Young Marble Giants : Colossal Youths or Little Duds

I'm no Astral Weeks fanatic either, but it's hard for me to be objective about YMG.

And if you're missing the bonus tracks, Phil, that may help to persuade you.

also, has anyone heard Fools Brigade? sf indie/post-punk band that totally reminds me of this. there's no mention of them on the web at all?

I may give them one more try in the future (because of course one's tastes can always change), but for now, like gentlemen, we must agree to differ.

On September 11, 2007 Domino are proud to re-release Colossal Youth and the
Collected Works of Young Marble Giants, drawing together the band's album and
singles for the first time ever on a 3 CD set with liner notes by Simon Reynolds. To
mark this release, Young Marble Giants are reuniting for the very first time in 27
years for a worldwide exclusive performance on Sunday 27 May at The Hay Festival in
Hay on Wye in the UK, with support from Kendal's wonderfully dislocated Wild Beasts.


Young Marble Giants - Colossal Youth and Collected Works track list:

DISC ONE: COLOSSAL YOUTH

1.Searching For Mr Right
2.Include Me Out
3.The Taxi
4.Eating Noddemix
5.Constantly Changing
6.N.I.T.A.
7.Colossal Youth
8.Music For Evenings
9.The Man Amplifier
10.Choci Loni
11.Wurlitzer Jukebox
12.Salad Days
13.Credit in the Straight World
14.Brand - New - Life
15.Wind in the Rigging

DISC TWO: COLLECTED WORKS

1.This Way
2.Posed by Models
3.The Clock
4.Clicktalk
5.Zebra Trucks
6.Sporting Life
7.Final Day
8.Radio Silents
9.Cakewalking
10.Ode To Booker T
11.Have Your Toupee Ready
12.N.I.T.A.
13.Brand - New - Life
14.Zebra Trucks
15.Choci Loni
16.Wind in the Rigging
17.The Man Shares His Meal With His Beast
18.The Taxi
19.Constantly Changing
20.Music For Evenings
21.Credit in the Straight World
22.Eating Noddemix
23.Ode To Booker T
24.Radio Silents
25.Hayman
26.Loop The Loop

tracks 1-6 TESTCARD E.P.
tracks 7-9 FINAL DAY single
track 10 taken from
IS THE WAR OVER compilation
tracks 11-26 SALAD DAYS album

DISC THREE: PEEL SESSION

1.Posed By Models
2.Searching For Mr. Right
3.N.I.T.A.
4.Brand New Life
5.Final Day
Recorded August 20, 1980.

www.myspace.com/youngmarblegiants

I just got this set. I haven't played it yet but I read the booklet.

There is no information at all about howcome they made a second album but never released it.

I just got this set. I haven't played it yet but I read the booklet.

Same here! But that's why I brought it into work.

Second album? Did I miss something?

CD2 has the singles (Final Day ep, Testcard EP) and the 'second' album.

I admit I never picked up Salad Days individually but I thought that was a collection of demos.

Ode to Booker T is my all time favourite.

that may be because they never recorded a second album! there was a rumor going round that the three of them reconvened in the '80s to release a 7" single, but it never happened. the only thing they've recorded post-colossal youth is one new track for the bbc radio wales special in 2004.

there was an unreleased gist album. perhaps that's what you're thinking of?

I HAVE NO INFORMATION!

ahem. I do not know.

there's a second reunion show planned for this october, btw. it's in france:

http://www.myspace.com/bbmix

I think they were also asked to play as part of a festival I'm loosely involved with in Cardiff in November, but I don't have any other info at the minute

how did i miss this? colossal youth is way up there (top 5? 3?) in my favorite albums of all time. the obligatory comment about them seemed to be 'well, they only recorded 70 minutes worth of music, but, damn, how 'bout them 70 minutes?' defininitely will pick this up.

You know, given the paucity of YMG and YMG-ish material, it might be worth noting that the *awfully* RIYL band Confetti's compilation album is up at Mutant Sounds right now:

http://mutant-sounds.blogspot.com/2008/04/confetti-retrospectivecd1995ukjapan.html#links

I like this one a lot, esp. the Au Pairs cover.

seeing confetti on mutant sounds is odd

at their best they had some great songs, but a full album of it can be hard going. incredibly twee, but generally well done twee

I agree: it seems really outside of the usual MS aesthetic. Was very surprised to see it there. I guess they did feature Po! a while back...

oh i shall have to check that out, po! were great

xpost to dlp

well, ya know, how many obscure kraut/jap/noise/improv/synth/whatever albums are there? after you've posted 3000 of them I would imagine you'd need to branch out a bit. and I'm sure glad they are.

this album is a good antidote for my occasional periods of thinking about life way too melodramatically. so modest, content, almost devoid of ambition, but not in a bad way. because it's also really cool. but without being even slightly flashy about it. what they did was probably a lot harder to pull of than it seems, wasn't it?

I relistened to Confetti after seeing that Mutant Sounds link. I still like those tracks, but I was damn near obsessed with Confetti circa 1992, and don't feel anywhere near the same now. Perhaps I was pretending that the Confetti comp CD was Colossal Youth II instead of what it really was - a better-than-average twee-pop records with heavy YMG/Marine Girls influence.

think of salad daaaaaaaaaaaayyys

This is a nice album and all, a bit overrated here it seems. Perhaps the uniqueness of it has never registered for me. Still, something I'll put on once a year or so.

They seem very enigmatic to me. Such spare album cover/liner & such spare music. It feels like one step to the left of what I know. This is a good thing.

What are noddemix?

always figured it was like pot noodle

I thought they were like breath mints.

Some info:

What is Noddemix (as referenced in the song "Eating Noddemix")?
According to Stuart Moxham, noddemix is a Swiss cereal bar. A friend of mine actually found one in Sweden; they look like this. However, after finally figuring out to do a proper Google search for the term (the secret is in the letter "ø"), it now appears that "nøddemix" is actually a generic term for "mixed nuts."

Some examples of same.

staring at the mirror on the seamy bathroom wall

mystery solved!

I found this in a pile of CDs I have had for years should I bother loading it to my hard drive or has it outlived its usefulness? I am confused about this album, it is stunning when you first hear it, but after 1000 plays is it still rewarding? What is the purpose of this album after all this time?

I mean, I think it really is great, are people underwhelmed because they expect everything to be cathartic? I know some people who inexplicably HATE it.

What is the purpose of this album after all this time?

The purpose of this album is to be one of maybe five or so albums in existence that you can play no matter what mood you are in because it's THAT GOOD.

Was emailing with Vic Varney of the soon to be reissued Method Actors about their influences and peers an he surprised me by mentioning Young Marble Giants. He said something about their atmosphere and minimalism being an influence/really popular in Athens in the early 80s.

after 1000 plays is it still rewarding?

Absolutely!

...because it's THAT GOOD.

ABSOLUTELY!!!

Athens in the early 80s.

I think if Oh-OK had managed to expand/refine what they were doing on their first mini-EP, they might have made an album like Colossal Youth. (Although I love Oh-OK's Furthermore What a ton too, it's a more typical jangle-pop sound.)

in theory this album should be one of my favorites, but i find it just a shade dull.

REM has listed Young Marble Giants as an inspiration.

And yeah, Oh-OK channel that spirit nicely.

Yep, this is stone cold classic top 10 or so of all time material (for me).

How did I not hear about Weekend until just now?