Comsat Angels C or D/S&D

And the packaging reflects this: Far East-style wirting over 'landscape' of empty Sheffield motorway at night (as if it was an oriental view for poetic contemplation, not a depressing bit of concrete in the North) - just about sums up the best of the record.

Yes, Ned, two such moments on a perfect album. ;-) No, I agree, though; "Dark Parade" unbelievably perfectly expresses the sort of half-given-up smoldering resentment/tension/jealousy that wakes you from your sleep and you're not even sure quite why.

This contains the whole of the three albums they did for Polydor complete with all the tracks that I've been hoarding for the last 20-25 years on the original singles, gatefolds, 12"'s etc.

There's also a 4th CD of demos, outtakes etc.; so in other words it's absolutely completely and utterly comprehensive apart from one positively enormous and glaring omission, which brings me to the question I have for all you nice people:

Does anyone have any idea why the hell they couldn't have included Red Planet, I Get Excited and Specimen No. 2 from the first single they released on their own Junta label in 1979? Were Polydor too tight or too stupid to license it from the band? Are the band really (still) too angry at Polydor to licence it to them? It's an absolute travesty that this gem remains largely unavailable (yes of course I've still got the original copy I rushed out and bought after hearing it John Peel in 1979 - that's not the point!).

Also, while I'm here, is any of their post-Polydor stuff any good? I was toying with the idea of buying the "From Beyond" comp. - would this be a good move?

Trivia question - anyone know if they had a guitar player called Robbo at one stage?

All of it, FUCKING CLASSIC!! new wave sell out albums included!

cutty to thread.

it's a GREAT deal for the price and worth it for the outtakes stuff alone.

destroy the faux DVD style package.

I found the bulk of their output on LP for very little $.

And, It's ALL good.

chasing shadows is brilliance.

also see: real genius montage

http://www.movie-montage.com/montageView.php?montageCategoryCode=1&montageCode=11

worst packaging ever?

I'm too tired to rant about various individual moments of brilliance but like, CLASSIC, obviously.

Anyone that links to A Certain Pitchfrock thread in here gets a Dirty Sanchez.

They've also got the entire band to answer various fan questions. Steve Fellows thinks "Hate It Or Love It" was one of the best songs of last year, interestingly.

I loved ‘La Ritournelle‘ by Sebastien Tellier. I like ‘ How To Be Invisible’ on the Kate Bush album.

I've been listening to The Outsiders a lot recently - possibly even better than The Sound.

Sleep is definitely one of the great post-punk mood albums, along the lines of the Cure's Pornography, Joy Division's Closer and anything that Bauhaus ever did. It's a bit more rockin' than any of those albums, but the sound of it is absolutely huge — the production is nearly the star of the show. Just one, completely unified and isolated atmosphere to lose yourself in.

I agree that the sound/production bit is key here - all of those comparisons make perfect sense but (as you suggest) I think Sleep No More is less stark and more all-enveloping e.g. I'd probably compare it to albums like Disintegration or (esp) The Church's Priest = Aura as much as or more than its actual peers. In this sense it sounds very ahead of its time, I think.

Just... that bit in "Gone" where Stephen intones "WHAT WAS HIS NAME" over and over again and then the whole thing explodes into that wracked, trembling guitar line. One of my favourite moments in music.

:-) I remember first hearing the song through Martin Gore's cover on the original Counterfeit and wondering what the heck it was, who did and where from. Back in 1989 that was not exactly easy to find out.

I've never heard that!

haha this sounds exactly how I imagined it would.

Well, yeah. Part of the charm. :-D

Just... that bit in "Gone" where Stephen intones "WHAT WAS HIS NAME" over and over again and then the whole thing explodes into that wracked, trembling guitar line. One of my favourite moments in music.

― Tim F, Monday, July 16, 2012 10:47 AM (11 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

I've always felt the same!

New vinyl reissues are damned expensive, but Chasing Shadows though. . . !

feeling this song today:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p6CPvcvxzmc

Was digging for comsats deep cuts and this dream command song is fucking great imo fuiud etc

http://youtu.be/B4qvS9hQJc0

^ someone needs to hook up brad with that, think he would dig

Rest of the album is not good, but that is numbed out mondeo rock perfection, almost even blue nile-esque

Actually I like 'ice sculpture' quite a bit too

Big fan of this one too, strongly approve of the comsats when they're in this moody ferry-esque mode

http://youtu.be/aiTC56ZVPXk

I like Fire on the Moon. Really don't see anything wrong with it, honestly.

"Fire On The Moon" has some decent bits but it's clearly a band that has shaved off all the edges. "Ice Sculpture" and "Venus Hunter" are my picks, with "Transport Of Delight" and "She's Invisible" also being ok.

I think The Comsat Angels' Blue Nile-ish tendencies peaked early with "After The Rain".

Man Sleep No More really is the best album ever made.

just noticed that the first three albums have disappeared from spotify but now there are two volumes of 'lost sessions' up there instead. not sure what these are, sound quality isn't great though.

eeek, these sound like they've been taped straight off the radio (and then the tape's gone a bit funny)

Wow, the audio quality of these is dire. Still great to hear, though.

(Peering into the Spotify catalog, I see that the first 3 Comsat Angels albums are there, but currently available only in GB. Nothing else other than these two Lost Sessions comps.)

This guy was a fkn awesome drummer btw.

Are these "Lost Sessions" the same recordings from that To Before set from a few years back?

https://www.discogs.com/The-Comsat-Angels-To-Before/release/886361

No, this is some poor quality stuff that's definitely been taped off the radio - volume 2 even has the DJs talking over the end of the songs and then getting chopped off mid-speech. Who the heck uploaded it? Surely it can't be sanctioned by the band

looks like they're selling it on amazon too (don't buy it!):

https://www.amazon.com/Comsat-Angels-Lost-Sessions-Vol/dp/B078VRMLXQ
https://www.amazon.com/Comsat-Angels-Lost-Sessions-Vol/dp/B078VHTTYW

This guy was a fkn awesome drummer btw.

yeah, the more i listen the more amazing he gets

i read in the sleep no more deluxe cd booklet that he recorded the drums at the bottom of a stairway. like bonham on "when the levee breaks"!!

yeah that’s right - in the office building one of them worked in iirc

Was digging for comsats deep cuts and this dream command song is fucking great imo fuiud etc

http://youtu.be/B4qvS9hQJc0

― François Pitchforkian (NickB), Saturday, March 26, 2016 1:11 AM (three years ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

^ someone needs to hook up brad with that, think he would dig

― François Pitchforkian (NickB), Saturday, March 26, 2016 1:14 AM (three years ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

damn three years late but thank you nick! tim finally got me into this band a few years ago, the first three albums are incredible, but i've been v curious about the later stuff

anyway this is the best band ever

Re: their later stuff, get thee to "My Mind's Eye" pronto!

I've always thought the later, starting with Chasing Shadows, stuff was pretty admirable. Fire on the Moon has an especially poor (and unmerited) reputation. I've said it before and I'll say it again: Fire on the Moon is no worse than the worst albums by their peers; it's probably better, honestly.

Fire on the Moon is no worse than the worst albums by their peers; it's probably better, honestly.

That's probably true. It's definitely better than Killing Joke's "Outside The Gate" and on par with Gang Of Four's "Hard". After that, it depends on which albums you consider 'the worst' from other post-punk luminaries.

I think Fire on the Moon (and its follow-ups) is way better than Wild Mood Swings or Republic.

we need to keep this Cure vs New Order thing contained or it'll take over the whole site

i can't wait to check out the later stuff! however i may never get over how bottomlessly great the first three records are

just listening to "monkey pilot" and thinking WOW WHAT A SONG today

also like.... "real story"!!! who were these guys???? their basslines never quit

Their rhythm section was something else, what an amazing drummer.

yes!!!!!!

I don't believe I've gone a single night DJ'ing without playing "It's History" at some point. Secret favorite band!

i may never get over how bottomlessly great the first three records are

to be fair, not even the band could get over this.

I've been meaning to make a Comsats anthology to put on my phone. And it wouldn't all be from the first 3 albums!

hey gerald, curious what you ended up going with?

my un-obvious (read: non-first three lps) comsats 'best of' picks would be:

'lost continent'
'citadel' (yes i know it's a cover; don't care, it slays)
'driving'
'i hear a new world'
'ice sculpture'

Not gotten round to it yet, but thanks for the reminder, will add it to my queue of music projects.

I completely missed that Stephen Fellows released an album this year and it's very very good. Fave "welcome back" album of the year for sure:
https://stephenfellows.bandcamp.com/album/slow-glass

!

Thanks for the heads up! One of my fastest purchases of the year

The new album is ok, doesn't knock my socks off or demand multiple listenings. He released a bunch of stuff on Myspace eons ago like "Helicopters 111" that had great potential but that stuff appears to have been shelved.

thank you, e t! definitely going to check this out.