Life Without Buildings

Jesus H.

This album is just...the best goddamn thing of the last 10 years. Did I say that already?

THE RIGHT STUFF

LOOK BACK AND SAY THAT I DIDN'T

There was a Magnet article in 2001 on the five bands that represent Nu No Wave:

Liars, Ex-Models, Life Without Buildings, Seconds and _______?

...erase errata, if i remember correctly.

Goddammit, for a split-second I thought the thread was revived for a new album. It seems like the only real reason I check ILM these days.

Did anyone get that live album that came out this year?

i did, and it's terrifically fun. and since i can't currently find my copy of "any other city" that's all i have to listen to right now.

they were always my secret band that i sprang on anyone who liked the fall or the pixies or post-punk in general. such a shame. but it's kind of nice in some ways that it is what it is, and we just have the one great album to love.

The one new/unreleased song on the live album, "Liberty Feelup," is as wonderful as anything on Any Other City, too.

I can't believe how long it took me to notice how much this band takes after Sonic Youth! The guitar playing is a whole lot like how Thurston plays rhythm, just cleaner and low-gain and pretty (e.g., "Young Offenders"); he even likes to throw in ringy harmonics in a Thurstony way; and the vocals are really not unlike something Thurston or Kim might sing, only higher and a rate of about 5x as many more words per minute.

Which isn't weird, since probably most indie guitar stuff could be compared to Sonic Youth in some way or other -- I just can't believe this never even crossed my mind before, and then suddenly I'm listening through the record and it's, like ... the distance between some of these things and a poppy SY track is surprisingly short!

(Ha, googling around suggest I might just have been slow on this point -- I guess a decent number of reviews at the time identified that template under there)

Huh, I'm not sure that would've crossed my mind, but I like both Life Without Buildings and pop-oriented Sonic Youth enormously, so I wouldn't be surprised if there is indeed a connection.

What has crossed my mind is how well the music would work without vocals as just a nice breezy post-rock record, like Tristeza or something.

Heartbeat always skitters across a couple of grooves seeing a LWB thread get revived.

^^^ Such a wonderful track.

xxp Which maybe has to do with a tendency to play little melodic riffs and arpeggios as much, if not more so, than outright chords -- which I do think is true of Sonic Youth and also, incidentally, Sleater-Kinney's The Hot Rock.

thx for the video link. I'd stopped looking for videos a while ago.

Not a video I'm afraid, just audio :(

:(

Also: a friend introduced LWB to me as "the Sugarcubes meets Pavement" for whatever that's worth.

!

That's bizarre.

When I first heard the album, the combo I made in my mind immediately was Altered Images vs. Sleater-Kinney.

my realization was based on watching SY play a thing all morning, then having "Young Offenders" pop up on shuffle on the way home; if you can engineer a similar situation of being SY-sensitized and then hearing that track, it might have the same head-slapping quality

That Love Trinity track is really good. Haven't heard it before. Can someone up it?

gimme 1 sec

oh thanks

http://rapidshare.com/files/236160811/01_Love_Trinity.mp3.html

Oh wow we're turning people on to LWB songs here they haven't heard before! Nice work, ILM!

Alas, limit reached. Re up please?

What has crossed my mind is how well the music would work without vocals as just a nice breezy post-rock record, like Tristeza or something.

― Bianca Jagger (jaymc), Friday, 22 May 2009 19:12 (2 days ago)

^^^ this. it's the vocals that really push the songs over the edge. case in point: http://www.imeem.com/people/wgMI9AD/music/0B6wbnjb/life-without-buildings-daylighting/

don't know if this has been mentioned already but seeing as we're talking about soundalikes, thomas tantrum sound very very much like LWB:

i mentioned that somewhere, and i agree, sadly their album was v disappointing

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Other-City-Life-Without-Buildings/dp/B00005AKO2/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1243287289&sr=8-1

This is insane, the LWB studio album listed at £83.52 - 2 copies, one of the sellers admitting that the digipak is pretty worn. My first copy was £2, and was given to a friend when I found another copy recently in better condition for a whole 10p. Spotted "Is Is & the IRS" cd single for 1p on Amazon, so have broken my self imposed "no CD purchases in May" rule to get it.

Does anyone have an MP3 of "Daylighting" they'd be willing to provide me with? Or know where I can get a legit download of it, I don't fancy paying the £66 someone wants for a copy of "Young Offenders" to complete the collection.

i have it, i'll dig it out when i get home tonight

i will also search for their prince cover too, i have the cd somewhere

Just buy it from Amazon US and not UK, it is only 10.50 on there.

BTW Daylighting is a bonus track on the US pressing.

Daylighting: http://rapidshare.com/files/237239605/11_Daylighting.mp3.html

Thanks very much for that! One day I hope to find a copy of the "Love Trinity" CD single for a reasonable price.

Just buy it from Amazon US and not UK, it is only 10.50 on there.

― svend, Tuesday, 26 May 2009 01:10 (17 minutes ago) Bookmark

Thanks, but I've already got the UK pressing of the 'Any Other City', was just surprised that someone thought they'd get anywhere listing at that price - I know it's the EIL approach, hope someone's desperate enough. Someone on Amazon UK was after £66 for the "Young Offenders" CD single, which is "only" $19 on Amazon US.

And I'm also a muppet - 10.50 for US pressing which includes "Daylighting" rather than $19 or £66 for the single. Duh.

Plus the US one is in a jewel case, I have both as well and the LP :).

At least it's a small discography to be trying to hoover up!

i was going to suggest getting in contact with trifekta as they may still have stock but they seem to have fallen off the face of the earth

http://chaos.com/product/love_trinity_380323_18294.html

The Trifekta website has disappeared but found a myspace, will give them a shout.

I also found that listing on chaos.com, but the 14-20 day wait for dispatch wasn't promising - that would imply they don't have it in stock and would be ordering it in themselves. May as well try and cut out the middleman.

back in the day their website had a free download of a live acoustic take of the leanover that was really good. i last had it in like 2006 - does anyone have that now? i can't find it anywhere!

interesting - a recently conducted "follow up" interview with the drummer and guitarist of lwb: http://musosguide.com/life-without-buildings-the-catch-up-interview/8990

I would love to know if anyone had a .rar of "Love Trinity." The single, not the live one since thats easier to come by.

yeah, i have it. are you looking specifically for the song, or the whole single, which features two other songs?

my god that live Juno is beautiful

also hayley tompkins

https://www.themoderninstitute.com/artists/hayley-tompkins

okay this killed me

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LKkpuLYlcF4

so i searched and these were also on youtube...

I was at this

|||||||| !!!!!!!!

I was at the Transmission Gallery one.

thanks so much for the new links

bagsie first dibs on stirmonster's memories if the component parts of his brain ever come up for auction.

btw optimo is given the love in that Robert Dallas Gray interview i linked to above :)

i just read that! robert and his friends were the very first regulars the club had and came almost religiously for the first year or so when not so many people attended. i'm not sure why LWB never performed there. memory is an interesting thing as i am 99.9% sure that television song he recalls hearing wasn't ever played.

Nick's Youtube link got me curious and it looks like Sue has done a number of solo/guest vocals:
- "Country Grammer", a 2004 solo track
- "Raid" / "Turnover", a 2015 solo 7"
- "Do It Puritan!" with El Hombre Trajeado in 2016
- "Special Long Version (Demo)" with Russell Haswell in 2018
- 5 tracks with TSX on recur³ followed by 4 tracks with TSX on recur² in 2019/2020

Given her slow build-up of work the last 5 years, I wonder if she's planning a proper solo or new band LP.

time for a comeback to show these Wet Dry Leg Cleaning posers how real random talk songs should be performed

Tompkins and Haswell have performed as a duo a few times now. I once saw them browsing DVDs in the Fopp on Union Street in Glasgow.

I saw LWB in London one time, with Piano Magic I think. In Highbury, just near the Garage, can't remember the venue name. No trace of it online. Maybe I dreamed it?

I saw the same bill but it was in Camden in a basement. Right after Artists Rifles

yep, they played in brighton with piano magic too, round about the time of 'low birth weight' but i didn't go for some idiotic reason, genius that i am

I think Michael Jones of this parish and I saw the mystery Highbury venue Piano Magic support slot too - iirc it felt like a theatre space? A few actor friends of mine were there and seemed to be friends with Sue, which made me think they were some kind of improv/performance art thing, which slightly put me off. Saw them again a few months later, on some random NME bill with a friend's band at the LA2 and they completely won me over - so much so that by the time they played the Spitz a few months after that, they were pretty much my favourite band. And they split up :(

I've doubtless mentioned this numerous times in this thread, but I saw them support The Strokes at the latter's debut headline show at the Barfly, and the Strokes were amazing - much better than I ever saw them again - but there was an unlikely magic to LWB that was sublime, and it felt like the indie scene was swapping this weird sublime music for stuff aimed squarely at the cash register. I guess it was similar to when Britpop began to coalesce and flex its commercial muscle.

final post i swear: sue did a track with el hombre trajeado in 2016!! how the heck did i not know this?

boops!

guess there's a repress of 'any other city' in the works...

hmm how interesting. wonder who else is in this series https://t.co/A9ctd3KxCD

— Robert Dallas Gray (@rdg_music) July 26, 2023

Only 500 of that first one? Maybe there'll be nice liners.

The previous represses look to be still around... e.g., Rough Trade website

kinda of hoping for some added extras tbh, 'love trinity' on vinyl would be an absolute dream

btw if you're into solo guitar stuff, you might be interested in rdg's forthcoming solo album. sounding very lovely to me...

https://robertdallasgray.bandcamp.com/track/stolen-moments

Yeah, I'm happy with my WYR pressing from 2014, but I might replace it if a new one comes with the Love Trinity tracks.

I did the artwork for the WYR pressing. Meaning I put the existing artwork in a new templates, shuffled around a few logos and dates etc. Was an honor.

I would be happy if it was the live album on vinyl.

I guess something is happening today

Huge news coming this afternoon.
Sign up to our mailout for first dibs

Head here: https://t.co/KD1VvQUxOD pic.twitter.com/c8gmSVL2c0

— monorail music (@Monorail_Music) August 21, 2023

nice thanks. i'd probably down with international shipping just for a lyric sheet lol

So it's a slightly deluxe version of the regular tracklist of the album.

LIFE WITHOUT BUILDINGS: Any Other City
The Glasgow School 02

Monorail Edition: 250 on colour vinyl Handstamped+numbered folder with Sue Tompkins Lyric book, flyers, final gig ticket + 2 badgeshttps://t.co/F5f5NxMkn6

The most special of groups,
So much love for this LP pic.twitter.com/s4tqSPUqCT

— monorail music (@Monorail_Music) August 21, 2023

one for the guit nerds:

https://www.instagram.com/reel/CyGpOt0Kb3T/?igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==

In EADGAE btw

awesome. always wondered what tuning he used, so simple once you know

Good to see albums being reissued 'From Glasgow' not from complete and utter cunts

gorgeous, ty for posting