― 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
― Baaderonixx on a long black leash (Fabfunk), Tuesday, 23 August 2005 17:53 (eighteen years ago) link
(I also have not yet gotten around to getting Doppelganger, cos I've got both the above and - rather later - the Radio Sessions comp. It's quite nice knowing that at sometime in the future I've still got "new" early Curve to listen to...)
― kit brash (kit brash), Wednesday, 24 August 2005 03:26 (eighteen years ago) link
(but anything curve stamped will be on my bins-radar from hereon thats for sure ..)
― mark e (mark e), Wednesday, 24 August 2005 13:31 (eighteen years ago) link
The similar Smile compilation by Ride was import only for a couple of years but Creation eventually released that in the UK, shame Anxious records couldn't do the same.
Was Gala by Lush released in the UK? I bought that 2nd hand but I think that's a US import as well.
― Colonel Poo (Colonel Poo), Wednesday, 24 August 2005 14:06 (eighteen years ago) link
― kit brash (kit brash), Thursday, 25 August 2005 05:35 (eighteen years ago) link
― The Sound of Walls (Bimble...), Sunday, 26 March 2006 20:23 (eighteen years ago) link
HORROR HEAD
― Bimble, Monday, 30 July 2007 05:37 (sixteen years ago) link
Re-listening to those early EPs, one of the big factors that made them interesting is that "viscous" bass sound they used for instance on 'Coulour Hurts' or 'Fait Accompli'
― baaderonixx, Wednesday, 8 August 2007 14:42 (sixteen years ago) link
I bought one of their albums once and couldn't stand it even though they supposedly sounded like stuff I did like.
― Richard Wood Johnson, Thursday, 9 August 2007 03:43 (sixteen years ago) link
You know, it's been a long time since I heard Gift -- fantastic album.
― Ned Raggett, Tuesday, 21 August 2007 16:26 (sixteen years ago) link
They just weren't very good. It's really quite sinful to suggest otherwise.
― PhilK, Tuesday, 21 August 2007 23:16 (sixteen years ago) link
And you're just knee-jerk hating jackass. Cosmic balance is restored.
― Elvis Telecom, Wednesday, 22 August 2007 00:02 (sixteen years ago) link
Missed this a few weeks ago, but I'm enjoying the continually mounting ILM evidence that Bimble and I are actually the same person:
TS: Curve's "Horror Head" vs. Garbage's entire discography
― Johnny Fever, Wednesday, 22 August 2007 00:51 (sixteen years ago) link
Did Scylla (Toni Halliday's band between Curve breaking up and getting back together again) ever release anything apart from 1 song on the Showgirls soundtrack? I saw them live in '95 and they were quite good.
― Colonel Poo, Wednesday, 22 August 2007 08:19 (sixteen years ago) link
"And you're just knee-jerk hating jackass. Cosmic balance is restored."
Why would I hate knee-jerks?
― PhilK, Wednesday, 22 August 2007 12:43 (sixteen years ago) link
in addition to being not very good they also screwed up a potentially fine jamc album with their pedal hopping overproduced agenda setting ways
― cw, Wednesday, 22 August 2007 13:51 (sixteen years ago) link
Huh?
― Colonel Poo, Wednesday, 22 August 2007 14:53 (sixteen years ago) link
honey's dead.
― cw, Thursday, 23 August 2007 08:34 (sixteen years ago) link
What, because the drummer played on it??
― baaderonixx, Thursday, 23 August 2007 08:40 (sixteen years ago) link
...with trademark overly fussy curve drumming. and the producer produced it. with a wall of nasty curve fx gloss.so, yes.
― cw, Thursday, 23 August 2007 08:51 (sixteen years ago) link
well Alan Moulder produced half of the records that came out around that time, so I wouldn't define him as the Curve producer, but anyway... Still my fave JAMC album with 'Psychocandy'
― baaderonixx, Thursday, 23 August 2007 09:05 (sixteen years 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 (three weeks ago) link
Haha it is!
― Cemetry Gaetz (DJP), Friday, 24 May 2024 14:55 (three 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 (three 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 (three 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 (three 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 (three weeks ago) link
The very same!
― Ned Raggett, Friday, 24 May 2024 16:11 (three 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 (three weeks ago) link