I dunno, I think it can pretty much all be chalked up to the arrangements. yeah he was at some crazy songwriting peak, but imo he'd stay at that peak for 'fear' and 'slow dazzle'. I don't think the paris 1919 songs stand out when they're played w/ the rest of his material (like in 'fragments') - stripped of the fancy arrangements and they're still def among the best songs he's written but not in some mystical realm beyond his other good stuff.
― iatee, Wednesday, 10 March 2010 21:58 (fourteen years ago) link
xp
yeah, it's probably that weird combo of Little Feat + Cale's Euro sensibility + SoCal + orchestral arrangements that makes it so unique.
― tylerw, Wednesday, 10 March 2010 22:01 (fourteen years ago) link
also: Antarctica Starts Here - 1
:(
― iatee, Wednesday, 10 March 2010 22:02 (fourteen years ago) link
Very well put, iatee. I agree.
― The Magnificent Colin Firth (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, 10 March 2010 22:02 (fourteen years ago) link
i definitely hear a lot of paris 1919 in vintage violence but i got them both at the same time and had a huge cale period for a while (all way down to the haircut) so they're sort of inseparable to me in other ways as well. on the following records it seems like he just set out to rock first and write songs second.
― sonderangerbot, Wednesday, 10 March 2010 22:10 (fourteen years ago) link
Another good parallel would be Al Stewart's Past Present & Future, also released in 1973 (and to some extent the following year's Modern Times). The same considered, reflective songwriting, the personal refracted through the historical. Those who only know Stewart for "Year of the Cat" should check this album out, it might surprise you.
― anagram, Thursday, 11 March 2010 08:18 (fourteen years ago) link
more paris 1919 v2 songs: 'sylvia said', 'dixieland and dixie'
― iatee, Thursday, 11 March 2010 18:59 (fourteen years ago) link
if you wanna have the full experience
http://www.sallepleyel.fr/francais/evenement.aspx?id=11113
― licorice oratorio (baaderonixx), Saturday, 13 March 2010 11:28 (fourteen years ago) link
Bunch of awesome suggestions. Hey, this Al Stewart record is great! I was vaguely aware of him...
― SourPatchCorpse, Saturday, 13 March 2010 15:54 (fourteen years ago) link
wish I was in paris :(
― iatee, Saturday, 13 March 2010 17:33 (fourteen years ago) link
yeah no kidding ... the recording sounds sweet.
― tylerw, Saturday, 13 March 2010 17:44 (fourteen years ago) link
might go for the occasion
― licorice oratorio (baaderonixx), Saturday, 13 March 2010 17:46 (fourteen years ago) link
this live show is gorgeous. not sure about the guitar solo on "Child's Christmas" but most of it is close to perfect. Cale's voice sounds great these days ...
― tylerw, Monday, 15 March 2010 19:14 (fourteen years ago) link
love the Femme Fatale/Rosegarden Funeral of Sores mix, which I guess he's been doing for a while now?
― iatee, Monday, 15 March 2010 19:16 (fourteen years ago) link
^^ yes, by the time the live set was over i was not digging all that guitar at all.
― nerve_pylon, Monday, 15 March 2010 19:18 (fourteen years ago) link
kinda digging the psych-y guitar on Half Past France tho. Kind of unexpected.
― tylerw, Monday, 15 March 2010 19:32 (fourteen years ago) link
always kind of hated this album but I feel like shit right now and it sounds great
― puff puff post (uh oh I'm having a fantasy), Thursday, 25 March 2010 19:23 (fourteen years ago) link
I'll probably love this album forever now or something
― puff puff post (uh oh I'm having a fantasy), Thursday, 25 March 2010 19:27 (fourteen years ago) link
hopefully!
― iatee, Thursday, 25 March 2010 19:52 (fourteen years ago) link
http://www.uclalive.org/calendar/event_detail.asp?id=15
― tylerw, Monday, 9 August 2010 17:32 (thirteen years ago) link
Cale rocking the soul patch
― Falkor Johnson (askance johnson), Monday, 9 August 2010 17:37 (thirteen years ago) link
would love to see paris 1919 live.
― Daniel, Esq., Monday, 9 August 2010 17:41 (thirteen years ago) link
$15 UCLA students, damn that's a steal
― iatee, Monday, 9 August 2010 19:06 (thirteen years ago) link
yeah, no kidding. kind of cool -- i think the original Paris was recorded with the UCLA orchestra
― tylerw, Monday, 9 August 2010 19:23 (thirteen years ago) link
Go see this. It was fantastic at the Royal Festival Hall. Some songs are improved by the new arrangements - Half Past France almost had me in tears.
― Haunted Clocks For Sale (Dorianlynskey), Monday, 9 August 2010 19:24 (thirteen years ago) link
wish I could :(
― iatee, Monday, 9 August 2010 19:25 (thirteen years ago) link
I am hoping he brings the live show to NYC. It would be crazy if he didn't right? RIGHT?
― FRESH MEAT (MFB), Monday, 9 August 2010 19:27 (thirteen years ago) link
right
― iatee, Monday, 9 August 2010 19:27 (thirteen years ago) link
also be pretty surprising if there wasn't an album released out of these shows ... Royal Festival Hall bootleg is great.
― tylerw, Monday, 9 August 2010 19:29 (thirteen years ago) link
i would have voted andalucia.
― alex in mainhattan, Monday, 9 August 2010 21:37 (thirteen years ago) link
"Andalucia" is knocking me out lately, in particular the melody of the vocal on "Andalucia, when can I see you". I am leaving you in a day and a year too, or at least I hope so, I love you.
I'm sorta caught in this album right now: it's kinda songwriting-by-Baedeker (Paris, Barbary, Dunkirk, Andalucia, Dundee, Berlin) but that speaks to me, looking backward but not inward.
― Euler, Friday, 15 October 2010 17:19 (thirteen years ago) link
yeah i have no emotional connection to this album whatsoever but it's still one of my favorites of all time because it's so damn pretty
― only built 4 cuban linux... (ciderpress), Friday, 15 October 2010 17:52 (thirteen years ago) link
gonna go with "andalucia"
― Notinnymane (k3vin k.), Saturday, 6 August 2011 06:10 (twelve years ago) link
Efficiency efficiency they say
― chawki (buzza), Saturday, 6 August 2011 07:30 (twelve years ago) link
this is the best album ever
― emo canon in twee major (BradNelson), Friday, 5 October 2012 18:17 (eleven years ago) link
yes
― tylerw, Friday, 5 October 2012 18:18 (eleven years ago) link
Thirded
― Cosmic Fopp (James Redd and the Blecchs), Saturday, 6 October 2012 02:38 (eleven years ago) link
Half Past France knocking me out all over again today
― brio, Wednesday, 31 July 2013 18:32 (ten years ago) link
― emo canon in twee major (BradNelson), Wednesday, 31 July 2013 18:47 (ten years ago) link
― brio, Wednesday, 31 July 2013 18:50 (ten years ago) link
would've been 'andalucia' for me
― kaiju rolling stone cover (Sufjan Grafton), Wednesday, 31 July 2013 19:04 (ten years ago) link
"there's a law for everything / for elephants that sing to keep / the cows that agriculture won't allow"
― stefon taylor swiftboat (s.clover), Wednesday, 31 July 2013 19:43 (ten years ago) link
Cover art has always helped support the atmosphere of this record for me -- the arch Euro feel, the orchestral sweep, the pastoral elements.
― Naive Teen Idol, Wednesday, 31 July 2013 21:59 (ten years ago) link
s clover otm
― Charlie Slothrop (wins), Wednesday, 31 July 2013 22:03 (ten years ago) link
always heard it as "elephants that sing to feed" imho iirc
― Jersey Al (Albert R. Broccoli), Wednesday, 31 July 2013 22:17 (ten years ago) link
I love you
― flamboyant goon tie included, Wednesday, 31 July 2013 23:15 (ten years ago) link
"Macbeth" sucks though
this (like a lot of Cale's albums tbh) strikes me still as about 2 great songs and a bunch of interesting ones
― tight in the runs (underrated aerosmith bootlegs I have owned), Wednesday, 31 July 2013 23:19 (ten years ago) link
I agree. He's an A- artist, i.e. at least two tracks with fascinating arrangements and lyrics that don't cohere.
― first I think it's time I kick a little verse! (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, 31 July 2013 23:20 (ten years ago) link