I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, music isn’t just a tick box exercise for me. I hate the idea of defining myself by one genre of music, or by classifying a song or artist ‘bad’ just because it’s (delete as appropriate) mainstream / alternative or noisy / too melodic or is made by people that are old / kids. These are just some of the prejudices that music listeners will often throw into the mix to determine if something is good or not. (Don’t get me started on the ‘real music not manufactured music’ or ‘honest music’ argument as a justification for music being good or not. It’s a fundamentally flawed argument in every way.)
But then sometimes, despite this resolution to keep an open mind and determine if something is good or not purely on some undefinable concept that’s centred around if a piece of music has some sort of power and connects, I’ll often contradict myself. “No, I don’t like that – it has no tune and is a mess,” the next day can turn into “I really like the lack of structure to this and the way that it challenges you with it’s lack of immediate melody.” I’m a total hypocrite. But in a way that’s the beauty of music. To paraphrase a Manic Street Preachers quote: “I reserve the right to contradict myself.”
Those contradictions continue in this blog post. Music shouldn’t be a tick box exercise for me; but sometimes it is. And I’m pretty certain that every solo release that Laura Groves has ever put out (including her wonderful Blue Roses project) has ticked all my musical boxes.
Yesterday Laura put a new live version of Friday (originally released in 2014) on her You Tube channel. Recorded and performed at home there is really very little to say except that it is wonderful and absolutely full of love. From the electronic ambient opening segment to the moment when Laura begins to sing “I don’t want to say goodbye,” it’s pretty much perfect. I could listen to and watch this all day.
Laura Groves – Friday (Live)
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