Pere Ubu: Classic Or Dud

Where does one get that and did the studio albums come out on CDs?

I got it cheaply from Amazon. The studio albums have only been given a digital reissue from the Ubu store.

I have one Tripod Jimmy cd I picked up in the 90s. Got it without cover. & not seen it in a while.

A long walk off a short pier was the cd title . I thought I remembered the word pier being in it.
& the spelling is jimmIE which I couldn't see from the writing opage my phone takes me to. Looks like there was a Tripod JimmY too

To be honest, I''m still trying to understand them. I came up with a good best-of, I think, caveats included.

good list, over tokyo

great list although I think Dub Housing is their best and most accessible 'classic' album

you figure the classic period runs up through song of the bailing man in '82? whatever the case, it'll always be the modern dance afacic. and that only cuz the datapanik collection was originally incomplete (& not properly an album besides).

I do, yeah.

I'd say Cloudland is their most accessible, by some distance.

do correct "30 seconds over tokyo" tho

I think David Thomas refers to 78-82 as the classic era, 88-93 as the Fontana or major label era and 94-present as the modern era. And stylistically they work well when compiled as such.

Album peaks after modern dance and dub housing are, for me, the tenement year, cloudland, st Arkansas, and Thomas' monster walks the winter lake

New Picnic Time is still pretty great. Getting abstract and arty but not as much as the Mayo Thompson era that follows it.

Found some of my live sets since I mentioned losing them. Wish there was more available.
& really wish there was video before Birdies on Urgh A Music War. Would have been great if the early arty scene in Cleveland included film makers. Would love mid 70s footage of all the bands on that scene.

the tenement year, cloudland, st Arkansas, and Thomas' monster walks the winter lake

love the former two, guess i need to track down the latter

Wasn't there a These or Recommended box of the Thomas solo mid 80s stuff? Think I saw it in listings.
Had interesting sidemen like Richard Thompson and Chris Cutler on too didn't it. The latter's in late 80s PU too.

Yes, the "Monster" box: https://www.discogs.com/David-Thomas-Monster/master/425902

I find it very inconsistent but the high points (as discussed upthread) are terrific.

Monster is well worth having for More Places Forever, Monster Walks..., Blame the Messenger, and the bonus Pale Boys Live disc.

I forgot to list More Places Forever in my peak albums list, if anything it's even better than Monster Walks... Art Bears + Ubu I mean come on!

listening to the datapanik cd box for the first time. someone brought in a copy for trade. does anyone know why there is no laughner solo stuff on the terminal drive disc of ubu-related stuff?

not sure about the specifics for that box, but laughner material is in all kinds of weird legal limbo — there's been an archival reissue project in the works for almost a decade that's been postponed over and over.

just seemed like a pretty glaring omission.

they do have a Friction track on there that is on the take the guitar player for a ride collection.

it's a great box though. filled with essentialness that is essential. every home should have one. in the basement next to the batteries and flashlights and jugs of water.

THere wasa great cd compilation I bought called Take The Guitar Player For A ride, but i think it was OOP when I last bought it.

Is there a book on the Cleveland scene yet beyond the section of From The Velvets TO The Voidoids?

Was 'Those Were Different Times' a book or a magazine article?

the guitar player comp is out of print which is why you should grab it if you see a cd or vinyl version in a store.

and it is likewise essential, but it always bums me out when some vital piece of history has to be left off of a project like the datapanik box for extra-musical reasons. he was a founding father.

Those Were Different Times = fanzine article i think

at least that's where i read it (tho where my copy of said fanzine currently is in my flat i could not tell you)

I wish I still had the datapanik box. I went through hard times when I sold so many things.

I mean I have all those albums 'digitally' but that was such a great roundup.

Grabbed the 2nd version when it was cheap on Amazon. 1st version had been falling apart on me for ages by then.

I've always been intrigued by this weirdness ever since the Comsat Angels first few albums got reissued in the early 2000s. In the liner notes for those reissues, Steve Fellows and Mik Glaisher had nothing but totally glowing things to say about Mr. Thomas and his band. Always kept that in the back of my mind, as anything that was as influential as they claimed Pere Ubu to have been on them was surely significant.

Got a few of the early things —the `75-`77 singles comp, The Modern Dance, and New Picnic Time— and have given them each one go `round so far. The very early stuff is so absurdly out of step with everything else around it, it's actually totally refreshing music. Really dazzling stuff.

At this point, I'm less of a fan of the whole schtick of New Picnic Time; wherein, band creates seemingly just on the edge of freeform madness while Dave rants squeals about over top of it all. But, who knows, a little time may do the trick.

Dub Housing > New Picnic Time. Try that one.

more like >>>>>>>>

Well, if it means anything, I liked the ones I got enough to search out and mail order Dub Housing. We'll see when it gets here.

New PT is still pretty good. It's the next couple of lps I have less time for. Find them too abstract.
I think the Datapanik box is pretty necessary plus Shape Of Things plus The Day The Earth Met Rocket From The Tombs. Plus any live stuff you can find up to about 78, possibly 79.
I do like the reunion stuff from the late 80s too. Not heard much more recent stuff.

Incidentally there's a new memoir by the Electric Eels' Brian McMahon out through Hozac Books. Looks interesting but pricey.

New album coming, one song previewed here.

http://dangerousminds.net/comments/monkey_bizness_music_from_pere_ubus_new_9_piece_lineup

New record out today, streaming in the usual locations, first blush is its good, def a bit different then the last couple (which I love), maybe closer in spirit to the RFFT "Black Record"? I dunno, good stuff whatever it is

Same lineup?

Same lineup plus an extra guitarist, I think. I was only half paying attention on first listen but had the exact same thought re: RFTT. Second half of the album seemed more interesting to me but I need to dig in some more.

Same line up, plus Siperko who played on the US tour last yr (and with RFFT) and Kristof Hahn from the Swans on the pedal steel. Guitar Orchestra or some such I believe they are referring to it as.

Continued, underrated Pere Ubu addition: Darryl Boon's clarinet, which is such a perfect foil for Thomas's voice

I've listened to "20 Years In A Montana Missle Silo" a couple of times and find it... inconsistent as David's vocals are often a bit rambling or hard to take. In fact, I'd compare Pere Ubu's 21st century output to The Fall - so much depends on the vocals for me. I think David Thomas has aged much better than Mark E Smith in terms of voice. But like The Fall, Pere Ubu's high points are extremely high whereas the rest is nice-if-unnecessary for me. From this album, I think I'd pick:

Monkey Bizness
Toe To Toe
Red Eye Blues
I Can Still See

What's your take, VTC?

I can get into most of the tracks on here to some extent when I'm listening to the album as a whole, but when I try to pick out highlights afterward, not much sticks with me. I do like where it goes on the last two tracks, especially Cold Sweat. Think my picks would be pretty similar to yours:

Toe to Toe
Red Eye Blues
I Can Still See
Cold Sweat

What is his obsession with monkeys and stuff these days? Feels like cliched wackiness

I'm getting very intrigued by the bunch of Pre Ubu and Cleveland related material turning up on Smog Veil.
I need toget the Hy Maya set and maybe the Alan Ravenstine set. Think the others look interesting too.

really digging hy maya. haven't listened to the ravenstine yet but the cover is fantastic:

https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0075/9892/products/sv133_97336e56-3dee-4191-b3eb-b8fd3a46d75f_large.jpg?v=1493665431

little ubu listening spree this week for me
i have underrated worlds in collision (tbh i only listened to it once, upon original release)

Tripod Jimmie - A Warning to All Strangers is available as a paid download from ubuprojex site now, btw! Urgently recommended for real

'Goodnight Irene' off Worlds in Collision is one of their best songs.

The final album, "The Long Goodbye", is out in July.

UBU DUB podcast abt the new record, interesting thoughts from Thomas (as always) and he's right about "Bay City" being criminally underrated.

New stuff sounds really glitchy & weird.

UBU DUB

Also Thomas doesn't make it seem like it is the final album, just the "end of a way of doing things", though it was born out of the idea that he was on death's door post the Nov 2017 tour, sounds like he wrote everything himself on synth while he was still sick.

has thomas ever threatened to write a memoir or something? seems like he should.

write a memoir, that is, not just threaten to write one