Thank You, Rock Stars
3 Jan
Hope everyone had a happy, safe new year. We did here– my parents came for the traditional visit, and a good time was had by all (er, I hope they had fun. They seemed to– maybe that was the booze talking, though).
I’ll spare you the details, but most of my goals were met this year. Some not so much, but I’ve made the necessary excuses to myself and moved on. Ha! More importantly, I’d like to stop and say thank you to the people who made everything I wrote this year possible. That’s right: Rock Stars.
To you, Kasabian, for West Ryder Pauper Lunatic Asylum. Your weird ass lyrics, pointless swagger, and general love of 19th century costuming and themes made The Resurrectionists possible. So much was this the theme album for the MC of said book, Tom Brandon, that I decided to make his home town the same as theirs. “Kate, what do you know about Leicester in the 1820s?” you ask. “Not much,” I reply. “I don’t need to– it happens in Philadelphia, remember?”
Incidentally, this one got Album of the Year at the Q awards… which actually might mean it sucks. But I don’t care, because Underdog is about Tom.
And you, Clara Schumann*, how I love you. If not for your Piano Trio in G Minor, I never would’ve managed The Horologist. The Lincoln watch from the Smithsonian, the inspiration from the market for which it’s intended, all were important, but you were the final piece. And you were so, so much cooler than your crazy ass husband– and everyone knows it.
Oh, Paul Banks, you are the man. Not only did the first two Interpol albums serve as excellent inspiration for the little pre-Resurrectionists novella I penned while moving earlier in the year, but then you hit us with Julian Plenti is… Skyscraper! You beautiful, beautiful man– and I’m not talking about your face. If Kasabian is Tom Brandon’s soundtrack, Paul Banks in all his forms is his sometime rival (sometime only hope) Francis Dartmoor’s.
These artists are old favorites with me, but there were some new discoveries this year, too: The God Machine (thanks Mark Deniz), The Horrors (who gave me She Is The New Thing, the theme song for my short called The Peacock and the Raven– awesome video, by the way), and MGMT (fueled Kay from The Audio File like mad).
And of course the usual suspects that feature heavily in my “last 12 months” on last.fm: The Fratellis and Oasis (mad inspiration for the weird crap I’m working on now– yeah, it’s that dumb), Franz Liszt* and the Manics (they belong to particular muses, and have for some time), The Scissor Sisters (I Can’t Decide might be the best Vampire Song ever– or I have some ridiculous vampires on my hands… right), Franz Ferdinand (I named my Desk Vampire Van Tango for a reason) and the Arctic Monkeys (inspired an entire world– hell yeah).
Also cool, I saw a lot of those bands live– and a bunch more (thanks Reenie). That’s my year, right there. I might not have the best taste, but I do have a lot of fun, you have to admit.
*Hey, they were rock stars before rock existed. You know exactly what I mean.
What a cool post! Music and writing tend to be two separate entities, although I can be passionate about both. They occasionally come together, like recently when Ade Fenton’s Artificial Perfect album inspired a dark and violent scene, but it’s the exception rather than the rule.
And thanks for reminding me to listen to Kasabian’s latest. It’s been on my hd for months and I’ve hardly played to it.
I just discovered The God Machine over the weekend. Awesome find, as far as I’m concerned.
Always with the recommendations…always so good. I shall spend my lunch “hour” (er, twenty minutes) sampling a little, me thinks.
Mike, I shall look that one up– if it’s inspirational to you, I’m sure I’ll enjoy it. Kasabian is… well, it’s Kasabian, all right. Definitely better than Empire, but I really liked Empire, because I pretty much blindly adore them.
I can admit to my faults!
Barry, I can’t believe it took me this long to find them– really good, inspirational stuff. So good for writing.
Aaron, those ones were a bit eclectic, though it errs on the side of Post BritPop (which is not a real thing, is it? Oh well). But I figure it’s nice to say thank you, even if the people I’m thanking will never know or care
Your family drinks? Lucky.
We did see a bunch live together last year! A bunch of awesome, just in case that needs restating one more time. It’s kind of awesome to see how many of them made it on to the list of inspirations! (But also, how have we not yet seen Kasabian?)
Nat, that’s pretty much all we do. I drink WAY more when I’m at my parents’ for a weekend than when I stay at home!
Reenie, we did, and now we can try and one-up it. Kasabian, yeah, why the hell didn’t they come? That, and a proper Kaiser Chiefs tour. For real.
Also, I wrote most of The Horologist on the train to see you, or in that coffee shop while you were in class
This has to be the coolest end of year post so far. Have a fabulous 2010, Katey.
I am so rarely called cool, I’m going to savor this moment. Thanks!