― peter smith (plsmith), Tuesday, 4 January 2005 05:06 (nineteen years ago) link
― cutty (mcutt), Friday, 7 January 2005 02:50 (nineteen years ago) link
― Maria D. (Maria D.), Friday, 7 January 2005 03:25 (nineteen years ago) link
― Joseph McCombs (Joseph McCombs), Friday, 7 January 2005 03:53 (nineteen years ago) link
-- Maria D. (maria...), January 7th, 2005. (Maria D.)
I said this! Maria was logged in on the computer. I hate when that happens. I don't want to put words in anyone's mouth. Although Maria is enjoying the album as well.
― scott seward (scott seward), Friday, 7 January 2005 13:26 (nineteen years ago) link
― Maria D. (Maria D.), Friday, 7 January 2005 14:21 (nineteen years ago) link
― noizem duke (noize duke), Wednesday, 19 January 2005 22:50 (nineteen years ago) link
― Magic City (ano ano), Thursday, 20 January 2005 00:20 (nineteen years ago) link
― cutty (mcutt), Thursday, 20 January 2005 00:28 (nineteen years ago) link
― owen reading, Thursday, 20 January 2005 00:31 (nineteen years ago) link
w!mb!sh@gma!l.com if the answer is yes. No worries if no.
Thanks
― Magic City (ano ano), Thursday, 20 January 2005 00:37 (nineteen years ago) link
― owen reading, Thursday, 20 January 2005 01:06 (nineteen years ago) link
― Magic City (ano ano), Thursday, 20 January 2005 01:10 (nineteen years ago) link
― Magic City (ano ano), Thursday, 20 January 2005 01:14 (nineteen years ago) link
― owen reading, Thursday, 20 January 2005 01:21 (nineteen years ago) link
― cutty (mcutt), Thursday, 20 January 2005 01:26 (nineteen years ago) link
― scott seward (scott seward), Thursday, 20 January 2005 01:34 (nineteen years ago) link
ihttp://www.amazon.com/gp/product/images/B000777J3M/ref=dp_product-image-only_0/104-0006613-9323968?%5Fencoding=UTF8&n=5174
― Magic City (ano ano), Thursday, 20 January 2005 04:49 (nineteen years ago) link
― Magic City (ano ano), Thursday, 20 January 2005 04:51 (nineteen years ago) link
― zach farver, Thursday, 20 January 2005 05:24 (nineteen years ago) link
― owen reading, Friday, 21 January 2005 16:36 (nineteen years ago) link
― Magic City (ano ano), Friday, 21 January 2005 16:53 (nineteen years ago) link
― john clarkson, Friday, 21 January 2005 19:19 (nineteen years ago) link
ping ping goes the shovelpang pang goes the pailthe middle of summerand the furnace will be burningwhen she gets some mail!
Tourist Woman is also greatNot crazy about the production and a little disapointed in some of Tim DeWitt's drumming; he's usually great.
― Magic City (ano ano), Saturday, 5 February 2005 20:30 (nineteen years ago) link
― scott seward (scott seward), Saturday, 5 February 2005 20:34 (nineteen years ago) link
― mia is shit., Saturday, 5 February 2005 21:00 (nineteen years ago) link
― scott seward, Tuesday, 1 May 2007 03:16 (seventeen years ago) link
― mizzell, Tuesday, 8 May 2007 16:17 (seventeen years ago) link
― scott seward, Tuesday, 8 May 2007 16:26 (seventeen years ago) link
― henry s, Tuesday, 8 May 2007 16:49 (seventeen years ago) link
― pretzel walrus, Tuesday, 8 May 2007 16:52 (seventeen years ago) link
― mizzell, Tuesday, 8 May 2007 16:58 (seventeen years ago) link
― pretzel walrus, Tuesday, 8 May 2007 17:01 (seventeen years ago) link
― pretzel walrus, Tuesday, 8 May 2007 17:04 (seventeen years ago) link
so, the single is out there. That's That. sounds pretty good.
― mizzell, Wednesday, 8 August 2007 17:32 (sixteen years ago) link
nice guy
― Shakey Mo Collier, Wednesday, 8 August 2007 17:40 (sixteen years ago) link
great name, too...sounds like a hero of the Wild West...
― henry s, Wednesday, 8 August 2007 17:47 (sixteen years ago) link
the first song (Lionkiller) on the new album is pretty sweet. kinda dark, with a dinky keyboard riff towards the end. has anyone heard the record?
― mizzell, Friday, 31 August 2007 18:14 (sixteen years ago) link
since the last album really lit up ilm, i am proud to announce that a new album, Catacombs, is coming out in June. First single, dreams come true girl, is out there on the internet. I didn't like a lot of Dropping the Writ, but based on the last time I saw him live, I am anticipating this.
― mizzell, Wednesday, 29 April 2009 15:58 (fifteen years ago) link
feel a little bad that i didn't hear the last album and now there's a new one. but i'm a busy guy.
― scott seward, Wednesday, 29 April 2009 16:45 (fifteen years ago) link
the new album,Catacombs, (he probably thought about this title for years..) is very good.in fact, it's probably one of the better records of 2009.References:John Lennon,Robyn Hitchcock,Calvin Joohnson,Nick Drake,Robert Wyatt...
great, minimal production too.
― Zeno, Sunday, 3 May 2009 01:13 (fifteen years ago) link
I've only heard one song by him: "Full Moon or Infinity". A friend put it on a mix for me. I really liked it! Is that song of typical quality for McCombs?
― loaf man (Z S), Sunday, 3 May 2009 01:17 (fifteen years ago) link
i don't know that song.the only record i heard from him is perfection, which is very good, but he changed styles almost totally afterwards.(less 80's more 70's and accesible, in short)
― Zeno, Sunday, 3 May 2009 01:21 (fifteen years ago) link
also sounds kinda like a richard davies solo record. or bill fay, which is a great compliment.
― Zeno, Sunday, 3 May 2009 01:36 (fifteen years ago) link
i like "full moon or infinity" despite it sounding like elliot smith. i've never heard it mentioned as a highlight, and he has better songs. if you like that song i think you will find plenty to like on his albums. i'm not totally convinced by the new one yet. it's too long by about three songs. the first track is really excellent, though.
― mizzell, Sunday, 3 May 2009 01:37 (fifteen years ago) link
if you are looking for something that sounds like richard davies, i recommend aptos by the moore brothers, which is probably my favorite album of 2009.
― mizzell, Sunday, 3 May 2009 01:39 (fifteen years ago) link
"Harmonia" is my JAM right now.
― Dave Depper (Davey D), Sunday, 3 May 2009 07:34 (fifteen years ago) link
New record might be his best.
― litcofsky, Saturday, 16 May 2009 02:22 (fifteen years ago) link
wow I forgot about cass mccombs. I really liked those first two records and then somehow totally forgot about them.
― akm, Saturday, 16 May 2009 02:35 (fifteen years ago) link
dude, she choked on a ham sandwich. preserve what little dignity she has left.
― macaulay culkin's bukkake shocker (bug), Saturday, 16 May 2009 03:53 (fifteen years ago) link
I’m correct in thinking he was the guitar player for some tracks on catacombs right? Remember looking at the liner notes a while ago. If it’s him that plays that solo on harmonia then he’s got all my love.
I don’t think he plays on Catacombs, but o could be wrong. Wikipedia doesn’t list him among the personnel but I don’t have the actual liner notes to refer to.
― sctttnnnt (pgwp), Friday, 28 July 2023 14:08 (ten months ago) link
I think Wit's End is meant to be an experimental album via its uncomprimisingly stubborn compositions. It's a difficult album with a lot of really understated subtle beauty. County Line however is effortlessly beautiful but I do think it fits in just fine with the rest of the album.
― But his face would not turn into hot Kirby (Evan), Friday, 28 July 2023 14:27 (ten months ago) link
uncompromisingly*
Last album seems SUPER slept on by the way?
― But his face would not turn into hot Kirby (Evan), Friday, 28 July 2023 14:28 (ten months ago) link
― sctttnnnt (pgwp), Friday, July 28, 2023 10:08 AM (eighteen minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink
Blake toured with Cass in 2009/10, so right around Catacombs, but according to discogs, the only album he's on is Mangy Love.
― mizzell, Friday, 28 July 2023 14:37 (ten months ago) link
Last album was super slept on. Maybe my favourite of his in the past decade.
I don’t take wits end as anymore understated/subtle/ than catacombs. Though yeah maybe it’s slightly more difficult due to being a more claustrophobic album (the middle two tracks of harmonia and the executioner’s song bring a lot of fresh air to Thats combs which wits end doesn’t really have). Part of why catacombs is my favourite is it’s pacing, it’s such a well layed out journey. I actually think of catacombs as more subtle as it’s doing most of what wits end does (in its creation of a mood), but with more conventional musical forms.
― hrep (H.P), Friday, 28 July 2023 18:59 (ten months ago) link
The executioner’s song also one of my personal favourites this year
― hrep (H.P), Friday, 28 July 2023 19:01 (ten months ago) link
I voted for Heartmind pretty high but unfortunately no-one else on ILM did. "Karaoke" is such a beautiful song. I really love "Estrella" from Tip of The Spheres too which is another totally slept-on album of his. As is Mangy Love from 2016! There's a lot of soul stylings on that one that really work well. It took me a while to come around to Wit's End. Its pretty dark and one-note. I'm in agreement with most here that Catacombs is his classic.
― Saxophone Of Futility (Michael B), Monday, 31 July 2023 14:53 (ten months ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X2FM4zuAlNI
Cass has always been an incredible vocalist, and I knew the bridge of this song was incredibly difficult vocally, but seeing someone else try it really gives some context to how much he kills it.
― H.P, Sunday, 17 December 2023 01:51 (five months ago) link
Perfect song for a harp cover too!
I do think that his vocal melodies really toned down after around Catacombs by and large. His vocal delivery approach narrowed and lots of songs ended up sounding kinda samey as a result.
Windfall is the polar opposite of that problem, as demonstrated there
― Evan, Monday, 18 December 2023 21:50 (five months ago) link
On the other side, windfall has always bordered on the offensively saccharine for me. I still love the song because its really the only saccharine song in his discography, so its worst qualities are balanced out by the rest of the work (I think I'd have no time for this song by anyone else). His wide vocal stage were definitely still there for Wit's End. County Line, Memory Stain (a top 5 Cass melody), buried alive/the lonely doll/hermits cave/pleasant shadow song.... so really everything besides a knock upon the door and saturday's song.
Windfall also has to be one of his only songs with a third section! It's normally always either A or A-B. Amazing how much putting a bridge in a discography without them makes the song sound completely out of character. The more time I spend with Cass's music, the more I grow to love his "one section repeating over and over" songs more
― H.P, Monday, 18 December 2023 23:52 (five months ago) link
A return to a wider vocal range on his new album too. Love the vocal harmonies on Karaoke. The wandering, where the hell is this melody going? vocal lines on Music Is Blue. Every track is interesting vocally, it's the instrumentation and production that I haven't fell in love with on Heartmind (except for Karaoke, a cracker track)
― H.P, Monday, 18 December 2023 23:57 (five months ago) link
enjoy reading your thoughts
I never considered Cass a strong singer, in the sense that his vocals seem a bit fragile or... well, they're very understated... but they work perfectly, live too
can't put a finger on the instrumentation, my favorite from Heartmind is A Blue, Blue Band
― corrs unplugged, Tuesday, 19 December 2023 08:24 (five months ago) link
Wit's End kinda his masterpiece, no? got a vinyl copy. haven't listened to him/it in a long time. pressing is sadly a little loud/surfacey at the beginning of each side. and a little loud otherwise. in that way of modern vinyl. still sounds good though. i do think "County Line" is his best song but the whole album is nearly as strong. i don't know if i have the inner fortitude to do a Cass deep dive right now but this album will do for now.
i got this copy from a musician i know named nat baldwin. he's very nice. he makes cool avant garde music. has a tape label. he just got his Masters! he's moving to town from a couple of towns over. anyway, he sold me a crate of records - which was a very hip crate - and he had a bunch of singer/songwriter LPs that i had never heard. Wit's End was one of them. and of them was put out by my friend Teddy on his Feeding Tube label and somehow i missed it - Ted usually brings me in a big box of FT releases to sell every blue moon - and I think anyone here would really like it. Ned Collette - Old Chestnut. it's REALLY good in a late-60s/early 70s folk-psych vein. it reminds me of a lot of not-famous british singers that i like a lot. anyway, check it out. came out in 2018.
― scott seward, Monday, 6 May 2024 16:02 (one month ago) link
i started this thread 19 years ago and i'm still listening to the Casster! the Cassaroonie! MC Cassie Cash!
― scott seward, Monday, 6 May 2024 16:11 (one month ago) link
Thanks for the Ned C. rec, Scott--going to give a full listen, but on first flip-through that synth arpeggio incorporation on Track 2 is tastefully surprisingly/well-integrated into the folkiness IMO!
Nat Baldwin seems like a v cool fellow indeed--first heard of him through his Dirty Projectors membership.
As an intermediate Cass listener/fan I'd rec next getting into Catacombs and then Big Wheel, maybe?
― Funding Hostile (Craig D.), Monday, 6 May 2024 16:20 (one month ago) link
(Oh, I now grok that you've already heard a good am't the Cassster and are re-listening, gotcha)
― Funding Hostile (Craig D.), Monday, 6 May 2024 16:21 (one month ago) link
i like Catacombs a lot. i could see that being someone's fave Cass. that has such great songs on it. i wouldn't mind having that on vinyl. 2XLP.
still listening to Wit's End and "Buried Alive" is up there for me too. sounds so good. the guitar especially.
― scott seward, Monday, 6 May 2024 16:24 (one month ago) link
I remember "Memory's Stain" really blowing me away, too--am in need of a relisten myself!
Have only cherrypicked/skimmed through his Anti- output in recent years, am now thinking I should attempt to give those later albums some (mangy) love
― Funding Hostile (Craig D.), Monday, 6 May 2024 16:29 (one month ago) link
don't sleep on Tip of the Sphere!
gotta agree wit's end is impeccable
― corrs unplugged, Monday, 6 May 2024 16:31 (one month ago) link
Scott, have you ever listened to this? Cass is in this group:
https://theskiffleplayers.bandcamp.com/album/skifflin
― Evan, Monday, 6 May 2024 16:33 (one month ago) link
that Skiffle Players album never clicked with me. I kinda want to sell it, given the prices it seems to get.
― mizzell, Monday, 6 May 2024 16:42 (one month ago) link
I saw him play a small intimate gig with Steve Gunn last Thursday. They did a gorgeous psychy rendition of "Wild Mountain Thyme".
― Saxophone Of Futility (Michael B), Monday, 6 May 2024 17:04 (one month ago) link
Skifflin'! oh man no i didn't know about that one.
― scott seward, Monday, 6 May 2024 17:12 (one month ago) link
"County Line" is one of my favorite songs.
― the talented mr pimply (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Monday, 6 May 2024 17:16 (one month ago) link
that Ned Collette album i praised above is kinda like the new Taylor Swift. the first LP is perfect and all you need out of an album and then some. BUT if you want more there is a 2nd LP.
― scott seward, Monday, 6 May 2024 17:19 (one month ago) link
The “Coo Coo Bird” cover is good! I like the Skifflin’ album
― your dog is fed and no one cares (flamboyant goon tie included), Monday, 6 May 2024 17:48 (one month ago) link
I don't know why exactly but this one really gets me:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nWX09AivQGk
― Evan, Monday, 6 May 2024 18:59 (one month ago) link