Paul Schiernecker

Category: Music

  • Music Jar – week 15

    At the start of 2020, not realising what a hotbed of disease it was going to be, I started a fun project inspired by The Larson House. I took the names of 52 musicians or bands that I didn’t know enough about, and I put their names in a pickle jar. Each week, I take a name out and listen to them as much as possible for that week. This week was the go of Canadian soothsayer and prophet, Leonard Cohen.

    What I Knew Before: My knowledge of Leonard Cohen was very much missing. I knew he had a song about the Chelsea Hotel, but only because it had come up when I was obsessed with the Chelsea. I also knew that I would probably really dig him. He very much felt like a musician’s musician.
    What I Know Now: It’s probably for the best that I’ve only hit upon Leonard Cohen now that I have grown slightly into my tastes and don’t cling to every word they’ve written like a lost fanboy of anything I can possibly find. If I had found Cohen ten years ago then I would have been an insufferable fan. The fact remains that listening to him this week has not had the impact that it once would have done but I am grateful for the opportunity. I struggle to think of anyone else who has written about the human condition in the way that Cohen was able to capture. The way he talks about religion or death or sex (my Starter For Ten in a lot of conversations) is so beautifully eloquent that it makes me sad to know he was taken in The Great Cultural Wipeout of 2016.
    Favourite song(s): Hallelujah (even if I prefer the Jeff Buckley version and will not apologise), So Long Marianne, Happens To The Heart and You Want It Darker.
    Favourite album(s): Well, it’s all of an uncompromising standard but there’s something Waits-esque about the latter day Cohen that I cling to. Give me You Want It Darker and Thanks For The Dance any day.

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  • Music Jar – week 13

    Each week, inspired by The Larson House, I put 52 artists in a jar. Each week, I take one name out and dig down into their discography. This week was the turn of North Shields cutie-patootie, Sam Fender.

    What I Knew Before: I saw Sam Fender last summer at a BST gig in Hyde Park. He opened for Neil Young and Bob Dylan. I was impressed with what I heard but didn’t take the time to listen afterwards. It was for this reason that he made the cut for the Music Jar.
    What I Know Now: Sam Fender is also an actor, having appeared in the first episode of the British drama series Vera as well as in season one, episode six of Wolfblood in 2012. This is pretty impressive considering he is still so young. Sam Fender’s debut album, Hypersonic Missiles, released in September 2019, reached number one in the UK.
    I really enjoyed having the time to listen to Sam Fender. It helped to distract from everything else going on in the world. On a couple of occasions I’ve got out the house for a run and it has been a welcome accompaniment. I can imagine this becoming a regular listen for me.
    Favourite song(s): Hypersonic Missiles, Call Me Lover, White Privilege.
    Favourite album: Hypersonic Missiles (his only album to date).

  • Music Jar – week 11

    I cannot pretend this is an original idea, but it is a very good one. I put 52 musical artists in a jar and each week I focus on one. This week was the turn of LA art-rock four-piece, Warpaint.

    What I Knew Before: Their debut album, The Fool, is absolutely blinding.
    What I Know Now: The band formed on Valentine’s Day 2004, which is the day that Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind takes place. They also do a fantastic cover of Ashes To Ashes.
    Favourite song(s): Undertow (obviously), Love Is To Die, So Good and Whiteout.
    Favourite album: The Fool remains blinding, but the self titled second album is even better. Boy howdy!

  • Music Jar – week 10

    Every week I take an artist’s name out of a pickle jar and learn as much as I can about them. This week was the turn of Chicago-based alternative rockers, Wilco.

    What I Knew Before: At my friend’s 30th birthday, I was in charge of the playlist. He requested Wilco. I played a lot of Wilko Johnson before he broached the subject with me.
    What I Know Now: Wilco have a commendable amount of music and a “golden era” in the eyes of their fans. They’ve been active for nearly thirty years and have had twelve members in that time. They received a lot of press following their fourth album, Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, being rejected by their record label who didn’t feel it was commercially viable. They had to buy the masters of their own album back and make it available through their own website before finding another label, who were just under Warner anywhere, so the whole thing felt pretty fucked up.
    Favourite song(s): Jesus, Etc., Love Is Everywhere (Beware), Wilco (The Song), Chain of Broken Hearts.
    Favourite album: Mermaid Avenue Vol. II might take it. It sounds absolutely mental.

  • 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 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.