First heard on the NME C86 cassette which sort of defined mid 80's indie, and from well before Weatherall, 'Loaded' and samplers comes this gem. Less than 2 minutes long, Bobby Gillespie's sing song voice floats on top of super clean chiming guitars, no real verse/ chorus structure it just builds and leaves on the reverb off the guitar.
30 Sep 02 ·G400 Custom: This comes from the 12-inch of 'Crystal Crescent' as I remember, which I think is a much better song: loads of brass, a bit like the Teardrop Explodes. For what it's worth, I despise 'Screamadelica' like few other albums. The band: bunch of muppet longhairs with guitars. The music: crusty dance shite. Didn't anyone notice the discrepancy? Conclusion: Primal Scream themselves had sod all to do with the making of the album, although they did appear on its follow-up. Which was also crap. 02 Oct 02 ·n-jeff: Har, har. Get it off your chest, mate. I more or less disagree with all of that, but its not for me to criticise anyone for ranting..... 24 Jun 03 ·shaka_klaus: hey! i like that song. but i think it's probably written by beattie/gillespie. beattie later had some adventures in stereo if i'm not terribly mistaken.
Any North American readers may already be familiar with this haunting folk-rock number, as I believe it's a bit of an FM staple over there. For UK-based music fans such as myself, however, it's a bolt from the blue. Imagine a combination of The Mamas & The Papas and Jefferson Airplane at their spookiest, with shedloads of virtuoso violin and flanged percussion all the way through.
One more note: the self-titled album from which this song comes has an absolutely gorgeous cover (see http://images-eu.amazon.com/images/P/B000000DPF.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg), but the re-release is just white type on black - shame on Columbia.
from It's A Beautiful Day, available on CD
16 Jan 03 ·konsu: Unfortunately, nothing quite this good is an FM staple in the US. Their market is crowded with crap
mook-rock like Boston or Journey... Although I have
heard their stuff on more "educated" radio, like say
NPR or maybe college-based freeform playlists.
Great stuff! 17 Jan 03 ·G400 Custom: I love Journey and Boston as well... does this make me a mook? :-) 17 Jan 03 ·konsu: ;) Escape was one of my first records... I have no
shame! 19 Apr 07 ·artlongjr: This song got substantial airplay when I was a boy, back around 1970...I loved the melancholy sound that it has. I got the CD as a gift and it is pretty good, although "White Bird" is by far the best song on it.
This was one of the second generation San Francisco bands that came up after the Haight-Ashbury era.
One of a few especially jazzy and hip tracks by France Gall, I enjoy this one even more than I enjoy her more sugary pop tracks like 'Christansen'. The arrangement is quite spare - basically just France singing with a groovy small jazz combo. She also gets into some very cool scat vocals. Very, very cool.
from Ne sois pas si b�te (EP) (Philips) available on CD - Poup�e de Son
06 Nov 02 ·modadelic: most of france gall's 60's output from her yeh yeh bubble pop to the NOW sounds is excellent and highly recommended by moi. her compilation poupee de son is a great place to start for anyone new to the charms of france and her lovely songs. her later 70's records are not so wonderfull but then thats only my opinion, some of us may feel different. happy listening everyone. 17 Jan 03 ·G400 Custom: Great song, this. I find much of her mid-60s output highly enjoyable, however throwaway they were supposed to be. 'Laisse tomber les filles' from around the same time is great too.
hmm, well its just such a gorgeous song, mellow and warm, a bit melancholy. very evocative of those early autumn days when the sun is low and golden and everything feels a bit warm and slow.
available on CD - cousteau
17 Jan 03 ·G400 Custom: We could argue all day about how this song is derivative of Scott Walker - but the fact remains that it's just a fantastic record.
