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the_eggwhiteSo, let's get going with this again... I'll pick up where I left off
Crosby/Nash - Crosby/Nash
It's a strong album, and I like it... but it's just not one I can see myself listening to often enough for me to let it take up space. For the "to go" pile.
Verdict: To Go
Curve - Doppelganger
I will be honest - my very first impressions of curve may have been coloured by the fact that Toni Halliday is not unappealing in the video to Fait Accompli (the original one, not the later black and white one!) when you happen to be a 17/18 year old chap. But, they were also coloured by the fact that it's an abolutely storming song as well. As soon as I was able, I started acquiring everything they churned out.
I still spend time trying to track down other curve related projects every now and then, because they really are that good.
Already Yours delivers a good, solid first punch, getting things moving nicely from the outset. Horror Head slows things down just a little, but also really starts to add a bit more depth. Wish really throws the bassline down in the intro, with the drums, guitars and vocal moving along on top of it.
Title track Doppelganger really slows things down for a moody, intro of rumbling bass, quiet drums and Toni Halliday's deep voice before lifting it up into the lighter (but still quite moody) main song. I don't recall it being one of my favourites from the album originally, but I think that over the years it's become one.
I really do mean "over the years", by the way. This CD has never gone unplayed that long. I originally bought it on tape the day it came out, and I remember queuing up in Our Price (I think) in Newbury waiting for my pre-order to come in. it's not been far from my tape deck, CD player or mp3 player ever since.
This is another album where picking out "stand out" tracks is so hard, because they *all* stand out. Fait Accompli has already been mentioned, and the others I'll call out are "Sandpit" (just for being quite different - downbeat and melancholy) and the distorted, growling guitar parts of "Split into Fractions".
For reference, the closest video I can find to the original "Fait Accompli" is this video for Horror Head, which still isn't quite the same, but is very much the same era.
Verdict: Keep.
Curve - Radio Sessions
This is a collection of two four-song live sessions performed on the John Peel Show on BBC Radio 1. There weren't many good things on Radio 1, but the John Peel Show was one of them... and this is a good example of why.
The first of the two sessions opens with "Ten Little Girls" - a pretty heavy duty number from one of the earlier EPs, heads through "No Escape From Heaven" and into a fairly slow take on "The Colour Hurts"... and the slowness works. This is a version of the song which remains one of my favourite curve songs now. The first session winds up with "Coast is Clear", which is a fine song... but I just find this version very slightly lacking. It's still a cut above a lot of the music that was around at the time, but it's not my favourite version of the song.
The second session opens with "Die Like a Dog", the opening bassline for which can only be described as filthy. Quite a lot more gets built onto that bassline, but it's the bassline that keeps me coming back. Horror Head has already been mentioned on Doppelganger, and this is a perfectly good version of it. I'm slightly intrigued by the presence of "Arms Out" here, as it's a b-side from the Fair Accompli single. It's a good one, but it seems a bit odd for them to have performed live. Still, I'm not about to argue! The session closes out with a fairly rocky version of "Split Into Fractions". A good show, all in all.
Verdict: Keep.
Curve - Cuckoo
This one is a bit of a departure from earlier curve work. It still does the introsepctive shoegazey stuff, but when it decides to rock out, it rocks out. Opener "Missing Link" sets the stage for that nicely with solid drums and screaming guitars. The bass is still there and doing it's thing, but it's a lot deeper in the mix and harder to pick out. You can tell it's there, though.. you just can't quite make it out as clearly in amongst everything else.
"All of One" is a bit of a departure, stepping away from the wall of distorted sound for a while, keeping the music sparse, light and mostly in the background to Toni's vocals. Only the guitar work really steps forward into the limelight alongside the vocals... and I think the song works well that way. It feels quite fresh and different, particularly alongside everything else that was around in the early 90s!
Now, because I'm impatient (and was doing other things whilst they were one) I'm going to skip past a couple of tracks and mention "Unreadable Communication". Five minutes of feint, echoey ambient music with a steady but quiet bassline... and rising drums, with Toni's voice at it's most ethereal laid over the top. With a touch of guitar cutting it's way in occasionally, gradually building to a peak of plaintive distortion (I struggled for a less flowery description, but I can't find one!) before sliding back down to the background ambience again.
I already knew I liked Curve, but "Unreadable Communication" told me they were a band I wasn't going to stop listening to. In fact, here it is on youtube, but it's not going to sound as good through crappy PC speakers.
There's no point in mentioning anything else, because I'm too hooked into "Unreadable Communication" now. The album is going nowehere.
Verdict: It's got "Unreadable Communication" on it. IT'S MINE.
I think that's enough for now.
Crosby/Nash - Crosby/Nash
It's a strong album, and I like it... but it's just not one I can see myself listening to often enough for me to let it take up space. For the "to go" pile.
Verdict: To Go
Curve - Doppelganger
I will be honest - my very first impressions of curve may have been coloured by the fact that Toni Halliday is not unappealing in the video to Fait Accompli (the original one, not the later black and white one!) when you happen to be a 17/18 year old chap. But, they were also coloured by the fact that it's an abolutely storming song as well. As soon as I was able, I started acquiring everything they churned out.
I still spend time trying to track down other curve related projects every now and then, because they really are that good.
Already Yours delivers a good, solid first punch, getting things moving nicely from the outset. Horror Head slows things down just a little, but also really starts to add a bit more depth. Wish really throws the bassline down in the intro, with the drums, guitars and vocal moving along on top of it.
Title track Doppelganger really slows things down for a moody, intro of rumbling bass, quiet drums and Toni Halliday's deep voice before lifting it up into the lighter (but still quite moody) main song. I don't recall it being one of my favourites from the album originally, but I think that over the years it's become one.
I really do mean "over the years", by the way. This CD has never gone unplayed that long. I originally bought it on tape the day it came out, and I remember queuing up in Our Price (I think) in Newbury waiting for my pre-order to come in. it's not been far from my tape deck, CD player or mp3 player ever since.
This is another album where picking out "stand out" tracks is so hard, because they *all* stand out. Fait Accompli has already been mentioned, and the others I'll call out are "Sandpit" (just for being quite different - downbeat and melancholy) and the distorted, growling guitar parts of "Split into Fractions".
For reference, the closest video I can find to the original "Fait Accompli" is this video for Horror Head, which still isn't quite the same, but is very much the same era.
Verdict: Keep.
Curve - Radio Sessions
This is a collection of two four-song live sessions performed on the John Peel Show on BBC Radio 1. There weren't many good things on Radio 1, but the John Peel Show was one of them... and this is a good example of why.
The first of the two sessions opens with "Ten Little Girls" - a pretty heavy duty number from one of the earlier EPs, heads through "No Escape From Heaven" and into a fairly slow take on "The Colour Hurts"... and the slowness works. This is a version of the song which remains one of my favourite curve songs now. The first session winds up with "Coast is Clear", which is a fine song... but I just find this version very slightly lacking. It's still a cut above a lot of the music that was around at the time, but it's not my favourite version of the song.
The second session opens with "Die Like a Dog", the opening bassline for which can only be described as filthy. Quite a lot more gets built onto that bassline, but it's the bassline that keeps me coming back. Horror Head has already been mentioned on Doppelganger, and this is a perfectly good version of it. I'm slightly intrigued by the presence of "Arms Out" here, as it's a b-side from the Fair Accompli single. It's a good one, but it seems a bit odd for them to have performed live. Still, I'm not about to argue! The session closes out with a fairly rocky version of "Split Into Fractions". A good show, all in all.
Verdict: Keep.
Curve - Cuckoo
This one is a bit of a departure from earlier curve work. It still does the introsepctive shoegazey stuff, but when it decides to rock out, it rocks out. Opener "Missing Link" sets the stage for that nicely with solid drums and screaming guitars. The bass is still there and doing it's thing, but it's a lot deeper in the mix and harder to pick out. You can tell it's there, though.. you just can't quite make it out as clearly in amongst everything else.
"All of One" is a bit of a departure, stepping away from the wall of distorted sound for a while, keeping the music sparse, light and mostly in the background to Toni's vocals. Only the guitar work really steps forward into the limelight alongside the vocals... and I think the song works well that way. It feels quite fresh and different, particularly alongside everything else that was around in the early 90s!
Now, because I'm impatient (and was doing other things whilst they were one) I'm going to skip past a couple of tracks and mention "Unreadable Communication". Five minutes of feint, echoey ambient music with a steady but quiet bassline... and rising drums, with Toni's voice at it's most ethereal laid over the top. With a touch of guitar cutting it's way in occasionally, gradually building to a peak of plaintive distortion (I struggled for a less flowery description, but I can't find one!) before sliding back down to the background ambience again.
I already knew I liked Curve, but "Unreadable Communication" told me they were a band I wasn't going to stop listening to. In fact, here it is on youtube, but it's not going to sound as good through crappy PC speakers.
There's no point in mentioning anything else, because I'm too hooked into "Unreadable Communication" now. The album is going nowehere.
Verdict: It's got "Unreadable Communication" on it. IT'S MINE.
I think that's enough for now.
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awesome curveness
2012-02-14 19:44 (UTC)Re: awesome curveness
2012-02-14 23:47 (UTC)Speaking of side projects, SPC ECO are worth a listen... and are on bandcamp, so you can listen to loads. They're one of Dean Garcia's many current projects, with his daughter on vocals. They remind me quite a bit of the mellow end of Curve.