"There are in fact a whole new bunch of punks out there, and we'll be hearing from them (though I can't say I find much demographic significance in Tim Sommer's fierce prediction that 'within weeks' the fans of Heart Attack, a moderately nifty Great Neck hardcore band, will 'far outnumber' the critics supporting Grandmaster Flash and Prince, who got 44 and 30 mentions respectively)." -- Robert Christgau, P&J comments '81
― Michael Daddino (epicharmus), Friday, 12 December 2003 16:52 (twenty years ago) link
― Colin Meeder (Mert), Friday, 12 December 2003 17:04 (twenty years ago) link
― Michael Daddino (epicharmus), Friday, 12 December 2003 17:10 (twenty years ago) link
I actually liked Mimi Goese's record better than either of them, though.
― Johnny Fever (johnny fever), Friday, 12 December 2003 17:18 (twenty years ago) link
bling bling!
Who else did he sign?
― Matt Helgeson (Matt Helgeson), Friday, 12 December 2003 18:18 (twenty years ago) link
― Felcher (Felcher), Friday, 12 December 2003 18:23 (twenty years ago) link
Rothko are the only band I know doing something similar with multiple basses, are there more?
― udu wudu (udu wudu), Friday, 12 December 2003 18:56 (twenty years ago) link
― Colin Meeder (Mert), Friday, 12 December 2003 18:58 (twenty years ago) link
― anthony kyle monday (akmonday), Friday, 12 December 2003 19:10 (twenty years ago) link
The Mimi album had several decent songs, but those Hector Zazou production numbers... good lord, whatever happened to that guy? His early work is beautiful, but now he's a glossy menace.
― (Jon L), Friday, 12 December 2003 19:17 (twenty years ago) link
― nickn (nickn), Friday, 12 December 2003 19:47 (twenty years ago) link
Stone Temple Pilots, I believe.
― Michael Daddino (epicharmus), Friday, 12 December 2003 21:33 (twenty years ago) link
― zappi (joni), Friday, 12 December 2003 22:05 (twenty years ago) link
― udu wudu (udu wudu), Friday, 12 December 2003 22:09 (twenty years ago) link
The MTV show Summers hosted was called Post-Modern MTV, it was a half hour every night supplement to 120 minutes.
Robyn Hitchock hosted it once and was really weird.
― Dan Selzer (Dan Selzer), Friday, 12 December 2003 23:40 (twenty years ago) link
― Arthur (Arthur), Saturday, 13 December 2003 04:24 (twenty years ago) link
Just heard "Eskimo Song" drift by on WinAmp's random. I bought Drum when it came out cuz Michael Stipe produced/was on it. The lethargic double bass attack did nothing for the 17 year-old, but really works on the 32 year-old.
― frankE (frankE), Monday, 21 June 2004 14:21 (twenty years ago) link
― Andrew Blood Thames (Andrew Thames), Monday, 21 June 2004 14:26 (twenty years ago) link
― Tim Ellison, Monday, 21 June 2004 15:02 (twenty years ago) link
― Andrew Blood Thames (Andrew Thames), Monday, 21 June 2004 15:03 (twenty years ago) link
― Felonious Drunk (Felcher), Monday, 21 June 2004 15:29 (twenty years ago) link
― Dan Selzer (Dan Selzer), Monday, 21 June 2004 17:48 (twenty years ago) link
http://www.splendidmagazine.com/features/hifisky/
I didn't even wait to finish reading the interview after that line, I just went and bought one
I almost started a new thread but ILM's search engine just can't handle band names like 'Hi Fi Sky'
― milton parker (Jon L), Monday, 3 October 2005 18:24 (eighteen years ago) link
revive, just for the hell of it.
― sleeve, Saturday, 4 August 2007 06:49 (seventeen years ago) link
Lordy what is their later music like if they're talking about Can and Neu?
― Trayce, Saturday, 4 August 2007 07:03 (seventeen years ago) link
I saw Huge Largo play at UMass in the mid-80s. The lead singer gave out candy. The music was intruiging at the time so I bought the albums.
I pulled them out recently for the first time in years and found they were no longer intruiging, just dull. To the sell pile.
― Mr. Odd, Saturday, 4 August 2007 10:39 (seventeen years ago) link
Ah, I remember the candy from when I saw them. She said something like, "We're so happy to be here, and we want you to be happy, so we brought you treats!" and threw Jolly Ranchers (I think) into the audience.
― dlp9001, Saturday, 4 August 2007 15:30 (seventeen years ago) link
I pulled them out recently for the first time in years and found they were no longer intruiging, just dull.
I know! I did the same thing. I'm not totally sure I really liked them a whole lot to begin with but it seems to me I did go through a bit of a phase back then. Then I decided to sell their CD's but keep them on tape. So I kept them on tape for years without listening to them at all and when I pulled out the tape recently I was like "hmm....why did I go to such trouble to keep that?"
― Bimble, Saturday, 4 August 2007 16:21 (seventeen years ago) link
I still like them, but yeah they are kind of a period piece. does anybody know about any other bands who tried something like the double bass and cello lineup? even with their flaws, from this vantage point it seems like they were on to something that nobody else really followed up.
― sleeve, Saturday, 4 August 2007 16:42 (seventeen years ago) link
i just picked up an lp of theirs at a thrift store a few days ago.
― get bent, Saturday, 4 August 2007 17:13 (seventeen years ago) link
I think for Mimi's voice they're still very well worth it, and they've probably been more of a quiet influence on a lot of acts than might be guessed. (I could easily see them slotting alongside some Dead Can Dance in a lot of modern goth-metal bandmembers' early record collections.)
― Ned Raggett, Saturday, 4 August 2007 17:22 (seventeen years ago) link
I never really listen to them anymore, but I still derive comfort from singing the phrase "coyote afterno-oo-oo-ooooon" in my head.
Got to see them at Walker Art Center in Mpls after Drum-- great show.
― Jon Lewis, Saturday, 4 August 2007 17:41 (seventeen years ago) link
does she still do that thing with the scissors during that one song? pretty creepy.
― scott seward, Saturday, 4 August 2007 18:03 (seventeen years ago) link
'Second Skin' is still a great song. Others too.
The Hi Fi Sky record is all right. Doesn't live up to the promise of Harmonia + ABBA and some of the textures are a little too synthy. If you like track 4, it's worth hitting amazon for it.
― Milton Parker, Tuesday, 7 August 2007 23:23 (seventeen years ago) link
"Turtle Song" is still boss
― If Assholes Could Fly This Place Would Be An Airport, Thursday, 9 August 2007 01:39 (seventeen years ago) link
This is one of the groups that I was always disheartened more people didn't appreciate. It still holds up extremely well. Mimi seems like she was pretty flaky back then, but the music really is special. I'll never grow tired of it.
― Tsuga, Sunday, 9 May 2010 02:25 (fourteen years ago) link
I love them, in fact they were the first music I discovered for myself, rather than absorbed from friends and DJs.
There's a short live performance at YouTube, which was a revelation for me when I found it a year ago. I had only read tales of Mimi Goese's stage antics with butcher knives and the like.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I41HjZWN2V8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OiL523Ttchw
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WvnaxDElj7E
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pBzo2w_BIv0
Those who find Hugo Largo special should also seek out the 1989 album Swollen by Hetch Hetchy. Micheal Stipe's sister Linda plays Siouxsie, but the production (and from the sound of it, the band as well) is everyone but Mimi from Hugo Largo.
Example:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gwm50uaY1BI
― nori dusted (Sanpaku), Sunday, 9 May 2010 02:44 (fourteen years ago) link
Unrelated, but treading similar ground is Basque, a electric double bass and female vocal duo who put out three albums in 1998-2000. CDBaby has samples and sales.
― nori dusted (Sanpaku), Sunday, 9 May 2010 02:59 (fourteen years ago) link
My ex found me a copy of Drum on vinyl at a 2ndhand store last week and it is in excellent nick, and sounds great on record. I still like it a lot.
― Eyjafjallalalalalatrolololol (Trayce), Sunday, 9 May 2010 03:08 (fourteen years ago) link
Yeah I discovered Basque a while back, though I only have the one album around. IIRC there's a Scott Walker cover on one, I think...?
― Ned Raggett, Sunday, 9 May 2010 03:14 (fourteen years ago) link
listening to Mettle playlist on YouTube, this is a gorgeous album
― The Desus & Mero Chain (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Monday, 13 August 2018 19:35 (six years ago) link
they probably don't get enough credit for laying some groundwork for post-rock's quieter parts like tortoise or the mellow explosions in the sky stuff (friday night lights)
― The Desus & Mero Chain (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Monday, 13 August 2018 19:37 (six years ago) link
Mettle is so great
good call on the post-rock influence, as far as I could tell they were pretty widely known for a while, with good distribution?
― sleeve, Monday, 13 August 2018 19:50 (six years ago) link
honestly i don't know that much about them, always heard them mentioned because of Tim Sommer from MTV looks like they were on Relativity (w/Stipe cosign) and Eno's Opal records so they must've gotten some press
― The Desus & Mero Chain (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Monday, 13 August 2018 19:52 (six years ago) link
Mimi Goese's solo record/project Soak is brilliant too.
It has a version of a sweet song that Arthur Russell gave her (as sheet music apparently) they used it in the AR documentary right after he passed, over a long slo-mo shot of passing cornfields, so perfect.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bF3dNllTzIA
― MaresNest, Monday, 13 August 2018 19:56 (six years ago) link
thanks! being the the Arthur Russell orbit definitely fits this band's vibe
i should have listened to this years ago
― The Desus & Mero Chain (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Monday, 13 August 2018 20:40 (six years ago) link
thankfully late 80s indie/modern rock stuff is criminally underrated right now so these records are probably peanuts on discogs
― The Desus & Mero Chain (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Monday, 13 August 2018 20:41 (six years ago) link
I have about four copies of ‘drum’ that all cost about £2 each. It’s nice to see some appreciation here
― I'd Rather Kecak (NickB), Monday, 13 August 2018 20:45 (six years ago) link
non-album song!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kKUQACu3Las
― Milton Parker, Monday, 13 August 2018 21:11 (six years ago) link
I bought Mettle when i was 15, and it still holds a place in my heart.
― calzino, Monday, 13 August 2018 21:14 (six years ago) link
Hugo Largo - live at Maxwell's 1987 on youtube
Setlist:1. Halfway Knowing2. Shaking Your Head3. Eskimo Song4. Sometimes It Snows in April5. Blue Blanket6. Turtle Song7. Crawfish8. Arms Akimbo9. Wanted Dead or Alive10. Jungle Jim11, Fancy12. Second Skin
2 more non-album songs, covers of Prince, Elvis, Bon Jovi, closing 'Second Skin' is cool, will always love this band
― Milton Parker, Monday, 13 August 2018 21:28 (six years ago) link
Not so much Hugo Largo chat nowadays, unsurprisingly I suppose because they split up three decades ago. Anyway it seems they made a promo for Turtle Song, which I never saw until now.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mfa6n7IH4NU
― it's after the end of the world (Matt #2), Thursday, 6 February 2020 16:51 (four years ago) link
I owned Mettle back in the late 80s. I remember thinking it was a little too performance art-y for my taste. I'd probably like it now
― Duke, Thursday, 6 February 2020 17:21 (four years ago) link
still love it
― let's talk about gecs baby (sleeve), Thursday, 6 February 2020 17:21 (four years ago) link
This one track (Why Knock For You) on the Kelsey Lu album gave me strong Hugo Largo vibes:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UHN4h64pLiE
― ymo sumac (NickB), Thursday, 6 February 2020 17:28 (four years ago) link
THere wasa live set supporting David Byrne's Knee Plays or something that was broadcast on the BBC at the time.May be around somewhere. THink it was at the iCA or the South Bank centre.
I saw them in the UK several times
― Stevolende, Thursday, 6 February 2020 17:56 (four years ago) link
The new(-ish) album that Mimi did with Ben Neill is quite lovely. Includes this version of Ocean Rain
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oTdaK5dZqaw
― j.o.h.n. in evanston (john. a resident of chicago.), Tuesday, 17 November 2020 20:00 (three years ago) link
there... was nearly a third record? and a blog post in 2011 was hosting the soundboards for the 1991 knitting factory concerts where they played all the material?
http://hugolargo.blogspot.com/2011/02/hugo-largo-unreleased-third-album-kcrw.html
does anyone have it?
tipped via this - https://arcane-delights.com/2020/12/29/hugo-largo-drum-relativity-1987/
― Milton Parker, Monday, 3 May 2021 20:03 (three years ago) link
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/0BxmIzSvQJayvNy0zMG5zaUxycmM
― Milton Parker, Monday, 3 May 2021 20:13 (three years ago) link
!!!?!!?!
― "Gaspar? No way." (sleeve), Monday, 3 May 2021 20:37 (three years ago) link
18 May 1991 set
It's Unclear / Heads Or Tails / Simple / Hot Day / Waterfall / Heatwave / Lonely Fight / Reasons For The Beach / Turtle Song / Draw Me In
unlabeled songs on 12 April set
song 1 = Violets Violins Violence / song 2 = Heads Or Tails / song 4 = Hot Day
that original post still has a lot of stuff unaccounted for on either of these... Hahn shows up in the comments to confirm there were no studio recordings of this Tim-less lineup. these are definitely cassette audience recordings, for the hardcore only, but... of the new songs here, I like em
― Milton Parker, Monday, 3 May 2021 21:01 (three years ago) link
and I never knew REM covered 'Harpers'. there's a version on youtube from 1987. crazy to hear a thousand people applaud at the end.
― Milton Parker, Monday, 3 May 2021 21:02 (three years ago) link
yesssss
"To celebrate the 40th anniversary of their formation, Hugo Largo will release Huge, Large and Electric, a three LP set featuring all of the band’s studio output (1988’s Drum and 1989’s Mettle) including a full album of previously unreleased and live recordings (Hugo Largo Unreleased and Live 1984-1991)."
― I painted my teeth (sleeve), Thursday, 11 July 2024 17:37 (two months ago) link
promo video just posted in support:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=raxSASvKXWU
― dan selzer, Thursday, 11 July 2024 18:06 (two months ago) link
What great fucking news! I was just melting to Eskimo Song and Harper's a couple of weeks ago. I hope there will be a digital download that can be bought?
<3
― realistic pillow (Jon not Jon), Thursday, 11 July 2024 18:22 (two months ago) link