the feelies - classic or dud?

From the reunion show, Away:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F4tkJ1ts9LI

I thought they had reissued Crazy Rhythms? Did it get delayed or something? I already have it so I haven't been paying attention.

the band owns the masters and has been planning on a reissue for a while, i think. it hasn't happened yet.

My hope would be they delayed it because they decided to reissue it properly, as a double disc chock full of early tracks and the awesome covers they did in that era. I doubt it though.

kornrulez, thanks for the video! great stuff.

so jealous

hope this turns into a full-fledged Mission of Burma style reunion, with touring, recording, etc. i kinda doubt it, but I guess the new songs they're playing bodes well for something beyond the shows this week. and hey, maybe Bill Million, after being a security guard at Disney World, has realized that being in one of the best rock bands of the last 30 years is pretty sweet.

I have two tickets to this, but my date for the day doesn't want to go. I'm quite pissed.

>:8

(that was some kind of angry emoticon in solidarity with you)

It's okay. If I were a real man I'd do something manly and forceful. Too bad I'm not...

Feelies rule!

maybe Bill Million, after being a security guard at Disney World

Don't sell him short. He was doing computer stuff...

From the NY Times article
When he abruptly moved to Florida, he worked on security for Disney World, doing computer programming for access systems. But when one of his sons started playing guitar, Mr. Million was drawn back to the instrument. “It sounds odd to me to even call this a reunion,” he said. “It’s just that we’ve gotten together after a long break.”

http://www.mediabistro.com/fishbowlLA/original/mickey%20mouse.jpg

Supposedly, Water's planned reissue was unauthorized, but the first two albums are slated to come out on Bar/None Records later this year. I wrote them to confirm this.

Here's what I wrote about Crazy Rhythms and The Good Earth.

yeah i just saw on the other music email update that water was reissuing Only Life, too! seemed weird since they never got around to getting crazy rhythms reissued .... but yeah, if there isn't going to be any extra stuff on the reissues, i probably won't buy them. maybe. i probably will.

IATTOQ

They're kind of a band that only people who are *into music* are into.

AIR?

That Disney World thing was my favorite fact. Why not a whole article on Million's experiences riding a monorail?

also: lol "Mr Million."

so if you are like me and far away from NYC (and Hoboken), you can check out (very good!) recordings of a few of last week's feelies shows at www.nyctaper.com. coupla new songs, "outdoor miner" (!) and good times so far.

Who is playing drums? Demeski?

yep, it's demeski (and weckerman on percussion). basically the lineup who recorded good earth, only life and time for a witness. listening to the july 1 show right now -- sounds great! could easily pass for a 1991 show. in fact, mercer, might be playing guitar better these days ...

Since New Jersey’s favorite nerds played a Fourth of July gig with Sonic Youth in New York’s Battery Park, they’ve reasserted their reputation as one of the best bands of the 1980s, despite a career that never really felt like taking flight (aside from a trip to Florida, where the band worked as security guards for Disneyworld).
http://dustedmagazine.com/reviews/4501
I hate music journalists sometimes.

"(aside from a trip to Florida, where the band worked as security guards for Disneyworld)"

lets call it laziness

Any news on whether they're going to record? Wasn't that part of the reunion plans?

isn't there another NY show this fall? at the bowery or somesuch? frankly, i'm not going to hold my breath for frantic feelies activity, as much as I'd love some real touring and a new record ...

when are they going to reissue that goddamn Crazy Rhythms for crying out loud.

I am just anal enough that I emailed Dusted and asked them nicely to double-check their facts on the Security Guards thing, and they've changed it. I feel much better.

Was re-listening to Glenn Mercer's "Wheels in Motion" and parts of it really are pretty good.

Bar/None replied to my emails but ignored my questions about The Feelies. Those albums really need to be in print again.

Someone please translate this for me

I mean, are the French getting a reissued Crazy Rhythms before anyone else?

I knew taking four years of French was going to be a waste.

The author bought a copy of Crazy Rhythms on CD, enticed by the inclusion of "Paint It Black" as a bonus track. He doesn't tell us whether it was a new release, but keep in mind that "Paint It Black" appeared on the (now impossible to find) reissue that came out in the early '90s. Don't get your hopes up.

Damn - but thanks. Think I was thrown by that album art.

Yeah, I have no idea what that came from.

Weirdly, the 2008 Water Records reissue of Only Life seems to be available on Amazon. Water was supposed to reissue Crazy Rhythms as well at the beginning of the year, so I'm not sure why one came out without the other.

yeah i've seen Only Life in shops ... but since there's nothing new on it -- and it was apparently released without the band's input/approval, I haven't bought it. My vinyl still sounds good! But yeah, Crazy Rhythms has gotta be one of the biggest out of print records around right now! with the press they got from the reunion shows, you'd think the time would be right ...

I've quit holding my breath for reissues. But DAMN, this band need the Mondo Box Set With 50 Gazillion Rarities And A Scorching Live Show treatment. What's wrong with the world that this has not happened? Probably something like a lack of ambition on the band's part more than anything.

Can some über-geek fanboy get the ambition to compile this and then either a) present it to the band as requiring only their approval/liner notes and a decent label, or b) torrent the fucker?

Looks like the Feelies are playing a few shows this spring ... www.myspace.com/thefeelies Philly and DC, plus this slightly bizarre bill: http://www.remtribute.com/

After years and years of wondering about it, I'm finally listening to the Field Mice's cover of Loveless Love. Nice!

I bought their first album last year and thought it was terrible. I was wondering how anyone could consider it a classic. Maybe I heard it too late.

Maybe you have questionable taste.

seriously. crazy rhythms is one of the best albums ever recorded.

wtf. why can't a guy just not a like an album anymore?

it's ok if you don't like it, but what does "Maybe I heard it too late" mean?

i know exactly what he means.

I should love Bauhaus, but I can't stand them cos to me it sounded dated and thin when I first heard them in the 90's. To those who heard it at the time, it still sounds great.

Sometimes, you just have to hear an album in the time and context that it was recorded, otherwise it just doesn't sounds right hearing it for the first time years later..

This isn't the case with every band of course, but it's happened to me with a few..

"Maybe I heard it too late"

yeah, exactly what jack said. It might have sounded amazing and revolutionary in 1970 or whenever it came out, but I just don't think it translates well to me now. Maybe if I heard it in 1980 I'd like it right now, but I didn't. to me, it seems to me nothing more than a mediocre early 1980s college rock album-- one that grates on me considerably, actually. but I'm not hearing it in its original context. Anyway, I think REM's albums (or more accurately, isolated songs) transcend their time, but I don't feel the same about this album.

crazy rhythms was a huge influence on both REM and the formation of college rock. to call it a 'mediocre college rock album' is sorta ridiculous, since it was such a cornerstone album for many bands that followed, but i guess you're entitled to muck up this thread with your opinion if you please.

being influential alone doesn't make it a good album, but it does speak to the fact that this it is incredibly likeable. i heard it long after it was released (7-8 years ago or so) and gravitated towards it immediately. i'm wondering what exactly you find 'grating' about the album? the energy? it's such an accessible mix of post punk rhythmic propulsion and indie pop songwriting craftsmanship, hard to imagine any fan of television, the clean, or felt would be turned off in the least

I bought their first album last year and thought it was terrible. I was wondering how anyone could consider it a classic. Maybe I heard it too late.

reads different to me than saying "I don't like this record", if you want to know why the original comment warrants a response.

But if it grates on you, well there's a clue right there. It's not just that you don't like this album. It's not just like "I don't like the songs". The entire m/o of that album, the weird space it exists, the strange way it was recorded, the minimalism, the repetition, the simplicity, etc. Are all pretty unique and different, and it's hard to judge it in the context you're trying to judge it, i.e., is it as good college rock as REM.

Context isn't relevant as there really was no context, other then people considering it second rate Talking Heads at the time. There wasn't really 80s college rock yet. I first heard it some time in the 90s.

Yeah, I can't think of many records that sound like Crazy Rhythms (even the stuff that it supposedly influenced, or the Feelies later albums). I heard it in the 90s too, and it did not seem "of its time" or of any time really, though I think since then I've filled in the context of VU/Modern Lovers/Eno/Television/New Jersey ... Anyway, taste is taste, if didn't excite you, then it didn't excite you. It's probably one of my top 10 albums of the last 30 years, though ...

I haven't heard this record, but reading about it makes me want to.

I hadn't heard any Feelies at all until earlier today when totally randomly I wanted to hear the "Loveless Love" by the Field Mice and remembered it was a cover version, which led me to the original...

will investigate more.

I've never heard this Field Mice cover ... it's good?

yeah, my memory of the album is fading a bit, but what i remember was that the energy wasn't appealing to me for some reason, and i think it might have had something to do with the production. i remember it sounding kind of flat, perhaps lacking dynamic range or something to that effect. also, i thought i remember the lyrics being vaguely embarrassing to listen to... but, my memory of the album is no longer clear.