Melt Banana - Classic or Dud?

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ditto

― original bgm, Friday, 22 November 2002 05:14 (twenty-three years ago)

seven months pass...

Revive for Cell-Scape love! I think it's their best album yet— they continue to dial back the all-out thrash a bit and play things that I'm able to recognize as riffs and melodies. And Agata's guitar sound just keeps getting weirder and weirder.

― Nick Mirov (nick), Tuesday, 1 July 2003 17:57 (twenty-two years ago)

Their show in Denton on Friday was the bee's knees. God help anyone caught in the middle of that crowd though.

― dleone (dleone), Tuesday, 1 July 2003 18:11 (twenty-two years ago)

I'm not too hot on Cell-Scape, though I haven't listened that much. Some of the electronics are so cheezy, and not in a good way. I love Melt Banana, though now that I'm into more noise rock stuff, I'm not quite as blown away. But I still hero-worship their guitarist.

― NA. (Nick A.), Tuesday, 1 July 2003 18:29 (twenty-two years ago)

one year passes...

http://www.parkcity.ne.jp/~mltbanan/USA_tour.htm

Uk please also thx

― itchy bits (itchy bits), Monday, 28 February 2005 00:18 (twenty-one years ago)

two months pass...

In answer to my question above: there is NOW a singles compilation! "13 Hedgehogs," it's called--the "Hedgehog," "It's In the Pillcase," "$10 a Pile," "Wedge" and "Dead Spex" singles, and their sides of the split EPs with God Is My Co-Pilot, Discordance Axis, Pencilneck, Target Shoppers, Stilluppsteypa, Plainfield, Xerobot and Killout Trash. 56 songs in all.

Saw 'em tonight at Dante's in Portland--as always "RRAGG" was the third song they played--I somehow think that's kind of hilarious. (Maybe it's because they also like looking at the crowd right after it to see who's never seen them before, because they're the people who have expressions on their faces like "did they just do that?") They also pulled out a cover of Devo's "Uncontrollable Urge." If there's a guitarist who uses pedals more expressively these days than Agata, I don't know who it would be. And I am very sure there's not a better English-language lyricist whose native language isn't English than Yasuko Onuki.

― Douglas (Douglas), Sunday, 15 May 2005 07:23 (twenty-one years ago)

Cell-scape is awesome!

― latebloomer: the rebel sound of grits and bacon (latebloomer), Sunday, 15 May 2005 07:48 (twenty-one years ago)

i saw them on my birthday a year or so ago. best show EVAH.

― nathalie's baby (stevie nixed), Sunday, 15 May 2005 08:07 (twenty-one years ago)

Tom you should have read some of their website back in 1996 or whatever. I've never knowingly actually heard them but it was some of the best shit I'd ever read. It made me want to hear them so bad. I may have been unconsciously avoiding them ever since because I was afraid to ruin what their promo material had provoked in my imagination.

― Tracer Hand (tracerhand), Sunday, 15 May 2005 08:11 (twenty-one years ago)

The short songs are amazing live.

― shieldforyoureyes, Sunday, 15 May 2005 15:19 (twenty-one years ago)

The Agata solo album is fun!

― A homunculus of Darby Crash, .... created for the purposes of *EVIL* (ex machina, Sunday, 15 May 2005 15:28 (twenty-one years ago)

Cell-scape is phenomenal! Even converted some of the hatas I know. The intro/outro tracks are a fairly limp stab at the noise thing, tho.

― original bgm, Sunday, 15 May 2005 15:33 (twenty-one years ago)

Never heard the solo album... what's it like?

― original bgm, Sunday, 15 May 2005 15:33 (twenty-one years ago)

CLASSIC

I only own Cell-Scape so far & fear I may never see them live :-(

I concur, that solo record is worth picking up. Fun and even pretty in parts. Also reminds you just how unfathomably great & out-there his riffage in the group set-up is.

xpost - I like that outro... more ambience than noise tho?

― fandango (fandango), Sunday, 15 May 2005 15:39 (twenty-one years ago)

teeny shiny is pretty rad too.

― latebloomer: the rebel sound of grits and bacon (latebloomer), Sunday, 15 May 2005 15:45 (twenty-one years ago)

xpost - I like that outro... more ambience than noise tho?

True... but it's a fine line, I suppose.

Teeny Shiny is like Cell-Scape v0.7. Pretty solid, but still not quite the amicable merge of pop and grindcore it should be.

― original bgm, Sunday, 15 May 2005 15:52 (twenty-one years ago)

I love Teeny Shiny's techno leanings. Also, Free The Bee and Moon Flavor
are their most pop songs.

― shieldforyoureyes, Sunday, 15 May 2005 23:06 (twenty-one years ago)

four months pass...

uk tour dates in unreadable format (from http://myspace.com/azap):

Nov 6 2005 8:00P
Pavillion Theatre Brighton UK,
Nov 8 2005 8:00P
Fleece and Firkin Bristol United Kindom,
Nov 9 2005 8:00P
Medicine Bar, Custard Factory Birmingham United Kingdom,
Nov 10 2005 8:00P
Garage London United Kingdom,
Nov 11 2005 8:00P
AC2 Manchester, United Kingdom,
Nov 12 2005 8:00P
Oran Mor Glasgow United Kingdom,
Nov 13 2005 8:00P
The Georglan Theatre Teeside/New Castle United Kingdom,
Nov 14 2005 8:00P
Nottingham Trent Uni. Nottingham United Kingdom,
Nov 15 2005 8:00P
Clwb Ifor Bach Cardiff United Kingdom,
Nov 17 2005 8:00P
BBC session London United Kingdom,
Nov 18 2005 8:00P
tba Leeds United Kingdom,
Nov 19 2005 8:00P
The Adelphi Hull United Kingdom,
Nov 20 2005 8:00P
Garage London United Kingdom,
Nov 21 2005 8:00P
tba Southhampton United Kingdom,

bought my ticket for 10th november yesterday. phear me.

― koogs (koogs), Saturday, 8 October 2005 10:26 (twenty years ago)

I've tried to get my ticket but can't buy it yet. I am PSYCHED.

― fandango (fandango), Saturday, 8 October 2005 10:30 (twenty years ago)

are they still playing with the drummer from discordance axis?

― marcg (marcg), Saturday, 8 October 2005 10:45 (twenty years ago)

Koogs SHOWED ME his ticket.

It is banana yellow.

― PJ Miller (PJ Miller 68), Saturday, 8 October 2005 11:35 (twenty years ago)

HOLY FUCK MELT BANANA AT THE ADELPHI CAN'T BREATHE EARS POPPING MUST FIND TRANQUILISERS

― Don King of the Mountain (noodle vague), Saturday, 8 October 2005 14:03 (twenty years ago)

I would assume they're using one of their japanese drummers this tour,
as Witte will be on tour with Municipal Waste at roughly the same time.

― shieldforyoureyes, Saturday, 8 October 2005 21:01 (twenty years ago)

one month passes...

drummer was japanese and very good. as were whole band, not a single hiccup (or, indeed, a pause) in the entire set. i'm not sure i have the words to describe the sound they made.

(support slot last night was DJ Scotch Egg doing his usual GameBoy Gabba thing. divided the audience somewhat but i loved it)

― koogs (koogs), Friday, 11 November 2005 09:25 (twenty years ago)

Are your ears ringing?

― PJ Miller (PJ Miller 68), Friday, 11 November 2005 09:32 (twenty years ago)

come back to texas melt banana! i love my tooth watches t-shirt.

― fortunate hazel (f. hazel), Friday, 11 November 2005 09:47 (twenty years ago)

Yes, my ears are ringing. And I had scotch egg crumbs in my hair. Great stuff.

― MESTEMA (davidcorp), Friday, 11 November 2005 10:31 (twenty years ago)

That was the greatest thing I ever seen in my life.

My ears ringy. It's all good. I don't need to hear ever again.

― THIS IS THE SOUND OF ALTERN 8 !!! (noodle vague), Saturday, 19 November 2005 23:39 (twenty years ago)

Fucking amazing, btw.

― fandango (fandango), Thursday, 24 November 2005 00:00 (twenty years ago)

I take it you saw them live?

I think they're a little disappointing on album, but the live show is amazing.

― Mickey (modestmickey), Thursday, 24 November 2005 02:30 (twenty years ago)

Especially when they play the song "His Name is Mickey" and I pretend it's about me.

― Mickey (modestmickey), Thursday, 24 November 2005 02:31 (twenty years ago)

I saw them on Sunday with Bullet Union & I'm Being Good. My ears were ringing all day Monday as well. They seem to be back to normal now though!

They covered Uncontrollable Urge & Neat Neat Neat, which was fun. So glad I went (I had to go on my own, as I suffer from a distinct lack of noisecore loving friends).

― Colonel Poo (Colonel Poo), Thursday, 24 November 2005 09:53 (twenty years ago)

they played Surfin USA as an encore at the first london gig plus another one in the middle that i didn't recognise. (i barely recognised Surfin USA apart from those two words)

the BBC session mentioned above will be broadcast by Rob Da Bank, i think this thursday evening. (ie tonight)

― koogs (koogs), Thursday, 24 November 2005 10:07 (twenty years ago)

Classic.

― nancyboy (nancyboy), Thursday, 24 November 2005 10:39 (twenty years ago)

Woah - I love their Neat Neat Neat cover, never heard it live. (It's the
hidden track on the Charlie CD.)
My fave MxBx cover is still My Generation.

― shieldforyoureyes, Thursday, 24 November 2005 18:10 (twenty years ago)

two weeks pass...

bbc radio session is tonight. 11pm - 1am GMT.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio1/onemusic/exposed/meltbanana549p01.shtml

― koogs (koogs), Thursday, 8 December 2005 19:21 (twenty years ago)

Hurrah!

― fandango yeah-yeah-yeah-yeah-ye-ye-ye-ye-ye-ye-YEAH!! (fandango), Thursday, 8 December 2005 19:31 (twenty years ago)

At a show in Memphis, they started playing the intro to Lenny K's "Are you gonna go my way?" and than slammed into "Uncontrollable Urge" and I was literally floored. Like, I fell on the floor.MB are Always stone cold classic in a live setting.

― Tripmaker (SDWitzm), Thursday, 8 December 2005 19:58 (twenty years ago)

one year passes...

anticipation?

http://img108.imageshack.us/img108/9307/89347cs0.jpg

On their sixth full-length studio release Melt Banana exercise a hitherto undetected area of their musical musculature: the "rock" region. Summing up an entire album, and one as diverse as Bambi's Dilemma, with such a pedestrian qualifier is risky business, agreed, but it seems to fit like never before. The band, of course, refuses to accommodate any such pigeonholing: "Maybe it is rock, but maybe not. We just make whatever we want. We just follow our own instincts!" The truth is MxBx makes music as they please, relying solely on their own maverick talent to get them where they need to be.

Bambi's Dilemma's eighteen tracks careen from extreme, fastblast attacks to more serene moments (usually reserved for nonalbum releases) to the band's revolutionary new, guitar and bassless "Theremin-core".

(??)

few tiny samples online sound surprisingly, well, normal :-/

― fandango, Thursday, 5 April 2007 19:52 (nineteen years ago)

supposed to be out now or very soon, no idea if it's "out" any other way, have too much other stuff to listen to right now to bother looking. Psyched though!

― fandango, Thursday, 5 April 2007 19:53 (nineteen years ago)

Bambi's Dilemma's eighteen tracks, fastblast attacks to more serene moments

The most tracks on a studio album since Scratch or Stitch (yes!). I really like the description if the serene moments aren't like Outro for Cell-Scape and more like Charlie's Chipped Zoo. That's exactly what I'd want from a new MB album.

― xox, Thursday, 5 April 2007 20:13 (nineteen years ago)

Chipped Zoo is a cool track

― Dominique, Thursday, 5 April 2007 20:22 (nineteen years ago)

I wanted more longer songs (like Cell-Scape) really :/ I just want them to be HUEG though haha.

― fandango, Thursday, 5 April 2007 20:39 (nineteen years ago)

anticipating. madly.

foolishly, it took me ages to get around to buying 'cell-scape', being put off by reports of longer, poppier, more accessible songs. that just wasn't what I wanted from 'my' melt-banana. I was a twat. it is, by some distance, their greatest work.

really excited by the prospect of a new album though...

― m the g, Friday, 6 April 2007 17:16 (nineteen years ago)

that just wasn't what I wanted from 'my' melt-banana.

This almost sounds like a response to my post. I thought Cell-Scape was great aside from the crap bookending it. 25 minutes of their best material.

The only MB stuff I don't really like is a good chunk of their singles/split releases. Even post-Charlie it sounds almost all like Speak Squeak Creak leftovers. Would definitely prefer longer, poppier songs to one and a half minutes of stuff they've already mastered.

― xox, Friday, 6 April 2007 21:26 (nineteen years ago)

I wish they'd release a covers collection.

(I also REALLY wish they'd cover Folsom Prison Blues.)

― shieldforyoureyes, Friday, 6 April 2007 21:36 (nineteen years ago)

I like the bookends!

― fandango, Friday, 6 April 2007 21:58 (nineteen years ago)

my fav melt banana is the split with locust, tripped out psych hardcore.

― rio natsume, Friday, 6 April 2007 22:12 (nineteen years ago)

two weeks pass...

boomkat review (http://www.boomkat.com/item.cfm?id=32217)

"but where it comes into its own for me is when mid-way through the album the guitars and bass are dropped in favour of that most wonderful of electronic instruments, the Theremin."

― koogs, Monday, 23 April 2007 11:30 (nineteen years ago)

GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOD!!!

― fandango, Friday, 27 April 2007 21:07 (nineteen years ago)

Skipping 119 messages at this point... Click here if you want to load them all.

correct choice imho

― I painted my teeth (sleeve), Saturday, 8 June 2024 06:20 (two years ago)

but I just played Psychotic Now by Prolapse and now I don't know anything any more. I might have to flip a coin

― Colonel Poo, Sunday, 9 June 2024 02:33 (two years ago)

two months pass...

Digging the new one 3+5 a lot!

― gman59, Sunday, 25 August 2024 13:13 (one year ago)

Me too

― Toshirō Nofune (The Seventh ILXorai), Sunday, 25 August 2024 14:14 (one year ago)

one month passes...

fantastic gig last night - i haven’t seen them for… over a decade, and it’s a riot, these exploding violent toy boxes of songs, full of paradoxes - intricate assaults, threatening fun etc. sweat was dripping off the ceilings so heavily it was like rain.

qujaku were a really fantastic support as well. doomy and v heavy, occasionally two drummers, a touch of goth and grinding sludge interspersed with mangled explosions of guitar and screaming.

best gig of the year without question.

tho, per CP, Prolapse were a lot of rather chaotic fun the night before.

― sur le pont donkey kong (Fizzles), Saturday, 28 September 2024 09:44 (one year ago)

Digging the new one 3+5 a lot!

and yes, playing catch up with this ahead of the gig - this is a really good album.

― sur le pont donkey kong (Fizzles), Saturday, 28 September 2024 09:45 (one year ago)

I wasn't told about this gig and the my friend was sending me pictures from it. My fault I guess lol

― imago, Saturday, 28 September 2024 10:09 (one year ago)

unfortunate! i feel qujaku would be up your street tho i hesitate to say this as psychedelic doomy swans influenced rock is probably something on which you’ve probably got strong opinions. anyway i am also enjoying their 2018 album tho the live experience was x10. i particularly liked the last track they played which had a sort of Peter Gunn flavour to it.

― sur le pont donkey kong (Fizzles), Saturday, 28 September 2024 15:43 (one year ago)

on first listen new album is excellent, welcome back after a decade

― Michael F Gill, Monday, 30 September 2024 02:06 (one year ago)

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