is the associates : 'sulk' all it's cracked up to be ?

*The singles collected on Fourth Drawer Down are proof of this - all fantastic, all totally different, and all taking you somewhere new - places where no-one has ever been willing or able to follow. I also like a lot of the post-Sulk stuff better than Sulk.

TMFTML
http://intonation.blogspot.com

"Refrigeration keeps you YOUNG I'M TOOOOOOOOOOOOOOLD!"

Although it's weaker tracks are worse than anything on Sulk, I think 'Perhaps' also has certain tracks which are better than anything on Sulk - eg cabaret glam emotiveness teetering on the edge of hysterical madness in the amazing 'Thirteen Feelings'....then fighting it's way back from it with the astonishing 'The Stranger In Your Voice' (find it hard to imagine any voice other than MacKenzie's being able to soar through that amazing skirling swirling blast of synthetic/orchestral sound - though I'd like to hear Peter Hammill try!). The instrumental versions of both these tracks on the extended cassette release show just how in-credible the music is.

Any post-Perhaps recommendations?

The only way was down.

Bjork had this to say about Sulk:

My love affair with the Associates started when I was 15. There was only one record ship in Reykjavik taht sold alternative music adn I worked there with some of my mates. We didn't care what was popular in England or America at the time. We just adopted the artists we liked and played them to death. I quite liked Fourth Drawer Down and The Affectionate Punch, but it was Sulk I really got into. I was still looking for my identity as a singer and I really admired the way Billy Mackenzie used and manipulated his voice on that record. He was an incredibly spontaneous and intuitive singer, raw and dangerous. At the same time, he always sounded like he was really plugged into nature and the things surrounding him. I've heard people describe him as a white soul singer, but I've always thought his voice was more pagan and primitive, and for me that's much more rare and interesting. Tehre's hundreds of singers that sound a bit soulful, but there's not that many that sound like they have gypsy roots in them.

I thought "Party Fears Two" was a bit too slikc and over-produced at teh time, but I listened to it again recently and I think t's aged well. The electronics sound classic rather than cliched and Billy's voice really complements Alan Rankine's arrangements. I didn't realise "Gloomy Sunday" wasn't one of their tunes until I got invited to do a benefit concert with JOni Mitchell in California in 1997. I turned up at the rehearsal and couldn't believe it when the orchestra played this really straight jazz version without the outrageous key change in teh middle. I tried protesting they were missing out the best part of the song, then it dawned on me that the Associates version was obviously a cover. I was disappointed because the original isn't half as challenging.

And I now like Bjork a lot more.

ARE YOU SINGLE

This fucking record.

There are days when all I want to listen to is The Associates - and I deny myself the pleasure, just to keep them special.

I think so:

http://devonrecordclub.wordpress.com/2011/06/16/the-associates-sulk-round-10-toms-selection/

as soon as i opened this thread itunes shuffle selected the associates! not something from sulk but still ...

yes it is. such an amazing mix of accessibility and experimentation. some of the deep cuts are so fucking weird

Can I just mention how much I love the drums on this record? Everything about the record is incredibly slick and overloaded (which I love), but then the drums underneath seem like they could fall apart at any time... it's great!

Didn't they fill up the drums with water or something? The whole album sounds warped, in a great way.

In their endless search for found sounds, industrial drums and canisters were rolled down reverberating corridors, sheets of metal were vigorously shaken to create the effect of rolling thunder (witness the introduction to No), hired drums were filled with water (they turned to mush), hired guitars were pissed in (Billy's idea)

From Tom Doyle's sleeve notes for the sulk reissue

Saw a clip of Associates in the Big Gold Dream documentary a couple of years ago and they were the only thing that wowed me. I knew the name of the band and nothing more before then.

Got this album recently and it is great, the demo of "Party Fears Two", called "I never Will" has an amazing vocal that is distinct enough to be a very worthwhile alternate version.