I just heard the Clientele for the first time

Message Bookmarked

Bookmark Removed

I must say it is pretty damn good. What do you think.

― simona, Thursday, 14 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Suburban Light is fantastic. I picked that one up a while ago because of Ewing and I'm very glad I did.

― Mark, Thursday, 14 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

I just picked it up myself due to reco's on this board, I think its fantastic as well.

― Poops McGee, Thursday, 14 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Truly EXCELLENT band!!!!!!!!!!!

― Tim DiGravina, Thursday, 14 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Since I'm still waiting for it to arrive, does anyone have any thoughts on their new EP 'Lost Weekend'?

― Tim DiGravina, Thursday, 14 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

The Clientele -- the Strokes you can feel good about yourself for liking? *runs off cackling*

― Ned Raggett, Thursday, 14 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Ned, can you elaborate please (about that Strokes curveball)?

― Tim DiGravina, Thursday, 14 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

More in this sense -- if the Clientele were on the major label getting the buzz and the Strokes were on Merge, how might you feel about them? An old canard to compare and contrast in this fashion, I know (and I don't think the two bands sound alike) but this is the third time this week I've seen a Clientele refer tied in with breathless praise where Them Strokes wouldn't -- and just today I heard a girl at the quick-stop-shop here on campus giving her own breathless praise regarding the Strokes as "Last Nite" came over the radio, so I was just idly pondering the nature of praise once again...

― Ned Raggett, Thursday, 14 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

I'd guess a couple of Spearmint songs have more of a Strokes semi-resemblance anyway -- that Weddoes thing.

― Ned Raggett, Thursday, 14 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

The Clientele sold out.

― Sterling Clover, Thursday, 14 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Ned, I see. I appreciate the humor, especially the thought of you, what was it, "running away cackling"? I'm of the school where I don't care if something is hyped or not hyped, major label or self- released... If the Strokes were on Merge or SpinArt, I'd still feel that they released a couple of very good singles, but I'd also still feel that their album is a lifeless bore. (That's just an opinion I'm offering as an example.) If The Clientile were on any label, major or indie, I'd still appreciate their music, as long as they're still operating in the rarified air of their singles/EPs. You actually got me doing some research into The Sound last night, and today I'm $40 poorer for it... I figured I'd try the one Hugh Jones produced, and then I couldn't resist the sleeve for Jeopardy. Time will tell on these, once I give them a go. They're certainly a hyped band, but I'm trusting my ILM peers on these reissues. Back to The Clientile... are you not a fan? The 'Suburban Light' collection annoyed the heck out of me at first, but now I'm powerless to its charms. Anyone else? Anyone heard the new EP yet?

― Tim DiGravina, Thursday, 14 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Suburban Light, was the same for me. Annoying at first but the more I listened the more I enjoyed. Standout tracks for me, #4 and #12.

― Poops McGee, Thursday, 14 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

how does Spearmint figure into this? The clientele are almost like a mini-strokes in hype maybe. I guess it could happen to them, but I have never seen any pictures of them so I don't know if they are pretty enough. Their stuff is fantastic tho. I don't dislike the Strokes record either...

― g, Thursday, 14 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

strokes and clientele - both vacuous retro-mongers - i like them both anyway, seeing as they write good tunes.

― minna, Thursday, 14 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

there's kettles of fish involved in me posting... but i can't really resist (i consider myself one of the early fans anywho). i don't really understand how the clientele were "hyped". as far as it seemed to me it was kind of a grass-roots-kindling of excitement over a good new band, much like the belle & sebastian excitement in '96. certainly no one was getting paid to say they were good, and the people who were saying good things weren't even getting that much press. besides, i don't think that the clientele are instintaneously likeable - unlike the strokes who are just familiarly easy enough to get into your heat - the clientele are a bit more unusual and i assume that it's this weird new (or old) sound (be it vocals or reverb or whatever) that people find annoying - or difficult to get into at first.

plus, i think they're getting too old to become poster children for a new pop movement. though those horrible canadian rockers in the charts currently sort of show that age doesn't really matter.

i am very keen to see how their (the clientele not the canadian rockers) next stuff goes down, and i think it'll split fans into two groups - the ones that wrongly see them as a 60's throwback and the ones that see them more as their 80's influences a la G500 and Felt and as a distict band with their own style. the former will really only dig one song on the new ep, while the latter will like the whole piece. there is a instrumental piano piece that i think is beautiful in a henry mancini "stranger in the dark" way, so we'll see if the prediction plays out particularly concerning this track.

also, i just wanted to say that i really like the new lambchop album. what is that one? no. 5?

― marianna, Thursday, 14 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

The Clientele were a distinct band with their own style pretty much from the get-go.. I could pick a Clientele song at a hundred paces. I think this is a good thing, I just hope that their style doesn't become wearying or played out. I hope the same thing for Life Without Buildings, another very distinctive band I adore.

― electric sound of jim, Thursday, 14 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

A lovely band whose style has, unfortunately, become wearying and played out. For me, at least.

― Ally C, Thursday, 14 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

i don't like a good number of the songs on the suburban light cd, i think because it sounds like they were still searching for the formula on the early songs but everything since 'i want you more than ever' and 'a fading summer ep' has been nearly perfect.

― keith, Thursday, 14 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Back to The Clientile... are you not a fan?

I'm not as rapturously sold on them as others here clearly are, let's put it that way. No active hate or indifference, though.

― Ned Raggett, Thursday, 14 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

the former will really only dig one song on the new ep, while the latter will like the whole piece.

The song that really stood out for me was 'Kelvin Parade'. ('Emptily Through Holloway' I'd heard before.) The rest will take more time, but I think it will come. I'm glad they're taking a new direction, and I feel that the ep creates a distinct atmosphere. Considering the songs that they've performed live that weren't included on the ep, I'm guessing that they were aiming for varied overtones, rather than the continuous high of Suburban Light.

it sounds like they were still searching for the formula on the early songs

I dunno... the guitar work always sounds exquisite to me, like no one else. I'm interested in all those variations. In a chickfactor interview, I read that Alasdair Maclean writes the songs on a nylon- string guitar, and while I can only guess at the difference, I imagine some kind of toy instrument in one scenario, something completely angelic in another. I think he is an original musician.

― youn, Thursday, 14 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

This is the only indie band -- in the Orange Juice/Felt/hunting down split singles sense of the word -- that I really care about. I'm still playing and loving everything they've released and the new record is on order and I'm very much looking forward to it.

― scott p., Thursday, 14 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Everytime I try to give them a chance, I download something that's so dreadfully out of tune that it makes me ill.

― Melissa W, Thursday, 14 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Hehehe.. I'm trying to imagine what Clientele vs V/Vm might be like in the sickness-inducing stakes

― electric sound of jim, Thursday, 14 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

the songs were not released in the order that they were written. i think you'll find that some of the songs where they were "searching for the formula" as you say were actually written much later than a couple of the songs on "a fading summer". the stuff coming out now is all new (sorta) but there will be songs on the next album that will be older than the songs on "the lost weekend" and maybe older than a couple of the songs on "suburban light"?

― marianna, Friday, 15 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Listening to the ep last night, particularly during 'Last Orders', I was reminded of something Kevin Pearce wrote in his article for Tangents: when they play, they seem to be taking their time and waiting for cues from within the song. That's where I think the comparisons to Felt break down: one often has the impression that Lawrence and Maurice Deebank were working against each other, and although the tension that resulted was compelling, one doesn't have the sense, as with the Clientele, that the song is being driven, even at its most languid moments, by some force within the song. Last night I was thinking of what Nitsuh wrote about Galaxie 500 to show how they are different from the Velvet Underground--the parader's slow wave. That image fits this ep, but it has finer resolution: with Galaxie 500, I think the impression of languor was as much an effect of the way they were produced: the graininess was a desired effect.

― youn, Friday, 15 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Sorry, that article was actually written by Daniel Williams.

― youn, Friday, 15 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Just wondering--Do The Clientele ever do any cover songs when they perform live? I'm just thinking it would be interesting to see how they directly filter their influences. Oh, and ha ha if anybody says they're just a tribute band of band x or band y to begin with. I think they're spectacular (that's a dorky word) -- but I do think they're quite special. Anybody heard them do covers?

― Tim DiGravina, Friday, 15 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

No, no covers but I'd bet they'd do a mean "Daydream Believer".

― Poops McGee, Friday, 15 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

heres a interview w/Alasdair

― Poops McGee, Friday, 15 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

They've just done a cover of a West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band song. Havne't heard it or the original tho'

― electric sound of jim, Friday, 15 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

They have played Neil Diamond's "And The Grass Won't Pay No Mind" live (beautifully).

I'm off to attack the Lost Weekend ep, a 10" copy of which I obtained last night (cheers, m. !)

If interested, more info about the band can be gleaned here or form the very laid back lacewings list

― David, Saturday, 16 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

ok, then. well then i suppose i like the more breathy, atmospheric stuff over the marching tunes like 'we can walk together'.

― keith, Saturday, 16 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

one year passes...

Who else has heard the new album "The Violet Hour" on Merge.

I think I have convinced myself that I like this album a lot.

― don weiner, Thursday, 22 May 2003 12:51 (twenty-two years ago)

From what I have heard, I think it's an absolute masterpiece. "The House Always Wins", in particular, has been making my head spin for months and the recording captures why perfectly. I'm so used to bands I see live make horrible hashes of songs when they come to record them that it's a real treat. But it's one of those records which has a different stand-out every time you play it.

It's exciting that the Clientele seem to be going some of the way to fulfilling Dan's hopes in the triffic article Youn (come back Youn!) linked to above, and I hope allaying some of his fears.

― Tim (Tim), Thursday, 22 May 2003 13:36 (twenty-two years ago)

a new clientele album?! swoon.

― jess (dubplatestyle), Thursday, 22 May 2003 14:35 (twenty-two years ago)

I just hope that Don hasn't heard it via a file sharing network! It's not on sale until July 22nd-ish.

― marianna, Thursday, 22 May 2003 14:51 (twenty-two years ago)

Don has the advance.

― don weiner, Thursday, 22 May 2003 15:35 (twenty-two years ago)

i've been digging the Lost Weekend EP a lot lately..

― electric sound of jim (electricsound), Thursday, 22 May 2003 22:47 (twenty-two years ago)

I hope to hear it soon via a file-sharing network. The Lost Weekend EP is amazing. I'm glad the new one's not available until July because I can't afford it right now.

― fortunate hazel (f. hazel), Thursday, 22 May 2003 23:21 (twenty-two years ago)

i wonder if the knit separates were ever in a ral studio if they would not come out sounding a lot like the clientele.

― keith (keithmcl), Friday, 23 May 2003 03:11 (twenty-two years ago)

The singer used to be a semi-regular on ILM.

― Mark (MarkR), Friday, 23 May 2003 03:42 (twenty-two years ago)

the singer's partner still is!

― electric sound of jim (electricsound), Friday, 23 May 2003 03:42 (twenty-two years ago)

Who dat?

― Mark (MarkR), Friday, 23 May 2003 03:45 (twenty-two years ago)

she's about seven posts above you there

― jess (dubplatestyle), Friday, 23 May 2003 04:10 (twenty-two years ago)

Don had no idea that anyone in the band hung out here. Cheers to The Clientele!

― don weiner, Friday, 23 May 2003 10:10 (twenty-two years ago)

four weeks pass...

Oh man, The Violet Hour is incredible. I'll be playing this unit a lot... especially on rainy nights like tonight.

― blutroniq (blutroniq), Sunday, 22 June 2003 08:56 (twenty-two years ago)

OK, finally got a hold of the Violet Hour, and it is indeed everything I had hoped it would be, especially the second half. Like an old attic dusty with powdered sugar. It's possible I didn't cotton to the first half as much because the air conditioner was drowning it out. And the CD is going to have little films on it apparently! Can't wait.

― fortunate hazel (f. hazel), Sunday, 29 June 2003 00:44 (twenty-two years ago)

i just ordered it, i wonder if i will get a snazzy button. it comes out here a week before the uk release. now if the knit separates would release their record already it could be a great week.

― keith (keithmcl), Sunday, 29 June 2003 03:14 (twenty-two years ago)

every time i try to get mixing engineers to put as much reverb on my voice as the clientele do i get laughed at to my face :(

― electric sound of jim (electricsound), Sunday, 29 June 2003 03:40 (twenty-two years ago)

do you sing about the rain?

― keith (keithmcl), Sunday, 29 June 2003 04:33 (twenty-two years ago)

no, only about towns and love gone wrong.

― electric sound of jim (electricsound), Monday, 30 June 2003 00:23 (twenty-two years ago)

there's your problem.

― keith (keithmcl), Monday, 30 June 2003 02:22 (twenty-two years ago)

I have seen the Clientele talk to engineers / mixing people about how much reverb they want. It's always fun.

― Tim (Tim), Monday, 30 June 2003 07:52 (twenty-two years ago)

Reverb is a cop out.

― harveyw (harveyw), Monday, 30 June 2003 09:53 (twenty-two years ago)

piffle

― electric sound of jim (electricsound), Monday, 30 June 2003 22:22 (twenty-two years ago)

this has rocketed into my top 10 for this year

― jess (dubplatestyle), Monday, 30 June 2003 22:31 (twenty-two years ago)

tho it seems a bit churlish to say anything the band does "rockets"

― jess (dubplatestyle), Monday, 30 June 2003 22:32 (twenty-two years ago)

funnily enough i really wanted to like the clientele but they do nothing for me. i sold my copy of surburban light last week after i realise that i never did play it much. not as much as james yorkston; etc. i think the fact that i was supposed to like it put me off and the uber-literary lyrics about the english pre-occupations of rain and misery put me off as well. i am seeing them live tomorrow (with the tyde) and well, will the live experience change my mind significantly?

― doom-e, Monday, 30 June 2003 22:47 (twenty-two years ago)

nice to see the clientele get the props they deserve around here. i have yet to hear the new record and am patiently awaiting it. i love pretty much everything they have put out, my favorite song in particular is "bicycles" off the fading summer 10", with "rain" a close second. i have seen them only once here in SF - last year - and was pretty dissapointed with the low turnout at BOTH. they still put on an amazing show and added a nice bit of SF charm to the chorus of "joseph cornell" - when you're on the cable cars at night ...

i might also add that its true that alasdair is an exceptional and original guitarist with an amazing, dripping voice; the other members of the band are amazing musicians as well. james' bass lines are silky smooth ...

― tk, Tuesday, 1 July 2003 03:01 (twenty-two years ago)

the clientele are simply lovely, beautiful even...I can't believe I missed the SF show, I'm sure I had some good reason at the time. I hope they come back. Is the new album out in the US?

― anthony kyle monday (akmonday), Tuesday, 1 July 2003 06:42 (twenty-two years ago)

http://www.artistdirect.com/Images/Sources/AMGCOVERS/music/cover200/dre000/e004/e00449m3ysv.jpg

― trife (simon_tr), Tuesday, 1 July 2003 06:49 (twenty-two years ago)

im astonished that jess likes this record. i think this must be a very good sign. i saw them live and was mostly bored, their improvisations on their songs were unimaginative and the new songs weren't the greatest. i was worried that they had shot their load (again, an inappropriate metaphor here) but... i guess the evidence suggests no? i shd march to the record store and buy this?

― amateurist (amateurist), Tuesday, 1 July 2003 20:57 (twenty-two years ago)

i just got back from seeing them live, my evidence says: no.

― doom-e, Tuesday, 1 July 2003 21:52 (twenty-two years ago)

i often agree with doomie but not in this case - the clientele are fab and you need their records. i have never (and will probably never get to) seen them live and don't much give a toss what they're like live when the records are as good as they are.

― electric sound of jim (electricsound), Tuesday, 1 July 2003 22:00 (twenty-two years ago)

the album is out in the US on july 8th, merge is selling it on their website now. i agree with jim but i also don't get what people see in james yorkston? i listened to his records and didn't find anything compelling, the clientele have seemed to have taken great pains to make their sound their own even if the songs aren't overly complex(they could be what do i know) it seems like they put a great deal of effort in making each and every one beautiful.

― keith (keithmcl), Tuesday, 1 July 2003 23:46 (twenty-two years ago)

what band is james yorkston in?

― fortunate hazel (f. hazel), Tuesday, 1 July 2003 23:48 (twenty-two years ago)

keith, the clientele songs all sound the same. it's there. floating about. they are very tedious live (remember this is my opinion). i wanted to like them but found it very hard going and it was one of those cds that i had in my collection which was there because i felt like it had to be there - they are sort of like the guitar rock high llamas, i guess. nice to look at, critically praised but bores the pants off of me.

james yorkston is basically a singer-songwriter with a collective. the clientele have yet to release something as worthy as 'Sweet Jesus'. A simple soul song. "they look so cosmopolitan like this is france or this is londontown" - something so heart-breaking about that line. a folk song from people on the outside looking in at the bright lights. i don't buy the clientele's bedsit poetry. something more honest about james yorkston. even in the winter pastoralism of the music with the lone pidgeon doing mantra-like backing vocals.

i would have to say no to the clientele - though ric menck never heard them before - (we had an argument at the tyde show) that - clientele were alright. better than that godawful london rubbish of comet gain.

you should check out aidan smith. an eccles singer-song writer.

jim - i don't think you are missing much re: clientele live. yawn. the tyde review is done, going to bed.

― doom-e, Tuesday, 1 July 2003 23:56 (twenty-two years ago)

i like both 'emptily through holloway' and yorkston's 'man with my skills' equally, and a LOT.

― electric sound of jim (electricsound), Tuesday, 1 July 2003 23:58 (twenty-two years ago)

the clientele are missing that crucial x-factor, though, that brings it to reality rather than reality television show james yorkston is not comparable to clientele - different sort of singer songwriter. i honestly can't tell the difference between clientele songs - they all sound the same. i'm off to bed. yawn. goodnight.

― doom-e, Wednesday, 2 July 2003 00:00 (twenty-two years ago)

well, far be it from me to try and convince you how to hear what i'm hearing, but anyway.

― electric sound of jim (electricsound), Wednesday, 2 July 2003 00:01 (twenty-two years ago)

jim are we going to implode over this? ; - ) because we agree on alot of things. i'm not saying it's rubbish. it's just sort of there.

― doom-e, Wednesday, 2 July 2003 00:03 (twenty-two years ago)

i.e. for me; clientele are there, like tescos is there. i'm not going to firebomb tescos and i'm not going to firebomb clientele, you know what i mean?

― doom-e, Wednesday, 2 July 2003 00:04 (twenty-two years ago)

fair enough. i'm not hella passionate about it.. just saying that i hear an x-factor in the atmosphere and melodies that's too entrancing to my ears to ever be bored by it..

― electric sound of jim (electricsound), Wednesday, 2 July 2003 00:05 (twenty-two years ago)

they still don't have a song that is in the calibre of sweet jesus though.

i have to tell you about some crazy news re: ric menck. as for now, i have to get up in four hours and the tyde review still needs tinkering! yikes. music journalism dead lines for weeklies really sucks sometimes. and they took my eagles reference out of the cosmi review! the eagles revival stops here! : - ( i am not poo-faced enough. : - [ i guess!

― doom-e, Wednesday, 2 July 2003 00:07 (twenty-two years ago)

poo- or po-?

― electric sound of jim (electricsound), Wednesday, 2 July 2003 00:08 (twenty-two years ago)

po! i'm tired. i've got to go to bed!

― doom-e, Wednesday, 2 July 2003 00:09 (twenty-two years ago)

i like their 1st album and a few singles. my favorite is the split single with the relict--both sides have female vocals. one of the songs is "(i can't seem) to make you mine" (nice seeds reference) and it's great.

― amateurist (amateurist), Wednesday, 2 July 2003 00:54 (twenty-two years ago)

that james yorkston album was the most boring album I've heard in ages. just so, so derivative. it makes mojave 3's nick drake aping sound stunningly original. yorkston = david gray for people too embarassed to buy a david gray album.

― anthony kyle monday (akmonday), Wednesday, 2 July 2003 01:12 (twenty-two years ago)

they've been pretty well flawless since 'a fading summer'. i am anxious to hear the album. new camera obscura cd soon too, every band i love is releasing an album this year.

― keith (keithmcl), Wednesday, 2 July 2003 01:13 (twenty-two years ago)

are Andmoresound doing the UK version? i'm still pissed at them for not releasing the Tacoma Radar album yet

― electric sound of jim (electricsound), Wednesday, 2 July 2003 01:18 (twenty-two years ago)

elefant is releasing it everywhere. september 8th.

― keith (keithmcl), Wednesday, 2 July 2003 01:36 (twenty-two years ago)

all their songs sound the same! oh, me. on that level, surely the fact that they play guitars and not synthesizers should make them real enough?

perhaps i should try listening to music with cerebro instead of headphones in order to better isolate the crucial x-factor, i have obviously been doing it wrong listening to music with my ears instead of with my psionic forebrain.

― fortunate hazel (f. hazel), Wednesday, 2 July 2003 01:57 (twenty-two years ago)

for a moment there i couldn't tell whose side you were on.

Elefant releasing it everywhere? shame.

― electric sound of jim (electricsound), Wednesday, 2 July 2003 02:18 (twenty-two years ago)

why is that a shame? what is tacoma radar like?

― keith (keithmcl), Wednesday, 2 July 2003 02:22 (twenty-two years ago)

galaxie 500 except with a wonderful female singer (not dissimilar to Camera Obscura girl) in place of Wareham. ergo fookin ace.

― electric sound of jim (electricsound), Wednesday, 2 July 2003 02:25 (twenty-two years ago)

shame because Elefant seems to have issues getting its product well distributed. i'm sick and tired of having to mail order EVERYTHING

― electric sound of jim (electricsound), Wednesday, 2 July 2003 02:26 (twenty-two years ago)

jockrock, the scottish music site, has a nice review of the tacoma radar album fthat looks like it was posted like a year ago.

― keith (keithmcl), Wednesday, 2 July 2003 02:39 (twenty-two years ago)

yeah, appears it never ended up being released :(

― electric sound of jim (electricsound), Wednesday, 2 July 2003 02:45 (twenty-two years ago)

Poo-faced!

― Dan I., Wednesday, 2 July 2003 03:11 (twenty-two years ago)

Well (I suppose predictably) I thought the Clientele were absolutely thrilling last night, but then I don't think there's a guitar band in the world to touch them at the moment. I'm sorry Doomie didn't lke them much. More people than usual seemed to be watching them and listening closely, and a lot of people seemed to enjoy them (incl people who I thopught would react as Doomie did). I wish they were in a position to stop playing these horrible pub back rooms (as they seem to be in the US).

The Tyde were the same as they usually are, which was not terribly interesting to me.

― Tim (Tim), Wednesday, 2 July 2003 07:47 (twenty-two years ago)

sorry tim, i did try to like them. i wanted to be blown away by them. it just didnt happen!

― doom-e, Wednesday, 2 July 2003 09:38 (twenty-two years ago)

I like the new album, very pretty.

― Chris V. (Chris V), Wednesday, 2 July 2003 10:49 (twenty-two years ago)

they also have a 7" single on elefant, though if you live in australia you will have to mail order it ;-)

― joan vich (joan vich), Wednesday, 2 July 2003 10:53 (twenty-two years ago)

a new 7" on elefant or are you talking about the old one?

― fortunate hazel (f. hazel), Wednesday, 2 July 2003 17:06 (twenty-two years ago)

the old one. i've got it, but both sides are on Suburban Light as well

― electric sound of jim (electricsound), Wednesday, 2 July 2003 22:25 (twenty-two years ago)

the new record doesn't seem to have the lazy pace of their older stuff, i need to adjust my ears. first time through seems there are not any drop dead gorgeous new songs, or did i miss one?

― keith (keithmcl), Saturday, 5 July 2003 21:08 (twenty-two years ago)

it seems a bit faster and yet a bit more diffuse at the same time

― jess (dubplatestyle), Saturday, 5 July 2003 21:13 (twenty-two years ago)

maybe that reynolds "being the drummer in the clientele must be the most demeaning job in the world" quote really stung

― jess (dubplatestyle), Saturday, 5 July 2003 21:14 (twenty-two years ago)

yeah it is tough to get ahold of the individual songs, not that they sound the same but that the atmosphere is all encompassing, everything swirls.

― keith (keithmcl), Saturday, 5 July 2003 21:35 (twenty-two years ago)

and second time through i realize 'voices in the mall' and 'when you and i were young' are both stunning.

― keith (keithmcl), Saturday, 5 July 2003 21:38 (twenty-two years ago)

i listened to it about a half a dozen times before it really started clicking. it's brilliant. i like how they seem to opt for getting a bit noisier instead of having a chorus and let the guitar wander off somewhere. from "haunted melody" to the end of the album is just untouchable.

― fortunate hazel (f. hazel), Saturday, 5 July 2003 23:00 (twenty-two years ago)

got it (thx nabisco!!). hasn't left a strong impression after two listenings. but we'll see.

― amateurist (amateurist), Sunday, 6 July 2003 03:41 (twenty-two years ago)

i wish they would consider some tempo changes in their songs, or a surprise here or there. i agree the end is the strong point. some flab on the record though i would have jettisoned the rhumba, everybody's gone and porcelain, the middle definitely drags and i wish he'd do the falsetto more to break up the monotony of his standard singing voice. near the end there is more falsetto and more vocal effects, probably why it is the best portion of the record. i still think it is lovely but it probably isn't top ten for me.

― keith (keithmcl), Sunday, 6 July 2003 03:57 (twenty-two years ago)

i retract my negative thoughts, it is the perfect sunday morning record.

― keith (keithmcl), Sunday, 6 July 2003 16:10 (twenty-two years ago)

This is out now, already (I guess merge slips release dates). Picked it up yesterday. Have not stopped playing it. Wonderful!

― anthony kyle monday (akmonday), Sunday, 6 July 2003 20:07 (twenty-two years ago)

ok, my tentative judgment is that it's much weaker than the previous record. many of the songs have all the textural elements in place but the songwriting doesn't go anymore, they're almost formless. the little instrumental excursions are mostly limp. also whoever said that his vocal shtick is unvaried and ultimately wearing was right on. it'd be nice to bring in some guest singers like on that split seven inch.

― amateurist (amateurist), Monday, 14 July 2003 19:38 (twenty-two years ago)

doesn't go anyWHERE

― amateurist (amateurist), Monday, 14 July 2003 19:38 (twenty-two years ago)

It goes loads of places: down the hall, to the kitchen for a glass of water, out on the patio for a smoke, downstairs to let in the delivery guy, over to the couch, back down the hall, into the armchair, over to bed, out to the bathroom, back to bed. . . .

― nabisco (nabisco), Monday, 14 July 2003 20:00 (twenty-two years ago)

Is that poetic or sarcastic?

― amateurist (amateurist), Monday, 14 July 2003 20:31 (twenty-two years ago)

it is definitely a grower, i love it now. i wish he would use the falsetto a bit more and i like the neil halsteadish last track with the female vocals, should be used more, in my ideal world.

― keith (keithmcl), Monday, 14 July 2003 23:15 (twenty-two years ago)

the discussion on this thread is a good thing.

i thought i would chip in to tell keith that there aren't any female vocals on the last track. nor is there any piano (as is mentioned in the other music review).

― marianna, Tuesday, 15 July 2003 07:12 (twenty-two years ago)

he thinks that because we secretly replaced keith's clientele album with folger's crystals.

― fortunate hazel (f. hazel), Tuesday, 15 July 2003 07:18 (twenty-two years ago)

8 minute Clientele songs = good.

― zaxxon25 (zaxxon25), Tuesday, 15 July 2003 15:33 (twenty-two years ago)

that is so not true.

― amateurist (amateurist), Tuesday, 15 July 2003 16:08 (twenty-two years ago)

It's definitely grown on me but the songwriting is a bit frustrating; I keep waiting for things to develop a little more.

― s1utsky (slutsky), Tuesday, 15 July 2003 17:34 (twenty-two years ago)

oh, i left my ears at home. it still sounds mojave 3-ish. doesn't it?

― keith (keithmcl), Wednesday, 16 July 2003 01:30 (twenty-two years ago)

i am listening to policeman getting lost now, it doesn't sound like a girl. what was i hearing. i dunno.

― keith (keithmcl), Wednesday, 16 July 2003 01:33 (twenty-two years ago)

The last three songs are really good. And I like the third song a lot. I like the single version of 'Porcelain' better (even though the recording is worse), but I prefer the album version of 'Haunted Melody.' (They are different, aren't they? I haven't been able to listen to the single for the longest time.) I'm still getting to know the album... And I still can't get over the innocence/experience question with this band because they are so accomplished (a sure hand, the way they reel you in at the end) but what they do appears so simple... but then no one else thinks to do it... To me they don't sound like their influences.

― youn, Friday, 18 July 2003 07:42 (twenty-two years ago)

i couldn't even tell you what the clientele's influences are, but surely that has more to do with my basic tastes than the apparentness of their influences, right?

― jess (dubplatestyle), Friday, 18 July 2003 07:51 (twenty-two years ago)

i described them as "galaxie 500 + love + early bee gees." does that seem apt?

― amateurist (amateurist), Friday, 18 July 2003 08:30 (twenty-two years ago)

You forgot Al Stewart!

― Jerry the Nipper (Jerrynipper), Friday, 18 July 2003 08:32 (twenty-two years ago)

early bee gees has some al stewart in it.

― amateurist (amateurist), Friday, 18 July 2003 08:42 (twenty-two years ago)

No picking on the man who came up with "Year of the Cat"!

― Chris V. (Chris V), Friday, 18 July 2003 10:22 (twenty-two years ago)

Is it out yet? I'm ready for another Clientele record now I think!

― Tico Tico (Tico Tico), Friday, 18 July 2003 10:30 (twenty-two years ago)

i described them as "galaxie 500 + love + early bee gees." does that seem apt?

There's also something in there from the late '50s/ early '60s, though I've never been able to put my finger on it. I think the reverb reminds me of the Flamingos or something.

― Mark (MarkR), Friday, 18 July 2003 11:54 (twenty-two years ago)

bit of felt in there, too, I'd think.

― scott pl. (scott pl.), Friday, 18 July 2003 12:27 (twenty-two years ago)

perhaps they listen to music from the future. but those bands are just clientele rip-offs of course.

― fortunate hazel (f. hazel), Friday, 18 July 2003 13:53 (twenty-two years ago)

I really like the guitar part in the third song. Does anyone else think that Alasdair's guitar sounds different? I don't know if it's the production or what but it just doesn't sound like a stringed instrument: it isn't twangy, just opal or pearly but with more light. I guess some other gem all together. So the surface is polished, but the richness is in the way the light refracts. (Sorry, all these horrible (mixed) metaphors...)

― youn, Friday, 18 July 2003 13:59 (twenty-two years ago)

early bee gees *are* early '60s, if you're talking about their australian stuff which i am.

yeah, sure, felt too. but the first clientele album is better than anything by felt.

(ducks)

― amateurist (amateurist), Friday, 18 July 2003 14:27 (twenty-two years ago)

Three terrific articles on the Tangents site. Parabolas - that was the image I was after. Alistair is right - shouldn't let school get you down. Tangents has a great editorial policy to have three articles on the same album. (And what Alistair wrote in his blog about finding directions (and using them, no less!) was cool.) Tim's article - something "made" and "dismantled," craft and "delicacy."

Everybody's Gone 1:18, etc. Is that backwards tape underneath it? (As if you could slap on some paint and run.) And think of how the Sea and Cake would have done Jamaican Rum Rhumba, without the splashes of color and the skittering underneath, or much more heavyhanded. Porcelain should be sinister, even with beauty, like The Conformist, which has both the scene with the leaves in the driveway and all that horizontal white in the scene at the hospital(?).

― youn, Saturday, 26 July 2003 01:46 (twenty-two years ago)

What else does this band have besides their new album? They put out a bunch of singles right? Are they collected on a singles comp? Should I seek that out before the new album? Is there a big difference between the two?

― ben welsh (benwelsh), Saturday, 26 July 2003 03:00 (twenty-two years ago)

1) a number of singles and a couple of EPs
2) yes
3) yes it's called "suburban light". i think you want the US version rather than the UK version (one of them is missing tracks from singles but has most of a US-released EP on it that is still separately available)
4) not necessarily
5) not really "big" per se

― electric sound of jim (electricsound), Saturday, 26 July 2003 03:08 (twenty-two years ago)

Is the new album in tune?

― Melissa W (Melissa W), Saturday, 26 July 2003 03:18 (twenty-two years ago)

if that helps

― electric sound of jim (electricsound), Saturday, 26 July 2003 03:23 (twenty-two years ago)

melissa do you know about this mysterious thing called "a human soul"?

― strongo hulkington (dubplatestyle), Saturday, 26 July 2003 03:39 (twenty-two years ago)

thanks electric jim. you're a peach.

― ben welsh (benwelsh), Saturday, 26 July 2003 03:56 (twenty-two years ago)

melissa do you know about this mysterious thing called "a human soul"?

Does it involve being out of tune?

― Melissa W (Melissa W), Saturday, 26 July 2003 04:08 (twenty-two years ago)

tune is overrated. ask david crosby.

― ben welsh (benwelsh), Saturday, 26 July 2003 04:15 (twenty-two years ago)

maybe the world is out of tune.

― fortunate hazel (f. hazel), Saturday, 26 July 2003 04:17 (twenty-two years ago)

I just finished writing my review. (here) I had never heard (of) the Clientele before a few weeks ago, but the new album is a wonder. Beautiful. I'd be very grateful to hear what some of you wise-ones think of my review... Be kind or cruel as you please.

― Sean M (Sean M), Wednesday, 30 July 2003 00:22 (twenty-two years ago)

i don't see the lyrical similarity to felt. the clientele guy sounds like he's singing to himself, felt usually seemed to be addressing someone else. of course i like both bands way too much. the guitar, yes, it wanders around so wonderfully like it does on the first couple felt albums.

― fortunate hazel (f. hazel), Wednesday, 30 July 2003 01:08 (twenty-two years ago)

Melissa: no.

― amateurist (amateurist), Wednesday, 30 July 2003 02:35 (twenty-two years ago)

Melissa: no.

No, the album is not in tune, or no, this mysterious thing called the "human soul" has nothing to do with being out of tune?

― Melissa W (Melissa W), Wednesday, 30 July 2003 05:12 (twenty-two years ago)

i think amateurist and melissa have finally found a "why was i programmed to feel pain?!" robot buddy to call their own

― strongo hulkington (dubplatestyle), Wednesday, 30 July 2003 05:29 (twenty-two years ago)

you mean me?

― electric sound of jim (electricsound), Wednesday, 30 July 2003 05:36 (twenty-two years ago)

I think they could have come up with a more inspired title than "The Violet Hour"? Just picked this up today, I enjoyed Suburban Light but I'm not that impressed with this one. They seem to be treading water. Or maybe my tastes have changed. The lyrics seem to have been written on 'wistful romanticism' autopilot. The whole thing seems a bit shallow. It seems like this should be there xxth record, settling into a groove, like Yo La Tengo, not a career builder.

― Mary (Mary), Thursday, 31 July 2003 06:44 (twenty-two years ago)

Morrissey, Joey Sweeney, and the Pinefox are good lyricists. Lots of people like indie pop for lyrics. Sundar makes fun of us for that. I don't think lyrics are their strong point, but that's not all there is. (It's only one kind of "intelligence.") I'm interested in their lyrics, I want to know what Alasdair is singing about, e.g., in the third song, because I am already enraptured by their music. That's okay. Would listening to it as something other than a pop record, as Tim H suggests, help? Musically, I don't think they've settled into a groove at all.

― youn, Thursday, 31 July 2003 08:12 (twenty-two years ago)

Does anyone else think that Alasdair's guitar sounds different?

He sneaked a Les Paul into the studio for some of the solos.

― Mooro (Mooro), Thursday, 31 July 2003 13:57 (twenty-two years ago)

What Mary said.

Melissa: yes, he's often out of tune.

Jess: congratulations, you're being an wilfull idiot. There is out of tune and then there is out of tune. People like Bob Dylan and, um, Dre3000 often go out of tune in a deliberate and effective way. Other people just drift around notes with little control, to more or less grating effect. I actually don't think the Clientele singer is bad at all in this sense, although as Melissa suggested, he does go out of tune quite a bit. And there are some singers with pitch control problems--Shirley Collis for one--who I admire enormously nonetheless.

Or is the very notion of "tune" the product of some robot-hegemony? Well, you're free to listen to Merzbow all you want.

― amateurist (amateurist), Thursday, 31 July 2003 14:05 (twenty-two years ago)

Amateurist, it wasn't just him though that bothered me on the last record, it was the instruments. On Lacewings in particular, every element of the song was in a different pitch universe. To the point that it made me feel incredibly ill.

― Melissa W (Melissa W), Thursday, 31 July 2003 14:21 (twenty-two years ago)

Hey man, any effect is better than indifference, right?

― Tim (Tim), Thursday, 31 July 2003 14:27 (twenty-two years ago)

I have the new album now and on first (well, second really) hearing I enjoy it. In my experience - not unrelated to my first hearing of this album - Jamaican Rum is rarely as delicate as the rhumba implies. I rather lost the thread of the record halfway through but this is not an unusual experience with albums and me. A hopeful thumbs up.

― Tom (Groke), Thursday, 31 July 2003 14:30 (twenty-two years ago)

More than Suburban Light Violet Hour is a grower, the tunes are not as immediately AM-radio catchy, but they sink in after a while. The more consistant overall sound (singles recorded at dif. times etc.) is also welcome.

― Mark (MarkR), Thursday, 31 July 2003 14:34 (twenty-two years ago)

Melissa: that's why he uses some much reverb, I guess. I think you are probably more sensitive to such things than I--this is not an insult, BTW.

When I saw them live he kept asking the sound man for more reverb, it almost became self-parody after a while. He also kept asking the crowd to hush, even though it wasn't any noisier than usual for a rock show. Combine that with the very soupy sound on the new record, I sort of wonder if the bands knows their own strengths. That said I don't by any means think it is a bad record, I just wasn't as impressed with it on a few listens as I was with their previous material.

Maybe they should just release 7"s.

― amateurist (amateurist), Thursday, 31 July 2003 15:49 (twenty-two years ago)

Aside from 'they should just release 7"s', which is an article of musical faith and (for me) doesn't apply to the Clientele any more than anyone else, I don't think I agree with anything Amst says about the new LP. I especially don't think the sound's soupy, and I love how the reverb breaks up their lyrics. I think "The Violet Hour" is a much better, subtler record than "Suburban Light" (I loved Suburban Light too, mind) and I like it more and more every time I listen to it.

Clientele live shouldn't equal a rock show and they're certainly not beyond a bit of self-parody. Also, more people should tell the audience to quieten down if they feel like it, it's a terrific thing to do (cf Kevin Rowland on "The Bridge").

― Tim (Tim), Thursday, 31 July 2003 16:14 (twenty-two years ago)

I don't like 7"s better than LPs on any kind of principle, it was just a flippant comment arising from my opinion that their best work has been on singles.

― amateurist (amateurist), Thursday, 31 July 2003 16:17 (twenty-two years ago)

I like 72s better than LPs on every kind of principle.

Well, most kinds of principle.

― Tim (Tim), Thursday, 31 July 2003 16:20 (twenty-two years ago)

haha 72s

I meant seventy two inches obviously.

― Tim (Tim), Thursday, 31 July 2003 16:20 (twenty-two years ago)

You can fit a lot of music on a 72.

― amateurist (amateurist), Thursday, 31 July 2003 16:24 (twenty-two years ago)

i like good ol' 78s better

― joan vich (joan vich), Thursday, 31 July 2003 16:29 (twenty-two years ago)

TS: 78 RPM vs. 72 inches

― amateurist (amateurist), Thursday, 31 July 2003 16:35 (twenty-two years ago)

self parody

Audience last night: More!

Alasdair: Are you pitch deaf?

Actually, you're at a Clientele gig, of course you are.

(or something like that)

― Mooro (Mooro), Saturday, 2 August 2003 18:01 (twenty-two years ago)

one month passes...

on the pointy records site alasdair says 'policeman getting lost' is after a song by the fall. in the film gaslight, there is a scene with a policeman emerging from the fog under a streetlamp. it's supposed to be about 4 am. i haven't been to the beach that early but in the morning there are surfers and that same kind of mist, no slightly different, but both kinds are all right for the song.

― youn, Sunday, 7 September 2003 01:20 (twenty-two years ago)

i'm no expert on these things but i think the bass guitar sounds too damped or muffled and is too low in the mix.

― youn, Tuesday, 9 September 2003 18:32 (twenty-two years ago)

three weeks pass...

I must say The Violet Hour is a lovely piece of work. I may investigate further. The second tracks sounds to me to have filched the bassline from Verve's "Where The Geese Go", which is a wonderful thing to filch.

― Nick Southall (Nick Southall), Wednesday, 1 October 2003 12:19 (twenty-two years ago)

cough.

― gabbo giftington (dubplatestyle), Wednesday, 1 October 2003 15:18 (twenty-two years ago)

Wow what a joyless stupuid ass review! Man I swear sometimes that old cliche rings true that critics just do not get it! Thanks for the link!

― Mark Watsinki, Wednesday, 1 October 2003 18:52 (twenty-two years ago)

These guys sound like My Morning Jacket if My Morning Jacket was from wherever these guys are from. Except MMJ's singer didn't use studio reverb for his voice, he recorded his vocals in a grain silo. And that whole instruments-in-tune thing. I kinda like it though.

― nickalicious (nickalicious), Wednesday, 1 October 2003 19:14 (twenty-two years ago)

I'd rather shovel bees down my dick than listen to My Morning Jacket...

― Nick Southall (Nick Southall), Thursday, 2 October 2003 08:56 (twenty-two years ago)

I'm not familiar with that song by the Verve, but when I listened to it yesterday, I thought the bass is what makes it sound like a country & western song.

― youn, Thursday, 2 October 2003 10:08 (twenty-two years ago)

It's worth a download, certainly.

― Nick Southall (Nick Southall), Thursday, 2 October 2003 10:54 (twenty-two years ago)

Is it me, or was the formatting on the Voice review messed up? Part of the text was cut off at the end by ads.

― Nicolars (Nicole), Thursday, 2 October 2003 12:00 (twenty-two years ago)

Nah, it was fucked. I read it by copy/pasting itinto the text box here and then deleting it.

― Nick Southall (Nick Southall), Thursday, 2 October 2003 12:05 (twenty-two years ago)

Yeah, I had the same problem, and it's not the first time that it's happened with the Voice online, either... Pretty ridiculous.

― Mr. Diamond (diamond), Thursday, 2 October 2003 16:32 (twenty-two years ago)

Jess, that VV review should be linked to from the Indie Guilt thread (tho I pretty much agree w/ it.)

― Mark (MarkR), Thursday, 2 October 2003 21:10 (twenty-two years ago)

haha well we had to edit out where i compared them to boards of canada and gorguts

― gabbo giftington (dubplatestyle), Thursday, 2 October 2003 21:11 (twenty-two years ago)

i have no patience for bands who decide to "mature" no matter what the genre though, unless it's some barely perceptible shift across a couple albums

― gabbo giftington (dubplatestyle), Thursday, 2 October 2003 21:14 (twenty-two years ago)

The best thing about this thread is that Youn pops up now and again and says something that I wouldn't have thought of but agree with completely. No disrespect to you other fine fellows, of course.

― Tim (Tim), Friday, 3 October 2003 08:00 (twenty-two years ago)

Is anything on the new record as good as "Emptily Through Holloway" ?

― bert (bert), Friday, 3 October 2003 21:07 (twenty-two years ago)

When a band does post-collegiate longing as good as the Clientele[...]

ARGH! ARGH! "well"! "... does post-collegiate longing as well as the Clientele..."!!!!!

Ahem. Sorry about that.

― Dan Perry (Dan Perry), Friday, 3 October 2003 22:20 (twenty-two years ago)

Is anything on the new record as good as "Emptily Through Holloway"

like, epic and falsetto? try "the house always wins." in terms of just abstract greatness, there's "missing," "haunted melody" and "lamplight" as well. plus the album is greater than the sum of its songs.

― fortunate hazel (f. hazel), Saturday, 4 October 2003 05:47 (twenty-two years ago)

I just heard Clientele for the last time. Thank god.

― , Sunday, 5 October 2003 17:51 (twenty-two years ago)

dan perry rules

― Sonny A. (Keiko), Sunday, 5 October 2003 18:50 (twenty-two years ago)

dan, do you get constipated a lot?

― gabbo giftington (dubplatestyle), Sunday, 5 October 2003 21:44 (twenty-two years ago)

and when you finally let one go, do you groan in key?

― gabbo giftington (dubplatestyle), Sunday, 5 October 2003 21:45 (twenty-two years ago)

if you're putting down the anal you're not among friends!!!

― the surface noise (electricsound), Sunday, 5 October 2003 22:18 (twenty-two years ago)

Getting called anal has brightened my entire day.

― Dan Perry (Dan Perry), Monday, 6 October 2003 16:59 (twenty-two years ago)

three weeks pass...

i like the single version of 'porcelain' better because alasdair's singing is dramatic, more of a performance, e.g., with the sustained sibilant in 'swiftly on its way,' and because the drumming is exciting and chaotic. i like the album version of 'haunted melody' because all the warmth and prettiness and angularity is up front in the production. but i don't dislike the single: it has a different mood, storms in the moors...

― youn, Friday, 31 October 2003 20:30 (twenty-two years ago)

four months pass...

Have people come to dig The Violet Hour much?

I just listened again hoping it might click - as I loved the initial releases - but it's so foggy and whispy and seems mostly to insinuate melodies that rarely emerge.

Several tracks are sublime - eg. "Lamplight", the title track, those two earlier singles revisited - but I wish they would be a little more insistent throughout. Anyone else find it hard to adore?

― Nag! Nag! Nag! (Nag! Nag! Nag!), Thursday, 4 March 2004 06:08 (twenty-two years ago)

two weeks pass...

I find myself not likeing the violet hour as much as I like suburban light. However, I'm of the mind that lamplight is the best thing these guys have ever recorded. Is there any searchable stuff thats not on the lps that I should pick up?

― bill stevens (bscrubbins), Friday, 19 March 2004 00:12 (twenty-two years ago)

there's not really a lot out there that's not on one or the other of the albums. "fear of falling" (the b-side to "haunted melody") is worth checking out (it's on a recent Merge compilation), and the "lost weekend" EP is their high watermark.

― the surface noise (electricsound), Friday, 19 March 2004 00:16 (twenty-two years ago)

I happne to know that Dr. C somehow myseteriously ended up with a copy of Suburban Light following an earlier discussion.

What was your verdict in the end, Doc?

― Stewart Osborne (Stewart Osborne), Friday, 19 March 2004 09:10 (twenty-two years ago)

I wonder how much the excess reverb is what attracts the likes of myself, jess and Tim H to The Clientele? Indie-dub?

― Sick Nouthall (Nick Southall), Friday, 19 March 2004 11:32 (twenty-two years ago)

the reverb on the newer record actually gives me headaches even when i'm not listening to it!

doesn't mean i don't like it though, in fact i'm just not sure

― !!!! (amateurist), Friday, 19 March 2004 14:19 (twenty-two years ago)

i'm still not really feeling the violet hour. i know its kind of the point, but it still just sort of washes over me for 45 mins, barely leaving any impression at all.

― strongo hulkington (dubplatestyle), Friday, 19 March 2004 14:54 (twenty-two years ago)

I like it best, but I heard it first.

― Sick Nouthall (Nick Southall), Friday, 19 March 2004 15:13 (twenty-two years ago)

The new EP (http://acuareladiscos.com/php_e/_noticias.php#51) is amazing: a couple of piano pieces, a limpid instrumental, a ten-minute drone and one fantastic new song in a recognisably Clientele mode.

― Tim (Tim), Friday, 19 March 2004 15:30 (twenty-two years ago)

you like drones?!

― Julio Desouza (jdesouza), Friday, 19 March 2004 15:39 (twenty-two years ago)

Sometimes. I quite enjoy talking to you in the pub, for example. (You must surely have been wanting me to say that).

― Tim (Tim), Friday, 19 March 2004 15:43 (twenty-two years ago)

yes, yes I did.

― Julio Desouza (jdesouza), Friday, 19 March 2004 15:46 (twenty-two years ago)

That was like watching Raul and Zidane one-two past the last defender and then trickle it wide.

― Sick Nouthall (Nick Southall), Friday, 19 March 2004 15:51 (twenty-two years ago)

for a nonbrit that last phrase sounds hopelessly lurid

― !!!! (amateurist), Friday, 19 March 2004 16:54 (twenty-two years ago)

amateurist you have to change your new handle so i can stop thinking you are endlessly shocked by everything on ilx

― strongo hulkington (dubplatestyle), Friday, 19 March 2004 16:57 (twenty-two years ago)

sorry

― amateur!st (amateurist), Friday, 19 March 2004 17:28 (twenty-two years ago)

bought suburban light on saturday. it's making me feel happy.

― AaronK (AaronK), Monday, 29 March 2004 19:04 (twenty-two years ago)

four months pass...

I like the shunting sound at the end of "The Sea Inside a Shell" from the Ariadne ep. I had never listened to it loud enough to take notice of it before. I only looked up the title to write about the sound. It makes sense now and confirms a thought I'd had about the droning: even though it's an artificial sound, its loudness, its insistence, has the pull of sounds in nature. And even though the shunting sound is mechanical, the after effects put it in the natural world.

― youn, Saturday, 28 August 2004 05:33 (twenty-one years ago)

three years pass...

Better late than never. Scooped up some tunes after reading thru the Clientele threads. A Fading Summer EP, "Rain," and "Since K Got Over Me" best so far. Superb.

One thing I don't get. The AMG review of A Fading Summer says it's for people who cherish Love's Forever Changes. Huh?? Forever Changes is great and all but A Fading Summer is very different in tone and intent. The references to Neil Halsted and Dean Wareham make more sense.

― that's not my post, Saturday, 28 June 2008 04:03 (seventeen years ago)

new EP is out sometime in the next couple of weeks, by the way.

― f. hazel, Saturday, 28 June 2008 08:18 (seventeen years ago)

Always found the Love referencing a tad odd myself, though I think it has to do with an approach to songwriting more than the actual sound. Someone who likes Love more than I could probably explain. Anyway, listening today to Violet Hour all the way through for the first time in a while and it sounds pretty fucking great -- better than I remembered. Not hard to see why it was a little disappointing after Suburban Light-- how could it not be?-- but it seems like the perfect album-length distillation of their early sound in retrospect.

― Mark Rich@rdson, Saturday, 28 June 2008 17:35 (seventeen years ago)

New EP? Is it new, original material or re-mixed old songs?

I love this band, BTW.

― Daniel, Esq., Saturday, 28 June 2008 21:20 (seventeen years ago)

ariadne ep is my favorite

― tremendoid, Saturday, 28 June 2008 21:31 (seventeen years ago)

six months pass...

The Love comparisons are only half-right. If you took Arthur Lee out of Love and just let Bryan MacLean (presumably someone who's only spiritually related to Alasdair) sing about "orange skies, carnivals and cotton candy" you'd have a pretty decent blueprint for the Clientele's sound. Bryan's collected demos released ten years ago, as well as the Love songs where he sings lead, would be an example of what this Lee-less Love would sound like.

― Cunga, Saturday, 3 January 2009 08:48 (seventeen years ago)

seven years pass...

Fans of the C should check out this band Murals

― calstars, Friday, 21 October 2016 20:44 (nine years ago)

You must be logged in to post. Please either login here, or if you are not registered, you may register here.