imperial f.f.r.r. (a full frequency range recording)

cherry cream on

BEATS-PER-MINUTE
Volume Reference Tone, 0
Suki, 160
Imperial, 108
I Do Believe You Are Blushing, 136
Champion Nines, 104
Sugarshack, 256
Isabel, 104
Cherry Cream On, 152
Firecracker, 120
June, 168
Loyola, 128

voted cherry

weird i was humming isabel to myself earlier.

its isabel or suki for me.

going with suki.

have trouble separating this album into its component parts tbh

I am always humming Isabel to myself!

me 2. its a constant earworm for me.

Cherry is like a top spring-time-driving jam for me but "Imperial" will always be the most enchanting for me I think.

I like the faster version of "Isabel" that they released as a single better than the album version.

ha the trip hop isabel.

it's actually great yeah

that was a fantastic ep btw. absolutely love "love to know," the marine girls cover

title track, long, slow songs are totally my bag right now. the guitar theme is so repetitve but it is not boring at all. i think repetition only kills me if it is perfect like with synthesizers and computers when it all sounds identical and dead. that reminds me of long-distance walking, paved roads kill the feet but earthen paths are a balm for them.

ha the trip hop isabel.

It does sound a bit trip hop, I guess - I've never thought of it that way before. Of the album tracks, I'd probably pick "Cherry Come On".

it's not really, no, but back then i didn't know what to make of its v of-it's-time beat and conflated things.

Docs and white socks in the video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MV5A9pjo7qQ

"Ashley's Roachclip" break = "trip-hop"? hmmm....

title track for me. damn perfect record.

"trip-hop"? hmmm....

yeah you know, like duran duran's come undon

June

i think repetition only kills me if it is perfect like with synthesizers and computers when it all sounds identical and dead. that reminds me of long-distance walking, paved roads kill the feet but earthen paths are a balm for them.

― it's the distortion, stupid! (alex in mainhattan), Wednesday, February 27, 2013 4:46 PM (50 minutes ago)

Great analogy.

i gotta confess that this album was a bit of a letdown for me when it came out cos i'd absolutely loved the punky stuff they had going on in malcolm x park and kustom karnal. all of a sudden they were just a brit-sounding indie band, a pretty good one but some of the spark def went missing imo

CCO but frankly this could be my favourite album of the 90s

i.e. i love all the tracks

will hafta relisten

June! There is not enough Bridget Cross vox in the world.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oaklYRZcW0g

Arrrgh that didn't work. Fuck a https.

June by far - solid album though

CCO but frankly this could be my favourite album of the 90s

― prissy relay switches (electricsound), Wednesday, February 27, 2013 5:48 PM (Yesterday)

That's saying a lot given your 90s indie collection is probably more vast than all of ours based on what I've gathered from seeing your comments over the years.

90s was more of a singles era for me by & large

Cherry Cream On I guess, though I also think of this album as kind of a whole. I admire some of the tracks on this (and not just the instrumental ones either) more than I actually listen to them.

Another song I really love = I Do Believe You're Blushing

I havent listened to this in forever, maybe its time for a revisit

Tempted to vote June but it has to be one of the fast ones. Always liked Suki better, sounds so precise and pristine. The little drum fill ~2:25 is one of my favorite details in any song.

June is faster than Suki...?

fast strumming ones then.

I have never heard OF this let alone heard it but Nabisco's PF review has got me intrigued.

Sad to feel, but Unrest have somewhat shrunk on me since I posted my mix here years ago. Malcolm X Park is beautiful music by an artist too fascinated with texture to be bothered much with lyrics (cribbing Red Hot Chili Peppers' "True Men Don't Kill Coyotes" for "Disko Magic" is the nadir), and while the Kramer single mix of "Yes She Is My Skinhead Girl," Imperial F.F.R.R., the B.P.M. collection, "Cath Carroll," and their instrumentals all hold up for me, I don't find myself going back to them. Trancing to "Imperial" required being persuaded into Mark's nonsense by his voice and the gentle weep of his guitar, but there the lyrics sit. "June" is sad but cool. I'll go with "Champion Nines."

Nah, went with "Blushing." Still persuaded.

oh gosh this is a very very very tough poll for me ahhh

I still kind of puzzle over the lyrics for Blushing

such a great album... Suki or Cherry but any excuse to re-listen is a good one.

sun is white
whiter than whiter
could be a witness to
burning out my eyes

sun is
whiter than whiter
could be a witness to
burning out
killing and talking

someone is coming
I can have her
some day.
she has me
she can have me
She has me, she has...

where am I from?
she is from
nineteen hundred and twenty-two
nineteen hundred and two

fine time to wish mine
she was...
fine time to wish mine

imperial

I used to sing the "morphine and ice cream" verse of June to myself working late at night on the medicine wards.

this record is best when Mark is just the spokesperson for joy. like, actually doubling up on himself in haphazard harmony.

I mean, he's at it throughout, but 'Suki' is the one. 'Cherry Cream On' is close, because they basically bested 'Inbetween Days' with that one.

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=af4Uqke2xjQ

I will say, watching Unrest at the Uptown Bar open with "Imperial" was an epic moment.

it has to be june followed by i do believe you are blushing

reverse that, and I'm in.

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

Happy 21st birthday...

How the hell did I miss this poll?!?!?!?! This is definitely "All-Time" material for me.

Would have voted for Cherry Cream On by the way.

Firecracker wz robbed

aw i shoulda voted for loyola

I meant to vote for "Imperial" last night, but fell asleep instead. Love the album, but the title track is extra-special.

January 18th 2020, Cologne, Germany
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Ryyk4ee5Tw

Yep, I enjoyed that last year.

Have we polled Perfect Teeth? We should

weird i was humming isabel to myself earlier.

also weird: I didn't know about ILM yet but blog records confirm that Feb. '13 was the month I too reconnected with Imperial, and "I Do Believe..." in particular :O

such a great record

anyone know of any interviews with Mark and band around 1992 they could link to?