Pere Ubu: Classic Or Dud

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.

Ooof. Have to revisit the materials if I wanna respond to that.

I can listen to "Waiting for Mary," "Breathe," "Bus Called Happiness" and "Love Love Love" on an endless loop.

Hmmm by wild coincidence I just noticed 'Long Live Pere Ubu- The Spectacle American' is happening march 28 here in nyc at Le Poisson Rouge...

so weird, I had "waiting for mary" in my head a few days ago but could not remember what song it was or who it was by. I kind of like this sub-talking heads period of pere ubu.

Yeah there's something endearingly quixotic about it. Right down to the record label they were on-- Imago (lol).

I can listen to "Waiting for Mary," "Breathe," "Bus Called Happiness" and "Love Love Love" on an endless loop.Those would definitely be my four picks from the album, if I could only pick four.

(line break)

I saw thenm on a double bill around the time of Tenement Year with John Cale. good show.

never understood them, like Material or 23 skidoo.

I like all three, to varying degrees...but Pere Ubu have way more to offer. While I can imagine struggling with some of the weirder early album stuff, I'm not sure what's not to understand about Heart of Darkness, Final Solution, Nonalignment Pact etc...pretty modern rock-n-roll, but not the most obtuse stuff.

Well, aided by something calling itself plant feeder I stayed up till 6 am with my good woman blasting tunes.

Managed to get through the first two discs (focusing mostly on 'The Modern Dance' and 'Dub Housing'). Really enjoyed a lot of the creative guitar playing. Lots of it sounded nothing like I expected and I was quite surprised by a lot of the mellower moments. 'Humour Me' from 'The Modern Dance' stood out, the rest was a schizophrenic blast of all sorts. Good stuff though. Looking forward to returning. I particularly dug the production. Lots of crazy noise. Even went down well with my girlfriend.

Dunno if I'm wrong but I'm sure I recall hearing that there's quite a divide between those who prefer 'The Modern Dance' and 'Dub Housing'. 'The Modern Dance' probably edged it for me on first listen. Really need to pull out 'Rip it up and Start Again' and re-read the Ubu chapter.

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.

Allen's legendary (analog) EML synths provide the squawks, bleeps and whirrs on both 'Cloudland' and 'Tenement Year.'

It wasn't until 'Worlds in Collision' that he was replaced by the estimable Eric Drew Feldman, formerly of Snakefinger's band & the Shiny Beast thru Ice Cream for Crow-era Magic Band, and later "the 5th Pixie" and a frequent Frank Black-collaborator (not too shabby an avant-rock resume for a nice Jewish boy from L.A.).

Cool fact: I saw 'em at a club called Velvet Underground. So the ticket stub suggests an Ubu/Velvets double bill.

"Really need to pull out 'Rip it up and Start Again' and re-read the Ubu chapter." From the Velvets to the Voidoids by Clinton Heylin has some really good background on Pere Ubu and what was going on in Cleveland in the mid-70s. It is an older book at this point, but a good read.

I actually am listening to the Terminal Drive CD tonight and the Ububox quite a bit of late. Overall, I think their sound has held up pretty well.

Seconding the From The Velvets To The Voidoids recommendation. Excellent material on Ubu and Television.

yeah, i love that book, though i've talked to some people who say a lot of the info could use some fact checking. still a great read.
as opposed to a dude drafted in from late Beefheart.
dunno, you could do worse than eric drew feldman -- he seems like a great musician.

Yeah I was just being a dick. Feldman is good. Actually, so is the very Ravenstine-esque operator they had in the band last time I saw them live (2003). Keyboards are fine and dandy but there's nothing like watching a guy frantically unplugging and switching patch cords on an antediluvian synth while simultaneously operating a theremin.

yeah, Ravenstine definitely gets props because he *invented* that sound/way of playing (and did it in the mid-70s, when that shit must have been hard!).

I'd have to say Eno invented that style! Or other precedents like United States of America?

From the Velvets to the Voidoids was huge for me...and every other music dork who went to Oberlin and discovered the Cleveland scene. There just isn't/wasn't other easy to find sources to read about the Styrenes and Electric Eels.

Speaking of which, Styrenes are about to start at 35th anniversary tour...

http://www.thestyrenes.com/

I think you could give Eno props for the synth on those first couple of Roxy Music records being out before Pere Ubu, but by the timeline, I think it is very possible that Ravenstine was already doing what he was doing just not in a band that was releasing records. I'd say both of them would have had to heard United States of America or Mother Mallard or early Cluster and certainly early Tangerine Dream.

re: from the velvets to the voidoids. i was always surprised that "please kill me" didn't include more on the cleveland scene along w/all the dead boys stuff

What about DikMik and his "audio generator" (whatever that was)?

("Velvets to Voidoids" recommendation thirded, fourthed, whatever)

probz gonna go see 'em next week

Yeah likewise in NYC.

Was enjoying Bay City by David Thomas and Foreigners quite a bit this morning. Kind of an odd man out amongst semi-recent Thomas stuff as it is not an Ubu record nor does it feature Two Pale Boys. Same kind of noir-ish mood of some of that stuff though, just feels more loose.

Ive only heard the first three albums and like them all... truly a unique sound and band!

Last one; Why I Hate Women is great.

Destroy: The coverart of Worlds in Collision. I like the album though.

I know the first 3 albums and EP are generally considered their best work, but I'd think you could make a killer 2 or 3 disc anthology by picking the best tracks from later albums.

― Gerald McBoing-Boing, Wednesday, October 12, 2011 4:18 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark

For Gerald and anyone else who's interested, here are some highlights from the self-described "modern era" of the band, along with tracks from David Thomas's albums with Two Pale Boys and "Foreigners" from the same period. All of it's on Spotify except for the St. Arkansas album (which includes my personal favorite Ubu song, "Slow Walking Daddy"), so I linked to some youtubes for that one. Probably runs about two hours total.

http://open.spotify.com/user/123383973/playlist/2u2JGdebORLtpBWdbdRlmg

Raygun Suitcase (Pere Ubu - 1995)

Beach Boys
Turquoise Fins
Three Things
Red Sky
Down by the River II

Erewhon (David Thomas and Two Pale Boys - 1996)

Obsession
Planet of Fools
Nowheresville

Pennsylvania (Pere Ubu - 1998)

Woolie Bullie
SAD.TXT

Bay City (David Thomas and Foreigners - 2000)

White Room
Charlotte

Surf's Up! (David Thomas and Two Pale Boys - 2001)

Man in the Dark
Night Driving

St. Arkansas (Pere Ubu - 2002)

The Fevered Dream of Hernando DeSoto
Slow Walking Daddy
333
Phone Home Jonah
Dark

18 Monkeys on a Dead Man's Chest (David Thomas and Two Pale Boys - 2004)

New Orleans Fuzz
Numbers Man
Little Sister
Golden Surf
Prepare for the End

Why I Hate Women (Pere Ubu - 2006)

Caroleen
Flames Over Nebraska
Mona
Texas Overture

Pere Ubu has finally clicked for me, in a big way. Tracked down the original 5 disc box (the reissue ditched the live disc!) and love it all much to my surprise, because in the past disc 3 really grated whereas now the best bits shine and the wonky stuff amuses me.

And actually the live disc is shockingly enjoyable - how do the other live albums from this period ("390 degrees of Simulated Stereo Vol. 1" and "One Man Drives While The Other Man Screams") compare?

"The Modern Dance" is essential. The following albums ("Dub Housing" etc) are good, but I can live without them. The later period isn't bad, but somehow just not very interesting either.
― Dr. C
aww, jeez...Dub Housing is actaully "better" but i dunno how you can like one (1) and find the rest not of innerst....i still need to spend more time with disc 3 of datapanik but i already know it's got greatness (looking at you "Birdies")

sorry, kinda fun stories: saw PU twice around 1991. first show at a small club in L.A. someone was heckling David throughout. he cut the set short saying "i'm sorry we couldn't be friends". sounds lame but was brilliant. then a few months later i moved to SF and saw Norm from Cheers at a PU show @ Slim's (blanking on his name right now) at the bar. i thought to myself maybe he thought they said Beer ubu