In Praise Of...Shriekback's "Oil and Gold"

Can I just -

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6bMM61Y5CEU

You have no idea how much I love this song and video. Both rule so damn hard.

I think those of us on this thread may have some idea

:)

You've heard the whole album, right? "Fish Below The Ice", "This Big Hush", "The Only Thing That Shines", "Faded Flowers", "Malaria" and "Everything That Rises Must Converge" are all as good as "Nemesis" (a few of them are BETTER :-0)

djp dropping the truth bomb.

Dan I feel like we've had this conversation before and I listened to some but not all. I will change that and report back.

well I just sent you all the tracks on the album via Spotify so

http://open.spotify.com/album/3iwEAHs9FeqHAivVxxfrf0 btw

YAY!!!!!

omg

I still have no idea how to use spotify properly. Not that I've really tried but . . . OK, brb.

My first thought is that there may be a little too much slap bass for my liking in some of the other songs. I will push on.

Or maybe that's not what it is but there's something. Hmmm.

wait until you hit "This Big Hush"

These guys are allowed to use slap bass. There was a meeting about it.

CONVERGE CONVERGE CONVERGE

Hmmmm.

The Only Thing That Shines is very nice.

The Only Thing That Shines is PRIMO languishing in one's bed music.

while killing yrself

x-post - lol totally

It's pretty good at my desk on a dreary post-vacation day music too tbh.

Yeah it's been Shriekback weather in NYC.

Listening to this last night, I noticed how that "call in the airstrike" line sticks out (in a neat way) because everything up to that point is primitive priests/cannibals/elixirs/etc., and then--airstrike!.

I was deep into the "Swamp Thing" comic at the time "Oil & Gold" came out and "Nemesis" seemed to fit right into the priests/cannibals/Heaven/Hell vibe of the storyline.

Some of these were pretty good but I'm sticking to my guns and to "Nemesis" for that matter.

TY for sending those, Dan!

no one ever said to give up "Nemesis"! that would be crazy talk

I just mean as my favorite. :)

I am totally team "This Big Hush"/"The Only Thing That Shines"

although at one point or another every song on here has been my favorite

loved it then, love it now, but it was hard trying to explain to 30 y/o coworker that nemesis was/is "danceable." :(

although at one point or another every song on here has been my favorite

Co-sign. One of those mixes of "Fish Below The Ice" rivals "Nemesis" for my favorite these days.

was just gonna come back and give some love to Fish Below The Ice, that 12" is fantastic and the album version is pleasingly different.

This is totally one of those albums that I'm going to re-buy because I am crazy for ever getting rid of it in the first place. And if they do a deluxe of Big Night Music, I'm a get that too!

One of my all-time favorite albums. Life without it is unthinkable.

I LOVE YOU BEST BUT IT'S ALL A MESS

lyrics sites are suggesting it's "when it's all a mess" but I had this album on tape and had to go w/what I heard

gotta admit i slept on this @ the time of release but once again...ty ilm :)

Ok, so I just did some quick A/Bing of the new deluxe version of "Oil And Gold" with the original, as well as the bonus tracks. My conclusions:

- The new version of the album is a bit 'hotter', i.e. compressed and loud, but otherwise sounds good. Nothing revelatory, mind you.
- Of the bonus tracks, the only rare item is "Fish Below The Ice (Dance mix)" which has never been on CD before. The extended version of "Nemesis", the one with the "Apocalypse Now" sample, was on a Richard Blade compilation and the live tracks were on a fanclub CDR so they're nice to have here. All the other O&G-era tracks have been on Shriekback compilations.
- Why did they include "Lined Up" and "My Spine"? And "Lined Up" is CLEARLY from vinyl! Wtf?!

All in all, a nice expansion of the album, but nothing that should make you run out and upgrade your copy.

any advise in sleevenotes re jam science reissue ?

cos that would be the one for me ..

Why did they include "Lined Up"

'Cos it rules so hard! Dave Allen absolutely on fire here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y-R4XKuI7rA&feature=related

No argument there but it's not from the "Oil & Gold" period!

guess its being included on this reissue as the track was dropped onto an extra 12" with the 12" of 'below the ice' (oh the days when labels gave away free 7"/12" singles - the double pack !) that came out during O&G campaign.
embossed cover as well - hold the cover at an angle, and you can see some secret fish

http://www.discogs.com/Shriekback-Fish-Below-The-Ice/release/535819

The backing vocals/shrieks on Nemesis are possessed. Redonk. Incredible song.

I really liked Big Night Music too -- no big reissue of that yet eh?

BNM : a perfect album.
i love it.
very different to the earlier material, yet still, very much in line with the shriekback story.
would like to think if there is a reissue, then this could be a digitally sourced remaster/reissue.

They never really put a foot wrong until go bang and even then they made up for it in short order with the v underrated Sacred City

There is nothing I love more than the shriek vibe

They never really put a foot wrong until go bang

this. otm.

The extended version of "Nemesis", the one with the "Apocalypse Now" sample,

This makes so much sense that they would sample this, since Oil & Gold pretty much feels like sailing up the river to find Col. Kurtz.

Good essay on "Nemesis" here:

http://marchvladness.com/#/round2-siouxsievsshriekback/

Huh, thanks for the link, that was an interesting read.

that was unexpectedly excellent! also i can confirm that in minnesota too, c.1985, i never heard the term 'goth' and 'batcaver' was the closest equivalent i heard at the time

"Death rock" was what I heard in Massachusetts, but with "goth" spreading around 1986.

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PREHISTORIC ANIMALS