Tracey Thorn

A national treasure, in my house at least. I'd say her two most recent works are her best, but what say you?

― Obese Pony-hating Liberal (Billy Dods), Wednesday, 9 February 2011 21:06 (2 years ago) Permalink

Voted Walking Wounded but Tempermental is a great album too. Her two solo albums are better if put in 1 playlist and shuffled.

― brotherlovesdub, Wednesday, 9 February 2011 21:17 (2 years ago) Permalink

Never better than Idlewild in my opinion, so that one.

― ban this sick stunt (anagram), Wednesday, 9 February 2011 21:26 (2 years ago) Permalink

I think I've heard about 8 of these, out of those it would be between Walking Wounded and Out of The Woods. Eden is really great too.

― Kitchen Person, Wednesday, 9 February 2011 21:42 (2 years ago) Permalink

I love this woman.

Out of the Woods is one of my favorite singer-songwriter albums of the last few years: sharp and merciless. The perfect Thorn sampler would contain the best from AH-WW-Temperamental.

― Rich Lolwry (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, 9 February 2011 22:29 (2 years ago) Permalink

i really like both her solo albums, have never heard any EBTG one though.

― lex pretend, Thursday, 10 February 2011 09:15 (2 years ago) Permalink

Walking Wounded. Recipient of much snotty "coffee table drum'n'bass" jibes at the time, it's really a brilliant singer-songwriter record which gets the most out of the melancholy, afterhours quality of drum'n'bass, deep house and trip hop. No filler whatsoever, and Wrong and the title track (both mixes) are total classics. A lot of good remixes came off the back of it as well, especially Photek's version of Single.

You should get it Lex.

― I've been dancing since 9 and I'm tired and hungry (Dorianlynskey), Thursday, 10 February 2011 11:57 (2 years ago) Permalink

i keep meaning to listen to more EBTG. I guess I was pretty young & impressionable when Walking Wounded came out, and bought in to all of that "coffee table drum'n'bass" sneering without really bothering to listen-- just another band to never get around to. Certainly the few times I've heard EBTG or Tracey Thorn tracks in passing I've been startled by how affecting they were.

― the ipcress killfile (c sharp major), Thursday, 10 February 2011 12:26 (2 years ago) Permalink

i really liked the singles off walking wounded but just never got round to it due to being 13 at the time. not familiar with anything prior to that except the todd terry remix of "missing" which is classic 4eva obv.

i remember the sneering from the time though - the music press was actually pretty shit in the 90s, contra people's romanticism, right? i love her voice - mostly because of her performative strategy, where she sounds precise and somewhat distanced but never detached, this is never at the expense of the song's emotion - it's kind of like, drawing further back in order to make it more affecting.

― lex pretend, Thursday, 10 February 2011 12:33 (2 years ago) Permalink

also i may as well ask here, how does pre-WW EBTG material compare to thorn's solo albums? i should probably investigate them, since i can't imagine her solo career is a quantum leap in quality or anything.

― lex pretend, Thursday, 10 February 2011 12:35 (2 years ago) Permalink

I'm only familiar with the big singles and the Massive Attack collabs - the latter are gorgeous, especially Better Things.

― Inevitable stupid dubstep mix (chap), Thursday, 10 February 2011 12:47 (2 years ago) Permalink

Er, it doesn't follow that the music press was shit in the 90s - dance music has always had, and will always have, genre purists who get bent out of shape by outsiders using their style.

I only have Eden pre-WW, though Amplified Heart and a Distant Shore are meant to be good. Tracey and Ben don't even like the late 80s/early 90s stuff. The Like the Deserts Miss the Rain comp on Spotify is a good place to start - lots of WW-era tracks, incl the Photek remix and the mighty Tracey in My Room, mixed with some early 80s material. It's very much a band selection rather than a label one.

― I've been dancing since 9 and I'm tired and hungry (Dorianlynskey), Thursday, 10 February 2011 12:49 (2 years ago) Permalink

dance music press in the 90s was BANGIN

― idgi fridays (blueski), Thursday, 10 February 2011 12:50 (2 years ago) Permalink

Amplified Heart and maybe Idlewild are closest to the precision of Thorn's solo work. The early sophisti-pop EBTG albums aren't as sharp as prime Sade.

― Rich Lolwry (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Thursday, 10 February 2011 13:14 (2 years ago) Permalink

Er, it doesn't follow that the music press was shit in the 90s - dance music has always had, and will always have, genre purists who get bent out of shape by outsiders using their style.

yeah i never read the dance press in the '90s, as it was before i got into dance music - was more referring to how, at the time, it seemed every time i dipped into nme or select or q or whatever that there was some snide, wrong-headed sneering about the music i was into.

― lex pretend, Thursday, 10 February 2011 13:19 (2 years ago) Permalink

Tracey and Ben don't even like the late 80s/early 90s stuff

ha, i never realised this! i guess i'll go with that comp.

ben's released some great stuff on buzzin' fly - the latest tevo howard single is amazing, really liked the first mlle caro & franck garcia album too (second not so much).

― lex pretend, Thursday, 10 February 2011 13:21 (2 years ago) Permalink

iirc there was snide wrong-headed sneering about all kinds of music, the question was which subset of snide wrong-headed sneerers you aligned yourself to. (also this is still true and has always been true, about everything.)

― the ipcress killfile (c sharp major), Thursday, 10 February 2011 13:26 (2 years ago) Permalink

OTM

― I've been dancing since 9 and I'm tired and hungry (Dorianlynskey), Thursday, 10 February 2011 13:29 (2 years ago) Permalink

lex, this is my favorite late nineties EBTG track; it captures that late night/early morning sadness when you're not sure if you're drunk, horny, lonely, or all three.

― Rich Lolwry (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Thursday, 10 February 2011 13:30 (2 years ago) Permalink

Eden is great, Love and Money less so, after that it's mostly diminishing returns until WW. They're all worth hearing, apart from 'Language of Life' which is a duffer. They sounded lost in a blandly, glossy production which made their drum and bass reinvention post-Missing all the more startling. My favourite, pre WW is this song from 1982 which is wise and smart beyond her years:

― Obese Pony-hating Liberal (Billy Dods), Thursday, 10 February 2011 14:04 (2 years ago) Permalink

Having said that, 'Acoustic' from 1992 is a lovely album with some fascinating cover choices.

― Obese Pony-hating Liberal (Billy Dods), Thursday, 10 February 2011 14:07 (2 years ago) Permalink

I'd posit Amplified Heart as the comeback.

― Rich Lolwry (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Thursday, 10 February 2011 14:09 (2 years ago) Permalink

Artistically it was, but commercially it was a flop. Something Ben said:

We had a meeting with Warners three or four months after Amplified Heart came out and they thought our career was over and they dropped us. And before we left the meeting we said 'Can we just play you a couple of things we’ve been working on?' And we played them Protection and the Todd Terry mix of Missing and Warners still dropped us. They didn’t see a future unfortunately.

Classic major label thinking there.

― I've been dancing since 9 and I'm tired and hungry (Dorianlynskey), Thursday, 10 February 2011 15:36 (2 years ago) Permalink

I used to listen to Eden a lot working in the record department of the local Boots, one of the handful of albums there I could bear to play. Fond memories of that, but EBTG were always one of those groups who drifted in and out of my consciousness without ever firmly lodging there.

And this was a Peel anthem in the mid-80s that I adored, despite it being miles from the idioms I was interested in:

The one place you should not go anywhere near, Lex, is Marine Girls. Those records will bring you out in indie-hating hives.

― Alan Partridge Project (ithappens), Thursday, 10 February 2011 16:08 (2 years ago) Permalink

Artistically it was, but commercially it was a flop.

Initially! But when "Missing" took off AH went gold in the US.

― Rich Lolwry (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Thursday, 10 February 2011 17:02 (2 years ago) Permalink

Both Kevin Yost mixes of Five Fathoms are phenomenal.

― brotherlovesdub, Thursday, 10 February 2011 17:56 (2 years ago) Permalink

Now that I look, there were three KY mixes of Five Fathoms. The Dub mix is my favorite but they're all good. Shame the dub was never released on CD.

― brotherlovesdub, Thursday, 10 February 2011 17:59 (2 years ago) Permalink

xpost. Sorry, yes, you're right Alfred. But Missing was so tied up with Walking Wounded that I felt the comeback started with the embrace of dance music. And in the UK AH didn't return to the charts after the Missing remix.

― DL, Thursday, 10 February 2011 18:06 (2 years ago) Permalink

The first solo album is really strong. The fact it's just her and the guitar makes it feel so intimate, so when she sings these brutally deep lyrics it's so much more powerful. "A Distant Shore" is a perfect title for the album, because it sounds on the surface so languid and sun-kissed, yet the song-writing suggests so much more than just idyllic strumming.

That said, I voted for "Out Of The Woods" because I feel its consistently under-rated, and it's so good to have her back. The way she sings the last line of "It's All True" makes me go week at the knees, and "Grandy Canyon" is so direct with a performance that makes it feel like a personal address.

Tracey Thorn's twitter is a source of great joy too: http://twitter.com/tracey_thorn. With such talented parents, and such a sense of humour and good taste, I feel far too envious of her children.

― o0o00h really? (boxedjoy), Friday, 11 February 2011 16:38 (2 years ago) Permalink

Her gardening columns for Caught by the River are great too: http://caughtbytheriver.net/category/to-the-greenhouse/

Ben's North Marine Drive is the greatest of their pre-EBTG work, I'd say.

― bham, Friday, 11 February 2011 17:06 (2 years ago) Permalink

Tracey Thorn's twitter is a source of great joy too

yes!

― lex pretend, Friday, 11 February 2011 17:11 (2 years ago) Permalink

i actually think i've been a lot more amenable to her music because of it (not that i wasn't amenable before, just hadn't given it a great deal of thought)

― lex pretend, Friday, 11 February 2011 17:12 (2 years ago) Permalink

I like to imagine that Tracey and Ben have dinner parties that Grace Dent and Ewan Pearson come over to, and they always end in a drunken mess with the boys going through crates of records in the lounge while the girls sit by the telly laughing at BBC3 documentaries, and that I'm at these parties and it is great fun.

― o0o00h really? (boxedjoy), Friday, 11 February 2011 17:38 (2 years ago) Permalink

i'd like to imagine that Tracey goes through crates of records too :/

i have listened to eight Everything But The Girl albums, and the two most recent TT solo ones, since i last posted on this thread. they're pretty good! i am leaning in the direction of 'amplified heart' right now.

― the ipcress killfile (c sharp major), Friday, 11 February 2011 17:48 (2 years ago) Permalink

not just for the songs either - that feels like the perfect mid-point of her voice

― the ipcress killfile (c sharp major), Friday, 11 February 2011 17:55 (2 years ago) Permalink

Distant Shore

― Gukbe, Friday, 11 February 2011 17:55 (2 years ago) Permalink

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

― System, Tuesday, 15 February 2011 00:01 (2 years ago) Permalink

― omar little, Tuesday, 15 February 2011 00:15 (2 years ago) Permalink

Walking Wounded was part of my high school soundtrack. That woman's voice is so soulful and sad in its tone. Such a contrast to her twitter feed. I wish she would tour so I can see her live.

― Okay Pet Shop Boys Aren't That Bad. (lilsoulbrother), Tuesday, 15 February 2011 03:14 (2 years ago) Permalink

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

― System, Wednesday, 16 February 2011 00:01 (2 years ago) Permalink

Clock Opera remix of "You Are a Lover" is goooorgeous!

http://soundcloud.com/buzzinfly/tracey-thorn-you-are-a-lover

― Johnny Fever, Monday, 28 March 2011 11:20 (2 years ago) Permalink

Why wasn't her work with Massive Attack in this poll?

― You're Twistin' My Melody Man! (Geir Hongro), Monday, 28 March 2011 11:22 (2 years ago) Permalink

if you read the first post you might actually be able to work this out

― kris menace isn't even french (sic), Monday, 28 March 2011 11:36 (2 years ago) Permalink

OK. Missed the poll anyway, would have voted for "Eden", but also love her more dance oriented 90s work.

― You're Twistin' My Melody Man! (Geir Hongro), Monday, 28 March 2011 12:43 (2 years ago) Permalink

I think this may be what cements her as "the thinking gay man's Kylie", at least in my eyes

― ha ha ha ha jack my swag (boxedjoy), Saturday, 11 June 2011 23:52 (1 year ago) Permalink

Last year's solo record was so good -- one of the best singer-songwriter things in a while.

― The Edge of Gloryhole (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Sunday, 12 June 2011 00:35 (1 year ago) Permalink

I'll recommend that Clock Opera remix again...just because.

― Johnny Fever, Sunday, 12 June 2011 00:42 (1 year ago) Permalink

Alfred, i give in. I will check out this album asap since you mention it so often ;)

― jed_, Sunday, 12 June 2011 01:03 (1 year ago) Permalink

Missed this poll but might vote s/t for "Riverbed Dry" and other side 2 gems on top of "Fascination."

― 27 Dresses, 13 Assassins (Eazy), Sunday, 12 June 2011 01:04 (1 year ago) Permalink

Very curious to hear the Green Gartside song.

http://thequietus.com/articles/09608-tracey-thorn-tinsel-and-lights-christmas-album

― fun loving and xtremely tolrant (Billy Dods), Monday, 6 August 2012 19:43 (9 months ago) Permalink

That's a good choice for her voice.

― a regina spektor is haunting europe (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Monday, 6 August 2012 19:45 (9 months ago) Permalink

Her Twitter feed is hilarious, I kid you not. And she posts ALOT

― Iago Galdston, Monday, 6 August 2012 19:50 (9 months ago) Permalink

Tracey Thorn ‏@tracey_thorn
Just had to listen to A Distant Shore, for a thing. God but I loved singing that record! I can hear it in every note - I AM LOVING THIS!

― Iago Galdston, Tuesday, 14 August 2012 01:40 (9 months ago) Permalink

this isn't the first xmas record made by/for depressives, but it is the best.

― flesh, the devil, and a wolf (wolf) (amateurist), Sunday, 28 October 2012 09:31 (6 months ago) Permalink

Man, her cover of Low's "Taking Down the Tree" with Green is completely gorgeous.

― that mustardless plate (Bill A), Sunday, 28 October 2012 19:33 (6 months ago) Permalink

i forgot that was a low song!

yeah, that's a good one. her dolly parton doesn't really go anywhere, unfortunately, though it's hardly unpleasant.

i'll probably be listening to this one for a few months. it's already getting me in the mood for xmas (which i don't celebrate, but i enjoy the xmas sense-scape).

― flesh, the devil, and a wolf (wolf) (amateurist), Monday, 29 October 2012 02:18 (6 months ago) Permalink

Ordered the CD off the strength of listening to a few tracks streaming - given that first listen to "Joy" made me choke up like no other song this year the least I could do was actually pay for the album. Have a feeling this will get a lot of play in the A household over the festive season.

― that mustardless plate (Bill A), Monday, 29 October 2012 08:15 (6 months ago) Permalink

"col cold night" is terrific

― TracerHandVEVO (Tracer Hand), Monday, 29 October 2012 08:17 (6 months ago) Permalink

"joy" and a handful of others greyed out on uk spotify... w.. tf

― TracerHandVEVO (Tracer Hand), Monday, 29 October 2012 08:45 (6 months ago) Permalink

Really looking forward to buying this and busting it out over Christmas.

― comedy is unnatural and abhorrent (Scik Mouthy), Monday, 29 October 2012 09:22 (6 months ago) Permalink

I adore this woman.

― the ones that I'm near most: fellow outcasts and ilxors (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Monday, 29 October 2012 11:01 (6 months ago) Permalink

yeah, this is fantastic. i want to be besties with her.

― flesh, the devil, and a wolf (wolf) (amateurist), Friday, 9 November 2012 21:00 (6 months ago) Permalink

here you go y'all:

but srsly buy the album.

― flesh, the devil, and a wolf (wolf) (amateurist), Friday, 9 November 2012 21:04 (6 months ago) Permalink

OK now I am following TT and Ben Watt on Twitter....so awesome! Their tandem x factor tweets are hilarious

― Iago Galdston, Saturday, 17 November 2012 21:50 (6 months ago) Permalink

the new album is very nice, a cosy christmas album. but what happened to the last two songs? they have the most annoying drum machine on i can imagine. cheap sounding, unbearably loud and mixed to the front. how to kill one of the most gorgeous female voices with shitty "instruments" and production.

― alex in mainhattan, Wednesday, 21 November 2012 21:45 (6 months ago) Permalink

one of the most terrific songs i have heard this year. it has this cottonish cocteau twins sound. plus a tune going straight to the heart.

― alex in mainhattan, Wednesday, 21 November 2012 22:58 (6 months ago) Permalink

she's looked the same for 20-odd years but now she looks bloody great at 50.

― jed_, Wednesday, 21 November 2012 23:28 (6 months ago) Permalink

new album stream

― alex in mainhattan, Monday, 26 November 2012 05:40 (5 months ago) Permalink

Really liking her version of "River." Wasn't sure initially if her voice would be right for it but her lower, breathier vox and deliberate phrasing works great.

― that's not my post, Saturday, 1 December 2012 06:46 (5 months ago) Permalink

Temperamental only got a couple of votes in the poll at the start of the tread. I'd be pretty tempted to vote for it.

― that's not my post, Saturday, 1 December 2012 06:56 (5 months ago) Permalink

finally an xmas song i can get behind

― fauxmarc, Monday, 10 December 2012 21:07 (5 months ago) Permalink

i wanted to like this but ultimately it felt too "grown-up" in a sort of sunday paper family section way.

― Heterocyclic ring ring (LocalGarda), Monday, 10 December 2012 21:36 (5 months ago) Permalink

that is definitely not the best song on the album!

― alex in mainhattan, Tuesday, 11 December 2012 00:39 (5 months ago) Permalink

try hard candy christmas, e.g. what a wonderful xmas song!

― alex in mainhattan, Tuesday, 11 December 2012 00:44 (5 months ago) Permalink

i didn't like her cover of hard candy xmas much.

has anyone picked up her autobiography/memoir? bedsit disco queen. i'm curious to read it, but i worry--well i have a hard time imagining a tracey thorn memoir being terribly exciting, as much as i love a lot of her music.

― flesh, the devil, and a wolf (wolf) (amateurist), Friday, 15 February 2013 02:01 (3 months ago) Permalink

she seems literate and thoughtful in interviews, so who knows?

― the little prince of inane false binary hype (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Friday, 15 February 2013 02:02 (3 months ago) Permalink

yeah i'm sure it's thoughtful and smart--she is both of those things, and a good writer too. whether it's interesting is another matter. i'll probably pick it up eventually, but i haven't seen any reviews.

― flesh, the devil, and a wolf (wolf) (amateurist), Friday, 15 February 2013 02:09 (3 months ago) Permalink

as opposed to, say, Rosanna Cash, whose humorless memoir mirrored the way she abandoned what made her music most vital.

― the little prince of inane false binary hype (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Friday, 15 February 2013 02:15 (3 months ago) Permalink

a cursory glance online at a couple of reviews indicates it might be vv good.

― christmas candy bar (al leong), Friday, 15 February 2013 02:16 (3 months ago) Permalink

as opposed to, say, Rosanna Cash, whose humorless memoir mirrored the way she abandoned what made her music most vital.

― the little prince of inane false binary hype (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Thursday, February 14, 2013 8:15 PM (10 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

yeah, she really lost her mojo when she divorced her husband and went all "singer-songwriter" on us. kings record shop 4eva.

― flesh, the devil, and a wolf (wolf) (amateurist), Friday, 15 February 2013 02:26 (3 months ago) Permalink

has anyone picked up her autobiography/memoir? bedsit disco queen

probably halfway through it now, it's a really interesting read and she has a appealing writing style. i note she thinks calvin johnson started sub pop records

― rave revue (electricsound), Monday, 25 February 2013 22:12 (2 months ago) Permalink

radio 4's book of the week :-D

― dat neggy nilmar (wins), Monday, 4 March 2013 18:18 (2 months ago) Permalink

" i note she thinks calvin johnson started sub pop records"

:(

― flesh, the devil, and a wolf (wolf) (amateurist), Monday, 4 March 2013 23:55 (2 months ago) Permalink

Pretty simple mistake really. They're both labels started by smelly NW hippies.

― brotherlovesdub, Tuesday, 5 March 2013 01:03 (2 months ago) Permalink

Christgau's complimentary review of the memoir. Don't think he's heard their records much.

http://bnreview.barnesandnoble.com/t5/Rock-Roll/They-Don-t-Want-to-Talk-About-It/ba-p/9981

― the little prince of inane false binary hype (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, 5 March 2013 01:08 (2 months ago) Permalink