Okay so, I know hongro-bashing can seem pretty played-out, but this:
Old music is usually better than recent music. At least it has been during the past 15 years.― Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Thursday, 20 March 2003 23:43 (9 years ago) Permalink
― Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Thursday, 20 March 2003 23:43 (9 years ago) Permalink
― beta male misogyny is here to stay (bernard snowy), Sunday, 7 October 2012 19:54 (eleven years ago) link
Was in the car with a friend (who, in her defense, has a real job and is very busy and hasn't bought new music in 15 years and generally only listens to music in the car on the way to and from important clients). "Perfect Way" came on the satellite '80s station, and she absolutely freaked out ... negatively! She said it sucked, could be Milli Vanilli (name similarity just occurred to me), etc., and I was absolutely floored that anyone could hate that song but also by the difficulty of conveying what makes the band special, how its polish is partly what makes it subversive, how its nods to hip-hop and NYC's avant scene were subtly radical, how the lyrics were sometimes so smart and clever it was easy to miss how smart and clever they sometimes were. All that stuff. Just a tough band to capsule to someone who only knows them from that one song which blends together with all those other one-songs from that period of the '80s.
― Josh in Chicago, Sunday, 26 January 2014 14:38 (ten years ago) link
This bump made me play "Hypnotize" on repeat all day yday
― vylvyt ylvis (Stevie D(eux)), Monday, 27 January 2014 22:07 (ten years ago) link
why only yesterday
― CAROUSEL! CAROUSEL! (Telephone thing), Monday, 27 January 2014 22:29 (ten years ago) link
CONTINUE
I had work today.
― vylvyt ylvis (Stevie D(eux)), Monday, 27 January 2014 23:04 (ten years ago) link
I remember my ex flipping out about the video years ago and me thinking "Eh, it's not bad" and then I rewatched it yday and I was like "HOLY SHIT THIS IS AWESOME"
― vylvyt ylvis (Stevie D(eux)), Monday, 27 January 2014 23:06 (ten years ago) link
I love it when lazy, half-assed stuff winds up being unintentionally brilliant.
― vylvyt ylvis (Stevie D(eux)), Monday, 27 January 2014 23:07 (ten years ago) link
even at the time "Perfect Way" sounded baroque: until Jam-Lewis a few months later it was the hardest thing on pop radio. And Gartside snuck "I'll forget how to remember with you" and "I took a back seat/a back hander" into a pop song
― Bryan Fairy (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Monday, 27 January 2014 23:11 (ten years ago) link
My w was "It's a bit too lovey-dovey" but hey. I think she preferred the Skank Bloc stuff, Which is fair enough, I do too.
― Mark G, Tuesday, 28 January 2014 01:31 (ten years ago) link
Wonder if we'll get a new album from him soon? Already eight years since White Bread Black Beer.
― Kitchen Person, Tuesday, 28 January 2014 01:35 (ten years ago) link
I met him, did i mention that? ha. he was huge and beautiful.
― i lost my shoes on acid (jed_), Tuesday, 28 January 2014 02:21 (ten years ago) link
i came to scritti long after the fact, after years spent ignoring pop music of all stripes. i was aware of them through occasional mentions in the uk music press, what with their history as a post-punk band. about ten years ago when i started getting interested in new pop stuff like "lexicon of love", scritti were on my mind as something to look out for and eventually i found a cassette of "cupid". after years of being into the likes of beefheart and krautrock it sounded like the most "80s" record i'd ever heard, as much of a shock to me as listening to, say, merzbow might be to someone else. it soon became one of my favorite records.
― fit and working again, Tuesday, 28 January 2014 03:03 (ten years ago) link
just learned original drummer tom morley does drum circles for corporate events now
http://www.tommorley.com/sessions
― |$̲̅(̲̅ιοο̲̅)̲̅$̲̅| (gr8080), Friday, 7 February 2014 18:25 (ten years ago) link
get bent tackles Cupid and Psyche 85
http://consequenceofsound.net/aux-out/cupid-and-psyche-85-the-unspoken-influence-of-scritti-politti/
― Ned Raggett, Thursday, 1 May 2014 18:22 (ten years ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P3B8J1a2lwY
a friend just posted this the other day, so wonderful!
― funny and lolexander (Stevie D(eux)), Friday, 2 May 2014 15:11 (ten years ago) link
The idea of being thrilled by Arif Mardin's production touches seems just as 'muso' as enjoying a John Squire guitar solo. No doubt someone will tell me it's not.
― Dr. C, Tuesday, May 29, 2001
ah old ILM
― guess that bundt gettin eaten (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Friday, 6 February 2015 03:04 (nine years ago) link
I dunno I'm with the Dr. there to a large degree.
― Ned Raggett, Friday, 6 February 2015 03:18 (nine years ago) link
Must we parse "thrilled"? To explain how Mardin's production works isn't muso -- it's what we do.
― guess that bundt gettin eaten (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Friday, 6 February 2015 03:23 (nine years ago) link
30th anniversary expanded "Cupid & Psyche". It must happen. You need all those remixes.
― Gerald McBoing-Boing, Friday, 6 February 2015 04:12 (nine years ago) link
the production on this (and david gamson's fairlight programming) is sublime.
― no fucks given or implied (get bent), Friday, 6 February 2015 04:37 (nine years ago) link
i mean, to me, it just completely sparkles. it captures a moment in a bottle in a really thrilling way.
― no fucks given or implied (get bent), Friday, 6 February 2015 04:40 (nine years ago) link
also, i know people accuse green of having done the careerist-auteur thing when he broke off with the original scritti bandmates, but there's something about the collaborative approach to cupid that reminds me of eno's anti-auteurist "scenius" philosophy -- it comes from a very english, humble, social-democratic mindset. pop as (expensive) populism.
― no fucks given or implied (get bent), Friday, 6 February 2015 04:44 (nine years ago) link
C'mon, he INVENTED um... all that.
― Mark G, Friday, 6 February 2015 07:38 (nine years ago) link
I don't think Dr C was disparaging explanation, Alfred, I think that comment was part of the ongoing old-ilx discussion of the value of "chops". If someone back then had pitched up and said "I like record X because that dude is so good on the guitar" they would have been disparaged, so the Doctor was asking why it's better to say "I like record Y because that dude is so good at using the studio."
I think its the lack of explanation he's pointing out - what he wants is "this production is great because it does this and this and that ends up doing this and this to me when I listen to it".
The nearest old-ILM came to a consensus, I think, was that no-one wanted to value technique for its own sake, thinking end product more interesting.
― Tim, Friday, 6 February 2015 09:49 (nine years ago) link
old ilm = old punks.
― xyzzzz__, Friday, 6 February 2015 11:13 (nine years ago) link
Here they come, shalalala laa laaa, shalalala laa laaa, The part time ILXors
They post on Tuesdays...
(etc)
― Mark G, Friday, 6 February 2015 12:08 (nine years ago) link
In 10 years time this will be "ah old ILM".
― Utterly huggers (Tom D.), Friday, 6 February 2015 12:30 (nine years ago) link
I remember when "Cupid" came out and thinking it was just the thing I'd been looking for - "new wave" people doing r & b. Recently this promoted me to listen to all of the late seventies & early 80's funk I could find, it goes better with that music.
― SCOTTISH PEOPLE ONLY (I M Losted), Friday, 6 February 2015 13:42 (nine years ago) link
is this the most delightful bedroom guitar youtube of all time??
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IPClpdbnbk0
― goole, Friday, 8 January 2016 21:13 (eight years ago) link
chik-kahhhhh
― HYPERLINK TO RAP GENIUS (BradNelson), Friday, 8 January 2016 21:20 (eight years ago) link
hey so i will be at the show this friday if any of you will too
― maura, Tuesday, 2 February 2016 16:25 (eight years ago) link
:)
http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/multimedia/archive/01056/97120514-cb58-11e5_1056010b.jpg
following the recent white-person-with-dreadlocks conversation, I was wondering if scritti's original drummer tom morley was the first white-person-with-dreadlocks pop star? I'm probably forgetting someone really obvious
― soref, Wednesday, 30 March 2016 19:11 (eight years ago) link
he still has dreadlocks btw
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4EG3LO3i4FI
― Kitchen Person, Tuesday, January 28, 2014 1:35 AM (2 years ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
Weird to think that he's in his 60s now.
― Larry 'Leg' Smith (Tom D.), Thursday, 26 May 2016 12:58 (eight years ago) link
he is appearing at the 'end of the road' festival later this year, so perhaps there is new material to showcase.
― mark e, Thursday, 26 May 2016 13:01 (eight years ago) link
he's been threatening a new album this year, but who knows
― who is extremely unqualified to review this pop album (BradNelson), Thursday, 26 May 2016 13:08 (eight years ago) link
he played new stuff in February!!
― maura, Thursday, 26 May 2016 15:46 (eight years ago) link
Screeetti Poleeetti's guide to DIY record releasing (from 1980):
https://twitter.com/MusicLikeDirt/status/756564212760084484
― Jeff W, Saturday, 23 July 2016 16:23 (seven years ago) link
My favorites. They make my heart invincible.
― the Rain Man of nationalism. (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Friday, 2 June 2017 02:25 (seven years ago) link
alfred can i just say how much i love your blog?
― illegal economic migration (Tracer Hand), Friday, 2 June 2017 08:13 (seven years ago) link
Echoing that completely (your aloneness piece was great as well). I'd probably pick the same 15 tbh.
― Le Bateau Ivre, Friday, 2 June 2017 09:24 (seven years ago) link
thank you both!!
― the Rain Man of nationalism. (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Friday, 2 June 2017 10:23 (seven years ago) link
Do fans of this group like these songs?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RydKrJo0mkohttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XJkvyZ73kZ0
― billstevejim, Friday, 4 January 2019 22:53 (five years ago) link
This is what it sounds like to me.
― billstevejim, Friday, 4 January 2019 22:54 (five years ago) link
i do
― maura, Saturday, 5 January 2019 02:13 (five years ago) link
Obvious:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FuWE26Qwqdg
― Your sweetie-pie-coo-coo I love ya (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Saturday, 5 January 2019 02:32 (five years ago) link
I wanted to post this live recording up as I was going back through hard drives and have been listening to it quite a bit recently.
It's from The University Of London 11-16-1979, pretty fascinating, in my humble.
I had read that they made songs up on the fly during performances and was always a bit sceptical, but this recording bears that out and the whole gig seems, well really quite fraught but compelling.
It's interesting to hear them pull a song out of thin air and there's also a song that I can't find any mention of on Google called "John's on the dole' (the notes call it 'drums on the door' though) which is pretty great despite equipment problems and what sounds like some very vocal, smart alec-y mates in the audience.
https://we.tl/t-SzlTBDz7zf
― MaresNest, Saturday, 3 August 2019 20:39 (four years ago) link
Great in depth interview by Trevor Jackson with Green Gartside on NTS
https://www.mixcloud.com/NTSRadio/trevor-jackson-green-gartside-29th-october-2019/
― X-Prince Protégé (sonnyboy), Thursday, 31 October 2019 03:19 (four years ago) link