insides - euphoria

actually i guess "skykicking" is probably the best song

I'm not going to vote yet until I've thought about it more, but (despite what would seem like the obvious choice for me) i'm tempted to choose "Darling Effect" - the guitar, the lyrics, the phrasing, all amazing.

Didn't the guy write the lyrics though?

Hence in "Darling Effect" - "I almost come the moment I'm inside you"

Although it would be even better if it was the singer writing these lyrics.

"skykicking" for that little 3 note piano riff thats going round & round in my head RIGHT NOW
argh!

All good. (I am biased.) It is, indeed, a perfect record.

rl0 natsume, i love you, for starting this thread. but, i can't vote. really, i don't have a favorite on this one. it's just one of those albums that i like to light and let burn.

what a great and forgotten dreamy, ambient pop record.

having said all that, earwig's 'under my skin i am laughing' is even better! these people were angels. whatever happened to 'em?

they discovered the bossa nova, if the wonderful Sweet Tip is any indication.

Sweet Tip was a nice record, but those horrible sleeve pics!

still think 'Clear Skin' was their watermark...

vote "Distractions"!

(though the "Off The Wall" bass line in "Walking In Straight Lines" almost puts that one in the catbird seat)

love this album. im voting 'distractions'.

it's funny, i think "carly simon" and "yes" are probably my least favourite songs on the album, yet they are still better than like 97% of my record collection

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

I forgot to vote!

WELL JEEZ

haha. so sad. i didn't vote, either. and really, i absolutely love the music these people make. all of it. i just couldn't really see any point in choosing a favorite here, though. the whole damn thing is pretty great.

3 of us voted?!...well, fuck me running!...how is it that this fine LP could be so washed away by the sands of time?

haha i also totally forgot to vote. shame.

i would've definitely gone for "relentless" in the end. at risk of sounding incredibly corny, this record is totally balearic right? slow house beats, shimmering vini reilly guitar, hushed vocals, i suppose the lyrics don't really fit with balearica but. maybe it's balearic if the cafe del mar was in antartica

Was this one of the three LPs that launched Guernica or was it the 2nd wave? This, Spoonfed Hybrid and That Dog all within a week or two of each other in late '93 - I bought the lot on vinyl at (the late, lamented) Rham Records in Wallasey before leaving home for the last time to start my new job. I had to tape them on the Crown music-centre the night I packed as I didn't have a record player in my new flat until the following summer...

I think Koogy went to the label launch - he got me a free CD promo which is probably worth...oh, a fiver? on eBay now...

Julian Tardo of Insides was running his own studio in Brighton until quite recently, I think - friends of mine have recorded with him. One late, lamented friend in particular...

was there ever a second Guernica wave?...I thought that the three you mention (plus the Unrest record) were the only ones on that (great, lost) imprint...

I've said it before and I'll say it again...'Euphoria' needs to be remastered...

Bettie Serveert's Palomine was part of the first wave (GU003). Guernica also reissued the Underground Lovers' Leaves Me Blind and ended on the high-note of Insides' Clear Skin mini-LP.

I got that Underground Lovers' rerelease completely out of nowhere at UCI's newspaper back in 1992 or 1993 or whenever it was. Very glad for that still.

forgot about Underground Lovers...

wasn't Clear Skin a 4AD release?

TU7 cat no. = "Temporary" Guernica release. the last, to date.

guess LMB wasn't a re-release. first issue was in the UK, on Guernica. released in Australia on Polydor later that year ('94). i must have been thinking about the US version of Dream it Down, which IIRC swapped out four new tracks for LMB tracks.

I managed to finally hear this record. I remember when it came out because I had a friend who was really into 4AD and basically bought everything they released during this period, but he never managed to acquire this one. A lot of stuff on the label at the time managed to sound gothy even when it wasn't trying to (cf., the first couple of HNIA records).

It's a good record and the production on it sounds exactly like an AR Kane record. I especially like how they recorded the drum machines and the sampled loop of wobbly cymbals on the final track is esp. nice. My only complaint is that the vocals do kind of get in the way a little bit. I prefer them on the tracks where they are more buried in the mix even though the bjork-ish phrasing is a little irritating also. I think I will mostly get beyond these criticisms on a few repeat listenings though. This one is a grower, as they say.

Guernica put out a special edition of Unrest's Imperial FFRR in the UK and Europe if I recall.

Ah, now I remember - the first Guernica wave was late '92 - Unrest (who subsequently released stuff on 4AD proper), Underground Lovers, Bettie Serveert (two of those were reissues or licensing things from other labels - maybe all of 'em); then Spoonfed/Insides/That Dog in '93, then the Insides one-off in mid-'94. I bought 'em on vinyl because you got a free 7" with the LPs (obv "Clear Skin" was CD only).

This record is excruciatingly beautiful. Like huddling under heavy blankets, sweating, turned on, listening to someone tell you their darkest thoughts. It makes me sad that so few answered this poll or responded to this thread, but it makes sense. It's just such a private record, almost embarassingly so, and in fact I just realized I don't think I've ever shared my love of this record with anyone else. Even listening to it makes me feel almost uncomfortably vulnerable. I love it.

Clarke B?

It's me! Hey Ned... "Long time" would be an understatement.

Yes indeed, you drunken sommelier. :-D How's that all going?

Well, I'm still up in Brooklyn, working for the French portfolio of a small-ish wine importer, and really enjoying my work. For a while I was so immersed in wine, and trying to catch myself up in terms of knowledge and experience, that I feel like my other interests dropped off a bit... But I suppose balance beckons to be restored, and so I find myself on my couch on a humid Sunday night, reading ILM and thinking about this beautiful, beautiful album. :-)

And a fine choice of album indeed. I haven't listened to it in a bit and will do so now.

What did you think, Ned? ("Darling Effect" would have to be my favorite.)

"Distractions" sounds like "Love To Stay" by Altered Images

Digging around I found the few non-album songs by Earwig, Insides' immediate predecessor, that I didn't have on their own one album, Under My Skin I Am Laughing. (Most of the B-sides/singles got collected on a compilation, Past, but I've still never been able to find a copy of that.) Mixed batch but I like them, you can hear them being a louder 'rock' band as such early on.

I had a copy of Past, the only copy I've ever seen, and I accidentally sold it back to Amoeba last year in a box along with a ton of other things. I went back to find it later that week and it was nowhere to be found. That said, despite the scarcity of it, I didn't find it that great; Under my Skin was much much better.

Agreed, the singles are more woodshedding than anything else. But you can hear them start to settle on a sound as they go.

looking at this:

http://eil.com/Shop/ExtSearch.asp?DiscArtist=Earwig

all three of those ep covers look very familiar but i could've sworn i was missing one. or maybe i'm missing a 4th ep. ah, yes, the Every Day Shines 12".

there was also an insides promo 12" with clear skin remixes on it that i found cheap in notting hill but my copy of which i think jumps. (Eyesore DB says GUP4)

as mike said i went to the label launch (Borderline (Break For The Border?), London, same place i saw UVS and that first B&S gig) where insides played two sets, the first of which became Clear Skin. mesmerising to the point where you had to remember to breathe. years later i heard steve reich and the spell was somewhat broken but hey...

there was also an insides promo 12" with clear skin remixes on it

! Now that I'd love to hear.

Actually somehow I had missed that the original release of Euphoria had a separate 7" single as well.

> Now that I'd love to hear.

if only someone had, say, posted it on an mp3 blog (and on my birthday too)

http://theblackenedair.blogspot.com/2009/10/insides-clear-skin-promo.html

Astounding.

And thanks!

Wow thanks Koogs!

I still have never heard the Earwig album or Clear Skin itself, appallingly.

Good lord, man.

Ha I know - it actually feels vaguely shameful considering how important Euphoria has been to me for so long.

Me on Under My Skin from ten years back:

http://freakytrigger.co.uk/old-ft/essays/1999/02/earwig/

Ned I've been imagining the record ever since I read your review ten years ago! That was the first I'd heard of it - I think i actually picked up Euphoria that year due to all the cross-references with Disco Inferno, Bark Psychosis etc.

cross-references on a.m.a. I mean.

cant believe how late ive been to this but i discovered them last year & am obsessed ... good timing

absolutely dreamy record, full of great moments, not one weak track on it

Yeah thanks to the revive I listened to this for the first time and I’m in love.

why would they not release the digital to people who preordered on Bandcamp? I did it on a BC Friday and they don’t have to send me any physical product, I could argue that paying for the digital is more purely supportive, but no download available.

They are doing a paid live show online next Friday. Details here: https://www.facebook.com/events/403800307608131

oh nice!

glad to hear of people discovering this record now! I could see it being a good moment to hear it for the first time

Speaking of first times -- shout out to boy_slayer -- I'm listening to Earwig for the first time (not sure how I missed them as thanks to a girlfriend's cool older sister I've been listening to Euphoria since 1995) and it's great.

btw anyone on this thread who hasn't checked out CS + Kreme would likely benefit: CS + Kreme - Snoopy

Livestream show this Friday!

https://www.meltingvinyl.co.uk/event/insides-live-stream-from-st-georges-church/

Oh I see Chewshabadoo posted that! Well, to say again!

It bears repeating!

Is "Really good but not as good as Euphoria" a fair assessment?

I know that sounds a bit grouchy of me.

I mean, Euphoria is comfortably all-time-top-10, so I think it's reasonable to acknowledge that it isn't better than that. But it's still completely wonderful that this exists and it as great as it is

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bnJcKS5Tt1I

^ Wow. Thanks for posting.

Livestream happening now. What a lovely performance.

Also watching it live!

Yes indeed!

Well that was really lovely. All these years and I've finally seen them live -- in a way, at least!

yeah it was great. sad lols about the emf anecdote!

Ha, I had to briefly step away at one song break so I must have missed it. What was the gist?

kirsty said that they were used to playing empty venues. apparently they once played a show at the Univerity of London Union and only one person came to see them, and that was the guy from EMF

don't know if she was joking, but it sounded a bit too random to not be true!

I thought Earwig had got decent reviews at the time they were around so somewhat surprised to hear that. I think I picked up Euphoria after the fact so assume I had seen good reviews of it. Thinking it must have been a cheap cd shop in Dublin in the late 90s.
Thought it got some recognition at the time.

I don't remember the shows being *completely* empty the few times I saw Earwig, although they were in little places like the Camden Falcon. Not saying anecdote is... unbelievable.

I just.

Lol, Nick, you missed the punchline on the joke. After Kirtsy said that the only person who saw one of their shows was the guy from EMF, there was a brief pause before the follow on…

…drumroll…

“Unbelievable.”

but i wanted to believe!

good long interview: https://toneglow.substack.com/p/048-insides

Great interview! Nice to see some discussion of Sweet Tiptoo, which is a charming record really

I was in a bad mood the other day.

Glad I bought "Soft Bonds", glad I stumped up for the live show (which I think is available for £6.60 until tomorrow). Always thought they were brilliant ("Euphoria" is comfortably *Top 5*) but they seem lovely, too.

All aware of this:

https://music.heavenslathe.co.uk/album/crumb-dropper?token=EC-54113655M49928549

100 only but copies currently available.

^ Digital version of this available from Friday, apparently.

both records £10 on bandcamp for bandcamp friday

excellent, I can finally get a vinyl copy of Euphoria

hey

It’s about time we started posting about this because l👀k ⬇️

Doors at 7, ends at 10. We’re doing a full set. All the rest of it. Look at the art. Smooch to the music. Forget your summer holiday. A FIVER?!https://t.co/s9zeoRdUkr pic.twitter.com/RrSRxeXWSp

— INSIDES (@Insides__) June 30, 2023

Classically it is on a train strike day!

oh no wayyy! was definitely thinking about going

I've been listening to a.s.o. and they're giving me Insides vibes in how moody and atmospheric it sounds, more on the trip hop style, but still. Very introspective avant pop, to give it a name. The lyrics are worth paying attention to, as well.
https://itsaso.bandcamp.com/album/a-s-o

Delighted to see both this and Clear Skin now on Bandcamp!

https://insides1.bandcamp.com/album/euphoria-1

https://insides1.bandcamp.com/album/clear-skin

I need to get around to listening to the non-4AD albums.

Yeah you punk. Er wait.

I got promo copies of both the above records at my college radio station 32 years ago, loved them and played tracks off Euphoria on my show (tough to do Clear Skin), and even spent what little student money I had to buy the CD. I just assumed they were a brilliant one off then only just relatively recently discovered they have more records—albeit at a one a decade pace.

Given this thread has been revived, I'm gonna take the opportunity to cross-refer to Sophia Hansen-Knarhoi's Undertow, which ivy put me onto, and which reminds me of Euphoria in its tenderly delivered absolute bleakness - as if an entire aesthetic was spun out of the opening stretch of "Darling Effect.

Oh yeah? Well into my Bandcamp Friday cart that'll go, then!

nice to see that they've embraced Clear Skin as I recall it was something they initially didn't want to release

now if we could get a proper pressing of the Skinned Clean/Further Distractions remixes...

~undressing for doctors is still undressing for strangers~

akm, as I remember it the issue with Clear Skin is that the label put out some remixed/edited versions on 12" without their sing-off. Which is a shame because I think they are pretty good: https://www.discogs.com/release/248365-Insides-Clear-Skin

*sign-off