after being ilx's resident cass superfan for a good bit, i have to say mangy love never grabbed me (i might not have even listened to it all the way through) and this new single isn't very promising, imo.
I felt the same way about Mangy Love. His first dud, I think. Still, I'll be ordering the deluxe edition of this new one.
Have you heard the newest Skiffle Players LP? I think it came out earlier this month. I haven't gotten a chance to listen to it. The first one was OK in that low-stakes, sort-of-supergroup kinda way.
Can't listen to this new single yet (I'm at work), but looking forward to hearing it tonight.
― Paul Ponzi, Tuesday, 30 October 2018 18:18 (five years ago) link
I'm into the new track. I agree that he seems to have settled into a specific vocal approach and delivery, at least with his solo stuff. I think it started on Catacombs. Although Mangy Love had Medusa's outhouse and Low Flying Bird which are sing almost entirely in his higher register. Mangy Love was worth it for Bum Bum Bum, Medusa's Outhouse and I'm a Shoe which start, end and anchor the middle of the album (not in that order).
The new skiffle is worth a few listens at least. The stand out cass track to me is Oakland Scottish Rite Temple Waltz. At least half the albums vocals are lead by another/other singer. The other cass lead tracks have moments but nothing like his solo material or the first skiffle album.
― Griff_Doge, Tuesday, 30 October 2018 18:30 (five years ago) link
New Skiffle Players is pretty good, though most of the longer songs could stand to be two minutes shorter. "You'll Miss It When It's Gone" sounds exactly like a lost Byrds / Gene Clark tune. A lot of this just had me missing Beachwood Sparks. Do these guys play live?
― Paul Ponzi, Friday, 2 November 2018 13:40 (five years ago) link
Also, is that the cover art for the new Cass album above? because
https://goo.gl/images/m3pg9E
― Paul Ponzi, Friday, 2 November 2018 13:42 (five years ago) link
oops
https://threelobed.bandcamp.com/album/batholith
― Paul Ponzi, Friday, 2 November 2018 13:43 (five years ago) link
I love the first Skiffle Players record! 'Til Stone Day Comes was one of my favorite songs of the year. I don't know why really, it just relaxed me so much and was really nice in the car driving around upstate NY / rural NJ. I actually didn't know there was a new record! Thanks for the heads up.
― Evan, Friday, 2 November 2018 13:56 (five years ago) link
"You'll Miss It When It's Gone" sounds exactly like a lost Byrds / Gene Clark tune.
Just checked this out- love it!
― Evan, Friday, 2 November 2018 14:08 (five years ago) link
I like it too, but it'a little too on the nose imo
― Paul Ponzi, Saturday, 3 November 2018 02:24 (five years ago) link
I thought Wit's End was spectacular and keep expecting him to do something similar but maybe it was always an outlier
― niels, Tuesday, 6 November 2018 19:28 (five years ago) link
niels - same but I do like his whole catalog. I have a hard time picturing him being that emotionally indulgent again.
Also, new things:https://www.stereogum.com/2025732/cass-mccombs-estrella-take-away-show/video/
― Griff_Doge, Thursday, 13 December 2018 19:39 (five years ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5UoZmzighMM
― mizzell, Monday, 28 January 2019 20:55 (five years ago) link
Well, it's here!
https://www.npr.org/2019/01/31/689658416/first-listen-cass-mccombs-tip-of-the-sphere
The write up is good. She really knows her stuff.
Def my favorite album since Big Wheel. Lotsa jamming on this one. Absentee scratches the Wit's End itch in a big way.
― Griff_Doge, Saturday, 2 February 2019 19:30 (five years ago) link
Yep, great so far. Never did connect with Mangy Love but seems like he's back on track
― Paul Ponzi, Saturday, 2 February 2019 20:39 (five years ago) link
I'm liking "estrella"
― . (Michael B), Tuesday, 12 February 2019 23:58 (five years ago) link
count me in the crew who never felt mangy love and is loving this new one. the beginning and ending jams are a blast.
― call all destroyer, Wednesday, 13 March 2019 23:35 (five years ago) link
I adore the single “Wine of Lebanon.” It is like Bel Canto pretty to me.
― rb (soda), Saturday, 20 June 2020 14:28 (three years ago) link
i'm still not into the last two albums (or wine of lebanon) but here is a great show from 2016: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dh_duzOrRZo
― mizzell, Monday, 6 July 2020 15:27 (three years ago) link
saw this pop up on discogs:
https://www.discogs.com/Cass-McCombs-Mere-Demos/release/12670944
a cdr he apparently handed out around 2001 called mere demos. needless to say very interested in hearing it. i can find no other mention of it on the internet. anyone know anything about it?
― Griff_Doge, Wednesday, 2 September 2020 16:26 (three years ago) link
To all the McCombs fans - if you haven't already, be sure you check out the Blake Mills album that was released earlier this year, Mutable Set. Aside from it being my favorite album of the year, Cass McCombs co-wrote a bunch of the songs. He doesn't sing on any of it, but the overall vibe is not far from a McCombs album.
― sctttnnnt (pgwp), Wednesday, 2 September 2020 21:00 (three years ago) link
thx for the tip
― corrs unplugged, Friday, 4 September 2020 08:09 (three years ago) link
Apparently there are many, many albums of demos floating around his friend group. I've kind of back-burnered PREfection and Writ in favour of Catacombs onward but I'm gonna pull those albums out today
― flamboyant goon tie included, Friday, 4 September 2020 14:15 (three years ago) link
I am quite into that 2016 show with some nice jamming upthread. He looks a little like Robert Forster (in the beginning of the thread the Go-Betweens were mentioned...), doesn't he? And his voice reminds me of someone else. Lawrence from Felt, anyone? A little stilted but I like it.
― walking towards the sun since 2007 (alex in mainhattan), Thursday, 10 September 2020 16:24 (three years ago) link
PREfection is a lovely album
― unpaid intern at the darvo institute (Simon H.), Thursday, 10 September 2020 16:36 (three years ago) link
I have this memory that I watched a video of Cass playing Dreams Come True Girl and the organ player goes off on a really really really long solo, like he's trying to push Cass or annoy him or something. Did I imagine this? Am I remembering the wrong song?
― in twelve parts (lamonti), Saturday, 12 September 2020 06:53 (three years ago) link
Yes the blake mills is quite good. You can really hear the cass in the first track. It’s the easiest for me to imagine as a pure cass song. That and the chorus of vanishing twin. My Dear One shares lyrics with a song he played on a pitchfork way back in 2012 called “More or Less”:
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=7Y1cdLW461k
God I’m a dork.
― Griff_Doge, Saturday, 19 September 2020 00:26 (three years ago) link
The new album by Cassandra Jenkins is excellent and really scratches that itch for new music from the other Cass. Check out the song “Crosshairs”.
― Griff_Doge, Friday, 26 February 2021 13:44 (three years ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KXAEULWPzw4
― mizzell, Friday, 29 April 2022 20:08 (one year ago) link
Reminds me quite a bit of "Everywhere" by Fleetwood Mac.
― mig (guess that dreams always end), Saturday, 30 April 2022 04:58 (one year ago) link
It seemed familiar but I couldn’t place it. Will listen again thinking about Everywhere.
― mizzell, Saturday, 30 April 2022 12:31 (one year ago) link
beautiful little tune
― corrs unplugged, Sunday, 1 May 2022 08:55 (one year ago) link
Def hear Everywhere in it.
― mizzell, Sunday, 1 May 2022 11:39 (one year ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7sjQAx22SMA
― mizzell, Friday, 5 August 2022 17:58 (one year ago) link
haha a bit on the nose that, but enjoyable
― corrs unplugged, Monday, 8 August 2022 10:27 (one year ago) link
Yes but neat execution for sure. Nice song!
― Evan, Monday, 8 August 2022 17:06 (one year ago) link
Yeah, feels very unlike him but also...not?Probably my favorite Cass song since 2013.
― mizzell, Monday, 8 August 2022 17:20 (one year ago) link
I started to lose track of his work when too much of his material traded in the vocal melodies in favor of a sort of speak-singing storytelling thing, and when he did this it was with a very similar cadence. I missed the distinct vocal melodies circa Catacombs. He never got bad imo but the shift meant I was paying less attention. Going to keep an eye on this release though.
― Evan, Monday, 8 August 2022 17:39 (one year ago) link
"The Wine of Lebanon" is the best piece of branded content of all timehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gH9qJxTB5oU
― bain4z, Monday, 8 August 2022 19:02 (one year ago) link
new album is great, getting ryley walker vibes
― corrs unplugged, Thursday, 25 August 2022 08:05 (one year ago) link
saw him live, excellent stuff, he really has a great catalog by now
new album very blue, very good
― corrs unplugged, Sunday, 30 October 2022 15:41 (one year ago) link
i think this is a new song? sounds really good. bummed i missed all his recent shows.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J4YDdMtdncM
― mizzell, Thursday, 27 July 2023 17:54 (eight months ago) link
Definitely new. Loved his last album (no respect in the ILM top 77 was criminal!). Catacombs has been getting a lot of spins by me lately too. A timeless classic, desert island pick for me.
― hrep (H.P), Friday, 28 July 2023 01:01 (eight months ago) link
Catacombs is my favorite of his. “Harmonia” is probably my favorite song of his, any album.
― sctttnnnt (pgwp), Friday, 28 July 2023 03:48 (eight months ago) link
Every year it’s gets a few spins and every year I get a new favourite song. My sister my spouse is 2023’s hit for me, though yeah harmonia had that place for a while
― hrep (H.P), Friday, 28 July 2023 03:50 (eight months ago) link
Wits end is what I consider to be his other classic, but falls to catacombs due to not having the variety of style that catacombs does. Reading a lot of the reviews on catacombs where it’s described as a one-note, plodding sort of album which is totally off the mark. Sure the songs can be one-note, but which artists can pull more from one chord progression and one vocal melody than Cass? I love that part of his style, no bells and whistles, no big thrills and changes, no accessories, just a killer story, a killer melody, a killer spirit, a killer tone, killer everything
― hrep (H.P), Friday, 28 July 2023 03:54 (eight months ago) link
Aside from County Line, which is all-time, I really dislike most of Wits End (and I’ve also fallen out of love with his more recent stuff too.)
He collaborated with Blake Mills on Mills’s excellent Mutable Set album and I feel like his influence there is very palpable (even though his voice isn’t); but it’s offset by Mills’ musicianship which is another level.
― sctttnnnt (pgwp), Friday, 28 July 2023 04:12 (eight months ago) link
It’s less a variety of style that wits end lacks, more a variety of tone. It’s all so solipstic, melancholy, blue, existential. Great if you’re in the mood, and the last track on that album is one of my favourite sets of lyrics ever. I’m always partial to lyrics that function as a philosophy of aesthetics, and a knock upon the door still knocks me on my feet with its beauty and smarts
― hrep (H.P), Friday, 28 July 2023 04:18 (eight months ago) link
I’ll check out the mills album, I listened to the first track of his most recent one and his musicianship was distracting to me. 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.
County line is the anomaly of style on that album. A pop hit surrounded by dirges. Classic track though. Definitely give a knock upon the door another chance if you can be in the mood for it, it’s a knock out
― hrep (H.P), Friday, 28 July 2023 04:23 (eight months ago) link
it really is - and it's a very fun song to... knock along to
that live video, what a location! looks greathis bands are always great
last album was very good, "a blue, blue band" and "belong to heaven" personal faves
"tip of the sphere" is also a great album, had that on repeat in 2021
never listened to catacombs for some reason... I will
― corrs unplugged, Friday, 28 July 2023 07:34 (eight months 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