Pere Ubu: Classic Or Dud

Cool! That's good to hear. The only time I saw them they were touring that record iirc. Thompson deliberately ruined "Final Solution" by wailing all of the lyrics in an incomprehensible yowl, which was at least, uh, interesting.

No mention of Tripod Jimmie on this thread that I see... Tom Herman's post-Ubu band. They have at least one fantastic album that I still own, archival stuff that came out in the 90's, but I am 2000 miles away from my records right now so I can't look it up.

I like some of Dub Housing, almost none of New Picnic Time. Tenement Years and Ray Gun Suitcase are pretty good also, I imagine Ray Gun is oop after the meltdown on T/K Records (also home of the needs-so-bad-to-be-reissued Peter Laughner double LP).

Ray Gun Suitcase has been reissued on either Smog Veil or Hearpen, can't remember which. It's on eMusic, too.

Someone upthread implies that they auditioned for Tripod Jimmie, actually! I was a big fan of TJ's Warning To All Strangers LP. I'd buy that in a minute if it was on CD. "There ain't NO WAY I'm gonna put MY HAND in THERE without my box."

Luckily Tom Herman was back in the lineup when i saw Ubu in 2003; it was really nice to see him in action.

Pere Ubu is one of those bands that I've wanted to like for quite a long time, but I can't really get past Thomas' voice.

I resemble that remark. It amazes me that people can like this but hate, for instance, Phish, because of their squeaky voices and endulgent "noodling." How do these criticisms not apply to PU (good abbreviation!)? Beats me (and I'm sure many of you would like to right about now). Oh well, I don't have to like or understand everything.

I've never owned Cloudland and have wanted to for years. This is good news.

I interviewed Thomas for a Wire cover story last year, and he mentioned there was some talk of reissuing those discs. Glad to hear they're back out there.

A very enjoyable interview, too. Fun guy to talk to about the mechanics of record-making and live performance, etc. Philosophical "meaning of rock" stuff, not so much. Keep it quotidian and you'll get a great conversation out of the guy. Try to get arty, or fetishize the past, and he'll slap you down in a heartbeat.

Alfred, a phonograph player and a three dollar copy off ebay could have done the job nicely! : D

Ok, slight tradeoff for the much-improved sound on Tenement: A very different mix of one song, "Dream The Moon," is used this time. Bass/Drums/Guitar sound the same, but totally different vocal track. Can't tell yet how I feel about the alt. mix, just 'cause I'm so imprinted on the old one. I'll probably tag the original mix onto the end of the reissue in my library for good measure.

The two B-sides included as bonus tracks are really fun. Two Peel sessions as well.

xpost to unperson-- I read that! Really good article, man.

(Wow-- Peel version of "Miss You" kicks ass...)

Alfred, here's the lowdown on the Cloudland re-ish/remaster.

The album was originally mixed by Paul Hamann at Paisley Park Studios, Minneapolis MN. Subsequently four tracks were re-recorded in London and the others remixed for the 1989 Fontana release. This reissue substitutes in the running order the following Paisley Park mixes by Paul Hamann: Monday Night, Lost Nation Road, Nevada!, The Wire, The Waltz, and Pushin. Five extras have been added: the UK b-sides Wine Dark Sparks and Bang The Drum, the Paisley Park mix of Breath (never previously released), Bus Called Happiness recorded live in the studio for the John Peel Show (never previously released), and a dance remix of Love Love Love.

CLASSIC! Just saw them live over here in Oporto, and they were fucking amazing - some sound problems in the begining, and Dave Thomas seemed sort of SCARY, running offstage and barking at his backing players, but it all got sorted out and he seemed to realise the absurdity of his own position - total charmer through the rest of the set.

The latest album, 'Why I Hate Women' is totally worth getting. Great title too.

I think I lost that album or something. I went looking for it as I'd been doing periodically since I got it and it was nowhere.

I liked it but couldn't totally make up my mind how much. Nothing seems to come close to the Modern Dance and as a result is skewed by it's shadow.

If it's a pissing contest for essential CDs, I'll take 'Terminal Tower' over Modern Dance, but I find everything on the boxset a must. I also have a soft spot for 'Worlds In Collision' - nice pop songs, and a contender for worst cover art ever.

I'd always ignored the four albums that came before Raygun Suitcase, despite the fact that I saw them in '93 and they were hugely entertaining. Seemed to have more story songs. I made a note to re-listen to some of that stuff but never did. With last year's remastered reissues dipping down to $11 + $3 shipping at Importcds & Caiman via Amazon, I think it's time to try out Tenement Year and Cloudland.

Oh boy, Cloudland.

just got ray gun suitcase

damn this is great! i think i like it as much as the real early stuff

upcoming album is pretty awesome :-)

anyone heard it yet or seen the performance? it's all based on Alfred JArry's "Ubu Roi" and was composed using the hum and click of 220 decaying apple macs.

I went on the first night at the South Bank (last year was it) and it was dire. Thomas did later apologise for it, saying it had been underprepared. That it certainly was, but seemed also excruciating in conception. Like something a six-form drama group would come up with to be performed at the end of the lesson.

I actually skipped the second half because I felt I'd rather be in the pub. But others I went with stayed behind and said the second half was 'very, very slightly better'.

It was a shame because the last live gig I saw Pere Ubu do was incredibly good.

A friend has been downloading some sort of podcast related to the performance and is hoping that the recorded version will be less intensely awful - he's actually quite hopeful in this respect, and I suppose not having to see them go through their dismal manouevres on stage can only be a good thing. And sometimes these things set free of their mundane shackles to float in aural spaces can be transformed.

Here's hoping.

I went on the first night at the South Bank (last year was it) and it was dire. Thomas did later apologise for it, saying it had been underprepared. That it certainly was, but seemed also excruciating in conception. Like something a six-form drama group would come up with to be performed at the end of the lesson.

more details plz

the pere ubu box set is £7.79 on amazon right now, for some reason.

It's a worry: SaraJane Morris ....

xpost which box? The singles or the albums?

"It's a worry: SaraJane Morris ...."

I got a promo copy 4 days ago, and I still have to find the courage to play it. Maybe I'm just wrong.

more details plz

Um, from what I remember. Group over to the right hand side of the stage from the audience's point of view. Microphones set up in the middle. Chairs to the left, where those not participating in a scene would sit.

In the main it consisted of Thomas standing in front of the mike, reading out from a script he had in front of him, in the character of Pere Ubu, (in this case Ubu Roi) berating the various characters who appear and come and talk into the microphone.

Sometimes in the character of David Thomas berating his collaborators for getting it wrong. Not as amusing as it sounds (in fact although this can be a feature of their gigs as well, I tend to find that they are at their best when there is less arguing.

Back projections ranging from the mildly interesting to the mildly uninteresting.

Some very embarrassing mechanical style dancing/marching across the stage.

The music the group played wasn't terrible by any means, but it wasn't particularly great.

Sorry - that's pretty undetailed details, but I can't remember too much more about it, other than finding it all excruciatingly embarrassing. I'd go quite a long to make allowances for David Thomas, but it was just a hodge-podge.

As I say, there's a possibility that it's been refined considerably since then.

that, admittedly, does not sound great. i've read elsewhere on the internet about some ubu live experiences giving an impression of "but surely they could have done better".

lol @ david thomas slipping in and out of role on stage. seems that the two are basically interchangeable anyway, although i'm disappointed by their lack of preparation for this venture. it's typically facetious of him to do this kind of thing only a few years after sreynolds quoted him as being entirely dismissive in the alfred jarry play.

of?

is there a real connection between the jarry work and the band's? i thought it was just "oh, wow, cool name"

Yes, I think it was originally just 'wow, cool name' and 'great! we get to say merdre merdre a lot'. Apparently people have been on at him for years to do something with the play though, and he'd always refused.

Live gigs that I've seen have generally been great - although I prefer it when he's cantankerous rather than actively disruptive (whereas I like MES to be actively disruptive in The Fall's live performances).

And it sounds like this album, or set of podcasts, might be worth a listen, the whole caboodle presumably having undergone some processing since I saw it.

all the same, i've enjoyed the new album from a musical standpoint. sj morris and thomas work well as pere/mere ubu and there's an almost miyazaki meets dada vibe to the whole thing. it manages to be avant-garde, absurdist and puerile (a whole track of grotesque burping noises over eerie ambient music - sounds pretentious, and probably is, but that's Ubu for you). elsewhere there are "proper songs" - even some punky stuff, infuriatingly catchy chants, 8-minutes of eerie "pillow talk" between pere and mere played out like a pitch black big-reveal nightmare, and even some quite pretty moments. i liked it, the gent in the wire said he didn't, but like the original it will divide audiences who give a rats arse.

avant-garde, absurdist and puerile

tempted to make that my 'three adjectives that describe you' on okc —

is this the first ubu release (of new compositions) since why i hate women? i might actually get it, despite not having read the play. is it out yet? what's it called?

pere ubu and the fall are probably top two on 'bands i am hugely fond of and who are still gigging but could probably not bear to actually go and see'. actually they may be the only two on that list.

it's called "long live pere ubu" - don't know if it's out yet.

what's the deal w/ Datapanik being so cheap in the UK? Is it the same thing being reissued?

Well, if they come to your town and you actively avoid seeing them you are making a mistake cuz they are still fucking great live.

i've never seen Pere Ubu, but I did see the reunited Rocket from the Tombs, and would def. put Thomas up there as one of the top 10 best/scariest frontmen I've ever seen.

Am I crazy or is this performance simply stunning?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1hYqvtHzr48

I can't get over Thomas's vocal performance here....every moment that he's not singing is filled with a breath or tic that is just perfect. He's actually harmonizing, too.

And the video is notable also for David Sanborn sporting the official "late 80s, early 90s" uniform.

Yeah, I've referred to this clip several times in the last couple of years. They also performed "Waiting For Mary" with Debbie Harry!

How's the recently issued live album with both Cutler and Krauss on drums? (Recorded just after Cloudland I believe)?

The live album - London, Texas - 's great. Dudes're in fiery fettle.

I bought the 'Datapanik in Year Zero' box today despite never really hearing Pere Ubu. Impulsive yes but I've had some good luck in the past buying box sets of stuff I've never heard before i.e the Robert Wyatt box and the first four factory records Durutti Column set.

Looking forward to diving in tonight.

Or should I have listened to AMG?

"However, if you're simply interested in Pere Ubu, consider the set carefully before investing. Pere Ubu were indeed one of the most innovative and challenging bands of their era, which means that their music is an acquired taste. However, those willing to invest in the box will find a wealth of inventive, hard-edged avant rock & roll."

i found i had to retune my brain in order to get Pere Ubu, but it was worth it. I am a real fan of their last album. i think i voted it number one on the 2009 albums poll.

it's a fantastic box set. dig in!

I lean heavily on the first two CDs, but certainly worth it.

I basically listened to The Tenement Years every day last October ("Say Goodbye" and "We Have the Technology" especially)

Yeah-- if anotherdeadhero buys one other disc to supplement his box set it should be Tenement Year.

Or maybe it should be Cloudland.

Cloudland has some great highs but too many duds. And Tenement Year has actual OG Allen Ravenstine on squawks, bleeps and whirrs as opposed to a dude drafted in from late Beefheart.

The highs on Cloudland >>>> The Tenement Year.