Special Q & A with Ed Bicknell - DISCUSSION THREAD

[dustyvalentino]

Maybe Ed only listened to Mark's songs upto 2000 because he was his manager! and in reality he is not really a fan of Mark's songs!!

No, he spoke highly of many DS songs. But he said he didn't like the GH album.

[Robson]

I also think it's strange. Wasn't he curious? I think Ed would like The Ragpicker's Dream album and the next one.

[vgonis]

There is so much good music out there with instant and lasting appeal, that if I wasn't a DS fan, I would probably have missed the MK albums. Ed was working with DS and myriads of other musicians, so his opinion was crucial, but once they parted ways, he still had his other clients, that took up most of his time. He probably heard in passing some of the new tracks, it is almost inescapable, but most probably never devoted time to listen repeatedly in order to form an opinion. I get it. I listen to other groups new, or that are new to me, more than MK.

[hunter v2.0]

Come on, guys. Mark and Ed were close companions for a long time. That split they had is not very unlike a divorce. Sad and painful. Why would Ed bother to listen to Mark's solo music which not only does not appeal to him, but when there's also the emotional baggage? I mean, who cares to keep up to speed on what their ex-es are doing?

[quizzaciously]

I know Ed said so much good stuff about Bob Lefsetz and I loved their podcast, but I tried to listen to Jimmy Webb's podcast and I couldn't stand a few minutes into this interrogation (can't call it any different) about percentages, money and the colour of underwear. If you want to know how to ask an artist everything possible about money, listen to this pod! I wonder why an artist as big as Jimmy would even agree to do all this.

About Ed not listening to Mark's stuff after 2000, I just thought it was a little artificial in the way he's almost proud he stopped listening to this music. It's not like he needs to, and not like he's obliged to like it, and he even visited a show. I'm sure it's entirely a misguidance on my side, and he gave it a shot and genuinely disliked the music, which is 100% fair, can't argue with that. I tried to listen to David's stuff, and it wasn't my cup of tea.

[dustyvalentino]

I mean, who cares to keep up to speed on what their ex-es are doing?

I do. I need to see that my voodoo doll work is proving effective for one thing.

[dmg]

I mean, who cares to keep up to speed on what their ex-es are doing?

I do. I need to see that my voodoo doll work is proving effective for one thing.

Are you suggesting Ed is to blame for the quality of M's work over the last 24 years? 

[dustyvalentino]

I mean, who cares to keep up to speed on what their ex-es are doing?

I do. I need to see that my voodoo doll work is proving effective for one thing.

Are you suggesting Ed is to blame for the quality of M's work over the last 24 years? 

Well, I'm not in a position to rule it out

[Love Expresso]

The biggest impact from Ed's answers on me had his opinion about the album cover of Sailing To Philadelphia. If I remember it correctly, he found it ridiculous. It was released 24 years ago these days, and I have the vinyl cover in front of my while listening to the vinyl. I always loved that cover from day one. I fully understand that anyone could find it boring or ininspired, but the contrast between "Sailing" and the plane makes curious and let you take the (then) CD in your hand when you spot in a store, the blue sky and the silve plane was an echoe of the  Brothers in Arms cover and even the typo was cool. I still love it and would choose it among his best ones.  I read also what Quizzy wrote about the covers and he is refreshing and original and right most of the time as usual  , but the question shoud be what is a good album cover anyway?

LE

[TheTimeWasWrong]

I always loved that cover from day one. I fully understand that anyone could find it boring or ininspired, but the contrast between "Sailing" and the plane makes curious and let you take the (then) CD in your hand when you spot in a store, the blue sky and the silve plane was an echoe of the  Brothers in Arms cover and even the typo was cool

Same. I think it has the best artwork of all his solo stuff. I love how tiny the letters and the plane itself are, great perspective. The CD itself was cool too, though it all feels a bit dated now. Shangri-La was the worst; it felt so cheap and amateurish.

That said, I am really bored with the sky theme. The list is getting ridiculous: : Communique, Love Over Gold, Brothers in Arms, Sailing, Tracker, DTRW, One Deep River. If there is ever going to be a next record, I hope he spends a few more minutes choosing something else.

[quizzaciously]

The biggest impact from Ed's answers on me had his opinion about the album cover of Sailing To Philadelphia. If I remember it correctly, he found it ridiculous. It was released 24 years ago these days, and I have the vinyl cover in front of my while listening to the vinyl. I always loved that cover from day one. I fully understand that anyone could find it boring or ininspired, but the contrast between "Sailing" and the plane makes curious and let you take the (then) CD in your hand when you spot in a store, the blue sky and the silve plane was an echoe of the  Brothers in Arms cover and even the typo was cool. I still love it and would choose it among his best ones.  I read also what Quizzy wrote about the covers and he is refreshing and original and right most of the time as usual  , but the question shoud be what is a good album cover anyway?

LE

Yeah, that was hilarious... Also, Mark's answer, "Don't you like planes?" might take a permanent residency in the International Bureau of Weights and Measures as the funniest Manager & Artist communication ever. Very funny and memorable! I'd suggest that Ed could use it as a book title akin to Richard Feynman's "Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman!" which was also a quote, and a book I absolutely can imagine Ed's book ending up being IF he decides to write it.

I can't remember what I said about covers, but your question is awesome. What is a good album cover? In a world where an album cover might be a solid white, blue, red or black picture... And the band can be named "The The", this question is unanswerable.

I think it's entirely random, just like band names. As long it's not taken, and nobody will sue you, then you're good to go... Bonus points if it has some relation to the music (like the band being in dire straits and naming themselves Dire Straits). The cover could be an old painting like Fleet Foxes' 2008 debut album or Paul Simon's latest album, a photograph like The Ragpicker's Dream or Fleet Foxes' Shore. It could be anything.

The problem here is that you NEED a cover, just like you can't type something without using a font. I'm sure a lot of artists would not use any covers at all if given a choice not to do it. But as they are forced to do it, then this problem is getting solved somehow. I can imagine a world where all the music is being sold in plain albums with the Artist's name and Album name, like in nearly all the books without their dust jacket covers.

So, to be completely honest, at least to me, the album cover is just like this... A dust jacket. Something to hold the music together. If I want to marvel at the beauty of a painting, or photograph, I'll go elsewhere. Besides, if it is a painting or a photograph, these artists are going to put words on top of it that weren't originally there. So, the bottom line is — fuck album covers, let's enjoy the music!

[vgonis]

I believe that the way we perceive the artwork is somewhat subjective. Although it is  a part of the packaging for the actual work, which is the music contained, in a way an advertisement that helps sell the product,  we perceive it as part of the whole, which is not a mistake, since it is subjective. This cover artwork explains it perfectly.
https://www.discogs.com/master/70147-XTC-Go-2/image/SW1hZ2U6MjU2NDEwMw==

I don't know what would constitute a better alternative - substitute, since this means a choice between more than one complete artworks, or at least ideas of artworks. The story about the Hypgnosis - Pink Floyd - Animals, or DSOTM are such cases. But since DS albums were successful commercially, the impact of the covers are interwoven into the collective consciousness, influenced generations of people that bought them and are extremely hard to separate them from the whole. I love the simplicity of the idea of MM, and come to think of it, all DS studio albums are rather minimalist. It is a nice solution since such covers have more impact. In this sense STP works, and is probably better than tracker, but maybe if tracker was stronger than STP, we would have a different opinion.  It is no wonder that big bands simply don't need an artwork cover, like the Beatles, but this was also part of the hype/add.

[quizzaciously]

I believe that the way we perceive the artwork is somewhat subjective. Although it is  a part of the packaging for the actual work, which is the music contained, in a way an advertisement that helps sell the product,  we perceive it as part of the whole, which is not a mistake, since it is subjective. This cover artwork explains it perfectly.
https://www.discogs.com/master/70147-XTC-Go-2/image/SW1hZ2U6MjU2NDEwMw==

I don't know what would constitute a better alternative - substitute, since this means a choice between more than one complete artworks, or at least ideas of artworks. The story about the Hypgnosis - Pink Floyd - Animals, or DSOTM are such cases. But since DS albums were successful commercially, the impact of the covers are interwoven into the collective consciousness, influenced generations of people that bought them and are extremely hard to separate them from the whole. I love the simplicity of the idea of MM, and come to think of it, all DS studio albums are rather minimalist. It is a nice solution since such covers have more impact. In this sense STP works, and is probably better than tracker, but maybe if tracker was stronger than STP, we would have a different opinion.  It is no wonder that big bands simply don't need an artwork cover, like the Beatles, but this was also part of the hype/add.

Awesome post, vgonis! Nothing to add. Also, while we're on the topic of covers... From Mark's radio show, the biggest "aha" moment for me was when he introduced the band Yo La Tengo, which apparently he discovered nearly at the same time as his listeners. And the album he played music from had a cover like this:



It turned out to be a photo by an American photographer Gregory Crewdson: https://www.flakphoto.news/p/gregory-crewdsons-new-book

I ended up finding a hi-rez version of this photograph. And while both the music and the cover art are great, I get much more enjoyment while looking at a full, not cropped image without words. And it's almost painful to look at, especially when paired with the muisc, this is how beautiful it is. Talking about ART!

[Robson]

I always loved that cover from day one. I fully understand that anyone could find it boring or ininspired, but the contrast between "Sailing" and the plane makes curious and let you take the (then) CD in your hand when you spot in a store, the blue sky and the silve plane was an echoe of the  Brothers in Arms cover and even the typo was cool

Same. I think it has the best artwork of all his solo stuff. I love how tiny the letters and the plane itself are, great perspective. The CD itself was cool too, though it all feels a bit dated now. Shangri-La was the worst; it felt so cheap and amateurish.

That said, I am really bored with the sky theme. The list is getting ridiculous: : Communique, Love Over Gold, Brothers in Arms, Sailing, Tracker, DTRW, One Deep River. If there is ever going to be a next record, I hope he spends a few more minutes choosing something else.

And All The Roadrunning

I really like the sky theme. I like the compass on the Sailing To Philadelphia album and the hidden map. Covers are important to MK. I remember what he said about The Ragpicker's Dream album.

[Love Expresso]

That's what us fans like to think but Ed stated otherwise at least when talking about DS covers. They are all great and I love them all but as Ed said they were picked almost randomly and without any further deep thinking.

As MK got more and more autonomous with an own studio, pictures shot by Guy in the booklets and covers based on photos taken by Kitty I guess he changed that. The KTGC cover also comes to mind as an example for being essential.

LE