John Cale - Paris 1919 Poll

Voted "Paris" but flipped-flopped between that and "Hanky Panky."

any of his other solo stuff as good as this?

Only "Music For a New Society". Difficult to make albums as good as "Paris 1919"!

Half Past France

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

Wow, the top five are pretty much exactly the order in which I would rank them.

Yeah, and by the same margin (tho I don't mean to denigrate the rest of the disc beyond the title track; the first five songs listed in the poll results are all top-shelf).

If I had to Pick Only One song ever, there's a good chance it would be the title track. It gets me every. single. time. While I'm generally a guitar kinda guy, there's something about certain piano riffs like this that make me weak in the knees, bring out the rare sentimental feeling in me. The other songs would be the Stones "We Love You", Bowie's "Oh You Pretty Things", These Immortal Souls "Marry Me (Lie)" and Nina Nastasia's "Treehouse Song".

"Half Past France" and "Hanky Panky" tie, but I mean I love Paris 1919. Too bad Little Feat didn't just become Cale's band, playing Cale's songs...altho Cale doing "Oh Atlanta" might've been fun.

as for the other stuff--I think Honi Soit is a good record; I love Fear and Slow Dazzle as much as I do 1919, and actually, Black Acetate was real good too.

it was my vote that pushed it over the top

Maybe I should give Black Acetate another try

Recording of Cale playing this album w/ orchestra this week http://proskynesis.blogspot.com/2010/03/john-cale-05032010-london.html
Haven't listened, so I dunno what the quality is like. Hope it's good!

that looks great!

yo it's not midnight yet over here, happy birthday john cale. thanks for the tunes

This is one of my favorite albums ever. Problem is, I can never find a record that does the trick (in a similar fashion) as this one. What other records have a vibe like this? Suggestions?

it's a good question -- dunno what the answer is though! I kinda think of Nick Drake's Bryter Later being sort of similar (and Cale played on it), but the sensibilty of the two songwriter's is wildly different.

Some of Peter Hammill's 70s solo albums maybe?

hm, i don't know those -- the van der graf generator guy?
I guess Scott Walker might sorta fit in.

Brian Eno's "Another Green World" - particularly Everything Merges With The Night

bill fay's first two albs - self-titled and TIME OF THE LAST PERSECUTION - share some of the same general tone

damn those bill fay records are great. good call.

Maybe Epic Soundtracks' RISE ABOVE?

John Martyn Bless the Weather?

I'm disappointed there's no option to vote for the picture on the cover. Andalucia's my favorite, though. Fact: if you are named Amanda, it's fun to pretend he's saying Amandalucia.

Slapp Happy's Acnalbasac Noom has the same laid-back uptight-intellectual vibe.

Maybe Epic Soundtracks' RISE ABOVE?
that's a good one, i love that record. Maybe not quite as lush/layered as Paris 1919, but I always though Epic and Cale's phrasing was kinda similar.

it might be sorta obv, but cale's discography has paris 1919-y songs scattered throughout

"riverbank", "the soul of carmen miranda", "china sea", "bamboo floor", "gideon's bible"..lots of stuff from 'vintage violence' actually

ooooh gideon's bible is my FAVORITE ALL TIME
not sure why

it might be sorta obv, but cale's discography has paris 1919-y songs scattered throughout
yeah, there are definitely a few songs (esp. on Vintage Violence and maybe a few on Music for a New Society), but I think what's special about Paris 1919 is that not even Cale is sure how he did it. I think I've read an interview where he admits that it's great, but he's not sure why or how it happened. I guess just the stars aligning or something.

Second the recommendation of Time of the Last Persecution by Bill Fay. A lot of interesting arrangements and instrumentation going on there. Compared to Paris 1919, tho, it is a decidedly bleaker/more dirge-y album.

I dunno, I think it can pretty much all be chalked up to the arrangements. yeah he was at some crazy songwriting peak, but imo he'd stay at that peak for 'fear' and 'slow dazzle'. I don't think the paris 1919 songs stand out when they're played w/ the rest of his material (like in 'fragments') - stripped of the fancy arrangements and they're still def among the best songs he's written but not in some mystical realm beyond his other good stuff.

xp

yeah, it's probably that weird combo of Little Feat + Cale's Euro sensibility + SoCal + orchestral arrangements that makes it so unique.

also: Antarctica Starts Here - 1

:(

Very well put, iatee. I agree.

i definitely hear a lot of paris 1919 in vintage violence but i got them both at the same time and had a huge cale period for a while (all way down to the haircut) so they're sort of inseparable to me in other ways as well. on the following records it seems like he just set out to rock first and write songs second.

Another good parallel would be Al Stewart's Past Present & Future, also released in 1973 (and to some extent the following year's Modern Times). The same considered, reflective songwriting, the personal refracted through the historical. Those who only know Stewart for "Year of the Cat" should check this album out, it might surprise you.

more paris 1919 v2 songs: 'sylvia said', 'dixieland and dixie'

if you wanna have the full experience

http://www.sallepleyel.fr/francais/evenement.aspx?id=11113

Bunch of awesome suggestions. Hey, this Al Stewart record is great! I was vaguely aware of him...

wish I was in paris :(

yeah no kidding ... the recording sounds sweet.

might go for the occasion

this live show is gorgeous. not sure about the guitar solo on "Child's Christmas" but most of it is close to perfect. Cale's voice sounds great these days ...

love the Femme Fatale/Rosegarden Funeral of Sores mix, which I guess he's been doing for a while now?

^^ yes, by the time the live set was over i was not digging all that guitar at all.

kinda digging the psych-y guitar on Half Past France tho. Kind of unexpected.

always kind of hated this album but I feel like shit right now and it sounds great

I'll probably love this album forever now or something

hopefully!

http://www.uclalive.org/calendar/event_detail.asp?id=15

Cale rocking the soul patch

yeah doesn't strike me as radical on first listen. but it sounds good! what a great album.

Same. Hearing some Wilton Felder bass runs I never noticed before, for example.

The remastering is indeed a revelation.

Hanky Panky Nohow has always been my favorite on this. And the Drone Mix of that is incredible.

Also really enjoyed the last track, Fever Dream. I get why some people may not care for his 21st century pomo MPC reinterpretations of his earlier work. But they feel entirely in keeping with Cale’s career arc.

One other thing that occurred to me is that the strings on the Hanky Panky Nohow Drone Mix feel very influential on Nell Catchpole’s string arrangements for Eno’s 90s-00s work. Likely more something that comes from Wrong Way Up where I believe the three of them worked together. But the similarities with the stacked violas here—both the Tony Conrad-y textures but also the harmonic movement and swelling—are clear.

Was that Drone Mix released at the time?

No, the first we heard about it was on the 2006 2CD version where it was one of the "previously unissued rehearsals, alternates and outtakes from the "Paris 1919" sessions." on the 2nd CD.

Weird how the two reissues differ so much on the outtakes disc.

Was that Drone Mix released at the time?

What a remarkable remaster. "The Endless Plane Of Fortune" sounds even more glorious, bombastic and melancholy.

*Plain (dammit)

There's a law for everything
And for elephants that sing to keep
The cows that agriculture won't allow