Curve: C or D?

I need to find some early Curve records.

That horrible gauzy early 90's production which Curve used is a horrible device used in the main by bands seeking to conceal their inability to come up with dynamics, structure or melodies. Strip it away and it would reveal.....nothing.

Garbage updated this particular trick on V.2.0, and perfected it to the extent that no matter how loud you turn it up, nothing actually hits home. It's all vapour.

I kinda miss having _Version 2.0_ around.

Why the hell not? It sounds like what it sounds like, and I said why I don't like the way it sounds. Which I think is mainly because of the 'production'. It could be that there's not much 'production' and that the sounds were all recorded heavily filtered and processed at source. Who cares?

I have never used the 'if it sounds good on an acoustic, it must be a *real* song' argument. Ever.

So what does the "new" Curve sound like?

Curve. The online-only Curve disc sounds like Curve too.

To be more specific, Curve '01 sounds like Curve '92 with the vocals higher in the mix.

!

I just had to run a midday solo mission to "Buy Buy Baby" (ridiculous baby gear megastore in Chelsea) and decided to play a little Curve on ye olde iPod on the way to and from. I'd forgotten how much I used to adore this band. Between "Lillies Dying", "Die Like a Dog" and the utterly, uttelry sublime single mix (by Flood) of "Fait Accompli" (miles better than the version on Doppelganger) I was practically weeping (and embarassingly singing aloud and air-bassing) with irrepresible joy. They may indeed have been a bit of a one-trick pony, but fuck if that one particular trick wasn't decadently intoxicating. By the time "On the Wheel" came on (followed swifftly by their rousing cover of Moroder'n'Summer's "I Feel Love" from the Ruby Trax compilation), I was verily scaring the Teletubbies out of a gaggle of concerned new Moms in Buy Buy Baby, as I transformed seamlessly into very the legend inscribed of the back of one of my ill-fitting and fading Sisters of Mercy shirts, that being an "utter groove bastard." God fucking bless Curve and may he take a glistening divine piss on those who suggest that no good music came out of the 1990's.

To go back to a point David R raised:

Appreciation for Curve shot up 100 fold once my feeble mind FINALLY made the connection between them & Garbage, especially since Curve rocks MUCH harder than Shirley & Co

Quite. And it's not just in terms of loud feedback but rhythms -- Garbage were far more cleaner and more pallid. Both Shirley Manson and Toni Halliday were/are Siouxsie-obsessed singers with dodgy end-of-eighties careers they'd like us all to forget a la Tori Amos, and on that front they did pretty well, but if the choice is between Dean Garcia and his beatboxes versus Butch Vig and his nonentities, no contest.

Hold the phazizzlone, I didn't know that.

I haven't picked up anything of theirs after Come Clean (and sold same to SecondSpin.Com, actually). I'll stick with their early stuff, but Gift does now sound promising.

Curve are stone cold CLASSIC.

CD 1 The Way Of Curve

1 Ten Little Girls
2 Coast Is Clear
3 Clipped
4 Die Like A Dog
5 Horror Head
6 Fait Accompli
7 Missing Link
8 Superblaster
9 Pink Girl With The Blues
10 Recovery
11 Chinese Burn
12 Coming Up Roses
13 Hell Above Water
14 Want More Need Less
15 Perish
16 Nice and Easy

CD 2 Rare and unreleased

1 On The Wheel
2 Triumph
3 Arms Out
4 Sigh
5 Mission From God
6 Today Is Not The Day
7 Low And Behold
8 Nothing Without Me
9 What A Waste with Ian Dury
10 Falling Free Aphex Twin mix
11 Chinese Burn Lunatic Calm mix
12 Coming Up Roses Kevin Shields Mix
13 I Feel Love
14 In Disguise
15 Sinner

Good choices? Bad choices? I've only heard one or two Curve tracks ever, and I don't even remember what they were.

I didn't realize Kevin Shields was on Gift, either.

The first EPs were absolutely classic. Doppelganger just took that sound and spread it, rather thinly, over an album, though 'Ice That Melts the Tips', 'Already Yours', and 'Think and Act' are standout album tracks. Cuckoo is where it's at for me. The album is well-sequenced too, building up to a great finish. It's the best heavy wall of goutar album I know from that period, but there's tons of variety throughout at the same time. Come Clean worked out for me, though it's the one I listen to least. I think it sounds louder and dirtier than most of the 'rock band goes electronic' albums, and besides, they were using samplers and drum machines from day one; the technology just got a lot more sophisticated in their downtime.

SEARCH SEARCH SEARCH the 'Coming Up Roses' B-sides: 'Habit and 'Midnight and Royal'. They're some of the best material from that period. Really tense and spooky without relying on conventional big guitars or noise.
I like Gift a lot, esp. the Shields tracks plus 'My Tiled White Floor'. There was very solid material on their internet-only album in 2000, Open Day at the Hatefest, but nothing really standout. I'll probably track down the new compilation, though there are only a couple of tracks I don't have in hard form. I think they got Flat Earth back for the cover, which is good.

Oh yeah; Cuckoo had a wonderful sleeve, as did the surrounding EPs. Only the Come Clean sleeve wasn't wholly interesting.

trivia: Debbie Smith last appeared playing with Luke Sutherland in Bows, which is such an improvement over Echobelly or the totally dire Snowpony. I'm going to go revive a Bows thread now.

xpost: Ned, yes oh yes Mission From God is glorious.

Ned, what is this cover of Overground you speak of? You mean the Siouxsie track? I def. should check that out

This is deeply ludicrous, of course. The thing that initially attracted me to Curve was the juxtaposition of Toni's great melodic lines against the feedback/dance beat. Plus there are always those huge bass lines...

Damn right.

this is true. live they seemed pretty dull, it was all a bit thick and blurry. their love for swervedriver was always offputting too.

http://www.curve.co.uk/news.htm

So, speaking of Curve, is there any way to get all those recent (and out of print) EPs besides sending a check to Dean?

"Perish" is beyond awesome. It's also the saddest noise-rock track ever.

anyways .. i definitely side on the CLASSIC. that cold hearted drum machine pounding away while the noise shreds the paintwork and toni does her echoed goth thing is just wonderful and fits in perfectly with my current moods.

but more to the point .. did all cd copies of the album come with doubled up inner sleeves as a spin off from the album name .. or is that just me being a little too nerdy ?

its not just me .. (have images of ilmers dashing off to archives to check .. )

but ta for the love anyways ned .. backatcha gorgeous.

13 years after the albums release we all finally get the bands 'joke'.

(I also have not yet gotten around to getting Doppelganger, cos I've got both the above and - rather later - the Radio Sessions comp. It's quite nice knowing that at sometime in the future I've still got "new" early Curve to listen to...)

(but anything curve stamped will be on my bins-radar from hereon thats for sure ..)

The similar Smile compilation by Ride was import only for a couple of years but Creation eventually released that in the UK, shame Anxious records couldn't do the same.

Was Gala by Lush released in the UK? I bought that 2nd hand but I think that's a US import as well.

HORROR HEAD

Re-listening to those early EPs, one of the big factors that made them interesting is that "viscous" bass sound they used for instance on 'Coulour Hurts' or 'Fait Accompli'

I bought one of their albums once and couldn't stand it even though they supposedly sounded like stuff I did like.

You know, it's been a long time since I heard Gift -- fantastic album.

They just weren't very good. It's really quite sinful to suggest otherwise.

They just weren't very good. It's really quite sinful to suggest otherwise.

And you're just knee-jerk hating jackass. Cosmic balance is restored.

Missed this a few weeks ago, but I'm enjoying the continually mounting ILM evidence that Bimble and I are actually the same person:

TS: Curve's "Horror Head" vs. Garbage's entire discography

Did Scylla (Toni Halliday's band between Curve breaking up and getting back together again) ever release anything apart from 1 song on the Showgirls soundtrack? I saw them live in '95 and they were quite good.

"And you're just knee-jerk hating jackass. Cosmic balance is restored."

Why would I hate knee-jerks?

in addition to being not very good they also screwed up a potentially fine jamc album with their pedal hopping overproduced agenda setting ways

Huh?

honey's dead.

What, because the drummer played on it??

...with trademark overly fussy curve drumming. and the producer produced it. with a wall of nasty curve fx gloss.so, yes.

well Alan Moulder produced half of the records that came out around that time, so I wouldn't define him as the Curve producer, but anyway... Still my fave JAMC album with 'Psychocandy'

Yeah it seems a little unfair to blame Curve just for having the same producer as them!

honey's dead sounds specifically modeled on curve to me, it has the same studio tricks, the same bombast, the same drumming, the same fussiness. i initially totally loved hd and also the ten little boys ep but found they both palled pretty quickly. robin guthrie made a similiar mess of felt's ignite the seven canons. assuming bands with vaguelly aligned aethetics would benefit from the same production job.

Next you're going to be claiming that MBV "sound like Curve" on account of production links.

It's a strange and revisionist attitude to take.

Oh wait, it's reverse sexism, isn't it, claiming that Curve wrote all the songs of every band Moulder worked with because Halliday and Moulder were an item at the time? ;-)

CW can't admit that at the time JAMC were a bunch of lazy sods who were too out of it to get it together for an album. I saw them at Lollapalooza in '92 and again in '93 and both times they stunk in a completely non-interesting way. It didn't help that Spiritualized and Curve were opening up for them too.

classic

Toni Halliday's appearance on Leftfields "Original" = Classic!

Toni has two new tracks up:
http://www.myspace.com/chatelainemusic

Mostly piano-driven, but with a familiar Big Drum Machine sound. Described as "Ramped up Enya"

Beyond the title, it sounds like Toni has been wondering how the Cocteaus would sound covering Fleetwood Mac.

http://a437.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/73/m_0524b0321e070f51a50a84332edeb93c.jpg

:-((

This picture still makes me sad.
Anyway, I recently did a 180 wrt 'Gift', it really is a great album. Maybe even their best full-length release.

Toni has no business having blonde L.A. hair. She is the quintessential goth ice queen, after all.

Gift, sure, but it is no Doppelganger, not to mention early singles & eps.

Having written that, I also have to rep for Cuckoo, which is a phenomonal album which got lost b/w genres/trends/styles when it was released.

as most people on this thread it seems, I felt really disappointed when Doppelganger came out. I still find it too monotonous and a bit bland overall

bdx, i see what you are saying (and sympathize), but I find it monotonous in the same delicious way that Psychocandy or, say, the blues are monotonous.

Remember you and me
We laughed 'til we cried

spc eco > curve (excepting the early EPs and a third of the debut)

Somehow I'd missed that latest turn from Garcia.

it may yet wear on me but right now it's amongst my favourite music of the year

I'm really happy every time this thread is revived

I still can't believe I was lucky enough to see them twice in their first incarnation.

Gotta love YouTube -- just earlier this month someone uploaded this performance of "Die Like a Dog" in San Diego from 1992:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IxwvqoBgdow

Seriously the strobe light effects there are seizure-inducing.

I still can't believe I was lucky enough to see them twice in their first incarnation.

Same here. My t-shirt from the "Cuckoo" tour is still going strong! (and is officially the oldest concert t-shirt I own)

Hmm, I still have mine as well. I believe we were both at that show making fun of Engines of Aggression.

Meanwhile I am now reminded of a pretty stellar moment of lyric/music combination courtesy of "Missing Link":

Accidentally we talked about the past
Accidentally we talked about the past
Accidentally we talked about the past
Accidentally we talked -- too -- MUCH!
*BAM*

Very well observed, really.

I also like the Trent Reznor mix of said song since like the original song it was released in 1993, aka the year when all the NIN freaks worldwide were *desperate* beyond measure to get some sense of whatever the hell 'the next album' would be. The part nearly three minutes in when he adds/emphasizes this huge background piano (?) doominess in the mix is pretty spectacular.

still can't believe I was lucky enough to see them twice in their first incarnation.

Same here. And didn't we establish we were at those same two shows, ie. Rollercoaster tour at the Palladium and then at the Palace?

Same here. And didn't we establish we were at those same two shows, ie. Rollercoaster tour at the Palladium and then at the Palace?

I think quite a few of us were. Until the MBV onslaught over the past months, Curve at the Palace was easily the loudest show I've been to.

I loved that Cuckoo tour t-short. I was coerced in stupidly giving it away...

I never got to see Curve live - I did see Toni's short lived post-breakup band Scylla live in '95 tho. They were pretty good actually, heavier than Curve.

Good god, I'm trying to imagine that and having a hard time doing so.

1000000000% CLASSIC FUCK GARBAGE.

A whole slew of Curve shows has turned up on D1m3 and despite the dodgy audio of audience taping in 92-93, they're furiously great (title track from "Doppleganger" scores 5/5 on the MBV-O-Meter). Man there has to be some live videos or something from the time.

!!!! Wish I still had a Dime acct. Would someone very kind be willing to, I don't know, maybe 192kbps LAME some of the best and trade them for some, say, Ride, Kraftwerk, or Mogwai?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hZRY4ILQeSg

am jonesing

Need to get back into the D1m3 swing myself...

!!!! Wish I still had a Dime acct. Would someone very kind be willing to, I don't know, maybe 192kbps LAME some of the best and trade them for some, say, Ride, Kraftwerk, or Mogwai?

Encoding everything to 256kpbs AAC. Drop me a board email and I can straighten everything out.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nFG1rIUhc7U

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x_XPAQNF7yg

(title track from "Doppleganger" scores 5/5 on the MBV-O-Meter)

I've just listened to the initial build & payoff to this track five times in a row. Just damn.. Moulder could do no wrong in those days.

Same here. And didn't we establish we were at those same two shows, ie. Rollercoaster tour at the Palladium and then at the Palace?

This was the first of many downtown Detroit gigs I snuck out on schoolnights to attend while I was in high school. I had taken some psychedelics. It was ..erm, an impressionable experience (in a very good way).

(the Rollercoaster tour, that is - not the NY gigs obv.)

I just realized I had "Cuckoo" on my Zune and I was listening to it on my walk home but it paled in comparison to "Doppelganger" and "Public Fruit"

I've just listened to the initial build & payoff to this track five times in a row. Just damn.. Moulder could do no wrong in those days.

I love that second breakdown from 2:42 - 3:10 when it sounds like a huge electrical fire in the studio.

the rollercoaster show show in detroit was on devil's night, i was convinced i would come out and my car would be in flames. the show before that one with majesty crush opening was better though.

^^ yeah, I remember that. Wasn't that a year or so after the worst-ever devil's night arson/general crime spree? As I mentioned upthread, I was a bit effected that night, & I recall ducking for cover every time my friend's car went under a highway overpass b/c of an urban legend (perhaps something that really happened?) about dudes dropping cinder blocks & such from them on DN.

lol, I think Majesty Crush or Asha Vida opened for every UK indie band that passed through town back then.

just in case...

http://helensface.webs.com/

embarrassingly my curve collection consists of their first 2 eps, and doppelganger.
i think i need a lot more to quench this thirst for drum machine + guitar noise + goth queen vocals.
never listened to this stuff on headphones until this week, fuck the tinnitus, that wall of sound is majestic.

the EP collection and the radio sessions comp is all you really need, don't be embarrassed

All those nights watching the 'Fait Accompli' and 'Superblaster' videos gave much joy, but Curve hasn't aged very well for me. Which is great because I can only think about 1992, 1993 when I listen to them again

I wish Scylla had released something other than that weak track on the Showgirls OST. They were pretty good live.

the EP collection and the radio sessions comp is all you really need, don't be embarrassed

Don't forget to snag this: Curve's "Perish" & Kevin Shields

yeah Doppleganger was a letdown and might deserve another look, but everything after just didn't work for me. although i would HIGHLY recommend the 2CD remastered best-of The Way of Curve that came out a couple years ago, all the originals came out during a low point for CD mastering and the material benefits greatly from the rework.

And Toni's Chatelaine album is out finally. Stream the whole works here: http://chatelainemusic.com/

Beyond the title, it sounds like Toni has been wondering how the Cocteaus would sound covering Fleetwood Mac.

― baaderonixx, Wednesday, March 12, 2008 2:14 AM (2 years ago)

^^^^^ prescient comment here (after one listen through this)

"Coast Is Clear" is still one of the best songs ever.

That squealing guitar line over the second chorus encapsulates about 80% of what I love about music.

I can sign up with that sentiment.

Meantime, perhaps the only time you'll see Curve and Matt Groening discussed at the same time.

hah I was at that show at the Palace. What I remember most is how horrible the opening act was and how excited I was to briefly hang out with the band (+ Medicine) outside after the show

how horrible the opening act was

Good ol' Engines of Aggression. *dies*

Yay, Doppelganger is finally on Spodify. (I suppose I should probably check if it's on iTunes yet because I have already owned it on far too many formats.)

I had forgotten what a *nasty* sounding record it is. It's filled with a kind of gnawing self loathing and bits of strangled noise and so bloody ugly and yet still somehow beautiful.

Not sure if it's the production or the mastering but I always found doppelgänger a bit thin and lifeless. A remaster could be interesting

Dunno, the production sounds more *murky* than thin or lifeless. Like, it's so bloody dense and thick that it's hard to pick out any elements, but that's kind of the point of shoegaze wall of sound.

Any thoughts on SPC ECO, Dean Garcia's new thing:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uc-F5VTBJyA

They're kind of an AC-30 band which makes me automatially predisposed not to like them, but I should give them a chance, I suppose.

Oh wait, is that Debbie Smith on guitar? I take it back, I automatically love anything she's involved with.

(Though I still kind of hide from her when I see her on the train.)

Any thoughts on SPC ECO - linked track is a dead ringer for gaze-era Curve, which would interest me more if half of my record collection didn't already consist of such things. Nice to see that Debbie Smith back in action, though!

I could just be making it up, but I think I read somewhere that the girl singing for SPC ECO is actually Dean's own niece.

daughter

i love spc eco, the album is really good but the EPs that have come out since are even better

Not sure if it's the production or the mastering but I always found doppelgänger a bit thin and lifeless. A remaster could be interesting

Dunno... Listening here on a great audio system, it sounds freaking amazing. I put "Fait Accompli" pretty high up on my ballot in the ILX poll and my comment for it was:

"Somehow I picture Halliday, Garcia, Moulder, & Flood cackling in the studio as they try to see just how menacing they could make this song. "I've come to mess with your head" indeed."

All the EPs and the later self-released albums are available on Bandcamp now: http://curve.bandcamp.com/

Pubic Fruit still rules

^indisputable truth

I'm Elvis Telecom and I support this message.

✓

Motion carried.

a+

Just noticed how awesome and weird the wayward synth bass on Horror Head is

"Come Clean:" underrated?

Curve is still the best.

i heard 'fait accompli' randomly in the gym once

It looks like there was mention of them here six years ago, but I just discovered Dean's band SPC ECO with his daughter on vocals when their new album came out this year. Nice stuff.

Yeah they've turned into a pretty good act, and they were always good from the start.

Hold up, have they really released basically an album and EP a year for the past several years?

So, reissues of the two first albums coming out this summer. Already have all of the bonus material but Doppelgänger could do with a remaster so I'll probably get these.

Wow, great news.

Track details here. Same here, re: owning it all already (aside from the original versions of "Rising" and "Half the Time", on the _Cuckoo_ 2 cd), but not to bad a price to gather those singles w/ the albums. Can't remember if "I Feel Love" was on _The Way of Curve_ - I got it on an NME covers comp. This quote in the comments made me laugh: That said, if they’ve done a decent remaster of Doppelgänger, I might buy it just to hear stuff like Ice That Melts The Tips (“sounds as though three guitars are beating the crap out of a fourth” said Q).

Will have to check the Rare/Unreleased Bandcamp list against my discs and see what I'm missing. Seeing the main page, their output and art aesthetic is impressive.

Can't remember if "I Feel Love" was on _The Way of Curve_ - I got it on an NME covers comp

just checked.
nope its not.
i will probably get both of these as the mastering on the original cds is pretty shrill and tinny.
so, to have them all dusted up and at the same levels will be nice.

I have all the singles so the only tracks I'm missing are I Feel Love and those live and original versions of things. Doppelganger CD is really flat sounding though so might be worth getting if they've done something to fix it.

It's totally on The Way of Curve. Disc 2, track 13.

It's totally on The Way of Curve. Disc 2, track 13.

ahh .. i checked the wrong album !
doh.

https://daily.bandcamp.com/2018/07/25/curve-dean-garcia-spc-eco-interview/

Thank ya for sharing that!

Has anyone listened to the pre-Curve stuff like State of Play from '86, Toni Halliday's solo album from '89, or the Uncles single from '84? Any good?

I've listened to the '89 solo album and I want to like it more than I do but can't get past the dated '80s production

lol I just read this whole thread and I've mentioned that I saw Scylla live 3 times.

Did you know I saw Scylla live in 1995?

The Scylla demos are great. ("Helen's Face" was on the "Showgirls" soundtrack, fwiw.) The link for the demos is dead, but they must be out there somewhere.

Whoops, didn't catch the "pre-Curve" specification.

Curve has been perfect for West coast road trip! I noticed once on another thread how Robert Plant's Now & Zen features (iirc) both Toni and Kirsty MacColl on backing vox.

It's never enough to swallow those pills
Now I'm sick, and always will be.

Bonus points : Today I found Public Fruit and Come Clean in a local charity shop.

Pubic Fruit rules. Come Clean hurts my ears sometimes, but I've come around to it!

just had one of my tweeters fixed due to excess a few weeks ago.
so, probably not the best time to rediscover how much i love curve.

I was just blasting "Frozen" last week

DJP : if you haven't checked them out, then the freebie SPC ECO remixes/art of pop remixes compilations are way better than i ever expected them to be.

so, today i picked up some eurythmics cds from a local charity shop.
i never expected to see deans name in the credits.

Curve were on Dave Stewart's label!

more connections here: famous bands (or significant portions thereof) who backed up a solo artist or were absorbed into an existing band for a single album: the thread

ooh yeah, of course ..
duhh ...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ae5FYlDB_QI

Weird, band looks to be playing live, but the music is the recorded versions, afaict.

No audience actually - and camera moving through where an audience would be. The vocal is live, anyway.

Is it? Missing Link for sure pre recorded vocals, at least backing vocals.

guys it's a TV performance

I know! But the band seems to be doing an unusually good job miming.

I discovered Doppelganger back in the mid-2000s and thought it was pretty good, although there wasn't much variety. I'd never heard of the band until that point but I was familiar with Garbage, and the similarities were striking - they sounded exactly the same, down to the vocal style and drum sound. The production sounded massive, that's what appealed to me. The drums, they have a huge booming sound that's badly out of date nowadays but I'm genetically programmed to respond to that sound.

Also, there's a bit in "Already Yours" near the end where most of the mix falls away and there's a rhythm guitar solo a la Carlos Alomar's solo in "Don't Look Back in Anger". It's not as good but I like it. The song has a massive wall of production that reminds me of "Leave Them All Behind" by Ride, where the guitars almost turn into a wash of static. Listening to it again on Youtube I'm amazed they weren't put on the soundtrack of a generic mid-1990s PlayStation racing game. I assume Gran Turismo was out of bounds because it actually had Garbage.

I've always wondered why they so totally failed to make any commercial impression, to the extent that I'd never heard of them; I can't name any of the band, so perhaps they didn't have Shirley Manson's charisma, and from what I know they were on a small indie label at a time when indie bands weren't supposed to sound like massive stadium rock acts. I can't think of another instance of a rock band anticipating the sound of another rock band so perfectly, down to the production and vocal style (I've always liked to assume that Garbage were unaware of Curve).

Also, dismembered dolls or multiple babies on an album cover = commercial disaster, viz The Human League's Reproduction. A single baby is okay, viz Nevermind and Van Halen's 1984. Multiple babies no. When Chumbawamba put a single baby on the cover of one of their albums they had a massive success AND YES I KNOW that Anarchy also has a baby on it but the cover was widely censored so no-one got to see it. Why was Moby's Animal Rights a commercial failure? Because the baby was obscured by towel.

Never go full baby.

(I've always liked to assume that Garbage were unaware of Curve).

lol

HA!

I can't name any of the band, so perhaps they didn't have Shirley Manson's charisma

Let me assure you that Toni and Debbie both had charisma to burn onstage, for a start.

Garbage had the advantage of having big time record biz connections from day one.

well to be fair Curve were hardly total strangers to the recording industry

Was gonna say

Heh, yeah, Curve's industry ties are massive.

I do think Garbage's debt to Curve is a little overblown. The former never really aligned with anything shoegaze or dark or goth or mysterious. Garbage could never pull off starting their set in a haze of thick smoke, for example.

Also, wouldn't call Toni particularly charismatic, though Debbie sure was. But Shirley is one of the most compelling, charismatic front people I have ever seen live.

(That said, I think Curve is massive and Garbage was pretty slight.)

Speaking of Debbie, I met her last month! (post gig party for The Raincoats' 40th anniversary show in London) Within ten seconds she correctly ID'ed me "I bet you're a guitar player" and we chatted about effects pedals and amps for twenty minutes. I still miss Curve.

otm

Another one from that playback tv appearance just popped up -

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NKwbx6GLq6o

still can't decide whether there is anything being played live on these videos and if not why the band seem so engaged

It's all playback

Like the last one, this one seems all pre-recorded, the album version. Though yeah, the band is fake playing its heart out.

It's just kinda cool to watch them swaying about, they were always a pretty good looking band.

I dunno if any of you have ever watched this dude, but he's a totally square yet knowledgable and enthusiastic old nerd who breaks down music theory and whatnot. Anyway, out of nowhere, he included Curve is his list of the top 20 rock bass sounds of all time. #18, around the 30 minute mark!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H0P5isBr7uw

Nice, I like Rick's videos, his son Dylan has perfect pitch, the clips of him calling out the names and notes of gnarly cluster piano chords are amazing.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5VZcW7JCpCU

New Toni H. EP is totally unexpected and totally awesome

Well I trust you're going to link this!

Streamable on your favorite platform and downloads here:
https://www.junodownload.com/artists/Toni+Halliday/tracks/

that's a timely revive.. i've been going through my old CDs and ripping ones that are missing from my digital collection and just hit the "C"s – was literally just wondering how Curve was going to hold up

They hold up really really well! Also, mysteriously absent from Amazon's streaming service.

But thankfully fully on Bandcamp, including a slew of rarity comps.

https://curve.bandcamp.com/music

Wow, what's all that "bootleg series" stuff?

A lot of it is mixes and various elements of final tracks -- Garcia breaks each entry down thoroughly in the liners.

happy 30th to cuckoo

Claaaaaaaasssssssssic (imagine this word said with tons of fuzz and overdrive and reverb and flanger and the like)

I wish I knew what the mad vocal sample at the start of Clipped is all about, I've been wondering that for 30+ years.

That Cuckoo tour was a hell of a thing to experience.

xp the absolute zenith of Curve for me (shout out to “Turkey Crossing”) - I remember Cherry coming out and thinking, well, this hits every mark dead-on.

also Cuckoo is their best album by an order of magnitude

To each his own. Never much cared for Cuckoo despite some good moments. But then again all their albums were flawed. Pubic Fruit all the way

well yeah the EPs were the real high point.

Curve is one of those bands where I kinda liked them, picked up Cuckoo at a record store on a whim, it became one of my favorite albums of all time, and I never really bothered finding any of their other music. Now, my curiosity is piqued and I'm finally listening to the E.P.s that comprised Pubic Fruit after all these years. Might be doing some Bandcamping today.

Physical box set coming in February:

Unreadable Communication: Anxious Recordings 1991-1993

The two albums, four EPs, some remixes and some live stuff. Does not include Peel Sessions, which are supposed to be very good.

I'm not a fan, but if you want remastered CDs, here you go.

so, remember this from a while back :

"but more to the point .. did all cd copies of the album come with doubled up inner sleeves as a spin off from the album name .. or is that just me being a little too nerdy ?

― mark e (mark e), Tuesday, August 23, 2005 1:53 PM (eighteen years ago)
"

well, a twitter account posted this weekend re the album, so i asked the question re the doubling up.

and look what happened :

𝘾𝙐𝙍𝙑𝙀
liked your reply
question : was i only the person who bought this on cd to find the inner booklet doubled up ?
i assumed it was a play on the album name ..

!!!

really deeply sorry to everyone on ilm that assumed i was a massive curve-head this whole time. tbh i had only heard a few tracks. anyway. turns out cuckoo is the greatest album of all time

Haha it is!

Salut to a proper and correct reaction. (Also this gives me the chance to mention I had a review of the Curve box set covering that era a couple of issues ago in The Wire.)

I picked up doppelganger, cuckoo, and pubic fruit on CD recently, I've been having them in heavy rotation in the car. This band has some great tunes, but even more crucially they've got such great atmosphere, they're just one of the coolest sounding bands I've ever heard. Everything comes together.

And boy did that era deliver live too. Only caught 'em twice but both times they were on it.

yup, same. At the Palladium and the Palace, right?
Having said that, I never really warmed that much to Cuckoo. Some great stuff here and there... but they seemed to try to go for a more organic soulful sound, whereas I wanted more of the badass iciness.

The very same!

Cuckoo is the best. Esp. the back to back punch of “Unreadable Communication” and “Turkey Crossing”.

The latest SPC ECO is especially good:

https://spceco.bandcamp.com/album/broken

Between this and Curve, looks like Dean is dead set against putting his music on any traditional streaming service.

I do wonder why the later Curve albums fewer people care about are on Spotify. Rights thing?

Must be, right? I found this old interview exchange:

What are your thoughts on streaming services like Spotify and Pandora? Lately there’s been a lot of controversy over Spotify. Some artists won’t let them use their music because they feel that the small amount of money they pay them is insulting or otherwise too little. I’ve heard other artists say that getting paid a tiny amount is better than getting paid nothing if people download stuff without paying for it. What are your thoughts on all of this?

All a bunch of leaching cunts. I loath them all. I only like Bandcamp because it’s for the bands and no-one else. I didn’t want to release anything to the leaches but have been persuaded otherwise. I’m still twisted about it. I’d rather give it away than give it to them, but let’s be honest here, does anyone actually pay for music anymore ? As soon as you release something it’s available within 24 hours online, if it’s not then you’ve failed.

Anyway, Curve might objectively be the coolest band of all time.

Boy is there a lot of SPC ECO.

Toni Halliday resurfaces! In a way! She's happily retired but in the best way:

https://thecitizenantiguabarbuda.com/new-citizens-toni-halliday-alan-moulder/

I'm happy for them, but there were a few things from Toni that popped out at me as to why they moved:

Firstly, our beloved whippet died, and we were devastated.

I was brought up in the Mediterranean on a boat as a child.

This second one made me google, and assuming she's telling the truth, I found this old, odd nugget:

Toni Halliday, now 27-years-old, was born in Fulham, West London. Between the ages of 4 and 8 she cruised the Mediterranean with her father, mother and sister. Her father was a hippy crook who supported his family by ransacking yachts of the rich and famous. "we'd dock in somewhere" remembers Toni "and my dad would choose the flashiest yacht in port. Then he'd take the owners to the bar, get them drunk and go back and raid their yacht. We'd be gone before they had time to get a hangover".

Eventually Toni's father dumped his family in Greece, declaring to his wife in tones Toni still remembers as bizarrely matter-of-fact that he no longer loved her. Mother and daughters returned to England moving from London to Sunderland in the industrially-depressed North East. Toni has not seen her father since.

"I think he's in jail in Spain". she says.

Anyway. They clearly moved for the apparent tax benefits of the Antigua Citizenship by Investment (CBI) program:

No Worldwide Tax: No taxes are imposed on foreign-sourced income, capital gains, or inheritance.
0% Income Tax: There is no personal income tax on income earned within or outside the country.
Corporate Tax Exemptions: International Business Corporations (IBCs) can enjoy 0% tax on profits.
Property Tax: A low real property tax of 0.1%–0.5% applies to the assessed market value.

Tempting, lol!

This band rules.