― J0hn Darn1elle (J0hn Darn1elle), Friday, 7 May 2004 20:10 (twenty years ago) link
To go back to a point David R raised:
Appreciation for Curve shot up 100 fold once my feeble mind FINALLY made the connection between them & Garbage, especially since Curve rocks MUCH harder than Shirley & Co
Quite. And it's not just in terms of loud feedback but rhythms -- Garbage were far more cleaner and more pallid. Both Shirley Manson and Toni Halliday were/are Siouxsie-obsessed singers with dodgy end-of-eighties careers they'd like us all to forget a la Tori Amos, and on that front they did pretty well, but if the choice is between Dean Garcia and his beatboxes versus Butch Vig and his nonentities, no contest.
― Ned Raggett (Ned), Friday, 7 May 2004 20:16 (twenty years ago) link
― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Friday, 7 May 2004 20:19 (twenty years ago) link
― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Friday, 7 May 2004 20:20 (twenty years ago) link
― Ned Raggett (Ned), Friday, 7 May 2004 20:21 (twenty years ago) link
― Barry Bruner (Barry Bruner), Friday, 7 May 2004 20:25 (twenty years ago) link
Hold the phazizzlone, I didn't know that.
I haven't picked up anything of theirs after Come Clean (and sold same to SecondSpin.Com, actually). I'll stick with their early stuff, but Gift does now sound promising.
― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Friday, 7 May 2004 20:27 (twenty years ago) link
― Barry Bruner (Barry Bruner), Friday, 7 May 2004 20:33 (twenty years ago) link
― Ned Raggett (Ned), Friday, 7 May 2004 20:36 (twenty years ago) link
― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Friday, 7 May 2004 20:39 (twenty years ago) link
― Barry Bruner (Barry Bruner), Friday, 7 May 2004 20:43 (twenty years ago) link
― Barry Bruner (Barry Bruner), Friday, 7 May 2004 20:47 (twenty years ago) link
― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Friday, 7 May 2004 20:49 (twenty years ago) link
― Barry Bruner (Barry Bruner), Friday, 7 May 2004 20:49 (twenty years ago) link
― Barry Bruner (Barry Bruner), Friday, 7 May 2004 20:54 (twenty years ago) link
― Barry Bruner (Barry Bruner), Friday, 7 May 2004 20:55 (twenty years ago) link
― J0hn Darn1elle (J0hn Darn1elle), Friday, 7 May 2004 20:59 (twenty years ago) link
Curve are stone cold CLASSIC.
― Elvis Telecom (Chris Barrus), Friday, 7 May 2004 21:33 (twenty years ago) link
CD 1 The Way Of Curve
1 Ten Little Girls2 Coast Is Clear3 Clipped4 Die Like A Dog5 Horror Head6 Fait Accompli7 Missing Link8 Superblaster9 Pink Girl With The Blues10 Recovery11 Chinese Burn12 Coming Up Roses13 Hell Above Water14 Want More Need Less15 Perish16 Nice and Easy
CD 2 Rare and unreleased
1 On The Wheel2 Triumph3 Arms Out4 Sigh5 Mission From God 6 Today Is Not The Day 7 Low And Behold8 Nothing Without Me 9 What A Waste with Ian Dury10 Falling Free Aphex Twin mix11 Chinese Burn Lunatic Calm mix 12 Coming Up Roses Kevin Shields Mix13 I Feel Love14 In Disguise15 Sinner
Good choices? Bad choices? I've only heard one or two Curve tracks ever, and I don't even remember what they were.
― Paul in Santa Cruz (Paul in Santa Cruz), Friday, 7 May 2004 21:57 (twenty years ago) link
― Ned Raggett (Ned), Friday, 7 May 2004 23:29 (twenty years ago) link
― Paul in Santa Cruz (Paul in Santa Cruz), Friday, 7 May 2004 23:40 (twenty years ago) link
I didn't realize Kevin Shields was on Gift, either.
― bimble (bimble), Saturday, 8 May 2004 01:02 (twenty years ago) link
― Barry Bruner (Barry Bruner), Saturday, 8 May 2004 01:22 (twenty years ago) link
― bimble (bimble), Saturday, 8 May 2004 01:32 (twenty years ago) link
― Ned Raggett (Ned), Saturday, 8 May 2004 02:19 (twenty years ago) link
The first EPs were absolutely classic. Doppelganger just took that sound and spread it, rather thinly, over an album, though 'Ice That Melts the Tips', 'Already Yours', and 'Think and Act' are standout album tracks. Cuckoo is where it's at for me. The album is well-sequenced too, building up to a great finish. It's the best heavy wall of goutar album I know from that period, but there's tons of variety throughout at the same time. Come Clean worked out for me, though it's the one I listen to least. I think it sounds louder and dirtier than most of the 'rock band goes electronic' albums, and besides, they were using samplers and drum machines from day one; the technology just got a lot more sophisticated in their downtime.
SEARCH SEARCH SEARCH the 'Coming Up Roses' B-sides: 'Habit and 'Midnight and Royal'. They're some of the best material from that period. Really tense and spooky without relying on conventional big guitars or noise. I like Gift a lot, esp. the Shields tracks plus 'My Tiled White Floor'. There was very solid material on their internet-only album in 2000, Open Day at the Hatefest, but nothing really standout. I'll probably track down the new compilation, though there are only a couple of tracks I don't have in hard form. I think they got Flat Earth back for the cover, which is good.
Oh yeah; Cuckoo had a wonderful sleeve, as did the surrounding EPs. Only the Come Clean sleeve wasn't wholly interesting.
trivia: Debbie Smith last appeared playing with Luke Sutherland in Bows, which is such an improvement over Echobelly or the totally dire Snowpony. I'm going to go revive a Bows thread now.
xpost: Ned, yes oh yes Mission From God is glorious.
― derrick (derrick), Saturday, 8 May 2004 03:00 (twenty years ago) link
― keith m (keithmcl), Saturday, 8 May 2004 03:10 (twenty years ago) link
― bimble (bimble), Saturday, 8 May 2004 03:15 (twenty years ago) link
Ned, what is this cover of Overground you speak of? You mean the Siouxsie track? I def. should check that out
― Baaderoni (Fabfunk), Saturday, 8 May 2004 08:33 (twenty years ago) link
― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Saturday, 8 May 2004 11:07 (twenty years ago) link
― Tim Finney (Tim Finney), Saturday, 8 May 2004 12:28 (twenty years ago) link
This is deeply ludicrous, of course. The thing that initially attracted me to Curve was the juxtaposition of Toni's great melodic lines against the feedback/dance beat. Plus there are always those huge bass lines...
― VengaDan Perry (Dan Perry), Saturday, 8 May 2004 16:48 (twenty years ago) link
Damn right.
― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Saturday, 8 May 2004 19:31 (twenty years ago) link
― dyson (dyson), Saturday, 8 May 2004 20:01 (twenty years ago) link
this is true. live they seemed pretty dull, it was all a bit thick and blurry. their love for swervedriver was always offputting too.
― keith m (keithmcl), Saturday, 8 May 2004 20:03 (twenty years ago) link
http://www.curve.co.uk/news.htm
― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Tuesday, 8 February 2005 21:05 (nineteen years ago) link
― MindInRewind (Barry Bruner), Tuesday, 8 February 2005 21:12 (nineteen years ago) link
― Ned Raggett (Ned), Tuesday, 8 February 2005 21:27 (nineteen years ago) link
― Chris Ott (Chris Ott), Tuesday, 8 February 2005 22:22 (nineteen years ago) link
So, speaking of Curve, is there any way to get all those recent (and out of print) EPs besides sending a check to Dean?
― Josh in Chicago (Josh in Chicago), Friday, 18 March 2005 13:33 (nineteen years ago) link
"Perish" is beyond awesome. It's also the saddest noise-rock track ever.
― MindInRewind (Barry Bruner), Thursday, 7 April 2005 07:37 (nineteen years ago) link
anyways .. i definitely side on the CLASSIC. that cold hearted drum machine pounding away while the noise shreds the paintwork and toni does her echoed goth thing is just wonderful and fits in perfectly with my current moods.
but more to the point .. did all cd copies of the album come with doubled up inner sleeves as a spin off from the album name .. or is that just me being a little too nerdy ?
― mark e (mark e), Tuesday, 23 August 2005 13:53 (eighteen years ago) link
― Ned Raggett (Ned), Tuesday, 23 August 2005 14:10 (eighteen years ago) link
― scamperingalpaca (Chris Hill), Tuesday, 23 August 2005 16:18 (eighteen years ago) link
its not just me .. (have images of ilmers dashing off to archives to check .. )
but ta for the love anyways ned .. backatcha gorgeous.
― mark e (mark e), Tuesday, 23 August 2005 16:28 (eighteen years ago) link
― and I can walk out into the world, singing with my people (Jody Beth Rosen), Tuesday, 23 August 2005 16:30 (eighteen years ago) link
13 years after the albums release we all finally get the bands 'joke'.
― mark e (mark e), Tuesday, 23 August 2005 16:39 (eighteen years ago) link
― Ned Raggett (Ned), Tuesday, 23 August 2005 16:50 (eighteen years ago) link
― Elvis Telecom (Chris Barrus), Tuesday, 23 August 2005 16:59 (eighteen years ago) link
Nice, I like Rick's videos, his son Dylan has perfect pitch, the clips of him calling out the names and notes of gnarly cluster piano chords are amazing.
― Maresn3st, Thursday, 9 January 2020 15:29 (four years ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5VZcW7JCpCU
― Josh in Chicago, Thursday, 9 January 2020 15:31 (four years ago) link
New Toni H. EP is totally unexpected and totally awesome
― licorice oratorio (baaderonixx), Sunday, 28 March 2021 16:21 (three years ago) link
Well I trust you're going to link this!
― Ned Raggett, Sunday, 28 March 2021 16:43 (three years ago) link
Streamable on your favorite platform and downloads here:https://www.junodownload.com/artists/Toni+Halliday/tracks/
― licorice oratorio (baaderonixx), Sunday, 28 March 2021 17:10 (three years ago) link
that's a timely revive.. i've been going through my old CDs and ripping ones that are missing from my digital collection and just hit the "C"s – was literally just wondering how Curve was going to hold up
― FRAUDULENT STEAKS (The Cursed Return of the Dastardly Thermo Thinwall), Sunday, 28 March 2021 22:49 (three years ago) link
They hold up really really well! Also, mysteriously absent from Amazon's streaming service.
― Josh in Chicago, Sunday, 28 March 2021 22:51 (three years ago) link
But thankfully fully on Bandcamp, including a slew of rarity comps.
https://curve.bandcamp.com/music
― Ned Raggett, Monday, 29 March 2021 00:38 (three years ago) link
Wow, what's all that "bootleg series" stuff?
― Josh in Chicago, Monday, 29 March 2021 03:49 (three years ago) link
A lot of it is mixes and various elements of final tracks -- Garcia breaks each entry down thoroughly in the liners.
― Ned Raggett, Monday, 29 March 2021 04:34 (three years ago) link
happy 30th to cuckoo
― mookieproof, Thursday, 21 September 2023 22:09 (eight months ago) link
Claaaaaaaasssssssssic (imagine this word said with tons of fuzz and overdrive and reverb and flanger and the like)
― Josh in Chicago, Thursday, 21 September 2023 22:19 (eight months ago) link
I wish I knew what the mad vocal sample at the start of Clipped is all about, I've been wondering that for 30+ years.
― MaresNest, Thursday, 21 September 2023 22:41 (eight months ago) link
That Cuckoo tour was a hell of a thing to experience.
― Ned Raggett, Thursday, 21 September 2023 23:00 (eight months ago) link
xp the absolute zenith of Curve for me (shout out to “Turkey Crossing”) - I remember Cherry coming out and thinking, well, this hits every mark dead-on.
― assert (matttkkkk), Friday, 22 September 2023 01:05 (eight months ago) link
also Cuckoo is their best album by an order of magnitude
― assert (matttkkkk), Friday, 22 September 2023 01:08 (eight months ago) link
To each his own. Never much cared for Cuckoo despite some good moments. But then again all their albums were flawed. Pubic Fruit all the way
― licorice oratorio (baaderonixx), Friday, 22 September 2023 05:44 (eight months ago) link
well yeah the EPs were the real high point.
― assert (matttkkkk), Friday, 22 September 2023 09:48 (eight months ago) link
Curve is one of those bands where I kinda liked them, picked up Cuckoo at a record store on a whim, it became one of my favorite albums of all time, and I never really bothered finding any of their other music. Now, my curiosity is piqued and I'm finally listening to the E.P.s that comprised Pubic Fruit after all these years. Might be doing some Bandcamping today.
― beard papa, Friday, 22 September 2023 16:51 (eight months ago) link
Physical box set coming in February:
Unreadable Communication: Anxious Recordings 1991-1993
The two albums, four EPs, some remixes and some live stuff. Does not include Peel Sessions, which are supposed to be very good.
I'm not a fan, but if you want remastered CDs, here you go.
― Tahuti Watches L&O:SVU Reruns Without His Ape (unperson), Saturday, 2 December 2023 18:52 (six months ago) link
so, remember this from a while back :
"but more to the point .. did all cd copies of the album come with doubled up inner sleeves as a spin off from the album name .. or is that just me being a little too nerdy ?
― mark e (mark e), Tuesday, August 23, 2005 1:53 PM (eighteen years ago)"
well, a twitter account posted this weekend re the album, so i asked the question re the doubling up.
and look what happened :
𝘾𝙐𝙍𝙑𝙀 liked your replyquestion : was i only the person who bought this on cd to find the inner booklet doubled up ? i assumed it was a play on the album name ..
!!!
― mark e, Saturday, 9 March 2024 19:16 (two months ago) link
really deeply sorry to everyone on ilm that assumed i was a massive curve-head this whole time. tbh i had only heard a few tracks. anyway. turns out cuckoo is the greatest album of all time
― ivy., Friday, 24 May 2024 14:37 (two weeks ago) link
Haha it is!
― Cemetry Gaetz (DJP), Friday, 24 May 2024 14:55 (two weeks ago) link
Salut to a proper and correct reaction. (Also this gives me the chance to mention I had a review of the Curve box set covering that era a couple of issues ago in The Wire.)
― Ned Raggett, Friday, 24 May 2024 15:05 (two weeks ago) link
I picked up doppelganger, cuckoo, and pubic fruit on CD recently, I've been having them in heavy rotation in the car. This band has some great tunes, but even more crucially they've got such great atmosphere, they're just one of the coolest sounding bands I've ever heard. Everything comes together.
― omar little, Friday, 24 May 2024 15:14 (two weeks ago) link
And boy did that era deliver live too. Only caught 'em twice but both times they were on it.
― Ned Raggett, Friday, 24 May 2024 15:55 (two weeks ago) link
yup, same. At the Palladium and the Palace, right?Having said that, I never really warmed that much to Cuckoo. Some great stuff here and there... but they seemed to try to go for a more organic soulful sound, whereas I wanted more of the badass iciness.
― licorice oratorio (baaderonixx), Friday, 24 May 2024 16:06 (two weeks ago) link
The very same!
― Ned Raggett, Friday, 24 May 2024 16:11 (two weeks ago) link
Cuckoo is the best. Esp. the back to back punch of “Unreadable Communication” and “Turkey Crossing”.
― Tim F, Saturday, 25 May 2024 01:24 (two weeks ago) link