With Just A Hint Of Mayhem

Music reviews, gig reviews, fun trivia and extra added random stuff!

“Everything has changed. For in truth, it’s the beginning of an end” March 10, 2022

Filed under: Observation — justwilliam1959 @ 3:29 pm
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Regular readers know that I am a huge David Bowie fan, in fact, fellow Bowie fans will know that the blog title is taken from a 70s Bowie lyric. Mr. Bowie is easily my most listened to artist regardless of my mood. His music has helped me through so many periods of my life from extreme sadness to extreme happiness and everything in between. My “go-to” Bowie album in recent years has been ‘Heathen’ from 2002. When I first heard it in June 2002 I really believed that many of the songs were in response to the awful events of 9/11 around nine months before it was released. Bowie himself said categorically that this was not the case and I have a number of bootleg studio recordings that show quite a few of the songs on ‘Heathen‘ were initially tried out during the earlier ‘Toy’ sessions. This all proves that it almost certainly wasn’t written and recorded in response to 9/11.

Tribute in lights illuminates downtown in New York, NY on Sunday, Sept. 11, 2016. Photo by Jin Lee,9/11 Memorial

I am writing this small piece based on how what is happening in Ukraine right now is permeating so many of my thoughts and no doubt many of yours too. When I was feeling particularly low last week I put together a playlist of songs that spoke of word war 3, armageddon, or the apocalypse. Then I had a word with myself and said don’t be so fucking depressive about it. Music can make us feel better in so many cases. So I started listening to ‘Heathen’ again. In particular: “Sunday”, “Slip Away”, “5:15 The Angels Have Gone” and “Everyone Says ‘Hi'”. Both lyrically and for the mood of the music, these are the tracks that made me originally think the album was a response to 9/11. There are obvious New York references on “Slip Away” (“Drags his bones to see the Yankees play” and “Sailing over Coney Island“) and there is a positivity about coming to terms with loss in “Everyone Says ‘Hi'”. But the song that I have played most is “Sunday”, which opens the album, it has a sad and sombre feel to it and I believe the lyrics can be seen as very positive or very negative, maybe that would depend on your mood. There is also a feeling that this song might be written in terms of a human, or even an animal, coming to terms with a post-apocalyptic world. It also has some apparent religious references which do crop up from time to time in Bowie’s songs.

“Everything has changed
For in truth, it’s the beginning of nothing
And nothing has changed
Everything has changed
For in truth, it’s the beginning of an end
And nothing has changed
And everything has changed”

The above, for me, can be heard as a positive and a negative. While the next part which closes the tune has some very dark and perhaps overtly religious connotations. Although equally, you might see it as a Pheonix rising from the ashes. I am spiritual but I follow no religion at all and I doubt that I ever will.

“In your fear
Of what we have become
Take to the fire
Now we must burn
All that we are
Rise together
Through these clouds
As on wings”

Meanwhile, the following couplet carries a real sense of hope and purpose, and I wanted to draw this to a close in a positive way:

“In your fear, seek only peace
In your fear, seek only love”

I am very much a positive person in the main and my glass is always at least half full. ‘Heathen’ is really helping me become even more hopeful in spite of the shit show our world has become. What music gets you through really bad points in life? Also I would love to hear from you if you have a completely different interpretation of this song. If you want to read a really in-depth take on ‘Sunday’ click here and check out Chris O’Leary’s rather excellent ‘Pushing Ahead Of The Dame’ blog.

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“Sentinel” – Richard Evans

Filed under: Review — justwilliam1959 @ 12:14 pm
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A great listen for March is the debut solo release from Manchester-based artist Richard Evans. On his album, ‘Sentinel’, he says: “It is an electro-pop concept album. It’s important that art has something to say about the world we live in and there is no bigger issue than climate change. The album is my take on the different facets of the subject – from the impact of micro-plastics to the paranoia of COVID, all in a pop package.” The project was recorded during various COVID lockdowns and developed from his acclaimed multimedia 60-minute live show. It has been performed at festivals across the country including Manchester Science Festival, Art Futura in London, EnableUS in Sheffield, and Light Night Leeds.
It will have massive appeal to those who love electro-pop and 80’s synth music. Using a Roland System 8 and a Korg Wavestate, Richard Evans achieves a well-crafted futuristic sound, its roots planted firmly in German techno but transporting us to the present. His synthpop / vocoder-based creations paired with his mellow timbre, explore modern-day problems.

Even though his voice has a remarkable similarity to Neil Tennant of the Pet Shop Boys, Sentinel, a true concept album, demonstrates clearer parallels to the work of Canadian duo Rational Youth, Kraftwerk, New Order, and Jean-Michel Jarre. There are 8 vocoder-loaded tracks on the album. Having listened to it non-stop all morning, I’m taken back to the New Wave sound of the ’70s and ’80s, and everything that was great about the music back then. And then I’m transported at warp speed back to the present with the sound of modern synth pads. The opening track “Made Of Stars” seems to suggest that our substance of life comes from space and that in fact we are made of stars. The lyrics are simple, vocoder vocals and sequenced synths create a very easy to listen to opener and sets the scene for what’s to come.
“Brave New World” describes a chilling world not too dissimilar to Aldous Huxley’s novel, where children are created outside the womb and cloned in order to increase the population. Although we are living through different technology to Huxley’s time, we are now using CRISPR to edit genomes, alter DNA sequences and modify gene functions. To accompany this dystopian vision Evans creates a layered sound of haunting synths and a perfect drum accompaniment. Every now and then I swear I could hear some Duran Duran-inspired choruses. And why not, their name was inspired by a science fiction movie after all!

The stripped-back and uncomplicated track “2084” tackles the global issue of climate change. ‘2084’, is also the title of a book by John Lennox: ‘2084 Artificial Intelligence, The Future Of Humanity And The God Question’. Covid has now been with us for over 2 years now and in “Trick Machine” Evans looks at the idea of how we are now living through what’s been called the ‘anthropause’. The chance to examine the impact of our own absence. During lockdowns, we all experienced the great ‘human pause’, and wildlife scientists are now examining what this has meant to our environment and to us as humans. The clean sound and danceability of this track would not be out of place in a nightclub or a late-night bar, a lovely chilled-out piece of music. Similarly, the next track, “The Last Of Us”, projects a strong electro beat and is coupled with some short and to-the-point lyrics. “5,4,3,2,1,0 – Feel the new vibration, Feel the new vibration, Feel the new vibration. Are we the last of us?”

His single “Black Rain”, released January 2022, is about the atmospheric nuclear tests that were carried out in the ’50s and ’60s and the impact on today’s climate change issues. ‘On the streets of Hiroshima, Little Boy falls, still wants to play…On the shores of Fukushima, Little Boy smiles, still wants to play.’ Evans shows us here that nuclear disasters, intentional or otherwise, continue to take place and nothing happens, we don’t learn. OMD tackled the same issues when they wrote about “Enola Gay” (the aircraft that carried the nuclear bomb, Little Boy, killing more than 100,000 civilians in Hiroshima). Their version was a very 80’s dance song, this one is more sombre, perhaps a bit more fitting. “All Fall Down”, looks at Evan’s view of COVID paranoia. He sings about masks, visors, isolation, etc, but I think more interestingly, are his references to the FSB (the Russian Federal Security Service) and CDC (US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) ‘watching us’. It would suggest a much more sinister agenda from both superpowers, which aligns with some of the Covid conspiracy theories out there. The track hosts Evans’ melodic vocal timbre and is tastefully accompanied by infectious downbeat keyboards and drums. Jean-Michel Jarre clearly influencing this particular track. This masterpiece of an album/project/social comment closes with the track “Constellation”. Is Evans predicting the impending doom of the planet? Or is it more a plea for hope? ‘Kassandra’s plight, Her sacrifice’ is not a reference to the video game Assassin’s Creed but to a Trojan priestess of Apollo in Greek mythology. In modern usage, we use it to indicate someone whose accurate prophecies are not believed.

Richard Evans’ ‘Sentinel’ is a well-crafted piece of music. It’s sometimes has a chillout feel and sometimes a dance feel, but first and foremost it’s a social commentary on many issues facing us today. Enjoy listening to it and even better, get to one of his performances where he brings this to life…a powerful audio-visual experience. The album fell to earth on the 25th of February, courtesy of Cold Star Media, and is available through the usual streaming channels. There is also a limited vinyl edition, 180gsm on white vinyl is available to order exclusively through Digger’s Factory. Just 300 copies are available. The vinyl edition is scheduled to ship in April 2022. Watch Richard Evans perform Sentinel live on, the 11th of March at the Arts, The Old Fire Station, Oxford.

Written by Juan Brooks.

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“Lights Svoboda” – Nick Hudson March 9, 2022

Filed under: Review — justwilliam1959 @ 3:20 pm
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British artist Nick Hudson has just released a single entitled “Lights Svoboda” which translates as “Lights Freedom”. It was recorded with his Academy Of The Sun bandmate, Kianna Blue. It is an eerie, mesmerising piano-led tune with deeply dark, apocalyptic, and weird lyrics and I love it. Nick is not only a musician and composer he is also an author, a visual artist, and a filmmaker. The latter might explain the wonderful cinematic scope of the song. Nick said this of the track “The opening features a recording I made in Georgia, into my Soviet cassette recorder, of my 20-year-old Russian exile friend who fled to Georgia to avoid facing criminal charges for protesting Navalny’s imprisonment. I had him say “freedom, hope and truth” in Russian. He’s headed to join the Ukrainian army this week”. He added “It features myself on piano, voice, Soviet analogue synth, melodica and field recordings, and Kianna Blue on backing vocals and bass. Originally written for The Quiet Earth (the last Academy Of The Sun album) but now uncannily and undesirably relevant“. All proceeds from the single will go towards charities directly involved in humanitarian aid efforts in Ukraine. 100% of Bandcamp proceeds will be donated in support of two charities carrying out humanitarian work on the ground in Ukraine – Red Cross Ukraine and Razom For Ukraine – each of them covering slightly different areas of aid. Further, Revolut Bank will match contributions to Red Cross Ukraine over the next week. Download the single via Bandcamp and learn how you can support Ukraine and its people at this critical moment in world history. I know anything that you can do will be much appreciated by the Ukrainian people suffering the consequences of Putin’s vile actions.

Credits for “Lights Svoboda”
Written, arranged, and produced by Nick Hudson.
Piano, voice, Faemi M1, melodica – Nick Hudson
Bass, backing vocals – Kianna Blue
Piano and voice recorded at Church Road Studios by Paul Pascoe.
Everything else was recorded between Manchester and Brighton.
Mastered by Ian D. Breen/Yas Kween.

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“Соколонько (Sokolonko)” – 6TH CROWD

Filed under: Review — justwilliam1959 @ 1:47 pm
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6TH CROWD is, in fact, Ukraine based electronic producer Dari Maksymova and this gorgeous, ethereal slice of electronica, “Соколонько (Sokolonko)” is inspired by an old Ukrainian harvest song. In fact, the lyrics are credited to “the Ukrainian people”. The track is the first offering from Dari’s new album ‘Step’ which is the Ukrainian word for Steppe, which for you fact fans out there means, “a large area of flat unforested grassland in south-eastern Europe or Siberia.” She was working on the album when Putin ordered the invasion and turned Dari’s country into a war zone. This is what Dari has to say about the song and her home. “This is a Ukrainian song from Donbas, my dear home region, which Russia is tearing apart right now. I didn’t know if I’d have a chance to do it later. In my research, as I learned more about folk Ukrainian music, I noticed that modern culture has plenty of references to music from western and central parts of my country, but nothing from the east. Nothing from my home. Culturally it simply didn’t exist. So I decided I wanted to change that balance and bring songs from East Ukraine back to life, to remind myself and everyone that Donbas is a historical part of Ukraine, no matter how badly Putin wants to destroy it. If people don’t remember their own history, someone can rewrite it for them. And then come with guns to “defend” Russian people in Ukraine, Moldova, or Serbia“

6TH CROWD emerged into the electronic music scene just a short while ago in 2020 with her debut EP ‘Avoid The Void’. The tunes on that EP address the Covid-19 situation in Ukraine and the wider world. Later in 2020 Dari released two singles, “1312” and “Не вивожу (Ne Vyvozhu)”. This was followed in 2021 by a second EP, ‘What Happened’. Dari has this to say about the Russian invasion of her country Ukraine which began on 24th February this year. “Over a week ago, Russia invaded Ukraine, shelling cities and killing hundreds of civilians. The Russian president calls it a “special operation” for “saving Russian-speaking people.” A more accurate term for it is “war”. And even more accurately is the intention behind this war: Russification and Russification is cultural genocide. It’s clear that the ancient Greeks don’t exist, but we know of them because their cultural artifacts have been preserved. In the absence of their books, literature, and artwork, we wouldn’t otherwise know anything about them as a people. Their history would simply cease to exist. That’s the goal of Russification – to remove all of the distinct and unique ethnic histories and merge them into one“. She adds “When Communists gathered different nations under the umbrella of the USSR, they desperately needed to rewrite history. They needed everyone to share the same bland fake ethnicity, they needed people to forget their roots. So people would never get second thoughts about belonging to “the great empire”, never question orders and the party line. While, in newly-built cities, their Russification program was going pretty well, people in villages continued to be a real pain in the ass. They lived and worked far from centralized sources of information and relied on the government very little and didn’t rush to become Soviet people. Yes, they lived in the Soviet Union and yes, they worked in Soviet fields, but one thing they did that drove the Russians crazy: the villagers spoke Ukrainian and sang their own songs“. She finishes by saying “Before people had Spotify, they sang to themselves – while working in fields, while fighting, getting married, they sang all the time. Those songs passed from one to another, along with very important information about people. What language they spoke, what they believed, what they hoped, who their heroes were. Songs from people are also songs about people“

Arrangement, performance, recording & mixing: Dari Arranged, performed, recorded, and mixed “Соколонько (Sokolonko)” which was mastered by Alexander Pavlenko (Sunchase). All photography for the release is by Tetiana Shlapachok and Daria Kulnina. You can support 6TH CROWD by downloading this single, available via Bandcamp and Apple Music. All proceeds will support the humanitarian work of Vostok SOS, which includes helping people evacuate and providing humanitarian aid and psychosocial support, including hotlines for affected people and a team on the ground in the region, coordinating aid. You can also add this single to your Spotify playlists. But the most important thing right now is to support Ukraine. You can donate to humanitarian missions, directly to the army, spread awareness about this ugly war, and join demonstrations in your city. There are also many other ways you can help Ukraine now and numerous options for supporting humanitarian aid efforts in the region. Look out for more Ukraine-related posts from With Just A Hint Of Mayhem soon! My thoughts are with the Ukrainian people right now!

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Mik Artistik’s Ego Trip – The Crescent, York – Saturday 5th March 2022 March 8, 2022

Filed under: Review — justwilliam1959 @ 5:22 pm
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I was able to attend this gig with our newest writer, Juan Brooks, and just before the gig over a couple of hot coffees (we’re proper rock ‘n’ roll) we decided to do this review as a collaboration. So while it is written in the first person the thoughts and words are from both of us. This is a different approach for us and we hope that you like it! being back at the Crescent (a first-time visit for Juan) was great and Joe, Head Honcho of Please Please You, and one of the Crescent’s Kingpins had lined up a great show. Sadly one great band, Cowgirl, had to pull out thanks to that bastard Covid. First up were the Surfing Magazines a relatively new garage-rock group from Leeds. They are made up of two-thirds of The Wave Pictures and one-half of Slow Club. Their surf-style instrumentals were spectacularly good and on these the Surfing Magazines really came into their own. The Dick Dale guitar licks were brilliant. Their cover of Jonathan Richman’s “Egyptian Reggae” transformed the tune into something that would be perfect on a Tarantino soundtrack. In fact, the Surfing Magazines would make an excellent choice as a bar band in a Tarantino film. Their country rock vocal harmonies were incredibly powerful and at times were reminiscent of the Everly Brothers, Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, and even Beatlesesque in some parts. The guitarist was supremely versatile going from the aforementioned Dick Dale, some Bo Diddley riffs, and the intricacy of Television’s Tom Verlaine. Even the broken guitar string didn’t phase the ace axeman. A powerfully good band!

We had both listened to some tracks from the headliner, Mik Artistik’s Ego Trip before the gig and neither of us could put them into any specific genre. Mik has elements of observational comedy across a great rock sound. But that is only part of what and who he is. Both of us had perma grins for the whole set, if you failed to smile during Mik’s set then you need your happy muscles checked. Mik is a very funny bloke and a great observer of the minutiae of human life. Almost every song has some everyday references from Dad muscles, playing horsey, betting shop pens, stuff you find down the back of the armchair and libraries. Indeed “Libraries” is an awesome track. Mik appears to be completely chaotic, but clearly knows what he is doing and that just plays to him putting on a great performance and a wonderful show. His energy is boundless, is he really 66? While he uses the spoken word approach a lot he does possess a fabulous singing voice that flits from punk, to rock, to folk, and onto ballads. There were so many highlights, “The Zumba Sign’s Come Down” and “Acoustic Synthesiser” are weird, wacky, and wonderfully hilarious. Meanwhile “DB Was A Funny Man” is a song of genius about the Dame himself, Mr. Bowie. Mik weaves in a few excerpts from Bowie hits into it too, notably “run for the shadows, run for the shadows” and “whop whop whop” from Bowie’s “Golden Years”. He also manages o get some Van Morrison elements in there too. The main highlight for both of us was “Sweet Leaf Of The North”, the whole introductory preamble and story, and then the song itself. Apparently Iggy Pop chose this as one of his highlights of the last decade. Sounds like he’s a big fan. Mik creates a sense of northern belonging and togetherness with his followers and has great fun with the audience. His affectionate and heartfelt mickey take of Vinny the sound guy was excellent too. It is worth pointing out that his band, particularly the guitarist Jonny Flockton are blessed with huge musical talent and are the perfect foil for Mik’s performance. Juan perhaps summed up Mik in one sentence by saying “for me, he is a modern-day Northern Ian Dury“! So difficult to argue with that. Both Juan and I have become Mik Artistik evangelists and will be telling everyone we meet that they need to see Mik Artistik’s Ego Trip live!

Written by Bill Adamson and Juan Brooks

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“Is This How The World Ends?” – Prairie Brigade March 6, 2022

Filed under: Review — justwilliam1959 @ 4:39 pm
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Prairie Brigade (I love that name) was born, not formed, in late 2021. They came together having known each other from playing with other bands. They are based in Kansas City, so while the rest of the world has gone to shit and is not in Kansas anymore, Prairie Brigade is still there. In fact, they have been recording on a farm in Kansas. Their self-titled debut hits the streets on April 12. But as a taster for that, they have recently released the rather timely and topical single, “Is This How The World Ends?” It is two minutes of perfectly crafted power pop with some strong punky elements. The chorus catches you straight away as do the great riffs. It reminded me a little of some of the great songs Gregg Alexander wrote, produced, and performed as Иew Radicals. If I have any criticism it is only that it is a short song. But really, who cares when you can just play it again and again. Given what is going on in Ukraine right now lyrics like “We are so far, the only resistance. We will fight hard, to hold our position” could not be more pertinent. If the end of the world really is nigh then I would be more than happy for this to form a part of my soundtrack for that moment. Personally, I think, believe, and hope that things will get better eventually. I will be pretty fucking angry if I meet my maker before I get the chance to hear the Prairie Brigade album. But either way, this remains a great song whether the apocalypse happens or not. The video for the track is pretty tasty too! Click here to stream on Spotify and click here to download or stream via Bandcamp.

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Play It Again Mayhem – “Little Does She Know” – Kursaal Flyers March 5, 2022

Filed under: Play It Again Mayhem — justwilliam1959 @ 4:52 pm
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This is the tenth song in the Play It Again Mayhem series which began back in 2020. Check out the earlier posts by clicking here (Betty Wright), here (Elton John), here (Roxy Music),  here (The O’Jays), here (John Miles), here (Steely Dan), here (Climax Blues Band), here Little Jackie and here for Gwen McCrae. I promised that once I got to ten Play It again Mayhem Posts that there would be a Spotify Playlist, so click here to take a listen!

This time it is the turn of the seminal British band, the much-missed Kursaal Flyers. The band formed in 1973 and took their name from the imitation train which was used to advertise Southend’s famous amusement hall, the Kursaal, which had recently closed. The song “Little Does She Know” reached the UK Top 20 singles chart in 1976 and the band appeared on Top Of The Pops. I guess that the band was surrounded by washing product boxes on the show because they briefly mention detergent in the lyrics. Top Of The Pops was strange sometimes wasn’t it? It has a chorus that many songwriters would kill for and stays in your head a long while, for more than 45 years for me! The song can be found on their third album, ‘The Golden Mile’ released in 1976. Is this tune a guilty pleasure or simply a great tune? For me, it’s the latter! Check out the tune in the videos below (one from Top Of The Pops and the second from Supersonic) and via the newly created Play It Again Mayhem playlist on Spotify.

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“Save Me” – Not Now Norman March 3, 2022

Filed under: Review — justwilliam1959 @ 5:27 pm
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That mighty metal behemoth better known to us mere mortals as Not Now Norman are back with what I reckon is their best song to date, and let’s face it there is some tough competition! It is called “Save Me” and is available on all platforms now. It is a song about humanity is destroying the planet and was inspired by the Australian wildfires and the talking shop of COP26 that ultimately achieved nothing. We can’t stop climate change, but we can begin to lessen its impact. “Save Me” is a heartfelt message to humanity, especially the younger generation to do something. Listen to Greta Thunberg and her peers and listen to this anthemic song. The riffs are drawn directly from heavy metal Valhalla and Taylor’s vocal performance is passionate, emotional, and in a nutshell fucking awesome. Added to that the whole band is at peak performance. The lyrics are simple but so very powerful, how can anyone ignore words like “Save me from our destiny. Save me from a time, where everything around us dies“. Click here to check out the complete lyrics. This is a mosh pit anthem with a great message. Download, stream, buy it, I don’t care how you get this song in your life, just get it, become a Norminion, and more importantly, listen to it (and I mean REALLY LISTEN), take in the message, and act!

You can catch the band live in Stockton-On-Tees this Saturday, 5th March as part of Women In Music.

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Mayhem Virgins – Bruno Skibbild

Filed under: Mayhem Virgins — justwilliam1959 @ 2:22 pm
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This is the fifteenth in our Mayhem Virgins series and it features Bruno Skibbild a Singer/Songwriter, Author, and Social Worker. He was also the winner of the Best Country Song Award at Clouzine Fall 2020. A country song, you’re thinking this guy is American right? Well, think again the rather talented and diverse Bruno was born and raised in a small town in Denmark called Snejbjerg, which is roughly in the centre of the country. Mr. Skibbild got his first guitar from his sister when he was in 7th grade and he still plays it. As a teenager, Bruno played in a local band, M87 and this is where he began writing his own songs. After completing his Masters in American History Bruno taught at all levels of education from elementary school to high school. At the same time he moved away a little from his music to bring up his children, twins no less. Then in 2017, he got his music muse back and travelled around Denmark with Neal Ashley Conrad performing songs from The Boss in “The Springsteen Show”. As a teenager, his first music loves were Springsteen and Kiss. Nowadays he takes some of that influence and would probably describe himself as a country-rock artist.

In 2019 Bruno Skibbild finally recorded and released his first single, a song he wrote when he was just 16, it is called “A World Tomorrow”. It’s a great tune with a really 70s soft rock vibe and exceptionally good considering how young he was when he wrote it. By then Bruno was in his mid-forties and didn’t take anywhere near as long with his second single “Long Walk” which came out in 2020. This tune chugs along nicely with riffs reminiscent of Keith Richards on the more country-style Stones songs. Bruno was much more prolific in 2021 releasing four singles; “We Pray For It Everyday”, “Dead To Me”, “When The Past Is Done” and “She Would Never Give In”. There is a vein of darkness flowing through these four tracks and maybe that was driven by some of the awful turmoil going on in Bruno’s life at the time. I particularly love “Dead To Me” which I can imagine Nick Cave singing. His next release was full of rightful anger and questionable justice after social services wrongly removed his children from his care. Bruno said this of the track “I wanted to tell the story about a personal family nightmare that me and my children experienced in 2007. I was wrongfully accused of the abuse of my children and the County took them into custody without any further investigations than the original accusation. It took me 8 months to get my children released from the institution where they were kept isolated. Now being an artist, music helps me push away the trauma through singing it out.” Given the anger and sadness in the lyrics, it is quite an upbeat tune, which perhaps reflects the positive outcome of his children being returned to him. Bruno recently released another single “Gonna Jump Like An Evil” which sounds like Dire Straits recording with a South American Salsa band with jazz aspirations. Without a doubt, this is my favourite Bruno Skibbild song to date. He records his music at Oak Mountain Black Swamp Studio in Copenhagen. Click here to check out all these tunes on Spotify

A quick shout to those of you who have faithfully followed the Mayhem Virgins series, you know it is for artists that have never featured on these pages before. However, technically, Bruno got a mention in a recent Mayhem’s Top 20 Artists post, but in my defence I had mostly drafted this post by then!

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‘Into the Never – Nine Inch Nails And The Creation Of The Downward Spiral’ by Adam Steiner March 2, 2022

Filed under: Book,Review — justwilliam1959 @ 4:35 pm
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I don’t get the opportunity to review books here on With Just A Hint Of Mayhem, but I am pleased to say that following hot on the heels (ok more than three months) of my review of John Illsley’s autobiography I have just read another, obviously music-related tome. This one is for ‘Into the Never – Nine Inch Nails And The Creation Of The Downward Spiral’ By Adam Steiner, which was originally published in 2020 by Backbeat Books. This is Adam’s first non-fiction book following his first novel ‘Politics of The Asylum’ from 2018. Adam also publishes poetry and is a journalist. Among other things, presumably in his spare time, he has also lectured on Creative Writing and Publishing at Coventry University.

If you are a fan of Trent Reznor’s music then you may well have already read this book, if you’re not then I would recommend that you do, maybe using the album that it covers in great detail as your soundtrack. There is a similarity between Steiner’s book and the ’33 1/3′ Series that has published some great pocket-sized books which explore the creation of classic albums, (including book 78 in the series covering Nine Inch Nails ‘Pretty Hate Machine’) although ‘Into The Never’ goes to a far greater depth to study how ‘The Downward Spiral‘ came about. In fact, one of the huge collection of Steiner’s references is Daphne Carr’s 33 1/3 book.

‘Into The Never’ not only deals with the actual music and how it was constructed and recorded but also analyses the whole creation of the album. Including Trent Reznor’s probable state of mind at the time and that he initially worked on the album at a home recording set up in a rented property on Cielo Drive in Los Angeles. Not just some random property though, this was the house where the infamous Manson Murders took place. Although there is no suggestion that Reznor rented the place because of that. The book has caused me to completely re-examine ‘The Downward Spiral‘ which I always considered a good album. But after playing it quite a few times while reading the book I have come to appreciate it as a great album a truly seminal release and possibly Trent Reznor’s finest recorded moment. Adam Steiner writes with a great intellectual gravity while ordering his words in a beautiful flow that kept me interested from start to finish. Questions about whether ‘The Downward Spiral’ is autobiographical or simply a concept album akin to Pink Floyd’s ‘The Wall’ are considered. As well as Reznor’s fraught addiction issues and his path on a rocky road to self-destruction (which thankfully he survived) the book also deals with relevant aspects of US social history from the aforementioned Manson Murders to the Columbine School shootings via the Vietnam War.

There are some really sharp references to what most definitely did influence the album or in some cases may have influenced. Including, my list is not exhaustive,

Authors; George Orwell, Greil Marcus, Chuck Palahniuk, Albert Camus

Philosophers and Thinkers; Michel Foucault, Søren Kierkegaard, Friedrich Nietzsche

Musicians; David Bowie, Marilyn Manson, Richey Edwards, Kurt Cobain, Ian Curtis, Johnny Cash

Artists; Mark Rothko, Francis Bacon

The book also discusses the theological impact alongside the major world events that probably played a part. Additionally, there are plenty of references to films (‘Natural Born Killers’) and music (“Helter Skelter” by the Beatles). This is perhaps the most in-depth publication about an album that I have ever read and frankly, my musical knowledge and appreciation of ‘The Downward Spiral‘ is so much richer because of it. Fans of Trent Reznor and Nine Inch Nails will devour this book and those who appreciate great music and classic albums will love it too. Click here to find it on Amazon, or better still pay a visit to your local independent book store or your public library!

Adam Steiner

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