Tall Dwarfs : C/D?

the toy love reissue is really, really good. way, waaay closer to new wave than flying nun, & chris knox w/a band rocking out behind him! sort've specific lyrics! & great capturing-an-era liner notes. went to see pum1ce play last friday & chris knox was playing afterward - a bit you've-seen-him-once-you've-seen-him-&c&c&c (yes, yes, we get the demystification, the constant sabotage of yr own shit! it's become as much of a crutch as rock mystique! &c!), tho he cutely wheeled out toy love's "sheep".

but I already Orbitzed my tickets to Raleigh/Durham, and it would be just as much to go to SF at this point anyway... so hello, Nawth Cawrlina!

-- etc (et...), April 26th, 2005 10:25 AM.

!!!??? Thank fuck. TL stuff has been impossible to get.

Did anybody catch the Radio National set they played last year (as 'International Tall Dwarfs') Some great versions of 'Crush!', 'Fatty Fowl...' and 'Baby It's Over'. But yeah, fucking CLASSIC.

Special mention for having great DIY video clips too.

fantastic punxor lyrics w/specifics, too! I just knew there had to be more crabby anti-disco NZ punk songs than "Short Haired Rock'n'Roll", &c&c&c.

"Livin for a day, breathin for a week
Losin solitaire, losin my physique
No job, no pay, no way to make ends meet
Windowshoppin as girls go down the street
Here I am, sittin here
Drinking coffee and dreamin beer
Readin NME, listenin to the Jam
Dyin for a crap, stuck right where I am
Fantasising a life of rockstar ease
So I guess I better learn some Japanese
Hod'd the hell they get us on our knees
As we sit on our Conrays, scratchin' our fleas
Fantasising a life of rockstar ease, oh yeah
Disco is the modern rock n roll
Multimillions dancing in the streets
Got no place to hang my tired brain
And all TV shows me is John Travolta's feet
Lyin on our backs, listening to the news
Looking at the dust on our rave reviews
We don't care if the whole damn world explodes
It'll keep the drunken drivers off the roads
Something's gone in my prefrontal lobes
Cos everyone's speaking trendy secret codes
And we don't care if the whole damn world explodes
Doctor Rock please blow my mind away
I won't miss it for a moment man
Lock the door and set this house on fire
And I'll club my head to bits cos I'm a fan
No, no, no I'm not bored, I'm dead
Dead bored, dead
I'm not bored."

I'll be in Chapel Hill August 4th for the Tall Dwarfs show at Local 506. You have to load Etix separately to get to the tickets site to buy tickets, as the link off Local 506's site doesn't work. Anyway, hope no hurricanes come then to spoil the fun... (do hurricanes usually affect things that far inland enough to halt everything when they hit the Carolina coastline?)

(And yeah, an SF show was added on August 9th, which would have been closer, but it was announced way later than anticipated, and I had already Orbitzed my way to the tri for cheap anyway. Also, I've only been to Chapel Hill once before.)

(To his credit, his band +Live+ did invite the Thinking Fellers to tour with them in 1995.. for what reasons, no one still knows.)

Thurston Moore told a story in some publication of being in a bookstore in the east village and having the kids from Live come up and tell him they were "huge fans of Sonic Youth" and he thanked them but internally he felt like he had no idea how to interpret their enthusiasm.

Chris Knox + Heineken = http://youtube.com/watch?v=9cMsuFpykqo&feature=related

"It's Love" is a really irritating song -- not bad, but irritating. Maybe this will all last a day, but if this blows up, this is going to be really funny to watch.

I Rate Everything rolling in their un-graves loller.

Yeah, my girl flipped out when she heard this on the tv.

Never noticed this thread. Glad it exists. CLASSIC CLASSIC CLASSIC! One of my very favorite bands in the world for many years, and while I haven't listened to them in quite a while, I still love 'em to death. Especially love the upbeat pop and mournful/folky stuff on their first few EPs:

Nothing's Going to Happen
All My Hollowness to You
Louis the First
Paul's Place
Beauty
Turning Brown and Torn in Two
Shade for Today
The Brain that Wouldn't Die
Crush
Come Inside
And Other Kinds
Farewell

The Long and Short of It, Fork Songs, and the 3EPs collection are all great, too. Fork Songs is far and away their best LP, almost as good, song-for-song, as their first 12". Weeville and Stumpy are probably their least accessible records. I'd say start with Hello Cruel World (comp of early tracks) or Fork Songs.

:-( :-(

'Musician Chris Knox suffers stroke'

noooooo

hope he gets better soon!!

That's terrible news. Get well soon Chris.

"In 1984, Knox suspended his solitary basement tinkering and re-recorded his classic song “Nothing’s Going to Happen” with a seventeen-piece ensemble of guitars, strings, and winds, paying homage to grandiose Motown and Phil Spector orchestrations"

http://www.therestisnoise.com/2008/04/nothings-going-to-happen-the-story-of-new-zealand-rock.html

Does anyone have this? The 30 sec. clip on the page is fucking amazing.

that would be 'nothing's going to stop it', which is on the cd 'the short and sick of it'. i may have it to hand..

pssst

lol i am an idiot, that's the wrong one. oh well, enjoy that in the meantime.

I'll take it anyway. Thanks ;-)

What Tall Dwarfs album do I start with?

the hello cruel world LP is a great comp, and way less expensive than buying the constituent 12"s -- tons and tons of just AWESOME songs, though. you cant really go wrong.

I vote Weeville, far and away my favorite, then hello cruel world.

How is Chris Knox doing now anyone?

Huge fan of Hello Cruel World, it is an all time favorite.

69 otm. hello cruel world is the perfect intro. most of their best stuff appeared on those early EPs, imo*. of their LPs, i prefer fork songs to weeville, as i think the songs are more catchy and moving, but they're both good.

* weeville, their first full-length "proper album" came out some nine years after their first EP (!) and was actually their 8th 12" format release. then again, 85's the short and long of it and 86's throw a sickie sit somewhere on the borderline between album and EP, so it's hard to say.

lol, that appears to be basically the same thing i said 3 years ago, except that i was less kind to weeville last time around

How is Chris Knox doing now anyone?

i don't know. there's a blog about his post-stroke progress on his website, but it hasn't been updated in a year and ends on a rather discouraging note.

googled for news once and discovered there was some mini-controversy about a NZ politician dating his wife, didn't see anything else

Cosign on Hello Cruel World.

Um last I heard (two-three months ago?) re: Chris (IIRC from a family friend, NZ music industry is tiny) was that his condition was stable but not really improving which has frustrated him, he's been focusing on art, and his partner was seeing somebody else (possibly not a politician but someone who works for Labour) but still involved with his care. Take this with a grain of salt obv.

Hello Cruel World, Fork Songs, Weeville are all great.

last one Sky Above Mud Below was also excellent imo.

^Agreed, need to listen to that one again.

Stumpy = grower.

"In 1984, Knox suspended his solitary basement tinkering and re-recorded his classic song “Nothing’s Going to Happen” with a seventeen-piece ensemble of guitars, strings, and winds, paying homage to grandiose Motown and Phil Spector orchestrations"

http://www.therestisnoise.com/2008/04/nothings-going-to-happen-the-story-of-new-zealand-rock.html

Does anyone have this? The 30 sec. clip on the page is fucking amazing.

― Spikey, Monday, August 9, 2010 11:33 AM (1 year ago)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VSrCZOCxfbI
(if that works)

I wish that CD (Short & Sick Of It) was not totally oop and insanely expensive, I stupidly traded it in years ago.

yeah, i sold all my tall dwarfs vinyl ages back, during a period of near homelessness. regret it to death, cuz that shit can't be had for love or money these days. unless, i dunno, you've got a lot of love and money.

dear record store day: this is what you should be reissuing

haha no shit

yeah, and issue it on days other than record store day, in an non-exclusive way

that's the world i want to live in.

alec b has been posting clips of his new thing 'paste the sky' on his youtube page. also clips from the second gordons album, well one.

Wait, the subject of one of the greatest love songs ever, "Not Given Lightly", is off with s someone else??

If anyone does get the Short & Sick Of It CD rip, unless the ripper was diligent in fixing indexing problems, "Get Outta The Garage" is split in half. The second half is on the following track, which is slightly unfortunate as this track is straight up proto Slanted & Enchanted.

I have a copy, thanks for the tip, I'll fix that.

Evan - send me ILXmail.

that youtube etc posted is fantastic

Wow, I hadn't checked the index marks before but this has to be one of the worst I've ever seen - I fixed 7 tracks with back indexes! Most were minor but still, I HATE it when the last beat from the previous track slips to the next one. If anyone wants to benefit from my hard work, send me ILXmail.

I guess I already am, thanks again!!

"slanted and enchanted, lol"

www.youtube.com/watch?v=wvxuOxgQxl0

"slanted and enchanted, lol"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wvxuOxgQxl0

^ i'm trying, i'm trying, i'm trying, i'm trying

sent you a mail, gerald

Enjoy a new collection of Tall Dwarfs rarities and things why doncha

https://thokeitapes.bandcamp.com/album/tall-dwarfs-bovril

How is Chris Knox doing?

pretty good marc bolan impersonation on first song which highlights something obvious about his vocal style that i hadn't realised before

https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=466344074196996

!!
(performing "All My Hollowness To You" at the local library w/Stefan Neville/Pumice)

So what's the state of Chris Knox? Can't quite tell from that clip aside from his clenched right hand.

I visited him at him home last time I was in NZ -- at least five years ago, possibly/probably more than that. He was clawing his way up from aphasia -- he could complete somebody else's sentence / phrase but couldn't initiate speech. His receptive language seemed unimpaired. It was clear that he was still the same old Chris I'd first met in 1995, but the pathway to communication was still difficult. He was painting a lot; he was quick to fatigue, it was clear that trying to communicate was itself exhausting.

Incredible to see him with his hand still on the faithful Omnichord

“Hospital Waltz” from that Bovril collection upthread is really lovely.

On Bandcamp! Like, everything?

https://talldwarfs.bandcamp.com/

Plus a new compilation out at the end of August.

https://talldwarfs.bandcamp.com/album/unravelled-1981-2002

nice!

that's great — no one like tall dwarfs

Nuh uh, I do!

this is long overdue

xp haha! *there's* no one like tall dwarfs

About time, eh. It's been lovely seeing people pop up and talk about favourites / deep cuts - what a catalogue!

The entire Tall Dwarfs catalogue is now on Bandcamp! https://t.co/qfyc9ClaPa An extraordinarily original band. If you don't know 'em, maybe start with "Life Is Strange" from Fork Songs and "Dog" from Dogma.

— Douglas Wolk (@douglaswolk) June 9, 2022

This is fantastic news! I recommend everyone go and play their epic 19+ minute song Up from the album Stumpy immediately. It is the proverbial business and amongst the best things they ever recorded. A monster. https://t.co/o0b28nd1Gy

— Alan Holt (@____ALAN) June 9, 2022

(also reminded me of Centre Negative's Emotion Is Cringey, the most heavily Tall Dwarfs-indebted Kiwi release in semi-recent memory, and not just because there's a Chris Knox cover on it: https://centrenegative.bandcamp.com/album/emotion-is-cringey )

https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/music101/audio/2018846312/alec-bathgate-on-tall-dwarfs-announce-unravelled-1981-2002-box-set

~24min interview with Alec Bathgate on Radio New Zealand

Roxor, a new official video playlist.

http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL94Uiag3FtUcaq79LfzRl8IP8MBgywAMN