| Author | Message | ||
     Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 8484 Registered: 05-2005 |
Randy Adams - Insuance Lawyer Soliloquy. I was searching for something else and found this. I'm glad I did. | ||
| Randy Adams Member Username: Randy_adams Post Number: 3871 Registered: 03-2005 |
. . . complete with its botched mispronunciation of "Brisbane." Thanks Padraig. I have been meaning to post about Cats on Fire, a now-defunct Finnish group. This has been one of the sources of musical joy for me over the past couple of months. Discovered by Hugh of course. I am forever in awe of people who can express themselves in a language other than their native one. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QlUkIQ0V S28 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=enWa_UWf _V4 These two songs come from their final (3rd) album released in 2012. The earlier records are a bit simpler in production but also distinctive and very much worth having. | ||
| Hugh Nimmo Member Username: Hugh_nimmo Post Number: 1065 Registered: 03-2007 |
White Town - Your Woman https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lVL-zZnD 3VU covered by Cats On Fire https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XDYyysPi NaI Re-recorded by White Town https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3QVIjNqu TJU | ||
| Rob Brookman Member Username: Rob_b Post Number: 1872 Registered: 08-2006 |
Not to pile on Randy here, but - oddly - I played "Insurance Lawyer" just a couple weeks ago and enjoyed the hell out of it. I was gonna email you, Randy, and forgot but since the subject came up here I figure, why not simultaneously praise and embarrass you publicly? It's gotta be kismet Padraig and I both picked it out after such a long stretch. It was great to hear and I remembered why I was so impressed when you first sent it to me. | ||
| Randy Adams Member Username: Randy_adams Post Number: 3873 Registered: 03-2005 |
I am duly embarrassed Rob, but thank you. My copy of Dominique A’s ”Toute Latitude” finally arrived this weekend. It will probably never be a favorite of mine because of the programmed rhythm tracks. At this superficial level of listening it could be called a darker version of La Musique. I know nothing about synths but judging from some of the noise in the signals i’m guessing these are old analog synths. I truly don’t object to synths at all but I do like proper drums in that department. Toute Latitude s not guilty of being a retread of “Eleor.” A few tracks stand out on first or second play, such as Le Reflet and Les Deux Cotes D’une Ombré. | ||
| Hugh Nimmo Member Username: Hugh_nimmo Post Number: 1066 Registered: 03-2007 |
The Jazz Butcher - The Wasted Years ( 4 Disc Set ) The Jazz Butcher - The Violent Years ( 4 Disc Set ) Deluxe box sets in book format released by Fire Records. | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 8488 Registered: 05-2005 |
Sorry for spelling insurance wrong above. Not like it's a hard word to spell. Listening right now to the soundtrack to Silicon Valley, which is mostly hip hop, but not the wannabe gangster crap. I have always enjoyed the end titles songs on the series, so was glad to see this compilation released. There is a bit too much of the n word at times, but that undoubtedly says more about me than the musicians. | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 8490 Registered: 05-2005 |
Dexys Midnight Runners - Don't Stand Me Down. One of the greatest albums ever made by anyone. I have it on cassette, vinyl and CD. I hope it will eventually get the box set treatment and I'll buy that too. | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 8492 Registered: 05-2005 |
GUM - The Underdog | ||
| Hugh Nimmo Member Username: Hugh_nimmo Post Number: 1067 Registered: 03-2007 |
Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever - Talking Straight https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zj5tH-6v NKY Track from their debut album Hope Downs which will be released in June, 2018, via Subpop. | ||
| Rob Brookman Member Username: Rob_b Post Number: 1877 Registered: 08-2006 |
I like this new RBCF track and I'm really excited to see them in Chicago May 2. They're playing a very small venue here and I have this feeling it's one of those shows I'll look back on and say "I can't believe I saw them in a club." | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 8499 Registered: 05-2005 |
The Breeders - All Nerve. This is my first time getting beyond the opening track, not because it's bad (it's certainly not) but because I was in the mood for playing other stuff. Anyway, I like this, though I'm hoping there's an upbeat power poppy one to come in the second half. | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 8501 Registered: 05-2005 |
So, no upbeat power poppy songs on All Nerve. Overall it's much closer in sound to Pod than Last Splash, and that's just fine, though as the line-up is that of the latter era, that's the sound I was expecting. | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 8503 Registered: 05-2005 |
The Live Adventures Of The Waterboys. I didn't buy this when it came out 20 years ago so I had to pay a lot more than I'd hoped to get it now. But it was worth every penny. What a magnificent album. | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 8506 Registered: 05-2005 |
R.E.M. - Live At The Olympia In Dublin | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 8509 Registered: 05-2005 |
Yes - Yessongs. I'm listening to it on 45 year old triple vinyl, just as God intended. I've given the records a good clean and no problems so far. Some surface noise, but no skips. | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 8510 Registered: 05-2005 |
The vinyl is almost as old as me. I got it from a guy who was emigrating in the 80s. | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 8512 Registered: 05-2005 |
Underworld - Dubnobasswithmyheadman, on vinyl. | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 8513 Registered: 05-2005 |
R.E.M. - Eponymous, on vinyl. | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 8514 Registered: 05-2005 |
Cat Power - Willie Deadwilder | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 8523 Registered: 05-2005 |
Iceage - Beyondless. I think I've got a new favourite band. | ||
| Randy Adams Member Username: Randy_adams Post Number: 3888 Registered: 03-2005 |
The County Fathers -- Lightheaded Late 1980s Mancunian. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bihOLtjD fXg The above is the only thing I found on youtube. It's not what I would choose. | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 8527 Registered: 05-2005 |
The Peace Creeps - Time Machine. New to me, but it came out in 2011. | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 8535 Registered: 05-2005 |
Frightened Rabbit - The Winter Of Mixed Drinks. It's been a long time since I last played it. I remember loving it when it came out, but some tracks I don't remember at all, such as The Wrestle, just sound incredible. | ||
| Randy Adams Member Username: Randy_adams Post Number: 3893 Registered: 03-2005 |
Laetitia Velma -- Les eaux profondes Produced and arranged by Dominique A and released in 2011. Mlle Velma writes the songs, sings, plays the keys and programs. Dom A plays guitar, keys and programs. Cover photos are windswept and unimaginative. On first listen, not at the level of Francoiz Breut but not crap either. I will take it with me today for the drive to and from work. This live version is better than the studio one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vD0rFm80 Z_U | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 8537 Registered: 05-2005 |
The Blue Nile - Hats. There aren't many almost-30-years-old records I play as often as I play this. And I still notice new things three decades on. | ||
| Rob Brookman Member Username: Rob_b Post Number: 1888 Registered: 08-2006 |
Oh, man, I love "Hats." I was totally over the moon for the first record and remember how excited I was when "Hats" came out. I can still see myself buying it in Columbus, Ohio - can't remember the record store but I can picture it. In those days, before the Internet, a record like that just appeared with no advance notice. What an amazing surprise it was, five years after "Rooftops." | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 8538 Registered: 05-2005 |
Chris Hillman & Roger McGuinn - Don't You Write Her Off, on glorious 7" vinyl. What a great pop song. | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 8539 Registered: 05-2005 |
Actually, it's McGuinn, Clark & Hillman. The b-side, Sad Boy, is good too, but a bit more conventionally country rock. | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 8541 Registered: 05-2005 |
I've had a wonderful afternoon of playing 7 inch singles, even if getting up every three or four minutes to flip or change the record is a bit tedious. The records I played were by King Creosote & Jon Hopkins, Francois And The Atlas Mountains/Slow Club split single, Spandau Ballet, John Hiatt/Sandy Stewart and Nile Rodgers split singe, Pete Townshend, The Who, Stephen 'Tintin' Duffy, Underworld, Transvision Vamp, The Screaming Blue Messiahs, Wall Of Voodoo, Dolly Parton, Glen Campbell with Bobbie Gentry and Glen solo, Terry Jacks, Men At Work and Paul Simon. | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 8543 Registered: 05-2005 |
Big White - Teenage Dreams. I put my hand into a bag of unplaced and unopened records and pulled this out. Sydney band, as I've just discovered by googling them. I think I got it in a JB bargain bin. I like it a lot on first listen. I suspect they've been listening to their parents' Cure and Smiths records. Maybe some early Go-Betweens and New Order too. Randy, I think you'd like them. | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 8544 Registered: 05-2005 |
I meant to write unplayed above, but unplaced works too. | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 8545 Registered: 05-2005 |
Side two of the Big White album has a more pronounced Go-Betweens influence. | ||
| Hugh Nimmo Member Username: Hugh_nimmo Post Number: 1073 Registered: 03-2007 |
Padraig, If you have not already done so, check out Flowertruck who are currently signed to the same label and whose debut album is due for release in the very near future. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eozrxHIA AVA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F7V3tlue _B4 The second track suggests they have been listening to The Triffids. | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 8546 Registered: 05-2005 |
Hugh, I saw their name mentioned in connection to Big White, but had not heard anything til now. The first video, I'm delighted to see, was shot just up the road from me. The second looks like my neighbourhood too. They must be locals. Yes, the second track is very Triffids, which they own up to in the lyrics - the phrase "a trick of the light" appears twice. I will check them out. I'll probably see them at the local bus stop now I know what they look like. | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 8549 Registered: 05-2005 |
Sandie Shaw & The Smiths - Jeane | ||
| Randy Adams Member Username: Randy_adams Post Number: 3894 Registered: 03-2005 |
This one definitely works for me . . . https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aG_Km8_e tAI I need a bit of that peculiarly Aussie funky plain thing. | ||
| Randy Adams Member Username: Randy_adams Post Number: 3896 Registered: 03-2005 |
Right now: Caterina Caselli -- Casco d'oro dal 1964 A few things on youtube appealed to me so I looked for a decent anthology. There are a lot of dreadful covers to delete. The worst must be "Cielo Giallo." Yes. "Mellow Yellow." But the Italian songs are better and her best work seems to start in 1968, a time when many 60s pop singers start to go to MOR. I'm not quite half way through and there's not yet something good enough to hunt up a youtube link for demonstration purposes. | ||
| Randy Adams Member Username: Randy_adams Post Number: 3897 Registered: 03-2005 |
Ok, I found my demonstration samples for Caterina Caselli. A cover, no less. An awesome cover from 1968: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=24iWSrWR NAU Then an Italian song from 1967: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ef0TK7vS L_A Another Italiano song from 1966 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h8Uy9hjA VtQ For whatever weird reason, this particular 2 CD anthology backloaded the good stuff. It all shows up on the second of the two discs. | ||
| Stuart Wilson Member Username: Stuart Post Number: 1447 Registered: 10-2006 |
And now one of the most powerful women in Italian pop and top talent spotter! | ||
| Randy Adams Member Username: Randy_adams Post Number: 3898 Registered: 03-2005 |
Which, sadly, I would know nothing about Stuart. But I am always on the hunt for more continental gems. Is her later stuff worthwhile? | ||
| Stuart Wilson Member Username: Stuart Post Number: 1448 Registered: 10-2006 |
Ex-Futur Album - Véronique Vincent & Aksak Maboul I’ve been picking up bits & pieces praised on the Quietus’s Baker’s dozen feature and this one, from Laetitia Sadier’s contribution, is the big hit so far, a perfect summer terrace cocktail barbecue record to go with the ‘Labs’ own highly underrated Chemical Chords. I’ll steal a bit from Amazon here: “Veronique Vincent’s playful, coquettish vocals are partnered with Hollander’s visionary layering of keyboards and programming (at various times he also adds melodica, clarinet and sax) with third member Vincent Kenis handling guitar and bass duties. Sung primarily in French, this entrancing pop record is light years ahead of its time as it weaves dub, African pop, a little punk-sneer, French chansons, new wave, dance-pop, even precursors to trip-hop (which doesn’t arrive for around fourteen-years, thank you very much). Comparisons to Stereolab are inevitable, but remember, this pre-dates ‘the Lab by a decade.” That says it all really. The three live-tracks at the end move into entertaining wigout territory with some punchily clanging guitar, perfect timing as the mojitos kick in. | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 8553 Registered: 05-2005 |
A load of Go-Betweens songs through Amazon's Alexa in my sister's house. Very cool. I said "Alexa, play the Go-Betweens", and she did. The mix seemed to include the entire Live on Snap album. | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 8554 Registered: 05-2005 |
A load of Microdisney songs through Alexa. Can't wait to see them in a few days in Dublin. | ||
| Hugh Nimmo Member Username: Hugh_nimmo Post Number: 1077 Registered: 03-2007 |
Collectif Astereotypie - Astereotypie https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=semlEWXL aBY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hUrZrRRj f2U https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tpcfmC3o LN0 A musical project consisting of educators, musicians and young adults with autism. The band have dropped the word 'Collectif' from their name and are now known as Astereotypie. They have just released the album 'L'Energie Positive Des Dieux' on the Air Rytmo label ( run by the French band Moriarty.) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7DqN68vp 5oc https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jCs5a9gl -ls | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 8556 Registered: 05-2005 |
Angelique Kidjo's cover of Talking Heads' Remin In Light. It sounds great so far https://www.npr.org/2018/05/31/615243331 /first-listen-angelique-kidjo-remain-in- light | ||
| Simon Withers Member Username: Sfwithers Post Number: 529 Registered: 08-2005 |
Pádraig, that's worth a listen! A cover LP?! Big fan of Talking Heads - saw David Byrne live at the State Theatre, Sydney, in 2002 (I think), one of my favourite gigs ever. By way of contrast, I saw Jerry Harrison at the Blacktown RSL in 1988, one of my most disappointing gigs ever (we'd traipsed over from Manly and were nearly refused entry as we weren't dressed accordingly'; we were poms, didn't realise that t-shirts were not de rigueur! Luckily the female blonde in our group persuaded security we were okay!). | ||
| Simon Withers Member Username: Sfwithers Post Number: 530 Registered: 08-2005 |
Actually, I think it should have been Bankstown RSL. Memory, eh? A movable feast... | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 8557 Registered: 05-2005 |
That's RSLs for you. | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 8561 Registered: 05-2005 |
Luciano Pavarotti - The Legend. A rather wonderful compilation I picked up for 20c in a charity shop. | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 8567 Registered: 05-2005 |
The Limerick versus Waterford hurling game on the radio. It's being played 12 miles from where I am right now, but I'm meeting friends and couldn't go. Limerick are trouncing Waterford, hurray! | ||
| Rob Brookman Member Username: Rob_b Post Number: 1894 Registered: 08-2006 |
Rolling Blackouts CF - "Hope Downs" I came home last night to find Sub Pop had delivered my copy a few days ahead of the release date, for whatever reason. Four singles have already been released, so the album's not a total surprise, but man was it nice to hear how great those singles sounded in the context of the album, which - after a mere two plays - sounds like a major jam of the summer. Something I hesitate to say because these guys get tarred with this brush a lot, but I hear "Spring Hill Fair"-era GBs all over this thing. The guitars, the lyrics, the vocals - it's not a rip off, by any means, I just think this is a band that has really studied the GB's aesthetic, and in more than a casual way. I'll be curious how the thing holds up once I've played the bejesus out of it, 'cause I will, but at first blush this sounds like the long-player I was hoping they had in them. | ||
| Randy Adams Member Username: Randy_adams Post Number: 3909 Registered: 03-2005 |
Liminanas -- Shadow People This was playing while Padraig and I combed the racks at Rough Trade East. I picked up the only CD copy they had in the store at the moment. Lounge music for the rock generation. Rob, I'm looking forward to that Blackouts record. | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 8575 Registered: 05-2005 |
And when I went to the counter to buy it, Randy came up to tell me he'd got the last copy. True story. | ||
| Randy Adams Member Username: Randy_adams Post Number: 3911 Registered: 03-2005 |
Slowly working my way through my haul from this past trip. Heard in the car yesterday: Television Personalities -- Beautiful Despair Surprisingly great sounding considering it was recorded on a 4 track cassette machine. | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 8585 Registered: 05-2005 |
Gorillaz - The Now Now. I've said it before, I'll say it again, Damon Albarn is a musical genius. | ||
| Jerry Clark Member Username: Jerry Post Number: 1231 Registered: 08-2004 |
First ever listens this week for: The Creation - We Are Paintermen James - Strip Mine Tom Tom Club - The Good, The Bad & The Funky Cocteau Twins - Garlands My Bloody Valentine - MBV Also my first listen in 20 odd years for 'Cleopatra Grip' by The Heart Throbs. Which was quite pleasant. They fall nicely between The Darling Buds through Lush via The Cardigans. | ||
| Simon Withers Member Username: Sfwithers Post Number: 539 Registered: 08-2005 |
Jerry, hope you enjoyed James' Strip Mine, a fine album. I've been trying to sort out our new room, which will become our gallery*-cum-music room (Peter Blake, Patrick Caulfield, Eduardo Paolozzi, Garry Shead, Reg Mombassa [of Mental as Anything fame], which allowed me to have the music on loud - no neighbours that side of the house... Which meant early Beatles, live REM from 1989, Belle and Sebastian, Mose Allison, Gerry Mulligan and more... | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 8587 Registered: 05-2005 |
David Byrne - American Utopia. This gets better and better every time I play it. | ||
| Rob Brookman Member Username: Rob_b Post Number: 1902 Registered: 08-2006 |
The Ex: "27 Passports." I've heard these guys before and they never quite did it for me. This does. It sounds like Gang of Four, The Fall and Captain Beefheart got in a car accident with one another, and some Zimbabwean mechanic rebuilt their car. Seriously, African-inflected post-punk? What is this? Whatever it is, it works just great. They kick off the album bemoaning a homogenized future while delivering what sounds like a soundtrack for the resistance. This year, this is the just what the doctor ordered. | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 8590 Registered: 05-2005 |
I love your description, Rob. Will check them out. | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 8601 Registered: 05-2005 |
The Sleepy Jackson - Let Your Love Be Love EP. I haven't played this in at least a decade, probably more. And it's 16 years old. And I remember every note as if I just played it yesterday. A hundred times. A truly brilliant record that, for various reasons, means an awful lot to me. | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 8602 Registered: 05-2005 |
Frank Sinatra - Watertown. Thanks for the tip, Stuart. I'm going for lost classic. Possibly helped by the fact that I used to live in a Boston suburb called Watertown that was far enough from the city to seem like a country town. | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 8603 Registered: 05-2005 |
A well written, interesting piece on Watertown, even if its assumption the wife might be dead is wrong. The lyricist, Jake Holmes, says in the sleeve notes of the 1994 CD edition that she left the husband. https://www.theparisreview.org/blog/2013 /03/14/blue-eyes-in-watertown/ | ||
| Jerry Clark Member Username: Jerry Post Number: 1234 Registered: 08-2004 |
I did quite enjoy 'Strip Mine' thank you, Simon. Not what I was expecting. Vaudevilian in many ways. I quite enjoyed David Byrne's new one too. I'd much like to see him play in the Autumn. | ||
| Randy Adams Member Username: Randy_adams Post Number: 3922 Registered: 03-2005 |
At last, something from my Rough Trade haul from last month truly enthuses me: Last Leaves -- Other Towns Than Ours. There are three former Lucksmiths in the Last Leaves. This quite excellent album improves upon the Lucksmiths by being less overwhelmingly winsome. I quibble with the electric guitar sound occasionally when it becomes too "dirty" but that's just my own little hobbyhorse and not important. This is really a genuinely pleasing very Australian album in the best way. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nbvbdQ5K JlI I wanted to attach a vid link for "The Last of the Light" but youtube doesn't seem to have that. | ||
| Andrew Kerr Member Username: Andrew_k Post Number: 1214 Registered: 04-2005 |
Re : 'Strip Mine' Don't know about "Vaudevillian" but I went to see James play just before "Stutter" came out and the friend that I went with said all the songs sounded like "sea shanties" ! The next time I saw them the line-up had expanded and they were playing "Come Home"...quite a transformation. | ||
| Randy Adams Member Username: Randy_adams Post Number: 3923 Registered: 03-2005 |
Introducing . . . Randolph's Leap I picked up their new "Worryingly Okay" album in Edinburgh. While it will receive further listens I'd say that fewer than 1/2 of the songs were of interest to me on the first couple of passes. However I like Adam Ross' odd voice and the songs that do work for me really do. So I decided to explore further. 2014 album "Clumsy Knot" was disappointing on first listen because it sounds like a string of solo demos. (The best songs on Worryingly Okay had full band arrangements.). On the other hand 2013's mini-album "Real Anymore" is much better. Here is its title song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RKX1eCws lRM So far, for me "Introducing . . . " is the best Randolph's Leap album with just a couple of duds such as "I Can't Dance to this Music Anymore" which somebody seems to like well enough to make a video for it and also re-deploy it to help drag down "Clumsy Knot." This is a Scottish band with no pretensions to fame and fortune, but plenty of quirk. When Adam has a song and invites in the full band, it's great. The video selection is odd and doesn't have some of the songs I'd choose but here's the kick-off tune to "Introducing . . ." https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3r4DGKXZ gKw As you can see from the vast view total for this 7 year old video, Randolph's Leap will not be raking in much in the way of digital royalties. Here's something from a two year old album I haven't picked up yet: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qr78vNaC 1EI&index=2&list=PLTwpjJCZvB7zjnVaydzKXj R63YM5qbyly This last is a very lovely and promising number and why I will continue to order their records from Scotland and also replay the ones that didn't click for me on the first go-round. I think of Randolph's Leap as something close to the platonic ideal of quality bar band, doing their own material geared to appealing to the folks standing right in front of them and not worrying about whether it appeals to some dude sitting in a house on the west coast of North America. They seem like thorough true indie types and can seemingly be quite erratic. Are they never-graduating art students? As they are from his neck of the woods, perhaps Hugh can tell us. | ||
| Randy Adams Member Username: Randy_adams Post Number: 3924 Registered: 03-2005 |
And indeed, I just ordered a copy of 2016 album "Cowardly Deeds" from the band's own website. | ||
| Randy Adams Member Username: Randy_adams Post Number: 3925 Registered: 03-2005 |
R.V.G. — The Quality of Mercy This is a promising starter. It’s not what you could call subtle, but I find the direct youthful earnest passion in the messaging of the songs, the declamatory vocal style, the reverb wash and the basic but space-filling guitar riffing appealing. First listen standouts are the two we’ve already heard—especially Vincent Van Gogh—and the second song “Cause and Effect.” It’s short: just 8 songs clocking in at a little over 29 minutes, but that’s a great way to throw down your gauntlet. This sort of direct and simple record either wears out its welcome for me over time or remains a firm favorite. I cannot guess which. | ||
| Stuart Wilson Member Username: Stuart Post Number: 1458 Registered: 10-2006 |
Well, Adam Ross certainly has a fine Scots face on him, the kind you might expect to find on the second mate of the Vital Spark. He's from Nairn, it seems, up there on the Moray firth not far from Inverness, and the band is named after a local beauty spot, where a river is scenically funnelled tight between a bunch of rocks. I was pleased to see that their September 2016 tour took in the Crofter's Rest in Arisaig and the Drouthy Cobbler in Elgin. I look forward to the day when I can introduce Randy to a pleasing lo-fi indie group from Morro Bay. | ||
| Hugh Nimmo Member Username: Hugh_nimmo Post Number: 1079 Registered: 03-2007 |
Randy / Stuart, I feel I have a tenuous local connection to Randolph’s Leap as, although Adam Ross hails from Nairn, he formed the band in 2006 when he met Gareth Peddie at The University Of The West Of Scotland, Ayr ( a ten minute drive from my home.) Peddie remained with the band until 2016. The group gig quite a bit in Scotland but Ross also performs solo as Randolph’s Leap which leads me to believe that at least some members of the band may have full time jobs outwith the music business. At the moment, Ross is touring Scotland with the Right Lines Theatre Company who are performing their production of ‘The Isle Of Love.’ The said production is based around the music / lyrics of Adam Ross / Randolph’s Leap. It featured at the Centre For Contemporary Arts, Glasgow, last month and was followed by a Randolph’s Leap gig. Circumstances prevented me from making it along. http://rightlines.net/rightlines/ This was my introduction to Randolph’s Leap and it is still one of my favourites songs by the band. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m1mc1Dvx ZUk A frantic live version of the same song recorded at the Queens Hall, Edinburgh. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0MlFb0ZZ HgA Currently listening to :- The Ladybug Transistor - Clutching Stems https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LezbUhQS cUI | ||
| Randy Adams Member Username: Randy_adams Post Number: 3926 Registered: 03-2005 |
Hugh! I remember you sending me a link to that video of "Crisps." That must have been at least ten years ago if it was a day. At the time I thought it was much too twee. But my mind has drifted back to it quite a few times over the past couple years and I've many times wondered who it was, while my own personal twee tolerance has become so much more expansive. It's funny to find out that it was this group I am just now getting around to. I see that "Crisps" is not on any of their releases listed on discogs. I see myself being forced to the bandcamp download. The Ladybug Transistor track is quite nice. Especially for a Yank outfit. Their ten-year-older "Reclusive Hero" is strikingly Left Banke-ish. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-bC76_UY dWU Stuart, I saw your post when I got up on Friday morning. The last sentence really made me laugh. Well done sir. Then I got curious. "Now what IS the Vital Spark anyway?" I envisioned some ancient honored man'o war: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pw95tQ4y JlI | ||
| TROU Member Username: Trou Post Number: 438 Registered: 05-2005 |
Etienne Daho - Blitz On top form Etienne! | ||
| Andreas Severins Member Username: Andreas_severins Post Number: 407 Registered: 11-2007 |
Jetstream Pony – Self-Destruct Reality Wonderful new ep and the title track is one of my songs of the year! | ||
| Randy Adams Member Username: Randy_adams Post Number: 3927 Registered: 03-2005 |
Sonic Youth inspired, I'm thinking. Whoever recorded "Had Enough" got the sound just right, with the reverb giving us booming dirty drums and gloriously messy cymbals on top and staying just on the right side of dirty guitar sound. It's exactly what the song called for and deceptively difficult to achieve. Thanks for posting Andreas. | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 8605 Registered: 05-2005 |
Further - Where Were You Then? A compilation of singles and EP tracks by a California band I must have read about in the early 90s at some point, but whom I don't recall. I found this in the bargain bin in Red Eye, and I'm so glad I did. It's superb, even though every song prompts me to play spot the influence. Those influences range from 80s/90s US indie - Dinosaur Jr, Pavement - to the three Bs - Beatles, Beach Boys and Byrds. | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 8606 Registered: 05-2005 |
Big Sonic Youth influence on Further, too. | ||
| Hugh Nimmo Member Username: Hugh_nimmo Post Number: 1080 Registered: 03-2007 |
Randy, The Ladybug Transistor were associated with the Elephant Six Collective who were heavily influenced by 1960s music. The Essex Green, with whom they have shared members, were also associated with the Collective. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uJ1RBY8S UOI | ||
| Randy Adams Member Username: Randy_adams Post Number: 3928 Registered: 03-2005 |
Thanks for that Hugh. The thing that I do think has benefitted by the demise of the traditional record companies is the diversity and (I think) overall quality of music available. More people make the music that they actually want to make and fewer make the dreary compromises or total sell-outs that were the norm in the 60s, 70s and 80s. Now if they could just make some money. Meanwhile I have had a single listen so far to Barbara Carlotti's new one, Magnetique. As is usual she writes most of the material. She co-produces. I will have to hear it much more than once to properly comment but on that one listen I can say it is not a disappointment but also not something that blows everything else away. I also am working my way through the Catherine Ribeiro 4CD box "Libertes?" Most of the early 60s sides show her sounding rather tentative but I would have always gone after this material just in case because good 60s French pop is a thing of mine. The fun begins on Disc 1 track 13 and goes from there. First of all I find that I have better tolerance for long numbers than I would have expected. And in a few instances, Ribeiro's contribution is the bad part and the band's is the good. The 18 minute "Poeme non epique" offers a long enjoyable instrumental half and then falls apart when Ribeiro comes in and just speaks, laughs and occasionally screams through the second half. If I knew the language it might work but without that it doesn't. There's nothing artistic about the speech phrasing or negative space or anything. She simply wrecks it. "Ame debout" is as great as ever. So far I have made it through Disc 2 including the 15 minute "Paix" and all 24 minutes of "Un jour . . . la mort" which has some great sections but still by the end of it I feel a bit like getting off the plane after the flight between Europe and Los Angeles. I'm guessing some this excess will stroke your prog love in a big way Stuart, but so far I haven't encountered any of the noodling, showy instrumental work. It is all directed to serving the music. For anyone familiar with U.K. gothic band And Also the Trees, I recommend you pursue Alpes. The background instrumentation is so similar so often that I will be truly surprised if they have not been huge Alpes fans all along. Catherine Ribeiro avec Alpes are great nighttime music and if you have to go for a lengthy nighttime drive or ride, bring some of it with you. I've listened to some of it in the daytime but I don't recommend it unless you have ingested psychoactives. | ||
| Randy Adams Member Username: Randy_adams Post Number: 3929 Registered: 03-2005 |
I should comment more about Ribeiro as a vocalist. She is surprisingly not ready on some of the mid 60s recordings but once she has her own band starting in 1969 she is very strong. There are no recordings dating from 1967 or 1968 and I am guessing that she spent the bulk of that period developing the true Catherine Ribeiro. There is a lot of great downright feral female vocalizing in the Alpes recordings. Do not let my use of the word "feral" put you off. I do not just mean a bunch of screaming. I mean she is a wild wench, a hellcat at times, but beautifully so. I cannot think of anyone else to compare her to. Superficially a person could suggest early Yoko Ono but Ribiero is a vastly better singer whose extraordinary vocal control is impossible to ignore. This is why I was so perplexed by the failure of her contribution to "Poeme non epique." Maybe it really IS essential to know the French there; maybe the musical demolition is the point. | ||
| Stuart Wilson Member Username: Stuart Post Number: 1459 Registered: 10-2006 |
Well, I'm glad you're finding stuff to enjoy there, Randy... I've been listening to her too, and I thought, oh my god - in Poem non epique especially as it happens - tight streamlined song craftsmanship this is NOT, RA will be running for the Californian hills. You're right about the lack of noodly showoff instrumental work, it's a far earthier, organic sort of sound, some of it reminding me of early Vangelis and the same playful approach to experimenting with self-contrived instruments. And her voice really is a majestic beast of a thing. But I've only scraped the surface so far. | ||
| Randy Adams Member Username: Randy_adams Post Number: 3933 Registered: 03-2005 |
Another listen to the RVG album. I really dig this record. It's astonishingly 60s folk/garage punk in its sound with a passion and sensibility that straddles the mid-60s and the dystopic late 70s punk era. The singer is wound up about pretty much everything he writes and sings about. And Andrew, yes! he really DOES sound like the younger, impassioned Grant McLennan on "Vincent Van Gogh." That impression is not fading for me. Here it is again: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4kSolkfl 9iE I fear many listeners may find the RVG album too anachronistic. The Aussies have as strong a historic claim to garage punk as the Americans so in my view this group is commenting on our current nuovo dystopic era while drawing from their own cultural legacy as well as our internationally shared one. I can't guess whether this album is fated to remain a treasured one-off like the first Modern Lovers album or marks the arrival of a new and valuable voice in music but I definitely do not think it is vin ordinaire. I have attached the second song from the album, "Cause and Effect." https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gb-OtIac jSA This could be playing on the Sunset Strip in 1966, with a little T.V. Smith (Adverts) thrown in. | ||
| Andrew Kerr Member Username: Andrew_k Post Number: 1216 Registered: 04-2005 |
With the continuing heatwave I'm ashamed to admit that I couldn't summon the energy to venture outside Wednesday to go and see RVG play here in Bordeaux. But Randy surely Romy is a woman ? Albeit with one hell of a deep voice ? I really like "The Eggshell World" | ||
| Andrew Kerr Member Username: Andrew_k Post Number: 1217 Registered: 04-2005 |
I'm also working my way through my Catherine Ribeiro + Alpes 4 CD set ("4 albums originaux"). Ouf it's not easy listening. Possibly not music to do the washing up to. | ||
| Randy Adams Member Username: Randy_adams Post Number: 3935 Registered: 03-2005 |
Andrew, I have no idea! I assumed a man because well the voice sounds like a man. I remember the dress in the vid for "The Quality of Mercy" but I just assumed it was a guy doing an in-your-face Robert Forster thing. He could be transexual. Sorry you didn't see them. As much as I hate the heat--"the heat hates me, so I lie in here"--I can't entirely blame you. I've actively hated the summer here in LA for at least the past half dozen if not ten years. But I'm used to being a weirdo on such things. With climate change I've been telling people that I expect human culture to change to one which celebrates the winter. Just seeing your comment, and Stuart's, and Jerry's, really brings home how quickly and seriously things are changing. For Ribeiro my recommendation is to listen at night. And no, hers is probably NOT music to do the washing up to. Your family might start complaining too. | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 8614 Registered: 05-2005 |
Romy Varger is transgender. | ||
| Randy Adams Member Username: Randy_adams Post Number: 3936 Registered: 03-2005 |
Hot dog! Thanks for that info Padraig. Well that just makes RVG that much better as a music phenomenon as far as I'm concerned. It helps explain the sheer passion in the music. I think that's what I mistook as a 60s anachronism: the sheer unfiltered honest passion in the lyrics and delivery. Now it becomes clearer; this is a person whose voice was historically silent. "There's no evil in me" indeed. Andrew, I agree about "Eggshell World." It just happened to be the last song I heard on my drive home last night. I'm totally embarrassed because I really did assume the dress was worn for audience shock purposes, which seemed to me to go perfectly with the theme of "Quality of Mercy." Pop music PR stunts have jaded me. Off to read about Romy Varger . . . . | ||
| Randy Adams Member Username: Randy_adams Post Number: 3937 Registered: 03-2005 |
In case anyone is interested, here is an interview from early this year. I suppose I should have dug around for something like this before. https://www.redbull.com/au-en/rvg-romy-v ager-group-interview-2018 I really love that there is nothing--nada!--about Romy being transgender. It's all and only about the music. God bless Australia. | ||
| Hugh Nimmo Member Username: Hugh_nimmo Post Number: 1083 Registered: 03-2007 |
Camperdown And Out - Couldn't Be Better https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bo83Zn-w UAM | ||
| Randy Adams Member Username: Randy_adams Post Number: 3940 Registered: 03-2005 |
Randolph's Leap -- Cowardly Deeds I forgot that I ordered this 2016 album from their website. I got a nice little "thanks for your support" note from them. This is probably their most "normal" record that I have heard. It has a full band all the way through. Here is one of the standouts for me on first listen: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qr78vNaC 1EI Quite nice. | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 8626 Registered: 05-2005 |
A Triffids mix, as chosen by Amazon's Alexa. Wonderful stuff. The first song it pitched up was Goodbye Little Boy from Black Swan. So long since I heard it I had to google the lyrics to see what it was. I thought it was somehow a song I'd never heard before. | ||
| Randy Adams Member Username: Randy_adams Post Number: 3945 Registered: 03-2005 |
Ok, I don't know what has everybody transfixed and absent from this site. For this week the big enthusiasm for me has been the Wolfhounds' 2016 album "Untied Kingdom etc." https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RQDnbXH9 8eI | ||
| Hugh Nimmo Member Username: Hugh_nimmo Post Number: 1088 Registered: 03-2007 |
Die Time Twisters - Guten Morgen Sommer! ( 24 Pop Songs aus dem Fast-Weltweit-Archiv ) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=maHy9ft6 A7M German band who formed in the mid 1980's and who recorded for Fast Weltweit ( a small independent German record label who existed from 1982 to 1991. ) | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 8634 Registered: 05-2005 |
Aretha Franklin - Queen Of Soul: The Atlantic Recordings. The House That Jack Built is playing right now. Her only track that (almost) shares a title with the Go-Betweens. | ||
| Jerry Clark Member Username: Jerry Post Number: 1244 Registered: 08-2004 |
The Human League - Travelogue First listen for this. I kept on recognising similar bits and pieces as I always do, it was redolent of other Human League tunes. Like they were sampling their own past and future. | ||
| Randy Adams Member Username: Randy_adams Post Number: 3949 Registered: 03-2005 |
Interesting Hugh. Thanks for the link. And the version of "Was Weiss Yvonne" that you linked to is apparently completely different than the version on the compilation. CD version ordered! | ||
| Hugh Nimmo Member Username: Hugh_nimmo Post Number: 1090 Registered: 03-2007 |
Randy, I prefer the YouTube version of the song so I was somewhat disappointed when I played the CD for the first time. That said, it is nice compilation which I think you will enjoy. After a dry spell, I have been on a bit of a buying spree and have quite a few titles by previously unknown ( to me ) Australian bands incoming. I will post details in due course but, in the meantime, here is the first of them. Full Ugly - Spent The Afternoon https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qk0BbsqT Raw https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q6SxeHQb NyI The second song is the b-side of a single and is not on the album unfortunately. | ||
| Rob Brookman Member Username: Rob_b Post Number: 1915 Registered: 08-2006 |
The Beths - "Future Me Hates Me" I can't rep for this one too hard 'cause I've only heard it once, but the band's from Aukland area, the singer sounds a bit like the woman from Allo Darlin' and they come highly recommended from friends whose tastes run in an Aussie/NZ direction. The record sounds terrific based on one distracted listen via Bandcamp - pop-leaning indie rock with some dirt in the mix. I think it might find some fans around here. And if someone's already mentioned these guys around here, apologies for the repetition. | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 8635 Registered: 05-2005 |
Rob, I bought an EP of theirs pretty much exactly a year ago in Auckland after the guy who was ringing through my other purchases raved about them. He was right, they are up my street. I think he knew them as well as liking their music. | ||
| Rob Brookman Member Username: Rob_b Post Number: 1916 Registered: 08-2006 |
Check out the new one for sure, Padraig. I think it just came out. Spun it again last night from their Bandcamp site and it still sounds good. I'll have to give it a closer listen sometime this weekend. | ||
| Rob Brookman Member Username: Rob_b Post Number: 1917 Registered: 08-2006 |
Oh, and Pitchfork just reviewed it today, strangely enough: https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/the -beths-future-hates-me/ | ||
| Austin Member Username: Bruegelpie Post Number: 183 Registered: 09-2004 |
Snail Mail's debut album "Lush" is really great in a traditional indie-sounding way (Liz Phair, Sebadoh, etc.). The single, "Pristine," has been lodged in my head all weekend. She could have a great career ahead of her - I think she is something like 19 years old. Her songs sound like they come from someone much, much older though. | ||
| Austin Member Username: Bruegelpie Post Number: 184 Registered: 09-2004 |
Oh, and great suggestion on The Beths, Rob. I've listened 3 times and it really sticks with me, particularly their new album. They seem to be touring all over the place now, so I'm going to try to catch them live. I'm really appreciate finding out about new music here! | ||
| Rob Brookman Member Username: Rob_b Post Number: 1918 Registered: 08-2006 |
I may have posted about it here before, but I saw Snail Mail a couple months back on the night Lindsey Jordan turned 19! It was in a relatively small, crowded club, and the whole crowd sang happy birthday to her. It was very cute and she complimented our pitch. I love "Pristine" and wish the album as a whole rocked a little more but I agree - she's a long-termer. | ||
| Hugh Nimmo Member Username: Hugh_nimmo Post Number: 1091 Registered: 03-2007 |
The Rectifiers - Wear The Weight Of The Resting Sky The Rectifiers - Levy The Rectifiers - Playtime For John Mountain The following is the only track I can find on YouTube and it is from their first album ( Sparkles From The Wheel ) which I have not yet been able to source. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pz3lOwsY dOo | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 8639 Registered: 05-2005 |
The Church - Starfish. This always transports me back to LA in November 1989, walking around listening to it on my Walkman, never dreaming that within a few years I'd interview Steve Kilbey in a hotel room. I'm seeing them play Starfish on its 30th anniversary tour in November. Can't wait for it. | ||
| Andreas Severins Member Username: Andreas_severins Post Number: 411 Registered: 11-2007 |
Dexys - Projected Passion Revue | ||
| Hugh Nimmo Member Username: Hugh_nimmo Post Number: 1093 Registered: 03-2007 |
The Sand Pebbles - Their back catalogue. The band were apparently formed on Bastille Day 2001 on the set of Neighbours ( Australian TV Soap Opera ) by three of the show's scriptwriters. Cover of a Julian Cope song from their first album ( Eastern Terrace - 2002 ) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TxPIsqwn U5U Track from their third album ( Atlantis Regrets Nothing - 2006 ) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OFpvOkjq zkI Track from their most recent album ( Pleasure Maps - 2017 ) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ClCzCwL YSw | ||
| Hugh Nimmo Member Username: Hugh_nimmo Post Number: 1094 Registered: 03-2007 |
The Ophelias - Almost https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9D369ums _wA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ci7q0vmd t3o The Cincinnati quartet's second album. | ||
| Ted Pilkington Unregistered guest |
The Lemon Twigs 'Do Hollywood' & 'Go to School'. Having read the reviews and noted the involvement of Jody Stephens & Todd Rundgren I had high hopes. So far, admittedly after initial listens, I have found both albums - in particular 'Go to School' - profoundly disappointing. In other news, I caught the Rolling Blackouts CF at the end of their European tour last week. The band were really tight and full of energy. Highlight was the incredible 'Fountain of Good Fortune'. |