Pere Ubu: Classic Or Dud

<3 and everything, but yeah that's not ever going to work, is it?

He's said that he already has his replacement identified...

haha, really? does his replacement know? is it ME?

Pretty sure the replacement is Steve Mehlman the drummer for Ubu & RFTTT, at least that seems to be what was hinted it at.

This is all very strange and very Ubu and I'll be very sad if he is dead

ha, i actually didn't even consider that he might be really dead ... thought this was just one of his weird pranks

I didn't either and now I'm worried

At first I was like, huh funny, but the more I thought about it, the more I thought maybe he was really dead.

Who knows! I've really loved like every record he's ever made basically, I'll be gutted.

There is a spring European tour scheduled with tom herman in the lineup and a career retrospective set list. Assuming dt is still with us that sounds like it will be amazing. NB I do not live in Europe :(

he also just played last week in london ...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SDdrJAu_xfM

Yeah the Herman tour! I was just day dreaming those dates the other day...

Was just listening to "Bay City" his solo record with the Foreigners from the 90s.

Dead or alive I legit love this weirdo and his amazing voice.

amen

Enjoying "Carnival Of Souls" this evening. Any word from the world of Ubu regarding their next project?

They are getting ready to tour the US and they got some vinyl box sets of the original albums coming out was the two communiques I remember seeing from Ubu Central.

The North American Coed Jail! tour of a concert set featuring songs from 1975 to 1982 is scheduled for June 16 to July 2. Dates are announced.
• 'Pere Ubu, The Scrapbook 1975-1982' is a 158-page, A4-sized book produced by Communex. It will be on sale at the merch table at Coed Jail! concerts.

I'd be interested to know what the contents of the book are.
Would also really love somebody discovering some early footage of the band that's been sitting in the back of a cupboard for 30 years. I think the earliest stuff in circulation is that Urgh A Music War version of Birdies.
Hope somebody can come forward and tell me I'm wrong though.

Tripod Jimmie's "Unclaimed Freight", a CD of outtakes and leftovers, is kicking my ass tonight.

Where does one get that and did the studio albums come out on CDs?

I got it cheaply from Amazon. The studio albums have only been given a digital reissue from the Ubu store.

I have one Tripod Jimmy cd I picked up in the 90s. Got it without cover. & not seen it in a while.

A long walk off a short pier was the cd title . I thought I remembered the word pier being in it.
& the spelling is jimmIE which I couldn't see from the writing opage my phone takes me to. Looks like there was a Tripod JimmY too

To be honest, I''m still trying to understand them. I came up with a good best-of, I think, caveats included.

good list, over tokyo

great list although I think Dub Housing is their best and most accessible 'classic' album

you figure the classic period runs up through song of the bailing man in '82? whatever the case, it'll always be the modern dance afacic. and that only cuz the datapanik collection was originally incomplete (& not properly an album besides).

I do, yeah.

I'd say Cloudland is their most accessible, by some distance.

do correct "30 seconds over tokyo" tho

I think David Thomas refers to 78-82 as the classic era, 88-93 as the Fontana or major label era and 94-present as the modern era. And stylistically they work well when compiled as such.

Album peaks after modern dance and dub housing are, for me, the tenement year, cloudland, st Arkansas, and Thomas' monster walks the winter lake

New Picnic Time is still pretty great. Getting abstract and arty but not as much as the Mayo Thompson era that follows it.

Found some of my live sets since I mentioned losing them. Wish there was more available.
& really wish there was video before Birdies on Urgh A Music War. Would have been great if the early arty scene in Cleveland included film makers. Would love mid 70s footage of all the bands on that scene.

the tenement year, cloudland, st Arkansas, and Thomas' monster walks the winter lake

love the former two, guess i need to track down the latter

Wasn't there a These or Recommended box of the Thomas solo mid 80s stuff? Think I saw it in listings.
Had interesting sidemen like Richard Thompson and Chris Cutler on too didn't it. The latter's in late 80s PU too.

Yes, the "Monster" box: https://www.discogs.com/David-Thomas-Monster/master/425902

I find it very inconsistent but the high points (as discussed upthread) are terrific.

Monster is well worth having for More Places Forever, Monster Walks..., Blame the Messenger, and the bonus Pale Boys Live disc.

I forgot to list More Places Forever in my peak albums list, if anything it's even better than Monster Walks... Art Bears + Ubu I mean come on!

listening to the datapanik cd box for the first time. someone brought in a copy for trade. does anyone know why there is no laughner solo stuff on the terminal drive disc of ubu-related stuff?

not sure about the specifics for that box, but laughner material is in all kinds of weird legal limbo — there's been an archival reissue project in the works for almost a decade that's been postponed over and over.

just seemed like a pretty glaring omission.

they do have a Friction track on there that is on the take the guitar player for a ride collection.

it's a great box though. filled with essentialness that is essential. every home should have one. in the basement next to the batteries and flashlights and jugs of water.

THere wasa great cd compilation I bought called Take The Guitar Player For A ride, but i think it was OOP when I last bought it.

Is there a book on the Cleveland scene yet beyond the section of From The Velvets TO The Voidoids?

Was 'Those Were Different Times' a book or a magazine article?

the guitar player comp is out of print which is why you should grab it if you see a cd or vinyl version in a store.

and it is likewise essential, but it always bums me out when some vital piece of history has to be left off of a project like the datapanik box for extra-musical reasons. he was a founding father.

Those Were Different Times = fanzine article i think

at least that's where i read it (tho where my copy of said fanzine currently is in my flat i could not tell you)

I wish I still had the datapanik box. I went through hard times when I sold so many things.

I mean I have all those albums 'digitally' but that was such a great roundup.

Grabbed the 2nd version when it was cheap on Amazon. 1st version had been falling apart on me for ages by then.

I've always been intrigued by this weirdness ever since the Comsat Angels first few albums got reissued in the early 2000s. In the liner notes for those reissues, Steve Fellows and Mik Glaisher had nothing but totally glowing things to say about Mr. Thomas and his band. Always kept that in the back of my mind, as anything that was as influential as they claimed Pere Ubu to have been on them was surely significant.

Got a few of the early things —the `75-`77 singles comp, The Modern Dance, and New Picnic Time— and have given them each one go `round so far. The very early stuff is so absurdly out of step with everything else around it, it's actually totally refreshing music. Really dazzling stuff.

At this point, I'm less of a fan of the whole schtick of New Picnic Time; wherein, band creates seemingly just on the edge of freeform madness while Dave rants squeals about over top of it all. But, who knows, a little time may do the trick.

Dub Housing > New Picnic Time. Try that one.

more like >>>>>>>>

Well, if it means anything, I liked the ones I got enough to search out and mail order Dub Housing. We'll see when it gets here.

New PT is still pretty good. It's the next couple of lps I have less time for. Find them too abstract.
I think the Datapanik box is pretty necessary plus Shape Of Things plus The Day The Earth Met Rocket From The Tombs. Plus any live stuff you can find up to about 78, possibly 79.
I do like the reunion stuff from the late 80s too. Not heard much more recent stuff.

Incidentally there's a new memoir by the Electric Eels' Brian McMahon out through Hozac Books. Looks interesting but pricey.