CS + Kreme - Snoopy

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I don't think there's been a huge amount on ILM about CS + Kreme, although there is some related stuff here: HTRK/Hate Rock Trio

Anyway I thought this was fantastic:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Zujudzx2MA

Then wasn't as into their subsequent 12"s, but the album is great, and doesn't seem to be getting reviewed anywhere apart from this typically OTT Boomkat blurb:

https://boomkat.com/products/snoopy-8d0aca4b-2024-4704-af34-a6b1b199339d

Anyway, trip hop, Coil, it's all very hazy, is anyone else listening to it?

toby, Sunday, 1 March 2020 18:50 (four years ago) link

I love it. In my head I have been thinking of it as a more ambient Sylvian/Eno take on the last These New Puritans album.

Tim F, Sunday, 1 March 2020 22:00 (four years ago) link

enjoying it

still regularly replay the standish/carlyon album too

mh, Monday, 2 March 2020 00:13 (four years ago) link

Their single on TTT from 2018 was lovely

paolo, Monday, 2 March 2020 20:00 (four years ago) link

Always check for TTT, excited to hear this

brimstead, Monday, 2 March 2020 20:04 (four years ago) link

p sure roast ghost made it to the eoy 77 poll? love it

corrs unplugged, Tuesday, 3 March 2020 11:53 (four years ago) link

https://soundcloud.com/nts_live/cs-kreme-live-session-4th-february-2020

toby, Saturday, 14 March 2020 17:00 (four years ago) link

Wow, this is maybe even better than the album

Tim F, Sunday, 15 March 2020 10:46 (four years ago) link

Wow, this is maybe even better than the album


First time through I found it a little surprising how clear the mix was compared to the records, but yeah, it’s great.

Still no reviews of the album anywhere as far as I can see?

toby, Sunday, 15 March 2020 20:20 (four years ago) link

This is absolutely perfect self-isolation music

paolo, Saturday, 28 March 2020 20:40 (four years ago) link

it is. i have been telling anyone who will listen the exact same thing.

stirmonster, Saturday, 28 March 2020 22:27 (four years ago) link

two weeks pass...

this is excellent! spent the first couple tracks reaching for some portmanteau-style comparisons (The For Carnation produced by Pole, etc.) and then gave up as it's really quite hard to pigeonhole

dip to dup (rob), Sunday, 12 April 2020 15:18 (four years ago) link

Anyway, trip hop, Coil, it's all very hazy

What Coil albums sound like this? I've been meaning to check them out for a while but have never got round to it

paolo, Sunday, 12 April 2020 16:28 (four years ago) link

I was about to post that I just don't see the Coil comparison but actually, thinking about it I guess it is true. 'Saint' is pretty Coil-esque. A touch of the 'The Last Amesthyst Deceiver' about it perhaps?

I'm not sure there is an album by Coil that really sounds like this paolo, but maybe 'Musick To Play In The Dark vol 1' or 'The Ape Of Naples' would come sort of close in places, and either way both are incredible albums worthy of exploration.

stirmonster, Sunday, 12 April 2020 18:45 (four years ago) link

Yeah I’m not sure there’s anything so close to either Coil or CS and Kreme but there is something about the mood of stuff like Musick to play in the dark that reminds me of tracks like Mount Warning.

toby, Sunday, 12 April 2020 20:03 (four years ago) link

(I mean that I don’t think there are any other acts that sound particularly close to either of them, and they don’t sound particularly close to each other, and yet I don’t think there is nothing to my initial association of the two.)

toby, Sunday, 12 April 2020 20:04 (four years ago) link

Wow--just gave a listen to "The Ape Of Naples" having never checked it out before, and yeah, Track 2 on the album which you point out, Stirmonster, is def in the proto-Snoopy zone in terms of how the vocal declamations float over top, as well as the simmering synth and bassline underneath (the marimba's a very cool unexpected touch, too!).

Cysteine Chapo (Craig D.), Sunday, 12 April 2020 23:18 (four years ago) link

(and you're also right in that the whole album is indeed sounding incredible)

Cysteine Chapo (Craig D.), Sunday, 12 April 2020 23:27 (four years ago) link

'Musick To Play In The Dark vol 1' or 'The Ape Of Naples' would come sort of close in places

I gave these a listen and they're really good, so thanks! I was concerned that they'd be too heavy/intense for me because I really can't listen to much heavy music right now but they're not too scary. And I can see the similarities with CS + Kreme - they're both quite dubby in places and both have surreal/daft lyrics that they can make sound all ominous

paolo, Wednesday, 15 April 2020 10:34 (four years ago) link

six months pass...

Still probably my favourite album of the year.

New companion EP: https://csandkreme.bandcamp.com/album/howwouldyoufeelwithoutthatthought

toby, Monday, 9 November 2020 19:18 (three years ago) link

Snoopy will def be among my very fave albums of the year, and this EP is a very well-executed appendix

call mr zbow that's my name that name again is mr zbow (Craig D.), Monday, 9 November 2020 22:39 (three years ago) link

I am four minutes into "April Fools' Day" and oh shiiiiiiiiiiiiit this is good.

Tim F, Tuesday, 10 November 2020 08:03 (three years ago) link

It just occurred to me that Snoopy will possibly forever be classified in my head as my 'post brain surgery pre pandemic' album.

Tim F, Tuesday, 10 November 2020 08:05 (three years ago) link

Fuck this EP is so great.

It occurs to me that CS + Kreme are to 2020 what A Mountain of One were to 2007.

It's like, get on this music now because its resonance may dim in a few years time.

Tim F, Tuesday, 10 November 2020 08:21 (three years ago) link

For me this is totally a pandemic album, and it's merged with many cold dark evenings in lockdown in April (and now again). I've barely listened to it in daylight.

toby, Tuesday, 10 November 2020 20:24 (three years ago) link

Checked out Snoopy on the basis of this revive and shiiiiit its amazing

I am using your worlds, Tuesday, 10 November 2020 20:29 (three years ago) link

i've listened to 'snoopy' a few times over the past months, only thing i really remember are vague crespuscular labradford vibes crossed with a sort of deadpan dead c.-esque vocal delivery, but that might all be a distortion of memory. also, the question 'where did blueberries go?' keeps running through my head at random moments. guess i'm due a revisit?

kites aren't fun (NickB), Tuesday, 10 November 2020 23:01 (three years ago) link

The Labradford vibe is real, I listened to this for the first time last night and was like "this reminds me of Labradford, and also weirdly of Legendary Pink Dots."

healthy cocaine off perfect butts (the table is the table), Tuesday, 10 November 2020 23:04 (three years ago) link

Pan American more specifically imo

rob, Tuesday, 10 November 2020 23:19 (three years ago) link

It's my pandemic album of choice for sure and perfect all over again for dark winter lockdowns. The new EP is great too.

The Legendary Pink Dots reference is really interesting. I'm not really getting that but perhaps it had just never crossed my mind. Will definitely consider that next time I listen and as LPD has been another pandemic big listen, it may make perfect sense.

stirmonster, Wednesday, 11 November 2020 00:48 (three years ago) link

Might have something to do with vocal affect, for some reason I kept thinking of Shadow Weaver.

healthy cocaine off perfect butts (the table is the table), Wednesday, 11 November 2020 02:42 (three years ago) link

Can't really see how an album could be any better for lockdown listening.

paolo, Wednesday, 11 November 2020 09:04 (three years ago) link

Slightly off topic but I've been getting into Coil after reading this thread and I can totally see the similarity, especially on Ape Of Naples. Will need to check out Labradford and LPD too. Other recommendations for similar artists would be appreciated!

paolo, Wednesday, 11 November 2020 09:06 (three years ago) link

I had somehow never listened to Shadow Weaver before. It's so good and I can totally hear how it realates to "Snoopy".

stirmonster, Wednesday, 11 November 2020 11:54 (three years ago) link

Shadow Weaver was my first LPD, found a tape copy in a free box. Eventually my car tape deck tried to eat it and it became unspooled, but unbeknownst to me, my then-new boyfriend took it, found a new cassette housing, and re-spooled the tape by hand while decorating the outside of the housing with creepy graphics. He gave it back to me for my birthday, and is now my husband.

healthy cocaine off perfect butts (the table is the table), Wednesday, 11 November 2020 12:11 (three years ago) link

Wow, Shadow Weaver sounds great! Gonna have to buy the expanded reissue with the 20-min bonus track.
Had read about LPD for years as a big part of the whole England's Hidden Reverse axis, but 20-odd years ago it was of course much harder to investigate, so cheers...

call mr zbow that's my name that name again is mr zbow (Craig D.), Wednesday, 11 November 2020 12:43 (three years ago) link

I have quite a few LPD albums and always like everything I hear but their catalogue is so vast so I have no doubt missed lots of great ones. the table is the table, that is a great story about your husband!

stirmonster, Wednesday, 11 November 2020 13:34 (three years ago) link

I have quite a few LPD records, but totally get the vastness issue. The thread on ILM was actually quite helpful for getting into them!

healthy cocaine off perfect butts (the table is the table), Wednesday, 11 November 2020 17:01 (three years ago) link

Pan American more specifically imo

― rob, Tuesday, November 10, 2020 6:19 PM (yesterday)

I put on Labradford's "Mi Media Naranja" after posting this, and I have to retract this opinion. But the first self-titled Pan American album is kind of slept on and you should check it out anyway (PA is a solo project for Mark Nelson)

rob, Wednesday, 11 November 2020 18:00 (three years ago) link

i love this album and i love that it's called snoopy

dogs, Wednesday, 11 November 2020 18:07 (three years ago) link

four weeks pass...

So fellow CS + Kreme fans, is there a track that we can all get behind for the end of year poll? I love Snoopy and will be voting for it is my A of the Y but I don't think there's any standout tracks, ie they're all at a similar level of excellence. Wouldn't want to go for Pussywhistle Tea though because fuck me that's a terrible song title.

paolo, Wednesday, 9 December 2020 13:06 (three years ago) link

Could go for either of the tracks from the new single too

paolo, Wednesday, 9 December 2020 13:07 (three years ago) link

Very tough to pick a standout track as it is a much more an overall immersive listen. "Snoopy" will be in my top 2 of 2020 but for a track I think (if i were voting) I'd maybe go with "Bugged" off the new single.

stirmonster, Wednesday, 9 December 2020 15:00 (three years ago) link

i'll def be voting for it in the albums poll

karl...arlk...rlka...lkar..., Wednesday, 9 December 2020 15:25 (three years ago) link

Bugged is immense. Love the beat but unable to explain exactly how it is “wrong”

I am using your worlds, Wednesday, 9 December 2020 15:42 (three years ago) link

Mount Warning would be the track for me; but it'll be Snoopy I vote for.

toby, Wednesday, 9 December 2020 16:18 (three years ago) link

this album is something else, it does not go down easy for me. it’s so haunted... supremely chill surface but it’s as if it’s hiding something really nasty and awful underneath... idk.. “thoughts”

brimstead, Thursday, 10 December 2020 00:19 (three years ago) link

“Where did blueberries go” is definitely the best album-opening line of 2020

brimstead, Thursday, 10 December 2020 00:20 (three years ago) link

some of it kind reminds me of some of Piano Magic’s eerie early stuff

brimstead, Thursday, 10 December 2020 02:03 (three years ago) link

vibes wise

brimstead, Thursday, 10 December 2020 02:03 (three years ago) link

https://www.ursss.com/2022/06/cs-kreme/

Hadn't seen this before (concert from earlier this year, has some tracks from Orange).

toby, Saturday, 26 November 2022 19:58 (one year ago) link

two months pass...

at this point i think this can only be called a massive disappointment. unfair i know, but still. only thing that comes close to snoopy is the vocal track near the end with the acoustic guitar. will relisten soon, but realized that i have not thought about this album at all after listening to it every day when it came out, waiting for it to reveal itself, but now i think there's no there there, sadly.

Vapor waif (uptown churl), Thursday, 16 February 2023 16:47 (one year ago) link

Gonna have to disagree with you here. I'm enjoying it more with every listen.

paolo, Friday, 17 February 2023 17:10 (one year ago) link

I'm with paolo. I was initially a tad underwhelmed, but I've come around to thinking it's almost as good as Snoopy

Paul Ponzi, Friday, 17 February 2023 18:45 (one year ago) link

same!

Goose Bigelow, Fowl Gigolo (the table is the table), Friday, 17 February 2023 20:49 (one year ago) link

FYI don't know if anyone in the states is waiting for vinyl but I just got an email notification that mine shipped

Paul Ponzi, Monday, 20 February 2023 13:38 (one year ago) link

I've also found it pretty hard to grasp. I've listened to it a few times from front to back, but cannot recall anything in particular other than a vaguely grim oppressive atmosphere and the striking cover.

MikoMcha, Monday, 20 February 2023 14:21 (one year ago) link

Not even "Would You Like A Vampire?"

Paul Ponzi, Monday, 20 February 2023 16:18 (one year ago) link

I wouldn't say that the release is a massive disappointment to be clear. Vagueness can be a worthy aesthetic in its own right, especially their version, which is disconcreting, mundane, horrific, occasionally revelatory. They're definitely channeling a structure of feeling. I think someone upthread mentioned Snoopy as a pandemic soundtrack. I can think of any number of other dystopian, yet ungraspable conditions we're living through.

"Would You Like A Vampire?" does feel an like exception on Orange. There's a sense of release when it finally arrives. Maybe it's comparable to the final minutes of "Mount Warning" in that respect. But somehow I don't recall it as strongly as the atmosphere that they build up before, then there's that image of the seaweed looking fetid and dead, maybe still swarming with some kind of bacterial life. Both hyper-realistic and allegoric.

I was maybe thinking of picking up it up on vinyl, even just for the cover image, which I bet looks pretty impressive on the sleeve.

MikoMcha, Monday, 20 February 2023 17:05 (one year ago) link

Good post! And good points. I'll concede that, though I've probably listened to Orange close to ten times, which is a lot for me, I rarely have the patience for "Storm Rips Banana Tree." I just don't think it totally justifies its sidelong status, and I think perhaps this is where the vagueness you speak of falls short for me. I'm sure there are situations for which this track is perfect, but I haven't found them yet.

Paul Ponzi, Monday, 20 February 2023 17:46 (one year ago) link

i mean it is still well made, and i know it is unfair to compare to snoopy which is singular both in its content and the context it found itself in

but still, there is not a lot going on underneath the well-done sound design. one stays on the surface with this record, maybe intentionally. it's like walking around a city with mild drug withdrawals or something. just does not have the enveloping quality of snoopy at all. but being twitchily outside was what '22 was all about so maybe they captured the zeitgeist again

Vapor waif (uptown churl), Tuesday, 21 February 2023 16:45 (one year ago) link

it's like walking around a city with mild drug withdrawals or something

sold!

Paul Ponzi, Tuesday, 21 February 2023 19:36 (one year ago) link

I cant tell if its not as good or not, I find it really discomfiting to listen to. not in a way where I think there's something wrong w it, but in a way where I dont find myself pulling it out much because its too effective at unsettling me haha. idk I like it a lot but also have a kind of fear of it

xheugy eddy (D-40), Tuesday, 21 February 2023 21:03 (one year ago) link

yall are just writing very tantalizing ad copy at this point

Paul Ponzi, Tuesday, 21 February 2023 23:45 (one year ago) link

Orange is way too unsettling for me to have listened to during lockdown. Snoopy was just unsettling enough

paolo, Wednesday, 22 February 2023 10:01 (one year ago) link

I forgot I ordered this lol. Unsettling mysteries incoming.....

Tracer Hand, Wednesday, 22 February 2023 10:11 (one year ago) link

Deej OTM. I decided not to listen to this album any more because it just vaguely upset me.

Tim F, Wednesday, 22 February 2023 12:10 (one year ago) link

there is a real queasiness to it. i’m drawn back to it though

karl...arlk...rlka...lkar..., Wednesday, 22 February 2023 13:15 (one year ago) link

"this album makes me feel bad and i don't want to listen to it ... maybe this is good" never change yall

i kid i kid, but still, it's not like snoopy made me feel good or anything. it's not about feeling good, it's about the quality of feeling bad, and on that measure snoopy succeeds via a sort of dream logic, this is a bit surface level to my ears, but will give it some more spins.

if you like 'orange' i feel like rabit's recent oeuvre is hitting the same zones

Vapor waif (uptown churl), Wednesday, 22 February 2023 16:45 (one year ago) link

I think of this band as being mainly good bc of artfully juxtaposed surfaces so when ppl say 'this one feels surface level' im like well yea

xheugy eddy (D-40), Wednesday, 22 February 2023 16:58 (one year ago) link

playing in London on March 31st (sadly I'll miss them yet again): https://ra.co/events/1661923

toby, Thursday, 23 February 2023 11:14 (one year ago) link

i like orange more than snoopy!

danker, scrapier. you can’t imagine anyone calling it “illbient”.

Tracer Hand, Wednesday, 8 March 2023 07:44 (one year ago) link

i obviously apologise unreservedly for using that word.

orange is my new workout music btw not joking

Tracer Hand, Wednesday, 8 March 2023 07:52 (one year ago) link

despite knowing the artist I have always misread this thread title as “CS plus Kreme minus Snoopy”, thank you for listening

assert (matttkkkk), Wednesday, 8 March 2023 12:00 (one year ago) link

illbient is good, tho?

snoopy is cool because it is pretty traditional in terms of instrumentation, but super otherworldly in its effects. more badalamenti than anything else, really. or like certain moments in harold budd's catalog - like you can sing "where did blueberries go" over this track pretty easily!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bo0ng_0NYnA

relistening to orange, it's unfair to compare it to snoopy. it has its own thing going on. and that thing is really bad, to me. i will say it's rare for me to actively loathe music, usually it's just boring, so they have accomplished something real in that sense.

Vapor waif (uptown churl), Wednesday, 8 March 2023 15:39 (one year ago) link

I'm actually surprised by how polarizing this record seems to be. It isn't exactly leagues apart from the previous album

Paul Ponzi, Wednesday, 8 March 2023 15:45 (one year ago) link

i think it is at least a league apart. to me it does feel like a very different thing from Snoopy.

stirmonster, Wednesday, 8 March 2023 16:00 (one year ago) link

as someone who has had trouble totally processing orange I definitely don't think its 'boring'

xheugy eddy (D-40), Wednesday, 8 March 2023 17:02 (one year ago) link

i feel like walking around Glasgow in early March would probably be a good way to "get" it

Tracer Hand, Wednesday, 8 March 2023 17:14 (one year ago) link

i'll try that tomorrow Tracer.

stirmonster, Wednesday, 8 March 2023 17:37 (one year ago) link

d-40, me neither; wasn't as clear as i could have been.

anyways. still one of the best acts out rn i think. and 'vampire' is truly excellent

Vapor waif (uptown churl), Wednesday, 8 March 2023 18:39 (one year ago) link

one year passes...

feels like everyone is sleeping on this one and that makes me mad so i'm gonna spam this thread. i think i've listened to it more times than it has total youtube views. not cs + kreme but it lives in the same sort of dubby edge-of-dream echospace...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=obGXbRYnCc0
Deep Heavy Fear - Doorway

Bernard Quidbins (NickB), Monday, 6 May 2024 10:40 (five months ago) link

bit of an insides vibe too i think

anyhow feel free to enjoy!

https://deepheavyfear.bandcamp.com/

*message ends*

Bernard Quidbins (NickB), Monday, 6 May 2024 10:42 (five months ago) link

Love it

nxd, Monday, 6 May 2024 17:12 (five months ago) link

This sounds great.

Can you call yourself Deep Heavy Fear making this kind of music? I like it, but it's a bit like calling a death metal band, uh, Death.

I would prefer not to. (Chinaski), Monday, 6 May 2024 18:03 (five months ago) link

three months pass...

hell yeah

karl...arlk...rlka...lkar..., Wednesday, 21 August 2024 14:54 (one month ago) link

Psyched for this one

sawdust lagoon, Wednesday, 21 August 2024 15:33 (one month ago) link

ooh

toby, Wednesday, 21 August 2024 16:55 (one month ago) link

always excited to hear new music from these guys, and I thought Orange was great (I know it divided ILM somewhat). I just wish it didn't cost $60+ to ship the LP to the states

Paul Ponzi, Wednesday, 21 August 2024 19:30 (one month ago) link

Yeah I was very surprised to learn how much international shipping costs these days (particularly from the UK?).

Love that they're sticking with TTT for this (labelmates!).

Jordan s/t (Jordan), Wednesday, 21 August 2024 19:37 (one month ago) link

this sounds excellent.

butt dumb tight my boners got boners (the table is the table), Thursday, 22 August 2024 01:27 (one month ago) link

Now That's What I Call Neo-Folk!

River Through Howling Ska (Craig D.), Thursday, 22 August 2024 01:41 (one month ago) link

yeah, sounds great.

butt dumb tight my boners got boners (the table is the table), Thursday, 22 August 2024 01:43 (one month ago) link

one month passes...

new album out now

groovemaaan, Friday, 27 September 2024 23:52 (two weeks ago) link

It's growing on me on a third listen; I still miss the more song-based approach of Snoopy, but this sounds awesome.

Also loved this mix: https://nr.world/cs-kreme/

toby, Sunday, 29 September 2024 07:24 (two weeks ago) link

great mix, incredibly boring interview

new album is just ok imo, and I rated Orange higher than most

Paul Ponzi, Sunday, 29 September 2024 12:15 (two weeks ago) link

so far i don’t like this as much as snoopy. but will keep listening

flopson, Monday, 30 September 2024 14:07 (two weeks ago) link

two weeks pass...

i like this record a lot, it is hitting all of my spots. feels more of a whole mood than Orange, certainly.

butt dumb tight my boners got boners (the table is the table), Tuesday, 15 October 2024 13:53 (four hours ago) link

I really like it too, maybe my favorite from them

Jordan s/t (Jordan), Tuesday, 15 October 2024 14:57 (three hours ago) link


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