I am sorry, Twin peaks has been cancelled.

I think it may be time to reconsider this blog, my dear readers.

Listen: I came into this without a proper game-plan. I wanted somewhere to write about my current mediums used for escaping everything; every little detail about my life which - as of a few months ago - has been dismal. Escapism is a notion I have always held a "hate-to-love" relationship with. Instantly, one can see the sheer self-indulgence that goes into ANY act that simply takes one away from reality for a period, into a fictional narrative or into whathaveyou. But, honestly, without such means, where would we be? One can't deal with what is placed before us in the modern world. There are newsflashes//televisionsignals every few seconds telling us of atomic disasters that remind us of our place within our species; there are unprecedented levels of interconnection that tie us into each other's problems; there are social constructs of how we are meant to act/work/live/love/be that pound their way into our subconscious even while we sleep. When one considers our "natural" state of nature (Hobbes eat your heart out) we aren't necessarily equipped mentally to handle this extra strain contending with our already predominant biological necessities. Its impossible to exist both physically and mentally within the world all of the time. Everybody needs respite, even if it is only within the pages of a book.

That's why this website can't function any longer. Third post in and already things are in disorder. Signals are scrambled. The dials are twitching, but the control panel doesn't recognise the sound.

While I can still embrace the utter selfishness of escapism as a necessity, I can't accept the subjectivity of escapism while also preaching it to a mass audience: Its a very independent notion, the art of escaping from your own problems, it needs to be decided what is necessary, when and why. Only you can do such things. This has been true for me and Kenickie, "At the Club" especially. While this isn't the best band/album I have listened to - bar a very wide margin - it gave me what I needed, when I needed it. losing a level of intimacy gained through three years of love is a difficult process. I needed to hear trash. I needed to hear abuse. I needed to know that people are fucked enough to actually believe that meaningless sex, dancing and angst will make us whole. These lies made me stronger. That' s what escapism is. That's why I started this blog.

These past weeks have just solidified this thought more. I started this blog to explain how I am escaping my breakup. And that has been through such bands as Kenickie (primarily) but I'm finally starting to kind of see that its not worth it. Pretentious jibberjabber about my own problems tires me to no end. I can explain to all of the internet why I particularly enjoy a very specific album or book or artwork and subtly allude to how it has helped me get through this period of time that honestly never. seems. like. its. going. to. end. but again, this thought tires me. Escapism is a subjective ideal, a self-indulgent ideal. I simply don't want to make it either more self-indulgent or help to cheapen it more by spreading it to a mass audience any more. I've learned my lesson.

If you really want to know how I escape reality, here's a list:

• I make mixtapes: for different people, for different moods.
• I read books that make me appreciate the form and that remind me why it has survived so long.
• I listen to music that does similar things, but sometimes I just do so to dance and embrace the idea of dancing for dancing's sake, nothing else.
• I continue to be sceptical of everything from society to my own life - especially my own life - and work to develop my nihilism.
• I enjoy the company of fantastic people and talk about superficial nonsense that does not bear any relevance on the world at large at all, just to feel a connection.
• I try to take pretty photos for various reasons of escapism (just read Susan Sontag for a better explanation of such actions).

But, when all escapism is lost, when I finally have to confront reality, for the most part I cry. I miss the ability to be intimate with someone I genuinely loved. I miss the simple pleasures I used to take in meaningless acts. I miss an even more simplistic poptomism I once had for this world. Sometimes I even wish things had never changed.

And then I think about things more. I breath for a second. I slow down. I think of one thing:

"It barks at no one else but me
Like it's seen a ghost
I guess it seen the sparks a-flowing
No one else would know

Hey man slow down, slow down
Idiot, slow down, slow down

Sometimes I get overcharged
That's when you see sparks
You ask me where the hell I'm going
At a thousand feet per second

Hey man slow down, slow down
Idiot slow down, slow down

Hey man slow down, slow down
Idiot slow down, slow down."

And I remember the story of this song: It was written by Thom Yorke as he was walking around Prague one night while he was on a holiday, hoping to find inspiration in one of the most beautiful and culturally rich cities in the world. Yet, for as long as he stayed there, every where he looked he could only see people around him, hustle&bustle past all of this value in opt for something they obviously deem "more important". All of these people were too caught up in their own problems - their own subjective worlds - to simply take a second to look around them and realise exactly where they were and how absolutely stunning this place was.

The song is beautiful and simple in its message: slow down, there is nothing more important than embracing circumstance and value wherever you are. Living is more important than your minuscule problems. When you exist in something full of beauty, don't fall into the trap of overlooking it. Objectivity is just as important as subjectivity.

If you take nothing away from this blog than this message - and the knowledge of the sheer fantastic that is Kenickie - take this titbit with you.

I love each and everyone of you,
thank you for listening,
goodbye.

Kenickie, the wonder-band of the 90's.

Okay dear webternets, I shall now truly christen the newly dubbed Embracing Escapism (because really, Awaiting the Apocalypse, pshaaww) by taking you back exactly 12 years in time to the 97th year of the 20th century. Bring your minds back to the diminishing era of Britpop as the transition between the likes of British Punk Puritanism of yesteryear and the more contemporary generalist "indie" claims we all know to well. Remember that fantastic period of British domination finally overcoming self-indulgent musical oppression that was Grunge? I know I sure don't, being a product of the boy-band era (of this I have few regrets), yet, on paper, it is one of (if not THE) highlight of the fairly abysmal musical era. One of the most informally acclaimed bands to appear during this era was that of Sunderland's own Kenickie - known for their catchy pop-stylings and incredibly satiric lyric, they are the perfect blend of simplistic song structures and openly deprecating social critiques.

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I stumbled upon Kenickie through the wonder of Kieron Gillen's initial "Phonogram" series (a brilliant comic book centred around Britpop) where Gillen described them so aptly (as seen above), I simply had to look into it for myself. After listening to "At the club" myself, I couldn't help but agree with Mr. Gillen with this general description. Kenickie do drive themselves between the generally accepted boundaries of modern pop and the more anti-conformist I-am-just-so-dang-rebellious notions of the punk movement. Their extremely catchy melodies and simplistic song structures coupled with their blatant, openly-biting sarcasm and often insulting lyrics mix to make why I love Britpop so much more than Grunge.

I think that the best way to emphasise how fantastic Kenickie are is to do a top 5 kind of deal here: I'm just going to go through a couple of the best songs off of the album (some of which can be heard here http://www.myspace.com/kenickieband and here http://www.myspace.com/kenick) and describe why they are AWESOME!

• In Your Car - the 1st track off of "At the Club" starts the album off on the right foot. Ultimately, this song is about using people as a means to an end (something Kant would get all raeg about) in order to have a good time. While this notion initially sounds disgusting, the sheer pop flavour of it mixed with Kenickie's inherent cynicism just produces an enjoyable, stereotypical track that criticises both simplistic club culture (a consistent theme throughout the album) and itself - if there's one thing Kenickie do well, its not taking themselves seriously. The song starts off with a painfully poppy guitar intro that just makes you want to start dancing like it was 1990 all over again, then the stereotypics come in. Basically, the song describes being picked up by a guy (as we've all fallen prey to) following in the logical progression of such a song - "I'm in heaven, I have been told" - much like one would expect in a song about men and cars. Then, as many Kenickie songs do, the tone shifts with the lines "I said thanks for the ride, it sure beats walking, you're really alright, though you can't tell by looking". These lines work to underpin the stereotypical aspects of the song by highlighting the superficial reasons why one would get in the car with a guy - simply for an easy ride.

• Nightlife - My personal favourite Kenickie song. Everything from it's highly dancable, bassy production to the highly poptastic catchy vocals to the sheer amount of underlying social critique is perfect in every way. The song is literally about speaking for a generation who did nothing but drink, dance, fuck and abuse each other, and this track shows that. Where "In Your Car" held a somewhat teenage innocence to it, this song is meant to show the listener just how disgusting this period was. Lines like "I can't work with heavy coats, they're not revealing" or "We have to see each other's clothes, so we're freezing" highlight the social consciousness of the time and the necessity to dress trashy in order to communicate with each other. Such deeply bitter lines are hidden behind the purposely superficial bass line and vocals, integrating the critique deliciously. They are genius, seriously guys. I again refer to Mr. Gillen and have yet another fantastic page from Phonogram for you all. He captures the message the song is trying to convey perfectly and, even though it is a disgusting message, it came in a period where it was needed.
  

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• Punka - As one can tell by the title - with the brilliant British inflection used on the word "punker" (it makes the song so much fun to listen to when they begin to chant P-U-N-K-A in their cute little accents) - this song is about Punk. More specifically, its a critique of punk Puritanism and the superiority complex intrinsic to such an anti-conformist-look-I'm-just-so-fucking-cool-I-have-dyed-pink-hair genre. This song is just openly satirical and not subtle in the least. Lines like "we never learnt to play - 'cause we're Punka" and "my one wish is to be a punk as soon as you grow up, if Punkas ever do" just deliver such obvious contempt for the genre as well as those who defended it so strongly. Though the highlight of the song definitely comes through the line "if you dance like this, you're a Punka" said in a straight voice and followed by much laughter. Even though this song is aimed at conveying pure contempt and satire, it does follow some very consistent themes shown in the album - such as the constant references to dancing and highlighting the ridiculous nature of teen culture, in its many facets.

• Come out 2nite - and here we return to that innocent teenage angst - with that lovely British self-deprecating wit thrown in there. "Come out 2nite" is simply just highly energetic fun insulting club culture yet again with simple lines like "we dress cheap, we dress tacky" "she drank all we had and she threw up and I was glad" give us a bitch-fest reminding us just what it means to be an angry teen all over again. Who doesn't want to remember that? And yet again, simply because I can, a page from Phonogram that makes me lol every. single. time.
  

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• Classy - This song had me at first listen. This was one of the tracks that sold Kenickie for me; wailing Sonic Youth-esque guitars, deliciously angsty lyrics that involve "we make things out of sin, with blood and human skin" as well as "break you heart, break your face, not that much to look at anyway". This track starts with the a painfully energetic intro and the perfect blend of angry//angsty//teen vocals that combine to tell you that its going to be a fantastic 3 minutes. If one looks between the claims to scratching cars and hiding knives, one finds that the song is ultimately just a somewhat flawed justification at acting like a teen. The consistent chant of "we've got class, we've got style" that progressively gets more and more use throughout the song culminates in giving the song both a sense of justification, but also highlights an underlying self-conscious feel. Fantastic.

So there we have it webterfiends, my top 5 Kenickie songs and my attempt to sell a fantastic album that is worth at least a listen (it doubles as a nice sunday morning come down too). If you want to read a better analysis of the album, the nice blogger at Chartsengrafs did a lovely little homage here http://charts-en-grafs.blogspot.com/2009/04/kenickie-at-club-album.html that's well worth the read.

I hope you have enjoyed the pretentious rant as next week, i'm going to take a brief look at a television show that has taken most of my time this year with its 2 intertwined seasons of constant mind fucks, various sub-plots and gigantic amounts of win. That's correct internet, next week I will attempt to tell you why you should be watching David Lynch's 80's masterpiece "Twin Peaks".

Until then, much peace, love and happiness.

Fresh Start.

Oh hello there internets, fancy meeting you here. This is my newly constructed, pimped out, mother-bitch of a blog that is now 100% ran by yours truly. However, do not fret, this does not mean that my presence will be missed at my other logs of the Ethernet - the hilarious Columbosphere.blogspot.com and the immaculate Everyoneismental.blogspot.com will still be operational with our crack teams working tirelessly to entertain as always (even though there has yet to be a newly posted lol on Columbosphere for quite some time I must say). There a many reasons for the new interduds dear webternets:


A) I have officially deferred next year and desire to have a little corner of the internet to myself to help document my thoughts.
B) I do enjoy posting on the aforementioned blogs but would also like more private webterblog to operate in a more personal capacity.
C) I feel the urge to have a little consistency within my blog posts once in a while and I think that making the big move to step out on my own two feet could help to fulfil that wish.


But enough of the pleasantries loyal listeners, it is time to ease the suspense and tell you of the overarching purpose we have here a Embracing Escapism. While I have already been criticised for this blog initially sounding a tad "bitter" - which admittedly is the point I am trying to get across - the real aim of this site is for me to post things that I feel are worthy of spending our collective time on. That is to say: this will more or less be a sceptical analysis of various different things that are meaningful, profound, beautiful and generally amazing that I think one could justify spending time doing. These said "activities" could entail certain albums that I think deserve a listen or certain books that need attention or who knows, certain underwear that is just so comfortable to wear (I am partial to the bonds admittedly though I know I'm being a capitalistic, imperialist bastard by saying it). This is as much self-indulgence as a public service I know; just because I like something doesn't mean that you would necessarily be partial to it internets, but I'm going to attempt to find things that can be respected above personal taste. I'm going to attempt to be as sceptical as I can with all my choices - meaning they may not be the most consistent posts on the planet - while also giving my reasons for choosing each one.

I'm going to let my inner-sceptic play with my outer-nihilist and give you the best list of things to while away your time on.

This introduction has been a courtesy for you my dear friends, but in my next post you will all find out exactly why I love a certain album more than I probably should as you all finally learn the basis of my love for Kenickie as I analyse their first album "At the Club" and tell YOU why it is worth your very limited time.

Hope to see you soon my lovely little webternet,
MUCH LOVE!