Has apparently joined The Cribs and will be performing with them at their upcoming NME show. Dont know if he's severed ties with Modest Mouse though?
Johnny Marr
Archived19 replies · 693 views
His MySpace site is still listing all the gigs with Modest Mouse - they are touring with REM and also got their own dates I think.
He did some recording with the Cribs and, according to Jem, played with them at one or two gigs.
I now find myself the the strange position of wanting to go to an NME gig ![]()
Did he really do any help on the mouse new album? I only heard one single and thought it was subpar.... I just haven't been impressed with him since the 1st Electronic album![]()
I think he did, yes. A full member of the band for the writing and recording of the latest album and definitely a part of the action live too.
They were absolutely wonderful in Liverpool, and Marr stole the show (for me!)
So is it a top album or just something to get excited over because Marr's riffs are in it? Which song is the best on the album?
Marr's certainly doesn't sound bolted on. It's a good album, I wouldn't say it was trademark Marr, but the quality is there. I'd say the best song was Missed the Boat, then probably We've Got Everything. Little Motel is nice. Dashboard has the best riff, probably. And they did a great version of Spitting Venom live, although it's not a stand-out track for me on the album.
There's loads of versions of Missed the Boat on Youtube. They did a competition to produce a promo and some of the entries are quite good. This is the original one, I think:
And Dashboard for the riff ![]()
Oh and if you type Marr and Cribs into YouTube, there's quite a few clips of them recent gigs.
I guess I really can't get past the irregular jostling of the music. Maybe its my past concusions make it hard for my head, but I get a headache listening to the stuff. Can't appreciate anything by Marr on it as I can't seem to concentrate on anything in the song. I had thier first album, and it only had a couple good songs on it, but the newest one seems even more head-ache-inducing than the prior.
Thanks for clearing that up for me though![]()
Took Miss Hac to see the Cribs gig at brixton last friday, Mr Marr appeared for about 4/5 songs at the end, including Panic.
He came on for "Panic" at the Barras too, and one other Cribs track (cannae mind which).
Johnny Marr's been a gun for hire since very soon after The Smiths' demise, nowt new in that. One of the first things he ever did was supply a killer riff to a long forgotten Brit-soul act called Stex on a song called "Still Feel The Rain". It's an amazing tune and as rare as hen's teeth now. Seek and find on eil.com. He worked on a couple of the tracks on Talking Heads last ever album "Naked" too.
As for The Cribs, I reckon they're probably the most underrated band in the UK at the moment. It's easy to be turned off by the image and the screaming lassies at their gigs but the music is ace. "Mens Needs" was the best album AND best single of last year in my opinion.
Interesting fact....My burd is in the video to "Our Bovine Public". ![]()
since smiths,it was him playing that guitar on 'slow emotional replay' so thats good enough to last forever for me ![]()
GlasVegas wrote: He came on for "Panic" at the Barras too, and one other Cribs track (cannae mind which).
Johnny Marr's been a gun for hire since very soon after The Smiths' demise, nowt new in that. One of the first things he ever did was supply a killer riff to a long forgotten Brit-soul act called Stex on a song called "Still Feel The Rain". It's an amazing tune and as rare as hen's teeth now. Seek and find on eil.com. He worked on a couple of the tracks on Talking Heads last ever album "Naked" too.
As for The Cribs, I reckon they're probably the most underrated band in the UK at the moment. It's easy to be turned off by the image and the screaming lassies at their gigs but the music is ace. "Mens Needs" was the best album AND best single of last year in my opinion.
Interesting fact....My burd is in the video to "Our Bovine Public".
I always thought it was a bit funny that Marr split from the Smiths to seek more fame and fortune... but alas, Morrissey did much better solo than Marr ever has with other groups![]()
EdelBrock wrote: I always thought it was a bit funny that Marr split from the Smiths to seek more fame and fortune... but alas, Morrissey did much better solo than Marr ever has with other groups
I'm not sure I've ever read a quote from Marr where he singles out "fame and fortune" as the reason why he left The Smiths.
In reality, Marr left due to exasperation at always being left with the management duties as well as writing all the music, producing the band etc. Morrissey had a habit of blacklisting any manager that came into their camp and understandably Marr had enough after a while.
Add to that Marr was also disappointed with the direction - or lack of - in the music they were making (a style Morrissey's still running into the ground today). He said more than once that by the end he was bored of living in this Coronation Street 1960s world especially when all his mates were getting into Acid House.
Not sure where you're getting the "fame and fortune" angle from at all; I think Marr just wanted to work with who he wanted to work with and has accomplished it quite well.
Mainly that Marr wanted to go a different direction musically, but also that he was tired of the Smiths way of laying low for marketing. He saw alot of opportunity, whereas Morrissey didn't want to... equating to fame and fortune.
EdelBrock wrote: Mainly that Marr wanted to go a different direction musically, but also that he was tired of the Smiths way of laying low for marketing. He saw alot of opportunity, whereas Morrissey didn't want to... equating to fame and fortune.
Still, I don't recall Johnny Marr saying anything remotely like that about The Smiths. In general, Marr has never come across as a musician even remotely interested in the "marketing" angle of music so I find this all very hard to believe.
Can you link an interview?
Electronic were hardly marketed to death or even gigged and that was half Marr's baby... in fact, Morrissey marketed his solo material more commercially than any of Marr's post-Smiths work. He just doesn't seem to be concerned with that sort of thing.
I seriously don't see how trying out new musical styles equates to "fame and fortune" as you put it... if I were a musician I know I wouldn't be content making the same old guitar rock for years on end... at some point you'd want to try something fresh purely to keep you interested, creatively speaking.
No? ![]()
This all dates back to me reading 'Morrissey/Marr: The Severed Allaince", but that was ?11? years ago. I have the book still, but up in the rafters. I'll go drudge it up and see where I got this idea from.