Malicious TS: VDGG vs. Ultrasound

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Or better yet, VDGG vs. Strangelove. Sorry, it's the vox.

dave q, Wednesday, 26 June 2002 00:00 (10 years ago) Permalink

Nothing I like better than slaughtering a 'sacred cow' that's sacred to only 0.00003% of the population!

dave q, Wednesday, 26 June 2002 00:00 (10 years ago) Permalink

and that would be me, i suppose? I saw Ultrasound on "Later". Their first number was quite incredibly good, their second quite incredibly lame. I then saw them live. The support act was Dark Star, who were a fair bit better, to be honest. Ultrasound started off really well, like some amalgam ov Pere Ubu and Hawkwind, but they only had one pace, one volume, one tone etc, so it got a bit old after a coupla numbers. I think Ultrasound would have been a lot more succesful, both musickally & artistically, had they had better/more proactive A&R, IE they needed editing. It's a bit of a shame, really, coz i thought they had a lot of potential. Tiny Wood's vox, either w/ultrasound or his previous band, Sl33py P30pl3 have never reminded me even slightly ov Peter Hammill's. On the album he did w/thee sl33p!ez "blunt na!ls !n a sharp wall", he sounded rather like Roger Chapman from Family (a good thing IMO) on the Ultrasound rekkids i have (somewhere) he's a bit more like David Thomas from Pere Ubu. Strangelove I have never heard not once ever, so I have no idea if I'm missing anything. Van Der Graaf Generator would prob. be my pick for best band ever - they'd probably win against anything you care to mane for me, w/the possible exception ov Popol Vuh.

Norman Phay = 0.00003%, Wednesday, 26 June 2002 00:00 (10 years ago) Permalink

Just for writing "Vision," Peter Hammill is some sorta genius.

Ned Raggett, Wednesday, 26 June 2002 00:00 (10 years ago) Permalink

Ultrasound definitely had moments of aceness, but I agree that they needed some serious editing. Everything Picture was a sprawling mess, especially the double-CD version. The 30-odd minute ending track was unbelievably pointless. "Same Band" is still an ace, ace song.

electric sound of jim, Wednesday, 26 June 2002 00:00 (10 years ago) Permalink

Ultrasound are my secret shame. I really like them.

Tim, Thursday, 27 June 2002 00:00 (10 years ago) Permalink

Hey, Mr Phay, weren't you actually in Sl33py P30pl3 at some point?

RickyT, Thursday, 27 June 2002 00:00 (10 years ago) Permalink

Tiny indeed has been inspired a great deal by Pere Ubu. Tiny and Richard were a fine songwriting team, but in-band politics made Ultrasound an implosion waiting to happen. Good to see Richard's new outfit, The Somatics, doing the kind of gorgeous pop that he's alway's been capeable of writing.

Marina organ, Thursday, 27 June 2002 00:00 (10 years ago) Permalink

6 years pass...

I pulled out "Everything Picture" again and I have to say it holds up pretty well in my book (the 40 minute title track is still pretty absurd though). I'm going to guess l0u1s jagg3r was a fan.

Michael F Gill, Monday, 22 September 2008 00:17 (4 years ago) Permalink

good guess

(this thread is the biggest Noodle Vague bait ever, so much so that I can only presume Dave Q was an early sockpuppet of his)

J4gger Dynamic Pentangle (Just got offed), Monday, 22 September 2008 00:22 (4 years ago) Permalink

Also it's not a 30 or 40 minute closing track, it's a 22-minute closing track with a load of silence then a secret track at the end. And it's ace.

J4gger Dynamic Pentangle (Just got offed), Monday, 22 September 2008 00:35 (4 years ago) Permalink

To myself, I call the section from about 5:30 to 7:30 "The Great Gig In The Galaxy".

J4gger Dynamic Pentangle (Just got offed), Monday, 22 September 2008 00:36 (4 years ago) Permalink

so much so that I can only presume Dave Q was an early sockpuppet of his)

― J4gger Dynamic Pentangle (Just got offed),

RONG. DQ - guy from Canada. He mlived in Londodn, I dunno if he still does.

And, to answer Ricky T's question from all those years ago, yes, I did (briefly) play for the sleepies. It was not a happy experience.

The Plastic Fork (Pashmina), Monday, 22 September 2008 01:38 (4 years ago) Permalink

1 year passes...

THEY'RE BACK

YES I KNOW

BUT SERIOUSLY, THEY'RE BACK

so you want Mark Ronson to cry into your ass (acoleuthic), Tuesday, 6 July 2010 13:12 (2 years ago) Permalink

RFB PRESENTS... ULTRASOUND
+ special guests

LONDON: The Lexington
THU 9TH SEP, 2010 7.30pm
Rockfeedback presents...

ULTRASOUND (special one-off re-union show)- When Tim Smith of the Cardiacs suffered (ironically) a heart attack, Ultrasound were asked to reform for a benefit concert to raise money for him, and of course they couldn’t refuse, so at the start of the new decade, the 5 members of Ultrasound met, and with 4 clicks of the sticks, arrived back home. With this a decision was made to reform - currently rehearsing and writing material for a new album. This marks a sneak preview of material classic and new for the cult Rough Trade band - former media darlings, fan faves and legendary characters.

so you want Mark Ronson to cry into your ass (acoleuthic), Tuesday, 6 July 2010 13:12 (2 years ago) Permalink

What the what. This is amazing.

James Mitchell, Wednesday, 7 July 2010 10:50 (2 years ago) Permalink

How big is Tiny these days I wonder?

Matt DC, Wednesday, 7 July 2010 10:51 (2 years ago) Permalink

Got my ticket! See you all there!

RIP la petite mort (acoleuthic), Saturday, 10 July 2010 22:33 (2 years ago) Permalink

cult Rough Trade band

?? nothing they released was on RT

i broke it; it was going well (electricsound), Sunday, 11 July 2010 01:41 (2 years ago) Permalink

1 month passes...

floodlit world still hits a sweet note

do you know sixty (electricsound), Friday, 3 September 2010 14:31 (2 years ago) Permalink

SO EXCITED YOU GUYS

acoleuthic, Thursday, 9 September 2010 11:45 (2 years ago) Permalink

3 months pass...

how have the reunion shows been

midiverb II program 49 (electricsound), Friday, 17 December 2010 03:48 (2 years ago) Permalink

one I saw was pretty good and they closed with an excellent new song, 'sovereign heart'

schlomo replay (acoleuthic), Friday, 17 December 2010 04:22 (2 years ago) Permalink

1 month passes...

i gotta say my favourite post-ultrasound thing is the minuteman album. in fact some days i prefer it to everything picture

whole lotta cocorosie (electricsound), Friday, 21 January 2011 08:21 (2 years ago) Permalink

6 months pass...

apparently there's a new ultrasound single 'welfare state' out at the end of next month

who woulda thunk

Who? Well, I've never heard of Mogwai. (electricsound), Friday, 22 July 2011 10:12 (1 year ago) Permalink

the track 'sovereign heart' lj mentions above is the b-side

Who? Well, I've never heard of Mogwai. (electricsound), Friday, 22 July 2011 10:13 (1 year ago) Permalink

2 weeks pass...

http://soundcloud.com/label-fandango/sets/welfare-state-sovereign/

Excellent comeback single from these guys. The lyrics are really great and kind of honest.

They never topped Kurt Russel for me, maybe my favourite B-side of all time.

Kitchen Person, Saturday, 6 August 2011 04:37 (1 year ago) Permalink

yeah that was their highpoint for sure. i pretty much loved everything they did up to the album, which i still feel would have been vastly improved by chopping off the, uh, long piece

he shit me and it felt like a piss (electricsound), Saturday, 6 August 2011 05:00 (1 year ago) Permalink

my cd player came with a special button that let you stop listening when the long piece started if u couldn't handle it

i'm sorry for whatever (Noodle Vague), Saturday, 6 August 2011 05:00 (1 year ago) Permalink

Entire Mayflower ep their highpoint really.

Tim F, Saturday, 6 August 2011 05:02 (1 year ago) Permalink

haha because it wasn't on the album and this predated youtube I'd never heard "I'll Show You Mine..." until just then.

It's not very good.

Tim F, Saturday, 6 August 2011 05:04 (1 year ago) Permalink

an album where half of it has to be skipped can't be very good, y'know?

he shit me and it felt like a piss (electricsound), Saturday, 6 August 2011 05:09 (1 year ago) Permalink

Was there a single disc version of the album incidentally?

Tim F, Saturday, 6 August 2011 05:13 (1 year ago) Permalink

it's the last track on the 2nd CD of a nouveau prog record released in an era when record companies wd stick a free pair of jesus' testes on a bonus disc if they thought it wd help shift a few copies, i don't think of it as a major flaw tbh

i'm sorry for whatever (Noodle Vague), Saturday, 6 August 2011 05:14 (1 year ago) Permalink

tim: the standard UK version was single-disc

he shit me and it felt like a piss (electricsound), Saturday, 6 August 2011 05:22 (1 year ago) Permalink

welp anyway i coincidentally have my copy here in front of me and save for 'aire & calder' i don't remember how any of the non-single tracks go. so perhaps i'm being unfair

he shit me and it felt like a piss (electricsound), Saturday, 6 August 2011 05:23 (1 year ago) Permalink

Okay so "Welfare State" is pretty hilair.

Tim F, Saturday, 6 August 2011 05:30 (1 year ago) Permalink

I don't remember there being a single disc version of Everything Picture. I always liked the album but I was expecting so much more. I've no idea why Fame Thing was on there and Kurt Russell wasn't.

A few years later I made my own version of the album which I play a lot more these days.

1.Same Band
2.Stay Young
3.Suckle
4.Kurt Russell
5.I'll Show You Mine
6.Underwater Love Story
7.Floodlit World (Original version with the piano intro)
8.Aire & Calder
9.Sentimental Song
10.Best Wishes
11.My Impossible Dream
12.Happy Times (Are Coming)

Kitchen Person, Saturday, 6 August 2011 13:47 (1 year ago) Permalink

3 weeks pass...

like this new single a lot - it's like they've never been away

vinyl cut bro (electricsound), Tuesday, 30 August 2011 00:05 (1 year ago) Permalink

Yeah the new single is kind of ridiculous but really great. Hope they do more live shows this year, I saw them last November and it was such a blast.

Kitchen Person, Tuesday, 30 August 2011 00:22 (1 year ago) Permalink

6 months pass...

new album soon!

http://www.clubfandango.co.uk/news.php?id=584

some crap (electricsound), Tuesday, 13 March 2012 08:23 (1 year ago) Permalink

(minor tangent: whoever writes these press releases for fierce panda etc need a NEW GODDAMN SCHTICK)

some crap (electricsound), Tuesday, 13 March 2012 08:27 (1 year ago) Permalink

3 months pass...

And so apparently the album is out?

Ned Raggett, Thursday, 14 June 2012 14:14 (11 months ago) Permalink

I read the album is out September 24th on Fierce Panda. It's called Play For Today.

Kitchen Person, Thursday, 14 June 2012 14:24 (11 months ago) Permalink

Well then call me a liar, you would anyway.

Ned Raggett, Thursday, 14 June 2012 14:25 (11 months ago) Permalink

I only know this as I seem to get constant updates from them after liking them on Facebook. Probably will buy this to be honest.

Kitchen Person, Thursday, 14 June 2012 14:28 (11 months ago) Permalink

Also yeah it's taken me a minute to get your reference, I just woke up thats my excuse.

Kitchen Person, Thursday, 14 June 2012 14:30 (11 months ago) Permalink

Oh no worries. I was just waiting for something to happen.

Ned Raggett, Thursday, 14 June 2012 14:33 (11 months ago) Permalink

I don't really care.

Kitchen Person, Thursday, 14 June 2012 14:40 (11 months ago) Permalink

That's all I got.

Kitchen Person, Thursday, 14 June 2012 14:40 (11 months ago) Permalink

Fin.

Ned Raggett, Thursday, 14 June 2012 14:51 (11 months ago) Permalink

can't wait

relatively joan rivers (electricsound), Thursday, 14 June 2012 22:42 (11 months ago) Permalink

1 month passes...

well this is just luvverly

we know about this ---˃ (electricsound), Friday, 10 August 2012 04:24 (9 months ago) Permalink

3 months pass...

Saw them last night at the Jericho Tavern in Oxford and they were great....the track electricsound links to above was a particular highlight. Check out the album 'Play for Today'.

Grandpont Genie, Friday, 7 December 2012 13:49 (5 months ago) Permalink

love the record, tbqh i far prefer it to everything picture

site nuances (electricsound), Friday, 7 December 2012 13:57 (5 months ago) Permalink


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