Cardiacs - Sing to God

http://www.dominiqueleone.com/images/dirty-boy.jpg

uh oh i only have 3 days left to wrap my head around this record

i can do this

oh! re-up the link etc and hit me w/ doubloons :)

lots of cheer accident on spotify but it'd be nice to have some mpfreez

also good luck zoiderpress

I always loved "Anything I Can't Eat" and "For Good And All"; if the production was like any of their other albums they'd sound MASSIVE

'Anything I Can't Eat', 'Core' and my fucking god 'Snakes-A-Sleeping' are all-time Cardiacs brain-exploders for me. whole album has an amazing sound, all coiled and metallic and feedbacky and electrifying

Just listened to "Faster Than Snakes With a Ball and Chain" today; I don't know if that was going to make their "new" album but it kind of made me a little teary-eyed remembering around 2006 when I honestly thought that they were going to release something very soon

they did! and it was utterly great. even if I now realise 'Ditzy Scene' is a bit of a macroscopic retread of 'Don't You Ail, Flash The Sea To Steam'...

The sound of Heaven Born and Ever Bright sounds absolutely A-OK in my book! Is Christian Hayes to thank for the amazing guitar sounds? Quite superb.

the guitars do indeed sound great, but it needs more jim. my favourites from that one: home of fadeless splendour, she hides behind the shed, goodbye grace, anything I can't eat. a fine album, but just pales a bit by comparison.

still haven't voted in this. can't bring myself to commit.

found mint vinyl copies of "songs for ships and irons" and "on land and in the sea" at a record fair today, very pleased with meself.

I really think they screwed up the mix on the mid-nineties reissue of HB&EB, though. Everything's cranked up to the point that the levels are almost constantly in the red, meaning it's actually quite painful to listen to in it's entirety. I've considered blowing £30 on the earlier Rough Trade issue that sometimes shows up on ebay just to hear the difference, as apparently it's considerable.

On the whole I do like the heavier sound of the album though. It's almost like a cross between Cardiacs and Panixphere, the pissing-about thrash band that Tim, Bic and others used to gigs as in the early 90s.

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

top 3 otm!!

new ILM record for 'highest number of amazing songs with 0 votes in a poll'

Bah, I knew I should've voted Insect Hoofs, but I went with Sparky.

yeah Insect Hoofs is probably the best song without a vote. but it's close.

got a couple of smartasses here i see

shall...shall we beat them senseless?

i'm just surprised that 17 people on ilm have this record

went with gun hand in the end. it's just so bloody perfect. but now I feel bad for eat it up worms hero, bell clinks, bell stinks, angleworm angel, a horse's tail, etc...

Pretty lame ilm

Alright guys, I acquired this album the other night so I could finally dive into the Cardiacs. Maybe the fact that I even have to ask this means the band may not be right for me, but is there any sort of helpful entry point or rock to cling to as I dive in? I've listened to the whole thing twice, but its so damned packed and overwhelming that its been easy to just let it all wash over me. Its obvious you guys are hearing something in this, but I'm not sure I have a way in just yet.

It'll take a good while to chew on, especially if it's your first exposure to the band. It's kind of an exhausting listen because of it's length, scope and sound.

I'd guess that certain songs will present themselves as more approachable at first: Manhoo, Dog Like Sparky, Bellyeye. If you have a natural appetite for their kind of music it'll keep drawing you back, it's not the ideal first record in my book but it's probably a good overall litmus test.

lolol mares nest what is with your display name?? love it.

:) I was looking for some RWR music and got this generically generated google result and it tickled me.

Yeah as much as I love the album I don't know if StG is the best starting point; I guess you have to take each disc seperately, as it is basically two different albums. Disc 1 I would say is more accessible

Okay 10 songs, any album, any side project as an introduction, have at it.

1. A Little Man and a House
2. In a City Lining
3. All Spectacular
4. Signs
5. Bellyeye
6. Anything I Can't Eat
7. Angelworm Angel
8. The Duck and Roger the Horse
9. Buds and Spawn
10. R.E.S.

a primer, aside from stuff on STG...

Home of Fadeless Splendour
The Duck & Roger the Horse
The Breakfast Line
To Go off and Things (live Maresnest version)
Big Ship
Gibber and Twitch (Garage Concerts version)
RES (A Little Man... version)
Ideal (radio session version)
Will Bleed Amen
The Everso Closely Guarded Line
Cabinet (Spratleys Japs)

1. Buds And Spawn
2. Dog Like Sparky
3. Appealing To Venus
4. March
5. Manhoo
6. Fanny
7. Veronica in Ecstacy
8. Duck & Roger The Horse
9. It's A Lovely Day
10. Dirty Boy

A capella version of Insect Hooves on Lassie, pretty interesting.

http://soundcloud.com/david-minnick/insect-hoofs-on-lassie

Whoa! I am a total sucker for a capella arrangements and this is a thing of wonder.

(my first ever gig was seeing the Swingle Singers in Swindon Wyvern, how is that for rock'n'roll)

Two more a capella Cardiacs covers on their Soundcloud too! This has made my week. (Lassie is the best but the others are pretty cool too)

Hi David - I'm Mark Cawthra, and I'm here to tell you that I'm sitting with Tim right now playing him this fab version - He wants me to tell you how much he likes it, and he says he's really flattered that you would do this and do it so well. He says sorry he would write himself, but cannot so I'm doing it for him. As for me, I freaking love it too x

Haven't heard any updates on Tim for a good while, I wonder if things are getting any better for him

youre right that the other two covers aren't quite as good, but they definitely made me want to pull out STG again, I missed this album

I don't think Tim will recover, he is in a pretty bad way unfortunately.

nothing's really came out lately, last I heard was Kavus (nearly two years ago!) saying he's still functional but has good days and bad days, kind of sounded like one day he may recover but I guess if it hasn't happened by now...

https://soundcloud.com/david-minnick/sets/the-180-gs-cardiacs-covers

^ ...which had already been posted a few posts above. Go me! At least a bunch more covers have been uploaded since.

The greatest album of all time.

(A capella covers don't appeal though so I haven't listened to them)

Yeah, the greatest album of all time.

However, this covers project can't be dismissed. I think it took me around 15 seconds of their Fiery Gun Hand before realising this as the insane and beautiful labour of love it truly is

and by 'their', I mean 'his'. What a guy

Am trying to get these guys to do a show on STG, it's a little left of their general criteria but they gots my money now, so I hope they'll go for it.

http://www.digmeoutpodcast.com/

How did Dirty Boy not win this?? I feel like if more people had heard it, we could have just skipped the end of the 90s and started at the millennium.

Is that the one that sounds like a Queen song? Do they all sound like Queen songs minus the riffs and hooks?

https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/236x/22/e7/73/22e7731c2b2cce035c0f99759a4fec5a.jpg

Dirty Boy is one of the greatest achievements in rock history obv obv but c'mon Flap Off You Beak and Dog-Like Sparky are two of the most utterly, intensely beautiful pop songs conceivable. The three are my favourite three tracks on my favourite album so it's hard to speak about them rationally but I don't have too much problem with the result here. One more Dirty Boy vote would have perfected it

it's no De Futura

they're just a bit too "vacuum head tree" for me to get into

I say this as a staunch Magma fan and, when necessary, apologist: Dirty Boy is better than De Futura

we can have both, maybe. although let me extend hearty cheers to dominique & #teamtim

i think Dominique was also a fan of the "vacuum head tree" style

xp -- were you around for that hilarious episode in the annals of Sp0ckm0rgue?

no, but vacuum head tree sounds about right