https://daily.bandcamp.com/2018/07/25/curve-dean-garcia-spc-eco-interview/
― MaresNest, Wednesday, 25 July 2018 20:01 (six years ago) link
Thank ya for sharing that!
― Ned Raggett, Wednesday, 25 July 2018 20:29 (six years ago) link
Has anyone listened to the pre-Curve stuff like State of Play from '86, Toni Halliday's solo album from '89, or the Uncles single from '84? Any good?
― Colonel Poo, Wednesday, 25 July 2018 21:10 (six years ago) link
I've listened to the '89 solo album and I want to like it more than I do but can't get past the dated '80s production
― aloha darkness my old friend (katherine), Wednesday, 25 July 2018 21:14 (six years ago) link
lol I just read this whole thread and I've mentioned that I saw Scylla live 3 times.
Did you know I saw Scylla live in 1995?
― Colonel Poo, Wednesday, 25 July 2018 21:33 (six years ago) link
The Scylla demos are great. ("Helen's Face" was on the "Showgirls" soundtrack, fwiw.) The link for the demos is dead, but they must be out there somewhere.
― the body of a spider... (scampering alpaca), Wednesday, 25 July 2018 21:36 (six years ago) link
Whoops, didn't catch the "pre-Curve" specification.
― the body of a spider... (scampering alpaca), Wednesday, 25 July 2018 21:37 (six years ago) link
Curve has been perfect for West coast road trip! I noticed once on another thread how Robert Plant's Now & Zen features (iirc) both Toni and Kirsty MacColl on backing vox.
― Josh in Chicago, Wednesday, 25 July 2018 22:41 (six years ago) link
It's never enough to swallow those pillsNow I'm sick, and always will be.
― the body of a spider... (scampering alpaca), Tuesday, 2 October 2018 14:57 (five years ago) link
Bonus points : Today I found Public Fruit and Come Clean in a local charity shop.
― mark e, Tuesday, 11 June 2019 11:14 (five years ago) link
Pubic Fruit rules. Come Clean hurts my ears sometimes, but I've come around to it!
― Josh in Chicago, Tuesday, 11 June 2019 11:24 (five years ago) link
just had one of my tweeters fixed due to excess a few weeks ago.so, probably not the best time to rediscover how much i love curve.
― mark e, Thursday, 15 August 2019 18:55 (five years ago) link
I was just blasting "Frozen" last week
― brigadier pudding (DJP), Thursday, 15 August 2019 18:58 (five years ago) link
DJP : if you haven't checked them out, then the freebie SPC ECO remixes/art of pop remixes compilations are way better than i ever expected them to be.
― mark e, Thursday, 15 August 2019 19:13 (five years ago) link
so, today i picked up some eurythmics cds from a local charity shop.i never expected to see deans name in the credits.
― mark e, Friday, 23 August 2019 19:10 (five years ago) link
Curve were on Dave Stewart's label!
more connections here: famous bands (or significant portions thereof) who backed up a solo artist or were absorbed into an existing band for a single album: the thread
― quelle sprocket damage (sic), Friday, 23 August 2019 20:31 (five years ago) link
ooh yeah, of course .. duhh ...
― mark e, Friday, 23 August 2019 21:30 (five years ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ae5FYlDB_QI
― Maresn3st, Sunday, 6 October 2019 15:58 (four years ago) link
Weird, band looks to be playing live, but the music is the recorded versions, afaict.
― Josh in Chicago, Sunday, 6 October 2019 18:32 (four years ago) link
No audience actually - and camera moving through where an audience would be. The vocal is live, anyway.
― an incoherent crustacean (MatthewK), Sunday, 6 October 2019 19:06 (four years ago) link
Is it? Missing Link for sure pre recorded vocals, at least backing vocals.
― Josh in Chicago, Sunday, 6 October 2019 19:09 (four years ago) link
guys it's a TV performance
― now let's play big lunch take little lunch (sic), Sunday, 6 October 2019 19:43 (four years ago) link
I know! But the band seems to be doing an unusually good job miming.
― Josh in Chicago, Sunday, 6 October 2019 19:52 (four years ago) link
I discovered Doppelganger back in the mid-2000s and thought it was pretty good, although there wasn't much variety. I'd never heard of the band until that point but I was familiar with Garbage, and the similarities were striking - they sounded exactly the same, down to the vocal style and drum sound. The production sounded massive, that's what appealed to me. The drums, they have a huge booming sound that's badly out of date nowadays but I'm genetically programmed to respond to that sound.
Also, there's a bit in "Already Yours" near the end where most of the mix falls away and there's a rhythm guitar solo a la Carlos Alomar's solo in "Don't Look Back in Anger". It's not as good but I like it. The song has a massive wall of production that reminds me of "Leave Them All Behind" by Ride, where the guitars almost turn into a wash of static. Listening to it again on Youtube I'm amazed they weren't put on the soundtrack of a generic mid-1990s PlayStation racing game. I assume Gran Turismo was out of bounds because it actually had Garbage.
I've always wondered why they so totally failed to make any commercial impression, to the extent that I'd never heard of them; I can't name any of the band, so perhaps they didn't have Shirley Manson's charisma, and from what I know they were on a small indie label at a time when indie bands weren't supposed to sound like massive stadium rock acts. I can't think of another instance of a rock band anticipating the sound of another rock band so perfectly, down to the production and vocal style (I've always liked to assume that Garbage were unaware of Curve).
Also, dismembered dolls or multiple babies on an album cover = commercial disaster, viz The Human League's Reproduction. A single baby is okay, viz Nevermind and Van Halen's 1984. Multiple babies no. When Chumbawamba put a single baby on the cover of one of their albums they had a massive success AND YES I KNOW that Anarchy also has a baby on it but the cover was widely censored so no-one got to see it. Why was Moby's Animal Rights a commercial failure? Because the baby was obscured by towel.
― Ashley Pomeroy, Sunday, 6 October 2019 22:56 (four years ago) link
Never go full baby.
― Josh in Chicago, Sunday, 6 October 2019 23:09 (four years ago) link
(I've always liked to assume that Garbage were unaware of Curve).
lol
― now let's play big lunch take little lunch (sic), Monday, 7 October 2019 00:12 (four years ago) link
HA!
― Johnny Fever, Monday, 7 October 2019 03:26 (four years ago) link
I can't name any of the band, so perhaps they didn't have Shirley Manson's charisma
Let me assure you that Toni and Debbie both had charisma to burn onstage, for a start.
― Ned Raggett, Monday, 7 October 2019 03:52 (four years ago) link
Garbage had the advantage of having big time record biz connections from day one.
― Mario Meatwagon (Moodles), Monday, 7 October 2019 03:53 (four years ago) link
well to be fair Curve were hardly total strangers to the recording industry
― the girl from spirea x (f. hazel), Monday, 7 October 2019 04:22 (four years ago) link
Was gonna say
― licorice oratorio (baaderonixx), Monday, 7 October 2019 06:51 (four years ago) link
Heh, yeah, Curve's industry ties are massive.I do think Garbage's debt to Curve is a little overblown. The former never really aligned with anything shoegaze or dark or goth or mysterious. Garbage could never pull off starting their set in a haze of thick smoke, for example. Also, wouldn't call Toni particularly charismatic, though Debbie sure was. But Shirley is one of the most compelling, charismatic front people I have ever seen live.(That said, I think Curve is massive and Garbage was pretty slight.)
― Josh in Chicago, Monday, 7 October 2019 11:58 (four years ago) link
Speaking of Debbie, I met her last month! (post gig party for The Raincoats' 40th anniversary show in London) Within ten seconds she correctly ID'ed me "I bet you're a guitar player" and we chatted about effects pedals and amps for twenty minutes. I still miss Curve.
― Elvis Telecom, Wednesday, 25 December 2019 08:42 (four years ago) link
otm
― mookieproof, Wednesday, 25 December 2019 08:44 (four years ago) link
Another one from that playback tv appearance just popped up -
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NKwbx6GLq6o
― Maresn3st, Tuesday, 7 January 2020 15:43 (four years ago) link
still can't decide whether there is anything being played live on these videos and if not why the band seem so engaged
― licorice oratorio (baaderonixx), Wednesday, 8 January 2020 21:11 (four years ago) link
It's all playback
― Maresn3st, Wednesday, 8 January 2020 21:37 (four years ago) link
Like the last one, this one seems all pre-recorded, the album version. Though yeah, the band is fake playing its heart out.
― Josh in Chicago, Wednesday, 8 January 2020 22:37 (four years ago) link
It's just kinda cool to watch them swaying about, they were always a pretty good looking band.
― Maresn3st, Thursday, 9 January 2020 10:24 (four years ago) link
I dunno if any of you have ever watched this dude, but he's a totally square yet knowledgable and enthusiastic old nerd who breaks down music theory and whatnot. Anyway, out of nowhere, he included Curve is his list of the top 20 rock bass sounds of all time. #18, around the 30 minute mark!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H0P5isBr7uw
― Josh in Chicago, Thursday, 9 January 2020 15:27 (four years ago) link
Nice, I like Rick's videos, his son Dylan has perfect pitch, the clips of him calling out the names and notes of gnarly cluster piano chords are amazing.
― Maresn3st, Thursday, 9 January 2020 15:29 (four years ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5VZcW7JCpCU
― Josh in Chicago, Thursday, 9 January 2020 15:31 (four years ago) link
New Toni H. EP is totally unexpected and totally awesome
― licorice oratorio (baaderonixx), Sunday, 28 March 2021 16:21 (three years ago) link
Well I trust you're going to link this!
― Ned Raggett, Sunday, 28 March 2021 16:43 (three years ago) link
Streamable on your favorite platform and downloads here:https://www.junodownload.com/artists/Toni+Halliday/tracks/
― licorice oratorio (baaderonixx), Sunday, 28 March 2021 17:10 (three years ago) link
that's a timely revive.. i've been going through my old CDs and ripping ones that are missing from my digital collection and just hit the "C"s – was literally just wondering how Curve was going to hold up
― FRAUDULENT STEAKS (The Cursed Return of the Dastardly Thermo Thinwall), Sunday, 28 March 2021 22:49 (three years ago) link
They hold up really really well! Also, mysteriously absent from Amazon's streaming service.
― Josh in Chicago, Sunday, 28 March 2021 22:51 (three years ago) link
But thankfully fully on Bandcamp, including a slew of rarity comps.
https://curve.bandcamp.com/music
― Ned Raggett, Monday, 29 March 2021 00:38 (three years ago) link
Wow, what's all that "bootleg series" stuff?
― Josh in Chicago, Monday, 29 March 2021 03:49 (three years ago) link
A lot of it is mixes and various elements of final tracks -- Garcia breaks each entry down thoroughly in the liners.
― Ned Raggett, Monday, 29 March 2021 04:34 (three years ago) link