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Old 21 Jan 2010, 05:28 PM   #241
Malc 44
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Love that album Robert.

I recently bought an old favourite album of mine, "Johnny 'Guitar' Watson - A Real Mother For Ya". It's a bit cheesy but always makes me smile.
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Old 25 Jan 2010, 05:30 AM   #242
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Not sure about my old posts (this topic is so long) but did I mention "Non-stop erotic cabaret" by Soft Cell? Genius album. With only synthesisers and Malc Almond's vocals (a trumphet used in the song "Torch" which was a bonus track on the re-release as sole exception) they create a dark, sleazy and haunting atmosphere. Listen to the tracks and you picture the Soho at night in front of you, or some dark alley in an obscure suburb. Just the intonation in Marc Almond's vocals and the perfect application of synths make every track like a little piece of cabaret, not even mentioning then that it works perfectly well as a concept album.

It is a shame Soft Cell will forever be associated with their interpretation of Tainted Love, when they had much better tracks. Their highlight IMHO is the melancholic, almost eerie "Youth".

"Youth has gone, though we're still young
It's hard I know to believe that I was somebody's son
The memories of what we once were
The memories of what we once were...
Youth, sleep, in a deep, deep sleep
Beauty is skin deep"

Eerie and confrontating...

Those lucky enough to have the re-release with bonus tracks get the equally haunting "Torch" as a bonus, plus a re-edit of "Facility Girls" which sounds as a dreamy trip ... With just vocals and synths, this album is a masterpiece IMHO and a very underrated highlight of the new-wave scene in the early eighties.
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Old 25 Jan 2010, 07:04 AM   #243
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@Tsunami - That's weird, I hadn't heard that album for years, but just the other day I listened to it on Spotify. Ironic also that you made the typo "Malc Almond" in your post, you must have somehow known about my association with the album.

It still sounds good to me, and you're right, it does capture a vision of a seedy soho night life.

I also liked David Gray's cover of "Say Hello, Wave Goodbye" from his "White Ladder" album, another one of my favourite CDs.

Did you ever hear the "Marc and the Mambas" album "Untitled", that was an interesting listen too.
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Old 25 Jan 2010, 09:09 AM   #244
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^ Surely the wind instrument in "Torch" is a saxaphone, not a trumpet? It even says so in the lyrics...

I'd love to have that Soft Cell track, and also "Bedsitter".
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Old 25 Jan 2010, 10:29 PM   #245
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But in the video you see Dave Ball actually using a trumphet Anyways, great tarck and as far as I know the only (?) Soft Cell track using any other instrument than synths. That's the most amazing about this band: just vocal and 1 keyboard and yet they have such a range of sounds and atmospheres that you really picture the sleezy red light district in front of you. Marc Almond has the perfect intonation for the whole concept as well. Very underrated band, their post-reunion album was quite good as well IMO (especially the track "Together Alone")

I should dig more into Almond's solo albums, I guess there will be quite some good stuff in there as well.

Andy Bell did a great track with guest vocals of the Virgin Prunes vocalist, check the track "In Strict Tempo". Oh good old days when I used to dance on that one in the only true goth/new wave venue in Berlin We dream the things like this, we dream the things like this!




PS: I'm quite sure you can find the Soft Cell vinyl singles if you dig into the alternative record stores. I've seen several of those in Liverpool, Brussels, Belfast, quite sure London must be full of them. Record sellers at music expo's tend to be good to find rare second hand releases as well. I found the original Bela Lugosi's Dead (Bauhaus) for 4 GBP, and the original Israel (Siouxsie) for 3 euro ... Saying I could make lots of money if I'd sell them on eBay, but no way I am even considering selling them.

(Sidenote: Virgin Prunes were much more unique than their closely related friends of U2 but too much ahead of their time. Sure, U2 made it big, but the Prunes were much more special and perhaps too far ahead of their time to have made it back then in the conservative Dublin in the seventies and early eighties)
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Old 5 Mar 2010, 05:26 AM   #246
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Not really an album but I figured this topic was closest for putting this post in.

Listening to Kate Bush's "Wuthering Heights". 34 years later and still sounds like it's ahead of its time. To write such a complex song at age 18 (she was 18 at the time) and to pull off such a vocal performance is almost incredible. I would sorta like to find out more Kate Bush songs but media does a good job to ignore her other material (except for Babuushka maybe) What albums by her are worth a listen?
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Old 8 Mar 2010, 06:38 AM   #247
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I listened recently to her "Aerial" album from 2005 and was very impressed. However, if you loved Wuthering Heights, you should really give the debut album "The Kick Inside" a listen, which includes that track and a couple of her other hits "Man with the child in his eyes" and "Them heavy people".

If you like this, then you may also enjoy the follow up "Lionheart" which includes the hit "Wow".

I agree, Kate Bush was well ahead of her time and many of her early songs still sound fresh and interesting today.

Here's Alan Partridge singing a medley of some of her hits for comic relief

Last edited by Malc 44 : 8 Mar 2010 at 07:04 AM. Reason: corrected the hit song on Lionheart
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Old 9 Mar 2010, 07:40 AM   #248
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The video for Wuthering Heights, especially the one in the white dress in the mist-filled room, is entrancing. Her choreography and her facial expression (those eyes!!) somehow fit the atmosphere of the song perfectly. I think Emily Brontė would have been proud if only she were able to hear what Kate did based on her novel.



And now sorry to once again repeat my praise for The God Machine, but the track "Painless" is fantastic (as most of their stuff) The guitar riffs especially are superb, and Robin's vocals are full of passion "You said that life could be painless, well I'm sorry but that's not what I found" ... Typical God Machine lyric. This band is epic!
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Old 16 Mar 2010, 01:40 AM   #249
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Maybe a risky one as the band is probably not that well known but just in case someone does know them ...

A friend of mine (but at distance so not possible to just borrow a CD of him or so) who knows that I like the noise rock band The God Machine (see earlier posts in this topic) recommended me to check out the band Swans who originated from New York and were very active during the eighties until mid nineties. Apparently they also have very complex and heavy songs with rather dark lyrics, which indeed is a trademark of The God Machine as well (and of some other bands I love, like Tool). Robin Proper Sheppard, God Machine vocalist, also has admitted to be influenced by Swans so I guess there must be quite some similarities between both bands.

On YouTube I heard some Swans songs but none of them really remind me of anything close to God Machine or Tool or any such bands, except for one song which indeed was quite complex and ended with very heavy guitars. Guess I've been checking out the wrong Swans songs to start with. Is anyone familiar with the band and can anyone recommend some songs to discover the typical Swans sound?
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Old 16 Mar 2010, 02:35 AM   #250
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Is this the Swans band you're after?
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Old 16 Mar 2010, 03:10 AM   #251
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Indeed, that“s them!

Which are the records or songs that are described as "noise rock" or very heavy and complex (bit like Tool, God Machine and similar bands)? I heard several Swans songs on YouTube and while I did like several of them a lot, I didn't find the music that heavy and except for one song they weren't that lengthy or complex in structure neither. So very nice music, but I don't see the big parallels with The God Machine even though the vocalist of TGM quotes Swans as a big influence. So there must be some Swans songs in that style, probably I just picked the wrong ones to begin with. Which ones are recommendable? (that is, in case someone here is familiar with the band's back catalogue)
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Old 16 Mar 2010, 03:12 AM   #252
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They've got a website (see Wikipedia), with CDs for sale, and there are samples of one or two tracks per album.
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Old 6 Apr 2010, 07:43 AM   #253
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Here I am again with asking for advise, sorry... A question specifically for our USA based members.



Does anyone remember the band The Connells from Raleigh, NC? They scored a huge hit here in Europe with the brilliantly melancholic "74/75". It was one of the biggest hits of the year and rightfully deserves the title "evergreen".

I read that the Connells however have a career going for over 20 years already and with quite interesting lyrics (wikipedia calls it "introspective lyrics reflecting the American South" while some music magazine to some extent compared them to The Smiths). However, here in Europe they are considered a "one hit wonder" because people here only know 74/75.

Can any of the US based members give some feedback of the other releases of the band, maybe hinting which songs and/or albums are really worth a listen? On YouTube I only found three other songs by them, of which I do like "Over There" a lot (somewhat same melancholic feeling like 74/75)
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Old 20 Apr 2010, 10:08 AM   #254
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Amazon UK have a truly awesome offer at the moment -- the Simon and Garfunkel -- The Collection box set for under £15(!). For that one gets all five studio albums, plus a DVD of a concert they did in Central Park in September 1981. (I haven't yet watched the DVD, but I've listened to the MP3s I ripped from it.)

It's great to at last hear the original The Sound of Silence, without the rock overdub of the more familiar version. One surprise was that the title track of Wednesday Morning, 3AM turned out to be an early version of Somewhere The Can't Find Me.
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Old 11 May 2010, 07:33 AM   #255
Tsunami
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Tsunami View Post
Here I am again with asking for advise, sorry... A question specifically for our USA based members.



Does anyone remember the band The Connells from Raleigh, NC? They scored a huge hit here in Europe with the brilliantly melancholic "74/75". It was one of the biggest hits of the year and rightfully deserves the title "evergreen".

I read that the Connells however have a career going for over 20 years already and with quite interesting lyrics (wikipedia calls it "introspective lyrics reflecting the American South" while some music magazine to some extent compared them to The Smiths). However, here in Europe they are considered a "one hit wonder" because people here only know 74/75.

Can any of the US based members give some feedback of the other releases of the band, maybe hinting which songs and/or albums are really worth a listen? On YouTube I only found three other songs by them, of which I do like "Over There" a lot (somewhat same melancholic feeling like 74/75)
Sorry for quoting myself, but does anyone know if this band has a compilation album available that has their singles all on it? I would like to add the songs "Seven", "Scotty's Lament", "Over There" and a few others to my collection but they are all on different albums. Add to that that The Connells' albums are quite rare in European record stores so I may have to rely on ordering an import from the States. A compilation with all songs I look for on it would come in handy...
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