Cardiacs--where to start?

[zombywoof]

I abhor top 10s, so I'll just name the first 10 that come to mind.

Gibber and Twitch
RES
All His Geese are Swans
Duck and Roger the horse
Baby Heart Dirt
Wind and rains is cold
Fiery Gun hand
Manhoo
Dirty Boy
Big Ship

Yes I know I'm skipping a bunch.

[loosefish]

Alright, friends - what's your top 10?

http://www.teamrock.com/features/201...y-mike-vennart

That's a very nice piece. Even though i've heard those tunes hundreds of times i still get shivers reading folk talking about them. I've checked out Oceansize a few times and never really taken to them, but reading Vennart's loving words for the band keeps sending me back to try again. Didn't know he was playing in Biffy Clyro now, poor fucker

Here's the cover mentioned in that article. It's pretty rough audio-wise, but i wouldn't say they "fucked it up" exactly.

[Mr.Flower]

A Little Man and a House
Buds & Spawn
Baby Heart Dirt
Big Ship
Duck & Roger the Horse
Ditzy Scene
Dirty Boy
Fiery Gun Hand
Loosefish Scapegrace
As Cold Can Be in an English Sea

This will probably change next week.

[Lieto]

Always changing, but right now: (LOVED the article and his choices too):

RES
Loosefish Scapegrace
Flap Off You Beak
The Whole World Window
A Little Man and A House
Dog-Like Sparky
Gibber and Twitch
Dirty Boy
Duck and Roger the Horse
Everso Closely Guarded Line
Stench of Honey/Hello Mr. Sparrow

Icing on The World and It's a Lovely Day rising rapidly to the top. Can't forget Jitterbug too. Dammit its too bloody hard!

[Gazoinks]

Dude's started a blog where he's attempting to review every single Cardiacs song.

[chalkpie]

"No Bright Side" has bitten me hard. What a fuckin' tune. I've heard it a bunch of times but for some reason this past week it just 'clicked'. I love this simple melody and how each note has its own "drum groove"...if you know this tune you know what I mean. Then there's the chorus which happens twice, with the soaring guitars that just gets you in the gut. Oh my oh my. Third part (bridge?) with that killer unsion guitar/bass groove. Add just enough time-fuckery and some mindblowing vocals from Tim and what you have is a masterpiece tune IMO.

[chalkpie]

Dude's started a blog where he's attempting to review every single Cardiacs song.

Pretty great right there...I hope he goes the distance.

[Lieto]

That Blog rules!!! And so does No Brightside. Ideal si incredible too, that instruemntal break with all the pauses is something special.

I ordered Greatest Hits and the Odd Even Single. Excitement commences Pondies

[Kavus Torabi]

No Bright Side has been an absolute favourite of mine since it came out. I always wanted Cardiacs to play it live but Tim insisted the singing was too high.
My old band, The Monsoon Bassoon performed, somewhat rushed, version at his 40th birthday. After we played it Jon Poole said to Tim 'See. It can be played'.

[aith01]

Since I'm much too new to Cardiacs to even begin formulating a top-ten list of anything, I will refrain for the moment.

Guns is pretty cool though. I think Spell With A Shell is one of the most unsettling songs I've heard in a long while. There are some darn cool tunes on this disc, I'm enjoying it quite well.

After a little bit I will move on to the Special Garage Concerts. Baby steps...

[zombywoof]

What do you think of Winds and Rains is Cold? I'm absolutely crazy about that track.

[aith01]

What do you think of Winds and Rains is Cold? I'm absolutely crazy about that track.

It was probably the one that I liked most on first listen, and it has become one of my favorites.

[zombywoof]

It was probably the one that I liked most on first listen, and it has become one of my favorites.

Awesome! No one ever mentions it but it's an all time favorite.

[chalkpie]

What do you think of Winds and Rains is Cold? I'm absolutely crazy about that track.

Close to top 10. When Tim sings "Oh Spotty Sally's Army...", I just can't over it. The best. Also the bit where Sharon sings "Hate hand take the soul through drizzle ditch
And the wormy garden vegetable garden bitch"...oh man.....those harmonic progressions are just unreal, and then the melody/progression that directly follows it. Well, there's the whole tune I guess. This tune does not unsuck.

[chalkpie]

PS - I'm sure we've covered this before here, but for a while I avoided Guns because of the negative reviews, even by the so-called fanatics. Then when I finally heard the thing I couldn't believe 1) How great it is and 2) How wrong they were. Fuck 'em I sayeth!

[Kavus Torabi]

I've never understood the negative thoughts about Guns. All Tim's stuff is as good as all his other stuff. Guns is no exception.

[zombywoof]

"You remember children? Blessed are those pure of heart"

I don't know why, but that line and the way Tim delivers it always slays me.

[chalkpie]

I've never understood the negative thoughts about Guns. All Tim's stuff is as good as all his other stuff. Guns is no exception.

I'd say Heaven Born is the other album that tends to divide the pond somewhat yeah?......I don't know if its the recording or the overall intensity of the thing, but it has some of his greatest pieces on there. The first five out of the gate just kill. Hell, add Day is Gone too.

"For Good and All" is another one I've been loving recently and it seems to be overlooked.

[chalkpie]

"You remember children? Blessed are those pure of heart"

I don't know why, but that line and the way Tim delivers it always slays me.

Yeah, its great.

[zombywoof]

I'd say Heaven Born is the other album that tends to divide the pond somewhat yeah?......I don't know if its the recording or the overall intensity of the thing, but it has some of his greatest pieces on there. The first five out of the gate just kill. Hell, add Day is Gone too.

"For Good and All" is another one I've been loving recently and it seems to be overlooked.

Count me in as a non fan of HB&EB. It just lacks any ability to grab me and shake me. Maybe it's the production. The tunes seem alright, but the presentation (particularly the way the drums are mixed) lacks the magic, IMO. It's my least favorite thing in the catalog by far. Day is Gone EP lacks the loudness problem, but still has all the other problems. Still, I'd like to hear HB&EB mixed with the dynamics that the EP has.

Sorry Frank, I'll keep trying. Maybe someone can jump in and help me appreciate this thing. It's the only Cardiacs album I'm not madly in love with.

[chalkpie]

This might sound a bit nutty, but in my feeble mind I have considered Tim to be the "Mozart" of rock or pop or whatever the fuck you wanna call it. He would probably hate that association (ha), but my intention is good. What I mean by it is that his craft and the architecture of how these tunes are assembled and arranged are just so damn perfect (and even the olde stuff), sort of like Mozart's music. There isn't a note out of place with either guy when it comes down to it - well for me at least. As much as I adore FZ, Ian Anderson, etc, I can't really say that about those guys. Tim is truly the one guy where his entire output is just damn...well you know. I know this sounds so fanboyish, but fuck it I really mean it.

[zombywoof]

I agree, Frank, but I still give the edge to FZ. But both rule my musical universe. Tull circa 73 are my favorite band ever, but that's the closest they came to the compositional chops of either of these gents, IMO.

[chalkpie]

Count me in as a non fan of HB&EB. It just lacks any ability to grab me and shake me. Maybe it's the production. The tunes seem alright, but the presentation (particularly the way the drums are mixed) lacks the magic, IMO. It's my least favorite thing in the catalog by far. Day is Gone EP lacks the loudness problem, but still has all the other problems. Still, I'd like to hear HB&EB mixed with the dynamics that the EP has.

Sorry Frank, I'll keep trying. Maybe someone can jump in and help me appreciate this thing. It's the only Cardiacs album I'm not madly in love with.

Don't worry man - I'm not changing my avatar tomorrow

You know man - try one tune at a time and see how that goes, or make some mixes and just randomly place these tunes seemingly out of nowhere, and maybe they'll click. It can be sensory overload (but so can StG) if your head isn't properly prepared. Or its the one that doesn't work for you, which is fine too.

[zombywoof]

Yeah, I'm not saying it doesn't have its moments - Helen and Heaven, Day Is Gone, and a few near the end that I like and I'm not remembering the names of! It just doesn't bring me the crazy high that the others do.

StG is the masterpiece of the catalogue. I'm trying to pick up guitar and I decided to try to learn Odd Even. It's just a pretty little song (the middle section is madness - I'm not touching it), but it's quite a challenge. the melodies are just amazing. And that's just one example of one song - it's not even my favorite!

Plus I discovered I love Foundling this past week. "Here comes the bride, no one knows where she came from" - who writes this stuff? I take back the thing I said earlier about Tims words being nonsense; merely most of them are - but not all. There's some serious haunting going on there and it fascinates me to no end what he could be talking about.

Anyway. Sorry. Cardiacs.

[chalkpie]

Funny, my 8-year old's favorite song in the world is "Odd Even". He pretty much wants to hear it every time we are in the car, so I usually have StG on hand. He's a cool-ass kid. The melody is beautiful for sure. You can get the chords off the 'net - its pretty doable overall - I was f'ing around on it a few months ago. The second section has a bunch of truly beautiful chord changes.