i still listen to this album a fair bit
― jed_, Monday, 24 August 2009 01:35 (fourteen years ago) link
http://twitter.com/zizekspeaks/status/5484005532
― kshighway1, Wednesday, 11 November 2009 23:59 (fourteen years ago) link
a hero over at the Interpol reddit has leaked a bunch of outtakes & alternate mixes from the TOTBL sessions, including new unheard versions of "Gavilan"/"Cubed" and "Precipitate" (!!). he also put up a rough mix of the album that has a totally different sequence and doesn't have "Untitled." CHECK IT OUT https://www.reddit.com/user/G_Dub22/submitted/
― flappy bird, Wednesday, 29 March 2017 16:31 (seven years ago) link
the rough mix of the album is really cool- guitars on "PDA" have much more bite. not nearly as much reverb as on the finished LP
― flappy bird, Wednesday, 29 March 2017 16:34 (seven years ago) link
This is great.
― Handsome Bookor, Wednesday, 29 March 2017 19:31 (seven years ago) link
wow fuck..
― piscesx, Wednesday, 29 March 2017 21:17 (seven years ago) link
the last 30 seconds of this alt Obstacle 1 are way better than the finished mix. those tracked vocals! wonder why they changed it.
― piscesx, Wednesday, 29 March 2017 21:23 (seven years ago) link
i wonder why they left off the completed versions of Precipitate and Gavilan off the reissue. they even put a shitty Gavilan demo on there.
― flappy bird, Wednesday, 29 March 2017 22:03 (seven years ago) link
just for posterity's sake, this what TOTBL almost looked like:
1. Say Hello to the Angels2. NYC3. Obstacle 14. Precipitate5. Obstacle 26. Hands Away 7. PDA8. Specialist9. Leif Erikson10. Stella Was a Diver and She Was Always Down 11. The New12. Gavilan13. Interlude14. Roland
― flappy bird, Wednesday, 29 March 2017 22:07 (seven years ago) link
flappy thank you so much! check the post that says "Shared the Whole Folder".
i used to listen to this album all the time back in the day. it was perfect for rainy days spent bopping around town going to thrift stores and eating at Indian restaurants.
― AdamVania (Adam Bruneau), Thursday, 30 March 2017 14:50 (seven years ago) link
that poster shared a story about hanging out with the band circa 2005, this bit is so funny to me:
Paul had this vintage leather jacket on. The inner lining of the jacket had this paisley pattern which could obviously only have been seen if you could see the inside of his jacket. But he liked this pattern so much that he had cut a huge portion out of the section below the back of his neck, safety pinned it and folded it over, just so everyone could see the pattern on the inside of the jacket. This was the very first time that I was not impressed by his fashion sensibilities.Later on, Paul attempted to tune an acoustic guitar to Carlos playing notes on a piano. Carlos would tell him what string he was trying to tune and play the note on the piano for him. Paul was having a hard time with this. Carlos kept telling him "You're making my ears bleed!" and generally made fun of him for not being able to tune a guitar to a piano, and it never got resolved. I was hoping for a magical music moment but it never happened.
― flappy bird, Thursday, 30 March 2017 17:35 (seven years ago) link
haha.
i still really like this first album, as stupid and terrible as all the lyrics are. they were kind of on to something. I wish they'd gotten better at that.
― akm, Thursday, 30 March 2017 18:23 (seven years ago) link
Thanks Flappy!
I saw them in Amsterdam during their very first tour abroad. They just played TOTBL, start to finish. It was fantastic. Still one of the best concerts I've seen tbh.
― Le Bateau Ivre, Thursday, 30 March 2017 18:52 (seven years ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fz7AhhTTpxY
quite nice
― piscesx, Thursday, 18 May 2017 02:30 (six years ago) link
Hey, my best friend's a butcher, he has sixteen knivesHe carries them all over the town at least he tries—oh look, it stopped snowingMy best friend's from Poland and, oh, he has a beardBut they caught him with his case in a public place, that is what we had feared
― Karl Malone, Thursday, 18 May 2017 02:49 (six years ago) link
Leif Erikson is still one of the most beguiling songs I've ever heard. What a way to end a record. I loved Rob Sheffield's quote in the new NYC oral history Meet Me in the Bathroom - something like "I mean, to have your big debut record open with a song called 'Untitled' - the balls on these guys!"
― flappy bird, Monday, 3 July 2017 06:14 (six years ago) link
going to see them perform this album live in september , should be interesting .
― (•̪●) (carne asada), Tuesday, 1 August 2017 16:06 (six years ago) link
Could be a thread of its own, but has this always been a thing? Performing an old album in its entirety 20 or 30 years down the line? Always thought that was a band saying: we basically have given up on thinking we'll ever make anything nearly as good ever again.
― Le Bateau Ivre, Tuesday, 1 August 2017 16:10 (six years ago) link
i think it started at ATP or Pitchfork Fest about a decade ago
― rock and roll tucci coo (voodoo chili), Tuesday, 1 August 2017 16:30 (six years ago) link
yup
― Οὖτις, Tuesday, 1 August 2017 16:32 (six years ago) link
Classic or dud: Bands that go on tour playing an old album in its entirety decades down the line
― Le Bateau Ivre, Tuesday, 1 August 2017 16:54 (six years ago) link
I didn't get to see Interpol live until 2011, and by that point, I guess they realized that they were pretty much only beloved for their first two records, and the setlist reflected that. i loved it as a fan, but i lost a lot of respect for them... it's just such a transparent move that says that the band has no confidence in their new material (and i think the third and fourth records are half good, the fifth one fucking blew).
― flappy bird, Tuesday, 1 August 2017 17:04 (six years ago) link
Agreed on the fourth record being the end for them basically. I saw them on first their TOTBL tour and the one for their second album. They were fantastic, but after that I wasn't interested any more.
― Le Bateau Ivre, Tuesday, 1 August 2017 17:07 (six years ago) link
This album has such fucking awful lyrics.
― The Anti-Climax Blues Band (Turrican), Tuesday, 1 August 2017 17:10 (six years ago) link
the first 5 songs on the s/t record are fucking tremendous though, especially "Summer Well," which is just as good as anything on Antics (their best record imo).
I almost saw them in March 2005 but my family was going to be out of town, then the trip was cancelled and by then tix had sold out. Ugh. Fuck. They were so much better when they were all still coked up and drunk.
― flappy bird, Tuesday, 1 August 2017 17:10 (six years ago) link
xp No way, the lyrics are fucking great
― Le Bateau Ivre, Tuesday, 1 August 2017 17:12 (six years ago) link
I'm curious to see how the TOTBL XV shows go. Paul's voice is just... awful now. it's all nose. I would post a video of them playing "The New" from 2015 but it makes me so sad. he sounds just awful... out of breath... weirdly ironic that Mr. Baritone only got more and more nasally as they went on, starting in 2005 and especially 2007.
― flappy bird, Tuesday, 1 August 2017 17:12 (six years ago) link
& im not gonna go on anymore about how Paul is my favorite lyricist ever and there isn't a bad line on this album or Antics but we've had that discussion before, turrican... agree to disagree
― flappy bird, Tuesday, 1 August 2017 17:13 (six years ago) link
At least the lyrics aren't boring and stuff.
― Le Bateau Ivre, Tuesday, 1 August 2017 17:14 (six years ago) link
"The subway she is a porno" is a shit lyric. Shit, shit, shit. Paul Banks has never been a great lyricist or a great singer, for that matter.
(Although, I guess that if The Subway were the title of a DVD that Frederik B owned, the lyric would kinda make sense.)
― The Anti-Climax Blues Band (Turrican), Tuesday, 1 August 2017 17:17 (six years ago) link
lol why bring fred into the interpol thread
what do you like about interpol, turrican. let's not rehash the PB discussion
― flappy bird, Tuesday, 1 August 2017 17:19 (six years ago) link
I like how they're never on my stereo!
What ultimately sinks this band for me is that I don't think they're good songwriters and I really dislike Paul Banks' voice and lyrics. I like the sound of the band but I've heard many do that sound better.
― The Anti-Climax Blues Band (Turrican), Tuesday, 1 August 2017 17:43 (six years ago) link
nice, whats your fav song by them
― flappy bird, Tuesday, 1 August 2017 17:48 (six years ago) link
None of 'em.
― The Anti-Climax Blues Band (Turrican), Tuesday, 1 August 2017 17:49 (six years ago) link
why are you posting in the Interpol thread then....
― flappy bird, Tuesday, 1 August 2017 17:50 (six years ago) link
Because I've heard this album, which this thread is a poll about.
― The Anti-Climax Blues Band (Turrican), Tuesday, 1 August 2017 17:52 (six years ago) link
so is Carlos D doing this full album tour
― Οὖτις, Tuesday, 1 August 2017 17:55 (six years ago) link
no. they don't speak. he gave a really fuckin juicy interview last October detailing his whole history with the band and how it all fell apart in the late 00's.
― flappy bird, Tuesday, 1 August 2017 17:56 (six years ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XABnMW5k834
― flappy bird, Tuesday, 1 August 2017 17:57 (six years ago) link
Something about herpes.
― The Anti-Climax Blues Band (Turrican), Tuesday, 1 August 2017 17:59 (six years ago) link
banks comes off really well in lizzie goodman's book
― reggie (qualmsley), Tuesday, 1 August 2017 18:05 (six years ago) link
haven't heard this since it came out but probably "Hands Away"
― Week of Wonders (Ross), Tuesday, 1 August 2017 18:07 (six years ago) link
Saw them play a small bar in NYC the night before they went off to the UK to tour this album and...stardom! They had presence, I'll give 'em that. Can't believe it was so long ago now.
― Acid Hose (Capitaine Jay Vee), Tuesday, 1 August 2017 23:36 (six years ago) link
I was so obsessed with this album when it came out. It's definitely been tainted by what came after it. Antics is pretty solid, but didn't have the same urgency this did. Our Love To Admire was a heart-breaker for me. Such a halfhearted record. I'm surprised it got even worse with the self titled.
I would have voted for Untitled. Still one of my favourite openers of all time. Hands Away would be in second place. The way it builds until that bass appears still gets me. As for lyrics, this album is full of great lines. "I'm sick of spending these lonely nights, training myself not to care" is the obvious favourite.
― kitchen person, Wednesday, 2 August 2017 02:58 (six years ago) link
lyrically this album and Antics are flawless imo. even Hands Away, which is easily my least favorite songs from both records, has this fucking killer line: "homespun desperation's knowing inside you're cover's always blown."
and from NYC: "I had seven faces / thought I knew which one to wear." one of my favorite opening lines to a song ever
― flappy bird, Wednesday, 2 August 2017 03:15 (six years ago) link
as much as i love this album the lyrics often make me wince.
but i don't care because i saw them in a tiny capacity room twice around the time of this album's release and it was truly incredible and it was linked into a long distance relationship i was having and sharing this records. by the time i saw them in a large room less than a year later my interest had dissipated in both the band and the relationship... or so i thought at the time but i go back to this album over and over and sometimes i get a very sharp urge to listen to it RIGHT NOW.
― Heavy Doors (jed_), Wednesday, 2 August 2017 03:46 (six years ago) link
I found these guys so stupid. Yet I love Duran Duran.
― the Rain Man of nationalism. (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, 2 August 2017 11:07 (six years ago) link
They are stupid. Duran Duran's lyrics aren't great either, but they're far more fun to listen to and I love the rhythm section on the first two albums.
― The Anti-Climax Blues Band (Turrican), Wednesday, 2 August 2017 12:11 (six years ago) link
i'll bring my timing in, seagulls gather on the wind, lady screaming, lady leave me outcuz sometimes people stare, sitting down in electric chair, steaming crowds they gather and they shout
― reggie (qualmsley), Wednesday, 2 August 2017 13:23 (six years ago) link
oh, Carlos...
The decision to record Turn on the Bright Lights in Bridgeport, Connecticut was insane (we lived in New York City, for crying out loud), but the Metro-North trips on the New Haven Line did offer certain advantages. During one early-morning ride, I found myself scraping at the tattered remains of a carefully folded paper envelope holding the last dregs of a spot of damp cocaine I’d purchased the previous evening at a club. (It was really the same evening, since I hadn’t slept.) I assumed that by the time these moist clots of white powder found their ultimate destination in my nostrils, they’d been cut many times, and noticed that the final mix included some pocket lint and candy bar crumbs. The early sun and the train conductor made fishing for the final hit an act of such clandestine finesse that it would have made a 19th-century French pickpocket proud.
― flappy bird, Friday, 22 September 2017 19:26 (six years ago) link