I found this in a pile of CDs I have had for years should I bother loading it to my hard drive or has it outlived its usefulness? I am confused about this album, it is stunning when you first hear it, but after 1000 plays is it still rewarding? What is the purpose of this album after all this time?
I mean, I think it really is great, are people underwhelmed because they expect everything to be cathartic? I know some people who inexplicably HATE it.
― US EEL (u s steel), Wednesday, 30 December 2009 12:12 (fourteen years ago) link
What is the purpose of this album after all this time?
The purpose of this album is to be one of maybe five or so albums in existence that you can play no matter what mood you are in because it's THAT GOOD.
― Ned Raggett, Wednesday, 30 December 2009 15:17 (fourteen years ago) link
Was emailing with Vic Varney of the soon to be reissued Method Actors about their influences and peers an he surprised me by mentioning Young Marble Giants. He said something about their atmosphere and minimalism being an influence/really popular in Athens in the early 80s.
― dan selzer, Thursday, 31 December 2009 05:40 (fourteen years ago) link
after 1000 plays is it still rewarding?
Absolutely!
...because it's THAT GOOD.
ABSOLUTELY!!!
Athens in the early 80s.
I think if Oh-OK had managed to expand/refine what they were doing on their first mini-EP, they might have made an album like Colossal Youth. (Although I love Oh-OK's Furthermore What a ton too, it's a more typical jangle-pop sound.)
― Such A Hilbily (Dan Peterson), Thursday, 31 December 2009 15:18 (fourteen years ago) link
in theory this album should be one of my favorites, but i find it just a shade dull.
― figuratively, but in a very real way (amateurist), Thursday, 31 December 2009 15:28 (fourteen years ago) link
REM has listed Young Marble Giants as an inspiration.
And yeah, Oh-OK channel that spirit nicely.
― mike a, Friday, 1 January 2010 02:42 (fourteen years ago) link
Yep, this is stone cold classic top 10 or so of all time material (for me).
― I just wish he hadn't adopted the "ilxor" moniker (ilxor), Friday, 1 January 2010 06:16 (fourteen years ago) link
How did I not hear about Weekend until just now?
― Stop Non-Erotic Cabaret (Abbbottt), Friday, 21 January 2011 22:03 (thirteen years ago) link
It took me years as well, don't feel bad... I had a 7" single that I think was non-representative, it put me off of them. The longer demo tracks on the La Variete CD are just amazing.
― sleeve, Friday, 21 January 2011 22:29 (thirteen years ago) link
"Nostalgia" was the track that drew me in.
― Stop Non-Erotic Cabaret (Abbbottt), Friday, 21 January 2011 22:30 (thirteen years ago) link
i was playing them on ilxor lisnin room yesterday
idk, still prefer ymg by a distance
― flopson fauxhawk (nakhchivan), Friday, 21 January 2011 23:01 (thirteen years ago) link
Just great:
http://devonrecordclub.wordpress.com/2012/02/23/young-marble-giants-colossal-youth-round-22-toms-selection/
― yugi ex, Thursday, 23 February 2012 21:24 (twelve years ago) link
The record I mean, not my attempts to write about it!
― yugi ex, Thursday, 23 February 2012 21:25 (twelve years ago) link
They're playing at atp in a month or so, i'm pretty excited, have they been playing lately ? i wonder what kind of condition they are in...
― cw, Thursday, 23 February 2012 21:29 (twelve years ago) link
http://www.collapseboard.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/Young-Marble-Giants-590x468.jpghealthy?
― tylerw, Thursday, 23 February 2012 21:33 (twelve years ago) link
This record is all times top ten afaiac
― Balticskillz (admrl), Thursday, 23 February 2012 21:34 (twelve years ago) link
Nature intended the abstract for you and me
>>>
― paolo, Wednesday, 19 March 2014 09:17 (ten years ago) link
Listened to Colossal Youth for the first time in a long time and realized how much I like the guitar playing. Never knew Moxham played a Rickenbacker.
― timellison, Monday, 13 July 2015 05:24 (nine years ago) link
http://front.bc.ca/events/concert-by-young-marble-giants/
― hot doug stamper (||||||||), Friday, 18 September 2015 20:48 (nine years ago) link
amazing
― tylerw, Friday, 18 September 2015 20:50 (nine years ago) link
bump for the greatness of that video
― Van Horn Street, Monday, 11 July 2016 21:32 (eight years ago) link
The long stony faces of the men, the slightly bewildered girl, everyone uncomfortable in their own skin. The muddled black and white, and the odd tempo to the whole proceedings. That video feels a piece to Stranger than Paradise.
― juggulo for the complete klvtz (bendy), Tuesday, 12 July 2016 13:56 (eight years ago) link
I had not seen that video, thanks for the bump! What a wonderful band.
― this is a salad for the BALSAMIC REVIVAL (Dan Peterson), Tuesday, 12 July 2016 15:18 (eight years ago) link
Another bump for that video!
― Everything Moves Towards The Sun (Ross), Tuesday, 21 February 2017 23:08 (seven years ago) link
Why didn't anyone tell me? New (2018) album from Alison Statton & Spike, "Bimini Twist": https://alisonstattonspike.bandcamp.com/album/bimini-twist
― ernestp, Sunday, 6 January 2019 01:45 (five years ago) link
Sounds good! Statton's voice barely ages.
Re the original question: Very classic. Some hurtful comments about Weekend up-thread though. Some days I think I prefer the Weekend album to the YMG one.
― Nag! Nag! Nag!, Sunday, 6 January 2019 03:28 (five years ago) link
I just read a comment by some peasant describing this band as lounge music. The fucking nerve! I firmly believe this is one of the punk-est albums of all time. It might sound “too clean” for what you’d normally expect for a punk album to sound like but that is a very non-punk mentality in itself.
Isn’t the punk rock attitude to destroy established perceptions of what things should be and sound like? To say “fuck you” to the excessive sound of stadium rock? Its undiscriminated use of solos, ridiculous costumes and massive banks of equipment in elaborate stages? You certainly can’t accuse YMG of maximalism. The sound they created is so unique it might have arrived from an alternative reality.
Honestly, it’s hard to trace a time or a place for it. There’s nothing quite like it and the fact this album came from 1980 always blows my mind.
― ✖✖✖ (Moka), Thursday, 29 August 2019 04:29 (five years ago) link
Beach Party by the Marine Girls is kinda like it
― the girl from spirea x (f. hazel), Thursday, 29 August 2019 04:36 (five years ago) link
The only reason I can think of for that is maybe the sound of the organ. I hardly think their songs, the drum machine stuff, or the guitar and bass sound like lounge music.
― timellison, Thursday, 29 August 2019 13:04 (five years ago) link
A good cover by another of my favorite bands.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6_f2kMgUxp8
― McGrief the Crying Dog (Old Lunch), Thursday, 29 August 2019 13:16 (five years ago) link
wow, Sugar Plant have a album on Spotify from 2018!!! I thought they broke up years ago.
― the girl from spirea x (f. hazel), Thursday, 29 August 2019 15:51 (five years ago) link
Whoa, what?!?
― McGrief the Crying Dog (Old Lunch), Thursday, 29 August 2019 15:53 (five years ago) link
yep, called Headlights... they cover Ben Watt's North Marine Drive on it!
― the girl from spirea x (f. hazel), Thursday, 29 August 2019 16:01 (five years ago) link
I would never call YMG "lounge," but some songs do conjure up moods not far removed from "Girl from Ipanema" or "Summer Samba" for me. And the drum machine, while not lounge, is a sound from the past, like my aunt playing her Lowrey organ at Christmastime when I was a kid.
I love this record so much, but it's one of a handful I consciously don't pull out often, because I don't want to overplay it and wear out its magic.
― confusementalism (Dan Peterson), Friday, 30 August 2019 14:13 (five years ago) link
Lounge music my arse
― paolo, Friday, 30 August 2019 17:23 (five years ago) link
Superficially, Colossal Youth reminds me most of There's a Riot Going On and VU's s/t. It feels like everyone, musician and listener, is shut up together in a medium-sized cabinet.
― McGrief the Crying Dog (Old Lunch), Friday, 30 August 2019 17:28 (five years ago) link
Just looked over a review I wrote for the reissues 12 years ago - had forgotten that I pondered the squareness, though I don't think I'd have reached for "lounge" as a descriptor. I didn't see that squareness as a drawback:
http://www.dustedmagazine.com/reviews/3835
...now that the thing has been beloved to me for more than a decade, it's hard to recover those first impressions.
― bendy, Friday, 30 August 2019 17:51 (five years ago) link
There's some beachy vibes to the follow-up group The Weekend, who are excellent. But seedy, schmaltzy "lounge"? No.
That said, I'm going to share my favorite Weekend track just because there's never a bad time: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=E9WCCHHoepw
― Soundslike, Friday, 30 August 2019 18:31 (five years ago) link
Nice piece, Bendy, thanks for sharing.
― confusementalism (Dan Peterson), Friday, 30 August 2019 18:53 (five years ago) link
Thanks DP
― bendy, Saturday, 31 August 2019 04:44 (five years ago) link
Have you’ve heard about this band called Furniture?
https://youtu.be/3pkisXg5jCc
Furniture is in no way related to YMG, but heard this song just now for the very first time and loved it. Apparently it’s from 1983 and the first artist that came to mind is YMG, also gives some vibes of Echo & the Bunnymen.
― ✖✖✖ (Moka), Thursday, 12 September 2019 05:20 (five years ago) link
I honestly can’t tell if that’s a drum machine or a real drummer... or a mix of both. But drum machine + sustained organ lines are also the basis sound of YMG
It’s only missing the distinctive YMG bass sound and Alison’s voice, of course, but we get a cool clarinet sound and some Echo & the Bunnymen vocal instead.
― ✖✖✖ (Moka), Thursday, 12 September 2019 05:32 (five years ago) link
furniture had a big(ish) uk hit a few years later with this, which is a bit smoother. (and this is yet another band that reminds me of Japan)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xx37AWqSPU0
― koogs, Thursday, 12 September 2019 08:35 (five years ago) link
some Wild Swans in there too
― the girl from spirea x (f. hazel), Thursday, 12 September 2019 13:03 (five years ago) link
Never saw this thread before---reminds me that I long ago came across a few post-Giants tracks with voice and songs of Alison Stratton, very intriguing, and now I want to look for more. Meanwhile, this archived Voice reviewette of the worthy Domino collection still details and sums up their appeal (to me, anyway):https://myvil.blogspot.com/2016/06/young-marble-giants-colossal-youth-and.html
― dow, Friday, 13 September 2019 04:01 (five years ago) link
you're talking about the band Weekend, I assume?
― sleeve, Friday, 13 September 2019 14:09 (five years ago) link
Never, and that first track is wonderful, thanks!
― confusementalism (Dan Peterson), Friday, 13 September 2019 14:38 (five years ago) link
Weekend is food but that weekend demos release from a few years ago is great.
― dan selzer, Friday, 13 September 2019 14:42 (five years ago) link
xpost sleeve, I heard Stratton in a duo, blanking on the other name, something unexpectedly turned up on the old Rhapsody streaming service, while I was checking out a computer at Best Buy, 10 years ago maybe.
― dow, Friday, 13 September 2019 20:38 (five years ago) link
Dan, food is good, I like food!
― dow, Friday, 13 September 2019 20:39 (five years ago) link