dance music press in the 90s was BANGIN
― idgi fridays (blueski), Thursday, 10 February 2011 12:50 (thirteen years ago) link
Amplified Heart and maybe Idlewild are closest to the precision of Thorn's solo work. The early sophisti-pop EBTG albums aren't as sharp as prime Sade.
― Rich Lolwry (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Thursday, 10 February 2011 13:14 (thirteen years ago) link
Er, it doesn't follow that the music press was shit in the 90s - dance music has always had, and will always have, genre purists who get bent out of shape by outsiders using their style.
yeah i never read the dance press in the '90s, as it was before i got into dance music - was more referring to how, at the time, it seemed every time i dipped into nme or select or q or whatever that there was some snide, wrong-headed sneering about the music i was into.
― lex pretend, Thursday, 10 February 2011 13:19 (thirteen years ago) link
Tracey and Ben don't even like the late 80s/early 90s stuff
ha, i never realised this! i guess i'll go with that comp.
ben's released some great stuff on buzzin' fly - the latest tevo howard single is amazing, really liked the first mlle caro & franck garcia album too (second not so much).
― lex pretend, Thursday, 10 February 2011 13:21 (thirteen years ago) link
iirc there was snide wrong-headed sneering about all kinds of music, the question was which subset of snide wrong-headed sneerers you aligned yourself to. (also this is still true and has always been true, about everything.)
― the ipcress killfile (c sharp major), Thursday, 10 February 2011 13:26 (thirteen years ago) link
OTM
― I've been dancing since 9 and I'm tired and hungry (Dorianlynskey), Thursday, 10 February 2011 13:29 (thirteen years ago) link
lex, this is my favorite late nineties EBTG track; it captures that late night/early morning sadness when you're not sure if you're drunk, horny, lonely, or all three.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zrxnbB-FvXc&feature=related
― Rich Lolwry (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Thursday, 10 February 2011 13:30 (thirteen years ago) link
Eden is great, Love and Money less so, after that it's mostly diminishing returns until WW. They're all worth hearing, apart from 'Language of Life' which is a duffer. They sounded lost in a blandly, glossy production which made their drum and bass reinvention post-Missing all the more startling. My favourite, pre WW is this song from 1982 which is wise and smart beyond her years:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bE2GLsoxOJE
― Obese Pony-hating Liberal (Billy Dods), Thursday, 10 February 2011 14:04 (thirteen years ago) link
Having said that, 'Acoustic' from 1992 is a lovely album with some fascinating cover choices.
― Obese Pony-hating Liberal (Billy Dods), Thursday, 10 February 2011 14:07 (thirteen years ago) link
I'd posit Amplified Heart as the comeback.
― Rich Lolwry (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Thursday, 10 February 2011 14:09 (thirteen years ago) link
Artistically it was, but commercially it was a flop. Something Ben said:
We had a meeting with Warners three or four months after Amplified Heart came out and they thought our career was over and they dropped us. And before we left the meeting we said 'Can we just play you a couple of things we’ve been working on?' And we played them Protection and the Todd Terry mix of Missing and Warners still dropped us. They didn’t see a future unfortunately.
Classic major label thinking there.
― I've been dancing since 9 and I'm tired and hungry (Dorianlynskey), Thursday, 10 February 2011 15:36 (thirteen years ago) link
I used to listen to Eden a lot working in the record department of the local Boots, one of the handful of albums there I could bear to play. Fond memories of that, but EBTG were always one of those groups who drifted in and out of my consciousness without ever firmly lodging there.
And this was a Peel anthem in the mid-80s that I adored, despite it being miles from the idioms I was interested in:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MHCSMT1Q1OY
The one place you should not go anywhere near, Lex, is Marine Girls. Those records will bring you out in indie-hating hives.
― Alan Partridge Project (ithappens), Thursday, 10 February 2011 16:08 (thirteen years ago) link
Artistically it was, but commercially it was a flop.
Initially! But when "Missing" took off AH went gold in the US.
― Rich Lolwry (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Thursday, 10 February 2011 17:02 (thirteen years ago) link
Both Kevin Yost mixes of Five Fathoms are phenomenal.
― brotherlovesdub, Thursday, 10 February 2011 17:56 (thirteen years ago) link
Now that I look, there were three KY mixes of Five Fathoms. The Dub mix is my favorite but they're all good. Shame the dub was never released on CD.
― brotherlovesdub, Thursday, 10 February 2011 17:59 (thirteen years ago) link
xpost. Sorry, yes, you're right Alfred. But Missing was so tied up with Walking Wounded that I felt the comeback started with the embrace of dance music. And in the UK AH didn't return to the charts after the Missing remix.
― DL, Thursday, 10 February 2011 18:06 (thirteen years ago) link
The first solo album is really strong. The fact it's just her and the guitar makes it feel so intimate, so when she sings these brutally deep lyrics it's so much more powerful. "A Distant Shore" is a perfect title for the album, because it sounds on the surface so languid and sun-kissed, yet the song-writing suggests so much more than just idyllic strumming.
That said, I voted for "Out Of The Woods" because I feel its consistently under-rated, and it's so good to have her back. The way she sings the last line of "It's All True" makes me go week at the knees, and "Grandy Canyon" is so direct with a performance that makes it feel like a personal address.
Tracey Thorn's twitter is a source of great joy too: http://twitter.com/tracey_thorn. With such talented parents, and such a sense of humour and good taste, I feel far too envious of her children.
― o0o00h really? (boxedjoy), Friday, 11 February 2011 16:38 (thirteen years ago) link
Her gardening columns for Caught by the River are great too: http://caughtbytheriver.net/category/to-the-greenhouse/
Ben's North Marine Drive is the greatest of their pre-EBTG work, I'd say.
― bham, Friday, 11 February 2011 17:06 (thirteen years ago) link
Tracey Thorn's twitter is a source of great joy too
yes!
― lex pretend, Friday, 11 February 2011 17:11 (thirteen years ago) link
i actually think i've been a lot more amenable to her music because of it (not that i wasn't amenable before, just hadn't given it a great deal of thought)
― lex pretend, Friday, 11 February 2011 17:12 (thirteen years ago) link
I like to imagine that Tracey and Ben have dinner parties that Grace Dent and Ewan Pearson come over to, and they always end in a drunken mess with the boys going through crates of records in the lounge while the girls sit by the telly laughing at BBC3 documentaries, and that I'm at these parties and it is great fun.
― o0o00h really? (boxedjoy), Friday, 11 February 2011 17:38 (thirteen years ago) link
i'd like to imagine that Tracey goes through crates of records too :/
i have listened to eight Everything But The Girl albums, and the two most recent TT solo ones, since i last posted on this thread. they're pretty good! i am leaning in the direction of 'amplified heart' right now.
― the ipcress killfile (c sharp major), Friday, 11 February 2011 17:48 (thirteen years ago) link
not just for the songs either - that feels like the perfect mid-point of her voice
― the ipcress killfile (c sharp major), Friday, 11 February 2011 17:55 (thirteen years ago) link
Distant Shore
― Gukbe, Friday, 11 February 2011 17:55 (thirteen years ago) link
Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.
― System, Tuesday, 15 February 2011 00:01 (thirteen years ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7AxdcVKWArc
― omar little, Tuesday, 15 February 2011 00:15 (thirteen years ago) link
Walking Wounded was part of my high school soundtrack. That woman's voice is so soulful and sad in its tone. Such a contrast to her twitter feed. I wish she would tour so I can see her live.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J_MKsZlisi8
― Okay Pet Shop Boys Aren't That Bad. (lilsoulbrother), Tuesday, 15 February 2011 03:14 (thirteen years ago) link
Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.
― System, Wednesday, 16 February 2011 00:01 (thirteen years ago) link
Clock Opera remix of "You Are a Lover" is goooorgeous!
http://soundcloud.com/buzzinfly/tracey-thorn-you-are-a-lover
― Johnny Fever, Monday, 28 March 2011 11:20 (thirteen years ago) link
Why wasn't her work with Massive Attack in this poll?
― You're Twistin' My Melody Man! (Geir Hongro), Monday, 28 March 2011 11:22 (thirteen years ago) link
if you read the first post you might actually be able to work this out
― kris menace isn't even french (sic), Monday, 28 March 2011 11:36 (thirteen years ago) link
OK. Missed the poll anyway, would have voted for "Eden", but also love her more dance oriented 90s work.
― You're Twistin' My Melody Man! (Geir Hongro), Monday, 28 March 2011 12:43 (thirteen years ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DxX1E6IAKnk&feature=related
I think this may be what cements her as "the thinking gay man's Kylie", at least in my eyes
― ha ha ha ha jack my swag (boxedjoy), Saturday, 11 June 2011 23:52 (twelve years ago) link
Last year's solo record was so good -- one of the best singer-songwriter things in a while.
― The Edge of Gloryhole (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Sunday, 12 June 2011 00:35 (twelve years ago) link
I'll recommend that Clock Opera remix again...just because.
― Johnny Fever, Sunday, 12 June 2011 00:42 (twelve years ago) link
Alfred, i give in. I will check out this album asap since you mention it so often ;)
― jed_, Sunday, 12 June 2011 01:03 (twelve years ago) link
Missed this poll but might vote s/t for "Riverbed Dry" and other side 2 gems on top of "Fascination."
― 27 Dresses, 13 Assassins (Eazy), Sunday, 12 June 2011 01:04 (twelve years ago) link
Very curious to hear the Green Gartside song.
http://thequietus.com/articles/09608-tracey-thorn-tinsel-and-lights-christmas-album
― fun loving and xtremely tolrant (Billy Dods), Monday, 6 August 2012 19:43 (eleven years ago) link
That's a good choice for her voice.
― a regina spektor is haunting europe (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Monday, 6 August 2012 19:45 (eleven years ago) link
Her Twitter feed is hilarious, I kid you not. And she posts ALOT
― Iago Galdston, Monday, 6 August 2012 19:50 (eleven years ago) link
Tracey Thorn @tracey_thornJust had to listen to A Distant Shore, for a thing. God but I loved singing that record! I can hear it in every note - I AM LOVING THIS!
― Iago Galdston, Tuesday, 14 August 2012 01:40 (eleven years ago) link
this isn't the first xmas record made by/for depressives, but it is the best.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P9GLTrmiJDQ
― flesh, the devil, and a wolf (wolf) (amateurist), Sunday, 28 October 2012 09:31 (eleven years ago) link
Man, her cover of Low's "Taking Down the Tree" with Green is completely gorgeous.
― that mustardless plate (Bill A), Sunday, 28 October 2012 19:33 (eleven years ago) link
i forgot that was a low song!
yeah, that's a good one. her dolly parton doesn't really go anywhere, unfortunately, though it's hardly unpleasant.
i'll probably be listening to this one for a few months. it's already getting me in the mood for xmas (which i don't celebrate, but i enjoy the xmas sense-scape).
― flesh, the devil, and a wolf (wolf) (amateurist), Monday, 29 October 2012 02:18 (eleven years ago) link
Ordered the CD off the strength of listening to a few tracks streaming - given that first listen to "Joy" made me choke up like no other song this year the least I could do was actually pay for the album. Have a feeling this will get a lot of play in the A household over the festive season.
― that mustardless plate (Bill A), Monday, 29 October 2012 08:15 (eleven years ago) link
"col cold night" is terrific
― TracerHandVEVO (Tracer Hand), Monday, 29 October 2012 08:17 (eleven years ago) link
"joy" and a handful of others greyed out on uk spotify... w.. tf
― TracerHandVEVO (Tracer Hand), Monday, 29 October 2012 08:45 (eleven years ago) link
Really looking forward to buying this and busting it out over Christmas.
― comedy is unnatural and abhorrent (Scik Mouthy), Monday, 29 October 2012 09:22 (eleven years ago) link
I adore this woman.
― the ones that I'm near most: fellow outcasts and ilxors (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Monday, 29 October 2012 11:01 (eleven years ago) link
yeah, this is fantastic. i want to be besties with her.
― flesh, the devil, and a wolf (wolf) (amateurist), Friday, 9 November 2012 21:00 (eleven years ago) link
Love this album. Played it twice in a row yesterday and woke up wanting to hear it again
― brotherlovesdub, Sunday, 4 March 2018 20:49 (six years ago) link
In love with "Guitar" and "Dancefloor", me.
― dorsalstop, Sunday, 4 March 2018 21:05 (six years ago) link
Loving the album too. I think it's one of the best things she's ever done. My current favourite is Air as it would fit nicely on the Shura album. Dancefloor is such a brilliant closer, I just wish it was a bit longer. Kind of has a Pop Kids vibe to it.
― kitchen person, Sunday, 4 March 2018 22:25 (six years ago) link
Video for Sister
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5A-XyMzTSWc
― groovypanda, Wednesday, 7 March 2018 08:27 (six years ago) link
the beats on the new album are really cheap. and the songs are not very good either. it all sounds pretty much like mainstream. i love tracey thorn but this is very dispensable.
― Ich bin kein Berliner (alex in mainhattan), Wednesday, 7 March 2018 15:24 (six years ago) link
why aren't they very good? "Guitar" and "Babies" present points of view we don't often hear in songs, and their melodies are delectable. I don't treat as a dance record – it's a singer-songwriter record with dance colorings, in the same way Bill Callahan would use strings or John Darnielle a brass section.
― morning wood truancy (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, 7 March 2018 15:41 (six years ago) link
it all sounds pretty much like mainstream.
Judging by this comment I'm not sure how much mainstream pop you listen to. This is much better produced than both a lot of mainstream 80s-inflected pop and the sort of shambahla stuff that's popular here. A lesser producer than Ewan Pearson would be tempted to really max out every sound, he allows every sound (especially the voice) the space it needs. He and Tracey are excellent foils for one another
― Matt DC, Wednesday, 7 March 2018 16:04 (six years ago) link
I love this, I love her voice
I love how effortless and shimmery the music is
― illegal economic migration (Tracer Hand), Wednesday, 7 March 2018 16:06 (six years ago) link
This sounds like Drake, Cardi B, and Post Malone.
― morning wood truancy (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, 7 March 2018 16:08 (six years ago) link
I mean, I can see what they are getting at, particularly "Guitar," the production of which sounds like everything I hated about the Paramore album and parts of the last Carly Rae Jepsen record
― algorithm is a dancer (katherine), Wednesday, 7 March 2018 16:13 (six years ago) link
this is really great i think
it's funny how the decline of the music biz makes for strange fellows, imagine thinking oh yeah tracey thorn will be on superchunk's label 20 years ago
i don't think it sounds cheap at all, it's very well engineered and mastered
― It's not delivery, it's Adorno! (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Wednesday, 7 March 2018 16:20 (six years ago) link
"Go" is just tremendous, cheap-esque drum sounds included
― illegal economic migration (Tracer Hand), Wednesday, 7 March 2018 16:21 (six years ago) link
― algorithm is a dancer (katherine),
but it's fascinating how both albums were disappointments or outright flops – they were failed crossovers.
― morning wood truancy (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, 7 March 2018 16:31 (six years ago) link
Both of those albums are over-compressed to hell in the way that you'd expect from artists gunning for maximum radio play in 2018, that's notably not the case here. I can see how the sound palette and other production choices might be similar (and offputting) but the treatment of them is completely different.
― Matt DC, Wednesday, 7 March 2018 16:50 (six years ago) link
Yes agreed
I will probably always be a total, melty mess for these big, clear, generous alto female voices over 80s inspired synths - Alison Moyet the other obvious example of this
― illegal economic migration (Tracer Hand), Wednesday, 7 March 2018 17:14 (six years ago) link
The lyrics and themes in this album are incredible. I don’t gaf if the sounds are cheap. The emotions and depth of thought overwhelm any blandness of the production.
― brotherlovesdub, Wednesday, 7 March 2018 18:11 (six years ago) link
lol do you really think it sounds bland
― illegal economic migration (Tracer Hand), Wednesday, 7 March 2018 18:21 (six years ago) link
like i guess i don't associate EBTG or her w/super edgy experimental stuff, more literate well mannered electronic stuff w good songwriting
― It's not delivery, it's Adorno! (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Wednesday, 7 March 2018 18:28 (six years ago) link
Its brevity is something my girlfriend and I loved as well -- it does the business quickly but does so in a way that feels like a big scope of a record, perhaps even more so lyrically than musically.
― Ned Raggett, Wednesday, 7 March 2018 18:51 (six years ago) link
I really love Tracey Thorn, EBTG and solo, I just cannot deal at all, ever, from anyone, with that chintzy canned "Take on Me" sound
― algorithm is a dancer (katherine), Wednesday, 7 March 2018 19:48 (six years ago) link
take on me is a very good song
― It's not delivery, it's Adorno! (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Wednesday, 7 March 2018 19:55 (six years ago) link
it all sounds pretty much like mainstream.Judging by this comment I'm not sure how much mainstream pop you listen to
Judging by this comment I'm not sure how much mainstream pop you listen to
― Ich bin kein Berliner (alex in mainhattan), Wednesday, 7 March 2018 20:57 (six years ago) link
‘Computer beats’, Stella Mozgawa will love that.
― Dan Worsley, Wednesday, 7 March 2018 21:30 (six years ago) link
I just cannot deal at all, ever, from anyone, with that chintzy canned "Take on Me" sound
whathuh?
― Johnny Fever, Wednesday, 7 March 2018 22:23 (six years ago) link
how do people not hear that in "Guitar" at least?
― algorithm is a dancer (katherine), Thursday, 8 March 2018 01:37 (six years ago) link
my favourite thing about this record is her willingness to tackle subject matter that other, younger artists might find a bit banal or naff (3 am baby feeds, sending your kids off to college, stalking your ex's Facebook), but doing so with great levity and humour.
The production sounds a bit thin and dated in some places (not a fan of "Guitar", agree with katherine on this), but there's also "Sister", which is incredibly groovy and lush.
anyway, "what year is it? same old shit."
― Roz, Thursday, 8 March 2018 09:29 (six years ago) link
I don't hear a chintzy, canned "Take On Me" sound in "Guitar" at all, and/but also I love the sound of "Take On Me". There's an '80s (though not 'dated') and sparse (though not 'thin') feel to most of Queen, but to me there's a clear contrast with the, indeed compression-heavy, sound on After Laughter, which I disliked for that reason.
― dorsalstop, Thursday, 8 March 2018 12:15 (six years ago) link
(another example would be Toni Halliday's first solo album -- I want to like it but the '80s production is overwhelming)
― algorithm is a dancer (katherine), Thursday, 8 March 2018 16:44 (six years ago) link
it's all very 80's certainly but not in a way that particularly evokes "Take On Me"?
album is great, all excellent songs. i especially like Guitar and the ending of Air. the production doesn't really stand out but i'm a fan of the style and it supports the songs well
― ufo, Thursday, 8 March 2018 16:57 (six years ago) link
On her incredible catalog.
― morning wood truancy (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Saturday, 10 March 2018 02:40 (six years ago) link
At Electric mastering @tracey_thorn Dancefloor remixes right now. 💃🎉 pic.twitter.com/kOoF7VtkP9— Ewan Pearson (@ewanpearson) March 22, 2018
― groovypanda, Thursday, 22 March 2018 21:01 (six years ago) link
Finally picked this up today. The hype sticker made me laugh aloud:https://i.imgur.com/woutA00.jpg
― he doesn't need to be racist about it though. (Austin), Monday, 26 March 2018 19:54 (six years ago) link
haha that is awesome
― illegal economic migration (Tracer Hand), Monday, 26 March 2018 21:06 (six years ago) link
this collaboration with George FitzGerald (whom I also like) is unsurprisingly very good
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SHQBLwfnqY8
― aloha darkness my old friend (katherine), Wednesday, 6 June 2018 16:13 (five years ago) link
ooh v nice
― Johnny Fever, Thursday, 7 June 2018 00:47 (five years ago) link
london you're in my bloodand you've been there for so longlondon you're in my bloodbut i feel you going wrong
There is the heavy and the light. Damn this is an proper album.
― anatol_merklich, Monday, 3 September 2018 23:37 (five years ago) link
Looking forward to this:
Very happy to tell you that I'll be the guest on Desert Island Discs this coming Sunday! Thanks to @laurenlaverne for wonderful interview 😍 https://t.co/AHOBmggS5o— Tracey Thorn (@tracey_thorn) November 12, 2018
― groovypanda, Monday, 12 November 2018 22:07 (five years ago) link