XTRMNTR

Tough one. At the time I would have said, "Shoot Speed Kill Light" unreservedly, but now I possibly lean more towards "Pills". The non-Chemical Bros "Swastika Eyes" can't be ruled out either.

loved this album so much when i was 15/16

acclrtr at the time but probably mbv arkestra now

'mbv arkestra' (which was a b-side off the preev album anyway) isn't the supreme masterpiece it's cracked up to be, but that, i think

like, it takes to long to bring in the beat

so wrong

I like the idea of XTRMNTR as an inverse Screamadelica, with the same focus on producers and collaborators ahead of straight songwriting (even the idea of having two versions of the same song) but drastically different mood and influences. I don't know why they keep forgetting that it's the approach that yields their best records.

Also, one of the few albums to have its official title obliterated by its artwork.

Everything except Pills is a contender but Shoot Speed Kill Light is transcendent.

'mbv arkestra' benefits from being an instrumental

^^ thread has first dig at bbby gllsp

fairly, tho

The more time Bobby G spends away from the microphone the better a Primal Scream album is. It's provable by maths.

The rap on "Pills" is fairly feeble, but musically it's incendiary.

SSKL

rating bobby g's contribs

1 Kill all hippies 4/10 for 'i got the soul'
2 Accelerator 9/10 finest hour
3 Exterminator 8/10 lyrical poignancy from the big man
4 Swastika Eyes 7/10
5 Pills 6/10 restrained work
6 Blood Money 9/10
7 Keep your dreams 7/10 is ok
8 Insect royalty 8/10 ya he can do druggy paranoia
9 Mbv Arkestra 10/10
10 Swastika eyes (Chemical Brothers mix) 7/10
11 Shoot speed kill light 7/10 killillin it

When the album came out someone I worked with pointed out that the rap sounded like something Tony Slattery would do on Whose Line Is It Anyway? which ruined it for me forever. I also had Bobby G play it to me at enormous volume while rapping along and maintaining eye contact for the entire song, which was a tad uncomfortable.

As for Screamadelica, I wouldn't be one too often to use the word, "dated" as a perjorative, but there is something about that album that seems so utterly of its time that I don't feel much desire to listen to it, some good tracks notwithstanding. It's like a meringue pie of datedness or something.

xpost

"The more time Bobby G spends away from the microphone the better a Primal Scream album is. It's provable by maths"

Also Primal Scream greatness inversely proportional to length of Bobby G's hair.

Short hair: early Creation singles, Screamadelica, Vanishing Point, XTMNTR.
Long hair: everything else

This is Primal Scream's only good album. But we know this.

you get a suggest ban, not for the opinion, but for the 'we know this.'

suggest banaka surely

Relevance: what are the direct influences on XTRMNTR /PRML SCRM

Keep Your Dreams for me!

Good timing; listened to this yesterday for the first time in ages while bombing down the motorway. Unsure what to vote for...

you will have wanted to have voted for track two, the appropriately titled 'acclrtr', but at the end of the day it's up to you

voted "Accelerator" over "Shoot Speed / Kill Light"; love this album lots

guess UK version doesn't have "I'm Five Years Ahead of My Time"? makes sense I suppose---it's a pretty anti-climactic closer compared to "Shoot Speed / Kill Light"

the Five Years cover was a b-side to Accelerator (the last single ever on Creation IIRC)

When the album came out someone I worked with pointed out that the rap sounded like something Tony Slattery would do on Whose Line Is It Anyway? which ruined it for me forever

Yeah you kind of just ruined it for me too.

Did Primal Scream ever do anything worthwhile after this??

Any time you need something ruining just holler.

Every album has had something worthwhile I think.

Evil Heat - Deep Hit of Morning Sun, Autobahn 66
Riot City Blues - Little Death, When the Bomb Drops
Beautiful Future - Over & Over, the Weatherall remix of Uptown (not on album but still)

what are the direct influences on XTRMNTR /PRML SCRM

Bill McCue, Company Policy, the Chris McClure Set, Gaberlunzie, Alistair McDonald, Peter Morrison, The Tartan Lads...

― Tom D., Thursday, 28 February 2008 10:21 (2 years ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

that's quite a funny post, probably even funnier if u know who those ppl are

Yes, pity Marcello's not around, he's the only other person that does

his primal scream posts were a treasure of old ilx

Bobby Gillespie and Andrew Innes have been together as Primal Scream since the early 1970s and are well known for producing an exciting blend of modern and traditional songs. Essentially Scottish, with an emphasis on rhythm and harmony, Primal Scream has a wide appeal to audiences both at home and abroad. They have travelled extensively in Europe, Canada, United States, and the Middle East, taking with them not only Scottish music but also that other extra special ingredient - Scottish humour.

The Scream, as they are popularly called among their loyal following of supporters, have a wealth of experience in performing for a wide variety of audiences - from folk clubs to football stadiums, from holiday resorts to concert halls. They have appeared many times on television and radio not only in the UK but also in Canada, and the United States.

To date, Primal Scream have recorded 18albums and two videos. Their latest release Independent Scots is sponsored by the Scots Independent newspaper. In addition, they have been engaged in solo projects creating albums in different musical styles. Bobby's are entitled Summer Storms and Colours. Andrew's solo album is Full Circle.

The performance of the duo spans the breadth of Scottish culture. As singers, instrumentalists, and songwriters, their talents are impressive and Primal Scream's gift for entertainment is unsurpassed in Scottish folk music.

my all time fave LATER... clip by some distance:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5eFOJ1X5EeU
(not great quality like but you get the idea)

his primal scream posts were a treasure of old ilx

^^^this re: marcello. lolz for days

not sure what to vote for - kinda inclined to go with the opening cuz its just so striking. MBV Arkestra is great but I have a hard time considering it a proper album track since I first heard it as that b-side

shoot speed kill light is like top five coolest-sounding songs ever, so.

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

MBV arkestra no question. in general this album is better in theory than in practice -- it's been on every iPod I've ever had but that rarely translated into spontaneous listens. still a classic though.

feel like MBV Arkestra shouldn't count since it had already been released years before as a remix of a previous album's single. and was not as reconstructive as Loaded. but that's just me.

well obviously accelerator, mbv arkestra and shoot speed kill light tower over the rest of this. am also partial to kill all hippies but really it's down to accelerator and sskl. would have been accelerator a few years ago but it's the latter now.

"Shoot Speed Kill Light" is a monster. this tour was incredible at the world famous Filmore in San Francisco. This might have been better than Screamadelica in Hollywood or the one off night from the Depeche Mode tour to play the Roxy on Sunset (which blew my mind).

shoot speed, kill light, for a David Holmes NH carnival mix where he opens his set with this, and you hear a room full of very drunk people go off on one...

http://www.mixesdb.com/db/index.php/2000-08-28_-_David_Holmes_@_Notting_Hill_Carnival,_Breezeblock

and you go...."of course this would be an amazing set opener, why did no one ever think of that before...."

SBd you because that's not a download link

mostly great album w/ a few weak spots. Excepting 'MBV Arkestra,' which I associate mostly w/ the ITMKE single from 1998, this comes down to the three Big Songs for me, those being Kill All Hippies, Swastika Eyes & Shoot Speed, Kill Light - all of which are A+ imo. Voted Hippies, but on a different day it could have been either of the other two.

Never understood the love for Blood Money - that & Keep Your Dreams are the ones that I always skipped.

Bobby's rap on Pills is endearingly shit - I'd much rather hear him doing nursery-rhyme football chants than actually trying to harmonize w/ earnest lyrics.

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

thought mbv would do better considering this thread

my #2 and #3 first tho

still one of the best couple dozen albums of the 00s

no votes at all for the title track? shocker.

Wasn't "Blood Money" the first-ever DFA production?

no, not really, despite google turning up

I mean, I know they started out with "Blood Money" by Primal Scream, and I know about "House of Jealous Lovers" and "Losing My Edge"/"Beat Connection" and the two mixes of "Yeah." What else is there?

― Mr. Snrub (Mr. Snrub), Wednesday, 7 January 2004 11:13 (7 years ago)

ha

I'm with Simon H. Shit, that song has the best bassline on the whole album

Simon H. Shit is a quality poster

The title track is the worst song on the album as I remember it. Even Pills and Insect Royalty are better.

blood money is just 'birds' by PiL, but i liked it all the same

Haha, well naive grammar aside I stand by that song. Booby G's vocals are mixed down low enough that it isn't a problem, the guitar is just feedback, and Mani is shredding on the B line. its just a fact. Now, live, it becomes theyre worst song by far, but I thought this was about the album.

Shoot Speed Kill Light is, of course, the best

Heh heh I'm really on a roll this morning. The lack of an edit button is better than alcohol for unintentional comedy

the title track is fairly good, massive attack remix better iirc

blood money credits-

Producer [Additional Production] - David Holmes
Programmed By - Tim Goldsworthy
Recorded By - Adrian Sherwood , Alan Branch , Brendan Lynch , Primal Scream

supposedly from the same time tim and james murphy were engineering for david holmes

james was asst. engineering [ie tea-boy], tim was producing

Even Pills and Insect Royalty are better.

og Insect Royalty was OK, vocal vers was lolsome iirc

Swastika eyes (Chemical Brothers mix)

this piece of shit was in at least a couple of danny dyer vehicles on youtube

best swastika eyes was david holmes mix

think i might have downloaded that off audiogalaxy damn

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8jdV2X_A85M

the year was 2k1, indie kids everywhere were migrating from the litigated to fuck 'napster' and onto the esoteric new filesharing platform

This album is constantly in the red. It still sounds fabulous.

The one with the ghostly horns and great drums... is that blood money? Great album for driving angry through the city

http://sickmouthy.com/2013/02/23/primal-scream-xtrmntr/

If there’s a point where the 90s end and the 00s begin, it’s probably XTRMNTR.

Didn't it come out in like January 2000? It feels like such an end-of-the-90s record though, in almost every way. A few years later it would be acceptable for Bobby Gillespie to retreat into retro rock without even being embarrassed about it.

It was definitely early 2000, January or February, aye.

Wiki says January 31st.

this got to #3 in the album charts which almost makes me feel nostalgic for a better time, even if it scarcely seemed that way then

"Keep your dreams" got robbed.

No other albums captures the lunacy of the Bush/Blair/Harper years like this. A stunning achievement they just gets better with time.
I also love the b-side from this era, "When the Kingdom", which features Paul Weller.

keep your dreams FTW

also not sure a song has been more aptly titled than accelerator, it is like hitting the nitros and blasting off

I always liked the rap on Pills because I assumed he was rapping about himself, like the spoken word bit on 'The Professional' by Pulp

absolute blinder, one of the best live tv appearances ever

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J5P3xQeN2YA

this is a live set on bbc radio just after the release that is a useful reminder of how formidable they were as a band at that time... https://soundcloud.com/visit-drum/sets/xtrmntr/s-tbnLe

XTRMNTR is a great record, but I find myself reaching for Vanishing Point more and as said in the other Primal Scream thread, I think More Light is up there with their best albums. I listen to all these far more than Screamadelica.

Amazing concert on that tour (with K. Shields)

Will rep, as i always do, for the criminally underrated live album post Evil Heat - one of the few live records I play regularly: https://img.discogs.com/8Iw_5E8DHp1p9iNe9k4rBEDvqfo=/fit-in/599x547/filters:strip_icc():format(jpeg):mode_rgb():quality(90)/discogs-images/R-338842-1264294182.jpeg.jpg

Primal Scream have always been terrible whenever I've stumbled across them at festivals except on the XTRMNTR tour when they were incredible, partly because the lineup was packed with ringers and you got the sense they were actually making the music Bobby Gillespie heard in his head and not just a weak simulacrum of it. I remember a ridiculously heavy version of Kowalski.

It's such a big shame 'Rocks' was such a big hit, because I feel like it gave a lot of people the wrong impression about this band and perhaps stopped 'em from going on to check out Vanishing Point and XTRMNTR.

Yes because no one would have been familiar with obscure curios like 'Loaded', right?

Ha, I knew someone was going to say that - and I'm not at all surprised by who eventually said it - but y'see, Matt, I'm not talking about music geeks (it's understandable that some here may think that's the only type of music fan there is) - I'm not talking about people who were reading the NME religiously at the time or keeping up with what was going on with the Mercury Music Prize.

'Loaded' was actually not that big of a hit. 'Rocks' was a Top 10 hit and got more airplay than any of the Screamadelica singles. I think a lot of people - and I'm sure there were many unfamiliar with the band even by this point - could be forgiven for thinking the Scream circa 1994 were some crap glam/Stones knockoffs rather than the inventive band they actually were. Bobby Gillespie's personality also probably didn't help.

Whether it was a big hit or not doesn't matter, sometimes records are just 'in the air' and 'Loaded' was definitely one of those.

In any case I'm sceptical that there are many casual listeners out there who had otherwise never heard of Primal Scream, would have missed all the Screamadelica singles, heard 'Rocks' on Radio 1 or Capital (where it didn't get much airplay anyway), or on a Now compilation they bought in Tesco, and would have been sufficiently put off by it that they never checked out the (much noisier and weirder) Vanishing Point or XTRMN8R, which they would definitely have enjoyed if only they hadn't been put off by the karaoke Stones record from a few years before.

You cannot exclude music nerds from the equation and then claim the remaining listeners might have gone for two albums that were pretty much consciously designed to appeal primarily to music nerds.

('Kowalski' was a Top 10 hit as well fwiw)

yeah chart placings aside loaded was absolutely a huge hit that was everywhere at the time.

you know i went back to this one a few weeks ago and had trouble getting into some of the more beat oriented tracks ("kill all hippies", "exterminator") because the loops weren't doing it for me. they sounded really thin and lethargic compared to what i remebered. on the other hand the more rock-oriented ones ("accelerator", "shoot speed / kill light", "mbv arkestra") still sounded great.

i'm not opposed to trip hop either, i listen to lots of it. those loops just ... weren't that good.

speaking of good trip hop though i also really enjoyed "pills"