Cardiacs: Classic or Dud?

I really need to start exploring these offshoots... all I have is the 'affectionate friends' comp.

SJ is practically STG Disc 3, you want it!

Sea Nymphs is

um

I don't know how lovely

but THIS, truly, is the album which if everyone in the world heard, they would love. Of that I am certain. There's absolutely nothing that could put anyone off except his voice and we're all grown-ups who can overlook voices, right?

If I were to re-run that 90s poll, this album would be getting points. From me.

Astounding.

I must hear Spratley's Japs.

I love it when a plan etc.....

It's so frustrating that there's a whole load of Sea Nymphs material which is the equal(if not better) of that album that has never seen the light of day, except for on live bootlegs and that one Peel Session. Enough for at least two more albums, apparently.

Apart from that, there's only the early cassette album Mr & Mrs Smith & Mr Drake, which is rather more lo-fi, but has a kind of eerie timelessness about it that the later more polished stuff lacks.

would say the SN album is nothing if not completely timeless tbh

This has just reminded me that I have a decent rip of the SN peel session on a DAT tape of all things, I must dig that out.

http://mutant-sounds.blogspot.com/2010/03/spratleys-japs-hazel-cd-ep-1999-uk.html

So 'Pony' is still in stock? Might get me a copy...

(btw I bumped the Cardiacsy thread for Knifeworld earlier. Some decent bass on that album) ;-)

Oh hey, I noticed, to be honest it was so damn long ago (maybe 6 years or more) that I recorded anything for Kavus I can't honestly remember what I did, I know it was only a few tracks, maybe 3 or 4. I didn't think he'd even use any of it because at the time, the tracks were pretty skeletal. So the decent bass is most likely Craig or Kavus :)

Oh wait so that album's been in the making for a while? He did all that Authority stuff even after beginning Knifeworld?

Yep, it's his magnificent octopus

except he says there's another one out soon as well, maybe it's a two-part octopus

'Me To The Future Of You' is his Dirty Boy, though; that's pretty much beyond any doubt

Out soon...

so glad I didn't use all 25 nominations for the 05-09 poll, just sayin'

More on this soon, but

'Fanny' by Spratley's Japs is one of the best songs ever

Kavus has confirmed in a podcast interview that Cardiacs won't be playing live again. Not really a surprise given the apparent seriousness of Tim's condition, but still sad to hear it nonetheless. He did also mention the benefit album will probably be out by the end of the year.

ah well. tim's got a better excuse than andy partridge i guess

still hoping tim recovers, and recovers sufficiently to finish mixing LSD - but more that he recovers, really

More on this soon, but

'Fanny' by Spratley's Japs is one of the best songs ever

― always changing, always the same (acoleuthic), Saturday, 5 June 2010 03:24 (2 months ago)

loverocksunanthem

possibly my favourite song now

it's just too much, too good. it's what my head looks like on the inside.

cannot begin to convey how it makes me feel, and how it aligns with my best feelings

Info on the tribute album here, available for pre-order : http://www.thegenepool.co.uk/items/597.htm

Andy Partridge!

The blurb say Tim is still in hospital over two years since his stroke :-(

WE WILL PRAISE HIM

I'm really interested to hear which song Ultrasound cover, I recently got a copy of The Sea Nymphs album which I remember their lead singer Tiny praising in the NME back in the day.

aargh i want to preorder but don't know what my address will be when this ships! what a lame conundrum

+ i don't trust my building's office to forward anything to me after i move because i've brought them previous tennant's mail before and the girl at the office there threw it out in front of me!

Got it today, psyched!

It's not on Gracenote yet, boo!

Any word on Tim's condition? It's been such a long time...just realized that Guns is going to be 12 years old :()

Well sadly, he's still in an extremely dependant state. The record they were working on before Tim's attack (LSD) will likely remain unreleased because his vocals had yet to be added.

Did you know about this frogbs?

http://www.thegenepool.co.uk/items/597.htm

It's pretty great in the main and all proceeds go directly to Tim.

I'm working w/Moe Staiano (ex Sleepytime Gorilla Museum percussionist) on a Tim Smith benefit in San Francisco for May. Several bands who want to cover Cardiacs will play (and if your band is in the bay and wants to play, let me know)

sometimes, every now and then, I wish I lived in the uk america

― Dominique, Wednesday, 31 October 2007 02:55 (3 years ago)

also I need to get my mitts on that album - my bank account has been empty since I got my ticket to NZ so as soon as I'm next paid that thing is en route chez moi. refuse point-blank to d/l it without paying.

Although if you could titillate me with some descriptions, MN... :P

Wow MaresNest really is our source on the ground...but it's still very sad to hear of his state of course.

Supposedly Tundra covers Will Bleed Amen. Prepare yr ears :p

that is the single thing I am most looking forward to tbh

DUH-DUH-DUH-DUH-DUH-DUH-DUH-DUH-DUH-DUH-DUH-DUH-DUH-BAB-BA-BA-DAH-DUH-DUH

I think those Duhs match up with the Will Bleed Amen riff...maybe..possibly...

Loved a lot of 2010 music, but this makes the '10 ILM poll look just feeble.

ah man I am trying to imagine an alternate ILX reality where Guns is released in our messageboard's lifetime, and its subsequent appearance in the year-end poll

hell, Sing To God

Well for one, The North Sea Radio Orchestra do a version of March which is one of my favourites and NSRO are beyond awesome.

And here is a mild derail to prove it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tR6axzyFX-k

44 Cardiacs - Sing To God (Parts 1 and 2) 348 points, 7 votes, 6 first-place votes

ooooooh! will listen now :) p.s. on that 'discoveries of 2010' thread I concur w/ you about P-Model

Oh yes, thanks fot that frogbs and for taking the time to answer!

Lex (not having any past knowledge): ooh who're this Cardaics band? (Lex would phrase it better than that)

But they're our little secret, and that's better than horrid ubiquity.

The comp is pretty excellent throughout, the only clunker is Jullianne Regan's phoned in version of a Sea Nymphs track.

Additionally there was a bonus cd of even more covers that might still be available too, or may be a download only thing, but it's pretty high standard.

Lex attempting to listen to Cardiacs would be the best thing ever, especially if we started him on The Sea Nymphs and he declared it awesome, wanting to know more...

...then, BAM, The Duck And Roger The Horse. KO.

I don't think it'd be horrid if Cardiacs were ubiquitous, but they're not going to achieve such a thing (at the moment, I think they have a very bright critical future however). I proselytise them whenever possible! It is nice to have a posse of people as passionate about them as I am. Hence my projected votes-breakdown :P

The bonus CD opens with Silvery <3 and I intend to get hold of it too!

xpI wanna hear Radiohead in triple-guitar mode tear through Signs (and I don't even like Radiohead these days).

Or The-Dream cover 'Eden in the Air', with harmonised auto-tuned backup!

ah man, now I really could post all night

Well sadly, he's still in an extremely dependant state. The record they were working on before Tim's attack (LSD) will likely remain unreleased because his vocals had yet to be added.

Did you know about this frogbs?

http://www.thegenepool.co.uk/items/597.htm

It's pretty great in the main and all proceeds go directly to Tim.

Yeah. I bought it; haven't heard whether its very good or not (I honestly cannot imagine how you cover this band) but I haven't bought any other Cardiacs discs because I haven't found any 'official' release (as they generally fetch > $100 on amazon and ebay), so its the least I could do. I've dealt with the death of some of my musical heroes (Klaus Dinger especially stung) but the thought of Tim Smith being incapacitated is just killing me.

If ilx ever did a year end poll for 1995, Sing to God would have to be #1; it's my pick for best album of all-time

Eden In The Air given a psych-RnB makeover would be INSANE

frogbs, we do not appear to have met much, and yet we are curiously in agreement on a number of important topics!

A few of the covers from the comp are on YouTube.

Oh and has anyone seen these guys? Gilliam.

An Israeli band playing really great, faintly Klezmerish versions of Cardiacs songs gawd bless 'em.

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

p.s. on that 'discoveries of 2010' thread I concur w/ you about P-Model

i really ought to start a thread for them...

xp hehheh. Saying that, one important element of being into Cardiacs (+parts of the family) for me was being quite measured in my listening; not burning myself out on the frenzied amazingness. They are too intense or concentration-dependent to burn out on - your brain says 'enough' - unlike XTC who I'm on a huge break from. But that's just me..