April was a month that contained barely any Editors activity, making this collection disappointingly small, but they would still take the time to show up and bring some joy our way.
As the later dates on the Black Gold tour were systematically erased...for now, Editors began their time off the road a lot earlier than anticipated. That's not to say the completely went to ground, as social media has created a situation where absence of physical proximity can be overcome and worked around. In that spirit, Elliott showed up on Instagram for a Q&A with fans on the 8th. All the questions and answers that featured are included here, including the revelation about there being multiple versions of The Pulse in existence...just not within our audio receptive boundaries. There was also the news that the band haven't seen each other since the last date they played together on the Black Gold tour, which is a little bit sad.
Then one day later there was an occurrence that we can truly label as "unexpected", as Editors released never before seen pro-shot footage of one of their gigs at Alexandra Palace on the 6th March 2008. An extremely generous gesture by the group, and a thing of beauty to be appreciated in a world of aesthetic shortages. It also came with a little bit of pre-amble from Ed, which was a lovely touch.
Please don't take what I'm saying next as me being a douche-fan or putting down what was clearly a very thoughtful gift from the band to their fans. I'm not, and it isn't. I love that they did this.
I would very, very quietly correct the date on the footage shared because I think it's incorrect. I believe that the beer-on-the-mixing-desk incident which took out the sound happened the night before, and not on the 6th as advertised. As to why the video craps out midway through the pro-shot video, I have no idea, but I don't think that alcohol spillage was the culprit. The reason being that I have footage of the moment of the actual equipment failure on the 5th, and not only is Tom wearing a black shirt instead of the white one he wore on the 6th when he tells the crowd the P.A. has broken, but the technical fault actually takes place during Racing Rats and not Escape the Nest. I also have a bootleg copy of the 6th March show you can watch for yourself and it runs from start to finish without any breaks. As I said, no disrespect intended at all but when your bootlegging/obsessed fan life revolves around the details...well, you get where I'm coming from.
On the 25th April, Elliott live-streamed a DJ set in aid of Oxfam. If you'd like to donate and find out more, follow this link. The premise was simple and effective, he would get behind the decks of fury and bust out some banging tunes for the masses all in aid of others. What makes this even more special, is that he did it on his birthday. Respect, Mr Williams.
Courtesy of one of the Archive's co-conspirators, GaryUK (thanks again) here's the full playlist for the disco themed show:-
01 Helen Schneider & The Kick - Shout (MUFTI Edit)
02 Love De Luxe - Here Comes That Sound Again
03 Gino Soccio - Dancer
04 Human League - Love Action
05 John Tejada - Sweat (On The Walls)
06 LCD Soundsystem - Get Innocuous
07 Kapote - Jaas Func Haus (Art of Tones Remix)
08 Robyn - Ever Again (Soulwax Remix)
09 Abba - Gimmie Gimmie Gimmie
10 &ME - Avalon
11 Change - A Lovers Holiday
12 Wham! - Everything She Wants (Remix)
13 Dead Or Alive - You Spin Me Round
14 The Chemical Brothers - Got To Keep On
15 The Blue Nile - Tinseltown In The Rain
16 Editors - Upside Down (Joris Voorn Remix)
17 Bill Withers - Lean On Me
Not a word was spoken by the man himself, but language isn't necessary when you're sharing the groove. If you missed it when it happened live you can still view it online here, dancing around your living room with the spirit-liberating abandon that can only be forged from weeks of being quarantined waiting for the world to resume its regular rotations.
Two days after Elliott's online streaming adventure came the news that a lot of people have been waiting a long time to hear; the complete You Are Fading collection will soon be available to stream with parts three and four being online right now. If you just started getting into the band then YAF is a golden ticket to a place in Editors' of history that's dying to meet you. It contains b-sides from their early singles and more, and it also acts as a portfolio for one Chris Urbanowicz and his time as an Editor.
Speaking of Chris...
As I was preparing this blog entry I noticed something he just said on Twitter, stemming from some comments he originally made about Ricky Gervais' After Life show, The soundtrack to the program was provided by Andy Burrows. A fan says he misses Chris' guitars. The Urbanowicz reply?
"I miss them too. Maybe it’s time."
Oh boy. It's easy to read that at face value and begin celebrating, but I've been hurt before (haven't we all?). The idea that he's decided to utilise his musical talents again is always going to be a reason to get happy, and I hope that it's true. If he recorded anonymously or never released another piece of music commercially, it wouldn't matter. It is my opinion that Chris Urbanowicz is hardwired as a musician, and a damn good one at that. For the joy that creating something from nothing other than your imagination can envoke, and even with any idea of an audience being out of the equation, it would still be worth him hitting the strings/keys again for all he could derive from that.
Then this morning as I prepared to post this entry, things got a little bit complicated. While commenting on a post by Elbow:-
"Just when you think you've gained the confidence to make music again, Elbow set the bar incredibly high. So grateful to have worked with Craig Potter and Guy Garvey."
Reading that stopped my thoughts and captured my full attention. Is that what the past 8 years of near silence have been about, a lack of confidence? This is one thing that is seldom discussed when talking about the break up of the original line up of Editors; the damage. I mean that with regards to all the involved parties. With Tom, Russell and Ed it was more apparent because they were questioned about it endlessly on the TWOYL tour and they wore it in public, but the man at the centre of it all has, to my knowledge, never spoken about it.
As is his right, we aren't owed an explanation.
I just feel like the narrative has always been that Chris wasn't into the vagaries of being in a band any more, and certainly from listening to something like the Worst Gig Ever podcast you could be persuaded it was true. If that was the case, you'd think that being off the treadmill would have been the happiest moment of his life. But what if being asked to leave actually took a toll, and the damage done was being forced to question the belief in his own abilities? I'm embarrassed to say that this may have been a blind spot for me as I've followed the story.
As glib as it sounds, maybe even a little trite considering I'm just a bootlegger with a passion for music that pushes my sadness buttons, the first three Editors albums and all the b-sides that accompanied them should act as a reminder to everyone of Chris Urbanowicz's capabilities. Including Chris. He was part of the construction of that body of work.
I've always felt that Andy Burrows is the diplomat in the Editors story; an intermediary that could build bridges and make things happen given his relationship with both sides. I'm not saying that with a view to Chris rejoining Editors, because the time for that is long, long gone. I just believe that if anyone could coax Chris back into writing and reconnecting with his creativity it would surely be him. Why do I think that? He's done it before. Just something to consider.
I make no predictions as to what May will bring (I expect it will be pretty quiet), but I hope everyone reading this, and everyone this is blog is concerned with, are doing OK.
Editors Instagram April 2020
download here
Two days after Elliott's online streaming adventure came the news that a lot of people have been waiting a long time to hear; the complete You Are Fading collection will soon be available to stream with parts three and four being online right now. If you just started getting into the band then YAF is a golden ticket to a place in Editors' of history that's dying to meet you. It contains b-sides from their early singles and more, and it also acts as a portfolio for one Chris Urbanowicz and his time as an Editor.
Speaking of Chris...
As I was preparing this blog entry I noticed something he just said on Twitter, stemming from some comments he originally made about Ricky Gervais' After Life show, The soundtrack to the program was provided by Andy Burrows. A fan says he misses Chris' guitars. The Urbanowicz reply?
"I miss them too. Maybe it’s time."
Oh boy. It's easy to read that at face value and begin celebrating, but I've been hurt before (haven't we all?). The idea that he's decided to utilise his musical talents again is always going to be a reason to get happy, and I hope that it's true. If he recorded anonymously or never released another piece of music commercially, it wouldn't matter. It is my opinion that Chris Urbanowicz is hardwired as a musician, and a damn good one at that. For the joy that creating something from nothing other than your imagination can envoke, and even with any idea of an audience being out of the equation, it would still be worth him hitting the strings/keys again for all he could derive from that.
Then this morning as I prepared to post this entry, things got a little bit complicated. While commenting on a post by Elbow:-
"Just when you think you've gained the confidence to make music again, Elbow set the bar incredibly high. So grateful to have worked with Craig Potter and Guy Garvey."
Reading that stopped my thoughts and captured my full attention. Is that what the past 8 years of near silence have been about, a lack of confidence? This is one thing that is seldom discussed when talking about the break up of the original line up of Editors; the damage. I mean that with regards to all the involved parties. With Tom, Russell and Ed it was more apparent because they were questioned about it endlessly on the TWOYL tour and they wore it in public, but the man at the centre of it all has, to my knowledge, never spoken about it.
As is his right, we aren't owed an explanation.
I just feel like the narrative has always been that Chris wasn't into the vagaries of being in a band any more, and certainly from listening to something like the Worst Gig Ever podcast you could be persuaded it was true. If that was the case, you'd think that being off the treadmill would have been the happiest moment of his life. But what if being asked to leave actually took a toll, and the damage done was being forced to question the belief in his own abilities? I'm embarrassed to say that this may have been a blind spot for me as I've followed the story.
As glib as it sounds, maybe even a little trite considering I'm just a bootlegger with a passion for music that pushes my sadness buttons, the first three Editors albums and all the b-sides that accompanied them should act as a reminder to everyone of Chris Urbanowicz's capabilities. Including Chris. He was part of the construction of that body of work.
I've always felt that Andy Burrows is the diplomat in the Editors story; an intermediary that could build bridges and make things happen given his relationship with both sides. I'm not saying that with a view to Chris rejoining Editors, because the time for that is long, long gone. I just believe that if anyone could coax Chris back into writing and reconnecting with his creativity it would surely be him. Why do I think that? He's done it before. Just something to consider.
I make no predictions as to what May will bring (I expect it will be pretty quiet), but I hope everyone reading this, and everyone this is blog is concerned with, are doing OK.
Editors Instagram April 2020
download here
For all of Editors' previous Instagram posts, go here.
brought to you with lots and lots of lemming-love :) x
