Cardiacs--where to start?

[Gazoinks]

A Wooden Fish on Wheels from Seaside sounds like XTC crossed with A Passion Play. Who's with me?

I always thought a lot of Seaside sounds like a more twisted version of early XTC crossed with classic prog, so I'm with you. :P

[chalkpie]

A Wooden Fish on Wheels from Seaside sounds like XTC crossed with A Passion Play. Who's with me?

I'd say more Police than Passion Play for me. Which sections remind you of which sections? Great tune! I like the live version as well, but there is something special about that early recording.

[zombywoof]

Sarah's sax playing and some of the wacky circusy type stuff seemed a little APP for me. The drum patterns in particular reminded me a bit of early XTC - "Love at First Sight" era.

[chalkpie]

Sarah's sax playing and some of the wacky circusy type stuff seemed a little APP for me. The drum patterns in particular reminded me a bit of early XTC - "Love at First Sight" era.

Its a really great piece. I'm fucking around on Dirty Boy (guitar) right now for fun - lots of fun changes - the only thing that is stumping me is the A# descending bass part. When you analyze these changes it becomes even more amazing.

[NogbadTheBad]

Ok, lets do this thing then, we've been dancing around it for ages. Friends, family, spin offs, benefits, associated bands, former members, bands produced, lit and engineered by Cardiacs etc.

The connexion must be real, not imagined, and not simply that a band sounds like or reminds you of Cardiacs

Ok, I'll play

Knifeworld - The Unravelling
NSRO - I a Moon
William D Drake - The Rising Of The Lights
Stars In Battledress - In Droplet From
Arch Garrison - I Will Be A Pilgrim
Mr & Mrs Smith & Mr Drake
Tim Smith's Extra Special Oceanland World
Sea Nymphs
Spratley's Japs
NSRO - s/t

[chalkpie]

NSRO - I a Moon

Good call. Beautiful track right here:

[Sterbus]

That song is 236 chord changes long... I counted them...

[PeterG]

Wooden fish is their ska track, to me it sounds like Cardiacs and no one else.

[polmico]

First spin of Sea Nymphs right now.

Question: Do I file this under "S" or under "C" with the rest of my Cardiacs CDs?

[polmico]

You guys suppose they know "Psalm of Life" is by American poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow and not English poet William Wordsworth?

[chalkpie]

First spin of Sea Nymphs right now.

Question: Do I file this under "S" or under "C" with the rest of my Cardiacs CDs?

I keep all of my Cardiacs-related stuff together, even Knifeworld, NSRO, Stars in Battledress, etc. "A La Familia!"

[polmico]

Ah. I'm a straight alpha guy. So Ian Anderson is in the "A"s not the "J"s, Fripp is in the "F"s and not the "K"s, etc. I suppose I'll file it in the "S"s. Whatever. It's awesome.

[chalkpie]

Under the laser today: "Guns" and "In Droplet Form". Gems, both.

What is the name of the piece on Guns after "Will Bleed Amen" ends? Absolutely lovely tune.

[chalkpie]

Ah. I'm a straight alpha guy. So Ian Anderson is in the "A"s not the "J"s, Fripp is in the "F"s and not the "K"s, etc. I suppose I'll file it in the "S"s. Whatever. It's awesome.

That's cool. I do last names for classical but not prog, jazz/other shit. Glad you're digging it man - give it a few spins and let it sink in. There are few of my absolute favorite Tim Smith compositions on there - I think I posted a few of them a page or two back. "Lilly White's Party" is definitely one of them.

[zombywoof]

Sea Nymphs will likely be my next purchase. Still haven't heard it.

[Gazoinks]

Under the laser today: "Guns" and "In Droplet Form". Gems, both.

What is the name of the piece on Guns after "Will Bleed Amen" ends? Absolutely lovely tune.

I don't think it has an "official" name, but everyone seems to call it "Secret Like Swans".

[zombywoof]

What was with that weird 90s / 2000s fad of putting 'hidden' tracks at the end of albums? Seemed like everyone did it in those days.

[PeterG]

What was with that weird 90s / 2000s fad of putting 'hidden' tracks at the end of albums? Seemed like everyone did it in those days.

Sometimes it only went a couple of minutes and the extra track played. But I remember once with one album, after about 20 minutes track 99 kicked in and scared the life out of me because I'd fallen asleep on the sofa 30 minutes earlier. And although i'd owned that CD for quite a while, it was the first time I'd heard the hidden track as I'd never fallen asleep to the album before and left it running.

[at least 100 dead]

Sometimes it only went a couple of minutes and the extra track played. But I remember once with one album, after about 20 minutes track 99 kicked in and scared the life out of me because I'd fallen asleep on the sofa 30 minutes earlier. And although i'd owned that CD for quite a while, it was the first time I'd heard the hidden track as I'd never fallen asleep to the album before and left it running.

"Disgustipated" by Tool?

That totally freaked me out, because I had fallen half-asleep and did not realize at first who the fuck was speaking. It sounded like some creep leaving a really disturbing message on the answering machine. Well done, Tool!

On the annoying side was Mastodon with “Pendulous Skin” – a five minute song inflated to a 22+ minute “epic” of nothingness (only at the very end can you hear Josh Homme reading some kind of “fan letter”).

[at least 100 dead]

Say, dear fellow Cardiologists – how about we have a separate “Cardiacs album-by-album” thread? Or should we do it here? Or not at all?

It might be interesting to have a closer look at all their albums in chronological order, incl. directly related side-projects such as Mr & Mrs Smith and Sea Nymphs et al (i.e. those which feature Mr. Smith).

[thedunno]

Say, dear fellow Cardiologists – how about we have a separate “Cardiacs album-by-album” thread? Or should we do it here? Or not at all?

It might be interesting to have a closer look at all their albums in chronological order, incl. directly related side-projects such as Mr & Mrs Smith and Sea Nymphs et al (i.e. those which feature Mr. Smith).

Good idea but I think we should stick to the albums available on cd. Toyworld was only released on casette and isnt even on youtube completely. First album should probably be Archive although it was realeased a bit later. I would include the live albums.

Order (open for correction. I probably mess the order up quitea bit).

Archive
The seaside
Mr and ms Smith ans mr Drake
Rude bootleg
A little man
Cardiacs live
Song for ships and irons
On land
Mares nest
The sea nymphs
Heaven born
Oceanlandworld
Sing to god
Guns
Spratleys Japs
Garage concerts

[Gazoinks]

Good idea but I think we should stick to the albums available on cd. Toyworld was only released on casette and isnt even on youtube completely. First album should probably be Archive although it was realeased a bit later. I would include the live albums.

Order (open for correction. I probably mess the order up quitea bit).

Archive
The seaside
Mr and ms Smith ans mr Drake
Rude bootleg
A little man
Cardiacs live
Song for ships and irons
On land
Mares nest
The sea nymphs
Heaven born
Oceanlandworld
Sing to god
Guns
Spratleys Japs
Garage concerts

This is a fun idea, I'd love to do something like this. Corrections: I believe Ships and Irons is pre-Little Man stuff, and I think Guns came after Pony. Maybe throw Ditzy Scene at the very end?

[PeterG]

To assist in this next stage, here is the complete discography with original release dates and later CD releases, many of you of course will only know the CD release date. I have also listed all 12" & CD EPs that have more than 3 tracks.

The Obvious Identity - June 80 cassette (Cardiac Arrest)- This is the one album I don't have a copy of.

Toy World - 81 cassette

Archive Cardiacs - 89 fan-club only cassette. CD mid-90s (Archive incuded 5
tracks from Toy World, 3 from Obvious Identity, and 4 Tim & Dom demos that first saw the light of day on Archive - Piffol I,III,IV and T.V.T.V)

The Seaside (1st version) - 84 cassette

Seaside Treats - 84 4 track 12" EP

Mr and Mrs Smith and Mr Drake - 84 cassette.

Rude Bootleg - 86 LP & cassette. CD 95

Big Ship - Jan 87 5 track 12" EP

ALMAAHATWWW - 88 LP & cassette. CD 95

Cardiacs Live - 88 LP,cassette & CD. CD reissued in 95.

Baby Heart Dirt -89 4 track 12" EP

OLAITS - 89 LP,cassette & CD. CD reissued in 95.

The Seaside (2nd version - different cover) - 90 LP,cassette & CD. CD reissued in 95. (4 tracks missing from 1st version, namely: Nurses Whispering Verses, Is This the Life?, A Little Man & A House, Dinner Time. A totally new verison of Nurses appears on STG pt 2.)

Night Tracks (the Janice Long Session) - 87 - 12" 5 track EP.

Songs For Ships & Irons - 90 LP,cassette & CD. CD reissued in 95. (re-relase of Big Ship & Too Many Irons EPs & the 2 B sides from Susannah's Still Alive 12" EP, plus a bonus tune- Everything Is Easy )

Heaven Born and Ever Bright - 91 LP & CD. CD reissued in 95 with a different cover.

Day Is Gone -91 4 track 12" EP and 4 track CD

All That Glitters Is A Maresnest - 95 CD.

Sampler - 95 CD.

The Sea Nymphs - 92 limited edition cassette (which I have 95 CD

Tim Smith's Extra Special Oceanland World - 95 CD. (recorded between 89 and 91)

Sing To God - 95 CD double pack parts 1 & 2, limited to 3000 copies (which I have ). 95 part 1 CD & part 2 CD. 15 Double LP

Appealing To Venus (reissue) 98 CD - 6 track mini album. 2 of which were originally on Mr & Mrs Smith & Mr Drake

Cardiacs meet Camp Blackfoot - 98 CD 7 track split EP. The last of the 4 Cardiacs tracks is an instrumental version of Insect Hooves on Lassie

Spratleys Japs Pony -98 CD

Spratleys Japs Hazel - 99 CD mini album

Guns - 99 CD.

Cardiacs and Affectionate Friends -01 CD

Greatest Hits - 02 CD

Mr and Mrs Smith and Mr Drake - 04 reissue on CD

The Special Garage Concerts London Autumn 2003 - 05 CD Vol. I & Vol. II (and now also as a double digipack)

Leader of the Starry Skies: A Tribute to Tim Smith, Songbook 1 - 10 CD

Leader of the Starry Skies: A Loyal Companion - 10 CD

[loosefish]

Yeah^, just missed off Ditzy Scene which came out in 2007 i believe.

Listening to the DS ep now (download copy). All three tracks are excellent, although Made All Up took me a while to warm to for some strange reason.

I can't help but wonder how representative these songs were in relation to LSD. Any spare info Kavus? Had Tim managed to write another Dirty Boy/Fiery Gun Hand/Duck and Roger/delete as applicable? From the ep it seems it was following on from the Guns sound, but i can hear something of a shoegaze influence in Ditzy and Made All Up which is new i think.

In other Tim news, 'Oh' from the Spratleys album is one of the greatest lumps of music i've ever heard. Spine tingling. I won't link the YT vid 'cos it really needs blasting on a big stereo to get the full effect . Do it now peeps.

[Kavus Torabi]

LSD would have been as different from any other Cardiacs album as STG is from, say, On Land.
That is, it still sounds totally Tim but with a pretty different vibe.

I had a hand in the arrangements so it certainly has a flavour of a lot of my stuff. Much more than the Ditzy Scene single which we did pretty quickly.

We were all VERY excited about it when we were making it.

We're still hoping to finish it if Tim's health improves enough.