― owen reading, Thursday, 20 January 2005 01:21 (nineteen years ago) link
― cutty (mcutt), Thursday, 20 January 2005 01:26 (nineteen years ago) link
― scott seward (scott seward), Thursday, 20 January 2005 01:34 (nineteen years ago) link
ihttp://www.amazon.com/gp/product/images/B000777J3M/ref=dp_product-image-only_0/104-0006613-9323968?%5Fencoding=UTF8&n=5174
― Magic City (ano ano), Thursday, 20 January 2005 04:49 (nineteen years ago) link
― Magic City (ano ano), Thursday, 20 January 2005 04:51 (nineteen years ago) link
― zach farver, Thursday, 20 January 2005 05:24 (nineteen years ago) link
― owen reading, Friday, 21 January 2005 16:36 (nineteen years ago) link
― Magic City (ano ano), Friday, 21 January 2005 16:53 (nineteen years ago) link
― john clarkson, Friday, 21 January 2005 19:19 (nineteen years ago) link
ping ping goes the shovelpang pang goes the pailthe middle of summerand the furnace will be burningwhen she gets some mail!
Tourist Woman is also greatNot crazy about the production and a little disapointed in some of Tim DeWitt's drumming; he's usually great.
― Magic City (ano ano), Saturday, 5 February 2005 20:30 (nineteen years ago) link
― scott seward (scott seward), Saturday, 5 February 2005 20:34 (nineteen years ago) link
― mia is shit., Saturday, 5 February 2005 21:00 (nineteen years ago) link
― scott seward, Tuesday, 1 May 2007 03:16 (sixteen years ago) link
― mizzell, Tuesday, 8 May 2007 16:17 (sixteen years ago) link
― scott seward, Tuesday, 8 May 2007 16:26 (sixteen years ago) link
― henry s, Tuesday, 8 May 2007 16:49 (sixteen years ago) link
― pretzel walrus, Tuesday, 8 May 2007 16:52 (sixteen years ago) link
― mizzell, Tuesday, 8 May 2007 16:58 (sixteen years ago) link
― pretzel walrus, Tuesday, 8 May 2007 17:01 (sixteen years ago) link
― pretzel walrus, Tuesday, 8 May 2007 17:04 (sixteen years ago) link
so, the single is out there. That's That. sounds pretty good.
― mizzell, Wednesday, 8 August 2007 17:32 (sixteen years ago) link
nice guy
― Shakey Mo Collier, Wednesday, 8 August 2007 17:40 (sixteen years ago) link
great name, too...sounds like a hero of the Wild West...
― henry s, Wednesday, 8 August 2007 17:47 (sixteen years ago) link
the first song (Lionkiller) on the new album is pretty sweet. kinda dark, with a dinky keyboard riff towards the end. has anyone heard the record?
― mizzell, Friday, 31 August 2007 18:14 (sixteen years ago) link
since the last album really lit up ilm, i am proud to announce that a new album, Catacombs, is coming out in June. First single, dreams come true girl, is out there on the internet. I didn't like a lot of Dropping the Writ, but based on the last time I saw him live, I am anticipating this.
― mizzell, Wednesday, 29 April 2009 15:58 (fourteen years ago) link
feel a little bad that i didn't hear the last album and now there's a new one. but i'm a busy guy.
― scott seward, Wednesday, 29 April 2009 16:45 (fourteen years ago) link
the new album,Catacombs, (he probably thought about this title for years..) is very good.in fact, it's probably one of the better records of 2009.References:John Lennon,Robyn Hitchcock,Calvin Joohnson,Nick Drake,Robert Wyatt...
great, minimal production too.
― Zeno, Sunday, 3 May 2009 01:13 (fourteen years ago) link
I've only heard one song by him: "Full Moon or Infinity". A friend put it on a mix for me. I really liked it! Is that song of typical quality for McCombs?
― loaf man (Z S), Sunday, 3 May 2009 01:17 (fourteen years ago) link
i don't know that song.the only record i heard from him is perfection, which is very good, but he changed styles almost totally afterwards.(less 80's more 70's and accesible, in short)
― Zeno, Sunday, 3 May 2009 01:21 (fourteen years ago) link
also sounds kinda like a richard davies solo record. or bill fay, which is a great compliment.
― Zeno, Sunday, 3 May 2009 01:36 (fourteen years ago) link
i like "full moon or infinity" despite it sounding like elliot smith. i've never heard it mentioned as a highlight, and he has better songs. if you like that song i think you will find plenty to like on his albums. i'm not totally convinced by the new one yet. it's too long by about three songs. the first track is really excellent, though.
― mizzell, Sunday, 3 May 2009 01:37 (fourteen years ago) link
if you are looking for something that sounds like richard davies, i recommend aptos by the moore brothers, which is probably my favorite album of 2009.
― mizzell, Sunday, 3 May 2009 01:39 (fourteen years ago) link
"Harmonia" is my JAM right now.
― Dave Depper (Davey D), Sunday, 3 May 2009 07:34 (fourteen years ago) link
New record might be his best.
― litcofsky, Saturday, 16 May 2009 02:22 (fourteen years ago) link
wow I forgot about cass mccombs. I really liked those first two records and then somehow totally forgot about them.
― akm, Saturday, 16 May 2009 02:35 (fourteen years ago) link
dude, she choked on a ham sandwich. preserve what little dignity she has left.
― macaulay culkin's bukkake shocker (bug), Saturday, 16 May 2009 03:53 (fourteen years ago) link
akm, I did the same as you. But this new single brought it all flooding back. Such a beautiful song:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EyeBD4MYRk8
― Barnaby, Hardly, Monday, 13 July 2009 21:05 (fourteen years ago) link
i kinda ignored that song at first cause there are too many slow ones on the album but it is really excellent.
― mizzell, Monday, 13 July 2009 21:26 (fourteen years ago) link
A is still one of my favorite records of the 2000s!
― 69, Monday, 13 July 2009 22:11 (fourteen years ago) link
Just got the new album and listened to it once - "Harmonia" is the track that is really jumping out at me thus far. And "Dream Come True Girl," but that one not in a good way. The rest of the album I need more time with.
― scott pgwp (pgwp), Tuesday, 14 July 2009 20:59 (fourteen years ago) link
i saw him last night with a new band including andy mcleod on drums and the bassist from bishop allen. they were great.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lVo7eueP6wA
― mizzell, Tuesday, 28 July 2009 20:46 (fourteen years ago) link
i'm gonna turn this into a youtube thread now. last summer he played this fun, sun records-ish instrumental, wonder if he recorded it.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5c5wMLspJN8
― mizzell, Tuesday, 28 July 2009 20:47 (fourteen years ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hSZ1QEUwRy8
― mizzell, Tuesday, 28 July 2009 20:51 (fourteen years ago) link
never heard of him until his new one. like it a lot, reminds me of prime go betweens at points.
― Michael B, Tuesday, 28 July 2009 20:52 (fourteen years ago) link
i've gotta get this -- i think he's a super-talented guy, and have loved some individual songs over the years, but from what I've heard, he's yet to make a truly great record. maybe this is it?
― tylerw, Tuesday, 28 July 2009 20:57 (fourteen years ago) link
It is pretty good - turning out to be quite a grower. I wrote about it yesterday.
― scott pgwp (pgwp), Tuesday, 28 July 2009 21:55 (fourteen years ago) link
nice review!
― tylerw, Tuesday, 28 July 2009 22:16 (fourteen years ago) link
i have listened to catacombs and can only conclude that this guy is a low-level sociopath.
― call all destroyer, Wednesday, 23 December 2009 03:22 (fourteen years ago) link
please elaborate
― mizzell, Wednesday, 23 December 2009 04:02 (fourteen years ago) link
karen black!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-5l8lqNakPI
― scott seward, Wednesday, 23 December 2009 04:09 (fourteen years ago) link
Report back with your findings!
― hrep (H.P), Friday, 28 July 2023 09:15 (eight months ago) link
I’m correct in thinking he was the guitar player for some tracks on catacombs right? Remember looking at the liner notes a while ago. If it’s him that plays that solo on harmonia then he’s got all my love.
I don’t think he plays on Catacombs, but o could be wrong. Wikipedia doesn’t list him among the personnel but I don’t have the actual liner notes to refer to.
― sctttnnnt (pgwp), Friday, 28 July 2023 14:08 (eight months ago) link
I think Wit's End is meant to be an experimental album via its uncomprimisingly stubborn compositions. It's a difficult album with a lot of really understated subtle beauty. County Line however is effortlessly beautiful but I do think it fits in just fine with the rest of the album.
― But his face would not turn into hot Kirby (Evan), Friday, 28 July 2023 14:27 (eight months ago) link
uncompromisingly*
Last album seems SUPER slept on by the way?
― But his face would not turn into hot Kirby (Evan), Friday, 28 July 2023 14:28 (eight months ago) link
― sctttnnnt (pgwp), Friday, July 28, 2023 10:08 AM (eighteen minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink
Blake toured with Cass in 2009/10, so right around Catacombs, but according to discogs, the only album he's on is Mangy Love.
― mizzell, Friday, 28 July 2023 14:37 (eight months ago) link
Last album was super slept on. Maybe my favourite of his in the past decade.
I don’t take wits end as anymore understated/subtle/ than catacombs. Though yeah maybe it’s slightly more difficult due to being a more claustrophobic album (the middle two tracks of harmonia and the executioner’s song bring a lot of fresh air to Thats combs which wits end doesn’t really have). Part of why catacombs is my favourite is it’s pacing, it’s such a well layed out journey. I actually think of catacombs as more subtle as it’s doing most of what wits end does (in its creation of a mood), but with more conventional musical forms.
― hrep (H.P), Friday, 28 July 2023 18:59 (eight months ago) link
The executioner’s song also one of my personal favourites this year
― hrep (H.P), Friday, 28 July 2023 19:01 (eight months ago) link
I voted for Heartmind pretty high but unfortunately no-one else on ILM did. "Karaoke" is such a beautiful song. I really love "Estrella" from Tip of The Spheres too which is another totally slept-on album of his. As is Mangy Love from 2016! There's a lot of soul stylings on that one that really work well. It took me a while to come around to Wit's End. Its pretty dark and one-note. I'm in agreement with most here that Catacombs is his classic.
― Saxophone Of Futility (Michael B), Monday, 31 July 2023 14:53 (eight months ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X2FM4zuAlNI
Cass has always been an incredible vocalist, and I knew the bridge of this song was incredibly difficult vocally, but seeing someone else try it really gives some context to how much he kills it.
― H.P, Sunday, 17 December 2023 01:51 (four months ago) link
Perfect song for a harp cover too!
I do think that his vocal melodies really toned down after around Catacombs by and large. His vocal delivery approach narrowed and lots of songs ended up sounding kinda samey as a result.
Windfall is the polar opposite of that problem, as demonstrated there
― Evan, Monday, 18 December 2023 21:50 (four months ago) link
On the other side, windfall has always bordered on the offensively saccharine for me. I still love the song because its really the only saccharine song in his discography, so its worst qualities are balanced out by the rest of the work (I think I'd have no time for this song by anyone else). His wide vocal stage were definitely still there for Wit's End. County Line, Memory Stain (a top 5 Cass melody), buried alive/the lonely doll/hermits cave/pleasant shadow song.... so really everything besides a knock upon the door and saturday's song.
Windfall also has to be one of his only songs with a third section! It's normally always either A or A-B. Amazing how much putting a bridge in a discography without them makes the song sound completely out of character. The more time I spend with Cass's music, the more I grow to love his "one section repeating over and over" songs more
― H.P, Monday, 18 December 2023 23:52 (four months ago) link
A return to a wider vocal range on his new album too. Love the vocal harmonies on Karaoke. The wandering, where the hell is this melody going? vocal lines on Music Is Blue. Every track is interesting vocally, it's the instrumentation and production that I haven't fell in love with on Heartmind (except for Karaoke, a cracker track)
― H.P, Monday, 18 December 2023 23:57 (four months ago) link
enjoy reading your thoughts
I never considered Cass a strong singer, in the sense that his vocals seem a bit fragile or... well, they're very understated... but they work perfectly, live too
can't put a finger on the instrumentation, my favorite from Heartmind is A Blue, Blue Band
― corrs unplugged, Tuesday, 19 December 2023 08:24 (four months ago) link