in general, it differs for different folk. I don't see records as outlets for artists' egos though. Perhaps for some of them that's the case, but I'm guessing that a few of them (he says optimistically) simply have to get songs/arrangements/melodies etc out of their collective systems. It's as much a release or catharsis as it is a desire for profit. And you can frequently tell that by listening to the words/music etc.
Radiohead are a good example. 'OK Computer' is oft cited as one of the greatest albums of all time etc etc and the direction they took after that with Kid A/Amnesiac is lauded as a band with a true artistic vision determined to alientae the audience they'd gained with OK and to slay the beast they'd created. But I don't see it like that. Isn't it possible that Kid A was the only record Radiohead could possibly make after OK? Given the fact that the band have subsequently mentioned that they listened to lots of Autechre amongst others at the time they recorded Kid A, weren't the band merely being true to themselves? For them, OK Mark II would have been illogical, something Coldplay or even Kings of Leon seem quite happy to be of late in order to shift truckloads of 'units'. The fact that Kid A made Number 1 in the States of all places can scarcely be put down to a KOL-esque desire to create 'big' music.
Um, what was the question again?!
Have I mentioned that I dislike the new DL Method record?

pinksoir

mosstin wrote: »

Ok, you wouldn't compare it to, say The Beatles or Raidohead but equally there's no way I'd compare this drivel even to anything Hannon recorded with The Divine Comedy. I'm not trying to be high-browed about this at all - I'm all for frivolity within records, just not records that have frivolity as their ultimate goal. Ultimately it's just a ****e concept and an even worse album - two lads getting together 'Hey wouldn't it be funny if we recorded an album about cricket?'.

I think this is where we differ. I agree with your point about it being a **** concept (cricket), that being said I think there are some good song ideas there, unfortunately enough it's tied in with lyrics about cricket, but still, melody and arrangement wise I reckon it's spot on. I'll concede that music is much more fulfilling if it combines great lyrics with great music, though.

As regards the point of music in general, it differs for different folk. I don't see records as outlets for artists' egos though. Perhaps for some of them that's the case, but I'm guessing that a few of them (he says optimistically) simply have to get songs/arrangements/melodies etc out of their collective systems. It's as much a release or catharsis as it is a desire for profit. And you can frequently tell that by listening to the words/music etc.

Sure. But why is it that artists feel that need for expression? What is it that makes them feel that their particular views or ideas carry such significance? At the very least it's the ego working subconsciously. As for the idea of catharsis over profit - you're right. It's easy to cite examples of successful bands, but the truth is, the vast majority of musicians, and indeed artists in general, scrape by for their whole life. Profit, if it comes at all, is a happy by-product that is very much secondary to the act of creating and hopefully adding something to public consciousness in as small or big a way as is possible.

Radiohead are a good example. 'OK Computer' is oft cited as one of the greatest albums of all time etc etc and the direction they took after that with Kid A/Amnesiac is lauded as a band with a true artistic vision determined to alientae the audience they'd gained with OK and to slay the beast they'd created. But I don't see it like that. Isn't it possible that Kid A was the only record Radiohead could possibly make after OK? Given the fact that the band have subsequently mentioned that they listened to lots of Autechre amongst others at the time they recorded Kid A, weren't the band merely being true to themselves? For them, OK Mark II would have been illogical, something Coldplay or even Kings of Leon seem quite happy to be of late in order to shift truckloads of 'units'. The fact that Kid A made Number 1 in the States of all places can scarcely be put down to a KOL-esque desire to create 'big' music.

Radiohead strike me as a group that have very little interest in popularity, whereas KOL announced that they wanted to be the next arena-filling U2 successors. Like you say, Kid A was the only album they could make at that point in time. In doing so they alienated a lot of fans, in much the same way Lennon alienated fans with his first few post Beatles albums. I'm pretty sure both gained new fans in the process, but this was never the aim. It was just something they had to do. Pure self indulgence, mind. Though I don't mean that in any negative sense.

Um, what was the question again?!
Have I mentioned that I dislike the new DL Method record?

DL Method record? Oh, yeah. EDIT: You do seem disproportionately aggrieved by the record though. Having an idea of what Thomas Walsh is like (he's all about the music, though has never been commercially successful), I really don't think it's a cynical attempt to cash in on the Cricket Wold Cup or something. Yeah the lyrics are ultimately vacuous, but they're light hearted vehicles for some nice pop tunes.

AnonoBoy

mosstin wrote: »

This is the most meaningless release of the year.

In Neil Hannon's own words it's: "The least essential album of all time."

Doesn't mean it's any less catchy because of that.

Nallandnanyways

mosstin wrote: »

Frivolous novelty pop ****e. It's a ridiculously pointless record.

Yeah, brilliant, eh?

It was jiggery pokery, trickery, chokery,
how did he open me up,
Robbery, muggery,
Aussie skull-duggery,
Out for a buggering duck,
What a delivery,
I might as well have been,
holding a concert bassoon,
Jiggery Pokery who was this nobody
making me look a buffoon

Fantastically ridicuous lyrics!

mosstin wrote: »

Neil Hannon has written some wonderful records - Liberation and Promenade are probably his finest. He's written some great songs of late also - 'A Lady of a Certain Age' for one. Comparing this to Casanova is well off the mark. Completely different records both with regard to intent and the finished product.

Exactly. Shows he's capable of not taking himself too seriously. There might be a lesson in there for others

Oh and by the way, the contructs of "A Lady of a Certain Age" and "Jiggery Pokery" are actually very similar.

ludwit

Iif someone is going to write a frivolous song about cricket they may as well put some effort into it like DLM have.

Propellerhead

Well, I love it and its a bloody good two fingers to the more precious among us in this country who claim they hate cricket without knowing even the first thing about it.

ZappaFrank

Brilliant Album!!!

Tower Records

They were in-store last week, we got them on tape.
Look out for National Express cutting off Neil Hannon as he is about to tell us why he loves Tower so much, he made a quick getaway after that.

DL Method on Muzu

Dan Dare

Excellent Album and a very nice cover as well!

loveissucide

Big fan of Divine Comedy.
Where to start with the mighty Pugwash?

Dan Dare

Neil Hannon and Thomas Walsh were on TMS at lunchtime and interviewed by Jonathan Agnew and they played live, yes, "Test Match Special".

1969 Records

2 Pugwash albums, Eleven Modern Antiquities and Jollity are available on www.1969records.com or in record shops.

a new compilation Giddy, is coming in the Autumn on APE Music, a UK label.

Skid

Dan Dare wrote: »

Neil Hannon and Thomas Walsh were on TMS at lunchtime and interviewed by Jonathan Agnew and they played live, yes, "Test Match Special".

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00lpkhj/Test_Match_Special_16_07_2009/


It's on the iplayer now, available until next Wednesday.
Scroll to about 2 mins 54.

Neil Hannon describes it as "The greatest moment of my life"!

loyatemu

had a listen to it on Spotify - good fun, some nice tunes, not sure I'll listen to it much... much like the Divine Comedy really

Xavi6

Fantastic record!

The lyrics and subject matter are absolute genius. The songs are irritatingly catchy yet captivating at the same time.

Massive thumbs up from.

Skid

SkidMark wrote: »

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00lpkhj/Test_Match_Special_16_07_2009/


It's on the iplayer now, available until next Wednesday.
Scroll to about 2 mins 54.

Neil Hannon describes it as "The greatest moment of my life"!

That should say 2 hours 54 mins, sorry. Too late to edit the previous post.

thebossanova

DLM played an acoustic song on Newstalk106 last week, as well as an interview. Was very good. Neil is really into his cricket, as you would have to be to write an entire album about it! Can't remember the show. Might have been a Saturday with Brenda something...