^ PS - how is "Dirty Boy" treating you?
^ PS - how is "Dirty Boy" treating you?
Okay, played Heaven Born and Ever Bright. I got to hand it to you, Frankie - I'd never have bought this record without your championing of it. I expected to be underwhelmed by it and I was pleasantly surprised. It's a good set of high energy inventiveness. Not as good as Songs for Ships and Irons, but still tons of fun to listen to. Only major flaw is the production, which I got used to over time and just started enjoying it. I've found that there's two kinds of Cardiacs songs - great ones and amazing ones. There are no bad ones that I've heard. The thing about Tim Smith is that, throughout the catalog I've heard, he has a very original voice. And I'm not talking vocals, I mean writing style. His individual fingerprint is all over everything he does; no one else sounds like him or vice-versa. That's the highest compliment you can give an artist of any kind IMO.
Still working at "Dirty Boy". I don't hate it (I don't hate anything from Cardiacs), I just don't love it the way others do.
Ian Beabout
Mixing and mastering engineer. See ya at ProgDay !
https://cuneiformrecords.bandcamp.co...m/bakers-dozen
https://cuneiformrecords.bandcamp.co...-and-holland-3
colouratura.bandcamp.com
^ Amen to that!
What's everyone's thoughts on Flap Off Your Beak? I don't know what it is, but this song almost brought me to tears yesterday. I think its the amazing atmosphere. Sing to God is such an absolute masterpiece. I don't think there are enough words to say about how great the guitarwork is here. It has to be one of the best guitar albums in the universe. And that's just the tip of the iceberg!
Wireless blew my mind yesterday too.
"Without deviation from the norm, progress is not possible"
-Frank Zappa
Oh yeah, Ships & Irons definitely isn't a collection of songs that didn't quite make the albums. What it really is is a sort of pseudo-album to bridge the gap between The Seaside and A Little Man, as I believe it mainly contains two EPs released in that time.
Oh, and I assume most here have already seen it, but I think the Tarred & Feathered video needs posting about now.
Never seen it before today. Brilliant!
Ian Beabout
Mixing and mastering engineer. See ya at ProgDay !
https://cuneiformrecords.bandcamp.co...m/bakers-dozen
https://cuneiformrecords.bandcamp.co...-and-holland-3
colouratura.bandcamp.com
Ian Beabout
Mixing and mastering engineer. See ya at ProgDay !
https://cuneiformrecords.bandcamp.co...m/bakers-dozen
https://cuneiformrecords.bandcamp.co...-and-holland-3
colouratura.bandcamp.com
Manhoo was a Jon Poole song, I think Tim is credited with the string arrangement though.
Ian Beabout
Mixing and mastering engineer. See ya at ProgDay !
https://cuneiformrecords.bandcamp.co...m/bakers-dozen
https://cuneiformrecords.bandcamp.co...-and-holland-3
colouratura.bandcamp.com
Ian Beabout
Mixing and mastering engineer. See ya at ProgDay !
https://cuneiformrecords.bandcamp.co...m/bakers-dozen
https://cuneiformrecords.bandcamp.co...-and-holland-3
colouratura.bandcamp.com
I have the cd that was released on Org records and it's quite extraordinary how he manages to recreate all the parts himself. Some of the reworkings sound like remixes of the original tracks such is the painstaking attention to detail. Some of it rocked up a bit, the Flower Punk cover is hilarious!Originally Posted by zombywoof
Turns out that there's most of it on YT
This thread has now officially gone circular. So, new posters, if not the whole thread please read at least the last 3 or 4 pages.
This is the greatest thread ever! I've been a Cardiacs fan for a few years now and the reissues couldn't have come at a better time. Some of their titles were fetching huge dollars. Anyway, I am like most of you out there who think that everything Mr. Smith is a genius composer/musician. However, I am having a hard time pulling the trigger on purchasing, "Guns". It doesn't seem to have that magic that the other titles have. In all honesty, it seems very uninspired. What say you.
Guns was the first Cardiacs I ever heard, so if I hadn't thought it inspired, I wouldn't have gotten to the rest .
Dude - its phenomenal. I sort of view Guns and Pony as sort of companion albums - they display a maturity and advanced palette that could have only came with experience. In other words, I don't think Tim could have made these albums when he was 16, as amazing as his material was even back then.
"Jitterbug (Junior is a)" is beyond a masterpiece....it goes into realms that usually I only reserve for classical music such as Mahler, Vaughan Williams, Sibelius, Schoenberg, etc etc. It doesn't sound like those guys per se, but it as deep as anything they wrote IMO. The otherwordly chordal shifting about halfway through until the end might be the best stuff he ever wrote, or at least up there.
A few other tracks like "Wind and Rain is Cold", "Will Bleed Amen", etc are also incredible pieces. A MUST!!
LOVE this tune. Pop masterpiece.
I am geting Guns in the mail this week. I am stoked. Frank Camiola and I skyped this weekend and heard Jitterbug. Wow is that an amazing piece of music. So different than almost anything I've ever heard. Those Jon Poole Zappa covers rule! Where can we get the album?
"Without deviation from the norm, progress is not possible"
-Frank Zappa
I love everything I've heard from Cardiacs and all related bands/projects, but Guns hasn't grabbed me like their other albums have. Granted, I've only listened to it a few times, so I'm definitely going to give it several more spins in the hope that it ends up being a grower.
And those Zappa covers sound absolutely phenomenal!
Heaven Born and Ever Bright is my favorite Cardiacs album at the moment.
Oh and I love the production.
Ian Beabout
Mixing and mastering engineer. See ya at ProgDay !
https://cuneiformrecords.bandcamp.co...m/bakers-dozen
https://cuneiformrecords.bandcamp.co...-and-holland-3
colouratura.bandcamp.com
Heaven Born and Ever Bright is fantastic and quite underrated IMO. I'm not a huge fan of the production, but it doesn't affect my enjoyment of the album.
Greatest Hits features one new and otherwise unavailable track, called "Faster Than Snakes With A Ball And A Chain". is exclusive to this album. This is described as having been taken from the then-forthcoming and as-yet untitled album which was to follow Greatest Hits (presumably the "lost" album which was abandoned following a hard disc crash in Cardiacs' studio, and which would have been replaced by the similarly incomplete and unreleased LSD album in the late 2000s).
Holy shit! I don't even know what to say about that bass playing? Is that Jim? He is the fuckin best!!
And the tune - oh man.
Found this on the internet:
http://dfan.org/blog/2010/05/09/card...al-vocabulary/
http://dfan.org/blog/2010/11/06/cardiacs-odd-even/
I guess this is an interesting read for all musicians out there. Even I find it interesting and I cant play a single note.
You won't find it for cheap, that's for sure (it's currently £43 on Amazon UK). Youtube is sadly lacking 'Brown shoes don't make it' which is my favourite thing on there. Jon's on Facebook and twitter, so you could ask him on there in case he has a few spare copies collecting dust.Those Jon Poole Zappa covers rule! Where can we get the album?
It's enjoyable stuff and he clearly loves and respects the music of Zappa, in fact, this is what he says about it...
Recorded in his Parents bedroomOriginally Posted by Jon Poole
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