Am I alone in liking Seam, I ask myself

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Probably not, actually, but I figured I would ask. I'm reviewing the first three albums for the AMG and relistening to Headsparks again reminds me of how good Sooyoung Park and his slightly rotating cast of bandmates could be. I have the Bitch Magnet albums though I can't say I'm really a major fan as such -- I heard The Problem With Me first and that's still my favorite album of his, partially because a song like "Autopilot" is just so freaking beautiful, simplicity itself and all the more attractive for it. The whole Neil Young/Pixies/Louisville/Weddoes vibe of Headsparks sure is mighty fine too, a blend that made absolute perfect sense at the time and which lasts. So, anyone?

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Sunday, 9 November 2003 05:47 (twenty-two years ago)

I bought The Pace Is Glacial a couple years ago for 99 cents. I think I would have been just as satisfied if I'd bought a soda.

― Johnny Fever (johnny fever), Sunday, 9 November 2003 05:56 (twenty-two years ago)

That one I never got around to getting. Perhaps this was wise.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Sunday, 9 November 2003 05:58 (twenty-two years ago)

No you are not. Oddly, I just listened to The Problem With Me today for the first time in a while. Is Sooyoung up to anything these days?

― mookieproof (mookieproof), Sunday, 9 November 2003 06:09 (twenty-two years ago)

I am listening to "Road to Madrid" as I type and I'm very annoyed they didn't get bigger somehow. Maybe they were just too subtle for people (contextually speaking).

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Sunday, 9 November 2003 06:10 (twenty-two years ago)

Search for Sooyoung Park via google.com and this is the first thing that appears. A little outdated.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Sunday, 9 November 2003 06:12 (twenty-two years ago)

I remember "Are You Driving Me Crazy?" fondly, more for its mood than its melodies, but yeah. I think if Seam had been a little less averse to fun, they might've been monstrously great.

― J0hn Darn1elle (J0hn Darn1elle), Sunday, 9 November 2003 06:15 (twenty-two years ago)

Fun, I have heard of this. ;-) Certainly they were never chipper per se but they weren't constantly down either -- there's this beautiful sense of epic collapse in their louder moments that's really dramatic, anthemic if you will (as with the song to which I now listen, "Sweet Pea").

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Sunday, 9 November 2003 06:17 (twenty-two years ago)

haha - get this, they are playing TONIGHT in Chicago - probably as I type, in fact - and I was on the guest-list! Could have gone for free. But it's like 30 degrees here and I'd have to take public transportation, and I need to get up reasonably early tomorrow to meet a friend and I'm feeling incredibly lazy. So I didn't go.

I've always liked their records when I hear them, but don't actually own any. I really dug Headsparks when it came out.

Ha - I just thought of something. I have this friend here who is a total hip-hip head; that comprises the majority of his listening, and he is an aspiring MC himself. But he really, really loves three rock bands (and these are seemingly the ONLY three): The Cure, Smashing Pumpkins, and Seam!

― Broheems (diamond), Sunday, 9 November 2003 06:19 (twenty-two years ago)

This is stupid, but right now I am remembering coming home late with a girlfriend several years ago, and for some reason--maybe while picking out music--we stopped talking and began communicating by pointing to album titles. The Seam albums stopped us in our tracks.

I still like the later albums, but (at the risk of sounding rockist) they don't have quite the edge of The Problem With Me.

― mookieproof (mookieproof), Sunday, 9 November 2003 06:19 (twenty-two years ago)

A poppier Codeine. Loved them in my early 20s, bored by them in the latter half. The Problem With Me and Are You Driving Me Crazy? are good but samey.

― Chris Ott (Chris Ott), Sunday, 9 November 2003 06:19 (twenty-two years ago)

Broheems, your friend is a genius with exquisite taste! And ya shoulda gone and reported. *reads link* Sounds like he's got himself a happier life going and finally went back to get that degree. I wonder if the melancholy in those albums had anything to do with his relationship with Lexi and her departure? Not that the biographical fallacy is the best approach for anything, really...

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Sunday, 9 November 2003 06:23 (twenty-two years ago)

At the time it was pretty clear it was about Lexi, but it's not exactly "Kim", is it.

― Chris Ott (Chris Ott), Sunday, 9 November 2003 06:25 (twenty-two years ago)

Perhaps we should all be grateful there.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Sunday, 9 November 2003 06:26 (twenty-two years ago)

Agreed. "Haole Redux" and "Petty Theivery" were great, but "Sometimes I Forget" pointed the way down.

― Chris Ott (Chris Ott), Sunday, 9 November 2003 06:33 (twenty-two years ago)

Seal? I like Seal also.

― bahtology, Sunday, 9 November 2003 07:01 (twenty-two years ago)

sooyung is in ee, a san francisco band. He doesn't exert himself as much as he did in seam but they were still good the last time I saw them (a couple of years). To the best of my knowledge they are still together although while a year or so ago it seemed like they played every other week, I haven't heard much about them lately. They released at least one album. Sooyung downplayed his involvement a lot.

― anthony kyle monday (akmonday), Sunday, 9 November 2003 07:38 (twenty-two years ago)

Why is it every time Ott says something that I disagree with, instead of formulating a coherent written opinion, I get livid? Is it because I'm lazy? Overly emotional? Or is it because I need to tell these things to Ott to his face?

(PS Ott -- I don't live far from you.)

― Kenan Hebert (kenan), Sunday, 9 November 2003 08:29 (twenty-two years ago)

Kenan Ott faceoff in the near future. Reports here.

― Chris Ott (Chris Ott), Sunday, 9 November 2003 09:06 (twenty-two years ago)

Or not. I was under the impression Ott lived in Chicago.

― Kenan Hebert (kenan), Sunday, 9 November 2003 09:43 (twenty-two years ago)

Go to bed, Kenan.

― jaymc (jaymc), Sunday, 9 November 2003 09:47 (twenty-two years ago)

I learned this after I called him a few minutes ago.

― Kenan Hebert (kenan), Sunday, 9 November 2003 09:50 (twenty-two years ago)

What?

― jaymc (jaymc), Sunday, 9 November 2003 09:58 (twenty-two years ago)

Do I stutter?

― Kenan Hebert (kenan), Sunday, 9 November 2003 10:05 (twenty-two years ago)

sooyung is in ee, a san francisco band.

Check Broheems' link, Anthony -- that situation's a touch different now, but he and the band still get along.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Sunday, 9 November 2003 15:28 (twenty-two years ago)

Seam! The Problem With Me is an all time favorite album of mine. I don't see why people don't like The Pace Is Glacial either. Sooyoung was a completely underrated songwriter/musician. He had a great ear fdor drummers too - Bob Rising, the dude on the last two Seam records, and Bitch Magnet's drummer. Word. I thought no one remembered Seam.

― Johnny Badlees (crispssssss), Sunday, 9 November 2003 19:10 (twenty-two years ago)

I wasn't trying to imply that The Pace Is Glacial was in any way bad...just not something I continued to listen to after that first day.

― Johnny Fever (johnny fever), Sunday, 9 November 2003 19:14 (twenty-two years ago)

I still own Headsparks and the first two 7"s and listen to them often. I think the quality kinda declined when Lexi left/they had to get a new rhythm section every three months, but the couple times I saw them they were great and fun (for y'know playing somewhat dour music). In retrospect I think I like Bitch Magnet better - there was just a tension in the music (I think from the fact that they all kinda hated each other) that isn't quite there in Seam. But I still have a soft spot in my heart for the Seam stuff, even though I don't own anything beyond the first LP.

― hstencil, Sunday, 9 November 2003 19:18 (twenty-two years ago)

ned you are not alone:
This is the thread where we discuss the used vinyl I bought yesterday!
"Slowcore": Search & Destroy
bitch magnet: C or D

mac maccaughan was the best drummer they had (yes, better than jon mcentire)... in fact, mac is one of my favorite drummer of all time. (there needs to be a portastatic thread considering the last 3 portastatic releases are totally underrated and need to be heard).

search headsparks, and the days of thunder, granny 9x, and kernel singles/eps.

"atari" is my favorite seam song but like hstencil, i think hearing bitch magnet first and being pretty influential in the shaping of my tastes ranks them higher in my book.

― gygax! (gygax!), Sunday, 9 November 2003 20:13 (twenty-two years ago)

Every song I wrote in high school was a ripoff of either "Pins & Needles" or "Atari".

― Chris Ott (Chris Ott), Sunday, 9 November 2003 20:23 (twenty-two years ago)

Bob Rising was the best drummer they ever had.

― Johnny Badlees (crispssssss), Sunday, 9 November 2003 22:41 (twenty-two years ago)

i have to agree that they weren't quite the same after Lexi left. the third album has its moments but seemed less graceful, somehow. the first two tracks on Problem with Me still sound enormous to me.

― the surface noise (electricsound), Sunday, 9 November 2003 22:50 (twenty-two years ago)

I am now wishing that I had not resold "are you driving me crazy" a couple years back. And that I wasn't in such a bad mood when I went to see them once.

― Carey (Carey), Sunday, 9 November 2003 22:57 (twenty-two years ago)

The "Kernel" EP is essential, btw.

― Kenan Hebert (kenan), Sunday, 9 November 2003 23:08 (twenty-two years ago)

The version of "Sweet Pea" and the cover of "Driving the Dynamite Truck", not to mention the great cover art...Kernel is pretty fantastic.

― Chris Ott (Chris Ott), Sunday, 9 November 2003 23:16 (twenty-two years ago)

also they snuck me in to this one 21+ club in Louisville when I was like 16 so I could see 'em play, which was pretty nice. I even got a free meal (somebody at the venue thought I was on the road with them).

― hstencil, Monday, 10 November 2003 01:49 (twenty-two years ago)

Everett True reviewed the Headsparks album for MM when it came out. In fact it might have been the week after he was wetting himself about Slanted and Enchanted cause he started the review with something along the lines of "Forget Pavement, listen to Seam". I bought the album in 92. I actually reviewed it for some local fanzine at the time. Haven't listened to it since but twas like a lot of those American shoegazing efforts that year - a lovely swooney listen but ultimately a hollow experience.

― David Gunnip (David Gunnip), Tuesday, 11 November 2003 13:16 (twenty-two years ago)

Wow. Seam. Loved them in 1992-1993, haven't listened to Headsparks since. Decatur...hmm I may have to break this out tonight to hear it.

― Chris Hungus (Chris V), Tuesday, 11 November 2003 13:24 (twenty-two years ago)

it's all about "the prizefighters," yo.

― Yanc3y (ystrickler), Tuesday, 11 November 2003 15:27 (twenty-two years ago)

I really liked Are You Driving Me Crazy? when it came out, and I still own it, so that's a good sign. The packaging is really pretty. And Ott is wrong, "Sometimes I Forget" is like the best song on the album. Whenever I hear someone sing in a whispery kind of voice, I think, "Oh, they sound like the guy from Seam."

― NA (Nick A.), Tuesday, 11 November 2003 15:37 (twenty-two years ago)

I spent an inordinate amount of time with friends dissecting the first line of...I can't even remember now, I'm pretty sure it was "Dust & Turpentine". "I've got some clay bullets for you..."

Someone explain this.

― Chris Ott (Chris Ott), Tuesday, 11 November 2003 15:50 (twenty-two years ago)

What about 'Autopilot'? I think this song is the pinnacle of the whispery Seam stuff.

― Johnny Badlees (crispssssss), Tuesday, 11 November 2003 16:03 (twenty-two years ago)

Here, here-- "Autopilot"'s a 20-below January morning in song.

― Chris Ott (Chris Ott), Tuesday, 11 November 2003 16:05 (twenty-two years ago)

I said it up top and I'll say it again, it's a brilliant, glorious song.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Tuesday, 11 November 2003 16:07 (twenty-two years ago)

i hear a seam influence in the verses of interpol's "pda"

― gygax! (gygax!), Tuesday, 11 November 2003 17:07 (twenty-two years ago)

I hear a Seam influence in The Verve Pipe's 'Freshmen.' They totally ripped-off 'Something's Burning' which totally ripped-off 'More Than A Feeling.'

― Johnny Badlees (crispssssss), Tuesday, 11 November 2003 20:50 (twenty-two years ago)

The Pace Is Glacial is awesome awesome awesome. The first, second and fourth tracks are three of my absolute favorites. However I'm nowhere near as into their usual slow stuff though I like it.

― adam (adam), Tuesday, 11 November 2003 20:58 (twenty-two years ago)

seam and edsel were once very, very important to me. i still get happy whenever i pull their CDs off the shelf every year or so.

― bucky wunderlick (bucky), Tuesday, 11 November 2003 22:14 (twenty-two years ago)

Edsel were just barely better than Poole and Nectarine.

― Chris Ott (Chris Ott), Tuesday, 11 November 2003 22:18 (twenty-two years ago)

Poole were great, but I couldn't sit through a whole album without feeling like i'd eaten a family size bar of chocolate

― the surface noise (electricsound), Tuesday, 11 November 2003 23:10 (twenty-two years ago)

Skipping 14 messages at this point... Click here if you want to load them all.

i will listen to "new years" tonight. also: the codeine cover of "new years".

― gygax! (gygax!), Tuesday, 30 December 2003 22:54 (twenty-two years ago)

one year passes...

i miss seam. gygax! go hunt sooyoung down and make him rock.

― mookieproof (mookieproof), Monday, 12 December 2005 00:03 (twenty years ago)

There are two songs on The Pace is Glacial that sound like the Mighty Mighty Bosstones. Those are my favorite Seam songs.

― adam (adam), Monday, 12 December 2005 00:54 (twenty years ago)

I've got 'Am i driving you crazy', not listened to it in years but liked it a lot at the time.

― leigh (leigh), Monday, 12 December 2005 12:28 (twenty years ago)

I miss Seam too - they were so good.

Been listening to The Problem With Me at work today, and it still sounds incredible. The end of Rafael where it just *explodes*! The same trick being pulled at the end of Bunch! The e-bow on Sweet Pea!

Am I alone in really loving The Pace Is Glacial too, I ask myself? It feels like a lot of Seam fans were underwhelmed by it, but it's almost my favourite by them...

― Bill A (Bill A), Monday, 12 December 2005 12:56 (twenty years ago)

sooyoung park has been in a band called ee (two lowercase "e"'s that's really the name)....anyway, they are sorta "Seam-ish"...very slowcore mostly instrumental...I'm not sure if he still is in the band, but they did a couple rocords for Asian Man that are coo....

― M@tt He1geson (Matt Helgeson), Monday, 12 December 2005 15:40 (twenty years ago)

Sweet young Matt, please to read upthread. ;-)

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Monday, 12 December 2005 15:40 (twenty years ago)

one year passes...

I'm currently hearing The Pace Is Glacial for the first time in 9 years, I think. Insane. Some DJ played a song by them before LCD Soundsystem came on, which is why I decided to pull them out of my stacks.

This is just great fun: 1998 again. Gotta love it. I'm so happy I got to see them live, doing an encore of Gang of Four's "Damaged Goods" no less.

― Bimble, Sunday, 6 May 2007 08:13 (eighteen years ago)

No, I'm sorry. It was actually another Gang of Four song they did. Maybe it was That Essence Rare. I can't quite remember.

― Bimble, Sunday, 6 May 2007 08:14 (eighteen years ago)

"The Problem With Me" holds a very special place in my heart because of what was going on at the time I discovered it. That was actually the last Seam thing I pulled out, some months ago...still haven't pulled out Crazy yet...can't wait to hear "Berlitz" again. Wow.

― Bimble, Sunday, 6 May 2007 08:21 (eighteen years ago)

"The Prizefighers"....what a song!!!!!!!!!!!111111111

― Bimble, Sunday, 6 May 2007 08:31 (eighteen years ago)

I haven't heard The Problem With Me in ages. I really dug that record, though I don't have a copy (I borrowed it from my ex-bassplayer but had to return it).

― Marty Innerlogic, Sunday, 6 May 2007 12:39 (eighteen years ago)

I was the one flippin' out at their reunion! (For Touch and Go 25th - Well not totally flippin' out - I was cognizant of those around me) I distinctly remember their show as being one of the better ones for Lounge Ax's many day, 'viking funeral' ... I have bootlegs of both the T&G25 and Lounge Ax last show that I regularly pull out - they were something else.

― BlackIronPrison, Sunday, 6 May 2007 13:58 (eighteen years ago)

four weeks pass...

</dust>
</turpentine>

― mookieproof, Sunday, 3 June 2007 06:42 (eighteen years ago)

nine months pass...

Doing it for me bitch. Magnet

Just played 'Intifada Driving school' for the first time in years - to celebrate something. A victory.
3-0 .

99pence

― Fer Ark, Saturday, 29 March 2008 22:32 (seventeen years ago)

one month passes...

I had no idea that they made any videos, but here's a couple:

Berlitz
Bunch

A bit LOL 90s in execution, but great to see Sooyoung and the band in action.

― Bill A, Tuesday, 6 May 2008 12:05 (seventeen years ago)

i remember seeing the bunch video on aussie tv at the time. was surprised as 'kernel' was the single here..

seam fans may dig the (as far as i know) otherwise unavailable b-side 'feather' from the aussie 45 that i will share here shortly..

― electricsound, Tuesday, 6 May 2008 12:24 (seventeen years ago)

http://content.ytmnd.com/content/5/7/0/570a4a10ae6d5f3342c5b0b9e8a50e56.jpg

― mookieproof, Thursday, 8 May 2008 03:09 (seventeen years ago)

I don't understand why I don't remember ever seeing their videos on 120 Minutes.

― Bimble, Thursday, 8 May 2008 03:19 (seventeen years ago)

two months pass...

I smelled something burning at work today, like a match smell. So I thought hey..."Something's Burning"...put it on my iPod and god it blew my mind.

― Bimble, Friday, 11 July 2008 16:11 (seventeen years ago)

five months pass...

Shake out the sheets
Throw my things out/out the window
I wasn't down/with this/
I wasn't prepared for you..."

― With Oatmeal Sauce (Bimble Is Still More Goth Than You), Thursday, 1 January 2009 11:49 (seventeen years ago)

one year passes...

Decent quality video for "Hey Latasha" from Yahoo music:

http://video.yahoo.com/watch/2023844/v2147010

― Bill A, Friday, 8 January 2010 14:01 (sixteen years ago)

five months pass...

^ bump

great, great, band

― Fer Jessie the Drunk Dutch Mountain Ark (Mobbed Up Ping Pong Psychos), Wednesday, 16 June 2010 20:52 (fifteen years ago)

I hate running into Bimble threads, but yeah, he was right. Tuff Luck: my favorite song of theirs.

― dlp9001, Thursday, 17 June 2010 02:34 (fifteen years ago)

I love Seam. There's that immigration song on "The Pace is Glacial" (underrated album, awesome album cover too!) that's awesome (for being the only song I can think of that name drops San Ysidro)

― Becky Facelift, Thursday, 17 June 2010 08:59 (fifteen years ago)

Randomly met Sooyoung after a Mogwai show in SF a few years back. Ended the night drunk as a skunk at a karaoke bar with him and his buddies. Good times.

― kreidleresque, Thursday, 17 June 2010 15:21 (fifteen years ago)

one year passes...

Reviving to request recommendations, since I refuse to believe that there are no other bands that play Seam's particular brand of moody, melodic college rock. (Also, please give recommendations if I liked the original "Driving the Dynamite Truck".) Thx.

― ascai, Saturday, 19 November 2011 18:20 (fourteen years ago)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UqO4sopU8u8

― del griffith, Saturday, 19 November 2011 22:42 (fourteen years ago)

off topic question: was "gygax!" a girl? quick scan of this thread i'm thinking yes.

― citation needed (Steve Shasta), Saturday, 19 November 2011 23:28 (fourteen years ago)

― tubbs farkas (electricsound), Saturday, 19 November 2011 23:36 (fourteen years ago)

yes gygax! was indeed a girl but a hella busted lookin one, sarahel much better looking probably

― del griffith, Saturday, 19 November 2011 23:58 (fourteen years ago)

Gygax! is one of the most consistently enjoyable math rock records of the mid-'90s.

― next thing she's shaving my skrillex (NickB), Sunday, 20 November 2011 00:01 (fourteen years ago)

off topic question: was "gygax!" a girl? quick scan of this thread i'm thinking yes.

First reaction to this post was to think of some kind of All You Zombies scenario

― Miss Piggy and Frodo in Hull (James Redd and the Blecchs), Sunday, 20 November 2011 02:56 (fourteen years ago)

You know, it's been a million years, but I have this memory that the band Nord Express might be in this vein. I recall buying their CD because it said, "Produced by Archie Moore of Velocity Girl" on a sticker on the front, which is kind of funny to think about now. Archie Moore, Starmaker! Anyway, here's the link:

http://www.slumberlandrecords.com/catalog/show/14

― dlp9001, Sunday, 20 November 2011 03:06 (fourteen years ago)

back in the day i thought nord express were a bit shit but they sound not half bad to me now

― tubbs farkas (electricsound), Sunday, 20 November 2011 04:08 (fourteen years ago)

one year passes...

Help me out guys, the song "Shame" that Seam covered on two occasions (once fast with Sarah from Velocity Girl on vox, the second time slow on Kernel EP)...

The credits say written by Mark Saltzman, (c)&(p) 1987. Knowing Soo Young's penchant for covering semi-obscure post-punk bands, this one slipped past me.

Any idea who originally performed it?

― Jersey Al (Albert R. Broccoli), Saturday, 27 April 2013 05:44 (twelve years ago)

nfi but a dude with that name used to write for sesame st among other things, dunno if it's the same guy

― owner of a bonely part (electricsound), Saturday, 27 April 2013 06:04 (twelve years ago)

Am I alone in liking Salem, I ask myself

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=88zQ_sf6BMg

― markers, Saturday, 27 April 2013 06:25 (twelve years ago)

three months pass...

Yay new Sooyoung Park band

http://realboredspies.bandcamp.com/

― Ned Raggett, Thursday, 22 August 2013 15:55 (twelve years ago)

four months pass...

</dust>
</turpentine>

― mookieproof, Sunday, June 3, 2007 2:42 AM (6 years ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

― mookieproof, Saturday, 28 December 2013 05:35 (twelve years ago)

seven years pass...

hey, look at who got numero group'd

― mookieproof, Friday, 5 November 2021 22:28 (four years ago)

one year passes...

https://daily.bandcamp.com/lists/sooyoung-park-album-list

― mookieproof, Thursday, 10 November 2022 13:30 (three years ago)

i just learned from that that Versus are still active? where have I been?

― akm, Thursday, 10 November 2022 15:13 (three years ago)

seven months pass...

shake out the sheets

― mookieproof, Monday, 3 July 2023 05:58 (two years ago)

two months pass...

also happy 30th to the problem with me <3

i'd forgotten that this came out on my birthday

― mookieproof, Friday, 22 September 2023 00:52 (two years ago)

i listened to the problem with me every day for a year when it came out. very significant to young me. gonna have to give it a spin this evening

― sknybrg, Friday, 22 September 2023 01:08 (two years ago)

"Road To Madrid" was a Kernel EP **OUTTAKE** which blows me away. I wonder if SYK thought it was too good for the EP so he shelved it for the next album? Unreal what a groove they were in for a couple years.

― citation needed (Steve Shasta), Friday, 22 September 2023 04:20 (two years ago)

eleven months pass...

RARITIES SEARCH:

https://seam-numero.bandcamp.com/track/which-way-to-go
"Which Way To Go" (Big Boys cover) Alexis "LEXI" Mitchell on lead vox

https://seam-numero.bandcamp.com/track/look-back-in-anger-2
"Look Back In Anger" (TVPS cover) Ralph "MAC" McCaughan on lead vox

― Mrs. Ippei (Steve Shasta), Saturday, 31 August 2024 03:28 (one year ago)

Steve Shasta, it’s late, i’ve had a few drinks, and now i need to dig out these 7” out

― sknybrg, Saturday, 31 August 2024 05:10 (one year ago)

that's right

― mookieproof, Saturday, 31 August 2024 05:28 (one year ago)

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