A classic 80s pop song, with New Order trademarks such as a super heavy bassline, strong drums and some frenetic guitar work. The lyrics aren't too bad for Bernard Sumner either - it's a touching (if not entirely coherent) story about lost love. A great song which fills me with nostagia.
And people say eminem is hard - Julian was singing about drugs long before. This one is truly magnificent: "Then I heard my mother cry/ 'I'm out of my mind on dope and speed!'/ No no, let me tell you not no word of a lie..." Julian sings in a Scott Walker style. He also cheerily gives instructions to his musicians as he goes along: "This time, stay on A!". It's really good. For whatever reason, the album this was on was suppressed, but he stuck it out on the greatest hits (Floored Genius) anyway.
from Skellington (unreleased) available on CD - Floored Genius (Sony)
DJ tomfoolery, a funky, formless response to "Close (To the Edit)" by Art of Noice. If anything, a nifty excuse to play Spot the Sample. Lots of scratching and drum machine beats complete the sweaty, mid-80s NYC feel.
available on CD - Def Jam Classics Vol. 1 (Def Jam/Columbia)
18 Nov 03 ·trivia: Fun fact: Original Concept featured Yo! MTV Raps personalities Doctor Dre (not Dr. Dre) and T-Money.
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.
Another of my favorite indie tracks in my youth. Can I say 'indie' anymore? Ten years ago the term had meaning, but I get the impression this has faded. I'm talking about bands who recorded for small independent labels, obviously. Anyway, I have a special fondness for McCarthy, since they played at the first live show I ever attended. It was on March 3rd 1990 at the Bowen West Theatre in Bedford, England. Were you there? I know at least one member of this site was (how's it going, Phil?).
Anyway, this is another superbly evocative track for me, with layers of nicely picked guitars, and some intense drumming. The vocals are heartfelt in a way that unkind people might call 'weedy'; I think they're brilliant, needless to say. McCarthy were a superb indie band with jangly Wedding Present-style guitars and a political edge. Tim Gane later went on to form Stereolab, who I also like a lot, but in a very different way.
from the single Red Sleeping Beauty (Pink Label PINKY 12) available on CD - That's All Very Well But (Cherry Red)
