The Cranes: c or d?

Quite like "Jewel" (the Cranes' song, not the snaggle-toothed pseudo-folk diva) as well.

I too was at that Rose Bowl show. Mmm, volume.

There was a song they played near the end of their set that featured the guitarist doing horrifically nasty things to his car while the vocalist pitched a petulant fit into her microphone. The only other Cranes song I've heard that is halfway similar to it is "Lillies" (which I know came out several years later); I would love to find out what song that was because it was fantastic. I would describe it as proto-Korn metal (only good) with a pissed-off Strawberry Shortcake coming down off of a PCP binge on vocals.

(Er, on second thoughts, I think it's a couple of hundred miles away at the moment. Similar Sharkboy box, anyone?)

Hm...you DID get that mp3 I have from the same year that has the queasy London version which also goes on forever and has him mentioning the various songtitles from Wish, I trust.

I am sad that this description hasn't made anyone go, "Oh, I know that song, it's '_______'."

Wah!

ATTENTION ILM: Please help me identify this song! Is it "Inescapable", as Ned suggests?

I never owned any of their albums as a kid, but I must have listened to the Jewel EP with the Robert Smith mix hundreds of times. Been trying to track this one down for ages, I just could never remember the name of the song. Such an awesome version:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dZdEByzo-8I

yeah I got that EP for free at a show and it could well be my favorite release of theirs

this one's on it, too - i like it a lot more than the heavy version

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0BOZDtGIHkM

Can't find the fan forum anymore where I used to check for updates. Hope the new stuff is further along.

Wow I was just thinking of them yesterday and wondering how they spent their days (just can’t imagine Alison Shaw having a normal job). Didn’t know they were working on new stuff

man I wore out the robert smith remix of 'jewel' in college. fell in love after seeing them open for the cure in '92. favorite song on wings of joy is 'thursday'. saw them again in NYC in '97 and it was the worst show i've ever seen

I watched that Luxor performance last night and she spends half the concert trying to hold her hat in place, but it's really good for a camcorder concert.

Sometimes I think they were the best band of their era/generation, on the strength of Loved, Forever, Tragedie and Self Non Self.

anyone here own the Music on Vinyl reissues? Do they sound good?

listened to Cranes on shuffle on Spotify today, and nearly every song was good. lots of good ideas in their music

Yeah. I understand the voice might be a dealbreaker for most but musically (esp arrangements) they were incredible. I love the buzzing drone that underpins most of their stuff, esp on Loved.

New album out today by Irish band Just Mustard who share a lot of Cranes DNA, right down to supporting The Cure. They have some great live sessions on YouTube too. There are a couple of passing mentions of them on ILM but I don't think anyone's yet pointed out this glaring similarity (which of course is a big recommendation!).

Are we taking the early Swans-inspired Cranes or the later dream poppier material?

Early stuff, for sure.

> the early Swans-inspired Cranes

maybe i should check out swans, which i never really have.

I think maybe mid-eighties Swans might be worth checking out, the rhythms have that same flavour as songs like Starblood.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yHES9YAGGkU

was ok until the vocals, which were a large part of the appeal of the cranes

Still gods...and now on Bandcamp

https://cranes.bandcamp.com/

2000s albums for now, but various plans are in the works.

Bless’em

Okay, various reissues and things happening...and a 30th anniversary show for Forever, with the original lineup:

https://www.ticketweb.uk/event/cranes-30th-anniversary-show-of-earth-tickets/13090185

Also posted a very nice note about Ray Shulman the other day.

£1.75 for "delivery" of etickets. they need Robert Smith on the case

Just did a lovely near hour long chat with Ms Shaw. Forthcoming Bandcamp piece in a couple of months.

Good. I never did get the album reissues and wondered if there was any particularly good tracks that weren't on the EP collection

Xp Nice! I always wondered about her. Did she go back into civilian life then?

I didn't get full details re what they're all doing now but sounds like everyone found their own particular paths, and that the last few months brought things back together nicely. (There's more news forthcoming but not yet public; the show is I believe a one-off for now at least.)

This sparked a revisit of Wings of Joy (never my fave). I'd forgotten just how beautiful and timeless "Tomorrow's Tears" was.

Yeah that intro remains perfect.

The feature is live!

https://daily.bandcamp.com/features/cranes-alison-shaw-interview-peel-sessions

Thanks

Yer welcome

Forever anniversary gig is tonight. I probably should have listened to the album before coming because it's years since I've listened to it, have mostly listened to their early stuff recently

Jealous

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8DfXd2PsSsM

And a new reissue here: Fuse, on vinyl for the first time as well:

https://cranes.bandcamp.com/album/fuse

I never thought this would be reissued

Really remarkable to see it. I think any further reissues after that would have to go through Cherry Red because I gather they have access to the Dedicated releases (which explains the Chapterhouse box from the other year), but I think that's still in the works. We'll see what follows next!

Really excited to see them in May