Moving on from the shameless soul-flogging of the other day, here’s another strangely-dimensioned frontman known for unusual stage behaviour, outrageous lyrics and a few great moments of rock and roll rebellion (Brits 96. Earth Song. Take that, Jackson!), but unlike Iggy Pop, Jarvis Cocker, formerly of Pulp, still has a few brain cells left.
He’s still recording and performing interesting material (his album ‘further complications’ was a musical highlight of last year, as wry, self-reflective and witty as ever). He’s also recently begun presenting his own radio show on the BBC’s Six Music.
In this, he’s following in the footsteps of Guy Garvey of Elbow, Lauren Laverne (some of us still remember the genius of Kenickie, Lauren!) and Mark Riley, once of the Fall. He’s nailing it, too- the opening sequence, a sort of Barry White pastiche where he talks about dentures, is quintessentially Jarvis- sexy, and self-mocking. Somehow, it works, and I suspect that the ladies love it.
You see, Jarvis’ show works because he’s a willing talker, articulate and intelligent. He’s the kind of presenter, like Mark Radcliffe or Terry Wogan, whose personality makes him the kind of presence you don’t mind inviting in to your home on a regular basis. Of course, with Jarvis, he’s probably hiding in the cupboard and spying on your sister as she undresses, but somehow that’s ok. It’s only Jarvis, and your sister probably likes it anyway.
He’s also quite a knowledgeable student of music- each broadcast so far, I’ve been very impressed with the standard of music played. It’s quite high on the sweeping grandeur, and sultry crooners, which is fair enough, and quite reflective of the tastes of the man himself. Jarvis is also pretty good at sprinkling interesting titbits of musical information about odd instruments, strange quirky facts about rock and roll, life, the universe, and everything.
An interesting show. I’m looking forward to seeing how it grows.
