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Post by megatron on Mar 5, 2009 22:58:20 GMT 1
There is too much post-rock on this section of the site. Can I turn at least one person on to the genius of Richard Youngs?
I saw him about 18 months ago play with his guitar, as well as a-capella, in Kings Cross and I was smitten. His last few albums for Jagjaguwar have seen him come forward as what many of you may consider to be a studio recording artist for the first time after years of cdr and private print releases.
I adore virtually all of what he does, be it the lengthy minimal acoustic guitar songs of "Sapphie" (my personal favourite - maybe of all records I have - longing, just longing), the early very minimal instrumental piano + noise pieces of "Advent" (gorgeous, noisy, repetitive) or the endless collaborations with various other types like Alex Neilson (check "Road is Open Life"), Andrew Paine on the prog-tastic Ilk releases, or even Makoto Kawabata from Acid Mothers Temple (oooh hooo yeah go, I think that one is untitled).
Mr Youngs' music consumes so much of my time it is untrue - he is gorgeous, he is plaintive, he is raucous and he is honest. Yum. Anyone else a fan?
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Post by rob strong on Mar 6, 2009 10:42:59 GMT 1
I haven't bought any of his records for a while but I've enjoyed what I have heard. He seems to have a much higher quality control threshold than many so-called 'experimental' musicians, for starters.
I saw him once, supporting Telstar Ponies in Glasgow in 1996 with Simon Wickham-Smith. One of those shows that live on in the memory as a slightly other-worldly experience.
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Post by noise is a friend on Mar 6, 2009 16:52:19 GMT 1
I like his collaborations with Andrew Paine, and their albums as Ilk. I've also got a couple of collabs with Matthew Bower.
But I only have the one solo LP, the rather wonderful "Summer Wanderer".
I guess he's one of the musicians I ought to hear more of, but even I can't hear every record I'd like to!
Yeah, but I've enjoyed what I've heard.
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Post by megatron on Mar 7, 2009 3:00:57 GMT 1
"I saw him once, supporting Telstar Ponies in Glasgow in 1996 with Simon Wickham-Smith. One of those shows that live on in the memory as a slightly other-worldly experience. "
Tell us more Rob - I've noticed you mention Telstar Ponies before as if you followed them on tour as much as Mogwai. I never saw them, I'd love to hear more about them. I adored that second album (which I know the band themselves seem to disregard) - RY was on that as well. I think he was largely responsible for the last chanty track.
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Post by rob strong on Mar 7, 2009 21:24:53 GMT 1
Hmm. Where to start.
Iain and I went to see them play at the Hibernian in Birmingham (late 95) purely on the strength of Brendan O'Hare being their drummer, both of us being big TFC fans. We'd heard not even a note of the Ponies music at this stage (this was in the days when the only way to hear obscure Scottish rock bands was John Peel's Radio 1 show, and I don't think he ever played the Ponies much).
We were impressed enough to travelled to Leicester the following night, and to Stoke the following Saturday (where we were the only actual punters in the audience - everyone else in the venue was in the support band or friends with the support band). Bought the records, got hooked even further.
I went to see them at the old 13th Note in Glasgow, Easter 1996. Headlining a stellar line-up (T*P, Third Eye Foundation, Movietone, Crescent). I believe a number of Mogwai were at this show, Stuart's certainly told me in the past that he was.
Iain and I picked up the May/June UK tour at the earliest opportunity and ended up selling merch for them. They'd just released the 'Does Your Heart Have Wings?' single (Mogwai fans - that'll be all of us then - if you haven't heard this, find it NOW - it's the proto-Like Herod) and were finishing every show with a complete noise-out version, pinning the audience against the back wall of the venues - sound familiar? Brendan had to be given oxygen at the end of the show in Oxford.
The last two shows of that tour were in Glasgow and Edinburgh over a weekend. David Keenan and Gavin Laird kindly put us up and we sold merch again (including a massive wall of presumably-now-very-rare Richard Youngs vinyl). Aside from being great, these two shows turned out to be the last time the original line-up played together, as the band disintegrated whilst their second album 'Voices From The New Music' was being finished.
(As an aside - the weekend of these two shows was also the weekend the Urusei Yatsura/Mogwai tour called at the now-sadly-demolished Jug Of Ale in Birmingham. The UY/M show was on the Sunday evening, and I decided I was too tired to attend after a long weekend away. Grrrrr.)
I would highly recommend anyone to track down both Telstar Ponies albums and their accompanying singles. The second record needs Brendan's albums as Ghost as side-dishes - they contain a number of tracks that were recorded for 'Voices From The New Music' and removed when he left the band.
Whilst you're at it, you might also want to find the records released by the line-up that reformed in 1999 (without Brendan, but with Bill Wells on keys) including the 'Hares On The Mountain' 10" ep on Obelisk (please - I've got boxes of em in the loft), Gavin Laird's Lonecop side project CD album on Obelisk (again - please, I've got boxes of 'em in the loft).
I have enjoyed typing this up, so many memories flooding back. A very happy period in my life.
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taz
tommy ramone
Posts: 30
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Post by taz on Mar 8, 2009 1:15:03 GMT 1
That was a nice read, Rob. It must be cool to know you were at their last gigs as an original line-up but sad too. It seems like those days are gone where one could just do things like that. Or maybe not, I wouldn't know. I've always wondered if the feel of gigs have changed since those days. Just with the internet nowadays and bands becoming well-known fairly quickly, does any body feel that gigs are, I don't know, more formal these days? Perhaps it's still the same with lesser known bands? I just have a feeling that things are different, but I wouldn't know because I was into the Backstreet Boys in 1996 (haha did I just mention them in the same thread as Richard Youngs and Telstar Ponies?). Anyway, I'm going to check all these out, thanks for the suggestions.
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Post by rob strong on Mar 8, 2009 11:36:14 GMT 1
Thanks Taz. I could have rambled on *much* longer.
I think the chances of stumbling across someone totally unknown and amazing are much slimmer nowadays. This isn't necessarily a good thing though - it's much easier for bands to build up a following now than it used to be (or at least, it is if they're any good, anyway).
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Post by noise is a friend on Jun 21, 2009 17:17:07 GMT 1
PS: Has anyone managed to hear his 'pop' album "Beyond the Valley of Ultrahits", just (sold) out on Sonic Oyster? It's a fabulous record, and a strong contender for album of the year...
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Post by megatron on Jun 29, 2009 23:31:07 GMT 1
Absolutely - I managed to get hold of a copy of the second batch of 100. It is a corker - I am still unsure if its up there with the best of his, Sapphie and suchlike, but yeah, one of the albums of the year so far.
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