Cardiacs: Classic or Dud?

It's always been difficult to find. It was one of the most expensive CDs I ever bought. Originally it was a Japanese import which sat in the Virgin Megastore untouched because of it's nearly $100 price tag. Eventually it got reduced to half price and I took the plunge. What a relief when it turned out to be good.

wdve been 12 quid, right there

Then there's The Trudy. Formed by early Cardiacs defectors, they are still around and recorded some stuff pretty recently with Tim Smith at the controls. The songs in question are on their myspace page.

btw am listening to the Garage RES right now...

...much punkier than the 80's version! Cardiacs are a band who got punkier and yet more epic at the same time

Theres a third version of RES? I much prefer the version on The Seaside to the Little Man one. I think it's because I've watched the video so many times.

The Seaside is the latest one i managed to find at a decent price (is 20 pounds decent?) RES followed by To Go Off and Things, I can't think of many better ways to end an album.

Would say it doesn't quite have the same miraculous momentum of the ALM version (and hey, I DID vote for it in the ALM poll), but it's a darn good live rendering. Little is lost, and it's a fresh perspective.

RES into Whole World Window is pretty damn spectacular. My favourite end to any Cardiacs album is actually Snakes A-Sleeping, because much as Will Bleed Amen is amazing and Secret Like Swans lovely, they need to be indexed as separate tracks, dammit

Haha, The Obvious Identity is straight-up punk! And really good straight-up punk at that. Nice.

(Obviously The Everso Closely Guarded Line is right up there with S A-S, but I prefer the latter for some reason)

Versions of RES:

The Seaside (both versions)
A Little Man and A House And The Whole World Window
Nighttracks (Janice Long session that came out on vinyl)
Mares Nest Live CD
Special Garage Concerts

And there's a video for it on the Seaside Treats thing, which if memory serves is slightly different to the version on The Seaside.

btw I'm still annoyed 'Is This The Life' won the ALM poll. all 4 people who voted for it, I reckon, have heard VERY little other Cardiacs, let alone the whole album

oh hey a cardiacs thread

a little man and a house and the whole world window is probably one of my favorite albums ever. however!, i can't get any of their other albums to click in that same way for me. i'm still trying though, i'm willing to give them as many chances as it takes...

INFINITY TIMES A BILLION CHANCES

Then there's The Trudy. Formed by early Cardiacs defectors, they are still around and recorded some stuff pretty recently with Tim Smith at the controls. The songs in question are on their myspace page.

"Lost Summer Of Love" is one of the great overlooked singles of the last few years, I reckon. Must get around to buying their CD, actually...

my wee girl went nuts to 'tarred and feathered' this morning. this makes me a happy dad.

Some details are coming to light about the forthcoming Cardiacs gathering...Looks like it's going to be a full-on benefit gig for Tim, with special guest vocalists and bands to be announced! And it'll be at the Queen Elizabeth Hall on the 25th of September.

am sooooooo gonna be there

same

toldja!

and yes, I'll be there too. a friend of mine is playing this. should be ace!

Patton's on board, so I've heard

I 'eard that rumour. most exciting.

So I managed to track down a copy of Sing to God, it's amazingly consistent for a double album. Dirty Boy is just incredible it might just edge out RES as my favourite song of theirs. I remember my brother having the Bellyeye single and playing it to death, I think the B-side No Gold was the first song I really like of theirs.

My collection now consists of...
A Little Man & a House
Cardiacs Live
On Land & In the Sea
The Seaside
Sing to God (Parts 1 & 2)

All great albums, I think Songs For Ships & Irons is next on my list.

good, innit?

funny how virtually everyone latches onto 'dirty boy' as the obvious STG highlight.

don't get me wrong, I like it lots in its monolithic way, but for me it's nowhere near the same level as 'fiery gun hand', 'a horse's tail', 'eat it up worms hero', 'bell clinks', etc. I guess I like cardiacs best when they're as fast and hard and wiggly as possible.

It's that last two minutes that really make Dirty Boy amazing, It's really intense and sounds like it could just keep on going.

All the ones you mentioned are great too. I like how it has a big mix of all the different Cardiacs styles like the fast and wiggly (great way of putting it) but then there's some of their biggest pop moments too like Manhoo or Odd Even.

It might be my favourite album I've heard of theirs so far.

I acquired recently all the albums I didn't have, so The Obvious Identity, Toy World, The Seaside, Songs For Ships And Irons and the Sea Nymphs album will be 'chewn' through (as it were)!

Actually, I've already had at the Sea Nymphs several times, because it's amazing. Lilly White's Party especially.

Kitchen Person, you will love Guns, but you shouldn't ignore Heaven Born And Ever Bright.

Yeah get Guns and the Ditzy Scene single.

Oh yeah, get the Ditzy Scene single if you can! It's quite hard to, but do try! Scarcely has a 30 year-old band sounded so vital...

It's even hard to do online...scarce on the most comprehensive torrent sites.

I've actually lost my copy with a change of computer so if someone wants to be CHARITABLE

xpost sorry dude I've only heard it from Youtube streams.

Also, I'm back into The Fall. Slates and Hex did the trick.

BOOM

one of us etc

Where next in the 'moulding him in my image' quest...VdGG?

gimme time, I gotta write on Eliot + Swift + Toni Morrison this holiday.

snob + joeks bruv + emancipation

I acquired recently all the albums I didn't have, so The Obvious Identity, Toy World, The Seaside, Songs For Ships And Irons and the Sea Nymphs album will be 'chewn' through (as it were)!

Actually, I've already had at the Sea Nymphs several times, because it's amazing. Lilly White's Party especially.

Kitchen Person, you will love Guns, but you shouldn't ignore Heaven Born And Ever Bright.

― forgive me fada (acoleuthic), Friday, April 9, 2010 1:09 PM (1 hour ago) Bookmark

How did you manage to track all those down? I'm actually pretty fed up of searching for their stuff, I do at least 3 Ebay searches a day.

Heaven Born & Ever Bright, Guns and Song's For Ships & irons are the ones on my list to get. The Sea Nymphs album is just about impossible to get but I would love to own that one day.

They were acquired through stealth, and having a brother who has a d3m0n01d account

Are there any places that you'd recommend trying to find their albums apart from the usual Amazon, Ebay, Netsounds? I sometimes look at their website in hope they will have their albums back in stock but I know it's a long shot.

I guess I should be grateful I have managed to find as many as I have.

Well, if you're not averse to itunes, the entire back catalogue is on there. Sadly, that's pretty much the only way the band are going to see any revenue at this point.

The Spratley's Japs album is amazing too!

Gah, looks like the benefit is off. One or more of the "big names" can't make it, so it's all fallen apart. Should've known it was too good to be true.

wait, what? that's no reason to call a Cardiacs benefit off! Who's in charge? I know some "big names" that would be more than happy to benefit Tim Smith and the Cardiacs!

^^^get this guy and Max Tundra involved IMO

noooooooo!

X-Post I'd be interested to know who.

http://thequietus.com/articles/04192-why-a-heart-attack-must-not-arrest-the-cardiacs

^^^great article!!

The Sea Nymphs album is rapidly, rapidly attaining godlike status with me. It's possibly as good as HBAEB, maybe even better

Have you the Spratleys Japs record?

I really need to start exploring these offshoots... all I have is the 'affectionate friends' comp.

SJ is practically STG Disc 3, you want it!

Sea Nymphs is

um

I don't know how lovely

but THIS, truly, is the album which if everyone in the world heard, they would love. Of that I am certain. There's absolutely nothing that could put anyone off except his voice and we're all grown-ups who can overlook voices, right?

If I were to re-run that 90s poll, this album would be getting points. From me.

Astounding.

I must hear Spratley's Japs.