Trajectory of Mr. Eldritch’s career has groovy integrity
Posted: 14 Feb 2011, 20:59
I was introduced to The Sisters of Mercy during Christmas vacation. So, I am a comparatively new fan.
I’ve been listening to the old recordings…and the new songs off of the SOM website. It’s all good music with intelligent lyrics.
After reading through some of the UTR issues uploaded on this site, the reasons for Mr. Eldritch’s decision to abstain from a recording contract seem really clear.
He is not willing to sign on unless he can be taken seriously as the versatile musical artist he is
.
I think this is great. Personally, the limiting labels must be a bit like being taken hostage…with a piece of duct tape over one’s mouth and a fabric sac being thrown over one’s head. And then having images projected on to the sac and people interacting with those projections as if they were you.
No artist should have to deal with that. Correction: no human being should have to deal with it.
I don’t travel in the world of rock or pop, but my sister is an opera singer. In that corner of the music industry, businessmen with an ignorance of music and twisted thinking about bodies and image have taken the helm. Overextended schedules, inhumane touring demands, and a massive amount of pressure to defy nature and torture one’s body into an impossible aesthetic ideal have led to suicides, radical surgeries, and rampant drug abuse amoungst the singers.
The art form is suffering. There has been a sharp decline in the quality of Wagnerian and verismo singers because young voices get stretched too thin from overuse and the women physically capable of making stentorian sounds are not cast in the roles because they are too large. So the performances are blowsy, insipid, and uninspiring.
It is an insult to all of the composers, as well as the audience who have taken the time to learn how to listen critically.
So, it is from this perspective that I look at Mr. Eldritch’s stance…and I love it!
We live in world where the popular music industry has become so lazy it now holds karaoke auditions of malleable neurotics on television. A person the caliber of Simon Cowell actually has input in to the popular taste…and we take it. He makes no attempt to disguise the fact that he is a factory foreman and that he is just sifting through raw material for the machine.
Artists need to protect themselves on several levels. Leonard Cohen’s manager stole almost all of his money when he was taking a break. At the time, I was one of the many people who received occasional poems and pictures by him in our email inbox. He was in the ebb part of his process and his trickle of art revealed that he was in a delicate place. This is natural for artists. But, it is a time when they are vulnerable to crooks. When they are in flow (or producing), they are vulnerable to parasitic manipulators. I’ve seen my sister’s management try to wear her down into accepting a tour schedule that would be both soul destroying and physically dangerous to her instrument. They are relentless and have a plethora of tactics.
I think Mr. Eldritch’s refusal to participate in this crap is admirable. There are a lot of statements on The Sisters of Mercy website that are entertainingly defiant.
His insistence on controlling his life like a free person and an artist is inspiring.
The fact that he does it with enormous style and panache makes it delicious.
So, I have joined the ranks of his rabid, cheering fans. Thanks to all of you who assisted in my SOM education. It's been fun.
To all of you who are going to the upcoming gigs…I hope you have a great time!
I’ve been listening to the old recordings…and the new songs off of the SOM website. It’s all good music with intelligent lyrics.
After reading through some of the UTR issues uploaded on this site, the reasons for Mr. Eldritch’s decision to abstain from a recording contract seem really clear.
He is not willing to sign on unless he can be taken seriously as the versatile musical artist he is
.
I think this is great. Personally, the limiting labels must be a bit like being taken hostage…with a piece of duct tape over one’s mouth and a fabric sac being thrown over one’s head. And then having images projected on to the sac and people interacting with those projections as if they were you.
No artist should have to deal with that. Correction: no human being should have to deal with it.
I don’t travel in the world of rock or pop, but my sister is an opera singer. In that corner of the music industry, businessmen with an ignorance of music and twisted thinking about bodies and image have taken the helm. Overextended schedules, inhumane touring demands, and a massive amount of pressure to defy nature and torture one’s body into an impossible aesthetic ideal have led to suicides, radical surgeries, and rampant drug abuse amoungst the singers.
The art form is suffering. There has been a sharp decline in the quality of Wagnerian and verismo singers because young voices get stretched too thin from overuse and the women physically capable of making stentorian sounds are not cast in the roles because they are too large. So the performances are blowsy, insipid, and uninspiring.
It is an insult to all of the composers, as well as the audience who have taken the time to learn how to listen critically.
So, it is from this perspective that I look at Mr. Eldritch’s stance…and I love it!
We live in world where the popular music industry has become so lazy it now holds karaoke auditions of malleable neurotics on television. A person the caliber of Simon Cowell actually has input in to the popular taste…and we take it. He makes no attempt to disguise the fact that he is a factory foreman and that he is just sifting through raw material for the machine.
Artists need to protect themselves on several levels. Leonard Cohen’s manager stole almost all of his money when he was taking a break. At the time, I was one of the many people who received occasional poems and pictures by him in our email inbox. He was in the ebb part of his process and his trickle of art revealed that he was in a delicate place. This is natural for artists. But, it is a time when they are vulnerable to crooks. When they are in flow (or producing), they are vulnerable to parasitic manipulators. I’ve seen my sister’s management try to wear her down into accepting a tour schedule that would be both soul destroying and physically dangerous to her instrument. They are relentless and have a plethora of tactics.
I think Mr. Eldritch’s refusal to participate in this crap is admirable. There are a lot of statements on The Sisters of Mercy website that are entertainingly defiant.
His insistence on controlling his life like a free person and an artist is inspiring.
The fact that he does it with enormous style and panache makes it delicious.
So, I have joined the ranks of his rabid, cheering fans. Thanks to all of you who assisted in my SOM education. It's been fun.
To all of you who are going to the upcoming gigs…I hope you have a great time!
walks on admittedly. Others because they have made friends over the years because of the happy memories of The Sisters of old.
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