The Wire magazine’s editor in chief Tony Herrington helped give birth to the label New Weird America. He suggested the term to David Keenan who wrote the scene defining cover feature on the Brattleboro Free Folk Festival in August 2003.
Four years on, it seems he is having serious doubts as to the way his child is developing. In this month’s mag he writes a snidey review of two albums featuring Tom Carter – ‘Sky City’ and ‘Turnstone’. His bones of contention for the worthiness of these releases can be summarised as follows: (i) Tom Carter is a technically limited guitarist. (ii) The albums go through the motions by using American country-folk motifs without any heartfelt appreciation of the sources (iii) The Drones are long and boring.
I haven’t yet heard either of these albums but I find the basis for Herrington’s criticism curious.
Taking the last point first, it has always been the case that one man’s spiritual uplift in response to lengthy drones is another’s self indulgent twaddle. “Where’s punk rock when you need it?” asks Herrington although surely he is well aware that, as a listening experience, the drone sound is deliberately intended to be as far removed as possible from the wham bam thank you m’am hit and run technique of the current MTV chart faves whether these be punk, rap or pop orientated. The whole point is that it is not about immediacy but instead is prompted by a desire to conjure an atmospheric sweep with the sound that goes beyond riffs and catchy sound bites. “They take so long to get anywhere” complains Herrington – where exactly does he want to go? The 3 minute filth and fury of Punk was right for its time just as the hypnotic drift of groups like Double Leopards, GHQ, Charalambides, Pelt etc is a perfect antidote to the mind deadening entertainment packages that pass for modern culture in the current age . I for one actively seek out sounds that do not assume I have the concentration span of a goldfish.
The question over the music’s relation to America’s musical heritage is a highly subjective take on the question of authenticity. Drawing a time line between artists like Blind Willie Johnson’s ‘Dark Was The Night, Cold Is The Ground’ and present day musicians does not mean that the sound and glory of the past can be magically replicated. The pre-war country folk blues is an inspiration but I don’t believe artists like Tom Carter ever see themselves as trying to mimic these sounds.
Finally, to criticise Tom Carter’s musicianship directly challenges the worthiness of his work with Christina Carter as part of Charalambides. Quite frankly, if you don’t appreciate their glorious back catalogue then , with all due respect, Tony Herrington could have saved himself the trouble of dreaming up the label of New Weird America in the first place.
