search "Nothing's Going to Happen", original and 'wall of dwarfs' versions.
― Mr. Diamond (diamond), Monday, 17 February 2003 04:07 (twenty-one years ago) link
― keith (keithmcl), Monday, 17 February 2003 05:02 (twenty-one years ago) link
― Chris Barrus (xibalba), Monday, 17 February 2003 06:19 (twenty-one years ago) link
Plus the title of Yo La Tengo's _Painful_ comes from "Phil's Disease," or more specifically from Chris's insane animated video for it.
― Douglas (Douglas), Monday, 17 February 2003 06:28 (twenty-one years ago) link
― di smith (lucylurex), Monday, 17 February 2003 07:23 (twenty-one years ago) link
― di smith (lucylurex), Monday, 17 February 2003 07:24 (twenty-one years ago) link
(to tell the truth, I prefer Wendyhouse at this sorta schtick)
― Ess Kay (esskay), Monday, 17 February 2003 20:39 (twenty-one years ago) link
ps : di or doug or someone, what would be on yr hypothetical 1-cd Tall Dwarfs best-of?
― etc, Wednesday, 22 October 2003 11:57 (twenty years ago) link
Did anybody hear the Tall Dwarfs album after the Flavors Of Glue one? I heard they've started pro-toolin'!
― Anthony Miccio (Anthony Miccio), Wednesday, 22 October 2003 21:04 (twenty years ago) link
How many covers of "The Brain That Wouldn't Die" exist? Also, Toy Love's Cuts has been reissued/remastered/&c.
― etc, Monday, 25 April 2005 23:25 (eighteen years ago) link
― Tim Ellison (Tim Ellison), Monday, 25 April 2005 23:29 (eighteen years ago) link
― shine headlights on me (electricsound), Monday, 25 April 2005 23:42 (eighteen years ago) link
lil chief is the best label in new zealand.
― keith m (keithmcl), Monday, 25 April 2005 23:43 (eighteen years ago) link
One thing I noticed about I.M.'s 1981 box set is that the Clean and Tall Dwarfs almost don't fit in. Their early-80s stuff sounds absolutely timeless - it could have been released in 1967 or last week.
― mike a, Tuesday, 26 April 2005 01:06 (eighteen years ago) link
keith - nah, just TIVV. I'll give Lil' Chief props when they get around to releasing the Bressa Creeting Cake demos.
It was really sweet how Chris Knox's cover on Under The Influence was of something off Gold Lamé, eh?
― etc, Tuesday, 26 April 2005 01:44 (eighteen years ago) link
Tall Dwarfs are totally CLASSICKE yesss. Thanks for hipping me to Lil Chief, too you guys -- I have a friend in NZ now I'll ask her to look for some of this stuff for me.
― Michael J McGonigal (mike mcgonigal), Tuesday, 26 April 2005 02:24 (eighteen years ago) link
― etc, Tuesday, 26 April 2005 02:27 (eighteen years ago) link
― di, Tuesday, 26 April 2005 07:01 (eighteen years ago) link
I'll let this "opening" issue steam off the top of my head for the time being (yeah yeah, I know, I may not like OTC nearly as much, but they probably invited the Dwarfs over, OTC are more popular, and OTC should be given kudos for using that to get the Chris and Alec over the Pacific indeed..), but in the meantime...
MORE ABOUT TALL DWARFS SHOWS IN THE STATES PLEASE (OTC OR NOT)!
You guys just don't understand how long I've been waiting to see Tall Dwarfs live.
― donut debonair (donut), Friday, 3 June 2005 18:51 (eighteen years ago) link
Tall DwarfsAll USA shows are with Olivia Tremor Control except as noted: JULY
Fri 29th - Chicago, Subterranean
AUGUST
Tue 2nd - New York, Bowery Ballroom
Wed 3rd - New York, Bowery Ballroom
Thu 4th - Chapel Hill, NC (Tall Dwarfs only)
Sat 6th - Athens GA, 40 Watt
― donut debonair (donut), Friday, 3 June 2005 19:37 (eighteen years ago) link
― Ned Raggett (Ned), Friday, 3 June 2005 19:39 (eighteen years ago) link
― donut debonair (donut), Friday, 3 June 2005 20:05 (eighteen years ago) link
― Ned Raggett (Ned), Friday, 3 June 2005 20:31 (eighteen years ago) link
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".
― etc, Wednesday, 15 June 2005 04:02 (eighteen years ago) link
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!
― donut e-goo (donut), Wednesday, 15 June 2005 04:31 (eighteen years ago) link
-- 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.
― Sasha (sgh), Wednesday, 15 June 2005 05:27 (eighteen years ago) link
― Hillary Brown (Hillary Brown), Wednesday, 15 June 2005 12:17 (eighteen years ago) link
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 weekLosin solitaire, losin my physiqueNo job, no pay, no way to make ends meetWindowshoppin as girls go down the streetHere I am, sittin hereDrinking coffee and dreamin beerReadin NME, listenin to the JamDyin for a crap, stuck right where I amFantasising a life of rockstar easeSo I guess I better learn some JapaneseHod'd the hell they get us on our kneesAs we sit on our Conrays, scratchin' our fleasFantasising a life of rockstar ease, oh yeahDisco is the modern rock n rollMultimillions dancing in the streetsGot no place to hang my tired brainAnd all TV shows me is John Travolta's feetLyin on our backs, listening to the newsLooking at the dust on our rave reviewsWe don't care if the whole damn world explodesIt'll keep the drunken drivers off the roadsSomething's gone in my prefrontal lobesCos everyone's speaking trendy secret codesAnd we don't care if the whole damn world explodesDoctor Rock please blow my mind awayI won't miss it for a moment manLock the door and set this house on fireAnd I'll club my head to bits cos I'm a fanNo, no, no I'm not bored, I'm deadDead bored, deadI'm not bored."
― etc, Thursday, 16 June 2005 03:04 (eighteen years ago) link
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.)
― donut e- (donut), Wednesday, 6 July 2005 17:31 (eighteen years ago) link
― donut e- (donut), Wednesday, 6 July 2005 17:34 (eighteen years ago) link
― ken taylrr (ken taylrr), Wednesday, 10 August 2005 15:05 (eighteen years ago) link
(To his credit, his band +Live+ did invite the Thinking Fellers to tour with them in 1995.. for what reasons, no one still knows.)
― donut ferry (donut), Wednesday, 10 August 2005 15:57 (eighteen years ago) link
― donut ferry (donut), Wednesday, 10 August 2005 15:58 (eighteen years ago) link
― ken taylrr (ken taylrr), Wednesday, 10 August 2005 16:07 (eighteen years ago) link
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.
― gygax! (gygax!), Wednesday, 10 August 2005 16:10 (eighteen years ago) link
― ken taylrr (ken taylrr), Wednesday, 10 August 2005 16:44 (eighteen years ago) link
― richard wood johnson (rwj), Monday, 11 September 2006 01:38 (seventeen years ago) link
― sleeve version 2.0 (sleeve testing), Monday, 11 September 2006 01:45 (seventeen years ago) link
― Squirrel_Police (Squirrel_Police), Monday, 11 September 2006 01:49 (seventeen years ago) link
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.
― Mackro Mackro, Thursday, 24 July 2008 19:09 (fifteen years ago) link
Yeah, my girl flipped out when she heard this on the tv.
― forksclovetofu, Thursday, 24 July 2008 19:10 (fifteen years ago) link
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.
― contenderizer, Thursday, 24 July 2008 20:45 (fifteen years ago) link
:-( :-(
'Musician Chris Knox suffers stroke'
― Ned Raggett, Saturday, 13 June 2009 05:13 (fourteen years ago) link
noooooo
hope he gets better soon!!
― comedy cafe at the toxteth hotel (electricsound), Saturday, 13 June 2009 05:27 (fourteen years ago) link
That's terrible news. Get well soon Chris.
― badg, Saturday, 13 June 2009 05:53 (fourteen years ago) link
"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, 9 August 2010 11:33 (thirteen years ago) link
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..
― pulsing organs (electricsound), Monday, 9 August 2010 11:40 (thirteen years ago) link
pssst
― pulsing organs (electricsound), Monday, 9 August 2010 12:20 (thirteen years ago) link
lol i am an idiot, that's the wrong one. oh well, enjoy that in the meantime.
― pulsing organs (electricsound), Monday, 9 August 2010 13:38 (thirteen years ago) link
I'll take it anyway. Thanks ;-)
― Spikey, Tuesday, 10 August 2010 02:31 (thirteen years ago) link
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
― yuppie bullshit chocolate blogbait (contenderizer), Friday, 20 April 2012 19:20 (eleven years ago) link
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.
― yuppie bullshit chocolate blogbait (contenderizer), Friday, 20 April 2012 19:24 (eleven years ago) link
googled for news once and discovered there was some mini-controversy about a NZ politician dating his wife, didn't see anything else
― da croupier, Friday, 20 April 2012 20:12 (eleven years ago) link
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.
― etc, Friday, 20 April 2012 20:38 (eleven years ago) link
Hello Cruel World, Fork Songs, Weeville are all great.
last one Sky Above Mud Below was also excellent imo.
― Flat Of NAGLs (sleeve), Friday, 20 April 2012 20:41 (eleven years ago) link
^Agreed, need to listen to that one again.
― Trip Maker, Friday, 20 April 2012 20:49 (eleven years ago) link
Stumpy = grower.
― nerve_pylon, Friday, 20 April 2012 20:59 (eleven years ago) link
― Spikey, Monday, August 9, 2010 11:33 AM (1 year ago)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VSrCZOCxfbI(if that works)
― etc, Friday, 20 April 2012 21:02 (eleven years ago) link
I wish that CD (Short & Sick Of It) was not totally oop and insanely expensive, I stupidly traded it in years ago.
― Flat Of NAGLs (sleeve), Saturday, 21 April 2012 00:06 (eleven years ago) link
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
― yuppie bullshit chocolate blogbait (contenderizer), Saturday, 21 April 2012 00:09 (eleven years ago) link
haha no shit
― Flat Of NAGLs (sleeve), Saturday, 21 April 2012 00:13 (eleven years ago) link
yeah, and issue it on days other than record store day, in an non-exclusive way
― Trip Maker, Saturday, 21 April 2012 00:19 (eleven years ago) link
that's the world i want to live in.
― nerve_pylon, Saturday, 21 April 2012 00:23 (eleven years ago) link
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.
― keythhtyek, Saturday, 21 April 2012 14:49 (eleven years ago) link
Wait, the subject of one of the greatest love songs ever, "Not Given Lightly", is off with s someone else??
― Gerald McBoing-Boing, Saturday, 21 April 2012 23:12 (eleven years ago) link
Chris played on a song for a gig on record day at Real groovy in AKL with the band Rackets only yesterday. I saw him on tele the night before talking with Alec Bathgate about the Toy Love live record and he was able to kind of talk - say yes and no, with the odd other word etc... he seems better than when I saw him last. He also seemed strikingly enthusiastic about things in classic Chris Knox style.
― Hinklepicker, Sunday, 22 April 2012 00:40 (eleven years ago) link
Aw, that's good news!
― Friends of Mr Caeiro (NickB), Sunday, 22 April 2012 09:43 (eleven years ago) link
Saw Tall Dwarfs open up for the Wrens in 2005 and at the time did not realize what greatness I was witnessing.
― Evan, Sunday, 22 April 2012 14:55 (eleven years ago) link
is his tv show New Artland up anywhere online? I caught a few episodes when I was in NZ. iirc he just got people to do weird shit for art, like blast helicopter noises into a train station. and there was a nice sweet one, where he got an apartment complex to hold a block party where the tenants all got to know each other and they all played videos of themselves talking about their lives. it was nice.
― CharlieS, Sunday, 22 April 2012 17:18 (eleven years ago) link
Chris played on a song for a gig on record day at Real groovy in AKL with the band Rackets only yesterday.
― Hinklepicker, Sunday, April 22, 2012 12:40 AM (16 hours ago)
& now it's on YouTube!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u81_kLOQzGc
― etc, Sunday, 22 April 2012 17:39 (eleven years ago) link
Anyone have a zip of "That's The Short And The Long Of It"?
― Evan, Wednesday, 25 April 2012 00:16 (eleven years ago) link
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.
― ma ck ro ma ck ro (mackro mackro), Wednesday, 25 April 2012 00:19 (eleven years ago) link
I have a copy, thanks for the tip, I'll fix that.
Evan - send me ILXmail.
― Gerald McBoing-Boing, Wednesday, 25 April 2012 02:23 (eleven years ago) link
that youtube etc posted is fantastic
― flopson, Wednesday, 25 April 2012 02:28 (eleven years ago) link
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.
― Gerald McBoing-Boing, Wednesday, 25 April 2012 15:53 (eleven years ago) link
I guess I already am, thanks again!!
― Evan, Wednesday, 25 April 2012 16:33 (eleven years ago) link
"slanted and enchanted, lol"
www.youtube.com/watch?v=wvxuOxgQxl0
― ma ck ro ma ck ro (mackro mackro), Thursday, 26 April 2012 05:35 (eleven years ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wvxuOxgQxl0
^ i'm trying, i'm trying, i'm trying, i'm trying
― THE KITTEN TYPE (contenderizer), Thursday, 26 April 2012 06:11 (eleven years ago) link
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
― Ned Raggett, Tuesday, 23 January 2018 22:02 (six years ago) link
How is Chris Knox doing?
― Josh in Chicago, Wednesday, 24 January 2018 00:55 (six years ago) link
pretty good marc bolan impersonation on first song which highlights something obvious about his vocal style that i hadn't realised before
― clouds (peanutbuttereverysingleday), Wednesday, 24 January 2018 01:49 (six years ago) link
https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=466344074196996
!!(performing "All My Hollowness To You" at the local library w/Stefan Neville/Pumice)
― etc, Sunday, 28 July 2019 10:07 (four years ago) link
So what's the state of Chris Knox? Can't quite tell from that clip aside from his clenched right hand.
― Gerald McBoing-Boing, Sunday, 28 July 2019 20:38 (four years ago) link
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
― she carries a torch. two torches, actually (Joan Crawford Loves Chachi), Sunday, 28 July 2019 21:32 (four years ago) link
“Hospital Waltz” from that Bovril collection upthread is really lovely.
― JoeStork, Tuesday, 22 February 2022 18:55 (two years ago) link
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
― Ned Raggett, Wednesday, 8 June 2022 15:16 (one year ago) link
nice!
― thinkmanship (sleeve), Wednesday, 8 June 2022 15:21 (one year ago) link
that's great — no one like tall dwarfs
― tylerw, Wednesday, 8 June 2022 16:31 (one year ago) link
Nuh uh, I do!
― Evan, Wednesday, 8 June 2022 16:40 (one year ago) link
this is long overdue
― nobody like my rap (One Eye Open), Wednesday, 8 June 2022 16:42 (one year ago) link
xp haha! *there's* no one like tall dwarfs
― tylerw, Wednesday, 8 June 2022 16:43 (one year ago) link
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 )
― etc, Thursday, 9 June 2022 08:21 (one year ago) link
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
― etc, Monday, 20 June 2022 00:52 (one year ago) link
Roxor, a new official video playlist.
http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL94Uiag3FtUcaq79LfzRl8IP8MBgywAMN
― Ned Raggett, Monday, 25 July 2022 15:40 (one year ago) link