the raincoats - odyshape

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not as much of an everyday listen as the s/t, but this is a great fucking record. i know a lot of people around here already love it, but for the uninitiated, definitely check it out. shambly post-punk, but not as sharp or abrasive as the first. influenced by robert wyatt (who plays percussion on a few songs), and sort of prescient of some current weird-folk stuff. i guess i prefer the first overall, but this one is well worth a listen. anybody have any more-developed theories/more-detailed information about it?

peter smith (plsmith), Wednesday, 9 February 2005 19:39 (nineteen years ago) link

i remember reading somewheres they said their then-current lack of a drummer contributed to atmospheric sound of the lp.

Snappy (sexyDancer), Wednesday, 9 February 2005 19:47 (nineteen years ago) link

Is this album easy to find? I love the first album.

Alfred Soto (Alfred Soto), Wednesday, 9 February 2005 20:23 (nineteen years ago) link

gemm.com has copies going for $69-100, so uh, no. :(

Snappy (sexyDancer), Wednesday, 9 February 2005 20:32 (nineteen years ago) link

i lucked out on that one - some guy in belgium or germany was selling his cds through gemm, but it wasnt an official gemm transaction. i took the risk, and got it for under 15$.

peter smith (plsmith), Wednesday, 9 February 2005 20:38 (nineteen years ago) link

if anybody wants a CD-r of it this or the s/t email me.

artdamages (artdamages), Wednesday, 9 February 2005 20:41 (nineteen years ago) link

you can fit em both on one cd-r...

peter smith (plsmith), Wednesday, 9 February 2005 20:42 (nineteen years ago) link

I got it from the library. God bless you, library.

dave225 (Dave225), Wednesday, 9 February 2005 20:43 (nineteen years ago) link

i bought it from rough trade about 3 years ago for £9.99 but now my ex-girlfriend has it! is it really rare now or something?

in sharky water, Wednesday, 9 February 2005 20:45 (nineteen years ago) link

i suppose you could fit them on one cd-r i just never tried. yeah the copies i have are from the college radio station. uh, god bless you kurdt cobain.

i assume there is much less demand for the reunion album? i found it sealed on LP for 3 bucks.

artdamages (artdamages), Wednesday, 9 February 2005 20:53 (nineteen years ago) link

I've got the Geffen Goldline reissues of s/t (liners by Kurt Cobain) and Odyshape (liners by Kim Gordon). Loved the first one, not sure about the other. Need to listen to them again. Got 'em both as cut outs in '98. Could have got "Moving" too, but didn't.

Doobie Keebler (Charles McCain), Wednesday, 9 February 2005 21:03 (nineteen years ago) link

moving is really boring, i think. i know ive argued that point around here before, though, so its not unanimous.

peter smith (plsmith), Wednesday, 9 February 2005 21:06 (nineteen years ago) link

Just out of curiousity, who did the notes for the Geffen version of "Moving?"

Doobie Keebler (Charles McCain), Wednesday, 9 February 2005 21:07 (nineteen years ago) link

I'm not as big on the rest of the album, but I worship "Shouting Out Loud."

miccio (miccio), Wednesday, 9 February 2005 23:00 (nineteen years ago) link

personally I'm satisfied with The Kitchen Tapes as far as post-debut material goes (though there were some kickass Birch songs on the reunion album)

miccio (miccio), Wednesday, 9 February 2005 23:01 (nineteen years ago) link

Sometimes Odyshape almost seems better than the debut, but for completely different reasons. I hadn't previously noticed there was no official drummer, but this seems particularly cool as it's probably the tiny intricate percussion that makes this distinctive. And that openness, with violin and bass being plucked maybe scarcely once per bar, takes this to a kind of creepier Young Marble Giants territory. Also search: "Only Loved At Night".

Nag! Nag! Nag! (Nag! Nag! Nag!), Wednesday, 9 February 2005 23:21 (nineteen years ago) link

i like it more than the first. shouting out loud was a revelation to me when i first heard it. but where's the extended violin bit that was on c81 gone?

mullygrubbr (bulbs), Wednesday, 9 February 2005 23:26 (nineteen years ago) link

odyshape is one of my favorite records EVER.

maria tessa sciarrino (theoreticalgirl), Thursday, 10 February 2005 00:00 (nineteen years ago) link

It's one of my fav pot recs EVER, easy. Slow and full of crisp detail. Very unrock, kinda um "female" tho that's obv a dickish thing to say. "Go Away" (as well as the songs already mentioned)'s great, a strange loud punkish thing to end on, easy to overlook cos it doesn't fit w/the rest of the rec too closely (or so I think but don't listen to me I've barely listened to this thing straight ever).

Andrew Blood Thames (Andrew Thames), Thursday, 10 February 2005 03:37 (nineteen years ago) link

This record has everything to do with how my brain works.

Kris (aqueduct), Thursday, 10 February 2005 04:48 (nineteen years ago) link

one month passes...
i couldn't get into this the first time i heard it, but having given it another chance, i love it. totally strange and brilliant record. "only loved at night" has that great chorus where it's just pots 'n' pan percussion and what sounds like thumb piano.

eman (eman), Saturday, 12 March 2005 21:39 (nineteen years ago) link

Anyone heard that ana da silva record. it was playing at the records store recently and sounded really good. i shoulda bought it.

Magic City (ano ano), Sunday, 13 March 2005 00:58 (nineteen years ago) link

yeah - listening to the ana da silva right now for the first time. definitely recommended to Odyshape fans.

peter smith (plsmith), Friday, 25 March 2005 19:38 (nineteen years ago) link

the other thing the da silva reminds me of is some recent arto lindsay stuff - i mean, no surprise, i guess. brazilian post-punk icon using minimal electronics on weird, groovy little songs.

peter smith (plsmith), Friday, 25 March 2005 19:52 (nineteen years ago) link

six years pass...

New reissue on the way. (also a tour)

Stockhausen's Ekranoplan Quartet (Elvis Telecom), Wednesday, 6 July 2011 18:03 (twelve years ago) link

Only Loved at Night is pretty amazing. Makes me think of listening to Peel in the dark, hearing these strange sounds

Dr X O'Skeleton, Wednesday, 6 July 2011 18:06 (twelve years ago) link

'odyshape' is such a wonderful and strange record--one of my all-time favorites. glad they're doing this.

geeta, Wednesday, 6 July 2011 18:10 (twelve years ago) link

Oh shit, I think this is at the radio station, need to dig it up.

Trip Maker, Wednesday, 6 July 2011 18:12 (twelve years ago) link

I hope the band adds *both* sides of the "No One's Little Girl" / "Running Away" single this time.

crustaceanrebel, Wednesday, 6 July 2011 20:49 (twelve years ago) link

Actually, that's in my mind - there really wasn't much else around the time of "Odyshape," and "No One's Little Girl" had previously been added to moving (which subtracted three songs from the album and failed to add a Dennis Bovell remix from a 12" and "Running Away."

In any case, the band have confirmed that "Odyshape" will be issued same as it ever was.

crustaceanrebel, Wednesday, 6 July 2011 20:51 (twelve years ago) link

yeah, i love their "running away" cover...heresy, but i might like it more than the original!

tylerw, Wednesday, 6 July 2011 20:52 (twelve years ago) link

a great single.

curmudgeon, Friday, 8 July 2011 11:45 (twelve years ago) link

seven years pass...

Listened to this through earlier and wondered what else was in the same sound universe. Does seem to be pretty unique sounding.
It's historically post-punk but I'm not sure to what extent it shows it, since it doesn't sound like it taps into the idea of progression from there or acknowledge that it came from there much. I'd think the Pop Group, just to name another band from similar era that did seem to create its own soundworld, you can still see a more direct link to rock I think.

Does this tie in with RIO and Robert Wyatt's rock Bottom or something. I know he guested with them.

Also thinking the idea of the sound being down to them all being women which i think I've seen said elsewhere could be something. I was surprised to see that they had male guitarists and drummers early on. I thought Palmolive was in at the formation and thought that was part of how they formed, she left Slits and a new band was formed. But seems that was wrong. Is there a definitive band history anywhere?

Stevolende, Sunday, 10 March 2019 13:34 (five years ago) link

The 33-1/3 book tells their story pretty thoroughly in a 150 pages. I didn't like the book quite as much as everyone else, but it'll probably give you what you want.

I recently downloaded Moving, their third album. Didn't get a lot out of it, although it included the "No One's Little Girl" single, which is fantastic.

clemenza, Sunday, 10 March 2019 18:21 (five years ago) link

Cool, thanks

Stevolende, Sunday, 10 March 2019 18:41 (five years ago) link


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