{"id":546,"date":"2011-06-23T05:14:49","date_gmt":"2011-06-23T10:14:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/?p=546"},"modified":"2011-06-23T05:14:49","modified_gmt":"2011-06-23T10:14:49","slug":"album-review-alternative-tv-black-and-white-live","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/2011\/06\/23\/album-review-alternative-tv-black-and-white-live\/","title":{"rendered":"Album Review: Alternative TV – Black and White Live"},"content":{"rendered":"

I like bootlegs. There\u2019s something about the raw, unvarnished immediacy of a live recording that often captures the essence of a performance. Now, I understand that \u2013 for a wide variety of reasons (with varying degrees of merit) \u2013 some artists oppose the practice of bootlegging. And that is their right.<\/p>\n

Some artists, however, embrace the warts-and-all aesthetic. They say, in effect: here it is, and you may take it or leave it. Mark Perry<\/strong> of Alternative TV<\/strong> is one of these characters. The album Black and White: Live<\/em> is essentially an authorized bootleg compilation. As Perry explains in the CD\u2019s liner notes, nearly all of the twenty-one tracks were recorded by \u201cminidisk or the good old cassette walkman. No mixes, no overdubs, no mucking about.\u201d<\/p>\n

The results are impressive. Decidedly lo-fi, the tracks nonetheless convey the power of a live Alternative TV set. Stripped of artifice and polish, they present the songs in a manner that\u2019s \u2013 when you get right down to it \u2013 close to what would have entered your ears had you been there. It\u2019s no exaggeration to suggest that a more polished recording would have a lower energy level.<\/p>\n

With his thick working-class British accent, Perry leads his band through what are essentially a bunch of sneering pop songs. Blasting out of the gate with the anthemic \u201cViva La Rock N Roll,\u201d the band takes no prisoners. They\u2019re not up on that stage to impress, perhaps, but rather to simply do their thing. You can take it or leave it.<\/p>\n

The sturdy pop songs are delivered without calling much attention to any hooks they might have; instead buzzing, distorted guitar chords plow through the verses and choruses. The effect is something halfway between, say, the Sex Pistols<\/strong> and the Mekons<\/strong>. If that strikes you as a bit abrasive, best look elsewhere for your entertainment.<\/p>\n

Those who stick around will be rewarded with a tasty assortment of ATV originals and some off-the-beaten-path covers. How else to characterize \u201cWhy Don\u2019t You Do Me Right,\u201d a Frank Zappa<\/strong> song so obscure it didn\u2019t appear on an album until appended to the CD version of The Mothers<\/strong>‘ Absolutely Free<\/em>? (They also cover \u201cPlastic People\u201d from that LP). Ditto for The Ramones<\/strong>\u2019 \u201cNow I Wanna Sniff Some Glue,\u201d presented in a version that answers the question, \u201cWhat would the Sex Pistols sound like covering the Ramones?\u201d (Well, the Pistols if they could\u2019ve played a bit better.)<\/p>\n

There\u2019s plenty of sonic variation on the disc, however; it\u2019s not all distorted guitars. \u201cNasty Little Lonely\u201d features what sounds like some spooky flute work, staking out a vibe not altogether unlike Legendary Pink Dots<\/strong> crossed with Black Sabbath<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Black and White: Live<\/em> is a speedy trip through the history of Alternative TV; Perry sums it up as well as anyone in the liners when he writes, \u201cViva La Rock \u2018n\u2019 Roll \u2013 as raw as you can make it.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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I like bootlegs. There\u2019s something about the raw, unvarnished immediacy of a live recording that often captures the essence of a performance. Now, I understand that \u2013 for a wide […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[65],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-546","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-review","cat-65-id"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/546","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=546"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/546\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=546"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=546"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=546"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}