Mission Statement: to do very little, for very few, for not very long. Disappointing the easily pleased since 1819. Not as good as it used to be from Day One. History is Bunk - PT Barnum. Artificially Intelligent before it was fashionable. Fat camp for the mind! Nothing lasts, but nothing is lost. The Shock of the Old! Often bettered, never imitated.
Thanks Farq! I was asleep on the couch after trying to watch Big Bash Cricket.Very boring on New Years Day.So I was listening to Gene Clark instead and I "Feel a whole lot better". best wishes as you time travel.
ReplyDeleteGene Clark up next ... spooky!
DeleteThe expression on his face !
DeleteI want an album from these guys.
Deleteedison? was the guy in the back a guard?
DeleteThe date line passed over me while in bed watching old re-runs of The IT Crowd on Pluto TV trying to fall asleep (those darn neighbors with their fireworks!). Happy 2023 to the 4/5 guys!
ReplyDeleteNot a bad way to pass by NY's. Neighbors/fireworks....baah humbug.
DeleteAlways good to remember that the calendar - and indeed time measured in intervals - is an artificial construct created by human consciousness to order and quantify (and thereby "own") the natural world. Ain't it?
DeleteYer only right...
DeleteHappy New Year to all'a youse. Farq - You have a wonderful blog here, & it's really appreciated.
ReplyDelete*arthritic high five*
DeleteI have decided that this shall be the Official Anthem O' Th' Isle O' Foam©. It shall also function as a secret sign between Foamers. Want to know if there's a fellow Four Or Five Guy© in that silent elevator, or at a funeral? Simply play the Foam Anthem as shewn in the accompanying "video" "clip"!
ReplyDeleteSince it's still January 1 where I am, I'm not late in wishing y'all a Happy New Year. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteAre you by any chance a deckhand on a riverboat?
DeleteBelated New Year greetings to the Four Or Five Guys©!
ReplyDeleteStart the new year with what I think the best LP of last year and I only just found it...seriously this is so good it makes me cry.....Farq you will love if do not know it..The Sadies were on my radar saw them back in 2004 when americana writer BUT nothing prepared me for this LP it astonishing..think Rain Parade , Love, Strawberry W B...and more a beautiful start to year and they playign here in Nottingham end of month :-) A fitting tribute to their late guitarist..listen and wonder :-) Happy New Year everyone...geetars......
ReplyDeletehttps://thesadies.bandcamp.com/album/colder-streams
This the late guitarist blurb....The Sadies - Colder Streams anti-bio
ReplyDeleteBy Dallas Good, October 2021
'Colder Streams' is, by far, the best record that has ever been made by anyone. Ever.
As we all know, the 'press release' is a tool meant to announce and promote a new recording project. A jaded and unreliable sales-pitch at best, the usual 'bio' invariably attempts to describe the project in question as some sort of second coming. But how do you sell sounds? The critics' voice must be heard at all costs, but this is something else entirely. Obviously, this is an ad.
Knowing what you're getting is all anyone really wants to know. The details of how the recording is made might be interesting, but they aren't exactly crucial to the listening process. In our case, comparisons can be misleading too, because The Sadies don't really fit tidily into any genre, or even sub-genre. We aren't really 'pre or post' anything and we don't have the right hair-cuts or hats for any particular scene. Can't really call us modern or retro either. We certainly don't claim to have re-invented the wheel. We just are. And have been for a very long time. So, all that matters is the music itself, right?
After making so many records, some things get easier. Most things do not. But just because it's harder doesn't mean it isn't better. I think it's gotten easier to know when we are onto something and that's in no small part due to working with Richard Reed Parry (Arcade Fire/Belle Orchestre) as producer. We put in a lot of hard work but he always made it easy and fun. This is, of course, totally irrelevant to your listening experience.
We began this recording well over a year before the plague began and completed it in June 2021. The studio we worked at in Quebec is perfectly calibrated to our claustrophobia. It was mostly engineered by Pietro Amato (Belle Orchestre/etc.), who is great at everything he does when he's not doing something else. Jon Spencer (Jon Spencer!!!) was kind enough to intervene and rescue a song for us. My folks play on it. There was a church™ involved. Curfews were broken. Borders were crossed stealthily. Sean did all of the artwork. Travis and Mike did a lot of driving. I did the bio.
'Colder Streams' is a record made with love by loved ones. The Sadies have released a lot of records. This is one of them.
Do any bands make their best work this far along in their career? I can think of artists who still make great music after all these years, but their best? Yet, here we are and that's what I'm accusing us of. I think it's our best but I've been wrong before. All I ask is that you listen to a few songs and decide for yourself what it sounds like. If you like it, you'll know what to do. But my description of the music would just be punishing for the both of us.
I guess all that really needs to be said here is that if you like The Sadies, you will definitely want to get 'Colder Streams'. If you disliked or felt indifferent towards The Sadies, you will definitely want to get 'Colder Streams'. If you've never heard The Sadies and yet you're still reading, you too will definitely want to get 'Colder Streams’.
Listening to it as we speak - very impressed! Thanks for the heads-up!
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