saint etienne

To the archives!!!

This allows me to mention the Ramones today, as I must.

[in the background Dr.C starts looking cross-eyed, makes smoking gestures]

by the way robin, we miss you on alt.fan.momus!

But if you, like I did, can find _Good Humour_ with that extra disc of b-sides attached, GET IT!

Oh and He's on the phone is the work of God.

Method Of Modern Love - sadly not a Hall & Oates cover more a 'hey Call The Shots was nice maybe we can finally get that top 10 hit?'

also COLA BOY REMIX

This is GREAT.

Is that the thing Richard X was supposed to be producing for them or is that still in the pipeline?

this one is X-produced yeh

wow that's really good

Yep, thirded or fourthed or whatever. Fucking awesome!

: D

I want to believe...but it sounds a bit bland to me.

must be playing a different track for me cause zzzzzz

sarah cracknell brushed past me at a cinema the other day.

Foxbase Beta

Journey through the past, part 5.

Rumours have been flying left right and centre, but we can finally confirm that disco dynamo Richard X has taken Foxbase Alpha and re-arranged it into a brand new beast called FOXBASE BETA. Using the original masters, adding cellos, electrix, choirs, and the spirit of Brian Cant he has created something really special - spruced-up yet reverential, it is essentially a 2009 up-date of Foxbase Alpha, given a shot of vodka and a loving caress. We're chuffed. It feels unnervingly like jumping into a Tardis.

FOXBASE BETA will be issued, via the fan club, as a limited, numbered 2CD set of 3,000 copies, which will also include FOXBASE EXTRA, three unreleased recordings from the original album sessions: a just discovered coda to Girl VII (we'd forgotten it existed), a summery instrumental called Richard III, and the first, very different, take of Kiss And Make Up, which was the very first Saint Etienne recording. We cut it one afternoon in January 1990, and then Only Love Can Break Your Heart in the evening! It was all so simple then. These tracks won't be available anywhere else.

There will also be a 'directors' commentary' on the bonus disc. Informative, yes. Pithy, quite possibly.

An un-numbered, single disc edition will be available at gigs and through Rough Trade. It will also be available for digital download (with the commentary but without the bonus tracks).

For club promo, a 4-track 12" is currently at the pressing plant, including extended Foxbase Beta version of Only Love Can Break Your Heart (plus instrumental mix), the FBB version of Girl VII (grrrreat), and Gothenburg's Balearic princes Air France's mix of Spring. We'll have 200 copies of this available through the fan club. As soon as we have them we'll let you know.

Foxbase Beta will be available to pre-order on Monday 21st of September. More details next week.

England in the World Cup finals, 3 Of A Kind's Babycakes playing on my hi-fi, Foxbase Beta finally put to bed. Late summer, early autumn, and all is good.

love

Bob xx

what is that sound? some kind of metal, spoon-like implement against wood?

It was all so simple then. These tracks won't be available anywhere else.

Ah, but it's not that simple now, Bob.

looking forward to this, i was having a bit of a richard x / girls on top retrospective while i was working the other day.
kiss & make up + only love in one day, thats a pretty productive day imo.

http://assets.umusic.co.uk/saintetienne/FBBCoverMedium.jpg

Bob Stanley interview in The Quietus: http://thequietus.com/articles/02685-saint-etienne-s-bob-stanley-interview-reissues-and-the-problem-with-britpop

ok i think i am in love with that girl.

Samples of the FBB versions of "Girl VIII" and Only Love..." are up on their myspace:
http://www.myspace.com/saintetienne

I think X did a good job on Girl VIII but not on "Only Love...". That bassline is a bit tedious IMO.

Was just listening to "Method of Modern Love" and remembered the little New Order bit:
"There's no sense or reason why we're shot with a bolt of blue..."

who wrote the sleeve notes for the latest batch of deluxe versions?

also coming soon "songs for the dog and duck" ...

free 3 track live ep for signing up for the fan club right now. great 'folk' version of Like A Motorway.

richard x is working with sound of arrows too.

so foxbase beta is going on sale tomorrow, but in the e-mail i received it doesn't say what time it's going on sale, just "tomorrow morning"...

Anyone else going to the Shepherd's Bush Empire show? Annie is supporting, just like she did the last time I saw StEt live in London.

http://www.ekmpowershop8.com/ekmps/shops/saintetienneltd/tracklisting--audio-samples-4-w.asp

It's up now - surprisingly, the site is not dying under the load unlike the last few times they've tried this...

omg the new mix of Only Love Will Break Your Heart that just came out on 12" is KILLING ME - total 105 bpm balearic hotness!

choice

if they pressed up more than 500 CD copies I'd be surprised

I am feeling more irritated than I should ... perhaps because I often enjoy their "bonus tracks" more than their main releases.

Damn, forgot about this. I was driving anyway but even so.

I mean yeah, Fairfax High is better than Good Humor

Buried in various (somewhat annoyed, for the most part) comments on their Facebook page:

to be honest we weren't expecting to sell many CDs and are quite taken aback by how many of you want them. Those were not a limited edition and will be in record shops to pre-order next week .

I am intrigued by that initial detail because this is the first instance in a long while I've heard of CD demand underestimation. Says something about the fanbase I'm sure but also may suggest something in terms of vinyl being, you know, a bit more expensive these days.

In a separate comment:

'Character Of Saint Etienne' on CD in spring too.

Yeah. Regular cd release selling out is just weird. Will get this in store eventually, just hope it’ll come with the bonus CD

The official comments indicate no bonus CD when it comes to regular sales. It was this or nothing.

Oh no :(

St Et kinda buck the trend in that quite a few of their CDs are higher price on discogs etc than the LP equivalent

Power was out here, with spotty internet, so sadly pleased I likely would have been aced out on the cd. Re: the quick selling, St. E has long been “oh, you really love us?” coy with the amounts they release versus demand. Maybe the bonus cd tracks will be collected someday. Does help cure FOMO with such a limited quantity.

Good news on The Character… finally releasing.

Lots of respect to Martin Kelly for engaging politely with all the disgruntled fans. Many good comments in his St. E Official posts, particularly the idea of a two week preorder to allow for pressing the desired quantity. I don’t know if pressing rounds to nearest hundred or thousand, but for bonus versions, seems the best way to please the most buyers, and would negate some of the scalping complaints.

From a quick look at the shops (Norman, Rough Trade), looks like it is a single CD out in the wild?

hahaha, that's a weird answer from management! shipping to the US, the CD was $35 while the vinyl was $56. a lot of fans feeling the financial pinch are gonna go for the cheaper CD if they want that exclusive bonus disc, of course it's going to sell out quickly. they wanted the bonus disc, Martin, they know the regular CD will be in shops a month from now.

exclusive Sarah Cracknell being interviewed on 6 Music with Mark Radcliffe just mentioned that Saint Etienne are working on another album ! This will be released next Summer and will be more uptempo and summery.

I have to confess that my irritation about the bonus CD has stopped me pre-ordering this.

Same

saint etienne's untrue?

v subdued idk i am more excited by the mention of the upbeat summery album

more like their Songs of a Lost World, including the promise of a more upbeat album coming soon

There's your home counties connection.

I think it's lovely. I didn't return to the last album much because I felt there wasn't enough Sarah. Here she's purring in your ears. It sounds gorgeous. I'm surprised how experimental it is. I will return to this one often I think.

^^agree on all counts

I mean, they've always been strong with evocative interstitial, ambient, and instrumental tracks... No Rush, Wonderlyte, and Alone Together are standouts after a couple listens, strongly dislike Hear My Heart

lol Wonderlight, Preflyte is the lyte

This is overall great, but sometimes the lyrics can be just a little...cringey. I actually like the spoken word stuff best ('Settle In' and 'Wonderlight'). Some of the rhyming in the more traditional songs is a little too on the nose for me. lol

about to listen to the new one but i just discovered that "he's on the phone" is kind of a cover, that's fascinating how it came about

Etienne Daho “Weekend a Rome”, Right? Which is actually much better song

there's some gorgeous bits on the new album like "nightingale" and "preflyte" which both sound like they're the intros to 20-minute balearic epics but most of this is fairly forgettable

the spoken word parts are too close to asmr for me idk

it also feels akin to finnisterre (1 of my favs) but not quite hitting the mark

i really want to hear the version of this album in my head where "nightingale" just goes on forever

ba ba ya ba ba ba ya ba ba ya ba ba ba ya

I like this loads and find it much more substantial and discernably them than the last album (which was nice enough but I didn't go back to much; bits of it could have been e.g. Bonobo). I really don't need them to make albums of polite bangers anymore and generally love the more abstract bits of their recent records the most, and this is entirely that

Wasn’t the last one only abstract bits?

Yeah but sort of sonically flatter ones, and mostly sans Sarah

I love it to bits, not least the surprising amount of abstract guitar all over it

Closest antecedent is the Tapestry CD from Tiger Bay 25th anniversary edition — short fragments of Tiger Bay songs reconfigured for 3am listening

the CD was $35 while the vinyl was $56

I was at a merch table a few weeks ago, which was covered with 12" LPs. I said, haven't you got any CDs? The guy was surprised, but rummaged around in a bag for a while and eventually found them. He said, you're the first person during this tour who's asked for CDs, what's your deal? I was like, c'mon, vinyl is BS. He smirked knowingly.

Heads up:

We’re excited to bring you news of a brand new single we’ll be releasing this summer.
It’s entitled ‘Glad’ and was co-written with our friend Tom Rowlands of the Chemical Brothers.
To help us celebrate the release the good people at Electronic Sound magazine are running a cover story and in-depth article where we’ll be discussing our forthcoming LP due out in September.

just posting this new thing here cos there's obviously a huuuge st etienne influence, but it's also a gorgeous song in its own right...

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

Neggy Gemmy - Mysterious Girl

ooooh yes this is a nice sound for her. I wonder if it's influenced also by Vitesse X, who in turn has a lot of old school Saint Etienne in her

ha, i had the same thought!

New single news:

In similar fashion to our recent ‘Alone Together’ CD we’re offering a 4 track CD EP for ‘Glad’.
The three exclusive B-sides won’t be available in shops or on streaming platforms.

The full track listing is:
1. Glad
2. Theme From Shapiro
3. Missing Pieces
4. Fire
As with ‘Alone Together’ the 'Glad' CD EP is housed in a gatefold card wallet and we will press to order.

(Sadly the shipping cost over here is literally twice the price of the CD itself.)

b-b-but I thought they carved out a tariff exemption for sample-heavy indie pop?

We live in troubled times.

It feels a curious model for selling CDs, even if it might circumvent the issues around the recent album's bonus disc.

Basically, you have to order it *unheard* unless you happen to be around to listen to the Lauren Lavern show?

I would assume at this point that the vast majority of their fanbase is more than happy to buy their stuff even if they haven't heard it. Especially if they haven't heard it.

"To actually play a copy would remove the mystery."

Goddamn! They’re calling it a day!

https://www.thelineofbestfit.com/news/saint-etienne-announce-final-album-international-out-5-september

Leave 'em wanting more, etc. I bet they reunite on a yearly basis to record an Xmas single for their Fan Club.

got kinda teary eyed seeing the album cover

Tried to sum them up for fellow Americans on my Patreon.