Microdisney: C/D?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jq_F0SKFHHo

Song puts a big smile on my face.

have = had

btw anyone that decides they are rubbish after listening to one album once is a fool.

Love Your Enemies is on spotify, for anyone who was not aware

crustaceanrebel, do you remember which Microdisney songs were performed in the cabaret act? I would have loved to have seen that

How's the sound quality on the recent reissues? I recall being appalled by the very thin sound on the 1996 remaster of Clock...

have cherry red taken them from the original tapes? their reissues are normally spot on cos they work from the fan's perspective.

Mondays I go clubbing,
Just outside of Leipzig in a pin striped suit,
And a bunch of roses,
Strolling through the vestry being beaten up,
By those English b-boys, Soho tea-boys.
I forgive them all because they are really into what they do.

Love that verse.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VFXheatfJ7E

Video really does it for me for some reason.

Man, I couldn't really get into The Fatima Mansions as much as I would've liked to. "Blues for Ceausescu" is pretty great, though...

al the stuff i posted above was on virgin and its all gold. i wonder if some people would regard it differently if it were released on rough trade, an infinitely cooler label.

fatima mansions did some good stuff, but it's different. and mostly not as good as microdisney, a delberate reaction against the subtle nuances, cathal sick of being ignored, musically far more rudimentary.

Definitely to interesting to see/observe just how different the two creative minds were. It'd be nice if they could hook up again someday.

i love the contrast between cathal and bono. one is just real you believe every word he says, the other is bono.

The new reissues are taken from the master tapes, with the exception of two tracks - "Harmony Time" and "Money For The Trams," for which master tapes could not be found. They sound good, though, and they weren't on the previous CDs. "Everybody Is Fantastic" was meant to have eight Peel session tracks instead of four, but suitable masters could not be found. Sound quality is better than the 1996 ones, for sure. And the liner notes - brief interviews providing the contextual backdrop(s) of the recordings - are good, too. And of course, you get a handful of Peel session tracks that weren't even on the Peel Sessions album.

The Budapest singer was . . . odd. She seemed like she'd probably lived through hard times. Kind of attractive but cold and somewhat feral. I was meeting some friends at a rundown bar, paid no mind to the cabaret standards, until I realized, hey, I know those songs. (Well, half of them maybe.) It took me a while to realize the source. The tunes were pretty different (Brecht / Weill -styled) but entire verses and choruses were identical to Microdisney lyrics. She did some similar stuff in Hungarian, which I can't say anything about. Of course, I was intrigued - there were maybe twenty people in the bar, most of them solitary sad alcoholic kinda guys. I paid my respects during a break. She said she'd been singing these songs every Tuesday (or whatever day it was) for twenty years and shrugged when I asked about their origin. I wish I would have gotten to the bottom of it but she wasn't too friendly and I don't even know that her English was that good. All the songs were from the early period - "We Hate You South African Bastards" and "Everybody Is Fantastic." I remember "Sun" and "Before Famine," but there must have been half a dozen others. There was a weird song in English about the national anthem, but I don't know where that came from. If anyone knows about her, please let me know. It's kind of haunted me!

truly bizarre, but yeah fascinating

"Everybody Is Fantastic" is my favourite, along with the "In The World" EP. Could never really get into "Clock" despite liking the songs, I think because I always find the cheap-sounding keyboard they used on it a bit distracting.

Sad to hear(from a Quietus interview) how badly Cathal was fucked over by record companies in the 90s.

http://thequietus.com/articles/10815-cathal-coughlan-microdisney-fatima-mansions-north-sea-scrolls-interview

Also quite surprised that he and Sean did have a one-off reunion as Microdisney some time back, but it seems like it was just that, a one-off.

shame :(

I know nothing about this band but what a great name

crustaceanrebel, that sounds really creepy and incredible. I'd love to bring that story up to Sean or Cathal.

Dug em! Had a chat with Cathal at WFMU once, in the Fatima Mansions era.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TWMauvNnI5s

That's one of the ones where the Peel version is...different. Check the ending...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gnbbG4Pd-0U

Compared to many bands, a lot of those Peel sessions are different enough that you do need to hear. I'd aver that most are better than the "official" studio versions, though it's all good.

Cathal's spoken outros were brilliant.

https://www.nch.ie/Online/Microdisney-02Jun18?utm_source=fb&utm_medium=fbpost&utm_campaign=Microdisney&utm_content=announce

That's great news.

This might also be of interest: https://soundcloud.com/ucc98-3fm/iron-fist-in-velvet-glove-the-story-of-microdisney

Iron Fist in Velvet Glove – the story of Microdisney
produced by Paul McDermott

Iron Fist in Velvet Glove – the story of Microdisney is a 60 minute radio documentary produced by Paul McDermott for UCC98.3FM and funded through the television licence fee under the BAI’s Sound & Vision scheme.
The documentary details how Cathal Coughlan and Sean O’Hagan met in Cork in 1980 and formed Mircodisney. The duo moved to London in 1983 and released four critically acclaimed albums for Rough Trade and Virgin records before disbanding in 1988. Microdisney’s 1985 album The Clock Comes Down the Stairs topped the UK Indie Charts upon its release and regularly features at the top of “the best Irish album of all time” list

i got a ticket! it sold out pretty fast actually

AHH FUCK why didn't see this two days ago?? I've had Microdisney on my mp3 player all week as well, really feeling them at this time of year.

This is probably never going to happen again, is it.

https://www.barbican.org.uk/whats-on/2018/event/microdisney

I wonder what a new Microdisney album would sound like. Probably a bit mind-blowing?

probably never going to happen

i'm just imagining an extremely well produced album full of very lush string arrangements

and it sounds really weird in my head

According to that documentary mentioned upthread, the unrecorded fifth album would probably have been produced by Don Was! What could've been, eh.

i'm just imagining an extremely well produced album full of very lush string arrangements

and it sounds really weird in my head

― afriendlypioneer, Friday, December 15, 2017 7:20 PM (one hour ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Some as yet unheard middle-ground between the Wilson-esque opulence of the Llamas and the stripped-down starkness of Cathal's solo material? I'm not sure what that would be like, but I do want to hear it.

I love almost all of Cathal's work, and you can't maintain that level of anger without burning yourself up, but I miss the sheer bile and spleen-venting of Fatima Mansions.

Some as yet unheard middle-ground between the Wilson-esque opulence of the Llamas and the stripped-down starkness of Cathal's solo material? I'm not sure what that would be like, but I do want to hear it.

Realized the song "Genius" probably comes close to what I'm imagining.

I find this band fascinating for some reason. They're a little less refined than their peers, their hooks don't always work, and there's a couple duds on every album, but I find myself wearing out each of their albums when I'm in the my Microdisney mood.. I've noticed they have their share of diehard fans who truly believe they were that one in a million band, too. Sure, every band has them, but I've noticed they have a particularly devoted fanbase.

There was a weird song in English about the national anthem

Bit late to reply to this now but "National Anthem" was an early Microdisney track from when they were a five piece post-punk act based in Cork, and called Micro Disney. Funny that these reunion gigs should come up because I'd been reliving my indie kid youth and listening to a lot of Microdisney and Go-Betweens, who were probably my favourite bands of that period but I hadn't listened to either in centuries. I must admit I ended up listening to Microdisney a lot more than the Go-Betweens, for reasons that I should probably post on a Go-Betweens thread. Anyway, yes, a flawed band, all of their albums are compromised by poor choices over production and arrangements - the Peel session versions are pretty much always superior (but then I think the same is true of the Fall). They were brilliant live, as were the Go-Betweens, again probably better than their recordings.

Cathal and Sean performing 'Dolly' in the Barbican Exhibition Halls.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZnudQE0Oi4Q

That's really...pleasant. I like it!

I wouldn't put it past them to show up the night of their reunion show in that format. I'd love it, but would all their loyal fans love it?

Good reports from the NCH show last night. Anyone going to the Barbican next Saturday?

https://amp.irishexaminer.com/breakingnews/lifestyle/culture/review-triumphant-return-for-microdisney-in-dublin-846709.html

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zG2Nsw5OWIY

I'll be there.

I was at the gig last night too. It was excellent. Cathal's voice is in fine fettle. They played the album and then followed it up with the "hits" (and oddball instrumental "Michael Murphy")

I've heard nothing but good things. Chances of a new album?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eKkmNAzgSR0

Man, Cathal's voice hasn't aged at all.

I've heard nothing but good things. Chances of a new album?

― afriendlypioneer, Monday, 4 June 2018 13:49

I've heard O'Hagan and Coughlan are writing some new stuff but it wont be under the Microdisney moniker

That's really exciting.

Obviously I love Sean, but it'll be nice to hear him finally write some more traditional music...if that's what they're doing.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o0jgf1yNirM

Saw them a lot in the 80s, they were friends of friends. Cathal was hilarious. "This song is about authority... cos all the bands hate authority..."

https://www.facebook.com/nationalconcerthall/posts/10156168180795907

Looks like some great footage exists.

Thanks for that.

(specifically Friday at 10 and then iPlayer i guess)

https://www.rte.ie/entertainment/2024/0314/1437812-new-microdisney-film-is-raw-and-tinged-with-sadness/

I loved the doc. Full marks, and I say that as a Microdisney agnostic, so for the believers it must be quite something.

I havent seen it but apparently there's a clip of me and my mate Ray at their Cork gig on the documentary. Anyway to see this for people who don't have BBC in Ireland? Maybe ze torrentz?

I saw most of the doc last night, I was delighted and amazed it existed, I don't think it was any good tho really, which is a general observation about music documentaries

I presume that this was the final show in 2019 and not one of the early ones.

(xp) Agreed. It wasn't very well made but I'm so pleased Cathal and Sean got at least some of the attention they deserved - at long last.

Yeah that

I was out with a friend tonight who also loved this who is also not particularly into Microdisney. Perhaps the less one is into them the more likely it is they'll like it? I thought their story was really fascinating even if it was the usual talking head formula.

I enjoyed it a lot, fairly standard talking heads, cut and paste old footage format. Some great clips, lolled at their appearance on the Tom O’Connor show. Pedant nitpicking, I was mildly annoyed that they were talking about 83-85 era indie but used clips of 77 punk singles to highlight this.

Found a clearly unwell Coughlan talking about his regrets for his behaviour really moving. I hope he found peace before he died.

Enjoyed the documentary as well despite the fairly standard format. If nothing else, the positive feedback might encourage someone to make Microdisney's albums available again. Crooked Mile and 39 Minutes have been out of print for ages and the cheapest used copy of the 2013 re-release of Everybody is Fantastic is going for £75 on Amazon. Even the 2-disc Daunt Square to Elsewhere anthology is now as rare as hen's teeth.

Crazy to think that the only Virgin era CDs are the original 1980s editions. Hopefully someone like Cherry Red or LNTG will look at getting expanded editions done.

Also the complete Peel Sessions, which is the best music they ever recorded.

Agree with that. There were unfinished sketches such as 'Half a Day' on the Peel Sessions which it would be nice to hear again.