I picked up both of these books a couple weeks ago and while Bands On The Road is more of a coffee table book, Morrissey In Conversation is something much more substantial. As a massive fan of The Smiths since I first ever heard them in the late 80s, this book is turning out to be an interesting reflection of not only their formative years, but of Morrissey’s relentless pursuit of being everything that the pop stars at the time were not. This book contains virtually ever major interview he gave from the beginning of The Smiths through 2007. While I imagine a great deal of the book to be somewhat repetitive - I’ve counted seven references to his choice of celibacy and I’m only 40 pages in - for me it is a remarkable lo0k at a giant inspiration of mine and someone who there is really no equal for. I highly suggest this book for any fans of The Smiths; if you’ve read Morrissey & Marr - The Severed Alliance, this book is a great companion.

Lightspeed Champion are the current band of Devonte Hynes, formerly of Test-Icicles, and the contrast in style couldn’t be more noticeable. Test Icicles were a brash, explosive band of grating guitars and shouted lyrics, and they’d have been the perfect tourmates for Death From Above 1979 - another great band that closed up shop too soon.

From Wikipedia:

Lightspeed Champion is the name of the new musical venture by ex-Test Icicle Devonte Hynes. He is currently signed to Domino Records. Containing musical elements from a variety of genres, Lightspeed Champion has a radically different sound to Hynes’ previous band. The name ‘Lightspeed Champion’ comes from a series of comic strips Hynes did as a teenager in his school mathematics books. Hynes was born in Houston, Texas and raised in Essex, England.

In early 2007, Hynes went to Omaha, Nebraska to record Lightspeed Champion’s debut album with Saddle Creekproducer Mike Mogis, also a member of the band Bright Eyes. A number of Omaha-based musicians appear on the record including Mogis himself, trumpet player and pianist Nate Walcott (also of Bright Eyes), The Faint’s drummer Clark Baechle and guest vocalist Emmy The Great - along with moonlighting members of Cursive and Tilly And The Wall. 

The result of those recording sessions is the album Falling Off the Lavender Bridge which was released on January 21, 2008. The first single from the album is “Galaxy of the Lost”, which was released on July 30, 2007. (Additional wikipedia entry here)

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I’ve been a huge fan of this album since a friend suggested it and I love seeing the diversity of a songwriter I previously knew only for what Test-Icicles had produced. There’s a great blend of instrumentation here - strings, horns, and acoustic guitars.

Read more about Lightspeed Champion at metacritic.com.

Listen: Lightspeed Champion - Tell Me What It’s Worth

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