Everything but the Girl.

aw:

There are some amazing songs on there. One thing that has surprised me that - apart from occasional bludgeoning of 'Missing' on The Voice - is that hasn't been more covers of your work. I'm sure you wouldn't be averse to someone like Adele or Jessie Ware asking to cover something like 'Come On Home'.

TT: Yeah. I'd love it. I do think it's a shame. We've nagged our publishers over the years saying, 'Isn't it worth sending some of these songs out?' I don't know. I think perhaps people don't dig deep enough when they're looking for covers, so you get the same things covered over and over again and there are ‘go-to' songwriters that people choose. We've slipped through the net a bit I think, and it's a shame. I think there's a lot of songs out there. Come on guys. [laughs]

I do wonder before "Driving" how big their US audience was.

so has anyone else been listening to the new (!!!!) ben watt solo record? seems like it's been royally ignored.

I have been following the developments with the release pretty closely. Soundcloud dj mixes, live radio appearances etc. I think it's a great album but I'm rarely in the mood for that type of music these days. Some of the tracks he performed either solo and with Bernard Butler before the album came out were great.

I follow both he and Tracey on Twitter. Apparently Joe Moss ex-Culture Club is their neighbor and currently hosting jam sessions where they're working on 70s rock standards.

I didn't even know he had a new record. Definitely want to check it out.

it's a very pretty record, lots of obvious (but not remotely annoying) borrowings from john martyn and joni mitchell (one song sounds a lot like hejira)

the lyrics in the one about gun control is a little nagl

this album is beautifully recorded

I keep mentioning this, but Tracey Thorn's column in New Statesman is always such a good read.

did not know this existed. link?

Ben Watt's playing the pin-drop Old Town School of Folk Music, and playing the, like, 50-seat Bryant Lake Bowl in Minneapolis on his July tour. Sounds great if it's not a DJ set.

shit, i'm going to have to miss the chicago date.

oh well, he'll be back in town ca. 2040.

I do like his Deep Folk Mix Tapes.

Thorn book is £1.99 in the Book Store (Banbury but presumably other branches, too).

the ben watt memoir of his parents is really moving and much of it is beautifully written

still think his album is great, but nobody wants to talk bout it here

**shrug**

I'll talk about it. It's a nice album.

Everytime I turn around there's another EBTG rarity I can't find...I wish they would put out a collection of their singles and comps tracks

― iago g., Saturday, March 20, 2010 11:05 PM (1 month ago) Bookmark

there's a great comp floating around the internets. whatsitcalled. ah yes, kitchen sink treasures.

― by another name (amateurist), Tuesday, May 11, 2010 5:10 PM (4 years ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Surprised there's no discussion of the reissues...bonus discs of b-sides, demos. Bought the first 4, haven't listened yet but psyched they finally did this. Now only if they would tour!

they're not going to tour.

i haven't bought those reissues yet, just a lack of funds and the fact that i've heard a lot of the "bonus" stuff already. would love to read a good review though.

too bad, i'd never heard any of these demos, they're excellent. thanks for the reply!

The Ben Watt record is a bit weak on the lyrics but I like it nonetheless. It reminds me in parts of the Beyond The Wizards Sleeve remix of Midlake.

https://soundcloud.com/ben_watt/ben-watt-pearson-park-deep-folk-mixtape-4

I saw you standing at the bar
Don't know your name or who you are
It's packed at 2 a.m
I've got no coat

I still really, really like Walking Wounded, particularly the title track. I remember when they put that out as a single, and of course the remix of 'Missing' was a big hit and I knew about Thorn's work with Massive Attack, but even with all that in mind I couldn't believe it was the same band that put out songs like 'Driving' ... it caught my ear in a way that no Everything But The Girl song had done before.

Ben Watt's latest (Fever Dream) is even better than Hendra. It sounds a lot like Hendra —nice, strummy and modest— but just stronger overall songs. Some of the tunes even bare a strong resemblance to Amplified Heart. 'Women's Company' is a fantastic number. It's been out since the beginning of April, but I'm just now catching up to it.

Pitchfork's Britpop special got me thinking about their historical place. Here's a short appraisal and top ten.

Well, I certainly don't think of Everything But the Girl in terms of that stupid and meaningless word, but I do think of them as being very much part of the pop music landscape in '96 with singles like the remix of 'Missing' and 'Wrong' (although I thought that 'Walking Wounded' was the best track of them all) and I remember thinking how much of a surprise it was, both in the sense that they were now having big hits (I think many considered them to washed-up by the mid '90s), but also in the direction their music had now gone in.

wow that EBTG top 20 couldn't be more different than mine... band contains depths. super underrated

I should have known it would be a mistake to read the R Schreiber 1999 review of "Temperamental":

http://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/2855-temperamental/

I should have known it would be a mistake to read the R Schreiber [year] review of [album]

every late nineties pitchfork review that mentions hearing certain songs in the context of some public place ("on the dance floor at the local sportsbar") make me feel like these people literally never left their dorms

or his parents' basement

But at the end of 60 straight minutes of this record, you feel like you've just spent half your life in an upscale women's clothing store.

"haha, that'll show them"

might be late to the game, but i just came across Ada's cover of Each And Every One today—still holds up incredibly
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qAYHbrcHMB8

"Missing" kills me. Revived my interest by finding an old cassette stuck in a player and this track was in the sequence. I know the feeling of this song to a tee, love this track

Alan Sparhawk guests on one of Ben's new tracks. Alan's interview with Ben is insightful: http://floodmagazine.com/70506/ben-watt-shares-new-single-irene-answers-questions-from-lows-alan-sparhawk/

interesting interview, thanks. the new song irene is quite wonderful:

http://www.youtube.com/watch? &v=XS3REGSWyd8

http://www.youtube.com/watch? &v=XS3REGSWyd8

ok then: https://youtu.be/XS3REGSWyd8

New song is nice and worth 3 posts :)

Just heard their "Birds" cover on the St. Giga archive (see ambient recommendations thread) and my God, so beautiful. Studying and stopped me in my tracks.

best ever.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R4vsMf1NQ1Q

"big deal" (1996)

biiiiiiig deeeal

would not be surprised if tracey has been side hustling in mental health the whole time because ... wow that's some insider info you got there, friend

sade also does this pretty well and of course she's easily tracey's equal, so.

this is a great live recording, btw. never heard it before—
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PLpqs2i7V84

"before today" live in tokyo, 1997 from the deluxe edition of walking wounded (which i am just now listening to for the first time. the extras are good! the album is forever classic.)

Several videos from this show are up on YT. Forum 1999, "Before Today"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7YhnJFwriw8

sade also does this pretty well and of course she's easily tracey's equal, so

If I remember right, Sade was recording Diamond Life in the same studio where they were doing Eden.

...24 years later:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JOF2pjm9_IE

Whoops, missed that anticipation is over here:

Everything But The Girl Album Poll