Epic Soundtracks Poll

(inspired by his mention on the Paris 1919 thread, and by the fact that I've finally tracked dow Debris - http://totalwire.blogspot.com/2010/02/request-epic-soundtracks-debris.html)

Rise Above is the only one I've ever owned/heard all of, but it's indeed nice. I'm voting for it out of ignorance.

Yeah, I didn't even know he had this many records. I only know Rise Above.

Debris, Everything is Temporary and Good Things are all kinda odds n sods records (the latter 2 being posthumous). Rise Above is probably the best overall, though the other two have some real high points ...

I didn't realize it had been that long since he died. Time flies.

yeah, he died in 1997? jeez.

His best record is "Jelly Babies," with Robert Wyatt singing . . . shame it's not on CD.

that's the Popular Classical EP? Just heard that one for the first time, recently.

^^ yeahbut what about the fantastic Rain Rain Rain 12" w/ Jowe Head?

don't know that one! what's it like? Swell Maps-y?

That's the "Popular Classic" EP. I think the b-sides, which are of lower quality, are bonus tracks on various Swell Maps CDs. Ditto *most* of the stuff with Jowe Head, which is much more Swell Maps. "Jelly Babies," though, is haunting and beautiful and unlike anything else any of the Swell Maps folks attempted. I'd have killed for an LP of similar stuff, but Epic said it didn't sell, so . . .

The closest thing to it is Wyatt's version of Chic's "At Last I Am Free." Sort of orchestral and dramatic easy-listening.

tyler: link to Rain Rain Rain ep: http://www.mediafire.com/?oiyhmyl3oti
very Swell Maps-y, female voice... i forget who... anyway, check it out!

aw yeah, thanks!

Hearing RISE ABOVE again, I'm buzzed by how well it conjures the sepia-tinted magic of the early-70s So-Cal singer/songwriter without yielding to pastiche on one extreme or a smirking irony on the other. Did his subsequent albums sustain this effect?

I love them all -- Sleeping Star is maybe a little bit lacking in the production department (a little lo-fi), but Change My Life sounds like he got an actual recording budget. Nice strings, Spector-y percussion, some beautiful songs "Stealaway", "Sweet 16" ... I think if you like Rise Above you'll like those. No Sonic Youth cameos, though.

Just discovered this: http://www.tripledownrecords.com/main/shop.php?content_id=19

Some good info here: http://www.epicsoundtracks.com
Though the latest update is sad ...

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

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

lol, had a feeling this would not be a terribly popular poll!

hee hee

I'd have voted if I knew about this poll. I own and cherish all those albums. Change My Life is the one I listen to the most.

In fact, the first thing I thought when I read that Nikki Sudden had died was "damn, now who's gonna release all the old Epic material?". Selfish bastard, I am.

It's never really about the poll.

I'm grateful to this thread having shone some light on the rest of Epic's discography, even if it was too soon for me to vote for anything other Rise Above.

And exposing my craptastic grammar, apparently.

glad it got at least one person to check some of Epic's other records out -- they're all pretty special to me -- I always have a great time listening to them. Wish there was more! One thing I'd love to hear is a full live gig -- the concert recordings on Everything Is Temporary are nice.

Forever kicking myself for not going to see him when he opened for Evan Dando in the mid-90's...

was that really the only time he toured the US?

I think it was. Certainly the only time I ever saw a notice for him. And I lived in Detroit in those days. Pretty much everybody came through there.

haha missed this but it just would've been one more vote for "rise above"

I bought that CD by The Gist simply because it had Epic on it. Same with These Immortal Souls. Seems like there's a long and rich tradition of drummers releasing out-of-the-blue sensitive singer/songwriter fare (Dennis Wilson and that guy from Comets On Fire immediately come to mind).

https://search.mog.com/v2/albums/67437143/image.jpeg?size=800

guess this is out. had been hearing about it for a while, but missed that they actually released it. one greatest hits disc + another disc of rarities. need to get.

Thumbs way up. Be not afraid. Listened to it with folk and gospel.

beatles cover is beeeyootiful.
funny, he's so limited as a vocalist, but he's soooooo good at the same time. really makes those limitations work.

http://ow.ly/g3hrJ - wrote a little something about wild smile/epic.

cool news - Rise Above is getting a deluxe reissue, with a bunch of demos/alternates/etc
http://easyaction.co.uk/index.php?route=product/product&path=61&product_id=370
was just listening to it last week, still one of my favorites.