| Author | Message | ||
     Lawrence Mikkelsen Member Username: Simplythrilledhoney Post Number: 71 Registered: 03-2006 |
well, the next two albums in the Triffids' reissue series, "Calenture" and "In The Pines", arrived in my mailbox yesterday from the folks at Domino. The packaging for both looks wonderful, as do the liner notes etc. I'm yet to actually listen to them - will wait 'til tomorrow - but bodes well. I'm happy this band is finally getting the respect they deserve. | ||
| Lawrence Mikkelsen Member Username: Simplythrilledhoney Post Number: 73 Registered: 03-2006 |
I can't believe no one else is going crazy with excitement over this? My God ... I just put on the "Calenture" demo sessions and they're just staggering ... | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 1201 Registered: 05-2005 |
Easy tiger. We'll get there. | ||
| Randy Adams Member Username: Randy_adams Post Number: 982 Registered: 03-2005 |
Lawrence, some of us live in a yucky overpopulated cultural backwater in which both "Calenture" and "In the Pines" won't be released for another couple of weeks. And we aren't happy about it either. My thought is that the "Calenture" demo sessions will probably totally cure all my gripes about the overproduction of the actual album. | ||
| Lawrence Mikkelsen Member Username: Simplythrilledhoney Post Number: 77 Registered: 03-2006 |
Randy. Hang on. I don't think these will get a local release in New Zealand _at all_, so don't get started on about cultural backwaters to me! (Seriously, though, Domino mailorder are excellent for this sort of thing. They came super quick, well packaged, with a badge, a CD single promo of "Save What You Can" with the new video and a promo CD for a band I've never heard of.) And, yes, you're in for a real treat with those demos. The expanded "In The Pines" is really rather wonderful as well. | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 1203 Registered: 05-2005 |
Good to know Lawrence. I haven't been able to find them in Sydney yet though... | ||
| Randy Adams Member Username: Randy_adams Post Number: 984 Registered: 03-2005 |
Points taken Lawrence. I've been on Domino's site but didn't notice they sell directly. | ||
| frank bascombe Member Username: Frankb Post Number: 16 Registered: 01-2007 |
OH no more money to spend,I always liek Calenture despite the over-production but loved the under-production of In the Pines more | ||
| kevin Member Username: Kevin Post Number: 1399 Registered: 05-2005 |
Is it just me or does McComb sound uncannily like Robert Forster, especially on In The Pines, and on the bonus tracks on Calenture? Which has just reminded me of something, does anybody remember when people used to think that Grant and Robert sounded the same, and they found it hard to distinguish who was singing which song? I always found this laughable, to me they sound like chalk and cheese, although admittedly they became more distinctive with each passing album | ||
| Kurt Stephan Member Username: Slothbert Post Number: 1228 Registered: 04-2005 |
A lot of people have said that it's hard to tell RF and GM apart. Christgau even wrote that he couldn't tell them apart in his early positive reviews of the band. A few years ago, my girlfriend and I were caught in a traffic jam listening to one of the band's comps, so I took the time to "teach" her how to tell Grant and Robert apart. She finally got it. I don't really understand the problem--they're very different to my ears, although maybe it's that they sing in the same key a lot of the time (just a guess). Also, I think Grant's early songs were probably more influenced by Robert's songwriting style than the later stuff hence some slight melodic similarity. That changed as Grant develoed a style that was totally his own. But you know, Kev, I don't hear the McComb/Forster similarity, though I haven't heard the Calenture bonus tracks you refer to. But take my opinion lightly; remember that I thought some of Randy's singing on his MySpace songs was a bit reminiscent of David McComb, and I don't think anyone agreed with me. | ||
| Rob Brookman Member Username: Rob_b Post Number: 339 Registered: 08-2006 |
I used to think GM and RF sounded a lot alike, Kev. And I think they did on the earlier releases - to my ears, it sounded like Grant adopted some of Robert's vocal mannerisms when they were starting out, perhaps because he was the more experienced musician of the two. | ||
| kevin Member Username: Kevin Post Number: 1400 Registered: 05-2005 |
Kurt, Rob I think you have both nailed it why people couldnt distinguish between them, especially the fact the early songs had melodic similarity. However,to me they sounded as different as Strummer and Jones did!! | ||
| Kurt Stephan Member Username: Slothbert Post Number: 1229 Registered: 04-2005 |
I agree with you on that comparison, Kevin. I'm trying to think of other bands with singers that are hard to tell apart. I've been a Sleater-Kinney fan for a long time, but always had a really hard time telling Carrie and Corin apart. I found it hard to tell Partridge and Moulding apart on early XTC albums. And, to this day, on the legendary third Velvet Underground album, I'm not sure it's Lou singing "I'm Set Free"--I think it is, but it could be Doug Yule. | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 1205 Registered: 05-2005 |
For a long time I thought Dusty In Here was a Robert song. However, that was more to with somehow assuming there could not have been two intimate, and extraordinarily moving, songs about death on the one album with both being by the same writer. I don't know why I assumed that, I just did. The fact that the songs - from Before Hollywood on - were all credited to both Robert and Grant, even though they very rarely wrote together, would have been confusing to some I think. There voices are very different though. | ||
| Michael Bachman Member Username: Michael_bachman Post Number: 460 Registered: 01-2005 |
Kurt, I get slammed everytime I chime in with my opinion on the eponymus 3rd VU album, but I'll risk it again. Here goes, the eponymus 3rd VU album is my favorite Velvet Underground album. Sure, I miss Cale, but I love more of the songs on it then on first or second album. | ||
| Lawrence Mikkelsen Member Username: Simplythrilledhoney Post Number: 78 Registered: 03-2006 |
Michael, I also rate VUs third album as their best. So there you go. | ||
| Rob Brookman Member Username: Rob_b Post Number: 346 Registered: 08-2006 |
Far be it from me to slam anyone's choice of a favorite VU album, unless it's "Squeeze," the album Doug Yule made under the band's name after Reed and Morrison jumped ship. I think they're all amazing in entirely different ways. My personal fave is usually "VU," but on a given day it could be any of 'em. | ||
| Randy Adams Member Username: Randy_adams Post Number: 986 Registered: 03-2005 |
Rob, do you mean the sort-of lost 4th album with "I Can't Stand It," "Lisa Says" and "Foggy Notion?" That's my favorite too, thanks to the decent sound and the varied nature of the songs and the chunky stoner groove of "Foggy Notion" which really could just go on and on and on. | ||
| Rob Brookman Member Username: Rob_b Post Number: 347 Registered: 08-2006 |
That's the one, Randy. It was released when I was in college and totally blew my mind. Up 'til then, most if not all the VU records were out of print, so - aside from a bad-quality import collection a friend had - it was my first exposure to the band. It's funny to look back on that time; so much great stuff was out of print. | ||
| Rob Brookman Member Username: Rob_b Post Number: 348 Registered: 08-2006 |
Truth be told, "Another View," the barrel-scraping follow-up to "VU" has some pretty excellent moments, as well. Few bands make proper albums with as much good stuff. | ||
| Michael Bachman Member Username: Michael_bachman Post Number: 464 Registered: 01-2005 |
I picked up "VU" when it was released in 1985 and loved it as well. It will sure make an appearance in my top 10 for 1985 when we get around to that year. I agree with Rob on the follow-up "Another View," as well. Lou seemed to be in a big dip in the mid 80's. Nothing in 1985, Mistrial sucked the big wazzoo in 1986 and we had to wait until early 1989 to get the great "New York". | ||
| Kurt Stephan Member Username: Slothbert Post Number: 1235 Registered: 04-2005 |
I had been a Velvets fan for a decade when "VU" and "Another View" came out; before they were released, I wasted a lot of money on bootlegs with dubious sound quality to get songs like "Foggy Notion," "I Can't Stand It," "Guess I'm Falling in Love," etc. Those albums were a revelation because finally we had good-sounding versions of those songs. "I Can't Stand It" is probably my most-played Velvets song, though it's not exactly the peak of Lou's lyrical power. But like "Foggy Notion," it's proof they could be a perfect rock and roll band when they wanted to. | ||
| Peter_d Member Username: Peter_d Post Number: 20 Registered: 05-2005 |
Got Calenture yesterday - First impression, the inlay is really nice - DMcCs handwritten notes are intersting..and I love the individual band pictures on the back (were these on the LP at the time?) Second, the new mix is terrific - really lifts the songs imho.. As an aside, does anyone think one of the extra tracks ('Region Unknown') sounds a bit like 'Bye Bye Pride' in places - ('But I don't love her for the money' bit) ? | ||
| Jerry Clark Member Username: Jerry Post Number: 575 Registered: 08-2004 |
In The Pines is the best one. Timeless. | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 1235 Registered: 05-2005 |
Got them both yesterday. Haven't had a chance to play them yet though. | ||
| Donat Member Username: Donat Post Number: 248 Registered: 11-2004 |
I grabbed them both over the weekend and might I say they're magnificent. The packaging/extra tracks are sublime, especially Bruce Callaway's restoration of the In The Pines album. Hats off to Graham Lee for doing the (reissue) job right. I hope they'll reissue the early tapes, too - especially my favorite The Dungeon Tapes. | ||
| Randy Adams Member Username: Randy_adams Post Number: 1013 Registered: 03-2005 |
I have never heard any of the early tapes. Of all things, they seem like the obvious candidates for reissue in digital. More than anything I'm hoping for them. Still waiting for my copies of the Domino reissues. | ||
| Kurt Stephan Member Username: Slothbert Post Number: 1244 Registered: 04-2005 |
Donat, when you say "restoration" of "In the Pines," do you mean they found some more fidelity there than was in the original release? That album--like the Velvets' "Live at Max's Kansas City"--just doesn't seem like something that would benefit a lot from remastering. But if the extras are great, I'm glad they did it. | ||
| Geoff Holmes Member Username: Geoff Post Number: 196 Registered: 05-2005 |
Got them yessaday. In the Pines is a glorious improvement on the original - it seems a lot cleaner but has more character in the sound and the atmosphere with the extra tracks and extended interludes. Calenture is great...always was...and the demos are interesting, especially Bury me deep which changed its structure a great deal from the one we've all come to love. Now can we PLEASE have Raining Pleasure/Fields of Glass released???? | ||
| Rob Brookman Member Username: Rob_b Post Number: 394 Registered: 08-2006 |
FYI, y'all: http://www.popmatters.com/pm/music/revie ws/11524/the-triffids-in-the-pines/ | ||
| Michael Bachman Member Username: Michael_bachman Post Number: 481 Registered: 01-2005 |
Ordered the reissue of In The Pines yesterday. I'll order Calenture next month. What else did I order yesterday? Jenny Lewis and The Watson Twins "Rabbit Fur Coat" and Coralie Clement's "Salle Des Pas Perdus [IMPORT]" I love female French singers. | ||
| Donat Member Username: Donat Post Number: 251 Registered: 11-2004 |
Kurt, Calloway had the orignal 8 track tapes and remixed them (albeit slightly). He explains it much better than I could in his liner notes on ITP.  | ||
| Randy Adams Member Username: Randy_adams Post Number: 1016 Registered: 03-2005 |
Kurt, I got my copy today. "In the Pines" is significantly warmed up in terms of its sound. This is a very good remix/remaster. Bruce Calloway did the original post-production and he did the remaster. He even corrected the speed on some things which had been sped up in the original mix to "brighten the sound" which I interpret to mean to raise the high frequency ceiling. To be honest I seldom listened to the original "In the Pines" because I couldn't get into the thin lifeless sound. There are no such problems here and the addition of the songs which were originally left off give the whole thing the feel of a nice "live in the studio" effort, particularly since the songs ultimately destined for "Calenture" were of such high quality. "In the Pines" gets a much better remaster than did "Born Sandy Devotional" which, unfortunately, retained the same screwed up mixes as the original (such as the semi-audible lead vocal on the magnificent "Stolen Property"). Right now I'm listening to "Calenture" which has thankfully shed a good bit of its shrill over-processed 1987 sound. And I am reminded what a brilliant song is "Blinder by the Hour." | ||
| Dave Paul Member Username: Jock_n_roll Post Number: 1 Registered: 02-2007 |
Was anyone else in here In Glasgow in May 1989: Triffids on the Friday night, Go Betweens on the Monday? Why don't they make weekends like that anymore? | ||
| Keith Sharp Member Username: Keith_sharp Post Number: 5 Registered: 08-2005 |
Aye you're darn right Dave - REM, 10000 Maniacs and Stevie Wonder also played Glasgow that same fortnight, doesn't get much better... | ||
| Randy Adams Member Username: Randy_adams Post Number: 1020 Registered: 03-2005 |
Jeez, Dave, that does sound pretty amazing. Welcome to the board. I've just finished my first listen to the second disc in the "Calenture" reissue. This is almost like an electric "In the Pines." | ||
| Andrew Kerr Member Username: Andrew_k Post Number: 227 Registered: 04-2005 |
Dave, Was that the G-Bs gig at Govan Town Hall (part of Mayfest?). I remember that one, particularly for the 1970s ambiance of the venue! And thinking that Wilsteed looked a bit of a plonker. | ||
| Andrew Kerr Member Username: Andrew_k Post Number: 228 Registered: 04-2005 |
Plonker obviously passes the 'rude words' screening system. Can I just add specifically to this thread that I really don't get the attraction of the Triffids? Some OK-ish stuff, but I find it overwrought and 'In the Pines' pretty dull. Thank you. | ||
| Randy Adams Member Username: Randy_adams Post Number: 1021 Registered: 03-2005 |
What is a "plonker?" Andrew, if it's "OK-ish" or dull for you then that's all that can happen. The chemistry is not right for you. You certainly aren't alone. As for "overwrought," absolutely emphatically yes. But since when is overwrought an objection? The Triffids' version of overwrought is painstakingly chronicled. | ||
| kevin Member Username: Kevin Post Number: 1411 Registered: 05-2005 |
Randy, the closest translation I can think of for plonker is dweeb, or perhaps nerd -although I'm sure there are many others. I have had the remastered downloads of BSD, In The Pines and Calenture from Napster for some time now. However, this thread has forced me to break out the wallet - I must have the actual artefacts on this occasion so have forked out just over Ł20 for all three CDs- sound like deal of the year for me! | ||
| Jeff Whiteaker Member Username: Jeff_whiteaker Post Number: 499 Registered: 10-2004 |
Andrew, Randy's right, you're not alone. I have a history of just not getting the Triffids. Over time I've grown to like a few things, particularly the first couple of tracks from Born Sandy Devotional. And I heard a few tracks off the reissues (thanks to Randy) that I thought were pretty good. But most of what I've heard of theirs just isn't my thing. And occasionally I find some of their songs, like "Bury Me Deep in Love" from Calenture, totally execrable. However, Randy recently described to me the demo version of this from the reissue, and it sounds like Gil Norton significantly altered it. Ultimately, you hit the nail on the head: Some Ok-ish stuff, but when it's not okay, it can be overwrought and/or pretty dull. But for some reason, I keep revisiting them, wanting to hear more, to see if I may some day "get" what so many others on this msg. board are hearing. | ||
| spence Member Username: Spence Post Number: 1275 Registered: 05-2005 |
I sorta know what people mean with The Triffids. I first heard them on Peel in the 80's. I think the fact that I was introduced to them with all the sheen of 80's producion methods didn't help. However I found them listenable, and vocally, a tiny wee bit Scott Walkerish, and their stuff was always cheap, always in the bargain bins along with such hopeless luminaries as Danny Wilson, Deacon Blue and Thomas Lang, I mean, Lang, what kinda name's that for a wannabe STAR!!!!!!!! by the way, we frowned upon the word 'plonker' at school, that was for' posh people!' we preferred 'prick'. i went to a 'hard' school LOL! | ||
| Randy Adams Member Username: Randy_adams Post Number: 1023 Registered: 03-2005 |
Wow, they're just letting any words on here now. Thanks for the British slang lesson; if I remember it I'll put "plonker" to some use. We already had your alternative Spence! | ||
| Dave Paul Member Username: Jock_n_roll Post Number: 4 Registered: 02-2007 |
Thanks to Randy for the welcome. Yeah Andrew it was Govan Town Hall. Weird place for a gig but a great night nonetheless. Forster in his most Forsterish suit. QM the previous year was better though with Robert flirting shamelessly with three girls at the front and Grant telling them off just before the encore: 'Keep your eyes off Bobby, he's mine!' But back to the Triffids: Overwrought? Hell yes! Love it! Oh and if we're doing slang words may I offer a Scottish take. Suitable tartanized translations of 'plonker' include 'Choob' and 'bawbag'. Don't ask! | ||
| kevin Member Username: Kevin Post Number: 1413 Registered: 05-2005 |
Dave, can I offer "Rocket" as well, it seems to be in heavy rotation in Central Scotland at the moment, much better than "Plonker"! | ||
| Randy Adams Member Username: Randy_adams Post Number: 1026 Registered: 03-2005 |
I have a know-it-all friend who told me "rocket" means lettuce in the U.K.. I guess not in Scotland. | ||
| Geoff Holmes Member Username: Geoff Post Number: 197 Registered: 05-2005 |
A mate of mine with a recorded music collection, maybe in excess of Padraig, always tells me how thankful he is that I introduced him to the Triffids. He ranks David McCoomb as Australia's best ever songwriter and also as one of THE best worldwide in the late 20th Century! Born Sandy, although composed and recorded in England, is the sound of Australia. It's the heat. It's the humidity. It's the light. Maybe to REALLY get the Triffids, you have to experience it in situ. Born Sandy is SENSATIONAL driving with under a blue sky so big it turns white and dust nearly as red as blood. Most Australians outside 80's Auz underground types, wouldn't have a clue who the Triffids were. The Triffids toured with some god aweful performers(Barnsy? Farnsy?)when Wide Open Road came out and got SOME exposure then. Bury me deep was played for a couple of weeks on mainstream radio before it disappeared, but apart from that, most people wouldn't have a clue who they were. So, if you think the Triffids are "just OK", come to Australia or just persist. | ||
| Andrew Kerr Member Username: Andrew_k Post Number: 230 Registered: 04-2005 |
Randy, From the Triffids to salad leaves: the ever continuing joy of the G-Bs message board! Check out http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arugula for all you ever wanted to know (and more possibly) about rocket. Personally I find it a wonderful salad leaf, that has the amazing ability to survive/grow even in winter here (SW France). Given that it grows like a weed (pops up about a week after sowing) I have never figured out why it seems so expensive to buy... | ||
| Hugh Nimmo Member Username: Hugh_nimmo Post Number: 3 Registered: 03-2007 |
The Church are releasing a new unplugged album ( El Momento Siguiente ) early next month and the opening track is a cover of 'Wide Open Road' by The Triffids. | ||
| Hugh Nimmo Member Username: Hugh_nimmo Post Number: 4 Registered: 03-2007 |
It appears that El Momento Siguiente was in fact released last month. | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 1479 Registered: 05-2005 |
Cult hero: David McComb. I've posted this article I wrote five years ago at www.myspace.com/padraigcollins More of my cult hero articles will follow. | ||
| Geoff Holmes Member Username: Geoff Post Number: 219 Registered: 05-2005 |
There's also a doco about Born Sandy Devotional with appearances by Steve Kilbey and others in Sydney June 12th. You can't scam any free tickets Padraig can you????? | ||
| spence Member Username: Spence Post Number: 1556 Registered: 05-2005 |
Nice clip on Mr McComb Pad. | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 1482 Registered: 05-2005 |
Probably not Geoff! In Dublin, no problem, but I'm not much of a ligger these days in Sydney! |