The Clean Anthlogy and there other material

There's nothing essential that's not on Anthology

most of the live tracks tacked onto the end of Compilation are not included on Anthology...I wd argue that "Art School" and "Hold Onto the Rail" are as essential as it gets for this band.

Is the Vehicle lp on the recent version of the Anthology (I know it isn't on the old one)? Because if it isn't, that's a totally great record..

about half of vehicle is on disc two of the anthology; i think it's also worth tracking down and the sound quality ain't bad at all

I only have Vehicle, but I love every second of it.

I don't think they've ever made a less-than-fab record. Was just playing Slush Fund the other day...

big cat, big cat...

The Merge anthology is great, and where I'd tell anyone to start (sound is touched up, too), but there are good things missing (how can you not include "Rail"?):

Compilation has different versions of things, or stuff not on Anthology: At the Bottom, Oddity, Quickstep, Count to Ten, Wild Western Shores, Art School, and Hold onto the Rail.

Live Dead Clean is under-represented: Caveman, Happy Birthday John, Filling a Hole, Attack of the Teddy Bears don't show up.

The two Oddities are pretty much MIA, though that stuff's not so critical. The first Oddities' version of Thumbs Off is better than the Anthology version—it sounds fatter.

The live version of Oddity on the Human Music comp isn't on either collection.

(Then there's the Great Unwashed...)

boodle boodle boodle

I'm loving this track off the upcoming Mr. Pop. September release?
http://www.mergerecords.com/audio/clean/DreamlifeRubberSoul.mp3

In The Back off Odditties is absolutely amazing.

The two Oddities are pretty much MIA, though that stuff's not so critical. The first Oddities' version of Thumbs Off is better than the Anthology version—it sounds fatter.

cosign to eternity--makes it worth owning.

yeah, they should just have a "complete recordings" box set ... srsly, everything is worth having. wouldn't even be that big, maybe 6-7 discs?

prolley the only box set I'd buy (beside the Complete Fall Peel Sessions, and maybe something rhyming with Fuggets...)

Much as I love them, I find "Anthology" covers everything I need. And I own it all, including the two Oddities!

The Mashed live album from a few years back is worth seeking out, too. I dunno, I think that pretty much anything with Kilgour playing guitar on it is golden in my book.

Can't argue with you there - his solo work is very strong indeed, with my favorite being the Heavy Eights album.

there is a robert scott solo album out soon but the last couple have been mostly dire and then the last bats one was pretty meh and of course the last clean was just dreadful so uh maybe he is finally out of tunes. the first oddities cassette is still very exciting.

last bats album best since law of things imo

having said that i don't consider couchmaster & fear of god to be particularly good records

but 'fear of god' has boogeyman, you know we shouldn't, watch the walls, hold all the butter, the old ones, etc...!

i dunno, the sound of the record has always made it hard for me to love it

i wonder if anyone has all of the electric blood records, aren't there more than 20? i only ever had the one compilation that came out some time back, not very worthwhile actually.

i've never ever heard electric blood

should probably remedy

Not trying to hijack this thread but - no way. "Couchmaster" is incredibly strong and raucaus and everything they've done since then has been Meh! Scott's solo work is completely missable, though I liked bits of the weird instrumental album.

The last Clean album was half great, would've been a killer EP. But Kilgour saves his best stuff for his solo work and has for years.

kilgour's solo records have been on a longer slide than bats records. it could just be me that is on the slide but i haven't liked anything since 'sugarmouth' which is a very long time. it always seems as if he mucks things up intentionally, the first two records were almost pristine and perfect but then he went awry at least in keeping my affection. i am aware that this is a minority opinion.

yeah couchmaster rules

of course the last clean was just dreadful
dunno, i thought it was pretty sweet. maybe not a masterpiece, but i like the sound of those guys playing together. for me, it almost always works.

I recently stumbled upon one of the best live LP's I've heard in the form of 'Mashed'. I've been meaning to explore The Clean in more detail for a while now and I've found the inspiration I needed. Absolutely incredible live performance. It's laughable how directly it hits my sweet spots with its driving Velvet-esque guitar drones. I've been gorging on the Dream Syndicate's debut over the last few years and been desperately searching for something similar and 'Mashed' is everything I was looking for and more. Sadly their stuff seems hard to come by in physical form but I have tracked down 'Vehicle' and 'Mister Pop'. I'm encouraged by the suggestions that Flying Nun might reissue The Clean's back catalogue some point soon. I'd pick it all up for sure. I'm working my way through their albums and trying to get my head around 'Anthology' but I find drawn back to 'Mashed'. The versions of 'At the Bottom' and 'Dont Point That Thing at Me' in particular are outstanding.

trying to get my head around 'Anthology'

Do it.

A double lp set called "Oddities" (a reissue of a cassette only release) should be
easy to find and has some really great demo and live material on it.

mashed is great, yeah -- did it not really get released in the US? i think i discovered it a year after it came out. this band is the best. some of y'all might be interested in this robert scott tape from 1986 -- http://osr-tapes.com/

I think 'Mashed' must have been a pretty limited release full stop. Not a single copy to be found online which is criminal given how amazing it is. Once again I feel compelled to hammer home just how outstanding it sounds, such a wonderful mix; guitars are big and warm, bass pulsates with an awesome sense of rhythm and fills the soundstage beautifully and the drums are big and booming. Such a well recorded set,

I'm really finding a lot of depth and variation in their back catalogue, despite their simple bare bones sound. Their last LP 'Mister Pop' has some wonderful textures and really accomplished wistful pop songs. 'Anthology' stuff seems endearingly erratic and lo-fi. 'Oddities' is working it's way up my list.

It really is a joy to have discovered them in detail over the past week. I can foresee them becoming a big deal for me.

Vehicle is a favorite of mine, the guitar sound on that one is unbelievable.

Compilation works just as well as Anthology, tbh - "Art School" & "Hang Onto The Rail" etc & urgent & key.

Mashed probably suffered, distro-wise, from being released on Arch Hill prior to Ben Howe getting the keys to Flying Nun off Roger Shepherd? Was recorded/mixed by Tex Houston, who's responsible for the 3Ds etc.

Mashed is now on Spotify fyi, sounds great.

Annnnnd...a little review of mine over at Pitchfork

http://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/18352-the-clean-vehicle/

Nice review Ned. You did a great job balancing the backstory with reviewing the matter at hand. Tough to do with most bands with a 30 + year story and even harder with the convoluted story of The Clean.

yeahhhh nice review, hopefully people pick this record up. i've been listening to it daily since last week. only complaint about the reissue is that they should've just included the whole in a live gig (i assume a recording exists), rather than just those couple tracks!

Yeah, though this isn't the only release guilty of that. Can't wait to go pick it up. I'd lost track of the CT reissue efforts, now I've got this and the Medicine to look forward to grabbing on this label alone.

Lol the last paragraph of Ned's review reminds me if my favorite line from their TrouserPress writeup from way back when: 'they always know exactly how many times to repeat a hook'