For those who would like to listen to something a bit more challenging but haven’t the stomach for it, Green is perfect; he has a veneer of the alternative and the intellectual whilst never straying far from the mainstream. Whether it’s the early squatist skank or the "I'm in love with Derrida" wear my reading on my sleeve phase or the overproduced 80's vacuum-sealed hits there is no substance just a hollow whispring. The idea that he should come back plus beard and be hailed as a prodigal hero just adds insult to injury.

<< Partly because I'd heard that Green might turn around and, without a word, walk away when I was talking to him. That's no good! I might as well talk to a picture! At least it wouldn't walk away! >>

Yes but a picture cannot turn away, reconsider, and then turn back around.

Do you really think Green would turn away from you momus? You're being silly. And if he did, so what. He's probably got gas.

I turn around and walk away a lot because I get bored.

Maybe if I could somehow get to own some trademarks of stuff he was associated with he'd talk to me. Alas, I don't even have the money to own my own trademarks, let alone someone else's.

Weren't you listening? I own your trademark. It's all yours. Just say the word. I'll ftp the files over to your lawyer in the next hour if you like.

http://famouslibrarian.com/ip/

Problems with that:

1. If you own my trademark, it's all yours, not mine.
2. I don't have a lawyer.
3. I don't want my identity trademarked, by me or anyone else.
4. The trademark application process takes months and months and hundreds and hundreds of dollars, and is provisional on you talking on the phone to the trademark office to satisfy them that your claim is not facetious.
5. So stop your fibbing!
6. You were only joking? Good. We laughed last week.

<< The trademark application process takes months and months and hundreds and hundreds of dollars, and is provisional on you talking on the phone to the trademark office to satisfy them that your claim is not facetious. >>

No. You have not been to the new site http://uspto.gov .

It costs 325 USD and takes like five minutes to file.

You do not need to be an attorney.

But, actually, I got all set up to register your good name, and then did not submit. So your name is still out there, for someone less scrupulous than I to take away from you.

I was only trying to protect you by pointing out that it is very easy to TM stuff now, and to do due diligence online, and to pick up artists' marks with very little effort.

Two more things:

You are correct. An examining attorney makes a phone call, and you have to know what you're doing when s/he calls. You are correct on that matter.

I mean no harm. I'll shut up now.

Harriet, thanks for your concern. Now, let us not speak of "trademarking" ever again on this journal, okay? Deal?

.

Relevant comments on the topic of the day are of course welcome.

Well, I'm lucky enough to play keyboards in the current incarnation of SP, as you know. Personally I think the sweetness on the new record is counterbalanced by things like odd song-structures (where tunes suddenly end just as they're getting going) and certain elements of the production (such as leaving in the groans of annoyance when he hits the wrong chords.) And of course, when we're playing the stuff live, there's all those rough edges playing against his voice, which seems to be working really well...

Oh, and I don't think he'd walk away. Maybe just look around the room :)

Yes, live music is always "gritty", even when it's syrupy.

I agree with you about the odd song structures and chords and things. In fact, I much prefer the demo version of "Wood Beez" to the shiny hit version, because, although it's quieter and more gentle, it has some very weird harmonization going on. The backing vocals on the chorus, for instance, are beautifully weird, and that got lost in Arif Mardin's version, with all its batter and splash.

One thing I've been amazed by, since being involved, is the complexity of chords & harmonies in songs that sound incredibly simple on the surface. The verse of "The Word Girl" is a really good example. Just sounds like bass + offbeat chink + vox, but within that there's really interesting stuff going on. The fact that Green is anything but a muso makes it even more fascinating. For me, at any rate.

Well, maybe he's a bit like me: his accidents are happy ones. I like the way he fucks up the end of the session version of Snow in Sun on that very complex descending chord motif. And on the demo of Wood Beez, the complexity of the chords in the chorus are down to the bass not playing the root note of the chords -- it's sort of out of control, harmonically, and then comes back into control at the end of the section. Early Scritti also had that balance between control and chaos. Later, things got too tidy (ie "Provision").

Whoops, the mistakes are in the Planet Claire session, not the one I linked above.