why does it seem the embarrassment never get any attention

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I just heard "Celebrity Art Party" for the first time - what an awesome song... what else is like this? The Feelies maybe, kind of?

Savannah Smiles, Tuesday, 1 April 2008 15:30 (sixteen years ago) link

Funny this should be revived, since I picked up the new Big Dipper 3 CD reissue the other day.

Ned Raggett, Tuesday, 1 April 2008 15:31 (sixteen years ago) link

EVERYONE BUY THE BAR/NONE EMBARASSMENT 2CD COMPILATION CALLED HEYDAY RIGHT NOW!

"LEWIS AND CLARK" AND "D-RINGS" DEMAND IT!

David R., Tuesday, 1 April 2008 15:34 (sixteen years ago) link

i like heydey, but my fave song is still "two week vacation" from that homestead human music comp. absolutely perfect tune.

andrew m., Tuesday, 1 April 2008 15:35 (sixteen years ago) link

huh, turns out i've only got disc 1 of heyday. need to hear the rest now.

andrew m., Tuesday, 1 April 2008 15:37 (sixteen years ago) link

EVERYONE BUY THE BAR/NONE EMBARASSMENT 2CD COMPILATION CALLED HEYDAY RIGHT NOW!

I would but it is out of print! I will survive on my burnt copy for now.

jon /via/ chi 2.0, Tuesday, 1 April 2008 15:38 (sixteen years ago) link

Shit I thought it was still in print!

David R., Tuesday, 1 April 2008 15:39 (sixteen years ago) link

It's on iTunes (U.S.) - listening through 30 second samples right now... 20 bucks though :(

Savannah Smiles, Tuesday, 1 April 2008 15:55 (sixteen years ago) link

(which I guess is a pretty weak complaint, considering it's 42 songs!)

Apparently "listeners also bought":
Pere Ubu
No Age
The Modern Lovers
Magnetic Fields
A.C. Newman

Savannah Smiles, Tuesday, 1 April 2008 15:57 (sixteen years ago) link

Yeah, I almost bought the Big Dipper anthology on iTunes, but its $30! I'll just order it direct from Merge.

jon /via/ chi 2.0, Tuesday, 1 April 2008 15:57 (sixteen years ago) link

Yeah, the Big Dipper collection is around $16 in the real world, and definitely worth it if only for the 1st and 3rd disc. The Embarrassment thing for $20 on iTunes is also worth it. There's also another odds-and-ends collection (Blister Pop, released by My Pal God Records) that's still in print and worth a look-see, assuming you've given Heyday first dibs.

David R., Tuesday, 1 April 2008 16:11 (sixteen years ago) link

they also had a great retrospective cassette on the Fresh Sounds label, there is some overlap with the 2CD but not all of it.

search: "Sex Drive", "Woods Of Love".

sleeve, Tuesday, 1 April 2008 16:36 (sixteen years ago) link

also search: (im a) don juan - a great pre- "man or astro man" sort of a song

"what else is like this?"

mission of burma,devo,wipers...american 80's post punk

Zeno, Tuesday, 1 April 2008 22:05 (sixteen years ago) link

The Bar None "Heyday" 2xCD comp is out of print, but it also has a terribly tinny sound; I'm hoping that someday we get a re-eq'd version. The Embarrassment were rich and churning, so to go all digitally shrill on them is a huge disservice. The Blister Pop cd that's probably still around isn't so essential. A bunch of covers and outtakes. The version of "Podman" is superb, though.

If bleeping Big Dipper can get a proper 3 CD comp that sells for less than $20, I've no idea why the the vastly superior Embarrassment ca't'. I mean, "She's Fetching" is nice and all, but "Woods of Love" is an American classic.

Michael Train, Wednesday, 2 April 2008 00:00 (sixteen years ago) link

The Bar None "Heyday" 2xCD comp is out of print, but it also has a terribly tinny sound; I'm hoping that someday we get a re-eq'd version. The Embarrassment were rich and churning, so to go all digitally shrill on them is a huge disservice. The Blister Pop cd that's probably still around isn't so essential. A bunch of covers and outtakes. The version of "Podman" is superb, though.

If bleeping Big Dipper can get a proper 3 CD comp that sells for less than $20, I've no idea why the the vastly superior Embarrassment can't. I mean, "She's Fetching" is nice and all, but "Woods of Love" is an American classic.

Michael Train, Wednesday, 2 April 2008 00:02 (sixteen years ago) link

yeah, i KNEW I had heard bad reports about that Heyday sound. I'll stick with my Fresh Sounds tape, thanks... by the way that is easily found by googling "embarrassment retrospective blogspot"...

sleeve, Wednesday, 2 April 2008 01:42 (sixteen years ago) link

Yeah, I almost bought the Big Dipper anthology on iTunes, but its $30! I'll just order it direct from Merge.

eMusic!

Daniel, Esq., Thursday, 3 April 2008 01:47 (sixteen years ago) link

BTW, eMusic also has God Help Us by The Embarrassment. Seems like a reunion-type disc with re-recordings of their earlier songs. Is it good? (n.1)

_______________________
(n.1) Ned gave it a lukewarm review for AMG.

Daniel, Esq., Thursday, 3 April 2008 01:50 (sixteen years ago) link

Indeed.

Ned Raggett, Thursday, 3 April 2008 01:52 (sixteen years ago) link

God Help Us is pretty crap.

Blister Pop is OK, but really they just need to reissue (and apparently remix) that damn Heyday comp. I was grumbling about it upthread in 2005 and still haven't found a copy!

Colonel Poo, Thursday, 3 April 2008 01:52 (sixteen years ago) link

Unfortunately, I think eMusic had that damn Heyday comp at one point, and then lost it. OTOH, I think The Rolling Stones turn up tomorrow on eMusic, so there's that, I guess. Trade-off!

Daniel, Esq., Thursday, 3 April 2008 01:58 (sixteen years ago) link

two years pass...

is it just me or does "death travels west" sound a lot like the go-betweens?

kamerad, Tuesday, 29 June 2010 12:11 (thirteen years ago) link

five months pass...

Lewis & Clark is a doozy, people!

kornrulez6969, Saturday, 25 December 2010 20:21 (thirteen years ago) link

one year passes...

New Big Dipper album out next week wtf

Albert Crampus (NickB), Friday, 23 November 2012 16:39 (eleven years ago) link

http://blurt-online.com/news/view/6843/

Albert Crampus (NickB), Friday, 23 November 2012 16:41 (eleven years ago) link

I... don't think I like that new song much

Albert Crampus (NickB), Friday, 23 November 2012 16:43 (eleven years ago) link

well, this song and its video are great:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jKZjpG9zcno

nerve_pylon, Friday, 23 November 2012 17:02 (eleven years ago) link

Yeah, that is better. Both Heavens and Craps meant heaps to me when they came out, though I wasn't much of a fan of the album after that. Kind of bizarre to see them again, but good to see that they're doing okay. Is that a new bass player?

Albert Crampus (NickB), Friday, 23 November 2012 17:19 (eleven years ago) link

I'm sorry, that "Robert Pollard" tune just sucks. It's twee in that it's very slight, falls short of its attempt to be clever, and it barely has a melody, despite being the kind of song that needs one. Though I bought their records, Big Dipper were always a diluted version of what made the Embarrassment, but this even by their standards, this is weak tea. And when I think about it, many of the worthy Big Dipper songs were actually leftovers from the Embarrassment, weren't they? And I suspect from the Volcano Suns as well.

crustaceanrebel, Saturday, 24 November 2012 04:19 (eleven years ago) link

nine years pass...

So hey! There's a documentary being finished up and there's two weeks to go to help lock down completion funds. Pitch in, why doncha?

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/embarrassmentdoc/we-were-famous-you-dont-remember-the-embarrassment

Ned Raggett, Wednesday, 11 May 2022 19:04 (one year ago) link

Funny you should mention, I’ve had Sex Drive going through my mind for days now.

DAMAGED by Black Flat (Boring, Maryland), Wednesday, 11 May 2022 19:16 (one year ago) link


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