Thirteen Moons (RIYL Talk Talk, Tim Buckley, Blue Nile, 4AD, et al)

I seriously can't fathom how I have not heard of the band Thirteen Moons until today, given their sound is at the very coor of my "home base," the vibe and sounds I've always returned to for the last 20+ years. How I haven't seen them mentioned here on ILM in 16 years, or in other discussions or their cohort, or in reviews of other artists...

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

To me they're firmly in the league of Talk Talk, The Blue Nile, Shelleyan Orphan, This Mortal Coil, David Sylvian, Cocteau Twins, Bel Canto, It's Immaterial, Durutti Column, Comsat Angels, Dead Can Dance, et al. And honestly, they're probably better than some of those, much as I love them all.

To me they'ee drawing from Tim Buckley, Terry Callier, Scott Walker, Roberta Flack, Buffy Sainte-Marie, Nico, Bill Evans, Sandy Denny, Labi Siffre, Nina Simone, Joe Zawinul, John Martyn, down-mood Miles, Nick Drake. All that moody arty urbane-pastoral tradition that uses space as much as sound.

I feel like if they'd been on 4AD or Les Disques du Crépuscule or even Crammed, we would all have known them, they'd have a deluxe box set instead of being 30+ years OOP...

Anyway, maybe you are all already familiar with them and I'm the last to know--but *very* worth your attention, IMO, if you like the stuff I mentioned above.

I hope this works this time:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pSsVQ2HqwKQ

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u16l1Ip0ksI

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bHlzkIml28E

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

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FY2BdkuLmYg

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

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5w9TnFMmr5I

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uOirk47GqhA

sounds good, up my alley

it's a bit of an obscure band though, isn't it? swedish three piece that never seemed to find much success?

Fassbinder fans, perhaps?

First few tracks I sampled are certainly promising, thanks...

Seemingly pretty obscure, yes. But between the reissue industry and the blog culture (especially of the 2000s/early 10s), seems like every top-shelf obscurity like this (and certainly plenty ofiddle-shelf) has been rediscovered by now. I feel like a lot of people actively search for music that sounds/feels "like Talk Talk" or "like Blue Nile" sonce the supply is limited--so was thrown for a loop to finally hear this band only now.

Glad you're digging it!

I know a bunch of people would love this group so can't let the thread sink just yet...

Yes, this is right up my alley. Sounds really good upon initial listen. Never even heard of them until right now. Very Durutti Column vibe in that the vocals are hitting me as an acquired taste and I'm not getting it. Still, definitely going to dig a bit deeper. Thanks for the word.

Kind of curious how you discovered them? They don't even have a wikipedia page in english!

On a other messageboard in a thread of people posting stuff that has a Mark Hollis vibe, most of which barely does. But this blindsided me.

Vocals range from Blue Nileish to Nick Caveish to David Sylvianish, definitely that non-naturalistic thing people were willing to try post-Roxy Music until Nirvana after whom everybody had to be authentic and/or struggling with constipation ; )

They sound like they were a big influence on later bands, but in reality no one heard them:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bHlzkIml28E

It's all on streaming at the moment, too. Cheers.

That's good, sine the albums don't seem to have been in pront beyond their initial 1986/87/90 releases.

With all the stuff that gets reissued, van't believe nobody has taken a chance on these. Obscure, yes, but I feel like there's a devoted fanbase for this kind of music. If those Lewis records could get such love...

The arcane delights blog gave some attention to Origins in 2020, which I guess explains why I already have a copy of it. Soundslike's post is much appreciated, as I'm revisiting it now. I've also got a great capacity for this kind of music.

Hey look, there's a published biography of the group available at thirteenmoons.azurewebsites.net

How curious--a 72 page book in English about a Swedish band whose work is seeming nearly unknown and very OOP... Maybe they were a bigger deal in Sweden?

yes this band is/was great. no idea what happened to them or anything.

I don't mean to discourage anyone from having created this thread, but I don't hear the influence of most of the acts in the original post in the samples I've listened to. To me they sound like an even-more genteel version of what Sting and Van Morrison were doing in the 80s. Admittedly, I'm not really enjoying the singer's voice and that's a big hurdle to overcome for this music. I agree that it's better than Lewis, though.

I definitely get Blue Nile vibes off this!

Lewis is great

First listen of Origins just now and I'm sold. Still don't like the vocals, but it's all so reminiscent of so many things I love. I know nobody heard it at the time, but in retrospect it seems like it at least deserves to be a piece on the bridge between Pink Moon and Pygmalion.

Just put on the next album. First track is "Moment in Time" and is competent fake Smiths. I'm laughing. This band rules.

Third album is alright. Origins is where it's at.

To me they sound like an even-more genteel version of what Sting and Van Morrison were doing in the 80s

― Halfway there but for you, Thursday, April 21, 2022 8:06 AM

Thank you for this post. You are right and I'm now going to revisit Sting's solo catalogue and see if my tolerance has changed.

Fair enough, Austin, I'm just saying this band is a lot closer to Dream of the Blue Turtles than Blue Afternoon.

Non-sarcastically, please point me to the Sting that sounds like this, so I can reconsider my opinion of him:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pSsVQ2HqwKQ

I'd definitely see a 'Veedon Fleece' Van Morrison connection, but I'd see that in Talk Talk et al, too.

80s van morrison rules, some of his absolutely best in that period

I like Dream of the Blue Turtles myself but the 13 Moons albums are not even remotely that slick or produced.

I'm hearing Felt or maybe The Apartments at times. Definitely some late 80s UK indie as it approached sophistipop

The first album is really spacious at times and gets the closest to prefiguring the Hollis solo lp

Soundslike, "A True Story" seems like a fair attempt on their part to combine sparse post-punk with 70s lyrical folk. I still find they are a lot more unassuming than your list of 25 comparable artists would lead a potential listener to expect.

Honestly, that sounds about right as a description of many of the acts I listed contemporary to Thirteen Moons.

If they're not as good as Talk Talk or Blue Nile... Well, that's true of basically every band of the period and most other periods, to me. So doesn't mean I'm not still excited by what Thirteen Moons did or that I regret trying to bring them to folks' attention.

But I'd also recommend listening beyond just "A True Story," as they cover a lot of ground, across the first two albums especially.