| Author | Message | ||
     Jeff Whiteaker |
So, I brought my Nice CDs into work with me today, as I haven't listened to them in a while, and holy shit, it struck me how the eponymously titled first album really seems to be an underrated, perhaps even "lost" 90s classic. Despite lamentably bad cover art and sub-par production, this is a remarkably wonderful and consistent set of songs. I mean, classics abound with Dear John, Christiana Amore, Head in the Hay, Pastoral Disastor, etc... Such sadly beautiful music with some of the most absurdly surreal lyrics (at least when Lee sings) ever. That ghostly slide guitar, the odd, disjointed rhythms, the beautiful, dramatic, almost baroque melodies.... it's all pretty incredible. And the 2nd album, Apple Pie, really isn't too shabby either, with attractively moody songs like On My Back At the Madhouse, Cup of Coffee (w/ what sounds like barely audible marimba in the chorus!), and My Perfect Fire. At any rate, just curious to hear what other people make of this stuff. Seems like almost no one ever makes any mention of Lee's projects here in the US. It seems as if he's disapeared off the face of the earth. Ashtray Boy seemed to pick up a bit of momentum there for a while in the late 90s, but by that point Lee seemed to be running out of ideas. To me it seemed he was running the beautifully mellancholy songs w/ silly lyrics into the ground at that point, though I remember liking one album - can't remember the title, but it had Observatory Hill on it. Also, I read that Lee did vocals on a Cananes album. I haven't heard anything by the Cananes; is this record any good? Anyone know why Nice broke up? | ||
| david nichols |
Randall and Carla are living in Canada, and just had a baby. Presumably this is curtailing Ashtray Boy activity at the moment. Nice broke up around the time that Suzannah married Roger from the Plug Uglies and moved to the US. | ||
| Jeff Whiteaker |
Okay, so I guess no one cares about Nice and/or Randall Lee. It was actually through the Tallulah message board, about 7 or more years ago, that I found out about Nice, Ashtray Boy, etc... I guess I had the impression more Go-Betweens fans were into that. Definitely some of the best Australian pop to come out in the last 15 years. To anyone who hasn't heard the first Nice album, I highly, highly recommend it, as I'd be surprised if many Go-Betweens fans didn't like it. Reminiscent of Rough Trade era Go-Betweens, but a little darker in tone, with hilariously absurd lyrics, sung by a guy with an incredible and highly memorable voice (as well as a woman who was also apparently blessed with an effortlessly great voice). Thanks for the info David. That's all! |