What happened to LUSH?

Drummer Chris Acland -- a virtual CLONE of Peter Murphy

It was weird -- I had seen photos of him (and the band live) but this comparison didn't leap out at me until a MM article mentioned the resemblance, late 1991 or so I think. The photo with it featured his eyes and above in light and the rest in shadow, and the way he glowered made it all perfectly obvious!

Friend of mine interviewed him a few weeks before he killed himself, said that he seemed perfectly happy and chatty. You really can't tell...

After that the sound veers some there are fine tracks on split and even on lovelife, but I could never love them as much as I adore the early records, which remain frosted december heaths.

On the Sleeper/Echobelly mistake: they were kind of contemporaries but Emma and Miki had been contemporaries of MBV too, I guess

My statement? Well, the bit about falling completely asleep on my feet in front of Sonic Youth is entirely true. I'm not saying Lush blew a new part in my hair and set the room on fire, but they were visually more engaging than Sonic Youth. But, y'know, I've never been a member of Sonic Youth's hallelujah choir, so ya might factor that into your assessment.

The idea of getting paperwork or voicemail from Miki Berenyi seems really strange to me. It would be like having Kevin Sheilds fix your plumbing or something. You would sit there thinking "oh my god, oh my god, Kevin from MBV is snaking my toilet."

But as the others upthread note, "De Luxe" = winner.

Replace Spooky and Loveless with At War with Satan and What's THIS for...!, replace bubble bath and glass of wine with 40 oz of Crazy Horse and eliminate the reading material entirely and you have my solution.

DESIRE LINES

oh man...

I found Lovelife for a dollar the other day, it's pretty rad. Very chipper for what appears to be a concept album about breaking up.

I've reintroduced Spooky into my rotation in the last month or so. Somehow, before, my attention had always drifted off by the time the album reached "Monochrome." So I was listening on shuffle the other day and that song came up and absolutely wiped me out; the choruses in particular and the bridge at about 2:15 are Lush at their melancholy best.

I'm really happy about my poor listening habits way back when, because now I get a new favorite song without having to buy another record. It's the small victories.

spooky is the only lush disc i've never heard in full. i don't know why people are so keen to work with robin guthrie as a producer when he clearly isn't terribly good at it.

"For Love" > "Sweetness and Light"

Hmmm ... I've never been one to really pay too much attention to production, but I don't notice any thing overtly bad about Spooky. I mean, it sounds pretty damn good to my ears.

A quick scan looks like all their records were produced by him, except for Lovelife.

I miss Lush.

Early singles are obviously terrific, but Split is easily their best full-length - and one of my favorite records period.

(to elaborate on that) Split straddles the middle ground between Spooky and Lovelife and combines the strengths of both: buzzy power-pop & Cocteau/shoegaze dreaminess, whereas the other two LPs lean a bit too far in either direction.

ah but Split transcends the sum of its parts no? I'm with you in saying its one of my favourite records ever.

pillbox sort of otm, but to me those slow tracks in the last 2/3rds of split kind of kill its momentum. "lovelife" is my favorite lush song, though, and "kiss chase" might be #2

this was my favorite band in high school. it's been too long. those guitars + miki and emma's voices together was such a rush..

Winston, I'll give you "Never-Never" on you observation (though I still really like that song, I can see how it would drag for others), but if you're referring to "Desire Lines" or "When I Die," you're nuts.

oh no i loooove "when i die"! "desire lines" i would probably be more ok with if it didn't follow "lovelife" (let alone the previous 4 tracks)

You know, my mate put on "Spooky" one evening and I really liked it until I found out it was the same band that recorded "Single Girl".

you're weird

At some shows during Lollapalooza '92, Miki and Emma would join Ministry onstage when they played "Supernaut". I always thought that was pretty cool. I can't imagine the boys from the Jesus and Mary Chain doing the same thing.

The latest from Miki

Thanks for that, Jack.

for some reason, that interview made me sad.

i saw miki throwing herself at some kid younger than i was at a black box recorder show in the camden underworld in 2000. she was sideways and her skin was grotesque. goodbye teenage lust...

that said, i'll still support a good chunk of gala, spooky, and split. i haven't hear lovelife in ages, but recall being pretty fond of the silly duet with jarvis cocker. thnking of "ladykiller" now, i'm guessing it would play out much like songs from blur's the great escape. cute and fun, but sounds from a world i cannot imagine having been excited in.

she was sideways

What does that mean?

Anyway, Lush wasalways one of the few shoegaze bands that never did it for me. I spent a lot of time with 'Spooky' when it came out but it always sounded so lifeless and tinny.

http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/6075/1290/320/lush_mikigameboy.jpg

she was rather tipsy...err, entirely hammered...practically falling down..dean martin sort of routine..

Lush sounds nice and moody still, but it reminds me of watching 120 Minutes in 1992 ... the production is very much of its time. To me, Telescopes - Flying begins and ends this whole "shoegzing'" thing.

To me, Telescopes - Flying begins and ends this whole "shoegzing'" thing. - yeah, the genre sure could have used more banjo pickin'

No problem, Alex.

Now I'm imagining Miki as totally hammered in that gameboy pic. lol

xpost

that is the greatest photo

It is incredingbly hard to find even "Lovelife" these days, not to say any of the earlier albums.

news just in from 4ad, following a totally made-up email i sent saying "are the rumours of a raft of Lush repackages/re-releases this year correct?":

"someone is either a psychic or shagging the band. All is to be discussed next Monday with Emma and Miki, but yes, it's on the cards..."

nb. i am neither psychic nor shagging the band. just teh clevah.

AWESOME.

I think I have pretty much everything they ever released! So probably not going to bother with deluxe reissues, but still good that they're coming out.

i would be interested in any unreleased (not live) material from the pre-spooky period

Is there any, that you know? Demos etc?

i know that there was a demo of stuff floating about before they signed to 4ad, though i don't know how much/if any of it ended up on the first ep..

I found out relatively recently that Miki & Emma did a fanzine about bands like Lack Of Knowledge before they formed Lush. I guess that explains the Zounds cover!

I wonder if they recorded anything when whatserface from Pale Saints was in the band.

it's all about "Scarlet" (if I've got the right song...)

-- Paul, Tuesday, August 13, 2002 12:00 AM (5 years ago) Bookmark Link

you have, and it is.

They did a fanzine about bands like Lack of Knowledge? What!?

Goodness, Colonel, I nearly forgot I had that CDR!

"Nothing Natural" is my favorite of theirs. I also remember having a bit of a crush on Emma at the time.

Joke from my schooldays:

What's Louise Woodward's favourite tune?

oh snap.

I think I have pretty much everything they ever released! So probably not going to bother with deluxe reissues, but still good that they're coming out.

see, no matter what i already own, for sure my copy of gala would benefit from replacement by a remastered and less muddy version...

http://vonpipmusicalexpress.wordpress.com/2008/01/25/sweetness-and-light-the-miki-berenyi-interview-2008/

tl;dr

"De-Luxe" will be in Rock Band 2.

Miki resurfaces and sings this time
http://vonpipmusicalexpress.wordpress.com/2009/01/20/seinking-ships-miki-berenyi/

This news makes me so so so happy!

I was just reading an interview with her yesterday (well, a "let's chase down old shoegazers" article posted on Sonic Cathedral") and thinking "wow, she was so cool and so mouthy, where is she?"

Going to listen now...

Whole back catalogue; singles, albums, EPs and b.sides - all on Spotify fyi.

Oh, that's made my day.

And your message has made mine!

Got Gala on now. For an tape I played nearly a thousand times until the actual tape gave out, I have forgotten great swathes of it.

For all the "sonic cathedrals of sound" it's the incredibly simple stuff that's most effective. Big drums, big booming bass and this spangly wash over the top. I had forgotten how *catchy* they were. Pop songs drenched in reverb.

Yeah they were mad catchy weren't they? Sheer pop. Perfect for the 16 year old me, who on discovering the Melody Maker in 1990 just couldn't .. get with all this noisy manly grim looking American rock and the po faced guitar bands of the era. Then i heard Lush and the whole world of bands that only the music press seemed to like made sense.
Pop but a bit noisy! Of course! I think i owe Lush a lot.

Amazing thing rediscovered thru Spotify: Starlust was originally on the 1992 For Love e.p. and was brilliant and very Lush Mk 1; way better than the slightly weedy slick version on Split, 2 years after. They had this weird thing where they would do B sides/offcuts then polish them for the albums. They also did that with The Childcatcher. But yes.. Starlust Version 1! Where have you been these last 18 years?

It all seems such a shame the way they ended.

Superblast! just came on and I was bouncing about in my seat.

But I mean, that was kind of said at the time - that they would have these bouncy pop songs that would be great live, and then they'd get in the studio and Robin Guthrie would produce the f*ck out of them and make them all shiny and smooth when it was the spiky poppiness that was so appealing about them in the first place.

They're just one of those bands that I think history has misserved, and when I listen to them I hear so many missed opportunities.

And I wish I lived in a different universe, one where Lush had survived and been rediscovered and lionised the way excreble bands like Slowdive eventually did in the critical evaluation of shoegaze. :-(

But of course they're the one band that *can't* reform, and never will, so we'll never see that.

Lush matters so much more to me than Slowdive. Sorry everyone else who likes shoegazer.

(and high-five Masonic Boom)

::high five back::

They were one of those bands that I did actually see quite a bit back in the day - they made a habit of slogging through second tier markets in the States to actually play loads of gigs in a way that so many workshy shoegazers just didn't. Saw them on some hideously inappropriate bills, though - supporting Janes Addiction (at the cusp of their jock-rock success), on Lollapollooza...

I know this is probably HERESY to some, but I really just wanna see them get in there and remaster or remix Spooky and take off all the Robin Guthrie over-processing and put the rough edges back in.

Actually, I think Lush was on the second Lollapalooza with Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, and Ministry. I don't think of Jane's as jock-rock. They would have been a pretty good match-up for Lush, considering how jangly they both are.

1991
Location: North America

Main Stage: Jane's Addiction, Siouxsie and the Banshees, Nine Inch Nails, Living Colour, Ice-T & Body Count, Butthole Surfers, Rollins Band, Violent Femmes, Fishbone, Emergency Broadcast Network

1992
Location: North America

Main Stage: Red Hot Chili Peppers, Ministry, Ice Cube, Soundgarden, The Jesus and Mary Chain, Pearl Jam, Lush

They were two different tours. They toured as the support act with Janes Addiction during the Ritual de lo Habitual tour - just as "Been Caught Stealin'" was breaking on MTV and that gig was CHOCK A BLOCK full of horrible horrible jock-rock types. I was right up front for Lush as I loved them, and kept getting beer poured on my head by awful idiots who kept just shouting SHOW US YR TITS through the whole set. I wanted to cry.

The music might well have been really compatible, but the crowds were SO not.

Then Lollapolooza was the year after that. You have to admire Lush for getting back up and going back into that kind of scene after the treatment that they got on that JA tour.

It always seemed like they got so "*wow*" when they got produced into this big noise under RGuth, and it took until "Split" for them to get confident enough to appear as "themselves"

...and by the time they were confident enough to appear as the spikey pop band they'd always been, people were all "WTF is this Britpop shit, we want Cocteausaur Jr back!" :-/

can't win, can you?

Mind you, the "shit britpop" album is probably the one I still listen on the most regular basis. I mean, Ladykillers, 500, Single Girl - I eat that stuff up. With a spoon.

19 years later, I am still all about "De-Luxe"

20 years dude. 20 fuckin years.

Yeah, we had that nice 7" single in the clear plastic. (and the CD singles! Pudding! and, um the next track!)

Need to dig it out again for our Alice.

I bought Gala in 1991, so it's 19 for me.

Oh my goodness Spotify - I've never *heard* Topolino, thank you for bringing that to my attention!

My Italian stepmother told me that Topolino "means little mouse in Rome and Turin"... it was the only Lush album I could find in Toronto for a long time!

"And I wish I lived in a different universe, one where Lush had survived and been rediscovered and lionised the way excreble bands like Slowdive eventually did in the critical evaluation of shoegaze. :-("
obviously I disagree with your view of Slowdive, but I also disagree that Lush are underappreciated. Not by anyone I know, anyway; they're ranked right up there.

Gala was the third CD I ever bought (Gish by Smashing Pumpkins was #1 & She Hangs Brightly by Mazzy Star was #2. I remember when Spin or Alternative Press ran a two-page spread ad for the Lush/Ride tour in '91. It said "LUSH" really big on on side & "RIDE" on the other. I wanted to go to that SOOO BAD, but I was 13 & there was no way..

Topolino = Mickey Mouse innit?

Agree totally about much said here re sheen vs edges, in fact "Bitter" off Gala is often my favourite Lush track of them all. Quite fond of the "shit britpop" too, yes.

Shit, i'm going to have to have a Lush fest tonight.

Topolino = Fiat 500 = the car that the lovesong/single "500" was about

http://carsandbikesindia.files.wordpress.com/2008/09/olf500.jpg

Oh my mum had a light blue one of those.

Did not know it had a name.

But of course they're the one band that *can't* reform, and never will, so we'll never see that.

Isn't this exactly what we say before each and every reformation that we never in a million years think will happen, but then people stopped buying music and bands need $$$ and they reform and the rest is history?

I said that on account of the deadness of a certain integral member rather than anything else.

Other amazing b side = Cat's Chorus.

Yes, I know, but since when has a dead band member prevented any reunions that *really* had to happen?

xpost

I don't think there's Led Zeppelin-sized cash interest enough to make it happen, you know?

"Untogether" has been stuck in my head ever since this thread popped up on site new answers.

I remember when Spin or Alternative Press ran a two-page spread ad for the Lush/Ride tour in '91. It said "LUSH" really big on on side & "RIDE" on the other. I wanted to go to that SOOO BAD, but I was 13 & there was no way..

Hate to make you jealous but...

Knew the car was Topolino, but thought explaining the little mouse line from 500 would be intrsting.

http://new.assets.thequietus.com/images/articles/4017/lush_1270066354_crop_550x450.jpg

http://thequietus.com/articles/04017-lush-interview-mad-love-20th-anniversary

So have they thought of reforming? Giving it another go? Berenyi says: "Funnily enough, some guy at All Tomorrow’s Parties offered for us to do gigs playing Spooky. We got quite excited, but then he came back to us and said he had listened to the album and realised he never really liked Lush so he’d changed his mind about the gigs. Call me petulant, but that kind of flaky cuntishness puts me off wanting to return to the music business."

Liked the story, but if ham-fisted attempts at Britpop were such a major deal-killer for prominence in the 'gaze pantheon, Ride would have nowhere near the critical legacy they do. TBH the idea of Britishers not rating Lush among other like bands is news to me. As I've generally experienced, the yank version of the same story has them (rightfully) ranked alongside Ride & Slowdive as A-list players (just under MBV obv).

History has vindicated Swervedriver, leaving The Pale Saints & The Telescopes as the true unsung heroes of the genre.

btw atp dude, if u are out there somewhere: you are the fucking worst

^^^

If My Bloody Valentine’s experimental but calculated aural sculptures are Jackson Pollock or Damien Hirst

They sound like a noted abstract expressionist or maybe a twat who put a shark in a box.

Bassist Phil King (ex-Felt & currently in the Jesus & Mary Chain)

wot.

no mention of Union Jackson ?

cracking article .. time to go a diggin' in the archives.

History has vindicated Swervedriver

When?

Why? How?

But Lush, yes, absolutely Lush. Fuck an ATP anyway, they should reform off their own bat, do some gigs etc. There's a growing audience for 90s indie nostalgia anyway.

And the Pale Saints.

An over-defensive article based around the idea that they are validated because lots of well known people said they liked them. Should've just talked about what they meant to the writer. Then again...

Lush’s Spooky album is a bona fide masterpiece.

It's their worst imo. It might've had a chance if it wasn't buried under a thick layer of Robin Guthrie varnish. Gala is their best release, but I prefer both Split and Lovelife to Spooky.

And I don't know who is having these discussions where Chapterhouse and Echobelly(!?) are favoured over Lush, but anyway.

i also think spooky is their worst but it's far from a bad record.

surely no fucker really favours echobelly

leaving The Pale Saints & The Telescopes as the true unsung heroes of the genre.

Never really dug The Telescopes much beyond the first singles, but Pale Saints grow in my affections with every year that passes (and I loved them at the time anyway). I know a lot of people dismiss the post-Masters stuff, but some of Slow Buildings is fucking amazing.

some of Slow Buildings is fucking amazing.

Eh, I felt the "Fine Friend" single pretty much summed up that period.

Saying some of slow buildings is amazing is most not otm statement ever.

it's not the horrific disaster some make it out to be, unlike say rachel goswell's solo material

it's not the horrific disaster some make it out to be, unlike say rachel goswell's solo material

Yahhh! That's so true, I couldn't believe how bad Rachel's solo stuff was!!

Meanwhile, by chance, my latest Not Just the Ticket entry...

Good work Ned - I only saw Lush a couple of times a bit earlier in their career, but Spotify has enabled a fair bit of retrospective listening recently. I've some photos from a gig at the Manchester Boardwalk in 1990 that I'll try to scan and upload soon (in the process of moving house currently so everything's packed up, but will get on it once settled).

i know the production on spooky gets a bad rap, but imo if there was ever a band built to withstand (nay, prosper) from guthrie's sugary winterblast it was lush circa '92

argh end parenthesis after from

Yeah, I often found the production on their previous stuff was a little thin, which is not an accusation that could be levelled at RG's maximalistic approach.

This is no time for revisionism, everything they say about Guthrie's work on Spooky is true. It's all true. The sound is so sealed in and polite. The voices are indistinguishable, and far too airy; the guitars should ring out clear, but are all cloudy; the drums are coming from the room upstairs.
Guthrie seems to think he's producing something called Sugar-Frosted Choo-Choo Faery, and he ain't.

guthrie has done a lot of great things, but his production of non-CT artists isn't really among them

Anyway, remember them this way:

http://i153.photobucket.com/albums/s236/mezxspectrum/miki.jpg

http://i153.photobucket.com/albums/s236/mezxspectrum/emme.jpg

So we don't get to see the lads with their tops off then?

Haven't got them, soz.

http://www.lightfromadeadstar.org/Photos/Promo%20Photos.htm

An extraordinarily good looking band. Part of their legacy problem right there. Too good looking. Too female/feminine. Too chipper looking.

It's been really good listening to Lush again this weekend.

revisionism my ass, i've always been down w/spooky

but fuck, i first "spooky" when i was 15, in 1998, and i probably traded my copy of stone temple pilots "core" for it. so n/m

No, no. Spooky is classic. Fuck production.

i like the production on spooky. it's their best album too, imo.

I am all for Lush-canonization -- there are tons of things about them that sound even better now than they did at the time, especially the stuff that set them apart from the other bands around them. But the one thing recaps can't really touch on is the way that ... even if it seems less significant in hindsight, the changes they made going into Lovelife are what buried them for a while, aren't they? It felt like they reached for a certain pop role, didn't quite snag it right, and that's surely why their reputation languished for a while.

first time i heard lush was the singles off lovelife and found them really annoying (altho "500" is ok i guess) got into shoegaze about 2000 and somebody played me a couple of their early tracks without telling me who it was and i've loved the first couple of albums and early eps ever since.

lush got way more popular in oz off the back of the lovelife album, but i'm betting that a fair chunk of that was the jarvis duet. also shake baby shake was thrashed on the radio

Ha, I should probably be clear what I mean about snagging the pop role right -- I mean, that album seemed way more successful in a broad pop way, but I feel like there was this sense that they'd accomplished that by going a bit bland, or joining up to run in a pack with bands like Sleeper and Echobelly, or something. I don't know that anyone considered that a huge sell-out, or anything, but surely it has something to do with their not being critically canonized in the way they might have been if they'd released three records like Gala and then broken up, you know?

http://vonpipmusicalexpress.wordpress.com/2010/05/16/lush-mad-love/

i do kind of miss these guys, though they were never ever in the same league as MBV or Slowdive.

the linked interview is really interesting, though. being American, i had no idea that Lush had gotten beaten up so much in the British musical press -- the interview claims it's because they were "lighter" than other shoegaze bands (which is true i guess) -- but it wasn't as if Slowdive (to give a counter-example) had a particularly easy time with the British press either.

yeah i recall interviews w/them in The Big Takeover where they blasted the British press, especially for constantly pushing the tired dull sexist "look these are women playing rock music" line.

Also, shoegaze in general got AN LOT of ridicule; the term itself was originally used as a pejorative iirc.

This must go down on record as the longest Lush thread ever being that it was stated in 2002!

In fact I can't think of any other band or for that matter, subject matter that has merited such an long thread!

i won't introduce you to the pseudo echo thread in that case

I suppose with Lush now talking about reforming, it could quite easy make it's 10th anniversary.

I guess it's only a matter of time, until a reunion is on the cards.

Which would be very strange, to say the least.

(sigh)

After seeing Lush repeatedly place on the shoegaze-tracks poll, I am revisiting all of these Lush albums and they are hitting all the right autumnal emotional trigger points. So fucking good. The outros to Nothing Natural and Desire Lines are killing me.

Of course Lush will never get old. They will forever be in their twenties and the music will always remain ageless. And they didn't need the build-up and applause of the music press to keep them relevant either.

Just read a note on FB that tomorrow is the 16th anniversary of Chris Acland's death.

I've just bumped into this Emma Anderson interview... was kind of surprised to learn they've actually contemplated reuniting, but haven't been offered enough money :(

Interview here

Was talking to Emma Anderson at a wedding the other week.

Saw the Ride / Lush tour the summer I gradjeeated from college at the late lamented Latin Quarter in Detroit. Epic show. My brother and I both lost hearing in our right ears from the treble onslaught, but 21 years later I have no regrets!

back next year according to a fake-Coachella poster doing the rounds!

I hope so!

firing up Spooky for the first time in a while; this album is still fantastic

It's one of my favorite albums that I would usually probably forget to list among my favorite albums. I discovered at just the right point in my life, too, which doesn't hurt. Total gateway drug to lots of other, similar stuff I'd never been exposed to previously.

I love Spooky but it's my least favourite of their albums.

Lovelife never really gelled for me

Yeah, Lovelife isn't bad, but they sounded like a different band to me (although I can't fault them for not continuing to do exactly what I wanted them to continue doing). I love everything up until then, though.

that first sing-sing album is so great, seems like it could've been big if it were released a few years later

I've been on such a Lush-binge these past few days. Christ, they were fantastic.

I will rep for Lovelife, too, it was the kind of spikey pop band that was lurking underneath all the shoegaze haze all along, but people just didn't seem able to accept that side of them. Which is a shame, because I always loved their melodic sensibility. I mean, come on! 500 (Shake Baby Shake)? Such a choon!

I even dug out the Sing-Sing albums yesterday. Yeah, the timing on that was weird. To put out this deeply textured, finely arranged summer-pop album right at the height of the Noo Rawk Revival seems like bad luck. It's way, way better than I remember it being.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qah2UXQj3kQ&app=desktop

almost as good as fabulous on rapido

i had that "Get Fucked By Fabulous" shirt, it was kind of ill-advised to ever wear it out

is that Quantick in the waistcoat?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vq1QWn8KXsw

all-time

Who's the speccy wee gadge in the blue cardy?

James Brown

The knowledge that he went on to become editor of lads mag 'Loaded' makes me take everything he says in that video with a huge pinch of salt.

taking any of what they said seriously would be utterly ridiculous

Miki was onstage with Jesus And Mary Chain for Just Like Honey last night in London!

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/B3PfzrVIAAIdD1n.jpg

the live band also has philip king in the line up ..

ok so..

http://www.lushofficial.com/

oh dude.

I guess it was inevitable really - but out of all those guys, reformed Lush is the one I see most struggling to raise interest.

It basically comes down to: What are the new songs like?

What's the news? Is that just a new website?

I would also note this:

https://twitter.com/evjanderson/status/645886417957203968

I really can't process this right now because I can't run around my office screaming "WHOOOOOOOOO LUSH!" without getting fired

reformed Lush is the one I see most struggling to raise interest.

Really?

Anyway, hope this turns out to be yet another fantastic album from a 90s band who hasn't been together in 20 years. It's been a good year for that.

I'm into this if this is the thing that's actually happening. Remains to be seen what direction they'll take. I deeply love everything they did up to the last album, which I thought was just okay. I really like Sing-Sing, though.

Eek, this is all very exciting! I was just downloading some of their B-sides yesterday.

New album, tour and reissues would all be welcomed. I don't ask for a lot.

I would personally fund their reunion

if I had any money.

please please please let this be true!

announcement tomorrow supposedly.

Yeah Philip King has been dropping thoroughly obvious photo hints on Facebook while pretending not to know what's being talked about.

Less than an hour to go, I am very excitable today

one gig and some reissues? ...

It's more Lush than we had yesterday.

i think LUSH were an 'on-ramp' for me and Indie rock. Pixies were too harsh and shouty for little early-teen me and as for MBV forget it. but Lush were just pop enough but just noisy enough for me to begin to 'get' the rest of it. Ride came next and then it was a solid Indie diet for god knows how many years. aw man. makes me feel all weird this, dunno why. gladdens my heart though.

May next year? That's not much more Lush than we had yesterday.

Still,..

Phil dropped more than enough hints about American shows recently. I'm mildly surprised this will be after Coachella and not before.

It's not gonna happen but I wish they played some Sing-Sing as well.

You could rush the front and shout "Sing sing-sing", see what happens.

Awful band. It's at least fitting that the shoegaze reunions are restoring the natural order of things - ie. this is the dregs coming now. First Lush, probably Revolver next.

I've never heard anyone say Lush were among the dregs of shoegaze, so at least you're original.

i keep expecting this thread to be about the massively successful cosmetics store

Any details on the reissues?

Awful band. It's at least fitting that the shoegaze reunions are restoring the natural order of things - ie. this is the dregs coming now. First Lush, probably Revolver next.

Aliens are real!

It's at least fitting that the shoegaze reunions are restoring the natural order of things - ie. this is the dregs coming now. First Lush, probably Revolver next.

Well this came out recently, so if the sales are good who knows?

http://www.demonmusicgroup.co.uk/catalogue/releases/access-all-areas-revolver/

i quite liked a couple of Revolver tunes.

hope the reunified LUSH stick to the pre-Spooky stuff most. that's the stuff that's lasted IMO. great to see Justin Welch back too.

pre-spooky only? so just play the EPs?

Revolver had some great singles

can't say the same for Lush, pretty shitty all around.

You have an odd way about you.

xxp mm yeah pretty much. the 'Gala' EP compilation in a random order would suit me fine! i'd save Desire Lines, Cat's Chorus and Nothing Natural from a fire too but not much else from Spooky onwards.

gotta love these drive-by cameos from posters gifting us their self-congratulatory opinions. odd way indeed.

woah there's a 30 minute well-filmed Revolver concert right on that website

ahh the internet age..

lead guy looks like an emo Brian Jones

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3UGr9ZobVFw#t=225

Oh man, I have really really REALLY mixed feelings about this reunion in particular (and reunions in general) but this thread and the assorted chip-pissing in here (even from supposed fans who are all "but they were so much better on their early stuff, before they mastered their instruments and their sound and turned up the vocals so we had to listen to their actual ~thoughts~ not vague angelic lady-cooing") just reminds me of all the misogynist battles I fought 20 years ago and don't want to retread yet again.

I'm pleased for them; the omission was glaring. But I have mixed emotions about reunions. And I can't be dealing with separating my mixed emotions just the general tiredness of having to explain to idiots why this artist was great and worthy of attention to their *entire* career and so on and blah blah ad infinitum.

It was the one band where they had cracked it, and the world was theirs whichever way they wanted to go in.

That was the sad thing about what happened.

My take on reunions, generally, is "hey, have a great time you guys, you might never have had the chance to see them back then, and even if you did, it's better than not going and enjoying yourself, right?"

See, thanks to dodgy reformation of bands being a thing that's almost OK, I got to see the Velvet Underground in my 'local' medium sized indie-rock venue. What were the chances? None at all. So, hey - I can't knock it.

Anyone know just how limited this box set Chorus will be?

Lush >>>>> all other shoegaze bands, fuiud.

Praying this won't be as expensive as the This Mortal Coil box set.

or as limited as the colourbox one .

Lush >>>>> all other shoegaze bands, fuiud.

― Matt DC, Tuesday, September 29, 2015 8:49 AM (7 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

This. Pretty much. I really don't understand the Lush haters. In terms of songwriting alone, they were way ahead of most of the Shoegazing lot.

For a long time I thought I was really into shoegaze, but for the most part it was just that I was a fan of Lush.

I was pretty circumspect on reunions for awhile until one crazed MBV show with a crowd mostly made up of crowd surfing kids who were totally excited that they had a chance to see MBV. Happy to see more kids at these shows than greyhairs.

Curve next please.

Just in case the box set is too limited/expensive: are the compilations fairly comprehensive in collecting all the non-album tracks? I don't really care if I'm missing alternate versions of songs.

Announced earlier today that North American dates of some sort forthcoming.

I listened to Split the most out of their albums, but Gala made more of an impression because high school. Also we were impressed that they made it to Texas multiple times to play shows! The first Sing-Sing album is pretty solid too... the Feels Like Summer EP on Bella Union is fantastic.

xxp Topolino and Gala are weird; one collects EP tracks pre-Spooky and one compiles the later, final album B's but the Spooky-era B sides and Split era B sides from their 'mid period' don't have an attendant comp. if you get me. so even a box set with obscurities won't give you the full hit. which is a bit shit. what all bands need to do is do what The Beatles box sets did; have a specific comp (Past Masters) that mops up all the stuff not collected elsewhere.

just about *everything* (comps, EPs, B sides, etc) they ever did is on Spotify if that's any help.

Thank you. The tracklisting for the box isn't out yet so it might still have everything. 4ad seems to put singles and eps on mp3 stores so I might just get the loose ends on amazon someday.

xpost: I was wondering about the 'Spooky'/'Split' era b-sides, hopefully the box mops them up too.

So I guess I'm going to the Saturday show? Anyone else score tickets?

I did not, but then again I'm in a completely different country

Curve next please.
― Elvis Telecom, Tuesday, September 29, 2015 6:31 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Agreed - Curve and Single Gun Theory top my list. Curve's dissolve seemed more due to monetary/new challenges reasoning, so holding out hope for a reunion. What I've heard of Dean Garcia's follow-on work (Headcase, albums w/ his daughter Rose) hasn't piqued interest like Curve and Toni's presence. "Die Like a Dog" came up on an iPod shuffle the other day, and still sounded fresh to my ears. The "Pink Girl with the Blues" EP was a great return after time off - would be great if they did it again.

Elvis Telecom is OTM

Saturday for me too

(even from supposed fans who are all "but they were so much better on their early stuff, before they mastered their instruments and their sound and turned up the vocals so we had to listen to their actual ~thoughts~ not vague angelic lady-cooing") just reminds me of all the misogynist battles I fought 20 years ago and don't want to retread yet again.

lmao this type of lazy self-serving psychoanalysis never gets old

Heads up, career spanning box set out next month:

http://lush.sandbaghq.com/home/chorus.html

Has it got everything? At least it's decently priced.

Everything and then some.

ordered !
i only have had lovelife on cd, and for that price i aint letting this one go (like i did the colourbox boxset much to my regret)
ta for the tip off.

cool!!!

peel sessions!!!

jeez, it really looks like they compiled EVERYTHING. no stone unturned.

Excellent

the only thing missing that struck me was the Superblast single remix.

TQ: A Mad Love: An Interview With Lush

"...having been given the chance of a sneak preview, I can confirm that the new EP is good. In fact, it is very good."

Nice.

"

didn't know they covered Vashti Bunyan.

also:

We did feel that we weren't taken seriously in this country as
songwriters

this is beyond criminal!!

Jim Abbiss, who had produced the Ladytron album The Witching Hour

!!!!

that album had such a massive sugary sparkly sound, perfect for lush

New interview -- and new photo!

http://www.theguardian.com/music/2015/dec/03/lush-reunited-we-were-seen-as-a-band-whod-turn-up-to-the-opening-of-a-packet-of-crisps

Berenyi, instantly recognisable even though her distinctive shocking-pink 90s hair is now ink-black, gets told off for vaping indoors.

Gough did, however, wangle Lush the opening slot on Perry Farrell’s 1992 Lollapalooza tour of the US. Anderson and Berenyi were the only women to appear on the main stage, unless you count the industrial rock group Ministry’s dancers, which you probably shouldn’t. Among their touring companions, Ministry were fun, Pearl Jam gracious, the Red Hot Chili Peppers obnoxious and Ice Cube standoffish. “We wrote on his mirror: ‘Hey Cube, say hi to Lush,’ in lipstick,” Anderson remembers. “He came in and said: ‘Some people got no respect.’ We were quite drunk.”

excellent.

Is the interviewer actually colourblind? Miki never had shocking pink hair. It was pillarbox red.

(I know my Manic Panic colours!)

That reminds me; no idea if this has been posted on the thread but I found it really really interesting:

http://myoldman.org/2013/10/03/bill-anderson-by-emma/

christ some of that is pretty heartbreaking. i'm glad they're back. good luck to them.

Is the interviewer actually colourblind?

He's a poster here with a name, you could just address him

I know this is weird for ILM but I tend to pay attention to the name of the person being interviewed, not the person doing the interview. Crazy, I know right?

It's just a very very Grauniad mistake to make, when mentioning that a woman is known for her distinctive hair colour, to get that hair colour wrong.

I dunno, her hair color could have been hot pink manic panic... especially if she had to bleach it first.

Memory is a funny thing - yes, definitely pillarbox red later on, but I could've sworn there was a photo of Miki B with Graeme Naysmith of Pale Saints in early 1990 where it was kind of mauve. And whaddya know... it was a B&W photo.

the box set is really a pretty reasonable price!

I can't remember it ever having been anything other than a bright orangey-red

wow, crucifix heaven is pretty neat

oops, that was for the Felt thread

Thanks for that link (myoldman), Branwell

This keeps picking at my brain, so I'm going to have to type it out, why that mistake bothers me. (It's not implied as a dig at a music journalist, or a specific organ, because sic or anyone else goes at that again; more something that's more generally symptomatic.)

I am always the first person to insist that an artist's visual semiotics are hugely important! Image, haircuts, clothes, these things do *matter* in why people love bands and why bands are important or influential. It's more that... image and visual semiotics rely upon signifiers and associations. Even subtle things like colours are emotive and come with charged with pre-established meanings. It does not feel like an accident that (at least) two people, including one that was so confident of the memory that he published it in a national newspaper, despite accompanying pictorial evidence to the contrary, described Berenyi's hair as "shocking pink" when she was well-known for fire-engine / stop-sign / pillarbox *red* hair. And this is about the cultural *meaning* and associations of "shocking pink".

If you think this is just a simple error of mis-attribution in the description of a colour, try to imagine this: a music journalist describing Kraftwerk "taking to the stage in their iconic/distinctive/characteristic shocking pink shirts and black ties". It's the same exact colour, but that error of memory would be unthinkable.

I'm just disappointed with Lush interviews now, like I was constantly being disappointed with interviews, then. Like, how every interview will mention Berenyi's pillarbox red hair, but would not mention her cherry red 12-string. And that's not just quibbling "oh, only musos care about guitars" because reviews of Ride managed to mention "rave music with Rickenbackers" and reviews of MBV always managed to talk about the swooping sounds of their tremolos, even if the journalists didn't always know what the piece of kit was called. And how completely *integral* - not to mention distinctive and unique - Berenyi's use of the 12-string was to their music. Yet people will mention her hair colour a hundred times before mentioning her guitar?

I mean, that 12-string sound... I was just listening to Gala all over again, and on the those early EPs it was so amazing. Most bands of that era who used a 12-string would make like Ride or MBV in their Strawberry Wine phase, and jangle away in this really retro, pseudo-60s Beatlesy-Byrdsy prettiness. Lush managed to have a 12-string that did hark to the 60s at all, it was a much more aggressive, punky, whallop of a sound. I was always fascinated by that guitar because it didn't *sound* like a jangly, trebley Rickenbacker. It was something that sounded both (LOL) Lush and swirly and glittering, but was also huge and solid and as brash as punk, like sandpaper made out of diamonds, beautiful and deadly. It's hard to write about that music without coming across all ~cathedrals of sound~ because it's that weird contradiction of a tone that is both solid as marble and uncompromising as a concrete wall, but as intricate as the tracery on a Gothic arch. That whole "glittering shards of sound" thing was hugely down to the distinctive sound of that 12-string and how Berenyi played it. This was something that was particularly noticeable on seeing them live (which I was lucky enough to do, several times) but is easy to lose in the swirls of the records.

I know that they were always all about demystification - and I think that Berenyi and Anderson's constant self-effacement probably fuels the tradition that people do not talk about their craft or their instrument choices and aesthetic choices (or worse, project those choices onto the nearest (male) producer) as opposed to their hair or their mateyness or their drinking habits. But self-effacement is a game that's enforced upon women, and it's always lose-lose.

Yes. It *is* criminal, how underrated they were as songwriters, and also as authors of their own, intensely unique - and highly influential - sound. But this thing, where interviews write about their haircolour (badly wrongly, as it may be) and their drinking habits and their relationships; but never ever about their music. This contributes to that act.

Anyway, this has reminded me that I need to order the box sex (provided it's available in CD and not vinyl or cassette or etched into the stones of sonic cathedrals) and I'm excited to hear this new EP.

Thankfully it is on CD. Hoping it's not too limited. I'm waiting for it to pop up on amazon sometime today.

actual IRL LOL @ "box sex*" typo

*set

enjoyed that post branwell. was never much of a fan but that actually makes me want to give them another go.

Billie Joe Armstrong has never had his hair colour described as "Shocking Pink".

(hmm, think I'll google that to make sure..

I found myself locked in Billie Joe's arms, I mean seriously trapped, with my legs ... He had spiked shocking-pink hair, a nose stud, and looked so cool. ..

EXIT EXIT!!
)

this thing, where interviews write about their haircolour (badly wrongly, as it may be) and their drinking habits and their relationships; but never ever about their music

There is plenty of stuff in that Guardian piece about their music.

Looks like Miki herself wrote a comment on the Guardian article ...though she didn't address the hair colour gaffe.

Dear Guradian readers

I'm just back from seeing my little boy play drums at the Paddington Arts Club Christmas Show. Sad that they have had their funding cut and are about to become yet another victim of the future of London as a desolate landscape for the rich.

Anyway,

No, I didn't fuck Jeff Buckley

Kentish Town chippie was FAB and had the best chips and curry sauce

Phil is the nearest I will ever get to knowing a rock and roll legend

Genuine apologies to anyone I gave dirty looks to for standing on their foot.

Hate photo sessions - don't blame the photographer, we are just shit at them (and always were). Also, I look like a tired 50-year-old office worker because that's what I am. Like most men and women who work full time and have kids, I have no time/money for gym/beauty treatents/botox.

Really, Justin Welch is one of the nicest, kindest people you could ever meet. And a fantastic talent to boot. Mr Tumble would be a GREAT option, though.

Phil and I aren't journalists. Aparently the Guardian doesn't feel that its readers are intelligent enough to understand the terms 'sub editor' and 'picture researcher' so they substitute the writer's copy to say 'journalist'.

A general note to the 'haters': I'm fascinated that you spend your time poised over the keyboard, waiting for things you dislike to appear online so you can instantly get in early with your sour comments. Like an unwanted guest at a party complaining that you're not having a good time. Say that shit to my face, you piece of shit cowardly fuck.

Lots of love, Miki

http://steponmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/TdluNXKXXs8-300x225.jpg

Not shocking pink - but perhaps closer to Pantone 17-2031?

Hey - maybe Miki's 1990s hair is actually outside of the colour gamut of most of our monitors*. Did you think of that? We can only go by memories of the gigs ;)

(* Semi-seriously! Pillar-box/fire truck red is really hard to capture in sRGB/Rec.709 colour space.)

On the couple of occasions I met her, I was in drunken embarrassing fanboy mode. I wish I could get those evenings back.

well, the boxset is very lovely.

How does it sound compared to the originals?

no idea .. never heard the original cds ..sorry.

it's been 'tweaked' but not completely remastered supposedly so they're not shouting about it too much.
and from the unofficial facebook page here's a list of what is missing from the box

7” edit of sweetness and Light (4.14 instead of 5.19)
7” edit of Nothing Natural (4.02 instead 5.58)
Superblast! remix by Gil Norton from the US and Japanese promo cd singles.
Stray (The Choirmaster Mix) - Drum Club remix
Stray (Stray Groove Mix) - Drum Club remix
Stray (Hole In The Sky Mix) - Drum Club remix
Last Night (Hexadecimal Dub Mix)
Last Night (Latent Power Mix)
Last Night (Darkest Hour Mix)
Lovelife (Suga Bullit Remix)
Ladykillers (Demo-Ruff Mix ’95)
Plus there’s Flush’s version of ‘Single Bloke’ on the 12” promo of 500 (Shake Baby Shake)

Are the Drum Club remixes any good?

Was largely lukewarm on the whole thing, but Miki's "fuck the haters" letter has reignited a touch of my at-the-time intense fandom.

xp can't recall what the remixes sound like. fair dos that they didn't put all the variant mixes on the box. another disc would i guess mean another fiver on the price and i'm sure we can live without the stray bits and bobs.

hope this box isn't too limited as all the good reviews might make it scarce!

yeah i'm just really into hearing 90s ambient remixes of dreampop tunes (eg locust slowdive remix, bandulu slowdive remixes, global comm meets chapterhouse). the results are often not good, but i like the idea of it anyway.

Ha - remembering that I am in the company of many who've written about music professionally, here's an interview I did with Emma Anderson 21 years ago, just after Split was released. Ignore the callow phrasing and occasional fan-out. Full marks if you can read it through the eye-watering colour choices on the host site.
http://eyesore.no/html/interview/Lush.interview.kirkcaldie.html

That's a really good interview, MK. I love reading the little details of songwriting, like, right down to how they demo the songs.

Ta - she was very easygoing and willing to chat, not bad for a phone interview. I still have a cassette somewhere I think.

really good that. interesting to read about the songwriting process. i was never sure who wrote what in that band. had no idea Laura was about Laura Nyro nor what Etheriel was about!

Yeah, that was interesting.

I got partway through it. I'm going to have to c&p that into word to read the rest. But I'm glad someone answered that old question about what if Ronald McDonald was a music website.

(The new Firefox has a button that gets rid of graphics, sidebars, stylesheets and just displays the main text in b&w at a nice readable size. It's handy for stuff like this)

there's been a distribution balls-up on the box set front according to the fan twitter. very few copies seem to be knocking about so far, anyone on here got one yet?

i got one.

I bought one yesterday at a slightly higher price but I want this badly. Really hope it arrives soon.

http://www.discogs.com/Colourbox-Colourbox/release/3605246

Last Sold: 29 Mar 15
Lowest: $33.02
Median: $103.12
Highest: $151.78

http://www.discogs.com/This-Mortal-Coil-This-Mortal-Coil/release/3200556

Last Sold: 05 Sep 15
Lowest: $157.40
Median: $184.37
Highest: $300.00

Is "500" from the LP different from "500 (Shake Baby Shake)" from the single?

I believe so. Or they should be, anyway.

I had two TMC boxsets - the 1993 long-box version with the fourth disc of originals, and that 2011 remaster with the "Dust & Guitars" rarities disc. I sold the latter (after ripping it - though God knows where those WAVs ended up, they're not on any hard drive), and for a lot less than $150 :( I've still got the former.

box set sold out supposedly.

Amazon still has copies, better be quick though if you want one.

This makes me lack confidence in Amazon USA's release date on January 22nd.

whereas I decided not to wait for a relative to buy me one for my birthday and preordered

good idea. it's cheaper to order it directly from the UK anyway, turns out.

Looks like ilxors have snapped up all the remaining copies on Amazon UK following my tip-off. Says there'll be more in stock on Dec 20, but I wouldn't trust that.

blimey. glad i ordered mine when i did.
4ad love their (very) limited run boxsets.

Mine was dispatched recently, I was getting worried but I hope it will arrive soon.

I originally ordered through the Lush Sandbag store, payment was taken via Paypal but order was never processed. I'm glad I followed it up now or I'd be sitting waiting for something that'd never arrive! When they refunded me I ordered it from Norman Records instead and it is on its way.

I ordered mine from the sandbag store the day it went on sale and got it yesterday. Couldn't be happier with it!

You wanna know what happened to Lush?

Do you really wanna know?

Well,

I never stopped loving Lush completely.

That's what happened to them.

Back in stock at 4ad.com today, apparently.

So glad I got mine. Very nice package but I'd really prefer a regular box set with a big booklet that they could easier produce more of, so everyone could get it.

Are they going to reissue the albums individually? Do they sound different? Remastering 90s music sounds... dangerous

I've not done any comparisons but they don't sound particularly remastered to me.

http://noisey.vice.com/blog/rank-your-records-lush-emma-anderson

Correctly ranked.

Okay, we have a batch of US tour dates:

14th April - The Roxy Theatre, LA
16th April - Coachella Festival, Indio
17th April - The Warfield, San Francisco
19th April - Crystal Ballroom, Portland
20th April - The Showbox, Seattle
21st April - Commodore Ballroom, Vancouver
23rd April - Coachella Festival, Indio
14th Sept - Terminal 5, NYC
15th Sept - Royale, Boston
18th Sept - Vic Theatre, Chicago
21st Sept - 9:30 Club, DC
22nd Sept - Union Transfer, Philadelphia

Tickets go on sale at 11am CST on Friday 22nd January.

http://noisey.vice.com/blog/rank-your-records-lush-emma-anderson

Correctly ranked.

― how's life, Thursday, January 7, 2016 5:11 PM (1 week ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

i agree!

shit yeah! not what i was expecting at all. Spooky got a bit of a kicking when it came out but i loved it. Robin Guthrie.. yikes.

New EP news!

http://www.cristinarocks.com/2016/01/lush-return-with-new-blind-spot-ep.html

And new song

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bD4O20ePnXo

so so so happy right now

yes.

oh wow, that's fantastic!

Man, smashing it back after twenty years with a gorgeous waltztime ballad = pure class. That is *beautiful*. Love the video too.

I am dying to listen to this and got no WiFi. Arghhh!

Love it!

September in Chicago cannot come soon enough.

Extremely great new interview with Miki.

http://i-d.vice.com/en_gb/article/how-to-be-a-woman-in-a-band-with-lushs-miki-berenyi

it's times like now that I really hate the stranglehold Vice seems to have on stories about things I'm interested in

It may be my browser, but the last video on that page isn't displaying any titles/links to youtube or anything, but it's the new one, right? (The Ladykillers video didn't have any data either)

doh just looked upthread about 8 posts

there were some garbage challops on lush and shoegaze on Singles Jukebox last week

holy shit, you weren't kidding

Singles Jukebox isn't exactly a hotbed of shoegaze opinions.

Is it?

OMG Dan Perry so OTM

hotbed of the very hottest takes and 3 person comment slams

it's times like now that I really hate the stranglehold Vice seems to have on stories about things I'm interested in

tbf i-D was publishing monthly for 32 years before Vice bought them

True, but I still don't read links associated with Vice

Lush are playing a warm up show in Hackney April 11th btw

Ticket link?

http://www.alt-tickets.co.uk/lush-tickets

Good timing cos I'm working in London that day!

Actually, £26 has put me off :)

Yeah it nearly did for me as well tbh, but it has been almost 20 years since I last saw them and it's a small venue, no dealing with Roundhouse crowds.

So this is tonight! No support band, on stage at 8:30.

I only saw Lush twice and both times it was during the Britpop years, just slightly too young to see them in the early 90s, apparently their setlist will be drawing heavily from the early stuff on this tour, much like Ride I guess.

Enjoy. I'm glad they'll be focusing on the earlier stuff (as I was with Ride) as I didn't listen to much they did after Spooky.

i know Split is considered to be a lost classic but they hated making it. i'm guessing setlists would pretty much resemble the Ciao 'Best Of' but i'd be happy if it was mostly pre-Split tbh. now i just have to avoid seeing the setlists for another 6 months after they shifted the Manchester date around from May to November.

SPOILERS

http://www.setlist.fm/setlist/lush/2016/oslo-london-england-5bf19778.html

Was great. Emma fluffed the solo on hypocrite but that was early on and they were pretty tight after that. I was struggling to think what I'd've liked them to play and only came up with nothing natural. Of course my fucking train was cancelled but luckily there's one more.

sounds excellent judging from reports. saw their last ever Uk gig in 96, bit gutted to have missed the first one since.
and yeah no Nothing Natural is weird.

My sister came to visit me in Reading while I was at uni there in 1996 and Lush were playing and she somehow lost her ticket on the way down. We walked all the way back looking for it but didn't find it. I went back and watched them on my own anyway. We did eventually see them together a couple of months later at phoenix festival. I was 19 she was 16. Tbh I only really remember that they played their Zounds cover at the end

Review, set list, videos
http://www.brooklynvegan.com/lush-played-london-their-first-show-in-nearly-20-years-pics-video-setlist/

tonight's LA show is being postponed til the 25th

http://buzzbands.la/2016/04/14/lush-show-postponed/

Out of Coachella too. Visa problems, I think.

this Visa stuff sounds bloody crazy.

in the meantime this is excellent

http://4ad.com/forewords/choruslines/

Miki: Steve left after our 'secret' support appearance with Ride at ULU in London, in December 1991. To be honest, when Lush started, we needed a bassist and I asked Steve because he was a nice bloke, not because he was an amazing bass player! His taste in music was quite different to ours and I don't think he even liked any 4AD bands. Once he'd had the experience of a headline tour and making a record, he was done.

Steve: I'd had a brilliant time in the band but I wasn't keen to get on the tour-record-tour bandwagon which I could see looming, so I got out while I was still enjoying it. I missed Miki, Chris and Emma, but I spent my first year out of Lush travelling round the world with my girlfriend and it was the best thing I ever did so I didn't regret leaving.

^ Interesting. I was wondering why they had chosen to go with Phil rather than Steve for the reunion. I was at that gig (the Ride one) and I remember them announcing that it was Steve's final gig with them.

yeah some fascinating stuff in this. good to hear from Steve again. i recall the last gig i saw with him (October '91) they said he was going off 'to write a book'. i sorta forgot just how 'different' each of the first 3 EPS/singles sounded, each having a different producer. they don't sound that separate from each other now.

had to lol at this

Emma: I remember a meeting at Columbia. While they were schmoozing us with all the amazing things they were going to do for us, one of their people was sitting next to me taking notes. I caught a glimpse of his notepad and he'd written: "We already have Ultra Vivid Scene, do we need this band as well?"

And my interview with Miki!

http://www.sfgate.com/music/article/After-two-decades-British-band-Lush-returns-to-7245970.php

Neg Raggett is a freelancer writer.

lol is that your PUA name?

Having seen the set lists for the two gigs they've actually managed to play, it doesn't look like they're going to play my favourite (Ocean) or one that I thought they would definitely play (Nothing Natural).

xpost -- Good ol' Neg.

Neg Radget

Neg Ratchet

lol

I'm at The Roundhouse. They'll be on in an hour. Support band is awful.

Support band were so irritating. "Tallyho, gollygosh this is a big crowd" put down your Innocent smoothie please

Lush were ace despite not doing "Nothing Natural", and the dedication to Chris had me a little teary.

As someone who didn't see them in the 90s,they were fantastic. It's been a long time since I've heard guitars sound that good. Also Miki was clearly having the time of her life up there.

They were literally giving tickets away outside though.

who was the support?

oh Pixx. she's on 4ad. I liked one song I heard about a year ago

?

It wasn't Pixx last night, some group called Spectres

I was there on Saturday. First time I'd seen Lush since Glastonbury 1992, and they were just great. Very fortysomething-pleasing. And though I love Lovelife, I was pleasantly surprised that they didn't draw much from it for their set.

New EP is swell. "Lost Boy" the highlight for me so far.

I wasn't as close for the Chicago show Sunday night as I was for Belly on Saturday, but I did get a few pics you can see here. I love that Phil King was just wearing a black t-shirt that said SHOEGAZE in white letters.

https://scontent-atl3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/t31.0-8/14379927_10209618056464937_121885206211117349_o.jpg

How were they?

Outstanding -- just like with Belly, they haven't missed a beat. Miki plays that 12-string -- and the Gibson Firebird she switched to for a few songs -- with amazing ferocity, and Emma sounds as great as ever. Rhythm section was super-tight. They opened with De-Luxe and it was like being back in 1991.

Full set list:

De-Luxe
Breeze
Kiss Chase
Hypocrite
Lovelife
Thoughtforms
Light From a Dead Star
Undertow
Lit Up
Scarlet
Etheriel
Desire Lines
For Love
Out of Control
Ladykillers
Downer
Sweetness and Light

Encore:
Lost Boy
Nothing Natural
Leaves Me Cold

Encore 2:
Monochrome

am so jealous. Thanks for posting pics Phil.

I am so gutted they didn't do Nothing Natural when they were in London

Saw them in Boston, equally great. Miki was pretty funny, "Do you remember this one? That's because you're fucking OLD!" Also said "If you have teenagers, you'll relate to this song" before they played "Out Of Control" from the new EP.

Someone put up De-Luxe from the show the other night. Does not capture Miki's frequent between-song vaping.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-DhH07e_yzg

Huh.

Band Statement:

We are very sad to announce the departure of Phil King from the band. As a result, we will no longer be able to appear at the Iceland Airwaves and Rolling Stone Weekender festivals - massive apologies to everyone who was looking forward to seeing us play there. We are in the process of acquiring another bass player and look forward to our final show at Manchester Academy on November 25th.

Phil's twitter:

Before you ask...no comment.

Does "final show" mean final show ever? Have they said anything about carrying on vs. stopping?

I'll do it!

his twitter said "before you ask, no comment" and then "I would say "I need to spend more time with my family" - but that just makes me sound like a disgraced politician." so who knows; could be a personal family thing.

it's a weird one.. i mean there were only a few dates left to play. i wonder why he couldn't have hung on a few more days, especially now they've had to cancel some shows. bit of a downer to end the tour on! still i hope they find a bassist. it's been a successful reunion it seems, although cursed with some bad luck (visa hassles, rescheduled dates.. ) 20th anniversary yesterday of Chris Acland's passing too. after this tour i guess that's 'that'?

Hey, if Steve Rippon's not doing anything...

So what really happened with Phil that caused him to up and quit?

He's in the Jesus And Mary Chain now, by the way:

"Damage and Joy is out March 24 via ADA/Warner Music. It follows the band’s 1998 LP Munki. The new album was recorded with producer Youth. It features contributions from the band’s touring drummer Brian Young, ex-Lush bassist Phil King, and Youth on bass. They’ve so far put out “Always Sad” and “Amputation” from the album."

He's been playing with JAMC for years.

ah, ok - didn't know, sorry :(

Yeah he completed those sessions before he left for the reunion, IIRC.

Should note that the two Thoughtforms fanzines that were put out last year essentially act as the perfect complement to the box set, being de facto liner notes for it.

it's not clear at all but I got the feeling he maybe wanted to spend more time with his family. but there was some weird twitter back and forth with mickie where he insinuated she was unpleasant to him or had said nasty things about him.

https://twitter.com/berenyi_miki/status/803268520586989569

Miki Berenyi‏ @berenyi_miki 28 Nov 2016
@londonphilking I admit it, I was angry. You dumped us in the shit Phil, refused to play the show. Didn't have to be this way.

and his posting that ('classy') was in response to her saying "you might have noticed Phil’s got shorter, and blonder, and better at playing the bass…sorry!" Seems innocuous unlesss she was giving him shit the entire tour or something. dunno.

it's too bad because there was an interview with her and emma that came out in tape-op that was done before that happened, but published well after phil had quit, and they were pretty obviously talking about recording more and how great it was. and since he quit, they've said they are done.

Anyone here have problems with the box set? Only one of my five discs play okay and that one wont let you jump tracks without screwing up. I've seen a few reviews complaining about faulty discs, so I'm far from the only one. One reviewer says this is because the discs exceed 76 minutes but I've never had issues with such lengthy discs before.
This is such a shame and I'm surprised 4AD put out something this bad, hope they do a better version in a less limited edition. A shame 4AD doesn't do many cheapie CD box sets.

Just bought second hand copies of Gala (which is getting a bit scarce) and Spooky. I waited far too long for this band.

On revisiting Split I was taken aback by how moved I was by "Lovelife". I always liked it but I didn't remember it being this good. Favorite might be "Blackout" though. Shame my first disc of the set is so dodgy because the session version of "Blackout" is pretty great.

"kiss chase" through "blackout" is just a spectacular sequence

i mean through "lovelife"

<3 Kiss Chase

Discs exceeding 74 minutes should not be a problem this century

(or even most of the CD era tbh. CD's went over 74 minutes some time in the late 80s apparently)

Didn't know where to post this but...

...there's a new band called Piroshka, with Miki, Kevin McKillop from Moose, Justin Welch from Elastica, and Michael Conroy from Modern English.

http://www.brooklynvegan.com/members-of-lush-elastica-moose-and-modern-english-form-new-band-piroshka/

I have no idea if they'll be any good, but I'm super stoked! ...especially considering I've been waiting almost 20 years to hear anything from Moose.

So far they only have a couple of gigs lined up (one in London and one in Oslo).

yeah this is cool. I'm glad Miki is still playing music and the rest of that band is promising. Still too bad about Lush, still don't know what happened there.

Awesome! Glad to hear Russell from Moose is still doing stuff. That was an interesting band.

The return of Moose!!!

Moose were one of my favorite bands, I own all four albums plus eight singles. Loved Lush too

So far they only have a couple of gigs lined up (one in London and one in Oslo).

lol Oslo is a venue in London, both gigs are in London (I saw Lush at Oslo in 2016)

Nov ’93, downtime at Rockfield studios recording Split. Emma, Ted Kessler @TedKessler1 and Phil don the ‘free with The Radio Times’ 3D glasses to watch bizarre Doctor Who/EastEnders/Children in Need mash-up Dimensions In Time #DoctorWho pic.twitter.com/EuyB8WydMA

— Miki Berenyi (@berenyi_miki) October 7, 2018

So far they only have a couple of gigs lined up (one in London and one in Oslo).

lol Oslo is a venue in London, both gigs are in London (I saw Lush at Oslo in 2016)

― Colonel Poo, Friday, October 12, 2018 7:13 AM (four hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Oops! Yeah that makes more sense :P

also I had no idea Miki and Moose were married?!?! mind blown

OK, I'm loving this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WOWkkTKu3mQ

Predictably, this sounds exactly like a Lush-Moose collaboration, but in the best possible way.

Debut album coming up early 2019, BTW!

it's great!

https://stillunusual.tumblr.com/post/79544119507/alphabet-soup-fanzine

And I interviewed Miki (and Moose!) for Bandcamp:

https://daily.bandcamp.com/2019/02/13/piroshka-lush-moose-elastica-modern-english-interview/

oh! nice. is their album out yet?

ah, release on February 15th!

i like this
unsurprisingly!

there's a bit halfway through that track that keeps fooling me it's the start of 'Yes' by Mcalmont & Butler

The Piroshka album is really great, took a few listens to start to burrow into my head. The sound came first - really powerful and interesting drumming - then the lyrics started to stand out, too.

I need to check that out. I bought 'Everlastingly Yours' and really like it - much better than the four new Lush songs in their recent comeback year.

Great interview with Miki on the C86 podcast - she speaks frankly about Lush, the reunion, and the push/pulls of being in the industry and finding the fun in playing again.
https://www.c86show.org/e/lush-piroshka-special-with-miki-berenyi/

The Piroshka album is terrific - everyone should give it a listen https://piroshka.bandcamp.com

thanks for the link, that was a good long interview!

Phil has got a lot of criticism for bailing out of the Lush reunion quickly. But isn’t it that case that being in a touring band can actually lose a person money if, as is likely, success doesn’t come? Maybe Phil realized that financially he would take a loss from the attempt to revive Lush, and he would be better off working harder at some other job for his family’s sake.

Nah he already had a job (and still has it afaik), and legged it with only a few dates to go, including 2 big shows, right at the end of the proceedings. There were 'reasons' of course, vaguely alluded to on Instagram. None of my business like but as a huge fan since the very beginning who'd bought literally every thing they'd ever released and seen every tour bar none, it seemed a poor show on his part.

the whole thing was pretty weird.

In that C86 interview, it's mentioned that Phil said that he signed up for one year only and that he was out at the end of it. Miki also mentions that they had a very lucrative Coachella offer but that they had to drop out because of visa issues.

So:

https://thecreativeindependent.com/people/on-the-peaks-and-pitfalls-of-being-a-songwriter-in-a-band/

Interesting interview with Miki, provides.. some answers to some of the questions above. That stuff about the visa must have been an absolute kick in the knackers.

https://thecreativeindependent.com/people/on-the-peaks-and-pitfalls-of-being-a-songwriter-in-a-band/

oops!

.. but yeah good to hear some backstory.

It's like going on a "family holiday" with your parents and siblings only, long after you've left home and have your own fam.

It's nice (sometimes), but it also reminds you why you don't live together anymore.

"Out Of Control" reminds me of Ween oddly, really good song.

I only managed two songs into the Piroshka, I think I was expecting something a little less... conventionally rock, I guess?

I saw Piroshka tonight. They were pretty good, I've heard the album, haven't really connected with it yet but I like it. They finished with a cover of It's Obvious by the Au Pairs which was good. One song I kept thinking was Planet Earth by Duran Duran but it was just the bassline tbh

Digging the Piroshka album - the cover art, appropriately, is very 4AD.

Lush - A Far From Home Movie, by Philip King

https://www.soniccathedral.co.uk/2020/09/07/lushmovie/

cool!!!!!

Thanks for sharing Kibbutzki - have been listening to Lush quite a bit recently (Split in particular) so that was nice to watch.

Seems like Piroshka will announce new music (or something) tomorrow:

Will be bringing grannies and wolves everywhere a basket of news tomorrow... https://t.co/mqwHEl16fb

— Miki Berenyi (@berenyi_miki) April 26, 2021

And here's here's the first taste: https://piroshka.bandcamp.com/album/love-drips-gathers

Quite looking forward to this, the debut is a real grower!

I don't love the new single (Miki's vocals, mainly) but I like the production so I am looking forward to the new the album. I rarely want to hear more guitar on anything, but when Moose is involved they're always welcome.

Miki's book, out in September

https://www.resident-music.com/productdetails&product_id=89610

nice cover..

https://drsw10gc90t0z.cloudfront.net/AcuCustom/Sitename/DAM/402/thumbnail_Miki_Cover_Final_190422.jpg

Could be good.

Preordered, thx for tip!

Just got this

It sounds very frank and unglamorous from the press pieces I’ve been reading. Apparently Emma was really unhappy with it. Pretty courageous to talk about the insider shit of the business, it’s both gross and all-too-familiar.

where did you hear Emma was unhappy with it? They don't get on at all anyway, do they?

I was going to say, the reunion ended poorly by all accounts.

We can like them both, can't we? I'd hate to think there was a baddie in that relationship.

Never mind meeting your heroes, don't check who they follow on Twitter

The Times piece mentioned Emma's reaction - I can't access it any more: https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/miki-berenyi-i-can-tell-the-truth-because-im-outside-it-all-now-gcpgfzvxc

https://wearecult.rocks/miki-berenyi-interview

there's other interviews where she mentions that emma's unhappy with the book & that they fell out after the reunion.

"Never mind meeting your heroes, don't check who they follow on Twitter" oh yeah she follows like every awful terf feminist in the UK I noticed one day. she never comments on or likes that stuff though.

damn, unfortunately all too common with uk musicians

uk celebs of any sort really

is this out? If only there had been any press around it being released I might have seen it eh?!