It may not be "better" than peak S&C but it's the one I revisit the most often, especially in the fall.
― the quar on drugs (Simon H.), Thursday, 30 July 2020 18:57 (four years ago) link
I was more into White Sky and Three at the time but agree that Archer's solo stuff is underrated.
― jaymc, Thursday, 30 July 2020 18:58 (four years ago) link
I need to revisit. I remember Three sounding nice but a little TOO airy and lush for its own good
― the quar on drugs (Simon H.), Thursday, 30 July 2020 19:09 (four years ago) link
three is hit and miss, but it's for sure got a few big hitters (especially 'the race').
i actually think gerroa songs, while not my favorite, is the one i go back to most often. just something about it that's very warm and unique. it's fairly short too, which makes for an easy listen.
― Totally different head. Totally. (Austin), Thursday, 30 July 2020 19:32 (four years ago) link
got a shipment notification on friday for the new record. it's on the way. oh yeah!
also, sam has created a second instagram profile specifically for the purpose of posting his modular synth doodles. it's very nice whenever it pops up on my feed: https://www.instagram.com/prekopcomma
― Totally different head. Totally. (Austin), Monday, 31 August 2020 04:56 (four years ago) link
Wow that's beautiful, followed.
Prekop has always been my #1 celebrity crush fwiw
― my god, it's full of bugles (flamboyant goon tie included), Monday, 31 August 2020 13:03 (four years ago) link
got common in the mail yesterday. only one listen so far, but it's fucking great. maybe my favorite of his modular synth albums so far.
― Totally different head. Totally. (Austin), Wednesday, 2 September 2020 15:31 (four years ago) link
whoops, that's comma sorry
so listening again this morning, one thing sticks out very prominently and that's that i've always figured sam was really into krautrock — but comma is just so reminiscent of mid-70s cluster. and in the best way possible. man it's good.
― Totally different head. Totally. (Austin), Wednesday, 2 September 2020 16:03 (four years ago) link
"All The Photos" always reminded me of CAN. Sam's vocals on it give me a big Michael Karoli vibe.
― Mario Meatwagon (Moodles), Wednesday, 2 September 2020 16:11 (four years ago) link
Third listen in a row this morning and the same thought keeps coming to me: this is the exact kind of music I needed right now. Respectful of the past, but simultaneously using those ideas to offer some very unique thoughts. And gorgeous. . . oh my, how gorgeous this music is.
― Totally different head. Totally. (Austin), Wednesday, 2 September 2020 16:31 (four years ago) link
Absolutely agreed, Moodles! When I saw the Sea and Cake live, some guy shouted out between songs, "Play NEU!" and Sam cracked a grin. Random memory.
― Totally different head. Totally. (Austin), Wednesday, 2 September 2020 16:34 (four years ago) link
Thanks for the head's up Austin! His s/t and 'Who's Your New Professor' are still faves in my household, but I somehow never checked 'Old Punch Card' and 'Republic', which makes it all the more interesting to see how he's broadened his scope. Lovely sound palette and great kraut chugging, though I do miss his vox (I'm on the third track).
― Monte Scampino (Le Bateau Ivre), Thursday, 3 September 2020 12:44 (four years ago) link
glad you're digging it, le bat!
one thing i was thinking about yesterday was that he's done three of these "official"* modular synth solo albums now and all three have completely different vibes. first one's completely schizo and has a wider palette than the others. second one's got two distinct parts but, a really exploratory mood. and then this new one has a very sustained, competent vibe. just kind of cool the amount of variety to be found.
*he has a few super limited things in the instrumental modular synth vein, but they were limited things and, idk, don't feel like they "count" or smthg
― Totally different head. Totally. (Austin), Thursday, 3 September 2020 17:12 (four years ago) link
sam reacts to the pfork score on his new record lol
https://i.imgur.com/Id9mAmj.jpg
― Totally different head. Totally. (Austin), Thursday, 17 September 2020 20:18 (four years ago) link
I'd never heard the S/T debut before so I'm playing it right now. Was thinking, "okay this is pretty good" just before I hit the stretch of "Showboat Angel" and "So Long to the Captain" and it was instantly upgraded to, "holy shit this is great!"
― soaring skrrrtpeggios (jon /via/ chi 2.0), Monday, 9 November 2020 17:34 (three years ago) link
yeah it's uneven but I'd say 2 of their 3 best tracks are there
― frogbs, Monday, 9 November 2020 17:38 (three years ago) link
always thought Sam had a little Malkmus affectation going there on a vocals for a bit
― calstars, Monday, 9 November 2020 18:05 (three years ago) link
Yes! I almost mentioned that myself, it was especially apparent on those two songs.
― soaring skrrrtpeggios (jon /via/ chi 2.0), Monday, 9 November 2020 18:09 (three years ago) link
when i saw them and they played 'jacking the ball', sam introduced it with, "here's a song about grapes."
― Totally different head. Totally. (Austin), Monday, 9 November 2020 20:20 (three years ago) link
; )
― calstars, Monday, 9 November 2020 20:20 (three years ago) link
never noticed how indebted these guys are to Krautrock before. "The Transaction" has the same guitar riff as "Moonshake" and "Four Corners" is basically "Fur Immer" (at least before the vocals come in)
― frogbs, Sunday, 31 January 2021 05:06 (three years ago) link
I get strong CAN vibes from Oui. Sam's singing on "All The Photos" has always reminded me of Michael Karoli.
― Mr. Cacciatore (Moodles), Sunday, 31 January 2021 05:14 (three years ago) link
For sure--would esp recommend The Moonlight Butterfly mini-album from 2011 since I remember it leaning towards that side of their sensibilities
― Kangol In The Light (Craig D.), Sunday, 31 January 2021 05:21 (three years ago) link
funny i never listened to them before but a couple tracks of theirs came up recently as i was trawling random spotify playlists of modern krautrock-y sounds. any other kraut-indebted releases of theirs recommended?
― nobody like my rap (One Eye Open), Sunday, 31 January 2021 20:18 (three years ago) link
Their music is kind of "you got krautrock in my bossa nova! you got bossa nova in my krautrock!" Except, you know, not really either of those things.
― Josh in Chicago, Sunday, 31 January 2021 20:53 (three years ago) link
Totally. Instrumental/vocal-less Sam Prekop solo stuff would also be recommended due to all the modular-synth kosmische-iness of it (Old Punch Card for pure Raymond Scott-ish/Nuno Canavarro-y abstraction, Comma for beat-based sequences, The Republic for a mix of the two AFAIR?)
― Kangol In The Light (Craig D.), Sunday, 31 January 2021 20:55 (three years ago) link
More Sam Prekop
https://longformeditions.bandcamp.com/track/spelling
― djh, Tuesday, 16 February 2021 22:53 (three years ago) link
new ep!!
https://samprekop.bandcamp.com/album/in-away
― Totally different head. Totally. (Austin), Friday, 7 May 2021 15:33 (three years ago) link
one time when I was in a dentist waiting room I heard a song which had a very similar drum pattern to "One Bedroom". it sounds like they sampled it. anyone know what it might have been?
― frogbs, Monday, 17 May 2021 03:05 (three years ago) link
"Andy Day" is so cool. it captures everything good about Oui in 5 minutes. sucks that Claridge couldn't play on this but it does give the album a slightly different sound which is good for them
― frogbs, Wednesday, 30 March 2022 02:12 (two years ago) link
ILX is the only message board on the planet where I can stop this kind of observation: Nassau sounds like Crazy Rhythms Feelies trying to play Good Earth songs
― frogbs, Wednesday, 30 March 2022 02:22 (two years ago) link
Agreed about Any Day. Still undeniably them, but their base standard is quality so it always sounds great when it's on. Here's to hoping there's still more to come.
I wasn't totally crazy on the early records (I didn't hear them until Oui), but the more I've revisited them over the years, the better those first two get. When you consider some of Sam's stuff in Shrimp Boat, that's a pretty good assessment I'd say. Very appropriate comparison and I totally get what you mean.
RE: Your previous question about a possible sample. Don't know it, but curious. That's a pretty distinct rhythm too. I'd certainly recognize it in the wild.
― Let's disco dance, Hammurabi! (Austin), Wednesday, 30 March 2022 02:32 (two years ago) link
also Any Day has a fantastic closing track which is something they tend to uh...not usually have
for me The Biz is the one, though mostly for sentimental value. it was the first one I discovered (by accident, I was searching for Cake and someone mistitled the MP3), I was like 16, and I dug it immensely. on relisten the first album is definitely the special one. it's so breezy and chill, it's like they're trying to sing you to sleep. not in the way some of their other stuff does either.
― frogbs, Wednesday, 30 March 2022 02:46 (two years ago) link
sam prekop: "I THOUGHT I TOLD YOU THAT WE WON'T STOP I THOUGHT I TOLD YOU THAT WE DON'T STOP."
(nothing to do with the incoming mcentire collab; it's another 20+ minute synth sesh. beats and all. i like it, of course.)
― "Why is the voice of reason treated as the unreliable narrator?", asked (Austin), Monday, 27 June 2022 14:51 (two years ago) link
One really nice moment in their catalogue : the part in “The Argument” where Prekop sings “40 days till we rest again” and then in the background mumbles “sit tight y’all”
― frogbs, Saturday, 5 November 2022 00:39 (one year ago) link
thinkin about an old friend of mine. we were roommates for a little while. he was really into Deftones, nu-metal, and dubstep. in fact that was pretty much all he liked as far as I could tell. one day he told me he took some of my burned CDs off the computer desk and was really digging one of them in particular. said it was playing in his car for weeks on end. I found out it was The Biz and now every time I listen to it (like now) I can't help but wonder what it was he liked about it so much. I mean it's a great album but man our tastes were not compatible AT ALL
― frogbs, Sunday, 27 November 2022 04:56 (one year ago) link
Happened upon Moonlight Butterfly at a store in Milwaukee. kinda forgot it existed but sheesh it's pretty nice. The ten minute "Inn Keeping" is really nice. I think they could make a whole album like that. Maybe sorta like that Prekop/McEntire thing from last year. Anyway, is it just me or are all TSAC albums since Everybody kinda brickwalled?
― frogbs, Wednesday, 12 July 2023 02:45 (one year ago) link
a pitch-perfect prophecy that transitions into a jam with a younger robert wyatt
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cLDjcPO4L3s
― reggie (qualmsley), Thursday, 11 April 2024 18:58 (five months ago) link
frogs otm, "inn keeping" is maybe my POO s+c jam.
i'm posting here today because there is no proper shrimp boat topic and "what do you think of love" is a monumental jam whose neglect i will stand for no longer:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2YGj0yD_thoshrimp boat, as you may know, was sam's pre-sea & cake band. eric claridge had joined the fold by this point. big sigh. sam is dreamy, isn't he?
also more shrimp boat/pre-sea & cake ephemera: has anyone heard the falstaff albums? random fact: the custom leslie speaker employed by andrew bird during live performances -which andrew nicknamed "SPINNEY"- was built for him by ian schneller, formally of falstaff and, prior to that, shrimp boat. that's what he did after his playing in bands days ended: he built amps and speakers and schitt. hero.
― interstellar anthropologist+music philosopher, (Austin), Wednesday, 24 April 2024 16:03 (four months ago) link
I love that Shrimp Boat album the whole Cavale album. Seems a very necessary album for those who love the earliest S&C albums
― sctttnnnt (pgwp), Thursday, 25 April 2024 01:29 (four months ago) link
yeah, definitely! there's a bit of later era stuff on shrimp boat's something grand - https://www.discogs.com/master/300357-Shrimp-Boat-Something-Grand but the last ep (small wonder from 92) is only on the limited edition disc, and subsequently, not on streaming. "here comes your ride" is basically sam getting to the first sea&cake album before he realizes what's happening-https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EZi_fSr3RzQ(is that a mandolin towards the end? kinda glad s&c ditched that, even though it sounds okay here!)
― interstellar anthropologist+music philosopher, (Austin), Thursday, 25 April 2024 01:50 (four months ago) link
for some of the other side of the s&c progenitors, i've been jamming this coctails tune a bit lately-https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SBvGOUwy6Hcthe coctails - "cadali" (1996)
good exposition on what archer brought to the group.
btw no questions this time, archer's a certified dreamboat
― interstellar anthropologist+music philosopher, (Austin), Wednesday, 8 May 2024 00:40 (four months ago) link
oh yeah, here's archer's first band. golly, sure would like to hear that one! maybe some good fodder for we listen so fast: forgotten/unkown/unloved 80s we are listening to.
― interstellar anthropologist+music philosopher, (Austin), Wednesday, 8 May 2024 01:07 (four months ago) link
that's very nice and I can hear the S and C in there for sure
― calstars, Wednesday, 8 May 2024 02:12 (four months ago) link
this is my favorite 'you can hear s&c' coctails jam
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QYQgQtk10To
― reggie (qualmsley), Wednesday, 8 May 2024 20:31 (four months ago) link
close second (go stuart moxham!)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4BeEAKwqn5c
― reggie (qualmsley), Wednesday, 8 May 2024 20:33 (four months ago) link