Jarvis arrives at the NME awards.
Photo: Dave Benett/Getty
The guest editor of this month's Music Monthly magazine - that's Jarvis Cocker - has wanted to get to the bottom of a thorny question: music - what's that all about then?
To answer it, he called on a handful of friends and associates who were with him in Dublin to perform a concert of songs by Leonard Cohen.
So it was that a week last Wednesday - October 4 - in what was billed as the penthouse meeting room at the Clarence Hotel (really, it was a bit boxy, and the price of a plate of sandwiches!) the erstwhile singer of Pulp sat down next to his mate Anthony Genn from hot new band The Hours, who was next to Antony Hegarty from Antony and the Johnsons; he in turn sat beside Beth Orton, who was next to Nick Cave and the great Mary Margaret O'Hara (making a rare public appearance). The line-up was completed by OMM's own critic-at-large Paul Morley.
Jarvis kicks things off, before Nick Cave and Paul Morley pick up the baton, talking about selling your songs to sanitary napkin companies and such like. Later, each member of the panel reveals the first gig they ever went to. That's Antony of Antony and the Johnsons making the most mortifying confession, uttering the words 'Mine was the worst ...'
See the edited transcript of what went down in Dublin here, read Jarvis's blog calling on readers to share their unintentionally scary songs here, and listen to him tell Luke Bainbridge about editing the mag, his new album and tour, clips of the Round Table discussion in Dublin, and a sample of Running The World, the much-discussed track from his brilliant new solo album, Jarvis, all here.
Make sure you come back and let us know what you think of Jarvis's effort.
