| Author | Message | ||
     Stuart Wilson Member Username: Stuart Post Number: 512 Registered: 10-2006 |
The birds they sang at the break of day "Start again!" I heard them say, "Don't dwell on what has passed away Or what is yet to be..." Leonard Cohen - Anthem | ||
| andreas Member Username: Andreas Post Number: 909 Registered: 04-2006 |
stuart, your quote fits perfect to this new year's day. so once again, a happy new year! peaking light - tiger eyes (laid back) moody, swirling music fits also perfect to this rainy and slowed down new year's day. | ||
| Stuart Wilson Member Username: Stuart Post Number: 513 Registered: 10-2006 |
I woke up with that song buzzing round in my head, Andreas, it was only when I put it on I realised it was maybe due to the opening lines. Yes, a very Happy New Year to everyone - it's shaping up to be a toughie down here, although at least Silvio is out of the picture... for the moment ... | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 4228 Registered: 05-2005 |
Kate Bush - 50 Words For Snow. Very funny. | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 4230 Registered: 05-2005 |
Jackie Leven - Clay Jug. A beautiful song, which is bookended by spoken word sections by American poet Robert Bly and Mike Scott. | ||
| skulldisco Member Username: Skulldisco Post Number: 1542 Registered: 10-2008 |
David Bowie - Young Americans. Heard this today on BBC6 music at work, they are playing loads of his songs today because its his 65th birthday! I'm not a great lover of the Young Americans album (although by most other artists standards it would probably be a career high!), but the single is an amazing song, the voacals are incredible and the playing just off the scale. That was one thing Bowie was smart enough to realise when he became famous - surround yourself with exceptional session musicians. He did this all the way from Young Americans up to Scary Monsters in particular. This was highlighted to me last night while watching a clip of Bowie and the soon to be Spiders from Mars playing Queen Bitch on The Old Grey Whistle Test - these guys looked like pub musicians and didnt play much better imo - Mick Ronson excepted obviously!! | ||
| Randy Adams Member Username: Randy_adams Post Number: 2823 Registered: 03-2005 |
Frank Tovey (Fad Gadget) -- Life on the Line I love it when the iPod pitches up something I haven't heard in years but can still remember nearly all the lyrics to. Who said I don't like synthpop? Super. | ||
| skulldisco Member Username: Skulldisco Post Number: 1546 Registered: 10-2008 |
The Fall - Mask Search At this rate I'll soon have every song from Ersatz GB as a song of the day! | ||
| cosmo vitelli Member Username: Cosmo Post Number: 378 Registered: 05-2005 |
BMX Bandits - Serious Drugs 'I said baby I cant take it much longer, she said maybe your tablets should be stronger' | ||
| skulldisco Member Username: Skulldisco Post Number: 1548 Registered: 10-2008 |
The Fall - Frightened. The very fist of quite a few MES songs about drug induced paranoia. Martin Bramah's scratchy guitar lines just make it all the more menacing. | ||
| Randy Adams Member Username: Randy_adams Post Number: 2825 Registered: 03-2005 |
Kevin, a question for you: Do you think MES' "uh huh" peppering "Sing Harpy" is an homage to Iggy's vocals on The Stooges' "Little Doll"? The iPod pitched up "Little Doll" tonight and when Iggy went "uh huh" at the end of some of the lines I thought "that's really familiar. MES does that somewhere." And then I remembered it was "Sing Harpy". After all, the Fall DID do a little wink at the Beatles' "Paperback Writer" in "Arms Control Poseur". Bramah's guitar is brilliant all the way through "Witch Trials." I wish it was mixed further forward than the $#A%& drums. | ||
| skulldisco Member Username: Skulldisco Post Number: 1549 Registered: 10-2008 |
Spot on Randy. Check this from The Fall site messageboard - they are discussing Extricate "Sing! Harpy. Great opener. "Thin white skeleton, just too good in bed." Yeah--- there's an image. And those famished talons! That song is just too cool, and a nod to the Stooges, uh-huh." On Extricate the album itself, I loved it when it first came out, but listening to it recently it doesn't hold up as well as I would have hoped, maybe a bit slick and over produced. But, like I always say, its The Fall and thats never a bad thing. Peel got it right, "always different but always the same" ps - I think I pointed out here recently that Sing harpy is a total rip off of A Figure Walks from Dragnet, the similarities are uncanny. | ||
| Randy Adams Member Username: Randy_adams Post Number: 2826 Registered: 03-2005 |
Kevin, I remember you comparing "Sing Harpy" and "A Figure Walks." I hear the same rhythm in both tracks but they seem a lot different otherwise. I remember originally being very suspicious of "Extricate." It was the first album after Brix left and it was on a new label. But I loved it and it still rates pretty highly with me. I know what you mean about the slickness. But it has "Chicago, Now!" | ||
| Michael Bachman Member Username: Michael_bachman Post Number: 2324 Registered: 01-2005 |
Randy, I always like Frank Tovey's "From the City to the Isle of Dogs" from his 1988 album Civilian. My local NPR station Sunday night program Dimension (that introduced me to the GoBs, Pixies, Throwing Muses, etc) played it every once in a while. It also made it one my on my cassette tapes that I still have from the fall of 1988. One of these days I'll remember to order Civilian. | ||
| Randy Adams Member Username: Randy_adams Post Number: 2827 Registered: 03-2005 |
Michael: The only Frank Tovey I've ever had or heard is an anthology called "The Fad Gadget Singles" which I bought in the mid-80s. "Civilian" sounds interesting. | ||
| Jeff Whiteaker Member Username: Jeff_whiteaker Post Number: 2291 Registered: 10-2004 |
To this day I still can't stand Extricate. I think I've bought and sold that album at least three times over the years, trying to figure out its appeal (a lot of people rate it pretty highly). But the Fall produced so many other brilliant albums that it doesn't really matter. | ||
| Jeff Whiteaker Member Username: Jeff_whiteaker Post Number: 2292 Registered: 10-2004 |
The Church - Tear It All Away | ||
| cosmo vitelli Member Username: Cosmo Post Number: 382 Registered: 05-2005 |
Extricate is a solid album, cant imagine why anyone into the Fall should take against it, always different but always the same. Bill is Dead is a favourite Fall song of mine too | ||
| cosmo vitelli Member Username: Cosmo Post Number: 383 Registered: 05-2005 |
In fact I just listened to it on spotify and it sounds really good, Chicago,Now + Black Monk Theme in particular | ||
| Stuart Wilson Member Username: Stuart Post Number: 515 Registered: 10-2006 |
Beck - Guess I'm doing fine | ||
| skulldisco Member Username: Skulldisco Post Number: 1554 Registered: 10-2008 |
Teardrop Explodes - Bouncing Babies. Found this up in the loft - 7in single with picture sleeve, on the ZOO label. Might be worth some cash! Also found some other nuggets snuggled away with that single, in the some little corner in the loft. Magazine - Thankyoufalletinmebemicelfagain, in a plain carboard sleeve similar to the album cover for Correct Use of Soap. I can't even remember this being a single! Wah Heat - 7 minutes to Midnight - pic sleeve on the Inevitable label - another that might be worth some cash. Cabaret Voltaire - Seconds To Late, on Rough Trade Gang of 4 - At Home He's A Tourist c/w Its Her Factory Buzzcocks - Harmony In My Head XTC - Making Plans For Nigel The Clash - Complete Control Joy Division - Transmission Scritti Politti - Faithless, on Rough Trade Go - Betweens - Head Full of Steam (says its remixed by Mike Pela, whoever he is!). This one seems out of kilter with the records above, probably 1986 when the rest are 79-80 ish. | ||
| cosmo vitelli Member Username: Cosmo Post Number: 385 Registered: 05-2005 |
Mrs Miller - Lovers Concerto http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Odf0Kpluv gM the Joanna Newsom of her day? | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 4247 Registered: 05-2005 |
The Panics - Majesty (the best track by far on the disappointing Rain On The Humming Wire album). | ||
| skulldisco Member Username: Skulldisco Post Number: 1556 Registered: 10-2008 |
Going back to Extricate by The Fall. I was up early this morning to take my daughter to her work so when I got back I stuck Extricate on and listened on the headphones to avoid disturbing the rest of the house. Its actually a very well constructed,played, and produced album when listened to in that environment, lots going on in a very spacious mix(especially the magnificent Telephone Thing, which some days is my favourite ever Fall song), the majority of the songs produced by Craig Leon - didnt he produce the Go-Betweens? Checking the booklet, MES does a short missive in which he describes this as "a top album" which was written through "the chaos of the last 14 months" - presumably a reference to MES and Brix splitting up. The irony is that The Fall made what is probably their most "pop" album and Brix is nowhere to be seen!!. Its probably the most laid back Fall album ever, MES rarely getting into rant mode, which while it may be disappointing at least gives The Fall another dimension. With all this calmness,I wonder what drugs he was on during the writing and recording? Listening to it now I find that songs that never registered with me too much before (Black Monk Theme, Chicago Now and Hilary) sound great. Bill Is Dead, Sing Harpy, Telephone Thing and I'm Frank are all top drawer Fall from this period. And Therein sounds like a tune from the Grotesque era,albeit without the rough edges that it would have had if it had been recorded then, it also has a little Buddy Holly like guitar riff going though it which I never noticed before! The title track I always remembered as being a throwaway song, its actually a brilliantly constructed semi dance track with a great rhythm. This band never ceases to amaze, an album which I loved on release but grew dismissive of over the years just took on a new lease of life for me! Over at the Fall messageboard I found a link to the NME review of the album from 1990. 10 out of 10 no less! I really cant remember that, but its there in black and white. http://www.visi.com/fall/news/pics/90feb 17_nme-extricate.jpg From my days of reading NME (1976-1999) I can only ever remember two albums getting 10/10. Those were Automatic for The People by REM and the debut album by The June Brides! | ||
| Randy Adams Member Username: Randy_adams Post Number: 2830 Registered: 03-2005 |
Kevin: Back when I had too much time on my hands I wrote albums reviews on Amazon's website. I just hunted up this one that I wrote for "Extricate" in 2001, after having an epiphany similar to the one you're reporting here: "There may be no constantly working band from the 1970s punk era that managed to cling to its anti-commercial stance as tenaciously as the Fall. But even the Fall went corporate when the band moved to Fontana Records with this release. Produced by Craig Leon, this album is probably the most disciplined and --dare I say it-- pop oriented release the group ever did. Notwithstanding its solid punk credentials, the Fall were actually one of the most formidable creators of dance music. The Fall recorded disco for the righteous, most numbers based on incredibly simple yet effective guitar riffs. At the time of this album (1990) the main source of musical propulsion in the group was its longrunning nucleus of Craig Scanlon and Steven Hanley on guitar and bass. The other players, including the drummer, embellished this basic core. As always, of course, Mark E. Smith slurred his pontifications on top of the groove. On 'Extricate,' absolutely every single number is a potential dance floor star. The marvel is the amount of variety served up by this very eclectic band. The fuzzbox riffing of 'I'm Frank' harks back to the 1960s garage bands in the U.S., while 'And Therein' creates its dance drone with rockabilly guitars. 'Telephone Thing' sounds like Mark Smith doing the early B-52s. 'The Littlest Rebel' sports hilarious lyrics just begging for a cover version by some camp gay act, again undergirded by a solid simple guitar riff. 'Popcorn Double Feature' is a delightfully finished neopsychedelia number every bit as thorough as Prince's efforts in that genre, even including strings. 'Arms Control Poseur' ends with an arch musical reference to the Beatles' 'Paperback Writer.' 'Chicago Now' blends Captain Beefheart, Stravinsky and 1940s film noir soundtrack music together. Perhaps most striking of all is 'Bill is Dead' with its slobbery Lou Reed-esque vocals topping a positively balladic musical backing. And all of these musical excursions are thoroughly blended with the Fall's own unique intense and firey musical style. 'Extricate' is a masterpiece, pure and simple. It's hard to believe that the band who made this album was in its thirteenth year making records, so fresh and energetic is the music." | ||
| Stuart Wilson Member Username: Stuart Post Number: 516 Registered: 10-2006 |
Joseph Arthur - Speed of light Not one of my favourite artists, but certainly one of my top ten songs of all time. | ||
| skulldisco Member Username: Skulldisco Post Number: 1557 Registered: 10-2008 |
Nice one Randy, maybe you missed your calling in life. But you will need to throw in a handful of pretentious words nobody ever uses in normal everyday life if you want to make a career out of it!! I never really thought of Extricate as a danceable album before, but you may have hit on something there. Its funny how I think of Extricate as later period Fall when it is really nothing of the kind, as you say only 13 years into their career its really actually The Fall still in their infancy! | ||
| Jeff Whiteaker Member Username: Jeff_whiteaker Post Number: 2296 Registered: 10-2004 |
I'm really happy for you guys, Randy and Kevin, that you like Extricate so much. I still think it's a pretty bad album, especially compared to just about everything they did before it. It's so laid back, lazy even. It's kind of like, the Fall tries to make a fun, relatively lightweight party record. But I kind of don't want fun party music from the Fall. I want the Fall to be the band whose records I play when I want everyone to leave! I'm not a fan of the production, and the songs mostly sound half-baked, despite a few promising moments. There are quite a few interesting 60s references, but they sound so limp and plastic compared to the real thing (partly to do with Craig Leon's production, I think). It is more pop oriented than much of what they'd done in the past, *but* it pales compared to the pop they'd already done, like "CREEP," "Oh Brother," "English Scheme," "Shoulder Pads," "No Bulbs," their cover of "Victoria," etc. Compared to albums like Bend Sinister or Perverted By Language or Grotesque, Extricate sounds, in my humble opinion, like a band starting to run out of ideas, passion, and energy. As I mentioned above, the album - as I'm remembering it - does have some promising moments, like "Sing! Harpy," "Bill is Dead," and "The Littlest Rebel," but even those songs would never make my personal favorite Fall songs list. However, oddly enough, after all that, I would still say Extricate is probably better than most of the albums they put out after it. | ||
| cosmo vitelli Member Username: Cosmo Post Number: 386 Registered: 05-2005 |
Dead Kennedys - California Uber Alles I finally get the Fast Product version on CD as a track on Black Hole - Jon Savage's excellent california punk compilation | ||
| Stuart Wilson Member Username: Stuart Post Number: 517 Registered: 10-2006 |
Joseph Arthur - Travel as equals On Letterman. Gospel chorus. Rock n roll babe bassist. Geetar solo. Just lacking a trumpet. | ||
| Stuart Wilson Member Username: Stuart Post Number: 518 Registered: 10-2006 |
Serge Gainsbourg - La chanson de Prévert Sounds like L. Cohen's whole early career was built around this song. | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 4252 Registered: 05-2005 |
The Lemonheads - Gonna Get Along Without Ya Now | ||
| Stuart Wilson Member Username: Stuart Post Number: 519 Registered: 10-2006 |
Lulu - To sir with love Ok, there's also the Stipe/Merchant version for Clinton's inaugeration party (er... why, I wonder?)but the original's still the best. One of my all time favourite tunes and, apparently, highly melismatic. | ||
| Randy Adams Member Username: Randy_adams Post Number: 2833 Registered: 03-2005 |
Stuart, last weekend I heard Susanna Hoffs try to tackle the song. There's no substitute for Lulu's scratchy/sinuous negotiation of that snaky melody. | ||
| Stuart Wilson Member Username: Stuart Post Number: 520 Registered: 10-2006 |
I love the way she punches out the "What..." twice on "What can I give you in return...?" And just as I finally decided to order the Atco sessions (on my Amazon wish list for about three years)... "unavailable". That always happens. | ||
| Randy Adams Member Username: Randy_adams Post Number: 2834 Registered: 03-2005 |
That is a great set Stuart. It's really the only part of her career that you need to pay attention to. She did some nice records for British Decca and her early Mickie Most stuff included some good material (including TSWL) but the Atco material is the pinnacle. There are no second dealers selling it? | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 4259 Registered: 05-2005 |
C.W. McCall - Convoy. (There's always been a trucking country songs element to my listening pleasure.) | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 4262 Registered: 05-2005 |
Red Sovine - Teddy Bear. (Still always been a trucking country songs element to my listening pleasure.) | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 4269 Registered: 05-2005 |
Abba - Fernando | ||
| skulldisco Member Username: Skulldisco Post Number: 1561 Registered: 10-2008 |
The Fall - Idiot Joy Showland. | ||
| Randy Adams Member Username: Randy_adams Post Number: 2840 Registered: 03-2005 |
White Light/White Heat -- Velvets. The lovely long version from the only truly great live album ever made. |