Cardiacs--where to start?

[battema]

[chalkpie]

This just in:

We have a new employee at Wayside World HQ, named Lindsey.
She's totally great and wryly funny and is a total metal head, but also interested hearing some of the stuff we sell as well.

She asked to hear Cardiacs and we played her some and her reaction was classic:

"It was ok, but not really my thing. It was the sound of 1,000 British flags waving"

Did you play her "Home of Fadeless Splendour"?

[zombywoof]

Signs you're a Pondie?

You think "Home of Fadeless Splendour" should be the national anthem ... of the world.

You use the phrase "worthy of laudation" more than you should.

Your ringtone is the ABC chimes.

You say "Thanks bye!" without a comma or period, a la Mares Nest.

[thedunno]

Signs you're a Pondie?

You think "Home of Fadeless Splendour" should be the national anthem ... of the world.

You use the phrase "worthy of laudation" more than you should.

Your ringtone is the ABC chimes.

You say "Thanks bye!" without a comma or period, a la Mares Nest.

I score 3 out of 4 but thats only because I dont own a mobile phone ( I know, I am a stoneage dinosaur)

[zombywoof]

Add your own!

[Mr.Flower]

Hello There. I'm a little late to the party - i've been following this thread for ages and decided to bite the bullet and participate at last. My main reason for doing so, not only was to satiate my need to talk about all things Cardiacs-related, but also to let anyone who needs to know that it appears Heaven Born and Ever Bright is now available again through the Cardiacs website. I'm not sure if its the original version (its got the original cover) or the remaster though.

[thedunno]

Hello There. I'm a little late to the party - i've been following this thread for ages and decided to bite the bullet and participate at last. My main reason for doing so, not only was to satiate my need to talk about all things Cardiacs-related, but also to let anyone who needs to know that it appears Heaven Born and Ever Bright is now available again through the Cardiacs website. I'm not sure if its the original version (its got the original cover) or the remaster though.

Good news! I hope it is the original version but I am afraid it is not.

[Mr.Flower]

I suspect the same, although i never had a major issue with the later version. You sort of get used to the production pitch of MKII Cardiacs/Spratleys Japs etc.

[thedunno]

Signs you're a Pondie?

You think "Home of Fadeless Splendour" should be the national anthem ... of the world.

You use the phrase "worthy of laudation" more than you should.

Your ringtone is the ABC chimes.

You say "Thanks bye!" without a comma or period, a la Mares Nest.

You get emotional everytime you see a daisy.

[zombywoof]

I laid down to go to bed and wanted to listen to some music. For some reason, I had Big Ship running in my head, so I put Songs for Ships and Irons on, just intending on listening to the first track. 45 minutes later, I've listened to the whole record. Every song, every moment of that record is awesome. That's it, Cardiacs are my third favorite band, behind Tull and Zappa. It's official. The last time an artist grabbed me like this and kept me engaged for so long was FZ. I have bands / albums I like, but I eventually get bored and move on. Not these guys. I just put them on and I'm glued to the headphones for the next 45 mins. These guys are truly, truly special.

[doh]

I still haven't started my Cardiacs dive yet. I need three more to fill out the discography and I'm waiting to order those until The Sea Nymphs is in stock. I have this idea that I need to listen from beginning to end to get the full effect. Not sure if that makes me a prog fan or an idiot.

My planned listening order. Am I missing any others that are not out of print?

Archives
The Seaside
A Little Man and a House and the Whole World Window [ordering]
On Land and in the Sea [ordering]
Heaven Born and Ever Bright
STG I
STG II
Odd Even - single
Guns
The Sea Nymphs [ordering]
OceanLandWorld
Spratleys Japs

[iguana]

You get emotional everytime you see a daisy.

you are incapable of using correct grammar when asking for someone’s name. (“who is him?”)

[Mr.Flower]

I still haven't started my Cardiacs dive yet. I need three more to fill out the discography and I'm waiting to order those until The Sea Nymphs is in stock. I have this idea that I need to listen from beginning to end to get the full effect. Not sure if that makes me a prog fan or an idiot.

My planned listening order. Am I missing any others that are not out of print?

Archives
The Seaside
A Little Man and a House and the Whole World Window [ordering]
On Land and in the Sea [ordering]
Heaven Born and Ever Bright
STG I
STG II
Odd Even - single
Guns
The Sea Nymphs [ordering]
OceanLandWorld
Spratleys Japs

If you've still got to get ALMaaHatWWW, On Land and In the Sea and the Sea Nymphs, i envy you greatly. It sort of makes sense to listen chronologically, although The Sea Nymphs have more in common with earlier period Cardiacs and OceanLandWorld fits in naturally with the mid-period between Mk1 and Mk2 Cardiacs. That seems pretty comprehensive to me though, excluding those currently OoP. As to being a Prog Fan OR an idiot - if you're a Cardiacs fan, its probably a bit of both.

[Don Arnold]

I'm also late-to-the-party with all things Cardiacs. I've scanned through this thread and listened to a couple of the linked offerings and I like what I hear. The jury is out though on whether I will be a Cardiacs fan or not. That being said I'd love to try a couple out for size.

First, I'd value some opinions from my fellow PE'ers (and obvious Cardiac FANatics). If you were to recommend TWO albums (my preference would be studio recordings - no live or compilations) for a newbie to begin with, which TWO would they be? One caveat is both of these would need to be available inexpensively because I'm on a tight budget right now.

I do realize that I could mine this thread further to potentially answer my question but....it seems you Cardiacians jump at any opportunity to post a thread about the band!

[zombywoof]

Personally, I'd start with A Little Man and a House and the Whole World Window and then get On Land and in the Sea. Those two hooked me big time and are probably the 'easiest' intro point. And if you like those, get Songs for Ships and Irons which is in a similar vein.

Cardiacians

Cardassians.jpg

[NogbadTheBad]

Personally, I'd start with A Little Man and a House and the Whole World Window and then get On Land and in the Sea. Those two hooked me big time and are probably the 'easiest' intro point. And if you like those, get Songs for Ships and Irons which is in a similar vein.

Pretty much 100% agree with this.

[loosefish]

I still haven't started my Cardiacs dive yet. I need three more to fill out the discography and I'm waiting to order those until The Sea Nymphs is in stock. I have this idea that I need to listen from beginning to end to get the full effect. Not sure if that makes me a prog fan or an idiot.

My planned listening order. Am I missing any others that are not out of print?

Archives
The Seaside
A Little Man and a House and the Whole World Window [ordering]
On Land and in the Sea [ordering]
Heaven Born and Ever Bright
STG I
STG II
Odd Even - single
Guns
The Sea Nymphs [ordering]
OceanLandWorld
Spratleys Japs

Going chronologically is a great idea. The thing about Cardiacs is they do take time (and several listens) to fully bed in, but listening in sequence could be the least overwhelming way of going about it. As others have said, i envy you the journey.

A Little Man and On Land are pretty vital chunks of the bands history, so you may want to at least get those before you start from the begining. Then there's the Maresnest dvd to get so you can see how they pull this stuff off live.

Also, Oceanlandword was recorded "in bits" in the late 80's i think and finished off around the time of Heaven Born unless i'm mistaken. It's all Tim (except for Sax on one track). Spratley's Japs was Tim and then girlfriend Jo Spratley (the rest of the 'band' were fake names/faces).

[chalkpie]

Spratley's Japs was Tim and then girlfriend Jo Spratley (the rest of the 'band' were fake names/faces).

This I never knew and its pretty mindblowing to me , but then again not surprising. Is Tim on all guitars, bass, drums, and keyboards then? Does Jo play also or just sing? This album may be as amazing as Sing to God in a totally different way which is hard to put into words.

[Gazoinks]

Ooh, I check back here and see Sea Nymphs might finally show up on Wayside? Good news! I still need to get my hands on that and Mr. and Mrs. and Mr. (which seems to have vanished into the ether, boo).

You know, one of the things that made me really realize how much I love this band is I never take them for granted. I might get into some band and really like them, but then start to get used to all their songwriting tricks and get a little bored... But I can come back to Cardiacs after a month and go "Holy crap Tim is a genius" like it's my first time listening.

[zombywoof]

Yep. I go through phases where I like this band or the other, but Cardiacs have pretty much been a staple of my listening for about a year.

[Adrian]

As far as ringtones go, mine have changed to the "RES" keyboard riff for my wife, and the very final ska bit of "As Cold As Can Be in an English Sea" for everyone else.

Speaking of "RES," my 3-year-old loves the video and asks me to play it! She likes "the saxophone player."

[doh]

I wonder how many of us search for "Nymphs" on Wayside at least once a day. Or maybe I am the only one cool enough to do that.

[chalkpie]

Hello There. I'm a little late to the party - i've been following this thread for ages and decided to bite the bullet and participate at last. My main reason for doing so, not only was to satiate my need to talk about all things Cardiacs-related, but also to let anyone who needs to know that it appears Heaven Born and Ever Bright is now available again through the Cardiacs website. I'm not sure if its the original version (its got the original cover) or the remaster though.

Nice! Glad you spoke up - the more The Cardiacs fans, the more the better

[chalkpie]

I wonder how many of us search for "Nymphs" on Wayside at least once a day. Or maybe I am the only one cool enough to do that.

I look for Nymphos everyday everywhere. They usually run away when they see me. Is that what you mean?

[doh]

I look for Nymphos everyday everywhere. They usually run away when they see me. Is that what you mean?

Well, specifically on Wayside.