Curve: C or D?

Hold the phazizzlone, I didn't know that.

I haven't picked up anything of theirs after Come Clean (and sold same to SecondSpin.Com, actually). I'll stick with their early stuff, but Gift does now sound promising.

Curve are stone cold CLASSIC.

CD 1 The Way Of Curve

1 Ten Little Girls
2 Coast Is Clear
3 Clipped
4 Die Like A Dog
5 Horror Head
6 Fait Accompli
7 Missing Link
8 Superblaster
9 Pink Girl With The Blues
10 Recovery
11 Chinese Burn
12 Coming Up Roses
13 Hell Above Water
14 Want More Need Less
15 Perish
16 Nice and Easy

CD 2 Rare and unreleased

1 On The Wheel
2 Triumph
3 Arms Out
4 Sigh
5 Mission From God
6 Today Is Not The Day
7 Low And Behold
8 Nothing Without Me
9 What A Waste with Ian Dury
10 Falling Free Aphex Twin mix
11 Chinese Burn Lunatic Calm mix
12 Coming Up Roses Kevin Shields Mix
13 I Feel Love
14 In Disguise
15 Sinner

Good choices? Bad choices? I've only heard one or two Curve tracks ever, and I don't even remember what they were.

I didn't realize Kevin Shields was on Gift, either.

The first EPs were absolutely classic. Doppelganger just took that sound and spread it, rather thinly, over an album, though 'Ice That Melts the Tips', 'Already Yours', and 'Think and Act' are standout album tracks. Cuckoo is where it's at for me. The album is well-sequenced too, building up to a great finish. It's the best heavy wall of goutar album I know from that period, but there's tons of variety throughout at the same time. Come Clean worked out for me, though it's the one I listen to least. I think it sounds louder and dirtier than most of the 'rock band goes electronic' albums, and besides, they were using samplers and drum machines from day one; the technology just got a lot more sophisticated in their downtime.

SEARCH SEARCH SEARCH the 'Coming Up Roses' B-sides: 'Habit and 'Midnight and Royal'. They're some of the best material from that period. Really tense and spooky without relying on conventional big guitars or noise.
I like Gift a lot, esp. the Shields tracks plus 'My Tiled White Floor'. There was very solid material on their internet-only album in 2000, Open Day at the Hatefest, but nothing really standout. I'll probably track down the new compilation, though there are only a couple of tracks I don't have in hard form. I think they got Flat Earth back for the cover, which is good.

Oh yeah; Cuckoo had a wonderful sleeve, as did the surrounding EPs. Only the Come Clean sleeve wasn't wholly interesting.

trivia: Debbie Smith last appeared playing with Luke Sutherland in Bows, which is such an improvement over Echobelly or the totally dire Snowpony. I'm going to go revive a Bows thread now.

xpost: Ned, yes oh yes Mission From God is glorious.

Ned, what is this cover of Overground you speak of? You mean the Siouxsie track? I def. should check that out

This is deeply ludicrous, of course. The thing that initially attracted me to Curve was the juxtaposition of Toni's great melodic lines against the feedback/dance beat. Plus there are always those huge bass lines...

Damn right.

this is true. live they seemed pretty dull, it was all a bit thick and blurry. their love for swervedriver was always offputting too.

http://www.curve.co.uk/news.htm

So, speaking of Curve, is there any way to get all those recent (and out of print) EPs besides sending a check to Dean?

"Perish" is beyond awesome. It's also the saddest noise-rock track ever.

anyways .. i definitely side on the CLASSIC. that cold hearted drum machine pounding away while the noise shreds the paintwork and toni does her echoed goth thing is just wonderful and fits in perfectly with my current moods.

but more to the point .. did all cd copies of the album come with doubled up inner sleeves as a spin off from the album name .. or is that just me being a little too nerdy ?

its not just me .. (have images of ilmers dashing off to archives to check .. )

but ta for the love anyways ned .. backatcha gorgeous.

13 years after the albums release we all finally get the bands 'joke'.

(I also have not yet gotten around to getting Doppelganger, cos I've got both the above and - rather later - the Radio Sessions comp. It's quite nice knowing that at sometime in the future I've still got "new" early Curve to listen to...)

Another one from that playback tv appearance just popped up -

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NKwbx6GLq6o

still can't decide whether there is anything being played live on these videos and if not why the band seem so engaged

It's all playback

Like the last one, this one seems all pre-recorded, the album version. Though yeah, the band is fake playing its heart out.

It's just kinda cool to watch them swaying about, they were always a pretty good looking band.

I dunno if any of you have ever watched this dude, but he's a totally square yet knowledgable and enthusiastic old nerd who breaks down music theory and whatnot. Anyway, out of nowhere, he included Curve is his list of the top 20 rock bass sounds of all time. #18, around the 30 minute mark!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H0P5isBr7uw

Nice, I like Rick's videos, his son Dylan has perfect pitch, the clips of him calling out the names and notes of gnarly cluster piano chords are amazing.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5VZcW7JCpCU

New Toni H. EP is totally unexpected and totally awesome

Well I trust you're going to link this!

Streamable on your favorite platform and downloads here:
https://www.junodownload.com/artists/Toni+Halliday/tracks/

that's a timely revive.. i've been going through my old CDs and ripping ones that are missing from my digital collection and just hit the "C"s – was literally just wondering how Curve was going to hold up

They hold up really really well! Also, mysteriously absent from Amazon's streaming service.

But thankfully fully on Bandcamp, including a slew of rarity comps.

https://curve.bandcamp.com/music

Wow, what's all that "bootleg series" stuff?

A lot of it is mixes and various elements of final tracks -- Garcia breaks each entry down thoroughly in the liners.

happy 30th to cuckoo

Claaaaaaaasssssssssic (imagine this word said with tons of fuzz and overdrive and reverb and flanger and the like)

I wish I knew what the mad vocal sample at the start of Clipped is all about, I've been wondering that for 30+ years.

That Cuckoo tour was a hell of a thing to experience.

xp the absolute zenith of Curve for me (shout out to “Turkey Crossing”) - I remember Cherry coming out and thinking, well, this hits every mark dead-on.

also Cuckoo is their best album by an order of magnitude

To each his own. Never much cared for Cuckoo despite some good moments. But then again all their albums were flawed. Pubic Fruit all the way

well yeah the EPs were the real high point.

Curve is one of those bands where I kinda liked them, picked up Cuckoo at a record store on a whim, it became one of my favorite albums of all time, and I never really bothered finding any of their other music. Now, my curiosity is piqued and I'm finally listening to the E.P.s that comprised Pubic Fruit after all these years. Might be doing some Bandcamping today.

Physical box set coming in February:

Unreadable Communication: Anxious Recordings 1991-1993

The two albums, four EPs, some remixes and some live stuff. Does not include Peel Sessions, which are supposed to be very good.

I'm not a fan, but if you want remastered CDs, here you go.

so, remember this from a while back :

"but more to the point .. did all cd copies of the album come with doubled up inner sleeves as a spin off from the album name .. or is that just me being a little too nerdy ?

― mark e (mark e), Tuesday, August 23, 2005 1:53 PM (eighteen years ago)
"

well, a twitter account posted this weekend re the album, so i asked the question re the doubling up.

and look what happened :

𝘾𝙐𝙍𝙑𝙀
liked your reply
question : was i only the person who bought this on cd to find the inner booklet doubled up ?
i assumed it was a play on the album name ..

!!!