May they multiply you
May the river guide you
You won’t always be here
To be tricked and lied to
May you always have a fight
Be it wrong or be it right
Shed a raindrop when you cry
But beware of sedatives and passing time
Namy-namy-namy-namy-namy-namy-namy-namy-namy-namy-way we go! Yeah, I’ve got no idea what that sped up voice is saying. But I love it.
Oh, and this whole “May you always have a fight/Be it wrong or be it right”? Listen, I get it, that whole “If You Don’t Stand for Something, You’ll Fall for Anything” job? Yeah, all good. Only, don’t stand up for wrong things, yeah? I get where you’re coming from, and that not believing in anything just means you’ll allow yourself to be just swept up by the majority. And if you believe in the right things, we’d love to have you! But if you believe in the wrong thing, then maybe just pipe down and get on with your life, we’ve got this. And don’t “Fine people on both sides” me with this – there are people whose beliefs are literally scientific; there are people (the fascists) who always support capital because they’ve been told God wants them to; and then there’s people (the social fascists) who also support capital because they saw it on the fucking West Wing: Fight for what’s right, yeah?
“Beware of sedatives”? Well… I mean… what sedatives are we talking about, exactly…
Marcus Brown, you absolute motherfucker. I really liked Nourished By Times confusingly titled debut album ‘Erotic Probiotics 2’. Really liked it. But didn’t love it. I named it as the 39th best album of 2023 as much out of respect for someone new creating interesting and notable music as me genuinely believing it was the 39th best album of the year. Nicky Wire’s second album was #40, for fuck’s sake, and that piece of shit wouldn’t have made the top 400 if we’re being completely honest. Those numbers 39 – 40 are often about me in my iron throne slowly nodding my head in the direction of compelling and varied new music… oh, and chucking the Manic Street Preachers an automatic spot so we don’t need to deal with the ignominy of them not make the list for the first time ever (hey, Americans, remember 9/11? Well, this would be worse, and I’m not about to enact that tragedy if I can help it). I listed ‘Erotic Probiotics 2‘ because, while I didn’t think it was spectacular, I imagined that Marcus Brown very much had that capacity, so thought I should keep my eye on an artist potentially capable of the spectacular in the future.
But, fucking hell Marcus, I meant, like, seven or eight years down the line, not the very next album, Jesus…
”The Passionate Ones’ is just a massive improvement on the debut album in every conceivable way: it’s tighter; the songs sound more meaty; there’s a definite purpose and shared vision; it’s less of an obvious ‘bedroom pop’ collection; it generally kicks more arse. The titular ‘Passionate Ones’ are some kind of cult, though despite its name I always read it as the bizarre cult of late stage capitalism that we’re all roped into. So, yeah, in order to survive you lot over there need to sell your labour to this tiny amount of people here, and then that tiny amount of people will reward you with way less money than you’ve created, then you give all that money back to the same tiny amount of people in order to pay for the food you need to eat – from companies they own – and for a place to sleep – in houses they own. And if you question it, it’s because you’re a Commie, or Trans, or an NPC, or a Russian bot. We are Charlie Kiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiirk!! Also, we all now fuck children on a tropical island as well, which… yeah, guess Marx didn’t consider that…
And – I know I say this about everything but just shut the fuck up – the Prince comparisons are off the chart with this one. Though not necessarily to His 80’s peak as so many other artists reference, but more to His less revered and canonicalised (but still great) early to mid 90’s sonic ambitions with His current New Power Generation band. The Passionate Ones are given their own logo, and the Cult Interlude sounds to me like a purposeful reference to all the NPG Operator interludes of Ƭ̵̬̊’s ‘The Gold Experience‘.
That’s enough praise for some mild criticism now? Good.
I don’t love Marcus Brown’s production still, and it can lead to some of Nourished by Time’s most euphoric moments feeling ever so constrained on record when they’d really benefit for exploding into life like the classic House music that he’s so obviously influenced by. When I saw Nourished By Time live a few weeks back, so many of the tracks burst into life in a way that they’re often that tiny bit to constricted to do on record.
But, fuck it, what do I know? Marcus Brown’s second album of Mumble Funk is such a vast improvement on their first, that at this rate their next album will probably cure cancer and seize the means of production.
2023 #39 (+30!!)
The Admiring Ones!! The dumb fans only gave it 79 though.
Guess that proves he’s not a Russian bot.
Necessary Evil 