Television: Songs Since 1992

I haven't heard anything newer (and I too missed the reunions). But I was really impressed by the '92 album and recall a track on there that sounded a bit like Scratch Acid.

The '92 albumw as my TV intro! Still remember "1880 Or So" and "Call Mr. Lee" fondly.

Yeah the '92 record is great.

Plus, the solo Verlaine from last year (the one with vocals) is either his best solo record, or the only one that doesn't shoulder crappy 80s production values.

In any case, the two above sentiments put together make me rabid to hear any of these TV songs that were apparently played live...

Recent TV shows have been chock full of intriguing new tunes -- at least an album's worth, I'd say. Tapes trade at torrent sites like dimeadozen.org and through this yahoo group:

http://launch.groups.yahoo.com/group/Television-group/

I still adore "Call Mr. Lee".

I see Verlaine in my neighborhood all the time. Boy does he look old and boy is he ever cranky.

(myself being no stranger to "old" and "cranky" either, I should note).

I've run into him a couple of times in Northampton, and once on 34th and 9th in Manhattan. Though awkward, he was affable and even conversational each time. Must be you, Alex!

Can't wait to check those sites--thanks Freud.

Yeah, in recent years, Television has played probably a (short-ish) album's worth of new songs live. Verlaine always introduces the new stuff by saying: "Now we're going to rehearse." I don't know if there's anything amazingly awesome, but it's all pretty solid, from the tapes I've heard. The standouts are probably "The Sea," which is long, slow and moody and "Persia," which is sorta middle eastern sounding (naturally) and can sometimes stretch to 20 minutes. Lots of good slide guitar work from Verlaine on that one. The other songs sound of a piece with Tom's last record (the one with vocals) and are nice, if not wholly remarkable. I wonder if they will actually record a new album. I asked Richard Lloyd about it when I interviewed him three or four years ago and he basically said: "If someone wants to give a bunch of money, we'll do it." And of course, Lloyd made a big noise earlier this year about quitting Television for good ... but he seemed to be acting a little bit strange then, so it was hard to tell if he was being serious. Anyone heard his new record?

I saw him a little over two years ago and I've always wondered what that absolutely gorgeous song with that middle-eastern ring to it was. Must've been "Persia", thanks for the info.
He was quite grumpy though, I must say. Complaining about the lights a few times, which were somehow fucking up his view on his guitar strings. Still, I loved every minute of it. Last year's Songs And Other Things is wonderful, too.

Verlaine is certainly in the running for Grumpiest Man in Rock, for sure. But from what I've read he's always been that way. Song and Other Things is great! Yeah, probably one of his best solo records. When it came out last year he seemed to hint that the floodgates were going to open and he'd be releasing a lot more stuff. But I haven't heard anything more about that. He must have quite a backlog of material, though.

I interviewed Mr. Verlaine in '99 or so, and did nothing with the interview. I am stupid.

Anyway, the best thing he said, when asked what he'd be doing if he wasn't making music, was that he'd be making socks--glass socks.

Awesome.

I saw the Central Park show this summer and it was rather grim. Too much aimless Verlaine wankery and Richard Lloyd was sorely missed.

I recently came across a set list from that show, and apparently two of the new songs they played were called "Persia" and "Sapphire". There are two others that were not identified by the person who compiled the set list.

Also...I believe there may be some You Tube footage of the Central Park show.

i like Verlaine wankery! OK, that sounds weird. For those of you who mentioned liking the self-titled 92 Television album, you owe it to yourself to track down some of the live recordings from that tour. Those songs sound MUCH better live. 1880 or So, Rhyme and In World, in particular.

I saw them at that tour as well! Loved it. Having fallen in love with MM at the end of the 80s I was really thrilled to hear that a new album was coming out in 92. Will start looking for those live recordings!