Calla -- Classic or Dud?

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Oh yeah, I got mine yesterday... I've been meaning to email and post. I really like it. Will have something more intelligent to say when I give it some time to sink in.

― Aaron W (Aaron W), Thursday, 22 May 2003 16:52 (twenty-three years ago)

yo, y...got the cd earlier this week and meant to mail you...very nice. listened to it a lot this week after 8 pm (as seems appropriate.) can see what you mean much more clearly now about "deciding to come down on the side of 'rock' to their detr'ment."

― jess (dubplatestyle), Thursday, 22 May 2003 16:54 (twenty-three years ago)

Coolio... Glad to hear it boizzz!

― Yanc3y (ystrickler), Thursday, 22 May 2003 17:07 (twenty-three years ago)

...still waiting... patiently... Utrecht can apparently be a remote place...

― willem (willem), Thursday, 22 May 2003 18:40 (twenty-three years ago)

yanc3y - received, much appreciated. i put it on late last night but dozed off halfway through "i shall be released." nice to hear a mix of the familiar and the unfamiliar. more when fully digested. tnx!

― summerslastsound (summerslastsound), Thursday, 22 May 2003 19:26 (twenty-three years ago)

two weeks pass...

so:

i quite like it, but--i wish there were more songs. i'm a complete sucka for the soft-loud-soft-loud dynamic but i (despite jess and i guess you yanc3y) want more loud. somewhere recently i saw a review of the latest dirty three album that talked about how they were tension upon tension and then no release. i really like how calla sounds, but then i want more of something. i've got dux to their show in DC on June 22, so maybe all will be revealed--but at the moment i'll go with seam for that sort of thing.

anyway--it's fucking awesome to get something like that in the mail. i'd like to return the favor but i'm far too bashful to make a mix for someone who writes for the VV. but if you ever come to DC i'll buy you a beer.

― mookieproof (mookieproof), Saturday, 7 June 2003 00:56 (twenty-three years ago)

i think at their show you'll get all of the loud you want, man. but i know what you mean. i was trying to make a comp that sounded like all of my bullshit ruminations upthread, so that's why there are so many songs that aren't quite there. which songs do you like on there?

don't feel obligated to give me anything in return, but if there's something you would like me to hear, don't hesitate to send it.

― Yanc3y (ystrickler), Saturday, 7 June 2003 13:53 (twenty-three years ago)

one month passes...

Finally got that there Televise album and it is pretty dang spiff, I listen unto it now. And I know Chris Barrus caught em in NYC and lurved their show.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Sunday, 27 July 2003 17:48 (twenty-two years ago)

Televise is their worst record. You need to hear my mix, Ned!

I ran into Aurelio from Calla and Julian from the Strokes on the street last night. We exchanged pleasantries. Kinda odd.

― Yanc3y (ystrickler), Sunday, 27 July 2003 17:54 (twenty-two years ago)

Televise is their worst record. You need to hear my mix, Ned!

I am shamed. :-( But yes, I wouldn't mind hearing that. And you didn't beat up Julian? FOR SHAME. (I am now convinced that the Strokes' drum machine should go solo.)

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Sunday, 27 July 2003 17:58 (twenty-two years ago)

I'll send you a copy of it as soon as I can.

― Yanc3y (ystrickler), Sunday, 27 July 2003 18:03 (twenty-two years ago)

ha! i just realised i have the subrosa disc and had filed it away without much thought. will revisit on the basis of thread. ta.

― gaz (gaz), Sunday, 27 July 2003 23:10 (twenty-two years ago)

Televise is their worst record.

gosh,their other albums must be grate! i really like televise,although it was a "slow grower".

― william (william), Monday, 28 July 2003 03:54 (twenty-two years ago)

Televise is maybe their least accomplished record overall, but the highpoints are veryvery high, still making it on of my favorite records of the year, the favorite actually being Yancey's mix, in a most-listened-to kinda way (it contains all the highpoints from Televise). Two weeks ago my ordered vinyl copies of Custom and the split with the Walkmen arrived. The remix album is great stuff, the split contains a great rendition of Can's Mother Sky (at first listen I was a bit dissapointed, but giving it some extra spins really upped my appreciation)(the Walkmen are a real find for me as well). Calla's choice of covers is terrific, btw. Their version of U2's Promenade is stunning, as is Dylan's I shall be released.
One of my favorite bands.

― willem (willem), Monday, 28 July 2003 06:17 (twenty-two years ago)

two months pass...

I'm seeing Calla (for free!) tomorrow night and yanc3y has definitely gotten my expectations high. I LOVE the first two albums, Televise is okay, hoping they lean more in the distortion direction live though. am told that they are "lovely people" also, a friend just played with Pete's other band in NYC. The only (possibly) bad thing: they're opening for longwave, whom i know nothing about other than that no one seems to take them very seriously and consider them poseurs. I mean, when you're compared to Interpol and still called poseurs, that's a bad thing, right? The main suck-y thing will be that since they're opening, no encores.

― anthony kyle monday (akmonday), Friday, 10 October 2003 17:16 (twenty-two years ago)

please post post-show impressions! distortion-heavy live, yes. listen for the "mother sky" cover (traditionally the second song in their set) and the "trinidad/love of ivah" medley (my fave live moment of theirs).

― Yanc3y (ystrickler), Friday, 10 October 2003 17:42 (twenty-two years ago)

I love the song on the Walkmen/Calla split -- they reprise it on Televise, too; I think it's called "Don't Hold Your Breath."
Really pretty.
I'm with you, Yanc3y.

― Ben Boyer (Ben Boyer), Friday, 10 October 2003 17:47 (twenty-two years ago)

The 'mother sky' cover is much wonderful. And if the last song's 'Televise' it will be glorious, as always is.

― cis (cis), Friday, 10 October 2003 18:56 (twenty-two years ago)

They pulled out of the scheduled Vancouver show (although Pitchfork still thinks they're playing there). I'm gutted.

― David A. (Davant), Saturday, 11 October 2003 20:08 (twenty-two years ago)

Okay, well, I can't speak to the setlist much because I'm terrible with song titles, I think the second song was Mother Sky, almost everything was off of Televise. They were oustanding. Unfortunately the club was only about 1/8th full because the tickets were expensive and they were opening, so, no encore, as I said above. The singer in particular is a really excellent guitar player and awesome to watch, Pete, the new guitarist, was great too. Talked with Sean (bassist) afterward who was incredibly nice, upheld their reputation as the nost pleaseant people in NYC. They were LOUD as FUCK. I will definitely catch them next time they come through town and headline; they're much brighter and vibrant live than on record (though I like the feel of the records too).
Longwave, it should be said, were very proficient and boring. I usually don't level "trustafarian" jibes at bands (I mean, I LIKE the Strokes) but I will in this case. TOO much marketing and hype! Not enough good songs!

― anthony kyle monday (akmonday), Sunday, 12 October 2003 15:31 (twenty-two years ago)

Calla! I forgot about Calla! Next band I listen to will be Calla!

― David. (Cozen), Sunday, 12 October 2003 16:45 (twenty-two years ago)

two months pass...

say more things about calla, yancey, please.

― cozen (Cozen), Wednesday, 24 December 2003 20:18 (twenty-two years ago)

http://image.allmusic.com/00/amg/cov200/drc700/c771/c771948facb.jpg

― THE LONG AWAITED D-SHOT COMEBACK, Wednesday, 24 December 2003 20:30 (twenty-two years ago)

haha yance, update yr blog! ;)

― cozen (Cozen), Wednesday, 24 December 2003 20:35 (twenty-two years ago)

http://image.allmusic.com/00/amg/cov200/drc700/c771/c771948facb.jpg

D-BLOG

9:54 PM -- WOKE UP, TURNED ON TV

10:11 -- TELEMUNDO MASTURBATION

10:30 -- WATCHED COSBY EPISODE WHERE THEO AND COCKROACH GET CAUGHT CHEATING ON THEIR MATH QUIZ AND MUST HIDE FROM COSBY

10:49 -- ATE BREAKFAST

11:55 -- CALLED JANET (BUSY SIGNAL)

12:05 -- CHECKED ILM, MORE CALUM BULLSHIT

12:30 -- POSTED OWN PICTURE TO THREAD

― THE LONG AWAITED D-SHOT COMEBACK, Wednesday, 24 December 2003 20:44 (twenty-two years ago)

four weeks pass...

first calla album reissued by arena rock this week! buy it!

― Yanc3y (ystrickler), Thursday, 22 January 2004 16:58 (twenty-two years ago)

four weeks pass...

I recently took out Calla (original Sub Rosa!). I think it's really fantastic. The one thing I'm surprised no one really talked about upthread is the way the deep fat bluesy basslines and beats hold the tracks together and give them their seedy urban character. I gather, though, that the subsequent releases are more indie rock? This would be very disappointing.

― sundar subramanian (sundar), Saturday, 21 February 2004 07:53 (twenty-two years ago)

Well, I guess that's not the case with every track maybe but it works for the first at least. The guitar tones are great.

― sundar subramanian (sundar), Saturday, 21 February 2004 08:42 (twenty-two years ago)

Only Televise is straight indie rock, sundar. For more like the self-titled disc, buy Custom, the remix record.

Calla will be opening for the Cure on a Euro tour later this year!

― Yanc3y (ystrickler), Saturday, 21 February 2004 17:07 (twenty-two years ago)

one month passes...

Just saw Calla opening for, ah, Cooper Temple Clause in Vancouver. Opening. Which is wrong, but hey, the latter are on a major (RCA here in North America) and shit, so...

(...not that CTC were bad -- in fact, they won me over a bit, live at least...)

A short set, no encore, but they were still completely mesmerizing, absolutely absorbing. I'll be writing it up for PopMatters so I won't shoot my wad here, but everything positive said about them on this great thread is true. They are very nice guys, and there isn't a NYC band who can touch them, which may indeed be their downfall. These albums will be resurrected one day by future alien cultural anthropologists, and someone will declare them planetary -- if not galactic -- treasures, who knows?

(Oh, a sad footnote -- the Cure thing looks like it fell through.)

― David A. (Davant), Monday, 29 March 2004 06:44 (twenty-two years ago)

two months pass...

hey nyers: calla w/ dead meadow, brian jonestown and viet nam at the bowery tomorrow night. calla's final show with bassist/keyboarding sean (aka the glue of the group).

― Yanc3y (ystrickler), Friday, 11 June 2004 16:29 (twenty-one years ago)

where is he going? is he the one who does Mercova?

― kyle (akmonday), Friday, 11 June 2004 17:36 (twenty-one years ago)

Hey Yanc3y, you still sending out your sampler?

― nickn (nickn), Friday, 11 June 2004 18:20 (twenty-one years ago)

not sure what's happening with sean. wayne, the drummer, just moved back to texas, so they're all going their separate ways a bit, even though the band is staying together.

and nick, i am still sending it out. email me if you want one.

― Yanc3y (ystrickler), Friday, 11 June 2004 18:48 (twenty-one years ago)

that's a pity, do you know why is he leaving, yancey? are sean and wayne no longer happy with living in nyc? i guess there won't be any new output in the near future then... nevertheless, i guess it will be interesting to see how this new demographic situation will affect their music.

― willem (willem), Saturday, 12 June 2004 07:04 (twenty-one years ago)

seven months pass...

New album due in the early summer (without Sean, sadly).

― David A. (Davant), Tuesday, 8 February 2005 05:26 (twenty-one years ago)

that's good news, more here (incl. new mp3!).

― willem (willem), Tuesday, 8 February 2005 07:38 (twenty-one years ago)

fans of The Church should check out the mp3 on the Calla site.

― william (william), Tuesday, 8 February 2005 07:56 (twenty-one years ago)

ya know, i can't listen to them anymore. i think part of it has to do with me so closely associating them with the woman i was dating at the time, and also i just od'd on them. it's very strange.

― Jams Murphy (ystrickler), Tuesday, 8 February 2005 15:08 (twenty-one years ago)

I think after all this time, the second album stands up much better than the third one. I'd love to see them live again though.

― kyle (akmonday), Tuesday, 8 February 2005 20:45 (twenty-one years ago)

Pretty good song. New album could be promising. William OTM on The Church comparison, but I'd throw House Of Love in there too.

― Elvis Telecom (Chris Barrus), Tuesday, 8 February 2005 21:49 (twenty-one years ago)

Solid tour lined-up this February & March.

― nader (nader), Tuesday, 8 February 2005 21:59 (twenty-one years ago)

it's a good song. just listened to it twice.

― stockholm cindy's secret childhood (Jody Beth Rosen), Tuesday, 8 February 2005 22:09 (twenty-one years ago)

Yes, it's very good.

― David A. (Davant), Tuesday, 8 February 2005 22:23 (twenty-one years ago)

seven months pass...

saw 'em for the first time in dc last night. they were very good, and it was sad/embarrassing how few people were there. how is it that some bands get huge and some don't? i'm not a death cab hater, but i don't understand why they've blown up while calla's drawing a few dozen. anyway, 'televise' was particularly wicked, the drummer has horrible posture, and i was startled to find that a mini-spencer chow was singing!

― mookieproof (mookieproof), Thursday, 6 October 2005 21:43 (twenty years ago)

they're on a weird label and their songs are not happy enough to be hits

― kyle (akmonday), Thursday, 6 October 2005 22:02 (twenty years ago)

(that is why they are not huge, that is).

the only time I saw them they were unfortunately opening for the HORRIBLE Longwave. not many people there to see them either.

― kyle (akmonday), Thursday, 6 October 2005 22:03 (twenty years ago)

gonna catch them here in vancouver at the media club. quite looking forward to finally seeing them.

any tour only items on the merch table? was there a merch table?

― drone/a/saur (william), Friday, 7 October 2005 04:12 (twenty years ago)

beggars banquet is such a weird label! (nb: there are many reasons why calla didn't make it)(also: collisions is very very good)

― Jams Murphy (ystrickler), Friday, 7 October 2005 04:39 (twenty years ago)

are they on beggars now? they were on Arena Rock for the Televise, and that was/is a weird label. they might have gotten more play out of sticking with young god actually. anyway I hope the new record does well and I hope they play SF at some point again

― kyle (akmonday), Friday, 7 October 2005 05:08 (twenty years ago)

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