Happy B day Old boy! Your music was played today en masse for about 4 hours straight.
Happy B day Old boy! Your music was played today en masse for about 4 hours straight.
Wore my Cardiacs shirt today to celebrate!
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
Sing To God (disc 1) is pretty darn incredible and eclectic. Some great, complex pop tunes on that one! I haven't moved on to disc 2 yet.
Fiery Gun Hand though... Man, what a weird track. Love the apparent XTC homage at the beginning, but the song proper is really its own beast. No idea how I would classify that one if forced to describe it to a friend -- but then again, that seems to be commonplace with these folks. The lyrics really threw me, as they are just so bizarre; think I'm finally starting to get the hang of it though (being no stranger to impenetrable song lyrics ).
That guitar solo, with all that dense instrumentation going on around it...
"Fiery Gun Hand" is a stunner. It's one knock out punch after another, as far as I'm concerned. StG's "The Duck and Roger the Horse".
My 'sweet spot' song on StG disc 1 is "Manhoo", though. The last minute of that tune with that big bluesy vocal line that goes into the punky "I am the Walrus" rhythm is a knockout. "La la la la la la ... " One time, driving home from school last year, I played that song like 6 times in a row. It was the entire commute. Still can't get enough of it.
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 love the string quartet bit in "Manhoo".
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
Wireless itself is a gorgeous powerhouse. One of the best melody lines I've ever heard begins with the lyrics "Black Dog, white dress..' absolute magic.
"Without deviation from the norm, progress is not possible"
-Frank Zappa
Manhoo is one of my faves, along with Bellyeye and Dog-Like Sparky. Some outstanding pop hooks on this disc.
Premature to ask this now perhaps, but after I've finished absorbing StG where should I go next?
I think 'The Special Garage Concerts' should be next. Old tunes, all live, updated, and kick-ass.
Then it gets a bit tricky IMO, but the ones that are must-haves after that are: 'Heaven Born and Ever Bright', 'Guns', and 'Maresnest'. Those are all mandatory, and pretty much it doesn't matter which order you get (although you will know a good chunk of the material on Maresnest). Equally as important but not Cardiacs-proper are 'Tim Smith's Extra Special OceanLandWorld', Spratley's Japs 'Pony', 'Mr and Mrs Smith and Mr Drake', and The Sea Nymphs. That is Seven (7) albums right there, so you can take your time but eventually you will need them all. Even the non-Cardiacs albums are pretty much Cardiacs albums since Tim writes most/all of the material anyway and its just his music travelling down different paths. It's all good, so it's not a question of "if", its just a matter of "when" you'll get them
THEN, you still have 'The Seaside', 'Archive Cardiacs', 'Live', and even 'Rude Bootleg'. Some folks would say the first two here should be bought sooner, but I would say to them "PISS OFF....I have most of the stuff on Garage Concerts....I'll get them eventually....PISS OFF!".
That's what *I* would do anyway, but what the fuck do I know? Most important thing: enjoy the ride and don't rush it because when there is no more stuff left to get its still amazing, but its a tad bit sad in a way.
Did STG not make you Spontaneously defecate then? glad to hear you're enjoying it
Maresnest (the album) was already mentioned, but surely he(?) should be getting hold of the dvd next or next-ish? After digesting the recorded versions on Little Man and On Land, the full bore, powered up RAWK of Maresnest is something to behold and the good thing about the film is you can see them do it all in front of your astonished face.
The dvd also has extra Jimming.
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
Haha, well I have only heard disc 1 so far.
Really, really enjoying it though, and cannot wait to dive into disc 2 after spending some more time with this one.
I saw a couple vids on YouTube of songs from the Mares Nest DVD (I assume), and was quite impressed. That is something I would want to explore for sure.
Something I was wondering about these: With the reduction in the band's size, what is the instrumentation like on those discs? This being the only(?) recorded performance available with Kavus on it is itself a reason to snag a copy I think.
I think it's obvious that Mares Nest is a must at this point. Being that it has some of my favorite (so far) Cardiacs tunes on it is a big incentive.
Guns I was very curious about -- with it being the last Cardiacs disc, what are all of your opinions on it? How does it compare with StG, seeing there were only a few years separating them? The cover artwork is... interesting. Love the dogs.
It's good to know there is still a fair bit of music to explore. How about Seaside? How do you all feel toward that one?
Again, much gratitude for all the advice from everyone here. You have all been so great. I'm honored to be able to come here and have my musical horizons widened in ways that they might not have been otherwise.
Garage Concerts is the Smiths + Kavus and Bob Leith. Keys are provided by 'Bill in a box' - basically a prerecorded track. Kinda cheating, but by god were the band tight on that. So much so that the prerecorded keys don't really matter.
Guns is its own beast. It features a couple of tunes that are all time favorites - Winds and Rains is Cold, There's Good Cud, Come Back Clammy Lammy to name a few - but I love it all. It kind of is StG disc 3 as it expands on the eclecticism of StG adding a bit of pure psychedelia and even an Americana / country (yes!) vibe. There's a crazy country line on Good Cud that just blows my mind. Love it like crazy.
Seaside is very rough, but good. I enjoy it for its raw unbridledness. And it's got Too Go Off and Things which has one of my favorite opening lines in a song ever, plus the most un Prog, noisy, off the wall solo you can imagine. And it's like 2 mins long. I think all the songs on Seaside are on Garage, but they're very different versions, so both are worth having.
Basically, you need 'em all. And you also need Sea Nymphs for some pastoral, ethereal Cardiacs. Yes, such a thing exists.
As for the DVD, I must warn you that it doesn't play in all Dvd / bluray players. Many of us have had varying degrees of success (I've had rotten luck, so I just usually play the cd instead).
Last edited by zombywoof; 07-07-2015 at 12:10 AM.
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
Steve F.
www.waysidemusic.com
www.cuneiformrecords.com
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
“Remember, if it doesn't say "Cuneiform," it's not prog!” - THE Jed Levin
Any time any one speaks to me about any musical project, the one absolute given is "it will not make big money". [tip of the hat to HK]
"Death to false 'support the scene' prog!"
please add 'imo' wherever you like, to avoid offending those easily offended.
Ian
Host of the Post-Avant Jazzcore Happy Hour on progrock.com
https://podcasts.progrock.com/post-a...re-happy-hour/
Gordon Haskell - "You've got to keep the groove in your head and play a load of bollocks instead"
I blame Wynton, what was the question?
There are only 10 types of people in the World, those who understand binary and those that don't.
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
Doesn't work in my DVD player either. Boo.
2xguitar+bass+drums+Pre-recorded keys. Kavus is also on the Ditzy Scene single, but it's hard to find a non-download copy of it. Definitely worth listening to the songs one way or another though, it was the last thing the band did before Tim's illness.
Guns is interesting. It's a fair bit less manic than their other albums, with a sort of murky, psychadelic, glam-americana feel. I sometimes kind of forget it exists because it's not my immediate go-to when I want to listen to Cardiacs, but it's a really good album. Will Bleed Amen is one of my absolute favorite Cardiacs songs, and the rest don't slack either.
If you have Garage Concerts, I'd say The Seaside is mostly a historical thing, honestly. It's certainly worth having, it's a good album with some great songs (and some of the songs benefit from the percussion and sax that's not on Garage Concerts), but I'd put HB&EB, Guns, Spratleys Japs, OceanLandWorld, Sea Nymphs, and Mr.&Mrs.&Mr. at higher priority.
I prefer To Go Off and Things and RES by a pretty wide margin to the Garage Concerts versions. I can't help being what I am.
Different story on Jibber and Twitch though, but my favorite version is the rehearsal video with the barking dog bit. Always makes me laugh so hard my belly hurts.
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
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