A series for Saturdays in 2026 inspired by Brian Eno and Peter Schmidt's set of cards, Oblique Strategies (Over One Hundred Worthwhile Dilemmas). Eno and Schmidt created them to be used to unblock creative impasses and approach problems from unexpected angles. Each week I'll turn over an Oblique Strategy card and post a song or songs inspired by the suggestion.
Last week's Oblique Strategy suggestion was Humanise something free of error.
My reactions to this were Farley Jackmaster Funk and Daryl Pandy's Love Can't Turn Around and Kurt Vile. From the Bagging Area Oblique Saturdays Squad came the following- Ebony Steel Band covering Kraftwerk (Ernie), Daft Punk's Human After All (Al G), anything by The Fall (JC), King Davis and The House Rockers and We All Make Mistakes (Rol) and R.E.M.'s Everybody Hurts (Walter). Here's Mark E. Smith and the 1979 iteration of The Fall with a tale of pharmaceutical misadventure.
Today's Oblique Strategy card is this- What is the reality of the situation?
What is the reality of the situation? didn't do much for me at first, an oblique strategy that left me unresponsive. Maybe it was the heat, but it just didn't spark much in me. Eventually I got to this- the reality of the situation is that this is a music blog and part of what it does is help spread the word about new music. Mike D, former Beastie Boy and now solo artist, has released another single- What We Got, a song that harks back to the Beastie Boys sound of Check Your Head and Ill Communication but also sounds like something fresh and new.
What we got? 'Retired MC/ Need a Plan B', Mike raps.
What is the reality of the situation? also took me to this.
In 1994 The Aloof released their debut album Cover The Crime, a dub- techno lost classic by a group made up of two Sabres Of Paradise (Jagz Kooner and Gary Burns), a Red Snapper (Rich Thair), Ricky Barrow and Dean Thatcher. The third track on the album is this one...
The vocal, a robotic/ reggae call and response, worked its way to the front of my mind while I pondered what to do with this Oblique Strategy card.
'Society... this is... reality... this is...society... this is... reality...'
Nine minutes of thundering drums, breakbeats, sirens and mid- 90s dub techno tension.
Feel free to make your own responses to What is the reality of the situation? in the comment box.
3 comments:
I could 'produce' some prose, but I think the premise, once established, speaks for itself...
Squirrel and G-Man... (1987): John Cale
Bummed...(1988): Martin Hannett
Pills 'n' Thrills and Bellyaches...(1990): Paul Oakenfold and Steve Osborne
Yes Please!... (1992): Chris Frantz and Tina Weymouth
Uncle Dysfunktional... (2007): Sunny Levine and Howie B
The Mondays have always been and will always be raw, so the reality of the situation is that they need a producer to shape their manic energy.
Some managed it better than others, but they were all needed.
It doesn’t get much realer than the Truth from the Real People
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=BzrXl2VEUxQ&list=RDBzrXl2VEUxQ&start_radio=1&pp=oAcB&ra=m
I'm going to go with my first thought this week.
In 1989, Soul II Soul topped the charts with Back To Life (Back To Reality). Shortly afterwards, the Beautiful South released a song called My Book, which ended with the lyrics "Back to bed, back to reality". At the time, there was a rumour that Jazzie B wasn't too happy about that, and maybe he even got his lawyers involved... but I can't find any reference to that on the web of lies, so it might have been apocryphal. Anyway, I'm offering up My Book this week as it features some of Paul Heaton's finest lyrics...
This is my life and this is how it reads
A documentary that nobody believes
Albert Steptoe in Gone With The Breeze
Mother played by Peter Beardsley, father by John Cleese
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