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
― Isi, Sunday, 11 March 2018 12:19 (six years ago) link
Fair enough. I didn't listen to them back-to-back, maybe that will give me a different perspective.
― Gerald McBoing-Boing, Sunday, 11 March 2018 12:46 (six years ago) link
A nice look back at Forever here: https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/felt-forever-breathes-the-lonely-word/amp/
― brimstead, Sunday, 26 May 2019 23:15 (five years ago) link
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.
― Nag! Nag! Nag!, Monday, 27 May 2019 04:18 (five years ago) link
“a wave crashed on rocks” might be my favorite felt song
― brimstead, Monday, 27 May 2019 04:30 (five years ago) link
Surprise guest appearance by an ILX0r in that writeup.
― TS The Students vs. The Regents (James Redd and the Blecchs), Monday, 27 May 2019 12:43 (five years ago) link
"Denim On Ice", love that album, the songs are so catchy and the lyrics are stupendous.
― The Corbynite Maneuver (Tom D.), Sunday, 26 April 2020 16:59 (four years ago) link
I had the first two songs from that stuck in my head for weeks last year. A headband over the ocean! Great stuff.
― brimstead, Sunday, 26 April 2020 19:23 (four years ago) link
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.
― afriendlypioneer, Monday, 27 April 2020 16:46 (four years ago) link
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?
― Gerald McBoing-Boing, Monday, 27 April 2020 17:06 (four years ago) link
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
― brimstead, Monday, 27 April 2020 18:11 (four years ago) link
the first two felt albums are like tapestries that just kinda unfurl forever, a ribbon that ties around the whole earth. deserts, snowy tundras, the pacific ocean, all thatI'm going to listen to them all morning
― brimstead, Monday, 27 April 2020 18:14 (four years ago) link
https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0539/8839/3128/products/SummerSmashcan_480x480.jpg?v=1623140724
https://carnivalbrewing.me/blogs/news/lawrence-takes-over?fbclid=IwAR0f1U5EatmF4k4QSYbwy06NE7dfGgPO30DwetK4ODXbr4S7AmZJFAZOYcU
https://carnivalbrewing.me/products/summer-smash-honeydew-melon-juniper-and-mint-sour-3-7?fbclid=IwAR1m-DgzEhXZhcIqx6VGz15DGqdwH2MZvZF4qP5gf4MGsoSvI0XTeoqfjrU&variant=40114676760744
― PaulTMA, Thursday, 10 June 2021 12:28 (two years ago) link
I really appreciate that it is low alcohol in contrast to these rancid Special Brew-strength ales that are all the rage these days
― PaulTMA, Thursday, 10 June 2021 12:29 (two years ago) link
I love both Lawrence and Wreckless Eric so it was a surprise to only find out now that Eric had done a response song to The Great Pub Rock Revival. It is quite something. Apparently they later made up.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m_mlFyn_1w4
― everything, Sunday, 20 June 2021 23:34 (two years ago) link
We're gonna make a record and put it out on Record Store Day.
― visiting, Saturday, 17 July 2021 06:09 (two years ago) link
Not much of a song but it looks like Lawrence has a lot of the same records as me.
― Wouldn't disgrace a Michael Jackson (Tom D.), Saturday, 17 July 2021 07:46 (two years ago) link
Lawrence interview in the guardian todayhttps://www.theguardian.com/music/2022/jul/27/lawrence-interview-felt-denim-mozart-estateHidden away in there is the news that he will have a new LP out under the name "Mozart Estate"
― link.exposing.politically (Camaraderie at Arms Length), Wednesday, 27 July 2022 19:05 (one year ago) link
i feel as if i have read a version of this article every few years for the last two decades. as a Lawrence agnostic it's still always interesting to read but i do wish they would get over the 'should have been / could have been famous' schtick, every single time.
― stirmonster, Wednesday, 27 July 2022 19:47 (one year ago) link
Was going to say exactly that. Also, I think the main photo was almost identical to one featured in a previous article of maybe a decade ago ago.
― Luna Schlosser, Wednesday, 27 July 2022 20:07 (one year ago) link
yeah really not a great article, but nice there's a new LP on the way
― link.exposing.politically (Camaraderie at Arms Length), Wednesday, 27 July 2022 20:16 (one year ago) link
Also, I think the main photo was almost identical to one featured in a previous article of maybe a decade ago ago.
You aren't wrong. Here he is from 2011:https://www.theguardian.com/music/2011/oct/20/lawrence-of-belgraviahttps://i.guim.co.uk/img/static/sys-images/Music/Pix/pictures/2011/10/19/1319037517163/Lawrence-of-Belgravia-007.jpg?width=620&quality=85&fit=max&s=03b5935f966a6f8e7f800017649c2ba9
And from 2014:https://www.theguardian.com/music/2014/mar/01/lawrence-felt-denim-go-kart-mozarthttps://i.guim.co.uk/img/static/sys-images/Guardian/Pix/pictures/2014/2/26/1393422193018/Lawrence-011.jpg?width=620&quality=85&fit=max&s=e34c5d5aa3418d706d68a4f0da3dddcf
And 2022:https://www.theguardian.com/music/2022/jul/27/lawrence-interview-felt-denim-mozart-estatehttps://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/bf6feccce5c6cf744d7f6e7fdebb0e3ce0985d82/0_287_6612_3967/master/6612.jpg?width=1020&quality=85&fit=max&s=6e48138d9f91db121abc0970d54eab7b
Perhaps his right side is his best side.
― Ashley Pomeroy, Wednesday, 27 July 2022 20:43 (one year ago) link
I feel a bit weird about hearing the "you can't use the toilet" thing so much - if its a genuine thing (that Lawrence would find it actually distressing) and I've no reason to believe it isn't, then it feels weird to write about it (unless in a really compassionate way). And if its anything else, it just feels a bit ... repeated.
― djh, Wednesday, 27 July 2022 20:44 (one year ago) link
Was he always a bit camera shy, or is it "getting old sucks and I don't want to show too much"?
― Gerald McBoing-Boing, Wednesday, 27 July 2022 21:18 (one year ago) link
i'd like to know what's up with Maurice Deebank?
― Piggy Lepton (La Lechera), Wednesday, 27 July 2022 21:35 (one year ago) link
He did this interview a few years ago - https://www.outsideleft.com/main.php?updateID=1528
― link.exposing.politically (Camaraderie at Arms Length), Wednesday, 27 July 2022 21:39 (one year ago) link
I finally watched ‘Lawrence of Belgravia’ the other night, thanks BFI Player! Was interesting if a little depressing. I think I already knew everything it contained from various interviews and articles around it.One thing that struck me was that, yes, Lawrence has not achieved the level of fame and fortune he desired, but does he recognise that, at least with Felt, he’s got a greater artistic legacy than a vast percentage of the people who ever play music?I’m sure he talks about the Go Kart Mozart material he’s working on at the time of the film being very pop, but it’s a refracted version of the pop of his youth, not the pop that will get him where he wants to be. But I guess it’s the gap between ambition/delusion and reality that’s meant to be captivating?
― hamicle, Wednesday, 27 July 2022 21:41 (one year ago) link
Xp I’ve already read that one! I’m curious what he has been up to since.
― Piggy Lepton (La Lechera), Wednesday, 27 July 2022 21:46 (one year ago) link
I think leading a quiet life outside of the business, and you can't blame him.
If I were interviewing Lawrence I'd ask about how he reclaims sounds which are considered tacky and cheap and foregrounds them to expose their hidden qualities and make us think about how / why we ever decided they were bad in the first place, that seems to have been his practice for the best part of 30 years, but nobody asks him about it and he doesn't seem to want to talk about it either. Maybe it just isn't interesting to anyone.
― link.exposing.politically (Camaraderie at Arms Length), Wednesday, 27 July 2022 21:48 (one year ago) link
I feel a bit weird about hearing the "you can't use the toilet" thing so much - if its a genuine thing
It is, by the way.
― Let's Get Ready to Trimble (Tom D.), Wednesday, 27 July 2022 21:54 (one year ago) link
I just love MD's guitar playing so much that I want to know if he is making music or not and if not why not
No idea what y'all are talking about wrt toilets, do not care tbh
― Piggy Lepton (La Lechera), Wednesday, 27 July 2022 23:05 (one year ago) link
The thing is, for 40 years visitors to his flat have been given The Toilet Chat
― PaulTMA, Wednesday, 27 July 2022 23:47 (one year ago) link
I still need to watch Lawrence of Arabia and wonder what else people watch on BFI Player.
― My Little Red Buchla (James Redd and the Blecchs), Thursday, 28 July 2022 00:10 (one year ago) link
― stirmonster
Yeah, this is the same theme for every interview I've read of his for the last 20 years now. There's no doubt he's some bad luck in the industry, but some of it has to be his own doing too. I remember him being on Mark Riley's show in 2012 and he was complaining about how he couldn't play live because nobody wanted to book him. As the interview went on, Mark mentioned how a number of people had called in from music venues saying they'd love to have him and to get in touch. He just kinda brushed it off and nothing came of it. The guy who made the documentary also says how he used to disappear all the time and he must be like that too when planning his career.
I'm not sure how much more mileage he can get from the Summer Smash/Diana story too. I seem to remember seeing an advert at the time for Summer Smash in the NME or Melody Maker that said it was coming out August 24th, a week before Diana died. I'm sure I cut it out and put it on my wall (along with all my Mansun and Boo Radleys pics). Maybe it got put back last minute as singles did at that time. As great as the song is, I'm not convinced it was going to be the breakthrough hit he was expecting. I don't remember hearing it on radio at all and I was desperate to hear it. I heard It Fell Off The Back Of A Lorry a number of times the previous year.
― kitchen person, Thursday, 28 July 2022 01:35 (one year ago) link
As I mentioned up thread, jeez, more than a decade ago, if Summer Smash had actually been released it would have been his worst single.
― everything, Thursday, 28 July 2022 03:50 (one year ago) link
I was a teenage Felt fan in the 80s, and even then I found him an awkward sod. Every new release or gig was a costly gamble. And the thing that always made me doubt the toilet story is that it was commonly told about Kenneth Williams bitd.
― fetter, Thursday, 28 July 2022 08:34 (one year ago) link
There could be various reasons for the toilet obsession. My guess is that 50% of it is that he is embarrassed about the state of his bathroom (because he can’t afford a refurb and the council/landlord won’t do it ) and 50% hates people using his toilet.
― Luna Schlosser, Thursday, 28 July 2022 09:04 (one year ago) link
Well, that make two people who etc.
― Mark G, Thursday, 28 July 2022 09:04 (one year ago) link
Check your bathroom privilege ! Before my bathroom refurb last autumn (probably 15% more expensive now at least) , I dreaded visitors saying “can I just use the bathroom”.
― Luna Schlosser, Thursday, 28 July 2022 09:58 (one year ago) link
Also, 3 people at least … I remember an Andy Warhol story about how Gala Dali (Dali’s wife) refused to let him use their toilet in their New York hotel suite when he was visiting.
― Luna Schlosser, Thursday, 28 July 2022 10:05 (one year ago) link
ArabiaBelgravia obv
― My Little Red Buchla (James Redd and the Blecchs), Thursday, 28 July 2022 10:37 (one year ago) link
why take interviewers back to your home at all if it's such an issue?
― fetter, Thursday, 28 July 2022 11:32 (one year ago) link
It’s difficult to bullshit the journalist in a coffee shop! Some eavesdropping ilm reader might say “you really to drop this ‘could have been famous’ line - and Summer Smash wasn’t ever going to be the hit you thought it’d be…and a few live appearances would be good - you lazy so and so”.
― Luna Schlosser, Thursday, 28 July 2022 12:30 (one year ago) link
He is playing in Glasgow a week on Saturday tbf.
― Let's Get Ready to Trimble (Tom D.), Thursday, 28 July 2022 12:35 (one year ago) link
I've written pretty much that same profile of Lawrence - as has seemingly everyone who's ever interviewed him - and yeah, the toilet stuff is both very played out but it is the genuine first thing he says to you. And even before then you're warned by the PR that he'll only do the interview in his flat.
He's friendly but not the easiest person to interview, which would maybe so go some way to explaining why the resulting pieces are so similar.
A few years after I was working in the Waitrose by his flat and he was kind enough to pretend to remember having met me as he paid for his can of Coke. I blurted out something about how I'd spent the bulk of lockdown listening to Felt and he seemed genuinely pleased to hear it.
Seeing him in Hebden Bridge next week and have no idea what to expect. Presumably absolutely zero Felt/Denim stuff?
― bain4z, Thursday, 28 July 2022 13:32 (one year ago) link
Correct.
― Kim Kimberly, Thursday, 28 July 2022 14:14 (one year ago) link
Plenty of musicians out there would kill to be as 'successful' as Lawrence is these days
― PaulTMA, Thursday, 28 July 2022 14:28 (one year ago) link
I for one can't wait to see this plaster bust. Seems a bit rum criticising the snaps as he's clearly made an effort: three costume changes! (he's been raiding the famous cellophane archive) and a new baseball cap (thank god...). Intrigued to hear he's a Nick Cave fan. Yeah, it would be nice if articles could take a different angle to the great lost pop eccentric, but mostly just glad he still garners some attention and makes records. And I like the tramp line.
― cw, Thursday, 28 July 2022 17:54 (one year ago) link
He knows what it’s like to be disappointed by your idols – “I couldn’t get over it in the 1980s when Lou Reed had a mullet”
Lawrence otm
― ~insert pun here~ (Matt #2), Thursday, 28 July 2022 18:54 (one year ago) link
i feel as if i have read a version of this article every few years for the last two decades.
It doesn't help that he tends to announce the title of the next album right after the last album has come out, and then it takes years before it's actually released. So you get multiple articles over several years that are like, "yeah, we're working on the next album now, it's called Mozart's Mini-Mart!"
― Vaguely Threatening CAPTCHAs, Thursday, 28 July 2022 19:57 (one year ago) link