-it sounds as if I am listening to them standing at the back of an empty club. The recording is distant, I don't feel immersed by the music, rather it's being directed at me from one area. This really bothers me for some reason.
- The singer largely has one voice- slow, talky, and a minimum range. It doesn't vary. This works for some bands, but here I think the songs would benefit with a bit more variance in the singing. Seeing you folks' comments about shoegazers kind of put this into perspective- I hadn't heard that term before, but it makes sense- but to me the music doesn't fit his singing that well. If the songs were more sullen, then sure, it'd work, but with the upbeat tempo and driving guitar present in the majority of the songs, it's a contrast in styles that just doesn't work for me.
Otherwise it's a fairly decent album. The songs catch on to you after awhile and it rewards with repeated listens. That said, this album just isn't for me. I can definitely grasp why a lot of you are digging it, but it's just not my thing. It'll probably get a play every now and then for variety's sake, but I don't foresee it coming into regular rotation.
the more i listen to it the more it is growing on me... every time there's a different song i love...
too bad i didn't find their second album, "fake", anywhere yet... but here's a quick history of the band by singer pete fijalkowski (http://www.fijski.fsnet.co.uk/)
Uh-oh - my head is going fuzzy now... too many memories.
It's an uneasy cocktail of very happy and very sad....here goes...
Within two pints of Adorable meeting Alan Mcghee for the first time in a pub in the centre of Coventry in January 1992, the conversation got quite heated when we asked him about the droppping of My Bloody Valentine from the label. Mcghee likened his relationship with MBV as that of a girlfriend and boyfriend, but said that he couldn't tell Kevin Shields face to face that his services were no longer required at Creation. I made Mcghee promise that if and when he came to drop Adorable from Creation he would have the guts to do so to my face.
So was born an uneasy relationship between Adorable and Creation records, that was never really to thaw over the next two and a half years. Things started promisingly enough, our first single 'Sunshine Smile' got NME single of the week, lots of evening session play on National Radio One, number one in the indie charts and three weeks in the national top 100 charts, but had we had the advantage of a crystal ball we would have seen that this was to be our UK high point, and that it would be downhill all the way from thereon. Perhaps it's just as well you can't see into the future.
"I'm going to come back soon in another life" (Vendetta)
Inspired by The Smiths, and by our own insatiable appetite for buying 7"s on a Saturday morning, we were eager to release lots of singles, and we set about releasing tracks as quickly as we could. 'I'll be your saint' was perhaps a mistake as a second single, and helped to seal our fate in the eyes of the music press as 'arrogant bastards' (coupled with our own cak-handed attempts in interviews at distancing ourselves from the anti-image shoegazing movement), but Mcghee, who saw us as a punky Echo & the Bunnymen loved the idea of it ("It's rock n' roll Pete, it's rock n' roll - pure Iggy"). Whilst we could never understand why our third release 'Homeboy' (probably my favourite Adorable song) was overlooked, 'Sistine Chapel Ceiling' got us on the road back with another NME single of the week and a high Indie chart placing, in turn helping our debut LP 'Against Perfection' to a Top 75 spot in April 1993.
A 5 week US tour promised lots and won us many friends and fans, but we found ourselves caught in the middle of an argument between Creation and our US label SBK that had nothing to do with us, and any hopes of American success were dashed on the chess board of label politics, with us playing the role of pawn extremely convincingly.
We had other great times in Australia, Japan and across Europe, but on returning from promoting 'Against Perfection' we were a bit down, feeling that we had made as good an album as we could that we were really proud of, but that seemingly wasn't enough; the English press were at best indifferent (we hadn't been able to get an interview in the NME or Melody Maker since our debut single, though everyone seemed to think we were in every week!), and our relationship with Creation (at best described as 'lukewarm') took a turn for the worst with the Sony takeover and Mcghee's subsequent breakdown, which left us without an ally at the label. What we had to do was produce an album that would grab everyone by the proverbials, drag them into a darkened alleyway and either give them a kicking that would last a lifetime, or a damn good shag, or maybe both. Instead we recorded 'Fake'.
Whereas 'Against Perfection' (originally titled 'Against Creation', though dropped 24 hours before we had to submit the artwork as we were worried about pushing our relationship with the label) was the sound of 21 year olds who felt that life was there ahead of them, ready to be inhaled and enjoyed ('Glorious', 'Breathless'), 'Fake' is a frail, insular, insecure album, made by four guys who felt like the world was against them ('Kangaroo Court', 'Go Easy on Her', 'Vendetta'). The song 'Radiodays' (though not especially a favourite of mine) pretty much sums up how i felt about the whole thing, with a poetic appearance of Mcghee in it to boot. ("A father figure put a gun in my hand and said, 'aim high, but don't aim for the sun son'. Blinded by my own beauty of course I did, but then that's my perogative... If it's all the same to you I want to crash my car my way."). I only listen to my records when I'm feeling particularly drunk and particularly nostalgic (funny how the two seem to go hand in hand), but through alcohol influenced ears, it isn't a bad album, it's just it isn't a great one either.
Creation needed the figures to add up, and Adorable's didn't. Quite simply we didn't sell enough records for them, and the fact that there wasn't exactly a warm glow inside them when they thought about us as people made the decision easier. The 'dear John' phonecall came through to us in the glamorous setting of Colchester as we loaded in for a gig in late 1994. As poetic luck would have it our support band that day were The 60 Foot Dolls who had just that afternoon signed a lucrative publishing deal, and came into the venue clutching bottles of champagne, as we moped around in the suitably mournful setting of the converted church that is Colchester Arts Centre. Needless to say the call to say we were dropped didn't come from Alan Mcghee, or anyone from the label, but our long-suffering manager Eddie, so I never even got a phonecall from Alan, let alone the face to face as promised. Kevin Shields got one more phonecall than we ever got. Lucky Kevin Shields. Feeling as if we had taken a battering in the boxing ring, we called it a day after completing our European dates in late 1994 culminating in a glorious drunken night out in Brussels.
Creation weren't a bad label, they just probably weren't the label for us - we sat slightly uncomfortably on their roster, and a lot of the people who worked there weren't really into what we were doing - whilst the sprawling bunker-like entrails of the labels offices were full of photos of bands from the label, cut out of magazines like some love-struck music-mad teenager's bedroom, we noted that there wasn't one single picture of Adorable. Creation's track record is impressive but for every Ride, Oasis and Primal Scream, there's an Adorable, a Telescopes and a Something Pretty Beautiful, lying by the wayside. To their credit, the label pretty much left us to do what we wanted, and in the early days when there was a disagrement over which track to release as a single, we could often win over Mcghee. Perhaps Adorable just existed at the wrong time; about 2-3 years before, and we would have been in with the likes of The House of Love and the whole shoegazing malarky. 3 years later and maybe we would have been on the coat-tails of Britpop. Perhaps all this sounds like I'm bitter, but believe me I'm not. Wil, Kevin, Robert and myself all had the experience of a lifetime, that has shaped who we are as people, and I think we are all better for it. Better to have loved and lost they say, than to have never loved at all.
We never did get to set the world alight, but we got as far as striking the match.
~~~
Some days you wake up and sit on a park bench next to an eighty year old Russian architect, and some days you don't. I think this is my new life philosophy.
the more i listen to it the more it is growing on me... every time there's a different song i love...
too bad i didn't find their second album, "fake", anywhere yet... but here's a quick history of the band by singer pete fijalkowski (http://www.fijski.fsnet.co.uk/)
Hey, psy, that thing you found about pete fijalowski is pretty cool... and if you find that second album of theirs, don't forget to tell me!!
A great 2006 for all the SMC members, and don't forget to contact me with your PM's if you're interested in having a chance to get that poster... only 4 people have showed interest so far.
Stone: Thanks for the pick and the night of complicity, you rock!
-The crazy guy with the Ramones t-shirt.
Mexico C. 12/10/05.
"There is a rose that I want to live for
although, God knows, I may not have met her"
-J. Strummer
"And you'll never know just how dark this screen could be"
oh man, sorry for being late on this barcoach. I've had a hectic week with a lot of things happening at once.
Anyway, I've listened to this quite a few times, and it definitely has that UK taste to it, if you know what I mean. It rocks, but there's that real sense of melancholic pain, loss (whatever) hovering around. I didn't really find it close to shoegazer stuff, but I can understand the influences here. I can't add much to the wonderful reviews that have gone up, but I can say that I really enjoyed it. I don't really listen to this kinda music nowadays, but it certainly gave me a good jolt up the ass to rediscover such music.
Thanks barcoach. I think I'll go back and try to find forgotten great bands myself.
And a very happy new year to everyone at SMC!!! I hope you all have a wonderful year!!! And may we all discover great music.
Cheers.
"If hope can grow from dirt like me, it can be done"
If you can't get high on purely music and the sounds that you hear, you're missing out on something.
ok well - i agree with sunshine smile being a really good song - i think its a good opener making u want to listen to the rest of the album... and that i did do. i dont listen to much music that has this kind of sound to it, i think its cause i generally can only take so much of it, i get bored cause i feel that the sounds across songs are somewhat similar. this album is a bit dif though.
another song i think is cool is favourite fallen idol. pretty easy to get into i feel. anyhow for me to really get into the intricacies that guys mention about the album im going to have to listen to this for a couple weeks to see if i really enjoy it. one thing is that i agree with andyslash when he talks about the singers voice, that may be one draw back from me truely getting into this album. from this first listen the music has potentional, i found the singer to be average... but yeh i thought it was pretty good and i like that its different to most things im generally into, hence the beauty of SMC
Well, first of all hope this 2006 brings lots of joy and wonderful things to everyone in the SMC, we all deserve it, I think.
Now, about the poster give away, I'm still waiting for PM's of people interested, so far I have 5 people in to take part on it, if they were 10, that would be ideadl. I'd really like to do it in this week or the next, so if any of you's interested send me a PM. Anyway I'll try to PM all of those who haven't contact me yet to confirm if I should count them in or not.
cheers everyone.
Stone: Thanks for the pick and the night of complicity, you rock!
-The crazy guy with the Ramones t-shirt.
Mexico C. 12/10/05.
"There is a rose that I want to live for
although, God knows, I may not have met her"
-J. Strummer
"And you'll never know just how dark this screen could be"
so people are not interested in a free poster? spoiled bastards
but since i missed the mystery poster sale (or is it called misery poster sale now?) i don't mind if there's less competition for this one...
back to topic...
i'm hooked, adorable has been soundtracking my world between christmas and new year's eve - "between the years" as we say around here...
i even played two of their songs on the radio this week (see sig for link)...
l... and if you find that second album of theirs, don't forget to tell me!!
i didn't find "fake" yet... but i got my hands on a compilation called "rare tracks 1992 - 1994" which consists of all their b-sides and non-album tracks... it's pretty good... i'll keep an eye out for "fake" to complete adorable's back catalogue but in the mean time you can check out those tracks as well if you're interested... i'm currently uploading the files to gmail but it's going to take a while...
here's a nice fanpage with some info and all of their lyrics http://www.musicsaves.org/adorable/
as for people who don't like the singers voice... it reminds me of how i started to listen to the smiths... at first, couldn't stand morrissey's voice but fell in love with the lyrics - and all of a sudden i started to like his singing as well, don't know what caused it...
it probably has to do with the kind of music you're mainly listening to at the moment you hear a new band for the first time... if it fits in with your current flavour it's easy but if not give it more time...
when barcoach posted the album i was listening to lots of current indie bands like editors or bloc party but also the smiths, MBV and other "winter" albums...
if you're hooked on metal or country at the moment it will be more difficult to get into this music... but i'm glad i did!
~~~
Some days you wake up and sit on a park bench next to an eighty year old Russian architect, and some days you don't. I think this is my new life philosophy.
Hey, psy, I'm really glad you enjoyed this record so much, I honestly think is beautiful, and you should certainly let me listen that rarities cd you got!!! ok?
Concerning the singer voice, I actually can understand AndySlash's complaints, but what he dislikes is what I see as one of Adorable's qualities, some of us grew used to great voices, powerful voices, voices with a lot of range on high and lows... but for me on certain times that just becomes too obvious, and I prefer these kind of indifferent voices put against a big sonic attack, it just gives a whole different perspective to a song, and I think that's why I also love the Velvet Underground, Lou Reed's voice maybe limited, but the emotions he manages within those boundaries are awesome... And that's the case with Adorable, in Homeboy, for example, maybe if he wouldn't sing the whole song as if he didn't care about, maybe the last shock, whe he finally yells "You're so beaaaauuuutifuuuul", it wouldn't affect me that much. For me it's kind of tender, "I'm singin' about all these things that wretched my soul, but I don't care, I'm a tough boy... even when I'm breaking apart on my inside." And I think behind that supposed indifference you can perceive an entire layer of mixed strong emotions governed by some sort of sadness that wants to reach deliverance... or something like that.
OK. I'm sending PM's to everyone to see how's really interested in taking part on the poster thing... will keep you informed on the SMC threads... will be downloading the new pick soon, sounds like a great one.
Stone: Thanks for the pick and the night of complicity, you rock!
-The crazy guy with the Ramones t-shirt.
Mexico C. 12/10/05.
"There is a rose that I want to live for
although, God knows, I may not have met her"
-J. Strummer
"And you'll never know just how dark this screen could be"
Hey, psy, I'm really glad you enjoyed this record so much, I honestly think is beautiful, and you should certainly let me listen that rarities cd you got!!! ok?
it's up on YSI now!
~~~
Some days you wake up and sit on a park bench next to an eighty year old Russian architect, and some days you don't. I think this is my new life philosophy.
so people are not interested in a free poster? spoiled bastards
but since i missed the mystery poster sale (or is it called misery poster sale now?) i don't mind if there's less competition for this one...
back to topic...
i'm hooked, adorable has been soundtracking my world between christmas and new year's eve - "between the years" as we say around here...
i even played two of their songs on the radio this week (see sig for link)...
i didn't find "fake" yet... but i got my hands on a compilation called "rare tracks 1992 - 1994" which consists of all their b-sides and non-album tracks... it's pretty good... i'll keep an eye out for "fake" to complete adorable's back catalogue but in the mean time you can check out those tracks as well if you're interested... i'm currently uploading the files to gmail but it's going to take a while...
here's a nice fanpage with some info and all of their lyrics http://www.musicsaves.org/adorable/
as for people who don't like the singers voice... it reminds me of how i started to listen to the smiths... at first, couldn't stand morrissey's voice but fell in love with the lyrics - and all of a sudden i started to like his singing as well, don't know what caused it...
it probably has to do with the kind of music you're mainly listening to at the moment you hear a new band for the first time... if it fits in with your current flavour it's easy but if not give it more time...
when barcoach posted the album i was listening to lots of current indie bands like editors or bloc party but also the smiths, MBV and other "winter" albums...
if you're hooked on metal or country at the moment it will be more difficult to get into this music... but i'm glad i did!
i know what u mean bout whether it fits to what ur listening to right now. i never dismiss an album unless i dont like it after a few months or something - then i may think, meh its not for me.
Just wanted to add once again that I LOVE this pick barcoach and I think I can safely say it's the SMC pick I've found myself listening to and craving the most. I'm pleasantly surprised by just how much it's stuck to me and yes, like psycosmic, I've also found it to just fit so perfectly with everything around me right now. Reeeally love the colors and feel of it all. Lately I can't seem to get I'll Be Your Saint outta my head. I've been listening to that one a lot. The whole album is VERY catchy. Thank you again! And thank you again for the poster sweetness!!! Said it before and I'll say it once more--->I am FOR SURE interested!!!!
¤º°`°º¤ø,¸¸,ø¤º°`°º¤ø,¸¸,ø¤
"Lo√e, you know the word
...YOU invented it!" ~ E√
Comments
-it sounds as if I am listening to them standing at the back of an empty club. The recording is distant, I don't feel immersed by the music, rather it's being directed at me from one area. This really bothers me for some reason.
- The singer largely has one voice- slow, talky, and a minimum range. It doesn't vary. This works for some bands, but here I think the songs would benefit with a bit more variance in the singing. Seeing you folks' comments about shoegazers kind of put this into perspective- I hadn't heard that term before, but it makes sense- but to me the music doesn't fit his singing that well. If the songs were more sullen, then sure, it'd work, but with the upbeat tempo and driving guitar present in the majority of the songs, it's a contrast in styles that just doesn't work for me.
Otherwise it's a fairly decent album. The songs catch on to you after awhile and it rewards with repeated listens. That said, this album just isn't for me. I can definitely grasp why a lot of you are digging it, but it's just not my thing. It'll probably get a play every now and then for variety's sake, but I don't foresee it coming into regular rotation.
Thanks for sharing.
too bad i didn't find their second album, "fake", anywhere yet... but here's a quick history of the band by singer pete fijalkowski (http://www.fijski.fsnet.co.uk/)
Some days you wake up and sit on a park bench next to an eighty year old Russian architect, and some days you don't. I think this is my new life philosophy.
http://epplehausradio.blogspot.com/
pearl jam @ the astoria, london, 20/04/06
Hey, psy, that thing you found about pete fijalowski is pretty cool... and if you find that second album of theirs, don't forget to tell me!!
A great 2006 for all the SMC members, and don't forget to contact me with your PM's if you're interested in having a chance to get that poster... only 4 people have showed interest so far.
-The crazy guy with the Ramones t-shirt.
Mexico C. 12/10/05.
"There is a rose that I want to live for
although, God knows, I may not have met her"
-J. Strummer
"And you'll never know just how dark this screen could be"
Anyway, I've listened to this quite a few times, and it definitely has that UK taste to it, if you know what I mean.
Thanks barcoach. I think I'll go back and try to find forgotten great bands myself.
And a very happy new year to everyone at SMC!!! I hope you all have a wonderful year!!! And may we all discover great music.
Cheers.
If you can't get high on purely music and the sounds that you hear, you're missing out on something.
another song i think is cool is favourite fallen idol. pretty easy to get into i feel. anyhow for me to really get into the intricacies that guys mention about the album im going to have to listen to this for a couple weeks to see if i really enjoy it. one thing is that i agree with andyslash when he talks about the singers voice, that may be one draw back from me truely getting into this album. from this first listen the music has potentional, i found the singer to be average... but yeh i thought it was pretty good and i like that its different to most things im generally into, hence the beauty of SMC
cheers mate
Now, about the poster give away, I'm still waiting for PM's of people interested, so far I have 5 people in to take part on it, if they were 10, that would be ideadl. I'd really like to do it in this week or the next, so if any of you's interested send me a PM. Anyway I'll try to PM all of those who haven't contact me yet to confirm if I should count them in or not.
cheers everyone.
-The crazy guy with the Ramones t-shirt.
Mexico C. 12/10/05.
"There is a rose that I want to live for
although, God knows, I may not have met her"
-J. Strummer
"And you'll never know just how dark this screen could be"
so people are not interested in a free poster? spoiled bastards
but since i missed the mystery poster sale (or is it called misery poster sale now?) i don't mind if there's less competition for this one...
back to topic...
i'm hooked, adorable has been soundtracking my world between christmas and new year's eve - "between the years" as we say around here...
i even played two of their songs on the radio this week (see sig for link)...
i didn't find "fake" yet... but i got my hands on a compilation called "rare tracks 1992 - 1994" which consists of all their b-sides and non-album tracks... it's pretty good... i'll keep an eye out for "fake" to complete adorable's back catalogue but in the mean time you can check out those tracks as well if you're interested... i'm currently uploading the files to gmail but it's going to take a while...
here's a nice fanpage with some info and all of their lyrics http://www.musicsaves.org/adorable/
as for people who don't like the singers voice... it reminds me of how i started to listen to the smiths... at first, couldn't stand morrissey's voice but fell in love with the lyrics - and all of a sudden i started to like his singing as well, don't know what caused it...
it probably has to do with the kind of music you're mainly listening to at the moment you hear a new band for the first time... if it fits in with your current flavour it's easy but if not give it more time...
when barcoach posted the album i was listening to lots of current indie bands like editors or bloc party but also the smiths, MBV and other "winter" albums...
if you're hooked on metal or country at the moment it will be more difficult to get into this music... but i'm glad i did!
Some days you wake up and sit on a park bench next to an eighty year old Russian architect, and some days you don't. I think this is my new life philosophy.
http://epplehausradio.blogspot.com/
pearl jam @ the astoria, london, 20/04/06
Concerning the singer voice, I actually can understand AndySlash's complaints, but what he dislikes is what I see as one of Adorable's qualities, some of us grew used to great voices, powerful voices, voices with a lot of range on high and lows... but for me on certain times that just becomes too obvious, and I prefer these kind of indifferent voices put against a big sonic attack, it just gives a whole different perspective to a song, and I think that's why I also love the Velvet Underground, Lou Reed's voice maybe limited, but the emotions he manages within those boundaries are awesome... And that's the case with Adorable, in Homeboy, for example, maybe if he wouldn't sing the whole song as if he didn't care about, maybe the last shock, whe he finally yells "You're so beaaaauuuutifuuuul", it wouldn't affect me that much. For me it's kind of tender, "I'm singin' about all these things that wretched my soul, but I don't care, I'm a tough boy... even when I'm breaking apart on my inside." And I think behind that supposed indifference you can perceive an entire layer of mixed strong emotions governed by some sort of sadness that wants to reach deliverance... or something like that.
OK. I'm sending PM's to everyone to see how's really interested in taking part on the poster thing... will keep you informed on the SMC threads... will be downloading the new pick soon, sounds like a great one.
-The crazy guy with the Ramones t-shirt.
Mexico C. 12/10/05.
"There is a rose that I want to live for
although, God knows, I may not have met her"
-J. Strummer
"And you'll never know just how dark this screen could be"
it's up on YSI now!
Some days you wake up and sit on a park bench next to an eighty year old Russian architect, and some days you don't. I think this is my new life philosophy.
http://epplehausradio.blogspot.com/
pearl jam @ the astoria, london, 20/04/06
You rock!! dying to listen!!
-The crazy guy with the Ramones t-shirt.
Mexico C. 12/10/05.
"There is a rose that I want to live for
although, God knows, I may not have met her"
-J. Strummer
"And you'll never know just how dark this screen could be"
i know what u mean bout whether it fits to what ur listening to right now. i never dismiss an album unless i dont like it after a few months or something - then i may think, meh its not for me.
Just wanted to add once again that I LOVE this pick barcoach and I think I can safely say it's the SMC pick I've found myself listening to and craving the most. I'm pleasantly surprised by just how much it's stuck to me and yes, like psycosmic, I've also found it to just fit so perfectly with everything around me right now. Reeeally love the colors and feel of it all.
"Lo√e, you know the word
...YOU invented it!" ~ E√
¤º°`°º¤ø,¸¸,ø¤º°`°º¤ø,¸¸,ø¤
...::STONE--YOU--OWN!::...
••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
thank you so much...this is awesome...i just saw it - WOOOOOOO!
from my window to yours