Pere Ubu: Classic Or Dud

Cool, glad you're enjoying it! The band itself actually describes Raygun as the start of the modern era, which makes total sense -- it was a huge departure from the slickness of the previous handful of albums. It's cool that they've continued to play that stuff live in more recent configurations of the band.

Variations on a Theme is the only album from Monster that I've listened to much. I'd go with these:

A Day At The Botanical Gardens
Bird Town
Pedestrian Walk
Hurry Back

Would love to hear some suggestions from the other albums.

More Places Forever:

Whale Head King
Enthusiastic
Through the Magnifying Glass
Song of the Bailing Man
Big Breezy Day

Basically side A of the record.

Monster Walks... is a cohesive song cycle and very hard to cherry pick.

Also the solo albums prior to the Two Pale Boys stuff are not on spotify

Ok, new album is out, what's your picks, VTC?

really didn't enjoy lady from shanghai so i'm not holding out for this one but who knows? will get back.

New album is the bee's, but I loved "Lady From Shanghai", hell I loved "Long Live Pere Ubu!"

Yeah! I like it more than Lady From Shanghai. Here are my picks:

Golden Surf II
Visions of the Moon
Bus Station
Road to Utah
Irene

I was thinking this album hews a little closer to the stuff with Two Pale Boys, and there are even more lyrical callbacks than usual. Then I read that it's actually meant to be a companion piece to 18 Monkeys, by DT & TPB. The last track especially is kind of a reworking of the last track on that album, and I'd say it suffers a bit in comparison. Golden Surf II, on the other hand, has the same set of lyrics as the first Golden Surf, but they're in totally different context and it stands ably on its own.

"Golden Surf II" reminds me of the latest incarnation of The Fall.
"Irene" is great.

I was thinking this album hews a little closer to the stuff with Two Pale Boys, and there are even more lyrical callbacks than usual. Then I read that it's actually meant to be a companion piece to 18 Monkeys, by DT & TPB. The last track especially is kind of a reworking of the last track on that album, and I'd say it suffers a bit in comparison. Golden Surf II, on the other hand, has the same set of lyrics as the first Golden Surf, but they're in totally different context and it stands ably on its own.

― Vaguely Threatening CAPTCHAs, Wednesday, October 15, 2014 2:37 PM (57 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

This for sure, but, probably because of the clarinet I was reminded a bit of "Bay City" as well.

And actually some of the moon references seem to be call backs to "Butcherhouse 4" from the Rocket From the Tombs record "Bar Fly"

Or maybe he's just thinking about the moon a lot

Favourites of the most recent one are

Golden Surf II
Road to Utah
Carnival
Irene
Brother Ray

but i've just started listening to his re-release/remix of 18 Monkeys NOW, and it's fantastic. will be returning to this more than to CoS I suspect. Recent live gigs I've been to have been really really good (they're generally v solid imo, but the last one or two have been something else).

Fizzles have you heard the rerelease/remix of More Places Forever? Which I am hoping is an undoing of the fuckery he applied to it for its first CD issue on the Monster box set?

hey. no, i haven't - but hadn't heard the 'original' either. probably going to have a listen over the next couple of days tho as am meeting up with big DT fan and we'll almost certainly be spinning some of this stuff.

Description: This is the second revision of the original 1985 release. The original mix for vinyl release in 1985 suffered from lack of time and distractions. It was remixed at Suma in 1996 with the radical approach that David Thomas had originally planned for. A less than good post-production process, hurried again, caused Thomas to re-visit the various mixes in April 2014. All mixes were examined and, in some cases, edits were made or alternate mixes chosen. The audio was re-EQed by Paul Hamann and attention given to the post-production processing. This is the way it was supposed to sound.

apparently.

so, friend's take on More Places Forever, what I can remember of it through drink anyway:

the stripped-down version on the original vinyl had never been entirely to DT's taste, and had been toned down from what he'd intended. The Monster box set, which we got out but didn't actually play, had been an attempt to rectify this, and at least in part (friend's opinion), DT's current explanation of the end result should be taken with a pinch of salt. We also didn't listen to the new version, but as I say, that 18 Monkeys remix is superb.

I'm finding Carnival of Souls a little difficult to get in to, and we did discuss briefly whether St Arkansas, 18 Monkeys and Why I Hate Women should be seen as the apex of recent Pere Ubu, though as I say above I think some of their recent gigs where the CoS and LoS stuff was still being worked through and was more Protean were the best I've seen.

A couple of weeks before, I'd been struggling slightly with his lyrical content on Carnival of Souls, and had, coincidentally gone to Michael Faraday's carefully preserved laboratory beneath the Royal Institution. Seeing the electrical coils, early telegraph (and the consequent birth of radio), and and being in the place where new elements had been plucked from the void, was very instructive generally, but also opened up recent PU for me.

Their use of theremin, with its bristling waves and spirals of electricity, is the leitmotif for their lyrical content, the rock n roll tail end of the scientifically Edwardian - radios, electrical fire, telephones ringing in the desert etc.

The other night we'd separately been talking about how you refresh the materials of art with the modern - and it felt to me that current Pere Ubu was a curious if you like 'gothic' example of this - very potent and strong - but nevertheless of a noir america that is a cultural collage. It doesn't matter to me, but it also doesn't feel directly engaged.

At the end of the evening friend kinldy lent me his signed copy of The Book of Hieroglyphs, suggesting there some stuff that was applicable in there. I haven't really picked it up yet though.

Carnival of Souls is okay man! Reminds me a bit of Tom Waits' the Black Rider. I especially like the clarinet on Visions of the Moon.

I still need to check that out, but relating early and maybe recent Ubu to 19th Century science, tech x gothic seems very appropriate. Also, Thomas the rock writer always had a way with reviewer/editor-bait pitches, nailing the connection between their 70s sound and the environment of Cleveland's Flats, the classic rundown 70s urban industrial space---like in 70s NYC, when artists could move from their tenements to lofts and other real estate vacated by old school enterprises---as long as you were ready to "take responsibility" for living in the gritty wilds, the mean streets etc etc (don't think he got around to mentioning that Ohio was still the Wild West of early 19th Century America, and a weird powerhouse of late 19th/early 20th Century American poltical machines, but he might have). The actual sound coming out of this place and hype, though could later be taken as an early, leading indicator of the Rust Belt, even making me thing of rusty belts, creaking, rasping, rattling, seemed more about going for the gusto, as the beer commercial had it, rather than harping on decline of Western Civ ---entrophy, civic decay were givens, part of the commuter's route to the grocery store, bar, even dayjob, if absolutely necessary---though not something you could ignore (Thomas's eventual Jehovah's Witnesses-related visions of utopian picnics in the urban desert would take some getting used to).

Perfect tag for their jerry-rigged, rough-and-ready inventions: avant-garage, centered by Ravenstine's synth, which he said was left behind (another Witnesses precursor!)in a farmhouse, and forever customized, souped-up, as backyard mechanics and backstreet racers would say: the kind of steampunk that's always gaining on you---'til it stops for a while (the spaces in which Thomas began the improvised bits that later became whole stand-alone performance pieces, with mixed results). Then comes back to reality, lurching fwd.

"Avant-garage" was Thomas's tag of course.

Dub Housing is still amazing. Listened to it properly for the first time in years yesterday. Whole sections that just don't sound recognisably like anything else at the time.

But why can't I find it (or other PU albums) on vinyl anywhere? We must demand a repress now!

Discogs.com marketplace has a mint LP reissue for $20.

was just listening to the early stuff this morning. amazing.

what i like about it especially is that the electronic/musique concrete stuff isn't just random noise overlaid on new wave, but very cleverly integrated into the songs. Those eerie door-opening squonks and whoops during the quieter breakdowns on Caligari's Mirror for example.

Allen Ravenstine was probably the best single element of this band imo, great great analog synth player

Agreed. What does he do now?

ha i was just looking him up to answer that very question... via wiki:
In 2012, an invitation to contribute to "I Dream of Wires: The Modular Synthesizer Documentary" led to the recording of an impromptu duo performance on the EML-101 and 200 synthesizers, with current Ubu synthesist Robert Wheeler. Culled from this were a pair of albums and singles, entitled City Desk/Farm Report, which were self-released in 2013.

Left music and became a pilot. I always think he passed away, but that was Peter Laughner.

I heard he was an airline pilot, could that possibly be true???!!?

Ha! (xp)

Fascinating interview with Ravenstine here (from 2010):
http://www.furious.com/perfect/allenravenstine.html

Would be totally amazing to get on a plane and hear "My name is Captain Allen Ravenstine, I'll be your pilot."

lol yeah -- "your inflight music will be a little ditty called '30 seconds over tokyo.' enjoy!"

LOOOL

I really wanna hear that duo synth improv!

And he did "Final Solution." The only contribution I had to that was the moment in there where it says 'guitar's gonna sound like a nuclear destruction' and he (Taylor) had a great big explosion there and I said 'no, that should be the opposite. It should be a vacuum.' And so they made the sound suck itself up and that's my contribution to "Final Solution." That's the only thing I did.

PSF: You played that part on the record?

No, I didn't. I just told them that was what they needed to do at the moment. That's all I did for that song. But then they dumped Dave (Taylor) and then I was back.

man i had NO IDEA ravenstine didn't play on "Solution"

though i guess if i'd looked at the credits that would have been obvious

here's that synth duo thang: http://www.science-with-synthesizers.com/collections/other/products/allen-ravenstine-and-robert-wheeler-city-desk

Taylor is also on three of the live tracks on the B-side of 390 Degrees

Holy crap I need city desk + farm report!

I wish they hadn't vetoed the sharing of their live stuff. Also wish I hadn't had that hard drive that I had whatever of it I had crash.
Would love a load more things like Shapes of Things covering the next 2 or 3 years, since that's 1976 I think, or is it '75? Very early versions of things done live in Cleveland. Sentimental Journey still has a sentence long ttile at the time and they were doing Pushing Too Hard and a couple of other covers.

I think I have a set from London's Marquee in '78 but I used to have a number of dates up to '79. & they were an interesting live band even if Thomas's vocals seemed to be less in control.

But yeah the 1st 3 lps and the Hearthen singles are great. I don't think I've got much into them after that though when I was first getting into them was pre the late 80s Ubu reunion and I would go and see Thomas's solo abstract stuff which is probably more redolent of that later early Ubu. & I did enjoy him doing things like the theory of spontaneous similitude and whatever at the time.

Wish there was earlier video than Birdies from Urgh a Music War. Would love to see them at the time of the 1st 2 lps.

there's a bunch of live stuff available for purchase over yonder: http://www.ubuprojex.com/ubutique.html
haven't heard all of it though....

Oh wow the awesome tripod Jimmie record is available as a digital download now from hearpen! Urgently recommended.

Also the DT solo album Winter Comes Home which I thought he had disowned...

Great little write-up by Jessica Hopper about Dub Housing in the Epiphanies section of this month's Wire.

I've been meaning to post my compilation that you all helped me build. I'm totally enthralled with the quality of the Fontana and Modern Era's but I still think the Solo Era could use some tweaking. Thanks for the suggestions!

The Solo Era:
Crickets In The Flats - The Sound Of The Sand
Happy To See You - The Sound Of The Sand
Crush This Horn, Pt. 2 - The Sound Of The Sand
Pedestrian Walk - Variations On A Theme
Bird Town - Variations On A Theme
A Day At The Botanical Gardens - Variations On A Theme
Hurry Back - Variations On A Theme
Through The Magnifying Glass - More Places Forever
Enthusiastic - More Places Forever
Whale Head King - More Places Forever
Song Of The Bailing Man - More Places Forever
Big Breezy Day - More Places Forever
My Theory Of Spontaneous Simultude - Monster Walks The Winter Lake
Monster Walks The Winter Lake - Monster Walks The Winter Lake
King Knut - Blame The Messenger
When Love Is Uneven - Blame The Messenger

The Fontana Era:
George Had A Hat - The Tenement Year
Talk To Me - The Tenement Year
Say Goodbye - The Tenement Year
The Hollow Earth - The Tenement Year
We Have The Technology - The Tenement Year
Why Go It Alone? - Cloudland
Waiting For Mary - Cloudland
Bus Called Happiness - Cloudland
Monday Night - Cloudland
The Wire - Cloudland
Oh Catherine - Worlds In Collision
I Hear They Smoke The Barbecue - Worlds In Collision
Goodnite Irene - Worlds In Collision
Worlds In Collision - Worlds In Collision
Life Of Riley - Worlds In Collision
Wasted - Story Of My Life
Come Home - Story Of My Life
Fedora Satellite II - Story Of My Life
Kathleen - Story Of My Life
Last Will & Testament - Story Of My Life

The Modern Era (95-02):
Beach Boys - Raygun Suitcase
Turquoise Fins - Raygun Suitcase
Three Things - Raygun Suitcase
Red Sky - Raygun Suitcase
Down By The River II - Raygun Suitcase
Obsession - Erewhon
Planet Of Fools - Erewhon
Nowheresville - Erewhon
Woolie Bullie - Pennsylvania
SAD.TXT - Pennsylvania
White Room - Bay City
Charlotte - Bay City
Man In The Dark - Surf's Up!
Night Driving - Surf's Up!
The Fevered Dream Of Hernando Desoto - St. Arkansas
Slow Walking Daddy - St. Arkansas
333 - St. Arkansas
Home Phone Jonah - St. Arkansas
Dark - St. Arkansas

The Modern Era: (03-14):
New Orleans Fuzz - 18 Monkeys On A Dead Man's Chest
Numbers Man - 18 Monkeys On A Dead Man's Chest
Little Sister - 18 Monkeys On A Dead Man's Chest
Golden Surf - 18 Monkeys On A Dead Man's Chest
Prepare For The End - 18 Monkeys On A Dead Man's Chest
Caroleen - Why I Hate Women
Flames Over Nebraska - Why I Hate Women
Mona - Why I Hate Women
Texas Overture - Why I Hate Women
Mandy - Lady From Shanghai
And Then Nothing Happened - Lady From Shanghai
Musicians Are Scum - Lady From Shanghai
Road Trip Of Bipasha Ahmed - Lady From Shanghai
414 Seconds - Lady From Shanghai
Golden Surf II - Carnival Of Souls
Visions Of the Moon - Carnival Of Souls
Bus Station - Carnival Of Souls
Road To Utah - Carnival Of Souls
Irene - Carnival Of Souls

cool, what's the concept behind the comp?

Make a box set companion to Datapanik.

That and there are certain artists whose work I prefer to cherry pick due to inconsistency or simply not wanting to have to wade through a dozen or more albums.

Monster Dreams of the Days He's Going to Sea
^^^ is that the title? In any case, a track from Monster Walks... that needs to be in yr box. So beautiful.

"Monster Thinks About The Good Days". Excellent suggestion, I missed that one.

That bass melody comes into my head all the time

I'm confused about "Monster Walks", though. How many versions of it are there, didn't it get reissued yet again recently? I've read it's "radically remixed" for the "Monster" box set. Which version is the one to hear?

I "learned" it from the LP, and I don't remember the box set version jarring me the way the box set version of More Places Forever did. (I have the first version of the box set, with the live disc)

I listened to Long Live Pere Ubu again for the first time in a few years... Man that record has a vibe like no other record I know. Some incredibly strange, grotesque sounds.

Saw them the other night. They'd departed from recent Moon Unit/Carnival of Souls stuff, and delivered a very rocking set selected from their recent albums. I've seen the more attenuated stuff quite a lot, both from before and after the release of CoS so this was a v welcome departure and was very good too.

D Thomas seems extremely frail and unwell though, more so than at other times - he said he'd just come out of intensive care, which may have been typical posturing but certainly didn't look like it.

A session on Vic Galloway earlier this week, which I didn't hear, but I believe iplayer radio is now doing full replay (and download on apps) for recently broadcast content, as with its tv stuff now.

He's having health problems? I had no idea :(