Paul Schiernecker

Author: Paul

  • Music Jar – week 9

    Names go into jar. Hand goes into jar. One winner appears (each week).
    This week was the turn of the real (Canadian) People’s Princess, Alanis Morissette.

    What I Knew Before: I knew Jagged Little Pill very well. I could shout a lot of the lyrics at you when drunk. I also knew that people like to pick Ironic apart like they know better
    What I Know Now: There is a lot more to Alanis than the album that I knew and loved. I’d never dipped in any further and it just so happens that her new single, Smiling came out at the start of the week. It’s her live performances that really take the biscuit though – Live At Montreux 2012 and Unplugged are another level entirely.
    Favourite song(s): Front Row, All I Really Want, Hand In My Pocket, You Learn, 21 Things I Want in a Lover,
    Favourite album: JLP, every time.

    Oh, I’ve also learnt to spell Morissette.

  • Music Jar – week 8

    Inspired by The Larson House, I put 52 bands/artists in a pickle jar. Each week I take a name out and focus on listening to them.
    This week was the turn of empirical sad girl, Lana Del Rey.

    What I Knew Before: Lana Del Rey is a mystical and beautiful beast who has a significant number of albums I hadn’t heard. I associated her music with a girl I was seeing for a while. There are memories around her first album, but they aren’t necessarily negative.
    What I Know Now: I’m in the same mind but aware I have been missing out on everything Lana has done since I was into Born To Die.
    Favourite song(s): Video Games will always have a special place in my heart but I also really like Venice Bitch, Summertime Sadness, Shades Of Cool and Fuck it I love you.
    Favourite album: Born To Die but with a special commendation to Norman Fucking Rockwell.

  • Music Jar – Week 7

    After reading about a project by The Larson House, I put the names of 52 bands/artists in a pickle jar. Each week I listen to one in the hope of finding new favourites and eventually, the leap home.
    This week was the turn of the thinking woman’s crumpet, Guy Garvey, and his sticky wicket band, Elbow.

    What I Knew Before: I have seen Elbow. I’ve been in their presence. At a Muse show in 2002 (approx), they were the support group. In a review I wrote for my student paper, I described the lead singer as “Samwise Gamgee with a capo”. That certainly hasn’t changed. I also think they played at Glastonbury for one of the years I was there. I don’t know if I saw them, which says a lot.
    I knew all the big songs. The ones that get played at festivals stuck in a perpetual sunset. The big choruses that everyone sings and that bit that goes BAAUUU BAAAU BUM BUM BAAA BAAAU BUM.
    I also remembered that they did an M&S version of Golden Slumbers that people got really mad about but which I quite enjoyed.
    What I Know Now: In the words of Talking Heads, I suppose it’s the same as it ever was. I enjoyed the earlier stuff more, almost found it to be diminishing returns as far as albums go. Saying that, Giants Of All Sizes (2019) sees something wonderful back in the fray.
    Favourite song(s): Anyone who says their favourite Elbow song isn’t Grounds For Divorce needs their head examined.
    Favourite album: I hate to say, I was into this band before they were cool but Asleep In The Back is probably the most interesting album they’ve put out. My opinion isn’t going to diminish the astounding career that they’ve had, it’s just not 100% my cup of grease.

  • Music Jar – Week 6

    Inspired by The Larson House, I am picking a band or artist I certainly should know a hell of a lot better out of a pickle jar and listening to their back catalogue for a week.
    This week, it was the turn of sexy Parisians, Nouvelle Vague. I didn’t think I knew the new and the recommendation came courtesy of my good friend Lefteris. I would like to take this opportunity to apologise to Stephanie, who had definitely sent me a number of their songs in the past. The name clearly hadn’t stuck.

    What I Knew Before: Possibly, very little. As I will detail, a number of their songs were immediately recognisable for tow reasons. The first is that they cover a lot of immediately recognisable rock songs in a swing/bossa nova style. The second is that their music is everywhere. You may not have realised it. i know I certainly hadn’t.
    What I Know Now: All of their music sounds like it should be on a soundtrack for a film that I want to write. It’s very cool and effortlessly sexy. Some of their covers are arguably better than the original. I would certainly rather get down to the Nouvelle Vague version of Too Drunk To Fuck.
    Favourite song(s): Guns Of Brixton, Ever Fallen In Love, Too Drunk To Fuck.
    Favourite album: This is tough. They’re all very good. The weak one is probably Version Francaise for me for that’s just my take. Bande a Part is the best.

  • Music Jar – Week 5

    This week, I pulled LA rock duo, Best Coast from the pickle jar. I dedicated seven days to them, which as luck would have it, ended with the release of their new album, Always Tomorrow.

    What I Knew Before: I knew there were two of them. I knew that they were a band who were around when I had some idea about music, when I prided myself on it, in fact. They seemed cool and aloof and kind of surf music-y and I was there for that. I remembered there was a cat on the cover of their first album.
    What I Know Now: As advised by my good friend Luke Stephen, who recommended they be included in the project, they’re often overlooked but are a solid band with four albums (now) under their belt. There is a lot to dig into here, which has been a nice break from the last two weeks where it was a more intense listen to one or two albums.
    Favourite song(s): Boyfriend (because it’s track one on Crazy For You (the cat album)), Happy, Dreaming My Life Away, Heaven Sent (which has a Nirvana vibe), Jealousy and This Lonely Morning.
    Favourite album: Weirdly, the album I enjoyed the most was a seven track EP, Fade Away, released in 2013 and buried in their Spotify page. There’s something musically and cosmically urgent about the songs featured there and I was all for it.

  • Music Jar – Week 4

    No two weeks are the same, whether you work as a bailiff or if you’ve put fifty-two slips of paper in a pickle jar. This week, I am the latter, and I picked Kiwi goth kid sister, Lorde.

    What I Knew Before: I was familiar with Lorde. I had listened to Pure Heroine, seen her perform All Apologies with Kim Gordon, St Vincent, Pat Smear, Krist Novoselic and Dave Grohl and am well aware that she’s actually a character that Randy Marsh created.
    What I Know Now: Pretty much that, but also that she is fucking rad and I was definitely overlooking her as an artist. On top of the brilliant Pure Heroine, there is also Melodrama (2017) which may be even better.
    It also reminded me that several years ago, I was away on a tall ship for ten days and as a group we covered Royals. Every time I listen to it, I can hear the screeching teenagers I was trapped with.
    Favourite Song(s): Royals, White Teeth Teens, Homemade Dynamite, Liability (which has the same vocal melody as Welcome To The Black Parade) and Supercut.
    Favourite Album: This is tough. It’s like choosing a favourite child. I would have to say that my favourite one is the one who will look after me in my old age, and that’s likely to be Melodrama.

  • Music Jar – Week 3

    Every week, I open up a pickle jar, take out a slip of paper and listen to that artist.
    This week it was the turn of Brighton Rock rockers, Black Honey.

    What I Knew Before: I knew the two words separately, but I don’t believe I had seem them working together.
    What I Know Now: Black Honey are a four-piece rock group from Brighton, England. The band is composed of lead singer and guitarist Izzy Baxter Phillips, guitarist Chris Ostler, bassist Tommy Taylor, and drummer Tom Dewhurst (thanks Wikipedia, here’s $5).
    Favourite Song(s): Corrine, I Only Hurt The Ones I Love and Midnight.
    Favourite Album: Black Honey were a recommendation from my friend Sarah at work. A lot of the other artists I have gone for are legacy and have a wealthy discography. Black Honey have one album, just one, it’s self-titled and it’s available as a (Deluxe) edition of 21 songs. That, my friend, is my favourite.

  • Music Jar – Week 2

    Each week, a different artist comes out of the jar and I listen to them solidly.
    This week it was the turn of duelling guitar aficionados, Thin Lizzy.

    What I Knew Before: My dad had Jailbreak on vinyl when I was a kid so I knew those songs better than I knew how to spell my own surname. It’s also very confusing that the opening lyric of the album “tonight there’s gonna be a jailbreak, somewhere in this town” is confusing because there’s only one place a jailbreak can take place, and that’s at the jail.

    What I Know Now: Phil Lynott was an incredible figure in rock ‘n’ roll and was unashamedly himself. He could party better than a lot of them and his songwriting is on another level.
    They went through a Spinal Tapian number of band members, particularly guitarists.
    Thin Lizzy pioneered/popularised the harmonised guitar sound for which they are known.
    Their work gets really interesting from 1974 onwards when they added a second guitarist because Phil decided it would be a good backup for when one of them quit. This became the sound for which they are known and during this period they produced my favourite albums of theirs (Jailbreak, Bad Reputation, Black Rose)
    This documentary is very important:

    Favourite Song(s): Cowboy, Whiskey In The Jar, Dancing In The Moonlight.
    Favourite Album(s): Bad Reputation, Jailbreak, Black Rose.

    My thanks to Sarah for the recommendation.

  • Music Jar – Week 1

    Each week, I pull a new artist from the jar and listen to their stuff.
    This week it was the turn of stomp-feet extraordinaries, The Lumineers.

    What I Knew Before: They played at some point during a Glastonbury I was at. I was on a massive comedown and someone told me the lead singer had tiny eyes. That and the Hey Ho song that my friend had as the first dance at his wedding.
    What I Know Now: The lead singer looks a bit like Father John Misty and all the band dress really nicely.
    A lot of their songs are girls’ names.
    Favourite Song: Ophelia.
    Favourite Album: III

  • The Music Jar.

    I can’t claim this idea as my own, as much as I would like to. It originally came from The Larson House and even finding that can be placed at Jazmine’s feet. My Spotify artist of the decade was The Beatles. There’s nothing wrong with that but I know I am missing out on listening to a lot of other artists because I’m stuck in an indie rut where I loop through Arcade Fire, Father John Mistry, Bright Eyes, Arctic Monkeys etc.
    The aim is to select the names of 52 bands or artists I feel I should know more about, place them in a jar and pick out one a week to listen to.
    My list is:
    Temples, Blanhavon, No Doubt, Pearl Jam, Post Malone, Mexrissey, Nouvelle Vague, Van Morrison, Leonard Cohen, Madrugada, Tom Petty, Prince, Thin Lizzy, The Distillers, Fall Out Boy, Lizzo, Alanis Morrisette, Death Cab For Cutie, Joni Mitchell, Sara Bareilles, Kacey Musgraves, David Gray, Elbow, The Lumineers, Black Honey, The Big Moon, Wolf Alice, Anna Calvi, Jessie Ware, Warpaint, Sam Fender, St Thomas, Brockhampton, FKA Twigs, Childish Gambino, Lana Del Rey, Lorde, Charli XCX, St Vincent, Wilco, Clipping, Best Coast, My Chemical Romance, Tears For Fears, Weezer, Cigarettes After Sex, Aretha Franklin, Lord Huron, Talking Heads, Elvis Presley, Macklemore & INXS.

    Here’s to 2020. Listening to different artists and learning along the way.