OPO: Mekons

I like that Fanglord is eating Smarties. Very European.

world premiere of film at DOC NYC in 3 weeks

http://www.docnyc.net/film/revenge-of-the-mekons/#.UmaqXvleaSo

Great choice of a picture on that site!

Do they have anything else that sounds like Ghosts of American Astronauts? I love that song.

Maybe "Millionaire"? You probably want to look at the albums like Rock and Roll, Curse of the Mekons, or I <3 Mekons.

Specifically? They've got a lot of lovely ballads, many sung by Sally Timms, but really, if you like that one, you'd like a lot of later Mekons. I'd check out the rest of that album, "So Good It Hurts," to start. Then maybe go to "Curse of the Mekons," or "OOOH" or "Journey to the End of the Night" or "I Heart Mekons."

Or maybe the Sally Timms solo album "To the Land of Milk and Honey," if you can find it.

Learning to Live on Your Own has a similar vibe.

Wow, thanks for all the great advise. I'm excited to discover some more of their stuff.

Advice too ;)

Gonna start with Curse of and look for the solo album by Sally Timms.

"Oblivion" off of The Edge Of The World is my favorite Sally sung track.

or the cover of Eric Anderson's "Wild and Blue"

John Anderson.

right

Saw her solo with a small band in a tiny 40 seat club once. Was an awesome show

or the cover of Eric Anderson's "Wild and Blue"

... on Curse, which I also highly recommend, I think it's my favorite.

Langford, Timms, Rico Bell will be at the film tnite... "Q&A to follow with director Joe Angio and the Mekons band members, moderated by Greil Marcus."

Def a must-see for fans... There are sequences about Lu's and Susie's pursuits (and now I'm curious what Tom does for a living that "should be done by robots"), and them all eating between writing and recording in Wales for Ancient & Modern. The Q&A took awhile to get going because everyone except Greil Marcus was in the loo; Sally expressed skepticism about all music documentaries, "but people seem to want them." Jon expressed amazement at the size of Steve Goulding's head.

Ha. Langford doesn't exactly have a small noggin himself. But seriously, Mekons banter is the best.

The last time I saw the band with Tom, who lately doesn't seem to travel much, Jon made fun of him a bunch for being a Hobbit farmer, tending to his many kids in the country. And Tom was rail-thin and mustached! The last time I saw them with him before that he was jetlagged and drunk and a mess, but so was the rest of the band.

Lu I know about. What does Susie do in her downtime? I love Rico's art. Steve is ... a paralegal or something like that?

Susie co-runs (or ran?) an art gallery, it seems. Dunno about Goulding.

Jeezus, Tom and Sally were primo sexbombs in the '80s. (which I remember, but it's nice to be reminded)

Luc Sante and Melvin Van Peebles (director's last film subject) were apparently in the audience too.

Steve pointed out that Kevin Lycett's head looked even bigger.

Wow, the Mekons doc is great. I actually learned quite a bit! Not least that the cover of "Curse" is written partly in Jon's blood but also features an honest to goodness pagan curse scribbled in real runes. I never thought about it before.

http://brooklynbugle.com/2014/07/10/this-is-the-greatest-rock-n-roll-song/

documentary gets week run in NYC late October, presumably treks across the US after.

good to hear! Thanks, will keep an eye open, very much wanna see this one.

Me too.

Langford was/is just doing some gigs in the UK. What's Sally Timms up to these days?

opening UK shows for Robbie Fulks the next two weeks

https://www.bloodshotrecords.com/tours-events/205

(Langford appears to be on most of those as well)

It's more than opening for Fulks. It's a full-on self-proclaimed "Mini Mekons," with the line-up of Jon Langford, Rico Bell, Sally Timms, Susie Honeyman *and* Robbie Fulks.

https://fbcdn-sphotos-h-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-xap1/t1.0-9/p370x247/10491065_10152326095011475_1453763667825830305_n.jpg

They had a send-off for Fulks, Langford and Timms here a week or so ago.

Oooh nice...

has to be said, if you follow jons facebook, the man looks to be loving every minute of his world at the moment.

its a joyous insight into the world of a man happy with his art and music.

He's a force of nature, and we are lucky to have him in Chicago.

He has a new band called Bad Luck Jonathan. Of course.

re chicago : yup.

used to be a constant presence of excellence in leeds during my time there.

you f*ckers got lucky.

(dont think we had the pleasure of a FAP when i was there a few years back josh ? shame .. was a great night !)

that said, if you were there, that just proves the night was even better than i thought !

met several of the chicago ile crew that night ..

some very nice clips of the mini-Mekons & Fulks expedition to Orkney, Jura, etc are on the Youtubes. Implied in this one is that they are making a recording there. "One of the best 100 records ever made on Jura...until they make more than 100": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cMQZUahnahU

Hadn't seen this thread, or I would've already mentioned how Jon Langford & Skull Orchard's Here Be Monsters hooked me right away. An ever-timely track, not nec. the best, but 'twill serve:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vJO6KR5A9wg

"Drone Operator" (above), one of the best of his recent songs, definitely

That latest Skull Orchard effort is very impressive

His extracurricular activity has been uniformly excellent: love Three Johns, his stuff with Sally, his collaboration with Richard Buckner is a hidden gem, and his solo albums. Oddly, the one he did with The Sadies fell completely flat for me.

The debut Mekons albums deserves a deluxe reissue with all associated singles - a singular vision for sure.

yeah I'm sure that Virgin CD with the 6 extra singles tracks is oop, might be tough to get licensing for the two Fast singles though

I don't know about that, EMI have put that stuff out on more than one occasion (most recently I think all 5 songs came out on that "Rigour, Discipline and Disgust" CD) and since EMI = Virgin these days it wouldn't seem impossible. Of course I've no idea about the actual licensing arrangements, so for all I know it has got more difficult since the last time.

The October 30th Mekons Symposium in NYC, listed below on the press email, looks interesting

REVENGE OF THE MEKONS will play for one week, October 29 – November 4, at Film Forum, 209 W. Houston St (W. of 6th Avenue), with screenings daily at 12:30, 2:45, 5:00, 7:15, and 9:30.

Mekons-related events in NYC on opening week:
After-party concert by Mekon Jon Langford at Bell House
in Brooklyn on Wed, Oct 29 at 9pm.
Go to www.thebellhouseny.com for tickets/more info.

Mekons Symposium at Columbia University
Thurs, Oct 30 at 7:30 pm.
Panelists include: Langford, Vito Acconci, Mary Harron, Jonathan Franzen, Greil Marcus, & Luc Sante. Free and open to the public. At Buell Hall, Maison Francaise (via main entrance, 2960 Broadway).

Ha, basically the "cast" of the film minus all the Mekons save Langford.

I guess none of the rest of them can make it to NYC

I imagine not. Tom can barely make it to Mekons gigs these days!

Wait doesn't Steve Goulding live in NYC? Think sometimes he plays drums for my neighbor. Maybe he's not considered a Mekon anymore.

Steve is a Mekon for life at this point. Maybe in the studio? Touring? Working his real job?

Must be doing something else those days as the press release says re folks involved with the movie:

Jon Langford will be in NYC for interviews October 29-30; Joe Angio and Steve Goulding are based in NYC; Sally Timms and the other Mekons are available for phone interviews

https://fbcdn-sphotos-d-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-xpf1/v/t1.0-9/10678669_10205021437838721_3332215468360547687_n.jpg?oh=7a5d6065e9333e829daace7443bf996a&oe=54B930AB&__gda__=1421025748_2d94d0f056147bf263f2559e6dfebad0

Just Jon Langford, hangin' with Robert Plant, as he is wont to do.

sort of Mekons week in NY, tho i'm not sure i'll have time for anything

Ed Roche, the manager of Quarterstick, an independent label that has released more than a dozen of the band’s albums, says that a “good-selling” Mekons record amounts to about 8,000 copies.

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/26/movies/a-documentary-celebrates-the-mekons.html?smid=tw-share&_r=0

So Sally Timms is a paralegal by day