The Fatima Mansions - C/D, S&D

JP some Microdisney / Mansions discussion here: The High Llamas: C or D? and here:
Cathal Coughlan: Search & Destroy

Lost in The Former West is good, but a little conventional for me. I love "Popemobile to Paraguay", though, and my heart warms whenever I read the unironic liner note: "Respect to all cover bands."

Also, I'd get the "Tima Mansio Dumps the Dead" EP. I still think their cover of "Shiny Happy People" is as fucked up and awesome as any Bomb Squad production.

"Angel's Delight" alone made Ministry sound about as fierce and subversive as the Fixx.

On the topic Fatima Mansions, everything is worth checking...write to your favourite resissue label and start a campaign to make it available to a wider audience.

I still find much of the Fatima Mansions catalogue thrilling. Stylistically all over the place but coming together with a constant aggressive approach and sharp-as-nails lyrics. "Valhalla Avenue" was full of bile - "Go Home Bible Mike", "Evil Man", "Something Bad". Great singles cuts like "Hive" and his messed up covers including an unrecognizable "Everything I Do I Do It For You". I haven't checked but I imagine much of this material is way out of print, tsk.

not that much out of print.

a double cd reissue of two of their classic albums was quite recent so copies are still easilyy available :

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Viva-Dead-Ponies-Fatima-Mansions/dp/B000UTOQLU/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1261430995&sr=8-1

That's cool, I missed that. I've got it all but it's a great primer for the uninitiated!

EVIL MAN!!!

Love this, just beautifully brutal

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kDov3gE1nOY

I saw the FMs in mid-90s, met CC at a radio station not long after. Always liked "Ceausescu," "Only Losers Take the Bus."

I could see 'em being up your alley, I always liked the combination of on-edge anger and the Scott Walkerisms as a strange but necessary anchor.

Oh, I haven't gushed enough in this thread? Crikey. Good point re: Scott Walker, Ned - Cathal's one of the pull-quotes in the big box set. The Mansions were much more direct and abrasive in terms of their feelings but clearly found a guiding light in Walker.

Cathal's solo work has ranged from fantastic to unmemorable, but little has expressed the bile of Fatima Mansions. More's the pity, but as Robyn Hitchcock once said, you can't be 50 and still be a nihilist.

Has anybody here ever heard the Bubonique CD, and if I ever see it in a used bin should I snap it up?

Had it, sold it. Pretty one-note-joke with minimal repeat playability. At one point he offered it as a free download on his site.

am i the only one here thinking there was a huge resemblance to roland orzabal on cathal's vocal tone, esp during FMs most sedated moments? i mean, listen to pack of lies or the chorus to viva dead ponies for further evidence.

or this (one of my faves from the fatimas btw)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=loJQLinleWk

This band is really good.

I'm going to give them another shot thanks to this heads up. At the time they were scarily political and I just wasn't in the mood.

Are the politics that much of a barrier? Frankly I love the raw power and bombast, it channels my own feelings.

I was in the U.S. when it came out, it was during the Iraq War. Imagine listening to "Chow, Ceaucescu" on a packed commuter bus. I'm sure people in Ireland or the U.K. have a different take on it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s00zBdmEhLY

Wow, blast from the past. I guess it might go with hip-hop...

if you can't shift this crate of brillo pads by friday
vengeance
will be mine

cathal otm

Yeah, his righteous venom is good for these times.

cathal vs jackknife lee = telefis

loving the stuff i have heard.

however, jacknife lee sorted out this as an extra treat that clearly cannot be released

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gp7kmbqOaBo

ooops - wrong link !

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0MGiCxii7sE

That's great fun - Human League, Gang Of Four, and do I hear a bit of "Warm Leatherette"?

Really looking forward to more from Cathal after years of silence.

https://thequietus.com/articles/32037-fatima-mansions-lost-in-the-former-west-review

Good article about my favorite of all his albums. Keep music evil!