The Telescopes: Classic or Dud?

xoxo

Did they release anything on Creation other than the Flying e.p.?

Ned, dig 'em all out, they're great.

They are coming back and making a NEW telescopes LP.. in the meantime, check out Lawrie's new band UNISEX on Double Agent Records.. They have an lp called STRATOSFEAR.. it's also brilliant.. lots of therimin.. it's tripped out spacerock. Not as good as the TELESCOPES lp but up there.. Todd

http://www.rock-city.co.uk/content/EppAAZpZVlpuMABFvu.shtml

Adore avin em back...

Classic, classic, classic. Heard them first on Two Pint Takehome, a compilation cassette where they covered Tomorrow Never Knows. Corresponded with Jo for a while and was lucky enough when I was about 16/17 when I first heard of them, to get the split flexi with Loop and all the rare singles (that weren't too rare then but still cost me £27 for a 7" single)

I'm a very happy man and glad to see that such a brilliant band hasn't been forgotten. Love both previous albums and listen to them regularly but Taste is definitely a darker album.

S

cheers,

m2

Surely the only decent band to come out of Burton-on-Trent though?

This reissue business is exciting. Record label in Reissues Something Desperately Deserving Of Being In Print shockah!

You may be disappointed then. The last show I heard of theirs (back in 2002) was Steve and Jo only doing a 40 minute slow grinding instrumental drone that sounded like tectonic plates moving - then it concluded with a dirgelike slowcore "The Perfect Needle"

I liked it, but your mileage may vary.

Personally, I seem to have developed in musical, um, taste in a similar direction to them, from frenetic teenage angst to dreamy spaced-outness (although perhaps not so much of that, although I did like Slowdive and Ride a bit, the 'Scopes were always my main focus there) to the more electronic side of things (tho' I think I'm further down that line than they are). That similarity in progression is gratifying, but I don't think that they're quite as exciting as when I first heard Taste - there's not the same urgency there. If that's what you're looking for then it's not what you'll get.

Still, fuckin-A is what I say, you should definitely check it out, just try to remove preconceptions.

I like their later stuff but the raw goodness of Taste makes it my favourite Telescopes LP.

I'll happily take what's given but The Perfect Needle would be a great bonus.

parasol lists "Telescopes - Altered Perception (Space Age)" for july 6th... i think that's the one peel mentioned. can't find a track list for it though.

http://www.poptones.co.uk/interviews/qod_steven_lawrie.htm

Yup (2nd studio at least, there was a semi-legit live album called Trade Mark of Quality that came out after the first). Had a ton of singles and EPs as well around that time.

is their other stuff that good?

Depends on what you're after -- earlier is some pretty goddamned violent music, up through the Taste album, while the s/t is them finding a balance between that and the pretty side of things. You'd want to find all the Creation era singles for the B-sides, at least.

Sat 20 Nov
The Spitz and Penny Black Music present... Vibracathedral Orchestra + The Telescopes + Sunshine Valley Dance Band + Heist + Leo Avanti (Kosmische Club) and Olga Pennyblack > 1am
Another excellent night from Penny Black. This time will feature The Telescopes who'll perform their cross between early John Cale era Velvets and a noisy Jesus and Mary Chain. Also appearing are Vibracathedral Orchestra who combine compulsive rhythms and debased ragged raga. Heist's music of sixties spy film scores and Ex- Ultrasound and Spacemen 3. Sunshine Valley Dance Band also perform.

I'm quite tempted to go, but I'm skint and actually still feeling quite rough.

Still love the Telescopes but only the stuff they put out on Creation Records, with those four or five EP’s being their best stuff. I played Unisex’s Stratosfear about three months ago and really enjoyed it. This year the Telescopes put out an album called #4 but still doesn’t do much for me, though very spacey.

http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/article/news/39522/Telescopes_Launch_FirstEver_U_S_Tour

11-04 San Francisco, CA - The Hemlock Tavern *#
11-05 Davis, CA - Delta of Venus *#
11-08 Santa Cruz, CA - The Attic *#
11-09 Los Angeles, CA - Silverlake Lounge *#
11-10 Las Vegas, NV - The Bunkhouse *#
11-11 Long Beach, CA - The Prospector *#

* with Füxa
# with LSD and the Search for God

I just may have to go to this next Thursday in Los Angeles.

I'm absolutely, positively going to be there for the Thursday show. Probably for the Long Beach show too.

We're talking Dead C levels of splattering feedback and noise.

i like these guys ...

Some news:

Textile Rds is proud to announce the release of the new Telescopes album called Infinite Suns. This release is a vinyl only release and is strictly limited. The release date is June 24th. You can pre order this LP in our shop for a cool price untill june 10th. All orders will be dispatched early june...

Infinite Suns begins a new era of change in the Telescopes music field.

This LP is very much number one, the introduction to a serie of release (2 new albums and one live recording)

This new LP is a selection of analogue tape recordings taken between 2006 and 2007, using a multi directional mic to capture environmental response. Recording levels were set close to saturation, allowing for interaction with the tape machine itself.

Side one closes with a piece centered around a lock-groove from the run-out of The Telescopes first album and is lock-grooved again to play endlessly.

The recording took place in a room used by a deep trance medium to hold investigative seances. The album ends with The Telescopes channelling out on each others instruments.

The sound of earthquakes dreaming, where black holes reveal infinite suns.

Side 1--Static Charge/Thought Loops/Northumberland
side 2--Tidal Bandwidth/Chrome Gulls

For pre- orders visit- http://textilerec.free.fr/index.php

I'm curious but I'll be honest, the 5th sentence above (lock-groove) is the only one that's doing it for me...

just downloaded some new singles compilation by them. never heard their "first-wave" stuff (Shc burn, Kill a Slow Girl Walking, Precious Little, etc.). It's actually not bad. It feels like their transition from the old days to the creation days parallels a change from dirty to clean highs.

> Shc burn

took me about 5 years and talking to one m sinker to realise that shc stands for Spontaneous Human Combustion

what compilation is this? does it go back as far as Kick The Wall and 7th Sharp Disaster? (on Cheree?)

i assume it's http://www.discogs.com/Telescopes-Singles-Compilation-1989-1991/release/1656613 and no it doesn't

for some reason i thought the really early stuff had been comp'd but then i remembered i'd actually gotten hold of a couple of the early 45s which is why i was familiar with them

I have some sort of live comp that has '7th# Disaster' on it AFAIR. But yeah, bought the 12" when it came out too.

Was thinking of this:

Trade Mark Of Quality (1990)
UK LP/CD (Fierce, Fright 039, Fright 039CD)
Recorded Live at Harlow Square Club.
-:-- There Is No Floor
-:-- Sadness Pale
-:-- The Perfect Needle
-:-- 7th# Disaster
-:-- Threadbare
-:-- Violence
-:-- Anticipating Nowhere
-:-- Please, Before You Go
-:-- Suicide

this

http://www.thetelescopes.com/news/index.html

mentions a couple of compilations released a couple of months apart, but neither go back to the beginning (not that the really old stuff is as good as the later stuff, is a bit shouty). and there's one on space age from 4 years before that.

(it also talks about the creation album as if it's 'lost'. it was on bloody creation. EVERYBODY i knew at the time had a copy (one friend ended up with three as he was a big fan and it was out the same week as his birthday). but hey...)

saw them quite a few times at the time (20 years ago...). supporting the mary chain and at reading festival in particular. leaving the stage and letting the whalesong continue for 10 more minutes.

(ah, yes, trademark, one of the fierce bootlegs...)

lol @ "lost", that shit was pretty heavily promoted and was licensed in multiple countries, at one stage i had two copies which were free promos..

very good album though and i'd definitely agree that it deserved to do better than it did

These guys are touring again in Feb

http://www.myspace.com/thetelescopes

So I always said I was going to write about the Telescopes and now I have...

https://agoldfishcalledregret.wordpress.com/2013/05/17/pure-sweetest-ocean/

A+, that.

Thanks Ned!

Nice, Rob. I still cringe every time I read the first post of this thread, though.

did you go out?

The bits on Taste that sound like Halo of Flies or some AmRep band are really jarring.

they have a new album out soon!

ok i'll give 'em another listen

the three lps i have (Taste, the creation one, 3rd Wave) are all completely different.

but all good. they are playing london in september and i am tempted.

nope, still shit

i was ill and didn't get to the gig in islington. still kinda curious but wasn't that keen on the new stuff i've heard on bandcamp.

rob m's long blog post doens't mention their version of "Candy Says" which is worth a listen. (although the version on amazon sounds like a chipmunk singing)

I didn't even know about their version of "Candy says" until I found it on Spotify the other day, and that sounds like the Chipmunks. I'm not sure if I mentioned they did a stunning version of "Morning Dew" on an indie conp in 1990 which is worth seeking out too.

Sorry couldn't listen to that version of "Candy Says," nor the Beth Gibbons version. This one is much better:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bcgd35_zd4k

caught stephen last night in SF; when he plays the US he mostly tours with lsd and the search of god backing him up. I'm impressed that they spend one day practicing and have the set down although to be fair a lot of it is feedback at maximum volume and stephen lays on the floor screaming into a mic. still worth checking out though. great version of the perfect needle.

free gig at the shacklewell arms last night.

played in front of the stage, 3 guitars and a wasp synth, all turned up loud, and all seemingly doing their own droney thing (the combined volume meaning that no-one could influence the overall sound that much). played for about 60 minutes and then left the instruments 'playing' as they went to the bar. that continued for at least another 20 minutes... (the sound guy seemed into it and happy to just leave it going)

(no songs as such, just one long noise)

Heroes still.

hmm, sounds like a very interesting one-off night. i know i would like to see them do some of their old songs.

i will vote their self titled Creation album very high on my Shoegazer albums poll that i will be opening in about two months or October 2017. exciting about running it.

oh wow

[w]More classic than dude as I loved their debut on Creation Records along with those singles. I bought Taste around the same time but never got into like the debut on Creation. Years later I bought Unisex but never got into like Bravecaptain (because of Boo Radleys), or Mojave 3( because of Slowdive). Was really excited when I heard Third Wave was going to come out in 2002. I bought it, played a few times and have never revisited.
I was on Bravecaptain web site and came across this by Joe Foster via www.poptones.co.uk:

What is the next reissue of Creation for Revola?

The next reissue is up for it are The Telescopes. They have one album that they said was never released. I don't know how a released album can never be released but it is a very long and complicated story with a lot of facts and I had to take a nap afterwards. The facts are that it is an excellent album, and should be out there....

FIRST POST EVER!

― Boo Radleys (BeeOK), Saturday, November 20, 2004 8:37 AM (twelve years ago)[/q]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HcGWPpoIf4A

the anomaly that is Bee OK

listening to taste tonight. it would be such a classic if it wasn't produced so horribly. still love it though.

Quoting AKM two years back:

caught stephen last night in SF; when he plays the US he mostly tours with lsd and the search of god backing him up. I'm impressed that they spend one day practicing and have the set down although to be fair a lot of it is feedback at maximum volume and stephen lays on the floor screaming into a mic. still worth checking out though.

Had never seen them or LSD before and...that's pretty much what happened last night! In a good way but it was almost an endurance test. Lineup this time around was most of LSD, Stephen and two other veteran guitarist looking types, hell of a racket on stage, and yes some screaming. Didn't immediately recognize any songs in the murk but it was all about the experience.

Documentary about the making of Taste on the way this June for the 30th anniversary.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tJTR5rM3am0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pqvG99sfDZg

Oh nice!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XSMD2ynHjfM