Richard Dawson (raucous experimental UK folk racket w/ intense picaresque realness vox)

has one of the strongest melodies on the album though

I find the 'I refuse refuse refuse!' bit a bit cringey though eeeeh... and it is a strong melody but Dawson's vocals are just a bit much

digging into this properly. come fully round on jogging with how the album kinda repurposes pub rock and shitty synth effects. black triangle by far the standout for me.

not a patch on peasant tho

indeed. he did a reddit AMA the other night, need to read that

"Civil Servant" is hilarious. I must check this album out

think the less overtly 'state of the nation'-y parts are its strongest. was expecting a dawson song titled freshers ball to be too real, fortunately hit pretty hard in a different way

from the ama re black triangle

the whole ufo sighting was something that really happened to me and my pal neil. the song is completely as it happened right up to the point where neil lives in a barn conversion. so even though it uses this experience, it's not about me........

"Robert Wyatt doing George Benson" is a wonderful observation.

― charlie h, Friday, January 30, 2015 8:33 PM (four years ago) bookmarkflaglink

vile stuff really is the best song ever made, isn't it?

What a crazy selection of favorite albums, there were two on there I couldn't even find online (and not the one he said you can't find online).

vile stuff really is the best song ever made, isn't it?

― devvvine, Sunday, October 20, 2019 2:43 PM (three hours ago) bookmarkflaglink

its a close-run thing with 'nothing important' but yeah

I voted for Person Pitch. That and Feels are fading for me but still like them very much.

Love the images!

lol I doubt either of his first two albums will place.

if dicky dawson doesn't double-up come the 10's poll then i'm banning everyone

Hah. It's been a long weekend...

(Agree The Vile Stuff is damn well perfect.)

Worth a read:

https://www.theguardian.com/music/2019/oct/26/richard-dawson-king-of-uneasy-listening-2020-album-interview

Reveals he has begun work on the next album

ty for that! don't remotely agree with the guardian framing this as his breakout masterpiece though

Yeah, for me that was Peasant, which must have significantly widened his audience. But 2020 seems to be getting even more mainstream attention.

while NI is probably my favourite album of the decade, i can fully buy Peasant as his breakout moment yeah. mainstream is always slow to pick up on these things but RYM and the wider nerd community got on board at Peasant

imo peasant sounds way more accessible than the nu one

Crazy talk. The new one is may more accessible on several levels (not leats that's it's way easier to identify with totally relatable stories about people who live now versus people who lived 1400 years ago, never mind tunes and arrangements), and is totally the breakout record. Peasant is the one that hinted a breakout was possible, but it didn't go over the parapet.

Yeah, lots of people (my boss included) seem to be very familiar with Jogging. It's been getting a lot of Radio 6 airplay whereas I think Peasant was really a cult thing

i meant purely the arrangements and how it sounds, the ugliness of how jogging sounds compared to a song like weaver. not denying the the hooks and lyrics are more accessible.

working from a base of what wld my mum prefer so good chance i am talking nonsense

Shades of how my other Favourite Current Artist, Weyes Blood, had to release three incredible albums in a row before the powers that be really caught on. (And as with Dawson, the one that pushed her over the edge might not be her best, although in her case it's much more arguable)

Finally got a copy of Nothing Important yesterday, bought direct from Domino after reconciling myself to the fact that it will A: never be cheap online and B: never be in stock in my local HMV again.

So apart from The Vile Stuff it all sounds basically like unlistenable improvised torture to me right now, but HOLY SHIT I've listened to The Vile Stuff about 6 times in a row and WTF

What's it doing?! It's a 16-minute raga about a school trip that somehow finds a level of emotional intensity that is completely unwarranted. It makes Venus In Furs sound like Scouting For Girls. It makes a lyric about Newcastle United wallpaper sound like something occult.

Wow.

It's a brilliant song. The bit about him spacing out and having visions as he stares at his Newcastle United poster is something else

He has a visual disability that brings such visions about

Wait until the title-track clicks...

I must admit that, as much as I enjoy Dawson's music and Nothing Important in particular, there's a dare I say cultural barrier that will never dissolve completely.

Kitchen sink mysticism ftw.

xp Is that barrier not what makes it all the more compelling and appealing? For me it is tbf.

Up to a point. Then again, I'm not much of an anglophile – anglo-agnostic is probably a better descriptor.

omg

https://thequietus.com/articles/17205-richard-dawson-interview-2

"Dawson hides his intent in plain sight, threading his lyrics with plenty of clues. The assailant outside the chip shop (Thadeus); the lad who cracks his head open (Peter); the pupil who “fills a Reebok Pump with the pulp from his belly” (Simon) and the object of his affections (Bartholomew); the lad who gobs at the narrator (Matthew); his neighbour who “lost two fingers to a Staffie-cross” (Andrew) who works at a no win no fee solicitors (James and James) and even the brand of screwdriver he injures himself with (Philip) are all the names of Christ’s apostles. (He hides his intent elsewhere as well. The two instrumental tracks on the album are called ‘Doubting Thomas’ and ‘Judas Iscariot’.)"

xp Aren't we all in a way? :) (I hear you though)

xp [eric wareheim exploding head gif]

Most of it just reminds me of Half Man Half Biscuit.

the other great uk folk-rock act of our time, but there's a distinct spirit

The potato line in Shapeshifter is bugging me. They weren't introduced to the UK until 1586 or whenever, so how is one in this song. I have tried googling "Richard Dawson potato" to no avail of an explanation from the author.

he did explain it somewhere - elements from all time periods are included by design. 'prostitute' has a prominent synth part!

Poet(ato)ic licence.

Shapeshifters have also yet to be introduced to the UK

That's what you think.

They've been on the throne since the turn of the 18th century surely?

One's prime minister right now.

giving his 2005 debut album a listen for the first time. found it in a charity shop for 50p a couple of years back and hadn't ever got round to playing it before. it's not especially good tbh, mildly eccentric in places but nowhere near as daring as what was to come. probably one for the sale pile i think.

Part of me would love to hear it. But I know he's disowned it, so the other half of me wants to respect that.

happy to share wavs or whatever if anyone is desperate