Moonshake - Eva Luna: Classic or Dud

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first off, fuckin' Classic. Also, this must be one of the most overlooked albums ever. The only other time i've seen it acknowledged as a classic was Alternative Press' best of '85-'95 list. Has this album been forgotten? Does everyone else think it's a dud?

― Matt O'Malley, Sunday, 4 March 2001 01:00 (12 years ago) Permalink

classic. seems to have been dave callahan's peak, though big good angel was also classic. but on eva luna his words were apoclayptic and powerful and his snarling delivery, likely what everyone else has a problem with, is absolutely perfect and fitting. and margaet too, she had some spunk back then too, now too often with laika she is a bit too smooth and uninvolved emotionally especially on the dreadful 'good looking blues'.

― keith, Monday, 5 March 2001 01:00 (12 years ago) Permalink

For me I usually look at in the context of Laika later on and think "it's not unusual", but then I think "hang on, this was '92, and how many people were doing stuff this interesting then?" The rhythms are excellent, the singing alternately great or whiny. Overall, close to classic, but more the John The Baptist to the Jesus of "Silver Apples Of The Moon" than a total revelation in its own right.

― Tim, Monday, 5 March 2001 01:00 (12 years ago) Permalink

A classic album, no less. One I'd forgotten about for a while as well until I dug it out recently, it sounds as good now as it did then. Also saw them live around late '92 and they were awesomely powerful. "Big good angel" was good too, but the tension that was splitting the band was obvious there, whereas on "Eva Luna" it was used creatively to spurn each member into making a bigger more coherent whole.

― Rob M, Monday, 5 March 2001 01:00 (12 years ago) Permalink

Callahan's half of the record never did much for me - I'll concede that it's 'powerful', but the grinding bleakness and browbeating vocal delivery leave me utterly unmoved. Which is in complete contrast to Margaret's contributions, which are like slow-drip psychological torture compared to Dave's nailbomb attack. Which means I like them.

I heard little Moonshake after Ms Fiedler left; Laika went on to become something of an obsession of mine - dragging indie-pop friends to Young Gods shows in Wolverhampton just because they were supporting, almost going to see Radiohead in '97 for the same reason - that kind of madcap, zany behaviour.

And "Good-Looking Blues" isn't *awful* - the weakest of the three LPs, but come on... "Widow's Weeds"? "Go Fish"? "Knowing Too Little"?

― Michael Jones, Monday, 5 March 2001 01:00 (12 years ago) Permalink

Moonshake's post-split stuff is quit good as well. I need to sort of put the past few years of beat evolution out of my head and focus on the sonic texture for it to work, but then it sort of takes off.

― Sterling Clover, Monday, 5 March 2001 01:00 (12 years ago) Permalink

'sound your eyes can follow' was decent, especially on the excellent track 'shadows of tall buildings'. but 'dirty and divine' was very poor, at least to my ears. have they done anything since? i thought 'good looking blues' was far too stylized and i guess i couldn't appreciate margaret's attempts at real singing. i still love 'sounds of the satellites' and 'silver apples of the moon' though.

― keith, Monday, 5 March 2001 01:00 (12 years ago) Permalink

1 year passes...

The early nineties sported a flourishing indie scene, and Moonshake were one of the finest, not to mention innovative bands it spawned. The primal energy of "Eva Luna" is nothing short of pure brilliance. The first I ever heard of Moonshake was "Secondhand Clothes" about ten years ago and at the time, it scared the living shit out of me! So naturally, some ten years later, I simply had to track it down and their other releases. All of which are quite rewarding, but "Eva Luna" is most definately their finest moment. Also, I couldn't agree more on it being extremely underrated - they deserved way more recognition than they got. Classic or Dud - do I even need to answer that question?!

― Leigh Hawkins, Wednesday, 24 July 2002 00:00 (10 years ago) Permalink

1 year passes...

I bought this recently and find it to be classic.

― christhamrin (christhamrin), Wednesday, 26 May 2004 18:39 (9 years ago) Permalink

I sold this recently and REGRET NOTHING.

NOTHING!!!

(it is a great album though)

― ddb, Wednesday, 26 May 2004 18:44 (9 years ago) Permalink

Then why the regret? (I def. get why people might tire of it)

― christhamrin (christhamrin), Wednesday, 26 May 2004 18:51 (9 years ago) Permalink

What about that record with Michael Rother (on drums!) that said on the sleeve, "Featuring Mary Hansen of Sterolab!" I mean, RIP and all, but come on...

― Naive Teen Idol (Naive Teen Idol), Wednesday, 26 May 2004 19:04 (9 years ago) Permalink

What of Moonshake and their propulsive/claustrophobic sound!

W/the horns and the breaks and that chick doing what she does!

Oh, to be me in the early nineties...

― christhamrin (christhamrin), Wednesday, 26 May 2004 19:23 (9 years ago) Permalink

i just listened to this last night.

― strongo hulkington (dubplatestyle), Wednesday, 26 May 2004 20:07 (9 years ago) Permalink

this album goes into my "sell back" pile every year, then I stumble on a thread like this, pull it out, listen to it, go "yeah this is really good," keep it, then realize I haven't listened to it in a year, and so on. It must just be a once-a-year listen album.

― kyle (akmonday), Wednesday, 26 May 2004 20:16 (9 years ago) Permalink

Not for me motherfuckers! I will listen to this every day until I die. I am going to start mentioning them needlessly all the time like jon does w/the Boredoms.

― christhamrin (christhamrin), Wednesday, 26 May 2004 20:24 (9 years ago) Permalink

ok, I won't do that. but this and Disco Inferno along w/the hip-hop of the day will hopefully get me out of my current listening funk (if only it were actual funk i was listening to).

― christhamrin (christhamrin), Wednesday, 26 May 2004 20:29 (9 years ago) Permalink

it was probably th ebest album of the 90s. or just my favorite.

― keith m (keithmcl), Thursday, 27 May 2004 02:03 (9 years ago) Permalink

Let's talk about THOSE DRUMS. SO...AMAZING...!! Especially on "Beautiful Pigeon" which has that devastating Albini-esque drum sound, but somehow magnified. And then there's "Spaceship Earth" where every instrument is fighting for attention, and the cymbals are sucked in and out of focus, and GOOD LORD HOW DID THEY DO THAT? That's one effect I've never heard in any other song. Let's talk about THAT BASS next...THAT BASS!!!

― Ernest P. (ernestp), Thursday, 27 May 2004 02:49 (9 years ago) Permalink

3 years pass...

THAT BASS is great!!! "Tar Baby" is another awesome 90s song!

― Drugs A. Money, Thursday, 13 March 2008 14:06 (5 years ago) Permalink

I used to love all the lps on Too Pure. Moonshake was great. Not so sure it was underrated. I place them on the scale somewhere near AMP's mid-90s releases for Kranky, Laika (of course), and other labelmates Pram.

― U-Haul, Thursday, 13 March 2008 14:28 (5 years ago) Permalink

I still think 'Big Good Angel' was their finest hour

― braveclub, Thursday, 13 March 2008 15:29 (5 years ago) Permalink

1 year passes...

Listening to The Sound Your Eyes Can Follow for the first time and holy fuck why isn't this more feted? Sounds AMAZING to my ears.

― Tim F, Thursday, 10 December 2009 00:58 (3 years ago) Permalink

I never actually heard any of the post-split Moonshake records (guessing this isn't uncommon, Laika seemed to have the higher profile.)

― Fig On A Plate Cart (Alex in SF), Thursday, 10 December 2009 01:01 (3 years ago) Permalink

The Sound... is a bit less impressive than Laika rhythmically but the textures are pretty amazing, lots of totally unhinged jazzy sound samples piled on top of one another to the point of collapse.

― Tim F, Thursday, 10 December 2009 01:12 (3 years ago) Permalink

How prevalent are Callahan's vocals? That was always my biggest issue with his half(s) of the earlier Moonshake record.

― Fig On A Plate Cart (Alex in SF), Thursday, 10 December 2009 01:21 (3 years ago) Permalink

As prevalent as before, pretty much...

― Tim F, Thursday, 10 December 2009 01:53 (3 years ago) Permalink

everything after eva luna has that smoothed out vibe to it. part of the appeal, at least for me, of eva luna is the idea that it is all about to implode. maybe it was guy fixsen who was key. i hope he's mixed the new Klima record.

― keythhtyek, Thursday, 10 December 2009 02:56 (3 years ago) Permalink

The Sound... was a Wire Winner back when it was released. So, at least it was feted at the time.

― henry s, Thursday, 10 December 2009 12:55 (3 years ago) Permalink

2 years pass...

there seems to be a real divide between the male and female-led tracks here. his songs bring a jagged Gang of Four vibe to the plate, while hers have a routinely moody and hypnotic feel to them, obscure with cluttered instrumentation and voice-from-the-adjacent-room effect. i can't quite work out which approach i prefer, but the fact that both sides exist, signals them as a hell of an interesting band.

― charlie h, Thursday, 4 October 2012 12:35 (8 months ago) Permalink

5 months pass...

great album! listening to it now for the first time. reminds me of the Too Pure stuff i like.

― scott seward, Monday, 1 April 2013 18:10 (2 months ago) Permalink

Any ideas why the UK and US versions had their sides swapped over, so the UK side one was US side two etc?

― Rob M Revisited, Monday, 1 April 2013 18:33 (2 months ago) Permalink

i dunno but the 11th song on my copy is so awesome. the guitars rule!

― scott seward, Monday, 1 April 2013 18:37 (2 months ago) Permalink

1 month passes...

still buzzing off this album

― charlie h, Thursday, 16 May 2013 14:12 (1 month ago) Permalink

Gee I guess I should really revisit! Every revive is gushing on this thread.

― Evan, Thursday, 16 May 2013 15:34 (1 month ago) Permalink

This is their best album yeah

― Just noise and screaming and no musical value at all. (Colonel Poo), Thursday, 16 May 2013 15:38 (1 month ago) Permalink

How strange I never posted on this thread! I will always remember them and their live show in 1993 at the Palladium in LA opening for PJ Harvey on a three band bill. (Middle band: Radiohead. What a world.)

― Ned Raggett, Thursday, 16 May 2013 15:53 (1 month ago) Permalink

If you like the guitars and the Dave Callahan songs on this album, it's well worth checking out Attitude, which was the last record by his previous band, the Wolfhounds. By that stage in their career (1989/90), they'd moved right away from what most people would associate them with (i.e. 'Anti-Midas Touch', the C86 scene and generally sounding a bit like the Fall), they were on more of a Sonic Youth kick instead, but unlike most of their contemporaries here, they were doing so in a totally wideawake and non-shoegazey way (maybe it was this that led to them being totally ignored at the time?). Anyhow, some of my favourite multi-guitar-pile-up sounds of the era. The best songs (Vertical Grave, Celeste) aren't on Youtube, but this one is:

― dschinghis kraan (NickB), Thursday, 16 May 2013 16:26 (1 month ago) Permalink

That's awesome... I wish I could preview a bit more of that album.

― Evan, Thursday, 16 May 2013 17:03 (1 month ago) Permalink

(Wolfhounds)

― Evan, Thursday, 16 May 2013 17:04 (1 month ago) Permalink

I got to play this "out", as I believe the young people say - well, "Little Thing", at a little DJ night my pal runs. Still can't work out the track order from the sleeve or label to this day.

― Michael Jones, Thursday, 16 May 2013 17:15 (1 month ago) Permalink

Big Dave C is big in the birdwatching world these days:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/2011/dec/12/david-callahan-big-year

― Position Position, Thursday, 16 May 2013 18:02 (1 month ago) Permalink

not sure why but i was aware of that somehow.

― dschinghis kraan (NickB), Thursday, 16 May 2013 18:09 (1 month ago) Permalink

they did have a song called beautiful pigeon so there you go

― dschinghis kraan (NickB), Thursday, 16 May 2013 18:09 (1 month ago) Permalink

I recall back in '95 he used to work behind the counter at one of the Music & Video Exchange shops in London, so I'd guess he will be a lot happier with his current career.

― Damo Suzuki's Parrot, Thursday, 16 May 2013 18:40 (1 month ago) Permalink

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