Long overdue letter to Nick Currie
mistletoad
I have been lucky enough to have been touched by your music and
genius in 1989 when the University of British Columbia radio
station in Vancouver, Canada played 2 tracks off "Tender
Pervert". The one that stuck in my mind for its combination of
gentleness and light perversion wrapped in utter loveliness of
sound was Bishonen.
I spent the next decade searching out your music (VERY
difficult) and pretty much only listening to you (as well as
classical and various more persistent "current" artists which
are hard to escape from). Unfortunately, mostly of what was
going on were embarrassments like "Charlatans" and "Wonderstuff"
and "House of Love" and the most overrated band of all time,
Nirvana (I saw them open for Sonic Youth and they were
==totally== forgettable. But that was before Grohl joined as
drummer. AFAIAC, =HE= made the band, such as they ever were).
Thankfully, there was always you, and made my 90's (which were
almost as bad as this century, so far, has been - for me)
bearable.
I even special-ordered (needless to say) "Lusts Of A Moron" from
Duthie's, a great family-owned bookstore, and one of the things
that made Vancouver the paradise it was before the whore of
Hollywood moved in.
I chanced upon the newsgroup a long time ago but while VERY
impressed with the fact you actually personally respond (and
discovering your - not surprising - very superior intelligence),
I was nevertheless disappointed and annoyed by many of the
regulars whose main activity at the time consisted (besides
asking you stupid questions) coming up with "artists" who should
do "covers" of your songs. Abominable, IMHO.
So I stopped visiting, while also your records got harder to get
hold of because I moved to a 3rd world country and had to order
them from GEMA records in the UK or from some US online
retailer. I have several of the US releases and while I am happy
to have them, I must comment that I was a little surprised that
you allowed them (I assume) to butcher or outright change your
original covers. Their beauty was always a minor pleasure in
itself when receiving one of your albums ("Don't Stop The Night"
possibly being the only exception.)
I am writing now (having thought of it before, but frankly, not
wanting to disturb you, among other things) because it seems,
almost 20 years after you started making your incredibly
wonderful music, the Usenet mp3 community has finally discovered
it. Well, someone did post the "Software Machine" compilation
when it came out but having all your albums up to and not
including Folktronic, I ignored it. In the last few weeks about
4 or 5 of your albums have been posted in the mp3.indie, and
some people actually seem to like it enough to post thanks - a
rare occurrence.
I know money and piracy are very complicated subjects, but I
personally knew a member of a very interesting metal band,
Voivod (I would venture a guess they're not your cup of tea, but
they are very good, let alone being from such a god-forsaken and
vastly over-rated place as Montreal), who, after quitting as
their bass player (they became too commercial in his opinion),
moved to Vancouver and opened a fantastically-stocked CD rental
shop (and was also the first one in Vancouver to be closed down
due to the Great North-American Free Trade Ass-Fuck which, among
others, makes renting any digital information - music included -
illegal) and he, while having recorded 5 or so albums for WB, I
believe, told me they never made a cent and that I should borrow
or steal everything I could.
So, I have never had any qualms about DL'g music from the net,
let alone what I managed to record from the rental shops in
Vancouver until they were all closed down.
Independent artists such as you are a different story. I know
you do not make a lot of money from your records, and I think
whatever you make you more than deserve. Really, in the 90's I
many times said not only that you WERE the greatest living
British artist, but also that there was really nothing else
worth listening to, and I meant it. I lived on your music in the
90's.
Stll, I have never belkieved any believe any genius can produce
brilliance =all= his/her life (Mozart, Van Gogh or Dali possibly
being the only exceptions that come to mind at the moment). My
first disappointent came with "Stars Forever", which I ordered
(with its not-totally-uninventive yet still horrid US sleeve)
and have only listened to maybe 5 times. I just can't get into
it. Maybe I am getting too old.
I friend sent me one of the songs off Folktronic on a
compilation tape and I was not impressed either. Since that was
all I heard of the album, I should probably keep quiet, but
being a compatriot as well as great admirer of a certain Mr.
Gombrowicz, I know what a visit to the US (let alone to a person
of superior sensitivity and intelligence such as you) can mean.
So perhaps it was just a temporary reaction/corruption of your
brilliance.
Around that time, after having a few too many CD's stolen in the
mail, I gave up on ordering them. So the first new thing of
yours that I have heard since that one song off Folktronic was
Otto Spooky and I am about to dl Oscar Tennis Champion.
Like I said, I may be getting old, and, not to mention artists
whose songs ALL sound the same, IMO no one can be a genius
forever. Otto Spooky didn't do much for me. Still, that's really
irrelevant. Had you never made another album after "Voyager" or
even "Philosophy", you would still be one of the greatest
artists that ever lived. Anyway, it's my individual taste, not
really worth getting into.
I want to ask you how you feel about your stuff finally being on
the Usenet, and also why you referred to Neil Young as vile. He
is ugly and dresses awful, and being called (considered) the
"grandfather of grunge" is hardly a compliment, but he has had
an amazing output over his 40+ year career (admittedly, MANY of
his songs sound the same, and not all are equally good), but
what exactly did you mean when you said it? He is hardly a model
of elegance (which matters to some more than others, I have at
various times in my life been on both sides of that fence), but
he has written some pretty good music.
Also, how is your eye doing? I have not "kept up" with the site,
although I find your "thoughts" totally brilliant, sometimes
almost beyond my comprehension in their originality. So for all
I know you may not be using it anymore, but if you are, was it
not possible to have your eye fixed or do you just happen to
like the patch, or both? I think having to wear a patch all the
time would be personally very difficult for me.
In closing I want to thank you for helping me get through the
horrid 90's. So far this century has been even worse, but then
again to a clinically depressed person life never looks all that
good.
Thank you for your art.
t.