Cleaners From Venus - C or D?

http://www.theedge.abelgratis.co.uk/booksmusic/lostinmusic.htm

It's quite a funny, self-deprecating book, worth a read if you like the band.

Now that super poppy lo-fi "lone weirdo" warped-tape music is all the rage these days, I suggest a brief revisiting of Martin Newell's early work.

Would welcome an anthology of the Cleaners' actual tape stuff (as opposed to the LPs which are relatively accessible these days).

My dad has the original cassettes back when you could buy them only by writing to Newell personally (yes, I would have that father). I'll upload them one day, they'll probably all sound pretty wobbly though.

thanks to Ariel Pink's list of favourite musicians i heard this band.
they are great. like an obscure version of XTC, maybe more 60's influenced and Living With Victoria Grey is a masterpiece.

http://c1.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images02/119/m_03c03167613548278e9bad3ea2db0d7c.jpg

Classic band, though the meat of their output is contained on a pair of compilations, "Golden Cleaners" and "Back From The Cleaners".

Dude please upload those cassettes! AFAIK the compilations are taken from re-recorded LP versions. I've never heard any of the actual cassette stuff.

the first three of the cleaners' cassette-only albums have been remastered and re-reissued by captured tracks. 1981's blow away your troubles, their first release, is a double album, while the next two (both from 1982) are single LPs. so far, the individual albums are vinyl-only, but there's also a 3-disc CD box set available.

i just picked up the first two albums and they've been soundtracking my weekend (they debuted on record store day, but aren't RSD-exclusive releases). had never heard the band, but i'm loving this stuff to death. wish i'd heard it way back when.

also, the allmusic.com reviews of the early cleaners albums are horrible and should really be redone. yes, the sound isn't perfect, but it isn't an impediment to enjoyment, and they deserve a little more respect.

Thanks for the tip! The 3 releases are available on emusic too, i see.

We spoke to Martin Newell last week. He has an interesting back story.

I've playing the hell out of Midnight Cleaners for the last few days. It's such a great album.

yeah, that's the one i don't yet have, and i'm itching to pick it up. i say this cuz blow away your troubles is obviously formative, with lots of the sorts of half-baked fragments, sketches, jokes and experiments you'd probably expect from an hour-long, home-recorded cassette debut. the upwards leap up in songwriting and recording ambition w/ on any normal monday is massive. they're both good records, but the latter is a lot more accessible and consistent.

also a bit surprised by how strongly jazz, funk and dub influenced this early stuff is. not what i'd been led to expect of the cleaners. and super druggy. the best stuff on both albums leans towards anthemic/yearning guitar pop, but there's a lot of variety in other directions.

Great article! His current life/array of projects makes me jealous, totally admirable.

saw the HUUUUGE box set on Record Store Day and was tempted

The Mighty Plod, his glam band in the early 70s, whose Neo City can be found on the Velvet Tinmine compilation

had no idea this was him! awesome

And I had some thoughts today:

http://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/16553-blow-away-your-troubles-on-any-normal-monday-midnight-cleaners/

I'm pleasantly surprised to see that it's on Spotify. At least until it gets replaced by live Pussy Galore tracks.

I have CDrs of all the cassettes but I ordered this new set as silver CD >>> CDr, I really hope they release them all!

don't know if i've ever heard these guys! but ned's review today made me want to.

Another year, another reissues boxset, another Pitchfork review from yours truly

http://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/17610-cleaners-from-venus-in-the-golden-autumn-under-wartime-conditions-songs-for-a-fallow-land/

Loving this stuff so much. "Young Jobless" is a new favorite.

Great review, Ned.

Thanks kindly!

just in time for Father's Day

last night after I put her to bed my daughter held a private concert in her room featuring a 15-minute rendition/repetition of the chorus to "Only a Shadow"

Did she nail the guitar part that comes after?

anybody heard Vol. 3 yet

Didn't even know it was out!

comes out June 10th...?

http://www.capturedtracks.com/shop/_ct-release/ct-202-203-204-205-cleaners-from-venus-vol-3-vinyl-box-set/

as much as i've been enjoying vol 1 and 2, i think i'm a bit cleanersed out at this point

b-b-b-but this is arguably the peak period here

awesome!

ugh so good

vol 1+2 is the best thing I've heard in a while. mindblowingly good tunes & i can't believe i've never heard of these guys before

Wish I could afford vol 3 atm

Thanks for the reminder- I haven't listened to my copy of vol. 1 + 2 in awhile. Must revisit.

anybody heard any of the gypp stuff? i've only heard "ex-army boy" on a stray trolleys comp... i like it!

well I ordered Vol. 3

I find this axis of British 80s jangledelia endlessly fascinating - the axis of Partridge/Newell/Hitchcock, descended from Barrett. Are there other notables out there I'm unaware of?

television personalities? maybe that's something a bit different

Some stuff by the Go-Betweens hits me in a similar place.

but they're from Australia!

who ever heard of Australian whimsy

Australian whimsy is decidedly unpsydchedelic

well this does not disappoint!

great to hear the original versions of tracks that eventually ended up on Greatest Living Englishman (can def hear Partridge's hand in that by comparison)

Hm sign me up for that. I like the songs on Greatest...Englishman a lot but the production kind of sucks.

"she's marilyn.. OHOH marilyn on a train" *swooons*

a lot but the production kind of sucks

it's primarily the string arrangements that I don't dig. so hearing We'll Build a House and Before the Hurricane in their original less fusty incarnation is nice. Partridge did add some sparkle and some decent vocal harmonies/countermelodies to the more jangly stuff like er Jangling Man and Home Counties Boy and Christmas in Suburbia.

Iirc though there's those fake sounding drums on it

well I can say that the drums on the Cleaners stuff are still plenty fake albeit cheaper sounding, which has its own charm

Yeah blatantly fake drums are fine around here. Partridges drums on that record sounded like triggered samples or something.

I love "Greatest Living Englishman" unreservedly, production and all. But I agree that it's cool to hear the original versions. Newell has this incredible knack for writing songs that convey the everyday smalltown England experience in vivid and compelling slices.

drowning butterflies prob my fave example of same

lol @ this song that references the Stone Roses (in the middle of a typical working-class leftist screed; something he's better at than most tbh)

original version of Home Counties Boy is nice and all, but Partridge's influence on that resulted in a definite improvement, the Greatest...Englishman version adds a bunch of nice touches with the descending melody and additional harmonies

Weird, one of these songs (Pearl) is an andy partridge-penned song, some demo he didnt use.

Anyone heard the recent Cleaners albums? I went off Martin's album some time ago - the first few solo albums are ace but after that, meh.

I really can't seem to run out of praise for Living With Victoria Grey. I have all three box sets (my vector for discovering them thanks to my abiding faith in Captured Tracks) and it's easily the best album of the lot.

jeeeeez, i don't know how i always miss this stuff for so long. the other day i was listening to Belong (criminally underrated) and realized one of their songs was a cover of cleaners from venus' cover of syd barrett "late night". then i found tripmaker's spotify playlist, a couple hours long, and here i am. i'm still in newbie zone but looking forward to comparing originals to re-recorded versions at some point.

i've only heard the volume 1 albums but there's so many gems on them. 'corridor of dreams' is incredible

i just came across these guys (or guy moreso) last night searching on spotify for artists similar to r stevie moore. the album "midnight cleaner" is amazing. theres a great range of stuff on it from anthemic guitar pop synth stuff and "vivenhoe bells" which is just a gorgeous snapshot of rural england. going to have a lot of fun trawling through the large back catalogue

box sets are incredible, highly recommended

Im surprised at how accomplished at how this stuff for a cassette dude. The arrangements on "vivenhoe bells" are amazing.

Diy cassette dude. Blargh phone

Finally dipped a toe into their catalog by picking up "Living With Victoria Grey", and I can already tell I'm going to end up on a deep dive into their cassette stuff. It just feels so effortless -- like Clara Bow is clearly not trying to disguise itself as anything else besides a Beatles pastiche, but he's got the hooks to back it up.

That said, I would gladly pay 2x as much for a copy without all the Shmootie Patootie skits between songs. Do all their 80's albums have that crap on them? Calling Ned Raggett...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B9XrdvpbV8s