Elmo has been listening to the Velvet Underground, Pixies and the Vaselines, and reading The Interrogation by J. M. G. Le Clézio. Also there was a film that he watched recently by Christopher Petit called Radio On which was very strange and good although it did have Sting in it, but only very briefly. He has also recently been enjoying sitting in the National Portrait Gallery and looking especially at the Holbein portraits of very important people from Tudor times who have a special darkness on them and look like they are waiting to be ghosts. Generally these kinds of places are good anyway whether you are interested in the pictures or not because you spend no money and there are all kinds of things to take your interest which carry with them some centuries of weight and would laugh in our faces if they had the ability to do such a thing. In the Victoria and Albert Museum you can see many wonderful Rodins, but also you can see Tippoo's Tiger which is an eighteenth century life-size clockwork automaton of a fearsome tiger devouring a prostrate European with a pipe organ inside to make the killing sounds and which was the favourite possession of Tipu Sultan, known as 'the Tiger of Mysore', who was a great enemy of the British in India and by all accounts would delight at the groans and roars of his favourite toy until the British came and killed him in 1799 and his favourite toy is in a glass box in London now, which is such a good example of what we call irony that clearly this is part of the item's appeal. The big old museums are also warm in the winter and have a special kind of light and space and silence about them. You can also often see very pretty bohemian looking girls who will be sitting for a long time and making sketches and you can watch them in the peacefulness and imagine what they are like, and you can realise how they are also an exhibit and so are you and so is everyone who passes through the place to behold and be beheld and this is a very strange and interesting place to be. There is also a quite excellent selection of very early blues recordings in Hackney Library which you can borrow free of charge but be warned that many of the CDs are missing from their cases, so you should make sure and check this before you take them out. It is not such a nice place to be hanging around in for very long either if you can help it, but it is good for the free CDs.
“Burdens are the foundations of ease and bitter things the forerunners of pleasure.” (Jalal ad-Din Rumi)
“For thou writest bitter things against me and makest me to possess the iniquities of my youth.” (Job 13:26)
“I’m beginning to see the light, I’m beginning to see the light, wine in the morning and some breakfast at night, I’m beginning to see the light.” (Lou Reed)
A band like no other, the Things inhabit a world of their own, rarely venturing outside their studio except for wine. Everyone has read a thousand press releases like everyone has seen a thousand TV commercials. The Things threw away their television sets about a year ago and now their minds are beginning to clear.
In May 2008 four musicians decided to seclude themselves in a forgotten corner of London, eschewing the everyday world in favour of firelight, antique guitars, and journeys of the imagination. A year later and a band has emerged that defies classification.
Assuredly retro yet unnervingly modern, they have been compared to other artists as varied as The Velvet Underground, The White Stripes, The Vaselines, Nirvana, Pixies, Fleetwood Mac and The Strokes.
“Full of shadows, conviction, eloquence and humour.” (Camden New Journal)
"I love this band." (Indie Handbook)
For all enquiries contact:
bitterthings@hotmail.co.uk
hey Things, sorry i haven't left any comments lately. i got bored of myspace, but now you've given me 3 good reasons to use it again : ) the new recordings are all good, i especially love goodbye crazy eyes, even though it makes me want to cry! have fun in up north, see you the day after (and in my dreams) xxxx
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