Talk Talk

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What do you fellas think? I'm referring particularly to those two fine crinkle-cut chips, "spirit of eden" and "laughing stock".

― , Friday, 1 June 2001 00:00 (11 years ago) Permalink

just off out on the lash, but i think SOE is total CLASSIC - but didn't like LS as much - ideas taken further becoming less effective.

like how instruments fade in before their bit,the voice, the intimacy, i believe in you is one of my alltime faves - remember Mark Goodier's interview with Catherine Wheel when they want to listen to 'Desire' and i go out and buy 'black metallic' coz i thought 'what great taste'.

i love the early singles too

― geordie racer, Friday, 1 June 2001 00:00 (11 years ago) Permalink

Genius, full stop. More cohesively: I enjoy _Laughing Stock_ more than _Spirit_, partially because I encountered the former first and have a greater familiarity with it, but also because I find it a very warm album in its playing and construction, one could call it. *thinks* For whatever reason it and _Kid A_ now seem to me to have a certain resemblance, almost as if _Laughing Stock_ was the pre-tech-obsessed equivalent. Hm...

― Ned Raggett, Friday, 1 June 2001 00:00 (11 years ago) Permalink

Classic, no question. Particularly those last two albums. Soundscapes so detailed and luxurious (but still sparse) you can really get lost in that music. Come to think of it, Ned is definitely onto something with the comparison with Kid A, both treading the fine line between structure and texture and content. I remember Mouse On Mars stating in some interview that they hold Laughing Stock to be one of their biggest influences and I guess you can hear that at least up to (and especially on) their albums on Sonig, Instrumentals and Glam.

― Janne Vanhanen, Friday, 1 June 2001 00:00 (11 years ago) Permalink

Incidentally, Q magazine put "laughing stock" in the "like this? try these?" section of their review of the fairly delightful "amnesiac"

― , Friday, 1 June 2001 00:00 (11 years ago) Permalink

myrrhperson@hotmail.com

Hey, if you hadn't made a faovrable comparison between them and fried potatoes, no need to ask what you thought, eh? ;)

Genius, full stop

Yeah, that sums it up nicely,

― scott p., Friday, 1 June 2001 00:00 (11 years ago) Permalink

The Radiohead comparison is entirely fitting. I'd probably take it a couple steps further in saying that their careers have all but mirrored each other. (Mirror man? Hyuk hyuk.) Pablo Honey and The Bends being merely decent for their genre in the same manner as The Party's Over and It's My Life. Third album from each band stretched the boundaries by a somewhat-drastic degree, with the fourth and fifth taking things even further with the standard rock constructs being pushed more into the background. Both bands are thought of (at least in the US) as one-hit wonders. And then you have two lead singers with reputations as grumps...

So Talk Talk -- classic all the way. Laughing Stock is my personal favorite. Also love how other bands have picked up on them, from Bark Psychosis to some of Catherine Wheel's better moments. Ever hear the latter's "Thunderbird"? Completely lifts the drum pattern of "After the Flood," which means it's obviously one of the best things they've done. Then UNKLE sampled "New Grass" for the "Rabbit in the Headlights" single, which -- ta da -- brings us full circle due to Thom Yorke's vocal contribution to the same song.

Too bad Mark Hollis has decided to "retire". That solo record of his is brilliant.

― Andy, Friday, 1 June 2001 00:00 (11 years ago) Permalink

Is the "mark hollis" album much cop, babes?

― , Friday, 1 June 2001 00:00 (11 years ago) Permalink

In all fairness, I'd say "the bends" is slightly nicer in its ...um, stuff than "ok computer" but baby, you gotta hear that "amnesiac". It is rather lurverly.

― , Friday, 1 June 2001 00:00 (11 years ago) Permalink

DIdn't they have a song called life's what you Make it?

― Mike Hanley, Friday, 1 June 2001 00:00 (11 years ago) Permalink

Now that y'all bring up these comparisons and points, I'm glad to see I wasn't alone in thinking that connection existed! It just suddenly struck me as I was typing my original response -- probably helped that I listened to _Amnesiac_ last night (good album, but strange running order).

― Ned Raggett, Friday, 1 June 2001 00:00 (11 years ago) Permalink

SPIRIT OF EDEN is untouchably great.

― alex in nyc, Friday, 1 June 2001 00:00 (11 years ago) Permalink

Classic of course. I don't see the Radiohead connection quite as strongly as others; perhaps if the connection is mediated through Bark Psychosis?

I think my favourite Talk Talk album is "Spirit of Eden". "Laughing Stock" has greater highs ("Taphead", "New Grass" etc.) but it takes a while to get going and doesn't flow quite as well. "Spirit of Eden" on the other hand is stunning from the get-go - the trilogy never ceases to amaze me, and by the time the choirs on "I Believe In You" come on I feel like I'm floating in a sea of morphine.

However I feel it's necessary to state that the album prior to those two, "The Colour of Spring", is definitely necessary if you like "Spirit of Eden" and "Laughing Stock". It's more pop-friendly and has a greater reliance on song structures, but the songs are mad fun and the ambition and attention to detail had already begun to manifest. Songs such as "April 5th" and "Chameleon Day" wouldn't be too out of place on "Spirit of Eden".

― Tim, Friday, 1 June 2001 00:00 (11 years ago) Permalink

I like the live version of "Life's What You Make It" cuz it's got big fuck-off guitars in it unlike their other pussy shit!

― tarden, Saturday, 2 June 2001 00:00 (11 years ago) Permalink

"It's My Life" sounds great on my K-Tel Star Collection album.

― Patrick, Saturday, 2 June 2001 00:00 (11 years ago) Permalink

what little i heard sounded like corey hart singing over a bunch of noodling hippies. what's the deal?

― sundar subramanian, Saturday, 2 June 2001 00:00 (11 years ago) Permalink

I really like the fuck-off guitars during the beginning of "Ascension Day." In fact, those fuck-off guitars are some of my favorite fuck- off guitars recorded. They're just as fuck-off as anything made by Steve Albini.

Anyone else notice the way Hollis references other songs? "Does Caroline Know" ("Caroline, No"), Laughing Stock and "The Daily Planet" (Love), "Inside Looking Out" and "It's My Life" (Animals), "Mirror Man" (Beefheart)... I know there are more.

― Andy, Saturday, 2 June 2001 00:00 (11 years ago) Permalink

what little i heard sounded like corey hart singing over a bunch of noodling hippies

That's why they're so great. The Colour of Spring is one of my favorite records.

― Otis Wheeler, Sunday, 3 June 2001 00:00 (11 years ago) Permalink

Classic. I listened to Spirit of Eden on the way into work today, and it still sounds as great as it ever did. The Radiohead comparisons make sense in terms of career arc, but I don't hear it musically.

Tim, I'm rather curious about the connection you see between Bark Psychosis and Radiohead. I'm a big BP fan but I've never really sensed their influence in Radiohead's stuff.

― Richard Tunnicliffe, Monday, 4 June 2001 00:00 (11 years ago) Permalink

For me, the R/Head (Kid A and Amnesiac) connection in heard in the odd time sigs/skew-whiff rhythms which are found on Spirit of Eden and LS. The Elbow album also has echoes of Talk Talk - again the rhythms and also the organ on some trax.

― Dr. C, Monday, 4 June 2001 00:00 (11 years ago) Permalink

Richard - in the (admittedly more rudimentary) embracing of electronics, the feelings of paranoia, the tightly-structured non-structure as Jason Ankeny says in the AMG Review, the way that the songs seem to "say" something about the world without actually doing so, or at least doing so in such an abstract manner as to make little difference (Mark Hollis is much more on the social commentary tip, but the music doesn't *feel* like it). The instrumentalisation of dissonance in the service of order - compare say "National Anthem" to "Eyes And Smiles". Certainly I'd say all the similarities that Radiohead have to Talk Talk they also have to Bark Psychosis (who are clearly Talk Talk's more direct descendants), but with added similarities as well.

And, maybe just the fact that Bark Psychosis and Radiohead seem to still bear some allegiance to post-punk, which to my mind is totally non-existent in Talk Talk (in all three a matter of residual evidence of past incarnations).

― Tim, Monday, 4 June 2001 00:00 (11 years ago) Permalink

If you like Talk Talk, you all should check out O-rang--it's (I believe) a few of the guys from Talk Talk doing more instrumental/world/dubby/textural stuff. I only have one album, called Herd of Instinct, but it makes for an awesome listen. Weirdly enough, I got it from this teeny record store in Williamsburg that was trying to get rid of its promos--I saw that one, the name rang (no pun intended) a bell, and I yanked it. And I'm glad I did. Not too sure how readily available it is, though, but if you'd like a copy, I could burn it for you.

― Clarke B., Tuesday, 5 June 2001 00:00 (11 years ago) Permalink

Ditto on O-rang. Even through the murk of my badly recorded tape it's still a fine album. There were rumours that Graham Sutton from Bark Psychosis was going to be working with them on a new album but I've no idea what came of them.

Re. Radiohead and Bark Psychosis. Yes, they do have elements in common, the paranoia being the most obvious one, but they seem to have taken them in different directions. Late-period Radiohead is much more claustrophobic than Bark Psychosis; there's an feeling of the whole world weighing down on you, and the music tries to encompass that world. Whereas BP's stuff has much more light and space about it and seems to contain an acknowledgement that there is a world outside that isn't touched by the paranoia and that it is escapable to. Even after Kid A and Amnesiac, I can't imagine Radiohead putting out anything like Hex (the song) with it's huge wall of static that abruptly gives way to the gentlest shimmer.

I suppose that what I'm arguing is that they do share elements, but these are more likely to be derived from a common root rather than BP acting as a mediator from Talk Talk to Radiohead.

― Richard Tunnicliffe, Tuesday, 5 June 2001 00:00 (11 years ago) Permalink

I exchanged some emails with Graham Sutton a few months ago. He said he's been sporadically working on a solo record (in name, not Boymerang). Lee Harris is drumming on it, apparently -- right fucking on. Seems like he's pulling a Scott Walker by taking his sweet old time.

The O.Rang guys made this weird dice game called Go-Rang. It came with all sorts of tiny gadgets and some rather detailed instructions in the form of a dinky scroll. If anyone should happen to have BP's "Clawhammer" flexi or the release that has "Reserve Shot Gunman," I'd be more than happy to part with my extra Go-Rang.

― Andy, Wednesday, 6 June 2001 00:00 (11 years ago) Permalink

Mark Hollis' singing 'the wealth of love' in "Wealth" is the zaniest sound ever emitted from human mouth.

― Dave, Tuesday, 19 June 2001 00:00 (11 years ago) Permalink

1 year passes...

if "laughing stock" has to be, it should be an instrumental album.

― mitch lastnamewithheld (mitchlnw), Saturday, 7 June 2003 12:52 (9 years ago) Permalink

"has to be" = "cannot not exist". (what i'm saying is that i don't like the vocals.)

― mitch lastnamewithheld (mitchlnw), Saturday, 7 June 2003 12:59 (9 years ago) Permalink

you like the vocals on the other talk talk albums?

― anthony kyle monday (akmonday), Saturday, 7 June 2003 16:05 (9 years ago) Permalink

i think the only other talk talk i know is "its my life", which i don't think i've heard in years so i'm not sure. but the vocals aren't doing the same kind of work on "life" that they are on LS.

― mitch lastnamewithheld (mitchlnw), Saturday, 7 June 2003 16:11 (9 years ago) Permalink

the new bark psychosis album is done. it just needs a method of reaching peoples' ears at the moment, and i don't think parlophone is the way it's gonna happen. this could turn out to be the best album of 2003 that has no record label ...

― fields of salmon (fieldsofsalmon), Saturday, 7 June 2003 17:20 (9 years ago) Permalink

and i am pretty sure lee harris is drumming on it, as well as it featuring the old dude who played vibes on hex.

― fields of salmon (fieldsofsalmon), Saturday, 7 June 2003 17:21 (9 years ago) Permalink

mitch, you probably wouldn't like any of the other talk talk albums then, either. I think hollis' vocals work exceptionally well, their texture fits with the music harmonically, and he doesn't bleat all over the arrangements the way, say, david sylvian might if given the same songs (I like sylvian, but I'm just using him as a comparison).

I have not actually listened to orang, which practically is talk talk w/out vocals...has anyone else? how does it measure up?

― anthony kyle monday (akmonday), Saturday, 7 June 2003 18:13 (9 years ago) Permalink

Short answer on Orang = fantastic, wonderful. Not really Talk Talk without vocals, but I think of it this way -- you compare Mark H.'s solo album vs. the Orang albums and it's pretty easy to see who brought what from Laughing Stock. It's not an exact split by any means, but there's a general formalism/expansive organic flow division.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Saturday, 7 June 2003 21:42 (9 years ago) Permalink

the new bark psychosis album is done. it just needs a method of reaching peoples' ears at the moment, and i don't think parlophone is the way it's gonna happen. this could turn out to be the best album of 2003 that has no record label ...

and i am pretty sure lee harris is drumming on it, as well as it featuring the old dude who played vibes on hex.

How did you find out about this?

― Evan (Evan), Sunday, 8 June 2003 04:40 (9 years ago) Permalink

What kind of record deal are they looking for? (being serious here. feel free to email me)

― Chris Barrus (Chris Barrus), Sunday, 8 June 2003 08:18 (9 years ago) Permalink

I can't imagine that a hundred indie labels wouldn't be clamoring to put this out; rocketgirl I'm sure would, as would the music fellowship (yellow6's label), but I'm guessing that they're probably looking for someone who will give them some (well deserved) money.

― anthony kyle monday (akmonday), Sunday, 8 June 2003 16:38 (9 years ago) Permalink

Four finished-sounding songs have been on Soulseek for the past several months. Not a big break from the past -- similar drift to the tempos, big open spaces, whispered vox (male and female), etc. They're somewhere between the early singles and Hex in almost every aspect (including quality).

― Andy K (Andy K), Sunday, 8 June 2003 20:11 (9 years ago) Permalink

This is manifestly a Good Thing.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Sunday, 8 June 2003 20:14 (9 years ago) Permalink

The 03.06.03 entry on this page goes into detail about each song. Admittedly the post was written rather hastily.

― Andy K (Andy K), Sunday, 8 June 2003 20:20 (9 years ago) Permalink

Jon Attwood (Yellow6) is co-owner of MakeMineMusic, not The Music Fellowship. two fine labels; different continents.

just to tie things together (and keep this post OT), Sutton contributed ("guitar") to both O.rang albums. he also provided a great Boymerang 12" remix of "p53" on Echo(UK)/Hit it!(US). i don't believe this track was ever anthologized on CD. hmm. a disc compiling all the Boymerang remixes would be such a nice thing. though i've hunted and collected them devotedly.

new Bark Psychosis. oh, glory!

― summerslastsound, Monday, 9 June 2003 19:28 (9 years ago) Permalink

Okay, so about a year ago I heard "New Grass" on college radio & said "Oh boy this sounds like Sea & Cake, who is it?" and then when I found out I went to the hipster record store & listened to "Laughing Stock" but apart from that one song the album felt way way sparse and slow and uninteresting. So I didn't buy. Did I miss something?

― jaymc (jaymc), Monday, 9 June 2003 20:35 (9 years ago) Permalink

no.

― mitch lastnamewithheld (mitchlnw), Monday, 9 June 2003 20:50 (9 years ago) Permalink

(note: i will listen to it a second time before my opinion turns to concrete, but for now i'm enjoying being crabby.)

― mitch lastnamewithheld (mitchlnw), Monday, 9 June 2003 20:53 (9 years ago) Permalink

Mitch don't make us get all dave matthews fan on your ass.

― anthony kyle monday (akmonday), Monday, 9 June 2003 21:08 (9 years ago) Permalink

― mitch lastnamewithheld (mitchlnw), Monday, 9 June 2003 21:19 (9 years ago) Permalink

What kind of record deal are they looking for? (being serious here. feel free to email me)

the bark psychosis album may be released through the web!

― fields of salmon (fieldsofsalmon), Monday, 9 June 2003 21:34 (9 years ago) Permalink

"(note: i will listen to it a second time before my opinion turns to concrete, but for now i'm enjoying being crabby.)"

Mitch you probably don't want to hear this but I reckon you should have started with Spirit of Eden instead - it's a more deliberately beautiful record so it makes it easier to get a handle of what Talk Talk are doing that is good.

― Tim Finney (Tim Finney), Monday, 9 June 2003 23:24 (9 years ago) Permalink

JESUS, I enjoyed Spirit Of Eden more than I ever thought I would, but I'm SHOCKED there's so little discussion of Talk Talk by Talk Talk off of Talk Talk. That song is fucking genius.

― Anthony Miccio (Anthony Miccio), Monday, 9 June 2003 23:29 (9 years ago) Permalink

It's EASILY the first song that comes to mind when I think of these guys. They're really mad in the video(s), and the drummer has a Mark Lindsay ponytail!

― Anthony Miccio (Anthony Miccio), Monday, 9 June 2003 23:29 (9 years ago) Permalink

Did I miss something?

Yes you did. This has nothing to do with the fact that I regard the Sea and Cake with at most a shrug, of course. *hides from Josh* (More seriously, Tim's advice to Mitch is sound, Jaymc -- and Anthony is right in that the early stuff is equally genius in a different world; heard "It's My Life" out at brunch yesterday and remembered again how great it is. However, there is no album actually called Talk Talk, that's a mistake from MST3K. ;-))

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Tuesday, 10 June 2003 01:39 (9 years ago) Permalink

Skipping 509 messages at this point... Click here if you want to load them all.

8.8 tsk tsk

― Valéry Giscard d'Staind (NickB), Monday, 26 March 2012 11:45 (1 year ago) Permalink

6
7.5
9
10
10

― AnotherDeadHero, Monday, 26 March 2012 12:48 (1 year ago) Permalink

^ that i'd almost subscibe to myself, particularly regarding the last three

― t**t, Monday, 26 March 2012 14:38 (1 year ago) Permalink

4
7
7.5
9.6
9.4812

― mr.raffles, Monday, 26 March 2012 15:37 (1 year ago) Permalink

5.5
8.1
9.6
10
10

― Kitchen Person, Monday, 26 March 2012 17:02 (1 year ago) Permalink

Funny list of contributors to that book.

― djh, Monday, 26 March 2012 20:08 (1 year ago) Permalink

Cummon folks, 'Talk Talk' and the title track are great tunes!

Yeah, seriously -- it's only bad in comparison to the other albums.

― Respectfully, Tyrese Gibson (Nicole), Monday, 26 March 2012 20:21 (1 year ago) Permalink

3 months pass...

Preorder is go:

http://spiritoftalktalk.com/

― Ned Raggett, Monday, 9 July 2012 18:45 (10 months ago) Permalink

So... $115 for the regular edition, $295 for the deluxe. For copies shipped to the USA, anyway. $60 shipping fee seems... high. But maybe the thing is heavy as shit.

― the girl from spirea x (f. hazel), Tuesday, 10 July 2012 16:56 (10 months ago) Permalink

yea.. i was going to order this until i saw the ridiculous shipping cost

― diamonddave85, Tuesday, 10 July 2012 18:54 (10 months ago) Permalink

Looks like they're only willing to ship UPS and not Royal Mail, due to previous bad experiences. Which essentially doubles the shipping cost.

I snagged a regular edition though... I really do love their album art. Wish they would do a poster set!

― the girl from spirea x (f. hazel), Tuesday, 10 July 2012 23:31 (10 months ago) Permalink

Covering Talk Talk seems like a losing game, but some of these attempts seem respectable:

https://www.facebook.com/SpiritOfTalkTalk?sk=app_178091127385

If I could wave a wand and have a covers album by contemporary artists of my choosing who might do a good job, I think it would have:

Low
The Knife
David Sylvian
Bjork
Anja Garbarek
Fennesz
Swans
Rachel's
Caribou
Robert Wyatt
Matthew Herbert
Portishead/Beak>

― Soundslike, Saturday, 14 July 2012 12:51 (10 months ago) Permalink

Said book does look utterly gorgeous but delivery costs to this remote outpost of the world, well...

― Beamer, Benz, or Škoda (King Boy Pato), Saturday, 14 July 2012 13:19 (10 months ago) Permalink

Have Cadel bring you back a copy.

― Ned Raggett, Saturday, 14 July 2012 13:23 (10 months ago) Permalink

>I really do love their album art. Wish they would do a poster set!

James Marsh sells signed giclee prints (including all the Talk Talk covers) through his website, £55 each but they look like high-quality prints and obv. nice to have it signed by the artist.

― that mustardless plate (Bill A), Saturday, 14 July 2012 15:11 (10 months ago) Permalink

hey wow, you're right! thanks for sharing that information.

― the girl from spirea x (f. hazel), Saturday, 14 July 2012 16:08 (10 months ago) Permalink

2 months pass...

I've listened to that 'Spirit of Talk Talk' cover album a couple of times now. It's a mixed bag, mostly terrible but there are a couple of genuinely great attempts. Do Make Say Think's version of 'New Grass' is divine. I've always detected a bit of late Talk Talk influence in their sound and I'm glad to see it pay off in so literally. There's a lot of attempts at setting songs in different contexts musically, like King Creosote's plodding acoustic take on 'Give It Up' or Zero 7's pitiful chill out version of 'The Colour of Spring'. The Nils Frahm / Peter Broderick / Davide Rossi cover of 'It's Getting Late In The Evening' is wonderful, all you'd expect from anyone who had the good taste to pick such a pivotal Talk Talk track (For me it's the moment where the band really evolved into something unique and spectacular). The guy from Grandaddy pitches 'Tomorrow Started' as a Grandaddy original and that really is as bad as it sounds. Still, it's a passing treat to hear someone even attempt to cover songs as texturally sparse and seemingly unreplicable as 'Myrrhman' or 'Runeii' and it's mostly the songs from 'Laughing Stock' that are the most interesting to me.

― InternetAlan, Tuesday, 18 September 2012 18:23 (8 months ago) Permalink

Basically I wouldn't buy it but it's worth a listen. The book on the other hand I can't wait to own.

― InternetAlan, Tuesday, 18 September 2012 18:25 (8 months ago) Permalink

Heard a couple of tracks from this tonight. Largely just seemed wrong.

― Sick Mouthy (Scik Mouthy), Tuesday, 18 September 2012 22:07 (8 months ago) Permalink

Tried listening to it... didn't last long.

I could be wrong-headed about this, but their music doesn't seem like it would benefit so much from a tribute. A lot of their magic was in the presentation (performances, production, engineering, mixing) rather than the sheet music side o things.

It's the same reason I can't imagine getting anything out of a Timbaland tribute album.

― mr.raffles, Tuesday, 18 September 2012 22:20 (8 months ago) Permalink

I don't know what I want to hear less, this or that Fleetwood Mac tribute.

― Josh in Chicago, Tuesday, 18 September 2012 23:03 (8 months ago) Permalink

I can see some out-jazz collective doing a decent Talk Talk tribute, but that's about it. Haven't heard the Fleetwood Mac tribute, but my gut feeling was that if ZZ Top covered most of the Peter Green era it might be interesting.

― dlp9001, Wednesday, 19 September 2012 00:48 (8 months ago) Permalink

Very hard to listen to this tribute album but I did enjoy the house remake of It's My Life on the bonus disc.

― brotherlovesdub, Wednesday, 19 September 2012 01:09 (8 months ago) Permalink

I'd totally agree with Mr Raffles re; the point of this thing. Glad I've heard bits of it because it's convinced me that I don't need to buy it.

I might've been more tempted if people had done some other songs; Why Is It So Hard?, John Cope, Pictures of Bernadette, would all feel like they'd lend themselves to cover versions more than Ascension Day or Inheritence.

― Sick Mouthy (Scik Mouthy), Wednesday, 19 September 2012 09:45 (8 months ago) Permalink

Spirit of Talk Talk book came in the post today, really lovely presentation. feels heavy with a thick paper stock throughout.

Its divided into an essay on the bands career with interviews & band shots interspersed throughout, then a separate section for the artwork..

some of it is just lovely, the artwork especially.

― my opinionation (Hamildan), Monday, 24 September 2012 20:35 (7 months ago) Permalink

@geordie racer "didn't like LS as much - ideas taken further becoming less effective." agreed.

Maybe I'm crazy, but I listen to THE PARTY'S OVER the most...

― Tyler Burns (burns46824@yahoo.com), Tuesday, 25 September 2012 05:13 (7 months ago) Permalink

Is there a line on "Renee" which goes "baby have a Wheat Thin"? please tell me I'm not misheading this. were Wheat things around back then. thanks

― frogbs, Friday, 5 October 2012 14:49 (7 months ago) Permalink

"Baby how the weeks fade"

― comedy is unnatural and abhorrent (Scik Mouthy), Friday, 5 October 2012 15:37 (7 months ago) Permalink

And yes Wheat Thins were around back then, though I preferred (at the time) Chicken-In-A-Biskit.

― bass line has no point of view (Jon Lewis), Friday, 5 October 2012 15:39 (7 months ago) Permalink

hmmm. i think SM is probably right. oh well

Hollis doesn't really have a clear singing voice

― frogbs, Friday, 5 October 2012 15:43 (7 months ago) Permalink

I revisited "Laughing Stock" a couple days ago to see if I still hated it as much as I did, and I do. Gorgeous voice, gorgeous recording, but both those things make it all the more aggravating, it sounds like "five guys with no ideas spend eight months burning money and incense to make something a half decent jazz outfit could've (and did) record in a day".

It's weird though, b/c the "fritter away time in studio" process has worked great for Talk Talk imitators (Portishead, "In Rainbows"). I like "Spirit of Eden" a bunch and "The Colour of Spring" a hell of a lot though

― flamboyant goon tie included, Friday, 5 October 2012 15:54 (7 months ago) Permalink

You crazy, dawg.

― comedy is unnatural and abhorrent (Scik Mouthy), Saturday, 6 October 2012 22:55 (7 months ago) Permalink

Maybe, but Laughing Stock is still a record I dislike. If you handed me "In a silent way" and "Laughing stock" and asked me to do a blind taste test I probably couldn't tell which one was recorded in 1969 in a day and which one was recorded in 1989 in eight months. But on "Laughing stock" I feel the lack of focus to be suffocating, like, desperate, like these people grasping at straws...

AND like many other people round here my enjoyment of a record is influenced by "legacy" and "backstory" and SO I'm bringing a whole lot of baggage to the table, i.e. the memory of a decade of instrumental post-rock-- lots of it being totally awesome-- but lots of it being unapologetically watered-down new classical and jazz and was lauded and played to death by everybody. Not for me.

― flamboyant goon tie included, Saturday, 6 October 2012 23:28 (7 months ago) Permalink

― We demand justice: who murdered Chanel? (Matt P), Saturday, 6 October 2012 23:29 (7 months ago) Permalink

laaaaaaame

― Farrah Abraham had many songs/ many songs had Farrah Abraham (m bison), Saturday, 6 October 2012 23:34 (7 months ago) Permalink

Never really felt it to lack "focus"--if anything it seems pretty single-mindedly pursuing a certain effect, if a diffusive one.

― ryan, Saturday, 6 October 2012 23:59 (7 months ago) Permalink

Cool talking to you guys!

― flamboyant goon tie included, Sunday, 7 October 2012 00:06 (7 months ago) Permalink

"Laughing Stock" could have been recorded more quickly. And "Pet Sounds" probably could have been recorded in a couple of takes, too. (God only knows, I've seen that album done live, start to finish, but the live band had a great blueprint: the finished album, in all its fussy, studio-perfect glory.) With Talk Talk, the voyage and mythology is part of its appeal. Not just what "Laughing Stock" is, but how this New Romantic band got to that point, and more specifically the number of permutations "Laughing Stock" itself probably went through to evolve into what it is.

And "In A Silent Way" (for example) may have been recorded during one session, but that's not the same as saying the album only took one day to make.

― Josh in Chicago, Sunday, 7 October 2012 01:00 (7 months ago) Permalink

hhaha I love both IASW and laughing stock, would never think to compare them though they share some...moods

― Farrah Abraham had many songs/ many songs had Farrah Abraham (m bison), Sunday, 7 October 2012 01:33 (7 months ago) Permalink

though I find myself com to spirit of Eden a lot more lately

― Farrah Abraham had many songs/ many songs had Farrah Abraham (m bison), Sunday, 7 October 2012 01:34 (7 months ago) Permalink

coming back to...

― Farrah Abraham had many songs/ many songs had Farrah Abraham (m bison), Sunday, 7 October 2012 01:35 (7 months ago) Permalink

I don't dislike the process in itself-- how could I? I'd hate almost every record-- but it rests with the knowledge that This is the album that required this process. It's like, really? Plus: I can hear you guys struggling to make it work. If the album sounded the exact same but they practiced it up before the studio, tracked it in a week, I'd probably feel differently-- but then, if that was the case, how would that record fit within their "voyage", you know?

Albums I really dislike are few and far between, but typically, after a little verbalization and distance, I realize that it's not the album itself I dislike but something extra-musical. Wasteful use of time and/or money, exploitative aspects, singer hits women, etc.

― flamboyant goon tie included, Sunday, 7 October 2012 02:13 (7 months ago) Permalink

"you guys struggling" = Hollis and co., not you guys

― flamboyant goon tie included, Sunday, 7 October 2012 02:16 (7 months ago) Permalink

Last Saturday I went for a late night walk listening first to "Laughing Stock" and then "IASW". That was awesome. Both albums are of course absolutely amazingly stunning. It was as fitting a soundtrack for a walk (and my particular mood that night) that one could ever find. I have no further point. Just felt like mentioning it, since both albms were discussed.

― Mule, Sunday, 7 October 2012 08:31 (7 months ago) Permalink

i will forever associate talk talk with coke-y yuppie new york discos and michael keaton. in a good way!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l0hbhf8TvF4

― messiahwannabe, Monday, 8 October 2012 04:33 (7 months ago) Permalink

damn, why is my video not in a nice lil youtube box like everyone else's? pls explain

― messiahwannabe, Monday, 8 October 2012 04:36 (7 months ago) Permalink

laughing stock is hella focused, the focus is groove

― emo canon in twee major (BradNelson), Monday, 8 October 2012 04:40 (7 months ago) Permalink

Yeah, bass part in "New Grass" rules, though you gotta turn it up to feel it.

― Josh in Chicago, Monday, 8 October 2012 13:22 (7 months ago) Permalink

damn, why is my video not in a nice lil youtube box like everyone else's? pls explain

I think you need to take the 's' out of 'https'

― my father will guide me up the stairs to bed (anagram), Monday, 8 October 2012 13:25 (7 months ago) Permalink

again, i thank you anagram, and proudly present to all of you: michael keaton in coke-y yuppie new york disco, with talk talk talk talking in the background.

― messiahwannabe, Thursday, 11 October 2012 04:05 (7 months ago) Permalink

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