John Cale S/D

Christgau is right; the "Peril" track "Days of Steam" does remind of the Ernie Kovacs theme.

Yeah that 'Island' comp really is terrific - all the hits and none of the shit (well, some) - glad someone mentioned 'Ski Patrol', a real fave of mine

Sabotage really is a fantastic noise thing on the rock-meets-avant-jazz tip.

Artificial Intelligence is getting way underrated here as pretty-pop.

But orchestral cale hits his peak, as far as i'm concerned, with "words for the dying" which is one of the few where the studio recorded versions so clearly top the fragments... versions.

I saw him live in a very small bar like 4-5 years ago, and it was wonderful. A lot like the Fragments of rainy day CD. All he had was a piano and acoustic guitar on some songs and vocals.

Did you see yourself in the audience?

http://www.ovationtv.com/

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I'm surprised how many people have cited Honi Soit. I love that record, even as weak as it is.

I recently watched the Drella video on the big screen again .. still fantastic... and the Cale songs are superior, but maybe that's just me being a little sick of Lour Reed.

I met a guy the other night who said he played the viola. I asked him if he'd heard of John Cale. He said no.

HOW THE FUCK DO YOU PLAY THE VIOLA AND HAVE NOT HEARD OF JOHN CALE???

BECAUSE IT'S A BIG FUCKING WORLD BIMBLE COME ON

All the same, folks in western countries who don't know Velvet Underground need to get with it, pronto. The end of the world is coming soon, there's not much time left. QUICKLY!

NEXT THING THEY'LL BE TELLING YOU THEY DON'T KNOW WHO PALL MACKNARTANEY IS!?!?!

Why is there not a beautiful 4 or 5 CD box set career overview? The _Seducing Down The Door_ 2 disc set is necessarily very stingy. There's so much to his career and lots of great rarities could be included as well!

yeaaaah I wanna hear outakes from Church of Anthrax and more live recordings from both the mid-70s and that beserko 78-79 period.

And if you give me half a chance, I'd do it now, I'd do it NOW, RIGHT NOW, YOU FASCIST!

So great.

DAMN RIGHT MAMA!

I just bought "The Island Years" and I can't believe my ears. I had no idea I'd like this that much. The likes of Coldplay only wish they'd done anything as good as "Ship of Fools".

Just don't understand how this CD could be as good as what I'm hearing.

"Fear Is A Man's Best Friend", too...it's weird cause I think I heard that song before years ago. Just fucking fantastic, man.

yeah, those 3 records are my favorite of his. look for the expanded CD version of "Sabotage" next!

i've been playing "paris 1919" and "fear" all week. god, what a great album. "gun" completely kills. album for album, cale's post-VU work is just much more my scene than lou reed's, and i love "transformer" and "berlin" like, a lot. i'm not sure if i like the album version of "fear is a man's best friend" better than the live one from "fragments of a rainy season."

also, he is a very nice, articulate, handsome man.

yeah, when I got The Island Years I was like "I wasted all these years trying to like those damn Lou Reed albums when I could have been rocking this?!?!"

EB he is great in that BBC Velvet Underground documentary if you ever get a chance to see it. I'd love to see a career-spanning doc on Cale with live footage.

"Child's Christmas in Wales" and "The Endless Plain of Fortune" are perfect Xmas music.

Artificial Intelligence may not be all that, but "Dying on the Vine" is one of his four or five most beautiful songs & lyrically is some of his tightest, most cutting work I think

I'd love to see a career-spanning doc on Cale with live footage.

oh look, one is mentioned upthread! gotta find that...

Some of the greatest music ever made. "Vintage Violence" up thru "Helen of Troy" is a flawless body of work - and it's pretty great after that too.!

yeah, when I got The Island Years I was like "I wasted all these years trying to like those damn Lou Reed albums when I could have been rocking this?!?!"

Oh my god, dude, that is just so OTM I don't even know where to begin. Cheers.

i find myself jealous of those discovering john cale. on christmas, no less.

I just bought "The Island Years" and I can't believe my ears. I had no idea I'd like this that much. The likes of Coldplay only wish they'd done anything as good as "Ship of Fools".

Just don't understand how this CD could be as good as what I'm hearing.
Bimble, Monday, December 24, 2007 5:03 PM

HOW THE FUCK DO YOU PLAY THE VIOLA HANG AROND ILX FOR YEARS AND HAVE NOT HEARD OF JOHN CALE CAN NOT UNDERSTAND HOW GOOD THOSE ISLAND LPS COULD BE???

Well that looks like a typical ILX cheap-shot/smartass post to me, but if you're really looking for a serious answer, I've never been convinced by what I've heard of Cale's music in the past outside of a few songs here and there. A lot of his stuff with Nico scared me off, too even though I'm a pretty big fan of hers.

I'm listening to Music For A New Society now, though and I think I might end up liking it more overall than the Island stuff, actually. I do hope that news doesn't make you have a heart attack or something! ;)

I'm moving on to Sabotage next.

Be cool, just a little joke. Your "HOW THE FUCK..." post did make you sound like a big John Cale fan.

So grateful for John Cale's continuing presence

Also acquired a copy of Music for a New Society, and it's the sort of thing where captive listening and many repeat listens brings out a lot of beauty.

this is absolutely one of my favorite Cale albums

Paris 1919 and Music For A New Society are his two best albums.

Certainly his two best studio albums. If one includes live records, then I'd argue for Fragments of a Rainy Season. Pretty much a greatest hits collection.

I like Fear and Slow Dazzle more because the balladry is richer when mixed with manic rock.

he's made a lot of really great albums.

John Cale and Maggie Rogers doing "Shark Shark" with a band on John Mulaney's Netflix talk show mentioned above

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vJskSsfW9NE

I really love this show, it's so goofy, just like his excellent Lunch Bunch thing for kids or whatever it was a few years ago. and yeah, great music on all the episodes I've seen so far -- Randy Newman, Kims Gordon and Deal doing Little Trouble Girl (!), Mannequin Pussy

Nice performance that - reminded me of No Age in the verse/chorus.

I'm having a little nervous breakdown atm, so John Cale ended up being the natural choice after Coil, I guess I will give my quick opinion on what I've listened of his discography by now.
Vintage Violence: good late 1960s style album, I especially like Gideon's Bible and Adelaide, it's rather conventional but still John Cale
Paris 1919: classic, especially the title track, I feel like a diplomat in Vienna when I listen to it
Island Trilogy: the absolute best, fear, dirty ass rock n'roll, and a song for Frank Sinatra, yes, I'm sorry but I already told you I'm feeling as safe as Sharon Tate, now if you please I might go scream behind this bush (make sure your copy of Helen of Troy includes Mary Lou)
Sabotage: fun, Autobiography is honest and Dr. Mudd is a groovy song, and make sure to get an edition where there is the Animal Justice EP included, Hedda Gabler is devastating
Music for a New Society: it gets more meditative this time, and he doesn't abuse 1980s keyboards too much yet, pretty good album, but Frank Sinatra was dead by then sadly
Caribbean Sunset: wtf are you doing John? L.A. is scamming you, can't you see it?
Artificial Intelligence: not that bad actually, at least the first side, the last cocaine album, pretty weird, he drove his session musicians insane apparently
Words for the Dying: underrated and peaceful, I need to listen to it again
The 1990s: meh, sorry but meh, I hope he enjoyed the money from the film industry and had fun with the collabs
HoboSapiens: hey good old John is really not bad at this Pro Tools thing! It still sounds good to this day, not kidding!

Fragments of a Rainy Season is absolutely great, it's a best of, the way he plays the piano tensely at the beginning and start to relax as the show goes on, there is nothing else like it.
But if you want more of Fragments (and Sabotage), I recommend the 1983 and 1984 Live at Rockpalast, one is with a full band, one is solo piano, both are amazing performances.

Sorry for the wall of text but I told you. If I have to choose two songs, it would be I Keep a Close Watch and Dying on the Vine, my life is basically like the latter at this point and I don't like it. Maybe one day I will become a Lou Reed guy again.

Wait Frank Sinatra was still alive in 1984 unlike Bing Crosby, recorded an album called "L.A. Is My Lady" and still refused to sing I Keep a Close Watch till he died in 1998 (!), I hate him now... I promise I will calm down, can't delete messages here...

Agreed that Frank would've cut a terrific version of Close Watch

Can’t say I disagree with much of that, suitsetamine. I, too, feel like a Viennese diplomat when listening to Paris 1919. Best of luck to you.

Here's a little treasure from the '90s: a peppier version of "Dancing Undercover" from the Leno Tonight Show. BJ Cole <goes off> on steel.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6v2vRPliEcA

Stick around for the end and the couch bit working as fodder for Photos taken of famous people together that you would never have expected to be together but make you happy all the same.

I already mentioned this ages ago but the 2010 MediaFire link for the "More Fragments" 4 track freebie CD single that came with Les Inrockuptibles magazine in France still works (in the comments below the blog post)

https://blog.fragmentsofcale.net/2007/05/checklist-live-albums.html

(outtakes and alternative versions for Fragments of a Rainy Season)

Wrong Way Up is one of the nineties' best albums.

Caribbean Sunset: wtf are you doing John? L.A. is scamming you, can't you see it?

LOL

I don't think Walking on Locusts has any actually bad songs, not even "So Much For Love" which a Cale song review site regarded as the worst of the worst. But I'll reiterate that "Secret Corrida" is one of his best.

I think the warmth of the sound counts for a lot for me, compared to the sonics on something like Artificial Intelligence.

Has anyone ever written a better song about the Ski Patrol?

I get such a kick out of Cale giving the band members the chord changes in real time during "Experiment Number 1" on Caribbean Sunset.

I love Artificial Intelligence because it shares the same sonic palette and personnel as Nico’s incredible Camera Obscura which he produced around the same time.

Apparently a Charli XCX collab coming soon?

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DQuyOeBjmgH/?igsh=aGVzeDBubHY2d2U1

More on Charli XCX reaching out to John Cale and the new song "House" and video for it (for the Wuthering Heights movie)

https://pitchfork.com/news/charli-xcx-and-john-cale-share-new-song-for-emerald-fennells-wuthering-heights-watch-the-video/

need a theshfl style career walkthrough