...ergo, Eat It Up Worms Hero was the second song I ever heard of theirs
― I Am In Atlanta And Thug Is Young (imago), Tuesday, 7 February 2017 14:19 (seven years ago) link
Sing To God is not a great entry point, I've never been convinced of it's unassailable status [at least compared to the rest of the albums] either.
I bought Heaven Born after reading a review in one of he weeklies iirc and apart from a couple of songs it didn't grab me, but a couple of years later I saw the Maresnest video, then I was hooked in and not long after that the CD reissue program began.
― MaresNest, Tuesday, 7 February 2017 14:23 (seven years ago) link
I will say that Sing To God prevented me from appreciating the early stuff (seaside, toy world etc) for a very long time, but when I came around to them it was like a second awakening
― I Am In Atlanta And Thug Is Young (imago), Tuesday, 7 February 2017 14:45 (seven years ago) link
i heard about the cardiacs long before i heard them. for whatever reason their records were impossible to get in america in the '90s, even as imports. if you could find them they'd run $30 for a cd, which was just insane pricing; i never understood how they managed things on the business end. anyway when mp3s got big the band put up an official mp3 sampler, which is how i first heard them - to be honest it was okay but not terribly impressive to my ears. "sing to god" was the gateway for me when i finally heard it.
― increasingly bonkers (rushomancy), Tuesday, 7 February 2017 14:53 (seven years ago) link
The pre Seaside stuff *is* badly recorded and often played beyond their ability at the time.
In light of which I must say that The Special Garage Concerts might actually be the ultimate Cardiacs artifact for me, if I had to pick only one. Some days anyway. A remarkable feat wherein they buff up the very earliest songs (including much of The Seaside and some dating back to 1976, when they were babies) and present them in joyous nat's chuff guitar heavy arrangements over twenty years later. More than a live album or retrospective it's like endless victory laps and more fun than just about anything. I'm trying to avoid excessive hype speak here!
It's surely an almost unique achievement, though? And to top it off there's the prospect of the 'rehearsal' film!
― Noel Emits, Tuesday, 7 February 2017 15:04 (seven years ago) link
Their stuff was largely out of print for fuck knows how long, which is why they were prohibitively expensive - it was years before I heard a full album of theirs.
I Still need to get The Seaside
― ultros ultros-ghali, Tuesday, 7 February 2017 15:10 (seven years ago) link
The Garage Concerts are wonderful I agree
Thanks y'all, I'll probably try Seaside next. I'm skimmed these threads before and Sing to God was the only album with a poll and detailed Wiki page, so I started there! Plus, I kind of like starting in the deep end. STG has enough cool moments that I'm convinced this is a band worth checking out more of. One awesome one that I didn't mention before: the solo on Fiery Gun Hand - what a scorcher
― Vinnie, Tuesday, 7 February 2017 15:18 (seven years ago) link
Another nice David Minnick acapella track gone up recently, possibly not for the first time, but it's new to me
https://soundcloud.com/david-minnick/fairy-mary-mag-cardiacs-cover-by-the-180-gs
― MaresNest, Saturday, 20 May 2017 22:55 (seven years ago) link
his comments suggest it's a first-time post; apparently he takes them down after a while. david's covers i have around from the albums: tracks 2, 4, 5, 6, 8, 10, 11, 13, 15, 16, 18, 21
― Cyborg Kickboxer (rushomancy), Saturday, 20 May 2017 23:06 (seven years ago) link
Wish I could hear the whole thing
― MaresNest, Saturday, 20 May 2017 23:07 (seven years ago) link
did he finish it yet? perhaps he'll release it when he's done? i'm reminded of lewis taylor's attempt to remake trout mask replica... he only got about halfway through but those tracks are circulating in certain quarters.
― Cyborg Kickboxer (rushomancy), Saturday, 20 May 2017 23:10 (seven years ago) link
It must take an awful lot of work, I mean Fairy Mary Mag alone would be a fucker to arrange, even without the squiggly interstitial at the end.
― Foghat digs holes in space (MaresNest), Saturday, 20 May 2017 23:17 (seven years ago) link
wow thank you
david minnick is a prince
― ban violent jinks (imago), Saturday, 20 May 2017 23:35 (seven years ago) link
Loving that Sea Nymphs Peel session
― Robert Adam Gilmour, Sunday, 11 June 2017 20:00 (six years ago) link
I expect a few of you have seen already but the shed rehearsals DVD is finally finished and on sale now.
― MaresNest, Thursday, 7 September 2017 20:39 (six years ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=adx6YVI_Z0g
― MaresNest, Saturday, 30 December 2017 11:22 (six years ago) link
Hahaha awww! He also does I've Seen All Good People ^______^
― imago, Saturday, 30 December 2017 11:57 (six years ago) link
we may have the world's coolest music teacher on our hands here
― imago, Saturday, 30 December 2017 12:47 (six years ago) link
I know, it's lovely, isn't it? There's a couple of other Cardiacs things on his channel, I was equally compelled watching a brace of School of Rock kids chewing through Yes' Awaken too recently, proper seat of the pants stuff.
― MaresNest, Saturday, 30 December 2017 17:52 (six years ago) link
omg that's perfect! and that song virtually invents Cardiacs too
― imago, Saturday, 30 December 2017 17:57 (six years ago) link
From FB today :(
"Hello everyone. This is Sharron here on Tim's Facebook page. Please think positive thoughts for our beautiful leader today. Please don't ask why or raise a panic. He needs you to focus. xxx"
― MaresNest, Sunday, 7 January 2018 15:41 (six years ago) link
oh
― #TeamHailing (imago), Sunday, 7 January 2018 16:08 (six years ago) link
have dreaded this kind of announcement for ten years and am kind of unsure how to respond
― #TeamHailing (imago), Sunday, 7 January 2018 16:10 (six years ago) link
I could tell from the overall tonality of the FB page that he's been 'poorly' recently and there are people I could ask, but I'm not sure if I should.
― MaresNest, Sunday, 7 January 2018 16:25 (six years ago) link
Okay, so it's not grave news thank goodness, although shame on whoever for that shittily constructed FB post, it's something to do with an article on a website called INews (which I can't find yet) and a GoFundMe page for Tim's healthcare. https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/timsmith
― MaresNest, Monday, 8 January 2018 10:52 (six years ago) link
ANd here's the article - https://inews.co.uk/news/long-reads/tim-smith-cardiacs-singer-brain-injury/
― MaresNest, Monday, 8 January 2018 12:29 (six years ago) link
That'd be Mrs Fortnam you're badmouthing! Cheers for the link though :)
― #TeamHailing (imago), Monday, 8 January 2018 12:43 (six years ago) link
Sharron Fortnam, Craig’s partner, recently asked him to put his current state into words, and then watched him spell the following out at a painfully slow speed: “Imagine if you were wearing a skintight bodysuit made of fishnet all around you, with electrical pulses going all the time. This is what my body feels like unless I fall asleep.”
I've seen him use his word-board. This message would have taken half an hour to spell out
― #TeamHailing (imago), Monday, 8 January 2018 12:57 (six years ago) link
Funding is going really well, I just hope it can get over the goal amount before it hits a plateau.
― MaresNest, Monday, 8 January 2018 13:30 (six years ago) link
That's a relief, I feared the worst when I saw new posts. I've been thinking about Tim/Cardiacs a lot since yesterday's revive. Will donate when I get home.
― queens of the stonage (ultros ultros-ghali), Monday, 8 January 2018 14:13 (six years ago) link
Funding page isn't loading for me?
― Ned Raggett, Monday, 8 January 2018 14:29 (six years ago) link
loaded for me Ned in Chrome.
I donated -- when you read stuff like this, it's not usually accompanied by "and if he gets the care he needs, he'll be able to make music again." Such an inspiration, and he's already got more than half of the goal!!!!!!
― Dominique, Monday, 8 January 2018 14:47 (six years ago) link
a little heartbreaking to see that a decade was essentially wasted :/
I donated roughly what I probably should've paid for all those albums I pirated, back before any of this stuff was even remotely available
― frogbs, Monday, 8 January 2018 14:51 (six years ago) link
Wonder what the % will be by the time I'm home later. Hopefully about 170
I think more than a decade 'wasted' alas - I doubt much more than LSD will be completed, and even that would feel miraculous and special above all things. Extremely heartening that they're going to try.
― #TeamHailing (imago), Monday, 8 January 2018 14:56 (six years ago) link
not really getting my hopes for that either, but a man can dream
tragic part of all this, as the article touches on, is that the band really did seem to be breaking through on a larger scale in '07 - Cardiacs used to be one of those "music's best kept secret" sort of things, but from say 2006 to 2007 it seemed a lot of very enthusiastic fans were pushing them out to the right people and I started seeing them blow up on sites like RYM or last.fm. had they completed the album I think it would have been massive.
― frogbs, Monday, 8 January 2018 15:02 (six years ago) link
Still could be!
― #TeamHailing (imago), Monday, 8 January 2018 15:09 (six years ago) link
When I clicked on it, about 5 hours ago, to donate it was at £4000 odd, now it's up over £23,000, brilliant!
― MaresNest, Monday, 8 January 2018 15:20 (six years ago) link
Very cool, 40K+ in 10 hours, nice to see some interesting names popping up in the comments section too.
JG ThirlwellJan 8, 2018All the best to Tim and I hope this cause makes a big difference in his life. Thanks for the years of amazing music.
£100.00
― MaresNest, Monday, 8 January 2018 19:18 (six years ago) link
I've spotted a few others too
― #TeamHailing (imago), Monday, 8 January 2018 19:23 (six years ago) link
Weasel Walter just chipped in :)
― MaresNest, Monday, 8 January 2018 19:39 (six years ago) link
They've announced they're going for 100K pounds, which will cover him for a full year, and that they have it set up so that way they'll have the full year to raise that amount. Currently at 48K
― Ned Raggett, Monday, 8 January 2018 22:13 (six years ago) link
alright fine I'll kick in another tenner
― frogbs, Monday, 8 January 2018 22:15 (six years ago) link
It'll get there by Wednesday!
― #TeamHailing (imago), Monday, 8 January 2018 23:37 (six years ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FXf8HB6uUoc
― MaresNest, Wednesday, 10 January 2018 16:47 (six years ago) link
One of the great toys of rock music, along with The Top
― #TeamHailing (imago), Wednesday, 10 January 2018 17:05 (six years ago) link
Wonder if someone could build a track around a full Screwball Scramble run
― #TeamHailing (imago), Wednesday, 10 January 2018 17:06 (six years ago) link
Hello everyone,
This message is sent as a means of explanation for the non-arrival of stuff you may have ordered from The Consultant's Memorabilia Collection.
Tim Smith has been in the hospital since last Sunday and I have been part of a team of close friends and family supporting NHS staff to provide the best care possible in a severely overstretched system. He is never without someone to advocate for him or hold his hand from early morning until late at night. This means that it has become almost impossible to send out orders. As soon as there is a moment in my schedule, I will start posting - I promise!
In the meantime, the love that is still pouring in is being transmitted directly to him through any channel deemed efficacious at the time. Sometimes, we just tell him with wormbs.
Please know that your purchases are important to me and will be sent as soon as is humanly possible.
Stay focused!
With love and respect,Mary
― linee, Wednesday, 17 January 2018 05:26 (six years ago) link
https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/timsmith
― reggie (qualmsley), Thursday, 18 January 2018 02:30 (six years ago) link
More than 80% of the way there, truly great to see.
― Ned Raggett, Thursday, 18 January 2018 02:40 (six years ago) link