| Author | Message | ||
     Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 4254 Registered: 05-2005 |
The Smiths - The Smiths. The brilliantly remastered version. | ||
| Jeff Whiteaker Member Username: Jeff_whiteaker Post Number: 2302 Registered: 10-2004 |
Padraig, it really sounds great, doesn't it? The remaster is now my go-to version. | ||
| Andreas Severins Member Username: Andreas_severins Post Number: 215 Registered: 11-2007 |
This Mortal Coil - Japanese Box Set I was lucky getting this brilliant 4cd box for less than 70 euros at german amazon. Hearing it with headphones opens more than my eyes ;) | ||
| skulldisco Member Username: Skulldisco Post Number: 1562 Registered: 10-2008 |
The Associates - Sulk. This just sounded so charged and vital when hearing this today. I loved this album when it first came out, and The Associates were just brilliant throughout their short life. I remember posting here a few years ago that Sulk didnt stand up as well as other albums from that period. Spence challenged me on that, and with hindsight he was of course right. The guy reviewing it on Allmusic.com summed it up perfectly - "... the result is a messy but wonderful triumph" Whatever happened to Spence, anybody know? I miss his contributions, and unparralelled knowledge of 80's music. | ||
| Jeff Whiteaker Member Username: Jeff_whiteaker Post Number: 2307 Registered: 10-2004 |
Sulk is indeed a wonderful album. "Messy but wonderful triumph" is an apt description. I always felt Mike Hedges' production was a bit muddy, but the songs shine through it. Fourth Drawer Down is probably still my favorite, however. Spence is alive and well - he's just busy focusing on other things in his life. | ||
| skulldisco Member Username: Skulldisco Post Number: 1565 Registered: 10-2008 |
Lots of classic albums, listening to at work, bored stiff with nothing to do on a Saturday nightshift!! Money for old rope :-) Bob Dylan - Blonde on Blonde The Fall - 50,000 Fall Fans Cant Be Wrong Brian Eno - Before and After Science Simple Minds - Empires and Dance Rolling Stones - Empires and Dance Tom Waits - Raindogs Radiohead - Kid A Niney The Observer Productions - Greatest Hits from The Observer (Black Uhuru, Dennis Brown, Gregory Isaacs etc) | ||
| skulldisco Member Username: Skulldisco Post Number: 1566 Registered: 10-2008 |
Correction: - That'll be Rolling Stones - Let It Bleed!! | ||
| Rob Brookman Member Username: Rob_b Post Number: 1636 Registered: 08-2006 |
"Money for old rope." I've never heard that before - love it. | ||
| skulldisco Member Username: Skulldisco Post Number: 1570 Registered: 10-2008 |
There must be an American equivalent Rob? More nightshift goodies Howlin Wolf - Genuine Article, The Best of. LCD Soundsystem - The debut album Lightnin Hopkins - Blues Masters, The Very Best Of. Sugar - File Under Easy Listening Belle And Sebastien - The Boy With The Arab Strap Pavement - Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain Japan - Tin Drum | ||
| Randy Adams Member Username: Randy_adams Post Number: 2845 Registered: 03-2005 |
Ok, here's another juxtaposition I'm having trouble processing: Kevin and Belle and Sebastian. | ||
| skulldisco Member Username: Skulldisco Post Number: 1571 Registered: 10-2008 |
Randy, I'll be honest. I never used to "get" them, when they first came on the scene I dismissed them as wimpy 60's influenced crap. But then my friend who works for Rough Trade in London gave me an advanced copy of Dear Catastrophe Waitress and I thought it was pretty good. I then worked my way back to the early albums and somehow "got" them. Not sure what changed for me, mellowing with age probably :-) | ||
| Rob Brookman Member Username: Rob_b Post Number: 1637 Registered: 08-2006 |
Kev, there are lots of ways to say "money for nothing" on these shore, but I prefer yours. | ||
| Jeff Whiteaker Member Username: Jeff_whiteaker Post Number: 2311 Registered: 10-2004 |
This Mortal Coil - It'll End in Tears The Wake - Here Comes Everybody David Sylvian - Secrets of the Beehive | ||
| skulldisco Member Username: Skulldisco Post Number: 1576 Registered: 10-2008 |
Blimey, The Wake. I'd forgotten about them! I remember listening to the debut album Harmony in my rented room(I had just moved away from home)in 1982, had to listen on headphones as the landlady would'nt allow me to use speakers in case it disturbed the other guests. I liked The Wake, they were enormously influenced by Joy Division/New Order but then again at that time who wasn't? I saw them at the local University of Stirling in 1983 supporting New Order. New Order (especailly Hooky)were VERY drunk! http://www.songkick.com/posters/2979166 http://www.setlist.fm/setlist/new-order/ 1983/stirling-university-stirling-scotla nd-7bd7c634.html | ||
| skulldisco Member Username: Skulldisco Post Number: 1577 Registered: 10-2008 |
Playing Harmony this afternoon it sounds remarkably good, and holds up far better than I could have hoped. Bobby Gillespie was in The Wake during this period and does a passable Hooky style job on the bass, without being a slavish copyist. The vocalist does that quiet Bernard Sumner type almost shy vocal, and does lapse into that Ian Curtis/B Sumner vocal tick of singing phrases like "deep inside" as "de-heep insi-i-i-hide", but its quite endearing really. I hear a bit of The Sound in them as well. The fact that they were on Factory Records at the time no doubt had a big bearing on all of this. Made my day listening to this. I have a copy of Here Comes Everybody somewhere, if I can find it I'll stick it on later. | ||
| Jeff Whiteaker Member Username: Jeff_whiteaker Post Number: 2313 Registered: 10-2004 |
I really like the Wake. Yeah, they could be derivative of both JD and NO at times, but they wrote genuinely good songs. I have the LTM reissue of Harmony, which tacks on the wonderful "Something Outside" (among other things), which is one of my favorite tracks of theirs. Here Comes Everybody is airier, poppier, more melodic, and dominated by sweeping synth-strings. The LTM reissue of that comes with the very New Orderish "Talk About the Past" and the excellent "Something That No One Else Could Bring" EP. Great stuff! | ||
| Randy Adams Member Username: Randy_adams Post Number: 2849 Registered: 03-2005 |
The LTM reissue of Harmony is on its way . . . . | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 4279 Registered: 05-2005 |
Sound Crowd - The Singles. Throwing my hands in the air like it's 1995. | ||
| Randy Adams Member Username: Randy_adams Post Number: 2852 Registered: 03-2005 |
My iPod pitched up Captain Beefheart's "Zig Zag Wanderer" while I was on the way home from work last night. I've adored the "Safe As Milk" album for as long as I've known it (since the early '70s) but I always thought of it as a transitional work still very much mired in the hippy acid rock scene of 1967. Hearing "Zig Zag" last night with that sexy massive bass and fat lumbering drums that might have gone through the tape-slowing process that George Martin and Abbey Road's engineers devised for Ringo Starr in 1966, coupled with our Captain's blues-howler-on-LSD delivery and lyrics made me realize that "Safe As Milk" is basically the West Coast's counterpart to the Velvets' first album. Both of these albums came out at loosely the same time and, while each reflected some of the prevailing sounds of the era, both stuck out like sore thumbs, sold very few copies when new and were inspirations to later generations of musicians. They both remain timelessly brilliant. Perhaps this is not a very original notion but it is the first time that it occurred to me. | ||
| Michael Bachman Member Username: Michael_bachman Post Number: 2335 Registered: 01-2005 |
Not by me as I don't own it, but certainly in the charts: Whitney Houston - The Greatest Hits Seven out of the top 10 sellers on amazon.com are WH albums. | ||
| skulldisco Member Username: Skulldisco Post Number: 1582 Registered: 10-2008 |
The Wake = Here Comes Everybody. As Jeff says its poppier than Harmony, but I think Harmony is the stronger record of the two, its edgier. However Here Comes Everybody is a great listen and at least they showed they were not one trick ponys. | ||
| Andreas Severins Member Username: Andreas_severins Post Number: 219 Registered: 11-2007 |
a 14 song compilation in the word magazine: Jackie Leven - Heroes can be any size a wonderful introduction with an interesting article on this great man! | ||
| Jeff Whiteaker Member Username: Jeff_whiteaker Post Number: 2316 Registered: 10-2004 |
Bron Area - The Trees and the Villages Victorian Parents - Silence Follows In Embrace - Passionfruit Pastels And this mid-80s indie compilation called Discreet Campaigns. | ||
| skulldisco Member Username: Skulldisco Post Number: 1590 Registered: 10-2008 |
Listening to Harmony by The Wake this evening I have just realised that it is actually the New Order album Movement if that particular album was a hundred times better. This album has held up remarkably well after 30 years, maybe they will become a cult band who all the upcoming new young bands will start to name drop. Well probably not! | ||
| Jeff Whiteaker Member Username: Jeff_whiteaker Post Number: 2321 Registered: 10-2004 |
I can see the Harmony-Movement comparison. I like Movement, but with the exception of the sublime "Dreams Never End," most of the songs are more like repetitive moody dirges, where as Harmony's songs are generally more tuneful and actually go somewhere. I was initially disappointed by Movement, too, but I eventually warmed up to it. Have to be in the right mood to listen to it, though. I don't know if any upcoming new bands name drop the Wake, but I've met a few hipsters over the past several years who have. | ||
| Randy Adams Member Username: Randy_adams Post Number: 2862 Registered: 03-2005 |
I got a copy of the LTM Harmony reissue. I'm giving it its second spin right now. My first-play superficial impression was that it was a mixture of primitive New Order and Joy Division-ish numbers with much more direct and simple recorded sound. Guitar was much more prominent than I was expecting. Please understand that when Randy says "primitive" it's never a put-down. However, because LTM very generously stuffed 71 minutes onto the disc I really didn't give it the sort of attention it should probably have. I made dinner and did a bunch of other after-work tasks while the music played. I don't want to be 14 years old again, but sometimes it would be nice to reclaim that 14 year old's focus for listening to music. I think I've kept mum about the fact that I'm not a fan of New Order. (Perhaps I'm deluding myself with that; after all I am so "generous" with my opinions.) I have "Substance" for archival purposes but I just never got into them, whereas Joy Division were a regular part of my music environment from before New Order's breakthrough in the U.S.. New Order always seemed to lack everything that Joy Division offered, particularly the mystery and intensity. I love it when people draw on Joy Division. That's why "Love Your Enemies" is one of my favorite Microdisney moments. That's a full-on heroin shot for me. Jeff sent me some songs from the Wake's second album. I'll probably get that too but it was funny how they were morphing into Tweeville. The vocalist can sound a bit like the Field Mice' vocalist. It reminded me of a liner note on one of the Field Mice' reissues saying that Field Mice were influenced by New Order, which I really was not hearing except on a few numbers like "Let's Kiss and Make Up". Maybe it's the Wake that the Field Mice were drawing upon. On second listen, the Joy Division really kick in for "Patrol." | ||
| andreas Member Username: Andreas Post Number: 927 Registered: 04-2006 |
i would prefer movement to the wake's harmony album. to me new order's movement still sounds fresher and more powerful than the music on wake's harmony. i would say that a lot of the songs on harmony are o.k., but i can't listen to it for a long time (an album through, like a lot of those epigones at that time). randy's definition (as always) is perfect: ''primitive''. but that's just my humble opinion.i agree with kevin that the song 'the old men' is a kind of cross sum of that era. and i also agree that movement was 'poor' after the ceremeony/in a lonely place single. | ||
| andreas Member Username: Andreas Post Number: 928 Registered: 04-2006 |
scrolling through this thread from the beginning and down to the end it is a kind of eighties thread. yesterday i read about the fact that 4 ad will release a colourbox box set. oh, how i loved that band. therefore, i listened to their debut mini album 'colourbox' and this is my revive album of the day! btw: any a.r. kane fans out there? | ||
| skulldisco Member Username: Skulldisco Post Number: 1592 Registered: 10-2008 |
Minor claim to fame. Alex Ayuli from AR Kane bought me a pint once in the late 80's. I was in London visiting a friend who worked for 4 AD, and Alex, my friend and I went along to a gig that AR Kane were playing with Butthole Surfers and The Shamen at Hammersmith. We went for a few beers first and then went to the gig. I was standing a few feet from Graham Lewis of Wire at the gig, he was a real menacing site. A squat man, with a fearsome don't mess with me stare! And he was sporting a ludicrous twisty ponytail! AR Kane were ok I guess, I can't really remember much about them apart from the album they released at the time was really hyped in the press. | ||
| skulldisco Member Username: Skulldisco Post Number: 1593 Registered: 10-2008 |
Oh, and in the mad crush outside the venue just as the doors were opening I found myself in amongst the jostling crowd next to John Peel of all people. This must remind you of what its like when Liverpool score a goal at Anfield I said to Peel - he nodded and smiled and then was gone in a second as we surged through the doors. Mad days! | ||
| andreas Member Username: Andreas Post Number: 930 Registered: 04-2006 |
kevin, you make me envious: watching jack bruce anthologies on the tv, drinking with and standing beside the ''stars''. i can't remember having seen any of my ''heroes'' in any of the concerts i was. that's the advantage living in the land of the pop. | ||
| skulldisco Member Username: Skulldisco Post Number: 1594 Registered: 10-2008 |
Isn't the grass always greener on the other side Andreas? I often wish I lived in America, but then again I wouldn't be able to watch Celtic games in the flesh and Irn Bru would cost $5 per can. And living in the UK makes travelling to mainland Europe so easy, and I think of all the great cities I have been to over the last 20 years (Rome to come in May), and I think how lucky I am to be on Europes doorstep. I am sure Padraig has met many more famous people than I have over the years, although I have been in the company of Edwyn Collins, The Cocteau Twins, and met Shaun Ryder once when we stayed in the same hotel. Anybody else had encounters with anybody "famous" ? | ||
| Jerry Clark Member Username: Jerry Post Number: 1092 Registered: 08-2004 |
I've bumped into Richard E. Grant in the past. Also my missus said hello to Bruno Brookes, then called him "cnut!" When he ignored her. Mis-spelling intentional, btw! | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 4302 Registered: 05-2005 |
Mostly people I've interviewed Kevin. I did find myself standing beside a very famous (now deceased) Irish DJ in the toilet at a secret David Bowie gig in 1997 though. I was amazed at how short he was (the DJ, not the Dame). He sounded much taller on the radio. Robert Forster, on the other hand, is spectacularly tall. I look small standing beside him (and I'm not). | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 4303 Registered: 05-2005 |
Listening to the brilliant Dunedin Double EP from 1982 (two 12 inches with three songs each by The Chills, Sneaky Feelings and The Verlaines, four by The Stones) after reading a great article in Record Collector about Flying Nun. | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 4304 Registered: 05-2005 |
Andreas, Kevin might be in "the land of pop" but you are in "the land of chocolate" - at least according to The Simpsons (I'd put in a YouTube link here, but it would probably be blocked in Germany). I can back up that Simpsons episode though; when I was in Germany for the World Cup in 2006 I liked the chocolate there very much! | ||
| skulldisco Member Username: Skulldisco Post Number: 1599 Registered: 10-2008 |
Yes Padraig Robert is very tall. At The Go-Betweens reunion gigs in the 90's (before mk11) they played Glasgow and we were in a sparse crowd about a few feet from the front of the stage. Robert wore a magnificent white suit, and he just oozed huge presence from the small stage. | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 4306 Registered: 05-2005 |
You must be happy. Rangers' slide into oblivion continues apace! | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 4307 Registered: 05-2005 |
The Dunedin Double EP really is a spectacular calling card for the Flying Nun label. It would be great if it was given a first ever CD release this year for its 30th anniversary. | ||
| Jeff Whiteaker Member Username: Jeff_whiteaker Post Number: 2322 Registered: 10-2004 |
Randy, does New Order's "Ceremony" (first song on Substance) not register at all with you? That is, like, in my mental list of top 5 greatest songs ever. Both the rougher original version, and the spiffed up re-recording, which is the first track on Substance. | ||
| andreas Member Username: Andreas Post Number: 933 Registered: 04-2006 |
padraig, that's true with the chocolate. you can buy a lot of fine chocolate. not only from big companies, there are also a lot of small shops where they make there own chocolate. kevin, my encounters with ''famous'' people tends to null. never mind! but what i am really envious about is the fact that you sometimes wrote that you watched this or that on tv. here in germany there is nothing like that. and that is really a pity! | ||
| skulldisco Member Username: Skulldisco Post Number: 1600 Registered: 10-2008 |
Andreas, you may be able to find some of these programs on youtube. They are mainly BBC programmes, broadcast on BBC4. If people miss the original broadcast the BBC allow them to be viewed on their "replay" service called BBC iPlayer, I have attached a link to the most current documentaries they showed on Friday night, it was a bunch of programmes dedicated to jazz. However, I suspect that only people resident in the UK will be allowed to watch. Worth a go anyway. http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/tv/bbc_four /20120217 If not your best bet is to search on youtube ps - here is the link to the Jack Bruce programme. http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b01 c6hw2/ArtWorks_Scotland_Jack_Bruce_The_M an_Behind_the_Bass/ Again, if it turns out you cannot watch this on BBC iPlayer at least it gives you some kind of clue as to what to search for on youtube | ||
| andreas Member Username: Andreas Post Number: 935 Registered: 04-2006 |
thanks, kevin. no chance for watching this in other countries. but i will try to find the one or other on you tube. | ||
| Jerry Clark Member Username: Jerry Post Number: 1093 Registered: 08-2004 |
Some BBC programmes on youtube are unavailable in other parts of the world. | ||
| skulldisco Member Username: Skulldisco Post Number: 1601 Registered: 10-2008 |
Miles Davis - Kind of Blue. Dug this out after watching the BBC4 documentary about 4 pivotal albums released in 1959 "1959 was the seismic year jazz broke away from complex bebop music to new forms, allowing soloists unprecedented freedom to explore and express. It was also a pivotal year for America: the nation was finding its groove, enjoying undreamt-of freedom and wealth; social, racial and upheavals were just around the corner; and jazz was ahead of the curve. Four major jazz albums were made, each a high watermark for the artists and a powerful reflection of the times. Each opened up dramatic new possibilities for jazz which continue to be felt: Miles Davis, Kind of Blue; Dave Brubeck, Time Out; Charles Mingus, Mingus Ah Um; and Ornette Coleman, The Shape of Jazz to Come. Rarely seen archive performances help vibrantly bring the era to life and explore what made these albums vital both in 1959 and the 50 years since. The programme contains interviews with Lou Reed, Dave Brubeck, Ornette Coleman, Charlie Haden, Herbie Hancock, Joe Morello (Brubeck's drummer) and Jimmy Cobb (the only surviving member of Miles' band), along with a host of jazz movers and shakers from the 50s and beyond" http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00 jf64y/1959_The_Year_that_Changed_Jazz/ | ||
| skulldisco Member Username: Skulldisco Post Number: 1609 Registered: 10-2008 |
Ornette Coleman - The Shape of Jazz To Come | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 4314 Registered: 05-2005 |
Single Gun Theory - Live At The Wireless. I taped this off Triple J radio 20 years and it is still an astonishing piece of work. The radio crackle and hiss just adds to the eerie, Gulf War 1 lyrics. | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 4317 Registered: 05-2005 |
Blue In Heaven - Rock 'N Roll R.I.P. EP. A brilliant 12" from 1988. They were great live too. | ||
| skulldisco Member Username: Skulldisco Post Number: 1613 Registered: 10-2008 |
The Smiths - The Smiths. Clear as a bell remaster, brings to life a flat album that made great songs suffer originally. Who knew there was bass on some of these tracks!! | ||
| skulldisco Member Username: Skulldisco Post Number: 1620 Registered: 10-2008 |
Hood - Cold House. Stumbled across this group when I noticed a pile of reviews for their box set reissue released by Domino this month. The reviews were glowing, so did a bit research and the 2001 album Cold House was reckoned to be their landmark album, so took a punt and scored it for Ł2. It's excellent, broody post rock/electronica which reminds me of Talk Talk. | ||
| skulldisco Member Username: Skulldisco Post Number: 1623 Registered: 10-2008 |
Capt Beefheart - Bat Chain Puller. The original version that never got released. You can buy it here. http://barfkoswill.shop.musictoday.com/P roduct.aspx?cp=971_54317&pc=ZPCD103 http://thewire.co.uk/articles/8171 | ||
| cosmo vitelli Member Username: Cosmo Post Number: 397 Registered: 05-2005 |
Already have this as Dust Sucker CD but hear the mastering is alot better, anyone heard them both? That website looks a bit low fi Kev? | ||
| skulldisco Member Username: Skulldisco Post Number: 1624 Registered: 10-2008 |
Cosmo, the recordings are pretty perfect to these ears. Check your mail | ||
| skulldisco Member Username: Skulldisco Post Number: 1625 Registered: 10-2008 |
.. which bounced. | ||
| skulldisco Member Username: Skulldisco Post Number: 1626 Registered: 10-2008 |
This is from Mike Barnes, of Mojo magazine and The Wire. Recognised Beefheart expert, he did the liner notes to the CD's of the Beefheart albums that I own. He also reviews Bat Chain Puller in the current Mojo. "Hi all I can say without any hint of supercilious smugness that I am privileged to have got a copy of (most of) *Bat Chain Puller* via a devious and circuitous route. Without being able to get to the bottom of the issue of mixing, the version that is coming out is the same mix- reference or not - approved by Don that he did with Kerry McNabb, ie the one we have all heard. This means they must have mastered it from the 1/2 inch master rather than going back to the original one inch reel - which must be in the vaults as one of the extra tracks is a remix of the title track. I'd liken it to the most recent mastering job on *Safe As Milk*, which made a great deal of difference to the sound quality. So while there's no post production "heavy syrup" added, where the bootleg version sounds flat and hissy with sibilance on the high-end treble, this sounds way, way better. Detail that I hadn't notice before is revealed and it's a rich, chunky, powerful sound with way more presence. They've done a really excellent job on it. The other extra tracks are "Candle Mambo", which has been bootlegged after being let into the wild by Henry Kaiser - I have it somewhere. When there was still a chance that BCP was going to be released on Discreet, Zappa decided that it didn't fit in with the rest of the tracks and left it off the playlist that got bootlegged. The strange thing is that "Hoboism" isn't the same "Hoboism" that I have. It's eight minutes long and fades out before they really start kicking off on the commonly circulated version. Why, I don't know. I have yet to hear the "Bat Chain Puller" remix. I think you're going to like it. I am delighted to hear it finally sounding like a 'proper' album. And what an album... Mike" | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 4325 Registered: 05-2005 |
Revelino - Revelino. Great, lost Irish album from mid-1990s. | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 4328 Registered: 05-2005 |
New Order - Waiting For The Sirens' Call. This got such bad reviews when it came out that I never got it. But I heard it in Red Eye records recently and thought it sounded great. And now I'm playing it at home. | ||
| skulldisco Member Username: Skulldisco Post Number: 1633 Registered: 10-2008 |
The Afghan Whigs = Gentlemen. Great to hear they have temporarily reformed for a tour. This is one of the truly great albums of the 90's. The only band, and singer, that came close to the intensity of Joy Division imo. I was lucky enough to see them a year or two after Gentlemen came out in a small club in Glasgow, one of the best gigs I ever witnessed. Also played Chutes Too Narrow by The Shins. Does anybody else agree that they are the American XTC? High quality songwriting on every single song on that album. Their new album is about to be released, but I have a nagging fear it wont be any good. James Mercer has sacked the rest of the band which is never a good sign, and the early reviews have been mostly underwhelming for a band who are very much critical darlings. The new single is great mind you, have heard it quite a few times on the radio. | ||
| cosmo vitelli Member Username: Cosmo Post Number: 400 Registered: 05-2005 |
Killing Joke - first 5 albums, am going to see them in London tomorrow. | ||
| skulldisco Member Username: Skulldisco Post Number: 1636 Registered: 10-2008 |
In The Pines - The Triffids. Dug this out after reading an almost 4 page article in the current issue of The Word, mainly focussing on the later life Of David McComb. Although I have been a big fan of The Triffids since buying Born Sandy Devotional on release in the 80's I've never actually read that much about them. When McComb died it was reported as a car accident I'm sure(or from the later effects of a car crash), this article states he had heart problems as well as heroin and alcohol problems. The writer seems to infer that what actually finally did for McComb was a hit administered by a friend. I knew he lived the rock n roll life but I never knew he was a junkie, so sad, but many people as talented as he was in a musical and literary sense seem quite susceptible to these type of weaknesses. I've always liked In The Pines, and prefer the early incarnation of the songs that went on to be recorded in a more polished fashion for the Island albums. I just realised that I never got round to buying The Beautiful Waste comp of early songs, thats now been rectified. | ||
| Randy Adams Member Username: Randy_adams Post Number: 2874 Registered: 03-2005 |
Kevin, I love the early Triffids, from the early singles through "Treeless Plain" to "Born Sandy Devotional" to "In the Pines." Today the iPod pitched up Alsy's "Nothing Can Take Your Place" and the demo version of "New Year's Greeting" which demonstrates how good "Black Swan" could have been if McComb hadn't started thinking he didn't need his fantastic band. MacDonald usually came up with one good song in time for an album and I think it was a good idea to include them. And god knows that band could work up great arrangements together. They did not need the outside people. The Triffids suffered from a big recording budget like no other. It is depressing to contemplate McComb strung out on heroin when he seemed to be such a generally well-balanced good humored person. I suppose the habit killed off those traits. He's another person who hung around with Nick Cave, probably not entirely to his own benefit even if Cave most likely influenced him in developing his darker writing side. I know I've said it before, if you delete the covers from "In the Pines" and include all the originals (meaning also those left off the original official release) it's a brilliant album and you can almost show another trifecta right there: Treeless Plain, BSD and In the Pines. "Raining Pleasure" messes it up a bit because it falls between TP and BSD and about half of it is brilliant and the other half needed more time in the oven. | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 4336 Registered: 05-2005 |
I've always loved In The Pines. Looking forward to the next edition of Word arriving in the post now that I know there is a feature on The Triffids. | ||
| Geoff Holmes Member Username: Geoff Post Number: 803 Registered: 05-2005 |
I remember exactly where I was when I heard that David McComb died and thought straight away...heroin. When I later heard the cause, I thought BULLSHIT! 10 years later and it's ALL finally coming out...it was heroin. Now I'm going to predict something else here that may be a bit controversial, but I would not at all be surprised if the white lady also took our Grant. You read it here first! | ||
| Jerry Clark Member Username: Jerry Post Number: 1096 Registered: 08-2004 |
In The Pines has been a hit & miss affair for me & I've just found out why. The remaster download that I've been listening to is out of whack with the original running order. I'm going to have to rectify this & re-evaluate. | ||
| skulldisco Member Username: Skulldisco Post Number: 1638 Registered: 10-2008 |
Iggy Pop - The Idiot | ||
| Jeff Whiteaker Member Username: Jeff_whiteaker Post Number: 2342 Registered: 10-2004 |
Stockholm Monsters - Alma Mater | ||
| Randy Adams Member Username: Randy_adams Post Number: 2877 Registered: 03-2005 |
Inspired by Jeff's trifecta entries I decided to listen to the three Siouxie albums yesterday. In general they suffer from my inevitable comparison to Magazine because of the McGeoch connection. But I was surprised by how much I enjoyed "Kiss in the Dreamhouse." I assumed I would like "Juju" the best. Not so. | ||
| Jeff Whiteaker Member Username: Jeff_whiteaker Post Number: 2344 Registered: 10-2004 |
I've always felt like an argument could be made for Juju being the best showcase for McGeoch's playing. With the slightly more stripped down arrangements (and without Dave Formula to compete with), McGeoch had lots of room to breathe and fill up the space. The Banshees gave him plenty of room, and he really defined the sound of that record in ways he couldn't with Magazine, where he had to share the stage a bit more. | ||
| Jeff Whiteaker Member Username: Jeff_whiteaker Post Number: 2345 Registered: 10-2004 |
Associates - Fourth Drawer Down and their first Peel Session | ||
| skulldisco Member Username: Skulldisco Post Number: 1654 Registered: 10-2008 |
Neu - Neu 75 | ||
| skulldisco Member Username: Skulldisco Post Number: 1655 Registered: 10-2008 |
Beck - Odelay. His best by a mile, so inventive and fresh at the time. Has he retired? His last album was years ago. | ||
| skulldisco Member Username: Skulldisco Post Number: 1657 Registered: 10-2008 |
The Cure - Faith. Must be 25 years since I played this, surprised at how good this sounds. The Cure made fantastic singles for a period of about 10 years, but imo never made a truly great album. This might be the closest they came. | ||
| Jeff Whiteaker Member Username: Jeff_whiteaker Post Number: 2350 Registered: 10-2004 |
I'd never have expected you to (willingly) listen to a Cure album, Kevin! I used to like them a lot more than I do now, but I still have time for much of their 80s output. I think Pornography might be my favorite. Faith is nice, though. It's got a great, hazy atmosphere. | ||
| skulldisco Member Username: Skulldisco Post Number: 1658 Registered: 10-2008 |
Jeff, I liked The Cure till about 85/86, before they turned into a goth nightmare. Their singles were fantastic, but imo the albums were patchy in the extreme. Seventeen Seconds was ok (from memory, not played that for over 20 years either),I'll need to dig that one out next. The early comp (Standing on a Beach) stands up very well too. | ||
| skulldisco Member Username: Skulldisco Post Number: 1659 Registered: 10-2008 |
I actually find that I am listening to lots of early 80s stuff the more the years go by. I guess the older we get the more we go back to what we listened to in our late teens/early 20s. As I've said many times before I find that from the mid 80's onwards things tailed off for me, and I didn't find much to inspire me for the rest of that decade. I found this was especially true of British bands, who I found were mostly pretty dull compared to the amount of great British bands from the previous 10 years. | ||
| Andreas Severins Member Username: Andreas_severins Post Number: 224 Registered: 11-2007 |
Kevin, if you think of what music came at the end of the 70s and the beginnig 80s: - postcard label with orange juice, go-betweens, aztec camera and josef k - british bands like echo & the bunnymen, the sound, comsat angels, chameleons, magazine, the fall, the cure, siouxsie, early stuff of the simple minds, the jam, tv personalities, o level, the times - american punk scene with ramones, richard hell, television and many more - music from oz and new zealand: the chills, verlaines, bats There were many many more - they made my musical life!!! | ||
| Michael Bachman Member Username: Michael_bachman Post Number: 2345 Registered: 01-2005 |
Andreas, I would say that the Gang of Four, Au Pairs, and the neo-psychedelic sounds of the Soft Boys, Echo and the Bunneymen, and Teardrop Explodes were the British bands that made a big impression on me in the early to mid-80's. Although some folks here slog them, I found that the Paisley Underground LA groups released some fine albums in the early to mid-80's. Like Kevin, I think that the music starting tailing off in the mid-80's. I would say 1985 was the year it started going downhill from my prospective. | ||
| Andreas Severins Member Username: Andreas_severins Post Number: 225 Registered: 11-2007 |
Michael, I see it the same way. There are some important bands that came out in the middle of the 80s like the pixies, jamc and some creation bands. But e.g. r.e.m. was good in the very beginning and then they were not as important for me anymore. The bands from middle 80s to 2000 are not as important for me like the end of 70s/early 80s bands. And, yes of course I love teardrop explodes ;) | ||
| Randy Adams Member Username: Randy_adams Post Number: 2884 Registered: 03-2005 |
Hmmm. Such a big topic here. Being older than most of you and being introduced to music earlier than usual because of my seven-years-older brother who was obsessed with music, I have a longer view. The first era that really impacted me is 1965-1967, which I'd still say was a watershed period for English language pop music. Then it degraded (IMO) to music that emphasized the players rather than the songs or the productions. To this day I have no use for most of what was done by Hendrix, Cream, etc. Many of the song-and-production oriented people either retreated into bubblegum or MOR like the Hollies or broke up like the Beatles and Yardbirds or attempted to adapt without completely abandoning songs and production like the Stones and the Who. Then the early 70s deteriorated into a period of dull "professionalism" with relatively few new people coming in. The supposedly "new" bands consisted of people who had started in '64. Even Bowie falls into this group; his first record was released in '64. The late '70s marks the beginning of another great era. The kids were back. First there was the punk wave which, like Merseybeat in 1963/64 introduced a new generation of performers whose sheer enthusiasm and disregard for "professionalism" blew all the dinosaurs into the weeds. And the process started again. Post-punk brought incredible creativity. The early 80s offered another watershed era just as dynamic as the '65-'67 period but in the US anyway, most of the best people who made the most lasting music were largely ignored by radio. The one significant excess that I see the '90s as having rectified was the over-production that was so common in the '80s. There was a wild artificiality to many of the '80s records which made perfect sense with some of the artists but actually conflicted with the music of many others. Things now seem wonderfully scattered. You have to dig around to find what's good because the big record labels are dead and radio is a non-event except for a few scattered local stations with interesting DJs. Even the magazines seem clueless to me, probably because the best any of them can do is report on their local areas and not on a national or international level because they simply cannot know, thanks to the decentralization. When Kevin pastes links to the magazines' yearly "best-of" lists I always think "ok, here are this year's red herrings." I trust there is some absolutely great music being made now and I figure I'll blunder into it bit by bit, probably a handful of years after it was made and sometimes not until it's 20 years old. I'm ok with that. It's still music to me. | ||
| Michael Bachman Member Username: Michael_bachman Post Number: 2347 Registered: 01-2005 |
Andreas, Yes, I liked some of the groups that stared in the mid to late 1980's as well. The Pixies, Throwing Muses, My Bloody Valentine just to name a few. The shoegazer/dream pop groups that came after MBV in the early 1990's were also interesting for a while. Randy, You made some great points about the late 1960's emphasizing the players rather than the songs or the productions. Prog and Southern Rock acts popped up and carried the torch even further after Hendrix, Clapton, Peter Green and the like died or faded away. However we did see the singer-songwriter phase starting with James Taylor, Joni Mitchell, Jackson Browne and others that broke in 1970/71. That was certainly huge for a half dozen years or so. | ||
| skulldisco Member Username: Skulldisco Post Number: 1660 Registered: 10-2008 |
The new issue of Mojo has a full page advert taken out by Rhino records advertising that all the remastered albums by The Smiths are being released individually on Monday 26th March. From what I can see on the Rhino website(both UK and US)they are still selling the CD's that came out in the 90's. Amazon UK has the 2012 versions listed, Amazon US does not. Randy, if you can wait a fortnight or so for delivery from the UK you can order the debut album here http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Smiths/dp/B0 07F5S1FY/ref=pd_sim_m_h__3 | ||
| Jeff Whiteaker Member Username: Jeff_whiteaker Post Number: 2351 Registered: 10-2004 |
What I find interesting is what appears to be a consensus regarding good music tailing off around the mid-80s. I think part of that has to do with crappy production values that were becoming increasingly in vogue at that time. By '85, digital processing and midi were appearing everywhere, and those had a massive impact on the *sound* of recorded music. Suddenly you had these fake, boomy, digital reverbs, and instruments rendered unrecognizable because they were being filtered through what's known as a midi-trigger (a snare drum goes into the midi processor, triggering a synthetic, programmed snare sound, which appears on the finished product). This kind of thing started putting a damper on what could otherwise have been fine sounding albums. I mean, just listen to that dreadful reverb on Lindy's drums on Liberty Belle. It's still a phenomenal album - one of my all-time favorites - but this is a good example of a band flirting with these digital sounds that totally shouldn't have been. | ||
| Jeff Whiteaker Member Username: Jeff_whiteaker Post Number: 2352 Registered: 10-2004 |
Geez Randy, I hope you didn't spring for the box set! | ||
| skulldisco Member Username: Skulldisco Post Number: 1661 Registered: 10-2008 |
The Cure - Pornography. God, what a dense, claustrophobic listen this is. Bizarrely I quite enjoyed it though. I liked it when it first came out, and I think post Joy Division most people of my age of an indie persuasion (in the true sense of the word indie as it was then) thought that in The Cure the heir apparents to the JD crown had been found. Lyrically I could identify with it more then than I do now, but thats a minor gripe. Frustratingly I cannot find Seventeen Seconds in my collection so I have ordered it. | ||
| Randy Adams Member Username: Randy_adams Post Number: 2888 Registered: 03-2005 |
No, Jeff, I've been sitting on my hands. It might turn out that I should buy the box anyway. Everybody's arguments, especially for "Hatful of Hollow" have started to have an impact. I haven't heard "Pornography" in a million years. I remember liking only about two songs and seem to have discarded my vinyl copy. Is "Seventeen Seconds" the same album as "Boys Don't Cry?" (I suppose I could research this question myself). | ||
| Jeff Whiteaker Member Username: Jeff_whiteaker Post Number: 2355 Registered: 10-2004 |
Randy, Seventeen Seconds was their second album, and Boys Don't Cry was basically a comp that came before it, consisting of most of their debut (Three Imaginary Boys) and all their singles from that year (79). It was originally released in the states as if it were the debut. I probably like Boys Don't Cry a tad more than Three Imaginary Boys simply because it's a stronger set of songs. Seventeen Seconds is great, but it marked a significant change in the band's MO. Gone were the skeletal, brittle, edgy pop songs, and in came a dose of arty and somber atmosphere. Suddenly they were using chorus pedals, synth snares, and embellishing their songs with a monophonic analog synthesizer. Psychedelia for the Joy Division age. | ||
| Andreas Severins Member Username: Andreas_severins Post Number: 226 Registered: 11-2007 |
In my opinion Boys Don't Cry is a much stronger album than Three Imaginary Boys! Both are The Cure debut albums -for the british (Three Imaginary Boys) - and the american (also german) market - (Boys Don't Cry). Obviously I hearede Boys Don't Cry first - and yould not understand why there was a weaker second album (that I of, course bought as well). Compairing the albums: Boys Don't Cry has the tracks - Boys Don't Cry - Plastic Passion - Jumping Someone Elses Train - Killing an Arab Three Imaginary Boys includes weaker songs: - Object - Foxy Lady - Meat Hook - It's Not You - The Weedy Burton Three songs in a row perfectly fitting together: - Subway Song - Killing An Arab - Fire In Cairo O.k. - nough said ;) | ||
| Jeff Whiteaker Member Username: Jeff_whiteaker Post Number: 2356 Registered: 10-2004 |
Andreas, I totally agree. I mean, take the tracks that the two albums don't have in common: Three Imaginary Boys has "Foxy Lady," which is amusingly spastic and skeletal, but still rather silly and would've been better as a b-side. "Meat Hook" is like this strangely limp-sounding take on reggae, or something, and is decent enough, but almost sounds kind of unfinished or something. "So What" (which was included on the Boys Don't Cry CD but not the LP), sounds almost like a b-side what with the silly lyrics and delivery. "It's Not You" is nice and edgy, a bit like "Object." "The Weedy Burton" is just silly space filler that isn't even listed as one of the tracks. Contrast that with Boys Don't Cry: the title track alone is a strong single. "Plastic Passion" is a b-side, and yet it sounds more like a serious album track than some of the songs mentioned above that made it onto 3IB. "Killing an Arab" is another very strong single. "Jumpin' Someone Else's Train" is yet another (probably my favorite of the three singles). And then there's the slow, thudding, fuzzed-out rock-out oddity "World War." I'm still not sure where that track came from, but I think it can only be found on the LP because it's not on any CD of Boys Don't Cry that I've ever seen. From start to finish, Boys Don't Cry is the more solid album of the two. I don't care what the purists say! | ||
| skulldisco Member Username: Skulldisco Post Number: 1663 Registered: 10-2008 |
The Cure - Seventeen Seconds. hmm, not as good as I remembered. For an album with only 10 tracks, 2 tracks are really just instrumental sketches and another is an instrumental with vocal snatches, not great value really. Play for Today, A Forest, the title track and At Night are top drawer though. Faith is a far better album | ||
| Jeff Whiteaker Member Username: Jeff_whiteaker Post Number: 2357 Registered: 10-2004 |
My very favorite thing by the Cure is probably the Walk EP (albeit, the US version, because it also has "Just One Kiss"). Produced by Steve Nye (Japan's Tin Drum), the Walk EP's songs display a kind of atmosphere and melancholy that could be seen as more mature than, say, Pornography. The atmosphere is less oppressively doom-laden, and more introspective. The songs are more melodic, a bit more sophisticated, and the arrangements are quite creative, with a pleasing melding of colorful synthesizers, treated guitar, and chorused bass. "The Upstairs Room" and "Lament" are, imho, two of the best songs the Cure ever did. Of course these songs are all on the Japanese Whispers comp as well, but don't sit so comfortably alongside the upbeat jazz-pop of Lovecats and Speak My Language. | ||
| skulldisco Member Username: Skulldisco Post Number: 1664 Registered: 10-2008 |
The Cure - Staring At The Sea, The Singles. This comp covers the era when The Cure held my interest, late 70's to mid 80's. There's not a bad song on it, and most are ranging from very good to excellent. The first five songs are as good an opening salvo as you'll get on any comp(Killing An Arab, 10:15, Boys Dont Cry, Jumping Someone Elses Train and A Forest). All except A Forest have Michael Dempsey on bass, to my mind he was a far better bassist than Simon Gallup (who was still a good bassist mind you), and I just wonder if he left because Smith wanted to take the band in a less spiky pop direction and into the gloomy dense material that followed. Back to the comp, all the great singles are here including the Japanese Whispers era. I strongly doubt there is anybody on here who is unfamiliar with this material, but if there is and you have been put off by The Cure that is depicted by the wild haired, podgy, smudged lipsticked Robert Smith this comp would be an eyeopener. | ||
| skulldisco Member Username: Skulldisco Post Number: 1665 Registered: 10-2008 |
Jeff, now that you are in Slovakia what did you do with your record collection? Did you ship it all over, or just take a selection of treasured albums? I don't know what I would do if I ever relocated. I suppose you could digitise them, but its not the same as having the physical vinyl or cd. | ||
| Jeff Whiteaker Member Username: Jeff_whiteaker Post Number: 2363 Registered: 10-2004 |
Kevin, my 1500+ LPs (along with however many CDs) are all boxed up at my mom's house back in the states. With my CD recorder, I madly digitized as much of the parts of my collection I would have wanted to take with me as I could. I also managed to find some already digitized obscurities via other peoples' blogs as well as snapping up a few CDs from Amoeba's discount bins. So, all I've got here in physical form is the Smiths' Complete CD box set and Randy's new one. All my music listening these days is via the laptop and the iPod, while I purchase any new (to me) music via iTunes or Amazon. Sad! But it's better than nothing. It would be insanely expensive to ship my records here, and I would only do it if we decided to stay here for good (which probably isn't likely). Sometimes I miss having the physical format to listen to (and look at), but it's a necessary trade-off for getting to live abroad for a while. | ||
| Jerry Clark Member Username: Jerry Post Number: 1100 Registered: 08-2004 |
That collection must take up a whole room, Jeff. I sold most of my LP's & vinyl singles just because of a lack of space. I've never heard any version of The Cure's debut. Is it not considered a proper album? I'm not sure if it was given the 'deluxe' treatment that the rest of their '80's records did. I used to play their Peel sessions E.P. a lot as a teenager. That echoey version of 'Killing An Arab' is superb. It sounds as if Martin Hannet was twiddling knobs for it. | ||
| skulldisco Member Username: Skulldisco Post Number: 1666 Registered: 10-2008 |
Jerry, Three Imaginary Boys is considered a proper album, its just Boys Dont Cry included some singles released both before and after the release of the debut that weren't included. It was felt that these singles,along with the bulk of the debut would make for a stronger release to entice the US and European markets. Back to LP's and CD's, I think the way Jeff is listening just now will be the norm whether we like it or not in the next 5-10 years. The records companies will surely realise that they can save money by dispensing with the physical media (whether vinyl or cd), the casing, and the booklets. All thats needed to convince most listeners to buy into digital music is for WAV or FLAC files to be reduced to a sensible price, and for the booklet with sleevenotes to be available in PDF format. If you want you can still burn to CD, as we know blank CD'd are very cheap. The younger generation will ensure that this is what happens, they soon won't know what a CD is never mind vinyl. Although they may surprise us, my eldest is 17 and 2 years ago she wasn't interested in CD, it was mp3 or nothing. However over the last year she has accumulated 50 CD's. Most she has bought herself, although about 20 are courtesy of me. She has benefitted from her Dad being one of those mugs who'll buy remasters of stuff like The Smiths back catelogue, so now that I have The Smiths Complete box set she has all of the original CD's that I had bought in the 80's. | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 4372 Registered: 05-2005 |
The US edition of the first Clash album is also superior to the UK edition. | ||
| Michael Bachman Member Username: Michael_bachman Post Number: 2353 Registered: 01-2005 |
My cd storage problem wasn't a big deal until the cabinet maker I bought my storage cabinets from went belly up during the 2009 recession. I'm still looking for one who will make something close to the Sorice cabinets that I have. Jeff has double the vinyl albums that I own! I store mine in record crates in my basement. This year I have been buying less cd's and downloading more albums via RDIO. | ||
| Jeff Whiteaker Member Username: Jeff_whiteaker Post Number: 2368 Registered: 10-2004 |
Kevin, I think that for most younger people, particularly casual listeners, buying music digitally already is the norm. It seems for people on both sides of the Atlantic, buying new albums on iTunes or Amazon, and swapping music with friends with little flash drives is pretty much standard. While I will always prefer physical formats, and miss my LPs dearly, I'm glad that digital music exists since it essentially enabled me to bring a sizable portion of my music with me to Europe on my laptop. I had a friend of a friend, who back in the 90s, moved to Paris for a while, and he had to remove all of his CDs from their cases and put them into this big plastic-sleeved CD binder, which weighed a ton and took up a lot more space than a slim laptop. For me, digital will never replace LPs and CDs, but I'm really happy that it's such an easy and convenient option. Here's a photo, from a few years ago, of part of my LP collection, in my old apartment: https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/xD xtEk0hf_CPnk29pkqlfeyxqP7W3gOd8W8V2PBw8_ I?feat=directlink | ||
| skulldisco Member Username: Skulldisco Post Number: 1667 Registered: 10-2008 |
Nice one Jeff, I need to get a classy cabinet like that. My vinyl is just randomly filed under a desk that I have my laptop and other computer paraphernalia on. My biggest regret is selling all my vinyl in the early 90's, probably about 1000 albums or singles. Over the last 10 years I have built up a small collection of 100 or so albums, and while I do prefer the sound of vinyl the cost is prohibitive, normally double the cost of a CD so I do buy CD's mostly. Funnily enough the most expensive piece of hifi kit I have is my turntable, and the sound is fantastic but CD's take up probably 90% of my listening time. Your speakers are intriguing me, where are the woofers and tweeters, they dont seem to be visible in the picture? | ||
| Jeff Whiteaker Member Username: Jeff_whiteaker Post Number: 2369 Registered: 10-2004 |
Kevin, yeah, those Ikea shelving units are great for LPs. I know a lot of people who sold their record collections and later lived to regret it. You can't entirely blame people for that, I mean, records take up a lot of space, and they're a pain in the ass to pack and shlep around if you move. Just moving mine to store them at my mom's place last summer was quite a chore. CDs are so much easier to deal with. As for the speakers, those were homemade by some guy my stepfather used to know back in the 70s or early 80s. Very old school. The woofers and tweeters are behind the (very 70s looking) grill cloth. The speakers don't look so pretty without the grill cloth, so those have to stay on. They sound awesome, though: very crisp, detailed, full, and clear. Years ago, when a former girlfriend of mine moved in, she had these lovely, sleek, and totally expensive high-end speakers by Rega, but sonically, mine just blew the pants off of hers. We then promptly got into an argument about whose speakers we were going to have out in the living room - hers, which looked nicer, or mine, which sounded better! | ||
| skulldisco Member Username: Skulldisco Post Number: 1668 Registered: 10-2008 |
Jeff, some old school hifi looks way better, and can sound better than some of the sleek, shiny but harsh sounding new kit. I'm sure I have read of people who have speakers that are 30 years old that out perform the best of the latest models. I favour Arcam kit for my amps and CD players, they are reckoned to be warmer sounding, and more reserved than some other hifi makers - eg its not brash and forward and in your face. My dream if I come into money is buy an uber expensive tube amplifier. By the way, The Smiths remastered albums are also being reissued individually on vinyl. I never noticed that the first time I saw the advert in Mojo, I just assumed it was for the CD's only. Quite expensive though, Amazon UK definitely have HOH and MIM in stock, I guess they will also have the rest. |