The Go-Betweens - what's it all about?

Hasn't someone (maybe it was you Sandy) said pretty much exactly this before?

goddamn i'd so go to that if i wasn't going to be in london then

I was wondering what he would do next -- and I don't blame him for catching his breath and looking back a bit, after everything.

not surprisingly, this coincides with the release of a split 90s best-of by he and McLennan solo

I always thought The Chills sounded more like how the 'tweens were described - and they never did anything as good as Pink Frost.

Um, wrong, in that while "Pink Frost" may be the absolute single peak of Martin Phillipps work there's so much else very close to that summit.

Funny, these memories, but I remember sitting with Martin Phillipps as he gazed at that double album Go-Betweens anthology (on vinyl) and told me how his goal was to make an album half as good as the Go-Betweens worst!

saw this thread as "cattle and cane" came on. weird.

Hard to believe it's been more than a year since McLennan's death.

Yeah, memories are funny. I recall a schoolboy... wait, no, I recall sitting with Martin and he's EXTREMELY modest about the quality of his work. His best is on the same level as Grant and Roberts.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C_nn90p-tIg

what a pretty song. though, sometimes i forget how awful and pointless so many mid-1980s videos were.

The song that introduced me to the Go-Be's. I don't get why this song is called overproduced; to me there's just enough reverb on the guitar hook, synth, and vocal to give it that nuevo Orbison vibe.

From an interview with one of the guys from No Age on Pfork this morning, regarding new album influences:

Pitchfork: Is there any brighter, more poppy music you have been listening to lately that might be having an influence?

RR: Yeah, actually. The Go-Betweens have been on rotation. They have a really interesting sort of sound collage. That and this band Disco Inferno have been two references for us in a lot of ways. There's a fun-ness in there. Disco Inferno is really heavily sample-based, but still has this pop element. There's this record D.I. Go Pop that I have been listening to a lot during the creation of this.

That's interesting .... Haven't really been nuts about the No Age I've heard, but a Go-B's influence would be welcome! Hey if you're wondering what the latter day go-betweens were all about, my friend put together a best of the 2000s mix of the band over yonder .... http://ow.ly/11qAR ... it's very good!

We're doing this, on Sunday afternoon, in London:
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-gGTkjs7tinQ/UVyLUBUzysI/AAAAAAAAApk/bNVaRQXFd68/s320/Grant+McLennan+tribute.jpg

Details here: http://hangoverlounge.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/the-third-annual-grant-mclennan-tribute.html

Would go to this but I'll probably be watching a lot of football, should be ashamed of myself

One of my fave t-shirts:

http://www.gobetweensstore.co.uk/Merchant2/graphics/00000001/mclennanT-large.jpg

man i would so go to that hangover lounge thing if i lived in london. i don't even know what it is but I'd go! was just listening to a pretty wild bootleg of the trio go-Bs from 1982. kind of amazing they made tallulah a couple years later -- this thing is spikey as hell.

I actually prefer the earlier work, especially Before Hollywood, over the late '80s stuff like 16 Lovers Lane. I dunno, I just find a track like 'A Bad Debt Follows You', with its spiky guitars and shifting time signatures, much more interesting than the U2-isms of 'Quiet Heart'.

"Quiet Heart" only sounds like U2 because of "With or Without You."

The female harmonies in Streets Of Your Town are the most beautiful thing I've ever heard. Beyond that, I dig Spring Rain because of that guitar riff that's in Kingpin that I spent 10 years trying to identify. That's about it for me though.

Hey, don't ruin "Quiet Heart" for me by making a U2 association!

feel like i've heard Forster say that song started out as a jesus and mary chain thing?

My fav T-shirt ever.
http://www.gobetweensstore.co.uk/products/hammert-large.jpg

where the streets of your town have no name

i don't get the u2 thing at all, but yes i would love to hear more spiky guitar go-betweens a la man o'sand to girl o'sea

Every line in "Quiet Heart" reverberates ("We're trying hard to keep this warmth in"). Plus: harmonica solo instead of guitar!

http://damienpower.com.au/2013/04/spleen-archives-grant-mclennan-interview/
coincidence not

Well, our Third Annual Grant McLennan Tribute Day was a proper treat, not least (but not only) because Robert Forster showed up and treated us to a couple of songs. Amazing.

oh wow! that's fucking great!

Is Robert coming out with a new album anytime soon? "The Evangelist" was his greatest work.

that's awesome re: robert showing up...maybe he's in London recording?

Would go to great lengths to see him play.

"The Evangelist" was his greatest work.

sure is

i'd say it's neck and neck with danger in the past in terms of his solo work, but that is high praise from me.

Forster video at Hangover lounge blog

I love The Evangelist, one of the most moving albums I've ever heard. Would love another album soon.

Tylerw, apparently he played in Barcelona on Saturday night and then took an early flight (without sleep) to London to be at our event. Not sure how long he's planning to stay, but I haven't heard that he's playing any shows here. We were all extremely thrilled that he was there, as you can probably imagine. There were a bunch of his old friends around on the day, including (coincidentally) Mick Harvey, who was played a show in the same room that evening.

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

Soothing, comforting, reflective. Just lovely. Especially today.

Waking up this morning to that video. Thank you.

A+

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YU-RsLRICX4

thanks, i had forgotten how good that song was. one if those few tunes which touch something deep inside. that chord sequence is magic indeed. it has got this melancholic feel, i think it encapsulates a wisdom about the transience of life. and if you think about the early disappearance of grant mclennan, it even gets more under your skin.

McLennan's harmonies on the original are beautiful -- it's as much a song about male friendship as it is a romance.

i was thinking recently about how the go-betweens might be the only group that reunited after a long period where i wouldn't necessarily prefer a concert without post-reunion material to a concert with post-reunion material. Really wish that I could, too.

Mclennan's tunes on 16 immediately grabbed me but Forster's seemed more rewarding long term

yep. I think McLennan peaked as a Go-Be on Tallullah.

I think McLennan's four solo albums are packed with great stuff.

Agreed, particularly Horsebreaker Star. I meant as a Go-Be though. "Streets of Your Town" and "Quiet Heart" aside, the 16LL stuff is mushy.

Has anyone seen this? Supposedly released last month (http://www.go-betweens.net/news.htm).
http://www.go-betweens.net/images/GBboxs.jpg

mysterious! seems like the people over on the go betweens message board don't know much either -- don't think it's actually out though.

Box set coming in a couple of weeks. I'm very curious about the unreleased stuff on the CDs but honestly if it's all like "78-79 The Lost Album" it's not much more than a curiosity.

In development: Bachelor Knishes

I got as far as "falling down like wheat" before I gave up trying to Weird Al it

dude like his breakfast

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BV-mi0bFpaI

Draining the Bowl for You

Was There Anything I Could Chew?

Wheats of Your Town

Head Full of Cream (of Wheat)

and their steel-cut oats, their lovely steel-cut oats
the Clarke sisters

Cattle and Grain

Sorry, doesn’t work, too close to the original

I can't wait to see if my
Amaranth's accepted

Graining The Pool For You

er, Graining The Bowl For You

Sorry, doesn’t work, too close to the original

But that makes the song all the more viable for advertising - they missed their chance to cash-in with Quaker Oats!

Joking aside, it's strange how old white guys are like the go-to face for breakfast grains now, between the Quaker dude, the late Wilford Brimley, Bob's Red Mill and now Robert.

third volume of the collected works.

https://www.dominomusic.com/news/us/go-betweens-final-boxset-g-stands-for-go-betweens-volume-3-announced

would love to hear these, but the box seems a bit pricey. "Locust Girls", bonus BYBO track, has always been a fave

I don't need the full boxset but I'd like to get my hands on the remastered albums. Apparently the new Oceans Apart is a giant improvement over the old CD

Noticed they are remixing Oceans Apart - I thought everyone just wanted it mastered to not be super-brickwalled

Would be a delight if the other reunion albums got some more DR, have my doubts tho

I think those are the only ones not streaming on spotify, I know that much.

these box sets always look beautiful but I can never bring my self to drop all that cash! curious about that early 90s grant/robert session, I don't think I'd even heard about it. the radio session from 1999 is stunning, one of my favorite go-betweens related recordings.

Another checkmark on the bucket list, to finally hear a version of Oceans Apart that isn't brickwalled to shit. Almost 20 years later but it's here now. What a joy. What a fantastic record.

A buddy wrote, once again, the accompanying essay.

Someone found the hand-written lyrics for Heaven Says inside the book they received:
https://scontent-man2-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t39.30808-6/471335143_9073856955993325_6645435866809629758_n.jpg?stp=cp6_dst-jpg_tt6&_nc_cat=106&ccb=1-7&_nc_sid=aa7b47&_nc_ohc=Vavu2pdBAr0Q7kNvgEBOciz&_nc_zt=23&_nc_ht=scontent-man2-1.xx&_nc_gid=AfjNL1qehFK1SyjIMfecoHD&oh=00_AYCrqevfvxvC0nAkAyQ_flRm4B2TKLuxOmjsvKLIfzb6Tw&oe=67746DB5

Actually never heard "Heaven Says" before - I really wish there was a comprehensive B-sides collection, at least some kind of affordable standalone. (I don't own any of the box sets, they all look awesome but they've been way too $$$ for my budget.)

I've been hoping they'd fix Oceans Apart, so I really hope they spin that off into its own physical release. (At least I can get a download and burn it to a CD.)

I still haven’t opened my G for Go Betweens Volume II set, which has been on my desk for at least 5 years. I promise to bequeath the lyrics to “Streets of Your Town”, should I have them, to the National Trust

From Lindy Morrison:

HELLO. Is anyone interested in hosting a house concert in June and July 2027, 2027, anywhere in the UK where Rob and I will delight you and your friends with songs and stories and hilarity. So that's Rob Snarski (Blackeyed Susans) and me on drums. There is a fee.

Wonder if she means "2026, 2027" rather than "2027, 2027"?