From: owner-idealcopy-digest@smoe.org (idealcopy-digest) To: idealcopy-digest@smoe.org Subject: idealcopy-digest V7 #193 Reply-To: idealcopy@smoe.org Sender: owner-idealcopy-digest@smoe.org Errors-To: owner-idealcopy-digest@smoe.org Precedence: bulk idealcopy-digest Thursday, July 1 2004 Volume 07 : Number 193 Today's Subjects: ----------------- Re: [idealcopy] B**ly D**n B*y Was: Glastonbury [MarkBursa@aol.com] [idealcopy] reviews gmb-H [Jan Noorda ] Re: [idealcopy] O.T:Gotta say this....... [MarkBursa@aol.com] [idealcopy] B**ly D**n B*y Was: Glastonbury ["Clements, Bruno - BUP" ] [idealcopy] RE: O.T.: Gotta say this....... ["Jason Rogers" hydrogen economy) ["Tim ****" ] Re: [idealcopy] Glastonbury (was carbon -> hydrogen economy) [Andrew Walk] Re: [idealcopy] Glastonbury (was carbon -> hydrogen economy) [MarkBursa@a] Re: [idealcopy] B**ly D**n B*y Was: Glastonbury [MarkBursa@aol.com] RE: [idealcopy] B**ly D**n B*y Was: Glastonbury ["Clements, Bruno - BUP" ] Re: [idealcopy] B**ly D**n B*y Was: Glastonbury [Andrew Walkingshaw hydrogen economy) ["Keith Astb] Re: [idealcopy] Glastonbury (was carbon -> hydrogen economy) [MarkBursa@a] [idealcopy] Fw: The Stooges at the Download Festival, Glasgow. ["Keith As] Re: [idealcopy] Document & earwitness ["Keith Astbury" >Thats an insult to DLT baby!<< Hard to think who comes lower in the food chain - DLT or BDB? DLT's 1977 on-air tirade against the Clash's Complete Control still to this day makes me want to punch the tosser. But the putrid aroma from BDB's hat might be worse... >>I hate that laboured, "Anti-Image" look he sports...ironically trying to look like a Big Issue seller even though he actually lives in a very nice house in a boho suburb of Manchester and is worth close to #1m if not more. Yes He looks like a young Dave Lee Travis, if Dave Lee Travis had lost his Radio job in 1975 and been living on a park bench drinking cider ever since. Also his music is meandering, pointless hippy shite and he worships Bruce Springsteen. And he wears Sunglasses indoors. He wears that stupid hat even when off duty...just in case anyone doesn't recognise him. And he makes a point of overstaying his welcome with endless encores at gigs after the house lights have gone up...unforgiveable.<< An excellent case for the prosecution. On behalf of Mr Travis I shall ask the court to consider the invention of "darts on the radio" in mitigation. Quack quack oops. Mark ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 30 Jun 2004 03:21:07 -0700 (PDT) From: Jan Noorda Subject: [idealcopy] reviews gmb-H The Podeweil did send me a fax with the already mentioned reviews. A free tranlation here A SOUNDTRACK FOR THE APOCALYPS Popmusic in the park, soul on the street, brass on the sidewalk: while party-music is far away, when a music, loud and penetrant, hard to bear, is performed at the Podewil  a contemporary industrial made mirror. Gmb-H (Kaoss v Kaoss) theyve called themselves and behind them are Bruce Gilbert and Graham Lewis (one half of the British punk legend Wire), who here did perfom with the Swedish sound-artist Carl Michael von Hausswolff in an old men friendship to sculpture a hard to bear apocalyps-panorama. On the premiere in Germany well chosen flickering of images from a decayed centre of a city on the screen, while the music of this non-consolement is transformed in an electro-acoustic grindscratch scaring sound, which has connection with the industrial music of the 80s; torn down voices, bassrumbling, guitarfeedback, a tired coughing like an heart-lung-machine. Metal hammering from an echo-room, mixed with clicks and analoge noise. The tired out beats and knocks from a threatening machineworld. Rhytmic rotations give this music a primitiv prayer-mill character (mantra). Untill everything stops, just small noise to hear, and in the body an ignited fire is burning everything down: Doomsday is near and not hard to bear. Volker Luehke Die Tagesspiegel (Daily Mirror) BLIXA: Alles wird Muzak. Wie spaet mach es sein. Jan New and Improved Yahoo! Mail - Send 10MB messages! ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 30 Jun 2004 06:41:57 EDT From: MarkBursa@aol.com Subject: Re: [idealcopy] O.T:Gotta say this....... >>Still, what I heard is not going to get me as excited as some other records this year ;) But, I do have a soft spot for when old bands do put out a good record -- though wondering if anyone can out do Wire (New Order came close with "Behind Close Doors," but that is not an album's worth).<< BCD was definitely the best thing that came out of the last New Order activity - typically perverse of them to leave it off teh album! >>Not heard the Cure record yet.But agree that when a band puts out a good un it retores your faith.I'll cite the Killing Joke album as my example & Seeing Red is a great single IMHO.<< Best thing they've done for a long time, though not quite the work of genius some might sugest! (ASTEROID!!!!) Other comebacks of late have been less than 100% convincing - I've enjoyed the Crispy Ambulance & Blue Orchids returns - but they're not even close to the '80s work of either band. The one that really has cracked it is Mission of Burma - the new album is basically a straight follow-up to Vs - you'd be hard pressed to spot a 22-year join. Also Television had at least five new songs last week - expect an album next by 2006, to keep up the 14-year gap strike rate. (actually the 1992 comeback album was pretty good and is proving to be very durable...) As for the Cure, each of the last three albums has been hailed as a "return to form" in some quarters. Let's see. I like the single though, it has an earworm quality and lodged itself in my head for days after the Jonathan Ross appearance a few weeks back... Mark ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 30 Jun 2004 11:52:02 +0100 From: "Clements, Bruno - BUP" Subject: [idealcopy] B**ly D**n B*y Was: Glastonbury DLT's tirade against the Clash's Complete Control was a low point in UK radio (I think he did it TWICE)... along with that cursed roadshow (very cheesy competitions/records) at seaside resorts which used to take up summer mornings on Radio 1. I haven't got time today to defend BDB much - he did come out and watch the football with everyone after a Bristol pub Glasto warm-up gig last Thursday night and, apparently, played a great set. Shame I was packing for said festival! Quite a few of my colleagues (cynical guys with thousands of CDs/records) rate him highly (as does a close friend) though my introduction came when my girlfriend bought Have You Fed The Fish? I think it was one of only two or three CDs she bought in 2003. Having enjoyed that I was pleased to find Bewilderbeast and About a Boy on the same day in a local secondhand shop for #4 each. The image? Well that's rock stars for you. BDB's had isn't as bad as heavy metallists who sing about death and destruction and then go off to play golf in the sunshine the next day - though I was pretty startled to read about Guy Harvey of Elbow playing golf with Liam and Noel of Oasis in the Q on-site festival newspaper. If BDB wears his hat when he stays in his new mobile home/trailer in Wales I imagine everyone else on the site just thinks his head is cold! I'm sure he's worth much more thanb #1m - a quarter of that only buys you a terraced house in a 'decent' area of Bristol these days. That's rock stars for you. They either irritate you or they don't. If they are successful they get a disproportionate amount of cash. If a gig goes on for too long you just leave. It's not compulsory to stay (just like the consumption of alcohol - though tee-totallers have a higher suicide rate, so I've no plans to give up). Worse are the acts who start on a slow number, like Divine Comedy did, though I like them/him greatly and enjoyed the set or, like Macca, throw in slow, dull numbers into a set. Why play for two hours when an hour-and-a-half of really great stuff would have blown everyone away? I suppose the answer to that one is that playing a song he wrote after George's death gives him the sense that he still has an artistic contribution to make... Give me Lady Madonna or the fireworks with Live and Let Die any day! ********************************************************************** This email and any files transmitted with it are confidential and intended solely for the use of the individual or entity to whom they are addressed. If you have received this email in error please notify the system manager. This footnote also confirms that this email message has been swept by MIMEsweeper for the presence of computer viruses. www.mimesweeper.com ********************************************************************** ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 30 Jun 2004 03:50:16 -0700 (PDT) From: Jan Noorda Subject: [idealcopy] reviews gmb-H Sorry made some failures. The Podeweil did send me a fax with the already mentioned reviews. A free translation here A SOUNDTRACK FOR THE APOCALYPS Popmusic in the park, soul on the street, brass on the sidewalk: while party-music is far away, when a music, loud and penetrant, hard to bear, is performed at the Podewil  a contemporary industrial made mirror. Gmb-H (Kaoss v Kaoss) theyve called themselves and behind them are Bruce Gilbert and Graham Lewis (one half of the British punk legend Wire), who here did perfom with the Swedish sound-artist Carl Michael von Hausswolff in an old men friendship to sculpture a hard to bear apocalyps-panorama. On the premiere in Germany well chosen flickering of images from a decayed centre of a city on the screen, while the music of this non-consolement is transformed in an electro-acoustic grindscratch scaring sound, which has connection with the industrial music of the 80s; torn down voices, bassrumbling, guitarfeedback, a tired coughing like an heart-lung-machine. Metal hammering from an echo-room, mixed with clicks and analoge noise. The tired out beats and knocks from a threatening machineworld. Rhytmic rotations give this music a primitiv prayer-mill character (mantra). Untill everything stops, just small noise to hear, and in the body an ignited fire is burning everything down: Doomsday is near and not LIGHT to bear. Volker Luehke Die Tagesspiegel (Daily Mirror) BLIXA: Alles wird Muzak. Wie spaet mach es sein. Jan New and Improved Yahoo! Mail - Send 10MB messages! ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 30 Jun 2004 11:12:48 +0000 From: "Jason Rogers" Subject: [idealcopy] RE: O.T.: Gotta say this....... >Date: Tue, 29 Jun 2004 15:49:16 -0700 (PDT) >From: Ari >Subject: [idealcopy] O.T:Gotta say this....... > >..........the new Cure is f&^32ing Great! (carry on) Ari > I concur. The song, "Before Three", is the best Cure song that I've heard in quite some time...it's an orgasm that lasts four minutes and forty seconds long. I bought the U.S. version with the DVD, but I have the Japanese version (with three more tracks) on order from Sirendisc. The fourth remaining track from the vinyl will be released on the CD single for "The End Of The World" later this month. I wrote a rather long-winded review of the Cure album on Murmurs.com and copied it to the Chain Of Flowers site...my initial assessment of the album then still stands. It doesn't reinvent the wheel of The Cure, but it doesn't wreck the train either. Many great songs within. Jason Now Playing: The Cure - The Cure _________________________________________________________________ MSN Movies - Trailers, showtimes, DVD's, and the latest news from Hollywood! http://movies.msn.click-url.com/go/onm00200509ave/direct/01/ ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 30 Jun 2004 12:13:41 +0100 From: "Clements, Bruno - BUP" Subject: [idealcopy] B**ly D**n B*y Was: Glastonbury So just how many idealcopyists were in the Glasto New Tent for Television (or did some catch them in London on the Wednesday)?? I fired off a few pics from near the front, right hand side, during the first couple of numbers. They may actually come out. Buck 65 was very good once he got going - very funny banter between sets, quirky lyrics (one song was about shoe making, I think) and a great band. He over played by 10 minutes and we all booed like mad when he was told to leave the stage! Saw Orbital extracts I'd taped - can't see what there is to enjoy there but perhaps I'm too old! Oh yes, PJ Harvey was a bit of a disappointment - trying very hard. At least she smiled a few times. We left after three or four songs. Pity, some of her records are very good. Bruno ********************************************************************** This email and any files transmitted with it are confidential and intended solely for the use of the individual or entity to whom they are addressed. If you have received this email in error please notify the system manager. This footnote also confirms that this email message has been swept by MIMEsweeper for the presence of computer viruses. www.mimesweeper.com ********************************************************************** ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 30 Jun 2004 19:48:29 +0800 From: "Tim ****" Subject: Re: [idealcopy] Glastonbury (was carbon -> hydrogen economy) Anyone see Snow Patrol at Glasto? I saw them at the Isle Of Wight Festival on my UK sojourn, pretty much in their element singalongfestivalstylee. It's funny how many Charlatans (Also on Isle Of Wight Fest) tunes you ended up knowing!? Weirdo is still damn good. Tim - ----Original Message Follows---- From: MarkBursa@aol.com To: B.Clements@bepp.co.uk, idealcopy@smoe.org Subject: Re: [idealcopy] Glastonbury (was carbon -> hydrogen economy) Date: Tue, 29 Jun 2004 12:20:51 EDT Elbow were head and shoulders above everyone, really. I even bought the T-shirt... Just a shame they clashed with Badly Drawn Boy. Seriously, do you like BDB? Seems a completely talent-free chancer to me. And he looks like a young Dave Lee Travis. Mark _________________________________________________________________ Smart Saving with ING Direct  earn 5.25% p.a. variable rate: http://ad.au.doubleclick.net/clk;7249209;8842331;n?http://www.ingdirect.com.au/burst6offer.asp?id=8 ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 30 Jun 2004 12:53:56 +0100 From: Andrew Walkingshaw Subject: Re: [idealcopy] Glastonbury (was carbon -> hydrogen economy) On Wed, Jun 30, 2004 at 07:48:29PM +0800, Tim **** wrote: > Anyone see Snow Patrol at Glasto? I did. Still fundamentally "epic" indie, but much better live than on record. Not bad, actually. - - A - -- Dept of Earth Sciences, Univ. Cambridge ::: http://www.esc.cam.ac.uk/ email: andrew@lexical.org.uk ::: http://www.lexical.org.uk/blog/ Random Walk, 10pm Wednesdays, CUR1350 ::: http://www.cur1350.co.uk/ ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 30 Jun 2004 07:56:46 EDT From: MarkBursa@aol.com Subject: Re: [idealcopy] Glastonbury (was carbon -> hydrogen economy) I did. Still fundamentally "epic" indie, but much better live than on record. Not bad, actually. They looked particularly dull on BBC. The new Coldsailor. Mark ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 30 Jun 2004 07:54:46 EDT From: MarkBursa@aol.com Subject: Re: [idealcopy] B**ly D**n B*y Was: Glastonbury So just how many idealcopyists were in the Glasto New Tent for Television (or did some catch them in London on the Wednesday)?? Always go for the warm-up gigs, me. This year I saw Television in ULU and British Sea Power in a Brighton pub that was about the size of my living room. Infinitely preferable to a muddy field full of stoned crusties ;-) Not that I'd resort to cliches about Glastonbury.... Mark ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 30 Jun 2004 13:07:12 +0100 From: "Clements, Bruno - BUP" Subject: RE: [idealcopy] B**ly D**n B*y Was: Glastonbury I'm sure BSP came over better in a pub than on the Other Stage where they were just not bad, not brilliant. Crusties? That was a few years ago I think - these days you're looking at a budget of about 300gbp minimum for two people over the weekend (add 40gbp for campervan/caravan space)... Tickets alone are #224. If it follows that you can have a holiday abroad for that sort of price and you don't see many crusties abroad, hence there weren't many at Glastonbury either. Sure some people were buying the hash cookies and smoking dope but they probably do that at home anyway! Not that many people were even smoking tobacco, thankfully! So just how many idealcopyists were in the Glasto New Tent for Television (or did some catch them in London on the Wednesday)?? Always go for the warm-up gigs, me. This year I saw Television in ULU and British Sea Power in a Brighton pub that was about the size of my living room. Infinitely preferable to a muddy field full of stoned crusties ;-) Not that I'd resort to cliches about Glastonbury.... Mark ********************************************************************** This email and any files transmitted with it are confidential and intended solely for the use of the individual or entity to whom they are addressed. If you have received this email in error please notify the system manager. This footnote also confirms that this email message has been swept by MIMEsweeper for the presence of computer viruses. www.mimesweeper.com ********************************************************************** ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 30 Jun 2004 13:09:50 +0100 From: Andrew Walkingshaw Subject: Re: [idealcopy] B**ly D**n B*y Was: Glastonbury On Wed, Jun 30, 2004 at 07:54:46AM -0400, MarkBursa@aol.com wrote: > So just how many idealcopyists were in the Glasto New Tent for Television > (or did some catch them in London on the Wednesday)?? > > > Always go for the warm-up gigs, me. > > This year I saw Television in ULU and British Sea Power in a Brighton pub > that was about the size of my living room. Infinitely preferable to a muddy > field full of stoned crusties ;-) I was on the barrier for both of those. The stoned crusties were behind me, though one guy at BSP said to say hello to Bunny Smedley :) - - Andrew - -- Earth Sciences, University of Cambridge http://www.esc.cam.ac.uk/ Programme Controller, CUR1350 http://www.cur1350.co.uk/ email: andrew@lexical.org.uk Random Walk ::: Wednesday, 10pm ::: cur1350.co.uk ::: is this music? ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 30 Jun 2004 14:15:16 +0200 From: Bart van Damme Subject: Re: [idealcopy] RE: O.T.: Gotta say this....... > I concur. > > The song, "Before Three", is the best Cure song that I've heard in quite > some time...it's an orgasm that lasts four minutes and forty seconds long. I'll have whatever Jason's having! ;-) Bart > I bought the U.S. version with the DVD, but I have the Japanese version > (with three more tracks) on order from Sirendisc. The fourth remaining > track from the vinyl will be released on the CD single for "The End Of The > World" later this month. > > I wrote a rather long-winded review of the Cure album on Murmurs.com and > copied it to the Chain Of Flowers site...my initial assessment of the album > then still stands. It doesn't reinvent the wheel of The Cure, but it > doesn't wreck the train either. Many great songs within. > > > Jason > > Now Playing: The Cure - The Cure ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 30 Jun 2004 06:35:06 -0700 (PDT) From: Fergus Kelly Subject: [idealcopy] Document & earwitness My Tramway review & photos is now on wireviews: http://www.wireviews.com/reviews/live_reviews/0404_uk_aberdeen_fk.html One small pair of corrections: 'Bolt upright Rob, the builder of beats', should read 'Bolt upright Bob...' and 'Rob the backbone' should read 'Bob the backbone' Enjoy. Fergus ps - jesus, this unreal... I'm sittin in an internet caff, and a young child has just sat down next to me with a toy figure... Bob the builder no less.. __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? New and Improved Yahoo! Mail - Send 10MB messages! http://promotions.yahoo.com/new_mail ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 30 Jun 2004 13:53:16 EDT From: RLynn9@aol.com Subject: [idealcopy] Magnetic Fields = great sleep aid last night a friend of mine gave me a free ticket to the Magnetic Fields show here in St. Louis.... all i can say, is thank goodness i went for free....i can think of plenty of other sleep aids that do not cost $17.50..... every song sounded exactly the same....in-between song banter included poking fun at bands like Abba and Yes... but i found myself wishing that The Magnetic Fields would, by some miracle, morph into either said band....either of which would have been infinitely more enjoyable.... RL np - ABBA "The Visitors" ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 30 Jun 2004 19:17:29 +0100 (BST) From: =?iso-8859-1?q?Monochromatic=20Man?= Subject: Re: [idealcopy] Magnetic Fields = great sleep aid Robert, where you been? I always thought they had a limited repertoire. Best thing he ever did was the cover of 'I Die: You Die'. wnd3 - --- RLynn9@aol.com wrote: > last night a friend of mine gave me a free ticket to > the Magnetic Fields show > here in St. Louis.... > > all i can say, is thank goodness i went for > free....i can think of plenty of > other sleep aids that do not cost $17.50..... > > every song sounded exactly the same....in-between > song banter included poking > fun at bands like Abba and Yes... > > but i found myself wishing that The Magnetic Fields > would, by some miracle, > morph into either said band....either of which would > have been infinitely more > enjoyable.... > > RL > np - ABBA "The Visitors" > ___________________________________________________________ALL-NEW Yahoo! Messenger - sooooo many all-new ways to express yourself http://uk.messenger.yahoo.com ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 30 Jun 2004 23:48:31 +0100 From: "Keith Astbury" Subject: Re: [idealcopy] Glastonbury (was carbon -> hydrogen economy) > > Anyone see Snow Patrol at Glasto? > > I did. Still fundamentally "epic" indie, but much better live than on > record. Not bad, actually. I like the intro and verse of their biggie (Run?), and then the chorus kicks in and I want to reach for a gun ; ) Keith NP Smog - red apple falls ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 30 Jun 2004 19:04:59 EDT From: MarkBursa@aol.com Subject: Re: [idealcopy] Glastonbury (was carbon -> hydrogen economy) I like the intro and verse of their biggie (Run?), and then the chorus kicks in and I want to reach for a gun ; ) It's the sort of song that Interpol do soo much better - and have been doing for some time now. In the Coldsailor bedwetting league they're not as bad as Coldplay o Starsailor, or the current poster boys for faux-angst, Keane. Who really should be called Hoddle, if you think about it.... Mark ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 1 Jul 2004 00:22:10 +0100 From: "Keith Astbury" Subject: [idealcopy] Fw: The Stooges at the Download Festival, Glasgow. interesting review ; ) http://www.i94bar.com/gigreviews/stoogesscotland.html [demime 0.97c-p1 removed an attachment of type application/octet-stream which had a name of The Stooges at the Download Festival, Glasgow..url] ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 1 Jul 2004 00:32:57 +0100 From: "Keith Astbury" Subject: Re: [idealcopy] Document & earwitness > My Tramway review & photos is now on wireviews: > > > http://www.wireviews.com/reviews/live_reviews/0404_uk_aberdeen_fk.html > Thanks for this. Good stuff, Fergus. Gutted I couldn't make those Scottish gigs. They're certainly keeping us waiting for new stuff aren't they ; ) ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 1 Jul 2004 00:52:29 +0100 From: "Keith Astbury" Subject: Re: [idealcopy] Pitchfork Top 100 Albums of the 70s From: Ian Grant Subject: [idealcopy] Pitchfork Top 100 Albums of the 70s > The largely marvellous - and it's bloody precious to me, given that > everything else of any worth seems to be going bust (RIP Jockey Slut) - > Pitchfork (www.pitchforkmedia.com) is currently rambling through a list of > its top hundred seventies albums. And, pleasingly, all three early Wire > albums are in there, with "154" at #85, "Chairs Missing" at #33 and "Pink > Flag" at #22...which is impressively high in the latter two cases, against > some fairly stiff competition. Excellent mini-reviews of each too, should > you ever need to provide a suitable precis for a Wire novice. > Only just got round to reading this. Good stuff - and my fave Electric Warrior there at number 20, too! For those of you who, like me, take a while to read links, here's the Wire reviews... 085: Wire 154 [Warner Bros; 1979] By their third album, Wire scarcely resembled the band that a few years earlier had released Pink Flag. They had lost much of their rawness, but none of their edge, pushing into clanging, even chilling, electronic textures and oddly moving their catchiest melodies to the front of the mix, conceding to pop convention even as they perverted it. Of course, pop success was about the furthest thing from their minds, as evidenced by the sonic apocalypse of "A Touching Display" and the fractured synth chords of "On Returning", and the fact that they titled the album's lead single and most accessible song "Map Ref. 41 Degrees N 93 Degrees W". Incredibly, after the restless creativity that culminated in 154, the group claimed that they were fresh out of ideas and disbanded (albeit temporarily), ending one of the greatest three-year runs in rock history. --Joe Tangari 033: Wire Chairs Missing [Harvest; 1978] Trailing their landmark debut, Pink Flag, by only eight months, Wire's Chairs Missing was a shock to the punk community that first embraced them. In a scene where "progressive" was a four-letter word, and keyboards and effects were weapons of the enemy, Wire bravely shrugged off their rudimentary roots and quested for something more. Critics and fans responded badly, and that Wire shared a label with Pink Floyd only added to their infamy. With 25 years of hindsight, Chairs Missing is the most punk record they could have made, taking the scene's ethics of defiance, disregard and contempt to the greatest possible extreme. Though by no means a prog-rock opus, the album indulges in pedals, loops, and yes, keyboards and synths, to brilliant effect, while retaining all of the pop immediacy, compositional integrity and acute lyricism of its predecessor. Equal credit is due to producer Mike Thorne, who was responsible for squeezing these sounds of primitive machines, and Wire themselves, whose impatience and high standards pushed him to perfect the sounds they imagined. Hilariously, tying this into the whole of the list, Thorne recalls in an article on his website that "Wire said I should play synthesizers on the next album. I said, 'I can't move my fingers fast enough.' They said, 'If you don't do it, we'll get that Brian Eno in.'" This is one rare instance in which I can honestly say that would have been a huge mistake: He'd have killed all the joyous impulsiveness that makes this album one of the most charismatic, unpretentious experimental records the 70s ever produced. --Ryan Schreiber 022: Wire Pink Flag [Harvest; 1977] Pink Flag is one of the strangest British punk albums, a mantle that Wire seem to have willfully embraced. The Sex Pistols embodied the controversy of punk rock; The Damned were the fuck-all abandon; The Clash were righteousness incarnate. But in that rarified pantheon, only Wire truly embodied the brilliant, fiery economy of music and language. On Pink Flag, not a single guttural bark is wasted; not one jagged chord is played in excess when less will suffice. Even when Wire's blistering anthems are tempered into languid, pop/punk trysts, each track flashes a startling singularity of purpose; every song is a mission, a lone idea to be fully expressed. Wire breathlessly tear through songs as infectious as they are simplistic, aggressive and focused, taking the "cartoon simple" aesthetic of the Ramones to a louder, nastier extreme. Such economy is impressive in theory but on Pink Flag, it's even more stunning in its execution. I could go on, but it'd be a waste; the album speaks-- just enough-- for itself. --Eric Carr ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 30 Jun 2004 19:06:12 -0500 From: "dan bailey" Subject: Re: [idealcopy] Pitchfork Top 100 Albums of the 70s in a somewhat similar vein -- magazine lists, that is -- does anyone remember the thread a couple of months ago about mojo's or uncut's (or maybe even q's) piece on essential postpunk lps, with a couple of recent-vintage nonstarters tacked on at the end? normally i'd be able to look up that info with a couple of keystrokes, but switching over to a new computer wiped out all my email files. i called myself looking for the mag in question, but it must've gotten right by me ... dan > From: Ian Grant > Subject: [idealcopy] Pitchfork Top 100 Albums of the 70s > > > The largely marvellous - and it's bloody precious to me, given that > > everything else of any worth seems to be going bust (RIP Jockey Slut) - > > Pitchfork (www.pitchforkmedia.com) is currently rambling through a list > of > > its top hundred seventies albums. And, pleasingly, all three early Wire > > albums are in there, with "154" at #85, "Chairs Missing" at #33 and "Pink > > Flag" at #22...which is impressively high in the latter two cases, against > > some fairly stiff competition. Excellent mini-reviews of each too, should > > you ever need to provide a suitable precis for a Wire novice. > > > > Only just got round to reading this. Good stuff - and my fave Electric > Warrior there at number 20, too! > > For those of you who, like me, take a while to read links, here's the Wire > reviews... > > > 085: Wire > 154 > [Warner Bros; 1979] > > By their third album, Wire scarcely resembled the band that a few years > earlier had released Pink Flag. They had lost much of their rawness, but > none of their edge, pushing into clanging, even chilling, electronic > textures and oddly moving their catchiest melodies to the front of the mix, > conceding to pop convention even as they perverted it. Of course, pop > success was about the furthest thing from their minds, as evidenced by the > sonic apocalypse of "A Touching Display" and the fractured synth chords of > "On Returning", and the fact that they titled the album's lead single and > most accessible song "Map Ref. 41 Degrees N 93 Degrees W". Incredibly, after > the restless creativity that culminated in 154, the group claimed that they > were fresh out of ideas and disbanded (albeit temporarily), ending one of > the greatest three-year runs in rock history. --Joe Tangari > > > 033: Wire > Chairs Missing > [Harvest; 1978] > > Trailing their landmark debut, Pink Flag, by only eight months, Wire's > Chairs Missing was a shock to the punk community that first embraced them. > In a scene where "progressive" was a four-letter word, and keyboards and > effects were weapons of the enemy, Wire bravely shrugged off their > rudimentary roots and quested for something more. Critics and fans responded > badly, and that Wire shared a label with Pink Floyd only added to their > infamy. > > With 25 years of hindsight, Chairs Missing is the most punk record they > could have made, taking the scene's ethics of defiance, disregard and > contempt to the greatest possible extreme. Though by no means a prog-rock > opus, the album indulges in pedals, loops, and yes, keyboards and synths, to > brilliant effect, while retaining all of the pop immediacy, compositional > integrity and acute lyricism of its predecessor. Equal credit is due to > producer Mike Thorne, who was responsible for squeezing these sounds of > primitive machines, and Wire themselves, whose impatience and high standards > pushed him to perfect the sounds they imagined. Hilariously, tying this into > the whole of the list, Thorne recalls in an article on his website that > "Wire said I should play synthesizers on the next album. I said, 'I can't > move my fingers fast enough.' They said, 'If you don't do it, we'll get that > Brian Eno in.'" This is one rare instance in which I can honestly say that > would have been a huge mistake: He'd have killed all the joyous > impulsiveness that makes this album one of the most charismatic, > unpretentious experimental records the 70s ever produced. --Ryan Schreiber > > 022: Wire > Pink Flag > [Harvest; 1977] > > Pink Flag is one of the strangest British punk albums, a mantle that Wire > seem to have willfully embraced. The Sex Pistols embodied the controversy of > punk rock; The Damned were the fuck-all abandon; The Clash were > righteousness incarnate. But in that rarified pantheon, only Wire truly > embodied the brilliant, fiery economy of music and language. On Pink Flag, > not a single guttural bark is wasted; not one jagged chord is played in > excess when less will suffice. Even when Wire's blistering anthems are > tempered into languid, pop/punk trysts, each track flashes a startling > singularity of purpose; every song is a mission, a lone idea to be fully > expressed. Wire breathlessly tear through songs as infectious as they are > simplistic, aggressive and focused, taking the "cartoon simple" aesthetic of > the Ramones to a louder, nastier extreme. Such economy is impressive in > theory but on Pink Flag, it's even more stunning in its execution. I could > go on, but it'd be a waste; the album speaks-- just enough-- for > itself. --Eric Carr ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 30 Jun 2004 20:20:00 -0500 From: "Steve Loubert" Subject: Re: [idealcopy] O.T:Gotta say this....... From: Ari > ..........the new Cure is f&^32ing Great! (carry on) Ari The jury's still out for me. After hearing hints that it was a return to Faith, Pornography, etc., my hopes were high, but I don't hear it. I find myself wishing they'd turn down the vocals so I could hear the music. ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 01 Jul 2004 10:15:56 +0800 From: "Tim ****" Subject: Re: [idealcopy] O.T:Gotta say this....... "I find myself wishing they'd turn down the vocals so I could hear the music." Yes, i agree Smith has gone too hysterical, just calm down a bit there Smithy. Although i do like the 'Us & Them' shouty utterances! Tim The Cure - the cure - ----Original Message Follows---- From: "Steve Loubert" Reply-To: "Steve Loubert" To: "Ideal Copy" Subject: Re: [idealcopy] O.T:Gotta say this....... Date: Wed, 30 Jun 2004 20:20:00 -0500 From: Ari > ..........the new Cure is f&^32ing Great! (carry on) Ari The jury's still out for me. After hearing hints that it was a return to Faith, Pornography, etc., my hopes were high, but I don't hear it. I find myself wishing they'd turn down the vocals so I could hear the music. _________________________________________________________________ Find love today with ninemsn personals. Click here: http://ninemsn.match.com?referrer=hotmailtagline ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 30 Jun 2004 23:14:46 EDT From: Eardrumbuz@aol.com Subject: Re: [idealcopy] Magnetic Fields = great sleep aid i agree that many of the songs sound very much alike, but i also think there are a whole lot of fantastic ones. my daughter's favorite is 'i don't believe you'. merritt may get too clever at times, but he's an incredible songwriter nonetheless. i saw them perform 69 love songs at lincoln center, to an audience made up largely of musicians and julliard students...they went nuts! that was a comfortable venue for a magnetic fields show. the stage resembled a living room. the guest singers and musicians would sit around and hang out, at one point they even engaged in a game of cards, and when it was someone's turn to join in on a song, that person would move up to where stephin merritt was sitting, do his/her part, and return to the couch after the song. i enjoyed it very much and wished i had seen them the previous night as well. the 69 songs were performed over 2 nights, so i only saw half of em (34 actually). - -paul c.d. In a message dated 6/30/04 2:25:43 PM, xj23@yahoo.com writes: << Robert, where you been? I always thought they had a limited repertoire. Best thing he ever did was the cover of 'I Die: You Die'. wnd3 - --- RLynn9@aol.com wrote: > last night a friend of mine gave me a free ticket to > the Magnetic Fields show > here in St. Louis.... > > all i can say, is thank goodness i went for > free....i can think of plenty of > other sleep aids that do not cost $17.50..... > > every song sounded exactly the same....in-between > song banter included poking > fun at bands like Abba and Yes... > > but i found myself wishing that The Magnetic Fields > would, by some miracle, > morph into either said band....either of which would > have been infinitely more > enjoyable.... > > RL > np - ABBA "The Visitors" >> ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 30 Jun 2004 23:25:13 EDT From: Eardrumbuz@aol.com Subject: [idealcopy] Re: bsp In a message dated 6/30/04 8:01:37 AM, MarkBursa@aol.com writes: << a muddy field >> sounds like the perfect venue for british sea power! :o) - -paul c.d. played earlier: the decline of british sea power playing now: magnetic fields - i ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 30 Jun 2004 23:35:18 EDT From: Eardrumbuz@aol.com Subject: Re: [idealcopy] O.T:Gotta say this....... In a message dated 6/30/04 10:20:45 PM, oneloveonebagonenil@hotmail.com writes: << "I find myself wishing they'd turn down the vocals so I could hear the music." >> i could say that about most of the music i've ever heard :o) - -another the paul ------------------------------ End of idealcopy-digest V7 #193 *******************************