FELT (Go Kart Mozart, Denim)... Lawrence is amazing!

Don't knock "The New Potatoes", by the way, Charlie Brooker picked it as his no.1 musical choice on Desert Island Discs.

Back In Denim is Lawrence's masterpiece. It's the perfect balance of everything I love about him. Denim On Ice isn't far behind. The Go-Kart Mozart albums haven't quite been in the same league.

Totally agree with that but as per thread title Lawrence is a genius and Instant Wigwam proves it also imo..

Tearing Up The Album Chart is my favourite of the Go-Kart albums. It seems the most fleshed out and songs like Glorious Chorus, Listening To Marmalade and City Centre are up there with the best Denim songs. Instant Wigwam has grown on me over the years but a lot of the songs seem like good ideas that are underdeveloped. We're Selfish, Lazy & Greedy and Here Is A Song are nice songs that suffer from being way too repetitive. Mrs Back To Front is the highlight. It's Lawrence at his most inspired.

Mrs. Back to Front is genius. Good example of where instant wigwam works so well - songs, jokes, angst, pastiche, kitsch, experimentalism all in one track.

Instant Wigwam does sound like a nervous breakdown set to music

are these albums actually remixed? I missed that, I assumed tey were just remastered (if that)

oh only six songs on Ignite were remixed. I wonder why.

Yeah, it sounds weird that some of them still have that old style production. I'm glad they didn't touch Primitive Painters. It's perfect as it is.

From reading interviews Lawrence has said that the guitar effects were recorded to tape rather than recording the guitars dry and then adding the effect later so I dunno how much he had to work with. I don't mind the original production that much, it certainly works on Primitive Painters.

Lawrence says in the radio interview that he took the master tapes for the songs that had vocals and they used those tapes to do the remastering. I assume the rest of the untouched songs are instrumental + Primitive Painters.

from recent interview at the quietus:

He did one song that was really good, which was 'Primitive Painters'. But that was because when we got back from Scotland where we'd recorded it we remixed it in a big London studio, because it was going to be a single. But on the rest of the album he just applied his Cocteau Twins techniques to Felt, which I didn't want him to do at all.

So I knew that one day I was definitely going to remix those six tracks, the ones with singing on them. And what I did was I took the master tapes home from Edinburgh at the end of that session. I stole them and I kept them with me for all of these years.

call me crazy but i listen to felt for the endless guitar/organ solos paired with some catchy singing sometimes by a guy who sounds like a goofy tom verlaine. no so much in it for hyper ironic lyrics and production

i gave GKM a listen and it's not bad and i'll be spending more time with it. but all yall saying that it's better than felt are out of your minds. taste is subjective and all but that's about as close as you can get to having an objectively wrong opinion

Go Kart Mozart - Marc Riley Session #2 12th February 2018

"But on the rest of the album he just applied his Cocteau Twins techniques to Felt, which I didn't want him to do at all." well poo on you lawrence but this is one of guthrie's best production jobs.

Case #4394016 where an artist can't appreciate their own work.

Although he supposedly hated the sound on Poem Of The River even more - the rumour has it he threw the tapes in the Thames, although I think that's a tall story. Wonder if he'd remix that too, given access.

in lawrence's defence i don't think i've ever read anything about ignite that hasn't been critical of the production.

http://www.furious.com/perfect/felt.html

I was going to chuck these tapes into the Thames and tell McGee there's no album. He said, 'I've put my last six grand into this album. I've sold it to all these European companies! If you don't deliver the tapes, I'm finished and Creation's finished!' I had to give it to him!

Listened to the remixed tracks from "Ignite The Seven Cannons". I think I'm just too used to the original versions, these don't seem like an improvement at all.

xpost

i bet mcgee had a similar talk with kevin shields, and i bet kevin shields just went ahead and chucked it into the river

Eye-opening interview from MAURICE DEEBANK no less
https://www.outsideleft.com/main.php?updateID=1528

wow!

Why am I enjoying the new one so much?

Has Maurice Deebank gone on the record before to that extent?

thank you for reminding me to read this. enjoying it so far!

At sixteen I acquired my first electric guitar. It really was an amazing event, as I could now learn techniques and conjure up sounds that hitherto had been out of reach. It was at that time that I encountered a fellow villager named, Lawrence.

he really knocks the answer to "what was your musical vision?" out of the park!

Glad to read his side of things for once. So much frustration.

His ego is so massive he makes Lawrence look humble in comparison

Seems like a fairly troubled individual? He hasn't done anything since Felt at all, has he? Over 30 years ago.

by the end i found myself wondering the same thing
wondering what he had been up to if he only made one solo album since then
(and he was a very enjoyable guitarist to listen to, but i haven't heard his solo album -- nor do i expect it to be "indie" lol)

Not as good as Vini Reilly, I'm afraid to say.

if you like the instrumental stuff on the early felt albums you'll probably enjoy his solo record (which was made when he was still in felt).

he made this one song with saint etienne

I really like Inner Thought Zone! It's got a few tracks reminiscent of early Felt (The Watery Song, Golden Hills, Dance of Deliverance) and some other more classical guitar-type stuff that's really great but slides into kinda new age treacliness (which I don't mind at all) like So Serene and a Tale from Scriabin's Lonely Trail

wow the Spanish tv video linked in the Deebank interview is great, hadn't seen it before. it's better quality than that awful official live DVD from 15 years ago or so

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MUcw_CkIkT8

yeah, that was posted above.

i feel bad for maurice. but he will live forever.

slides into kinda new age treacliness (which I don't mind at all) like So Serene and a Tale from Scriabin's Lonely Trail

those tracks you singled out (and a couple of others) were recorded for the album's cd release in 1992.

Interesting that Golden Hills is from 1992, it sounds to me one of the most Crumbling-like tracks!

Listened to the remixed tracks from "Ignite The Seven Cannons". I think I'm just too used to the original versions, these don't seem like an improvement at all.
― Gerald McBoing-Boing, Sunday, March 4, 2018 12:37 PM (one week ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

heh, I'm on my first play and I've got the exact opposite view. it's a huge improvement for me

Fair enough. I didn't listen to them back-to-back, maybe that will give me a different perspective.

A nice look back at Forever here: https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/felt-forever-breathes-the-lonely-word/amp/

Nice. That was my first Felt acquisition (well, the twofer with Poem of the River) almost a decade after its release, and seems destined to be my favourite forever. The "Cherry Red/Deebank >>>> Creation/Duffy" talk at that time seemed overwhelming so a piece just straight out stating that Forever is their best record is fine by me.

“a wave crashed on rocks” might be my favorite felt song

Surprise guest appearance by an ILX0r in that writeup.

"Denim On Ice", love that album, the songs are so catchy and the lyrics are stupendous.

I had the first two songs from that stuck in my head for weeks last year. A headband over the ocean! Great stuff.

I've only recently gotten into Felt and got into Ignite the Seven Cannons through the remaster/remix. Man, the original version is so different. I know it's somewhat unpopular (well, it appears to be somewhat unpopular), but I think it's pretty fascinating and even a bit enjoyable after fully submersing myself in the remaster/remix. I think the mix definitely gets in the way of the songs, particularly something hooky like 'The Day the Rain Come Down,' but it totally works on another songs.

I adore the original "Seven Cannons" and was quite taken aback by the new version. Which songs to you think benefit the most on the new version?

I definitely prefer the originals to the de-guthrie’d tracks, love all that shimmery icing...

but I think it’s cool on the new disc because it sounds more like Felt, the band, playing. maybe more of a direct line to the creation records