YAP / Hamell on Trial

A VOMIT-LIKE VIBE

What's in a name? Everything and nothing.

In the first installment of Hamell on Trial's YAP video blog, Ed Hamell riffs on King Riff: scruffy, venerated, dearly departed music scribe Lester Bangs.

BLURT knew a Hamell blog—initially meant to be text-only—would be something special: his own brand of blurt. His raucously intelligent songs and stage banter are uncommon, to be perfectly plain, and we knew he’d fit us like a new pair of socks. This was even clearer in our initial discussions about the blog, where Hamell inferred from the BLURT name that we’re going for a more honest, immediate take on the music magazine format. 

In the clip, Hamell characterizes this as a “vomit-like vibe.” We like that, ‘cause it’s what we aim to give you, chunks and all.

Isn’t that where quote-unquote music journalism is headed, into the hands of any chimp with a keyboard and the wherewithal to start a blog? It’s a return to the purest form, the junction of word-of-mouth and “influence.”

But what is influence, and what’s it worth? Back in Lester’s day, it was still pretty much (albeit decreasingly so) about that one guy in your circle of friends who had his ear to the ground, listening for the big sound. Lately, the “form” has devolved to something slightly better than catalog copy. Record reviews in some publications are as short as 40-50 words. What, really, can be said about the music in that much space? You can’t even read between the lines when reviews are reduced to “it sucks or it don’t.” (Either a record label’s wet dream or nightmare.) And frankly, some of it seems bought and paid for.

But then, should we be persuaded by long-stemmed, flowery prose like on some music blogs? Or the petulant, douchey ravings of one who thinks he’s fit to be a sweat stain on Lester Bangs’s T-shirt? Different strokes—you decide.

For our part, we’re gonna shoot for the sweet spot, split the difference between the two, and give you intelligent spew. Which, one supposes, is what Lester did—just on a plain that will forever remain just out of our reach, but thankfully not our comprehension. But while BLURT holds the Bangs canon in high esteem, and acknowledge his influence on music writers everywhere, we're not trying to cop his dope-ness. Who can?

Nobody. Lester Bangs was one of a kind, hatched from a broken mold.

And he sure wasn't Donald Trump. That is to say, we're pretty sure he'd be outraged at any attempt to copyright a word or phrase, even for his own use. Nor would he see a need to do so. Neither do we.

We’re just gonna be here doing our thing and hoping you dig it. And what, exactly, is our “thing?” Here’s a portion of a discussion we had with Hamell, where he explained his intended direction with this video blog, and it became clear that he gets BLURT.

“Why isn't there a rock mag that appeals to my demographic? Why were Creem, Uncut and Grand Royal “special,” at least initially? How [do we] not insult the readership's intellect? How do we differentiate the mag from the nine million other mags out there with a foot in the past, present and future? So... I've come up with something that appeals to me both on a creative and aesthetic level.”

Blurting is intrinsically human and non-exclusive. You are BLURT.

(BLURT lovingly dedicates this to Jeffrey Morgan and Steven Wells. Mwah!)

Ed Hamell picked up the guitar at age 7 and started writing songs not long after. In his early 20s, Mr. Hamell was the front man and writer for an original band, but local bands were a dime a dozen in the tough, working class neighborhoods in Syracuse, NY. So he launched a one-man act called Hamell on Trial. Six albums (plus a live one) and countless shows later, Hamell himself is one of a kind. Catch him on tour this summer in the U.S., Canada and Europe.