Lawrence vs. Mick Jones

LAWRENCE is a million times more creative and just simply better than Mick in every way... while Go-Kart Mozart and Denim are considered "novelty rock", BAD is just that.... bad. The fact that they think they are good and that they are SERIOUS makes BAD worse...

Of course, FELT is incredible but Lawrence could never top the FELT recordings no matter what he did... so he took a whole new direction. I admire him for that.

The DENIM stuff is great... "Brumburger" is insane! Even though the hooks are very catchy, the verses do have that EDGE...The WIERDness adds a cool vibe to it all. "Granddad's False Teeth"????? okay, dental damn.. sure! "The New Potatoes".... That is great!

Go-Kart Mozart is a great album!

MOMUS has a GREAT essay about LAWRENCE, "How Spook Got Her Man", and Go-Kart Mozart's lp at the below link: http://www.demon.co.uk/momus/thought110100.html

The picture of Lawrence is funny too...

Anyway.. LAWRENCE is a genius! Like Momus said, there should be classes about him.

"Here Is A Song" off the Go-Kart Mozart album = better than anything Paddy McAloon's done since the pre-Cambrian era.

And who could not love a man who recommends "Rocket Cottage" as a band name?

I thought this was a thread about Lawrence Welk. Oh well. I just started listening to Forever Breathes the Lonely Word because it's the first time I ever ran across Felt in the used bin, and never really felt compelled to buy them new because I just didn't know enough about them to know what they were about or that they were worth picking up. It surprises me that people never made a bigger deal about Felt here, because the Smiths were THE SHIT, and everyone seemed to really dig Television. Despite any similarities and/or improvements on either camp by Lawrence, no one really seemed to care about Felt over here. I'm assuming that wasn't the case in ze UK? At any rate, I think I'm a convert.

Lawrence is still so utterly underrated. I just wonder what the man does all day because his output has been so skimpy since the demise of Felt. It's already been almost a couple of years since the Go-Kart Mozart CD, so does anyone know what he's been up to lately? Last I heard, he was making a "solo" album for Creation (gone) and then for Poptones (almost gone. Hahaha.)

i heard some sad rumours about lawrence's condition that i won't repeat for fear of perpetrating same, but would explain his silence. Each succesive post felt record marks a further departure from the conventionally beautiful, pristine essense of felt & greater reliance on lawrence's mythology & warped, hermetic aesthetic (which i find hugely compelling but is NOT his principle talent). i find it hard to believe he will ever write the "straight" album that mcgee allegedly tried to coax out of him a few years ago which makes me glad but also a part of me would be fascinated by how he would write a wholly sincere or personal song. (rubbish i know his later output IS such an acutely sincere & personal summation of his preoccupations, but y'know what i mean...). anyway a stunning man & as momus suggests, wholly deserving of some his own module.

I know exactly what you mean. In fact I think that's the best summary of Lawrence's recent work.

I think "We're Selfish And Lazy And Greedy" and "Here Is A Song" are very much "straight" songs underneath it all, though. In fact it's tracks like those I concentrate on and the novelties like "Hip Op" I skip these days. The best record to get lost in millennium fever.

"Plead with the Man" is such a sad, sad song. I usually hate songs about heroin, not this one though.

I love Lawrence. But I've never actually heard Felt. Where do I start? Something tells me I'll probably prefer Denim/Go-Kart Mozart though. The fact that they influenced the Tyde is not a big turn on for me.

Very sad to hear that Lawrence has problems. Health? Drugs? I hadn't heard anything about it, but I hope he'll be all right. I think one day the world will finally appreciate his genius.

Arthur - if you can find it perhaps the best starting point is Bubblegum perfume, a creation compilation which encapsulates the (too my mind) wildly diverse, lush 2nd phase. re. the tyde thing: don't be deterred, while they share a few cosmetic reference points, they are the hoary 60s tribute band of which felt are the antithesis . Perhaps avoid me & a monkey on the moon & ignite the seven cannons , train above the city is not the most representative (misplaced coffee table jazz interludes) pretty nonetheless.

But 'Me and a Monkey on the Moon' is one of his best! Not representative of Felt's other records I'll admit, but surely its the 'straight' Lawrence record you crave. He's certainly more sincere on that than anything else he's done.

Apart from 'Mobile Shack' ('I was born in the back/of a mobile shack') MAAMOTM is dire.

cw is right about 'Bubblegum perfume' being a good place to start. OR go for the more readily available 'Absolute Classic Masterpieces'. Best Felt album (and best title) "Crumbling The Antiseptic Beauty"

me & a monkey on the moon is emaciated 70s rock pastiche played by a bunch of creation musos-for-hire .plus it has more songs on one side than the other. i didn't really say i craved a "straight" record, more interested how it would sound & by straight i mean not written in the novelty rock idiom. no moog wolf whistles, pub rock chord changes, helium voices etc.

Lawrence vs. Mick? Two icons of UK postpunk music. I always thought Felt was better than Denim. That is obvious. But, I prefer their Creation stuff to the Cherry Red stuff. Blasphemous I know, but Duffy's organ playing is killer, especially on the singles compiled on Bubblegum Perfume and the very underrated Pictorial Jackson Review LP. Denim are a fun band...the first single Middle of the Road being my favorite. Although the lead track on Denim On Ice is a close second, ace lyrics that one. As far as BAD, I always loved them. They had that Combat Rock/dub reggae/hip hop vibe that was always a nice listen. The first two BAD albums rule, although I like the BAD II Globe LP the best of all. The whole baggy/house vibe done by a man who was 10 years older than the lot and it made for fun DJing and dancing. It was when he went as Big Audio that it all ended for me. I think that the both of them contributed equally to UK music, but in totally different ways. God bless the both of them!

Hi. I'd like to announce to all Felt and Lawrence's fans a new Tribute site.
felt.planetaclix.pt

Check it out and thanks