COVENTRY Music Museum curator Pete Chambers BEM writes for the Observer.
Thank You
I’m still buzzing from becoming The Tourism Superstar 2024, let’s hope it spreads information of the museum and Coventry music all over the place. I want to thank everyone who voted for me, without you great people I simply wouldn’t have won, thanks also to my amazing team of volunteers at the museum.
Attrition-The Black Maria
Myself and Martin Bowes from Attrition go back a long way, indeed it was one of the first bands I ever wrote a review on, fast forward through countless releases and here we are in 2024 and I’m still in amazement of Martin’s incredible vision.
I recently caught their magical set at the very splendid Arches venue (with thanks to my good friend Chris Randall).
Despite the fact that their output is rooted in a tapestry of ethereal sounds that you may think suits sat in a darkened room listening with headphones and being taken on an extraordinary journey. Though live it works just as well, as part of the audience you are still in that darkened room but on a spine-tingling journey with fellow darkwave travellers.
Attrition either live or on record never fail to move me, like they did back in the 80’s and have done since.
I have probably never written an article on Attrition that didn’t use the word atmospheric, but that really sums up this band, this was and remains real music, music as an art-form if you like.
So Attrition have a new album out “The Black Maria”, I could wax lyrical but their press kit offers a much more succinct validation.
It says, “This time teaming up with the glorious baroque female vocalists Emke from Black Nail Cabaret, Elisa Day from Hetaira Decrépita and Yvette from Vaselyne is a genius move from the Attrition founder, with their voices lending filigrees of ghostly ambience to the band’s rich and distinctive sound…But it’s the return of original Attrition vocalist Julia after 20 years that elevates this album to another realm.
One second of Fame
I’m only on screen for a second or two, but I’m proud to have had a tiny cameo in the new Stephen Knight drama “This Town” set in 2-Tone Coventry and Birmingham in 1981. See if you can spot me, I’m in episode two at 33.34 minutes, I’m sat at the bar with Mark Harrison who is also a volunteer at the music museum just after you hear the words “Virgil”.
Indeed the museum’s new exhibition (OUR TOWN) sees the pub scene recreated in the museum.
It’s the actual pub with no beer, just like the one that is used on the one in the drama that was actually in West Bromwich, but was changed to look like the long gone Happy Trooper pub in Birmingham’s Chelmlsey Wood area and popular pub with Birmingham City fans, though all fans are welcome in our pub.
Many of the cast and crew visited the museum prior to filming to make sure the clothes and skinhead style was right, so we were proud to be on hand for that too”.
Also on show at the museum will be a selection of costumes and items as seen in the production, the museum are hoping that people will be inspired by the show and come and visit the museum and 2-Tone Village to get the background to it all.
